Ren'Py Onhold Chimera: Bloodlines [Journal] [v2.0]

[JohnF95zone]

Spoiler

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Yeah, I used Desert Stalker as an example to illustrate a "gentle" good pace "step into the world" of post-apocalyptic Egypt type of intro, as a stark contrast to the "rough" fast pace "in the spotlight" middle of the story/confilict type of intro, from a player/audience perspective. I just want to establish the measure or definition because I mentioned pacing twice, once for the Demo and another for 1.5. It is not because DS is the best, perfect or anything, but the most appropriate in this context.

Haven't played Disco Elysium, so I am not familiar with the writing style, but it should be fine with fans of that game. Just have to spread the word.

Yeah, I should've kept the DEMO or Pilot tag at v0.1.5, that was my fuckup. There will be a significant difference to v0.2.
I still don't know what's the best way to call stuff: Day 1, Chapter 1, etc.

Luckily it is just the first release and very early on. You could slap an "Early Access" or "Pilot" to the version, with the accompanying Release Notes so that players are aware the contents and features are subject to change and most importantly, broken save files.

Normal expectation is that when a game is release for example v0.1, the next version v0.2 should be additional contents that could be side story, main story continuation or additional features. Any deviation should be made clear somewhere, including in the Release Notes. This is especially true when altering contents/features of previous releases. Although everyone is aware that game is in development (in-complete), the general consensus is that each release or update, provides additional contents ( continuation of the story ), until the game is completed.

JohnF95zone - what Intro did you like more Morgana (if we ignore the very long sequence of introducing many characters) or Battefield?
I'm thinking of maybe doing (I just now came up with it after reading your message - been thinking about it):
1) Start at battlefield pre-fight sequence. Introduce Kiri as the spy who is watching you, and Lily who is fucking shit up with flames.
2) Do a Flashback of "how did I get here?"
3) Flashback into Morgana mansion with the intro (adapted)
4) Proceed playing everything
5) Go to Battlefield, reach the flashback starting point, continue playing.

I have no idea what the story ( past, present or future ) all about and know very little about the Chimera world, so none of these interest me as far as storytelling is concerned. I am interested in a simple "gentle" pull "step into the world" of Chimera intro. An experienced editor can "re-work" the intro sequences with little to no effort, considering most if not all the elements/contents are there already.

Anyway, I think the current v1.5 contents are better than the proposed revision above because they are at least chronologically ordered. All the flashback sequences just make it more complicated. I think it is more suited for movies or pilot episode of a tv series. But of course, there are people who like it, especially those who enjoy action movies.

If you want to make action movies or MCU-like adult games, then it is perfect IMO, and you don't really have to go deep with the lore, characters/personalities, character development, continuity, realistic plot etc. Introduce a character, some info, action then lewd ( or not ), and repeat.

Spoiler: Battlefield Scene

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I was too tired to do this, but yes, introducing accents is dialects is a big priority.
Did you watch too much Inuyashiki? xD
I can write infinitely, it has never been a problem for me, my only bottleneck is renders. There is obviously main/support split, with around 2 main characters per faction. I can figure out the scope later. I want to have strong fundamentals, which I can call in at any point when the characters would already be introduced.

I know that making renders are hard and time consuming, but I thought making distinct or unique character that is believeable is harder because in most games that I played, the characters feel the same, different model, different name but their personality is the same, mostly because a single person write the characters. Personally, I can't even make an alt account because of similar writing, it will be easily traced back to me.

I'm going for a mix of One Punch Man and the sexiest man in England Austin Powers. I def like the MC, who is OP, drunk which takes away the seriousness of the situation, and has the MacGuffin power. I think it's a good fit into a dark world.

I've also been thinking of making choices: Drink/ Don't Drink - and then he gets progressively more suicidal and depressed - which will be funny in a dark way.

