Monday Update and Poll on the Future of AI Art

Hey all! Sorry for the delay in posts, but as I've mentioned in Discord most of the work recently has been on the narrative front as original art takes a while to produce. This has resulted in a dilemma that I've been wondering just how to approach, so I am requesting some community input to gauge how I should move forward.

In my quest to replace the AI art in the game, I haven't been using it for any scenes created in this upcoming update (as it would just be more to replace later). However, this has resulted in an much slower development cycle due to how long it takes for art to be completed. For the first two updates, I could finish entire scenes in a day or two, but now it takes two weeks minimum.

As such, I am proposing several options for the future of the game which I will detail below. Keep in mind that these are more or less all temporary solutions. If we can ever comfortably make enough original art to supply each update in full, AI art would never be used again.

Embrace AI Art Entirely - Images would still be a mix of original and AI generated art, but new art would be treated as a permanent addition in the game (complete with color). This would follow a similar idea to my original gameplan, where all black and white pieces currently in the game would be remastered via AI, but not replaced by original art later. Pros: Fast development cycle, no need to backtrack on old scenes later once all existing scenes are touched up. Cons: likely a very inconsistent art style, complex scenes are limited by AI.

Loosely Embrace AI Art w/ Plans to Replace - This is more or less how the first two updates operated. The AI art was added to provide a visual reference for scenes, but was always intended to be replaced later. Pros: Fast development cycle Cons: likely a very inconsistent art style, old scenes will need to be replaced which increases the time spent on older scenes, complex scenes are limited by AI.

Completely Ditch AI Art (No Writing Ahead) - As implied, the game shifts entirely to original art. This is how this most recent update has been operating thus far. No new AI scenes would be added whatsoever. Additionally, new scenes would not be written into the game until they have actually received art. Pros: The best final product, interesting unique scenes, and scenes that have accompanying writing that most accurately match their pictures. Cons: Longest development cycle of all options, less overall content per update (Quality vs. Quantity)

Completely Ditch AI Art (Writing Ahead) - The same as the last option, but new scenes would be written into the game that would later receive art. This would allow players to experience the text-only scenes early with the power of imagination, and eventually have a great payoff of the art being added to those scenes later. To keep things fresh I would still try to add at least one or two entirely new scenes per development cycle that haven't already been written into the game. Pros: Similar pros as the last option, but significantly more scenes can be written into any given update. The community can also vote for which scenes receive their art first. This will also have a faster development cycle as not every scene planned will need to have art for each release Cons: It may take some time for scenes to receive their art. Artless scenes would basically be like reading an erotic story instead of a visual novel.

If you're curious about my preference, I personally think that ditching AI Art entirely while writing ahead would be the best compromise and result in the best product long-term. I both love erotic stories and also consider my greatest strength with development to be my writing, which I would focus a lot harder to improve to fully sell artless scenes. Current scenes are character dialogue heavy, but newer scenes written in this manor would be written with intent to verbally paint the picture, so-to-speak.

Anyways, I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks! Sorry for the lull in communication recently, I promise that even if there is no art to show, I will be more consistent with weekly updates on the games progress. Also, if you have any feedback please let me hear it! Until next time!