undergroundstudio
patreon
Post-Release Development Update
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 15:30:02 +0000 UTCFinally, I'm here with a post-release update!
I know you've been waiting for this for a while, but the workload for two releases (Patreon and then Steam with language support) has taken up so much of my time that only now I am able to sit down calmly and summarize the past, very intense month.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of Race of Life, especially Joshua, our beta testers, and translators. Together, we’ve created something that thousands of people have fallen in love with, and I couldn’t be prouder. Seeing that all the hard work—working from morning until late at night, and sometimes even until the next morning without sleep—has paid off, and knowing that you enjoy what we’ve created. I couldn’t be more grateful. This wouldn’t have been possible without your support and I want to thank you all for it. You mean so much to us, and we deeply appreciate every comment, piece of feedback, Steam review, or message, whether it's congratulations, constructive criticism, or words of encouragement.
Now, moving on to plans and the future:
I recently uploaded the Official Walkthrough on Steam, and I wanted to make it available for you as well. Unfortunately, it's not possible to set a post at $1.99 on Patreon (the lowest possible amount was $3), and since the walkthrough costs $1.99 on Steam, I couldn’t adjust it further here.
Because of this, the walkthrough is available starting from a new tier, Doctor, which I specifically created for $11.99. This way, anyone who wants the newest Patreon version update of the game and the walkthrough can have access starting at $11.99. Of course, all higher-tier patrons, such as Mechanics, Racers, and Champions, also have access to the walkthrough. Unfortunately, this setup was made complicated due to Patreon’s limited features.
Link to the walkthrough: https://www.patreon.com/posts/120128818
As for the future: by the end of the week, I plan to hand over scenes outlines of Episode 4 to Joshua, and we’ll begin work on it! We have several ideas in mind, aiming to streamline our workflow and reach the next level of quality. We hope you'll notice the difference in the upcoming Episode.
I'm also considering adding sound effects and moans for the lewd scenes. I'm already looking for professionals who could handle this kind of audio work to enhance the game’s realism and immersion. This wouldn't have been possible without your support. What do you think? Do you enjoy these kinds of sounds in other games? I’d love to hear your thoughts! The game on Patreon will, of course, be updated with potential new features, like the sound effects I mentioned earlier, and any bugs will be fixed.
Many of you have asked whether the Patreon version will also be updated with the new languages introduced on Steam. At this moment, we have to hold off on that, and here's why:
On Patreon, we release the game episodically, meaning you get access to the game before others (just like with Episode 3.2 last month). Currently, several people are working on the translations, but their time is limited. There’s always a lot of text to handle, and some translators work faster than others. Coordinating this to ensure Episode 4 is released on Patreon in all languages would be extremely challenging and time-consuming. This could significantly delay development since the game might be ready, but we’d be waiting on translations to finish, holding everything up.
We could take shortcuts and use machine translation without human verification, but the quality would be unacceptable to us, and we refuse to compromise. Additionally, as I currently handle the coding myself (and I'm far from being a professional coder), I’m hesitant to risk having parts of the game appear in one language and suddenly switch to English. It would ruin the experience, and I wouldn’t feel right about it.
On Patreon, it’s also not as straightforward as on Steam to deliver updates that automatically download and integrate without issues. If we were to add languages, I’d have to ask you to either reinstall the entire game every time there's a new language ready or replace specific files, which might be inconvenient and could lead to bugs.
For these reasons, the Patreon version will remain in English for now. I’m not ruling out changes in the future, but I’d prefer to bring in someone more experienced who can make this easier for both us and you, the players. I hope this explanation doesn’t disappoint you too much.
For anyone who wants to play the game in another language but doesn’t want to purchase it because they’re a Patron, we’re offering Steam keys (available if you’ve contributed $13.99 in lifetime support, as per Steam's rules).
