After SDC release
June 18, 2021SERENA: DARK CONFESSIONS
Last Thursday we’ve released the SDC and to honest – I was a little stressful moment for me.
I’m aware that our most rated games are RELATIONSHIP SIMULATORS and switching gameplay mechanics sometimes isn’t welcomed by players. For instance LWT2 initially has a very controversial reception, mainly because of that. But in that case it looks like the risk was worth it – vast majority is very satisfied with that experiment. I’m basing this opinion on the comments on our blog and the poll we got for LOP GOLD MEMBERS.
In this moment I want to say, that next to RELATIONSHIP SIMULATORS (incoming LWT1: REDUX), we’ll be also developing visual novels as well – step that many of you was awaiting for a very long time.
To convince those, who aren’t enjoying visual novels that much, I promise that we’ll improve our gameplay, making it as interactive as possible, crafting every game an unique experience, not only in terms of the story and visuals but also interesting types of interactions you should do to achieve your goals.
Together with MISTRESS RUBY we’re very satisfied with a such warm reception of the presented story and emotions that our characters cause in your hearts. So right now we’re discussing future expansions and we already got some ideas for new events – some of them are even rendered, so you can take a look below.
On which character we should focus the most in expansions?
LWT1:RDX
I’m constantly progressing with the development – all visuals and texts are almost complete for the base version of the game. So far I’m transforming texts and images into a game file and when I complete this process, I’ll focus my efforts on game mechanics. I plan to implement some changes that will decrease the amount of grind and make the whole gameplay smoother, because the story and interactions are to good to be spoiled with to much repetitive actions.
YamYoda is already rendering WIFE GONE WILD expansion – how do you like the renders in the new quality?
Up until now I have really enjoyed the new SDC game.
Only thing I don’t like is the quality of the images, I expected a better resolution.
Nowadays you can find free games on the internet with higher quality images and animations.
It’s not a matter of resolution but compression. In UNITY basically we got 2 options – COMPRESS (average 300KB per picture) or NOT COMPRESS (1000KB per picture ) image. We’ve been experimenting with NOT COMPRESSED images but players were complaining about much longer loading times. Today I’ll try to release alternative version of the game with NOT COMPRESSED images so some of you may test if the loading speed is worth the effort.
It seemed to me that even the Steam releases weren’t that great picturewise. Maybe a bit better but still, for something you can actually download it wasn’t as good as I hoped.
Yes, because UNITY COMPRESS even NOT COMPRESSED files a little. But in terms of STEAM GAMES quality – have you been trying our PLEDGE with updated visuals? It really looks nice.
I’ll make an experiment and this Monday / Tuesday I’ll try to upscale SERENA’S visuals and publish the game with potentially much higher quality that still should be playable on-line
I checked it out. I guess it was better. With the AI as well. But the updated graphics on LWT2 didn’t impress that much. I still hope some day we can just download it in full size. So it is crisp in fullscreen.
@leo
Have you guys considered a cdn for some of the file delivery instead of using your current webserver? It would reduce the load you have during high game release times and they would have better transfer speeds. Most high speed internet should be able to handle the higher resolution images and larger file sizes as long as the delivering service is fast enough.
Okay, I was able to prepare visuals for SDC (static images only) in a different quality format (1.1 MB instead of 300 KB). To test it click BETA button under the game window in the MEMBERS zone. Visual quality should be significantly higher but it may cause slower loading times – we’ll experiment with CDN to compensate that. Let us know in the comments if you’re satisfied with the results of this test.
Static images are much better and loading times are acceptable.
The animations have not changed, for now.
Much better.
So, today I’ve made another version of the game – all visuals in 4K compressed. 0.9MB per single image (0.3MB) before and 28MB per animation (9MB before). Significant increase of the file size but the visuals are super high quality. Let me know if this HQ version work fast enough for you and if visuals are worth this upgrade.
BTW – I’d suggest clearing the browser cache (but it might clear your game progress) or run the game in another browser to see the new files (not cached older ones).
@leo the files are good quality, but the transfer isn’t great, which is why I suggested a cdn. I was watching dev console in chrome. I loaded a resource that was 31.2 MB in 10.55 seconds, or 2.9 MB per second. I have gigabit internet, so i’m guessing the slowdown is coming from your webeserver. On some of the animations it does take a few seconds for it to load so I get just a black screen while things are happening, and if I wasn’t in console I couldn’t see files loading in the background.
To be fair, you don’t even need a true CDN all over the world, you could use something like a s3 bucket. AWS has very fast internet pipe, and you could be selective and only upload these high quality pieces as opposed to a wholesale migration.
