[VX ACE RPG] Aylia's Story - English H-RPG Goodness!

[lostone2]

I only wish that I have better news but:

It's probably done. I'm posting a warning today about my page and I'm going to do some reflecting on whether this is what I want to do. I set March as a all-or-nothing month, and if I can't get a release out with that, then there is something legitimately fucked up. The passion/drive is not there, it's been worn down over the years and I need to reboot. I created Aylia's Story beginning with no Patreon, no expectations, I need to get back to that if it's ever going to find a finish line. 3 years of expectations and what the game "should" be bear down to the point that I make no substantial progress.

Thanks for your interest, and I'll only be back if I'm ready to work. Bye.

He posted that in another forum that, for my own personal reasons I'm not going to link here. He also made a Patreon-only post titled "An Non-Release Update from a Fool".

So I think that is the end, at least for the foreseeable future. It brings a sense of loss and melancholy to my mind. I have following the development in silence since late 2014/early 2015 (the very first news were known at the same time as TLS: the coincidence has always been stuck in my mind).

It's possible that I should have waited for YT to post here but... I think that you guys would like to know about it.

[444blade5]

Post on another site by YummyTiger. Don't give up guys just stop being mean. Just be patient and don't put too much hope in it, be encouraging when you can. This is his project not ours.

"Yes, it's on hold until I can prove to myself I can move the project forward consistently.

Thanks for the encouraging comments. Sorry to disappoint, but it's past time I figure out whether I can be disciplined enough to do this. Whether I can take the discipline I had in my workplace to this at-home job.

To response to other comments:

1. There was a release in a few patrons hands a week ago, but it wasn't sufficient for me to consider March a success. Therefore, I didn't release a smallish update and call it "good," as that would have been ignoring the underlying issues preventing me from being where I want to be. December showed that releasing a small update does literally no good.

2. @slothie - I don't keep track of many projects, but I can list a number of projects where the shitty mentality of a vocal few led to the project ending. You mention "Patreons" but most patreons are monthly and bringing in monthly income. Yes, they're more resilient because they are getting paid. My project is more like a forum project, and when you don't get anything much in return, taking a bunch of shit on a regular basis is less worthwhile to deal with.

3. @slothie - I'll also add that I was taking a lot of shit back when I was 100% clear that it was a hobby project, NOT a full time gig. I'd also point to the silly level of shit-flinging that came with the Hunter's Quest translation that was given to anyone for free. If you think that doesn't affect people, you're wrong.

I don't expect a pat on the back for doing nothing. I'm okay with criticism, although I will challenge "criticism" I feel is either lying or unwarranted. But, I've had people stalking me, I've had people threaten my family, I've had shit I never expected--hell, there was even one person on this forum who tried to get cute and use what he thought was my real name--I'm assuming as a threat. I'm still my own worst enemy, but I damn well appreciate the people who stick with me and THEY are who I want to release a great product for.

Thank you for your interest. "

[fulgartech]

Well I for one am not giving up hope on this great project.

1) The post on patreon was made on april 1 and even includes the word fool in the title. So I view it with skepticism.

2) I have waited longer for smaller projects with fewer updates. I have also waited for decades for good stories that may never come, but they are still worth the wait if they ever do.

So if Yummy has decided to do just ah he indicates then great. The only way a great project works is if its creator is engaged with its creation. If it is just a burden to be finished we will not be happy with the results. I once saw a sign on a master craftman's workbench that read "If you want it bad, that is how you will get it. Otherwise quality takes time."

And if this is just a prank, then I will look forward to seeing the next update sooner rather than later!

[RandomGuy2599]

This is bullshit.

[Test431087]

Since you blocked me after apparently deleting my other comments, so I figured I might as well attempt to respond here. First, I have been following this project since it was announced here, over three years ago, but considering your recent replies it is quite possible that you don't really care about that as I haven’t offered you any money. Secondly, I would have posted about my concerns on LoK, rather than patreon, had the captcha for the forum not died on March 31. The registration process has recently been fixed, so this is not longer a problem, but I digress. I don't blame you for not knowing this, but please be a bit more considerate before jumping to assume the worst of anyone who gives you any criticism, especially when you have previously criticized others for similar accusations against your supporters. Moreover, I am not the only one who feels this way, judging by the number of people who have liked my post and the fact that there are still people speculating about the status of this project on the LoK thread. Finally, it isn't the fact that you wrote a post to your patrons, specifically, that is objectionable, it's that you have previously expressed a desire to not keep people in suspense, and then proceeded to do exactly that. A simple, five-minute, "Sorry, I know I didn't make the deadline, I honestly don't know what I'll be doing with this project in the future, but don't hold your breath for another release" would have avoided this entire mess. I still don't know why you can't seem to do that.

[YummyTiger]

I have not quit. At worst, the project is temporarily on hold. Most people here have been through my failed promises and years of false hope. I've never quite found consistency, and even when I went full time, I never achieved the discipline a job should have. There are reasons for that, primarily I love to play games and through a series of events I didn't really need to push the Patreon to earn money. Still, every missed release date set me further back in my promises and made actually releasing something a bigger hurdle. I ended up revamping everything, adding shit to make it "better" and essentially sloshing around in the 15 minute prologue that should have been done 3 years ago.

