VN Ren'Py Abandoned Tides of Succession [Ch.3 v0.3] [TakMycket]

[jadepaladin]

Don't get me wrong, I'm also heartbroken about Tides of Succession, but I'm just happy he's

Giving game development a chance, we need more story-driven visual novels with Romance

If I have to play one more horny dumbass Haram MC, I'm going to kill myself.

...............................
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Just to be clear, this is a joke by the way, if you enjoy harems, more power to you

His next game is a college AVN, it will 100% be a horny dumbass MC, just not harem.

 

[yossa999]

well it looks like that's the direction the next project is heading... college shit.

Truth to be told, I don't see a college shit suffering from the lack of fans or supporters. If the shit is good, ofc.

 

[Joshy92]

Even if it's good, it's no guarantee. I know of one that has been dead for two years now and one that doesn't even have 25 subs. And they have good writing and lots of choices.

Time will tell if this new game can take off.

 

[Elduriel]

Truth to be told, I don't see a college shit suffering from the lack of fans or supporters. If the shit is good, ofc.

it's just such a trope and so fucking boring at this point

 

[yossa999]

Even if it's good, it's no guarantee. I know of one that has been dead for two years now and one that doesn't even have 25 subs. And they have good writing and lots of choices.

Time will tell if this new game can take off.

Nothing's guaranteed, bro. I mean, college trope can be just as successful as anything else, and we all know plenty of examples.

It depends on the developer and their luck.

 

[jadepaladin]

My major issue is the erosion of trust.

Preface this by saying I like Tak, a lot. He's one of my favorite devs to talk with here because he's informative and seems friendly. I'm mostly disappointed in the decision but I think anytime a decision has come to a vote, Tak has went opposite of how I voted so I had a hunch it was going to come to this. Maybe I should have used reverse psychology.

I just don't understand how I'm supposed to justify spending more money on a developer that has abandoned two projects. Sometimes a decision to abandon is justified (poor health, etc) but the only justification I see here is that it's Tak's choice. It's the equivalent to being a child and asking why and getting told "because I said so."

I'm not gonna harp on the design of the new girls in the college VN. They are in progress and will most likely change a bit more before anything resembling a release is ready. Look at how many redesigns the Stardew Valley NPCs went through, some look nothing like their original forms.

Any VN's success mostly comes down to luck. Sure, you can bolster your chances with technical skill, good writing, etc, but the largest factor is luck. You need the right eyes on it, the right wallets to open, and the right mouths to spread. There's plenty of absolute garbage VNs that pull in bank and really good VNs that sputter along financially or eventually get abandoned.

All I know is, around a week ago, Tides was still viable because Tak was looking for testers for the spiced up scenes. Now? Not so much. I would think that a decision this important would need more time.

 

[Elduriel]

My major issue is the erosion of trust.

Preface this by saying I like Tak, a lot. He's one of my favorite devs to talk with here because he's informative and seems friendly. I'm mostly disappointed in the decision but I think anytime a decision has come to a vote, Tak has went opposite of how I voted so I had a hunch it was going to come to this. Maybe I should have used reverse psychology.

I just don't understand how I'm supposed to justify spending more money on a developer that has abandoned two projects. Sometimes a decision to abandon is justified (poor health, etc) but the only justification I see here is that it's Tak's choice. It's the equivalent to being a child and asking why and getting told "because I said so."

I'm not gonna harp on the design of the new girls in the college VN. They are in progress and will most likely change a bit more before anything resembling a release is ready. Look at how many redesigns the Stardew Valley NPCs went through, some look nothing like their original forms.

Any VN's success mostly comes down to luck. Sure, you can bolster your chances with technical skill, good writing, etc, but the largest factor is luck. You need the right eyes on it, the right wallets to open, and the right mouths to spread. There's plenty of absolute garbage VNs that pull in bank and really good VNs that sputter along financially or eventually get abandoned.

All I know is, around a week ago, Tides was still viable because Tak was looking for testers for the spiced up scenes. Now? Not so much. I would think that a decision this important would need more time.

after all this I'll buy a game from him when it's finished and not before. That's where I am.

 

[MagicShoppe]

Not only that, he promises 2000 renders every 2 months, which is IMPOSSIBLE to maintain or even fulfill - the best devs in this segment only manage 500 renders every 70 days. But sure...

2 months is roughly 9 weeks. 168 hrs/week = 1512 hours, with no sleep, eating, etc. That's about 45 minutes to put together and pose each of the 2000 renders. This doesn't account for writing, coding, finding assets, mistakes requiring remakes, etc. And also doesn't involve sleep or food and stuff. Even with 12 hours days, nose to the grindstone, only have 22 minutes to completely assemble the assets, position the props, pose the figures is a hellish pace. Sure, rendering that many pictures is possible. But...

It's not just impossible to maintain, it's probably impossible period.

 

[Elduriel]

2 months is roughly 9 weeks. 168 hrs/week = 1512 hours, with no sleep, eating, etc. That's about 45 minutes to put together and pose each of the 2000 renders. This doesn't account for writing, coding, finding assets, mistakes requiring remakes, etc. And also doesn't involve sleep or food and stuff. Even with 12 hours days, nose to the grindstone, only have 22 minutes to completely assemble the assets, position the props, pose the figures is a hellish pace. Sure, rendering that many pictures is possible. But...

