VN Ren'Py WVM [S2 Ch. 1 Ep. 13 B5] [Braindrop]

[polycentric]

I think the largest lesson to learn is that:

a) Your customers are not your friends (they are like the Greek Fates, fickle and cruel when spurned), b) Discord is a tool, not a social platform if you're a Developer: use it for PR / communication soley about the game and leave it at that and c) Patreon is not your friend given it is structured to minimise feedback that shows the actual fail-rate / percentage of failed projects it actually hosts. Patreon isn't even kick-starter (in that KS at least cancels projects that fail their target goals).

Many (many) of these projects fail because a Developer falls into the Discord rabbit-hole and wastes time, energy and psychological well-being that are better spent coding / writing / planning out roadmaps. Lesson #1 - Discord is a company with an identical model as Twitter or Facebook where they use a whole raft of dark patterns[1] to maximise engagement. This includes you, the Discord creator.

Top tips:

1) Don't overly front-load a project: yes you want a splash and yes you want to get hype / momentum, but don't blow all your load at once. This is a classic where a title launches with 3+ gb of renders, huge cast, massive promises and then runs into production issues. Make a roadmap: know what your next three release targets are and do them religiously. Three month updates are sensible and allow for RL to interfere without ruining deadlines (monthly is suicide: professional studios don't do monthly apart from internal crunch... and that's kept internal for a reason). This is called "runway": if you have 3+ gb, release 2, hit the next deadline with your remaining 1 and the breathing space / lack of pressure will probably mean you can produce an extra 1gb to bolster it. Always have runway (and not imaginary 2500 renders that do not exist a year later) and be realistic: even a short narrative arc / render set is better than panicking and throwing out a minor cast render / sex scene to placate your customers: hit roadmap targets, not filler spank. (You'll take a hit in the short run; in the long run your game gets completed).

Lack of content + Time pressure + solo psychological development = death spiral waiting to happen

2) Focus on the game rather than the PR / Discord / Patreon numbers. Make it clear to customers (and to yourself) if you consider this a hobby (which will get you more leeway on updates but lower interest levels) or if this is semi-professional.

If it is a hobby, then treat it like one and have fun. Ignore feedback and just create and see what happens.

If you have an absolute $$$ goal make it clear to yourself and make it realistic. Don't say "If I don't get $1000 / month by month two I am ditching"; do say: "My target is $250, $500 and then $1000, but I can accept $200, $400, $800 for three months after this deadline, then I will have to reconsider". Then stick to it.

3) Social media is poison, especially Discord which is real-time interaction. Treat it as a required necessity and never use it for anything but hitting a roadmap target. Yes, each update should have patch notes / a lead-in time, but only do this once you have wrapped up the actual update.

You get the idea. Good luck with your project.



[1] The best source on this is probably:

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This is a great post!

I think most potential VN players view projects in one of three ways:

- Hobby project: the developer states, from the very beginning, that this is 'passion project' or a 'hobby project' and usually is the work of one person. Importantly, the developer doesn't make transactional performance claims - "I will deliver X amount of content containing Y preferences if I reach the Z amount of support and I'll do that every [specific period]". Even if they do accept true, 'tip'-style patronage, it's clear from the onset this is a best-effort, 'done-when-it's-done' project. This doesn't completely shield the developer from complaints but most players are reasonable and help educate the less reasonable.

- Full time developers: the developer states that they will work on a project, or even projects, 'full time' if a certain threshold of patronage is met. This sets the expectation that there will be a steady stream of content released, even if the developer doesn't make specific content and release cadence claims. Players and patrons assume this is the developer's only source of income so they expect the developer to make every reasonable effort to be professional and use patronage monies to develop the game.

- Transactional developers: these developers are the ones that do make performance claims which couple timing and content to patronage. This is basically content-to-spec (romantic interests, sex acts, body types, even names) and people's expectations are (at least) based on what the developer states will happen. Players perceive this as a 'tit-for-tat' exchange of patronage for content and will be extremely disappointed if the developer doesn't meet their commitments.

I don't have a lot of advice that others haven't given but what I will say is be consistent and learn VN creation project management. A lot of developers get into trouble by allowing themselves to 'stampeded' into committing to content and timing, and almost all new developers learn complexity management the hard way, often as a direct result of the scope creep that comes out of getting pushed into doing something you don't really want to. Not following these common-sense 'rules' is exactly what caused BD to not deliver and we can all see how that turned out.

 

[Deleted member 4175327]

 

[jonnyd901]

Personally I'm taking this as a lesson to be learned with my own personal project. I'm not even going to bother making an uploader/creator account until I have my entire project completed. Downside to that is, this is just going to make my timeline unpredictable, 'cause I was (still am) a bit discouraged when I discovered how much money it'll cost me in the long run in DAZ assets and licensing. But so be it if it'll avoid any headaches such as these.

