Others Least demanding rendering software?

[Shenhan]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this,so I'm sorry if it's not.

I've been wanting to make my own VN games with Renpy and Daz3d for a very long time, but I've been putting it off simply because my computer simply can't handle that sort of thing. It doesn't look like I'm going to have money magically appear for me to buy anything new so I'm now looking at alternatives to DAZ.

What rendering software would be the best suited to my older machine, specifically looking to make sex games, so I'd be rendering environments like rooms and decorations, character models plus their assets like clothing, I think I'd leave animation off the table for now as it's probably too much. Ideally I'd like to be able create my own characters, or more ideally morph existing models into original designs if needed.

If there is a less taxing alternative to rendering that I'm over looking in my inexperience I'd love to hear more about it.

Edit; I have two computers:

A Desktop.

Win 7, Intel core 2 quad processor CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz, 4 gb ram, 64 bit.

Laptop.

Win 10, Intel Core i3-3110M CPU @ 2.40GHz, 8 gb ram, 64 bit.

I'd prefer to use the desktop due to my laptop already sounds like idling truck because of the fan and I can't find a replacement.

 

[MissFortune]

I'd imagine Honey Select or KoiKatu would be the closest alternatives to Daz without making your computer cry like a baby that had its candy stolen from it. It's going to be less taxing at the cost of less realistic characters, specifically in the case of KK.

That said, you aren't going to do anything 3D related without your computer being somewhat taxed by it. Even with HS/KK. Though, in this case, it'd be far, far less taxing than something like Daz or Blender.

 

[moose_puck]

Daz makes me cry more than my computer...

I was going to suggest Honey Select but Miss Fortune beat me to it. Honestly though, I really find those characters so "dated". I think it's all the Japanese porn games I played a decade ago, lol.

 

[GNVE]

Daz can be used on older machines but you will have to adjust your expectations. Rather than using IRAY use 3D Delight or a better choice Filament. You won't get photorealistic images but if you embrace the limitations of the rendering engine you can still create beautiful art. Especially if you are willing to do some postwork in PS/GIMP/Krita etc.
Other things you can do is drop the assets you use down from G8 or G8.1 to G3. The G3 is older and less resource intensive as it was released in 2015. This might make it easier to render and also to work in the scene as well.

 

[Shenhan]

Daz can be used on older machines but you will have to adjust your expectations. Rather than using IRAY use 3D Delight or a better choice Filament. You won't get photorealistic images but if you embrace the limitations of the rendering engine you can still create beautiful art. Especially if you are willing to do some postwork in PS/GIMP/Krita etc.
Other things you can do is drop the assets you use down from G8 or G8.1 to G3. The G3 is older and less resource intensive as it was released in 2015. This might make it easier to render and also to work in the scene as well.

Yeah I came to the conclusion that some compromises were going to have to be made if I ever wanted to get past the writing notes in my stage stage. I'm thinking that DAZ even with limitations is going to push my computer harder than it can handle, or simply take to too long to make it worth while.

 

[Shenhan]

I'd imagine Honey Select or KoiKatu would be the closest alternatives to Daz without making your computer cry like a baby that had its candy stolen from it. It's going to be less taxing at the cost of less realistic characters, specifically in the case of KK.

That said, you aren't going to do anything 3D related without your computer being somewhat taxed by it. Even with HS/KK. Though, in this case, it'd be far, far less taxing than something like Daz or Blender.

I was looking into Honey Select as I've seen it used in some pretty good looking games, but I'm a little lost as to how one acquires the software, from my searches it seems to be a game or something with a lot of mods.

Do you know if it has a very difficult learning curve?

 

[XforU]

Without your PC specs we can't give you proper advise.
If your pc is a toaster I'd suggest leaving 3d behind all together and focusing on pixel art...

 

[MissFortune]

I was looking into Honey Select as I've seen it used in some pretty good looking games, but I'm a little lost as to how one acquires the software, from my searches it seems to be a game or something with a lot of mods.

Do you know if it has a very difficult learning curve?

I can't really help you in that regard. I have little to no experience with either program. All I really know is that most people are basically taking screenshots and putting them into Ren'py, then writing a story. There's plenty of developers around here using either or both programs, so I'd wait for one of them to chime in. Searching around the forum, or googling "how to make games in Honey Select" would be likely to pull up something relevant until then, though.

Sorry I couldn't be more help there.

 

[XforU]

Honey select is extremely easy to use.
For e beginners you can use the basic functions of the software and make decent enough scenes.

If I remember correctly there is a version uploaded here.

 

[Creiz]

The new DAZ versions have Filament.

It's a real-time PBR renderer, a bit like game engines.

The lighting is a bit shitter than IRAY, and you're gonna have a lot of trouble with some hairs of course, but you *can* create some very decent shit with it.



Usually? I use 3DL materials for hair and shit, and turn down the glossiness on the IRAY ones.

Don't forget to create a Filament Draw Options, from the Create menu and set ISO factor to around 0~0.2.

You'll get something like the image above. It's obviously not at the quality you'll find from the Iray gurus and shit, but its decent and presentable. Takes 0 seconds of rendering time, too.

 

[Shenhan]

I can't really help you in that regard. I have little to no experience with either program. All I really know is that most people are basically taking screenshots and putting them into Ren'py, then writing a story. There's plenty of developers around here using either or both programs, so I'd wait for one of them to chime in. Searching around the forum, or googling "how to make games in Honey Select" would be likely to pull up something relevant until then, though.

