Game development

[TXhost]

Hey guys and ladies!

Ever since playing my first game 3 years ago, I've decided to bring forth my first development since the beginning of September. I have gotten used to daz software since then and the only thing that I might have to work on is learning renpy/python for more complicated tasks.

My questions to you are what are your tips to make a logo?

As well as how well would you receive a game where its plot implements strong themes that are emotional?

Would an MC with a realistic yet above average dick put you off? Would you mind there not being frequent rates of sex scenes? (Not sex scene every 5 minutes)

Would you mind waiting for a game update that may take 4 to 5 months?

The last question I wanted to highlight because I wanted my first release episode to be over an hour long. I have planned it to have at least 11 events to play through, and so far i have finished 2 events with a total render count of 187. I am aiming for the total count to be anywhere around 1,000 to around 1,200. I am currently using a gaming laptop with a 2070 super max q and and 3070 in an egpu configuration. ''

If there is any advice on what I could do to make my workflow easier or any tools I can use, please let me know! Thanks.

 

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Making a logo, learn Photoshop/Gimp. If you use an iPad, Procreate is awesome. Find logos you like and do something similar.

Emotional is better imo as long as it isn't annoyingly over the top.

Average size is more relatable to more people, preferable for me.

An update should take however long it takes to make it good. There are plenty of shitty games out there. We need quality over quantity. Don't let anyone pressure you into releasing something before it is ready.

For your workflow, making a virtual novel like this is very similar to story boarding for film or television. You need a script, you need an idea for the shots and then you produce the shots using your models, sets and cameras. Look up on Youtube how to storyboard and prepare for shooting indie films. You can fortunately ship the catering for the actors.

That said, good luck with Renpy. There is no interface, its not user friendly at all, and the documentation sucks. For me it has been the biggest headache and bottleneck for development.

 

[GreenGobbo]

Logo and art work are important, but not super important.
Just make sure they look good/professional enough that they'll attract attention.
Doesn't need to be AAA quality though.
There's a niche for almost everything.
Some love story heavy stuff. Some don't care one way or another about story.
Some will skip through any/all story related stuff you put in and just fast forward to the stuff they can wank to.
So just make the type of game you want to play.
Ignore anyone who says to go story heavy.
Ignore anyone who says to go light on the story.
Ignore anyone who says to make it a sex scene blitzkrieg.
Just pick your own pace and put the scenes in whenever and wherever you want them / feel like they should go.
Every one will have their own opinion on the matter.
Some of those opinions will line up with each other, some won't.
Best bet for that is to just ignore everyone's opinions except your own on the frequency of the adult scenes.
Figure out where they make sense for you in whatever story you decide to do and just stick with whatever your gut says on it.
People will complain either way no matter what you decide on about it.
So just let them whine and ignore it.


Also, don't try shooting for the moon.
Many games here get abandoned because they're being made by 1st or 2nd time devs that are trying to do too much and they end up overwhelmed with the size/scope of the project.
Keep it simple.
Try not to do anything huge/complicated for your first go round.

The rest of the stuff, other folks can talk about better.

 

[F4C430]

You probably want to poke around the dev subforum because there's lots of useful information there.

 

[Doorknob22]

If there is any advice on what I could do to make my workflow easier or any tools I can use, please let me know! Thanks.

For your first game my best tip is to aim low. Plan a very modest game you can start and finish. Don't start with an epic project which will grow too large for you to handle and you'll quit.

 

[TrashGods]

Similar to what Doorknow22 said, aim low, because from what you said you don't have much experience with making games yet, you can get easily overwhelmed and confused with the process (scripting, designing, making the story and proofreading it, making the game "juicy" and not only the scenes).

I don't think you have to worry about logo, dick length or episode duration yet, you should ask yourself if you will find the game interesting to play with your own preferences. If you're focusing too much on what other people will like, they will never like it when you ship the game. Right now you might be thinking that "you would play a game that does X and has Y", but can you execute it in such way where you can't bore yourself?

 

[Dratura]

For these kind of questions I always have this one answer: Create a market and target group analysis. If done well, this document will tell you everything else, e.g. finding the 'correct' color, form, font, ... for pretty much everything you need.

 

[Dratura]

For your first game my best tip is to aim low. Plan a very modest game you can start and finish. Don't start with an epic project which will grow too large for you to handle and you'll quit.

You can easily start with a huge project. It just requires a good plan and according management. Depending on the personality this is most commonly harder to pull off, but with the right skills still easily done.

 

[MissFortune]

That said, good luck with Renpy. There is no interface, its not user friendly at all, and the documentation sucks. For me it has been the biggest headache and bottleneck for development.

