I think v0.06 is going to be the new streets/urban district map they were releasing renders of until the art reboot.
- Jun 30, 2017
- 293
- 356
No, there is still the underground lab map that we play in v0.05, and the new contents after we escape and go in to city is in 0.06. They already done with some artworks and planning to realese v0.06 but suddenly they decide to change the suppose engine and re-work with their artwork so... until what we have now.
And did they decide to release v0.06 to public or only patreon "public"
And did they decide to release v0.06 to public or only patreon "public"
My understanding from what has been said in the patreon updates is that they want to do a full public release (everyone) to show off their progress and new art assets. This is all hypothetical, of course. No idea when v0.06-based builds will be released to inner circle backers, let alone regular backers and finally the public release.
- Apr 29, 2017
- 157
- 761
Whooooooooooooooooahhhhh kayyyyyy here we go....
TLDR at bottom
I was a VERY VERY early supporter of this game, I don't know the numbers of course, but this game first launched on a now defunct website called Offbeatr (think kickstarter for adult games / projects). I was in early and Eromancer eventually moved over to patreon (smart move). For a while as he was building steam with the first few tech demos, showing beautiful static renders, he was telling everyone that it was a flat $10 per game version and that anyone who purchased two versions would receive the final game if they purchased at least two beta builds. His plan was to sell the final copy for $20, and so anyone who bought 2 or more of the beta builds would get the game for free when it was released. One of the reasons he said that he wanted to do it this way instead of a monthly fee was because he wanted to complete the game and get it out, and this would (in his mind) encourage him to keep putting out new beta builds.
I, believing in the project, and his statements at the time that he had no desire to milk the project paid for several of the early builds. I should be clear this was because I wanted to support the project and the direction that I believed he was going in.
I was in contact with eromancer quite frequently during the early days of the development cycle, and when the project started gaining some heat, he and I actually talked about how to continue to grow it and he and I spoke about coming onto the 'team' he was forming as the media manager. IE someone who would be in charge of driving traffic to the patreon. However I backed out after some very concerning responses from him and very long delays to very simple questions. It was around this time that I started to see a shift in his priorities from putting out a high quality game to a sort of "hey how much money can i make off this?" type of attitude.
I continued to support the project when he shifted the business model from $10 per release over to a flat monthly fee for FAR longer then I care to admit. However since I didn't throw all my money at him every month, I was dropped down into one of the 'pleb' teirs of support. I can tell you that instantly there became this division in people who supported, and that division was entirely how much money you were giving him. To the point where you couldn't / can't even message him any more unless you pay a lot of money.
I watched quietly, silently, because I had to, as the progress reports slowed down, down, down, and content dried up more and more to a bare trickle. Oh there were a lot of promises of what was coming, what was planned, but often what was shown was simply re-renders or new rendered graphics of previous backdrops / settings. Things that made no functional difference to progressing the game, but were things that could be released to the patreons as a 'see we're hard at work' !
Eventually Eromancer announced on the patreon that all the money for that month was going to building a brand new computer, so he could render much faster. This really rankled, but I still stuck with it. Maybe it's worth it, I told myself, we'll finally get faster updates and more content?
Nope.
If anything, after than that, the progress slowed even further. Twice or thrice a month text updates and maybe once a month single images released to patreons, just enough to keep the whistle wet. Finally, I upgraded my patreon pledge for a month and had to ask him. Hey man it's been (double digit) months since I started supporting you, and I've read everything you ever post, but I just have to ask, it seems like there hasn't been progress in the better part of the year. Do you still have the motto that you want to put this out? Is there any time frame? Any schedule for development?
What I got was an OBVIOUS form response. Something that was so clearly pre-written and copy / pasted that I realized I'm not the only one asking this question. So I had to cancel my patreon support, with more money spent on this game then any triple A title put out by a major game studio.
This was.... what.... almost 2 years ago I think? Maybe a year and a half? I don't recall exactly. Since then how much development has been done?
As for why everything is locked for non patreons, that's simple. If you're interested in the game, you might become a patreon. If you become a patreon, you might forget to cancel your recurring donations.
Honestly, I think the game will never be finished as long as patreons are paying eromancer as much as some people earn at a full time job. Why would it? If people are honestly throwing that much money at him and believing the 2-3 times a month bullshit updates... I'd do the same thing. Drag it out till there's no need to do it any more. Keep revamping the same old stuff and putting out just enough to keep people believing that you're spending time working on it. Release a beautiful render once in a while. Then sit back and cash the checks.
When you compare the amount of time versus effort put in on this project and compare it to something like summertime saga, you realize that the only explanation is that Eromancer is dragging his feet and milking his patreons, and will continue to do so.
Sorry to drop the bad news like that, and I'm sure some people will disagree and rush to defend the game. But those are my experiences, and my thoughts.
TLDR: As an early supporter, and someone who was almost on his team, I believe that this game will never be complete and eromancer is milking patreons for money.
TLDR at bottom
Ok, I've steadfastly avoided this thread for a while now, but I think it's time I chimed in on this.
