Keisi
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Dev Diary #120
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 09:43:39 +0000 UTCAahhh, the old habits...
I wanted to write this diary a few days/week ago, but I am returning to the bad habit of focusing too much on work when these things are also part of my job.
I continue to try to keep you updated about the WIP almost every day. I'll leave you the link here and remind you that patrons have the exclusive WIP (spoilers) here. I try to detail everything in the general WIP, so it's worth the check.
I have several goals for this year, one of them and I think the most important is to be more disciplined with my life. It's really difficult when it's related to work because I tend to get carried away and have unrealistic expectations... Why am I explaining this? For obvious reasons, not only in terms of the time it's taking me but also because of the things I ‘promise’ and don't keep. So, let's get on with some small changes and/or clarifications as I've returned to the bad habits that pushed me to the limit in the past:
From now on, there will be a diary every 2-3 weeks. I will try to post one before that time if I want to tell you something important, but if not, there will be a diary every few weeks. I know it's a pain in the ass because it's not the same but every time you think, ‘How is Keisi doing? It's been a while since she posted anything.’ check the WIP or stop by my Twitter.
On the other hand, every time one of you reads me saying, ‘Nah, this is going to take me a few weeks or a month at most’, ignore the sentence or translate it: ‘This is going to take me longer than I think so I can't give an estimated time’. I always made the mistake of trying to say that I was going to have a new release ready in X time, and I always ended up working under pressure, badly, stressed, and so on. This time, I've done it again, promising something unrealistic. I have to expand on this because I will talk about everything I've worked on so far, so let's move on to the next paragraph.
For this first ‘definitive’ version, I set my expectations quite high:
Have a first release in a month at the most.
Have all the content revised before restoring the tavern.
Add new content, including a new system (libido).
Rewrite and retranslate a lot of texts/dialogues.
In other words:
‘New’ intro.
Main quests: 4
Rank quests: 2
Profession quest: 1-2
Girls: Yuna, Anna, Mara, Mabel, Glenda, Mona, Sara.
Level cap: 5
Bug fixes: Interfaces, code, etc.
Rewrite almost all the quests and levels in Spanish, improve their narrative (it's all written like hell without changing hardly anything since 2021), and retranslate.
I suppose... if I work 16 hours a day like I used to, then yes, I would have this ready in a month. I'm still getting used to literally working half of what I used to work, and now I try to rest on weekends even though I want to keep working. Applying new habits takes time, I know, but I can't help making mistakes. I was really happy without setting dates, without thinking about it, but of course, as always, I want to have an approximation of that so I can tell you an estimated date, but I think it's counterproductive. I mean, trying to ‘promise’ something unrealistic, it's counterproductive.
I think I'm getting into a loop trying to explain something simple:
In my head, I think that if I don't give you an exact date, which means releasing new content every few weeks, you'll all lose interest if it doesn't happen. I think this is the most negative part of doing this for a living, but I guess that's the thing about being self-employed. Being your own boss is cool, ah? Well, no, it's not cool at all unless you're a crypto bro who makes so much money that doesn't have to worry about profits.
My honest opinion:
If it were up to me, I would never write diaries, or maybe I would write one before the betas since it takes me between 1 and 4 hours to write them.
If it were up to me, I wouldn't do monthly wallpapers; they take me a whole day's work, and I can't know if there are people who are here to see that content or if what they want is for me to focus on my projects. Also, I don't usually borrow anything, so it takes me longer to think of ideas as I have to stop everything I'm doing and start thinking about that specifically.
If it were up to me, there would be no approximate release dates despite my efforts to release new content every month or month and a half. This adds too much pressure to the pace of work, which is catastrophic for work and health.
These are all first-world problems, I know, but unfortunately, they are problems that I experience in my day-to-day life, and I think it is necessary to express all this because I don't want to leave any doubt that instead of working the hours I should, I'm playing B&S NEO 24/7 (+1k queue in EU😎), or that I want to apply the old reliable method of stretching time so that it passes more quickly and thus get more money out of you. All that doesn't suit me, let's remember that before being a dev, I was a horny player who invested money in other devs, so I know what it's like to be in your position, and that's why I usually demand a lot of myself since I want your investment in me to be worthwhile. And also, that's why I always try to be transparent and explain all this stuff.
Having said that, and summarizing, I will continue making wallpapers because I also consider that it does not do any bad work in something different from the usual. Most importantly, from now on, I will try to avoid saying unrealistic things. Above all, the releases will be every month or month and a half, but I will count from when I start working effectively.
What was the problem with this release? There were many polls that, although they seemed harmless, meant a significant change in some aspects of the project: Glenda. I have to redo all of her content. That means not only quests in which she appears but all her levels, cards, achievements, backgrounds... Although I really like her new change, and it looks better than I thought, there is a lot of work behind it. Luckily, the new Glenda is ready to show off.
This has taken me several days of work, just like the rest of the stuff: I had to redo the parts of the intro where Yuna's panties can be seen; when we meet Anna, the same; her levels (Yuna), her level two in particular I had to redo some parts; her pastimes the same; and a few other things. I haven't worked on Anna's change yet, but something similar will happen.
