Gain of Life: A weight gain life simulator [v0.50.0]

I notice that sleep barely does anything for energy. If this only happens when the character needs to digest that’s fine.

Also, how come you use both the metric and imperial system? I haven’t made it that far into the game yet, and I notice you use kilograms for weight, but calories for energy.

Honest question here, is there anywhere where both ordinary and English-speaking people measure food energy in looks it up… kilojoules, more often than in Calories?

Only time I’ve ever used kilojoules was chemistry lessons at school :stuck_out_tongue:

In the game, the “energy” stat represents your stamina, and it almost solely recharges from sleep (coffee and energy drinks have a small effect too). Just to clarify, the energy stat in the game has nothing to do with energy in the scientific sense. In the game, it’s more a metaphor for restfulness or vitality.

Calories are technically part of the metric system, as they are derived from the metric unit of energy, the joule. However, calories are widely used in nutrition in both metric and imperial contexts.

So while they belong to the metric system, I am pretty sure they are used globally, regardless of whether the metric or imperial system is dominant in a region.

My personal familiarity with kilograms and calories was the reason for this choice, and this combination of those units does not seem odd or uncommon to me at all.

I’m a bit unsure whether I interpreted your message correctly. Did I answer it?

Down here in Australia we use kJ for food energy measurement. Calories only show up occasionally in the detailed nutritional information sheet on all food packages, and even then only on some. Every time I’ve seen official marketing or information on advertisements and such, they use kJ.

2 Likes

That’s interesting, and I did not know! In Europe and the US, calories are more common.

Since the game doesn’t display any values of the food anyways, this was probably about the source code values.

Thank you for noting, though.

Porting “Gain of Life” to iOS

Apple opened doors for 3rd-party publishers to release apps to citizen of European Union countries. There is also a (more complicated) way for people outside the European Union.

There will be an Android version again for sure. This poll is about whether there should be an iOS version in addition. Please read the post for all details.

There is an ongoing poll on Patreon for everyone (paid, and unpaid members) about whether you would like an iOS version of Gain of Life: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114354104

1 Like

[v0.48.0] New Version

This version took way longer than anticipated, because it comes with a lot of foundational technology changes.

Changelist

  • The game now runs on the latest version of Ren’Py, which means that Apple Silicon Macs should be supported now, too. Most importantly, however, the game was upgraded to Python 3, which introduces many new possibilities—some required for the image engine.
  • The game now verifies your Patreon subscription. This is step required for the implementation of the image generation engine. That way I can prevent abuse of the image generation engine, which could harm my finances (since expensive computers are required to generate images)
  • The waitress job received a few adjustments for the recently introduced stress, laziness, and gluttonous stats.

Downloads

v0.48.0 - Mac (Patreon)
v0.48.0 - PC (Patreon)
(Subscribestar will be back soon)
Free Version (link to first post)

4 Likes

How does this work when a user’s subscription lapses? If someone pays for a month and can’t use the build they’ve downloaded after that month, that’s a pretty marked shift in the access structure of the game, especially if the image generation system isn’t even implemented yet.

4 Likes

Even though there is no technical reason behind the login system as of right now, I have decided to not make it optional on purpose: If there was a button to skip the login page, people would use it, and not register on the platform and connect their account. But that’s what I want you to do: You should test the system and complain about problems you experience throughout that. This will help me identify issues, and optimize the platform.

This login system already is a quite complex program. The image generation engine will be an even more sophisticated one. The bigger these modules get, the more potential bugs and problems there will be. When I release the image generation engine, I want to focus on fixing issues there, and not the login system. Otherwise, I might be overwhelmed with too many problems in different areas.

That’s why we will test this system for a few months until the image generation engine comes, and fulfills the purpose of the verification system. It’s not just about testing logging in, registering, and connecting your account, but also about how well the system works with situations like when people cancel their membership. Or upgrade/downgrade it. Or renew it through a new payment. All this must work seamlessly before we move on; we don’t want to bother with these problems later on.

First of all, thank you for your feedback. This is what these significant steps need so that we can avoid any future frustration. I can understand that this is bothering people if they only subscribe for certain periods. As of right now, I cannot offer a solution for this: Making the login optional would mean less testing, and that’s what this system urgently needs.

Allowing the game to be used after cancellation is not a good option either because you will only be able to access the image generation engine while you have an active subscription. Offering the image generation engine to former or unauthenticated subscribers is financially not possible, because the computing needed for generating images is too expensive to be offered for free. This will need a change in the access structure to the game anyway.

The good news is that we could do an “offline” mode that works without authenticating, without an active subscription, but also without access to the image generation engine. I’ll have to see about that, though, and it’s likely to come, if ever, after the release of the image generation engine, since there will be an interest for comprehensive testing too.

