Ren'Py Heavy Five [Ch.2RS] [Nottravis]

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Sounds reasonable to me. Hell, I've no idea what I'm doing so what do I know? But my advice, for what it's worth, would be to work out what you want to happen on the way and then put those into chapters. That would give you a better idea of length and balance than the other way around.

My other top tips are:
1) Only make the game you want - otherwise you'll stop enjoying it. There are points where it is not much fun at all, and making something you have no interest in would make that so much harder.
2) Prep your assets in advance for all of the game if you can. It's a bitch having to search for a location midpoint.
3) Have a chapter on the stocks. By that I mean don't release One until Two is ready. This was my original plan and I so wish I had kept to it but a sudden rash of sci-fi games started popping up at the end of last year and I panicked...

There are a lot of sci-fi games around now, and about to be released (Perverteer of Sisterly Lust fame is doing a sci-fi VN after finishing a couple more versions of SL). I found a game called Galaxy before I found H5 and I quite liked it, so much so that I'm doing the translation and proofreading on it! (It's not been easy, with me not speaking French )

Your game is by far the best I have played in the last couple of years, maybe longer. It was your game and The Headmaster (the game, not an actual headmaster) that prompted me to start working on my game again. I now have the first three chapters written out, I have all thirteen episodes mapped out, I've expanded it slightly to include another mode that I was thinking about, but I've learned a lot since the game's inception and I feel I could pull it off. I've also got plans for a second season, should the need arise. I think it's quite a unique premise too; so just watch 50 games appear over the next six months all with the same idea!

I've been keeping a close eye on any tips and titbits you give away and they've been beneficial, so thank you!

 

[Dripping]

Sounds reasonable to me. Hell, I've no idea what I'm doing so what do I know? But my advice, for what it's worth, would be to work out what you want to happen on the way and then put those into chapters. That would give you a better idea of length and balance than the other way around.

My other top tips are:
1) Only make the game you want - otherwise you'll stop enjoying it. There are points where it is not much fun at all, and making something you have no interest in would make that so much harder.
2) Prep your assets in advance for all of the game if you can. It's a bitch having to search for a location midpoint.
3) Have a chapter on the stocks. By that I mean don't release One until Two is ready. This was my original plan and I so wish I had kept to it but a sudden rash of sci-fi games started popping up at the end of last year and I panicked...

Thanks! As for that last tip: That's about the same time I started visiting f95zone. Most of those games literally went nowhere and may be tagged as abandoned by now. I figure it's a matter of the days getting colder again after summer, and lots of people starting some hobby indoors with no real plans or anything. Halfway springtime they start to worry about their hamstercage heating up too much, while their patreon income miraculously disappears into the Mallorca fund instead of into that awesome new rig they planned for better renders (which is generally bullshit, a better rig spits out renders faster, but the quality stays more or less the same. If their renders suck on a hamstercage, they'll suck on a new rig as well).

 

[Huitieme]

Sounds reasonable to me. Hell, I've no idea what I'm doing so what do I know? But my advice, for what it's worth, would be to work out what you want to happen on the way and then put those into chapters. That would give you a better idea of length and balance than the other way around.

My other top tips are:
1) Only make the game you want - otherwise you'll stop enjoying it. There are points where it is not much fun at all, and making something you have no interest in would make that so much harder.
2) Prep your assets in advance for all of the game if you can. It's a bitch having to search for a location midpoint.
3) Have a chapter on the stocks. By that I mean don't release One until Two is ready. This was my original plan and I so wish I had kept to it but a sudden rash of sci-fi games started popping up at the end of last year and I panicked...

Sensible bits of advice right here. *nods his head as if he knew what he was talking about while only a short prologue is out of his ass hat*
For the 3rd point, it's something I wished to do as well, so heed my advice on this: either do it before you release anything or don't do it at all. Because once the smallest part of your work is out there (prologue, demo, etc.), you won't have the luxury to do 2 chapters and release them once at a time :/

I found a game called Galaxy before I found H5 and I quite liked it, so much so that I'm doing the translation and proofreading on it! (It's not been easy, with me not speaking French )

Yup, French language can be a bitch! Oh noes, we're back into the loop!

 

[Huitieme]

Thanks! As for that last tip: That's about the same time I started visiting f95zone. Most of those games literally went nowhere and may be tagged as abandoned by now. I figure it's a matter of the days getting colder again after summer, and lots of people starting some hobby indoors with no real plans or anything. Halfway springtime they start to worry about their hamstercage heating up too much, while their patreon income miraculously disappears into the Mallorca fund instead of into that awesome new rig they planned for better renders (which is generally bullshit, a better rig spits out renders faster, but the quality stays more or less the same. If their renders suck on a hamstercage, they'll suck on a new rig as well).

The rig issue is actually real, because when you can't even pose your scene because of "lack of oooomph", to quote Notty, you may not have the required mental fortitude to try complex scenes. With a good RAM and GPU, tho... Your own talent Sky's the limit!

 

[Nottravis]

(which is generally bullshit, a better rig spits out renders faster, but the quality stays more or less the same. If their renders suck on a hamstercage, they'll suck on a new rig as well).

Spoiler: *winks*

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[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Sensible bits of advice right here. *nods his head as if he knew what he was talking about while only a short prologue is out of his ass hat*
For the 3rd point, it's something I wished to do as well, so heed my advice on this: either do it before you release anything or don't do it at all. Because once the smallest part of your work is out there (prologue, demo, etc.), you won't have the luxury to do 2 chapters and release them once at a time :/


Yup, French language can be a bitch! Oh noes, we're back into the loop!