As posted above, I set March as a major deadline with the thought that there was no way I'd let myself miss that kind of a release date. When I missed it, it meant I needed to take a hard look at everything. Can I actually deliver this game as planned? Are there features that need to be cut? Is it time to bring on artists or secondary writers? What do I need to do to setup a legitimate release schedule and stick to it. How do I find the discipline I had when I was working for a creative endeavor where there are just times when I'm not very creative?

As I told my patrons, my Patreon will only remain open if I can find a way to do right by the people supporting me. If I can't, then I'd rather this just be a hobby project without the pressure of Patreon. Either way, you'll hear from me in the coming weeks and I'll have shit figured out, or my Patreon will be closed and I'll just work in my spare time and release something down the line (probably a gimped version of the game). I've come to far to not release SOMETHING.

Thanks!

[YSlayer]

It's really hard to stay on track on a solo project. It's not even the workload, it's just really hard to keep a consistent frame of mind without someone else to ground you. I guess what I'm saying is don't beat yourself up too much. Anyone who has tried one of these projects solo knows just how hard it is to keep that up. People are still waiting cause they like what you made and they'll probably keep waiting till you finish the game or quit. I hope you find a way to keep working on it. You still manage to work a lot better than I do. I imagine few people were even aware of the solo project I abandoned here a while ago. I've been trying to make something ever since then and still don't have anything I can post. Solo projects are hard.

[Elaymidoray]

If ye decide to take on an additional writer, I'd be more then happy to help. I haven't written anything adult before, (at least nothing I considered decent enough in quality) but I'd be able to write subplots and side quest galore. Otherwise, I hope everythin' works out for yeh. I've followed this project since page 7, an' I'd just really like to see it finished. (I just checked for me first comment. I've changed me name since then, but apparently it updates that retroactively on yer comments. Neatos (They're like Cheatos, but neater)).

[JohnCollins5091]

If ye decide to take on an additional writer, I'd be more then happy to help. I haven't written anything adult before, (at least nothing I considered decent enough in quality) but I'd be able to write subplots and side quest galore. Otherwise, I hope everythin' works out for yeh. I've followed this project since page 7, an' I'd just really like to see it finished. (I just checked for me first comment. I've changed me name since then, but apparently it updates that retroactively on yer comments. Neatos (They're like Cheatos, but neater)).

Motherfucker needs a coder, not a writer.
From what I could grasp, so far, it seems to me like he has lots of ideas for his game, but no way to implement them, as he appears to have no knowledge of how even programming in general works, much less Ruby (RPGMaker's programming language). It's nothing to be ashamed of, coding is hard as fuck, even for those who know how, but he really needs to either start learning how to code in Ruby, or get a programmer. I've offered my help too, atleast in that regard, as well as creative direction.

[JohnCollins5091]

Also this thing is dead. It smells dead to me. No updates since the april patreon post.

[Soru]

It might be, though Yummy isn't known for monthly updates really. He tends to keep silent till he has something 'worthy' to say or something like that. Honestly though he should say at least something more frequently so we at least know if he's still working on it or not.

[YSlayer]

He's probably not sure where to go from here and doesn't want to say something and then turn around say otherwise. Might be he just decided to go silent until he has something substantial finished so as to avoid expectations and stress (which create a negative feedback loop especially for solo devs).

[YummyTiger]

It's not dead. I've gotten a coder now as well.

[Soru]

Glad to know that you got some help and are still working on it, Yummy. And just a small piece of advice that you are free to ignore you should at least once a month give like a progress report of some kind, just to let people know progress has been made or if something came up. Also showing some images of things will help let us know things are being worked on and probably attract more people.

[Elaymidoray]

It's not dead. I've gotten a coder now as well.

Happy days! Oh happy days!

[Soru]

Just thought I would write a post here to update on it since it's been a while. The game isn't dead and Yummytiger is working on it. He's made some changes, such as moving to a different RPG Maker to solve some issues and have higher resolution images. He also has Trello now so we can keep track of progress and he is starting to make update posts more frequently on his Patreon. Has had a couple minor set backs from RPG Maker getting an update so he had to make sure his code worked still.

[YummyTiger]

Thanks for updating people Soru. I tend to not bump this thread unless I have a release (and since that has been pretty much never, I have not bumped it). Anyways, Soru is correct. I'm aiming to get things right this go around, and part of that is being more transparent throughout. Here is the Trello link if anyone is interested: https://trello.com/b/JUvqGocH/aylias-story-015

The plan is to release 0.11 in MV first, to make sure the switch went okay. Then 0.15 with a number of new quests and around 6 new scenes. Then things will move to .20 which will feature the entire chapter and the working battle system. Should have a total of 14 scenes (not including battle content and minor events).

Thanks for your patience.

[Zorafin]

I just want to say that I've been checking on your progress daily in anticipation for this game's release. You look so close, and I'm anxiously awaiting to see it done and playable.

[Elaymidoray]

So close, I can almost taste it...

[BlackDread]

I've been tasting this for years, and I'm ready for the main course