Progress Report (and poll)

Hi, it's me, your friendly neighborhood pixie!

As indicated in previous progress reports, I'm still neck-deep in new renders for version 0.38, and they're really starting to pile up. As I'm writing this, I'm up to 600 renders, and I'm not even nearly done with Evelyn yet. 

So, what happened is that I realized that Evelyn's night scene needed to be re-rendered from scratch. That also made me realize that Primrose will need the same treatment, and maybe even Callie. It's a lot of work and a lot of renders. Heck, just Evelyn's fingering animations for this scene have reached a count of 12 animation loops, so it adds up quickly.

What I'm trying to say is that it's going to take a while to finish this update the way things are looking, and that's despite me making good progress just about every week. I have finished the renders for the Samarra/Nell scene, am in the middle of rendering the Evelyn scene, and haven't even started with Primrose and Callie. Apart from a few tweaks to support Perversity 6, I haven't even touched the code. This means that there's a bunch of code to write alongside dialogue (which should be pretty bare this time around due to the nature of these scenes).

And as the time required to finish the update becomes apparent to me, I came to the conclusion that you, my loyal supporters, might want a say in how I handle this update. You see, I could split this update into two separate parts if I wanted to. In that case, version 0.38 would focus on the Deep Sleep spell, Samarra/Nell, and Evelyn. Version 0.39 would then cover Primrose and Callie. The downside of such a split is that releasing new versions of this game has significant administrative overhead, so expect me to lose about a week's worth of development time if I were to go this route.

On the other hand, sticking with the course I'm currently on (doing all the girls in version 0.38) means that it's still going to take a while before I can get the update into your hands. It's a massive update from a workload perspective, which means a lot of time is required from me. On the plus side, this frees me from the distraction of releasing and maintaining a new update in the middle of all this, allowing me to keep the momentum going on renders before finishing the code in one go. 

To me, doing everything in version 0.38 is the most appealing option because it allows me to just hunker up and power through with few distractions. However, splitting the update means that you get to play around with a new update much sooner than you otherwise would. Also, the more updates I make, the higher my monthly income (basically, many people join briefly when a new update is out and then leave). But don't let me make the decision here. You guys and gals, in your generosity, are far more deserving of that honor.

I feel like you, my supporters, should have the final say here. Let's summarize the options:

OPTION 1: I stick with the current plan and finish all four night scenes plus the Deep Sleep spell and Perversity 6 in version 0.38. The wait will be longer to get the next update, but overall development time for the night scenes should be shorter.

OPTION 2: Deep Sleep, Perversity 6, Samarra/Nell, and Evelyn become version 0.38. Primrose and Callie become version 0.39. You will get the next update much sooner. However, overall development time for the night scenes will be longer due to administrative overhead.

So, which one do you prefer? Let me know in the poll below. I'm going to be keeping an eye on it over the next few days. If there's a runaway winner early on, that's what I'm going with. If the results are somewhat even, I'll wait for a little while before making a decision.

Also, if you feel strongly about either option, let me know in the comments below. 

Until next time!