Returning Dev: Should I restart Chimera: Bloodlines?

[FunDi Games]

Hey all,

Quick reintroduction - I'm the creator of Chimera Bloodlines, where you will see the prominent "Abandoned" tag:

https://f95zone.to/threads/chimera-bloodlines-season-1-v0-2-fundi.169852/

My previous account's deleted along with my old Gmail and I have no idea how to restore it on F95.

For those who remember, I released 2 rough versions before dropping the project. The codebase was, honestly, a mess and I didn't really know what I was doing at the time.

Things have changed - I'm in a better place financially and personally now, meaning I'm not a month away from living on the street. I've been thinking about reviving the project with:

• Complete system overhaul
• Revamped content
• More storyline paths
• Overall better quality
• Less cringe, I hope

About the first attempt - it was tough handling the mixed feedback (started positive, turned pretty negative, then turned into people threatening me if I didn't include a specific fetish lol). That, combined with the messy code making it impossible to build on, led to me dropping it. Beginners - please practice before making games, learned it the hard way.

I think I've grown since then and could make something solid this time around. Still have all the original files and models, plus extra content from my other game attempt (I SCREAM, which didn't take off).

Just testing the waters here - leaning towards restarting it, but if there's strong negative feedback, that'll definitely factor into my decision.


Is anyone interested in seeing this come back? Do redemption stories here ever exist - or once you lose the trust that's it?

My Steam page has 2.3k wishlists lol. This was a randomly amusing point.

 

[quiboune]

Dev, I'd love to see any of your stories coming back to life, through continuation or a remake, or even a completely new story. The best part of your games was how the MC is, well, overpowered. As long as you do something with that I'm sure you'll have a nice game.
One of the things I also love was how both games(IIRC) gave the option of engaging with pregnancy content very early, even if no pregnancy showed before you abandoned the games. That's something I'd love to see again, and see more of.

 

[kurosx]

iirc the game looked qute interesting so I would welcome it back. On the other hand, with ditching both games you left some burned ground behind you, so it will be hard to earn the trust of the people to support you again.

 

[Saint Blackmoor]

Restarting it is a great idea. I see a lot of potential in the game. Now that you are better positioned to work on it, you can avoid the issues that popped up last time.
The road you describe to abandoning it is sadly one traveled by many here. Some of the responsibility goes to the soulless/entitled members here who could care less about your RL situation.
I offer my help in proofreading if you're so inclined.
Cheers

 

[MagnusTempestus6]

It has been a while, but for all it's flaws I think I kind of liked it. But a rework should probably address some stuff like the cringe and some other things. Sandbox is always a controversial thing, for example. Nothing will ever change that and some will love it, some will hate it.
And speaking of hate, there will also always be negativity coming your way as a dev. It is the way of the internet, even if it is objectively just shitty behavior by the people perpetrating it.

I also have to second what kurosx mentioned. Two abandonments is a lot. Please do this comeback with appropriate expectations in mind. Financial support is sadly concentrated far away from new/small devs and at most helps with asset costs or a new hardware piece after a while. I don't want to sound too negative, but it would probably have more chances as a passion project on the sidelines rather than attempting to make it a job right off the bat.

To end it on a better note, I think the world you built is quite interesting and that sets it apart from other more generic work and is what made me interested in spite of the shortcomings. It's really just what you said yourself, the lack of experience in story telling and development was what held it back somewhat. But your ideas are good and that shows. Such inspiration is what gives it a lot of potential in my opinion and I think you should capitalize on that by either reviving Chimera in some way or by using the ideas present for your way forward. This is of course all my opinion, so take of it what you will.
Good luck either way with whatever you choose to do in the end. Cheers

 

[TigerWolfe]

I was intrigued by the world you were making, but I think you should focus on a short or well contained kinetic/near kinetic novel to get something actually made. Branching kills these games, so adding more story lines just feels like setting yourself up for failure right off the bat.

 

[GreenOwl]

a few things i want to say:
- i would like to see a remake of the game, i liked the original and was hoping you would return to the game
- you should make the game that you want to make. you cant please everyone anyway, so dont fill it with content that a few people request but you dont want in the game.
- there are always people that wont like you, focusing on them will not change anything for the better
- you have 2 abandoned projects, so you will probably have a harder time earning that trust back than some other devs, but if you show your determination to finish the project this time, there will be enough people that give you their trust
- harem cartel thread as you can see here some people thought this dev was you and felt betrayed by another abandoned project. so some initial distrust is to be expected
-a positive last note: in my experience people will forgive almost everything if they get something good out of it, so you will be fine. just handle it professionally and dont interact too much with the negative people and focus on the fans.

 

[FunDi Games]

Yeah - everything people say in this thread makes sense, I will give it a think.

I've been working on some SFW games as a consultant, and if I'm being real, making much more money with less work. I never imagined how much money is flying around in North American studios that you can tap into if you want some cred.

But, the time of making it was pretty fun. Which is why I figured I might as well ask.

Thanks all for giving the time, I will deliberate.

Almost makes me wonder if I was more experienced back then and kept going where I would've been now. At the same time, that's life, so you know, you never know.

 

[josef2600]

I second it! I liked it. and i like kinetic/near kinetic novel point too. "you can't stop gods from engineering" ! but you can make them depressed so they drop the work!