oakfells
patreon
Quick Update on Development + Things going forward
🕑 Added 2023-06-08 16:35:58 +0000 UTCHey everybody! It's been a month since v0.2 first got released here, so it's time for some news.
Quick Update
I've been very busy with life for the past month, and since most of the work I got done on the game so far is just... more content, there's not really anything particularly exciting to write about or show in the next Development Log for now.
So far, I've been trying to include mostly things that I can pair up with screenshots or visuals: the kind of things I assume would be most interesting to you all. As more systems get finished, I'll slowly move on to just writing more dialogue and adding more cards and content: stuff where there's not much to talk about.
So basically I've been running out of ideas as to what I should talk about in the logs. And so I turn to you to let me know: is there anything in particular you'd like to hear about? Or is there any neat perk you think would be a good fit for the Patreon? Once again, you can send me a private message or just post in the comments!
But that's not the main reason why I'm writing this post though. There's something else we need to address:
The Release Frequency!
So since the prototype, both v0.1 and v0.2 have been released with a ~3 month gap in-between. I wasn't on any particular schedule with those, mind you: I just kept adding to the game until I deemed that it was ready to put out.
With that much time, I found the size of the update to be just about right, as it was big enough to give everyone something to talk about and explore the various things I managed to cram in. (I have a lot of fun writing the Fun Facts posts, can you tell?)
However, I do understand that it's quite the gap to wait in-between. I was able to take my time with the previous releases, but as many people have joined the Patreon since then, and with the introduction of the Patreon Perks, I have felt more pressure to "keep up with a schedule", so to speak.
So now we are faced with two options:
- Keep going at a slower pace, same as until now.
- Or speed it up to once every month, but with less content. To give you an idea, a single update would be about the size of only the fishing plotline (as much as was done for it in v0.2).
... and of course, at the end of the day, the people that this decision affects the most is you. So I've decided to put up a poll to see the direction everyone would prefer. Feel free to also let me know any other thoughts you have on this, once again in private messages or by commenting here.
And to cap things off,
It's been wild to see just how many people have decided to join the Patreon since I first set it up. I initially made it with the intent to let people support my art, then once I released the prototype for the game, I stealthily started posting development logs here after it got a surprising amount of attention on the internet.
And with the introduction of proper incentives in v0.2... well, I don't want to get ahead of myself (I definitely am), but with the way things have been going, I might even be able to work on the game full-time at some point. Which, I probably don't need to explain, would be the wildest dream come true.
So thank you for your support everyone. Seriously, I mean it!
Comments
Uruso
If you do go with the every few months for larger updates maybe you can do little mini "showcases" in the off months like showing off a card's art and what it does. You've got a couple dozen cards at this point and that would give you content for a lot of "off" months while you work on the game.
Rio32
Big releases every few months, the lst thing we want is dev burnout.
chris d
I've gotten into this game around the last update that was posted, and I like what I see. Developing a game on your own is time-consuming, and you have a whole life to live away from it as well. The 2-4 month update schedule is realistic, even as hungry as I am for more to come. One of my other favorite in-progress games is World of Horror, and the guy's update schedule comes in fits and starts, but is always worth the wait.
AndYon
I've been very happy with the bigger releases
Gscathe
Ditto. If it’s manageable, I think 2 months would be a nice, balanced frequency. That said, make sure you do a schedule that doesn’t burn you out. You are making something very special and beautiful entirely by yourself! In other words, I prefer to favor the long term success of your project over my short term amusement. ❤️
Musclemage
I'm going to lean into the two-month schedule, I think the time it takes to wrap things up for a monthly release would take too much energy but getting feedback about things as you make them can be good too.
MakeEmBigger
I think it might also be nice to see something like some of the different cards you're working on for the future updates.
MakeEmBigger
I think bigger updates would be far better. Personally, I'd prefer more of it to explore and sink my teeth into.
Danni Kranitz
I would love If you give more behind the scenes stuff or insight into you characters. Like even height, age, their background maybe even some sneak peek into future weight updates
