Ren'Py [Game Dev Journal] Locked Heart (Final Fantasy 7)

[Anorak]

So I am making a Final Fantasy 7 game, I've got several artists on board, as well as a composer. I am looking for quite a large game towards the finished release, but I'll have lots of fun making it along the way. Myself I am game designer, writer and somewhat of a co-programmer, though I suck HARD at that last part. Thankfully I have some help.


Game Premise: You play as Don Corneo, set after the classic FF7 game. You didn't die, but you have lost it all. You're broke, humiliated, and more or less another bum in the streets of Wall Market. You have but one goal: To rebuild and become the undisputed don once more (and get REALLY perverted while doing so).



(White outline around Corneo will be fixed, of course)

Story: You'll find Tifa rather soon, and the first several parts of the game will focus on her as the main girl. You will have to trick her into working for you, taking out some competition in the slums, and eventually serve you completely. She isn't easily corruptible at all, so you may have to do some dirty tricks or outright blackmail in order to get her to do what you want. In later parts of the game, more girls from the game will show up, and you'll uncover this homebrewed story of what happened with Shinra corporation, how Midgar now operates, and some good old slum diplomacy. (AKA kneecapping people)



Gameplay: Not terribly dissimilar to other ren'py games, the different girls (and Corneo) will have various stats that you can manipulate, there will be a bit of a combat system (originally intended to be reminiscent of the Fort Condor battles, but due to Ren'py being Ren'py, it'll be a bit different), you can start taking over Wall Market again and rule it the way you see fit. (Hopefully it involves money and girls, Corneo likes that kind of thing after all)

Here's hoping that everything goes well and that I can have a playable demo for you in the not too far-off future. I am working with 3 artists so that the process could be sped up a bit, hopefully.

 

[Zodiark69]

3 artists, so we should see 3 different styles of art then?

 

[Anorak]

3 artists, so we should see 3 different styles of art then?

Not quite, I have the two character artists simulate eachother's artstyle as much as possible. The two pictures I posted here are from two different artists. The background artist won't make character art either, so that won't be anything noticeable.

 

[Zodiark69]

Ah, okay. Even so, would've been cool to see each artists' take on the characters.

 

[Deleted member 3195249]

Looks cool.

 

[Anorak]

Alright, a bit over a month later, and a massive update. I was always hesitant in doing things like weekly updates, when there wasn't a lot to show for it, as hand drawn art takes time (even with 3 artists), and that I don't want to give away a lot of the things I'm writing for it either, but here goes something:

The story;
The story is progressing fine, I do try and write a lot for it to have a bunch of branching options, and I realize that for every scene, without rolling back and testing other options, you wouldn't see more than a third of the things I write (since in my unfathomable genius, I decided to have branching paths WITHIN branching paths. There is clearly something wrong with me...)
I do tend to write in a humorous way, while not making it just a joke parody either. Don Corneo is short sighted and has delusions of grandeur, but I won't have him honk his clown nose and fall on his butt anytime soon...
...
-Writes that in a memo-

The music:
Yes you read that right, there's music here, I'm going all out! I am working with a composer to make FF7 reminiscent music (that hopefully won't earn me a copyright strike and a Squenix lawsuit fisting). I friggin' love it, and I couldn't leave you without just a tasty little morsel of what's in store, so enjoy: (Link to be remade soon)

The art:
Of course I know what you're most interested in, you perverted degenerates. I can't just give away ALL the goodies here, so I'll be dividing it up into future updates as well. We have sprites, CG's, 3-frame loop animations and other. For this one, I'll be showcasing more of the Corneo and Tifa sprites, and the extra steps I'm going with them, both in terms of expressions and the fact that they can... (Drumroll) TURN AROUND!!!
...
Yeah, well fuck you, I thought it was really cool... Anyway, some pictures are included in the bottom of this post

The programming:
The thing that hasn't really started up just yet, since I am absolutely incapable to code if even to save my worthless life. I have a programmer I'm working with, but I can't get the programming started until some more art and game mechanics have been worked out (stats and their impact in the game, mainly)

What is left:
...Fuck do I know?! I'll be writing like a lunatic on speed, whenever I'm not busy crying in the shower or having my daily mental breakdowns, so the story is still a ways away before the first playable demo. As I mentioned, there's some stats to figure out as well, and then to code all of that together. Hopefully it's just complicated, and not overly time consuming, and I won't even bother asking the programmer if this is the case (I'd rather live in ignorance). There's about... 8-10 more art pieces I think before the first playable demo is finished, so that's going to take a while. And lastly, I am thinking about 4 tracks for this, so that has to be made as well. Can't really give a timeframe for this, since I don't have a clear idea in mind myself, and I don't want to blow smoke up your asses. (Well, I do actually, but in a different sense. GOD I have issues)
Note: Another thing left to do is to change the positions of Tifa's gloves and elbow guard when inverted, which is something I literally JUST realized. Happy days inside my brain right now...

 

[Deleted member 3195249]

This looks great. I am quite hyped. Art is the hardest and longest thing to get done indeed

 

[Zodiark69]

Indeed. Looking forward to more.

 

[Anorak]

Going to see if I can make a bit more frequent updates than monthly here, let's see:

Now then, the project is going along well. Haven't had much art done since the last update, but with holidays around the corner, I'm not holding out much hope that it's going to see much done until after january. And that is okay, because as all creative directors know: the less personal blame you can take in the delays of a project, the better. (Wow, I should start working for EA).

