I just want to give a little bit of information on what I'm working on right now and talk about what I'll be doing after the next content update is done, namely setting up a Patreon page.
Not the last content update for the first city.
So, right now I'm writing the encounter with the engineer and the consequences of your decision during this encounter. It's going alright, but it's a bit harder than I though. It brought me to the conclusion that while it does bring an end to the main story of the first city, there's a lot more I want to add to the city itself that I wont be able to put in the next patch... Unless I delay it by a month.
The current story introduces the player to the game, but at the same time it's also the biggest human city in the game and the starting point of your adventure. After this main quest, the player will finally get the option to leave the city
I'd say the encounter with the engineer is currently at 40%, due to the size of it. I'll try to get that to atleast 80% today so I can start finalizing the next content patch this week.
Future of the project, aside from content
My plan for this project has always been to set up a Patreon page after finishing up a nice demo. I feel like the point of the game comes across nicely after I finish the next content update, and it gives players a good idea of what to expect from future content.
I'm not going to lie and say I've been asked to set one up. To put it bluntly, I simply could use the money. I was fired recently and I'm still in the process of looking for a job. It's not easy, and currently I wouldn't even be able to afford the site hosting. That would be my first and only goal, which is about 50 euro's a year. Not being able to reach the goal will not mean I quit the project, but any help would be appreciated.
I will have individual rewards if anyone thinks that's a good idea, but for now I will set up global milestones. I've thought of the following rewards so far:
- Up to 6 times, for every x amount, I'll create a different part of a set of (in-game) clothes that becomes available to all players. These clothes will be the first set items that have a special effect, probably scales with level. (I didn't forget about the tester reward, should be in the next patch!)
- I'll create parsing/engine tools so anyone can make content for the game at any point, without programming knowledge
- Dev posts every other day, and regular polls to gauge preference on game mechanics and story arcs
I'd love to hear any feedback and, most of all, ideas from you guys.
Comments
If you comment on something that isn't the last post on the blog, I probably wont see it or I will see it really late.
Before posting a new topic, I always respond to comments in the last blog post. I feel like not a lot if people read those because it gets smashed down by new posts.
If you want to make sure I read your reply and get a guaranteed response, I have a topic over at Fenoxo's forum:
https://fenoxo.com/forum/index.php?/topic/2893-mmw-my-monster-world/
Thank you for your time. I look forward to reading your responses!
Sincerely Yours,
JV
Wow, must admit that your "writing the ending" really sounded strange, like "hey, this project is dead !", I'm glad is not like that ! (or maybe it's just me that's a bit too pessimistic)
ReplyDeleteOn the same tone, it really sucks for your job :x I dunno in which country you live in, or why you where fired, but I sincerely hope you can live decently.
Well... Now, about the game...
I'm curious, is human important in MMW ? If yes, well, okay, you can't access most of the city, but right now it look kinda small for the "biggest human city". So yeah, I'm glad you plan to add more content here !
As for a patreon, I guess it's nice to have one, if you ever want to try living from your games. As for your reward idea
- I'm conflicted about these special sets. First : I don't know(remember?) how item/equipment will influence your character, so it's kinda totally impossible for me to wrap my mind around this.
My through so far : In a way, it's nice to have items that evolve with you (stats wise), and in the other hand, won't they be a bit too overpowered compared to other equipment ? And are they really useful ? (I mean, gaining LV is already a stat upgrade, right ? So apart if equipments give other benefit than stats (% resist to some status, skills, etc) I think that's a bit redundant. Also, these "other benefits" can be designed to scale with stats (like a skill that give strength damage), or have % based bonus that will always help whatever the LV)
Anyway, in that kind of game, I kinda like choosing my equipment depending on their supposed look/feel instead of their stats, so in that regard, I kinda like when equipment isn't that important, or don't become outdated (apart if a better version exists). So... I don't really like it at the same time.
Also, I have to ask, what's that tester reward ? I kinda feel like I have missed anything here about tester ?_?
- As for the parsing engine : Always nice to have ! I must admit I'm curious if you plan to add other player add on in the game officially, or how they should be distributed. Okay, that's a question about the future !
- Having more dev post is kinda nice I think, I love progress report on nice project I follow (okay, I may lurk on these blog a bit too much).
As for the pool, my opinion would be to have a public pool and a patreon pool. I feel like it's always nice to have most feedback as possible, and a separate feedback from people who support your project is nice too.