When it comes to the MC in the intro ( at l east in the Demo and v1.5 ), the game is only or too focused on the "what MC can or cannot do" and neglect for the most part "showing" who is the MC. In simple terms, the decisions in the game had been about choosing "Redemption", "Corruption" or "Anarchy" but not the why. I have said this before, but I just want to explain why "the why" is important, which is aligning who the MC is and the player's fantasy. The impression I have so far is that the MC is actually an "anarchist", which explains why the player is given the choices "Redemption", "Corruption" or "Anarchy" in many scenarios. Only an "anarchist" can act good in one instance, completely wacko another. One example for this is the Sam hallway scene:
1. "Let Sam go" - possible future romance, good guy
2. "Exploit your authority" - forced sex
3. "Disturb Sam's shadow" - mind control sex
But yeah, this is just how adult VNs operate, players given good or bad choices, and to play as good guy, pick only the good choices. Since there is no hard route, it is up to players themselves to create a pseudo-route that fits their fantasy.

On a related note, follow up scene the next morning, there is no reason why MC sleep naked in the bathroom if he "Let Sam go" the night before. You could say that Kiri takes his clothes off and hid it in the Library anyway so that she can do her prank, but it just makes no sense, unjustified for her to prank the MC when he had been a good boy. Ideally, that "Redemption" choice the night before should really create alternate "route" ( missed out hallway scene, Lily & Saya hallway, and Zuri & Erica Library ) that goes straight to the auditorium with Lily & Saya, unless Zuri & Erica Library scene has importance, then Kiri told the MC to meet them and the MC went to the Library fully clothed, wave to Lily & Saya in the hallway while entering, before going to the auditorium. This way decision has more weight and more meaningful. Understandably, it creates more work that not many want to do.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Argh, been overwhelmed by work - I just wanna quit and do my own stuff xD

pacing twice...

I think pacing is better now, I redid the intro - and I actually like it now. Now includes short cutscenes xD

Haven't played Disco Elysium, so I am not familiar with the writing style, but it should be fine with fans of that game. Just have to spread the word.

I played a loooot of games (it's part of my girl job to play stuff) - and I can tell ya, Disco Elysium is the ultimate masterpiece... And the writing, it's what I always strived for. Idk if you like reading older stuff, but it's like a mix of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and Germinal by Émile Zola - both books are damn bangers.

I have no idea what the story ( past, present or future ) all about and know very little about the Chimera world, so none of these interest me as far as storytelling is concerned. I am interested in a simple "gentle" pull "step into the world" of Chimera intro. An experienced editor can "re-work" the intro sequences with little to no effort, considering most if not all the elements/contents are there already.

This is partly player/dev differentiation, I want lots of lore to be present and made available, whether the player cares to read it or not in a separate interface.

For reference, the amount of stuff I have written is enough for a book, so when I'm close to releasing the game - I will publish the book too (different audience and writing, obviously, it's just something for fun).

Anyway, I think the current v1.5 contents are better than the proposed revision above because they are at least chronologically ordered. All the flashback sequences just make it more complicated. I think it is more suited for movies or pilot episode of a tv series. But of course, there are people who like it, especially those who enjoy action movies.

I think the new version has it better, I understood from comments what works and doesn't - I think. Publishing it here is super useful (and fill up my Patreon slowly but surely xD)

Spoiler: Battlefield Scene

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Let me firstly say that it feels great when someone actually reads what I write xD

Hmm, you made a few points I realized are not clear in the current version.

Showing alignments/faction options - not currently done in an obvious way, guess I will do it post-Inquisition meeting when the game properly splits.
Showing abilities - it's more of a time investment question, I can make something looks awesome like abilities presented in a cool way, but damn, it's way more effort than making a sex scene.

I think some Barry style comedy will make it a bit more interesting too.

Morgana is still the opening, but it is flashbacked from the culmination of the battlefield.

For character intros - need to do a better job, though, I like for instance how Lily is introduced, but your structure of 'show' actually works too to present all important bits in a structured way

About the "grand entrance/appearance".
Lily - good IMO, the phone call gives it a mystery, so when player first see her on the battlefield, it is quite a memorable moment to finally put a face to the "voice". One downside is that it is not the first time MC met Lily because they worked together, it happened off-screen, so there is a disjointed experience between the MC and the player with regards to who is Lily.
Kiri - could be better, especially if prior to the battlefield there are the "mysterious watcher" scenes, one downside is that there is also another disjointed experience, the player is now aware about Kiri the spy but the MC does not know that yet, not until the bathroom morning scene.
Mia - imagine if prior to the battlefield scene, MC is reading some reports ( considering he is like a detective in our world, the real world, who solves crime and file paperwork ) regarding rampant crimes, "vandalism" orchestrated by anonymous group of individuals only identified by an insignia ( Rebels insignia for example ), but there is no mention about Rebels or anything like that, during the "confrontation" with Mia, MC and player will see this insignia and make the connection between the reports to the Rebels. In this instance, her first appearance is more impactful IMO.

