For a very long time, I have been consistently uploading new builds of Yandere Simulator on the 1st and 15th days of every month. However, sticking to this schedule has a downside:
If today is the 10th, and the next big addition to the game is something that I know will take 10 days to complete, I won’t bother working on that task, since I know that it won’t be possible to complete it before the 15th. I’ll postpone that task until the next update cycle, and in the meantime, I’ll work on smaller and simpler tasks that I know I can complete before the 15th. However, during the next update cycle, I might be extremely busy for the first 10 days of the month, resulting in the exact same situation as before. This can lead to big tasks being delayed again and again and again, leading to the appearance of no significant progress being made on the game.
From my perspective, it’s fine; those “small and simpler tasks” still need to get done, sooner or later. Unfortunately, this means that the majority of builds contain a bunch of small additions and quality-of-life improvements, rather than big, exciting, impressive new content. This can be pretty disappointing to players. (It’s also disappointing for me, too; when I work super hard for 2 weeks and then release a new build, it hurts to hear someone dismissively call it “a small update.”)
If I did not have to worry about uploading a new build on the 1st and 15th days of every month, then I would be free to focus on large, time-consuming tasks. The game would update less often, and would not stick to any sort of predictable update schedule, but – each update would be guaranteed to be something significant.
With that said, there are several obvious benefits to consistently updating the game on the same days every month:
- At regular intervals, you are given proof that the game is still being worked on. You never have to wonder, “Did YandereDev give up and abandon the game?” because every 2 weeks you can see fresh evidence that I’m still updating the game.
- Sticking to a consistent upload schedule means that the game is constantly receiving a steady stream of improvements; Yandere Sim becomes an ever-evolving, ever-expanding, ever-improving project.
- If there’s a serious bug in the game, you’ll never have to live with it for longer than 2 weeks, since there will always be a new bug-fixing build released within that span of time.
So, what is ultimately the right course of action? Between these two options, which would you prefer?
- I always release new builds on the 1st and 15th of every month – but there will never be any guarantee that the next build will contain exciting new content.
- I only release a new build when there is exciting new content – but there will never be any guarantee how long you’ll have to wait for the next build to come out.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now. Last year, I polled the Discord community about this topic, and got these results:
Only 25% of the community was in favor of sticking to “always release new builds twice a month”, and 75% of the community felt that I should “only release a build when there is exciting new content.”
Okay – there’s a pretty clear consensus there. But, that’s only one portion of the community. What about the rest of the community? What about the people who don’t participate in the Discord server, and only read my blog? What do they think?
I want to know your thoughts. So, I’ve created a poll:
Please vote on this poll, so I can see where you stand on the matter!
I still have just a little bit more to say about this subject, so click “Continue Reading” if you’re curious to hear more.
Please keep in mind that, although I will take the outcome of the poll into consideration when making decisions in the future, the poll is not 100% guaranteed to determine what I do from here on out. (I’ve stuck to this “1st and 15th” schedule for 11 years, and when something has been an aspect of your life for over a decade, it’s nearly impossible to consider abandoning it.)
I primarily just want to know one thing: if the 1st or 15th day of the month rolls around, and I say, “Sorry guys, no update today. The update wouldn’t contain any big new features, and I know you hate that, so I simply won’t upload anything today.” Would you think, “How stupid! Anything is better than nothing! Just upload a new build, regardless of how much progress you’ve made!” Or, would you think, “Good! I absolutely hate it when you upload a new build and there is no big new feature!”
As you might have already guessed, the entire reason why I’m making this post today is because I’m supposed to upload a new build in 6 hours, but it only contains 5 small improvements and 26 bug fixes. I don’t want to bother uploading it if you’re just going to feel disappointed and let down. If you all vote for, “I only want to see a new build if it contains awesome new content,” then I’m probably not going to bother uploading anything at all tonight, and the next time you see me will be after I’ve added something exciting and significant to the game.
I’m pretty sure that somebody is going to misinterpret the above paragraph and ask,
“So, over the past 2 weeks, you barely worked on the game at all?”
I guess I’d better pre-emptively respond to that.
Please remember what I said back on April 15th:
It’s not like I wake up in the morning and decide, “Ah! I will only work on very small features today!” Rather, if I deliver a “small update,” it’s because I was so busy with every other aspect of development that, at the end of each day, I had so little time left over that I was only capable of making small additions to the game during that two week period.
(Honestly, that segment of that post was one of the most important things I’ve ever written on this blog, and it genuinely should have been its own dedicated post, so that I could link to it all the time…)
In the meantime, if you want to see proof that the game is still being worked on in the absence of new builds, you are welcome to visit my Patreon, where recently I’ve been uploading previews of upcoming content.