About Your Place 0.20 and news

Update 0.20 is now complete, and I feel I should explain a few things: about the update itself and about future plans. More than a post, this is a short situation report.

It's long, but it explains most of the things that those interested in Your Place or femdom and futadom videos might find interesting.

About the update

The main features are already explained in the post about it - Your Place 0.20. But I'd like to explain a couple of things about the tone and intention of the update.

The update is intentionally confusing and dark. The feeling of disconnection from reality, which the game has always been about, during the weekend, with overly long cutscenes filled with the MC's thoughts and lengthy conversations with the characters, is deliberate. There are two reasons for this. First, so that both the MC and the player have a broader view of the game world. Second, so that the MC enters a world of paranoia and conspiracy. This sense of being pursued will become much stronger in the next update and will continue until the game's conclusion.

About possible bugs. I've fixed many problems, but there may be some new ones. In a few weeks or months, I'll release another version with these fixes (once I find them!).

Regarding the update's development

It's been excessively delayed. I know that perfectly well. And I think I should explain the main reasons, not excuses, since some are related to future plans.

I'll start with the personal reasons. A little over two years ago, I had to change my sleep schedule due to a REM sleep disorder. It was quite bothersome, causing me to faint while at the computer, and it took me several days to return to normal. Perhaps that's why I've made the MC faint so much in this update. This problem forced me to cut back, almost eliminate, the hours I work on the project at night. This is especially bad because those hours are the most productive for me. Now I think I've found a certain balance.

However, the main reason for the delay is another project I started at the same time as this update because I thought I could handle two simultaneously. Spoiler alert: I can't. I need to explain several things about this project.

Regarding the second project

The idea, stopped for now, for this second project was a way to rework the game I had outlined during my university days: a game about a new student in the city in a world of femdom and futanaris. The world is the same one I used for Your Place, but in this case, it's from the perspective of an office worker. This second project is what I'll dedicate myself to when I finish Your Place, which is now beginning chapter three of six. The world is the same, set on a particular American West Coast, following the cousin of the MC from Your Place.

During the development of version 0.20, I dedicated many, many hours to this second project and achieved some interesting things, especially in terms of writing and design. I put the project on indefinite hold until I finish Your Place, but I've laid the groundwork for what comes next.

The most noteworthy aspect of this second project, which has the provisional name "Routine," is that the gameplay changes from a visual novel to a more RPG style, similar to Summertime Saga, but without the incredible artistic quality of its developers. This second project features graphics similar to Your Place, created with DAZ3D. The script is designed so the player can change the MC's clothes or decide where to go or how to spend their time. Currently, the only completed location is the MC's house and their family: four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a basement, a study, a living room, a sunroom, a swimming pool, and a garage. Each location offers interactive options, as well as a time system that advances time based on the MC's interactions. The system is still under development, but it's functional for now.

In terms of design, I'll likely redo the characters again, as DAZ3D is currently using the Genesis 9 character model, and I started this project with the same Genesis 8 model as I did for Your Place. This means that if I continue with this approach, I won't be able to use the new outfits, models, hairstyles, and accessories currently being designed by the community. DAZ3D allows the use of assets from older models in newer models, but not vice versa. For example, at Mrs Bellmere, the office wear design is by Genesis 3.

In short, this project includes ideas that have been on my mind for a long time and that I will eventually implement, but not yet. First, I'll finish Your Place.

This second project has slowed me down more than anything else: not only because of the time dedicated to it, but also because version 0.20 became so extensive as a consequence of dedicating time to this second project. Let me explain. When I was writing the script for this new game, I would leave the main project to focus on creating more and more renders, because while these were processing, I had time for the other project. This has resulted in an excessively long update in terms of renders, with more than three times as many as the previous one and twice as many animations. Working with so much material became especially slow.

Regarding plans for the immediate future

The first thing I want to do is finish the Sims 4 animation chapter, which has been paused for almost a year. During these last few months, I organized its files, but I still need to write dialogue and add music and sounds. I will try to finish it in two or three weeks while I start developing version 0.21. This version 0.21 will begin where 0.20 leaves off, so I prefer not to talk about what it will be like to avoid spoilers.

In broad strokes, I can say that 0.21 will be shorter. I don't intend to make such a long update ever again. It will take up two in-game days: Monday and Tuesday. Monday will be spent almost entirely at the MC's house, recovering from the trip with a few visitors. Tuesday will be a bit more varied. The morning will also be spent at the MC's apartment and at his neighbors'. In the afternoon, he'll go to the office, and in the evening, the central event of the update will take place: a meeting at Anna and Sam's apartment with... erotic results, of course.

Regarding plans for the next update

This is probably the point I'm most excited about. I'll try to change the way I do the animations. This part is generally the most difficult for me since my skills as an animator are minimal. The idea is to use AI to make smoother and more natural animations.

Currently, I need about 125 renders to make one animation. But if the new system works well, 3 or 4 will be enough. There's an option to create videos from images using AI. And I was thinking of using this technology to save time and improve the animation quality. To do this, I'll need to do some research, download prompts, and configure everything, but based on my previous experiments, I think it's perfectly feasible.

AI generates various options, and I know I'll end up discarding many of them, but if an animation turns out reasonably well, I'll start posting them on Twitter. This will be quite some time from now, but those are my current plans.

Thanks to Redanimator, I've seen that it's possible to apply this technology to the images from Your Place. He uses GROK, but this system, although fast, is limited to SFW scenes. To create something consistently NSFW, and above all, free, I have to do it myself. A few months ago, I made a first attempt and concluded that although it takes time, it's worth it.

AI animations are more natural than what I can do. For example, in a scene with two characters in bed, it takes several hours to edit the characters' movements, and these movements are simple and repetitive. But with AI, each "movement" is distinct, and 5-second animations can be easily created. If I use one image as a reference point for the beginning of an animation and another as the end point, I can create animations that are, to a certain extent, controllable. But above all, they will be more detailed animations: the movement of the hair, the physics of the mattress and sheets, the movement of the fingers, facial expressions... If I wanted to create such an animation manually, it would take me several days and would turn out worse than what can be achieved with AI.

Regarding next week

I will begin researching and developing things with AI and editing and rendering the first scenes of version 0.21. But before all that, I will establish the general guidelines for this update: to avoid adding unnecessary scenes and preventing the development time from spiraling out of control again.

Regarding Love in Futa Time

I'll start editing in the afternoons; I think it can be finished in a month without delaying the start of 0.21 too much.