I've checked the script and everything should now be working fine.
I certainly haven't gotten any bugs.
On another note, I've taken a glance at the talent distribution system.
I think it's got interesting potential, though it of course remains to be seen how it works in the game. But I like the idea behind it.
I'm guessing that you probably only implemented it in a makeshift way to provide the ability to pick them so it can be tested in the demo and it's far from finished.
Still, I think that it can be a lot more accessible and fluid with a few small changes.
Right now, it's pretty tedious to distribute the talents.
I've attached the Map036, throw it into the data folder and replace the old one. (This is your fixed map in today's hotfix)
I've made a few changes that should make the menu a lot easier and faster to navigate. Check it out, see if you like it.
There's a couple of improvements that I can think of (e.g. window size changes of the message at the top) but I didn't implement them because they'd require an extension plugin from yanfly to the message core. But if you don't want the line at the top to have 4 rows and to be less wide, that can be done with one of the two extension plugins to the message core. (The message core only allows the function as plugin functionality, which comes with a problem that can't be fixed - the message would have to be closed before the choices are shown. Thus the extension would be required.)
I've also added a plugin check for Allure 3, it currently didn't have one and thus was always unlocked.
Omg, yes! It's awesome! I've noticed how tedious it is to go back and re-do the altar sequence, picking choices and all that, but naturally had no clue how to make it work without making a mess in the event page in the editor. In regards to the window look I had some ideas on my bucket list, like making a raither whitish border instead of a blinking black highlight when you hover over choices. Cuz it so happened I made "Hidden Locale" area right in the end before releasing the demo and it happened to be poorly lit or just really dark I guess so the window and choices in comparison just merge into each other. Anyway, thanks again for feedback, suggestions and taking your time to help out.
Omg, yes! It's awesome! I've noticed how tedious it is to go back and re-do the altar sequence, picking choices and all that, but naturally had no clue how to make it work without making a mess in the event page in the editor. In regards to the window look I had some ideas on my bucket list, like making a raither whitish border instead of a blinking black highlight when you hover over choices. Cuz it so happened I made "Hidden Locale" area right in the end before releasing the demo and it happened to be poorly lit or just really dark I guess so the window and choices in comparison just merge into each other. Anyway, thanks again for feedback, suggestions and taking your time to help out.
\msgrows[x] sets the number of rows
\msgwidth[x] reduces the width of the text
There are a couple of other commands that could be helpful for you.
\n[Guard] for example will create a little window with the word "Guard" on the left hand side, that can be used to clearly indicate who's speaking.
And it's possible to display environment dialogue above the events head without a text bubble.
One of the things I'd improve in your dialogues is the distinction between who's talking and what's narration and what's dialogue. It's usually a good idea to invent a fixed standard pattern. E.g. display the name / portrait of who's speaking, make narration written in italics, use Quoations for dialogue, have environment dialogue or small narrative elements displayed with or without message box above the actor (e.g. \msgevent[x]).
Some time ago, I worked on a rpg maker template project to sort of make a base for myself & friends. Feel free to take a look if you want to see a couple of examples of what you can do with those plugins. They'll show you all functionality both ingame in examples and you can see how it was done in the events in the editor.
You must be registered to see the links
Otherwise, feel free to pm me if you need help to figure something out. I don't mind lending a hand now and then and I'd really like to see what game you end up making. So far I really love the artstyle and I can't wait to see more of Ren's..."adventures".
The long and short of it is that I joined Slaynee in working on the project and we've done a lot of stuff over the past few months, especially when it comes to artdesign, storydesign, the engine, etc.
There's been a very ambitious overhaul of a lot of things, but they've also pushed the release date for the first release back.
Right now, we're slowly inching towards a release of the first content update, but I'd like to keep details under wraps, because there's still some problems popping up here and there that need to be fixed and some things aren't final.
Also, the fact that we currently don't really earn any money worth mentioning and that there isn't a group of people constantly pushing for an update is, in my opinion, actually an advantage right now, because it gives us the room to make time-consuming changes that, once things are underway, would derail the entire project.
The best thing you could do right now is probably keep it in the back of your mind, maybe come back in a couple of weeks, but don't expect a release in the next days.
Both Slaynee and I feel that we have to release a polished, high quality version that convincingly shows what our vision is, and what we can do.
That's probably not really helpful for you right now, but I think it'll result in a much more enjoyable experience overall when the release comes.
