We are deeply touched to see so many friends willing to give us a chance. Everyone on the team feels incredibly warm.
We notice that some players are still concerned about the art style. We want to be honest about the current situation: since *Masquerade* is completely self-funded, we temporarily cannot afford professional artists. Therefore, we have to adopt an AI-assisted creation plan. The character illustrations and CGs indeed struggle to match the expressiveness of professional artists' works. We fully understand the concerns of some players—this decision is truly a last resort. However, we promise to do our utmost to optimize the visual presentation within our current limitations.
Even so, there are players who are willing to listen to our story. Because of this, we are determined to finish this game. No matter the outcome, we must at least give an account to those who support us—even if the final product is not perfect, we will do our best to complete it!
We especially want to thank those friends who are not averse to AI and have provided suggestions on the illustration style. It is true that the current二次元 (Japanese-style) art style seems somewhat incongruent with the theme. However, it should be noted that this game will not excessively depict the dark side of the scam park but will focus on portraying the characters' fates and emotional narratives. Therefore, using a二次元 visual style for expression should be acceptable.
Of course, this is just our preliminary judgment, and the final decision will be based on everyone's actual experience. After the demo is released, we welcome everyone to share your thoughts freely. If the stylistic conflict is indeed obvious, we will actively adjust and optimize it in the official version!
Additionally, I have noticed some misunderstandings about the plot in the comments:
Although the game is set in a "scam park," the entire plot is a linear narrative centered on the male protagonist's personal destiny. To avoid misunderstandings, we specifically note that it is not a multi-branch cultivation game, and there will be no development like "seizing power to become the park boss."
The entire game流程 (gameplay) is approximately 2-3 hours long. The setting is simple, and the scope is small—there is no grand world-building... (we apologize sincerely).
We are both moved and pressured to see that some people have high expectations of us, fearing that the final result will not meet everyone's expectations. After all, this theme was conceived on a whim, and due to its特殊性 (special nature), there are not many reference works of the same theme. We have to figure out many things step by step.
Therefore, the depth of the plot is likely not very rich, and there will be many shortcomings, but we will focus on what we do well.
Like many independent developers, we face severe limitations in time, manpower, and resources during our first game development. Without sufficient confidence and experience, we dare not invest too many resources rashly. We believe that for our first game, the most important thing is to "finish it" rather than pursue perfection from the start.
We hope to accumulate experience and grow through this small-scale game. *Masquerade* will surely have many issues, whether in the script, art, or pacing, but we will improve step by step and do our best within our capabilities.
This game is highly likely to struggle to gain recognition from most players in terms of plot or perception, so we will demonstrate our sincerity in other aspects—such as... price!
Meanwhile, to ensure players can feel our sincerity, we have strive to expand the overall volume of the game. Currently, the total text has exceeded 100,000 words—although this is not much in the AVG (adventure game) field, we guarantee that it will be extremely cost-effective among AVGs of the same price range~!
In short, independent game development is a process of continuous trial and error and experience accumulation. We hope to lay a solid foundation through this practice. We look forward to bringing you more mature works in the future with the experience gained from *Masquerade*!
Once again, thank you for your kind criticism and patience. The road ahead is long, and we hope we can gradually improve on this journey!