kuja
patreon
RL getting in the way
🕑 Added 2017-10-19 15:52:35 +0000 UTC[Abelius]: Hello guys,
Here I am, yet again, to relate my life to you people.
Ill be honest : not in my worst nightmares, I would have seen myself in late October, the year 2017, without a playable first version of LOK Rebirth.
When I left my regular job back in June, to focus on the project, I thought it would be ready for late August maximum. I even thought I would be able to return to my almost forgotten good habit of going downtown to skate and keep myself in shape. Hell, I even fantasized about getting myself a girlfriend! ?
And its possible that some of you remember a post of mine, just after launching the Demo, saying that wed reduce our working hours to 8/day
So much wishful thinking
Truth is, developers life is not as I envisioned one year ago. Moreover, RL gets in the way in forms I didnt think possible considering that I dont have a formal schedule now. Days are frustratingly short and even the act of taking your car for a quick checkup makes you lose a half if youre lucky.
Dont get me wrong: Im not whining about this lifestyle not being what I wanted. Im not looking back and I vouch Ill do everything in my power for seeing this project seeing the light and deserving the level of support that allows us to finally focus on it for good.
However, so much time has passed since June that Im starting to feel uneasy about my ability to pay my bills in the near future. Its not a critical situation because Ive got about six months before things start to get ugly, but the uneasiness it there all the same.
So Ive decided to accept IT freelance jobs that will occupy about a 33% of my time.
Good thing about that: Those pay well, so I wont have more worries about my financial situation.
Bad thing: It will delay development. Not so much as if I was working full-time of course, but as were also not talking about a part-time job with a well-defined shift, but a task that must be done in several days getting all my attention, those delays will be felt by you if you keep an eye on the Trello board.
And yes, Im starting this as soon as tomorrow, so its very likely I wont have v0.1 ready for October. ? Just to be clear about it and you can make your own decisions as Ive made mine.
At any rate, please dont take this as a plead for Give MOAR money!!. Its not. Were really proud already about our fan base and you have already broken all our expectations when we started the project.
Thing is, Patreon is about the masses supporting lonely creators as they produce niche works they both like. The more known is a project, the more possibilities it has to be supported if they deliver good quality shit. And I estimate about 1200 patrons for LOK:R to be enough for us being our sole source of income.
That means well need to :
1. Deliver a (playable) game.
2. Publicizing it.
Straightforward steps that should have been done long ago. Some may say even before having launched our Patreon but I wont lie to you on that: without your shocking generosity even from the start, I would have found really difficult to take the plunge and leave my job. So its kind of a Catch-22 situation (I know about the eternal Patreon debate )
So, in short, were not asking for you to increase your pledge, so the project becomes viable. It is already. Well continue doing it. Period.
But a decision had to be made so my RL could also be viable enough.
I know this will be a letdown and I'm very sorry. I just hope in a year's time we're all laughing about these difficulties.
Comments
Good luck!!!
D4n0w4r
never ever
Justedufun
Don't worry bro, it's alright, we can wait, just make the work at your speed, we will continue to support you anyway :D
Seeing as you have a good portion of the groundwork done, you've got a solid roadmap and you aren't short of inspiration or ideas - perhaps now would be the time to reach out and show off what we can expect to a wider audience. Trailers are a proven method of building interest before a release. This game (given it's scope and nature) could possibly do with one. You have gorgeous, highly detailed environments, characters, slick motion and undoubtedly a selection of highly arousing interactions and they all need to be seen. A 2-3 minute video showcasing those assets in action (eg Krystals walking animation, her body, the environments, character interactions and the various ways one can engage with them) might just do the trick. I'm not sure where the best place would be to post it, but places like PornHub might be a decent option. I mention PH due to there being scenes and playthroughs of old LoK games with tens of thousands of positive views. A '"brand new game" trailer with a clear focus on the good stuff could potentially generate a similar number and with it... potential investors. Reguarding your current predicament of life quality vs project, there definitely needs to be balance and a level of security, both for your health and the project - passion can only fuel a man for so long.
McSpazz
At least you told us! :D
Take good care of yourself without you we won't have the game anyway so again take good care of yourself for you and us as well ( can you make android version when you finish with PC )
Fire Guy
You're delivering what is possibly the prettiest and most fleshed out LOK game, i'd wait nearly forever to see this game done. You're the most important person in your life at the end of the day, eat, sleep, pay rent, take care of yourself. The project can wait
Kian
Cant have a playable game without a live and well developer!
Well you can either slow down the dev speed or ending up as a skeleton. That being said...don't starve, eat plenty and don't get sloppy with your work. =)
AdamPatronMan
Hey man, you got to do what you have to do. Money has to come in somehow and I'm sure once v0.1 drops the need to take these temp jobs will begin to disappear. It's unfortunate that v0.1 won't be launched this month but what's waiting another month? Good luck, all the best.
Way I see it? You keep going the course and run into RL difficulties that result in not being able to complete the game at all or you take the side hustle. While updates may be slower, we're still getting updates, so go in.