It's not just impossible to maintain, it's probably impossible period.

and animations weren't even included in that. Considering the theme there should be plenty of those

 

[Meiri]

I mean I can sympathize that the money he was getting was not worth the amount of work he was putting in, that's something many devs will have to deal with and the only thing that I can say is be mentally ready for it, because lets face it there is a lot of competition out there and many abandoned games which make possible patreon wait it out with new games.

Also choosing to just put a pause on a game to develop another it's a big no from me no matter who is the developer, lets face it, this is basically a cancellation since developing these games takes years.

Even if this new game was great, I would probably never support it, just because I would find it difficult to trust in him again.

Cancelling would have been ok after the prelude / first chapter, I can understand that if the story didn't have the reception you wanted or he had a different idea, but don't do this at chapter 3 when the story is already rolling...

 

[MagicShoppe]

and animations weren't even included in that. Considering the theme there should be plenty of those

"Renders" could mean stills and it could mean animations and stills. :shrug:

 

[Elduriel]

"Renders" could mean stills and it could mean animations and stills. :shrug:

in most cases it's still renders, animations are counted separately

 

[MagicShoppe]

in most cases it's still renders, animations are counted separately

That just means there's even less time to do the work, though. And animations generally require more time per frame than still renders need.

 

[slick97]

So several responses here have made explicit mention of Tak dropping Tides due to exploring a more financially viable product. Others have mentioned they didn't partake in the poll since it's ultimate Tak's decision. To answer the latter in a blunt manner: obviously it's his choice, this is the same as saying "water is wet". The issue stems from Tak already making a decision prior to asking his community how they feel about it. If you've decided on a path forward then just do it, don't ask others for their opinion after the fact.

To address the former, I've seen mention that success as an AVN developer is mostly luck based. While correct it understates just how much luck is involved, like getting struck by lightning twice kind of luck. A traditional career would at least provided a more stable income while developing Tides on the side and releasing a completed version on Steam and monitoring it's metrics over a few weeks. If it sells then it's worth quitting your day job as you have a strong starting portfolio and core fan base that could potentially spread news of your new project to new customers.


I know it's another obvious statement in saying Tak isn't obligated to take the advice of his community members, nor would I expect him to especially coming from me. Perhaps Tak's decision pays off and he becomes the next DPC, or he joins the majority of devs and fails to bring in more than a couple thousand a month (for perspective, my day job pays $6100 /mo.).

 

[Dessolos]

Even if this new game was great, I would probably never support it, just because I would find it difficult to trust in him again.

my issue isn't just with lost of trust and faith in this developer. But playing said new game would be a constant reminder of this game which I loved alot and the fact it could of been worked on instead of his new game.

 

[MagicShoppe]

To address the former, I've seen mention that success as an AVN developer is mostly luck based.

The number of solo/duo AVN developers who can support themselves with just making AVNs is probably in the low double digits. I point this out as often as I can in various forums. This number will go down given the current merchant environment.

 

[Elduriel]

my issue isn't just with lost of trust and faith in this developer. But playing said new game would be a constant reminder of this game which I loved alot and the fact it could of been worked on instead of his new game.

yeah, I don't doubt the new game could be fun. I know from Tides that he can make a quality product. But do I trust that he will finish that one? Fuck no.

 

[Meiri]

I wonder what % of all of you complaining actually supported the game instead of just freeloading and playing for free I mean I guess you reap what you sow you didn't support the game which lead to it getting canceled and now the dev has to make a game that will appeal to more people actual paying customers. University games are extremely popular with the devs level of writing and quality I think he can easily pull it off even if the market is saturated with them more people are bound to try it out and drop some money over some niche pirate game that is for sure make no mistakes and anybody saying otherwise is delusional almost all the top selling AVN on steam are university/college games they make money for a reason.

I don't know about that, anyone can get into steam these days but actually getting successful is something else, most of those games had a base in Patreon, it is where he will get most of his money, at least initially, it's not like you can create a school themed VN and instantly pop up 1000 subscribers, specially not if his potential Patreons come from here and they will know about this one.

 

[Pixillin']

To me the biggest problem isn't even that he isn't continuing this game, it's the decision to go into AVN development right after graduation instead of whatever he's been training for. The job market is tight, and right out of school is where most employers get their entry level staff. Taking a year off between HS and Uni or between undergrad and grad school is one thing but taking a year or two off after you graduate before you seek a job in your field could cause serious damage. And it would be a tough decision to explain to family and potential future employers.

 

[Elduriel]

To me the biggest problem isn't even that he isn't continuing this game, it's the decision to go into AVN development right after graduation instead of whatever he's been training for. The job market is tight, and right out of school is where most employers get their entry level staff. Taking a year off between HS and Uni or between undergrad and grad school is one thing but taking a year or two off after you graduate before you seek a job in your field could cause serious damage. And it would be a tough decision to explain to family and potential future employers.

trying to make a living off of AVNs is a huge fucking gamble, it's a really tough market to make a big break into. Get a job, establish yourself a life, make your game when you can if you are actually passionate about it. That way you won't fuck up your life and have something to fall back on if you're not lucky enough... because honestly talent will only get you so far. He is not an established name, so yeah, a lot of luck is needed to make a financially successful game.