Maids & Masters (& Following Up On v0.20)

My brain is still mush in the wake of completing v0.20, so this post isn't going to have any active development news. I do still want to thank those of you that sent in bug reports; there were a couple bugs found in the new content for v0.20 that now have a patch available to fix them, and v0.20 has been pre-patched and re-uploaded so the patch is only necessary if you downloaded the game during release weekend. Only one of those bugs was truly game-breaking, but the other bug disabled a feature that I'm sure a number of players will find useful, so I'm glad to have both issues fixed.

 

I do want to do a bit of a post-mortem on what the "strategy mechanics" in the change log pertain to, but I need a little more time to recover before making my brain slog through all of that again. 

So this week, all I really want to do is lay out my plans for the rest of Maids & Masters as the game approaches completion.

 

First up is going to be the next April build. It's something I really wanted to make for last year because it's something people will not stop asking for, but I just didn't have time. With v0.20 done, I kinda do have time this year. I also don't want to go back and make it after Maids & Masters is complete, so if I'm doing it either this year or never.

After that, it's on to v0.21. v0.21 might end up being the first major update that doesn't include mechanics that are something I've never before. It will still be a fairly large number of maps, but despite that, I'm expecting v0.21 to be pretty straightforward, so it shouldn't take too long to complete. Being brave, I'd say v0.21 will release in April. Being cautious, it may not release until May.

When v0.21 is done, work on v0.22 will start, which will most likely be the last story update. I might end up splitting it up into two updates, because I want the final region and "estate" to be more content-dense, but it's hard to say exactly how much work that's going be. Mechanically, v0.22 should also be fairly straightforward, but I want to give the "end boss" some extra attention. Things like multiple phases and choices so the end of the story forms over the course of the fight instead of pulling a Mass Effect and just giving you a choice box. It's hard to say how that will all pan out, but I'm hoping v0.22 will release in May. It'll probably take until June or July knowing how things usually go, but I want to be optimistic.

Once v0.22 is out, v1.0 will happen when I've finished all the side content. This is mostly the character quests, since all the Maids are meant to have 3 or 4 character quests and they currently only have 1, but there's a bit of post-game content I want to add, too. If all goes well, v1.0 and everything I want to do with Maids & Masters will be complete right around its 4th anniversary.

 

With the release of v1.0, the rest of the year will be spent on Precious Kouhai so that project isn't sitting at v0.2 forever, supporting Maids & Masters with bugfix releases, and getting started on whatever the Patreon/Subscribestar poll decides I should start working on next.

Maids & Masters v0.20 Release

I feel like I need to go into hibernation after finally finishing this. There are already a few things I want to go back and polish or little side things I want to go in and add, but there's not enough there for me to justify actually delaying the release.

 

Maids & Masters is  now just two more major updates away from the end of the story, and one to three more small updates for side content, bug fixes, and polish before it's fully complete. It's taken nearly five thousand hours of development time over the last three years to get here, so if you think I'm worth supporting, go to Patreon or Subscribestar (or itch, I'm not picky; though you might have to wait an extra day for me to finish uploads sometimes) and consider kicking me a few bucks.

 

Or just wait until v0.21 hits early access and play it for free. That's also valid.

Here's the changelog (which is the longest the changelog has been in a good while): 

