Unity A Long Journey [v0.8.1] [Marvellous Lunatic]

[Marvellous Lunatic]

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Last week didn't come along with much progress regarding content of the next update. I took care of some issues / bugs that appeared after the first release. Most are fixed, some still give me a headache.

Anyway, i didn't ignored the update completely. I sketched the timeline a little more and started writing for the first scene.
I wanted MC and Selene to crawl through vents in order to be able to get to another room so they won't just walk along the hallways. I think this could create some tension in some scenes and will definitely find use in later episodes as well.
The vents are inspired by the game Mirrors Edge - Cataclysm. I love this game... The gameplay, the movement, the architecture, the music, the sound design the art style, the ... Sorry, got a little side-tracked here.

Anyway, I created 11 different segments for the vents. So this is a modular / kitbash system. In the future I probably will release this somewhere. Have to look where it would fit the most. So, here are some sample shots without characters yet. I like the color and feeling.

Till next time.

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Episode 2 is pretty much sketched out. Episode 2 will focus on MC and Selene trying to find a solution to their current situation. Currently ~12 pages are more or less written out. I think it will become longer than the first episode. Depending on how fast rendering will progress, I may need to cut the episode somewhere in between.

I started rendering this weekend, but the count is currently still below 20.

The images in this progress update are some more elements I want to add this episode. For one, the retro sci-fi style hologram and the more realistic version of the planet they are heading and second a sketch of supernova.
The Hologram is completely procedural and 3D. The realistic planet version is driven by the same procedural ground map. Only the cloud layer is a texture from earth. The supernova is procedural as well and will be animated as well.

I know this stuff isn't a major feature or gimmick of the game and do cost some time which I could have spent on more writing and rendering, but I like working on those stuff.

Vote Announcement

As I don't want to jump to fast into lewd scenes with Selene and have a more proper arc I will add another character that will get a few shots with more explicit content. I will prepare 2 or 3 character sketches and patreons with voting power will be able to decide which character will be included.

 

[osanaiko]

Oh man! This is why I am loving this project so much. Not only do we get a complex adult story, and a cute nekkid redhead girl, and awesome quality renders.... but also some genuinely interesting and creative 'hard sci-fi' original content. <3 <3

May the solar winds fill your sails, Marvellous.

 

[Hornyowl]

Nice renders dev.

Just a bit of critique if you are not finished with the supernova, maybe more emphasis on the actual power released when a star goes supernova (i.e. the force of the explosion) and less on the gas clouds. When I first looked at it, I didn't see the explosion line in the middle. Its only after reading your comment that I went back and looked again. At first glance it looks like a 'normal' nebula with its unique gas clouds.

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

Nice renders dev.

Just a bit of critique if you are not finished with the supernova, maybe more emphasis on the actual power released when a star goes supernova (i.e. the force of the explosion) and less on the gas clouds. When I first looked at it, I didn't see the explosion line in the middle. Its only after reading your comment that I went back and looked again. At first glance it looks like a 'normal' nebula with its unique gas clouds.

Thanks.
You are right. The lens flare in the center will only be in the beginning of the animation as a bright flash and then decay. After the flash the gas will expand. I still have to d some work on it. More variety in the gas clouds, some time mapping and I'm not quite satisfied with the colors yet. But currently I focus on writing and rendering.
I left the lens-flare as a placeholder in the composition. Also it added a bit more dynamic to the image than without and it could just be another star that coincidentally happen to be right in front of the supernova.

 

[KenneX]

Awesome premise and renders. My 2 cents for 0.2.1:
1. I would like the dialogues to appear instantly (Ren'Py has this option).
2. Why can he "swoosh" the same pod more than once?
3. It should ask your name and put it in default automatically.
4. Missing background music.
5. The ctrl skipping is way too slow.
6. Fuck the sandbox, I was enjoying the VN, it put me in sanbox mode and OF COURSE the problems started: the Information Residence-Ring was a blackscreen and it crashed to desktop when I went to Inner Station Residential Ring. Relaunching the game after entering the sanbox mode fixes the issue.
7. Selene is very hot, I would like a (branching?) plot when she is on my side .
8. A button to open save menu instantly.
9. Smart Device with an icon, not just "SD".
10. "Highlight clickable areas" should persist on different areas.
11. I don't get the clue "in one of the informations". This noun is uncountable, doesn't have a plural form. EDIT: It was one of the information desks.
12. I've finished the game and don't have gallery unlocked after restarting the game:

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

Awesome premise and renders. My 2 cents for 0.2.1:
1. I would like the dialogues to appear instantly (Ren'Py has this option).
2. Why can he "swoosh" the same pod more than once?
3. It should ask your name and put it in default automatically.
4. Missing background music.
5. The ctrl skipping is way too slow.
6. Fuck the sandbox, I was enjoying the VN, it put me in sanbox mode and OF COURSE the problems started: the Information Residence-Ring was a blackscreen and it crashed to desktop when I went to Inner Station Residential Ring. Relaunching the game after entering the sanbox mode fixes the issue.
7. Selene is very hot, I would like a (branching?) plot when she is on my side .
8. A button to open save menu instantly.
9. Smart Device with an icon, not just "SD".
10. "Highlight clickable areas" should persist on different areas.
11. I don't get the clue "in one of the informations". This noun is uncountable, doesn't have a plural form. EDIT: It was one of the information desks.
12. I've finished the game and don't have gallery unlocked after restarting the game:
View attachment 1372639

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the problems.

