VN Ren'Py Abandoned Red Lucy [v0.9] [LeFrench]

[Xumeey]

Whoever took the trouble to read, for example the last 60-100 pages?
A new game with a good storyline, with top quality art. A cinematic way of telling a story.
Fine details in many pictures that need to be viewed carefully don't click next after a second.
Spicy scenes in the early part of the game.
Of course, very good ratings given by people who knew the author's work from the beginning.
Then the new audience, and this is where the complaining begins.
The game is too short, too silly, nothing happens, etc.
Then more and more posts about milking players that the dev only thinks about money and more in a similar vein.
Next phase - request to close the site, mark the game as abandoned.
LeFrench stopped writing here and posting arts during the time when new players flowed in
and the unproductive complaining about everything began.
Now there is a phase of grief, crying. Stories of how great the game was.
Oddly enough, the same people who not long ago demanded "This game must be abandoned" now shed tears of despair.
Almost every dev faces a similar situation (sometimes for good reason).
The bitter truth.
View attachment 3935581 View attachment 3935582 View attachment 3935583
There really is something to regret.

Yeah let's blame the players for the shitty behaviour of the dev.

 

[SamualHand]

Yeah let's blame the players for the shitty behaviour of the dev.

Let's blame the pirates!

 

[homejorz]

Whoever took the trouble to read, for example the last 60-100 pages?
A new game with a good storyline, with top quality art. A cinematic way of telling a story.
Fine details in many pictures that need to be viewed carefully don't click next after a second.
Spicy scenes in the early part of the game.
Of course, very good ratings given by people who knew the author's work from the beginning.
Then the new audience, and this is where the complaining begins.
The game is too short, too silly, nothing happens, etc.
Then more and more posts about milking players that the dev only thinks about money and more in a similar vein.
Next phase - request to close the site, mark the game as abandoned.
LeFrench stopped writing here and posting arts during the time when new players flowed in
and the unproductive complaining about everything began.
Now there is a phase of grief, crying. Stories of how great the game was.
Oddly enough, the same people who not long ago demanded "This game must be abandoned" now shed tears of despair.
Almost every dev faces a similar situation (sometimes for good reason).
The bitter truth.
View attachment 3935581 View attachment 3935582 View attachment 3935583
There really is something to regret.

I was a supporter of this game for nearly a year. I actually have financially supported almost every game project that I would like to see continue. I also found all of them, from this site.

Lefrench just fell off the face of the earth one day. He said he was burned out sure, but then irl problems happened and he is now moving countries. Negative comments are part of any type of creative project you put out online, especially crowdfunded, and lefrench knows that. and yeah some of them are just negative for negativities sake. But alot are mainly criticism of how he has handled his communication to patrons. He said he was done the update one minute, and the next week or so he basically disappeared

All this said, I am a big fan of this game regardless and hope to see it continue. Personally I think it will.

 

[parceload]

This is a great game, the relationship between MC and *roommate* is amazing. I'm still hopeful to see more

 

[Piat]

I do not know the Russian language. Out of curiosity a few words, proverbs.
One proverb very wise has stuck in my mind "smotrisz w knigu, widzisz figu".
It's all about understanding what is written.
Plot... 99% of German porn movies dialogue and plot can fit on a postage stamp - "Ja Ja Ja Fantastisch"
So not just, to quote you ... "And hey, the plot, it's just the mc having sex with the hotties, just continue it."
Especially for you ... also in colour

The plot was already set, it just lacked sex with mom and auntie, and some anal for the cute sister. Not that complicated. No need of drama.

 

[MiltonPowers]

The plot was already set, it just lacked sex with mom and auntie, and some anal for the cute sister. Not that complicated. No need of drama.

And Nat, don't forget Nat. I definitely wanted a taste of Nat.

 

[SamualHand]

And Nat, don't forget Nat. I definitely wanted a taste of Nat.

Nice, some cannibals also playing with us....

