RPGM Henteria Chronicles Ch. 3 : The Peacekeepers [Update 13] [N_taii]

[N_taii]

The second point is about the character portraits.
I think it would be a huge improvement if there would be a second change of costumes/portraits.

Most of the update, we were on expedition with Cy wearing her (new) armour. But the character portrait was instead showing her normal dress. I would say it improves the game by a large margin if Cyanna would have one row of pictures showing her in her red civilian dress and one set for when she's wearing her armour. The picture in the character portrait will change, depending on which dress her pixel sprite wears in that moment.
It would mean adding one picture of her in her uncorrupted armour, then maybe the half dress she was wearing in Update 6 or7, followed by the current armour and so on, depending on upcoming modifications. So the same as with her civilian portrait.
Rose should have different costumes, too. But instead of a set row like Cyanna with her (shrinking) armour it changes depending on whatever dress N_Taii is creating for her in the upcoming updates. It could be two versions of her barmaid or adventurers clothing, a first version and a lewd one. Or a skimpy festival dress, celebrating their victory over the pirates. It can be completely up to N_Taii to decide, whatever he... i mean the duke would like her to wear.
Haylen and Lily would only get one or two additional portraits, since they are the side girls and new portraits cost money, too.
For Haylen it could be lategame, showing her in other clothing than her usual priest dress. Maybe when they are going out on a date.
For Lily i have no idea, maybe some lingerie/costumes? May go well with her feisty personality, getting tamed while still acting wild as part of the cosplay, dunno.

I understand what you're getting at, but commissioning entirely new costumes can take quite a good amount of time and money, and the idea behind the character full-body portraits was to showcase their progressive downfall by making their original outfit skimpier and sluttier, little by little, not reflect their in-game outfits.

Sometimes, I come up with new outfits on the spot, and then they're done in less than a week by the pixel artists. If I had to track every new pixel outfit and commission the same for the full-boy portraits as well, development would get quite messy, as they would queue in the artist commission list one after another depending on the amount of other commissions they have, and maybe take several months to get done. The good thing about pixel art is I can commission several artists at the same time and players won't see the difference. For an illustration artist, once I pick one, I have to go to them for the whole game, and the more reliant I become on them, the more of a mess it'll make if something happens.

As for speech bubble's portraits, it's now a bit too late to get new ones, or I'd need to go back and change them one by one every time the character speaks with their new outfit on. For now, I'd rather keep the concept of full-body portraits as is, with one outfit that gets progressively skimpier, and eventually one new even sluttier outfit towards the end. It's more organized, easier to plan around it, and cheaper, so more money to spend on custom animations, VA, etc... : )

Overall my issue in this update lies with Leto. WHY dude would you even propose alcohol in the midst of being surrounded by enemies?! It was bad already half of soldiers was busy stuffing girls but you getting himself and Cyanna drunk was not appropriate time. And even worse he went OUTSIDE of camp and got himself almost killed but plot armor came in clutch. That were definitely his lowest IQ decisions in all updates I saw...

Well, the idea was that since they're supposed to be doomed, it didn't really matter anymore. Besides, the pirates were most likely waiting for reinforcements, so the attack wouldn't come soon, or at least not the next day. Coupled with the lack of leadership from Ulrod, people were doing whatever they wanted.

Leto wished to cheer up Cyanna, and since alcohol worked for Sgt. Alys and him a few nights earlier (I wanted to use it as a setup for the LetoxCyanna scene), it's the only thing he could come up with to help her forget about her responsibilities and everything that was going on for a time. Needless to say, it backfired.

Sure, wandering alone outside the camp wasn't the smartest idea, but when you're drunk and desperate, logic doesn't really matter anymore. Besides, from a dev standpoint, I needed a reason for the pirates to see what they saw up on that cliff, and report back to their buddies at the camp^^

 

[Miss Y]

For whatever it might be worth, I did actually enjoy that moment of Leto giving into despair. It was just about the only thing that really sold the severity of that whole situation, where even his blind optimism genuinely wavered under the pressure. It took him and Cyanna longer than everyone else at the camp, but both of them cracked just the same as the rank-and-file guards who had already given up on the possibility of surviving.

Though I also interpreted that scene of Leto wandering off as vaguely suicidal, of him subconsciously just wanting to "rip the bandaid off" and get it over with instead of living with that dread dangling over his head for a few more days at best, and that might have been reading too much into it!