1 Like

Hiya. Caught a bug in the new build. Got it while “going to work” for the waitress job while trying to check out the new system.

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
  File "game/src/events/first-day-college/firstDayAtCollege.rpy", line 55, in script call
    call JobStartWork
  File "game/src/jobs/waitress/JobWaitress.rpy", line 12, in script
    if(player.getHealth() > 400):
  File "game/src/jobs/waitress/JobWaitress.rpy", line 12, in <module>
    if(player.getHealth() > 400):
TypeError: '>' not supported between instances of 'str' and 'int'

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
  File "game/src/events/first-day-college/firstDayAtCollege.rpy", line 55, in script call
    call JobStartWork
  File "game/src/jobs/waitress/JobWaitress.rpy", line 12, in script
    if(player.getHealth() > 400):
  File "C:\Users\sjgra\OneDrive\Desktop\Other Games\Bro, don't look here. For your own good\GainOfLife\renpy\ast.py", line 1843, in execute
    if renpy.python.py_eval(condition):
  File "C:\Users\sjgra\OneDrive\Desktop\Other Games\Bro, don't look here. For your own good\GainOfLife\renpy\python.py", line 1209, in py_eval
    return py_eval_bytecode(code, globals, locals)
  File "C:\Users\sjgra\OneDrive\Desktop\Other Games\Bro, don't look here. For your own good\GainOfLife\renpy\python.py", line 1202, in py_eval_bytecode
    return eval(bytecode, globals, locals)
  File "game/src/jobs/waitress/JobWaitress.rpy", line 12, in <module>
    if(player.getHealth() > 400):
TypeError: '>' not supported between instances of 'str' and 'int'

Windows-10-10.0.26100 AMD64
Ren'Py 8.3.0.24082114
Gain of Life v0.48.0
Wed Oct 23 22:23:41 2024

This is an issue that was produced by the upgrade to the latest Ren’Py version: Types are now converted differently than they used to.

Thank you for reporting; I will upload a fix for this later today.

EDIT: I just fixed the problem, and I am uploading v0.48.1 as of right now. Interesting story about this issue:

Python 2: "text" > 5: always false (this is how it worked before)
Python 3: "test" > 5: error (this is how it works now)

Since getHealth() > 400 has always evaluated to false, this check was never, ever successful before (so you could always work regardless of your health). Nobody realized that, neither did I. So I fixed the issue for now, but I am thinking of just removing that health check - nobody ever thought that going to work in a super bad health condition was unrealistic, so I guess nobody would bother either in future…

You’re going to lose money from people that only subscribe patreon to download game once and then they unsubscribe, it may not be a huge amount of money, but i myself did that with a few devs and you were one of them (although i did that a long time ago, probably with version 0.44 or 0.45)
You are taking wrong way of developing, does not matter if you want to save space on disk that game is taking, or this is just more convenient/easier way of implementing images.
Making single-player game require internet connection and making it depend on subscription is bad for business and i hope that you will stop going in this direction, i wish you best with developing game though.

13 Likes

First of all, this is my favorite feedism-related game I’ve discovered through this forum. I love the interactive approach to weight gain which differs from the usual, more static visual novel style. I have the utmost respect for what you’ve created so far. As a casual Patreon subscriber, I was keen on resubscribing to download the current version of the game, but this announcement, quite frankly, leaves me baffled. When I read about this image generation thing a couple months ago I was concerned, now I’m honestly disappointed by the direction this project seems to be heading.

I understand that you want to turn a little profit, or at the very least not lose any money from developing this game, and I understand that offering on-demand imagine generation through servers is expensive. My question is, is all this complexity even necessary? Is there anyone who’s really asking for this? Why does this game NEED on-demand imagine rendering? Are you confident it’ll even work as you currently imagine it to do?

I don’t mind downloading 10 or even 20GB worth of images. I’m fine with the game being a little smaller in scope, especially when the content that is there is high-quality and polished. I’m very concerned by the scope inflation caused by the development surrounding this image generator. Actual feature development has slowed down significantly in the last couple of months. There is so much potential for story and gameplay expansion. So many areas still feel unfinished or unpolished.

Personally, I am not interested in what essentially would be a live service fetish game. Paying the equivalent of a full-price AAA game for 6-month-access to an unfinished feedism game seems completely unreasonable to me. I strongly ask you to reconsider the direction you’re going with the development of this game. If you’re still confident about this being the right direction for you, then offline-access to the game should be a top priority, not an afterthought that may or may not happen. At the moment, I no longer feel comfortable in supporting you through Patreon.

7 Likes

I understand that some of you don’t mind larger download sizes. However, reducing the game size is not the primary goal of introducing the image generation engine—it’s simply a beneficial side effect. The real challenges the image generation engine will overcome are the limitations of the current character window: lack of flexibility and an exponential increase in the required images for new outfits or character variations.

