"Lighthouse" early development forum

[Gunizz]

Hi KissKissStudio the renderings look really great. I like that you are properly posing the clothes to fit the bodies. May I ask you how much time does it take you to render (not to pose) an average image similar to the ones you posted, and with which Graphic Card?

I haven't played your old VN, I have yet to see what is about but those renderings made me curious. Then regarding the new one, the setting seems original and interesting, are you going to plan some negative outcomes or bad endings? I'm not just referring to the usual broad definition of Netorare, to be clear. I like to play VN as regular games or as looking at films, so I don't want to approach a product knowing that everything will be going on in a predictable way. I also like to play a VN with the same spirit of a normal videogame, I don't mean mini-games inside the VN (I hate them), I mean guessing and making the right choices on the plot/dialogues, competing with real antagonists, to avoid a bad scenario (it could be girl won't fuck with MC, death, Game Over or anything else).
Is your VN going to be that way (player must activate the brain to get the girls) or it's going to be more like an easy play with no negative consequences on player's choices?

I usually don't ask this but as you set a "faction" or gang scenario makes me wonder if MC must fight with antagonists, make clever moves, decide differently based on the different personalities and so on. These fabulous renderings really got my attention!

 

[KissKissStudio]

Hi KissKissStudio the renderings look really great. I like that you are properly posing the clothes to fit the bodies. May I ask you how much time does it take you to render (not to pose) an average image similar to the ones you posted, and with which Graphic Card?

I haven't played your old VN, I have yet to see what is about but those renderings made me curious. Then regarding the new one, the setting seems original and interesting, are you going to plan some negative outcomes or bad endings? I'm not just referring to the usual broad definition of Netorare, to be clear. I like to play VN as regular games or as looking at films, so I don't want to approach a product knowing that everything will be going on in a predictable way. I also like to play a VN with the same spirit of a normal videogame, I don't mean mini-games inside the VN (I hate them), I mean guessing and making the right choices on the plot/dialogues, competing with real antagonists, to avoid a bad scenario (it could be girl won't fuck with MC, death, Game Over or anything else).
Is your VN going to be that way (player must activate the brain to get the girls) or it's going to be more like an easy play with no negative consequences on player's choices?

I usually don't ask this but as you set a "faction" or gang scenario makes me wonder if MC must fight with antagonists, make clever moves, decide differently based on the different personalities and so on. These fabulous renderings really got my attention!

The majority of the locations in the game are custom-built, with about 70% of them being entirely unique. The other 30% might appear in other games, but they won’t be too important or recognizable, so it shouldn't be an issue. As for the graphics and rendering, some of the environments are so large that I’ll need a high-end GPU, like the 4090 or 5090, primarily for the VRAM. For example, the main location takes up nearly all of the 24GB VRAM on my current GPU. It takes about 4 minutes for the location to load and 10 minutes to render, but that’s not too bad. I also plan to optimize loading times by removing unnecessary props that aren’t in the player’s line of sight.

In terms of gameplay, I’m planning on including some mini-games, but they won’t be there just for fun—they will serve as a way to gate certain areas until you progress in the story or improve your gear. However, I don’t really enjoy mini-games myself, so I might offer a skip option for players who feel the same. If you’re fast with your hands, you can take on quick-time events that will be really tough but could speed up your progression. That’s still something I’m experimenting with.

For the main gameplay loop, once I determine which girl is the most popular, I’ll focus on her. You'll need to manage your energy, complete tasks with deadlines, progress through the story, and stop the antagonist from getting too close to your love interests (Li's). I’m thinking of limiting free roam events to the main girls to keep the game manageable, because if you had to manage 9 Li’s at once, it could get overwhelming. If you’re into NTR (netorare), the chances of seeing an event with your favorite girl could be really low, but I still want to give players the chance to influence the story with their choices. The other girls will have side quests, where your decisions will determine whether they join your harem, stay neutral, or get involved with someone else.

