Akkaro

Newbie
Nov 29, 2019
31
14
Dev + patreons have probably more important things on the to-do list ... but is there *any* chance of an interior overhaul (girls rooms/bar) to a more modern style? It's for sure a minor critique but it always saddens me to see the most perfect models in a game standing around in a seventies lsd-nightmare ;)
 

junior366

Well-Known Member
Jun 20, 2017
1,144
2,139
Dev + patreons have probably more important things on the to-do list ... but is there *any* chance of an interior overhaul (girls rooms/bar) to a more modern style? It's for sure a minor critique but it always saddens me to see the most perfect models in a game standing around in a seventies lsd-nightmare ;)
You do know, if he changed the interiors, he would have to re-render EVERYTHING!!!
 

Falcon6

Active Member
Mar 15, 2018
583
4,073
You do know, if he changed the interiors, he would have to re-render EVERYTHING!!!
Plus, I seriously doubt most users of the VN's are downloading them for the architectural quality of the interiors or exteriors. I'd start a poll to see how many VN users have a subscription to "Better Homes and Gardens", but I'm too busy looking at the models...... ;)
 

Akkaro

Newbie
Nov 29, 2019
31
14
You do know, if he changed the interiors, he would have to re-render EVERYTHING!!!
I can imagine the massive work :/ ... I was just thinking, as i notice that some parts/models got an overhaul over time ...

Plus, I seriously doubt most users of the VN's are downloading them for the architectural quality of the interiors or exteriors. I'd start a poll to see how many VN users have a subscription to "Better Homes and Gardens", but I'm too busy looking at the models...... ;)
Ofc, both of you are right ... just file my suggestion as a strange input from a designer :)
 

Vinvega

New Member
Dec 19, 2017
11
2
Im totally stuck on the mercedes flex at the pool, i got the protein shakes but cant gift them to her, only protein bar. What am I missing?
 

Akkaro

Newbie
Nov 29, 2019
31
14
Well, the restaurant was redone some time ago, so it's not impossible.
that was it, what encouraged me to vent my blasphemic idea :) ... but as far as I remember, the restauraunt was mainly redone to cram more girls on the island ... and not purely for aestethical reasons (I could be wrong though) ...

and ofc it's not impossible, but still it would be an insane work for actually no new content ...

(anyway, I love the game and didn't want to open a can of worms ...)
 

DuckSwim

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2018
1,570
11,827
that was it, what encouraged me to vent my blasphemic idea :) ... but as far as I remember, the restauraunt was mainly redone to cram more girls on the island ... and not purely for aestethical reasons (I could be wrong though) ...
Was done because the old was threadbare trending to terrible (time will do that).

It was possible to do because the restaurant area was sprite based and therefore did not have a lot of renders with the environment already embedded into them.

This can be compared to the night bar or pool which each has about 2.000 renders and where the environment is present (embedded) in the renders.

That cannot be redone.

The simple fact is that accumulated size (over 6½ years) prevents any radical change in the existing, whether starting girls or locations, due to content using/including it.

Only the girls wholly outside the resort loop (Daniela, Mia) or partially (Sara, Miriam, Mercedes and possibly Yumiko) can choose to differ (because they are not yet rendered to any significant degree in its legacy environment)

and ofc it's not impossible, but still it would be an insane work for actually no new content ...

(anyway, I love the game and didn't want to open a can of worms ...)
Pretty much, yes. Not theoretically impossible but in practice is (as described above)
 
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Adoringfan

Engaged Member
Dec 17, 2016
2,262
4,560
Dev + patreons have probably more important things on the to-do list ... but is there *any* chance of an interior overhaul (girls rooms/bar) to a more modern style? It's for sure a minor critique but it always saddens me to see the most perfect models in a game standing around in a seventies lsd-nightmare ;)
Top of the list is to fix Max's kebab meat looking wiener and add more Aly content.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BDMick
Jan 18, 2021
237
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You do know, if he changed the interiors, he would have to re-render EVERYTHING!!!
Something to consider for a future game: set up all scenes in a such a way that their contents can be easily scripted and the rendering can be executed as batch jobs in a cloud service if needed (besides being rendered on the developers' machines for faster feedback).

Then when there is a need to re-render a large number of scenes, it would be a simple cost/benefit analysis: "Oh you want to redo the decoration that would require re-rendering 1500 scenes? Sure, this would cost $100 and take a week if we schedule that as low-priority jobs in our render farm. Do we have enough patrons who are willing to pay specifically for these new renders? Yes? Then let's go for it!"
 

