Ren'Py The Headmaster [Mykock's Manor Ch.3] [Altos and Herdone]

[Phil5k]

Is there a discord to follow the progress of the game or other news?

Yes, they have posted the link occasionally, but I guess they don't want it to be that public (less spammers that way).

The discord link is at the top of their itch.io page and in the walkthrough. So I think we can share it here:

Spoiler: Discord link

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(Picture of Samantha because.... well, you'll see. She's the one who REALLY runs the Discord channel.)

 

[ramvivat]

Correct. "Support Points" are just a fancy name for the counter "How many teacher tasks have been completed".

for good, Support Points should take into account the Number Of Favors completed by the MC, but at the same time they should not allow MC to "rest on laurels" without doing anything, as it is essentially implemented in the game. SP should take into account Academic Performance, that is, the formula should look something like this Support Points = NOF * AP * Coefficient - then this game will receive some element of realism.
AP may be have percentage value where 1 = 100% AP (Maximum of AP)
example 9 NOF * 30%(AP)= 3 Support Points

 

[ramvivat]

I am very glad that the girls from Miss Swallows School together were able to fight back against bullying from Ms. S. there was a leader who was able to convey to the rest of the girls a simple truth about "rods from a broom" - they cannot be broken together, together they are strong. one by one - they will all be broken.
I wonder if MC ended up in that school - how successful would his path be? =)

the strength of the MC is only in the fact that it ended up in greenhouse conditions. all classes were teams from different schools, the team was not formed, did not rally together, there was internal enmity in the classes - an ideal soil for the practice of "divide and rule."
if the girls guessed that the existing leader is very good and would not give her offense - they could neutralize Debbie and Cassandra - potential dogs of the MC - then the MC itself would be simply powerless.

all his vaunted practices would not have given anything, if there was a close-knit team. but alas, the team did not work out and I'm afraid by the end of the game all the girls will be eaten one at a time, like those oysters.

I wonder who took that girl leader from Swallows school to their school when Swallows confessed her own powerlessness? how did this leader show herself at the MC school? was she able to form some kind of solid core around herself, which would not let herself be offended? Or was she, being alone, safely eaten?

 

[hampsure]

Picture of Samantha because.... well, you'll see. She's the one who REALLY runs the Discord channel

Only rarely use any Discord myself (though I get why people do as I grew up on IRC), but I do like Samantha in the game. Has the poor woman gotten that second date yet?

 

[jkj54]

Yes, more money per month = less need to publish anything.

Or perhpas it could be that personal health issues and computer problems got in the way?. If i recall correctly it was the later than the former.

 

[ymisoinsane]

Or perhpas it could be that personal health issues and computer problems got in the way?. If i recall correctly it was the later than the former.

The simplest answer is usually the right one. As support for the game went up, output went down. The goal page on his Patreon states the following:
At the level of support we could both afford to work on the game full time. Expected to see even more content. With further funding we could outsource some of the more menial tasks and we would start to see significantly greater output of content.
He has been at goal for a long time and yet we got 1 update over a year ago and a half of an update like 8 months ago. The other half of that update was never released. I predicted at the time that he never would release it and instead roll it into the next update which appears to be happening. That means that some of the stuff we are going to be seeing will be things promised a year ago.
I have supported this game in the past. It's very good. But he was able to accomplish more work with less money early on. If the goal above is to be believed then we should be getting at least quarterly updates (preferably bi-monthly). I would support that type of work ethic again.
Unfortunately, he is likely burning out a bit. Health issues aside, his work ethic is clearly deteriorating. Even his last update before he was sick last year was half released and had a burdensome amount of text. I am all about world building but he had the MC explain every single thing he was thinking. Even through we already know how the MC thinks at this point. I believe this was done to inflate the length of the update artificially. (i.e. 60,000 words of dialog!)
Maybe the mental burnout is temporary. I don't think he has malicious intent. I don't believe he is trying to rip anyone off. He has a lot of talent and can probably even make other games with even more support and make a true living off of this. But he has to get his act together and find the spark he seems to have lost.

