4.80 star(s) 107 Votes

Impious Monk

Active Member
Game Developer
Oct 14, 2021
625
2,797
top three in my mind,Jamie's cute,I'll buy a copy of the support DEV on Steam,I hope the final version can be translated into Chinese,LOVE DEV.
Thank you, glad you're enjoying it. I am hoping to pay for some translations when the game is finished, but I can't make any promises about which languages at the moment.
 
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Old Man Al

Active Member
Jan 18, 2022
999
6,826




I hope my supporters won't mind, but this will be a public journal also posted on Steam and Itch to give a progress update for everyone who has purchased the game.
There is still quite a bit of work left to be done on Episode Four. At this time I've posed, rendered, and done post-work on roughly 1,450 still renders. I've been working on Episode Four for almost six months (since the end of February, 26 weeks ago) for an average of 55 renders per week. That's not as much as I would like, but there is good progress being made. I've also set up the episode's first lewd scene and I'm just waiting for the animator to get time in his schedule to pose the animations.
Please keep in mind that I work on this game in my spare time--I have a full-time career and other personal responsibilities as well. In case you are wondering if I'm making enough money to quit my job and do game dev full-time, the answer is that Leaving DNA will never be successful enough for me to do that. It's a niche AVN with limited appeal, and frankly I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world and already have a good career, so quitting my job to work on this full-time isn't realistic.
If you're wondering about the financial success of the game, I've sold about 8,500 copies of the game on Steam and Itch and I've had Patreon and SubscribeStar pages up for two years. After those businesses take their cut, I've grossed about $7,500 from Patreon and SubscribeStar and about $52,000 from Steam and Itch. After subtracting state and federal taxes and my own financial investment in the game, including two high-powered desktop computers, thousands of dollars worth of 3D assets, paying the animator, and other smaller costs like an Adobe subscription, music rights, and energy bills, that number whittles away pretty fast. My best estimate is that I've probably profited maybe $10K at this point.
So, $10K so far for over two and a half years worth of work, which generally takes place at night after I'm already exhausted from my full time job and on weekends. Based on the thousands of hours I've put into the game, that probably works out to something like getting paid $2-an-hour for my work. And I live in Los Angeles where $2-an-hour isn't jack shit. This isn't me complaining--on the contrary, I didn't make Leaving DNA because I thought it would make me money, I made it because I wanted to tell a story. Any money I've made has been a happy bonus, and overall I've been very pleased with the community's response to the game.
I bring these numbers up first to emphasize that quitting my job to work on this game full-time isn't realistic. Even with the advanced progress I could make on the game by working on it full-time Leaving DNA just won't ever sell as well as some other AVN's, and I could never come close to a sufficient income replacement to quit my job.
The other reason I bring it up is because some dumbass a few weeks ago called me a milker. Comments like that are based on a lack of knowledge and incorrect assumptions, so I'm putting these numbers out there to establish a few facts.
I promise you there is no person on Earth more motivated and eager for Leaving DNA to be finished than me. I want very much to finish telling this story and to share it with everyone who has supported me over this period. When I started working on the game, I thought it would be a two-year project. It has been very disappointing to me that the game has taken as long as it has, but I remain very motivated to complete it. Progress is not as fast as I would like, but quitting this project has never entered my mind.
I am very aware and appreciative of everyone who has pledged ongoing support on Patreon and SubscribeStar, and of everyone who has purchased the game outright on Steam and Itch. You have my word that I am still working hard on the game every day. I do give weekly updates to my Patreon/SS supporters and I can always be reached easily through Discord or email. No one should ever worry that progress on the game has halted or that I have stopped communicating about what I'm up to.
As I said, there are approximately 1,450 renders finished so far for Episode Four. By comparison, Episode One contained 1,705 renders (and took nine months to publish), Episode Two contained 2,536 renders (nine months to publish), and Episode Three contained 1,895 renders (seven months to publish). I can't tell you exactly how much more work there is left for Episode Four, but I believe I am past the halfway mark. However, work on Episode Four will continue for a period of months.
Thank you for your support, your understanding, and your patience.

