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So
McFly asked a great question on the Community page here on Patreon.
It has also came up in the past by
OZ among others.
Currently, developing Episode 2 takes 7 out of 7 days of the week. Of course I take breaks sometimes, but there isn't a single day I'm not working on the project.
So what can I do to reduce workload so I won't die of either overworking myself, or my girlfriend killing me for not spending enough time with her?
First
About rendering and the new workstation. Well numbers are easily understandable, so I'll put it that way.
When I started, as I said, I saved up for a nice rig over the months, and as I use CUDA cores for rendering I'll use those as numbers for "rendering power". There are many other factors there, but let's keep it simple. I started with 2560.
When the workstation is finished, there will be
14,336 cores. That's a big jump in horsepower.
Second
Episode 2 is huge. I almost bit off more than I could chew. These things happen, as you guys get enthusiastic about a new episode and so do I, and I try to pack everything I can in it. And sometimes I overestimate what can be done. I don't have any stats yet, but I roughly estimate 2-2.5 times the content of EP1. I will still aim to release as much content as possible. Just within reasonable limits.
Third
There are a lot of new things. A new game mechanic. The partial voice acting. New characters, setting up new environemnts and a lot of behind the scenes stuff, like looking for a reliable coder, who can do it faster than I can, (so I can use that time to make images and write the story), gettin my idea across so he understands. Look/listen through 25 applications for voice acting, only to find I'm not satisfied with any of them. These take time. These take days.
BUT! These only have to be done once. Now I need something coded fast, I have a go-to guy. I need new voice lines, I have my VAs.
Fourth
As I write the script, from Episode to Episode, it becomes easier and faster as well, because I'm laying the foundation for everything in these first few hours of the story. When I wrote the script for Episode 2, I also set up a lot of things for EP3, EP4... even the Final Chapter. I can build upon those easily.
Fifth
Hiring help. This is a big one. Right now I'm doing everything on my own, aside from the game mechanic done by the coder and the voice acting. Even the game mechanic is just a framework. I have to put the pieces together.
But after EP2 is released, I'm getting help with some of the time consuming 'mundane' tasks. (Trust me, there are a lot of those)
And finally, a good developer works hard and does his job.
A great developer however, innovates. And of course, has a few cool tricks up his sleeve. Currently I'm pumping out the story progression as much as I can, to get to a point where the game can transition to what it is truly meant to be. More fun gameplay and story, and I can finally have time to go to the cinema with my lady
As the saying goes: All beginnings are difficult. But we are soon past that.
And I'm sure you already guessed but I aim to be a great developer and make a great game for all of you.
TL;DR: Yes. I plan to do monthly content.
This was just kind of a bonus post that wasn't in schedule, but I felt like I have to make.
Dev Update and news coming Monday.
I hope guys are having a great weekend!
And as always, thank you everyone who supports and comments and messages, it makes a big difference!
-Sin
