The past year has been challenging; I took a leap into AVN development, became more social, and built some confidence.

So let us start this Dev Blog with a reflection on 2022 and the challenges it gave me.

It was about Spring Time I decided to dip my toes into developing my own AVN; I had toyed with the idea for a while. I was inspired by many good stories from Killer 7, Nine of Swords, Perveteer, Zargon Games, Caribdis, Stone Fox, 13 Games, Drifty, IT Roy, and so many more. But, conversely, I was also inspired by some of the not-so-good AVNs that were more about lewd content than actual story; to be honest, videos on Porn Hub had more plot.

One night I had trouble sleeping. A story idea had crept into my brain, and my mind went wild, so at 3am, I decided to jot it all down. I fell asleep quickly after that, fine-tuned to plot over the next few nights, compiled character sheets, and dove into Daz Studio. I wasn't alone in this IT Roy was right there with me on his YouTube channel. I watched his AVN series, bought a ton of assets off Daz Store, and started designing my Characters. I made a few mistakes along the way, like using Genesis 8.1, which I then had to convert to Genesis 8. Unfortunately, only one character couldn't get fully converted, the MC, Nate. So I had to remake him as best I could, he ended up looking a whole lot different, but his look felt right to me.

With a slew of characters, I started diving into Ren'py code, another mountain. I dicked around for a week or so, getting familiar with the customisation options in the code. I admit I could have just used the default Ren'py setup and started the story, but if I'm doing this, I'm going all in. I'm handy with Photoshop, so I could create my own custom GUI elements to make the interface mine. I went for a light and bubbly style interface and found music to match.

Following the GUI customisation, I decided it was time to start writing the script, so a week later, I had the demo written. During this time, I also created my Discord Server and began to share some of my preliminary artwork. This is probably where I started to befriend some fellow devs, 13 Games, Nine of Swords and The Amazing Rolandder. Through 13, I met Thor's Hamster, who became my First Patreon Proof Reader, and someone to bounce ideas off of. He's also provided with some pretty sage advice and helped much in the early days with coding.

So now armed with a Discord, Characters and a Script, what else is there to do? Make the AVN Demo! This is probably my BIGGEST MISTAKE! I'm not known for being premature, but in this case, I was way too early; eagerness can be a bitch. On June 8th 2022, I uploaded the Demo of Pursuit of Desire to the world; it's had over 6,500 downloads and was received well. But life wasn't gonna let the gravy train chug along. I got COVID for the second time and needed three weeks to recover; I got back to development only for work to become very demanding, and before I knew it, it was almost the end of August.

In August, I was to be sent to work away until early 2023, which put me in a state of limbo. I didn't know what to do about the story's development, so I chatted with 13 & Thor and concluded that I'd use the time to focus and get ahead with script writing. Long story short, the working away thing crumbled, but now it was November, and not much had happened in development.

I decided to crack on as usual and got back to developing the story, but because I had had a few months of distance, it took a while to get back into the flow. I was also unhappy with a few things and decided to take the time to change these. So I redid my entire GUI to suit the style of the game; I reviewed the code with Thor, rewrote it, and added a custom in-game menu. I was really starting to feel happy with what I had, but the main menu still didn't do it for me.

November was a busy month when I came back to reflect on it. Not only did I code an ATL-based main menu, but I also added additional features to the custom in-game menu, did some rewrites of the script, and started to work on the remaining writing for Chapter 1. By the end of the month, I had purchased After Effects; thank you, Black Friday deals! Using this and some online resources, I created a new splash screen and chapter title page.

Now here we are in December 2022. I completed a very challenging Therapy Scene and had Thor proof it. He came back with some excellent feedback, which needs some work to balance it all out. This particular part of the script was hard. Some content in it meant you had to delve into the darker side of your psyche that you usually avoid. I also had some difficulties with some code Shaddy stepped in like the Hero he is and sorted it out for me; my code also triggered him, so he streamlined it for me too.

Over the last two weeks, I have been developing a 2023 render calendar for those who support vi Patreon or Subscribe Star. I might make the bonus content available for a price on Itch.io, but who knows. Unfortunately, my internet is down at the time of writing this, so I'm working on three additional renders for this month's bonus gallery and writing my 2022 in-reflection Dev Blog.

It worries me that I'm not as fast as my fellow devs with getting renders smashed out. Part of it is I jump from one thing to the next rather than focusing on one thing until it's complete. Another aspect of it is I'm easily distracted and quickly procrastinate. If you've read the above, you'll know I have achieved a lot but had some significant downtime that slowed me down.

I have learned a TON of things I didn't know at the start; I've upskilled and even had a change in direction with the story as I've developed the key plot lines going up to Chapter 8. I have the story 90% written now; just a few things to tie up, and then I can get it all proofed and copy it into code. Then it's rendering time; I do have one scene to redo. I wasn't happy with the environment and still need to find a replacement. So I'm hoping that in early 2023 Chapter 1 will finally be released; with its release, I shouldn't have to worry so much about interfaces and features but focus on story development and renders.

With that, I think it's time I said goodbye. I know I ramble on in these blogs, but they offer some excellent insights to me as a Dev, the issues I face and how I overcome them. I also hope those of you who suffer through these will at least find some laughs along the way. Finally, I want to thank everyone who's supported me so far along this journey, and I wish you all a VERY merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Snowy

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/postboned_games