Ren'Py Black Incense [S01E01] [Himeros Studios]

[Himeros Studios]

Cut 90% your graphomania. Have you heard the expression "Brevity is the soul of wit"?

There was a famous telegram once sent that read "I apologise for the length of this message, I didn't have time to write a shorter one".

I write these dev diaries weekly for those who are interested, I generally dash down my thoughts quickly, read through once, post, and then get back to development. I don't mind if they aren't super polished, I'd prefer to spend the extra time writing the game!

Besides, you left a comment a few pages back saying exactly the same thing about the game itself. This is a visual novel that leans into the writing. If you don't like games or posts that require a lot of reading, this just might not be the game for you (which is fine, there is something out there for everyone).

As a writer, I also think the whole minimalism schtick in writing is overplayed. Even Hemingway, who I love and is the standard bearer for restrained prose, sometimes would go on for pages and pages in writing just to establish a sense of place (if you read any of his notes on writing, that and truth seem to be the two things he comes back to most).

And looking beyond Hemingway, there are plenty of examples of famous writers who are decidedly unrestrained with prose, and yet they still achieve something beautiful (looking at you, Dostoevsky).

I'm actually planning on talking about my writing process and influences in the dev diary next week, so watch this space. Fair warning though, I may go on a bit...

 

[TLouis2]

Just to be clear that’s still unchanged from the prologue in that you can choose to lose your virginity to Josh OR someone else -

Only guys still? Just deciding if I'll be disappointed or not.

 

[Himeros Studios]

[QUOTE="Himeros Studios, post: 19122794, member: 9242338"
Just to be clear that’s still unchanged from the prologue in that you can choose to lose your virginity to Josh OR someone else - /QUOTE]

Still only guys? Asking before I decide if I should be disappointed or not.

For now, yes. I do think (given demand) one day I probably will put in a girl for Molly to lose her virginity to, it just might take a while. Since the player will always end up with Josh at the end of the prologue, that means that I would need to rewrite alternative versions of the sex scenes for:

Mr Green (the Northgate Teacher) x 2 (since he actually has two completely different sets of writing depending on whether the player went to Northgate or Marchmain)
Mike (chef at The Silver Shades)
Matthew (waiter at The Silver Shades)
Diego (gardener if Molly is upper class and accepts parent's offer to pay for gap year)
Giles (in the Alps branch)
Connor (in the Thailand branch)
Yuri (in the Thailand branch)
Yuri and Moshe (in the Thailand branch)
Hunter (in the New York branch)
Tyrone (in the New York branch)
Josh (for when Molly gets into a relationship with Josh)

Just in case any of these are Molly's first time with a man (which would make them totally different scenes from Molly's perspective).

I would also have to rewrite an alternative version of the Mathilde scene to account for it no longer being Molly's first time with a girl.

That's probably a little bit shy of 20,000 words of writing, which (including time to code it all in) would probably take up 5-7 days depending on how busy the rest of my life is.

For now I don't have time to fit that in alongside revamping the prologue images and getting out monthly episode releases. But, one day, I would love to. I am genuinely a fan of lesbian scenes and paths myself, so it isn't anything I am opposed to! I just need to find the time! And rest assured in the meantime I have some really good lesbian content being planned across Season One

 

[TLouis2]

"Blah blah blah I hate lesbians" *

"You've raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly, sir! Bravo!"

What's a casual 20k extra word count? I'll heart and or like your post so hard in exchange. Deal?



*okay maybe not EXACTLY what the Dev said and I may have substituted in some editorial commentary...

 

[PickerLewd]

I have to say how excellent to see a dev put this much thought and care into their game. It somewhat reminds me of the crazy detail I put into the IRL roleplaying games I run.

Also great to see a dev who can internalize constructive feedback without viewing it as an attack.

Surprisingly, sending him to the coding mines and your whipping mistress seemed to have some effect .

 

[MagicMan753]

I don't know, after that last devlog, I am now pessimistic about this game. I enjoyed it till now, but I want a lesbian route and we are shackled to Josh, no matter what we do.

I can do other stuff sure, but he will always text us, be needy, etc. I just want to get rid of him, I don't want to be forced to interact with him at all. I don't want to deal with this stupid drama of cheating and eventually pushing him away.

What I really want is just a lesbian only path. I can maybe handle the prologue and some sex with men, but I really think the dev should of had an option where we aren't with Josh, I don't want this forced relationship, while I try to just be with girls moving forward, it just feels like it invalidates that path I want of Lesbian only.

So this whole forced Josh relationship sucks and sounds like it will continue to be a nuisance since we can't just break up. Shame. I Was kind of excited, but now I am not. Should of just had an option to not have a relationship with him at all.

