sierralee
patreon
April 9 Update
🕑 Added 2023-04-09 17:01:25 +0000 UTCMy original plan had been to do a TLS update this weekend, but that didn't work out for a number of reasons. In apology I have this little comic that Annikath and I did a while back. Hopefully it will give someone a smile. ^-^
Release schedules are something I think about a lot. Monthly small updates, like I did at the start of TLS, are nice in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, with increasingly large numbers of comments (and increasing amounts of complexity and bugfixing) each release cycle slows progress a bit. Gone are the days when I could drop a download link and then forget about it while starting on new content the next day.
On the other hand, waiting multiple months between updates feels bad. That suggests a pace of every other month, hopefully with nice, balanced updates with a diverse amount of content. Unfortunately, I'm not so balanced right now.
As mentioned the previous weeks, I've completely finished up two harem quests. I've also taken care of the other miscellaneous requirements for an update, like adding the new art. But since I'm waiting on a few other things, now the pace gets weirder.
I have a bunch of other content half-finished and I'm kind of just... working on all of it. Maybe I'll add another harem quest to the upcoming update? Or maybe I'll save the WIP stuff and try to swing out of the promotional slump into the update after? I'm not sure which would be better for overall progress, and I probably won't know until later, but the one thing I promise is that I'll keep working!
Comments
Darthjake
As the developers at 7 Days to Die say, it's done when its done, sometimes they say, soon™ :D Take your time.
Dubsington
Most developers, including myself, are resistant to a "release many small updates" approach because they are (a) unsatisfying and (b) lead to a lot of release overhead. However-- on a mature, complex project, it's still usually a good approach because the bugs you hit can be daunting, and it is much easier to debug when the change set is modest and the code is fresh in your mind. Also, love the comic :)
Sierra Lee
Happy to have you here. ^-^
beening .
I have no comprehension for how hard this process is but I have gained a lot of enjoyment from both TLS and OEA. I love the characters and I can actually understand the comic you posted. Your character- and world- building are great! I am happy just to be here.
Sierra Lee
While it will still be some time, that day is coming sooner, so I'll look forward to feedback from those who play the entire sequence at once!
Innocuous
That comic is amazing.
I'm fine waiting as long as it takes for you to release the best finished game you can. I played up until the start of the final open world segment, but now I'm waiting with a save right before the start of the Incubus War and plan to wait until the open world segment is finished
Sierra Lee
There are many people who feel that way and I'm grateful for you! That said, I also want to reward everyone who supports me, plus regular releases are a good way of keeping up momentum.
Sierra Lee
That day should be getting steadily closer! Again, I'll be sticking to the roadmap I posted and moving things forward.
ushiroace
I might be the odd one out here, but I'm ok with infrequent releases. I'm more interested in the final product (I've personally put my playthrough on hold during the Second Gathering and plan to play again when the story is finished). Love the comic!
Abso Haram
Thanks Sierra. Looking forward to the day when I see the numbers tick from .9 to 1.0, but it's not a rush to the finish line. Comic is great too.
Leveler All
Yes, having a growing fanbase means more replys and more speedruns, more people finding bugs to report and details to be check, it can get overwhelming but at the same time it shows they care and want it to get fix, multitasking adn picking what to prioritize first is the hard part, we all know how hard you work.
Sierra Lee
In the early days of TLS, maybe one or two people commented when I posted an update. Now, I receive hundreds of comments and thousands of words of bug reports. It takes time to read these and fix things. There's nothing stopping me from continuing to work forward, but I'm limited in making changes, because new modifications could add more bugs that would be played/reported by many people. If I branched the project to make sure the public release was clean of new bugs, then I would have to fix any future bugs twice. I suppose I could delay responding to comments, but the same amount of time would be taken composing dozens of responses. I think that responding promptly overall saves me time, because I can answer questions, do hotfixes, or otherwise preempt further issues.
Mycroft
Can you explain a little more why "posting the update and switching to the next one" is no longer possible ? Especialy on patreon ? I do not understand. The comment doesn't need to be answered has fast has you do, you could delay taking them into account until you have the time. The patreon release is a beta and is there for that, after all. But maybe I'm missing something.
Arramos
We all appreciate you, SL.
