Weekly update #19 - sprint retrospective, next release planning and scope

Hey all,

I figured I'd fit both the retrospective and some discussion about the next release in this weekly blogspot.

I mentioned in earlier posts that I wanted to come up with a more interactive/interesting format, but it's still one of the many things crammed in the huge project management backlog.

Just like last one, we will simply follow the usual scrum retro talking points (what went wrong/what went right/what to improve) and I'll lay out my own personal feedback but you guys are free to chime in.

What went wrong:

• Deadlines; I had no specific deadline when I came out of 0.15 and later settled on end of march. I wish it would have been sooner, and I wish I could have met this march one still

• Part of that is explained by the fact I invested a lot of time practicing for the new art style; sketching, coloring, adapting my tools/brushes etc. and that reduced the actual production time

• The big news I had in my own private life explain the last little delay before the final release, but I still need to do better and improve my productivity. I struggle with the whole solo project management thing/juggling between all the different tasks. If I don't want to neglect my own mental health in the process, I have to improve my processes and the way I go about working on this project

What went right:

• I'm starting to like the way the artwork is shaping up. Even though I had some feedbacks that the sketchy artstyle wasn't an issue (and I will probably keep the option to see both), it still bothers me and gives off "unfinished" vibes. I think that a polished look, all flashy and colored goes a long way when it comes to promoting the game.

• I'm feeling pretty inspired for what comes next, I enjoy redrawing and coloring the old stuff and for the new content, I have a pretty good idea of the short-term future developments of the story.

• I feel like communication is getting there, I'm keeping up with the weekly blogspot and enjoy sharing artwork sneak peeks, etc.

What to improve:

• Very short-term, I'm not entirely satisfied with the content of this release and wish I could've fit more. I want to address this by quickly releasing the following parts of this artwork update, stay on a tight schedule even if it means mostly working on artwork

• Productivity and communication are the usual two key points to improve; if I want to keep the project alive, I need to release quality content quickly, and enough of it to have a good vertical slice of what I want to reach long-term. For instance, the story and character arcs are progressing slowly and most of the content for now is teasing/voyeuring; having an actual, well fleshed out explicit scene could also go a long way.

Planning and what to expect for next updates

• Scope: the focus is still artwork overhaul. I want to follow up this release with another one (possibly multiple ones) in a shorter delay than usual, with the rest of the remastered pictures + a bit of new content each time.

• Deadlines: I want to keep a tight schedule for these releases, possibly 1 month between each. That would mean a lot of changes in my processes, but I need to try and shake things up.

• New content: the immediate focus will be on the streaming scene for Jade; as I said earlier, it will be the first major explicit sex scene besides all the teasing stuff so I want it to be really fleshed out : multiple quality frames showcasing foreplay & different positions i.e. satisfy a few of the usual tags.

• Animation: It's been a point of interrogation for me since the beginning, but I think I will also experiment with (very simple) animation. I'm not talking Live2D stuff (though that's not entirely out of consideration), but simple keyframe animation to begin with. Thematically, it fits with the whole livestream thing and it's something that's usually pretty sought after in these kind of games so I want to start doing some experimentation and see if it's something I can reasonably implement. You are welcome to give your feedback about this!

• Music: I may also have an opportunity to work with someone I know to start going about implementing some music in the game, as it's for now deafeningly missing. I think there are some interesting things to be done in that regard (like implementing a new Spotify-like music player app, giving the player the choice of his playlist and not breaking the whole immersion thing). You are also welcome to give feedback about this, though I will probably make a poll to ask you guys what are you expectations/desires regarding music and sound design in the game.

I'll come back to you guys when I have a clearer estimation of what will fit in the next one, and start production right away if I want to meet the tighter deadlines.

Feel free to give feedback about anything you'd like, and stay tuned for more posts and polls. Thank you so much for the support, you guys are the ones keeping the project alive.