Ren'Py When should I post new content/update my game?

[saifmangawy]

I'm releasing my own visual novel very soon but I was wondering how often should I release new updates/content? I want to be able to build hype for the game while also making sure that the players can get access to new content relatively soon.

 

[KaeruVN]

I think the standard is about a month, but it also depends on how much content is in the new update.

 

[668 Neighbor of the Beast]

I'm releasing my own visual novel very soon but I was wondering how often should I release new updates/content? I want to be able to build hype for the game while also making sure that the players can get access to new content relatively soon.

It's a bit of a two sided coin. If you release regularly you'll get more attention by bumping to the top of the new releases/updates more often. The obvious down side is that your updates will be shorter. You can inform your patrons/followers about small updates if you want, just to try to minimise the moaning and bitching.
Just my two cents worth, your call

 

[GNVE]

Whatever you think you can sustain long term. Many devs start out doing monthly updates or even more often only to discover they are burnt out by update 5 and stop developing by update 10. Of course expectation management is important. If people know an update will be given once per X amount of time up front they can draw conclusions from that for themselves.

 

[aereton]

At least if you mainly use this platform to reign people in, here's General Rules 4.1:

Threads may be promoted again on the Last Updates page after two weeks since the last major content update.

Should be a good target if you want to release fast without wasting opportunities. I personally don't like small updates so I my sweet spot for the games I like is around 3-4 months.

 

[MissFortune]

Monthly is absolutely not a standard. Nor should it be. As GNVE said, it's a recipe for burnout for the large majority of developers. It takes a certain kind of developer to do that, and even taking that into account, many players don't like it. They prefer larger updates with more content to chew on.

Set a render count/art goal for the each day. Do only that much. Much like you would with a 9 to 5. 3-4 months should be the goal.

 

[DuniX]

Whenever you have enough content to satisfy the players for a while.
Do not fucking blueball them all the time in every update.
You aren't the only project around, they can well play something else while they wait.
3-4 months is about the standard you should target for projects that are active but like I said find a good end point for yourself.

 

[jamdan]

Don't forget that in addition to art, you have to do the code, testing and other stuff. So consider the time you have to spend doing that stuff too when considering how often you can update.

I'd consider 2-4 months a good cycle.

For early on, if possible, consider working ahead to get a backlog of content. That way you can update more frequently, but you're actually releasing stuff you've already made.

As I talked about in this post a while ago. https://f95zone.to/threads/at-what-rating-should-a-dev-seek-help.131060/post-9030344