are the characters still the same dogshite quality we see in the preview images? not sure how he went from having okay -> good models in LR 1 to this absolute terror in the second game
That's very simple to explain - they are not the same game. They are not even the same genre of game.
LR1 was a
visual novel. It had a few basic mechanics to it, and some choices, but it was essentially just a novel with a few alternate paths, only set characters (and very limited in number). So in LR1 every single image you got on screen was thought of in advance and rendered as a static image. And you got the exact same static images as any other player or playthrough if you made choices to get to the same scene.
LR2 is
NOT a visual novel. It is a
game. It is a strategic Resource Management business simulator, with added slut trainer mode, and a storyline as well. The characters are variable, with the majority being randomly generated, and even the set characters being changeable in many ways, the least of which is their clothing. We're not talking about the two choices of outfit a very few VNs may give you, we are talking about THOUSANDS of variations.
That means none of the screens you get are, or could be, pre-rendered. Instead, the game is creating characters on the fly, and then adapting them in real time, based on some very complex variables and mechanics. At the absolute minimum end of variety, even the few 'set' characters (Mom, Sis, Steph, etc.) will have different likes and dislikes, fetishes and turn-offs, even before you start using serums to change them further. In one playthrough a set character may love the color red and conservative clothes, and in the next she may hate the colour red, love the colour yellow, and prefer the skimpiest clothes she can feel okay about being seen in. And in this game, they will then dress and appear according to those tastes.
The vast majority of characters are randomly generated, may have either a thin, regular, or chubby body-type. any of those three body types could be in any skin tone from pale to tanned to dark skinned (that's 3 x 3 options for 9 renders just for body so far). She can have any bust size ranging from A cups to OMG, adding around 8 more variations to whichever of the 9 body types so far, so we're already at almost 100 variations of EACH character. There are several face options, a bunch of hair styles, so we are now getting into the thousands of variations of each character visually, before even touching clothing.
So, that is why this game is so unique, so brilliantly designed, and why someone didn't draw out 10 billion individual renders. If all you want is some pretty pictures to fap to, then this is not the game for you, and never will be. This is an actual game. The complexity of the game mechanics, and your ability to impact the world is miles beyond ANYTHING else out there in the games forum of F95. Miles beyond. Once you appreciate that, understand anything about how games work and what kind of coding complexity may be going on, you realize that this game is a masterpiece. Seriously.