itch.io

Now that everything is cleared up, I think we should all move past the arguments. The important thing is that we had this honest conversation, and it brought a great result.

I really want to encourage the rest of the fanbase to show Pastelle some love and thank him across all his platforms for making the development completely transparent. This kind of positive reinforcement is exactly what the developers need right now after making such a big decision.

Personally, I’m incredibly excited to read the upcoming updates here and watch the game grow. Let's keep supporting the team and look forward to what's coming next.

"Поддержите разработчика!" 

Thanks for sharing this context! I wasn’t aware of the developers' strict stance on YouTube or their concerns about minors accessing NSFW content. That’s actually a very respectable and responsible position for an adult game developer to take.

My suggestion about YouTube was purely from a standard marketing perspective to help the game grow, but at the end of the day, it’s entirely up to them. If they prefer to keep the game as a cozy, niche project to protect the community, I completely respect that choice. Clout definitely has its downsides. I was just throwing out ideas as a fan, but they know what’s best for their project!

"Молодец!"

Thank you for this response! Finally, a calm, rational, and mature take without anyone baring their teeth.

You explained exactly what I was trying to get to. We all know that developing a game is hard, especially when it's your first time and you are transitioning from art to coding. We are more than ready to be lenient and wait. But proper communication is what bridges the gap between the devs and the community.

Your example with the pause screen and the Clickteam engine is perfect—it actually gives us a glimpse into the "hell's kitchen" of development. That’s the kind of substance we wanted! When there is a total information blackout, players are left in the dark, not understanding why certain decisions are made. And then, as we saw here, a tester comes out of nowhere during a dispute and drops "insider info" about Jerry's past bugs as if regular players were somehow obligated to know it beforehand. We shouldn't have to start an argument just to find out what's actually happening behind the scenes.

It's completely fine if a feature doesn't work out due to engine limitations—we are all human and we understand. A simple "hey, we tried this, it didn't work, so we are moving on" once a month is all it takes. That’s why I was so worried about Jerry; knowing how complex he is, I knew he would be a nightmare to code, especially for first-time devs, and I wanted to understand their roadmap.

As for the paid support, I do think those who actively fund the Subscribestar might view things a bit differently, as financial backing naturally raises expectations for news. But overall, I’m really glad Pastelle is stepping up to fix the communication gap.

Thanks again for the respectful and insightful breakdown. This is exactly how a healthy community should talk to one another. Stay kind, everyone!

"Молодец!"

At this point, trying to argue against my post means arguing against both the developer's own decision and the vast majority of the fanbase at the same time.

"Будьте добрее пожалуйста"

Just to clarify a few things regarding the replies to my post:

First, I only check the game’s progress here on Itch.io and occasionally on Twitter. I don't use other platforms. Expecting regular players to hunt for crumbs of information about Jerry's past bugs or development history across closed Discords is exactly what I meant by broken communication. If it’s important context, it belongs in the official devlogs on the main platform. Even Pastelle admitted that relying on Twitter and Discord was a mistake.

Also, regarding the notion that the developers "can just take 30 years or abandon the project tomorrow and owe us nothing"—once a project involves a paid tier like Subscribestar and financial backing from the community, it stops being a casual, no-stakes hobby in someone's spare time. Real money is involved, which means there is a basic level of professional responsibility and respect expected toward the people who fund and support the game.

Second, some people seem to be actively looking for negativity in my words while completely ignoring the facts. I explicitly said that I respect the developers, understand how painful hand-drawn animation is, and am ready to wait for a quality product. I am not a hater; I am a passionate player who cares about the game's management.

The fact that my original comment received over 25+ upvotes shows that I’m definitely not alone in this. The community's patience was wearing thin. Honestly, my feedback was highly constructive and polite—if I hadn't spoken up, someone else eventually would have, and likely in a much ruder, less respectful way.

I’m glad Pastelle understood the core issue and is already making positive changes on Twitter and here. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing—for this game to be the best it can be.

"Ok, so, basically none of you actually check Twitter or the Discord for devlogs. That's fair enough cause Twitter is dogshit and the Discord is, admittedly, kind of hard to get into for some folks."

                         Pastelle

Thank you for listening, Pastelle! I don't even have a Twitter account, but I checked your page anonymously and was really glad to see you taking action so quickly and keeping everyone informed there too. Judging by the +17/-1 rating on my comment, this was a huge pain point for many of us, and I’m glad we could have this honest conversation. Since you are open to feedback, I'd like to share two more thoughts:

1. Marketing and Reach: If you want to grow the game's audience, it would be great to promote it more on YouTube. Setting up an official channel for devlogs or reaching out to well-known horror YouTubers to review the game (even via paid sponsorships) could bring a massive wave of new players.
2. About Jerry: I want to clarify that Jerry was my main goal and the biggest reason I started following this project so closely. But because he is being developed so aggressively right now, it feels like once he is finally released, the main hook for following the development will be gone. It makes it hard to know what other mechanics or characters to look forward to next, and I'm probably not the only one who feels this way.

We are all rooting for the project's success. Thank you again for your openness!

"Удачи в разработке"

Honestly, guys, I need to vent about this new devlog because after 3 months of complete silence, this short text feels like a bit of a letdown. We aren’t pushing the devs or rushing the release—we all want a high-quality game and are ready to wait. But getting a couple of paragraphs that boil down to "it’s gonna take a while, we are making Jerri" after a 90-day blackout just doesn't feel right. If this was a 1-month update, it would be fine, but for 3 months? It’s way too brief and lacks any real substance about the actual progress. Also, the promise of more frequent news was broken, and it sucks because we aren't asking for the final game right now, just for proper communication.

What bothers me the most is their development strategy. Why focus on Jerri right now? He is literally the cherry on top. He’s incredibly complex, and his mechanics affect not just the player, but the other dolls too. Injecting him into the game at this stage makes the whole development cycle unpredictable. It seems like the team lacks a clear roadmap. They should have polished the remaining dolls first—some of them only need final tweaks and tuning. It would be much faster to finish them up (like 2 dolls per 1-2 months) and drop them as fully functional enemies in separate, polished patches. Instead, when devs scatter half-baked characters across versions, we just get used to them being incomplete. By the time they are finally finished, the excitement is already gone.

Jerry is obviously a nightmare to code and animate, so no wonder it’s taking forever. But because we have zero insight into how their team actually works, it’s impossible to track their progress. Right now, it just feels like they are bouncing around tasks rather than finishing what they started. What do you guys think about this?

А, всем насрать на рост гг? Ясно, ясно. 

Какой рост имеет гг? 

Я примерно просто посчитал рост гг, сравнил Джерри с пиксельным изображением (который сам художник/автор рисовал в пиксельном стиле), как я понял, его глаза доходят до шеи или почти до рта Джерри, значит примерный рост у него 170-173 см, сам Джерри имеет рост около 180-185 см, я угадал?