Eh, Japanese VNs set a trend of sequential introduction of characters, wouldn't say I'm a huge fan. Meet your neighbor, run into a girl with a toast, meet a student council president, etc.

I like introducing in various pairs because it introduces some dynamics, but I get the overall point.

I know that making renders are hard and time consuming, but I thought making distinct or unique character that is believeable is harder because in most games that I played, the characters feel the same, different model, different name but their personality is the same, mostly because a single person write the characters. Personally, I can't even make an alt account because of similar writing, it will be easily traced back to me.

You loose your fancy stats when you make an alt account xD

Writing in different styles is fine, but takes more time.

When it comes to the MC in the intro ( at l east in the Demo and v1.5 ), the game is only or too focused on the "what MC can or cannot do" and neglect for the most part "showing" who is the MC. In simple terms, the decisions in the game had been about choosing "Redemption", "Corruption" or "Anarchy" but not the why. I have said this before, but I just want to explain why "the why" is important, which is aligning who the MC is and the player's fantasy. The impression I have so far is that the MC is actually an "anarchist", which explains why the player is given the choices "Redemption", "Corruption" or "Anarchy" in many scenarios. Only an "anarchist" can act good in one instance, completely wacko another. One example for this is the Sam hallway scene:
1. "Let Sam go" - possible future romance, good guy
2. "Exploit your authority" - forced sex
3. "Disturb Sam's shadow" - mind control sex
But yeah, this is just how adult VNs operate, players given good or bad choices, and to play as good guy, pick only the good choices. Since there is no hard route, it is up to players themselves to create a pseudo-route that fits their fantasy.

On a related note, follow up scene the next morning, there is no reason why MC sleep naked in the bathroom if he "Let Sam go" the night before. You could say that Kiri takes his clothes off and hid it in the Library anyway so that she can do her prank, but it just makes no sense, unjustified for her to prank the MC when he had been a good boy. Ideally, that "Redemption" choice the night before should really create alternate "route" ( missed out hallway scene, Lily & Saya hallway, and Zuri & Erica Library ) that goes straight to the auditorium with Lily & Saya, unless Zuri & Erica Library scene has importance, then Kiri told the MC to meet them and the MC went to the Library fully clothed, wave to Lily & Saya in the hallway while entering, before going to the auditorium. This way decision has more weight and more meaningful. Understandably, it creates more work that not many want to do.

I redid Sam character and will redo the sex scene accordingly, including the Thoughts part to give more context.

This will also be the case for Kiri and the clothes prank, depending on past choices. Part of the thing for v2.0 is to connect everything this way and make it more interesting (it wasn't in v1.5)

My responses might be all over the place, but I have a pretty good idea what you mean, and users here in general, to move things forward.

 

[JohnF95zone]

Eh, Japanese VNs set a trend of sequential introduction of characters, wouldn't say I'm a huge fan. Meet your neighbor, run into a girl with a toast, meet a student council president, etc.

I like introducing in various pairs because it introduces some dynamics, but I get the overall point.

Yeah, the Japanese create "waifus", "idols", "vtubers" and what not. There must be good reasons why they do sequential intro for example. If you know why, how, when among other things, then you can safely follow suit or not. If you don't understand, just "copying" what the Japanese ( or others ) do, will not work, or the opposite is also true, not "copying" when the condition are right will be a misopportunity.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Working on a new cover image for v2.0.

Blood on the hand - yay or nay?

This is a quick, unedited version.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

HELL YEEEEEEEEEES.

It took me 1 month of arguing with Steam and around 15 messages with their customer service, but the build is approved, meaning there will not be any content issues in the future, and I don't need to make the game less dark in any way!

Wooooooo!

