Kickstarter Campaign: Bidomon

I've promoted a few projects here, both that I've worked on and just to help out some of my fellow game developers, but this is a little different. Mostly because it's on Kickstarter.

  

Welcome to the world of Bidomon. Monster Girls are aplenty and they are looking for one thing: to feed off of lustful energies and satisfy their libido. Venture out into the wilds to tame Monster Girls, grow your bond with them, and satiate their lustful needs in this 18+ Hentai RPG inspired by the Pokémon and Monster Girl Quest series.

 

You've just come of age to take the Tamer Exams. You've wanted nothing more than to travel, protect people from the dangers of the world, and bond with some Bidomon. Along the way, you'll uncover a dark and mysterious organization with an unknown agenda. Will you be able to foil their plot?

 

This campaign is focused on delivering the First Chapter of the game. Running this focused campaign will ensure that the project stays in scope and show that we're capable of delivering. 

If you want to check out the campaign and the backer rewards, click here: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kurjenrahija/bidomon-chapter-1

There's also a Discord server that you can join to get the latest updates on the project here:

 https://discord.gg/HBw9rmBCHq

Steam, itch.io, Payment Processors, and The Future of Adult Gaming

This is outside of my normal posting schedule, but this is important and I'm seeing a lot more traffic coming in here than usual, so let's talk about it.

 

You might have heard that itch.io recently de-indexed all adult games. If you want to read itch's own announcement on the topic, you can find that by clicking here. This is following Steam taking similar action recently against games with specific content, and other websites like Patreon before that.

This has been the result of a consistent and concerted effort by payment processors - primarily Visa, MasterCard,  and PayPal - to restrict creative freedom and censor artists. If this continues, it won't just be adult games and pornography that contains potentially questionable material that isn't allowed. Groups like Collective Shout - the group that's claiming victory as this censorship takes place - want all adult content, along with any other form of media they happen to disagree with like manga and anime, removed from society altogether.

Whether you support creative freedom, enjoy content that doesn't cut to black after two characters kiss, believe there is beauty worth celebrating in the human form, or just dislike censorship and don't think you should be told what you can and can't spend your own money on, this affects you.

 

So, what can you do about it? Believe it or not, there's a lot you can do about it.

First, you can learn more. StopCensoring.Games is a website with a few more paragraphs on how this unjust wave of censorship has been negatively affecting communities and individuals alike.
There are also several videos you can watch by creators like Madam Savvy and Moist Critical on YouTube that discuss Collective Shout and some of the specifics about what's currently happening.
While you have every right to be angry with itch, Steam, and Patreon for conceding to these outrageous demands, it's important to know that they were forced into this and staying angry with only them won't fix the root of the problem.

Next, you can sign petitions. Both Change.org and the ACLU have petitions open calling for payment processors to end their policies against sex work and for censorship advocates like Collective Shout to cease their attempts to control what we as adults are allowed to read, watch, and play.

You can also contact the payment providers yourself and let them know directly that this behavior is not going to be tolerated. You can contact Visa through askvisa@visa.com in the US and Canada. 
Points of contact will vary depending on who you want to contact and what part of the world you're in. You can find more contact information like phone numbers and email addresses collected here.
Collective Shout claims that it only took them roughly 1000 phone calls to convince these payment processors to take action.

If you want to take it a step further, write to your local politicians and lawmakers to enact legislation that will protect our freedoms in artistic expression and provide you as an individual fair and open access to banking and payment infrastructure. 
In the US, the Free Access to Banking Act is a bill that seeks to do exactly that. 
Outside the US, you can still write a letter or email to those that represent you and call them to take action. There's a template on the Stop Censoring Games website that will require some adjusting to fit your part of the world, but will still provide talking points to bring to their attention.

If you've done that and still want to do more, share these links. Talk about it online. Let the extremists calling for this censorship know that they do not speak for you. The more people that are aware of what is happening and how it infringes on their rights, the more support these petitions will have, the more negotiating power organizations like the ACLU gains to fight on your behalf, and the more likely it becomes that we can prevent this from continuing.

If we don't do something now, we may not have the opportunity to do something in the future.

 

Your actions matter.

Your voice matters.

Your support makes a difference.

Take action.

Summer Adult Games Bundle

This was supposed to go up yesterday, but things have been hectic lately. Whoops.

 We have so many games for you to play, we had to split it into two bundles!

 

We have the usual free bundle with Maids and Masters in it here: https://itch.io/b/3122/summer-adult-games

If you want free stuff and want games that have some new content for you to play, that's the bundle for you.