v0.20
Added the next story segment - the start of Act 3. Including:
- The end of the third Freeze and its associated trophy.
- The final cult segment before the end of the story.
- New turn-based-strategy style gameplay mechanics.
- Addressing long-standing plot threads; Lothario’s attic, Griselda’s prisoner, and more!
Added the Estate Info entry and trophy room events for Trophy 36.
Added a bugfix feature to discover Trophy 36’s Estate Info entry to the trophy room.
Added the missing Freeze chat variations for the new Maids to Katrina.
Added a transfer to the war room to access the laboratory from inside the mansion.
Added an option for Vicky to take you to the North Desert after completing Raven’s segment.
Added Bosch to the Freeze version of the Estate yard.
Added Chloe’s Freeze scene to her Service options after completing her event.
Added June’s Freeze scene to her Service options after completing her event.
Added an alternate version of Phoebe’s first affection quest, available during the Grow.
Fixed a bug that locked Vicky’s affection quest if Archibald had been present.
Fixed a bug in Willow’s Service options that resulted in the wrong scene playing.
Fixed a bug in the Ravenswood Estate that caused a blue pedestal to incorrectly remain active.
Fixed a bug in the Mind Hold that caused upgrades to not correctly diminish Silcrow.
Fixed a bug that caused Archibald to appear by Evdokia when he shouldn’t.
Fixed a bug that could prevent the player from leaving Aimadh under certain conditions.
Fixed a bug in the mountain pass that could prevent the jump from becoming available.
Fixed a bug that would cause an enemy in Clannestad to trigger a fight indefinitely.
Fixed a bug where Torgill was mad at you before you got Deirlinn pregnant.
Fixed a bug that caused Setri’s progression to count as complete during the Grow.
Fixed a bug where Celine may appear during the second Freeze’s feast.
Fixed a bug that prevented entering the Hold in the east wilds of the North Desert.
Fixed a bug that caused the player sprite to clip into the throne in the player Estate’s study.
Fixed a bug that allowed Beguile skills to be used while the affected unit was Silenced.
Fixed a bug that caused Maid’s Heeled Boots to not be picked up in Emily’s shop.
Fixed a bug that caused Silk Maid’s Ribbon to not be picked up in Emily’s shop.
Fixed a bug that allowed Preventative Stance to miss.
Fixed a bug that caused Oblivion Strike to target all enemies instead of one enemy.
Fixed a bug where the top of Fekhacht’s BGM would continue after using the Homing Stone.
Updated the wardrobes to allow selecting the default vest costume when others aren’t available.
Updated Katrina’s Freeze instance to account for time having passed.
Updated the Mind Hold with “Unlock Potential” options.
Updated the Freeze version of the Estate’s pool to improve event flow and triggers.
Updated Anne to have new dialogue if you have the Dog Collar trophy.
Updated Emily with new chat dialogue in reference to actions taken with Master Emmerich.
Updated Attack With Me! to repeat 4 times instead of 3.
Updated Wait For An Opening! to cost 50 SP instead of 60 and have much higher skill speed.
Updated Let Them Have It! To repeat 8 times instead of 6.
Updated Whirlwind Barrage to target 3 random enemies twice instead of one enemy five times.
Updated Sweeping Strike to cost 20 TP instead of 10 TP.
Updated Wild Barrage to award 5 SP per successful hit instead of zero.
Updated Whirlwind Barrage to award 5 SP per successful hit instead of zero.
Various other minor dialogue and event updates.

Maids & Masters (& A Release Date For v0.20, Finally)

I'm probably putting in way too much effort for a part of the update that people are probably only going to dislike because it involves consequences, but it should be done now, and is the only part of v0.20 that isn't the actual end of the update that needs doing before it's ready to release. I'm probably also pushing my luck trying to get this update out this Friday, but I think the only thing I'm going to accomplish by giving myself another week is giving myself more time to playtest, so I think it's for the best if I just commit to this Friday, February 28th, as the early access release date for v0.20.

 

Giving myself a deadline like that should also help me focus in a little bit, too. There's so much going on with this update that it's going to be impossible to polish out all of the bugs, even when I've already put in a ton of effort to make this segment of game as bug-free as possible. Now that I'm finished with everything except the actual conclusion, I'm up to 46 switches and 42 variables used in this segment. That are new. There's a double handful of old switches and variables being used as new versions of old quests have gotten implemented as well, though there aren't a ton of those - the Nithercott Estate and Ventire/Beauregard Estate are the two that are most likely to actually be noticed.

 

This update is also likely to be the first to take multiple hours just to get through the critical path. Most updates seem to round out to 20-45 minutes of gameplay, but based on the amount of time it takes me to playtest, I can see this update taking more than two hours to get through, especially if you go out of your way to do everything you possibly can. Aside from the 3 or 4 mandatory story events (depending on what you consider an event), you're given a side quest to do, and there are 9 more optional events to do. 

If you want to get your hands on this update on release day, go check out my Patreon (or Subscribestar (or itch if you're extra naughty)).

Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.20, Part 3)

Like I told supporters on Friday, I'm estimating the meat of the update is roughly halfway done at this point. The major story events are done, which just leaves all the minor and optional events and the ending. Unlike what I told supporters, that's about as much as I'm telling you, because I don't want to say anything more until we actually hit early access release day. If you want my secrets anyway, go to Patreon or Subscribestar and they'll be all yours.

 

If you're content to read the rest of this blog post and wait, maybe I could tempt you with a discount? The Valentine's Adult Gaming bundle has a whole boatload of discounts going now that the final stretch goal has been reached, which includes not only discounts on early access for permanent early access through itch, but 30% off my Gratitude and Supporter tiers on Patreon. 

My shilling out of the way, I would like to say that my progress on v0.20 means I can actually give you a release date, but I kinda can't. I'm still hopeful I'll be able to get the release done and published during February, but there's a non-zero chance that won't happen, so I'm not going to commit to any numbers just yet. I've got everything planned out pretty specifically except how the update ends. There are a few things I want to do, a few things I could do, and a few things I'm unsure of, and I won't be able to dedicate much brain power to figuring out how I want to handle it until everything else is finished and it's time to actually handle it.

 

Everything else is going pretty smoothly, though. I'm very happy with how the update plays from a gameplay perspective. Even if there's a little jank to it, it was really easy for me to get lost in just playing the game when I was playtesting things. I've also already gone through and fixed a slew of outstanding bugs and found a few other things to update, which has made this update's change log the largest it's been in a while. Now I just have to find a groove to settle into and get a bunch of work done, which will hopefully lead to the next test build including basically everything except the conclusion, and then I can talk about a release date.

Valentines Adult Gaming Bundle

Instead of being cryptic for another week, how about a big ol' bundle?

 

You can get this thing right here: https://itch.io/b/2881/valentines-adult-games-bundle

If you aren't already sold on clicking that link,  here's some stats for you:

There's 56 developers that put up 73 games, completely for free, including almost $30 worth of games that are normally paid.

We've already hit the bonus render stretch goal, so on top of all the other Valentine's cards I mentioned making available on Patreon and Subscribestar, there's about 50 more renders you're not likely to see anywhere else.

And we're already two thirds of the way to our final stretch goal, so if all of this isn't enough stuff for you, there's even more coming in the not-too-distant future.

Don't want to spend Single's Awareness Day alone? Go click that link.

Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.20, Part 2)

I think I've reached a point where all of the base infrastructure to make this update function is in place and working as well as it possibly could be. There's still a few more things to add, but they shouldn't interfere too much with anything else. The test build with these bare bones is in the hands of testers and I'm starting to get feedback, so now it's time to start fitting in all of the story events and other things to find along the way.

To that end, Viridius' part is almost done. I still need to make a sprite sheet and face sheet and finish writing the dialogue so I can test it all and move on to what's left for the other events. Right now I'm estimating 8 optional events and two or three more mandatory story events before the final confrontation that ends this segment of the story. 

The big thing I'm having trouble balancing out right now are the consequences. How to earn the trophy is pretty obvious - do all the things and avoid all the consequences - so all that's really left to do there is what to make the trophy and what to have the trophy do, and that can wait until I'm closer to implementing it. The consequences, though... I don't want to spoil anything about it so I'm going to continue being cagey on the blog posts, but given how upset some people seem to be about there even being a potential way to lock yourself out of recruiting Iris despite having many chances to both recruit her before then and avoid that scenario, I'm expecting people to also be very upset about some of these consequences.

Which is all there really is to say for now. This Friday's Patreon/Subsribestar post is going to be the Valentine's cards that were voted on last week, which gives me another week to put these events together before a (hopefully final) test build goes out, and then I can start talking about a release date.

Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.20, Part 1)

Yes, part one. This update is so big that even after nearly two weeks of working on just the infrastructure for what will make up the majority of the gameplay for this update, it still isn't quite in a final playable state. It is very nearly in a testable state, though. It's gonna be fun dancing around exactly what this update is about without outright spoiling what's going on.