Honestly sounds like you're making it way harder than it needs to be. What are you coding in? It honestly doesn't get much better (do agree on the documentation, though.) than Ren'py at this level. Granted, I'm not doing a sandbox, open world-esque, or anything overly complicated. But as someone who's never coded professionally (or even on a hobbyist level until I started working with Ren'py), the only time I've had to go out of my way to ask for help with was figuring out how to get a transparency slider working. Just takes some time to grasp everything, but it's overall easy enough. Especially on the kinetic/choice drive-esque VNs, can't speak for sandboxs (which it doens't seem like you're making?). Typos are always going to be an issue (and will usually break any app/program if it's wrong), but you can't really blame the program(s) for that.

Short of some imagebuttons and gui adjustments I've done (and tracking variables/stats/choices), the more or less of my coding is basically stuff like: scene image1 with dissolve/play music(or sound) "music/song.mp3" fadein 1.0/ mc "Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. . ." - and stuff of that sort. Your scene-to-scene dialogue/code shouldn't be that complicated, again, unless you're making a sandbox (which I have zero knowledge in.)

 

[Doorknob22]

For these kind of questions I always have this one answer: Create a market and target group analysis.

I would humbly suggest against this approach. At core, the game/VN should is like any other creative process. It should come from you. From your guts.

It's OK to ask some questions here and there and run some polls from time to time but to base your whole vision on a target group analysis? Seems like a recipe for a souless, unimaginative product.

 

[Dratura]

I would humbly suggest against this approach. At core, the game/VN should is like any other creative process. It should come from you. From your guts.

It's OK to ask some questions here and there and run some polls from time to time but to base your whole vision on a target group analysis? Seems like a recipe for a souless, unimaginative product.

You are absolutely correct. This is most commonly used in those big video game companies to drain out hearts and souls from games to print money. But fk that, especially 'cuz they use it in a totally different way than I do.

I have stated my point in a bad way. I'm more speaking of a set of tools you create for yourself. Then you can easily use them if you struggle on a decision or simply lack an idea. A simple example: I've put zombies and ghouls into my game. The game is lacking a logo but I instantly had the idea to use a skull as a base, but struggle now on finding a good color for it. My document would suggest me then to use a dark green tone to give the impression of the rotting dead.
I've got like 50+ of these tools by now and can always rely on them, no matter which problem I'm facing.

 

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Honestly sounds like you're making it way harder than it needs to be. What are you coding in? It honestly doesn't get much better (do agree on the documentation, though.) than Ren'py at this level. Granted, I'm not doing a sandbox, open world-esque, or anything overly complicated. But as someone who's never coded professionally (or even on a hobbyist level until I started working with Ren'py), the only time I've had to go out of my way to ask for help with was figuring out how to get a transparency slider working. Just takes some time to grasp everything, but it's overall easy enough. Especially on the kinetic/choice drive-esque VNs, can't speak for sandboxs (which it doens't seem like you're making?). Typos are always going to be an issue (and will usually break any app/program if it's wrong), but you can't really blame the program(s) for that.

Short of some imagebuttons and gui adjustments I've done (and tracking variables/stats/choices), the more or less of my coding is basically stuff like: scene image1 with dissolve/play music(or sound) "music/song.mp3" fadein 1.0/ mc "Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. . ." - and stuff of that sort. Your scene-to-scene dialogue/code shouldn't be that complicated, again, unless you're making a sandbox (which I have zero knowledge in.)

I'm using Atom currently. I've coded in HTML using Dreamweaver and built websites, this is much worse and not at all user friendly. I can totally blame the software for breaking due to typos where at least in HTML the whole thing doesn't fail to initialize due to a colon in the wrong spot. There is 0 formatting help, no image preview, no timeline or most importantly any GUI whatsoever. It would probably be easier to create a VN using HTML and CSS but Ren'Py is supposed to be made for this already? I would LOVE to pay a premium for software that does all of this on a professional level. Unfortunately this is such a niche interest that doesn't seem to exist?
There is so much room for improvement. How about a simple menu with a dropdown list of commands that automatically inputs them upon selection? Nope, you just need to remember every single command yourself. How about some quality of life improvements like for example if I type in "show image01a" there should be a feature which previews the image upon hovering over it so I know that yes it is the correct image and yes I named it correctly.. The fact that you have to load the entire project only to find out your file was actually named "image01A" not "image01a" is laughable. Maybe a tooltip so you can play audio and music in your code to make sure you like the volume level without loading the entire project to preview it.
The entire "Menu" function for conversations should be automated as should many python functions. They could even add an imagemap builder which uses vectors to create click through links with a popup menu letting you assign variables.
All of this could be solved by a decent software developer, of which I am not, but I am someone who makes a living using creative software and I can tell you this is some of the most barebones stuff I've ever seen. Any time I mention these issues the respond seems to be "get gud" or "it's not hard FOR ME". Meanwhile I can sit a complete stranger in front of any Adobe software and have them up and running in 5 minutes. This is why we are now seeing mobile software taking over industries. The ease of use of new software is astounding while Ren'Py is on a level from about 30 years ago.
I will agree, making basic conversations is simple enough once you memorize the necessary commands. As soon as you get into anything meaningful like python, filmstrip and animation, inventory and quest log, it becomes a pita.