@leo one other thing, if you’re going to make 4K level images, then perhaps we can resize the window a bit? I know you had done it with the flash games previously where you could have the default size but also a larger size. Some people do have high resolution monitors and can handle the pixels. I have an ultra wide 3440×1440 as my main, so the size you chosen for that beta it OK, but I’d love to really view the size of those images.
The new animation are much much much better.
In future updates I would also add an option to increase the speed of the animations, some are too slow in movement.
Tbh, I don’t really care about animations – unless they actually look natural. Increasing the quality of the images is already enough for me.
Is the hope to release LWT1:Rdx still between End of July or somewhere in August or are you thinking September? I know there is no specifics to when which I understand, but a month or two to what your hopes are would be appreciated as I know like all of your games that it will continue to be an awesome game with dazzling adventures to experience. Thank you.
Really looking forward to LWT Redux. Are you planning to keep the old sounds and music? I hope so because for me it’s a distinctive part of the past gaming experience of lwt.
If you like we may keep some parts of the original soundtrack but in terms of sex sounds and other elements we would like to use fresh tracks.
Original soundtracks from first game are my favourite,can’t imagine LWT without it. Don’t know for others but I’d love to hear them in RDX
Yeah please keep the original music. As for the sounds I just hope it’s not this “latina-like” moaning you used in the new Serena game. For me it got annoying pretty fast.
I agree with that. I liked the bom-chicka-wow-wow style of the original
I honestly don’t even play with sound.
Must admit, I was a bit hesitant at first for SDC, after seeing the renders in the announcements, however the game surprises me and so far has kept me interested on day1 of playing. Did hope to read some news about when Bloodlines of Shadow Springs comes. A story so far that is really in my field of interest 😉
I’m very happy to know you plan to release more visual novels and expansions to SDC!
As for what character I’d like to see more in SDC’s expansions, I voted for Bianca. But, honestly, the game was so good and Mistress Ruby created some very arousing scenarios, that I’d be happy to see whatever she has planned for next.
Even in my writing, my secrets are mine and mine alone – titillating anticipation and sensual mystery are my devices…
Loved SDC, I really do look forward to new games in that style but also that we’re not abandoning the ones with actual gameplay. I’m also super stoked that it was popular enough to look at expanding it, and Mistress Ruby did a great job and had some of the best dialogue in any LoP game period.
Definitely feel super spoiled with SDC, LwT1: Redux, and maybe even Bloodlines all coming out this summer. Keep up the great work!
It’s natural for me to hear praise and be placed upon a pedestal by others. After all, most men say that we women ramble on and talk too much – only when we write that we are genuinely listened to…
lwt launchdate ?
I’ve played a little SDC this week : only two endings by now, but I’m not in a hurry. The paths I’ve discovered are enjoying, the characters are great – old and news – and I have a nice surprise when (POILER WARNING) Serena meets Alex and Che from Club Velvet Rose. I’m taking my time and savoring.
This is your first visual novel, and this is a good one ! You’ve tried a difficult storyline (it’s hard to follow several characters at the same time. Usually, a visual novel focus on a MC alone), but this is promising : I can’t imagine all the expansions you should create for all of them ! I’m so happy to discover the new ones and to explore the ancient ones.
PS :Mistress Ruby make me loving Serena more and more…
My goal is to lure people into a sense of expectations and then have them crawl away satisfied and bewildered with what they have undergone by simply using my words. You can only imagine what I can accomplish with my fingers besides typing…
can´t wait to play LWT redux, new quality looks exciting. Hoping for more action with Sandy!
The pace of SDC was a refreshing difference from the usual relationship grinder and I really liked it, it’s less time consuming and honestly is more realistic.
Love what I see in the first render for expansions! The dynamic between SerenaxEric is super hot, please explore that more if possible! And I would love to see more of cheating Bianca, maybe being blackmailed by Eric to sleep with him and other guys!
Gave up on SDC since none of my saves will load..
Wish I could vote a few times, this game series needs more Poly and Nicole.
I really enjoyed the visual novel format. Although this format demands a higher standard of writing, I think you guys for the most part delivered.
That being said, there is one thing that felt kinda jarring: it really felt like a 3rd confession scene was missing. Serena’s souring Hawaii adventure is really steamy, plus it drives the entire narrative. The first two were spot on, but I really felt like we needed a 3rd flashback sex scene of Serena confessing to either Jade or Julian about when it went wrong.
Maybe this scene is already in the game and I just haven’t found it yet? Anyway, I think it’s important to directly show what Eric did to her. Serena escaped from him very traumatized, but also changed. He definitely succeeded in bringing out Serena’s hidden submissive side, and perhaps a big part of Serena’s trauma is her abhorring the part of her that enjoyed Eric’s abuse. I really would’ve loved to see Eric crossing the line and Serena’s conflicted response to it.