(That was sarcasm - I really want to talk about it and it's not gonna be fun at all - but I want to keep the story as much of a surprise as I can because it's the first update of Act 3 and so much happens)

I still haven't quite gotten to Lothario's part of the segment yet, but I am to a point where everything I need to function (at least at a very basic level) should function, so I just need to test it a bit more (and what I've tested so far works as intended, which feels fantastic) and then I can get to work on Lothario. So if you're reading this while the post is fresh, there's a good chance I'm already working on opening that door behind all those statues in Lothario's attic that's been locked since v0.3. And if I get that done fast enough and the new infrastructure doesn't need a ton of attention, I'll even be able to add the first secret area for this new thing and build out Lothario's hold, and all that'll be in the second test build for v0.20 when it goes up on Patreon and Subscribestar.

 

Speaking of Patreon and Subscribestar, a quick aside - there's a poll on that's available to everyone (even if you just join for free) to vote on Valentine's Day cards.  If you want a valentine from your favorite Maid, go vote, because only the top 3 are getting one.

Anyway, as exciting as it is that all the new infrastructure is working, there's still an absolute boatload of work left to do. A lot of this new stuff relies on proximity checks for a ton of different events, which is why it's taking so many switches and variables to make it function. Last week I was a little under 20 of each; this week I'm up to 23 variables (with an estimated 24 more being necessary to handle what hasn't been built yet) and 24 switches (with an estimated 16 more for what's left). Most of those switches are checking whether or not certain actions have been completed, but in contrast,  only 7 of the variables currently being used are for something other than checking the position of something.

 

And that's still before scripting everything else that needs scripting, giving you the room to see everything you need to see, and putting in other checks for locations so you're not able to sequence-break anything and have the game start throwing errors or stopping progression because something happened before it was supposed to. This part of the game is deeply complicated to build. It should be a lot of fun to play, though. As long as I get the balance for the enemies right, anyway, because this segment of the game is going to be very combat heavy. It's a good thing that Mind Hold worked out. Unless you've been keeping up with combat, you're going to need it.

This update is also going to be calling back to all the loose plot threads that aren't part of a given Maid's character quests, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself so I have something to talk about next week. I think I've sprinkled in just enough hints at what's going on with this update that you might be able to guess, but you won't be sure if you're right or not. And hopefully that makes you excited for the update and not annoyed that I'm not telling you anything.

Maids & Masters (& Starting on v0.20)

I've actually been working on v0.20 for a few weeks now, with the first test build and patch notes already being up on Patreon and Subscribestar. There's quite a bit that I could and kinda want to talk about, but I want to keep as much of this part of the story a secret so you get the experience and the reveals at the same time. 

Obviously I can't do that with the patch notes that Patrons and Subscribers get, because the patch notes cover what's going on in the test build, and the test build contains those reveals. If you really want to know what's going on before the update enters Early Access and I start talking about going from v0.20 to v0.21, you know where to go.

I've been itching to work on this part of the game since I started on Act 2, so it's both a little surreal and really exciting to me to finally be here. Right now, the test build just introduces the update, wrapping up the Freeze and setting the scene for what comes after the cult meeting.

There's still a little bit of story to address with Lothario before the update really starts that I haven't put in yet, but adding just that would make for a pretty weak test build, so I want to get at least the core systems of the new mechanics functioning properly before I put out another test build so I can hopefully get some feedback on how that feels. As much as v0.20 Test 1 is already out, v0.20 Test 2 is at least another week away. And it'll probably still just be the story segment with Lothario and an opportunity to play with the base mechanics.

This is why I have no idea how long it's going to take me to make v0.20. These mechanics are complicated. I've spent entire days (yes, plural) putting together a single aspect, and that aspect is still incomplete. I (hopefully) know RPG Maker well enough at this point that I won't need to tear the entire system apart and remake it from the ground up to get it to work the way I want it to, so that shouldn't cause any delays. At the same time, I'm already at around 20 variables and 20 switches dedicated to just this part of the game, and both of those numbers are definitely going to go up from here. It's going to take a long time to put everything where it needs to go and tell the game how to behave. There's no real way around that.

