VN Ren'Py Chasing Sunsets [v0.9a] [Stone Fox Studios]

[bosp]

I dislike Jaye and want the MC to have nothing to do with her. However, it seems unlikely that the MC will have a satisfyingly fleshed out ending with someone else so I think we should prepare to be disappointed. This was a solid prologue but, as we approach 4 months without an update, I am beginning to think this will be a game that updates once or twice a year.

Disliking a redhead?
Is the world ending or you drank too much whisky, you grumpy hypocrite?
Jaye showed she has a bad temper but... but... it's a redhead, she is supposed to be feisty.

Joking aside, yeah, I concur, 4 months is a bit too much and they kinda lost the initial momentum.
The initial prologue release was a good length content-wise so if they deliver a chapter 1 with the same quality... all might not be lost.
However, regular and timely updates are what makes the games gain traction and supporters so, yeah, I am with Mr. Grouch on this.

Bad devs, shame on you.

 

[ugulugulu]

*hands bosp his trusted pitchfork*

 

[bosp]

Yeah, there is always an exception to my love of redheads. I really don't like tsundere characters that much... Not sure she necessarily qualifies as I am not overly familiar with the term but essentially I don't like characters who are assholes and then are down to fuck (of course there is always an exception to that but Jaye isn't going to be that one). As I have said before I am a picky and hypocritical asshole but I just didn't like Jaye's personality nor did I find her that attractive. Tara was more interesting to me, but still not my cup of tea, which is good as we've been assured she isn't a love interest so, as I have no one to look forward to seeing in the next update, my interest has waned considerably.

Never say never, Grouch. As in life so in stories, people can change for the better or worse.
Who knows, you might grow fond of Jaye if we get a compelling story to go with it.
I am a hopeless sucker for good love stories and I hope this might just be the one.

Just between us 2 cynical assholes... I have a hunch Tsundere is a defense mask and she is actually a big Yandere.

 

[bosp]

*hands bosp his trusted pitchfork*

/me shows a pitchfork up ugulugulus chocolate starfish.
Go do your beta testing of chapter 1 for the "bad" CS devs and leave us old grouches to our asshattery

 

[Crimsonfiend76]

Personally I'd love to see more yandere, and gotta agree tsundere is a turn off for me. Hopefully in the next couple updates she gets a personality adjustment.

 

[bosp]

I completely understood you until that last line... LOL

All I can say is that I don't like predestined love stories, as I mentioned earlier in the thread. I don't find the "they were meant to be" love story romantic at all. And in a game it means less choice and less of a branching narrative. Obviously this is all speculation, the second installment/first chapter hasn't been released yet, so there is no way to know until we see it. But I have to hope we can choose someone else even if no one else has been introduced.

Yeah, it can get confusing so I will just quote definitions for future referece:

Tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with a personality who is initially polarized warm/soft, cold, temperamental, hotheaded (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.

Yandere (chiefly Japanese fiction) A character, usually female, who fits the archetype of being genuinely kind, loving, or gentle, as well as obsessed with their love interest, sometimes demonstrating this through violent behavior.


About predestined love stories... yeah I get that, it does not leave too much to the imagination and limits the scope of possible narrative but, I have a hunch that the CS writer is well versed in what he does so he might surprise us.
As you said, let's put speculations aside and just play the next installment and see for ourselves.

 

[Deleted member 2808342]

Kentyrr and I just dry-ran Chapter 1 from beginning to end. The chapter is currently 85% playable with some art gaps to be backfilled, and the remaining 15% of choice and dialogue code to wrap up in 24-48 hours along with our first beta build.

Art remains our long pole item, but please keep in mind that Kentyrr typically generates a render for every line of dialogue. I'm not sure if this is industry standard or not, but it feels pretty demanding to us!

While Kentyrr backfills the remaining art, my primary focus will be on sound and music editing, and feature integration, and QCing for continuity misses between renders. (These are never Kentyrr's fault...Sometimes I adjust scenes or dialogues after he's already rendered for them.)

We do have one or two minor art challenges ahead, but nothing we can't either handle with available assets, or make minor script edits to work around.

In other news, we settled on a compression compromise we feel is indistinguishable from lossless to the human eye, but yields an image size 25% or smaller than then lossless .webp we used in the prologue. As such, while Chapter 1 will be functionally larger than the prologue, the total game (prologue included) should actually be smaller.

 

[bosp]

Now that's a nice progress report, congrats.

Art remains our long pole item, but please keep in mind that Kentyrr typically generates a render for every line of dialogue. I'm not sure if this is industry standard or not, but it feels pretty demanding to us!