--The Impious Monk
 

Filipis

Active Member
Nov 15, 2022
800
1,554




I hope my supporters won't mind, but this will be a public journal also posted on Steam and Itch to give a progress update for everyone who has purchased the game.
There is still quite a bit of work left to be done on Episode Four. At this time I've posed, rendered, and done post-work on roughly 1,450 still renders. I've been working on Episode Four for almost six months (since the end of February, 26 weeks ago) for an average of 55 renders per week. That's not as much as I would like, but there is good progress being made. I've also set up the episode's first lewd scene and I'm just waiting for the animator to get time in his schedule to pose the animations.
Please keep in mind that I work on this game in my spare time--I have a full-time career and other personal responsibilities as well. In case you are wondering if I'm making enough money to quit my job and do game dev full-time, the answer is that Leaving DNA will never be successful enough for me to do that. It's a niche AVN with limited appeal, and frankly I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world and already have a good career, so quitting my job to work on this full-time isn't realistic.
If you're wondering about the financial success of the game, I've sold about 8,500 copies of the game on Steam and Itch and I've had Patreon and SubscribeStar pages up for two years. After those businesses take their cut, I've grossed about $7,500 from Patreon and SubscribeStar and about $52,000 from Steam and Itch. After subtracting state and federal taxes and my own financial investment in the game, including two high-powered desktop computers, thousands of dollars worth of 3D assets, paying the animator, and other smaller costs like an Adobe subscription, music rights, and energy bills, that number whittles away pretty fast. My best estimate is that I've probably profited maybe $10K at this point.
So, $10K so far for over two and a half years worth of work, which generally takes place at night after I'm already exhausted from my full time job and on weekends. Based on the thousands of hours I've put into the game, that probably works out to something like getting paid $2-an-hour for my work. And I live in Los Angeles where $2-an-hour isn't jack shit. This isn't me complaining--on the contrary, I didn't make Leaving DNA because I thought it would make me money, I made it because I wanted to tell a story. Any money I've made has been a happy bonus, and overall I've been very pleased with the community's response to the game.
I bring these numbers up first to emphasize that quitting my job to work on this game full-time isn't realistic. Even with the advanced progress I could make on the game by working on it full-time Leaving DNA just won't ever sell as well as some other AVN's, and I could never come close to a sufficient income replacement to quit my job.
The other reason I bring it up is because some dumbass a few weeks ago called me a milker. Comments like that are based on a lack of knowledge and incorrect assumptions, so I'm putting these numbers out there to establish a few facts.
I promise you there is no person on Earth more motivated and eager for Leaving DNA to be finished than me. I want very much to finish telling this story and to share it with everyone who has supported me over this period. When I started working on the game, I thought it would be a two-year project. It has been very disappointing to me that the game has taken as long as it has, but I remain very motivated to complete it. Progress is not as fast as I would like, but quitting this project has never entered my mind.
I am very aware and appreciative of everyone who has pledged ongoing support on Patreon and SubscribeStar, and of everyone who has purchased the game outright on Steam and Itch. You have my word that I am still working hard on the game every day. I do give weekly updates to my Patreon/SS supporters and I can always be reached easily through Discord or email. No one should ever worry that progress on the game has halted or that I have stopped communicating about what I'm up to.
As I said, there are approximately 1,450 renders finished so far for Episode Four. By comparison, Episode One contained 1,705 renders (and took nine months to publish), Episode Two contained 2,536 renders (nine months to publish), and Episode Three contained 1,895 renders (seven months to publish). I can't tell you exactly how much more work there is left for Episode Four, but I believe I am past the halfway mark. However, work on Episode Four will continue for a period of months.
Thank you for your support, your understanding, and your patience.

--The Impious Monk
This shit needs to be posted on the front page of F95, as mandatory reading before posting on any thread.
There are maybe 5% of AVN devs that make enough money to work full-time on developing AVNs, the industry just isn't there yet. The market is tiny, and product takes over 2 years on average to complete - that is, if they get completed.

Being an AVN developer needs to be a passion, full-time or half-time. Otherwise, either the fanbase burns out; or the developer burns out.

I wish nothing but the best to Impious Monk, because Leaving DNA is one of the few story-rich AVNs that I eagerly await an update for, and not for the lewdness but the mystery.
 

