Naughty Road patreon

The future of Light of my Life

🕑 Added 2023-11-15 20:05:06 +0000 UTC

Comments

Naughty Road

I do hope I get that chance. But even if we can't do the full Monty, I do intend to give everyone at least some closure, so plan B will not be an abrupt mid-season stop, so to say.

Stark

I Hope you choose Plan A i'd love to see the other characters stories wrapped up. it always annoys me when i game builds up a bunch of side characters to only stop before giving them all a satisfactory ending of thier own.

Naughty Road

Cheers, and thank you for your support!

john calvin

This game has always been a slice of life character driven story about the characters dealing with guilt, anxiety, grief and family. The upside is that it doesn't require a huge bombastic showstopper ending the way an action movie has. As long as the characters have some sort of resolution. I would love for option A to be the gameplan. I think if the game was as good as it can be, folks would purchase it after completion if available. Although patreon isnt really set up like that. The taboo nature premise of the game hurts its broader commercial viability even though the tone is sweet, funny and wholesome. A slightly hastier ending is much better than none at all. There are a lot of would be good but still unfinished or abandoned games. I think people often undertake it not realizing the scale of the time and resources it takes to do it well. You can push through something for a few months, but if it takes 3 years, you have to have a sustainable process and an organized way of working. Merry christmas, wish you all the best and i'll up my support come the new year.

Adamska

This is a rare example of a game I would be happy to see carry on over the years, even if in "fan disc" style, after the main threads are tied up. The slice of life character interactions always put me in a good mood. Definitely won't get tired of Macy and Denise, so no matter what chapter this ends on I will probably feel it's too soon! I'm grateful for whatever content we get with these characters from here until the end.

hello

While I would obviously love option A, if push comes to shove option B is what I will have to settle with. You have to live too, man

Limbsmyth

I'd like to see the full Monty. But, you gotta make a living too. So the call is yours and I support whatever choice you make. Doing the short wrap would be disappointing, but understandable. Should you choose the latter option I hope you will create anew so I can support that as well.

BIZJOHN

I have been enjoying this game since i first found it on itch.io. I just want to say whichever plan you follow. Thank you. it's hard to find good, well thought out stories in this genre. Whatever the future holds for you, i hope you keep the creative spirit that lead you to share this special story with us.

Naughty Road

That's a thought I have been playing with. Release a few after-credits vignettes, so to say, where I tie up the loose ends I didn't get around to in the main storyline as small, focused stand-alone scenes that don't require a whole story structure to justify them happening.

TheKid

I enjoyed the story, loved watching the characters grow. I say don't try to force it to continue if you don't want it to. Just wrap it the way you feel the characters would wrap it, send them to their happily ever after, and if you ever feel a need to do "afterstories" follow that bug, but the main content can stand on it's own.

shiney

I just joined. I gotta say I love your work and the characters in Light of my Life. I've never seen anyone build characters up that well, with all of their complexities, and pull it off in a way that feels like it could be real life. Well done. I sincerely hope you go for Plan A. Big cheers for you.

Naughty Road

Yeah. Some of this is me processing that there is an end to all of this, and I must admit that is not an entirely rational process.

Naughty Road

Once Steam says no, that's it, no second chances I'm afraid.

Naughty Road

Cheers, and you're not wrong about having some benefit from a firmer editing to tighten up the script and story. As I'm soloing this, killing your darlings is hard to do and I'm aware I've erred on the side of caution on occasion. But as far as saving time, creating dialog is actually dirt cheap when compared to creating visuals (as in, I can often write a first draft of a scene dialog in an evening, whereas I might spent several weeks creating the visuals to go with it). So I will admit there's also a force pulling the other way, saying "you spent all that time making those pictures, shame to waste that, just have a bit more dialog and get your money's worth." :D Anyhoo, the point being, a stronger hand in editing fluff has its own merrits, but cutting down production time is one of them. :D

wirklich

For me, the joy of this game has been in the way the girls have grown into the full expression of their sexuality, in terms of their relationship with each other and their father. The rest, although interesting, are side events. My vote: When the family is secure in its way of living and loving together, wrap it up and move on. It's a great game and you can be proud. All games end.

Sin Art

Im with the other comments above. But more important is your health. Try what you can but take care for yourself. Btw, is there no possibility to give Steam a censored version with a link to your site here?

Marcus

I'm just here at the 1$ tier, you do what you need to do to get the game done the way you need to get it done.

Derek H.