 

Then we have a tiered bundle with Precious Kouhai in it here: https://itch.io/b/3123/summer-adult-games 

If you want a ton of premium content at a whopping 90% off, or just want to check out some demos or games you might have missed, give that link a click.

 

Both bundles have hit both stretch goals already, so there's also links to more than 100 renders that were made special for the bundle as well as even more discounts for things like Patreon pages if you decide you want to support a particular developer.

The only catch is that it won't last forever -  there's only a little more than a week left to grab these bundles.

 

Sandbox of Sins

 

Check out the Sandbox of Sins Bundle, a collection of deliciously naughty adult games.

 

Featuring 26 awesome creators and 30 games that let you roam and romance on your own terms. Build your relationships with ghosts, manage your own businesses, or become the next Slut Master. 

 

Whether you're into heartfelt slice-of-life stories or like to explore distant lands, this bundle is for you!

 

We're getting close to hitting the first goal, which will unlock new goals that will get you even more free stuff! 

Get it all here: https://itch.io/b/3053/sandbox-of-sins-bundle

Bundle of Joy - Adult Games With Pregnancy Bundle

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March 2025 General Update

With March about halfway over and April fast approaching, most of my attention has been on the special release coming up. The script is done for it (even after not being happy with the first version and redoing a little over half of it) and the mechanics are implemented (barring any testing that finds bugs), so all that's left is making the renders (which is the hard part). I'm estimating it's going to be about 300 renders, and I've got about 50 done so far, so I don't see there being any problems getting it out in time without burning myself out in the process as long as I can keep pace.

 

That does mean I'm not really able to work on v0.21 until this gets done, though. I'm also likely to be preoccupied with family for the weekend, further limiting the amount of time I have to work on anything. That also means news is probably going to be pretty sparse until April.

 

I do still have non-Maids-&-Masters news, though. If you didn't see the post on Patreon or Subscribestar last week, the Patreon page for one of my client projects recently launched. If you want to go check that out, the name of the project is Divine Intervention, and the Patreon page is Sonder Tales Studios. I've got another client project that's also making some good progress, but that one is significantly earlier on in development. We've started some internal testing, but it's still all placeholders and very early on, so I doubt I'll have anything to show on that project for a little while yet.

 

No news on any of my other personal projects for the moment, either. I did end up deciding to give in and get some new development tools, but it's nothing I can use for any current projects, but the pack did include some asset creation tools that I'll likely put to use for future RPGM games. If I've noticed anything about the why behind people not liking RPGM as an engine, it's because so many people use nothing except the default assets. Tools that let me quickly and easily make custom assets should pump up the production value of future projects at least a little bit. Which is good, because that "future project" is going to be a "current project" pretty soon.

 

But that's looking a bit far into the future. I still need to decide if I'm posting a poll or a special preview on Patreon/Substar this Friday.

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

May 2024 General Update

Before I get into anything else, I have a poll on my Patreon that's available for everyone to vote in. Since some of these coming weeks are going to be a little slow news-wise while I do my best to avoid spoilers in between getting all this work done, I figured I could hold a poll to see what kind of content you want to see from me. There aren't very many votes in the poll right now, and I even made it multiple choice, so if you're at all interested in seeing content from me that isn't just "still working on it, see you next week," get over there and vote. There haven't been many votes on the poll yet, and it's free.

With that shameless self-promotion out of the way (though I really do want you to go over there and vote), the actual news for the last week is, like I anticipated it would be, pretty slow. I've largely been focused on getting client work done, and I'm still a little under half way done with that. The details on that work aren't really mine to share, but I can say I'm hoping to get one thing done today, and the other thing done over the rest of the week. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because a developer friend asked for some help with proofreading and editing, so I've got his game to go through as well.

Once the client work is done, I want to get started in earnest on Dawnfall. I haven't been able to do much of anything with it while I've been working on my client work. I want to think it's fairly close to finished on the back end (minus filling out the rest of the equipment options; but that won't be especially relevant for the demo) and I'll be able to actually test the game opening soon. Once I've got things set in a way that proves functional, the rest of the demo should be fairly easy to make. The biggest hurdle is having the time and energy to make it.

Precious Kouhai has, for now, been pushed onto the back burner. The monthly release for June is likely to just be the Dawnfall demo, and any work I put into something besides client work and Dawnfall is going to be the affection quests for Maids & Masters. For Maids & Masters, I'm still watching for bug reports, so if you find any, feel free to reach out to me so I can get them fixed. Some of the more recent reports were things that have been in the game for quite a while, so I'm glad to get them fixed. Keep those bug reports coming. Or, if you can't find any bugs, leave me a like or a review or whatever the platform you found me on lets you do. Positivity like that is what keeps me going.

