DomJOI Witch v1.4 delay - detailed explanation - SFW :)
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Howdy,
First of all, I'm really sorry for the delay. Never in the history of this game have I put in so much passion just to find out at the very end that things are broken and I won't be able to fix them myself. This release v1.35 -> v1.40 has like 100 Trello cards done. It was supposed to be the biggest release in the whole project's history. I took days off, used holidays, didn't go to parties (me and my friends party till early morning hours, so one party = whole weekend wasted - and it's hard to take care of people around me that I love, including little ones, after such a party - so maybe it's for the good :)). I tuned down my life to put as much as I can into this release.
I thought that it would be a new level of quality - and to be honest, it is a new quality in so many aspects: new customization, new options, better code, more outfits, more outfit colors, and so many things changed.
To put that into perspective, the initial version of the character customization level took about 2 months, then a lot of improvements over releases to add more options. This time everything was ready in like one and a half weeks. Then problems started to arise.
More context
Xandra released the new version of F4 with better support for NSFW games and better morphs for private parts. I tested the initial release, which was beta, and was happy with it. There were some rough edges, but it was good enough. It's important to note that F3 took years to be perfected, and I could still find minor issues :) - yeah, the game pushes sliders, morphs, and the character to its limit.
The F4 version was released not long ago, with some amaaaaazing looking assets like this one - https://xandra3d.com/b/hPF94
So I bought a lot of assets and started working on the character creator. I discovered some bugs like the lipstick mask being too small, nail colors not working, etc. But none of it was a blocking issue. After the initial migration, I wrote a detailed report to the upstream developer (Xandra). Then I started to test outfits, and well, another problem arose - the weight is not applied to all meshes, then a problem with bigger breasts, then another, and another. In the end, I disabled some of the morphs and decided that this new version is still good enough. Not as perfect as I wanted, but good.
Link to film demonstrating issue - SFW
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18viQEocnx_3dTolOAEPQUDVjsYG-wXHp/view
But two days ago I finally moved all previous animations to the new skeleton. It was not necessary, but I wanted it to be done the 'right way', and also as far as I know, a little bit more performant one.
During testing, I noticed that the facial expressions are off; the teeth are biting the lips even when they should not. I initially thought that it was a problem with the animation not being redone, but well... I redid them and they look like shit. The creepy smile that you remember from previous releases? Ohh boy, it's a nice smile now <sorry it's my face recorded>.
Link to film demonstrating issue - SFW
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-g5zU9SvTnVazGOuN91JPCmvGNwU7HfC/view
Why this happened
It's my fault. I should have first tested all assets, and then decided if they were working well. I didn't do that because the upstream developer assets were always superb quality, and I have never had a problem with them. I also saw a lot of adopters, early adopters, and their feedback was positive.
In the end I had:
Extreme trust in the upstream developer
Trust in the community feedback
With that I just rushed into the work.
What now
I'm in constant contact with the upstream developer, but the fixes will come gradually, and it will take time. How long is super hard to tell. I reported a lot of issues including bug reports, fixes (missing datatables), and code fixes (enabling the build on Android and Linux). When you count it up, it's like 30-40 items. So hell, it's a lot.
In theory, I can go back to V1.35 and one day redo V1.4 when the new models are ready - but it will literally scrap the last few weeks of my life.
Or I can wait, and do a bigger V1.4 release. Now fixing everything left, and start doing stuff that I planned for v1.45.
Because you are the ones paying me, I would like you to decide the fate of the game, I want to take all opinions in, but please note that paying supporters feedback is crucial here. I need money to make the game better in the future :) and as you can see from link to Xandra store, assets are not cheap ...
Thank you from the very bottom of my heart,
DomJOIDev
Comments (4)
You first, game second.
I went the same route as rapscallion, it would be a shame if this project too would end up stopping because your burnt out. Take care of yourself.
I found this game/account after trying to find something better than the digital succubus game, after I learned that has basically been abandoned. I would hate for project to either be abandoned or lose quality because of poor self care. I would prefer to wait for a major update that works. Perhaps while you are waiting for the basic architecture to be patched, this would be a time to Brainstorm ideas for the future and focus on yourself, and take a mini vacation from the project until the major kinks are ironed out.
Dont forget to take care of yourself