 

[Oriandu]

I saw no issue with the alcohol. Having a few beers is way less irresponsible than what most of the camp was getting up to and it's made abundantly clear that Leto does enjoy having drinks down at the pub throughout the game so he'd be smart enough to know his limit. Let's also keep in mind that their illustrious commander was having a week long cry cry baby rage tantrum at the time. By the time they were sitting around having a drink or two Ulrod had basically let the entire camp fall to pieces because he's an irresponsible man child incapable of dealing with things he should have put to bed years earlier.

 

[Racoon_4]

I understand what you're getting at, but commissioning entirely new costumes can take quite a good amount of time and money

Sometimes, I come up with new outfits on the spot, and then they're done in less than a week by the pixel artists. If I had to track every new pixel outfit and commission the same for the full-boy portraits as well, development would get quite messy, as they would queue in the artist commission list one after another depending on the amount of other commissions they have, and maybe take several months to get done. The good thing about pixel art is I can commission several artists at the same time and players won't see the difference. For an illustration artist, once I pick one, I have to go to them for the whole game, and the more reliant I become on them, the more of a mess it'll make if something happens.

Yeah i know, i still remember one or two PoL's from a few days before a next update would be released. You told us that you were still waiting for the artist by then, not sure if the new character portraits would be on time :/
I was not hoping for new portraits for every new pixel dress, that would empty your pockets faster than i could say sorry xD
I would like to see 2 or three additional portraits of Cyanna in her armour: uncorrupted, stage 1, and stage 2. So 1 new portrait with 1 or two lewder versions.
Same for Rose and a bit less for the side girls.
But in the end i don't know how expensive that would be, if you have to pay the full price for different dresses, how much you pay for when the dresses get modified only slightly and so on.

For whatever it might be worth, I did actually enjoy that moment of Leto giving into despair. It was just about the only thing that really sold the severity of that whole situation, where even his blind optimism genuinely wavered under the pressure. It took him and Cyanna longer than everyone else at the camp, but both of them cracked just the same as the rank-and-file guards who had already given up on the possibility of surviving.

Though I also interpreted that scene of Leto wandering off as vaguely suicidal, of him subconsciously just wanting to "rip the bandaid off" and get it over with instead of living with that dread dangling over his head for a few more days at best, and that might have been reading too much into it!

I didn't think much of that scene, they were met with a dead end anyway. But Leto was drunk, expecting to die once the night was over and he was confused/sad because of Cyannas' confession. Makes a nasty mix.
I was surprised however, that some random pirates could have annihilated the army of a nation if Rose wouldn't have saved the day.

 

[Oriandu]

Yeah i know, i still remember one or two PoL's from a few days before a next update would be released. You told us that you were still waiting for the artist by then, not sure if the new character portraits would be on time :/
I was not hoping for new portraits for every new pixel dress, that would empty your pockets faster than i could say sorry xD
I would like to see 2 or three additional portraits of Cyanna in her armour: uncorrupted, stage 1, and stage 2. So 1 new portrait with 1 or two lewder versions.
Same for Rose and a bit less for the side girls.
But in the end i don't know how expensive that would be, if you have to pay the full price for different dresses, how much you pay for when the dresses get modified only slightly and so on.




I didn't think much of that scene, they were met with a dead end anyway. But Leto was drunk, expecting to die once the night was over and he was confused/sad because of Cyannas' confession. Makes a nasty mix.
I was surprised however, that some random pirates could have annihilated the army of a nation if Rose wouldn't have saved the day.

A group of "random" pirates being able to wipe out the local militia actually makes a lot of sense if you remember that right up to the start of the story the nation had no real need for any kind of organized military. Yes they would have had one but the Peacekeepers ensured that it would never be tested. I'm assuming that the Peacekeeper towers were each placed at one of the cardinal direction points in relation to the city which means that no matter what direction you attack from you're facing at least three of the towers being able to unleash energy blasts at your forces. As a result the military was a token force and the Duke's own forces would not be enough to make up the difference between what the military was and what it needs to be. Especially when said military is largely being used to consolidate the power of the Duke instead of strengthening the country. Conversely a band of pirates would have to be organized, well armed, and well managed to function in an environment with the Peacekeepers threatening to wipe them out.

