Maids & Masters (& Looking To v0.13)

I meant to have this up yesterday, but the past two days were very busy. 

Jumping right into it, once v0.12 is released, I'll be taking a short break. The last break I took was mostly a creative one, and I took that time to make the demos for Love/Loss and Redemption Harem rather than actually taking the time off. This time I want to actually take some time off. I've been working on Maids & Masters for exactly two years as of this month, and I've never once gone through a day without at least checking socials to help people troubleshoot potential bugs or make a post here or on Patreon during that time. If I worked less than 50 hours in a week, it was a slow week. Most weeks were over 60 hours. As much as I love this job, my body doesn't love being worked so hard.

So, what does this mean for the coming weeks and v0.13? Hopefully, not a lot. While I do want to take off a couple of weeks, I've become something of a workaholic, so it's unlikely I'll completely stop working during this time. I've already got posts planned for both this dev log and Patreon, including the next vote for which segment v0.13 will be (though based on the last poll, I have a good idea of which one is going to win). I'll keep posting things on Twitter as I have been, and I've still got new promotional material (like a new Patreon banner and a couple things to spruce up the itch page) that I'll probably be getting done during this time as well. It's entirely possible I won't even be able to convince myself to stay away from work for two whole weeks and will end my little vacation early. The only real impact will be on the dev cycle, which means v0.13 will likely take roughly as long as v0.12 did.

In the mean time, v0.12 is still set to come out on Friday, which means v0.11 will still go public on Friday. I'm down to finishing touches, play testing, and bug fixing now, so that won't need to be pushed back unless something goes very sideways. Even then, it'll only need to be pushed back by a day or two at most.

 

I'll talk more about it next week, but Maids & Masters did join a bundle, which you can get for free on itch.io. We passed our goal so quickly, we've started discussing possible stretch goals, like bonus renders, possible sales, maybe even paid version giveaways. If you don't want to wait until next week, you can check out the bundle right here. There are more than 20 games in the bundle, so there's more than enough to keep you busy while you wait for v0.13.

Maids & Masters (& A Release Date For v0.12)

It took longer to get here than I wanted it to, but we got there. There's still a handful of things to do before the build is actually finished, not to mention a few other random bits and bobs that I want to include in v0.12, but it's close enough to done that I'm confident in locking in a release date.

The test build will go up on Patreon on Friday, the 25th to VIPs. Once play testing and bug fixing has had some time to happen, v0.12 will go out to all Patrons on September 1st. I know that technically means there's no release this month, but there's only so much I can do about that - and I really don't want to give you something so broken and/or incomplete that it isn't worth your time. 

 

Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm trying to offer multiple paths that will dynamically adjust to how you're playing the game for Act 2. For v0.12, that means two negotiation segments are entirely different based on your actions - not just what choices you make during the negotiation segments. While this update won't be as large as some previous updates, it's easily just as (if not more) complex, with roughly 40 quest steps compared to the 20-30 that the larger updates have had so far. 

 

Though as a slight disclaimer on that last point - that's 40 quest steps in total, not in linear progression. The Task List, if you follow it to the letter, has significantly fewer steps. It's the tertiary path where most of those steps are, accounting for roughly 30 steps of varying complexity. Like with most updates, I'm trying something new there. The Task List won't tell you exactly what to do next on this path, you'll need to go back and talk with NPCs like in the VX Ace version of the game if you need a reminder about what you should be doing. However, as this is the "hidden" path, it also represents the greatest rewards, including the largest payout of any Hold in the game so far, as well as a trophy.

I hope you're looking forward to v0.12 as much as I am, though the reason I'm excited to get this out is that v0.11 goes public. Since that's the most stable remaster build so far, I'll be doing a big marketing push. If you want to help out with that, I'd appreciate it if you left a rating on itch (or anywhere else you happen to find the game) - it helps me out.

Maids & Masters (& A Lot More Progress on v0.12)

I managed a bit of a development sprint over the weekend. I finished a bunch of scene posing, finished one new scene entirely, and got the first big conversation done. The follow-up to it is also much better organized, and fits into the less linear progression I'm trying to design around. 

Adopting this new design philosophy of allowing you to progress through methods that aren't listed out for you in the Task List at any time as been quite the challenge. Not only can you turn around and do something else when you're expected somewhere, if you decide you really hate this guy and go out of your way to antagonize him (instead of the usual balancing act of getting what you want while not putting yourself in a bad situation) you won't end up screwed over or backed into a corner. And I want you to be able to do any amount of all of this, give your actions a meaningful effect on things, and not trigger any bugs that might break progression.

Hopefully now that I've figured some of this out, future Act 2 segments will be developed a little faster.

As for what's left for v0.12, there's still one more scene for me to finish posing and rendering, a little bit of side content for Vicky to build out and add to the Estate, all the versions of this second major conversation, a few versions of a final conversation (which will largely serve as a fail-safe in case you don't use the hidden path to end the segment early), puzzles for a Hold, and the cult segment that will serve as the through-line for Act 2. All in all I'd say v0.12 is about 70% of the way done.