Version 2.0 will be published on Steam as a Demo along with publishing it here - and version 3.0 (or maybe 4.0 if I can keep up my schedule) - will be available as Early Release for purchase.

That was a big hurdle, and I can proceed with development in peace, knowing that the Steam isn't going to nuke my game! It's definitely a significant motivation.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

#18 Update:

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A quick heads-up before diving into the latest updates: Unity's new "Runtime Fee" has thrown me a bit of a curveball. It's made my irl job a tad more hectic, so things slowed down on the development front. That said, I'm still pushing forward, at a slightly gentler pace. Rest assured, I'm all in on this game and try putting every spare moment into it (well, adding some time to play Baldur's Gate 3 as well...).

Spoiler

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[JohnF95zone]

Look at this and

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. I guess luck really makes a huge difference after all, contrary to my belief. I played the game, it has really nice visuals, animations, sounds, musics, UI etc. but the story & storytelling is shit, and barely any contents. At its current state, it is just a walking, clicking simulator of the worst possible sandbox.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Look at this and

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. I guess luck really makes a huge difference after all, contrary to my belief. I played the game, it has really nice visuals, animations, sounds, musics, UI etc. but the story & storytelling is shit, and barely any contents. At its current state, it is just a walking, clicking simulator of the worst possible sandbox.

I played most of the Milf games on this forum - and yeah, the writing makes me cringe a lot of times, including the top titles here. It also applies to visual novels, which I typically prefer - cause they have more text - with a lot of gems in the sea of crap.

My issue is not with the quality of the text itself, but sometimes, some devs give me a feeling that they never talked with a woman before. I know there is a certain suspension of disbelief, but there's a limit at how much you can simplify the dynamics of the different sorts of relationships... Most times, any sort of relationship involves some give and take, rather than "bang once she's now mine foreva" or "I have a pic of you doing porn, u r now my slave"

...

On the other note, I have destroyed my back doing deadlifts for a week, so I'm delayed on everything. Stayed in my bed, read novels, and ignored my irl work, and I'm now so fucking backed up xD

However, I finished all the features that the game needs, and beefed up the writing for all scenes a lot to slow down the pace and introduce conversations to the action scenes + Kiri being an observer to all events and doing sort of a summary for everything.

I also decided to have a different take on sex scenes, and instead of doing "oh yes fuck me", will use it to continue storytelling, forcing the players to read it xD



Man, I underestimated the time commitment, need to get back on track.



I feel much more confident after taking things slower when it comes to quality, but they are... slower. Eh.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

So, I've been tackling with a big decision recently, and finally, I made my mind.

Firstly, I just finished the v0.2 of Chimera: Bloodlines, which I honestly think is pretty good - if I wouldn't be making an adult game...

Secondly, I will pause the development of Chimera: Bloodlines, and will move on to the new title, which I have titled as I SCREAM.

I am writing a big message about this - but long story short, as a solo dev with irl job, I have overdone it with the scope. However, I do believe that the new script I wrote is much better. Anyways, update soon - stay tuned

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Hey all! I just updated the thread with the v0.2 version of the game - it took me 1.5 months, and more Python than I've ever written! I hope everyone enjoys it, at least a little!

I wanted to ensure that Day 1 of Chimera: Bloodlines gets done, but this went outside of the scope that a solo developer with an irl job like myself can realistically create.

• Chimera: Bloodlines v0.2 (which concludes Day 1) is available at F95: https://f95zone.to/threads/chimera-bloodlines-season-1-v0-2-fundi.169852/

I've written a detailed public post with the precise reasoning why I'm halting the development and moving on to I SCREAM if anyone is interested:

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In short, the main reason - I've done way too much lore & world-building, and with how many characters there are, the exciting charage and sex content became too difficult to integrate organically into the story. In addition to the Sandbox taking a really long time to code, whenever I write anything.

In any case, I think the v0.2 version isn't bad, and I'm satisfied enough to publish it on Steam, too.

If anyone here enjoyed my game - I am now starting a more realistically scoped adult game called I SCREAM. You can learn more about it here: https://f95zone.to/threads/i-scream-fundi-games-game-dev-journal.177782/
Thank you, everyone, so much - I really love the discussions on this forum - it helped my dev process a lot!

Warmly,
FunDi Games.