Update Preferences

[N7Shepard]

I'd adore being able to release monthly (and indeed that was my original plan) but I just don't have the hardware "ooomph" to kick out the number of renders I need (makes her game on a 1060 potato). Interestingly, I've been kicking this around with my patrons myself of late as I feel rather uncomfortable taking cash in a month when I don't deliver something and so raised with them this issue. i.e. would they prefer a complete chapter as envisaged when ready or part chapters every month.

Also! Please, please, please tell me you called your MC, Shepard...

I don't really see anything wrong with charging on months that you don't put out an update. While I'm not sure how much you make off of the game at the moment that money can be used to go back into the game through things like hardware upgrades to make rendering faster or just allowing the Dev to not need to work as much leaving more time to work on the game. I do admit though that this is my opinion without knowing the struggles of trying to keep and/or increase support which I'm sure can be a tricky balancing act.

And yes, my Heavy Five MC is indeed named Shepard. Engineer was also my favorite class to play in Mass Effect so it's a great fit.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I prefer larger updates, so that would probably put me firmly in the episodic camp.
Most of the devs that I back are in the camp of - "I'll release it when it's ready"; I'm perfectly happy with this as long as there is some kind of communication, whether that be on Patreon or on here. I especially like it when devs interact with their fans/followers. As for paying each month for what others might see as "a rip off, where's my update?" I don't see it this way, I'm paying to support a creator (not everyone I back is a game dev) of some kind, if I wanted to just buy a game, I'd go to Steam or Amazon, this is about supporting someone's dream.

 

[Canto Forte]

Updates have to have meat to them ... like the heart just skipped 1000s beats when notti said naughty actions were delayed yet another version ... then there are some devs that say right off the bat they have something and ... then you discover by accident they never had it ... but it was good publicity ... and all gamers were duped into giving up on even searching for and discovering the ruse.

This is where modders and community chatter come in ... so that the real code is discovered and the real game is afoot ... not like ... bam-wall of fire ... bam -> wall of smoke bam => game over.

Not to mention some devs never update their pages and now their games are totally different than what their first page / banner / synopsis says they make.

Games need some update on every front ... a simple change of the GUI background to show update, some gal wallpapers on save / options screen to show focus of update, a well written About section to feature the change log and also give hints on where the story gets us.

These are the departments where all games are lacking ... some intentional and some by design - lack of time, lack of resources, IRL stuff, change of direction, sudden change of heart.

What ever it takes to wrap up the update ... drag it on some 2 more weeks ... release the updated husk / GUI to show some mini game good faith ... all the automated systems that run to make a game could be disassembled and shipped like demos .. showcasing the update and keeping everyone happy -> supporters are in the loop and participate lively .. gamers are happy the project is moving

Game On! Updates need to mean something ... commissions are a totally different story.

 

[Nottravis]

Without derailing the thread *which I do -far- too often...*

And yes, my Heavy Five MC is indeed named Shepard. Engineer was also my favorite class to play in Mass Effect so it's a great fit.

You'll enjoy the breakfast scene in Chpt Four.... *wiggles eyebrows*

*shushes and goes back to rendering*

 

[DaScoot]

From a developer perspective, I release two (small) updates a month, which is pretty rare from what I've seen - I think maybe one project I'm a patron of does more than one a month, and that's mostly bug testing builds filtering through the different tiers. In my case, however, it's for entirely selfish reasons. Having a requirement to get a build out every 2-3 weeks means I'm not allowed to slack off. If I only did one release a month, it'd be far too easy for me to skip working for entire weeks at a time, telling myself I'd make up for it later (and then almost certainly failing to).

As it currently is, I might only have time for half an hour or so a day, but I do work on it about five days a week most weeks, which is enough to guarantee a steady pace.