Dev Diary #13 - "The First Course" Arc - 0.7.0
Hey everyone,
I decided to make this dev diary public since we're on 6 months since the last update and there's been a lot of questions.
Big milestone reached this week - all writing drafts for update 0.7.x are now done. The total number of 'scenes/story-beats' is officially 27.
When I started 0.7.0 I had a specific escalation point in mind for the update but as I got into it I realised there were more setup scenes needed (and other extra scenes I wanted to include) before I could hit it.
That is also why the writing has been 'final-stretch/close to fully wrapped' for a while. I have hinted at this in the previous dev diaries.
What I originally outlined as 5-10 'scenes/story-beats' has grown to 27. Some of what I'd already built also got reworked as newer scenes changed the older ones.
On Dates
You might have seen some dates being thrown around. I have tried my best to estimate but this scope growth made it hard to hit any deadline I have set out.
As much as I wanted to release this 27 scene behemoth sooner, the reality is that it needs more time cooking.
These are the sort of things that can happen during development, and I feel that these dates creates expectations on your end, as well as puts unnecessary pressure on me.
Next Up
The wait has been long and that's why I decided to do preview releases, similarly to what I did early last year (after the remake), as that worked well.
The scope and the story have to stay because that's the vision for the game, and I believe in it.
Those that want to wait can wait. Those that want to play something as it goes along, will also be able to.
What this means is that I will release a group of scenes/story-beats as I do the final review, roughly every 2 weeks, until the full 0.7.x content is out. (Platinum first, then Can't-Wait)
I'm fairly positive there won't be any more scenes added to 0.7.x, but there's still extra renders and lines of dialogue to do.
If you'd rather wait for the full polished version, skip the previews.
If you're subbing purely because you're waiting for the release itself and nothing else, hold off from subbing to a higher tier until the actual release drops.
If you subscribed recently expecting a full release now, message me and I'll refund you no questions asked.
So, to sum up, there's still work to do, but it's all about wrapping up from here on.
Thanks to everyone for your support! The game wouldn't be possible without it.
Cheers,
Tori
Comments (27)
Todos hacen lo mismo cuando el juego es nuevo sacan actualización todos los meses y después varios o un año y las actualizaciones son lastimosamente malas por eso ya ni juego a los juegos de patrón porque siempre hacen lo mismo
When is the first preview gonna drop?
Im not sure if this is your first game. But im also a dev and understand biting off more than you can chew. Thats the story of my career. Every time, without fail, I do the same thing. I get it.
"I'm really looking forward to jumping into the main Netorase storyline soon. I totally understand the devs' desire to craft a quality experience, hope the interactions between the heroine and Terrace. Can't wait for the future updates!"
Tori i just love the work you do, i appreciate anything you put out, and I completely understand, moving dates and estimates. This is a lab of love and I’m just happy you continue to put effort into it as you’re able to. Truly, it’s fantastic. Whether it takes another month or another couple years, I can’t wait to play the next things to come.
So it will take 3 months of releases every 2 weeks for all 27 scenes to be complete.?
i hope more ntr :D and when update ?
my wife and I were actually talking about it today we are getting upset with the wait but that's because we love the story so much if waiting a little longer means we get better content then that doesn't bother us at all. but we will not complain about getting smaller updates as you polish up each section either. we both agreed we rather let you take your time and produce a great story rather than the rushed crap that's all over steam. we support you fully either way thanks for the update.
You play this with your wife? Fuck, talk about couple goals
"I feel that these dates creates expectations on your end" - friend, what are we supposed to do when you give us a date? Are we not supposed to expect you to meet your own dates? That's certainly worrisome. And so is saying that this "puts unnecessary pressure on me" - you don't think it's necessary to be feeling some pressure over repeatedly missing your stated deadlines, such a long wait between releases, and going from "realistic target end of September" to now having no idea when it will be wrapped up? To be clear, I'm not angry. I'm patient. I've waited this long, I'll keep waiting. It's all good. But I do think you've messed up here by biting off more than you could chew and not accurately estimating how long it would take. It's ok, we all mess up, we forgive you, but I'm concerned about the relative lack of contrition and leaning in the direction of blaming fans for their reactions over this. Communication is key, and if you're just now finishing up the writing and still having to release previews every 2 weeks until it's all done - with no indication of how long that will be - then you have known for a while that the end of September was nowhere near a realistic goal.
Brother, this is not GTA 6
I believe in you and we can wait as long as necessary. I just have one question, perhaps already asked, but do you intent to add ugly bastards to the story. Last april fool gave some.. urges for Ayumi and the others to taste 😂.
I was fine with the content release at the beginning of this. I don’t know the fascination of wanting to make the story larger than you can handle as a part time solo dev, when we were all happy with the process. And, waiting 6-8 months for releases… that’s a long time. Like, that’s a really, really long time.
Is there any plans to do a Steam release? For those are us who are now more interested in the full product (Or close to one) when it's ready?
Why not gradually release the updates sooner? I feel like you wanted to shock us with a titanic update and it's a bit sad for everyone, I think but I respect the choices.
Hoping for more Ayumi × Terrace content
I don’t really mind the wait, I’m just happy whenever more of this high-quality content comes out! That said, this is how I interpret the situation: if only polishing were left, there would be little reason to introduce this whole rolling preview-release system. It feels more like you know that there is still much left to do and that you have to start releasing something, because another few months without anything would look pretty bad. Either way, I’m excited to see what’s coming!!
You are not wrong. It's more than just a basic polish pass but a lot less than doing things from scratch. But note that I'm a part-time solo dev so adjust accordingly. Even a basic editing session will take significantly longer versus if I was doing this full-time. Thanks for the kind words!
But then, when will it be updated?
Should be close for the first preview, but give me a bit of time.
how do we message you 😞
hey Tori, will we platinum tiers get a tease later? i love those
More lesbian🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏✂️✂️✂️✂️
So, just to be clear. The content that was supposed to drop at the end of this month will be completely done 6-8 months from now?
Not at all. That was a general comparison about update sizes, not a timeline estimation. I will rephrase that bit! (it's a good question) The point of the post is that I don't know exactly when it will be all done. 27 scenes is a lot of content to go through. So, instead of trying to estimate, I'll simply release a few previews until it's done.
glad you are still alive. if you are ever going to quit let us see the wife get fucked first :)
Keep up the grind, I’m just excited for you to cook