 

[allanl9020142]

I had a weird feeling that I'd see that tag after taking a look at this game after so long. Not sure why. Think I'm just developing a sixth sense for this type of situation after so many of them have been just dropping like flies. Or maybe because so many of them are just dropping like flies I'm just more or less expecting to see it now.

 

[DanThaMan]

I had a weird feeling that I'd see that tag after taking a look at this game after so long. Not sure why. Think I'm just developing a sixth sense for this type of situation after so many of them have been just dropping like flies. Or maybe because so many of them are just dropping like flies I'm just more or less expecting to see it now.

Over the years I've just learned to expect most new games that come around will more than likely be abandoned.

 

[allanl9020142]

Over the years I've just learned to expect most new games that come around will more than likely be abandoned.

True.

But you kind of get a feeling when something's more likely to be abandoned. Not much playtime/content each update and long dev cycles relative to the size of the update. There just wasn't a lot of momentum behind it.

(Watch him just drop a massive dump of an update the next day. But probably not. Some have done stuff like that but it's a rare event.)

 

[DanThaMan]

True.

But you kind of get a feeling when something's more likely to be abandoned. Not much playtime/content each update and long dev cycles relative to the size of the update. There just wasn't a lot of momentum behind it.

(Watch him just drop a massive dump of an update the next day. But probably not. Some have done stuff like that but it's a rare event.)

You could see his interest in this VN drop drastically from when it first started. Abandonment was expected IMO

 

[jI11jaCksjAkk]

Watch him just drop a massive dump of an update the next day.

Manifest it!

I think AVNs/lewd games are just like anything else - lots of people think they want to try it, but only a small % of those who do have the business sense and patience and long-term commitment to finish a game.

I have drifted more to DL-ing games that look interesting and trying them out - just to filter out anything where the writing or mechanics are crappy - but then just making a notation as updates are released but not DL-ing anything more until the game is marked complete (excepting games I love). So I get invested in a lot fewer games, but I probably have saved myself a lot of disappointment too.

Restaurants famously fail at a 90% clip in their first year - I don't really see AVNs as very different than that (other than the timeline being a bit longer than 1 year). And honestly with constantly changing technology keeping a game that runs for more than 2 years 'fresh' is even harder than restaurants (food is food), since after 2 years a dev can look back at the early updates and get bummed at how outdated the graphics look, at which point many get caught in the endless whirlpool of 'remakes' and never progress with the actual story. It's a hard thing to do, a harder thing to finish, and hardest of all to do well AND finish. It really takes a warrior's mentality.

 

[allanl9020142]

Manifest it!

I think AVNs/lewd games are just like anything else - lots of people think they want to try it, but only a small % of those who do have the business sense and patience and long-term commitment to finish a game.

I have drifted more to DL-ing games that look interesting and trying them out - just to filter out anything where the writing or mechanics are crappy - but then just making a notation as updates are released but not DL-ing anything more until the game is marked complete (excepting games I love). So I get invested in a lot fewer games, but I probably have saved myself a lot of disappointment too.

Restaurants famously fail at a 90% clip in their first year - I don't really see AVNs as very different than that (other than the timeline being a bit longer than 1 year). And honestly with constantly changing technology keeping a game that runs for more than 2 years 'fresh' is even harder than restaurants (food is food), since after 2 years a dev can look back at the early updates and get bummed at how outdated the graphics look, at which point many get caught in the endless whirlpool of 'remakes' and never progress with the actual story. It's a hard thing to do, a harder thing to finish, and hardest of all to do well AND finish. It really takes a warrior's mentality.

That's true. Especially with how saturated the VN niche is these days. There's a difference between making a short demo/first release and continuously writing, coding, and creating renders. You need to be good at a lot of things as a solo dev. Not to mention that you'll be managing your own project on top of all that.

One thing I sort of disagree on is that I think something older than 2 years is just fine. It's probably more like after 4 to 5 years when things start looking kind of outdated. It's true that graphics cards are constantly improving every year but rather than feeling the need to make even better renders, I think it'd be better if devs used the improved rigs to cut down on production time. Then after 4 years, really ramp up the quality. I just think that's a better way to scale things instead of losing momentum by having production slow to a crawl.