If I was you I would go ahead with your idea. There are plenty of other VN's that have had a long update in between releases. Just look at their forums you don't see the shit show that BD has turned this into. They've all had RL issues but have kept their subscribers informed if you look at some of them BD has actually claimed the same was wrong with him. At one point everyone here was eager for the update now it's what excuse is coming next

 

[JGoat]

If I was you I would go ahead with your idea. There are plenty of other VN's that have had a long update in between releases. Just look at their forums you don't see the shit show that BD has turned this into. They've all had RL issues but have kept their subscribers informed if you look at some of them BD has actually claimed the same was wrong with him. At one point everyone here was eager for the update now it's what excuse is coming next

100% this I don't mind the intervals however long it might be. Be forthright and honest to people. People get that real-life happens. Don't make promises and dates and render counts that you can't back up like BD. Its been excuse after excuse to what feels like years. TBH I don't even have WVM downloaded anymore since I have no faith in it ever getting completed. I just watch the forums to see what excuse he comes up with next.lol

 

[BaasB]

 

[MadMonk]

Unfortunately, it is quite probable. I don't think he ever intends on release any BIG update again. Maybe not even smaller ones.

Peace

Why should he, he earns money for more than 2 years now with the bare minimum of work, makes thousands from sheep that still follow and believe him despite getting bullshit excuses for delays over and over and over again.

 

[preglovr12]

I'm going to make a small observation here, and not a jab at anyone in particular. But I find it interesting and concerning how this thread turned into a circle-jerk of vitriol, almost like y'all have absolutely nothing better to do all day. As though there aren't other VN's out there. I'm as disappointed as the next guy for how this situation has turned out. But, there are other titles to distract from all this 'dramaqueen' inducing negativity. This place feels like it's trying to compete with 4chan. it's even more pathetic when actual site moderators pile on as well. that's like the opposite of 'professionalism' for a site mod. Not inspiring to say the least.

Been a LONG time since I've seen one of these. All I'll say is read my signature and I'll complain about whatever the fuck I want to, thanks.

 

[Krynh]

'm going to make a small observation here, and not a jab at anyone in particular. But I find it interesting and concerning how this thread turned into a circle-jerk of vitriol, almost like y'all have absolutely nothing better to do all day.

Meh, what else is there to do but agree with people of good sense that BD has done screwed everything up? Then commenting on his lies. S'not as if we actually have any new content to talk about.

 

[FreshRevenge]

Well if the developer would stop making infinite promises and failing to deliver on those promises. People would be talking about the game but there isn't much to talk about since Braindrop doesn't know how to update his game. I think he forgot how to do it.

 

[pecard255]

Well if the developer would stop making infinite promises and failing to deliver on those promises. People would be talking about the game but there isn't much to talk about since Braindrop doesn't know how to update his game. I think he forgot how to do it.

It seems more deliberate. I think he is lying and trying to piss on people because he is a narcissist. If the shoe fits....

 

[jjmayne]

Honest prediction for March 13 is this.. Like a couple others have said, I fully expect the update to be split up into chunks to "get BD prepared" for the 52 updates/52 weeks thing he wants to try and sell us on.

 

[Krynh]

Those 52 updates won't fix the story though.

 

[preglovr12]

Those 52 updates won't fix the story though.

Let's be honest, there never really was much of a story.

 

[StantheMan69]

Let's be honest, there never really was much of a story.

Oh god lol now he has his next delay excuse. I can see it now! "Sorry everyone, I feel like the story is lacking, so I have decided to rework and tweak it." New release date April 1st

 

[jjmayne]

Let's be honest, there never really was much of a story.

There was a princess in a basement lol.

 

[SerHawkes]

Let's be honest, there never really was much of a story.

Of course there was. We were gonna be the star player on a shitty team, knock up more or less every single female, have tons of child support payments, go to NBA just to pay for those payments, and likely be a bust since we didn't stay in college that long to truly develop our talents.

 

[Joey1264]

Its really sad to see how everything has bottomed out here. The most practical thing it seems would be to do a final release with all the bells and whistles, end it and start on a new project. Lessons learned - maybe.

 

[BeingADikDik]

Of course there was. We were gonna be the star player on a shitty team, knock up more or less every single female, have tons of child support payments, go to NBA just to pay for those payments, and likely be a bust since we didn't stay in college that long to truly develop our talents.

You forgot the epilogue where the MC turns to adult VN development after busting out of the pro leagues, but has to overcome personal problems that he describes in great detail.

 

[Krynh]

Let's be honest, there never really was much of a story.

That's true. But at least it was consistent, then he was adding in characters and events that will only get introduced in the mythical rework

 

[Krynh]

Its really sad to see how everything has bottomed out here. The most practical thing it seems would be to do a final release with all the bells and whistles, end it and start on a new project. Lessons learned - maybe.

Nope he needs to go back to working a proper job, he can't be trusted with indie game development.