And that's before all the story and special events, some of which will be based on "time" (using quotation marks because it's not really measuring how much time has passed, that's just the consideration behind it) and some of which will be more progress-based. 

Thankfully this part of the game is something I've spent a good long time thinking about, so it's only the finer details I need to iron out as I build it up. The big things that might cause delays is if I build a piece of it one way and it doesn't work, so I need to spend however long figuring out how to fix it. I'd like to get this update out in February, but it might not be until March when it's actually ready. Only time will tell.

Maids & Masters (& Following Up On v0.19)

There haven't been a ton of bugs reported, and most of the reports are for v0.18, but I've still caught about half a dozen things with the help of bug reports. At least one of those things had been in the game for a while, so I'm glad to have that fixed. Just a friendly reminder that if you manage to find a bug, please find me and report it; my comment sections and DMs are open wherever you can find them. Just make sure the place you found them are actually me. I know there are a few websites out there that upload my game without my permission or knowledge and don't actually link back to me in any way. I don't use those websites, so finding myself on them to look for bug reports is difficult.

Other than that, if you've played v0.19 (or even if you haven't, really), I just want to put it out there again that I like feedback. In particular, if you have any thoughts about the books that can be found beneath the shed, I'd like to hear them. Those books are meant to feel like random notes that you're picking up and reading with little context, but part of me worries that they're confusing. A small amount of confusion is fine given the revelatory nature of them, but you should still understand what they're about without needing to go back and read them multiple times. Some of the information there is relevant for v0.20, so I want to make sure those are easy to digest, or at least exciting to read.

There is another bug in v0.19 that I have fixed for v0.20 already that no one has reported, and while I kinda want to talk about it, I also think it's for the best to just let it lie and see what people do with the bugged version. It's a big enough bug that part of me wants to pre-patch v0.19 for the public release, but it also isn't game-breaking (at least not in a way that will stop you from continuing to play the game). At risk of over-repeating myself, I like feedback, so if you find this particular bug and have thoughts on the system it's associated with after you've played with it, do let me know.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with how v0.19 worked out. The bonus objective for June and Chloe (which yes, free hint - they share an event) seems like it's a little trickier than I'd like, since (another free hint, why not?) it involves having them both follow you, which is something you can't do with any other pair of Maids. I might expand the event trigger area a little so it's easier to find by accident, but hopefully both of their events being "go get the other one and take them somewhere" will lead enough people toward experimenting and figuring it out from there. If nothing else, there are enough optional Maids to more than make up for missing those two, so the trophy is still plenty obtainable for people who can't quite figure it out.

Now it's on to v0.20. I'm actually hoping to get the first test build that introduces the update out to VIPs this Friday on Patreon and Subscribestar. I still need to test some things and implement some other things, but this first little segment went quicker than I expected it to in terms of development time. Probably because I've been itching to tell this part of the story for close to a year now. I really hope you like what I've got coming, because the tone does take some rather sharp turns compared to the rest of the game.

Another Grain Through The Hourglass - 2024 Year In Review

Phew. That's 2024 done.

If you're new here and have no idea what I'm doing here, at the turn of the new year I like to take a moment to look back at the past year and celebrate all the good things that happened. A lot of not great things happened in 2024; financial support fell then stagnated, client work slowed way down, burnout hit me real hard, my grandmother passed, and so many other small things that made life harder and slowed down development.

Thankfully, there's still plenty of good that happened, too. There's still a lot that I'm incredibly thankful for and that I'm at least a little bit proud of. So, without any further ado:

Starting with the boring stuff, as much as my Patreon income hasn't reached the month-to-month peak that it hit at the end of 2023, I still had some good months thanks to those of you that signed up for the 1-year subscription that I'm now able to offer. Some of the other numbers also hit an all-time high, with paid members actually reaching 50 right at the end of December and total members being on the bleeding edge of 200. 

I also opened up a Subscribestar page, giving people who either don't like or can't use Patreon for whatever reason a new option to support me. While their payout rules mean I probably won't see a single cent from the support there for a long time yet (unless a whole bunch of you join all at once, anyway), I'm already over 20 members there.