Sorry I couldn't be more help there.

That's fine, you were more help than you needed to be, and that's enough for me.

Thanks.

 

[Shenhan]

Without your PC specs we can't give you proper advise.
If your pc is a toaster I'd suggest leaving 3d behind all together and focusing on pixel art...

That's fair. I've got two

A Desktop.

Win 7, Intel core 2 quad processor CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz, 4 gb ram, 64 bit.

Laptop.

Win 10, Intel Core i3-3110M CPU @ 2.40GHz, 8 gb ram, 64 bit.

I'd prefer to use the desktop due to my laptop already sounds like idling truck because of the fan and I can't find a replacement.

Are they toasters?

 

[Shenhan]

Honey select is extremely easy to use.
For e beginners you can use the basic functions of the software and make decent enough scenes.

If I remember correctly there is a version uploaded here.

Yeah, I think I've found that and have the download lined up, but I'm just waiting to learn a bit more and see if any alternatives pop up.

 

[XforU]

	Minimum System Requirements	Recommended System Requirements
CPU	INTEL 2.4 GHz Dual Core	INTEL Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz
VRAM	512 MB	1 GB
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
OS	Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10	Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10
Direct X	9.0c	9.0c
SOUND CARD	DirectX Compatible	DirectX Compatible
HDD Space	6 GB free	6 GB free

Honeyselect is the way to go.

As for tips I'd suggest you use some mods.
https://f95zone.to/threads/how-to-use-mods-in-honey-select-illusion.1644/

Good luck!

 

[Shenhan]

	Minimum System Requirements	Recommended System Requirements
CPU	INTEL 2.4 GHz Dual Core	INTEL Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz
VRAM	512 MB	1 GB
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
OS	Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10	Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10
Direct X	9.0c	9.0c
SOUND CARD	DirectX Compatible	DirectX Compatible
HDD Space	6 GB free	6 GB free

Honeyselect is the way to go.

As for tips I'd suggest you use some mods.
https://f95zone.to/threads/how-to-use-mods-in-honey-select-illusion.1644/

Good luck!

Thanks heaps for taking the time and the information. It looks like my machines *just* make the cut, which means I can finally start! (Once I learn the software)

 

[MidnightArrow]

Render engines aren't that "demanding" unless you give them demanding models. With a potato PC you won't get top graphics at all since the biggest demand is storing dozens of hi res textures in memory. But if you shrink your textures to 2k or less, limit your subsurf level, and use low poly (Genesis 2 era) hair, you can get perfectly fine renders in Blender. Cycles came out in 2011, when your computer was new, it shouldn't be much of a strain. Blender has a far better denoiser (Intel Open Denoise) than Daz too, even a CPU render at low samples can look pretty good if you denoise it right.

 

[DuniX]

For something like Honey Select 2, Scene Complexity and Custom Complex Maps are what is demanding.
And more on the RAM side of things. 8GB is pretty non-negotiable so you might want to upgrade that.
You should be able to do some simple Sprite Renders and Sex Scenes even with a Potato as long as you have some kind of dedicated GPU.
Maybe no SSS or High Res Skin Textures.

If you can play any 3D Unity games, you can pretty much "Render", Honey Select 2.

 

[8InchFloppyDick]

I'm sort of thinking your desktop machine will prolly have a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot... If so, I'd suggest trawling Ebay for a used Nvidia Quadro K4200 which as 4Gb of VRAM and stick that into your existing desktop.

K4200's can be found really cheaply these days and it will make a huge difference to your workflow in DAZ over what you can do with your current setup. Especially if you use G3F models and older HDRIs that aren't 16K.

Also, the Scene Optimiser product will help you get the most out of the 4Gb on a K4200. You can use TechPowerUp's GPU-Z to get some insight into how much memory your scenes are really using on the K4200.

Finally, keep your frame resolutions low, something like 1280 width max, get used to only rendering about 250-300 samples per frame and use the denoiser to do 'the rest'.

Best of luck!

 

[TDoddery]

I think DAZ would run acceptably on your PC if you make best use of the quad core processor you've apparently got in there (which will be four cores and eight threads).

I use CPU rendering on my laptop with an i7 quad CPU but the basis for a PC is pretty much the same.

My top tips for that are:

Don't even try to render with the GPU (if you even have one). Set it to use the CPU in the DAZ rendering control panel.

In the same control area, check the box for "thread affinity" and set the thread count to seven (leaves one CPU thread available for anything else that's going on).

Go into BIOS CPU options and make sure "speed step" feature, or whatever they call it, is enabled (also sometimes called turbo something) - it allows your CPU clock speed to respond to demand and usually gets you the best part of an extra 1GHz CPU speed. My quad core CPU is rated at 2.9 GHz but runs DAZ rendering at 3.89 GHz.

Stack in as much extra RAM as you can afford (this is the only thing in this list that costs money, but RAM is relatively cheap), not just to speed everything up a bit but also because otherwise DAZ will crash trying to load anything more than small scenes into your RAM (I've got my laptop maxed out at 32 Gb RAM and I can render like 5 figures with loads of textures and some other shit standing around).

Can't think of anything else right now

 

[__b]

Maybe worth trying VaM. You will probably have pretty low fps depending on your options, but at least it would allow you to create nice renders very quickly if you know what you're doing.