- As for ideas... Not much right now...
About polls, if you like to work that way, maybe asking for the order in which you add new monster girls, or the new content (new "dungeon", new NPC in town, or I dunno !). Eventually, letting patreon/public poll choose some traits about future NPC/monster could be fun (if you're that kind of stuff), like a big poll about their physical trait, character, fetishes... A bit like offering poll-character creation for NPC, with physical trait, fetishes, character.
Still lacking in originality, for the milestone, apart from "will work part time/full time on the game", "will pay the server fee", "will pay people to write some content", "will pay for fanarts or comics", I'm really out of idea. Have you tried to check the others adult patreon ?
That's about it for that post I Guess ? I'll answer on the progress tracker too ;)
Anyway, happy gamemaking !
- You are absolutely right. I changed the title!
Delete- Losing my job is my burden to bear. I'll probably delete that part from the post, because it makes me sound like a beggar.
- Humans are pretty important in MMW. Unlike in a lot of other games, monster girls aren't a constant threat that have forced humans into hiding or something like that. I wouldn't say monsters and humans live in harmony, but the numbers seem to be balanced.
The city will definitely become bigger in the future. Mind you, most other cities will only have one or two zones. The current city is already atleast 5x as large as the others. In that regard it really doesn't need any expansion.
- Your point about scaling equipment not making much sense is valid, but leveling up doesn't increase your armor. Scaling equipment would give increasingly more defence.
As for picking gear depending on their looks, instead of stats; In the future there will be either fashion slots or a transmog option. Meaning you will have slots for items that you want to wear for their looks instead of stats, while keeping other gear for it's stats and not it's looks. That, or the option to sacrifice one item to change the appearance of another while keeping its stats. This will be far into the future though.
- I'm not sure what you mean with "other player add on", but I'm assuming you mean more writers? Realistically, I don't think I will be able to afford to hire writers. Hopefully the parsing tools I'll be making in the future will aspire people to make content.
- On the patreon suggestions, I'm honestly not expecting any funding. Like I said, the outcome of the patreon's success will not determine wether or not I continue. If anyone helps me out even a little to pay for the site's host, I'll be happy.
The reason I bring that up is because this means it's unlikely working on this game will become a full-time or even part-time job (or maybe it's already a part-time job?). Paying writers or artists would be a more realistic goal I think.
I'll be sure to check out other adult patreon pages though, although I do remember most of them saying "money supports me in developing the project" and pretty much nothing else. I'm not judging them, honestly that's probably the smart thing to do.
Thank you for taking your time to share your thoughts! Much appreciated.
Hii !
ReplyDelete- Well... I must admit I wasn't really disturbed by your "loosing a job" part, and haven't really taken it as you begging for money. I was just blunt honesty, which tell your reader what to expect.
- Thanks for the heads up about equipment ! I... Must admit the things you talk about aren't really my cup of tea
(/!\ rant incoming /!\ whatever the game, I never really get my head around "wearing a full plate armour with the looks like a skimpy outfit patched on it", or "making a bikini as sturdy as an chain mail, with full body protection, of course").
Well, putting my tastes aside, these system usually works (even through they aren't my friend - I find it fun having to find the most interesting stats/look ratio).
By "usually", I mean, when you can see the armour, having stats and look separated make sense. When you only get a description, it become a bit stranger for me.
Worse, since this game may rely on physical interaction, the texture of the armour, and overall area of covered skin may change some scene/description. So I can't really imagine how to merge the look with the "real" armour in some scene. Well, I guess I'll need to see it in action. And I guess if you don't add a lot of focus on cloth during your scene, it wont really be a problem.
- By "other player add on", I meant "what will you do with the content other player will create". Like, will you add it in game ? Let other people to add their "game mod" somewhere on the internet ? Or try to gather them in one place ?
- I must admit that I had understood your patreon plan correctly. From my point of view, I hope you'll manage to make a great game, which will at least attract enough money for paying the hosting !
Well, you're right about most patreon doing a "money supports me in developing the project". Through if I recall correctly, some of them have stretch goal on top of that.
As for the other post thread, I'm glad you liked some of my idea !
And you're welcome ! Having answer to comment is, also, much appreciated
Ah sorry to hear about your job, I just applied for one recently and I personally don't think I got it, i'm getting really hyped about the engineer though really; it's different in a sense.
ReplyDelete