I probably have a different perspective than most here, but maybe that makes it helpful, so I'll share it anyway. I literally *just* finished playing up through chapter 7 and joining the Patreon, so it's admittedly a little bit of a bummer to have this my first post to reply to, but c'est la vie. If I have any constructive criticism about chapter 7 (and to a lesser extent, the game overall), it's that scenes can sometimes feel like they go on longer than necessary, and would benefit from a heavier hand in editing. That makes me think that if chapter 8 was a bit more focussed, you could probably cover all or most of the remaining ground you wanted to cover, and still wrap it up in one chapter. Don't get me wrong; I love the game as it is (I just signed up to support it)! So obviously I would welcome plan A if you go that way. But my genuine feedback is that I would be fine with plan B as a customer. Of course, I don't know the master script for the game you have in your head, but at least to me, the game *feels* like it's within one chapter of being done, especially if that chapter gradually moves away from the day-by-day model of the previous chapters, and starts being week-by-week, month-by-month, or even year-by-year...

Mr JC

As many others have said, plan A would be my preference, but you need to do what feels right for you. Still, it feels like the story just cries out for atleast two chapters, so much more to see and experience. I'll support you all the way regardless.

Ladrason

I do really think that your best option is to really start to plan an end to the story and work your way towards it, not being rushed but planed out without any loose ends. My main reasoning for this is that from the book, movies, series I and I would think my others remember it is not the long draged out ones that finish abruptly, but the ones that had a well fleshed out story that tied up most if nit all loose ends in the end. Now of course there are exceptions, see Firefly for example, but I really do think those only course the consumers to leave with a sad and annoyed feeling stuck to that story forever after. In those cases I would even say that it makes it harder to recommend something to others just because it in a sense shows bad planing on the writers side and might cause any future interest to vain. No, instead I would very much prefer to feel like the story is finished, at least the parts that is focused on, this way people will always remember it as a fleshed out story that was given lots of love from its creator and therefor resieves love back from the consumer.

Jay?

As open as you have been with your supporters, I'm sure there are so many more variables at play than we realize. All I will say is that you are a writer and an artists and both of those run off of passion. This game has been one of my favorites ever since I first played it and I would hate for you to feel obligated to or force yourself to finish. Same with forcing yourself to stop due to the other factors. I would recommend giving yourself a breather before making any major decisions. This project will always be here for you, even if it's months from now. Regardless, you have my support.

Skull616

Maybe I'm wrong but I think that much of the work on the game is the animation of the characters in every single dialogue scene (the "zooming technique" that makes the characters almost alive and provide the pacing in the exchanges between them): it's hugely fantastic and a sort of "trademark" of your game but I'm afraid it's also extremely time-consuming when working at the game. Leaving it only for the lewd scenes or cutting it off completely can save you a lot of work, and so a lot of time between the release of the chapters. I think we're all here for the story, that's the only important thing of the game, and if you already have it in your mind maybe shorter, lighter chapters can be produced in few months instead of (one, two?) years. And a properly finished game can be a real driving force for the next one, steam suitable or not, in terms of fan fidelization and general game developer appreciation (as opposed at the less reliable and boring ones, that is the majority of them).

Skull616

Damn, that's really sad. I enjoyed so much the slow building of relationship between the main characters, and now that they're finally all on the same page and the real fun can begin someone thinks "no better time to jump off the train"... I mean, that's so absurd. I understand why you're so disappointed, considering how much you spent both emotionally and in sheer amount of worked hours. But speaking freely I think this really is a milestone point in your career as a game designer (an exceptional game designer, if I can add): I don't think that rushing the final of the story can actually do to you any good in terms of fan fidelization and engagement, with a new game coming up. Nor that there's any assurance that a new "steam fitted" game can attract more funders, seeing how many of them are released every day, each one the same of the other (when "Light of My Life" has its uniqueness, based on uncommonly sweet and alive characters). So here's my two cents: cut off the art department (more on that below) and the work collegues substories, focus on the three main characters and try to release the new chapters (with previews and abundant hype) in much less time of the last ones. I think that many funders have jumped off because they don't want to wait another year or more for chapter 8, even if it's a great game.

TotesNotThea

I'd vote for Plan A (if there was a vote), but do what feels right for you.

Naughty Road

TBH, that totally blindsided me, as I never ever considered any of the characters could be misconstrued as minors at all. But Steam does have a really hard no to any content that takes place in a school building, and I'm definitely staying TF away from those in the future. :D

ellayjuan

I just came across this vn this week and subscribed. Really enjoying it so far. You do great work. While i hope we get 3 more chapters, or 1 with good conclusion, l will continue to support so best of luck!