February 2024 General Update Part 2

You wouldn't think enough happened in two weeks (especially since I was out of town for half of one of those weeks) that I'd have enough to talk about for a second general update, but I'm back earlier than I expected to be and plenty happened, so I'm gonna talk all of that.

First, there's barely more than a day left on the Valentine's Adult Games bundle. Go get it while you still can!

Shameless shilling out of the way, I've joined not one, but two new projects. The first I'm nearing the end of reworking the first chapter for and addressing some of the community feedback, like livening up the dialogue and making the choices matter a little more. The first chapter is already free to the public, so if you'd like to see the "before" before the rewrite goes live, you can check out that project here: https://www.patreon.com/CarnalStudio

The second project I haven't really started working on yet. The agreement is official for me to start working on it, but I want to make sure my existing work isn't delayed before I get stuck in, and that includes Maids & Masters v0.15. There's also already another writer attached to the project, so I don't have a lot to say about the project itself until after some work has been done on it and I have a better grasp on what there is to be said.

Speaking of delays and Maids & Masters v0.15, it looks like the March 8th date is going to be where the test build lands. As much as I'm back early and that does mean I have more time to work on MnM, I still haven't landed on a good way to organize how all of the challenge fight events are placed so you can interact with them once the story of the segment has concluded, and since I want everyone to have their own set of fights, that needs a lot of extra attention. And when something needs extra attention like that, it's more likely than usual to break, which means I want it to be in the test build so more people than just me can give it a spin before it gets solidified and I don't get any more bug reports until after the build has gone out to the general public.

That's not really a delay, though. I expected this to take a little more time, which is why I gave the date range that I did last week. If the thought of MnM being delayed after reading that I've picked up some new gigs filled you with some combination of dread, disappointment, or melancholy, remember: that's what the Patreon is for. I do this full time and my bills continue to refuse to pay for themselves, so I need to get that money from somewhere in order to keep doing this. If you want me to keep doing what I'm doing without needing to look for other projects to work on, go support development. Every little bit helps.

Semi-related, Precious Kouhai continues to bring in far too many views on itch. If you came in here looking for news on that, all I can really say is that more content is coming. If you want more PK, the same thing applies - go support development. PK is something I work on when I need a break from MnM and have no other work to do, so more projects means less time for PK in a very literal way. Likewise, more support means more time for PK. Even if you can't afford financial support - leave a review or share the game. Same goes for MnM. Even when it's not money, every little bit helps.

February 2024 General Update

Last week was a busy one, and this month continues to busy as a whole with the addition of the Valentine's Adult Gaming Bundle (there's over 50 games in there, one of which is normally a paid game, completely free; click the link!), so I've gotten less development work done than I'd have really liked. That's not to say there isn't plenty to talk about, though.

For starters, if you're someone that's been around for a while (or you just pay really close attention), you already know I'm a writer for The Button by Burst Out Games. There has been some discussion of other things within BOG, but that hasn't been settled one way or the other just yet, so all I'll say right now is that I may have more news to share in the future. The news I have right now is that the chapters are written a couple of releases ahead of where the early access version of the game is, and the latest chapter is the biggest one yet. It's also in the early stages of its first draft, so more work will need to be done on it, which means it's very likely I'll need to take more dev time away from Maids & Masters and Precious Kouhai so the team can continue forward without waiting on me.

Speaking of Maids & Masters - I'm sad to say not a lot has gotten done. I've found and squished a few bugs with the help of the community, and I've done a little more behind-the-scenes work on fleshing out how I want this next segment to play out, but not a whole lot has happened inside the editor. Depending on how much time away from other work I have, I'd say the update will be ready for a test build in 3-4 weeks. That is a bit longer than I really wanted, but aside from other work needing my attention, my brother is also moving to a new state for a new job, so I'll be helping family for most of the last week of the month and won't be at home to be able to work.

To make up for the delay on MnM, I'll be putting out an update for Precious Kouhai. It'll only be one more scene so I can call it an update and return to work on MnM, but it'll also come with some new functionality in addition to being the official v0.1. PK being in Ren'Py means I can do things like create web and mobile builds with next to zero additional effort. Don't hold your breath on any of my RPGM projects getting official web or mobile support anytime soon - that's a whole different beast. Ren'Py does a lot towards streamlining the process. I've already tested the web version, and it works great on both desktop and mobile. The new scene, along with a test page for the web version (and, if I can manage it, the mobile version) will be available to Patrons this Friday, and will go public the following Friday. I feel like I've rambled on enough for one blog post, so I'll talk more about PK's v0.1 and the public release for it next week.