If this ever changes, I would be happy to return, cause I don't want a lesbian path with a needy Josh annoying me. Either way good luck dev.

 

[Himeros Studios]

I don't know, after that last devlog, I am now pessimistic about this game. I enjoyed it till now, but I want a lesbian route and we are shackled to Josh, no matter what we do.

I can do other stuff sure, but he will always text us, be needy, etc. I just want to get rid of him, I don't want to be forced to interact with him at all. I don't want to deal with this stupid drama of cheating and eventually pushing him away.

What I really want is just a lesbian only path. I can maybe handle the prologue and some sex with men, but I really think the dev should of had an option where we aren't with Josh, I don't want this forced relationship, while I try to just be with girls moving forward, it just feels like it invalidates that path I want of Lesbian only.

So this whole forced Josh relationship sucks and sounds like it will continue to be a nuisance since we can't just break up. Shame. I Was kind of excited, but now I am not. Should of just had an option to not have a relationship with him at all.

If this ever changes, I would be happy to return, cause I don't want a lesbian path with a needy Josh annoying me. Either way good luck dev.

Hi, thanks for the message. As I've written in other messages, a lesbian only path through the whole game is just too much work for the kind of game I'm designing, as it would mean writing every single sex scene twice just in case it was Molly's first time with a man. I would honestly love to do it, but I do not have the time to do that. I already spend pretty much every moment of my free time on this game - that's not an exaggeration!

But to hopefully reassure some concerns, you certainly are not stuck with Josh. You do not need to cheat on Josh in order to break up with Josh. Over the last couple of episodes of Season One (and I have plans for at least seven seasons with Black Incense, so in the grand scheme of things, pretty near the start of the story) there will be opportunities to break up with Josh regardless of whether you have cheated or not.

Like everything else in the game though, whilst I want to maximise choice (as much as one dev working evenings and weekends can do), something like that requires narrative weight. A simple drop down menu saying 'Break up with Josh now?' is not what this game is about. I'm interested in the psychology and internal landscape of Molly throughout all these events - whether breaking up with Josh, falling into a lesbian romance, or being corrupted by a sinister cult. I want to honour those moments, which means ensuring the story behind those choices is built properly in order to give them proper weight. I do think this is a good thing though. It means that the story you want to tell feels like a deep and intelligent and grounded story when it happens.

If you don't mind cheating on Josh, there will be plenty of opportunities for lesbian paths even before this point (episode 4 will be when things really kick off there). However, even if you don't want to cheat on Josh, there will still be opportunities to begin laying the groundwork for those lesbian paths before breaking up with him.

 

[MagicMan753]

Hi, thanks for the message. As I've written in other messages, a lesbian only path through the whole game is just too much work for the kind of game I'm designing, as it would mean writing every single sex scene twice just in case it was Molly's first time with a man. I would honestly love to do it, but I do not have the time to do that. I already spend pretty much every moment of my free time on this game - that's not an exaggeration!

But to hopefully reassure some concerns, you certainly are not stuck with Josh. You do not need to cheat on Josh in order to break up with Josh. Over the last couple of episodes of Season One (and I have plans for at least seven seasons with Black Incense, so in the grand scheme of things, pretty near the start of the story) there will be opportunities to break up with Josh regardless of whether you have cheated or not.

If you don't mind cheating on Josh, there will be plenty of opportunities for lesbian paths even before this point (episode 4 will be when things really kick off there). However, even if you don't want to cheat on Josh, there will still be opportunities to begin laying the groundwork for those lesbian paths before breaking up with him.

Yeah, I already said I could handle the prologue and not having lesbian focus path from very beginning. Losing our virginity to a man, not my favorite, but its fine.

My problem is being shackled to Josh for pretty much entire season 1. You said we can't have lesbian only path cause of our first time, how does being forced to be in a relationship with Josh have anything to do with this. The relationship is already long distance, why can't we just not be in any sort of relationship. I doubt much would change, cause it will mostly be over text anyway, so shouldn't be too much work.

Just going another 7+ epsiodes, to then have an option to break up sucks, I just feel like there could of been a way to not force any relationship going into ch.1, instead for me, I have to be forced to be with someone I don't want, forced to interact which is the issue.

 

[Himeros Studios]

Yeah, I already said I could handle the prologue and not having lesbian focus path from very beginning. Losing our virginity to a man, not my favorite, but its fine.

My problem is being shackled to Josh for pretty much entire season 1. You said we can't have lesbian only path cause of our first time, how does being forced to be in a relationship with Josh have anything to do with this. The relationship is already long distance, why can't we just not be in any sort of relationship. I doubt much would change, cause it will mostly be over text anyway, so shouldn't be too much work.

