SamuKata
magicnuts
magicnuts

patreon


Weekly report 199

Hi everybody.


I hope you're all doing well and are ready to enjoy your weekend. In this report, I want to ask your opinion on a topic that has preoccupied Chestnut and me this week, and that's that Patreon has been warning some NSFW game developers about their activity outside of Patreon (such as on their Discord server), and while we try hard to follow Patreone's guidelines and ToS and have taken measures to avoid being impacted, this made us wonder what our options would be should one day Patreon ban NSFW content creators altogether. Websites similar to Patreon, such as SubcribeStar, will be an option in that case, but some of our Discord server members also suggested Steam, something we had not planned to consider until at least the completion of our Main Story. My experience is somewhat limited, so I would like to know your thoughts about playing WaL on Steam and if you have any ideas or suggestions in general. Important to note is that these are all just hypothetical; I don't even know how easy porting a Renpy game to Steam would be, and I can't afford to focus on anything other than finishing the 0.7 right now.


Now, with this week's report, I'll summarize it in one paragraph: Chestnut has been working on her art, moving between the list we made for Gomira's first quest and the artworks that she wanted to improve earlier but didn't have the time for then. I have been adding audio and sound effects to the content, creating stuff, mixing and matching, and testing them to ensure they don't cause any bugs. I also coded in some of Chestnut's artworks for a cutscene and reposed the faces to match the final images. For next week, Chestnut will continue her editing work, and I want to add more artwork. Then, I'll try to finish animating the sex scenes. 


That's all.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Cheers

Weekly report 199

Comments

That may be country dependent. I have at least one sub on SubscribeStar and I use my Mastercard to pay it.

N3wb_4_l1f3

Nope. Visa or Mastercard don't work on Subscribestar.

Hexar

What do you mean? It's possible to use at least Visa there. It doesn't matter if it's a debt or credit card.

Savio

How much longer

Bk

I'm also in Germany and due to that reason I can't play any NSFW games on steam. Subscribestar might be tge better option. If I were you I'd go both routes though. You might find new fans on Steam that browse the erotic games section or however that is called.

Olemole

if you ask me, Steam isn't the way to go. I'm from germany and here every single NSFW game is banned on Steam (or maybe I'm just too dumb to activate them, could be as well). But if you switch to another site, I will definitely follow you.

Mad Max

What do you mean?

Pally Ganker

I've heard other developers say Steam is where the money is. There are a lot of garbage games on there, but I think that the cream will usually rise and from a pure "getting eyes on the game" standpoint it's probably hard to beat. I have found several developers I enjoy via Steam. I've started switching over to SSA if there is a developer on both SSA and Patreon. The site works pretty well and I've seen the problems Patreon has been creating for other creators. Couldn't hurt to migrate the current fanbase if possible.

TJab

Seeing that Subscribe Star doesn't work with Visa or MasterCard, i would caution against that option. Maybe Itch?

Hexar

I'd normally say switching to Steam is fine, but since I live in a country in which Steam doesn't allow the distribution of NSFW games, I'd ask that you consider another platform (as well).

Tim Schwarz

I would buy your game without thinking twice. Have you ever seen many adult games on Steam, but many of the adult games on Steam are garbage that have no story and are only based on sex and not to mention the graphics that are pure crap. Your game really has a good story and depending on what you do in the story the paths go down different paths. It has very good graphics, very good sex scenes. Many characters of different races, different personalities and especially very, very beautiful female characters. I and I'm sure more people bought your game on Steam without blinking. Really, don't underestimate yourself, you've seen how much crap there is on Steam. Your game and also Innocent Witches are two games that should be on Steam without any doubt.

Joaquin Fillot Bellido

Definitely look into Steam. They have a rep for poorly-made porn games, but the quality ones do still get noticed. Ravager, one of my favorite NSFW games, released on Steam some time ago. Not only did they sell very well, but the increased visibility drove more fans to their Patreon (and their SubStar, once their Patreon got shut down over internet drama). Ravager was- and still is- incomplete at the time, but that didn't matter. The same is true for some other quality games I follow on Steam, including Subverse and Projekt Passion. The audience understands that this is the nature of the beast.

Asterion Del Toro

Just and FYI GeeSeki has their game 'A Town Uncovered' released on Steam with out much in the way of censorship. Honestly the subjects that they do are much more uh, niche than what WAL covers so I don't think they'd have to worry much. There's always Itch.io too which WAL is there already it seems. I do agree that they probably would get less over time than what Patreon or SSA would provide.