I do have one last thing I want to say, though. The RPG Maker festival made another new plugin set free. The last one - the action RPG set - resulted in the demo for Sacchrine Soil. The new one is the strategy RPG plugin set. 

I dunno about you, but Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem are some of my favorite games.

(you can probably expect a demo to appear in a month or two)

Valentine's Adult Games Bundle

I was going to type out this big preamble about Valentine's Day coming soon, but instead, have a logo.

The Valentine's Adult Games bundle is the latest adult game mega-bundle, and it's bigger than ever! With 51 adult games from 41 devs, whether you're looking for a fling, a lasting romance, or something in between, you're sure to find something worthwhile.

There's stretch goals, too! If 51 games isn't enough for you, as we reach goals, the devs who choose to participate will make even more for you. If that sounds like something you want to get in on, click this link: https://itch.io/b/2292/valentines-adult-games-bundle

 

Another Grain Through The Hourglass - 2023 Year In Review

Happy New Year!

If you're new here and have no idea what this post is, 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 over the course of the year. Despite my development cycle slowing down, there's been a lot that happened in 2023, most of it good things. 

Starting with my Patrons. From those of you that just dropped a dollar or three and left to the V.I.P.s that form the backbone of my funding, I am well and truly humbled by your generosity. The year started with over a year of barely making enough money to pay for a meal or two, and support has grown all the way to the point of being able to pay a bill or two. I still have a long way to go before I can be considered to be making a living off of the work I do full time, but all of this support still makes a huge difference. All of you have my utmost gratitude.

Speaking of making a huge difference, Maids & Masters joined a number of bundles this year, all of which I am quite comfortable in saying were very successful. I continue to be blown away by the generosity of people. While I only saw a small percentage of the money the bundles made, the one I want to call out is one that I didn't see a single cent of and happens to be the very first bundle I've ever joined - a bundle for the Turkey/Syria earthquake that raised nearly $2000, all of which went to charity. As exciting as it is to see the other bundles I've participated in reach even higher heights, it was really fantastic to see me and my little game make a tangible difference somewhere in the world.

On top of all those warm and fuzzy feelings, I feel I've done a lot of growing as a developer. At the start of the year, Redemption Harem's demo went public, which was a project that I felt was highly ambitious in terms of creating crafting and management systems almost entirely without the assistance of plugins. It's a little buggier than I'd like it to be, but I learned a lot in building it and have the knowledge to iron out those bugs given some time. More than that, it laid the groundwork for me to build the demo for Saccharine Soil. Saccharine Soil by itself is easily the most mechanically complex game I've ever made, using a plugin set that doesn't have a lot of documentation about how to use or modify it to turn RPG Maker into a real-time action game. Having that demo out in the world feels like a huge accomplishment, because it represents a lot of ideas that I'd been wondering if I had the skill to implement for a long time.

If that wasn't enough, there's also Precious Kouhai. That isn't quite fully public yet - only Patrons have access to the preview right now (though it will be available through the Winter Games Bundle soon) - but I've been meaning to learn Ren'Py for a long time. Now I've got a project in that engine, too, which opens up a whole new set of options and opportunities. I'm not totally committed to the idea yet, but I may start developing Precious Kouhai as a second project alongside Maids & Masters just for the sake of diversifying my work, but that's a topic for another day.

Back on the topic of opportunities, I had the immense pleasure of working with Bear in the Night (if you're not familiar, look up Lust Academy) on Lust Element as a member of the Night Icons team, and now I can say that I have work published on Steam. It still trips me out a little that I saw something that I worked on featured on the pages of Steam's VN Fest. If that wasn't enough, I've also joined Burst Out Games as a writer, and worked with Berkili to remaster the first chapter of his AVN, Companion of Darkness. And that's just the paying work - the number of other developers, writers, and artists I've gotten to known over the last year approaches triple digits, and it's been great getting to know them all.

I still have a long way to go to reach the point I'm trying to reach, but 2023 felt like a couple big steps in the right direction, and I can't wait to see what 2024 has in store.

A More Generalized Update For Your February 2023

There's still not a lot to say about v0.9.2, so instead of just saying "I got more done," I figure now is a good time to put together a general update on what's going on inside the Hourglass.

First, since it's probably what you're here for, Maids & Masters. Render batches have gotten smaller as scenes have gotten more complicated, but the exterior scenes are basically done. There's still some writing to do (mostly for Deirlinn and Vendra), but the majority of the work that's left has to do with the interior scenes. There are 8 more scenes to render for interior scenes, two of which are at least partially posed, and two of which are for Deirlinn and Vendra. And just for the sake of setting expectations - since Deirlinn and Vendra don't have affection scores, they'll have less content than the Maids do. Their scenes won't evolve and they're likely to have fewer conversations due to their smaller role in the overall story. They'll still have content at the love shack, but it's closer to an extra scene or two instead of three or more scenes that evolve over time and potentially have unique mechanics like the Maids' content.

Next, I want to talk about REM Cycle. The love shack content being as much work as it is has kept me busier than I'd like to be, and while I have freed up some time, I really want to be ahead of things when it finally comes time to start working on the MnM MZ Remaster. As much as it pains me to say it, I'm plain and simple not able to find the time to work on REM Cycle alongside MnM for the time being. Once the remaster is out in the world, that will hopefully change and I'll be able to cross this off of my backlog of work, but for the time being, I think I need to accept that the delay is going to be indefinite.

Related to freeing up some time, I've made the choice to separate myself from The Legend of the Goblins: A New Tribe and the team at MaD_Rabbit_Works. There are a myriad of reasons for it, and while I've seen a small amount of retaliation sent my way as a result of my choice to leave, I'm going to choose to be the bigger person and stop at saying that it was time for me to move on.

Thankfully, the team at Night Icons has been much more enjoyable to work with. This is something I've wanted to talk about for a while now, but my role has been fairly small, which made me want to wait until after my work was a part of the published product. I was originally brought on as a part of the writing team for Lust Element to write the side content. Shortly after joining the team, I was asked to consult on the main story, and while the final result still comes from the original writer, my role within the team has been growing. Lust Element is a sci-fi adult visual novel that takes inspiration from all sorts of science fiction media, from The Expanse, to Mass Effect, to Star Wars and Star Trek, and more. If you're interested in checking it out, v0.3.1d of the visual novel is available on the team's Patreon page.

Lastly, just to wrap things up, Maids & Masters' MZ Remaster poll #3 is live on my Patreon page, and discussion is already under way on things that can be added, expanded on, and improved upon. So far the polls have been about adding different types of content, creating events within the Estate, and which of the Maids needs more screen time. If you'd like to join the conversation, cast some votes, or just see what we're talking about, I'd really appreciate it if you considered heading over to Patreon and supporting me. Poll #4 will go up this Friday, and will hopefully help me address something I never stop seeing criticized in RPGM games - the maps.

Another Grain Through The Hourglass - 2022 Year In Review

Like last year, instead of talking about progress on development, I want to take this as an opportunity to look back on the year and celebrate the good that came. Like any year, there's plenty of bad, and plenty of things that could've gone better, but I think it's way more fun to look back at the good and forget about the bad (at least for a little while). I also like to do this without doing any more editing beyond checking for spelling mistakes. I've spent a lot of time on the internet, and a lot of my working life in customer service, so I'm all too familiar with how easy it is to forget that there's a person behind these words - both for me, and for you.

On that note, I'd like to start there. The people. You. 2022 brought lots of new people into my life, even if they are on the other side of whatever connection we have through work, and the vast majority of you have been very welcome additions. I still can't quite get over that double digit mark for Patrons and stay there, but my Patreon has continued to grow, and I'm exceedingly grateful for that. The same goes for those of you who support me through itch.io - it's not a lot of money, but it means the world to me that you want me to succeed enough to send that support my way.

Aside from the people who support me financially, there are still a lot of you that I'm glad to have met, even though it's only through the internet. The community of developers I'm not a part of have been constantly helpful, the people commenting on my game(s) either asking for help or reporting bugs, the people following me on Twitter, and an extra shout out to my first volunteer playtester who has been nothing short of absolutely phenomenal - thank you for being here.

Moving on to my outside projects... While The Rising Son has still seen very little progress, it has still seen some progress. If all goes well, something might actually release in 2023. I've also taken a role in two other teams, which has allowed me to bring in some actual income and ensure my bills are paid. Working the equivalent of four jobs is exhausting, to put it lightly, but having even a small amount of financial freedom again feels amazing. If I can continue to grow both my projects and the other projects I've joined, I should actually be able to reach this dream I have of doing game development as a full time job indefinitely, which makes me happy beyond words.

