2021, A Secretary Year in Review

by Sashka

Hello all, and first off, thank all of you who supported, bug-reported, gave suggestions, or just played the game. We've come a long way from one dev making a small game that was estimated to be done in 9 (note from Deedee: more like 3 years, but okay....) months, and we thank you for taking part in the journey as it has grown in scope and scale.

Just the Numbers for 2021:

• 6: the number of public releases we successfully released in 2021, one release every other month
• 91600 words/292 passages/84 items/130 achievements: average size of the aforementioned releases
• 76 : unique character image files added
• 4 : "variable" scenes added to the game (composed from 256 separate image files)
• 1943 : other image files added to the game (including backgrounds, item variants, generic characters, etc.)
• 595 : different people submitted bugs reports to discord
• 2632 : save files uploaded to discord bugs channel
• 1281 : individual "bugfix" releases posted to discord
• 1,365,878 : total wordcount as of the forthcoming 0.8.3 release (written, patreon pre-tested, and waiting on the final art/January for public release)
• 65.39% : estimated total planned game (by wordcount) released [as of January version 0.8.3]
• 486,189 : words currently in the backlog pending merge/release
• 613,536 : approximate total words written for the game this year (released and backlog combined) - this is slightly above NaNoWriMo pace for the entire year (50k words/month)

If you would like a deeper dive into the state of the game/reflections on the year... read on!

More Social

In addition to our ongoing Discord and tfGames presence we've attempted to expand further, with an official twitter and reddit, which we hope to continue to grow into 2022.

So Much Written...

First up, a high level look at the major content that was released this year.

• January's 0.7.10 release was focused on the Tech Wizard, Alex, bringing with it implementation of her as a fully datable/sexable character, complete with separate options taking advantage of her switchy nature allowing the player to assume a domme, slave, or neutral role in the relationship
• March's 0.7.11 release was focused on the Psychiatrist, Dr. Trapper. It brought with it many new therapy topics, a new game option for "required" therapy and a revamp of how stress and willpower were handled.
• May's 0.7.12 release added the much-desired "full" bodyshop, allowing players to tweak not just breasts, but genital configuration, milk/cum production and eyecolour, with many unique "procedure" scenes as well as handling of genitals throughout the rest of the game.
• July's 0.8.0 release represented several milestones: first, the transition into + introduction of the "Stage 4" Upper Floor work content, as well as marking the point where the game crossed the 1 million total word mark (with a "jumbo" release size of over 130,000 words).
• September's 0.8.1 release fleshed out prostitution beyond the long-languishing gloryhole. This was also the first release to incorporate bug bounties, and thus saw a significant improvement in overall game quality that has resulted in successively smoother releases since then.
• November's 0.8.2release brought the long-campaigned for "Church of the Goddess" to the game, as well as the similarly long waiting, but perhaps not as awaited, first leg of the "Cook" porn training content
• Finally January's 0.8.3 release was in public test for most of December and will bring with it an expansion of the Stage 4 content from 0.8.0.0, including a work "school" and the first opportunities to earn a collar.

In addition to the high-lights above, 2021 also saw:

• 9 (of a total of 23) skills were expanded through to the cap of 20, including advancement + capstone content for Anal (0.8.0), Bondage (0.8.3), Foot (0.8.0), Heels (0.7.10), Masochism (0.8.3), Oral (0.7.11), Prostitution (0.8.1), Sex Obsession (0.8.1), and Submission (0.8.3).
• The Patreon designed character of Ezrabeth Prissy (initially introduced in 0.7.8) was expanded with new scenes in 0.7.12, 0.8.0, 0.8.1, and 0.8.2, as well as a strong involvement in the "school" events of 0.8.3
• Many quality of life improvements, as well as additional "fetish flag" flexibility to tweak how you experience the game.

As detailed above, steady progress has resulted in a very large, complicated game. For a comparison to other games/works of fiction by wordcount:

Of particular note is that Secretary eclipsed the bible (english translation, both testaments) at the start of the year, and is now nearly 75% larger still. In addition to written size the game has added over 500 new items to bring the total item count to 848 (701 being equip able)

...And Drawn, as Well

In addition to the writing our increased funding has allowed commissioning more artists*, this has not only allowed us to fill in a large portion of the artistic backlog, but also expand what the game has to offer in general, including the large increase in equip able items, many new character variants, and the new "variable" scenes where the scene will reflect the current state of the MC at that point in progression. Hand in hand with all this new art has been adding an in-game "gallery" where you can review unlocked art, and see some of the non-pixel character concept art.

