Episode 5.1 - Summary

Hi!

A few days have passed since the update, so it’s time for a short summary of all the messages I’ve read from you - here, on the forum, Discord, and everywhere else. I want you to know that even if I don’t always reply directly, I read all your feedback and take it into account.

As you probably noticed, this was more of a bridge update, with a lot of teasing. It still included some sex scenes - during D&D, at the gym with the trainer, with Wyatt, and in the last VR episode. I know this is a love-it-or-hate-it topic, and not everyone enjoys the fantasy setting, so there will be only one more D&D scene. That said, it also has its fans. Empathy is one of my favorite traits - it helps us see things from different perspectives. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean others don’t enjoy it (the same goes for fetishes).

There’s one thing that keeps coming up with every update: that it’s too short, that someone’s favorite character wasn’t included, or that updates should come faster. I’ve been hearing this for two years, and I always say the same thing - if we could, we would make more, faster, and better. I work over 250 hours every month, including weekends, because I truly enjoy what I do and want to spend all my free time on it But I simply can’t speed things up any further. We are actively trying to hire new people, but so far their artistic skills haven’t been good enough to keep the render quality at the level we want.

So what surprises me is this: for the past two years, we’ve consistently released updates every 3–4 months, each with a similar amount of content (both renders count and script words), and after every update there’s feedback asking for bigger and less frequent releases. So I’ll repeat what I always say - if you don’t like shorter updates, wait for two updates to come out, or for the full release of the game at the end of 2027.

I would really like to hire two or three more artists and make updates twice as big, but I’ve reviewed over 100 candidates and none met the quality standards. The quality of the game and renders is very important to me - I won’t lower it just to produce content faster.

Most of the negative opinions about episode 5.1 come from people who expected more adult content. This is another thing I always point out - we are making an Adult Visual Novel, which combines multiple elements (Adult, Visual, Novel), and adult content is only one of them. Some updates will have more of it, some less. If that’s all you’re looking for, you might often feel disappointed (in that case, see point above - wait for the full release in 2027).

One last thing I wrote on another forum that I’d like to share here:
We live in times where people want everything fast, short, and immediate - a 40-minute vlog on YouTube can feel boring when you can watch a 10-second short instead. It’s similar with SoD - some people don’t follow the story if every scene doesn’t include nudity or sex, without realizing that it’s actually the mix of those scenes with everything else that makes the game interesting (at least in my opinion).

You might not like me as a developer or the direction I sometimes take, but everyone who complains after each update still comes back to see what’s new - and that says a lot.

That’s my main point - I agree this update focused on building tension, and people looking for quick, intense content might be disappointed. I’m aware of some imperfections, but I also know how to build tension in a way that keeps the story engaging. The game isn’t about a single update - it’s about the full experience.

To finish on a positive note - I focus on criticism because I want to explain my thinking, but I always read and truly appreciate all the positive messages. Those people understand that this game (maybe not very important in terms of culture or art) is very important to me. I spend my whole days working on it, and even when I’m doing something else, I’m thinking about how we can improve SoD. I’m doing everything I can to make it complete, engaging, and as good as possible, as fast as possible.

In the end, everyone who says the update was too short simply wants more content to continue Riley’s story - and to me, that shows players are truly engaged.

That’s all for now - work on next episode 5.2 started 10 days ago. Talk to you soon!

P.S. If this was a bridge/teasing update, I wonder what might come in the future.