And I wanted to do all this in a month? Nah... The ‘new’ intro took me about a whole week of work, which was the first week of actual work. Fixing many bugs that I can't believe are still there... I've been fixing things since last week, and I don't understand the fck going on; it seems that with each release, something new breaks. I swear, I don't understand it... I don't get how it's possible that if you go try to visit Anna when you can't access her room, the interface goes crazy. Or that the girls' experience bar is inverted and doesn't fill up in the right direction. It's like... wtf? This should have been working correctly for at least 2 years now...
All I know is that I'm writing one of the most extended change logs I've ever written, and it's something I can't quite believe.
The same thing even happens with many dialogues. I don't understand how there are still spelling mistakes in texts that I have revised many times... And it's not that my English is improving because to put commas or full stops, you don't need an advanced level, especially knowing that you have to put a dot at the end of each sentence... This last point has driven me crazy, especially in Spanish, because it's almost like visiting some ancient ruins. There is text that does not date from the first version, there are texts that I wrote at the end of 2020, when the project was just beginning to take shape... And because of the pressure I was under (a pressure I created myself), I wasted almost a week's work because I decided that instead of rewriting everything necessary in both languages, I would only improve the narrative in English a bit. The problem is that if I need to add a lot of new text to the narrative when I write new content, I will base it on that narrative, and therefore, it will lack consistency in both languages. So, halfway through all this work I was doing to save myself a looooot of work, especially in terms of retranslation, I decided to delete (not literally) everything I had done in the last few days and get to work on what I really wanted to do: rewrite all the necessary.
I've been working on that the most this past week, plus the new Glenda. I also started working differently because, until now, I have been working as usual, and it has been backfiring. Thanks to this, I have found silly bugs like the ones I mentioned in the previous paragraph and even see crazy things in the code that I have had to fix, obviously.
Even so, I still have work to do, although, luckily, I'm in the final stretch. The bad part? Well, let's be honest, I haven't worked 4-6 "effective" weeks. For the first few weeks, I made all the changes on Patreon, tiers, and so on, but luckily, there won't be any more changes (but it was necessary). Not only that, but as I said, the ‘new’ intro took me several days of work, and I had forgotten what it was like to add new maps/zones that include interactable objects to collect. Renpy is such a pain in the ass for all this; I wish I knew how to code in Unity. It's my fault for wanting to squeeze as much as possible out of Renpy. At the end of the day, I complain a lot, but I like the result and I know you like it too. It's still a pain in the ass, tho.
‘So, are you going to tell us what we can see in the first release, or will you keep talking nonsense?’ To sum up:
An intro with more context, a little more background and more things to do for those of you who like the RPG side of LA. In fact, if you do things right, you can finish the intro with a rudimentary axe and a refined backpack (the green one). You have five full days since you have freedom of movement; yeah, now there is absolute freedom of movement.
There is more context for some events that happen in the future.
More interaction with Patricia. Includes a repeatable event at night (nothing explicit but naughty).
There is also a new interaction with her (pee), which happens for the first time with a 90% probability. If you decide to enable the fetish, it will happen every time you visit her in the forest with a 50% probability, if I remember correctly.
Vanessa has a new introduction, adding new texts according to this change.
The intro didn't need to be rewritten, but it did require a review in English, although it will also need a review by Robin (proofreader) when she decides to start working on LA again. She will be better able to naturalise the texts than I am, as right now I am applying my knowledge of English + IA's help. That's cool, but you can still tell in some texts that it's not 1000000% ‘naturally’ written. It doesn't affect your reading at all unless you're very picky. Anyway, I'm happy with the extra help from the AI as it rewrites quite coherently and much better than I would on many occasions.
I have rewritten some dialogues from the first quest (New Home).
In general, I have added new interactions in both quests and tasks. The aim of this is to get you to participate more, even though the story is linear. For those who play on easy mode, you won't notice the difference, but for those who play on normal (or hard in the future), you will notice the difference because either it adds (or subtracts) trust points or in a hidden/internal way, your decisions will matter as they will have an impact on the girl's stats, whether she requires less exp for new levels or you earn more base exp points.
I've always thought it's crazy to have lots of paths, and you know, I'm not a fan of having several saves to see all the paths, so let's all avoid the hassle and let the story be more linear. But even so, I want there to be interactions and for those interactions to at least have some ‘consequences’. I'm trying to add at least one new interaction in each quest without counting the existing one. For example, in the quest where you go to the town for the first time, Mabel has 1+1, Mona has 1+1, Glenda has 1+1+1, and so on. I'm trying to do the same thing with the levels of the main girls.
And speaking of the quest where you go to the town for the first time... it has been almost completely rewritten. Many texts have been rewritten to ensure correct punctuation; others have been completely rewritten to improve the narrative.
Yuna's level two (cooking) has also been almost completely rewritten, but I have focused on correcting all the punctuation and coherence between sentences in Spanish (my ability to write in the first versions was very questionable).
I have revised and rewritten all of Yuna's interactions in Spanish (what a mess).