Currently, every new property or customization option demands manual image creation, which is both time-consuming and limiting (since my time is limited). We can overcome this limitation by implementing a procedural image generation engine, resulting in richer options and a more dynamic experience. This approach opens up exciting possibilities, such as:

  • Character Variety: We could implement characters to choose from at the start, e.g., introducing a male one too.
  • Outfit Selection: Instead of being limited to outfits based on weight stages, we could introduce a wardrobe where you can choose whichever outfit you would like to wear.
  • Physical Attributes: We could visualize features like muscles and other physical traits.

Millions of images would be required to allow these features to work, amounting to thousands of gigabytes of image data. Manually creating such a massive amount of images is infeasible, thus the image generation engine. Distributing such a massive amount of data is not feasible anymore either; even offering this library for download would result in high network costs, surpassing the subscription price.

That’s a fair question. While the game is functional with the current set of images, the engine would offer something much more engaging. The image generation engine isn’t just about adding content; it’s about enhancing the game’s flexibility and depth, giving you a more personalized, immersive, and customized experience. It makes role-playing in single-player more fun since you can customize yourself and immerse yourself in the roles you wish to play. This follows the original vision of Gain of Life of you choosing how you want to play the game.

I also want to clarify that this engine isn’t based on generative AI. It relies entirely on traditional image creation processes through 3D rendering, ensuring consistent quality.

Regarding the new authentication system and concerns about requiring an internet connection, I understand this is a significant change, especially for a single-player game. In addition to the protections needed for the image generation engine, piracy has substantially impacted the game’s sustainability, particularly over the past 1-2 years. Implementing this system helps protect the game’s content and ensures I can continue developing and improving it.

I recognize that the pricing model may seem steep compared to mainstream AAA games. However, I face different challenges and costs as a niche game developer. The subscription model allows me to maintain ongoing development, implement new features, and provide continuous support and updates. Something that would not be possible otherwise.

I assure you that offline access isn’t an afterthought. I’m exploring ways to make the game more accessible while balancing the need to protect the game and ensure the game’s viability. Your support through subscriptions directly contributes to the game’s development and helps me bring new features to life. Due to respect against all the loyal subscribers on Patreon, I would like to avoid increasing prices; and I have been successful in doing so, even during COVID and high inflation that harmed the ongoing development cost. It was painful, but the pricing scheme has stayed the same.

If you’re concerned about the direction the game is heading, I encourage you to give these changes a chance. The image generation engine has immense potential to fundamentally increase your options in Gain of Life: Something that would have been infeasible to create before. New developments always come with risks, but I believe this is a step forward that will improve the game in the long run.

2 Likes

At the end of the day it’s your game and you can charge what you want for access to it or put up any stop gaps as means to protect yourself or your IP however you see fit. As that is your right as the developer and creator of your IP. The price point of your patreon and style of game have always been reasons why I would only sub occasionally, if at all. So, definitely take my feedback as someone who only very casually checks out the game.

The idea of an image generation engine is intriguing and something I would be interested in checking out, but it creates more problems than it solves for me personally. Your biggest supporters will always keep a sub going and want to keep the game funded and see it’s continued development but I think a lot of people see/treat patreon transactionally (although, I can’t speak for your game specifically.) And when a new version comes out people sign up to get access to that version. While supporting you and further creation of your game is an extra benefit, at least some people are going to sign up simply because you provide a good or service they are interested in. Which is why the idea that as a customer you lose out on access to that version that you paid for is going to be a problem for some. That by itself would probably stop any interest I have personally in checking out any future versions, as once my sub lapses I can’t go back and play that version I paid for whenever I would want.

Now I would figure you know your community and supporters well enough, and better than I do, to know if this change makes sense. While this has been planned for quite a while and is nothing new, I was not aware of the details around how you were going to handle old versions of the game with your new system. While I have an interest in seeing how the new engine works and is implemented I think the forced subscription model would deter me from checking it out in the future. I just figured I’d give my two cents because of that, in hopes that might be helpful to you. Anyway, regardless of my personal feelings, it’s great to see something interesting like this that fits the theme of your game being tried out. I hope it works out and is a positive change for the game.

1 Like

I appreciate your feedback; thanks. I understand how the current implementation conflicts with the transactional model.

Patreon requires all creators to move away from the 1st-of-the-month model. This 1st-of-the-month model, however, worked splendidly with the transactional way people handled Patreon subscriptions.

Now, you will be paying for an absolute month in time: If you pay on November 8th, you’ll be charged again on December 8th. Previously, you would have been charged again on December 1st.

So, if we switched to the new model, you would always receive access to the game for an entire month. After that, the game you downloaded would expire. Not having the game expire or introducing an offline version would open exploitable licensing vulnerabilities.