For my personal projects - Maids & Masters has finally reached the conclusion of Act 1. There's still so, so much work to be done to get the game done, but now that I have all of this experience under my belt, that seems less like this impossible daunting mountain of a task and more like an achievable goal. It won't be long now before I start reaching out to various communities for some in-depth feedback so I can remaster the existing game in RPG Maker MZ and eventually move into development on Act 2, following turning Arrival into a proper prequel rather than a janky tech demo.

And in addition to Maids & Masters, I've finished not one, but two new demos for potential future projects: Love/Loss and Redemption Harem. Following a vote from the beautiful, generous people that are my Patrons, Love/Loss's demo recently released to the public to (admittedly a small amount of) some very positive feedback. While the demo for Redemption Harem is a lot rougher around the edges, I'm excited to see what people will think of that when it goes out this weekend.

 

Taking one last look at the past - specifically, last year's Year In Review post - I think I mostly got where I wanted to be, even if the road was a little rocky. I didn't end up joining the team I had talked about initially, but I am working with them now, and like I said above, that financial freedom feels amazing. The stress that comes with doing this as a job has finally started to catch up with me, but it's still true that I love what I do, and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing. I'm still working the occasional 60 hour week, but I've also started taking steps to take better care of myself instead. All in all, the me from last year is overjoyed that present me is writing another Year In Review post instead of admitting defeat and looking for a regular 9-5 to crawl back to.

Looking into the future, specifically as it pertains to REM Cycle and Maids & Masters Act 2, I admit I'm a little nervous. REM Cycle really needs a dedicated artist to work the way I want it to work, which I can't currently afford to hire. I'm doing my best to at least get the general idea across, and I'm happy with what I've got so far, but despite being much more mechanically simple than Redemption Harem, it's taking a lot longer to develop because I need to figure out how to create all of these custom assets and work on them until I'm happy with them. MnM Act 2 I also want to be a little less linear than Act 1, and I'm still not quite sure how to reconcile giving those options to the player in the midst of active development. That said, the only way to do it is to do it, so I'll be jumping in and charging forward regardless. It's not like I've never made a mistake before, right? If I do it wrong, I can always go back and fix it. That's the beauty of feedback.

For the rest of what the future might bring, I hope I see the same kind of growth and success in 2023 that 2022 brought. Growing a business is definitely not the easiest thing in the world to do, but I'm making progress, and that's all I ever asked for. I get to keep doing this for at least a little longer, and with a little luck, I'll be reading this post in a year (hello 2024 me!) and quietly smiling to myself as I marvel at how far I've managed to come from that first decision to re-download that old copy of VX Ace, just like I'm doing now. And I hope I've managed to share at least a little bit of that happiness with you, dear reader. I wouldn't be here without you.

Happy New Year from The Mithril Hourglass.

I'm Back (Back In The New York Groove)

And work on Maids & Masters is resuming immediately. I've actually been itching to get back to work for the past few days, so hopefully I can capitalize on that desire and get a bunch done. I'm not sure how much I'll have to share come next Tuesday, but I will have something to share.

See you then!

A Working Vacation

Super short update this week - I'm out of the house, and will be for at least the next week. I did bring some work with me, but the amount of work I can get done on MnM is pretty minimal. There's some writing for TLotG I'll be doing for the 0.23 update they've got coming next, but that's about it.

This also means no update next week, since I'll still be out of the house and won't have a lot in the way of updates to share.

Things will be back to normal the week after next, at which point I should have enough work done for TLotG that my focus can be entirely on MnM and the v0.6 update.

Another Grain Through The Hourglass - 2021 Year In Review

Instead of talking about game development, since this will be the last (non-release) post of the year, I wanted to take some time to celebrate the things worth celebrating in 2021. I won't pretend that there wasn't a lot of bad in 2021, but we get enough of the bad on a day to day basis. So let's look back at the good, and maybe look forward to see if we can't find more good.

 

And for the record, I'm doing this with no filter. No re-reading, no editing, no backtracking to change what I've written. This is as close to the real me as I will ever put onto the internet before the filter goes back on and the customer service facade goes back up. Anyway...

For starters, this whole thing started. I quit my day job at the end of 2020, I made my first few pitches at the start of 2021, and that led to me starting work on The Rising Son. Work on that has unfortunately ground to a halt due to financial concerns and a lack of time on the part of the artist, but both he and I are excited to get The Rising Son off the ground. The renders that are complete look great, and I really like the world we put together. Toyomi is my first attempt at a cyberpunk setting, and The Rising Son is my first attempt at a cyberpunk story in general. Even still, I think we got the vibe down right. It should be familiar to fans of the cyberpunk genre, with just enough that sets it apart to be at least a little memorable.

