Two-year anniversary post

Hi everyone!

This post was scheduled for now because I'm on a 9-day trip, so I probably won't be able to reply to messages.

Let's start by saying thanks to all of you—people who supported, people who still support me, and me. Without your support, I wouldn't be able to do this.

It's two years since I introduced "The Power of Truth". Coming back to my first anniversary, I wanted to compare myself to my older self and see if I had grown, improved, learned from my past mistakes, and gotten better. The short answer is - Yes. The game audience has doubled from last year. I don't like to praise myself, but I made a leap in render quality from last year, as I always try to challenge myself when it comes to visuals. The numbers aren't what I want them to be, but I definitely see that I will get there eventually. I just need to focus, believe in myself, work hard, and not stop moving.

While part 2 of Chapter 1 showed more of Dianna's and Mercy's character, part 3's purpose was to introduce the MC's past, advance the story, and introduce more characters (main - Venus, Jeanene, side - Amira), and give you a taste of what is coming next. The fourth part will conclude the events of chapter/book one. One more character is out there, and it's going to make a full appearance.

Going forward, my main goal is to release the game on Steam, and I'll do whatever it takes. I'm currently collecting people's wishlist additions and need you to add the game to your wishlist (if you haven't yet). So all efforts are now focused on it. That means I finished part 4 of Chapter 1 and concluded its events. I promise you, chapter 1 is only the beginning of the story. I am planning surprises and a lot of LEWD content with various characters in the following chapter.

The Power of Truth is a different AVN than people are probably used to in the AVN community. While other devs will probably use 3-4 (maybe more) visuals for one conversation with another character, I will probably end up breaking a sentence into multiple visuals (I respect other devs who do what they do; I just do things differently). This is how I roll. This is how I do things. And that's why I have a lower word count than other AVNs: word count doesn't mean much to me in a story (this is only my opinion). A story can be told with fewer words, and it will be great. Fewer words and more visuals are more cinematic. And that's what I am aiming for. I haven't seen many other AVNs that do this. One AVN that is doing this and is story-focused is "Sort of Justice" by Tom, a friend of mine and a great developer. It's cinematic and has excellent flow, which is rarely seen in other AVNs, even action-packed AVNs. But my point is. He also uses fewer words, and his game is excellent. TPOT is very story-focused AVN, even if some people say otherwise. High LEWD content doesn't make the game not story-driven. I said from the start that I aim for a lot of LEWD content intended from the beginning. I do a lot of teasing, and I am giving a lot of LEWD content, and I will give more in part 4. My game is designed to give you a good story while also providing a lot of LEWD content. The game has a story to unfold, and everything surrounds it. It is designed that way. There are things that you probably didn't even notice that will come back in the future.
TPOT is also not just an AVN. It's a game. It has a challenge to it; not everything is given for free just because the player chose it. And this is what I aim for. A game without a challenge is boring to me, so there has to be a challenge. Having said that, I am always trying to make it worthwhile if you manage to get enough points to unlock a scene. You have no idea how many hours and effort I put into these renders and animations. Always trying to get better and to give you the best, most polished product.

I hope you see that I am giving great care to every aspect of the game, and starting from the visuals. You may or may not know. But I modify almost every environment you see in the game. Heavy modify it. It brings a lot of elements that weren't there, starting with small things like cup holders I created from primitive objects and custom shirts made in Affinity Photo (my choice of an editing tool), and continuing with the lighting. I use a mix of lights to create a complete look. If you played the game and you reached the cleaning scene with Corina, know that I used six different spotlights only for her character. Changing one pose means changing the whole position of the lights and sometimes how much light they will throw. That's how much effort I am putting into my visuals, extending to the characters' poses. There is a lot to talk about, but I say that for every pose I do, I change the hair pose too. I also changed the breast's position. I try to make it as realistic as I can, and sometimes I find myself working on one render for a long time. You have no idea how many times I have simulated clothes with dForce to make them look natural (and how long it takes to PC to simulate). You have no idea how many hours I spend just to find the right texture for my vision.

Music is such an essential part of a game, so I choose my music carefully. I try to match the vibe of the scene as much as I can. Sometimes I find myself searching for days for the right track. It gives the scene a sense of immersion and makes it more alive. I hope you don't mute the game when you play it, cause you won't find elevator music, you will find tracks that were crafted by composers, that were carefully hand-picked by me. I spend days searching for the right music, not using generic AI. Although I always prefer real music with real singers over AI, if you train the AI, you can get amazing tracks out of it, really high-level tracks, and it's becoming better and better.

Over the past year, I discovered some excellent AVNs. I am very picky when it comes to AVNs, since I have seen a lot of them, and I have a particular taste and very little time to play anything. Some of them I liked so much that I offered my help where I thought I could, and I am happy they let me help them. One of my goals as an indie dev is to help other devs however I can. I believe that our community should support eachother. If someone reaches out for help, I'll always help when I can.

I am grateful to have met many people who have helped me along the way—starting with my supporters. Every single one of you is fantastic, and I am touched that you want to see more from this project, which takes so much time and effort. Thank you for financially supporting me, thank you for your kind words, thank you for being on my Discord and chatting with me, thank you for being here. Thanks to everyone who helped me with the game, wherever it was testing, proofreading, or translating it; you are fantastic! Thank you, SaintMcDaniels (my bro), MattyIce (you are quiet, but you are an amazing supporter and editor), Anakist (hope you will come back soon), Nastice (The best QA I ever had, you are a hard worker, thank you), Benson (my newest Discord mod who is doing a great job, well not the latest latest, we already have a new one on our team - BrainRiddle), Casey and Sammy (come back brother, I miss you). Thank you for helping me.

I like working alone on the game; it's a work of art and my baby, but along this road, I've also met amazing dev friends who always have good advice, and I know I can rely on them when needed and have a good chat. Also, doing cross-renders with them makes the development experience much more fun. Amom, JDOR, SaintMcDaniels, MrPocketRocket, Aya, CreatorTom, Asia TMG (that always tries to help), Pietro, JeffersonSound, Moonlight, Lampy and FireVallyGames (There are more good fellas, sorry if I didn't mention your name).

It's time to thank the one and only - my wife, this project wouldn't have seen the light without her encouragement. I try to balance my life as much as I can between the craziness and the high pace of life, and still give this project my heart. It's super challenging, and other sole developers will tell you the same.

I wish to be at least as successful as I have been this year and become bigger and have more audience. I want to do that. This will be my only job, and I won't need to find something else to support my family.

See you at the third anniversary celebration!
Thank you, and have a great day!
DC