Mia Status : burnout-like, How to solve : farewell steam Dev.
This is a hard post for me to write but it had to be done. Lately, I had been feeling down. Headache, stomach pain, depression… and I didn’t know why until now.
You see it’s like a burnout. I have been so stressed out having to put out 1 new story every month to reach the minimal $$$ needed to get paid every month. Also 1 story per month = low quality, almost an asset flip! I mean I was reusing a lot of stuff between each project (BG image and/or music) and the results… meh. Compare “Les 4 Alice Lorange Journey”, the “Reverse Me” trilogy or “Divine D.I.V.A.” to “Hot Takes”, “ChatAid” or “Vengeance In my family name”. Not the same quality at all.
Yes, I could stop putting more stories out but no other story = no pay for the month. Speaking of that, I had calculated my *real* profits. Not the cash I got every month but the income minus expenses and I barely make a profit with my sales. For the last six months I made, without telling hard numbers, about 10$ a month. What the point of keeping doing this for a mere ten bucks?
I got no fanbase either. Well, that’s not true, but I got almost no returns (reviews, forum discussions, Facebook posts, etc) about all my stuff. I got to do everything on my own. Writing in French, getting free resources, translating into English, putting everything in Ren’py, play testing, updating the engine when a new version comes out etc, for 10 bucks a month.
Now my health and morale is low and I can’t go on like this. For my well-being I’ll leave the Indie Dev scene for good.
Besides the reason I went on Steam as a Dev in the first place was to developed story-based games, aka visual novels with rpg maker mv/twine/renp’y, while my true strength is more in writing, well, linear stories/novels/books. Steam in a platform for gaming, not reading.
For “only” a gain of 10$ a month, I rather stop everything and publish an improved version for some of my stories on a writing platform like Wattpad. If there are fans and potential for turning said stories into a book/ebook later for some money, it’ll be done.
I’ll still be on Steam as a gamer but not as a Indie Dev. I had sent the request to Valve for all my stories/games to be removed soon. Since some games are ready for a sale next week, I’ll increase the discount (and on the bundles) for a “final sale”.
I wish to thank everyone who brought my games/give me support since August 2017. Time does fly fast. ^.^
Sales of the week.
This is a pretty late annoucement, but there's the discounts for this Week.
1. Ren’py engine updated to version 7.3.5. 2. Sound effects added.
ChatAid updated!
In time for Halloween.
Both ChatAid and the DLCs had been updated with the following changes.
1. Ren’py engine updated to version 7.3.5.
2. Sound effects added.
3. Now both languages (French and English) are split. The default language is English and you can change them in the Options.
4. Some dialogs added. *In ChatAid*
5. All “[character] is typing…” lines are removed.
6. Some improvement to the English translation.
7. Some of JolieAbby’s frenglish has translations in green and with brackets.
8. The chat-like UI is gone, which allow the text to be detected for the word count and the History screen.
9. History screen added.
10. Better explanations in brackets for the “special” menus. For examples: “Power Up [Start]”, “Shut Down [Quit]”.
11. I think that’s everything.
In the end, after careful consideration, I won’t rework on my other stories to split up the languages. It’s a lot of work and the Dual Screen is not that bad. In the end, ChatAid was the game who needed a good update.
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween 2019!
For dev-related stuff, I don’t plan to release new stories in 2019 since I’m focused to update everything with the new Ren’py version, the languages “split” once again (the dual screen was not the greatest idea) and various improvements.
Right now, I had almost completed ChatAid and I’ll move on to the DLCs - Here I go again & Princess Lolira - today.
Stories and languages, Mac support and the future.
Stories and languages
Not so long ago, I updated all my stories (except for ChatAid) with Dual Langauge screen aka French and English simultaneous display.
While I personally liked the results, maybe not everyone does, so I’m turning to you all for suggestions.
What would be better?
1. Leaving the stories as they are with Dual Langauge screen.
2. Revert them as they were before with a toggle language choice option in a menu: French or English. Dual Langauge would be gone but the language could be changed in mid-game. * This option would allow for translations once again if I go with those again, but they would be machine translations.
3. A mix of 1 and 2. Add a language choice at the beginning of each stories. French only, English only, or Dual Language. The language could not be changed afterwards.
Mac Support and the future
With macOS Catalina, from what I heard, all games need to be notarized to work in 2020. I don’t have a Mac and I don’t intend to buy one + the fees for the Apple Dev Account.
For now non-notarized apps can still be put on Steam. As long as it’s possible to do, I’ll still give Mac support for my stories.
If, in 2020, change occurs in that regard, Mac support will be dropped and probably Linux as well.
The first installment of the “New Path” series, sequels and soft reboots of my previous stories.
“New Path 1: Adventure or Normality?” is the sequel/soft reboot to “Les 4 Alice: Lorange Journey”. Alice Lorange is an autistic teenager. After the worlds had collided, the reality rewritten, and a new timeline had begun, a strange portal appears in her room Safety Zone. Will she take it, go on an adventure and meet the other Alice once again? Or will she remain home, with her old and, dare she says, painful life? YOU DECIDE!
I plan to release it in November. In English Only.
