Ren'Py Abandoned Chimera: Bloodlines - Season 1 [v0.2] [FunDi]

[JohnF95zone]

Man, really very well-done, great job with the Demo. I immediately understand what your aiming for and at least for me, it is a move in the right direction. Anyway, below are my initial feedbacks based on first playthrough ( just picking random choices ), after been following the development for quite some time now.

First off, side note, I love the original game banner and fan sigs, but yeah I understand the need for it to be changed. I just wished there are sites that are prominently featuring really flashy banners that I can enjoy. On a related note, just a friendly reminder that the game splash screen ( during game start up ) also contains a 2 seconds flashy contents.
Next, the game size is optimally compressed just under 500Mb from over 2Gb, so that is impressive feat on its own.
Renders looks good overall, some are great IMO, the animations are smooth and not taxing on resources.
Musics and sound effects are great addition as well. IMO the moans during sex scene is a nice touch. A quick reminder that the volume presets are at maximum for all 3 default channels, so if anyone playing with headphones just be aware of that.
The game interface is clean, simple and intuitive. There are some sections still not developed ( the 'sandbox' elements ) which is fine for a demo.

Storywise, IMO Fundi did a fine job with "show don't tell" storytelling, but the pacing is too fast. I think because he wants to introduce as many and diverse characters and aspects/facets of this Chimera world as possible in this demo. I appreciate that I don't have to read a whole bunch of texts or being drawn into flashbacks after flashbacks, instead just dive in straight into action. Personally, I like extended action sequences, but so far the actions are good enough for a demo which main purpose is to solicit feedbacks.
Writing, really good command of English, I didn't noticed any typos or obvious grammar mistakes. Generally, the writing sounds natural to me ( as per adult VN norm ), nothing too formal, odd or 'robotic' in nature, but this is highly subjective. GRRM might not approve.
Regarding choices, they are very clear and corresponds well to the "Redemption", "Corruption" and "Anarchy" 'traits'. The result can be immediately seen in the dialogues and/or follow up scenes, but to figure out the long term consequences, we have to wait for future releases.
Replayability, is the main selling point or strength of this game, especially for those who likes to play the good guy, as well as the bad guy.
There are plenty of characters, each with distinct/differentiating personality, with different ability/power, role and/or affliation. Most if not all seem to have their own motives/agendas as well.

Anyway, need to explore the demo a bit more to give proper detailed feedbacks.

Last but not least, congrats for the Demo! Thank you for the share. All the best, FunDi. Cheers.

 

[Darkmessiah30]

why the pregnancy tag does the mc knock someone up or fucking someone who's already pregnant?

 

[Rosen King]

So what sort of mind control is in this, and how prominent is it?

 

[visu]

Where is Android port?

 

[Boopadooparoop]

I'm not entirely sure there's any critical feedback to offer here. I suppose sandbox as a game element is one prone to being an annoying mechanic, but the way it's utilised here is extremely well done and lacking in what makes it annoying. Writing a story from a countless number of branching paths is a daunting endeavour, and one that has often (though there are examples to the contrary such as GGGB) found people abandoning the attempt. From what I saw of it you did a fantastic job of interweaving those paths, which is promising even if this is an enclosed example.
There's far more positive feedback, but I'm not sure how valuable that ultimately is. Your characters thus far are impressively unique, especially for an introduction, both the way your wrote them and the way you rendered them. The mixing of usually disparate story types is compelling, I wasn't expecting to see mafia included in a supernatural superpower type of story but it has me interested personally. The way you integrated the Chimerapad is well thought out and legitimately helpful, unlike most implementations of a phone to the Ren'Py games. Between the way you use the sandbox and Chimerapad it appears you've built a solid foundation and truly understand how to leverage commonly tedious elements to your advantage. Overall, I'd say I had no complaints. Very well done and I hope your story blossoms alongside your future success.

 

[Look-see]

as long as sandbox is designed for free roam and not for us to gather inventory and do fetch quests, gather money and so on then i dont mind sandbox.

basically the game "Desert stalker" is ideal sandbox.

also MC name change.

i have SOME reservations about the mc's hair but eh it's not that big a deal for me.

 

[TiffanyMonroe]

I am one who actually loves sandbox, though I also realize it's a minority position. But surely I am not alone in wishing the Farfisa keyboard sound had died in the 70's. That trailer needs some real music.

 

[DarthYBE]

In the full release - the level of their religiousness will be a lot more obvious, just didn't have the time to add enough humans to really show the contrast.

Don't even worry about it, take your time there's no need to rush perfection .

 

[DrakoGhoul]

Briefly, looking over the tags, overview and preview pictures. This games looks pretty great and the story sounds very interesting. It's definitely hitting all of the stuff that I'm into. I'm down to check this out.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

why the pregnancy tag does the mc knock someone up or fucking someone who's already pregnant?