The long and short of it is that I joined Slaynee in working on the project and we've done a lot of stuff over the past few months, especially when it comes to artdesign, storydesign, the engine, etc.
There's been a very ambitious overhaul of a lot of things, but they've also pushed the release date for the first release back.
Right now, we're slowly inching towards a release of the first content update, but I'd like to keep details under wraps, because there's still some problems popping up here and there that need to be fixed and some things aren't final.
Also, the fact that we currently don't really earn any money worth mentioning and that there isn't a group of people constantly pushing for an update is, in my opinion, actually an advantage right now, because it gives us the room to make time-consuming changes that, once things are underway, would derail the entire project.
The best thing you could do right now is probably keep it in the back of your mind, maybe come back in a couple of weeks, but don't expect a release in the next days.
Both Slaynee and I feel that we have to release a polished, high quality version that convincingly shows what our vision is, and what we can do.
That's probably not really helpful for you right now, but I think it'll result in a much more enjoyable experience overall when the release comes.
All in all, we happen to make more work for ourselves by pushing the quality of the project higher than originally planned. Not to mention my inexperience, as this is my very first work, so I'm a bit lost at times. Naturally, issues come up, technical and artistic and even if small, over time take away a decent chunk of time. Nonetheless, we try to work on the game daily with any free time we get, whether it'd be 2 hours or 10.
We're currently progressing towards the second half of the prologue which should have about 2-3 hours of playtime once it's finished (which is when we'll release it). However, since we haven't found anyone to help with the pixel sprites, we still have a lot of placeholder assets we need to turn into actual characters & objects, plus sound design of spells & a lot of other small stuff & bugfixing, plus the story assets, maps & dialogue of the second half that sets up the more open exploration segment in chapter 1.
Our goal isn't just to have a prologue that's barely playable but one that's mostly finished and can accurately represent our vision. Getting there requires a lot of work, not just in the RPG maker but also externally (like setting up processes & building external tools).
I don't want to be too optimistic, especially since there are 1-2 elusive bugs I'd like to track down before release if possible, but let's say that there's already a bit of content and we're heading towards a release within approximately the next month.
Take that with a grain of salt, though, because while both Slaynee and I are eager to finally show what we've done, we don't want some half-baked thing and you never know what wrenches get thrown into the process.
Ultimately, it'll only be released once Slaynee and I feel that it's close enough to finished. If it takes a bit longer to get it right, than we'd rather get it right.
(The result will still be a beta version, though - not a finished, highly polished game. We're very likely to revise some of the things down the line to improve whatever we find lacking.)
I hope there will be other cute traps you can interact with and not just old men. I know most guys like to see traps getting it but some Josou seme(traps topping) would be nice too, since it's so rare.
I hope there will be other cute traps you can interact with and not just old men. I know most guys like to see traps getting it but some Josou seme(traps topping) would be nice too, since it's so rare.
The game will feature equal parts of straight/trap(femboy)/futa sex.
The player can decide to what degree the protagonist explores his sexuality and into what directions. The sex with old men and what not would be down the corruption route, where Ren lets his desires consume him and where he uses his body & his allure in order to gain favors & advantages.
One of the key parts of the game is a relationship system with your companions who you can romance for more emotional sex scenes like in Mass Effect/Dragon Age or in The Last Sovereign. (Though doing so will take time, no immediate sex down that route)
Right now one of the first other traps you'll meet is Lumis, your mother's assistant at the Royal Academy for Derelic Research, who's a bit frosty and displeased by having to work with you - though perhaps you can get him to thaw?
(Variants and nude version are on Patreon only )
Right now one of the first other traps you'll meet is Lumis, your mother's assistant at the Royal Academy for Derelic Research, who's a bit frosty and displeased by having to work with you - though perhaps you can get him to thaw?
Slaynee really has a hand for that kind of artstyle. I'm always getting surprised anew by the awesome stuff he's doing.
Sometime in the next 2-3 weeks we're actually planning to do a progress update here on F95 with artwork & information as we're getting close to the first release.
Sometime in the next 2-3 weeks we're actually planning to do a progress update here on F95 with artwork & information as we're getting close to the first release.
We're going to post an update tomorrow on how things are progressing, what difficulties we're facing and what we've manged/how far we're away from release. (an estimate)
TL;DR: We keep moving forward, but there have been time-consuming setbacks. Primarily responsible are the limited manpower we have (just two people working on everything from the largest to the smallest issues), as well as engine complications or the necessity to change how we implement & script game features.
