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Game Expansion and Patreon
10 years ago
General
HTH STUDIOS
We've been going over the state of the game, and as it stands there are over 50 interactive characters and even more scenes. We feel now would be a great time to work on expanding the gameplay by focusing on developing High Tail Hall beyond the “click-and-fuck” it is now.
To be frank, I am getting to a point where I’m close to burnout on sex scenes especially since I've been trying to put in more and more detail. As it stands, I can’t keep up with the number of scenes like I was in the past. So to prevent ACTUAL burnout, it's time for me to switch gears. We have a long list of how I can do that, from puzzles, arcade games, dress up closets for interactive characters, voicework with dynamic dialogue, a fully customizable character builder, items that affect both you and the environment, secret areas, a relationship builder and so much more.
To give our users the chance to decide what goes in the game next, we are going to launch a Patreon account that is strictly participation based and entirely tierless. Just $1 will get you access to everything on Patreon. The amount you give is up to you, but there will only be one tier and that’s the $1 or more option. Nothing will be exclusive beyond having more WIP pictures. Whichever features with the most votes on Patreon, will move to the top of the production queue. For every member that wants it, this is an opportunity to participate and give feedback on where we take this game next. This will also be a way for anyone who wants to donate to the studio another option that doesn't involve purchasing additional subscription content.
When we say participation based, we mean we’ll be having polls on where the next focus should be with lots of examples of the current state of each expansion. Every expansion will have an estimate for how long I expect I’ll need to complete each one clearly defined in each post.
Subscription content will still remain in the game, so if you have a Gold Account you’ll still have access to the Gold Island, exclusive characters, and expanded scenes. Your subscription will also include expanded gameplay as we continue development. Free members will get access to expanded gameplay on the Free Island. So this benefits both Free and Gold members.
Starting in August we will be switching to the new schedule of updates which entirely focuses on game expansion and interactivity, the direction of which will be determined by you, the user! I want to assure everyone the game will continue to expand with more characters and more scenes. I’ll just be reducing the amount to 1 Gold and 1 Free scene a month, so that way I’ll have a whole month (if needed) to make a scene look nice.
Why did we change our stance on Patreon? We have read the official statement from Patreon that their ban on pornography applies ONLY to real life people and not drawn or animated artwork. We also have a CPA who is willing to take care of the non-U.S. resident taxes that Patreon no longer handles. We're willing to give Patreon a try in an effort to allow the users more of a chance for feedback and breathe some variety and new life into this game.
High Tail Hall grew because of the fans who wanted to see it continue, and I’ve loved working on a project that keeps so many people entertained. Now that there are many different directions to focus on, I wanted to let the public have a hand in what I work on next. We feel that Patreon will be an opportunity to show everyone how much game development is in progress that will expand High Tail Hall beyond what it is currently, into the game I had planned.
I always wanted to offer members the ability to see what we're working on and for us to interact more with our fanbase. I enjoy getting feedback while this company grows. We just don’t currently have the ability to do so on our website, so we figured we might as well use a website that is fully functioning and has proven that it works for others.
Currently our Patreon is not live. As soon as that happens, we’ll post on the front page and all our other social media outlets. Thank you to everyone for sticking with us moving forward.
To be frank, I am getting to a point where I’m close to burnout on sex scenes especially since I've been trying to put in more and more detail. As it stands, I can’t keep up with the number of scenes like I was in the past. So to prevent ACTUAL burnout, it's time for me to switch gears. We have a long list of how I can do that, from puzzles, arcade games, dress up closets for interactive characters, voicework with dynamic dialogue, a fully customizable character builder, items that affect both you and the environment, secret areas, a relationship builder and so much more.
To give our users the chance to decide what goes in the game next, we are going to launch a Patreon account that is strictly participation based and entirely tierless. Just $1 will get you access to everything on Patreon. The amount you give is up to you, but there will only be one tier and that’s the $1 or more option. Nothing will be exclusive beyond having more WIP pictures. Whichever features with the most votes on Patreon, will move to the top of the production queue. For every member that wants it, this is an opportunity to participate and give feedback on where we take this game next. This will also be a way for anyone who wants to donate to the studio another option that doesn't involve purchasing additional subscription content.
When we say participation based, we mean we’ll be having polls on where the next focus should be with lots of examples of the current state of each expansion. Every expansion will have an estimate for how long I expect I’ll need to complete each one clearly defined in each post.
Subscription content will still remain in the game, so if you have a Gold Account you’ll still have access to the Gold Island, exclusive characters, and expanded scenes. Your subscription will also include expanded gameplay as we continue development. Free members will get access to expanded gameplay on the Free Island. So this benefits both Free and Gold members.
Starting in August we will be switching to the new schedule of updates which entirely focuses on game expansion and interactivity, the direction of which will be determined by you, the user! I want to assure everyone the game will continue to expand with more characters and more scenes. I’ll just be reducing the amount to 1 Gold and 1 Free scene a month, so that way I’ll have a whole month (if needed) to make a scene look nice.
Why did we change our stance on Patreon? We have read the official statement from Patreon that their ban on pornography applies ONLY to real life people and not drawn or animated artwork. We also have a CPA who is willing to take care of the non-U.S. resident taxes that Patreon no longer handles. We're willing to give Patreon a try in an effort to allow the users more of a chance for feedback and breathe some variety and new life into this game.
High Tail Hall grew because of the fans who wanted to see it continue, and I’ve loved working on a project that keeps so many people entertained. Now that there are many different directions to focus on, I wanted to let the public have a hand in what I work on next. We feel that Patreon will be an opportunity to show everyone how much game development is in progress that will expand High Tail Hall beyond what it is currently, into the game I had planned.