Not really industry standard, no.
It all depends on what kind of dialogue is going on and if any movement during the dialogue is happening.
If people are standing still or sitting during the dialogue, there really is no need for multiple renders unless you're a nitpicker and need characters to roll eyes or something.

Guess we all know what kind of dialogues require quite a lot of renders, don't we?

 

[ugulugulu]

The ones when they are talking about scientific books?

 

[Everest Harrison]

Just played and I was very impressed by it, the characters are cool and look nice and the story was pretty interesting, so much that I actually read the whole thing and paid attention (which is something that I rarely do with these games). Great prologue, one of the best first release I have played in a long time, and this game has a great potential moving forward. Congrats to the dev and keep it up, looking forward to the next update!

 

[Mortarion]

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Wew, what a marathon!

Chapter 1 is now playable beginning to end with all choices, consequences, point tabulations, and dialogue fully scripted.

Kentyrr's been going nuts on the art, and upped his quality game by an order of magnitude. Seeing the art in screenshots is one thing, but seeing it play out in context with dialogue is a whole other experience.

So, for those of you patiently waiting, this is where we stand as of today: As stated, the game plays completely through Chapter 1 from beginning to end, with several scenes waiting on art. Several scenes are also pending music assignment. This is what I dread most, because music is the most difficult thing to get right. Even with as much care as I put into it, I still feel like I hit the mark maybe 50% of the time.

I will have the art to date fully integrated tonight, and all sound effects completed.

That said, some of the most impactful art is still pending. We went a little nuts on a lewd scene that ended up hugely exceeding our projected render count and time budget, but we think it was worth it.

What can you expect in Chapter 1? This is the launching pad for the main plot, and Chapter 1 ends with all of the pieces in place for story to come. Entitled "Arrivals and Departures," Alex and Jaye will either begin moving toward reconciliation in the wake of the events of the Prologue, or double-down on conflict. Of course, it wouldn't be Jaye and Alex if dumb shit didn't sabotage their relationship in spite of their best efforts from time to time.

In general, you can expect less Walter and bar chatter, less Jaye (this time), more humor, and (of course) more beautiful ladies crossing paths with our protagonist.

Chapter 1 introduces several new characters, some of whom will have a presence to the story's conclusion.

As promised, we do not end on a sad note this time, though I won't lie: Kentyrr got a bit choked up at one point during our full playthrough last night. If I select the music right, maybe it'll even strike a nerve with some of you jaded bastards that aren't as in touch with your feminine side as he is. (KIDDING, bruh!)

As of right now, our art inventory already exceeds the prologue, and we expect that by release, it will do so significantly.

As a writer and developer, I always feel the pressure to meet or exceed our previous effort with our encore. I expect any dev who says otherwise is lying. In this case, I think we've met our own bar, and I couldn't be more excited. Thanks to all of our patrons who have stuck with us through the PC build and holiday delays. We hope (and believe) it will have been worth the wait!

 

[Twisted peel]

Chasing updates

 

[Abhai]

Several scenes are also pending music assignment. This is what I dread most, because music is the most difficult thing to get right.

as the old saying goes - wtf needs music in a porn game!
things will be much smoother/easier if more devs would listen to that old wisdom

 

[bosp]

Music can be important to emphasize some emotional/dramatic moments in VN.
This is usually very hard to achieve properly since most of the indie devs are limited to free license music.

Love Of Magic dev Droid enhanced his game with a very good mix of music for various chars and cutouts but... that is an entirely different game and a story.

Most games here can benefit from some youtube mix you can put on in the background (that suits your current mood) with the game sound muted.

In the end, whatever floats your boat, it's all subjective.

 

[Darkmetal]

as the old saying goes - wtf needs music in a porn game!
things will be much smoother/easier if more devs would listen to that old wisdom

Agreed, considering I’ll be playing the game on mute (as will a number of people)

Aha, so you're the

jaded bastards

Stonefox was referring to ! (just joking)

...

In most adult games the music does feel just random and sometimes even annoying. To be fair, a lot of scoring depends on rises and beat switches in accordance with what's happening on screen, but unlike movies you can't time it in a VN because everyone play/read at different paces so it's often just about as effective as people playing their own music with the game sound turned off.

That said, there are several Devs that use music pretty well. One key, I think, is not to try to select the best music for each specific occasion but to select a handful of themes (for the funny moments, for the sad moments etc.) that fit the tone of their game and stick to them. DrPinkCake (regardless of whether you like his game or not) is a good example of attaching music to characters. He has specific love themes for each girl (e.g. Jill's is piano solo) that plays for their romantic scenes. Maya, Josy etc, even Quinn, meanwhile all have their own themes.

