Pirates and Changes - Devlog 12.9.25

So, Shuffle Me is being pirated a lot lately D:

I can't say it boosts my motivation. Though it activated my brain. I started to think about what would I want to see from the game if I wasn't a developer. And what I want in general.

I spent some time trying to write this post "right". But then I just like "fuck, I just do it like I want" xD Sorry for that :D

Avatar

You see, most of the games in transformation/crossdressing/femboy genre have quite low avatar customization, or they don't have it at all.
At the same time, in many other games Visual customization is often a paid feature.
So I assumed that people would like to play the game even without the Avatar, after all there is still a lot of stuff, like the whole card game with lots of artworks, mechanics, etc. Characters with their simple transformation. Even animations.

Though now it's clear that people consider Avatar the most important part of the game. Because it's quite cool. And it's getting even better.

However, it's become clear that people don't understand that I was able to create such cool Avatar only because of support from my Patrons. Without that I wasn't able to buy Spine Pro, to pay my bills, to leave the job and work all the time on the project, to hire more people. So from my (developer) point of view it's super obvious that I give the avatar to Patrons only. While from the player's point of view it's an obvious paywall xD

Public vs Patreon

From now on, only the most Stable versions are going to be released in public. This version will include Static Avatar (right sidebar). It will happen once per 3-6 month, usually when I move to the next "big" Build.

Everything else will be released only here on Patreon for my patrons. So basically all the new stuff, everything that I'm going to add next, is going to be released for patrons only. It includes Side-view animated Avatar, Machines Loop, Amusement Park Loop, Cumplay, animations, clothes, and all the other planned content.

Again, I won't upload it anywhere else, I won't upload "no-avatar" versions. All the new stuff will only exist on Patreon.
Yeah, it will probably leak into some pirate websites. Though I doubt it will be happening fast. So at least my patrons get some time of "early access".

Also, smaller features like Character Creation between loops, Cheat Room, maybe even some Difficulty Settings, and some things that I'm going to add later, are going to be available for Patrons only.

I'm thinking about additional features for patrons. I just don't know what it might be. For example, we can try doing polls on what should I do next. We can try to do commissions (anyway we draw/animate for the game). Or I can try uploading more materials, like artworks, animations, etc.
Just tell me what you want to see - and I'll make it happen. If you don't want to tell me what you want - I'll try something on my own xD

Support

I'm not just a developer, I'm also a human being. I also need to eat, to sleep, and so to pay my bills. Without support I'd be forced to find a job. That means I'll be able to put about 10 times less time into the development. Not even talking about being able to work with my small team and pay them (it's already 5 members that regularly work with me).

So consider keep supporting us if you think that you want to see more stuff from us.

Also, as some of you might know, we are working on remaking Shuffle Me on godot engine, because HTML and JS are quite limiting. While we learn, we leave behind some draft projects. Some of them are better than others. So I've got a thought that with some additional effort some of these drafts might become an actual game. It might be a simple LifeSim, or a simple Adventure. We can reuse most of the assets, like Static Avatar, Animated Avatar, artworks, interface elements, etc. We can do some additional assets.

I'm just not sure if you guys want it. Probably I need to make a poll about that.
You know, I kind of feel that I'd like to switch between Card Game and something else from time to time. It's hard to explain. I think that working on a single project exhausts me faster, while if I switch sometimes - I feel lighter, my brain works better. I remember I heard something similar from some big game developer. That even if you have a big cool project, you still need to keep doing different small projects, to get new ideas. Otherwise it's like being trapped, you burn out way faster.

So tell me what you think about anything that I've written above. Or don't tell. I kind of used to you guys being silent all the time :D