Hey again, Hunter Sugar,
Let’s go step by step here too.
Yeah, I’m aware the game needs more notes. I guess the main issue is that my time is limited, so I basically have two choices:
- Pause the game development and add notes/hints for older quests (less fun for me, less content for the players).
- Continue as is and rely on people figuring things out, reading the WT and changelogs, and asking the community on Discord.
I prefer path 2 for now (because the game needs more content, in my opinion). At some point, when the game is finished (or at least Galadriel’s branch), I plan to refactor and add more hints and notes.
About AI let’s split the question into three parts:
- Visuals – My initial motivation for using it was that I really suck at drawing(you can decompile the game and look for 'room' images folder to see what i mean) and didn’t have the money to hire an artist. So my choice wasn’t “make a game with AI visuals vs. make a game with hand-drawn art.” It was “make a game with AI visuals vs. make no game at all.” After I started making some buck, I made a post on my SubscribeStar (https://subscribestar.adult/posts/2258038)that I'am looking for non-ai artists, even contacted some myself(ended up not finding anyone). So yeah, I'am generally open to spending some money on reworking stuff to non-ai visuals. Maybe not everything, because it will destroy my wallet, but at least sth.
- Text – Texts are hand written, but translation is automatics. no money/time → used AI. Now that I’m earning something, I have one proofreader, so I’m working on it.
- Code – I write Ren’Py code myself and sometimes buy templates on itch.io. I use LLMs for mini-games occasionally, but 90–95% of the code is written by me.
To sum it up: I do what I can with the limited resources I have to squeeze the maximum value for the players. And I know it’s not perfect!
Again, after the game is finished(at least the core), I plan to do a big refactor and clean it up better:)
Thanks for taking time and writing this,
Mega