 

[Rubyrosesilver22]

I understand what you're getting at, but commissioning entirely new costumes can take quite a good amount of time and money, and the idea behind the character full-body portraits was to showcase their progressive downfall by making their original outfit skimpier and sluttier, little by little, not reflect their in-game outfits.

Sometimes, I come up with new outfits on the spot, and then they're done in less than a week by the pixel artists. If I had to track every new pixel outfit and commission the same for the full-boy portraits as well, development would get quite messy, as they would queue in the artist commission list one after another depending on the amount of other commissions they have, and maybe take several months to get done. The good thing about pixel art is I can commission several artists at the same time and players won't see the difference. For an illustration artist, once I pick one, I have to go to them for the whole game, and the more reliant I become on them, the more of a mess it'll make if something happens.

As for speech bubble's portraits, it's now a bit too late to get new ones, or I'd need to go back and change them one by one every time the character speaks with their new outfit on. For now, I'd rather keep the concept of full-body portraits as is, with one outfit that gets progressively skimpier, and eventually one new even sluttier outfit towards the end. It's more organized, easier to plan around it, and cheaper, so more money to spend on custom animations, VA, etc... : )


Well, the idea was that since they're supposed to be doomed, it didn't really matter anymore. Besides, the pirates were most likely waiting for reinforcements, so the attack wouldn't come soon, or at least not the next day. Coupled with the lack of leadership from Ulrod, people were doing whatever they wanted.

Leto wished to cheer up Cyanna, and since alcohol worked for Sgt. Alys and him a few nights earlier (I wanted to use it as a setup for the LetoxCyanna scene), it's the only thing he could come up with to help her forget about her responsibilities and everything that was going on for a time. Needless to say, it backfired.

Sure, wandering alone outside the camp wasn't the smartest idea, but when you're drunk and desperate, logic doesn't really matter anymore. Besides, from a dev standpoint, I needed a reason for the pirates to see what they saw up on that cliff, and report back to their buddies at the camp^^

Will rose we’re a maid outfit for the Duke ?

 

[Oriandu]

I dunno about a maid outfit, but if I were to choose I'd want two specific outfits for Rose. First, her casual outfit that she wears as a disguise. I know the Duke has thigh fucked her in that but it'd be nice to see her actually have sex in it either right before a date with Leto or because the Duke just so "happens" to pass her by while she's out with Leto. The second would be her full Queenly regalia. Crown, sceptre, gown, the whole nine yards. Goes out to make a royal address with his splooge running down her leg.

 

[NTR_Connoisseur]

N_taii The amount of logical fallacies one has to deal with while writing a coherent story is crazy. You have to keep the right balance between the characters being outright whores and them having the corruption element that flows at the right pace is very hard and definitely doesn't please everyone.

You have done a splendid job and I'm trying to imitate it without completely copying your game. They do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery xD (dont worry my game will be different if I do ever end up releasing it)

I am struggling with the pace. I have about 40-45 mins of game time without any real start to the story T_T

PS. Hope you're enjoying japan !

 

[Oriandu]

N_taii The amount of logical fallacies one has to deal with while writing a coherent story is crazy. You have to keep the right balance between the characters being outright whores and them having the corruption element that flows at the right pace is very hard and definitely doesn't please everyone.

You have done a splendid job and I'm trying to imitate it without completely copying your game. They do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery xD (dont worry my game will be different if I do ever end up releasing it)

I am struggling with the pace. I have about 40-45 mins of game time without any real start to the story T_T

PS. Hope you're enjoying japan !

Question: If you're saying you have 40-45 minutes of game time without any real start to the story are you saying that you've made the game before planning the story? That's kind of putting the cart before the horse. Even if you're not writing out the entire plot before you start developing the game you should be planning out what you intend to do before you do it. Planning in game development is actually more important than creativity. Set yourself a small goal to meet, maybe just introducing your characters or the villain, and set about planning how you get to that point. Then do it as best you can.

 

[LordFrz]

Question: If you're saying you have 40-45 minutes of game time without any real start to the story are you saying that you've made the game before planning the story? That's kind of putting the cart before the horse. Even if you're not writing out the entire plot before you start developing the game you should be planning out what you intend to do before you do it. Planning in game development is actually more important than creativity. Set yourself a small goal to meet, maybe just introducing your characters or the villain, and set about planning how you get to that point. Then do it as best you can.