Solving this problem with the licensing system would require a lot of consideration and probably quite a bit of cryptography to come up with a proper solution that allows you to keep playing outdated versions that you got from a subscription that has expired in the meantime.

So here is a question to the casual subscribers here:

If we switched to the new subscription model where you get access for a month from the time of your payment, would this really be an issue for you? Or in other words, how frequently did you actually play an outdated Gain of Life version a month after you downloaded it?

Thanks for the detailed response! I agree that being able to freely choose outfits or characters would be fun, but if this is only financially viable for you through a subscription model even after active development has finished, then maybe it’s just not actually a reasonable thing to pursue? I understand that this is your vision for your game and are willing to put a lot of effort into making it work, but are you confident that a significant amount of people are sharing your vision and would be happy with this kind of subscription model? As you said, implementing the image generator is a huge undertaking and still months away anyway. Right now I see no benefit in resubbing to your Patreon as essentially I would support the development of a feature I not only don’t care about, but is also already making the game experience worse for me through the required active patreon subscription.

For me, at version 0.48, there’s so many other things that would make the game more fun and feel more complete that have nothing to do with millions of character and outfit possibilities. Jane/Jessica/Trevor story expansions. More places to go by car as the two cheapest options are useless at the moment. The office job rework was definitely a step in the right decision. The game is already really enjoyable even if with the single outfit per MC weight stage. And in a sea of generic male protagonists, I actually consider the female protagonist of the game a plus as well, I definitely don’t need the option to choose a different character at this stage of development. The current game has a really strong foundation that I wish you would focus on building upon.

The game would also strongly benefit from more bugfixing/polishing of existing content in general. For example, while playing version 0.46, I was wondering why I couldn’t begin a romantic relationship with Jane until I looked in the scripts and realized that it was impossible to reach the required number of relationships points, I had to edit the script to fix. Jane event 2 is very easy to miss if you don’t accidentally oversleep, so some of the game design and story elements could be improved as well.

I also caught a bug in 0.47 by choosing one of the options in the very first dialogue tree of the office rework. Respectfully, at 10€ you’re charging double the amount of projects like Fattening Career, D.I.E.T or Chunky Cheerleaders for access to the newest version of your game. In my opinion, such an easily encountered bug should be caught and fixed during development before the new version is released. Instead, you’re planning to charge 15€ for an alpha version, aka potentially even more glaring bugs in a release? And essentially you’re saying that you feel like it would have already been reasonable for you to increase prices to cover increased development costs. To me that sounds like a clear indicator that you may be in over your head with your plans for an on-demand image generation module, maybe it’s just not actually viable if it would strain your finances this much? Therefore I would suggest postponing adding more outfits etc to a later version like 0.7 or 0.8 as it has no influence on actual gameplay and can be added in retrospect. I would also suggest making on-demand images a premium-subscription only thing, if you really want it to be a thing. That way a fewer number of users would keep your server costs lower while still reaching a larger, more casual audience through an offline-version of the game. But this is just what I would do, maybe you could actually make it work your way too, though

5 Likes

It will work out. And if it doesn’t, we will find a way to make it work. The idea of the game is not to make it only available to a small group of wealthy people. Maybe we will need a bit of trial and error, but eventually, there’ll be a new subscription model that works for the vast majority, just like the old one did. I’d wish to make the game free for everyone, but that’s not how a project sustains itself over long periods.

The bugs are a real issue. Throughout the past months, I have continually worked on improving the game’s codebase to something more maintainable. With v0.48, major code refactorings were made (again), parsing most of the code at the game’s startup time, which allows for more errors to occur immediately after starting the game, making them easier to spot. Of course, this does not apply to inline conditions in conversations. Comparing Gain of Life to other games, you will likely notice that GoL has a massive amount of logic in the background, much in contrast to most other games. It’s not a competition about who has the most logic going on in the background; it’s merely something that, depending on the game’s theme, works better - or not. Undeniably, more algorithms and code being executed in the background make the game harder to debug and maintain. Though, that’s not an excuse for obvious pitfalls like the ones you mentioned.

I gotta say I was pretty disappointed to see the required login change and you lost my sub over it.
You are moving to a live service model which is not great, especially for a niche game.
Also, what are your plans for guaranteed uptime? If your server goes down, does everyone lose access to the game? What does this mean for the future of the game? Eventually you will stop hosting that server, that means your game will never be playable from then on because the image generation is dead. What data are you storing on this server and who has access to the data?
You opened a HUGE can of worms with this, for what I think is a pretty bad trade off. If you are wanting to go with something more robust, personally I would have gone with a paper doll system. Generate the base bodies in gray scale and set the skin color in game. Same thing with clothing, hair, and so on. All of that is hosted locally on the players computer, you don’t lose money on hosting fees, and it future proofs your game.

Just my two cents.

12 Likes