This is a pretty good way to use music to build attachment but kind of only works if there are multiple equally significant LIs.

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Just IMO, of course. Stone Fox Studios should do what they think is best for them.

 

[ugulugulu]

I'm trying to imagine a sex scene with the Chorus of the ending credits from Nier : Automata :'D

 

[Tumai]

The best thing about the dev update is that the girl in the preview pic isn't Jaye

 

[Abhai]

In most adult games the music does feel just random and sometimes even annoying. To be fair, a lot of scoring depends on rises and beat switches in accordance with what's happening on screen, but unlike movies you can't time it in a VN because everyone play/read at different paces so it's often just about as effective as people playing their own music with the game sound turned off.

That said, there are several Devs that use music pretty well. One key, I think, is not to try to select the best music for each specific occasion but to select a handful of themes (for the funny moments, for the sad moments etc.) that fit the tone of their game and stick to them. DrPinkCake (regardless of whether you like his game or not) is a good example of attaching music to characters. He has specific love themes for each girl (e.g. Jill's is piano solo) that plays for their romantic scenes. Maya, Josy etc, even Quinn, meanwhile all have their own themes.

This is a pretty good way to use music to build attachment but kind of only works if there are multiple equally significant LIs.

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Just IMO, of course. Stone Fox Studios should do what they think is best for them.

I agree that a good on-spot music surely can enhance experience and improve overall atmosphere in movies and games in general. Yet as majority of games here aim to be porn-games, music, at the best, is a quaternary thing (story, renders, sex-sounds, all of it surely should be more important).
My point was, unless you, as the dev, are experienced enough (having all other more important things mastered and implemented), or have a whole team/a lot of support, or have particular talent/taste in music arrangements, it would be advisable to not waste time/resources adding music to your game, particularly at the start (ofc there always will be those "where is music" "why not music" posts now and then, yet similar thing goes almost with every other "kink" absent from any particular game)
At the end, ofc it is up to the devs to decide what they want for/with their game.

 

[patachoucs]

I agree that a good on-spot music surely can enhance experience and improve overall atmosphere in movies and games in general. Yet as majority of games here aim to be porn-games, music, at the best, is a quaternary thing (story, renders, sex-sounds, all of it surely should be more important).
My point was, unless you, as the dev, are experienced enough (having all other more important things mastered and implemented), or have a whole team/a lot of support, or have particular talent/taste in music arrangements, it would be advisable to not waste time/resources adding music to your game, particularly at the start (ofc there always will be those "where is music" "why not music" posts now and then, yet similar thing goes almost with every other "kink" absent from any particular game)
At the end, ofc it is up to the devs to decide what they want for/with their game.

Well to this I'll say : look at Leap of Faith. Or BaDIK. Or Summer's Gone.
Good music can absolutely enhance a scene. A couple of times in the prologue I felt such a thing with the musics. So I personally like that Stoya takes the time and dedication to do this, cause it's one of those rare VNs where I actually listen to the music they picked.

Couldn't be more hyped for the update. I think they have something very special in their hand.

 

[bosp]

I agree that a good on-spot music surely can enhance experience and improve overall atmosphere in movies and games in general. Yet as majority of games here aim to be porn-games, music, at the best, is a quaternary thing (story, renders, sex-sounds, all of it surely should be more important).
My point was, unless you, as the dev, are experienced enough (having all other more important things mastered and implemented), or have a whole team/a lot of support, or have particular talent/taste in music arrangements, it would be advisable to not waste time/resources adding music to your game, particularly at the start (ofc there always will be those "where is music" "why not music" posts now and then, yet similar thing goes almost with every other "kink" absent from any particular game)
At the end, ofc it is up to the devs to decide what they want for/with their game.

Well to this I'll say : look at Leap of Faith. Or BaDIK. Or Summer's Gone.
Good music can absolutely enhance a scene. A couple of times in the prologue I felt such a thing with the musics. So I personally like that Stoya takes the time and dedication to do this, cause it's one of those rare VNs where I actually listen to the music they picked.

Couldn't be more hyped for the update. I think they have something very special in their hand.

Usually, indie devs end with a few available free tracks fitting the mood of certain scenes that are also frequently used in other games - not much of a choice from royalty-free stock but...
when playing romantic VNs you can never go wrong with Witcher 3 soundtrack in the background.