Before I get into the progress update on MnM, it feels necessary to say something about how the official launch of PK went. Not because it went poorly or because I got a bunch of complaints about it, but because it did so well that now I have complaints. Which sounds a little negative, I know, but hear me out.
For a little extra context, Maids & Masters has been struggling to break 100 views per day on itch since it launched. Even if I combine everything - the April Fool's Day specials, Arrival, and the main game - it still only hovers around 80 views per day. Even on days where an update launches, views don't get that high. The public launch of v0.13 is the best launch I've had so far, with launch day views hitting about 200, and some promotion causing it to peak around 600 on one day and continue to float around 200 views for a few days. About a week after that peak (which is much longer than normal; typically views level out within 3-4 days, not 10), it's back to normal at about 80 views for today.
Precious Kouhai brought in more than 2000 views on launch day, over 1000 for the next day, and nearly 1000 for the third. It was downloaded more times on launch day than MnM was viewed that day. Maybe this has something to do with itch's new algorithm pushing new games and de-prioritizing updates on in-progress games, but I can't say that for certain. I'm still absolutely floored by the numbers. I also have some conflicting feelings about MnM being something that has all this gameplay and care and attention put into it when the single-scene 8-minute preview that I did next to zero promotion for does this much better, but I think I'll settle on being happy it's doing well. And if you're here because of Precious Kouhai, thanks for being here. Expect more news on that in February.
Moving on to the actual MnM news, the intro scene is still just an idea in my head, but a little over half the maps for the new Estate are done now, and a few of the "common" interactions are already populated. The intro scene is also a complete idea, so all there is to do is actually put it in the game. There haven't been reports of many errors in v0.13 now that it's actually public, so I can put more energy into getting v0.15 done, and hopefully in roughly half the time that v0.13 and v0.14 took.
I've also had a lot more time to think on how the next segment should play out before my Patrons pulled a switcheroo on me and decided it was bunny girl time at the last minute (which I'm not mad at; I just wasn't ready for it). While I don't have the segment written out, I have a bunch of ideas I want to include, so it'll be less about making something from scratch and more about filling in the blanks to bring it all together, which is how development for MnM usually goes. I do have something else going on that may distract from development a little, but it shouldn't cause any significant delays. More on that next week.
For now, thanks for all the attention on PK. While you're waiting for an update on that, why not give MnM a try? People tell me it's worth a go.
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