Whether the money is where I want it to be or not, it still means a lot to me that anyone out there is showing me any kind of support. Especially in a year like 2024, it goes a long way toward keeping me going. Like I've said so many times already, and will continue to say as long as it continues to be true - whether you gave me a dollar and canceled immediately, joined one of those ridiculous expensive tiers and have stuck around for years, are somewhere in between, or have just been lurking in the "follow for free" section, thank you so much for being here.

Wrapping up the business side of things, the itch bundles didn't slow down even a little bit. From the smaller bundles to the giant mega-bundles, from the sales to the tips, the support on itch has gone a long way toward keeping me above water. As much as I still have a lot of room to grow before it really starts making a difference, the support I see there and the success of the bundles I've run still makes a little difference, and that still matters to me.

Seriously, just look at these things. The success of these bundles hasn't been life-changing for me, but they have made a difference for some of the devs in those bundles, and some of those differences have been life-changing. Getting to bring so many people together and seeing that show of support has been such an incredible experience (even if a few of those devs are a pain in my ass - you know who you are <3). If I end up failing out of indie game development and find myself unable to keep making games, I will still forever be humbled by the generosity of fans and the difference I've managed to make in my little corner of the community.

To talk about game development specifically, I really wish I'd gotten more of Precious Kouhai done, but at the moment, everyone seems to want my attention focused on Maids & Masters. Which is fair, because Maids & Masters is so, so close to the end of the story.

I'll probably still be spending most of 2025 working on Maids & Masters, because there's still a lot to do besides telling the rest of the story, and I have no idea what development is going to be like for these last few core updates. Like with basically every update to Maids & Masters, I'm tackling something I've never done before, but this time it's on a completely different scale. 

Once those last few updates are done, there's still other touch-ups on content that I want to add, too, with the biggest piece of that content being the remaining affection quests. It's incredibly exciting being this close to done, though. Having that first completed project as a notch in my belt is something I've looked forward to since starting Maids & Masters more than three years ago, and it's only gotten more important to me as the game grew in scope and scale. I continue to learn a lot about game development and storytelling through interactive media, and I'm feeling deeply impatient to put all of that experience to work into a future project.

Where Maids & Masters is a story I wanted to tell combined with an excuse to learn as much as I can about RPG Maker, and Precious Kouhai is almost entirely an excuse to get better at creating visuals and animating (with learning Ren'Py being a nice bonus), I'm really eager to put these metaphorical muscles to work instead of just - comparatively speaking, anyway - lifting weights for the sake of moving something heavy.

Back on the topic of future projects, I was finally able to make a demo that's near and dear to me, because it's the project I initially wanted to make first: Light Eternal: Dawnfall. It's the first project I pitched to someone else when I was looking to join a team rather than take on solo development, it's the oldest game design document I have in my ever-growing stockpile of GDDs, and it's a story I'd been working on for years before all that. Having both the tools and the skills to bring that project to life, even if it is just a demo, feels like a phenomenal step forward.

 

So, here's to 2025.

If everything pans out the way I want, I'll have Maids & Masters finished in a few months, spend the next few months after that following up on the end of the story with the rest of the side content I want to make while I finish Precious Kouhai, and I'll have you voting for my next project on Patreon and Subscribestar to have the first official update of that project in your hands before 2026.

There's also another thing I still can't quite talk about, but I'm very much looking forward to telling you about it as soon as I can. As much as there are a handful of things the future holds that I'm very much not looking forward to, 2025 still looks like it's going to be an incredibly exciting year. Here's to sharing it with you.

Stay cultured, you beautiful bastard, you.

Happy Lewd Year 2025 Bundle!

This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I didn't do a great job of paying attention to what day of the week it was.

Super quick general update - next week will be the 2024 year in review, then a follow-up on v0.19 so there's plenty of time to allow for feedback to come in.

For now - have another bundle!

This one is only available for a week to celebrate the new year. It's just a little over 40% off of 7 different games, most of which I've played myself. If you want something a little more than your standard AVN, the games here should keep you occupied for a good while.

Get it before it's gone! https://itch.io/b/2836/happy-lewd-year-2025-bundle