Overall, many of the most work-intensive parts of the features have been functionally implemented or are close to being implemented. (Some still require assets, though, such as lightmaps visually to enhance the lighting of maps.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is gonna be a long post. Like, get some coffee? Or at least tea. And if it looks daunting to read, hey, it was harder to write.
Ugh, it’s already been two weeks and it sometimes feels like we’re barely moving forward despite spending all free time, at times 10+ hours a day working on this. I don’t even remember the last time I played a videogame (I’m not counting the weekend Heroes of the Storm evenings with friends, sue me).
I could moan about how Slaynee and I are perhaps overly ambitious and are currently chewing on the fact that we bit off more than we can chew, but either way, we’re fighting our way through the difficulties. The scope and scale of this game is beyond what either of us is experienced in, and that causes delays, time and time again, and none of them make anyone happy, least of all us.
I would’ve preferred to keep the project “silent” for a while longer, since I’d rather write an update when there’s only good news, but there have repeatedly been questions on the progress of the game, so I feel we’re past the point where we can only wait for good news to share.
Let’s start with the bad news and hopefully end on a bit more positive note with the good news:
The bad news:
Slaynee and I have both become increasingly demanding on what we want to deliver quality-wise. That means lots of javascript programming to adjust plugins to our needs, write our own plugins or bypass the toolset’s limitations with code escapes into js.
Engine Issues
RPGMV is a great tool to create games with – if you keep them simple.
You want flowing water, enhanced weather effects, stunning lighting that changes based on daytime and weather? A custom, unique combat system instead of the old RPGMV standard?
Things…get more complicated, because you need to find bypasses for RPGMV’s limitations.
The increased amount of work for both Slaynee and I ensures that work keeps piling up, both in implementing features and creating assets for it. A lot of this stuff we have to do in advance, long before it really appears ingame, unfortunately – because otherwise we risk that future implementation of key features might compromise everything we already designed.
In addition, RPGMV likes to remind us that it wasn’t exactly designed for this, surprising us with problems that come entirely unexpected.
An example:
If you have too many high quality animations in your database, changing something may result in the RMV toolset crashing, corrupting your database. Fortunately I still had a very recent backup, but it forced me to go through the database for ours and remove all I could, just to make the animation database manageable.
All that time spent on fixing those things is time that I, unfortunately, cannot spend on other things.
The God’s Spite, No Helpful Sprite
As a result of the above, we’re absolutely overworked with no free time. We’ve been searching & hoping to find a Pixel Sprite Artist who can work alongside us and assist us in some of the spriting needs for the past two months. We’ve posted multiple recruitment posts but so far nothing worked out. That means that we’ve had to do all the spriting so far by ourselves, which takes time away from designing the sound effects for combat animations, which takes time from designing the combat skills, which takes time from drawing the maps, the lightmaps, the light design, the scripting, the dialogue design, the artwork, the scene & questoutlines, the backstory that has to be written, the worldbuilding, etc. etc.
The list goes on endlessly. And it also keeps us back from progressing to the point where we’re past the prologue & naughty stuff finally comes along as more than just a few glimpses.
We had someone who seemed to be interested, but he ultimately decided to go his own way. It also showed us how difficult it is to get someone up to speed, though, which made us realize we have to collate all the information in ways that we can easily brief prospects and give them an idea of the game beyond what you can read in some forum posts – which is a massive undertaking that, unfortunately, also consumes a lot of time.
Alright, enough complaining.
The good news:
We keep making progress. Sometimes it feels so slow it gets demoralizing, but every week leaves us farther ahead and closer to where we want to be. The critical junction will be overcome when we’ve managed to implement the key systems & features in full (which is almost done and getting closer every day).
From that point on, things will get simpler. No worries about “will this still be working if x” or “how do we solve y?” Then we can focus on actually moving ahead with the story & the artwork, instead of working on the foundation of the game.
So, let’s use this to look at some (all would make this a novel) of the features we’re working on and what we’ve already implemented.
Ren and all other major characters have their appearance depend on what their equipped outfit is. You switch the outfit (or undress), it will show in combat, in the menu and in dialogues.
Every outfit comes in 3 stages of undress. At first, Ren will be too shy to wear everything but his full outfit, but over time, as he becomes less shy about his body and you can decide via menu to wear less of your current outfit (or nothing at all).