I have added new professions dialogues (green text) in all the quests, including the intro.
Remember that there was something called ‘love’ and ‘dirty’ talk? Love = red text, dirty = purple text. Well, that's something you'll see again frequently (from time to time).
I've added new texts on Yuna's levels, including both love and dirty talk. Texts have also been added outside her levels; for example, when you unlock petting Yuna, it has a ‘love’ dialogue.
When you decide to look up her skirt when she's in the kitchen/hallway, it has a ‘dirty’ dialogue. And all this works according to the level of sexiness/love, so you'll have to work on it to unlock the more romantic/naughty texts with all the main girls from now on, as I'm going to be adding this everywhere I think it might be fun to add it. It's a feature I really liked when I implemented it at the very beginning, but as always, the same old story...
Fixed many bugs that I wonder why they were still there.
Some QoL (for example, you can now go directly to the hot springs from your room).
Disabled the mail. Until you receive the first letter, the option to check your mail is not enabled. This is half implemented as you receive the first letter when you meet Mara, which doesn't happen yet.
And... more. Such as applying changes to Glenda or Yuna.
The important thing: What remains to be done? Not too much, but what remains to be done is a bit of a chore, so to speak:
Adding the libido system. I'm not sure if I explained it in the past, but I'll explain it briefly: I guess many of you have played HH, and I guess you know that there is something called libido (I don't know what it's called) in which the girls keep wanting more and more to do naughty things with you and if you ignore or reject them... there comes a moment when they do everything they can to do something naughty with you. Well, it's something I find interesting, and I think it's something that can lead to more interactions with the girls, so I want to do that system but in my own way. This will take me the most time because even though I already have a general idea of how I want it to work, it has to be implemented.
I have to rewrite the quest when we meet Anna.
I have to rewrite Yuna's level 3.
I have to redo Glenda's levels (1-3).
I want to add a new section to the achievements called ‘Panties Collection’. It won't be a category like the girls' category, for example, but it will be within a category. I don't know if it will be in the general or girls' categories, but you can get an idea of what this new section will be about.
And... not much else.
Why don't I mention more girls or missions? As I said at the beginning of the post, I wanted to work on something unrealistic because although it seems that even a monkey could do this (I've thought that in the past), there's more work than it looks behind the scenes, as there's varied content, and it's not just quests and history. So, no, I can't include the content I had planned or said a few weeks ago because it's simply unrealistic.
I can try if I take a couple of months more, but as I want to give you content every 4-6 weeks, this is the content you will find in the first version:
Re-intro (I would say that everything new is an extra hour of gameplay, although it always depends on reading speed, if you rush, etc.).
Modes: Easy, normal. Hard mode will not exist until the end of the project. This is one of the most painful decisions I have had to make in all the years of the project, as I love hard mode, and it's where I have the most fun working. I like to make things difficult for you. But... it requires a lot of extra work, and my purpose with all this is to focus on things that simplify the game and give more content/interaction. The hard mode is a drag on this. So, my final decision is that the hard mode will exist when the project is finished and will work as a ‘new game +’ in which I will add new things and many more achievements. We'll talk about that at the end of the project.
Main quest: New Home, An unexpected visit.
Rank quest: There isn't any. I've changed it so that it makes more sense when it's unlocked, and that's when we meet Mara (this is when Maria gives you official accreditation, so it makes more sense to unlock the rank quests at that point).
Girls: Mona, Mabel, Glenda, Yuna, Anna.
Level cap (trust): 3. But there is one exception: Anna level 1. This is because I don't know how cumbersome the new system is going to be, so I don't want to risk having an extra workload for something new that may be changed (improved) in the next version. I will specifically ask for your feedback on this new system, so as I say, I prefer not to risk it. Anna's cap may be two, as I want you to see her new underwear. But I'm not promising anything.
Level cap for the rest of the stats: 5. Yes, I have finally decided to unlink the caps from the stats. If applicable, the trust will have a different cap from the rest of the stats. This gives me more range in things like ‘talks’ and other things where you need a specific level of X stat to unlock new options or see more things in repeatable events.
And that's it. I'm sure I forgot to mention something, but this is a rather long post...
Honestly, I've tried to do my best to bring v1.D as soon as possible, but some things can't be done quickly... I wanted to have everything ready for today, but... I think I'll stop complaining and get down to work.
I have to say that I am really enjoying this whole process and that I am really motivated, although sometimes, some things do get on my nerves.
See you in a few weeks with a new DD or overview just before the beta!
Comments
Brandon
thank you, i want you to know that i really love this game
Keisi
The first version is coming out this week. Once I publish the beta, I will write a post explaining everything available in v1 and the release cycles (they will be the same as always: beta, ea 3w, 2w...). I should point out that the full change log is already available in the WIP, although it is a bit long: https://trello.com/c/SaCy2E1f/3-change-log
Brandon
i was wondering when you think this be in effect, just what you think not trying to put pressure on you
Keisi
I forgot to mention that the new system will have ways of making it bearable or even have the option of disabling it. I want you to feel desired by the girls, not overwhelmed 🤔