It feels more like a trap devs constantly fall into. By the time they're done upgrading their render quality, the next graphics card will come out. No matter what, renders will always end up looking outdated with the passage of time. It really isn't easy to be a solo dev. Not only do you need technical skills and artistic sense, you need to have project management skills that allows you to think clearly and make those kinds of efficient decisions.

If it wasn't for Patreon, A LOT of these devs would have never made it this far. Since they get a paycheck every month regardless of anything released. As a matter of fact, some of them just go radio silent without giving any kind of status update.

 

[jI11jaCksjAkk]

One thing I sort of disagree on is that I think something older than 2 years is just fine. It's probably more like after 4 to 5 years when things start looking kind of outdated.

Oh, I don't disagree at all. Personally I don't care if the early parts of a game look different than the later parts. I grew up watching clunky effects in movies like Star Wars and Jaws, so picking nits as rendering continues to improve seems silly to me.

I just meant that there are lot of devs who either:
- are perfectionists who look at older renders and start to nitpick themselves
OR
- start listening to a vocal minority complaining about how "bad" their first few chapters looked
OR
- are out of story ideas and see a chance to revise old content and keep collecting $ without adding new content

 

[allanl9020142]

Oh, I don't disagree at all. Personally I don't care if the early parts of a game look different than the later parts. I grew up watching clunky effects in movies like Star Wars and Jaws, so picking nits as rendering continues to improve seems silly to me.

I just meant that there are lot of devs who either:
- are perfectionists who look at older renders and start to nitpick themselves
OR
- start listening to a vocal minority complaining about how "bad" their first few chapters looked
OR
- are out of story ideas and see a chance to revise old content and keep collecting $ without adding new content

Yea, for sure. I thought about what I'd wrote and I don't even think I was disagreeing with you. I was just expressing how much I dislike devs like that but also acknowledge that it's not easy saying "No." to yourself and exercising some self-accountability. It was more like a random scream into the void, "Upgrading renders doesn't mean shit if it takes 10 years for you to complete a damn game!"

But the last one ... oh boy, that last one. I call games like that "limbo" territory and just ignore them once I realize it.

 

[homejorz]

Lefrench definitely falls into the perfectionist category. He was always trying his darndest to make the game look as good as possible render wise. I never thought renders alone were the only thing this game has going for it. I have seen another particular dev fall into the category of perfectionist, hyper focusing on stuff 99 percent of players wouldn't even notice. At that point you're not really focused enough on the big picture to get updates out consistently, or at all in some cases

 

[Aristos]

Lefrench definitely falls into the perfectionist category. He was always trying his darndest to make the game look as good as possible render wise. I never thought renders alone were the only thing this game has going for it. I have seen another particular dev fall into the category of perfectionist, hyper focusing on stuff 99 percent of players wouldn't even notice. At that point you're not really focused enough on the big picture to get updates out consistently, or at all in some cases

The game always looked amazing since the first release. He didn't need to exert himself to make it look better.
I think the problem here was the lack of enough support during the first year and a bit, followed by his focus on secondary features like that character gallery which should have been a complement, not the primary focus of a whole update that took months to finish.

On a different note, if that dev you mentioned is who I think it is, he is a bit of a psycho for me. I really hope his hardcore fans will be able to prepare themselves mentally for the fact that he will never complete his games, at least not the most popular one.

 

[Dogorti]

On a different note, if that dev you mentioned is who I think it is, he is a bit of a psycho for me. I really hope his hardcore fans will be able to prepare themselves mentally for the fact that he will never complete his games, at least not the most popular one.

The fans of that dev are delusional, I criticized something about one of their games and they almost killed me lol .

 

[MiltonPowers]

The fans of that dev are delusional, I criticized something about one of their games and they almost killed me lol .

Same, said something I didn't like it about it and felt like I got hit by a cement truck.

 

[Aristos]

The fans of that dev are delusional, I criticized something about one of their games and they almost killed me lol .

You really dared to try?
Phew, I'm glad you got out in one piece.