1) In the settings you can adjust the text speed. I will think about adding a setting to display it instantly. Even if it should be pretty fast on highest settings.
2) Idea was, the glass would be frozen again after a while if the inside is cooled down. The dialogue wouldn't be the same in real life probably. Mhmm, I'll probably make those events non repeatable.
3) Didn't want to have the character configuration in-game as it is a little bit more complex and a configuration is not related to a single save-game or save-game branch. I'm considering to rework the character configuration a bit, but that isn't fully planned out yet. Not sure if I will an in-game question for that as I didn't want to interrupt the story flow in-game. Like I said, I still think about how I will adjust the character configuration.
4) I lack the time to compose more, to add more different tracks in-game. At the moment I've only 3 or 4 short themes. If I have time for it somewhere in the future I will compose some more.
5) In the settings you can adjust the skipping time. On highest settings it should be on each frame.
6) Mhmm, tried to recreate the error, but wasn't able to. Never had a black-screen crash before to be honest. Any exception in-game should be catched and displayed in-game. That worries me. However, the sandbox elements will remain as I want the players to be able to explore the ship once it's filled with more content.
7) Glad to hear you like her. I won't say anything regarding the future plot.
8) Was thinking about that, but I didn't want to add more UI-Elements. I want to keep the UI as clean as possible. However, you can do quick-saves with F9.
9) Want to do that, but havn't come up with a idea for an icon I liked.
10) You mean as a toggle? Once you clicked it it should stay highlighted when roaming around? I don't really want that it's constantly overlaying the art. In the future it will even fade-off when clicked. Mhmm, I will think if I add another checkbox for that in the settings.
11) You are right. The hint should be in "... in one of the in the information desks.". Will fix that, with the next release.
12) That's weird. Haven't seen that either.

Would you be so kind and zip the save-game folder and send it to me in pm so I can have a look and try to find the problems? Copy this in your explorer path and you will get to the right folder: %userprofile%\appdata\locallow\Marvellous Lunatic

 

[KenneX]

Hmm, the text display and skipping was slow and I had max in settings, maybe it reseted and didn't save after the crash. What do you mean different tracks, I didn't have any sound when I played (only animated intro scene), it bugged out on my end?
Here's the folder:
View attachment A Long Journey.rar
Thank you Kingvlad for facepalm under my post.

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

In the main menu are 3 different tracks on loop. If you switch between in-game and main menu it will skip to the next track in the main menu.
In-game isn't any music yet, other than the first animation.
I want to have more variety on tracks to put in-game before I add them. 3 for in-game is too few in my opinion. I think they would be annoying pretty fast and may not fit the mood for every scene. Like I said, before I add in-game music I need to compose some more tracks. And currently I just don't have the time for that.

Thanks for the files, I will look at it once I have time. Can't say when yet, real-life and job keep me quite busy at the moment. But like I said, as soon as I have time I'll look at it.

... Just had a thought about it now. Your game crashed probably after both replay-scenes passed. The locked/unlocked status of the replay-scenes is stored in the game settings, to be save-game independent and accessible in the main menu without needing to start a game session. However, this setting file is only written when settings are edited or the game is closed properly. Because of the crash the settings file didn't got written. However, it's a mistake the file is not written/saved when a scene-replay is unlocked. Will fix that in the upcoming release.

 

[osanaiko]

In the main menu are 3 different tracks on loop. If you switch between in-game and main menu it will skip to the next track in the main menu.
In-game isn't any music yet, other than the first animation.
I want to have more variety on tracks to put in-game before I add them. 3 for in-game is to view in my opinion. I think they would be annoying pretty fast and may not fit the mood for every scene. Like I said, before I add in-game music I need to compose some more tracks. And currently I just don't have the time for that.

Thanks for the files, I will look at it once I have time. Can't say when yet, real-life and job keep me quite busy at the moment. But like I said, as soon as I have time I'll look at it.

... Just had a thought about it now. Your game crashed probably after both replay-scenes passed. The locked/unlocked status of the replay-scenes is stored in the game settings, to be save-game independent and accessible in the main menu without needing to start a game session. However, this setting file is only written when settings are edited or the game is closed properly. Because of the crash the settings file didn't got written. However, it's a mistake the file is not written/saved when a scene-replay is unlocked. Will fix that in the upcoming release.

It's a great list of observations and issue reports, so thankyou KenneX . I love it when the community works together to make a better experience for all of us.