I was a VERY VERY early supporter of this game, I don't know the numbers of course, but this game first launched on a now defunct website called Offbeatr (think kickstarter for adult games / projects). I was in early and Eromancer eventually moved over to patreon (smart move). For a while as he was building steam with the first few tech demos, showing beautiful static renders, he was telling everyone that it was a flat $10 per game version and that anyone who purchased two versions would receive the final game if they purchased at least two beta builds. His plan was to sell the final copy for $20, and so anyone who bought 2 or more of the beta builds would get the game for free when it was released. One of the reasons he said that he wanted to do it this way instead of a monthly fee was because he wanted to complete the game and get it out, and this would (in his mind) encourage him to keep putting out new beta builds.
I, believing in the project, and his statements at the time that he had no desire to milk the project paid for several of the early builds. I should be clear this was because I wanted to support the project and the direction that I believed he was going in.
I was in contact with eromancer quite frequently during the early days of the development cycle, and when the project started gaining some heat, he and I actually talked about how to continue to grow it and he and I spoke about coming onto the 'team' he was forming as the media manager. IE someone who would be in charge of driving traffic to the patreon. However I backed out after some very concerning responses from him and very long delays to very simple questions. It was around this time that I started to see a shift in his priorities from putting out a high quality game to a sort of "hey how much money can i make off this?" type of attitude.
I continued to support the project when he shifted the business model from $10 per release over to a flat monthly fee for FAR longer then I care to admit. However since I didn't throw all my money at him every month, I was dropped down into one of the 'pleb' teirs of support. I can tell you that instantly there became this division in people who supported, and that division was entirely how much money you were giving him. To the point where you couldn't / can't even message him any more unless you pay a lot of money.
I watched quietly, silently, because I had to, as the progress reports slowed down, down, down, and content dried up more and more to a bare trickle. Oh there were a lot of promises of what was coming, what was planned, but often what was shown was simply re-renders or new rendered graphics of previous backdrops / settings. Things that made no functional difference to progressing the game, but were things that could be released to the patreons as a 'see we're hard at work' !
Eventually Eromancer announced on the patreon that all the money for that month was going to building a brand new computer, so he could render much faster. This really rankled, but I still stuck with it. Maybe it's worth it, I told myself, we'll finally get faster updates and more content?
Nope.
If anything, after than that, the progress slowed even further. Twice or thrice a month text updates and maybe once a month single images released to patreons, just enough to keep the whistle wet. Finally, I upgraded my patreon pledge for a month and had to ask him. Hey man it's been (double digit) months since I started supporting you, and I've read everything you ever post, but I just have to ask, it seems like there hasn't been progress in the better part of the year. Do you still have the motto that you want to put this out? Is there any time frame? Any schedule for development?
What I got was an OBVIOUS form response. Something that was so clearly pre-written and copy / pasted that I realized I'm not the only one asking this question. So I had to cancel my patreon support, with more money spent on this game then any triple A title put out by a major game studio.
This was.... what.... almost 2 years ago I think? Maybe a year and a half? I don't recall exactly. Since then how much development has been done?
As for why everything is locked for non patreons, that's simple. If you're interested in the game, you might become a patreon. If you become a patreon, you might forget to cancel your recurring donations.
Honestly, I think the game will never be finished as long as patreons are paying eromancer as much as some people earn at a full time job. Why would it? If people are honestly throwing that much money at him and believing the 2-3 times a month bullshit updates... I'd do the same thing. Drag it out till there's no need to do it any more. Keep revamping the same old stuff and putting out just enough to keep people believing that you're spending time working on it. Release a beautiful render once in a while. Then sit back and cash the checks.
When you compare the amount of time versus effort put in on this project and compare it to something like summertime saga, you realize that the only explanation is that Eromancer is dragging his feet and milking his patreons, and will continue to do so.
Sorry to drop the bad news like that, and I'm sure some people will disagree and rush to defend the game. But those are my experiences, and my thoughts.
TLDR: As an early supporter, and someone who was almost on his team, I believe that this game will never be complete and eromancer is milking patreons for money.
- Aug 7, 2016
- 1,918
- 2,610
I actually believe it will be complete... Except with an exact definition of complete, and not what you expected it to be when the promise of the game at 20 bucks was still up or when I found about the game (that probably was as long ago as when you started donating).
What is that exact definition? I honestly think that they are going to release 2, 3 maps like the one on the demo refering to length tops, and that is what the game is going to be.
It is a shame really, because this game could have been really good, but when they announced they were basically remaking the game, it smelled too much like it was just so they didn't have to create anything new. And the fact that they already pushed back the release of a new demo to release that "battle test" only reinforces that thought.
- May 4, 2017
- 1,104
- 7,029
Bailed out the moment they went to monthly support, I was just worried the steady flow of cash would tempt them to abuse the system and get lazy. Since then this has become an obvious scam. With all the talk about re-building the engine, new art assets, new mechanics, the author going berserk on ULMF, when a simple show of work-in-progress would've defended his point...
