Good evening!

Welcome to another thrilling instalment of: What is Marina up to?

Owing to the Steam Next Fest, this might be the first time that you're reading any of these news updates. We're happy to have you!

Today's news update will have a spotlight on the Steam Next Fest, as well as the feedback form released alongside it. We'll also talk a little bit about the upcoming and mysterious fifth route of DATING OF THE FUTURE, which is currently in development.

THE DEMO: AN ADVENTURE OF STATISTICALLY INTERESTING PROPORTIONS

The Steam Next Fest begun almost a week ago. This is a showcase for many games that are coming out soon; all of which have playable demos to help draw attention in the lead-up to their release. DATING OF THE FUTURE was an attendee at this event, and as a result has seen its largest boost in engagement and public interest.

For me personally, this is the first time that I've been able to gauge some sort of public response on the game. Before now, I had no idea if DTF was actually a good product, or if I was just very effective at deceiving myself.

While I have no doubts that I am highly talented at self-delusion, I at least finally have evidence that people who I'd NEVER EVEN HEARD OF like the game. Not only do people seem to like it, but people seem to REALLY, REALLY like it!

Hearing people talk about my work this way genuinely makes it all so worth it. Even just people THINKING the game, whether they enjoy it or not, really makes me so happy. If you're on this website, reading this right now, then YOU are who I'm talking about! Thank you so much!

Anyway, it's time for some serious fucking business. Put the kids away for the night, because we're about to start discussing statistics.

The demo was released alongside a Google Form, filled with questions concerning the demo experience. As you can probably guess, the goal of this is to find out the game's strengths and weaknesses in order to make sure that the experience is as positive as possible for release.

This has already proven useful in a few ways, and I've already been able to make edits to the game based on player feedback.

Here's a statistic that I'd like to look at from the perspective of being interesting, rather than necessarily useful for my causes.

Well, Sue is by an ENORMOUS MARGIN the most popular character in the game.

Now... Look, I expected her to be popular, but i didn't expect 75% of all respondents to say she was their favourite.

Even funnier is the fact that Lola isn't on this chart at all. From what I can gather, that really says a lot more about Sue than it does about Lola.

Another interesting fact about this graph is the fact that I included every character in the demo; even the ones with whom the player has limited interaction. Apparently this was a good idea, since Callie managed to make it in.

I'm not sure yet what to make of this...

Note: More surveys have come through since I got that screenshot. The Sue numbers have only gone up.

There are some other statistics of some intrigue, as well.

• Many players report being surprised by the length of the demo. Despite this, players unanimously agree that the game's pacing is perfect. This is known as the "I ended up playing DTF until 5am dilemma".
• Relatedly, the average time that players submit this form is 5am.
• Almost every player is an avid gamer. Conversely, almost none of them play adult games regularly. For some, this is their first time playing a game where breasts are a selling feature.
• Despite players apparently feeling absolutely nothing strong towards Lola, every single one of them reported finding the characters very compelling. This is what I like to call a "massive fucking relief".
• When asked for any additional comment on the sex scenes, one player reported "it's cinema". Another needed additional context on the fact that Vee's cock smells like rhubarb. I have incredibly unfortunate news for this player. You will not be getting it.
• MANY players felt inspired to comment on how much they liked the music, some multiple times. I've reported this problem to my musician, and he has agreed to start making the music worse. See, game development is all about surprising your players...
• Quite a few players noted confusion about the Move & Talk system. There are a lot of really good points made that I will be addressing. Until then, I've decided to act as though this is just me maintaining accuracy to the experience of foreigners navigating the London Underground.
• One player appreciated my visual references to PC-98 games. For their sake, I will pretend as though that was intentional. What can I say? Great minds think alike.

Well, that's about it for the player feedback.

Time to actually start improving the game, or whatever the hell...

THE NEXT ROUTE & MORE

Ever since I started posting about this project, I knew what DTF's fifth route would be, and I struggled with how I would go about information on it.

This route is unusual. Its central character is not one that the player is familiar with at the beginning of the route. The gameplay style is unusual and new, the themes are bold and strange, and I just don't want to ruin the surprise.

The entire route is planned out meticulously from start to finish, with the major emotional arc being very carefully handled in a lab with metal tongs due to its intense subject matter.

I'm going to be incredibly cryptic about this whole thing, and unfortunately I will continue being cryptic until the route is done and you're all playing it.

That said, there is actually still quite a lot I can talk about!

Between routes, I like to take some time to make changes to the way that the game works, sometimes on a fundamental level. This time around, I've been trying to optimise the code for the extra mechanics like the stickers, HERONmail, and the achievements.

Eagle-eyed players of the last demo may have realised that a new option is available on the menu; albeit not one that can be selected. This "Gallery" menu has been the focus of some of my latest efforts in improving the game

The goal here is to have somewhere that players can look at additional artwork that has no place elsewhere in the game. Sketches, promotional pieces, concept art, WIP assets, you name it.

As you can see, they're all organised into different themed sub-galleries; locked behind the achievement system.

Like many other mechanics like it, I'm leaving most of the work for the end of the game's development. Now isn't really the wisest time to go around organising concept art and whatnot, since there's still plenty more to make.

When it comes to code and implementation though, the gallery is pretty much done.

You know what that means? Every feature planned for DATING OF THE FUTURE is finally implemented!

There's obviously still plenty of work to do, but the game will not see any new major feature additions from now on.

You'll have to hold me at gunpoint before I add a damn fishing minigame. Even then I'd probably tell you to just fucking kill me.

CONCLUSION

This is a very exciting time for DATING OF THE FUTURE!

New people are discovering the game, feedback has been universally incredibly positive, and the game itself is finally starting to look a lot like a finished product.

Two more routes to go...

Well, for me personally I have absolutely no time to waste. I've got breasts to draw.

See you later haters,

-Marina