I wonder if some of the reported issues may be due to KenneX's computer speed? Slow dialogue display or skipping speed even when the skip-time settings are set to fastest speed might indicate the processing is not fast enough. Similar to @MarvellousLunatic, I have not observed anything like what is described.

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

Hmm, the text display and skipping was slow and I had max in settings, maybe it reseted and didn't save after the crash. What do you mean different tracks, I didn't have any sound when I played (only animated intro scene), it bugged out on my end?
Here's the folder:
View attachment 1372757
Thank you Kingvlad for facepalm under my post.

I had a look at you zip. The only thing I noticed is a Direct3D issue in the player log. Your system tried to load a different version than mine. Not sure if this could be the origin of the crash. Is it possible your behind on win or gpu updates?
Someone else had the to update / install C++ for some reason, but the person couldn't even start the game, so I don't think
that's the issue in your case.
My error handling is currently focused on own implementation mistakes but not crash's at the moment. I need to adjust it to be able to log fatal engine errors, added it to my to-do list.

Regarding the gallery issue. If you scroll/skip through the game again, it should be unlocked if it doesn't crash again. Like I said before, I will fix it with the next release.

 

[punisher2099]

Regarding "Netorare", for the record the dev @MarvellousLunatic has stated:

- there is no NTR in the game
- he does not like NTR
- even if the story development leads to a possible route where it makes sense to have something like that, it would never be unavoidable.

So it looks like our "beardy duo" will just have to become "good friends". Roommates. On-board buddies. Lifelong companions. Fans of musicals. Friends of Dorothy. Never married. Confirmed Bachelors.

Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge, say no more.

Or they can have an accident with an airlock wink wink, nudge nudge.

 

[MicaSchaf]

What am I supposed to do after checking al the cryo capsules? Seems like I'm stuck, no new hints or things

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

What am I supposed to do after checking al the cryo capsules? Seems like I'm stuck, no new hints or things

That's the end of the chapter. For the next version I will add a notification to make it more clear the current content is finished.

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

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[Episode Canopus] Vote - Additional Side Character

(Completely uncensored images for patreons only )

In the last progress update I announced I would add another side character for this episode that will get a few lewd shots and a solo scene in the next update. Maybe the character will even return in Act 2.
The character will be another Squad Attendant. She would also be holding lectures for the colonists in the few months before landing on their new home.

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The poll will go on for two weeks. In this time I have more than enough other objectives to tackle and won't lack work

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[Episode Canopus] Progress Update III


Just a short progress update. MC and his companion are pretty busy. They made a plan and are trying to advance their ideas as much as I do. Currently I'm rendering, editing images and some scripting to see if it all fits together or if I need some in-between images.

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[Marvellous Lunatic]

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[Episode Canopus] Progress Update IV

Hi, I'm back from vacation and will continue to give regular updates again.

Vote result for additional character in episode Canopus
The 'tall oriental' has won and her story and dialogues / monologues / scenes is already written as well. I haven't decided for a default name yet. Maybe I'll look some up and create another vote for it.

Progress Update
While being on vacation I tried to write as much as I could and got pretty far with it. Being exhausted from the many hikes I didn't managed to write everything out, but only a few small scenes are missing. All current written dialogue is even edited already thanks to osanaiko. I guess more than 90% of the dialogue is done and it's more dialogue than in the first episode.

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Current status
~ 42 pages of dialogue (already edited)
~ 165 rendered and edited images

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

Had posted this on discord, but wanted to share the updated images her as well.

For the lewd scene of the additional character I created another room where the scene should take place in. I could reuse many assets from other scenes I created before, so this room took only a bit over a day to model, unwrap and shade. I created two lighting setups. One in a neon art style and the other one in a cleaner mass effect like art style. One setup I will use for the lewd scene and the other for additional renders. I haven't decided yet which I setup I should use for the lewd scene.





And some more images of the room without the character.

 

[Nulldev]

1 vote for cleaner, as I want to see clearly the nice bodies.
Neon is for story and art, clean for fapping

 

[Marvellous Lunatic]

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[Episode Canopus] Progress Update V

Currently I'm working on the lewd scene with the additional character. For the moment she goes by the name Sanchari Mehta.

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Current Status
~ 43 pages of dialogue
~ 220 rendered and edited images

 

[SoberSphagghett]

If you are trying to win me over by those empty pictures then you failed.

Heh, he lost me at the 4 basic bitches that look like drug addicts being shipped to space Australia.
Miraculously, they are just that.

 

[SoberSphagghett]

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[Episode Canopus] Progress Update V

Currently I'm working on the lewd scene with the additional character. For the moment she goes by the name Sanchari Mehta.

You must be registered to see the links

Current Status
~ 43 pages of dialogue
~ 220 rendered and edited images

Good work on her. Regrettably, you'll need to either make the original 4 "girls" optional content for the especially deranged, rework their renders, or delete them. They are crispy with old age. I guess it's due to frost bite from the bad cryogenics. That, or I belong in a group that's especially difficult to please, visually.