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I'm going to cover a lot here, but I will start by summarizing the major details, and if you're interesting you can continue reading below where I expand on each topic.
- TaH Episode 3 full release - targeting early February
- Adding content that was missing from the first half of the episode release
- New features - custom save names and hopefully image gallery
Episode 3 has taken a longer development cycle than I like. I really wanted it out before the end of the year but there's still a lot to complete. Ep1 was released on Feb 2nd of this year, and I'd love to get this next one out before that anniversary.
This one will certainly be larger than Ep2, as I've stated before, and will most likely exceed 50,000 words of dialogue. For anyone unfamiliar, word count is common in publication to tell the length of a piece of writing, but some of you likely aren't familiar visualizing what it means.
For paperback novels, a general rule is that 300 words are printed on one page. So 100 pages equals 30,000 words. 200 pages = 60,000 words, and so on.
When Ep3 is finished the TaH story up to this point will likely be around 130,000 words, or close to a 450-page book. From what I'm usually see, these are large chapter sizes among AVNs.
My average reading pace for books is 1 page/min, which would make this about 8.5 hours of reading material. And I typically go through AVNs slower to enjoy the pictures, especially if the artist works on the finer details.
Following the Ep3 release, the original plan was continuing a full season of 10 episodes. While this number isn't changing, I believe I'll be breaking it up into two seasons: Ep1-5 Graduation and Ep6-10 Summer Break.
There's a lot of little reasons why this felt like the right move (the size is one, and I'll touch on another reason at the end of this post). While this isn't finalized yet, it's more than likely what I'll decide to do. The important thing is that this really doesn't change anything; development continues on as usual. It's more of a marketing decision than anything.
Ep3 Revised Content:
When Part 1 of Ep3 was released there were some issues I didn't have time to address. Animations were one of them. I had some rendered out but realized too late something wasn't right. I omitted them and had to improvise alternatives in a couple scenes near the end. But I'm redoing the animations and those scenes will be revamped so it matches how I intended them to be.
Also, another short flashback scene will be available when the MC is sharing his past with Emily while walking her home. So to enjoy these additions you'll want to back up, or replay Ep3 from the beginning again.
Custom Save Names:
There are many features I've wanted to implement for a long time, and last update handled several of them. This time I'm finally adding the ability to name your save files.
I'm likely to mess around with how things look visually, but at least the coding works. Every save name will include (Ep#:S#) to represent which episode and scene you're currently in, followed by anything you enter into the box on the upper right of the screen.
Image Gallery:
This is a major improvement I've been wanting to do. I don't have much to show right now, but it is something I'm actively working on. I'm still playing with a lot of ideas of how I want it to look and how it'll function. Most likely I'll be able to provide more information about it next month ahead of the full release.
But here is an image I'm currently using as the background for Kayla's bio/gallery.
The gallery will be a mix of images that can be unlocked through gameplay, and others that are part of Bonus Content. I've wanted to include some promotional renders of the girls within the game, and this is one way it'll happen.
I don't know exactly how all of the functionality will work yet as far as unlocking images, but more info will be given later when I'm ready to debut the finished gallery.
Other Thoughts:
I've been asked often if I plan to release TaH anywhere other than Patreon (ie. Steam). The short answer is: I want to. But it's not as easy as just uploading it to their server.
There isn't anything in TaH that should prevent a Steam release according to their published rules, but even so the game would need to be reviewed and accepted which is always scary involving adult content. There's work on my end that would need to be done to make sure I'm giving a polished product and good user experience. And not to mention, it costs money to submit the game for review.
Is this something I'm looking into for the future? Yes. Will it be with the Ep3 release? No.
If the game's popularity and support continues to grow enough in the meantime then I will start pushing harder for it.
-ckr
- Nov 20, 2018
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I've played through the game, and since I don't feel like it would be fair to bring down the rating with my review I'm just going to post this here.
This game has left me conflicted. On one hand, there are some good bits of writing in lines of dialogue and some character work, like Emily's background. I also like little optional detours that give you glimpses into other character's perspectives (not sure why they are timidly hidden behind choices, I suspect to avoid the ire of vocal single-braincelled ntr crowd). The story's overall tone of a goofy comedy is also pretty consistent through. (I don't think it earns the serious tone it tries to go with a couple of times with Emily scenes though) Some jokes land. I should also mention absolutely humongous chapter size, I'm not sure about the word count, but they felt long (admittedly, it isn't always a good thing, but nonetheless)
Now for not so good. Characters. There's just too many of them and they all (except Emily, which is kind of a trend here, was she written by someone else by any chance?) inexplicably either throw themselves at our Biggus Dickus MC or are instantly utterly smitten with him for no reason whatsoever. It's hard to differentiate between sidechicks and characters that we're supposed to be invested in because they all get equally low amount of screentime and development (with the exception of Emily and the sister) Nobody acts their age and it's borderline impossible sometimes to even tell what their age is supposed to be. Which brings me to my next point, namely visuals. What the hell is going on? MC's dad looks younger than he is, his best friend has a body of a 15 year old with a head of a 5 year old, and his girlfriend isn't much better. MC's sister almost looks older than his mom and her friend looks half her age.
2.75/5. Good luck to the developer
This game has left me conflicted. On one hand, there are some good bits of writing in lines of dialogue and some character work, like Emily's background. I also like little optional detours that give you glimpses into other character's perspectives (not sure why they are timidly hidden behind choices, I suspect to avoid the ire of vocal single-braincelled ntr crowd). The story's overall tone of a goofy comedy is also pretty consistent through. (I don't think it earns the serious tone it tries to go with a couple of times with Emily scenes though) Some jokes land. I should also mention absolutely humongous chapter size, I'm not sure about the word count, but they felt long (admittedly, it isn't always a good thing, but nonetheless)
Now for not so good. Characters. There's just too many of them and they all (except Emily, which is kind of a trend here, was she written by someone else by any chance?) inexplicably either throw themselves at our Biggus Dickus MC or are instantly utterly smitten with him for no reason whatsoever. It's hard to differentiate between sidechicks and characters that we're supposed to be invested in because they all get equally low amount of screentime and development (with the exception of Emily and the sister) Nobody acts their age and it's borderline impossible sometimes to even tell what their age is supposed to be. Which brings me to my next point, namely visuals. What the hell is going on? MC's dad looks younger than he is, his best friend has a body of a 15 year old with a head of a 5 year old, and his girlfriend isn't much better. MC's sister almost looks older than his mom and her friend looks half her age.
2.75/5. Good luck to the developer
- Sep 29, 2023
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I think this is the root of my mediocre experience with the game as well. Too many characters, too little time to spend with each of them.
You're right about there being a lot of characters, but you really think there's an abnormal amount of girls throwing themselves at MC? So far you only have the option to get sexual with up to 4 (there's 6 total, but 2 paths are exclusive) out of the 30+ women introduced (obviously not all of them are pursuable). And the story so far takes place over a period of something like 5 or 6 weeks.
He wasn't even getting much attention before the school dance (Sierra saw to that). The prank video and leaked pic are kinda what got everyone talking about him and increasing his popularity, and it makes sense to me why girls would be more interested now.
- Jan 15, 2018
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Image is everything. And making your own... is even better.
- Jan 15, 2018
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I had the large post about game progress last week, so today I'm mostly covering what's in store for the next few weeks.
Let's start with promotional images... I am planning on releasing a set of 'X-treme' images for Tawny for Cute Crush+ members. Additionally, two members have commissioned custom renders this month. Sweet Sis tier will automatically get access to them in 4k. But since these are pieces of art made specifically for the individuals who commissioned them, they have the freedom to share or not share their respective render. I will leave that choice up to them and they can let me know privately when the time comes.
A couple weeks ago I did a poll regarding post frequency. A majority of you felt cutting down the number of monthly posts would be beneficial. So starting in January I will attempt to do 1 post/week and hopefully make sure each one contains more meaningful content. I will still be active and available in places like Discord where I may randomly drop a little extra content.