I plan on fully creating the first 3 or 4 chapters before even releasing the first one, that way I can safely work on the other chapters without worrying about falling behind. I also plan on releasing the first chapter completed, I don't like games where you just get a taste of what the game is like, (I can't think of anyone who has done that? ) my first chapter takes place over a week and that's after the massive first part of the game where the characters are introduced and the gameplay is explained; I'm thinking I might poach Becca for that bit! Do you think Notty will let her go for a few hours on secondment to me?

 

[DA22]

Spoiler: *winks*

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I think his point was more that where there is talent, the artist can often find a way. Though there are of course always limitations to that last, but having no talent is a way bigger limitation. Rather have your stills as some other peoples animations.

 

[Nottravis]

I think his point was more that where there is talent, the artist can often find a way. Though there are of course always limitations to that last, but having no talent is a way bigger limitation. Rather have your stills as some other peoples animations.

*curtsies*

 

[DA22]

I plan on fully creating the first 3 or 4 chapters before even releasing the first one, that way I can safely work on the other chapters without worrying about falling behind. I also plan on releasing the first chapter completed, I don't like games where you just get a taste of what the game is like, (I can't think of anyone who has done that? ) my first chapter takes place over a week and that's after the massive first part of the game where the characters are introduced and the gameplay is explained; I'm thinking I might poach Becca for that bit! Do you think Notty will let her go for a few hours on secondment to me?

Might be nice using Becca as a nod to Notty, but would it not feel better to create your own?

 

[Nottravis]

I'm thinking I might poach Becca for that bit! Do you think Notty will let her go for a few hours on secondment to me?

 

[DA22]

View attachment 377435

Seems Huitieme just received his water for chapter 4.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Might be nice using Becca as a nod to Notty, but would it not feel better to create your own?

Yeah, but who could possibly top Becca? And it'll only be for the bit at the beginning, if I need any more narration or assistance later in the game, I can just create something.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

View attachment 377435

Is that a yes or what?

 

[Nottravis]

Is that a yes or what?

Given what's in Bored Pilot small adds page for Four probs best as a no

 

[DA22]

Yeah, but who could possibly top Becca? And it'll only be for the bit at the beginning, if I need any more narration or assistance later in the game, I can just create something.

Never wrong to do something like that as a compliment or shoutout at the start of the game, but either it would make sense then to change the narrator at each turn or might be weird in continuation. Or maybe you could use the introduction then for something like Becca walking in on your game making a remark like lets see what that MCplayerlastname of Heavy five is doing and take it from there? That could be kinda 4th wall breaking though.

 

[Dripping]

The rig issue is actually real, because when you can't even pose your scene because of "lack of oooomph", to quote Notty, you may not have the required mental fortitude to try complex scenes. With a good RAM and GPU, tho... Your own talent Sky's the limit!

True to some degree. I did make a render one time with a complex building, a Terradome background, some HDRI for the sky, a spaceship, 6 Genesis 3 characters, a dog and some furniture. Just rotating the camera took almost a minute before the screen would update. Which is kinda inconvenient if you want to move it to the right spot. The render took almost 24 hours just to reach 50% convergence (CPU render, as I had a Radeon card), when I broke it off (and reduced image size to reduce the grain). I seriously wouldn't consider creating some game with all that time for just 1 grainy render. However, grainy renders aren't an option when you want to make a game, and leaving out all the bits that bring a scene to life isn't an option either. The choice I made at that time was simple: I'm not going to make a game with a rig like this. Cutting back on quality is not a solution if you want to make something for others to enjoy. What was totally possible with that rig, was making stills. Seperate unrelated images for use as backgrounds for my phone. Just let it render for a day, it's just for personal use anyway, if it turns out well, post it somewhere, but that's it. It's still very useful experience with the software.

Now, with my new rig: it'll occasionally still be a bit choppy, but it's totally possible to make a game with it.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

Never wrong to do something like that as a compliment or shoutout at the start of the game, but either it would make sense then to change the narrator at each turn or might be weird in continuation. Or maybe you could use the introduction then for something like Becca walking in on your game making a remark like lets see what that MCplayerlastname of Heavy five is doing and take it from there? That could be kinda 4th wall breaking though.

I do have plans for some 4th wall breaking... But, that's all I'm saying for now!

Given what's in Bored Pilot small adds page for Four probs best as a no

Spoiler

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Also... did anyone notice that we just whizzed past page 700 without even a glance at it?

 

[Akamari]

Yeah, but who could possibly top Becca? And it'll only be for the bit at the beginning, if I need any more narration or assistance later in the game, I can just create something.

I don't like that at all! Becca is Notty's.

 

[Akamari]

Never wrong to do something like that as a compliment or shoutout at the start of the game, but either it would make sense then to change the narrator at each turn or might be weird in continuation. Or maybe you could use the introduction then for something like Becca walking in on your game making a remark like lets see what that MCplayerlastname of Heavy five is doing and take it from there? That could be kinda 4th wall breaking though.

I totally want to have a nod of some kind to Heavy Five in my project, but using an actual character is something I would never do. I just find that unethical.

Now, if Notty wanted to participate including writing the lines for it, that would be different. I'd still need to emphasise to players that it's not a blatant character theft though.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I totally want to have a nod of some kind to Heavy Five in my project, but using an actual character is something I would never do. I just find that unethical.

Now, if Notty wanted to participate including writing the lines for it, that would be different. I'd still need to emphasise to players that it's not a blatant character theft though.

Oh, mine wouldn't be theft, I would get permission... and it would be a homage (see, I do know some French!) I already have permission for some other very well-known characters to have cameos in my game.