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Hiya floofs! Vixel here! ^w^
First, here's v0.14 for the heck of it! https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oh20taqpwuq5d9o/AADxoeVgY3jDLixYd0gc09i6a?dl=0 (Bunny cuck scene has a bug, play it from Start > Gallery to avoid a softlock.)
Wanted to share some thoughts! I discovered this thread a week ago when someone angry at Carrot used a burner account to leave me an angry rando comment on one of the fursites! :P It's enlightening to read the different perspectives in this thread since it's mostly a different flavor than I see elsewhere.
The Forest of Love had its inception around December 2018! (Two years ago.) Work started in earnest in February 2019. I remember Carrot's motivations included wanting to work on a team project, something more substantial than the 3000ish solo illustrations he'd done in the fandom already. My motivations included wanting to build skills making video games (a dream I've had for decades), work with someone who inspires me, and freelance in a creative field -- invaluable career steps for myself and the inroads I wanted to make in furry/creative, longer term.
Neither of us had built a serious video game prior - and we WAY overscoped this for a first game. We made lotsa beginner mistakes: not getting feedback on initial design; poor coding standards and QA strategy; building too much engine ourselves; polishing too early; and creeping the scope with frills not core to the experience being fun. For better or worse now, we own those decisions.
In 2019 I scrambled to keep up with the coding demands as new features crept in and old features needed to change. While I'd dabbled in Unity before, this year-long crunch was what really cut my teeth on game dev principles - and it was sink or swim, learn-as-you-go. Carrot was writing, doing sound design, making artwork for the overworld and characters, managing the website, and doing all our PR. Both Carrot and I worked our asses off, and we delivered new builds every single month, for better or worse.
2020 hit and I was hoping it'd be our breakout year. I was frustrated with the drain the game crunch had put on my personal art and projects, and had big plans for the year. Then I got sick in March, narrowly avoided the hospital three times, and spent thousands on medical for the rest of the year. Sleep was disrupted, physical and mental health was disrupted. We still had a monthly build commitment and I made sure to still deliver on that. I was wiped out for about eight months of the year. (And I'm doin better now, thank you!)
In August 2020 we dropped Act 1 on Itch and took a few weeks off. After my break, I went right back to working my ass off, because it was the first chance we'd had for serious code cleanup. I have about 30-35 hours a week logged since the Act 1 drop, not including the art and learning I've squeezed in on the side, all the lost time for medical, lost time for my temp job for side income, lost time for life and fam and holidays, and any downtime. It's been one of the fullest plates of my life.
If you were subbed to our patreon, you'd see we've been releasing weekly progress reports. Take a look! It's easy to see what's being done and if progress is being fudged. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/h7ttgtf71lximh1/AAAA-QcYL3O-hG7CZYeev00Ba?dl=0
With the coding I've done in the last month, I anticipate the bottleneck quickly becoming the animated sex scenes rather than the coding work. There is a sex scene planned for every character. Carrot is about to experience the proverbial grind, where tasks switch from feeling like fun to feeling like work. I will be helping him where I can, continuing to code for the upcoming story acts, and help push us into new territory by coding to publish the game on mobile or steam. There is a MOUNTAIN of work left. If we sprint for the next two years, we will both burn out hardcore.
The tax on my personal projects and artmaking has been immense. So as a matter of those interests surviving, I will ALSO be shaking up the mix Vixel-side for the next two years. But I agreed to make this game, and I am intending to keep pushing strong at it as well!
Now some comments about my art. I came into the fandom spending thousands (!) of my own dollars on smut commissions that appealed to me. I drew some shitty hobby-grade artwork, wrote a story, animated a few loops, and chose to share some of it with fellow floofs -- all on my own time and dime. I have never taken a paid commission nor paywalled my art through patreon (I've experimented with running a patreon as a blog/tip jar, and so far have avoided promoting it publicly). It goes without saying that the sense of entitlement expressed by some of these anons in this thread is misplaced and exaggerated. I'm delighted to share what I make with you. <3 But what makes you entitled to any of it? (Especially when it hasn't cost you a cent!)
I can't speak for Carrot changing his formula. He's done some bold and kinky stuff that is really rare in today's social landscape. I too have grief over this loss. But if he wants to go more vanilla with his work, if he feels that is the way to grow as an artist, why should any of us hold him back? If anything, it will create a demand for niche kinky smut that other artists may find catalyzing.
Re: the quantity of TFOL's content. If you don't like a story-driven game, it makes sense this wouldn't have the same appeal. A lot of people do though. ~1200 like it enough to put their money behind it, and are enjoying exposure to our gamedev journey as well. There's a TON of carefully crafted content already in place, and pages and pages of new content we're currently adding. The game is far more than its animated sex scenes. (And granted, it was an opportunity missed to not have been making those at least one-per-month thusfar.) https://graphtreon.com/creator/carrotscritters
Lastly, to the anon who's been trashtalking me on here, I'm surprised at your behavior. o.O You seem obsessively preoccupied with Carrot and I, almost as if we have somehow done you a personal wrong or held you back in some way. I challenge you to step back, clear your head, maybe explore some other communities, and get a sense for how big the creative world really is. We are small potatoes, in a fringe community. And we all gotta start our journey somewhere, put in the work, make the mistakes and learn from them, to reach our creative dreams.
I also challenge you to come back and do what people knew you for before. <3 They love your posted work, and you clearly have a gift. Imagine where you would be today if you had spent the last two years embracing and promoting that! Imagine where you could be in the next two years if you chose to do that now! I would be happy to support and promote your efforts! Bitterness will make you sick! :V
Stay floofy, yall! <3 ^^
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