I also plan to get another Creative Process article done, and have also thought about another article showcasing my professional growth over this year. The idea for this is showing some examples of what I've learned or improved upon these last 12 months and how it impacts things going forward. I'm going to think more on it and if I come up with enough neat things to share then I'll go with the idea.
Lastly, but certainly not least, I know many of you are spread throughout the world with different holidays coming up that you may celebrate. Personally, (without getting sappy here) I've discovered a lot of things I'm thankful for this year. The support & connections (no matter how big or small) I've received from all of you are a major contributor to that. You've made a difference in my life and maybe I've even brought a little bit of entertainment to yours.
So stay safe & healthy, and I hope you find wonderful ways to get the most joy you can this holiday season
-ckr
Solo puedo felicitarte por el juego, lo cierto es que me he quedado con ganas de más, gran trabajo en todos los sentidos, gracias.
- Jan 15, 2018
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'Psycho Ex-Girlfriend' subscribers may request one custom render each month. Yes, you're crazy, but I'm thankful for the support anyway!
VNWhiteKnight requested Megan reenacting her conversation where she describes the famous tale of Babe Ruth calling his homerun in the 1932 World Series, with a little holiday outfit for this time of year.
Callisto asked to see our biggest sweetheart, Stacy, showing her hopeless romantic side. With a fitting backdrop of the ocean and sunset, she's locked in a close embrace and intimate moment.
I consider special commissions to be the property of the members that request them. They are free to show them off as they wish, or hold onto them privately. I won't display them anywhere else unless they give me the "OK" to post publicly, and I ask anyone else to show the same courtesy.
- Jan 15, 2018
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Where do my ideas and inspiration come from?
When we boil it down, human creativity is mostly copying other people's work and everything else we experience in life. The originality comes from combining things in different ways or "happy accidents" as Bob Ross would say.
We quote lines from movies, draw our favorite characters, sing our most loved songs... We're copying other people's work all the time. And when we create our "own style" it's usually a mix of two, three, or more other styles we're familiar with.
Inspirational AVNs:
How have other AVNs influenced TaH? I haven't seen many comparisons between TaH and any other games, but a couple people have mentioned Being a DIK likely due to the school setting, large cast, and the humor angle. BaD actually was not a direct influence for me. I didn't even explore that game until after I already started development, but it did help shape later how I wanted to do some humor.
Intertwined is what I would credit as my most influential for two reasons: the MC's personality, and choices that didn't reveal much impact until far into the future. Intertwined's MC is not obsessed with sex 24/7, and I liked how he showed a range of emotions (sometimes even anger) towards LIs.
More recently I have tried looking towards games with great art. Chasing Sunsets is one I picked up this summer that is known for its visuals. Since then I've taken an interest in Ocean (Summer's Gone, Where it All Began). While I haven't played his games yet, I looked a lot at the art he's posted to find out what he does that everyone seems to love.
The work by Kentyrr and Ocean are probably the biggest contributors to my personal art growth recently, and are reflected in the promotional images I've been releasing lately.
Plot and Characters:
So when it comes to TaH a lot of the events and characters are pulled from my own life experiences. Many of the MC's interests are ones I share because I'm knowledgeable about them. Baseball, weightlifting and card/PC games have been huge hobbies throughout my life. They're easy to write about and I can give more detail when necessary.
Several of the characters were directly inspired by people in my life. Mark, for example, was a combination of two friends from my teen and adult years. One of those friends was labeled "the dumbest smart man alive" because he was intelligent but lacked common sense. Having someone like that in my life was always a laugh, whether from their humor or when they did something worthy of a facepalm.
Writing:
This is the one category where it's hard to give specific examples of inspiration. Outside of AVNs there are two authors who have make an impression on me: Brandon Sanderson and Steven Erikson.
The main strength of Erikson is his dialogue. The way his characters converse feels real, and he knows how to infuse them with loads of sarcasm and quick wit. I strive to do that one day.
And Sanderson is my favorite overall writer where I believe he does everything top tier. He has videos on YouTube of the college classes he teaches and they've been very helpful in my endeavors to become a better writer.
Other Details:
There's one particular scene in BaD where the entire joke is happening in the background over several frames while the focus is on a foreground conversation (where the MC is working in the library putting books back on shelves).
Is it weird that this is my most memorable scene from that entire game?
Yes? Well, whatever...
But this may be the most influential factor to make me want to include subtle details in TaH. There are several places where I use the background to help tell the story, make a joke, or hide little foreshadowing clues.
Final Thoughts:
The thing about finding inspiration is you need to expose yourself to more things that actually inspire you. Ever since I started development of TaH it's been harder to find time to play or read anything else. But it's important for my own growth to make more time for them.
-ckr
- Jan 15, 2018
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You only need to find an excuse for her to break the rules
- Aug 18, 2020
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As 2023 is wrapping up, this should be my final progress report of the year. If all goes well I will use next Sunday's post to cover the growth and improvements made over the last 12 months.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about some revised content that needed to put in the first half of Ep3 which included some animations. All of that is complete plus several new scenes into the second half.
It was more difficult than I thought, requiring a lot of rewrites to make things fit correctly, and a significant change with a new character interaction. One of the problems was a scene that felt like it was rushed without buildup.
Onto another topic, I've done a lot of renders since I made major updates to skin textures over the summer and it's given me enough time to notice some flaws. I will slowly begin correcting them as I work on major scenes involving main characters so I don't create a delay by doing ALL of them.
But on Discord this week I did show off some samples to improve eyes. For the longest time I felt like I could never get them right.
Here is the updated look for Ami that shows off her new eyes. The reflectivity is enhanced along with a couple other things, but (to me at least) they have more life and are less "flat" than before. Just one more step closer to being a top-5 AVN for visuals.
This is going to be a busy week for me with multiple holiday functions going on. But if I can queue up some animations then maybe it won't hit productivity too hard.
Merry Christmas
-ckr
- Jan 15, 2018
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There's so much that happened in 2023 both from released content and personal skill growth that felt worthwhile to share. I'll give a quick bullet point rundown followed by more details if you see something that piques your interest.
For developers who are interested in my journey and how it compares to theirs, or for aspiring new ones wanting to know what to expect, I hope you find some of this insightful.
For fans, supporters and other curious souls who'd like to know more about me and the project I develop, there should be a little something to gain from this as well.
- What is a healthy workload?
- Your learning will never end.
- What mistakes did I make?
- What is next?
This is something that I see talked about occasionally, but I don't believe most people understand. Developers put a lot of time into their work for a very small amount of enjoyment by players. It could take 1,000+ manhours of development time for you to play that 2-hour episode update.
Sounds ridiculously exaggerated? Consider the writers, actors, sfx teams, and everyone else that goes into making one episode of your favorite show. There's a reason we only get eight 1-hour episodes a year, if we're lucky.
Or how long it takes your favorite author to write the next book in the series. Planning, plotting, writing, proofreading, and multiple revisions over hundreds or even thousands of hours... just for someone to read in 1/100th of that time.
I released 2.5 episodes throughout 2023, and while I truly wanted to get a full 3 done I just couldn't fit it in. Sure, they seem to be larger than the typical episode of other similar projects, but it's still important to strive for quick release intervals that contain enough content that's worthwhile for the player.
For those looking to monetize their project (especially with services like Patreon), you'll find there are some people who love what you do and really want you to succeed so you can make the best game possible for them. They may even become a regular supporter. Most of them understand the workload constraints, but others may wonder what's taking so long.
My advice: be transparent and communicate your plans and your pace of work. And be honest with yourself about what you can realistically produce. Don't overpromise something you can't deliver.
Learning on the job
At this point I've been working with Daz for about a year and a half. In the beginning I thought everything I did looked so awesome. I was creating images with lifelike models with little effort out of the box.
As I was browsing around the internet to learn how to use different aspects of the software, I saw many people in forums talking about how you'd want to customize the settings to make your characters and renders look better.
Are you kidding? They look great already!
Well... Eventually I learned some humility. While I was able to make large improvements with my renders from 'simple' ways like increasing the iterations and not using the denoiser... I was missing out on the things that really made a difference, like those texture settings on characters' skins.
