apolloseven
patreon
8/19 Status Update
🕑 Added 2022-08-19 23:26:47 +0000 UTCIt's the third Friday of the month, which means Futa Oasis .7 is out for $5 patrons. It'll be out on the first Friday of September for everyone else as normal.
The main thing I want to talk about this week is about how I'm feeling kind of... overwhelmed. Futa Oasis, Naked Ambition, TF Card Battle, The Monster Within, the upcoming At the Mountains of Friendship... it's all starting to catch up to me a bit.
It's not that I don't want to work on games or anything, it's just that all these are starting to feel more obligations than fun creative projects. There's so much stuff going on that even when I'm actively working on games, it feels like I'm not. While I'm doing something for Futa Oasis I'm not doing something for Naked Ambition and it feels like I'm procrastinating even while working.
I'm the one who built these games and made these obligations, so all of this is my own doing of course. And all these projects exist because I like developing games. This past week I basically made a whole Fire Emblem style NTR game with 17 maps, tons of mechanics, skills, etc. And I made it because I was having tons of fun doing so.
But, do I release this game to people? The few people who have played it so far have said they really like it. So do I keep this piece of art hidden because I don't want the obligations, both in terms of time and money, to continue working on it for two years?
Something like Naked Ambition has had tons of time and effort poured into it, it's a huge game. But now it's kind of close to finishing, but not really. These endings are going to take huge amounts of work to finish. And they need to be finished. But when do I do it?
The whole thing is made worse by this Patreon existing and having all you lovely people who support me. That puts tons of pressure to release things in a timely manner, so you're not wasting your money. The funds this Patreon provides have allowed me to greatly increase the quality of my games, but it just piles onto those obligations I was talking about. And I'm still making negative money on these games, I spend more on the budget than the Patreon brings in.
So in the end this is all a hobby, but if I'm not having fun with the hobby because of the obligations I've built. what's the point? Maybe it's all in my head. Maybe people aren't actually upset things might take a long time to come out, maybe that pressure is mostly in my head. If Naked Ambition takes another three months to even move forward is that really a big problem if I'm still working hard on other things? Is that I'm working at all what's important, not what I'm working on?
I could just work on whatever I want, and have things done whenever they get done. It would be a lot easier on me. That would make this less of a "business", but it's not like this is going to be paying the bills any time soon anyway.
Okay, enough talking about my feelings, time for fun previews and stuff.
Here's some Futa Oasis art of the festival being added in .8. (Is that coming out in two weeks? Oh god, it's out in two weeks, I need to finish that.)
The player is giving some (poorly) hidden love and attention to Azra as she gives her speech.
Girl number 8 has been finished for At the Mountains of Friendship! There's only 2 left to go for the first 10.
Hey look it's that NTR focused Fire Emblem-esque game I was talking about. I'll, uh, talk more about this later.
That's all for this week. As always, thank you for your continued support.
Comments
acac
You're working on a lot of games at once. They're all great. But as you say, if it is stressing you out and it's not paying the bills, then what's the point? Why don't you just put 3 games on hold a month from now, and just let us know that you're putting them on pause for say 6 months. This way, if someone was looking forward to one of the on-hold games, then they can pull out, but revisit after 6 months. That sounds fair to me. Then, I'd suggest indeed working on games in secret. It's not working on the game that stresses you out. It's the obligation of support, after releasing it. So if you make a game in secret, you really are doing it for yourself, not for someone else. That's your hobby, I think that's important.
Violet The Bat
I love you're work and love to see updates, but I also don't want you to get burned out on your work and I'm sure most other would would agree. Take whatever you need to improve your situation.
Ellie
Ugh, I hate stress! I think, like others, you should pull back if this is proving unfun. Maybe rehash the scheduled releases and move purely to a "working on the thing that excites me most" model? Like you said, this is a hobby not a business so you need to make sure it's not more hassle than it's worth. The worst possible scenario, for me as a fan, is that you get burnt out and abandon everything. I hope things improve and I'll be sending you lots of positive vibes! ❤️❤️❤️
Dyamonde
i agree with most of this. Also, as long as you're transparent about it it wouldn't necessarily matter to me which game you're working on, only that i can see that you ARE working on something, and making progress. Like the previous commenter, i'm not here for all your games, i came for Naked Ambition and expanded to Monster within, totally uninterested in Futa Oasis or TF Card Battle. I'm also interested in Mountains of Friendship and the new tactical Game. So as long as i see you making regular progress in anything, and at least part of that is in the games i'm here for, i'm gonna stick around. And it helps absolutely nobody if you burn yourself out, so yeah, take it a little easier. Make sure you keep enjoying this.
Ian W
I can tell that you are getting somewhat burned out, and that's not good. I would suggest 3 things. First, make a good faith effort to keep the promises you've made, but if you know you're going to break one communicate that as soon as possible. You've set some times for releases, so try and keep them. However, don't tell us the day you're suppose to release something that you need another month. Second, work on the games that make you excited, and show us. You aren't obligated to make everything into a full game. You'll never please everyone all the time. If I am being honest I showed up for TF Card Battle and am less interested in Naked Ambition. Futa Oasis is winning me over. When you release a Naked Ambition update I am lukewarm, but I am sure there are others with opposite feelings. In my mind Patreon is a way to support an artist you like, and I like you because of some of the stuff you've made. Third, keep up the communication, and be transparent. I think you do a pretty good job at that, but I want to reiterate it because it's so important. If you hide from your negative feelings about this hobby things will just get worse and worse. Keep up the good work.