Akkaro

Newbie
Nov 29, 2019
31
14
[...]

This can be compared to the night bar or pool which each has about 2.000 renders and where the environment is present (embedded) in the renders.

[...]

The simple fact is that accumulated size (over 6½ years) prevents any radical change in the existing, whether starting girls or locations, due to content using/including it.

[...]
Interesting info, thx ... but out of curiosity: why are the starting girls a problem? They seem quite "detached" ftom the other part of the game to me.
 

DuckSwim

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2018
1,570
11,827
Interesting info, thx ... but out of curiosity: why are the starting girls a problem? They seem quite "detached" ftom the other part of the game to me.
Because they have a fantastic amount of content using the resort's environments and a radical change would require all their renders using it to be changed.

ex.

Amy probably has 250 renders involving the night bar or its attached rooms.
Daniela has 0.
 

DuckSwim

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2018
1,570
11,827
Something to consider for a future game: set up all scenes in a such a way that their contents can be easily scripted and the rendering can be executed as batch jobs in a cloud service if needed (besides being rendered on the developers' machines for faster feedback).

Then when there is a need to re-render a large number of scenes, it would be a simple cost/benefit analysis: "Oh you want to redo the decoration that would require re-rendering 1500 scenes? Sure, this would cost $100 and take a week if we schedule that as low-priority jobs in our render farm. Do we have enough patrons who are willing to pay specifically for these new renders? Yes? Then let's go for it!"
Neat in theory but does not work like that (at least not for these types of programs and/or environment use).

Changing an environment, especially a close one or one characters are in actual contact with (which is pretty much unavoidable, even if one design around it in advance), will affect a vast host of things including but not limited to the most obvious (such as light sources, reflections, collisions and post work required)

To this comes that it is normal for renders to have custom work done (usually clothing issues).

If we assume 10 mins of custom work pr. render (which is pretty normal, some take less, some much more) 1500 renders are about 8-9 weeks of full time work after the re-rendering is done.

Will an AI one day be able to operate 3D programs (or simply contain it directly) to do it in such a way? Sure.
Will scripting in itself allow it (ex for Daz/Blender)? Nope.
 
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MarsUltor

Active Member
Aug 2, 2018
728
1,592
Some thoughts about "upgrading" Daz environment assets vs. the realities of a Ren'Py game in development for 6.5+ years...

Ducky, Junior, and others have addressed how infeasible it would be to retroactively change a location asset (environment) with existing "integrated" scenes (rather than "background + sprites" scenes), which would result in only incremental aesthetic improvements at most, with no actual new content created. Honestly, the existing assets contribute to the flavor of the game to date. I do tend to agree that the night bar has kind of a "70s retro-porn" vibe, but I'm totally fine with that.

On the other hand, if Darkhound happens to be intrigued at the prospect of putting some new/different environment assets to use, there are some ways he could do that while also simultaneously adding new content.
  • Existing resort facilities could get add-ons; for example, the night bar could get a dance floor add-on, the pool area could get a hot-tub add-on, etc. This could be done in a way that would not impact the existing scene renders (in the vicinity, but out of the line of sight for existing renders). The add-ons could either be general-access like the beach bar or the shower in the gym, or limited-access like the green room in the night bar or the photo studio.
  • Related to the preceding option would be to temporarily move the denizens of the resort to another location (yacht, or ???) while the resort undergoes a remodel. This would make it possible to use a new asset for the night bar, or the pool area, or guest rooms, etc. It would also make possible resort-level add-ons, like adding a dance club, game room, movie theater, etc. These could also either be general-access or limited-access.
  • There is also a lot of potential for discovering previously-undiscovered areas, particularly in the underground facility and on the island but off-resort. These would be more likely to be limited-access, but could go either way.
For any of these to work and to really be feasible, there would need to be some sort of "transition event", so that all of the existing content would be fully available up to the transition event (Holiday Island, Part I), and everything post-transition event would be new content (Holiday Island, Part II). It might be possible in Part II to have similar content to Part I that incorporates the new assets, but it would also give Darkhound the opportunity to do new things without necessarily being anchored to 6+ years of established content.

Just some food for thought; and of course, subject to Darkhound's preferences and plans.

TL/DR...
 
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