After writing out more for The Rising Son than I ever have for any other single project I've worked on (including over a decade of writing out personal projects for things like Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade), I got to learn how much I really love doing this type of work. I ended up writing (likely well over) ten thousand words per week for the first few months, just because I was excited to wake up and start building this world.

When work on The Rising Son slowed down, I saw it as an opportunity to explore the possibility of multiple projects. After looking around at some other projects, I found a few things I was interested in, but ultimately didn't try to adopt anything else because I wanted to be able to return to The Rising Son at a moment's notice. Remembering a Humble Bundle purchase I had made years ago, I went looking through my steam library and found RPG Maker VX Ace.

Then started Maids & Masters. I built out Arrival, the prequel demo, with the intention of spreading it around and seeing what the reaction was. Maybe I'd continue if there was an expressed demand. Then I found myself fiddling with RPGM idly, just trying to figure out how certain things worked. Over time, Maids & Masters started to become it's own thing, seemingly of its own volition. I was putting in 40, 50, 60, even 70 or 80 hours of work every week, just because I was so excited to bring this world to life. There were a few nights I had insomnia bad enough that going back to work was the only thing I wanted to do. Barely over four months later, and I'm already into my fifth major release, and I have yet to hear anything truly bad about the project. Some complaints and gripes, sure, but given that this is something I'm making for free on the internet, I was expecting at least one person to troll me, and it just hasn't happened.

2021 definitely wasn't a great year, but I can still call it a good year. Even if I basically no income and I'm bleeding money paying my bills, I'm happier than I've ever been.

For 2022, there's a new project I might be joining. I won't get too far into it right now, because it all still exists firmly in "maybe" territory, but it's a slightly more established project that (given the opportunity) I feel I could really elevate and help it become a more fully realized version of what it already is. Since it's already established, it would also mean some income, which is something I sorely need if I want to keep doing this past 2022.

That's not to say Maids & Masters will fall to the wayside. I still want MnM to be my primary project since it's my first solo foray into making video games. In a way, it's my first child, and I don't want to put it up for adoption or leave it unattended on a curb somewhere. Not only does that feel wrong, I still really like the world I built, and I really want to tell the rest of the story I've set up.

Speaking of Maids & Masters, the story is quickly nearing the end of the first act. After a supplemental update in the form of v0.5.1, my attention will shift largely to v0.6, which I'm hoping will not only be a large update, but a unique update. There are still a number of mechanics within RPGM that I want to explore, and I've got some ideas for v0.6 that should let me play around with those concepts a little bit. It will also present the first real antagonist. Lothario was already friendly, and Viridius just sort of rolled over because he was in a difficult position and Master made for an easy way out. This new Master - the mother of Bianca and Beverly - is one of "the bad Masters" that I keep trying to establish existing out in the world. Overcoming her will be genuinely arduous, and presents the first missable trophy since the Preserved Flower for Maila's funeral.

I really am looking forward to getting more of Maids & Masters out in the world. I really need to take some time to advertise and share the project with more than one community. The fact remains, though, that there are still a few of you that found your way to my Patreon page and chose to send some financial support my way. Given how little I've put into getting my project out there and asking for support, that tells me I've got something special here.

But more than all that, it tells me that there's at least a little demand for my talent as a writer and game developer, and that means more to me than literally anything has meant to me in a very, very long time. It is not an understatement to say it gets me out of bed in the morning. For all the work I've put into expanding my vocabulary and learning how to express thoughts and ideas through the written word, it is impossible for me to put into words how much that means to me. In the time it's taken me to make as much of MnM as I have, I've written down three new completely separate story seeds that could be games unto themselves, and that's not including a few ideas I already have brewing that could turn into a direct sequel to Maids & Masters. I have so much more to create and share, and knowing that there are people in the world who want me to share it is the best motivation I could ask for.

So thank you. Even if all you've done is download my game and read this article. Sincerely, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Here's hoping 2022 brings even more of the joy this last quarter of 2021 has brought me, and that I can share at least a little of that joy with you.

Happy New Year from The Mithril Hourglass.

