Yeah, there is nothing as much needed as xmas specials, particularly in good games.
..so, sooo sad there arent more devs who dont give a fuck for those "specials".I don't mind when Christmas (and Halloween) actually fit into a story's progression, but when the special is an unrelated story line and practically set a different game universe, it seems like a waste of developer effort. Do the majority of paying supporters actually want these specials or is this just something developers think they want?Yeah, there is nothing as much needed as xmas specials, particularly in good games.
When you got a piece of "game" that have a "real" sense, completely is unrelated to the main story, and prolongs its developing time by delaying the next regular episode...Thats some wet dream and xmas wish fulfilled
Good question. What do others think?
I'm with Jack, if it doesn't fit into the natural story I think they are usually a waste (in our game and others).
I think the same. If they can tie it in fair enough but the story and game are what people want. Taking time out of the natural story path would obviously put the main narrative behind making more work for what is usually a single developer who is already time constrained. As a Patreon supporter I would rather them focus on the product and stick to a wallpaper a month type thing and keep on the main development grind.
The problem I see is that to have more than a few renders you need to invest quite a lot of time to do it. And using like 2-3 months for a yearly holiday special feels like too much imho. Unless that is something you do to try out something or to get your head clear by doing something else for a while I don't think you should pursue it. At least not for the sake of having some kind of special. Of course if it's part of the story then that just regular dev time.
Depends on how it's done. If it was just some fuck fest game with no story then a Christmas episode would be cool. Your game revolves more around the story though. So if it meant delaying the story so we could get some non canon Christmas episode I wouldn't want that.
I would say specials would only be useful/functional if they were specifically planned and advertised for the audience AND/OR could be rolled into the story line. This could be difficult but, rewarding if successful. The big thing would be the communication with audience on how it would impact the overall story production. IMO
I can count the number of developers whose Halloween or Christmas content was worth it on one finger (Selebus). It's not a coincidence that the holiday content in Lessons in Love is very much integrated into the ongoing story. In every other game I've played that had it, it ranged from OK to pointless.
Agreed. If a game were more episodic and didn't have any sort of important central story line, special events would work just fine. However, in a game like this one, special events would only make sense as fanservice for after the main story is concluded.
I'm only barely a paying customer at the moment, but I don't have much interest in 'alternate reality' content. I generally play games for the story and the characters. Obviously content outside normal continuity isn't advancing the story, and in most cases it doesn't do much to flesh out the characters, either.
Honestly still up in the air. If we keep putting out huge episodes, we could do it in 5-7 maybe? But we are hoping to start producing smaller EPs faster that are maybe half the size? Which would double the episode estimate to 10-14 in that case.
Holiday specials are pointless. If the story takes place upon a holiday it should be in, but just as any other setting element.
absolutely against classic Christmas specials (even if one is all about Lily...).
