It has been over a year since the last build of the game was released. A great deal has been going on that has essentially halted production. As was stated last year, the project is on hiatus. However, at this time, a greater explanation and long-term plan is required so those who are following the game understand the current state of affairs.
The biggest thing that slowed down production last year was the workload I was dealing with while in college. I was completing my degree program and I had to prioritize my final classes more than game development. By the time I had completed my work, I was too burned out to give the game project the due diligence it required, especially with the number of changes it still needed. When I completed my degree program, I was fortunate enough to pick up a very lucrative job opportunity. However, that new job also meant that I had little time for game development. The job was and still is very time-intensive. By the time I was done with work, I was too tired to bother with working on the game. In concert with that, I have also been dealing with a great deal of family issues that have also taken a toll on my health and energy reserves. While many of the issues have been resolved, some remain persistent, thus taking up more precious time and energy. These are the reasons why I placed the project on hiatus. I had too many irons in the fire and not enough time nor energy to address them all.
Well, let me start off by (again) thanking you for the status update. Hope things start to work out better for you, not so you can work on the game more but it just sounds like you could use less... chaos in your life.
However, during the time the game has been on hiatus, I have been taking what time I have had available to reevaluate the state of the game. The project has come very far from where it began back in 2020. However, the reality is that the nature and scope of the game have changed. One of the biggest issues that I have wrestled with is the fact that the game has far too little direction other than the scenes with the other characters. I have been wanting to create a main story for the project, but it hasn’t flowed. The reason for that is that nothing I have planned or tried to fit in has fit the premise of the game in its current form.
Thus, the current build will be the last build of the game in its current state. I plan on rewriting the game from the beginning and starting fresh. It is the easiest and best way to resolve all of the issues that have been plaguing the project from behind the scenes. This also gives me the chance to consider the overall binding story and write it from the outset, rather than try to force it in between dating NPCs.
This is interesting because I personally don't really see the lack of a central story as a strict negative. There are some good things you can do with a stronger core story, like a more natural vehicle to introduce characters or giving the game a proper "end" eventually... but I also enjoy the
Harvest Moon/
Story of Seasons-esque "freedom to do whatever you want for the day" feel that this game has (or maybe "
had" is the proper term now?)
Of course, I
am still interested to see what kind of narrative direction the new version will take, though! Just thinking I'd put in my two cents on this subject.
Likewise, I have come to the conclusion that the game’s scope is too big. Not because of the characters I had planned, but because of the large number of fetishes that I had originally planned and the necessity of ensuring all of them had equal showing in the project. Some of those fetishes required extensive custom mechanics and a LOT of backend work in RPG Maker to get going, especially the body modification and hyper mechanics. The problem with some of those mechanics is that it would distract from the type of game that was presented. The “erotic combat” mechanic and everything surrounding it was thus slated for removal, with the hyper content being next. By the time I had accepted how much needed to be cut, it was obvious that the game needed such a massive overhaul that the game cannot continue in its current state.
One of the things that I have learned in my years of writing and game development is that if something is not working out, sometimes the best thing to do is start over and reorganize from the very beginning. The first thing I had to settle on is what type of game the project was going to be, which is a dating simulator. This part is what I had planned all along and it is best that I stick to it and drop everything that would detract from it or bloat the project. That means all of the crazy level-up mechanics, the erotic combat and a few other features will have to go, along with some fetishes.
I don't remember any kind of "erotic combat" in the game myself (though I also haven't played in a good while either), so I guess I'm not really lamenting its loss? Maybe it was just something planned but never implemented, but if it was actually a thing, and things are going to be cut, probably good that it apparently wasn't a memorable-enough aspect of the game.
Sounds like the biggest hits to fetish content will be hyper and the body mod stuff, which... I'm perfectly fine with as well, since I'm not really into crazy big anatomy or surgical grafting of new penises or whatever.
Besides hyper/body mod, are there any other fetishes you can otherwise-guarantee will be dropped at this point? There wasn't really too much implemented in the game by this point even if there was a decent handful of things included in the fetish menus, but I also have to wonder if some of the stuff in said fetish menus were going to be implemented alongside the ero-combat like the tentacles or bugs. (Personally I'll be sad if the planned inclusion of anthro/furry characters is dropped, because human + furry dickgirl-on-dickgirl is a firecracker of a combination.)
What I can guarantee is that Jordan, Miki and the clowns will certainly be in the new incarnation of “The Libertine Conundrum.” Mel will also be in the reincarnated project as a major character. Because of the massive amount of work I need to do before I begin the game project fresh, I cannot say when a new build will be ready. Even with dedicated work over the coming summer, it will be the end of the year at the earliest before I can predict the release of Version 0.4, which will be the next build. The project is not canceled in the slightest. However, it cannot continue in its current state and it must be rebuilt and reorganized from scratch. A new script must be written and the locations completely rebuilt.
To those who have been patiently awaiting the next build, I appreciate your vigilance. However, I will not give out any projected release dates beyond the rough guesstimates. I have already stated until the new build is close enough to release to make prediction possible. I thank all of the humble followers that have supported the project and appreciate your understanding during this process.
Mel becoming a major character sounds great, especially considering in the game's current (old) state she's mostly a tease of something more, what with her whole "get involved with the Resort's
currently-not-implemented more freaky stuff to get involved with me" deal.
Overall, I'm interested to see where the game ends up, even if it takes another couple years by this point to get the ball rolling again. The only advice I can think of is
maybe consider sharing small previews and updates on the game's reincarnation-in-progress to
possibly retain/build up interest, but if that's too much work on top of the actual development (and various other life factors) then it'd probably be best just to work on the development itself.
