Others I’m planning to make a game and I need some advice – dev blog

[psychobanana]

Good Day!

I made this post to serve as a repository for questions as well as future progress.

For now, there are two things that I need help in namely the engine and assets. I want to create a game in the style of a simple visual novel. Basically, just a straightforward story with a few branching paths and maybe different endings. In terms of budget, I have none for this little project so I’m looking at free ones, namely renpy and maybe unity. From what I’ve read, renpy seems to be a good starting point for these types of projects so I’m really leaning towards it but if there are alternatives, feel free to let me know. Unity is another one I’m considering but it may be too much for a project of this scale. I’m willing to dive into because of its flexibility but for now I think it may be too much. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Now for the assets

I’ve looked into AI generation because I’ve read around that its really useful in producing assets and I’ve also seen some games here that are tagged AI. No, I won’t be using it for several reasons. The main one is that it is not as accessible as I thought.

I think it is possible to set up AI generation on your own machine but I haven’t looked into it and I doubt my pc can handle it. I’m assuming it requires substantial hardware for it to be viable so I looked into services that offer AI art. I’m sorry that I even considered this but at least I learned some things.

Most AI services I’ve seen have either a freemium model or a subscription model. I wasn’t able to test how the subscription services work so I won’t be able to elaborate. The freemium models on the other hand, well, as the name suggests, you can use without paying but with great limitations. It’s basically a demo for their services for you to consider paying and isn’t really a feasible option if you want to use the free service for your asset generation. The limitations of the free service could be one or more of the following:

Limited daily generations, limited consecutive generations or even both

Low priority queue which leads to long wait times

Limited available parameters and options to tinker with – for example which model to use, preferred art style, etc.

And since it’s a hentai game that I want to make, the AI services offering this style is even more limited or requires premium

If I do want to work with these limitations, it’s going to be horrible for consistency because I’m sure I won’t be able to get everything from just one service – the art style would be all over the place. I would just be brute forcing and hoping I get the result I want. Not to mention the time it would take considering some services only allow limited daily generations. By the time I gather all the assets I want, I probably would have been able to learn to just draw them myself.

Another thing I’m struggling with is that in case I do get all my art assets via AI generation, legality aside, just how much of it can I really call my own? I don’t know, just a weird thing I thought about because it kind of feels weird if ever I want to present this as my own, can I honestly say that I made it? Regardless, I probably won’t be using AI this way anyway, at most I’m willing to compromise is AI-assisted work.

Anyway, having said that, I’ll probably just learn how to make them myself – good luck to me lol. Most of the games I’ve enjoyed here have anime aesthetic so I’m going for that in 2D.

The summer/winter memories series is the one that I really like. The art style is appealing and looks simple enough. I’m curious though, is it still considered pixel art, the portraits I mean. Personally, the pixel art I know is more of the style in succubus affection, so I’m wondering if the art in summer memories still fall under it. Is there a specific software for that style or do you just knowingly draw that way? Or you know, draw a small image then bloat it to make it pixelated then refine the drawing?

By the way, my choice of degeneracy/ genre is most likely going to be futa and/or yuri. Simply because I’m going to start by learning how to draw women anyway so I’ll stick to that. I don’t think I will have the extra patience and time to learn drawing males as well. I won’t be starting from absolute zero though. I did used to enjoy drawing but this is my first time doing it for something like this so this will be interesting.

That’s pretty much it for now, expect some bad summer memories fan art sometime in the future. Oh man, I hope they somehow end up at least decent haha.

Alright, that’s the end for the normal post. Anything in this spoiler is pretty much just me rambling. So if you don’t like random people on the internet unloading their baggage, kindly avoid clicking this.

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[witcher234]

You need atleast 8gb VRam if you want to generate AI art using ur local PC. Dont bother with any online AI service as you have very little control over the art you would make with those. You could make consistent chars if you could scribble some rough art to guide the AI generation. You can also use 3d models in blender and pose them and use it as AI reference.

 

[psychobanana]

You need atleast 8gb VRam if you want to generate AI art using ur local PC. Dont bother with any online AI service as you have very little control over the art you would make with those. You could make consistent chars if you could scribble some rough art to guide the AI generation. You can also use 3d models in blender and pose them and use it as AI reference.