Don't get me wrong, if you think he deserves your money, go for it. But if you really believe there is a development team working hard on the game in this past year, then you are an absolute fool.
Don't get me wrong, if you think he deserves your money, go for it. But if you really believe there is a development team working hard on the game in this past year, then you are an absolute fool.
Do you have a link for this?
Re: rhev's points, I have no idea about the personal stuff mentioned between he and Eromancer, but as another early backer who got sick of the lack of progress and unsubbed for a long time I definitely identify with his feelings about how the game's progress seemed to get slower and slower, despite repeated claims that the "behind the scenes" work would eventually speed things up.
That said, I resubbed very recently and I'll keep backing for another 2 months to see how things go. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up let down again, but whatever. Live and learn. I really hope things work out as it's by far No. 1 on my wishlist for these games.
I'm reading all this stuff here and starting to feel really sad. The game seemed to be soooo promising and fresh, female characters looks very sexy and unusual, decent gameplay, cool scenes, and really awesome atmosphere and ost. And now it looks like the project turned out into milking machine. Damn it Eromancer! Shame on you!
Really, what's wrong with some people on Patreon? They have talent, ideas and resourcers, and most importantly the eager to create something. But then instead of making something interesting, new and fresh, they start milking patreons and being lazy and peevish. Spoiled cunts
Really, what's wrong with some people on Patreon? They have talent, ideas and resourcers, and most importantly the eager to create something. But then instead of making something interesting, new and fresh, they start milking patreons and being lazy and peevish. Spoiled cunts
I think it's a flaw with the Patreon system, to be honest. People can just ask a certain amount of money every month, and as long as people stay pledged, their motivation to actually deliver something will dwindle. Why would you actually release something when you could not and earn money for longer?
- Aug 6, 2016
- 527
- 1,934
To be fair that's a problem with human nature, we're greedy bastards. Patreon is a way to give a bit of money to help an artist/dev/whatever, it was never a store where you'd pay for something in return, the rewards are there to motivate fans (as patreon puts it).
But, and that's a big but, if you promise something you have to deliver, and if you fans are expecting updates you should give it to them, not empty promises. Aside all of that I really hope to see this project finishing, it was one of the first I played and it surely motivated me to start my own game, so it will always have a special place in my heart.
- Jul 31, 2017
- 34
- 60
When they switched over to monthly subscriptions, they also decided to re-do all the art assets from scratch in a different (non-Daz3D) program. From what I've seen their new stuff is miles above anything anyone else is producing as far as 3d assets goes (the vast majority of which just use off the shelf assets), but it's shitty timing with the change of payment and how long the upgrade has taken.
They should have done a more gradual upgrade, where they cycle out old assets as the new stuff is made, to keep the releases constant. I've dropped down tiers due to their lack of release and I've noticed a huge difference in the progress updates, they really keep the lower tiered patrons in the dark as to their progress.
I'm giving them another month and then dropping my pledge. I'll reconsider it down the line if they start making releases again.
They should have done a more gradual upgrade, where they cycle out old assets as the new stuff is made, to keep the releases constant. I've dropped down tiers due to their lack of release and I've noticed a huge difference in the progress updates, they really keep the lower tiered patrons in the dark as to their progress.
I'm giving them another month and then dropping my pledge. I'll reconsider it down the line if they start making releases again.
- Oct 16, 2017
- 92
- 134
We were talking about it on page 6 (of this thread), but here is the ulmf thread, he started posting on the page before but here's where he starts to show his true colors:
You must be registered to see the links
- Oct 16, 2017
- 92
- 134
Sorry for double post, but:
Wasn't going to say anything because I haven't seen what they are showing patrons, but from what I've seen and heard this doesn't justify the time they've taken. From what I've seen they are simply exporting the exact same models into another program and rendering them in a different engine. As someone with some 3D experience I can tell you that while time-consuming it is nowhere near a year's worth of time-consuming. The models they've shown the public are even in the same poses and appear to have the same textures (just a different lighting and rendering engine). And rigging would still be intact if they exported in the right format, so no need to re-rig anything. And if you want to be really paranoid, they could even be lying about changing their 3D software to Maya and have just rendered those in DAZ with different render settings (or a 3rd party render engine for DAZ). Honestly, the video they showed the public a while back could have been thrown together in a week by someone experienced. Not saying they are up to anything nefarious, just saying what they have shown proves nothing in my opinion.
I was concerned about this very possibility. I have never been a Patreon supporter for Eromancer and always hated the idea of keeping nonsupporters completely in the dark. How long ago was the tumblr page for this last updated? At least with something like supporting a kickstarter, you make an one time donation that you may end up regretting in disappointment. Here, you continue to contribute indefinitely allowing that small contribution to build up into something ridiculous has the months or even years drag on. I still hope for this game to be completed and would buy a final copy from him for a fair and equitable price. But I too remain skeptical if this day will ever arrive.
Guys there is a february progress update. Can anyone post it here?