Ultimately, we want this to affect the way NPCs react to you and at times will allow sexual encounters otherwise not available. It becomes especially key if you want to go down the seductress route and use your sexual allure & sexual activities to gain advantages (and go down the road of having Ren become addicted to lust).
But we don’t want to have just a cheap fap-off game, we also want to tell an emotional story that leads you through anger, sadness, hope, joy and betrayal. To do so, it’s critical that we can display Ren’s emotions. To do so Slaynee is going through the arduous process of creating 32 base emotions for main characters + individual expressions fit to the personality of the character or required by scenes.
NEUTRAL
HAPPINESS
SADNESS
ANGER
FEAR
SURPRISE
INTEREST
SEXUAL
Neutral
Smiling
Sad
Irritated
Afraid
Puzzled
Curious
Aroused
Confident
Pleased
Unhappy
Angry
Shocked
Confused
Excited
Ecstatic
Worried
Laughing
Crying
Hate/Rage
Terrified
Surprised
Indifferent
Orgasm
Asleep
Optimistic
Regretful
Contemptuous
Disgusted
Amazed
Bored
Ahegao
Due to the scripting we’ve added, we can easily access and display the relevant picture in the dialogue and draw them from a subfolder structure that RPGMV otherwise doesn’t allow.
One key we want to deliver on is the right mood. Incandescent Shade plays in a world that has beautiful places & peaceful locations, just as it has dilapidated ruins and places where reality bends and twists.
We want to back our story up by an atmosphere that captures the right feeling.
That’s why the world will look different depending on what time of day you chose to explore an area, from cheerfully bustling town squares in the day to dark alleys barely illuminated by light shining from shut windows.
We also have a weather system that generates weathers randomly based on a number of factors (to prevent unrealistic combinations) as well as allowing us to manually control it for scenes to catch the right feeling of the situation.
Clouds & Sun-/Moonlight variants:
sunshine / moonshine
sunshine / moonshine with light clouds
light clouds
cloudy
heavy clouds
storm clouds
Wind: (Determines Cloud travel speed & wind effects, like leaves blowing in the wind)
A lot of skills have already been put into the game, though many still lack the right sound-design for their animation.
We’re using a scripted description to highlight the most important parts of the text to allow you easily identify what skills do & to know at a glance how strong they are on average. (The first number is the damage you deal to an enemy that has exactly as much defensive power as you have offensive power, the second one in brackets gives tells you the multiplier for your base damage.
While Sex will play a major role in the game, we don’t have gameplay fall short and become a simple “hammer the attack key” experience.
Slaynee has overhauled a lot of the old artwork (that is, replaced it with fully new characters and made 32+ expressions for each). (He's currently busy finishing the expressions for the last main characters)
Since we're lacking a Pixel Artist, Slaynee pixeled them himself.
Angel, the protagonist's mother and a respected sorceress who occasionally teaches at the Royal Academy of Derelic Arts.
Faye, the protagonist's sister. A bit of a tomboy. She's a huntress, watching over the nearby woods and ensuring nothing ill befalls those living close to the forest.
The Pixel Sprites of our budding hero. Having grown up secluded in a cottage near the woods, only surrounded by his mother and sister, he's rarely been further than nearby villages. Given his unusual potential in the Derelic Arts, he's to study at the Royal Academy.
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Alright, I'll stop here for now. This is already a probably too big post. ^^"
We're planning to do another post like this in a few weeks, when we're hopefully finished with the foundation and can finally finish the prologue, which will then be the first release.
There's not much to be said about sexual stuff yet, but I hope we can remedy that in the next one, where we'll talk about the relationship system, the attributes & decision paths ("seducing paths", if you play the naughty route) and some of the other stuff we're working on.
To those who really want to see what this game will look like: I've been there, too.
But ultimately, both Slaynee and I would rather get it right and make a real game with sex, rather than something half-hearted.
That's it for now!
EDIT: x.X low quality gifs. I had to reduce the size by 50% and heavily compress them, otherwise I was afraid the F95 mods will kill me. It causes an odd flicker on the "inside the cabin" picture.
Wow, seems like you guys are putting a lot into this game, I'm really looking forward to seeing the first update! Good luck with all your engine/sprite troubles
Holy!! ...you guys exceeded my expectations both of you by yourselves have gone further than I could have imagined...
Something REALLY impresive is the way you are taking RPGMV to its limit, all i could say is: You are close to achieve greatness go foward with pride
Please do not give up, don't let this future masterpiece die