 

[Ru1n]

The simplest answer is usually the right one. As support for the game went up, output went down. The goal page on his Patreon states the following:
At the level of support we could both afford to work on the game full time. Expected to see even more content. With further funding we could outsource some of the more menial tasks and we would start to see significantly greater output of content.
He has been at goal for a long time and yet we got 1 update over a year ago and a half of an update like 8 months ago. The other half of that update was never released. I predicted at the time that he never would release it and instead roll it into the next update which appears to be happening. That means that some of the stuff we are going to be seeing will be things promised a year ago.
I have supported this game in the past. It's very good. But he was able to accomplish more work with less money early on. If the goal above is to be believed then we should be getting at least quarterly updates (preferably bi-monthly). I would support that type of work ethic again.
Unfortunately, he is likely burning out a bit. Health issues aside, his work ethic is clearly deteriorating. Even his last update before he was sick last year was half released and had a burdensome amount of text. I am all about world building but he had the MC explain every single thing he was thinking. Even through we already know how the MC thinks at this point. I believe this was done to inflate the length of the update artificially. (i.e. 60,000 words of dialog!)
Maybe the mental burnout is temporary. I don't think he has malicious intent. I don't believe he is trying to rip anyone off. He has a lot of talent and can probably even make other games with even more support and make a true living off of this. But he has to get his act together and find the spark he seems to have lost.

Agree. Game would be a big waste to go out like this, i hope dev gets back on track along with the game.

 

[WindIsHowling]

Or perhpas it could be that personal health issues and computer problems got in the way?. If i recall correctly it was the later than the former.

Time between updates has been getting longer and longer, regardless of the current dev situation, and the content isn't really much more time consuming to make.

 

[jkj54]

The simplest answer is usually the right one. As support for the game went up, output went down. The goal page on his P

Time between updates has been getting longer and longer, regardless of the current dev situation, and the content isn't really much more time consuming to make.

I do not have access to that information but if what you said is true then yeah it sound like burnout/health issue sadly that is the issue with all indie games.

As much as we all have problems with the AAA industry atleast they have a team/scheduale/leadership and will in majority of cases toss a product out.If there is money involved then they half to either refund or finish making the content. With indie devs there is no contract saying this is the roadmap here is there cash do it or else situation.

Good example is marvel avengers the player numbers crashed but they were under contract to put out MCU related skins/charecters and new dlc. So for the few hundred at most they got new content at a huge lost to square enix. Now that game has all its content free i do believe its on game pass or headed there soon something like that.

 

[TheDevian]

I do not have access to that information but if what you said is true then yeah it sound like burnout/health issue sadly that is the issue with all indie games.

As much as we all have problems with the AAA industry atleast they have a team/scheduale/leadership and will in majority of cases toss a product out.If there is money involved then they half to either refund or finish making the content. With indie devs there is no contract saying this is the roadmap here is there cash do it or else situation.

Good example is marvel avengers the player numbers crashed but they were under contract to put out MCU related skins/charecters and new dlc. So for the few hundred at most they got new content at a huge lost to square enix. Now that game has all its content free i do believe its on game pass or headed there soon something like that.

Between health issues, and trying to raise the quality (not to mention adding more and more characters), it takes longer to do. While burnout is a real thing, and many of us suffer from it (especially right now), the bigger the game, the more you care about quality, the more things you want to do, the longer it takes.

You act as though AAA companies don't also have games that get canceled, the only difference is that you don't usually get to play them while they are being made, and you only occasionally hear about them.

 

[hampsure]

You act as though AAA companies don't also have games that get canceled, the only difference is that you don't usually get to play them while they are being made, and you only occasionally hear about them.

Some modern AAA games release in a state where one could argue they're still being made.

 

[Cartageno]

Some modern AAA games release in a state where one could argue they're still being made.

Ah, a fellow Cyberpunk player

But I guess almost everybody of us has experienced this in some larger project: it is hard to get started and put the basic structure in place, then it runs smoothly-ish for a while, then it slows down more and more. Near the end there are two main possibilities: it almost grinds to a halt and you crawl across the finish line - or you are indeed able for a final push.

AAA companies also tend to try for this final push with their crunch and "Bioware Magic" and suchlike. Not really good for the employees' health.

 

[jkj54]

Between health issues, and trying to raise the quality (not to mention adding more and more characters), it takes longer to do. While burnout is a real thing, and many of us suffer from it (especially right now), the bigger the game, the more you care about quality, the more things you want to do, the longer it takes.

You act as though AAA companies don't also have games that get canceled, the only difference is that you don't usually get to play them while they are being made, and you only occasionally hear about them.

I said "while the majority do get out"

As in alot but not all its right there

In the old days they had demos and tech previews/builds heck they used to multiplayer test servers years out ea still does this but its rare. Division 2 had one until febuary play as its being built then they toss it into the main build. But ubi being special stopped that then the whole game got corrupted.


Why double down on burnout? i never said anything against that I just mentioned team and organization every job needs a plan to get work done with proper spacing. A good large team has this sadly though more crunch crap is going on now.

Indie devs though do not have teams so no option to split work but a roadmap that is double for that person can help alot.

I hate using the R buzzword but like building a structure plan it budget it first.

