Thank you as always for your support. This is NumericGazer.
This month, I released Xen's Room Ver. 0.1.
Starting tomorrow, I will spend the next few days fixing bugs and adjusting small details. Once that is done, I would like to begin working on Ver. 0.2.
This time, there is something I would like to talk about.
About the Development Speed
Some people have said that the development speed is too slow.
I completely agree with that.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain the reason for that, as well as my plans going forward.
First of all, I believe the erotic scenes are the most important part of this game.
They are also where I spend the most time.
I have tried outsourcing erotic scenes many times in the past.
However, in the end, I came to the conclusion that this is something I have to make myself.
This is not because I want to do everything by myself.
In fact, many parts outside of the erotic scenes can be outsourced, and I have outsourced what I could up to now.
However, when it comes to erotic scenes, it is extremely difficult to share the exact feeling I am aiming for with someone else, and there are often cases where I end up having to remake almost all of the outsourced motion from scratch.
Even when it does not go that far, there are times when correcting the motion is far more difficult than making it myself from scratch.
That kind of correction work is a very heavy burden, and in the end, it became extremely inefficient.
Because of that, I do not think I will outsource erotic scenes in the future, at least not as a basic approach.
At the moment, when it comes to erotic scenes, I myself am the bottleneck of development.
And that is one of the main reasons why the development speed of Gothic has become slow.
I also feel that the release speed is slower compared to the Beginnings period.
One reason may be that the scenes have become more complex, and that each scene has become longer, but I cannot say that I fully understand every exact cause.
That said, I do keep track of my working hours, and it is not because I am slacking off compared to before.
Even so, my direction going forward is clear.
I will continue to create what I truly believe is good, with the same level of care and commitment.
This is a work that I absolutely want to complete.
So there is no reason for me to intentionally drag out the development period.
I always want to finish it as quickly as I can.
I would also like to thank everyone who supports me on FANBOX, Afdian, and other platforms.
The support itself means a lot to me, but more than that, knowing that there are people who actually play the game and leave comments is a huge source of motivation.
At the same time, I do feel sorry that people continue to support me even though the development speed has not increased significantly.
So please do not feel that you have to keep supporting me continuously.
It is completely fine to stop your support normally, then subscribe only when an alpha version is released and you feel like playing it, and cancel the subscription right away afterward.
Your support does not make the development speed significantly faster in the short term, nor does it make it slower.
As I explained above, the current bottleneck in development is the creation of the erotic scenes, and that is a part I have to handle myself.
Of course, I would like to keep using AI and other tools wherever they can make the process more efficient.
However, it seems that it will still take a little more time before they can help me reach the quality I am aiming for.
Recently, I have been receiving more critical comments about the development speed.
I think those opinions are understandable.
However, if I remain silent, I may end up making people expect that the development speed will eventually become much faster.
I felt that would not be honest, so I decided to explain the situation here.
I have such a strong attachment to this work that I feel down if I go even one day without working on it.
On days when progress is bad, I feel terrible. On days when progress is good, I feel energized.
I have done what I can up to now, and I will continue to do the same going forward.
In the end, I believe the best way to move development forward as quickly as possible is for me to focus as much as I can, and to keep making what I truly want to make.
This became a rather long message, but I want to make it clear that I am not deeply depressed or cornered. I am mentally and physically healthy.
I simply felt that, in order to keep focusing on my work in a healthy way going forward, I should take this opportunity to explain the situation clearly.
It is taking time, but I will keep working with the intention of completing this game.
Thank you very much, as always, to everyone who continues to support me.