Anyway, jokes aside, things are going to go a bit slow until after new years, I'm not going to whip my art-elves for more fap material until after holidays seasons are over. But I do have things to showcase regardless, as they have been hard at work.

First off, I had to remove the link for the music track last time, but I'll show it here. It is amazing and glorious and I love it. The first playable version will feature 4 tracks (And I foresee them being able to function fine for the next several updates after that, but I will likely commission more music later down the line). If you are a fan of the old Final Fantasy 7, you might wet your underwear when you have a listen to this:

You must be registered to see the links

Writing has gotten CONSIDERABLY slower since last update, due to one main reason: I realized Dexter New Blood was a thing, so I've been a bit stuck on that, as well as re-watching the old seasons of the show. Don't look at me like that, I'm already ashamed enough as it is... (But I still regret nothing). Anyway, all in all the writing is still keeping up with the art I would say, so there's no particular delays within the immediate future.

Programming seems to be going well too. I say 'seems', because I am absolutely illiterate when it comes to coding, so all I see are strange letters and hope they make sense to someone with a brain. As I mentioned before, I have a programmer for that part, so it's all working as it should.

And lastly, I have some more art to share with you all. First off we have the main map of the game, which features 7 interactible locations, and I love it. It feels very reminiscent of the classic FF7, even with the placing of the different locations in conjunction with eachother. Lovely. (Extra points if you can point out what the 7 locations are in the comments. 2 of them are copouts though, so I'll give 5 correct guesses full points)
And I'll also show art for something else in the game: mini windows. Basically, I will have smaller scenes popping up in the game, like picture-in-pictures, of various (often sexual) things you will be doing in the game. I haven't resized it yet, since the pictures are supposed to be smaller, which is also why it's zoomed in specifically on the action, but I don't think you'll mind...

 

[Zodiark69]

That music was damn good. Hell of a remix rendition of the original song.

 

[Anorak]

Thank you, I love it too. I much rather have these commissioned tracks in the game than the usual copyright free kind of music that's out there. I want it to really feel like FF7, after all.

Anywho, there will likely not be an update until january, as I am not going to work my team that much over the holiday season. Thank you for shown interest, and I'll see you in 2022 with a new update!

 

[Anorak]

I've been holding off on making this post, but the first playable version of the game might take much longer than I anticipated.

Basically, one of my artists jumped off the project due to personal reasons, and the other has problems of their own and art will be much delayed. It is clearly not ideal, but there is also not a whole lot I can do other than scrap what I have paid for so far and get yet another artist (Keep in mind, this isn't the first time I have had to change artist)

That is something I'm really reluctant to do obviously, since the art I have gotten so far won't be from the same artist if I get a new one, and that could stick out alot, potentially. That, plus I really do like the art so far.


So I figure I should let you guys know that there are some problems being worked through. But I have also been thinking of the idea where I would continue with the game development without proper art assets. It could for all I know have my own doodlings in there for standby until the artist can get back to doing what they do best. This isn't an idea I'm super happy with, but I figure I could just as well check in with others to see what they think. As it stands right now, getting a new artist is not on the table...

 

[Zodiark69]

Honestly, this kind of stuff does happen. If you're confident that your artist will be back, perhaps do more on the side that doesn't require the art for now. If they won't be back, then think about a new artist some time in the future.

 

[agito187187]

this game's gonna be a banger in history of bangers

 

[Anorak]

this game's gonna be a banger in history of bangers

I can absolutely guarantee that this is what I'm aiming for. the writing is going to compliment the artstyle and I want to make sure it gets some great art and scenes, as well as animations, even if I have to throw out some big bucks to make it happen.
But as of right now, there's still a delay in regards to the artist.

 

[agito187187]

I can absolutely guarantee that this is what I'm aiming for. the writing is going to compliment the artstyle and I want to make sure it gets some great art and scenes, as well as animations, even if I have to throw out some big bucks to make it happen.
But as of right now, there's still a delay in regards to the artist.

not only am i a final fantasy 7 fan. i also kind of love NTR (cheating) content. i can just hope that u will put a "NTR switch/button" in the game so the players can decide whether if "Tifa cheating on Cloud" or "getting corrupted by Don Corneo's manipulating words" in some way. Aeris getting convinced by Tifa this and that. Corrupted by the Slum Market? (some small ideas i'd like to share)

 

[Anorak]

Well, there will be NTR in the game, to some variety. I have to specify, since I might not know your intended definition of the word.
Tifa will be heavily corrupted by Corneo, slowly over time. She will feel a degradation of her morals and what she is willing to do for him, as he keeps pushing those boundries. Cloud isn't even in the game for the vast majority of it, so there won't be any scenes where they're specifically cucking Cloud with him being in the room or something like that (Well, thinking about it, I could make that happen in a very different scenario, but regardless).
The Wall Market will come under control of Corneo again, and with it, all the power he can wield. And he likely wants to use it to corrupt these heroines heavily. The girls will also be able to interact with eachother, which varies based on their levels of corruption.

 

[coxtation]

Where can I give you all my money????

 

[Anorak]

Where can I give you all my money????

Well, nowhere, really. You should keep them, money is good. You can buy pizza if you have money.

When there's a playable version out and I have planned updates, I would start a patreon, but I don't have plans to do so before that.

 

[tantaluss]

Really hope that your still continuing with this, despite your problems with artists leaving. Looks like a really promising game that I can see you've put a lot of time and passion into.