VN Ren'Py Abandoned Polarity [v0.4.3] [Eternity Games]

[Raziel_8]

I've said this before. If you contribute to a game you are supporting their development process without deliverables or any notion of control. Their process is entirely their own. If you are unhappy at any point you're free to cancel your sponsorship, but bitching about their process or their timelines is pointless. This is why I don't contribute to games until they are completed.

This happens to be a great game. I far prefer it to Radiant, which is also a excellent game. While nothing would make me happier than a regular release of both games, I realize that is entirely out of my control. So when/if we get an update to either game I'll enjoy it. Money comes when/if they complete either.

I'm aware how patreon works.
I just find it strange that going from partime dev with a day job, to full time dev, didn't speed up the development as one would expect, no bitching intended.

As for supporting, yeah i wouldn't support games with that long of a shedule and no eta or clear update reports.
Good communication, regular updates of game progress, as well as a regular release schedule are a must for me, to give support and admittingly i'm fast to cancel support, if there are often or larger delays, too many bad experiences.

 

[AYOMAGO]

I strongly recommend the dev read the book "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon. If theres a book that details providing a product people love, managing the responsibilities that come along with asking for donations etc...this book would be it. I agree that he could do a better job communicating. The outcome of not doing so is all the bitching and moaning we see on this thread. Just tell us what was worked on today, or this week, and do it consistently. If we are made aware of the progress being made I have no doubt that the dev would get more patrons from the f95 cohort, that people would be more patient and more excited, and that we would have the peace of mind of getting a notification and seeing something meaningful instead of just another complaint.

 

[treyW77]

I am not going to go down this road much again with this dev like i did last time but what i will say is this and ONLY this on this Dev/ game.

It's been almost a year since his last update of this game and if he has been going through personal drama and such and that is why he has done JACK then fine. However at this point i have gotten to the point if i see an update COOL but if not oh well there have been PLENTY of games that were highly regarded that have been in DEV hell / cancelled or whatever anyone should not get bent out of shape on this one not worth the effort.

He is talented and seems to know how to write but he is his own worst enemy in terms of his games -- wish him all the best but plenty of other GREAT games out there to play til this (if ever ) gets another update.

 

[t727]

VN flying the pregnancy tag, is it implemented yet?
If so, how?

 

[jaw1986baby]

If so, how?

So when a man and a woman love (or lust for) each other .......

 

[t727]

So when a man and a woman love (or lust for) each other .......

You must stop being so immensely funny, I almost died of laughter.

 

[Default123x]

He posted a final progress report for CH 5 on patreon. Can someone who still supports him see when the update is coming?

 

[NukaCola]

Last update from 6-2020? Not surprised since its from the same developer as Radiant

 

[lewdloser]

It's off-topic to comment on the lack of updates, apparently.

 

[Crusher56]

Well not like complaining about a update taking a while is a topic or even helpful for that matter .

 

[tappp92]

Why is this not considered abandoned yet?

 

[Ponyboy451]

Why is this not considered abandoned yet?

Afaik, the dev's Patreon and Discord are still active for this game, despite the lengthy timetable. I'm of the mind, if it updates great, if not, ah well. There's plenty of other games to play.

 

[forthewins]

Damn, I just found this game and have been really enjoying it. It wasn't until now that I realized it hasn't been updated in a year ...

I hope the developer gets his act together. To be making good money from it and working on the game full time, one year with no updates is hard to explain without it being due to either extremely laziness or something much worse.

The quality is there. This game is fantastic. But the effort also needs to be there if he expects to keep making a living off of it.

Also I agree that this game is much better than Radiant. I played that and didn't think that much of it. I'll follow updates, but this game is of a quality that I'd consider donating to it if it was updated regularly, and for that one I'd need to see significant improvements to say the same.

 

[forthewins]

Okay, I finished chapter 4 and caught up with the game. Now that I've done that I'm more able to understand why development has stalled off. I think the developer has possibly bought off more than he can chew with the way that story has developed.

After chapter 2 I really thought this would be a fantastic game focused on just the two single mothers and their daughters. Other main characters really were not necessary, and instead of looking for ideas to bring in new characters I think the game would've been better served with looking for ideas on how to develop those characters and interesting things to do with them.

Chapter 3 was exciting to me as the game's scope was expanded, but in retrospect I'm guessing this is what has lead to the game being on the verge of being abandoned. I was expecting the school thing to be on a smaller scale. As is, so many new characters were brought in that this could be it's own entire game. (It kind of already is, with things like Ecchi Sensei) There's potential with how this was done, but the developer gave himself a lot more work with so many more characters to develop.

And then even in Chapter 4, when there is probably already too many characters, you're starting brand new relationships with characters that were never important before now ... the Principal, the bartender, introducing the car saleswoman, etc. ... And then you're also adding in the drama with how the chapter ended. There just seems to be too much going on, too fast.