There are options to impregnate to create a Chimera, which happens either if a Chimera is involved or of humans of different bloodlines. There was a glimpse of it in the demo, and it becomes more prominent in the full chapter release. This is the biggest taboo in this segregated world, equivalent to saying anything bad about Jerome Powell in our world... All those things and ramifications will be more obvious in the full release.

His name is, Ozymandias!

I must admit, that's a solid parallel...

So what sort of mind control is in this, and how prominent is it?

Mind control in this game refers to the act of using someone's shadow to influence their minds - shown very loosely as of yet this version being the demo and all. This will be a prominent piece of the sandbox system. Using mind control in a bad way are parts of corruption and anarchy storylines, and in a positive way - part of the redemption storyline.

Where is Android port?

I didn't have the time to test if the game properly functions on Android due to a couple of specific PC-focused things I'm doing (menus and interfaces). The full chapter 1 release will include all ports.

I'm not entirely sure there's any critical feedback to offer here. I suppose sandbox as a game element is one prone to being an annoying mechanic, but the way it's utilised here is extremely well done and lacking in what makes it annoying.

Sandbox, in my mind =/= mini-games or annoying "go find and click an item" mechanic. Here, it's about deciding where you go, and interacting with the characters (date sim) and shadows (mind control)

You started with the words critical, so I expected something critical in a more negative way, lol.

Writing a story from a countless number of branching paths is a daunting endeavour, and one that has often (though there are examples to the contrary such as GGGB) found people abandoning the attempt. From what I saw of it you did a fantastic job of interweaving those paths, which is promising even if this is an enclosed example.
There's far more positive feedback, but I'm not sure how valuable that ultimately is. Your characters thus far are impressively unique, especially for an introduction, both the way your wrote them and the way you rendered them. The mixing of usually disparate story types is compelling, I wasn't expecting to see mafia included in a supernatural superpower type of story but it has me interested personally.

In my mind: redemption = rebels, corruption = inquisition, anarchy = mafia, BUT there are also subroutes that differentiate the selected paths. I have the full story in my head, and the full chapter 1 will have a minimum of 8 prominent characters. I have looots of models and characters I've developed/written, just didn't have time to include

I mentioned it above, but I'd rather make a short replayable game and a long linear one.

The way you integrated the Chimerapad is well thought out and legitimately helpful, unlike most implementations of a phone to the Ren'Py games. Between the way you use the sandbox and Chimerapad it appears you've built a solid foundation and truly understand how to leverage commonly tedious elements to your advantage. Overall, I'd say I had no complaints. Very well done and I hope your story blossoms alongside your future success.

ChimeraPad (worked veeeery hard on that name) = the sandbox mechanic for the game. I've been thinking about mini-games for extra interactivity but abandoned the idea and figured that having additional interfaces through the pad is enough extra interactivity to avoid being a pure VN.

I've played lots of games from this forum and know exactly what pisses me and other players off xD I like to use the window climbing in Milfy City as an example

Great stuff, please give us textbox opacity options though!

Yeah, Saint Blackmoor pointed out the same thing - I've had some difficulties because of the way my game handles the textboxes, but it's 100% will be present in the demo. (I got annoyed it didn't work and skipped it for the demo)

as long as sandbox is designed for free roam and not for us to gather inventory and do fetch quests, gather money and so on then i dont mind sandbox.

basically the game "Desert stalker" is ideal sandbox.

also MC name change.

i have SOME reservations about the mc's hair but eh it's not that big a deal for me.

That's pretty much the sandbox, but without the fetch part (probably, we'll see)
I've seen Desert Stalker, been on my list for a while, will check!
MC name change is pretty easy to implement (thanks AI) - I wanted to see if people had a preference, will be part of the Chapter 1
Lol, about MC hair, one of the people on the forum pointed out that white hair is more difficult to self-insert than your typical black, but I'm not budging on this xD

Don't even worry about it, take your time there's no need to rush perfection .

All goes to the drawing board xD Most characters are already designed and I just didn't use them for the demo, because you know, it involves a lot of additional work, especially in the UI, and also to make sure you don't just mention the character once and then forget about it.

Briefly, looking over the tags, overview and preview pictures. This games looks pretty great and the story sounds very interesting. It's definitely hitting all of the stuff that I'm into. I'm down to check this out.

Thanks! Looking at your signature, you should get that I'm going for the Ravager style of very different paths minus all the bestiality stuff, and with additional interfaces for sandbox elements rather than the Ren'Py menu buttons.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Man, really very well-done, great job with the Demo. I immediately understand what your aiming for and at least for me, it is a move in the right direction. Anyway, below are my initial feedbacks based on first playthrough ( just picking random choices ), after been following the development for quite some time now.