 

[ymisoinsane]

Between health issues, and trying to raise the quality (not to mention adding more and more characters), it takes longer to do. While burnout is a real thing, and many of us suffer from it (especially right now), the bigger the game, the more you care about quality, the more things you want to do, the longer it takes.

You act as though AAA companies don't also have games that get canceled, the only difference is that you don't usually get to play them while they are being made, and you only occasionally hear about them.

I agree that there is more to do as the game gets bigger. Updating one scene could have an impact on a number of other scenes that affect how you code. the more "other" scenes you have the more time.
However, I am talking about updates. An update can be a bunch of patrol events. or adding a new event to one persons storyline. That at least lets your supporters know that you are working and growing the game. the updates would be smaller but consistent.
Burnout is a nice way of saying laziness. No matter how you slice it, the work that has been done on this game in the past year is no where near what you would expect from one person working "full time" for that long. Let alone outsourcing some tasks to a developer to help. Burnout is a major factor here.
If the end game for him is to make some money on this game and move on with his life then this may suit him just fine. especially as the money on the patreon account stays at high levels. If the people paying him are fine with the work ethic (for now) then more power to him.
I just think that a lot of people (myself included) thought that this was more to him then just a way to milk money. I think that's why he actually has the supporters he does. And once people stop believing in him it will be very difficult to gain their trust back again.

 

[c3p0]

That at least lets your supporters know that you are working and growing the game. the updates would be smaller but consistent.

I say, that dev update would account for that. According to Patreon his latest dev update was number #44 on 2nd of March and the second lastest (#43) was on 30th of January. So, I think this requirement would be fulfilled. If he write one in May or even June that would still be the case.

 

[anoldscrewup]

Why do you people believe you are "entitled"? Unless you are actually donating money, you get the game for nothing. The dev has already devoted his time to creating pleasure & entertainment for you, but apparently thats not enough. He doesn't work for you. Learn to be patient. If the game is ultimately abandoned. you'll just have to chalk that up to one of life's little dissappointments.

 

[sf_dom]

The simplest answer is usually the right one. As support for the game went up, output went down.

It tends to be a common problem, and I find that it often comes down to scope creep or similar issues where success causes a creator to let things balloon out too much. Either because they feel like they now have the ability to do it or because success makes them feel more pressure to put out a better product. More features, higher quality (and remakes), or other issues become more important than actually releasing. More people need a solid roadmap and the ability to stick to the initial plan.

Is that the case here? No idea, but it happens often enough to be a concern.

 

[CuteLilNori]

... However, eventually, these class punishments will be for all the students and will include some of the headmasters' more advanced punishment methods...

Got back to read the recent dev. update again, so basically those girls that have not been spanked before (like Ada, Nina...) will soon get the first one. Only time will tell when we can get to see them get the first spanking!

 

[Knight_of_the_lance]

Honestly, if he wants to realeasse as much content with a bigger team for the first time and also "work under the hood" it will take more time, at least for the first and maybe secound releasse after the decision was made. Then the releasses will go up either on scale, quality or speed. It is just a basic principle of product manufacturing observed on all production lines over the world. Nothing new, nothing alarming, nothing worrying. No need to start rumors and conspiration theories. Here the devs and their associates seams serious in their endavour. So I'm not worried by the slight delay. (yes this kind of delay is small for an expanding team)

Personaly I am most looking forward to that work under the hood. somany games have half baked, janky, unusable features. If this one can have a robust footing, It will be way more enjoyable to play.

 

[jkj54]

Why do you people believe you are "entitled"? Unless you are actually donating money, you get the game for nothing. The dev has already devoted his time to creating pleasure & entertainment for you, but apparently thats not enough. He doesn't work for you. Learn to be patient. If the game is ultimately abandoned. you'll just have to chalk that up to one of life's little dissappointments.

This is why we have 0 oversight in the production of products in general/decrees in quality of products rising homeless cars with broken engines from the factory and or over 8 recalls in the first 6 months and genetic modified food.

Big or small just say hey chapter 2 is done then walk away but to walk away without a ending is kinda bs aswell there are some out there that abandoned the game but keep taking in that cash every month.

We need standardization in every sector
Regulation put in place to keep everything in check

I use subscribe star support creators but not having a return feature or making a contract never liked that.

If i gave a contractor three thousand dollars to paint my garage there would be paper to be signed if you take my money piss on the wall throw a paint can and walk away there would be trouble.

So why can users take over two thousand dollars say they are doing X then just walk away doing less than 2% of the work 0 issues?

See the situation?

The gaming space in alot of ways is like the wild west so is the new internet with nfts/bitcoin/blockchain/micro transactions etc.

There are other sectors out there for sure like the new ai tech confusing fake or real but but gamers need protection