Joshy92

Devoted Member
Mar 25, 2021
10,884
23,805
This shit needs to be posted on the front page of F95, as mandatory reading before posting on any thread.
There are maybe 5% of AVN devs that make enough money to work full-time on developing AVNs, the industry just isn't there yet. The market is tiny, and product takes over 2 years on average to complete - that is, if they get completed.

Being an AVN developer needs to be a passion, full-time or half-time. Otherwise, either the fanbase burns out; or the developer burns out.

I wish nothing but the best to Impious Monk, because Leaving DNA is one of the few story-rich AVNs that I eagerly await an update for, and not for the lewdness but the mystery.
Ikr people always assume devs work full time but it's very rare for that to be the case.
 

BorgiaBou

Well-Known Member
Jul 24, 2021
1,509
4,649
And the funny thing about those devs is that are doing this full time...:cautious:
 
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erkper

Well-Known Member
May 16, 2018
1,712
2,274
And the funny thing about those devs is that are doing this full time...:cautious:
No they're not. The game may well be their source of income as opposed to a passion project, but that pace of development is in no way full time.
 
Apr 29, 2021
213
261
Glad you provided a well rounded context about why you cannot go full time as an AVN Dev Impious Monk . Overall your game has been nothing short of stunning, the genre itself is so fresh and the nuances the writing touches is well impeccable, It clearly shows the passion and meticulous planning you have done, and executing that especially after working at your day job 5 days constantly is a not a piece of cake; being one of the prime reasons why bought and support your game as can clearly see your will to make valuable content. So definitely believe you are on the right track so do persist with that.

Thanks for reading Dev, best wishes for ahead:)
 

Eagle1900

Forum Fanatic
Oct 7, 2022
4,184
22,866
hello everyone
sorry for the question
but who wants to start playing this game today, is it enough to download episode 3 which includes the whole story, or do you have to look for part 1; part 2; part 3 ??

sorry maybe it is written in some previous post and I missed it, but being Italian, I could not find anything about it and in the first post the link to the compressed version, leads to the link of the second episode, that's why I ask.

thanks in advance to whoever answers me. have a good day everyone.
 

MiltonPowers

Twins Basil! Twins!
Donor
Jul 26, 2023
7,629
14,746
hello everyone
sorry for the question
but who wants to start playing this game today, is it enough to download episode 3 which includes the whole story, or do you have to look for part 1; part 2; part 3 ??

sorry maybe it is written in some previous post and I missed it, but being Italian, I could not find anything about it and in the first post the link to the compressed version, leads to the link of the second episode, that's why I ask.

thanks in advance to whoever answers me. have a good day everyone.
All Episodes are included in the Episode 3 download my friend. Welcome, I hope you enjoy it. Most of us loved it.
 

Elduriel

Engaged Member
Donor
Mar 28, 2021
3,716
6,430
hello everyone
sorry for the question
but who wants to start playing this game today, is it enough to download episode 3 which includes the whole story, or do you have to look for part 1; part 2; part 3 ??

sorry maybe it is written in some previous post and I missed it, but being Italian, I could not find anything about it and in the first post the link to the compressed version, leads to the link of the second episode, that's why I ask.

thanks in advance to whoever answers me. have a good day everyone.
the DL links for episode 3 include the previous episodes as well, don't worry
 
May 31, 2024
161
418
Just found the game and just starting episode 3. Very much enjoying the story focused style and finiding the mystery engaging so far. Definitely has the feel of a paperback you might pick up at the airport, something I do a lot as I constantly travel. The visuals look beautiful as well.

Going in blind, was all in on Jamie until I met Malena. I feel a switch in focus coming. Definitely looking forward to more.
 

MiltonPowers

Twins Basil! Twins!
Donor
Jul 26, 2023
7,629
14,746
Just found the game and just starting episode 3. Very much enjoying the story focused style and finiding the mystery engaging so far. Definitely has the feel of a paperback you might pick up at the airport, something I do a lot as I constantly travel. The visuals look beautiful as well.

Going in blind, was all in on Jamie until I met Malena. I feel a switch in focus coming. Definitely looking forward to more.
Same. Was deciding between Jamie & Emme, until a couple of minutes with Malena. She's definitely my favorite. (Of course, still doing paths for all 3 LOL).
 
4.80 star(s) 107 Votes