Philosophy #25 | Business

Philosophy #25 | Business

Over the past few years of development and progression in the story, I've listened to all of the comments and critiques that have come in. There's been some praise. There have been some complaints. One of the persistent issues that everybody brings up is wanting to be with the girl you're with and the long, slow burn that comes with it.

In previous philosophy posts, I've mentioned a few times why you're waiting and the journey that comes before you finally reach your goal of being with that girl you want. This is kind of another way of looking at it and what I'm thinking.

'A Man for All' has an overarching story about you, the MC. In this story, you're being pulled in several different directions. You have work at the coffee shop. You have your thesis and a hopeful graduation. You have fights in Old Town. You have a social media job in Uptown. Let's say these are your primary tasks.

Within these primary tasks, come the secondary tasks. Working at the coffee shop isn't just about your job. You had to go to Viridian to make a deal with Saul McCarthy. You have to travel around town with Riley. For school, there's studying with Sophia and helping Kate save the psychology department. And there are your other school priorities with Harlow, which have spilled into Old Town, where you're already busy trying to win at the Proving Grounds.

All of these things are connected and as the story continues, they'll all become more intertwined. It should seem inevitable because they're all connected to one thing: you.

I know the biggest frustration from most people is just wanting to have sex with the girl you like. The slow burns in particular like Riley and Vanessa can be specifically frustrating, even torturous or agonizing to an extent, since you've made significant progress with nearly everybody else.

First of all, I know I've said it many times before but unfortunately, in those cases, you'll just have to be patient. What you want is coming (literally and figuratively), I just can't say when.

The second thing is that whether or not you realize it, you are making significant progress with even the slow burns, even though that progress might not be sexual. I wanted to point this out (and I'll say more about this in the future if I haven't already) because these relationships are more than just sex and a physical connection. I know that seems lame in one aspect but I'll always do my best to make an emotional connection to make the physical connection that much more enjoyable.

What I'm saying now applies to everybody, not just the slow burns you haven't done anything with. I specifically wrote, plotted, planned, and designed every relationship with certain goals in mind. I placed these secondary tasks throughout the story with every girl you're with because I wanted to give purpose when you do finally have that connection you're looking for. Even though these things seem small and insignificant, they all add something to your relationship.

You had a scene with Vanessa in Old Town for several reasons. One of them is just for you to spend time together. I know you can make a good argument that you and Vanessa are close enough and you don't need another event just to prove how close you are. But I don't think this hurts your relationship, which I know is a frustrating way to look at.

The bottom line is this. With all of the ladies, you have business to take care of. There aren't just important tasks and jobs you have to accomplish. There are other hurdles in your relationship that are stopping you from getting closer and I've done my best to imply these things. There's one primary task consisting of several secondary tasks.

I will say this. When you do finally take care of business and you're at where you want to be, it's going to be special. I'm going to treat these moments with the kind of care and respect they deserve. It's not just about getting what you want. It's a celebration of completing all of these tasks. But you can't celebrate until you take care of business.

The story is going to move in a direction I don't think anybody will anticipate. You're going to have to do all of these things until you get where you want to be. I know what your ultimate destination is and what's in your way.

I always try my best to make the journey as enjoyable as possible because I know with visual novels, the destination is a billion times more important than anything else. I hope you're enjoying the story and getting to know not just the love interests but all of the characters. On a personal note, I enjoy telling the story and watching it unfold for the rest of you from one update to the next.

Having said all that, without getting into specifics, if you don't care about anything else, I will say that you're close. I won't say how close but I can finally pinpoint the exact episodes when things happen with every love interest.

You have business to take care of before that happens. More importantly, I have business to handle.

With all philosophy posts, I don't expect everything to make complete sense because it's hard to articulate my thoughts exactly. This would work better if it were a dialogue and I could have a back-and-forth with you so that you could get a clearer picture of what I'm trying to say.

I've talked about slow burns before and those of you who've read previous philosophy posts are already aware of everything I've said. I just wanted to talk about 'business' specifically because it's one of the aspects I can't ignore when I tell myself to just jump into it and get these girls naked already. Certain plot points just have to be addressed before we get there. If you've got any thoughts on this, let me know.

On Episode 13

I render the scenes in an episode that don't have any sex or animations in them first. When I'm done with those, I render the scenes with animations and sex so that I can match the renders with the animations and everything flows a lot better during production. Right now, I've gotten a lot of the normal scenes done. I have a few more scenes to do that I'm hoping to get done soon. I can't anticipate how long it'll take, so there's no timetable for that.

Even though if I get those scenes done quickly, there's probably going to be a lot of sex in this episode, so that means I have quite a few more scenes to render and animate. Depending on how complex it gets, it may take longer than expected, which (again) is why I don't have timetables for anything. I don't want to disappoint anybody by missing a deadline.

Either way, I've made some good progress. I mentioned in a previous post a couple of months ago that there isn't much more story to tell, so every scene that happens is important to the overall picture from here on out. That's a good thing because everything will start to have more impact as we progress toward the final arcs of the main story. And because there are fewer scenes, it should help me get things done quicker.

I'm not quite ready with previews but I should have some in a few weeks. Unfortunately, the first progress update will probably be in November in a few weeks. I'm always pushing to do as much as I can but seeing how much I've gotten done so far is motivating.

I know it might be frustrating to get some vague updates but renders always take the longest. I can promise you I'm working on it and it looks like I'll have something concrete to show you all soon.

Thanks for hanging around to support the project. I appreciate you all. If you have anything to say, feel free to send me a message whenever you like and I'll get back to you when I can. Thanks again and take care. I'll talk to you soon.