I think doing the story on the fly is fine when you are a single dev. Having the basic premise definitely helps, you kinda need to know what kind of story you are doing. But the fine details can be put together as you make it. If it's a team effort, then you for sure need a solid foundation. But with 1 person it's not as needed. It definitely speeds up the process if you have a solid idea of what it is, but not absolutely required.

I would assume the 40min of gameplay is just build-up that is not tied to an overall story. But if it's literally just rpgm gameplay, then yea, that's not good. Im not playing porn games for the rpg gameplay of turn based combat, or go click this thing 10x and come back and tell me you clicked it 10x.

 

[Miss Y]

You have done a splendid job and I'm trying to imitate it without completely copying your game. They do say imitation is the greatest form of flattery xD (dont worry my game will be different if I do ever end up releasing it)

With how niche this genre of NTRPG/Henteria-like games already is, I don't think anyone would hold it against you for taking direct inspiration from a successful series! So long as it doesn't involve any outright theft of assets or anything like that, obviously. I'm fairly certain that I could count the number of sprite-based NTR game devs on one hand, so there is definitely room for more.

I am struggling with the pace. I have about 40-45 mins of game time without any real start to the story T_T

One thing I will say, purely as an observer and consumer who has played an unhealthy amount of these games, is that it can really help smooth out the early stages of a story when you find ways to include little teases that amp up the tension. I remember when the first few versions of Chapter 2 came out, there were a number of people who complained that the prologue felt too slow, and while I personally didn't have that issue outside of one particular puzzle that felt like it existed just to add an extra 15-20 minutes, N_taii eventually went back and added some optional sex scenes with minor characters to spice up the first hour or two of the story and that seemed to appease most of those people who were struggling to make it through to the real "meat" of the game.

But one particular example from Chapter 3 worked ~much~ better for me, of the scene early on where Leto accidentally walks in on Haylen while she is preparing to take a bath. Innocent stuff like that seems like a great way to reward the player for the time that they are putting into the game without rushing the corruption too fast. Close to an hour of walking around and dialogue with no sense of sexual enticement is a pretty big demand from your audience if the writing isn't absolutely top notch to support it, so you want to be very mindful of how efficient you are being with the exposition and setup.

 

[NTR_Connoisseur]

Question: If you're saying you have 40-45 minutes of game time without any real start to the story are you saying that you've made the game before planning the story? That's kind of putting the cart before the horse. Even if you're not writing out the entire plot before you start developing the game you should be planning out what you intend to do before you do it. Planning in game development is actually more important than creativity. Set yourself a small goal to meet, maybe just introducing your characters or the villain, and set about planning how you get to that point. Then do it as best you can.

I do have most of the main story written down, planned out in phases(of development, not release) but I need to flush out scenarios while adding stuff on the way.

The first 40mins is needed to set the story but maybe I have included too many details or perhaps I have dragged this on for too long so it feels kinda dull to me personally.

I personally value the buildup to the point of NTR more than the scene itself but didnt expect the build up to be this long with perhaps a few insignificant stuff.

 

[NTR_Connoisseur]

... really help smooth out the early stages of a story when you find ways to include little teases that amp up the tension...

I felt the same way so I did add some small scenes.
Now that I think about it, the teases are more sexual than NTR if u know what I mean. I should make them in such a way so that it causes this uneasiness without anything outright happening.

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I really do appreciate your feedback and will keep it in mind as I continue.

 

[Mountainbeast00]

They're built into the story, although they're typically not relevant to the main story and feature secondary characters. Just to provide an example

Spoiler: First Update Spoilers

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You can also view them in the recollection room.

I can just go watch them in the recollection room? Or do I have to unlock them in the story somehow first?

 

[LordFrz]

I can just go watch them in the recollection room? Or do I have to unlock them in the story somehow first?

You need to unlock them to see them in the recollection room. But you can probably load a provided save thats has them unlocked.

 

[Racoon_4]

I can just go watch them in the recollection room? Or do I have to unlock them in the story somehow first?

You will also have every scene in your recollection room regardless of perspective.
If you play on partial POV you won't see some smut scenes, but they will be in the gallery.

 

[Oriandu]

Haylen content gooooo!

 

[Garganiaz]

info for next update? also info for when finished?

 

[Matoga]

info for next update?

also info for when finished?

 

[Garganiaz]

so subscribing his patreon (5$) on 8th November will get us full content?, well cant wait