It took over a year before I realized how much things like that were holding me back. So over the last six months it's gone from this...
To this...
It's a quick example of a render I used to be proud of, to something I whipped up on a whim for demonstration. Not only have I started figuring out what all those texture maps and setting sliders do within Daz, but I also took a step back to look at what makes good photography. This is mostly dealing with ways to light your scene, fill the foreground/background appropriately, and the positioning of your camera. Also, finding natural looking poses for your characters.
It's very easy for me to overexaggerate expressions and poses because I want to make sure that emotion is conveyed. My early renders suffered from this. What's funny to me is that I usually see the opposite problem in so many AVNs where the characters are expressionless or have blank stares.
The lesson here is a little can go a long way. Humans notice the tiniest differences on others' faces. And some good advice (even though it's not something I do) is to search up images online to use as references for poses/expressions if you're struggling with getting the right look.
I do not consider myself an expert in anything related to art or photography, and in fact I know almost nothing, so I fully expect to look back at my work in a year and call it trash. Hell, I already do this every couple of months as it is lol.
Is there anything I would do over?
The answer to this is simple: don't rush the first release. We only get to make a first impression once, and I hate that I may have lost so many potential fans by trying to get something out as soon as I could.
This doesn't mean take forever to strive for perfection. It means finding people you trust that can provide honest critiques of your work early on. And if there are other projects you find inspirational, identify where they excel so you can model your own work after that.
I had a terrible beta release for TaH because I wasn't properly prepared, and it's sad to me that many won't give it another chance and find out it's something they'll like. There were far more negative comments than positive ones from the early release, and when you're dealing with people on the internet it's usually hateful remarks rather than constructive criticism. You're left trying to sift through mindless garbage to find the nuggets of truth that will actually help you improve.
What's in store next?
I am still moving along production to complete the third episode of Trouble at Home. I put out samples regularly that show how the art is improving, but I know that's not what keeps people hooked.
TaH was created using the severed relationship with Kayla at its core, and the character growth that both her and the protagonist will have because of it. The story will continue to progress in different ways, exploring deepening relationships and other unique events along the way. You can expect more romantic and intimate scenarios than before, as well as some darker themes that haven't been touched yet.
I hope to reveal a deeper story that will keep people wanting more, and make this something that will stand up to its peers in the AVN world.
-ckr
I was so so on the game until seeing the flashback that explains literally everything about the MC and why he's got this annoying passive, victimhood mentality to things. I liked that it justifies his characterisation, since having no one believe you when you've been wrongly 'convicted' of something would have you feeling resentful and helpless at how unfair the world is.
The flashback should have been included waaay earlier in the game, especially since it explains his conflicts with his sister, which is basically one of the main story beats in this game. The fire rescue should have happened in the game rather than a flashback. Stories told in media res like this just make the character and player feel even more passive. The exgf getting gangbanged wasn't a great start to the game either.
He seemed so passive and down on his luck, but then does heroic shit like saving people from a housefire. I was expecting a radioactive spider to bite him and give him super powers...
The flashback should have been included waaay earlier in the game, especially since it explains his conflicts with his sister, which is basically one of the main story beats in this game. The fire rescue should have happened in the game rather than a flashback. Stories told in media res like this just make the character and player feel even more passive. The exgf getting gangbanged wasn't a great start to the game either.
He seemed so passive and down on his luck, but then does heroic shit like saving people from a housefire. I was expecting a radioactive spider to bite him and give him super powers...
Well, in this case the break up with gf and what happened after is the catalyst for MC starting to notice and being noticed by other girls.
- Jan 15, 2018
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'Psycho Ex-Girlfriend' subscribers may request one custom render each month. Yes, you're crazy, but I'm thankful for the support anyway!
Callisto asked for a rotated side view of Carla as she reaches down to pet her cat. (Technically this is their December request while the last one was for November from a minor timing issue.)
As usual, I consider customs to be the property of who requests them, and they can decide whether to publicly share them or not. I won't display them anywhere else unless they give me the "OK" to.