Just going another 7+ epsiodes, to then have an option to break up sucks, I just feel like there could of been a way to not force any relationship going into ch.1, instead for me, I have to be forced to be with someone I don't want, forced to interact which is the issue.

I actually edited my original reply to you to talk about this - at the same time you sent this to me! To paste the relevant section:

Like everything else in the game though, whilst I want to maximise choice (as much as one dev working evenings and weekends can do), something like that requires narrative weight. A simple drop down menu saying 'Break up with Josh now?' is not what this game is about. I'm interested in the psychology and internal landscape of Molly throughout all these events - whether breaking up with Josh, falling into a lesbian romance, or being corrupted by a sinister cult. I want to honour those moments, which means ensuring the story behind those choices is built properly in order to give them proper weight. I do think this is a good thing though. It means that the story you want to tell feels like a deep and intelligent and grounded story when it happens.

That still might not be your cup of tea, and in which case that's fine, I respect that. All I wanted to do is reassure you that from S1E1 onwards you can give Josh the cold shoulder, not engage with him sexually, and in a short time, he'll be gone from your life if you so desire. If you're on board with that, then great. Either way, thanks for the comment and your thoughts.

 

[Buletti]

Yeah, I already said I could handle the prologue and not having lesbian focus path from very beginning. Losing our virginity to a man, not my favorite, but its fine.

My problem is being shackled to Josh for pretty much entire season 1. You said we can't have lesbian only path cause of our first time, how does being forced to be in a relationship with Josh have anything to do with this. The relationship is already long distance, why can't we just not be in any sort of relationship. I doubt much would change, cause it will mostly be over text anyway, so shouldn't be too much work.

Just going another 7+ epsiodes, to then have an option to break up sucks, I just feel like there could of been a way to not force any relationship going into ch.1, instead for me, I have to be forced to be with someone I don't want, forced to interact which is the issue.

But to be fair until now he actually does not bother Molly that much imho. There is the scene in the prologue, where Molly is getting ready for him and the beginning of their love affair, and then iirc one scene in ch.1 where she actually voices her love for him. At least on my as lesbian as possible playthrough so far.

While that is kind of annoying, it is the way the dev wanted to tell his story. He confirmed on Patreon, that we soon get to choose how the internal monologue towards Josh is adjusting. For me personally that will help a lot, if the MC is not actively lusting after dick or confessing love for a male LI. The deceiving thing about BI is, that we get to choose so many things about Molly, that we want to change every aspect.

But for the sake of the narration I ultimately prefer an author who has a clear vision of what he wants to tell and then follows through with it, than someone trying to please everyone, constantly shifts the tone and in the end abandons a huge mess that let nowhere.

So I think I personally will make my peace with the occasional dick showing up and just see where this whole thing is going.

And after a few updates Josh will be long forgotten and only the memory of Mathilde will remain.

 

[Himeros Studios]

But to be fair until now he actually does not bother Molly that much imho. There is the scene in the prologue, where Molly is getting ready for him and the beginning of their love affair, and then iirc one scene in ch.1 where she actually voices her love for him. At least on my as lesbian as possible playthrough so far.

While that is kind of annoying, it is the way the dev wanted to tell his story. He confirmed on Patreon, that we soon get to choose how the internal monologue towards Josh is adjusting. For me personally that will help a lot, if the MC is not actively lusting after dick or confessing love for a male LI. The deceiving thing about BI is, that we get to choose so many things about Molly, that we want to change every aspect.

But for the sake of the narration I ultimately prefer an author who has a clear vision of what he wants to tell and then follows through with it, than someone trying to please everyone, constantly shifts the tone and in the end abandons a huge mess that let nowhere.

So I think I personally will make my peace with the occasional dick showing up and just see where this whole thing is going.

And after a few updates Josh will be long forgotten and only the memory of Mathilde will remain.

Thanks for the kind words, I will do my best to deliver! Have no fear - there will be no more dicks appearing unless you specifically order them

 

[TLouis2]

Surprisingly, sending him to the coding mines and your whipping mistress seemed to have some effect .

Himeros (who loves the whip) ___________ Whip Mistress

And after a few updates Josh will be long forgotten and only the memory of Mathilde will remain.

This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Josh. It will soon see the end of Molly's heterosexuality.



She's always watching.

 

[Glorfindel29]

Here's a post that no one asked for on the Molly-Josh relationship evolution. I'm definitely not saying this is the *right* way to think, just that it is *a* way to think.


