Long Overdue Update 2019-05-14
Damn, I have so much to share and I’m not even sure where to start. Give me a second to collect my thoughts a bit…
Ok, the silence. Let’s start with that. I’ve been kind of quiet these last couple of weeks, but the silence is not indicative of a lack of progress. Quite the opposite, the silence was the result of much progress.
As previously mentioned, the project has been transitioning to a team of one. Myself.
In the past, I was responsible primarily for the writing and the community interaction for the project. But going forward I will be tasked with the writing, the artwork, and the coding. This means I’ve had to work over time learning to specialize in all three areas very rapidly.
The last thing I would want would be for this transition to result in a reduction in quality. Oddly enough, I think the opposite might have occurred. For the last month and a half I have personally be learning all the ins and outs of Daz, Photoshop and Renpy.
As evidenced by the new “sex menu” that is being introduced into the game, I think it’s safe to say I have a strong handle on the code.
And hopefully the attached imagery will have you confident that I can handle all of the visual art going forward.
And the writing, well, nothing changes there.
The most challenging part of this transition has been redefining the production pipeline. And now I think we have that ironed out as well. it’s one thing when you have two or three people working on a project and you’re feeding things forward, not needing to know about the black box process that goes on before it moves on to the next person.
But now that I am involved at every single step of the process, changes need to be made in the order that things were done to help optimize the speed at which production occurs and to streamline some of the tasks involved.
To that end, I’ve recently completed 21 hours of photoshop training and a combined 50 hours of training on digital modelling, sculpting and shading over the last month. It’s simple, the better I understand these tools and know what’s available, the faster I can manipulate, update, and integrate.
And I have to say it’s already paying off. Learning how to optimize the scenes for rendering, manipulating the shaders so that I get the desired effect in the first try (vs six or seven), and taking a few seconds to tweak a rig or sculpt polys instead of trying to fix odd bends and folds in post production is going to save a ton of time.
Already I’ve been using my new-found photoshop skills to fix lighting errors and enhance colors and blends in a matter of seconds. Before, we would have gone back Daz and made actual lighting adjustments and re-rendered a couple of times until it was correct.
There was some trial and error involved in adjusting the pipeline as well, but I think the cycle I’ve come up with will work well going forward.
If I stick to the program, I should be able to produce scenes at a rate of about one a week. That’s scenes mind you, not completed chapters. But it will be a constant forward momentum that will lead to a steady stream of updates, so I’m excited about that.
Now on to what you really want to know about…
WHEN IS THE NEXT UPDATE?!
All of you have been exceptionally patient with me and to that end I cannot thank you enough. But you’ve waited too long. And now the bill has come due.
Starting tomorrow I’m taking off time from the “Real Job Blues” and for the next week and a half going to work solely on this update and get it out to you next week. I’ll work 18 hour days if that’s what it takes.
And even though it falls to me to see this project to completion, my passion has not waned and I am still as enthusiastic, if not more so, than ever. I look forward to carrying this to the finish line and I’m excited about what we’ll come up with together.
I am, as always, your humble servant in the production of quality adult entertainment. And now, more than ever, I salute you!
As a weak consolation for your patience, here’s a few more teasers from next week’s long awaited release.