My "Story First" Philosophy

Some recent conversation about Maids & Masters brought up how much (or more accurately, how little) adult content there currently is in the game. This led to me mentioning my philosophy about adult content in games as it relates to how I'm designing my games. I originally laid out many of my thoughts about this in an update post for The Rising Son, another project that is currently on hiatus (but should be resuming development soon - I'm only the writer there, not the sole developer).

For reference, here is that original post.

The Rising Son is a dystopian cyberpunk action thriller with strong dramatic and romantic elements.

So, let's run down that list. Between Cyberpunk 2077 and some of the other projects that have come through [F95], I'm sure everyone is well aware of what cyberpunk is, so we'll skip that part. Anyone who has watched a movie probably knows what Action, Thriller, and Drama are, too, so I won't spend much time there, either.

Dystopian, however, has a bit more room for interpretation. From everything to 1984 to all the subject matter with post-apocalyptic settings that have come out in the last 20 years, dystopias have a lot of different faces to present. The way I'm incorporating it here is a fairly simple prospect, at least on the surface. I want to present the dystopian angle less as 'everything is terrible' and more as 'equal parts progression and regression.' For example, I'm sure a great deal of the people here would be happier if society as a whole applied less stigma to sex and the subcultures that revolve around it. In Toyomi, that has been realized. Rape is still a crime, but where there is consent, there is acceptance. Establishments like The Peach Tree offer Peaches - their special brand of prostitutes - for anyone of age to purchase time with them. What goes on behind closed doors isn't just accepted, it's encouraged. There's the progress, but where's the regression? As is appropriate for the cyberpunk genre, the regression comes from capitalism. Sex sells as well in 2107 as it does in 2021, and companies are all too willing to sell you your Dream Girl in a bottle of sake. This follows through to the entire setting; from the police, to the people, to the shogunate that effectively rules the empire, every step forward is mirrored by a step back.

That takes us to the action thriller part. This is something most people are going to be familiar with. It's the part where swords get drawn, punches get thrown, and sometimes people die. Thriller just means that there's stakes. General United States needs to punch the Frost Warrior or else the fancy helicopter is going to start sniping people who chew gum too loudly. There's suspense, and maybe you're a little bit anxious about the bad thing actually happening. The biggest reason I wanted to call this out is because we really do have some ambitious ideas for how to implement these elements, and not just from a writing angle. Hopefully you won't have to wait too terribly long to see what I mean. [Writer's note: That line did not age well.]

The drama is a fairly mundane point by comparison to the rest. That's why it's near the end of the list of the descriptors. However, it is still important. Drama is building relationships with the characters of the story, learning more about them, falling in love with or growing to hate them. Drama when it comes to The Rising Son is simply familiar.

That brings us to the romantic elements. Though "romance" is really just a thin veil behind which porn tries to hide the fact that it is actually porn. This is the reason we're all [on F95]. And I went and put it on the bottom of the list. The reason for that, is that this is a story first, and porn second. Take the sex away, and the story will still stand on it's own. I've probably lost most of you at this point, but if you're still reading (if you are, you're handsome and/or beautiful) then I want you to know that there is still plenty of sex here. At the time of my writing this, there isn't a single female character in the game that you can't find a way for Joji to sleep with. It is important to note, I feel, that all of my favorite games that I've found here have all had this in common. The best always stand on their own and are compelling and engaging even when it stops being horny. I hope to achieve that for this project as well, and that you'll keep reading regardless of what you may or may not be doing outside of the computer.

That last paragraph is the most relevant to the current topic. And yes, I am calling out all of you out there who read romance novels pretending like they're just dramatic thrillers and you're in it for the interesting characters and the compelling story, not the galloping abs and Gronk doing his thang-thang. I see you.

But this is turning into a giant post, so I'll try to keep it succinct. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a sex-positive person. I think sex is great, and I hate that some people use it to cause others harm. I also love video games, and have a similar opinion of people who try to gate-keep or otherwise use games as an excuse or means to cause others harm. I want to present both in as compelling of a way as possible, hopefully through the construction of well-written narrative, with that last line of my old post being the most important. I want to keep you engaged and entertained regardless of what you may or may not be doing outside of the computer.

First Post

 This won't be updated regularly for the time being. This will mostly serve as a hub for me to link back to, and a place to house posts made in other places regarding my personal projects.

Speaking of, my current projects are Maids & Masters, which is nearing the completion of the first release, and The Rising Son, a cyberpunk visual novel. For more information on The Rising Son, visit https://www.patreon.com/ssbarryerotica. More information on Maids & Masters will be coming soon (as in within an hour of this post) in copied cross-posts.

This is also very much a work in progress while I figure out the "blog" thing.