If I was playing a Molly who wanted to ditch Josh*, then I'd get into her head... at the start of the game she's a pretty stable and well adjusted person, who's in a relationship before going to university. It's either a genuine loving relationship, or one where they at least thought it was; they were certainly very into each other, this is hard baked into the story. It's not really in character for her to just decide to ditch him straight away... sure, we get to shape her character, but this happens gradually; changing her very suddenly could break the narrative (in terms of feel, and possibly plot).

Normal relationship breakups often happen gradually too... as the player, we have the agency to start Molly falling out of the relationship, but not to change her into someone who just ghosts Josh completely. This works for me, because she's like most people and can't just switch feelings on and off. Eventually she might change into that sort of person (and who sacrifices virgins to summon Cthulhu or suchlike), but she's not there yet.

So actually, it makes sense for the breakup to evolve, and let her arrive at it after a period of her getting increasing frustrated with Josh for exactly the reasons that some of the posters above mentioned. She needs some time to move from doubt, to considering a breakup, to actually going through with it -- as players, if we want we can shut down most of the intimacy already (which feels off to me, so I don't, but is very understandable from the practicalities of developing a product in this market space).

I know this is pretty old school role playing, but I think it works from a story point of view.


*As it is, what's probably going to be my canon run has her not really knowing, or even seriously considering anything around this, and floating along on the path of least resistance. She's responding to him, but maybe her heart isn't really in it. It's possible that down the line Josh might ditch her, if that becomes a thing that can happen in game, but I'm not sure where I want her to go yet (though I think she might have ginger hair).

 

[PickerLewd]

Eventually she might change into that sort of person (and who sacrifices virgins to summon Cthulhu or suchlike), but she's not there yet.

Cthulhu lives peacefully thousands of metres below the surface of the South Pacific Ocean . However, if something were ever summoned, it would be a demonic creature with horns.

Some posts on his Patreon feature strange creatures of this type in their headers.

I'm not sure where I want her to go yet (though I think she might have ginger hair).

Do you mean Sienna when you say "ginger"?

I just mentioned on Patreon that she has a strange look that would be perfect for a vampiress.

Ultimately, though, it's just a mischievous look to avoid doing the dishes !

 

[Himeros Studios]

Here's a post that no one asked for on the Molly-Josh relationship evolution. I'm definitely not saying this is the *right* way to think, just that it is *a* way to think.


If I was playing a Molly who wanted to ditch Josh*, then I'd get into her head... at the start of the game she's a pretty stable and well adjusted person, who's in a relationship before going to university. It's either a genuine loving relationship, or one where they at least thought it was; they were certainly very into each other, this is hard baked into the story. It's not really in character for her to just decide to ditch him straight away... sure, we get to shape her character, but this happens gradually; changing her very suddenly could break the narrative (in terms of feel, and possibly plot).

Normal relationship breakups often happen gradually too... as the player, we have the agency to start Molly falling out of the relationship, but not to change her into someone who just ghosts Josh completely. This works for me, because she's like most people and can't just switch feelings on and off. Eventually she might change into that sort of person (and who sacrifices virgins to summon Cthulhu or suchlike), but she's not there yet.

So actually, it makes sense for the breakup to evolve, and let her arrive at it after a period of her getting increasing frustrated with Josh for exactly the reasons that some of the posters above mentioned. She needs some time to move from doubt, to considering a breakup, to actually going through with it -- as players, if we want we can shut down most of the intimacy already (which feels off to me, so I don't, but is very understandable from the practicalities of developing a product in this market space).

I know this is pretty old school role playing, but I think it works from a story point of view.


*As it is, what's probably going to be my canon run has her not really knowing, or even seriously considering anything around this, and floating along on the path of least resistance. She's responding to him, but maybe her heart isn't really in it. It's possible that down the line Josh might ditch her, if that becomes a thing that can happen in game, but I'm not sure where I want her to go yet (though I think she might have ginger hair).

I couldn't have put it better myself! And you're right, there is no one right way to play or think about the game, even as the developer, once I put the game out into the world, other people's views and interpretations are also important as they are the ones playing the game. But this does chime closely to the way I like to think about things, which is that choice develops through narrative, you can't separate the two. I do really want to hit some old school roleplaying vibes with Black Incense. In fact one of the prospective future dev diary ideas I have is talking about TTRPG influences on the game to expand on some of this at some point, because I very much see my role as a developer as being somewhat similar to a DM/GM.

Cthulhu lives peacefully thousands of metres below the surface of the South Pacific Ocean . However, if something were ever summoned, it would be a demonic creature with horns.

Some posts on his Patreon feature strange creatures of this type in their headers.

Do you mean Sienna when you say "ginger"?