*We would be remiss to not also call out several fans who have jumped in on their own to submit additional clothing art assets, this has greatly expanded the available in-game wardrobe while allowing us to focus commissions on art specifically required for progression

Bugs!

As a game still in active development/beta bugs are an inevitability, and one which we rely on our players for heavily. The combination of a small team and limited resources means that we have made the decision to prioritizing adding content and fixing resulting bugs over doing internal testing, instead relying on players to report any found issues and us to rapidly address (throughout 2021 we have fixed over 99% of bugs within 24 hours of report, majority within 12).

Starting with 0.8.0 we also made efforts to streamline and formalize our testing process such that each release goes from a small pool of private testers for the initial merged writing + code, followed by the patreon pre-test period in "even" months (Feb, April, etc.) while the art is still in progress, and then the public release in "odd" months (Jan, March, etc.), with bug bounties awarded for top bug-finders for each release*.

This program has lead to over 900 bugs found and squashed, and an additional nearly 1000 spelling/grammar fixes reported and addressed. While this program is still only a handful of months or so old, the number of bugs, and their severity has gone down release over release:

*Rewards including invitation to participate in the private pre-pre test, as well as unique scenes added to the game featuring their OC, or additional scenarios with existing characters.

and More to Do

With all that's happened we've passed the half-way point of releases (by total size), and current estimates puts 0.8.3 right around 2/3 of the game as planned (but, if history is any guide, those plans always increase in scope). While maintaining our steady release cadance the backlog has remained healthy, currently standing just shy of half a million words, which should allow us to continue to hit release goals going forward.

Based on current backlog size + remaining to write plans we estimate that the game is just shy of 89% written, with an estimate of 8 "pre-merge" releases worth of content in the backlog and ~1 more to be written (the merge process tends to grow a relese by 20-30% from the initial write, counting things like tester and patreon scene rewards).

With 0.8.3 public release just around the corner here's a sneak peak of the possible focuses there will be to choose from for 0.8.4:

1) Unrestrained Fetishism: Visit the newly opened Sün Dungeon sex club, and earn a few extra credits working part-time at the mall sex store.

2) Tech Wizard 3.0: Even more Alex, featuring gamer girl hangouts, dominance training and, perhaps... a collar? 

3) Video, Game, Boss: Indulge in some online fun involving streaming your favourite game and classic camgirl action and unlock an extended optional ending where you choose to side with the powerful Mr. Pawn.

4) Maids to Order: Learn what's REALLY going on inside a certain bimbo barista's head, and spend some time deepening the relationship with your friendly landlord.

5) Brains and Brawn: Work out all of you by entering competitions at the gym, hanging out with your boyfriend Bob and joining up with the mysterious AIKO in challenges that will push your mind to the brink... or beyond?

In addition to the "main" topics above we've been spending the holidays hard at work on the long-requested "Enthusiast" and "Strict" feminization progression paths. The former would be a sort of "moreso" version of obedient/voluntary where you play as being "yes, and..." from the start, while the latter will see progression happen in an even harsher than existing manner, with your manager and psychiatrist, in particular showing a significantly more cruel streak. Neither of these options is large enough for a full release, but they will go into the pool of "additional" content to be voted on and added in to releases where there is space.

The game "plan" has always been to be built around a core of 5 work stages, 0.8.3 rounds out stage 4, stage 5 (whose initial release will mark version 0.9.0) will represent a sort of "end-game", culminating in the game's endings. There are a few "side" releases to do before we're ready to move into stage 5, so watch and vote in the release content polls to see what's potentially up! This will probably come to another 2 releases worth of content - one for the transition + "core loop" of stage 5, and one for endgame + endings (we've been planning and writing this in preparation and... so, so many possible endings to fit the many possible playstyles and character interactions).

Conclusion

For all of you who stuck around to the end of this post, thanks! And thanks everyone who has funded, tested, contributed, given us feedback, or just played the game, we hope you've enjoyed the journey so far, and will keep enjoying as we press forward.