Ahh this is good to know. My gpu does have 8GB VRAM but I'm not planning on doing this soon. I'll keep this in mind if ever I do get a more powerful gpu.

Wow I can’t believe it’s been four months since I posted this. Time sure flies when you’re having fun or drowning in misery, I guess? Anyway, things have been not nice but it seems like that’s hopefully the end of it and things are looking up.

So I’ve been drawing a bit these past few weeks and I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I tried drawing Miyuki from Summer/ Winter Memories!



Still a long way to go but this one here I feel is a long way from where I started and that gives me solace. I really want to recreate the pixel look of games like summer memories but I have no idea whether it’s a brush setting, a filter, or a specialized software. I guess I could use paint but I find it too inconvenient. Any ideas?

I’ll try to do this more frequently in the future.

Irrelevant rant again

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[osanaiko]

Hey man, just wanted to say that you are not alone with your struggles. There's a lot of people in the world who have demons or episodes like you described. It can be hard to get out of a dark place when you don't have access to professional support. I can't offer anything beyond solidarity. Hope you are doing better over time.

Now, about your desire to make a game and your thoughts:

Renpy is a good choice, it's very easy to use when making a VN style game.

In my opinion its really important to work on your story over and over again.
Make an overview draft, then leave it for weeks, then review it. you'll see many places to improve.
Read up about the "story arc" and work out how you can write you work to conform to that general shape - it's proven and it works for nearly all stories.
Find people you can work with for review and feedback. LISTEN to their feedback and do the hard work to fix the problems.
If you are a "visual person" and need to see some art to help your imagination, then intersperse art creation with the story writing, but never stop polishing the story.
You should have a detailed plot overview - with info on all the scenes you plan to write - before you get into "production". You should have character profiles, world background notes, and the first few scenes dialogue completely written out. Then you can start making the final art and putting it together into a game.

AI CG vs hand drawn - if you have the skill then definitely do hand drawn. be aware that it is very time consuming. Note that you can use materials from other artists or even generated by online SFW ai generator as guidelines for your own drawing - many any artists get started by tracing and copying more famous works.

Lesbian/futa as a theme? if that is what you find exciting, and want to see more in the world, then go for it!

 

[psychobanana]

Hey man, just wanted to say that you are not alone with your struggles. There's a lot of people in the world who have demons or episodes like you described. It can be hard to get out of a dark place when you don't have access to professional support. I can't offer anything beyond solidarity. Hope you are doing better over time.

Now, about your desire to make a game and your thoughts:

Renpy is a good choice, it's very easy to use when making a VN style game.

In my opinion its really important to work on your story over and over again.
Make an overview draft, then leave it for weeks, then review it. you'll see many places to improve.
Read up about the "story arc" and work out how you can write you work to conform to that general shape - it's proven and it works for nearly all stories.
Find people you can work with for review and feedback. LISTEN to their feedback and do the hard work to fix the problems.
If you are a "visual person" and need to see some art to help your imagination, then intersperse art creation with the story writing, but never stop polishing the story.
You should have a detailed plot overview - with info on all the scenes you plan to write - before you get into "production". You should have character profiles, world background notes, and the first few scenes dialogue completely written out. Then you can start making the final art and putting it together into a game.

AI CG vs hand drawn - if you have the skill then definitely do hand drawn. be aware that it is very time consuming. Note that you can use materials from other artists or even generated by online SFW ai generator as guidelines for your own drawing - many any artists get started by tracing and copying more famous works.

Lesbian/futa as a theme? if that is what you find exciting, and want to see more in the world, then go for it!

Sorry for sounding dramatic, I know we're just strangers on the internet but I really appreciate those words. With how broken I am, that encouragement is something that I really needed. Truly, thank you.

While I do have a very general idea of what I want to do, I don't have a concrete plan yet. You pretty much gave me steps on how to move forward, thanks! Lately all I've been doing is learning how to draw and not even for the assets yet. As for being a visual person, I think maybe? I did start with drawing to hopefully put a face to the characters I have in mind and thought that everything else will naturally follow. I am going to do your suggestion of doing them in parallel so I won't ever get stuck in one thing and that there will always be progress, even if a little. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone who can review my drafts so the first feedback I'm going to receive is whenever I'll be able to share a barebones demo. It's going to be a very small. Just something reasonable since I'm flying solo.