That's why your name is in the credits section xD

Everyone is welcome to read our walls of text available in the game dev journal to see how things evolved from a concept: https://f95zone.to/threads/chimera-...rnal-demo-available-wishlist-on-steam.160999/

First off, side note, I love the original game banner and fan sigs, but yeah I understand the need for it to be changed. I just wished there are sites that are prominently featuring really flashy banners that I can enjoy. On a related note, just a friendly reminder that the game splash screen ( during game start up ) also contains a 2 seconds flashy contents.

Learned that the hard way, will be more careful in the future and will fix the logo animation too, good thing I was online to fix it... Full disclosure, I just really liked the glitch effect...

Next, the game size is optimally compressed just under 500Mb from over 2Gb, so that is impressive feat on its own.

Only took 20 hours of compressing, no biggie...

Renders looks good overall, some are great IMO, the animations are smooth and not taxing on resources.

There'll be alot more! Turns out they aren't that hard to make, unless you are going for close angles - then VERY hard.

Musics and sound effects are great addition as well. IMO the moans during sex scene is a nice touch.

I'm satisfied with the music but there will be much more SFX, you'll see after scene 2 it kind of just stops due to time.

A quick reminder that the volume presets are at maximum for all 3 default channels, so if anyone playing with headphones just be aware of that.

I've amplified all music to the max and addded the max volume at 0.35 so that at 100% sound it's at 35% max from -1DB. This will need more fine-tuning.

The game interface is clean, simple and intuitive. There are some sections still not developed ( the 'sandbox' elements ) which is fine for a demo.

All features will be done in the full Chapter 1 release. I just added the "in-development" boxes so that the players see what stuff is coming and what things are actually interactive.

For example, Characters screen is intended for dating mechanics, lore for lore (duh), events for the shadow palace, etc. And it gives more opportunities to add more stuff in the future into this centralized interface.

Storywise, IMO Fundi did a fine job with "show don't tell" storytelling, but the pacing is too fast. I think because he wants to introduce as many and diverse characters and aspects/facets of this Chimera world as possible in this demo.

Pretty much, the pacing is probably a little too fast, because I'm not having a lot of repeats for the same setups with character movements / talking. Normal pacing is for the fulll release, in basically two types: action packed fast paced (like battlefield) / chill get to know characters/world sequences.

Writing, really good command of English, I didn't noticed any typos or obvious grammar mistakes. Generally, the writing sounds natural to me ( as per adult VN norm ), nothing too formal, odd or 'robotic' in nature, but this is highly subjective. GRRM might not approve.

Regarding choices, they are very clear and corresponds well to the "Redemption", "Corruption" and "Anarchy" 'traits'. The result can be immediately seen in the dialogues and/or follow up scenes, but to figure out the long term consequences, we have to wait for future releases.

Couple of people pointed out choices - so I wanted to clarify this. The demo doesn't have the BIG choices yet. There are choices that lead to different behaviors, but they don't impact the story or branches. This is something to be included in the full chapter 1, where there will be big choices that drastically alter the experience (like at the end of the demo, where you decide to which organization to go - this is one of the BIG choices that decide how you tackle the conscription)

There are plenty of characters, each with distinct/differentiating personality, with different ability/power, role and/or affliation. Most if not all seem to have their own motives/agendas as well.

There'll be more, and once Characters/Events functions are completed, motivations and personalities of characters become more clear.

Last but not least, congrats for the Demo! Thank you for the share. All the best, FunDi. Cheers.

Thanks for another solid wall of text!

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

I'll take a break for a few days and monitor the thread for any comments. Anything you say goes into my AI to help me develop the next production schedule. I will send the production schedule to this thread once it's done and kick off the work on the full release.

NOTICE FOR INTERESTED PEOPLE: I'm all set for coding and 3D work, but I would like to bring an experienced Editor on board - feel free to dm me. Must have game dev experience.

And thanks for all the views, likes, and comments, pretty good numbers for barely a day!

 

[lordfridge9]

There's always games like this. Good renders or some kind of different story from everything else, but fall short and end up abandoned. Let's hope it's not the case this time.

 

[holaje12]

I'll take a break for a few days and monitor the thread for any comments. Anything you say goes into my AI to help me develop the next production schedule. I will send the production schedule to this thread once it's done and kick off the work on the full release.

NOTICE FOR INTERESTED PEOPLE: I'm all set for coding and 3D work, but I would like to bring an experienced Editor on board - feel free to dm me. Must have game dev experience.

And thanks for all the views, likes, and comments, pretty good numbers for barely a day!

View attachment 2826566

Is ntr or swinging/sharing planned tags for the future? Would like to know.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

There's always games like this. Good renders or some kind of different story from everything else, but fall short and end up abandoned. Let's hope it's not the case this time.

Indeed, let's hope so! Can't predict the future, but given the fairly positive reception and the fact how fun it was to make the demo, full Chapter 1 will 100% be done, and then we'll see.

When you say "fall short" what specifically tends to fall short? The adult part, story, writing, etc.? Would be useful for me to know. If you have examples that would be great too.

Is ntr or swinging/sharing planned tags for the future? Would like to know.

A person DMed me with this question, so I will paste the response here:

As for NTR, sharing/swinging - it's a definite no for the NTR content, but cheating (MC & SO) will definitely be present. For sharing, I'm willing only to go in as sharing F with another F (lesbian/bi, but still with the protagonist in charge of these decisions), but def not with another M. There's a scene in the end of the game where I wanted to make a lesbian sex scene - but ran out of time. Still gathering feedback on that stuff.

This is done strictly because of how divisive those subjects tend to be, and introduces some difficulties within the game because then you need a system to turn it off/on, so it kinda eats into already long development time.

I'm also playing around with the idea of not having any main or side M characters, except for maybe some side ones and a friend... Still thinking about that.

 

[lordfridge9]

Indeed, let's hope so! Can't predict the future, but given the fairly positive reception and the fact how fun it was to make the demo, full Chapter 1 will 100% be done, and then we'll see.

When you say "fall short" what specifically tends to fall short? The adult part, story, writing, etc.? Would be useful for me to know. If you have examples that would be great too.


As for NTR, sharing/swinging - it's a definite no for the NTR content, but cheating (MC & SO) will definitely be present.

To be honest, i don't really know why that happens. A multitude of reasons I guess? Maybe the story is good, but it fails to reach a wider audience. Maybe there's not enough scenes so people aren't as into it. Maybe it takes 6 months to a year for an update, with many giving up or moving away. Maybe the developer themselves makes about 5 versions, doesn't see or feel the progress/support and simply quits. Really only time will tell. There's games here that are a year or less old, maybe even lots of content but abandoned. Then there are things from 2017, maybe not alot of content, yet still going on.

In regards to your cheating statement, do you mean that as MC cheating on their partner, MC being cheated on or MC helping someone one else to cheat (i.e Netori)?

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

To be honest, i don't really know why that happens. A multitude of reasons I guess...

That's still useful, thanks.

In regards to your cheating statement, do you mean that as MC cheating on their partner, MC being cheated on or MC helping someone one else to cheat (i.e Netori)?

I guess I use the word definitely a bit too definitely. By cheating, I mean Netori (before someone freaks out, it means the MC stealing the SO), I'm just avoiding using the word in case someone might not know the difference. Potentially, there might be options if the MC promises to be exclusive with someone and then cheats, but this might be a bit too difficult to integrate with the whole harem thing.

It's something I need to play around with after the Sandbox part is done. I never enjoyed NTR much, but Netori isn't shabby

 

[lordfridge9]

That's still useful, thanks.



I guess I use the word definitely a bit too definitely. By cheating, I mean Netori (before someone freaks out, it means the MC stealing the SO), I'm just avoiding using the word in case someone might not know the difference. Potentially, there might be options if the MC promises to be exclusive with someone and then cheats, but this might be a bit too difficult to integrate with the whole harem thing.

It's something I need to play around with after the Sandbox part is done. I never enjoyed NTR much, but Netori isn't shabby

Ah, ya know how you said that the three letter word might be allergic in here? Well, you also mentioned another one. Sandbox. Don't take what I'm saying for granted, but please don't be surprised if people complain about this being a sandbox or straight up refuse to play it because of that. This dislike is usually either due to convoluted mechanics or some form of annoying grinding.

 

[Kitchentable]

Sandbox debate over this here? Really?

Instead of presenting three clickable choices like "go or talk to A, B or C" on a background render, there is a render of a map and you click on a location and then the next scene at said location is played. That's basically the same, innit?

There is less free roam/sandbox/open world here than in the acclaimed and popular AVN about being a dick.

That said, interesting concept with the alignment system and the three factions.

 

[Deleted member 2282952]

Do any mods know if I can update the thread with the new build with a few fixes and requested features (character name + slider opacity) + update download links?

Ah, ya know how you said that the three letter word might be allergic in here? Well, you also mentioned another one. Sandbox. Don't take what I'm saying for granted, but please don't be surprised if people complain about this being a sandbox or straight up refuse to play it because of that. This dislike is usually either due to convoluted mechanics or some form of annoying grinding.

The Sandbox part is fine, I'm not interested in making a pure VN, there're plenty of those. Probably just need to communicate that Sandbox doesn't mean fetching / mini-games.