So, release speculation. If I manage another development sprint during the week, I might be able to get a test build out this Friday and have a release ready for the 25th. However, I have work for another project to do this week, so v0.12 might need to get pushed back a week to give myself breathing room and time to test and fix things. The way development has gone with this update so far, I may just need another week in general to get everything done. In a worst case scenario, that means I won't have a test build ready until the first week in September. While the overall structure isn't that different from Lothario's segment in Act 1, the addition of this 'hidden path' meant a number of things had to be un-complicated and rebuilt before it got into the game so the segment as a whole would work as intended.

As always, take these projections with a grain of salt, but here's hoping everything goes smoothly and I'll have something to share on Friday.

Maids & Masters (& A Little More Progress on v0.12)

Motivation has been low lately, so progress has been fairly slow going, but the maps are now mostly populated. I just need NPCs around, and to build out the story structure - which I've already started on. The first few steps are in place for both paths, a "negotiation" path and an "exploration" path.

Speaking of NPCs, this section does include a new mother, and the preview for her is available for Patrons as a behind-the-scenes look right now. If you're interested in checking that out, you know what to do. I had a lot of fun writing her, but I get the feeling that just as many of you will find her supremely annoying as those of you who will agree that she's a bunch of fun. Only time will tell on that one.

For the story bits, I'm trying to keep each of these segments focused on two Maids, with Melissa and Vicky playing a background role in all of them. For this one, the two being focused on are Ella and Alice. Ella, after all, has a fair bit of history with Master Read, and Alice is about as attached to Ella as ya'll are. This being the second act now, it's time for active growth. If you've been feeling like characters have been a little stagnant, this is what I've been waiting for to get those character arcs moving.

The story so far does require you to progress a small amount through the "negotiation path," but the two paths do function as completely independent otherwise. That means you can turn around to start on the "exploration" path at nearly any time. The overall plan here is that you'll be able to make progress however you see fit, whether that's trying to negotiate this guy into a hole, keeping yourself as far away from him as possible while giving a few minimal platitudes, or trying to do both just to see what happens. It's complicated trying to keep it straight so you can continue like that through the whole segment, but so far, so good.

The bad news is that I have no real estimate on when this update will be available yet. Aside from finishing the story segment, there's still content Vicky needs around the Estate, a gift system I need to build, at least one new trophy I need to construct and implement, and the next batch of shop Contracts to be added once you clear the segment. Not to mention the extra story bit concerning The Order that'll appear once you're done with the Master. 

 

Good news - that's lots of content to look forward to!

Maids & Masters (& Progress on v0.12)

Happy August! 

 

Before I get to the progress update, I have some not so happy news to share. One of the projects I've been working on is now on hold, and future plans for it may end up canceled depending on whether or not it's able to make back the money that's been invested into it. 

This means, rather predictably, that I no longer have that source of income. I'm already looking for other opportunities to try to make up the difference, but as joining established teams is never a sure thing in this industry, I've decided it's also a good time for me to switch gears a little bit and take promoting Maids & Masters a little more seriously. There are a lot of things I could be doing to try to get the game in front of more people that I haven't done yet, and while I'm grateful beyond words for the support I've already been given, it's still far short of enough for me to be able to live on. 

So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it, please consider supporting me, whether that means making a monthly pledge on Patreon, buying early access on itch, or even leaving a tip on the free version. It means a lot to me, and every little bit counts.

And if you can't afford to support me financially, share it. Leave a review. Follow me on Twitter (or whatever you want to call it now). Even just leaving positive comments can be helpful - if other people see how much you like my work, they'll be more likely to give it a chance. All of this matters more than you might think it does, and not just because it tells me you want me to keep going.

With the melancholy out of the way, I do want to say that because I'm switching gears a little, it's possible v0.12 will encounter some delays. At the very least, it likely won't be ready until closer to the 5 week end of my 3-5 week estimation. 

The maps are (mostly) done; there's still a couple I need to make for the segments that'll happen between the new Estates, but it's mostly down to populating all of the new maps with interactions and NPCs. Then it'll be on to building out the progression and designing all the puzzles. 

Since I can't stop myself from experimenting and trying to learn new things, these segments will also be less linear than they have been in the past (in addition to being able to complete them in any order). While the easiest way to do things so I can avoid potential bugs is still to lock you into a given segment once you start it, which way you go about things will be less of a binary choice (like Viridius, where you outright chose whether to be aggressive or diplomatic) but still different from the negotiation segments (like Lalita and Griselda) where the choices you make affect the outcome. 

Instead, the outcome will be based on a combination of choices - like those in the negotiation segments - and the actual actions you take. For example, turning around and leaving when you're expected to be somewhere. 

I've never designed a segment in quite the same way before, so it might be tricky (and therefore time consuming) for me to get right, but it should present a much more dynamic gameplay experience once I figure it out.