Renfield [Renfield Studios / Granfalloon Games] development thread

[KleptoLizard]

The core animation scene gets ever closer to completion.
Meanwhile I'm fleshing out various modes of play.
Specifically focusing on non-combat roleplaying.
Certain rpgs make it possible to progress just through smooth talk and cunning.

While strictly speaking non-violent adventure games aren't that few in number,
it's only in a few instances like Age of Decadence where the violent and non-violent
approaches run parallel to one another with both paths being fully fleshed out.
Imagine if Myst or Riven or any old Sierra click-em-up* were actually combat-heavy games
but by employing stealth, persuasion and manipulation of puzzle/trap elements
you beat them much in the same manner as normal.
Conversely, imagine if you could talk your way through every Max Payne game,
hoodwinking all the mobsters and not blowing your cover even to the very end.

Another specter that has always hung over me when considering game design is the civil war diplomacy scene in Skyrim.
Imagine if the war proceeded dynamically even if you weren't present and you affected the outcome via espionage and verbal ploys.
Such a thing is already possible in Romance of the Three Kingdoms games where you can make a far greater difference
to the war's outcome on the debate stage, and hiring the most talented people, compared to the battlefield.

There's absolutely no obligation to go dungeon crawling if you don't feel like it.
There are over 100 professions from peddler to farmer, from beggar to prostitute.
RF will also feature a complex haggling system that still allows batch buying and selling.
Now you can reenact the "ten-shekels-you-must-be-mad" scene to your heart's content.

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Also, I had someone contact me with some specific technical questions about the game.
I'm grateful for the engagement but please ask publicly so everyone can see the answers.
One of their key concerns was possible performance issues due to the high number of blendshapes per model.
We actually tested a wargame prototype in Unity using the exact models used in RF
and were able to have dozens of them on screen simultaneously with no issue.

With 50% LOD models and lower res textures we were able to push that into 100s.
Now of course with all the other objects being rendered in an exploration-focused game,
along with overhead from animations, these numbers are certain to come down at runtime.
But in game development as in life there are no solutions, only trade-offs.
Users can configure the fidelity of the models, LOD distances and total on-screen population per their systems.

By all means let me know if there are other issues, design or practical, players have concerns about.

*I invented the term "click-em-up" to describe the genre formerly known as "point-and-click" and you have to pay me every time you use it.
This includes if you read the post aloud.

3/22 - Working on German localization
3/24 - Working on vehicles and large mountable creatures
3/26 - Sorting the new Sonniss files for 2024
3/28 - Our coder has gotten really sick and so I'm taking over for him until he recovers
3/30 - Running time-lapsed simulations of the dynamic economy code

 

[KleptoLizard]

Posting this on the 2nd of April so nobody suspects April Fool's shenanigans.
Yet another irritating delay has come up.
The coder I brought on has gotten really sick so I'll have to take over development again.
It's not all bad news since he's made the UI and asset streaming far more user-friendly and performant than I could have.
I'll finish according to the convention he set and we'll FINALLY have that demo that has seemed only two weeks away for years.


4/4 - My neighbor's house caught fire and I quickly ran out to help extinguish it with an ordinary garden hose.
I held it off for several minutes and wetted the ground and the eaves of my own house.
When the first responders arrived with their proper equipment they told me to leave because I might breathe in dangerous fumes.
Now I know how the Astra Militarum feels when the Astartes roll up.

Anyway my house is untouched along with all the equipment and data.
Gambino sent me all the necessary files and I got a ton of data entry done today.

4/6 - Converting old random result tables into the new format
4/8 - Gambino has largely recovered. Turns out it was Dengue fever.

 

[KleptoLizard]

Gambino has recovered from his illness but is still swamped by a backlog from his day job.
So he's supplied me with a list of tasks related to the demo client that won't get in the way of his rebuilding of the animation rig system.
Anyone who's worked on a coding team knows how easy it is to have too many cooks in the kitchen stepping on each other's toes.
But now our responsibilities have been delineated clearly enough for a merger of our two branches in about a week.

For years now this project has consisted of me working on content creation, then bouncing off some fiddly technical issue,
then more content creation, then another technical snag, then an endless torrent of unforeseen delays and budget problems.
But we're not giving up no matter what. And once this core system is functional the massive backlog of content can flow in.
The H-systems and assets had to be built largely by ourselves however the actual Adventure/RPG systems are based on a collection of plugins dedicated to each aspect of such games.
Therefore the development of the actual GAME-game won't take nearly as long to achieve functionality.

4/12 - Adding skin assets to serialization system
4/14 - Creating new character class to encompass the wearables / serialization data along with the RPG elements
4/16 - Creating magic item loot tables. Refactoring AI combat targeting system. C# practice with predicates.
4/18 - Studying bot creation for Twitch & Discord, app integration with Google Sheets

 

[KleptoLizard]

Gambino says he'll be ready to fully rejoin the project by tomorrow.He has a new improved rig system for the H-scene playback.
I'm kicking myself for not being more productive on the character creator client but when there's
so much to do on a project this size, everything feels like a distraction from everything else.

Pictured is some experiments I've been running with terrain generation and various preset systems.
This one used a grayscale map of Iliac Bay and some levels from DOOM 1 & 2.
Using our quick-gen system you can crank out a customized fantasy world in the time it takes to generate a map for Civilization.
And indeed many of the options are similar: Pick a landmass, pick the cultures, pick various game world conditions, etc.

I'll be transferring my files back to Gambino so he can merge the branches.
We're closer than ever.

- EDIT: I've heard growing rumors about adult project pages being taken down on Patreon.
Rest assured that I backup the donor pledges every month so there is never a danger of losing backer rewards, no matter what happens to the actual page.

4/22 - Coding tests and stat checks for various RPG situations
4/24 - Refining card system and debugging targeting AI.
4/26 - Updating ranged attack physics and logic
4/28 - Examining Gambino's custom A.I. state machine structure

 

[KleptoLizard]

Update from Gambino:
"Damn, it's May already. Development of the new rig is not done yet but it's going well, the core animation driver is up and running, and I'm starting to work on the full animation playback system, this includes the parts of the animations that connect with player interaction, sound and other effects. Hoping to show it off soon!"

5/4 - Generating data for all 20 different major factions and organizing new assets
5/6 - Assigning equipment to NPCs and retinues to VIPs
5/8 - Weapon sound effects, alternate weapon firing modes, alternate ammunition types, status-inflicting special weaponry and spells

 

[KleptoLizard]

Closing in on a presentable playback system.
Trying to make it as robust as possible.
When finished it shouldn't break pelvic alignment no matter how different the body sizes or how much the motion changes even mid-animation loop.

5/12 - Magic logic and spell functionality
5/14 - Tweaking character model assets, more work on magic system
5/16 - Working on quick-generating building and walls