I think this game would really benefit from trying to narrow the focus more, once again. Absolutely do not add more characters for the time being unless they're necessary. Possibly lose some students from the class due to them quitting after a tough lesson, or due to suspension related to the bullying mystery. Focus on the best and most developed characters you have, and lose as much of the fluff as you can. Then develop those characters. I feel like this would increase the quality of the game significantly, and probably provide the developer with a more clear path forward.

 

[Ponyboy451]

Okay, I finished chapter 4 and caught up with the game. Now that I've done that I'm more able to understand why development has stalled off. I think the developer has possibly bought off more than he can chew with the way that story has developed.

After chapter 2 I really thought this would be a fantastic game focused on just the two single mothers and their daughters. Other main characters really were not necessary, and instead of looking for ideas to bring in new characters I think the game would've been better served with looking for ideas on how to develop those characters and interesting things to do with them.

Chapter 3 was exciting to me as the game's scope was expanded, but in retrospect I'm guessing this is what has lead to the game being on the verge of being abandoned. I was expecting the school thing to be on a smaller scale. As is, so many new characters were brought in that this could be it's own entire game. (It kind of already is, with things like Ecchi Sensei) There's potential with how this was done, but the developer gave himself a lot more work with so many more characters to develop.

And then even in Chapter 4, when there is probably already too many characters, you're starting brand new relationships with characters that were never important before now ... the Principal, the bartender, introducing the car saleswoman, etc. ... And then you're also adding in the drama with how the chapter ended. There just seems to be too much going on, too fast.

I think this game would really benefit from trying to narrow the focus more, once again. Absolutely do not add more characters for the time being unless they're necessary. Possibly lose some students from the class due to them quitting after a tough lesson, or due to suspension related to the bullying mystery. Focus on the best and most developed characters you have, and lose as much of the fluff as you can. Then develop those characters. I feel like this would increase the quality of the game significantly, and probably provide the developer with a more clear path forward.

I think some of the additional characters were Patreon tier rewards, so I'm not sure if they can just axe them like that, but I do agree there's a bit of a lack of focus. Normally, in a game that's mostly just naughty scenes, it's not an issue since there's no substantial narrative going on to pull your attention away from all the fluff. But in this game, where it seems like the dev is trying to tell a compelling, cohesive story, the over-abundance of characters does detract from that. I'm still enjoying the game nonetheless, and it's still leagues better than a lot of the visual novels on the site, but there's definitely a quantity-over-quality issue in regards to the cast.

 

[Awwjammit]

I think some of the additional characters were Patreon tier rewards, so I'm not sure if they can just axe them like that, but I do agree there's a bit of a lack of focus. Normally, in a game that's mostly just naughty scenes, it's not an issue since there's no substantial narrative going on to pull your attention away from all the fluff. But in this game, where it seems like the dev is trying to tell a compelling, cohesive story, the over-abundance of characters does detract from that. I'm still enjoying the game nonetheless, and it's still leagues better than a lot of the visual novels on the site, but there's definitely a quantity-over-quality issue in regards to the cast.

Agreed, but I'm afraid we're going to see an "Abandoned" tag on this sooner than later.

 

[KingWeWuz]

Agreed, but I'm afraid we're going to see an "Abandoned" tag on this sooner than later.

I disagree with you my friend, the dev is one of the most talented individuals on this site. He is often times late, but he doesn't seem the type to give up. Assuming he hasn't broken faith on his promises this and Radiant have become his full-time livelihood. I expect this'll see an update close to the end of june, maybe sooner if we're lucky, since he's declared the late may update as the final "almost done" update on his patreon.

 

[Raziel_8]

I disagree with you my friend, the dev is one of the most talented individuals on this site. He is often times late, but he doesn't seem the type to give up. Assuming he hasn't broken faith on his promises this and Radiant have become his full-time livelihood. I expect this'll see an update close to the end of june, maybe sooner if we're lucky, since he's declared the late may update as the final "almost done" update on his patreon.

IIRC didn't he say the update will be out short after the next radiant update (whenever that is) ?

 

[BionicMan [FR]]

I disagree with you my friend, the dev is one of the most talented individuals on this site. He is often times late, but he doesn't seem the type to give up. Assuming he hasn't broken faith on his promises this and Radiant have become his full-time livelihood. I expect this'll see an update close to the end of june, maybe sooner if we're lucky, since he's declared the late may update as the final "almost done" update on his patreon.

I don't want to burst your bubble there... but with his Patreon post frequency, posting a "final development update" means the update can come anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 month from now...

 

[Ponyboy451]

I don't want to burst your bubble there... but with his Patreon post frequency, posting a "final development update" means the update can come anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 month from now...

Yeah, the dev makes really high-quality games, but their timetable is extremely inconsistent. That said, at least they communicate fairly regularly. Some devs just Houdini completely for months at a time. It seems to me that while the dev has talent, they lack drive. Which unfortunately means lengthy pauses between updates. Hopefully updates will trickle out to completion though, and won't just fizzle. Fingers crossed, because Polarity and Radiant are among my favorite VNs.