Hello dear slapping community.
I have taken a very difficult but necessary decision. While I, Amarillo, will keep working on everything art-related (Butts and character graphics), I am handing over the development of this game to a more experienced partner who will ensure it gets up to a higher standard to meet all your needs and expectations.
It's not easy to admit, but I personally haven't been able to deliver a product with all the functionality and polish an audience as big as this requires. I am struggling to solve basic things like the loss of progress for a lot of people, and adding new features (AMACoin, Slap Shop) to the game -that I didn't originaly plan- is making the project grow to a level of complexity that now exceeds my capabilities.
While I do have experience making simple games, Butt Slapper stopped being that when it grew in popularity. I don't believe this project can be lead by a single person of my characteristics. I am better suited for making smaller and more personal creations. Butt Slapper has turned into a living and breathing game that needs constant attention and work put into it, as it evolves together with its community.
Who are you partnering with?
A friend I met back when I was a student. He has worked on some startups and has a lot of experience running projects. At this time he's in the process of forming his own studio. When he does, I'll add its name to the game and tell you about it.
Will there be changes to the game?
The idea is that the only changes will be improvements. Here's our internal roadmap for the coming days:
- Create the Slap Shop, where you can buy backgrounds using your slaps.
- Phase out the Spooky Butt Crates and add a new seasonal Crate for the coming holidays.
- Fix the loss of progress bug after a power outage.
- Add even more Butts to the game (for the regular Butt Crate and the new seasonal crate coming up)
- Create a way to "buy" hand skins with AMACoin (so that you have a good reason to exchange your repeated Butts for AMACoin)
When are you going to update the game?
I'd rather be honest with you and tell you that I don't want to hurry with it. I'd prefer to do things the right way. If that means a loss of hype and less interest in the game, so be it. I owe you the best I can do, so I won't rush our work. At this very moment, my friend and I are working on putting him up to date with all the ins and outs of the game and planning the development and fixes.
But we do have a deadline for the next big update. At the very latest, we will have a big update one week before Thanksgiving, that is the 21st of November. Hopefully it won't take us that long.
What will happen with Desktop Pets?
I know a lot of you are very interested in my next game, Amarillo's Desktop Pets. This merger of sorts won't affect it. In fact, I have a lot of love for working as a solo dev. It makes my projects feel 100% mine and I always want to have that. One of the main reasons I'm partnering up for Butt Slapper is to have more time to work on Desktop Pets and all my other projects.
Much love from me, and apologies for all the bumps in the road.