Thank you all once again! I can’t wait to get started on Episode 4, and I truly hope you’ll love what the future holds. For those of you playing the game on Steam, if you’re enjoying it, please consider leaving a review—it would mean a lot to us and help us immensely! 😊
Few words from Joshua:
Well, what can I say? A few years back when I came on board this project, I knew it had potential, but the Steam release last week was a massive milestone. Over a hundred positive reviews already, people jumping onto Discord to talk about the game and share what they liked and didn’t like, offering praise and suggestions by the dozens.
I’m not saying we’ll implement them all, but we do read and listen. Even those who have a thing for Maggie’s mother. Some of you guys scare me a little, but I appreciate the passion!
It’s been an amazing week, and the fact that so many people enjoy the game so far honestly has me pretty stoked. Whether you’ve connected with the characters or just like some nice Daz boobs, your collective enthusiasm for Jake and the rest of the crew has shone through in all the reviews, discussions, discord posts, DMs and random emails.
It really does make all those late nights writing, charting paths and variables, and searching for information on kinks in some of the shadier sides of the web all worth it.
Massive thanks also go to our Beta team, who have had to read an incredible amount of text across multiple pathways. Likewise, the translators have been amazing, working hard to make some of the puns, innuendo and puerile humor I write work across the different languages, and in some cases, improve upon the original.
But, as they say, no rest for the wicked, and the righteous don’t need it. Episode 4 will begin in earnest shortly. Jake has had things go his way quite a bit so far. Will his luck continue? Will his treatment of some of the women in his life come back to haunt him? Will Cooper make him another omelet? You’ll just have to stick around to find out.
It’s been a great ride so far, and I hope to see you guys again for the next episode of Race of Life.
Comments
viperswhip
Jasmine is so incredibly hot, I have almost every single screen she shows up in my favourites folder.
Bropopo
The game is a gem in the genre, I wish you the best of success and look forward to the next episodes. Honestly, I want to see more scenes with Allison haha
UndegroundStudio
Hi! Act 1 is the same as Episode 3.2. The only advantage of Act 1 is that it has other language support :)
Plus1
Hi! I have a question. I bought the Steam version of the game; Is version 3.2 equivalent to Act 1 or is it further in the story? And if so, what version does act 1 correlate to?
DuVeL67
I just finished my first play through yesterday and believe this is no doubt one of the top AVNs out there. Great story and humor mixed with some high stakes drama. Really looking forward to future updates. Amazing game!
Paul Baker
I bought your game on Steam and I must say.. TOP 3 VN for me.. there are not so many games of this 'genre' (if you know what i mean) I play for their story, but this game I'll play for the story and not the other thing.. Please, continue with your great work, I cannot wait for Act 2 on Steam, it will be "must buy" for me Also, love the comedy bits, they made me laugh so many times, hope more will come
Robert Oliphant
I love this game, I really can't wait for Episode 4! So I would say for your army of fans, don't bother with voice actors, concentrate on the story and all that comes with it! (lol!) The sooner Episode 4 (and beyond!) is ready, the better, get it out there! Sorry for lack of patience but I think you've created a monster! We all want to see where it's going and SOON! I appreciate you want it be right/perfect and a continuation of the current high quality, so we can wait but not too long, PLEASE!
Wei Liu
Voices do not matter much, so if it you saves you guys money, you can leave it out. Patreon version being English only is fine with me given your reasons. I do appreciate the Steam version having Chinese. I read an ok (Junior High level) amount of it, and reading some of the scenes, especially the Allie and V rage scenes in Chinese, is interesting since I can compare the Chinese to where the English would be. Interesting...how the translator translated "European Bombshell" into Chinese and how he/she translated Jasmine, using the real Chinese word for the flower instead of phonetically like with Natalya or V.
Lethallee61
I'm another No for voices/moans. They just sound wrong in every AVN I've encountered them in.
Director
Grats on a successful release! I think if you can afford it, some voice actresses, even if only for the lewd scenes could make a positive difference, be smart though, as it means even more work!
Twisted Wine
Please no, do not add any moan sounds. No matter how good a developer you are they will always sound incredibly distracting, out of sync with the scene and fake (since you know...they are) and a quality AVN like yours does not need it. I'd much rather prefer you spend that money on music licenses for songs to enhance the emotions of the scenes.
