Situations & Plans
Hey all,
I figured I'd make a little discussion post about some stuff I'd like to lay out. Some (somewhat) difficult situations arose that pushed a little load on me. So this is mostly a transparency post alongside what I'm doing about it. It's not so interesting if you're just here for content so feel free to skip this post!
NTR Sim
But first I hope the new NTR Sim update went smoothly, there's still things to debug on my radar as well as some content I need to tweak and add.
Firstly, a free version will be available this weekend, maybe Friday on itch. You'll be able to try the game and see for yourself what it's about! And if you prefer to wait for free versions, that's also fine! I hope you give it a try.
A new version will come on the weekend. Not sure if I want to call it 0.3 or just like a 0.2.1. It will include the weekend events, Saturday and Sunday. It will also add a few patches to a few known bugs. If you have any requests, please add them to the discord boards - I'll happily consider them.
The reason for the high frequency of updates is I realized that originally I didn't think it was going to be popular, just a bonus addition and didn't plan to update it as often as first. But it feels fair, given the support it's received to update it as frequently as possible. I'll aim for a weekly update, as small or large as I can possibly make them but some progress is better than none!
NetoPhone Content
Okay regarding Netophone, there's a Mai update slated that will be my focus of this week. There are a few things to address.
First, a reworked script. The naive logic behind the initial (Mai) script cause updates to be slower. With Emma's update I found a new way to organize the script to pass events around. Since it's on an older engine, it's less friendly to work with but I've come up with some methods. That means Mai's script will be converted.
Secondly, during the conversion, Mai's story has been a bit problematic. The intent of the story is that touching on NTS lead Mai down a path of NTR. But a lot of feedback has sort of given me the impression that this isn't something people want, or that they aren't interested getting past the NTS part and end up criticizing the story. I'll be honest, it's a bit bothersome that people aren't willing to give that angle a try but I can't force a story someone isn't interested in the end - to each their own.
So given this, Mai's story will add some bigger opening sections to include an NTR route off the bat. The current content will remain in parallel based on choices you make. And there will also be content that extends her story further too so it'll update both ways.
The elephant in the room however for Netophone is that we lost our dedicated artist (quite suddenly and without explanation)! We had a good working relationship so there was no dramatic send-off but I think there was some personal matters behind it so I will not speculate. This is why updates have been a little on the slow.
Our artist was also interested in Mabel's story art and so the sudden change has left me handling the art for both the projects! I had some help with Ryker on Mabel's initial release so thank you for that, Ryker!
I'm not a dedicated artist but I'll be doing my best to replicate all the styling for NetoPhone as I've been left with quite a few notes on styling and procedures. NTR Sim is a style I put together for example based on my knowledge! So I don't know what challenges are to come with NetoPhone but I'll be doing everything I can!
That's basically all. Send thoughts and prayers to our artist to be in good health! And I hope the rest of you take care of yourselves too! ♥️
~ Kuro
Comments (12)
Is there any update on Netophone? Last update was Emmas update back in Jan, this post said work on Mai's story was in the works, but then there hasn't really been any updates or news since. Currently I'm on the supporter-tier and while I like the game enough to financially support it, it does feel a bit bad to keep supporting a project that doesn't get any updates, while the NTRsim - the game which I can't access unless I raise my tier - does. I get that working on two games at the same time can be taxing. Problems with the older code and loosing an artist doesn't help either. While I don't want you to rush; rather a quality update, than a rushed one, I must admit that I'm considering pulling my support, since there hasn't been any updates or mentions of the game for so long. (also, regarding Mais story; don't listen to the haters! Do the story the way you want. Personally I liked the NTS into NTR route the story was taking; we got 4 different stories, I like that they are exploring different aspects of the topic).
I think you should gradually transition to developing exclusively for NTRsim and finish working on Netophone. Having two projects going at once is rarely a good thing for both the author and the players.
Yes, netophone will have most of their stories reach a conclusion soon. They aren't meant to be long ongoing stories. I hope all the stories can reach their end this year!
I am surprised that people would even want NTS with Mai, seemed like she was a clear case of NTR of the characters. With the artist leaving and some older code/builds giving some frustration, you might be at a branching path of your own ;). You are creative and productive, if there is something you can do that keeps that flame alive, do that, even if it means disappointing some people. Heck, even if that means starting fresh. I cannot imagine the stress of balancing your gut/motivation with subscriber desires, has to be tough. Thanks for all the hard work so far and sending best wishes going forward🫶
Hi, I cannot access the post about ntr sim 0.2 despite being a paid member and when I try and upgrade it says tier is no longer available. Can you advise?
NTR Sim is on the Premium tier. Maybe you are trying to access early birds which granted the discount to the oldest batch of supporters for a free upgrade?
I like your work and will support you as long as i can. Always remember that it's your game, do what you like and want first.
You absolutely can "force" a story on people -- what you do in these cases is focus on what people wanted as a primary and then later add a branching path for the NTR route aswell. No one is going to complain about having more options. Having options never hurt anyone. Sure it is more effort, but also very much worth it. The best NTR happens when it is due to poor decisions and fully optional. Speaking as a GameDesigner I would generally say that ofc it is never a good idea to ignore your audience, but it is equally bad to be audience captured and thus losing your own creativity. Your passion is what makes all the difference after all. Balance both out I'd say and introduce optional paths that are of your own ideals to the people, that way they can explore it and you can see if they love it or not. I personally will continue to support you either way aslong as it feels like you are bringing some passion and your own creativity into it. Games always start to suck when the developers lose their drive and passion.
Yes, i had trouble explaining how i felt about all of that. But you said it the best.
Dang, I really like the NTS leading into NTR story and Mai has been my favorite for how quickly it dove in. Is there a chance you could just allow players a choice to lock to NTS-only, and everyone who isn't that sensitive can play with toying the line?
It is a unique story in that sense and it feels bad to gut it into having a second channel but it's unfortunately the top complaint. It leads people to review bomb the entire game based on this one thing.
Nice update. I am looking forward to seeing where stories for both go. Any well written story is good for me, but my favorite scenarios involve loss of control, guilt, naive risk taking, pregnancy risk and the like. I am interested in the format, so will definitely continue watching regardless of where the stories go.