I always wanted to offer members the ability to see what we're working on and for us to interact more with our fanbase. I enjoy getting feedback while this company grows. We just don’t currently have the ability to do so on our website, so we figured we might as well use a website that is fully functioning and has proven that it works for others.
Currently our Patreon is not live. As soon as that happens, we’ll post on the front page and all our other social media outlets. Thank you to everyone for sticking with us moving forward.
While I have to agree that it started mostly as a click to fuck, that it can burn you out if you keep doing it so much after awhile if you wish to expand from that. The easiest thing I can tell you from some ideas I had rolling around my head about the game is from some of the earlier things you posted about and had at times in the game.
It doesn't have to completely deviate from how it was, but you need to improve the aspect of the game that gives the user more of a personalized touch. From how their character looks to perhaps the relationship stuff you had about with the characters from whom you spent time with most. I think more so on the personalized touches is what will keep people playing.
As soon as there's news about added voices, they'll make an entry on the front page. :3
ETAs are generally not given out because there can always something happen that delays work.
It makes sense for the move to 1 gold scene a month, but that also translates to a decrease in investment to buy a subscription in order to wait for more content. Some people will do that and it should be expected.
Patreon does sort of work on this in going through the motions on the feedback, but at the same time it can't be all missed deadlines and having to keep giving out freebies of time. That hurts the business overall when he's trying to make money. Anyone that tries to make money as far as the furry stuff goes, more power to them to do that like this.
If it were me I'd probably shift from flash game usage and focus more on a client based game since there's just so much more you can do like that. On a browser is going to get very limiting soon if it hasn't already with how many places and characters are in it.
They have been in temporary housing for the past months (which was announced on the front page multiple times) and only got a better place for the studio recently where they can start to build a sound station for quality voice recording. Also there've been issues with an unwilling coworker and the recent hiccup with Paypal, which is also taking a lot longer than expected. All these things have thrown them back, and they offered compensation in form of an expanded Gold supbscription to make up for it. It isn't the best possible compensation, but there isn't much more they can do.
They've been a business for two-three years now, and they're still figuring out all the stuff. They're very open and transparent about what is happening with them (even if often a bit delayed).
I just hope it runs more smoothly now that they have a proper living place. ^-^
But you never know, they haven't been the luckiest people with everything. That's why I'm in awe that they haven't ever given up.
It'll be fewer new scenes for now, indeed, but they're going to make up for it in game quality and other, so-far neglegted aspects to the game, pushing it more into the direction of a story/dating/puzzle thing than just a mere click-and-bang. The quantity won't go down, just shift a bit so the quality goes up.
Our end result is to release HTH as a box version, so users can have a physical copy and I can move on to making other games. I plan to continue to host the completed game online for those that don't want a home version or enjoy playing online, and host the next game on the website in tandem with previous games.
I know there's plenty to do for that but there's also the run in on loading a game via a website as opposed to just being able to run it in a much more complete way without the risk of bandwith issues mostly. When I did have my sub going I did enjoy the many locations, but at times there would be loading issues from this. There's also times when my luck to actually play there was maintenance. That can be said of any other online type game.
I just feel there needs to be a "complete" version of what you are working on. I've seen many of the site posts and I like that you are improving scenes, but if you want to wrap up this version and expand to probably more products similar to it you should be able to now keep a universal style for all of them in how they look.
Or if you feel that much to constantly improve them, leave that for the online game BUT also release seasons or episodic content of what you placed online that way you have two ways to make money.
For instance say you made Aleta, Bella and Shemyay scenes over the course of a few months. Now later in the year you wished to revist the characters in another way, style, etc. You could sell those three in a bundle type thing and call it a season or episode worth of content available via download or boxed that allowed people to buy and play without a sub while still doing the new content online.
I just feel after playing many online games that the use of games with clients that have a personalized touch. Show more of our characters in the animations like you started to do for some, but a full detail of customization that may lead to different and interesting angles to use and probably different controls.
I realize that some browsers are moving away from flash, they've also been saying that for years. I can still use Flash within other programs to make games, so I have options available to me to continue production regardless of what happens.
Devon Michaels is still contracted to do the voice of Jasmine. We had problems with our old location and the recording equipment. We have recently moved into a new location where we have the space to set up a recording booth.
Regarding Devon's voicing I was over ambitious in getting her secured. I really was surprised at how excited and willing she was to work with us, and I got excited too. Switching gears will allow me to focus on getting voice work and sound functioning properly, which I didn't have much time to give when my main focus was sex scenes. The problem with getting her voicework in the game is for a couple of reasons. The first is we had scheduling problems on both ends, then there were feedback issues on her end (which have since been fixed). we were also having software issues with Audacity which are now resolved, and we now have someone helping us with mixing and mastering. Voicework is something that is definitely going into the game.
Though I hope now more importantly that it does work out for you in that. It's also a good learning experience that should help business wise when it comes to having other voice actors and actresses. Now that you have the gear you need it shouldn't slack like that now and just can move forward on it. That's a good thing of course and I hope that stuff goes well.
All we have from Devon is tests that we can't use, so we'd still have to focus on that to get it all done and live in a timely manner. Though it will be something that can be voted on in the Patreon. If Voicework is something people want to see worked on first, then we'd let people vote on the characters who are already cast to get voicework, Devon will be one of those options.
While the sex scenes are nice, I am all in favor of more interaction ability in this game of yours. Looking forward to it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyfdcoocex8