I'm keeping this log because it's fun to write down my thoughts. I can't talk about any of this stuff with my friends. Only fellow degens will understand. Maybe you'll think my thoughts are fun, too, so I'm making this public.
Barely started developing a few days ago. I spent some time figuring out the barebones plotline and character designs, then started messing around with Daz3D. I don't have the art skills to draw my own stuff. I quickly realized that it's not realistic for me to render for 1 hour+ per scene. I could upgrade my computer, but I kind of have to eat. So instead, I'm switching to Koikatsu Studio for now. It's way easier on my computer, and as a bonus, it'll be easier for me to get into than Daz since I already have a bit of experience with Koikatsu. I'm also looking a little at Honeyselect but I'm leaning away from that for now.
I've never written professionally or recreationally to any significant degree. We've established that I'm "artistically challenged". I have no experience in game design, although I do really like playing videogames. Even the programming portion of development is lost on me. Hell, I don't even post on forums. I'm usually just a lurker. So why did I suddenly decide to make an erotic visual novel?
It's pretty simple. I like to talk to people, and I like porn. Making erotic visual novels is like talking to people through porn. Some of those people are even made up in my head. Bam, Family Memories. Incest galore. I also want just want to finish something that I can say I'm happy about. I don't want this to be something big. I'm trying to keep the scope of the game small in every way I can so that I guarantee that it won't be some sort of herculean ordeal that I give up on halfway through, even if this limits the audience I can reach.
3 characters, mostly contained within a single household due to the plot itself. This way I can limit the number of assets I need to put together without crippling the story. The game will have very limited gameplay elements so that I can focus on finetuning my skills in Koikatsu Studio during this project without devoting too much time to Ren'py and Python. I'll worry about that later if I decide to create a bigger game.
I'll mainly give players agency through dialogue options past the prologue. However, branching dialogue options will either A. clog up the game and make it too lengthy for me to develop or B. trick the player into thinking they have agency when really their choice is meaningless in the grand scheme of the game. I'm looking at you, Mass Effect 3. So, I plan on implementing a simple meter with every event. The plot necessitates that the main character gets closer to each character individually. Pick the best dialogue options, and the meter will fill up. Fill it up all the way, and you get a heart. The harem end requires that you collect at least most of the hearts, otherwise, you only get the option to pick one of the 3 heroines/obvious bad end. If you pick an obviously bad dialogue option, you'll get a strike separate from the meter. 2-3 strikes (I haven't decided) and you get booted from the scene. You have a limited amount of days to bang each character, which provides players incentive to choose wisely rather than just pick whatever they think would piss off the heroine. That's the only special game mechanic I have in mind so far. It doesn't seem like it should be too hard to implement.
The trick is in actually writing good options so that the player won't feel cheated if they pick the wrong one. I also need to provide enough leeway so that the player can pick a few neutral options while still being able to fill up the meter. Ideally, the player will feel incentivized to review dialogue carefully and think about the heroine in order to answer properly. This idea mostly came from Persona 5, where you have to answer questions correctly in order to get favor with characters, but the concept is generic enough that I think I can say that I didn't steal it. I doubt Atlus will come after some dude on a porn game forum anyways.
I don't have any models done yet. Fun stuff comes later. My character designs are at their bare minimum right now. I just have their basic personality traits and characteristics written down so I at least have an idea of how they'd talk. I've only written meaningful amounts of dialogue for the mom character, narration, and MC, and it all amounts to less than like 200 lines of dialogue. It was enjoyable to write, though, especially the groping scene. Later on, once I figure out Ren'py better, the bad end will give you an immediate prompt to the earlier branching dialogue.
Anyways, here's the script I have so far. I'm just going to post the Ren'py code since its pretty easy to read in it's current state. Roast me if you think any of my ideas are stupid, or if you hate my writing, or my post, or if you just want me to die painfully in a fire. Any criticism or ideas are welcome.
Barely started developing a few days ago. I spent some time figuring out the barebones plotline and character designs, then started messing around with Daz3D. I don't have the art skills to draw my own stuff. I quickly realized that it's not realistic for me to render for 1 hour+ per scene. I could upgrade my computer, but I kind of have to eat. So instead, I'm switching to Koikatsu Studio for now. It's way easier on my computer, and as a bonus, it'll be easier for me to get into than Daz since I already have a bit of experience with Koikatsu. I'm also looking a little at Honeyselect but I'm leaning away from that for now.
I've never written professionally or recreationally to any significant degree. We've established that I'm "artistically challenged". I have no experience in game design, although I do really like playing videogames. Even the programming portion of development is lost on me. Hell, I don't even post on forums. I'm usually just a lurker. So why did I suddenly decide to make an erotic visual novel?
It's pretty simple. I like to talk to people, and I like porn. Making erotic visual novels is like talking to people through porn. Some of those people are even made up in my head. Bam, Family Memories. Incest galore. I also want just want to finish something that I can say I'm happy about. I don't want this to be something big. I'm trying to keep the scope of the game small in every way I can so that I guarantee that it won't be some sort of herculean ordeal that I give up on halfway through, even if this limits the audience I can reach.
3 characters, mostly contained within a single household due to the plot itself. This way I can limit the number of assets I need to put together without crippling the story. The game will have very limited gameplay elements so that I can focus on finetuning my skills in Koikatsu Studio during this project without devoting too much time to Ren'py and Python. I'll worry about that later if I decide to create a bigger game.
I'll mainly give players agency through dialogue options past the prologue. However, branching dialogue options will either A. clog up the game and make it too lengthy for me to develop or B. trick the player into thinking they have agency when really their choice is meaningless in the grand scheme of the game. I'm looking at you, Mass Effect 3. So, I plan on implementing a simple meter with every event. The plot necessitates that the main character gets closer to each character individually. Pick the best dialogue options, and the meter will fill up. Fill it up all the way, and you get a heart. The harem end requires that you collect at least most of the hearts, otherwise, you only get the option to pick one of the 3 heroines/obvious bad end. If you pick an obviously bad dialogue option, you'll get a strike separate from the meter. 2-3 strikes (I haven't decided) and you get booted from the scene. You have a limited amount of days to bang each character, which provides players incentive to choose wisely rather than just pick whatever they think would piss off the heroine. That's the only special game mechanic I have in mind so far. It doesn't seem like it should be too hard to implement.
The trick is in actually writing good options so that the player won't feel cheated if they pick the wrong one. I also need to provide enough leeway so that the player can pick a few neutral options while still being able to fill up the meter. Ideally, the player will feel incentivized to review dialogue carefully and think about the heroine in order to answer properly. This idea mostly came from Persona 5, where you have to answer questions correctly in order to get favor with characters, but the concept is generic enough that I think I can say that I didn't steal it. I doubt Atlus will come after some dude on a porn game forum anyways.
I don't have any models done yet. Fun stuff comes later. My character designs are at their bare minimum right now. I just have their basic personality traits and characteristics written down so I at least have an idea of how they'd talk. I've only written meaningful amounts of dialogue for the mom character, narration, and MC, and it all amounts to less than like 200 lines of dialogue. It was enjoyable to write, though, especially the groping scene. Later on, once I figure out Ren'py better, the bad end will give you an immediate prompt to the earlier branching dialogue.
Anyways, here's the script I have so far. I'm just going to post the Ren'py code since its pretty easy to read in it's current state. Roast me if you think any of my ideas are stupid, or if you hate my writing, or my post, or if you just want me to die painfully in a fire. Any criticism or ideas are welcome.
Last edited:
