Progress Report, 17/01 - 25

Hello everyone!

It's time for another progress report. This week has been heavy on the refurbishing efforts, where a lot of work has gone towards getting the Discord(s) presentable and a little more modernized. We lacked a lot of fancy stuff that others have had, like animated emojis and decent custom stills, stickers and the likes, so I've spent quite a lot of time trying to get those sorted - just another facet of neglect that had been allowed to seep into my work while I was feeling burnout encroaching.

Another refurbishing went to the Ivy project. I haven't touched this thing for a long time, and given I've sworn to myself to get it sorted as soon as I can in 2025, I had to go through all its session files and update them to the new Eevee render engine settings, testing out what the thresholds should be for bloom effects, and the likes. It's also been a time consuming process, but they're finally all sorted and I've got the intro (which is finished) lined up for rendering over some nights where I have nothing else my computer is working on. I also realized that I'd actually gotten farther with the lip sync for Scene 1 than I remembered, which is good news. It's still got ways to go, but I intend to dedicate every Thursday going forward towards Large Project work, of which Ivy is the primary one of at the moment, and also see about what extra time I can push into it given my new schedule.

As I warned about earlier this month, RAW archive support has today officially ended and the files in question have been removed from MEGA and my hard drive, freeing up significant space for the future. The files were very seldom downloaded and the quality difference between them and the edited ones is otherwise negligible, so just as it's been over the past couple of months (since Blender 4.0 if my memory serves) the download options of files will be the "Edits", which now will just carry the particular animation's name, as well as the Compilation variant thereof. The reason for the cleanup is founded both in the relatively low usefulness of the archives in question, and because I've realized my rig cannot fit more HDDs with its present power supply or internal chassis space. Given how I'd have to buy a new chassis and PSU both to facilitate further HDD space, I've got a new rig build in the plans for the future instead which will be a big step up from my current setup - but in the moment the RAW archive removal will enable me to continue working for quite a while longer with literally hundreds of gigabytes freed up.

Tifa Lockhart has come out on top in the Scenario vote for the month, meaning the Alley Crew has dictated the course going forward. I'll be sitting down Saturday to sort out the first scene, getting it resolved over the course of the weekend, with scene 2 being sorted the weekend thereafter - the release estimated to land somewhere between the 27th and the 31st this month.

If everyone is ready I'll also be launching my Subscribestar mirror page on the 1:st of February, coinciding with the Less Popular Ladies vote beginning. It means the substar folks misses out on the nomination period, but I need the rest of this month to make sure all details are in place. When the Substar launches, the $2 tier will be saddled with basic Discord access as well here on Patreon. I'll be sure to warn ahead of time, multiple times, and provide a guide for those who want to disconnect from my server specifically and not get auto-invited over and over again.

The intake of new models is also, as I might have mentioned in the previous report, going to slow significantly. I've realized that with the advent of the LPL I've become less discerning or "picky" in what I allow into the gallery, meaning we now have upwards of 200 ladies in there, making it something of a hassle to browse or even remember who is in there (both for me and backers). Going forward I'm thus going to focus on models according to two main criteria: my own interest in the model, and my view as to its potential staying power. With staying power I mean I'll be more likely to commit a model to the gallery if I see it garnering an actual cult following or having a design that otherwise will make sure it retains a fandom, even after whatever game it came out of has passed largely into memory (Lady Dimitrescu for instance is a good example of a side character that stole the spotlight and still remains in people's consciousness - ergo, high staying power). I understand it's exciting for folks to see the new shiny game's models get lewded and that it's also in the financial interest of me as an artist to jump on bandwagons at times, but I'll be trying to pump the breaks more than I did in 2024 pertaining to what I actually put my time towards on this front. On that note, while this no doubt might disappoint some folks it will mean less work on my part when it comes to sitting around churning out model edits for the sake of committing them to the gallery, which means more time to work on other stuff, which I hope will make up for it.

TL:DR:

Discord(s) reworked and refurbished
Ivy Valentine project is back on the menu
RAW archives no longer supported
Tifa Scenario this month
Substar mirror page launching 1:st of February, along with $2 tier Discord access
New model intake slowing significantly in 2025

That's it for this week folks - it's time to savor this Friday before launching into weekend work. In the meantime, thank you, as always, for your continued support and for all of your kind words. The weather here remains tepid and uncomfortably moist and wet, but I shall none the less brave the streets so I can get into the gym and, myself, become moist and wet. I'll stop saying those words now.

Take care of yourselves folks, as well as each other!
/DH