Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year's eve/day, and I wish you all the best for 2019! ^^
As it's the start of a new year, I thought that now would be a good time to look back and see how I could improve my workflow, and then to go over my plans for the next few versions. I think that it would be best to begin by addressing the issues with the past few releases, so I'll do that first, then go over what I'll be changing to address those issues, and, finally, move on to outline my plans for 0.3.1.
Issues & Changes In 2019
I think that there were three main problems with the past few releases, and it seems as though the vast majority of grievances in the comments were focused on one or more of these:
1. Missed deadlines.
2. Incomplete content.
3. Bugs.
I feel as though all three of these are very closely related to one another, and all stem from the core 'missed deadlines' issue. Whenever I run over past the deadline (which seems to be a lot of the time), I end up rushing to finish the section that I'm currently working on, which results in more bugs being introduced.
I think that the main cause of this issue is my 'optimistic estimation' habit, whereby I always give the shortest time estimate for my current targets. I think this habit stems from the early days of Lilith's Throne, when I was still building the engine and adding the most basic of mechanics. At that time, all the work which I was doing was far more compartmentalised, and it was a lot easier to estimate how long each section of work would take. As a result, the weekly releases were a lot more structured, and, while there were still delays here and there, I feel as though it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it has been over these past few months, when updates have been a mix of content, bug fixes, and refactoring/expanding mechanics.
Another couple of things that have changed since then are my work routine and my interactions with all of you. To address that first point, before Christmas I'd allowed my sleep schedule to slip into a very bad way, and was waking up in the late afternoon, working through the night, and then going to bed early-mid morning. Looking back, and having now fixed my sleeping pattern over the past week, I can see that my previous routine was having a negative effect on my energy and work efficiency. In turn, this was contributing to the missed deadlines, as I wasn't able to get as much work done as I'm capable of.
Finally, to address the point of my interactions with all of you having changed, I think that I should first point out that it was inevitable that as the playerbase grew, my ability to keep up with what all of you are saying would suffer. Just so that you all know, the four places which I use to gather feedback are: the comments on the blog, comments & messages on Patreon, the LT threads on /hgg/, and the LT discord. For a little while now, I've been unable to find the time in which to respond to comments on the blog and /hgg/, but I still try to respond to all Patreon comments/messages and discord messages. I've seen some people questioning these priorities, and, after thinking about it over this break, I agree that I spend too much time trying to keep up with what's being said on discord. Once again, this is contributing to missed deadlines, as I'm spending too much time checking feedback instead of concentrating on actual development.
So, in conclusion, the three main causes of the 'missed deadlines' issue are:
1. Overly-optimistic time estimates.
2. Poor sleep & work schedule.
3. Too much time spent keeping up with discord.
To address these issues:
1. I'm going to stop giving time estimates for releases, and instead I'll give the targets for the next preview and full updates, crossing them off as they're completed.
2. I will fix my sleep schedule. I've mostly managed to do this over the past week, and will fully get it reset by this weekend.
3. I will only check the dev-related channels (bug reports, modding/wiki discussion, etc.) and PMs on discord from now on, and will only log in to check them a couple of times each week. If I come into the other channels, it will be at the weekend when taking a break. I'm sorry to have to do this, but it is for the good of LT's development.
By taking these measures, I should be able to fix the 'missed deadlines' issue, which, in turn, will result in more complete content each version, and releases that have been more thoroughly checked for bugs. I will still be aiming for releases roughly every 7-10 days, but I will now be focused on completing tasks, instead of doing as much work as I can before a cut-off date.
Version 0.3.1
For version 0.3.1, I want to finish off the Lyssieth content and the basics of the world map. Once that's done, I need to go back and finish off the promised Dominion/Submission content. There's quite a lot to do as part of that, and I expect it to take me up to the end of 0.3.2. If you don't see some of the promised content in the tasks below (such as Axel's quest, size-difference sex, and other sex improvements), then rest assured they will be covered in 0.3.2.
So, with the focus now being on tasks instead of release dates, the tasks that I want to get done for 0.3.0.5 (preview) and then 0.3.1 (full public release) are as follows:
v0.3.0.5
1. Finish Lyssieth's Palace placeholders.
- Add incubus and trap variations for the demon TF scene.
- Framework.
- Dialogue.
- Add lore dialogue for repeat Lyssieth visits.
- Add dialogue for repeat Meraxis visits.
- Add Lilaya reactions & content related to the player's demon TF.
- Framework.
- Initial reaction scenes.
- Consequence scenes.
- Dialogue changes based on consequences.
- Test all scenes.
2. Finish world map basics.
- Add world map travel system.
- Add centaurs.
- Add sex positions for taur bodies.
- Taur-on-taur.
- Taur-on-humanoid.
- Add ability to explore fields tiles.
- Add a field exploration encounter.
- Add mechanics.
- Add dialogue.
- Test.
- Add ability to explore woodland tiles.
- Add a woodland exploration encounter.
- Add mechanics.
- Add dialogue.
- Test.
- Add a woodland travel-interruption encounter.
- Add mechanics.
- Add dialogue.
- Test.
- Add ability to explore river tiles.
- Add a river exploration encounter.
- Add mechanics.
- Add dialogue.
- Test.
3. Bugs and minor things
- Fix at least 15 bugs.
- Add in condom breaking mechanics.
- Add condom types.
- Add unique dialogue for offspring moving in to live with you.
- Add orgasm denial scenes.
v0.3.1
1. Add Claire's quest.
- Set up framework.
- Add new map.
- Initial scenes.
- Main quest scenes.
- Post-quest repeat scenes & testing.
2. Add Enforcer encounters.
- Add alleyway encounter.
- Companion variations.
- Add human-specific night encounter.
- Companion variations.
3. Add buying Brax from Candi
- Test.
4. Add Alexa's quest
- Set up framework.
- Initial scenes.
- Main quest scenes.
- Quest completion and follow-up scenes.
- Post-quest repeat scenes.
- Final reward scenes & testing.
5. Bugs and minor things
- Fix at least 15 bugs.
- Work on race/item/sex modding support. (Will not be completed for 0.3.1.)
I will be fully returning to work tomorrow, and will be crossing off each item in the list above as they're completed. In this manner, you should know approximately when to expect the release. As mentioned up above, I will still be aiming for roughly a 7-10 day release cycle, but I will not provide any fixed dates, as they are always incorrect.
Thank you all for your continued support and interest in Lilith's Throne, and I'll do my best to add as much new and exciting content as I possibly can over the year ahead. I wish you all the very best for 2019, and I'll make another post on Monday to let you all know how things are progressing.
