[SilverOver]Reflection on the Trial& About the Future (Patreon)

Did you enjoy the SoD2 trial version Ver0.3 released the other day?

There were various problems when the distribution started, but now I think that the download is stable and many people are playing without delay.

We are also grateful to the entire team for their many opinions, bug reports, and requests.

We will cherish each and every one of your opinions and use them as a basis for future production.

The production of this trial version was a good opportunity to think about various things.

Today, let me look back on the trial version and talk about the future schedule.

Development of SoD2 began around November last year, and about a year has passed.

As I moved my hands, I came to want to make it more interesting than the previous work, and to pursue the fun unique to SoD2.

Then, we are implementing new implementations of various ideas and proceeding with production with a volume that greatly exceeds the initial assumption.

This is possible thanks to your great support.

That said, there are two major changes from last year when proceeding with the production of SoD2.

1.Representative Xai can now spend a lot of time on this project

Since it was a private matter, I hadn't had a chance to talk to everyone until now, but until now I had been developing games at TeamKRAMA as a side business besides my main business.

However, nowadays, game development has been transformed into a main buisiness, and as a result, a considerable amount of time can be spent on this work.

Although I'm doing some other work in the form of a side business (such as teaching UE4 classes at school), I've been able to proceed at a considerable speed compared to last year.

2.Addition of full-time staff

Until last year, almost everyone on the team was working as a side job, so the reality was that development slowed down and it was difficult to set a schedule.

However, now that I have several full-time staff in addition to myself, I am able to proceed with development more stably than before.

We were able to achieve these goals only because we were able to secure a stable budget thanks to the great support.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported us for this report.

Under these circumstances, although the trial version was released in September, there was a problem of [broken link due to excessive traffic] when downloading.

Until now, TeamKRAMA has distributed the trial version several times in the same way, but since it was the first time for such a trouble, it took a long time to deal with it.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to everyone who was looking forward to it.

TeamKRAMA has provided services and contents for supporters to play the trial version in advance.

However, supporters could not play with confidence due to the behavior of some malicious users.

I think we need to take some measures for this.

I will report on the specific content again, but I would like to consider the distribution method so that we can deliver the content to everyone who supports us with peace of mind.

Please note that this may cause inconvenience.

Regarding the future, although the production itself is proceeding smoothly, some problems have come to light.

1)Insufficient quality of various scenes including hometown

As you can see from this trial version, I was reminded that Hometown plays a very important role in this game.

However, the creation is still insufficient, and I feel that the quality of the AI ​​of the heroine walking around the city and the visuals of the night scene are still insufficient.

The heroine's battle AI, which is another key point, is still immature.

We have many problems such as not being able to deal with local situations, not being able to follow the player well due to steps, and the muzzle and body orientation being incorrect.

In order to achieve a satisfactory quality, it is necessary to examine each scene and make adjustments one by one, which takes a lot of time.

2)Reduced working time of creators due to COVID-19

Due to the influence of COVID-19, the main business became very busy, and some members could hardly secure the production time.

Currently, it is assigned to full-time staff, but as a result, it has a great impact on production delays.

3)The system has become complicated and the development speed has slowed down.

Initially, we planned to update a simpler system.

After that, I introduced various newly implemented systems in order to pursue further fun.

As a result, it has definitely become more interesting as a game than the previous work, but it is necessary to prevent bugs from interfering with the new system, and the cost of implementing one system has increased steadily.

At the same time, we have to think about optimization.

In the comments to the trial version, I was sometimes asked about this area, but the processing is still heavy at present, so it is necessary to make adjustments so that the existing system is lightened and the new system is not heavy at the same time.

As for the new system, we have not included it in the schedule, so we are still busy dealing with it.

It's been a year since we started development.

The development staff is still struggling every day to implement various systems more than you make requests.

We can continue to make the game in time for the end of December.

However, if it is left as it is, all the elements will not reach the ideal, it will be halfway, and I feel that it will never be a satisfying game.

Therefore, although it was a difficult decision for TeamKRAMA, we decided to postpone the release schedule at the end of December.

We are aware that the distrust of the team has been shaken due to the postponement of development at ASCOT.

Also, since we just implemented a limited-time support plan last month, some of you may be worried about the outlook for it.

However, please understand that this postponement is only for quality improvement and for everyone including us to complete a satisfactory work.

We also promise to provide even more satisfying rewards for limited-time plans due to the time grace.

As a new goal, we are adjusting the schedule from March to June 2021.

We apologize to those who have been looking forward to it, but we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

We look forward to your continued support of TeamKRAMA and SoD2!