Troz

I'd prefer plan A but would be content with a curtailment that still finishes the story. You've got to go with whatever you feel better about. Edited to say: Let's also be realistic about moving into the "diminishing returns" phase. The population of potential customers, ie people who visit sites like F95 etc who are likely to find out that this game even exists, is finite or nearly so. So most of those people already know about it. With Steam (not surprisingly in my view) out of the picture, then these factors are not likely to change much. But within that community there is a large number of people like myself who think the game is one of the very best out there, and are willing to say so. That sounds like success to me. So if you do decide to wind things up (and do so in a way that satisfies your readership) then you can still hold your head high. And maybe, given what you have learned, you can then start on another game that will meet the Steam guidelines and give you some better material rewards. I can easily imagine that you could come up with a story that is as satisfying as LoML without the problematic bits. TLDR: Plan B is OK too.

Maruad

You need to make the choice that works the best for you. Hopefully you will have a new project to announce before you finish LoML so we can keep the community together and also see where you are going with your next project.

YourFavoriteFan

You got to do what you got to do so Im not going to comment on which should be done but if you do go with the plan b, bigger time skips could work since the last chapter had a good ending point. You can have use a scene where the characters are looking through a photo album during like a birthday party or holiday and have them talk about previous events and have flash backs to key momments to move things along faster, can even include lewd one offs in there. Youre writing style is great and I love it but you've gotten to a point where it can be spead up or expanded as long as nothing feels missing. If you ever get inspiration post finally you could always do a one shot either in game or via a comic. Just my 2 cents, Hope things work out which ever way.

Darryl Williams

Life is what it is. Perhaps you wrap up here, then when life changes/you find a sugar daddy; you can come back to release your 'director's cut'.

SteelPaladin1997

I don't know how much of this you should take as a commentary on interest in your story and how much is just a lot of people cutting down on non-essentials these days. I make good money by any reasonable standard, and even I have been eyeing each dollar more judiciously. The whys may not matter much if you're looking at the cost/value ratio on your time and energy, but it's something to consider.

Notuik

It's normal to have this way of thinking. I just want you to know that no matter what you decide i'll support you cause you doing an amazing job ! I enjoyed this game and i enjoye it today to :)

APatreon

The ending of chapter 7 had a climax. From my own playthrough I never had the impression that we gonna get to see the next 10 years of the characters. The pacing of the game is way to slow for that and the story is to insulated (no drastic changes but a clear progression). A good idea for the rest of the game imo would be to picking up the pacing. Making clear that scenes and events are spread out more apart. The worst thing would be no satisfying ending or just some text blocks on black ground. Making bigger jumps in the relationship between the MC and the other characters is the right step imo. I don't think there should be a chapter 10. Finishing chapter 8 as planned and then making a somewhat shorter chapter 9 is probably the right thing to do.

Yellowcake Uranium

Oh, one last thing: don't be afraid to ask for help. I've got over 2 decades of professional development experience and would offer some time here or there for you for free if you need it on the coding side ... Though I'm guessing the help you really need is in the graphics and writing department. Not specialties of mine, but I'd help if it was just busy work or something like that

Yellowcake Uranium

While doing this as a full time job would be amazing, it was probably not the initial reason you did this, right? I have a side job myself that doesn't make nearly the same as my primary, but I do it for fun. If the fun has run out, I get it. But also having a completed game and starting a new one with all the lessons learned is how you can possibly break into this as your primary job. Showing everyone you have a great game that is unique to the rest of the genre builds your resume and clout with the community. The next idea can be broken out, you can get serious community funds and build a game where you don't have to have the standard job anymore... So if the second entices you and you want to get to that quickly, I'd say condense those last three builds into a single one to wrap things up and get started on your next game. If you like the actual story and characters and want to continue it, do a quick final chapter with a cliffhanger twist so you can explore that twist in game 2. Just some thoughts and other options for you. You do what's best for you, including whether you want to even take a break and recharge, etc...

Éama

When I think about your game, I'm both amazed by the quality and a bit worried because by adding a character that could easily be a minor, it basically prevents you from selling on Steam without running the risk of getting banned forever. I always felt that it is a real letdown, because this game surely would thrive there and give you the additional income you need. Most devs with decent games who released on Steam earned enough to make it worthwhile. So maybe, for the next project, make it so that you can release it there to get the additional revenue.