0.64 Reflection and 0.65 Preview

Hi, perverts! The world is a lot right now, especially as a queer person in the US. We're doing our best over here, and we're sorry about everything. But there is still joy in the world, and finding pleasure in things when it's not "normal" to do so is a revolutionary act. I hope I've helped you have a few little pleasurable revolutions of your own.

Thanks to the support y'all have given me, I've started the process of getting Ruin Me on Steam. There's still a small chance that I'll run into issues with the art or sex scenes. Generally, I'm not inclined to release a separate censored version or make too many changes, but I'll deal with it when I get there if they raise any problems.

The finale writing continues! There's a lot of it, but I continue to feel good about the structure and direction it's taking. I've got an ever-dwindling list of things I want to add to the main part of the game, and the end is ever more in sight! I'm doing design and prototyping work on my next game, to decrease the wait between the final major Ruin Me release and the reveal of the next thing. Don't worry, I don't intend to abandon Ruin Me entirely.

Reflection on 0.64: Lessons

I like the Lectures activity I added; I've wanted to give each of the "primary" characters some sort of minigame or other side thing associated with them, and this is the last one. I think the vibe of the lessons works well and helps with the characterization of you as a sex expert. It does involve a lot of writing; I want to give a few options for each topic, and that adds up fast.

Leo writing has been fun, and I think it serves my goal of providing a more balanced array of gender and power-dynamic options. I'm very interested in knowing what y'all think works or doesn't work with him. I'm not particularly satisfied with the paying-for-purchases system: I don't think it's very easy to understand how it works, and I don't know if it actually provides the pacing that I'm looking for from him.

Visual art has always felt like my weakest skill, but working on more background art has been pretty satisfying. I think I'm able to put together some serviceable work, and I'm continuing to build skill and confidence. Thanks again for the feedback from the Center of Attention patrons, who generally thought that that some backgrounds could be improved, but that it wasn't a huge priority. I'll continue work on redrawing/improving selected backgrounds where it makes finale work easier or where I think the payoff is especially worth the effort.

Next Release

This one will be a bit of a grab bag. I want to continue to add Leo scenes, allowing for more submission to him. I'm not sure how many other Leo options I'll get to; eventually I'd like to have some more drug options and the totally optional partner-sharing stuff with Terry. Likewise, I want to keep expanding the Lectures activity. My current plans are for three difficulty/complexity levels with a handful of options for each one. At the rowdiest, you'll just be fucking in front of a crowd, although I don't know if it'll end up in this next release.

Like I mentioned, I'm continuing work on art. Last release, I added a background for the bathroom stall at the bar with a glory hole. As you can see in the image on this post, I'm adding art for Terry to participate! The art is still in progress, but I'm feeling good about how it's coming along (even if I've noticed like five things that need improvement just while writing this post). If you have any tips or critique of the direction I'm going, please tell me! I also plan to update Byron's art (again), as it's one of the first pieces of character art folks see in the game, and I don't think it's up to the quality of the rest. Again, I'm not sure if that one will end up in the next release.

The other big thing I want to put in this release is a new night music scene! I got a request from a Center of Attention patron to add more urethral play, and I think the more risky/extreme versions of that are a good fit for playing out in dreams. The scene will also have a medical experimentation and alien abduction vibe, so hopefully it'll have appeal to folks who aren't into peehole play.

That just about covers it! As always, I love to hear from you. If you have feedback, questions, concerns, or suggestions, please drop them in the comments, message me on Patreon, or email phanes@phanes.me.