I was of the belief that most people dislike AI are because they believe it’s lazy/takes no effort/is a cop-out. The reason it’s hard to tell it’s AI is because Eisen takes the time to thoroughly curate the images and probably touches them up to make them very believable. It also helps that it’s simulating essentially drawings, rather than trying to make something 3D. To me Daz assets very quickly get into the uncanny valley if people don’t take their time with it. At least lazy AI is just funny (this game has good AI), lazy Daz is an absolute horror show.
As someone who dabbles in AI image generation as a sheer curiosity of the technology, making convincing and consistent AI characters is hard AF.
I definitely have respect for the people willing to put in the time to really navigate the tech, it’s just that I have some deeper ethical and philosophical concerns that kind of poison the well.
But Eisen is definitely very talented. I’m not going to let my own biases distract from that.
I’d bet good money it’s not that. Most people dislike AI because A) the product is bad B) it’s heavily promoted. When the product is good, they don’t notice it’s AI, and if you point it out reactions vary. It’s mostly only artists who care about the effort / soul thing.
There’s some of that, but Eisen discloses that the art is AI generated via the project being tagged as “AI”, and it seems like people definitely see that as a big red target. Though you may be right anyways as I do think the denizens of this site probably disproportionately fancy themselves as artists and therefore have belief in the “soul of the art”. At least relative to the population at large that is.
I also think that the 20 dollar change is a bad idea in marketing and also removing the demo; i bought the game and im loving it, but if I had encounter this game after you made these changes I wouldnt buy it, because as mrtdum said: i dont know how the game is , and sometimes in these types of games the first thing that I see is the price, and I wouldnt see the specifications that are written after seeing it . Some recommendations that I think would improve the perception of the game are : 1. You could re-add the demo from chapter 1( that demo hooked me with the story) 2. I think lowering the price in itch could reduce the price shock, a slighty lower price or the original price would improve the first perception of the game .
I already got that you pay $ 20 and get the whole game. It’s cheap compared to others. But I insist on what I said, I quote: “… the problem is when people see a very high price they don’t buy. Many games here, through Patreon subscription, are paid way more, but it’s different. In part because people subscribe to support the creator and encourage him to continue, in part because people are more willing to spend $ 5 per month for 10 months than spending $ 20 all at once, don’t ask me why.”
I disagree on the game being mediocre at best. Here you can see all the time people releasing stuff that obviously took 10 minutes to make, without any shame, don’t say those things. Your game is good, both art and story. It may be liked or not, but it’s not mediocre.
About the inconsistencies at some point it’s said Haruka is eating even more, but then at lunch time she is having the very same bento and onigiri box. There’s the yakisoba bun, true. But Shiori’s appetite, compared to hers, has improved definitely more. Shiori had 4 sandwiches instead of her usual 2. Then at Burger Heaven they both get the usual, nothing more (or did I miss something?).
Also the way their bodies are changing is not very clear. In the beginning, in the hotel, we could see Haruka had a bigger belly and much wider hips compared to Shiori. Later, we see the one gaining in the belly is Shiori.
Those are the inconsistencies I found (plus a minor one).
Just food for thought, it might be worth exploring having patreon exclusive teasers or sneak peaks of development that would make the patreon a much higher value proposition. It’s definitely what i see a lot of other people doing with their patreons to encourage subscribing.
Thanks for your suggestions! So far I’m happy with the support I’ve received.
Anyway, I’ve put the free demo back on Itch!
Starting tonight I’ll start writing the whole screenplay for Act 4. In theory it shouldn’t take me too long to implement everything. Before I was slower because I implemented one piece at a time.
Yes between Act 2 and 3 Haruka’s lunch remains the same, and they both get the same from Burger Heaven, but still consider that they go there basically every day It’s implied they also eat more during the day. Anyway, I’ll try to improve on that.
As for the gain, more or less is Act 2: both gain a bit of belly, Act 3: Haruka gains in her breasts and belly, Shiori in thighs and belly.
Anyway, in terms of hours played, how long has the game lasted you so far?
If I actually stop to read every line of text I’d say probably an hour. On replay maybe ~30 minutes since I’m kinda speeding through a lot of text as I’ve seen it before and skipping to my favorite scenes. But I also have enjoyed a couple of replays, so I’d say i probably get 3-4 hours out of each update (assuming a full replay from the start when the new update comes out.
Do you already have an idea of where the fat distribution for each girl is going to be or is that something you’re kinda figuring out as the story goes?
It’s implied they also eat more during the day. Anyway, I’ll try to improve on that.