adventurertrainer
patreon
Patron Poll: Update Frequency
🕑 Added 2023-11-15 19:07:56 +0000 UTC
Me after every update
Hey, adventurers!
With only a few days left till the Public Release of v0.1.8, I decided to bring up an important question that I'd like to get your opinion on. Namely: how frequently the updates come out.
Up until now, I've always prioritized content over deadlines, which is why every update so far has been rather chonky. I routinely blew through the deadlines I've set for myself in the interest of adding just one more scene, just one more event, just one more feature. Which, incidentally, makes it harder to test as the scope of each update grows larger.
Game development is a cumbersome process and takes time; and, as I get better (and faster!) at doing some things, I invest the time into improving areas I haven't been focused in (for example, animation quality, as evidenced in v0.1.8). But quality takes time, and I don't like cutting corners.
It has been brought to my attention that more frequent and smaller updates could be both better for the game and its supporters, as opposed to larger and slower ones. All that said, I'd like to hear what you think and prefer, before I make any changes to the release schedule (as if I had one).
Comments
Shoki
Def worth the wait for higher quality!
PastryIRL
Thanks for taking the time to write this out, and for the high praise! I hope the upcoming builds won't disappoint :)
To-To
While increasing the quantity of updates will make the game feel more "worth it" to subscribers in the short term, and will no doubt increase the amount of subs you have as, if one can expect an update every month, then they're more likely to shell out the money. Personally, though, there are tons of shitty Koikatsu VN games with stock animations. Your game is unique enough in its own right with its battle system and consistent, true to the series character writing, but then you take it a step forward by including characters, like Roxy, who'd reasonably exist within a high fantasy isekai setting like that to make it MORE than just a Konosuba smut game. When you then add to the fact that you're taking time to increase your animation quality, then your game will stand the test of time in the long run because it offers more value, so long as you don't randomly go on hiatus or something for an extended period of time. The fact that you're putting effort into both the gameplay system to feel like an actual game, but also now the animations as well -- to make it feel like a properly animated scene and not just something "in a game" is what makes me want to support you, and the same can be said for many others. My recommendation is to continue as you have been and strive to get better on all facets -- as of now it's just the animations you need to improve on, but I'd need to play the game properly from the beginning to comment on much else -- but to set a deadline for yourself to satisfy all fronts. For example, post a new update every 2-3 months, whatever works best. Then stick with that consistently whilst delivering better quality each time, and your audience will come to know that you're true to your word on both fronts, thus causing more people to throw their money your way. Just shoot for, say, a 2 month deadline and aim to do your best within that goal. I run a YT channel and found that giving myself a strict deadline actually allowed for me to streamline my work while maintaining the same level of quality, if not making it better, and that only happened because of a deadline. Then, on top of that deadline, post frequent updates. Your audience knows they'll get something worth the time waited in that 2-3 months, but it definitely helps to make frequent update posts for what you're working on.