I admit I'm struggling with drawing but it feels weirdly fulfilling. It might be useful in the long run. I don't know, I just don't feel like using AI for now. My last resort in mind is probably koikatsu since it has a really powerful studio from what I've seen.

The lesbian/futa theme is probably what my limited skillset will allow me to create. Well, honestly, of all the niche genre I've seen, this combination is what I'm most comfortable to work with.

Again, thank you very much for this post.

 

[Rebel Tomboy Games]

Hey, how are you doing with your game? I have read that "spoiler", wow... How are you doing now?

I don't think there is a point where you can't seek professional help.

I had a childhood with a lot of shit so... hear me. There is always hope, there is always things to do to improve yourself and your life. Ignoring your problems is N-E-V-E-R the answer, nor an option. You can write a diary, is very therapeutic.

 

[osanaiko]

Unfortunately, I don't have anyone who can review my drafts so the first feedback I'm going to receive is whenever I'll be able to share a barebones demo.

Doesn't have to be a person you know in real-life. Post in the f95 dev help thread and ask for feedback. If you don't want to make the story public then ask for people who are willing to do it via DM. Hell, I'll give your plot outline a read-through if you want.
Alternatively, there are numerous forums on the interwebs for amateur writers giving feedback to each other, and NSFW stories are very much included. Even the venerable Lemmasoft Renpy forum has sections for seeking feedback.
The tools are out there dude.

 

[psychobanana]

I’ve been drawing a bit these past few days, here’s something I made recently.

Hey, how are you doing with your game? I have read that "spoiler", wow... How are you doing now?

I don't think there is a point where you can't seek professional help.

I had a childhood with a lot of shit so... hear me. There is always hope, there is always things to do to improve yourself and your life. Ignoring your problems is N-E-V-E-R the answer, nor an option. You can write a diary, is very therapeutic.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t started with the game itself. Currently, I am still trying to learn to draw. I do now have an overall plot as well as an introduction, but it still needs tons of work. I haven’t even touched renpy yet, hopefully soon.

Though I was having relapses the past few weeks, I’m in a relatively better headspace now, thank you for the concern.

The thing is, it’s a combination of horrible life choices and circumstances that made seeking professional help an unviable option for me in the meantime. I just have to bear it for now.

Self-improvement does help, at least for me as well. It gives my mind something else to be occupied with instead of the usual horrible thoughts. I don’t have a diary but I recently started a sort of progress log and it does help a lot.

Doesn't have to be a person you know in real-life. Post in the f95 dev help thread and ask for feedback. If you don't want to make the story public then ask for people who are willing to do it via DM. Hell, I'll give your plot outline a read-through if you want.
Alternatively, there are numerous forums on the interwebs for amateur writers giving feedback to each other, and NSFW stories are very much included. Even the venerable Lemmasoft Renpy forum has sections for seeking feedback.
The tools are out there dude.

The guide you posted really helped me a lot. Writing the story alongside drawing actually surprised me at how it brought everything together. Even though it was just a very rough overview, it gave me a concrete image of what I wanted to do. Huge thanks for mentioning story arcs. You reminded me of something fundamental that I took for granted waaay back. Who would’ve thought that I’ll be using it now, considering the circumstance. I’ll take a look at the things you’ve mentioned for writing. I might take you up on your offer once I have something substantial to present. Thank you again.

 

[ChickenNN12345]

My game is still develop in my mind. I hope i can see more advice in this topic.

 

[psychobanana]

My game is still develop in my mind. I hope i can see more advice in this topic.

Since you already have a plan in mind, the next step, in my opinion, is to write it down. It doesn't have to be realistic now, just write down all the details that you want. The main point is that you need to have something concrete to start with. It's easier to visualize what you have when you put it into writing. After you've done initial write-up is when you start to refine your ideas into something more doable. Good luck!

 

[ChickenNN12345]

I can handle more, i have potato old laptop, too slow and less skill to create a game. Goodluck your new project bro.