I just mentioned on Patreon that she has a strange look that would be perfect for a vampiress.

Ultimately, though, it's just a mischievous look to avoid doing the dishes !

As both of you may have just seen from

You must be registered to see the links

, Sienna is actually due to get a new and improved look! The old sprite was one of the first ones I did and was definitely somewhat dated, and didn't really do her justice (that might account for the somewhat justified comment about being a vampiress, although I think Sienna would take that as a compliment). I ran a poll for my supporters to help choose a new version, and this is the one they went with (in an outfit you may get to see her in this month's release depending on your choices). I'm really pleased with her new sprite - hope you are as well!

 

[TLouis2]

I couldn't have put it better myself! And you're right, there is no one right way to play or think about the game, even as the developer, once I put the game out into the world, other people's views and interpretations are also important as they are the ones playing the game. But this does chime closely to the way I like to think about things, which is that choice develops through narrative, you can't separate the two. I do really want to hit some old school roleplaying vibes with Black Incense (in fact one of the prospective future dev diary ideas I have is talking about TTRPG influences on the game) to expand on some of this at some point, because I very much see my role as a developer as being somewhat similar to a DM/GM.




As both of you may have just seen from

You must be registered to see the links

, Sienna is actually due to get a new and improved look! The old sprite was one of the first ones I did and was definitely somewhat dated, and didn't really do her justice (that might account for the somewhat justified comment about being a vampiress, although I think Sienna would take that as a compliment). I ran a poll for my supporters to help choose a new version, and this is the one they went with (in an outfit you may get to see her in this month's release depending on your choices). I'm really pleased with her new sprite - hope you are as well!

Spoiler

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That's a significantly better Sienna. It was disappointing that the redhead was so easy for me to write off. She'll make a suitable partner to help corrupt Joy.

If you need help with any artistic assets I think this image speaks for itself regarding my formidable art prowess. I trust you'll do the right thing.

 

[Himeros Studios]

That's a significantly better Sienna. It was disappointing that the redhead was so easy for me to write off. She'll make a suitable partner to help corrupt Joy.

If you need help with any artistic assets I think this image speaks for itself regarding my formidable art prowess. View attachment 5607920 I trust you'll do the right thing.

I'm sure she'd very much enjoy helping you corrupt Joy, almost as much as she would enjoy corrupting Molly in the first place... When I need a terrifying woman with a whip shooting lasers from her eyes, you'll be the first person I'll come to!

 

[TLouis2]

I'm sure she'd very much enjoy helping you corrupt Joy, almost as much as she would enjoy corrupting Molly in the first place...

When I need a terrifying woman with a whip shooting lasers from her eyes, you'll be the first person I'll come to!

 

[Glorfindel29]

I just mentioned on Patreon that she has a strange look that would be perfect for a vampiress.

Hmm... I think you're onto something.

As both of you may have just seen from

You must be registered to see the links

, Sienna is actually due to get a new and improved look! The old sprite was one of the first ones I did and was definitely somewhat dated, and didn't really do her justice (that might account for the somewhat justified comment about being a vampiress, although I think Sienna would take that as a compliment). I ran a poll for my supporters to help choose a new version, and this is the one they went with (in an outfit you may get to see her in this month's release depending on your choices). I'm really pleased with her new sprite - hope you are as well!

The new sprite is great, as is her room (and the others, each captures the flavour of the character).

I'm even prepared to forgive her for being an Arctic Monkeys fan

 

[The Firefox]

I just wanted to say that I really like this game.

I was really surprised how different some scenes play out depending on your previous choices: In my first playthrough of chapter 1, I went with “upper class”, and Molly was a guest at a certain party; the second time, with a different background, she was working as a waitress…

I also love the small difference in the masturbation scene depending on Molly having a lesbian fling or if she was “blacked”… I love these kinds of details!

Personally, I’m rooting for a lesbian happy end with Imogen. (And just as an idea – a lesbian wedding in the epilogue… )

Out of curiosity, may I ask why you chose history/biology/psychology as majors for Molly? I’m asking because to me they feel rather similar. Normally I would have expected more fundamentally different branches (for example history/medicine/economy.) Was it because knowledge in these fields will be useful for the plot or because it is easier to get the different personalities Molly may have to work with these subjects…? Or did you have other reasons?

Also, may I ask about the time frame of the story? Chapter 1 plays out in two days, while the prologue covers everything before. Will the next chapters also play out in days, and will there be gaps between the chapters?

By the way, I also miss the “old internet" - it is quite funny to see how, by our modern rules, it is ok for fifteen-year-old Molly to smoke, but God forbid, she had sex (not to mention incest).