TpzBlau

I mean you switching to steam wouldn't be the first Renpy game there, If there's questions maybe you could reach out to some of the other creators there? Dunno just a thought. If you do switch to SSA then I'll gladly follow, looks like that's going to be the better option in the long run since Patreon is run by people who like to meddle in shit they find 'distasteful'. Best of luck to you!

TpzBlau

I would not mind switching to another platform like SubscribeStar but I don't use Steam anymore

Parcimoneus

They are already on itch.io? https://magicnuts.itch.io/what-a-legend

Parcimoneus

Well said. I concur.

Parcimoneus

Considering how Patreon takes worse and worse decisions over the years, I've been itching to switch to SubStar. If you move there, I'll definitely follow.

Rwede

I'm not a fan of Steam, but that may just be me. I'd be fine with a move to SubscribeStar. itch.io might be another option.

John Hall

I will support you guys in any case

Oleg

Steam has a big problem with distribution of nsfw games in some European countries, especially Germany where they cant be bought because steam does not comply with their age verification laws

McMadow

From what I understand, to put a game on Steam you don't have to make a "port," you can simply upload the version of the game and they distribute it via their servers. Sounds like HB38 knows better, but I own a number of Ren'py games on Steam and once installed they have the same structure as Ren'py games off Steam. I'd say a combined approach is probably better though, as subscription style offerings on Steam are few and far between and Patreon/SubscribeStar are more subscription based. As others have said, more options are better provided it wasn't too much work for you folx to update the game on Steam/ itch.io/ SubscribeStar/ what have you.

N3wb_4_l1f3

I mean, achievements are optional, you don't have to use the Steamworks achievement framework. You can just have in-game achievements and not tie them into Steam's back end. That said, they absolutely could implement Steam achievements.

N3wb_4_l1f3

Not that my opinion amounts to much but I've bought NSFW games on steam as well as the other sites. Those of us who care will support you either way, I have no issue paying for a game on steam and either getting the updates because the game is a really access type or paying for dlc. Me paying on steam would be equivalent to me paying via patron. I also would let it get to you about having people pay for a game that isn't complete. Now a days most games are early access with multiple updates for new content. I love your game and I'll support you regardless.

Joseph O

I use subscribestar a lot and would be happy to move my pledge to that platform if you made the switch

Anony Mous

A lot of adult content creators like your case that involves with many subscribers are moving to “SubscribeStar adult”because Patreon’s policy. Many moved already and convinced me to make an account to support them. If you ever plan to move to “SubscribeStar adult” just inform us we will subscribe to support.

Redthegreat

It absolutely blows my mind that Patreon thinks they have any say over creators' Discord servers; and yet, I've already had one creator curtail certain content on theirs to appease them. While I recognize that it would be a lot of work for creators, I am actually kind of giddy at the idea of subbing to all my creators on SubStarAdult, and giving Patreon two big middle fingers on the exit interview when I nuke my account. Tumblr did it and got completely annihilated for their trouble, OF tried to do it until they realized they'd bleed to death, and I half expect them to try again sometime down the line. Capitalism's contentious relationship with adult content will never cease to amaze me. Sex sells, until some fucknut decides that it conflicts with their morals and that they have to force said morals on everyone else. I'm not altogether against a Steam release either, but I'd say the audience is probably smaller on the whole. Unless you maybe release a 17+ version with an adult content patch? The story is reasonably strong to stand on its own, I believe. But all that is still conjecture at this point. And the other point is that Steam wouldn't permit for monthly support; best you could hope for is Early Access buys. Sorry, got a bit on my soapbox there. Y'all are doing great and I hope you're getting all the rest, etc. that you need. 💙

Sh0tgun_Jacks0n

You'll have to create and implement achievements in Steam format, otherwise it is a good platform to showcase the game. I played many games that were originally available through Patreon and were later released on Steam.

Long Beetle

I don't have a Steam account and have no interest in setting one up, but do have a SubscribeStar account I could switch to as far as supporting WaL. As long as you don't have to chose one over the other, I'm good.

Mike Yocom

It requires very little work to make a steam version of a Ren'py game. If you need assistance, feel free to reach out on the Ren'py Discord; we'd be more than willing to assist. Thanks! - HB38 Ren'py Discord Admin

HB38


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