Supporter Dev-log #9 (Patreon)

Howdy folks, it's time for another supporter dev log.

What's going on in the wonderful world of Creamy, you ask? Well, a whole bunch! I've been working very hard on the NTR and Cheating routes. I'll be honest with you and say it's been a bit of a difficult one. With Crème working full time again and me being forced to travel for work, I've not had the development time I needed or would have liked, so here's the current state of play.

The NTR route is my absolute priority and I fully expect it to be completed and ready for the Fan release on Saturday. The Cheating route is still very much TBD. Best case scenario, it also makes the cut and releases alongside the NTR route this Saturday. Worst case scenario, it releases the following weekend.

Simply put, I'm not releasing it unless it's the quality you deserve.

I want to talk to you all a little bit about the development cycle and how my personal life affects it. As I've told you before, I have a full-time office job, fortunately it lets me work from home two days a week. It's because of that flexibility that I'm able to do what I do.

Crème, on the other hand, works in the film industry. She's a graphic designer by trade and, in an ideal world, would be making all the art for the game. The reality is that when she's working on a film, she's regularly doing 14-hour days, and even then she'll still try to find time to help with the game whenever she can.

I'd love for Crème to be able to spend more of her time working on the game because she's incredibly talented and having her involved always improves the final product.

Now, I'm not telling you all of this because I want sympathy. I just want you to understand what goes on behind the scenes.

The six-week development cycle was originally designed around one week of writing, followed by a week of coding and art generation for each route, with a final week dedicated to testing, polishing, bug fixing, and general clean-up before release.

That was just about manageable when each route contained two scenes and around 7,000 words.

We're now at a point where the story needs to expand and diverge. I want your choices to matter. I want different routes to contain unique scenes, unique outcomes, and content that feels earned based on the decisions you've made throughout the game.

The downside is that what would once have been a 14,000-word update across two routes has now become closer to 25,000 words.

I simply can't create that amount of content in a single week.

Because of that, and to ensure I can continue delivering updates that I know you'll love, I'll be moving to a five-week development schedule going forward. With NTS/NTRS releasing together then 5 weeks later NTR/Cheating.

The release order for Tiers will stay in it's current structure so every five weeks, Super Fans get day one access, Loyal Fans 48 hours later, Core Fans a week later, Fans 2 weeks later and public 4 weeks later. A week after the public release you'll have brand new content to enjoy!

The way I envision this working is one week of writing for two routes, followed by two weeks of development for each route.

This isn't a reduction in ambition or content. If the first half of Chapter 4 is anything to go by, you'll continue getting just as much content as before. The routes are becoming more distinct, the consequences of your choices are becoming more meaningful, and that naturally requires more development time.

The obvious downside is that the story will take a little longer to progress.

I don't love that, but I also can't have my cake and eat it too.

For me, this is the best compromise. It allows me to maintain regular releases without sacrificing quality, content, or my own sanity.

I truly feel this will result in a better game in the long run.

I've genuinely been blown away by the number of you who have chosen to support this project. It really means a lot, and I'm incredibly excited to keep building something that you'll love.

If you've played Chapter 4, as always I'd love to hear your feedback, so please don't hold back. I'll be running some Patreon polls soon to get a better grasp of which routes are proving most popular, what kinks people are enjoying, and to gauge the community's likes and dislikes. It's unlikely to meaningfully change the content of the game, but it's always helpful to know what the community enjoys... or hates!

I don't want to spoil too much about what's coming next, but I did promise some previews, so...

SPOILERS BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Well that's all from me folks, if you read the whole log, thank you! If you have questions for me hit me up in the usual places, I am pretty friendly and I like getting to know fans of the game!

See you again on Saturday!

~ Creamy