So much negativity here... and while some is fait, most isn't, but okay. At least the trolls came out to play, which is always funny.
Thank you for going through this, it gave me an opportunity to evaluate my own productivity.
But you left your work half done... it next step is comparing how long it took to write/render/animate during each development cycle. If chapters get bigger, time should also increase...right?
Math here:
(I hope I didn't make any mistake, never been much of a math guy myself)
It's hard to compare, because, in many chapters, initially I didn't have animations to release them faster. But, basically:
Productivity:
chapter 2: (baseline)
chapter 3: (-3.35% script/renders)(-6 animations)(-31.1% total productivity)
chapter 4: (+26.4% script/renders) (-7 animations) (-47.1% total productivity)
chapter 5: (+31.7% script/renders) (-7 animations) (-12.2% total productivity)
chapter 6: (+11.6% script/renders) (-7 animations) (-25.5% total productivity)
midterm: (-100% script/renders) (+120 animations) (+464% total productivity)
chapter 7 part 1: (-17.55% script/renders) (+25 animations) (+62.2% total productivity)
chapter 7 part 2: (-28.8% script/renders) (+11 animations) (+24.7% total productivity)
For easiness, I used chapter 2 as baseline to compare all others to. Chapter 3 seems to have been the less productive, with -3.35% writing/render per day, and -6 animations in total than ch2.
Chapter 4 through 6 were faster than ch2 between 11% and 26% on writing/render, but all had -7 animations (they had no animations at all).
Both Chapter 7 halves were slower 17% to 29% than ch2 on writing/render, but had +25 and +11 animations respectively.
So, since time is limited, I have to decide on how to spend it. Looking at this, it seems that, on average, per development cycle, I'll be more-or-less 20% slower on the writing/rendering part to be able to make 7 animations with that time. Obviously, this changes a bit from update to update.
For example:
This is interesting. So, you and everyone else seemed very happy with my productivity during development of chapter 4 and 5.
Chapter 5 was +31.7% more productive in writing/renders than ch 2, the most of all chapters on that aspect, but had -7 animations. But a short 4 month cycle, you like that, thumbs up for me.
Chapter 7pt1, on the other hand, was -17.55% less productive in writing/renders than ch 2, but had +32 more animations.
So, in ch5 I gain 32% speed by not making 7 animations, but in Ch7pt1 I only lost 18% speed by making 32 animations...
Looking at this... wasn't I was even more productive during chapter 7 development than on chapter 5? I mean, there was the midterm update before chapter 7, so, perhaps this comparison isn't entirely fair.
Let's look at ch7pt2 then:
Chapter 4 was +26.4% more productive in writing/renders than ch 2, but also had -7 animations.
Chapter 7pt2 was -28.8% less productive in writing/renders than ch 2, but had +11 more animations.
So, it's more or less the same level of productivity. A bit better than chapter 2 and 3, a bit worse than chapter 5 and Chapter 7pt1. It's more or less in line with what has always been.
So, if, all together, chapter 7 was developed more or at the same productivity speed of chapter 4 and 5, perhaps even faster, why are you all complaining with me? Are your complains against me deserved?
And this doesn't even take into account that writing and render gets harder with time. A lot of choices means I have to constantly check past variables and write alternative dialogues. It was much smoother to write at the start. Code is also more complicated. There are many more sex scenes now than in chapter 2, so renders also take longer. It's much easier and faster to make 5 renders of a girl sitting down changing expressions than it is to pose sexual positions. Not all renders are created equal and earlier chapters were easier to render and write.
I honestly think I'm as productive as ever. I mean, there will always be changes in time available, motivation, etc. But reading some of things here and then looking at what I've actually done... I ask you all if it is fair, but whatever, it's for you all to decide.
I mean, some of you may say that you don't care about animations and that they are a waste of time, but you'd be a minority. The game had lots of criticism over the lack of animations and the steam audience expects them. It is what it is. I like them and doing them, but it does take time.
Some other of you may also say that the game has lots of paths and you only see a few and the updates feel short. I still have to write/render/animate them all, though. If that's your opinion, again, it's a minority. Everyone have always praised the level of choices the game provides. There's a price for that. For those who don't like it, go play kinetic novels instead, they are much faster to develop with no choices.
If that's the criticism of anyone reading this, at least say it.
"It would be better if the game didn't have animations!" Or,
"There are too many paths!" Is that your point?
If yes, then, please, by all means, discuss it here if animations should stop or which paths should be taken out. I want to see you guys making the hard decisions and see if you get to an agreement.
Instead, all I read is that path x should have option for y, or the mc in path z shouldn't behave as w. Or, why can't I do x with y? Or why does character y on path z still has so little scenes? So... everyone wants more options, more sex scenes, more paths.... and less development time. Easy peasy. No problem at all for me.
So... I'm done with it because I've been working faster than ever on it? Makes total sense...
Yes, I'm not a native speaker, I've always said so. Osanaiko has always been the one doing all the magic. It's not like I've ever hided that, you must be new here. Also, try writing with everyone pressuring you to to release the update last month, not even have time to review what you write, and then show it to me, I also want to judge how shit it is.
Listen people, I understand. You all wait too long to get too little in your paths. There's no other way around. More content requires more time. I'm as productive as ever, more or less. But each chapter you see less and less of the content, and it sucks. Everyone who starts the game from scratch likes it and praises all the options provided. Everyone else who has to wait for the next release, hates the waiting and the payoff. It's always like this.
Example A:
Dessolos was always super kind and praised the game (well, except for Kim, of course). Started playing just in time for chapter 7pt1. Everything was great... now has to wait for next updates - that are still more or less as fast as ever - and now thinks it's disappointing. Oh well. Fair enough. Wait for the game to be finish, it's a much better experience, I get it. Playing games like this sucks. I get all of that. I just don't get what other options do I have.
I also don't get is the accusations of slacking off. Or milking. Or be "done with the game". Okay, if anyone thinks that, show me how my math above is wrong. Show me how I'm not working as hard anymore.
I mean, there's always issues, of course. I'm not perfect. Of course I could always do better. Release estimates were missed. For example, I had to do a root canal recently, missed real work thanks a bunch of dentist appointments, had to bring real work home to finish it, had to also finish development of part 2 in a rush... It was not fun. And, yeah, I expected it to be done earlier. I didn't realize how much work some things take, or that I had to do give more choices here and there, etc, etc. These things are hard to estimate, I suck at it, fair. It's a lose-lose. If I say "It's done when it's done", people get mad at me. If I say estimates that are wrong, people get mad at me. So, from now on, it'll be just "It's done when it's done". No more missed deadlines.
Also, I'm accused of not communicate often. True. What for? Everyone is just criticizing. And most of it seems unfair, in my opinion. I just found out I work better to just ignore it all and just keep working. It's my way to keep motivated. I mean, you need to have a thick skin to be a dev, sure. But all of this negativity takes the fun out of it. So, I just avoid it. I don't even look at it and just get happily developing my little game. I'm not doing this just to get anxious, it doesn't even pay that well. People don't like it? That's fair. Then, don't buy the game, quit my patreon, go fuck yourself playing other games much better that are available here, that's totally fine. I do what it's best for me to get things done, you do you. We are all happy in the end.