The idea is to create a kind of management game where you juggle tasks with deadlines while also stopping the antagonist from making moves on your main love interests. You’ll need to keep an eye on free roam events and intervene when needed—if you stop the antagonist enough times, you can prevent future advances. If you don’t, you might lose control of the situation. At no point will the main character be okay with being NTR’ed; he’ll always react to it depending on how much the girl was involved with the protagonist.

As for free roam events, there will be some small intimate scenes with random NPCs, and if one of your girls gets NTR’ed, you can either watch the scene or ignore it. I hope it doesn’t come off as forced, but I’m aware some players might be upset if certain girls start off in relationships with other characters. This is still a work-in-progress, and I plan to update and refine these ideas as I go.




There will be around 9 endings to this game with a true ending.

 

[Gunizz]

The majority of the locations in the game are custom-built, with about 70% of them being entirely unique.

Thank you very much for the info! Did you built everything with Hexagon by DAZ? Damn that is really a big effort! I've just seen videos on YT at the moment because I don't even have a discrete GPU that could handle DAZ. I don't need one for my work.

In terms of gameplay, I’m planning on including some mini-games, but they won’t be there just for fun—they will serve as a way to gate certain areas until you progress in the story or improve your gear. However, I don’t really enjoy mini-games myself, so I might offer a skip option for players who feel the same. If you’re fast with your hands, you can take on quick-time events that will be really tough but could speed up your progression. That’s still something I’m experimenting with.

I'm fast with shooters game but I don't play VNs with my right hand usually
Minigames must be really chosen carefully because the risk of ruining the player's immersion in the plot is real. That's why I'm not usually enthusiast about them.

For the main gameplay loop, once I determine which girl is the most popular, I’ll focus on her. You'll need to manage your energy, complete tasks with deadlines, progress through the story, and stop the antagonist from getting too close to your love interests (Li's). I’m thinking of limiting free roam events to the main girls to keep the game manageable, because if you had to manage 9 Li’s at once, it could get overwhelming. If you’re into NTR (netorare), the chances of seeing an event with your favorite girl could be really low, but I still want to give players the chance to influence the story with their choices. The other girls will have side quests, where your decisions will determine whether they join your harem, stay neutral, or get involved with someone else.

The idea is to create a kind of management game where you juggle tasks with deadlines while also stopping the antagonist from making moves on your main love interests. You’ll need to keep an eye on free roam events and intervene when needed—if you stop the antagonist enough times, you can prevent future advances. If you don’t, you might lose control of the situation. At no point will the main character be okay with being NTR’ed; he’ll always react to it depending on how much the girl was involved with the protagonist.

I'm into Netorare (while I like Netori/MC cheating), but I'm into avoiding-Netorare, I like to bang all girls but making it in a way to avoid bad consequences, like any competitive gaming where you want to get max points without losing life (but there must be a bad scenario to make it credible). Then when I played all winning paths I can also play the bad scenarios just to see everything (if the VN is well made obviously). I don't associate myself with the MC so I don't get hurt.
I usually dislike harem VN because the plot is banal and there is no real effort or suspence: it's like viewing a film where in the first minute they reveal all the plot. Harem or Netorare-only games are really boring in my opinion. I really like the approach of MC to fight against the netorare scenario, that makes it realistic.

As for free roam events, there will be some small intimate scenes with random NPCs, and if one of your girls gets NTR’ed, you can either watch the scene or ignore it. I hope it doesn’t come off as forced, but I’m aware some players might be upset if certain girls start off in relationships with other characters.

I personally don't mind at all. I don't even consider that Netorare, it's just characters having their own life. It's different from a MC's girlfriend/wife cheating or getting "conquered" by an antagonist.
I know there are a few very noisy people that will see Netorare in everything, but, if the story is not based on a cuck MC, the vast majority of people would be totally fine with non-virgin girls that are or have been sexually active. Just be prepared to face a few angry people on both extremes (full-Netorare and Virgins-Harem-only).

 

[KissKissStudio]

Thank you very much for the info! Did you built everything with Hexagon by DAZ? Damn that is really a big effort! I've just seen videos on YT at the moment because I don't even have a discrete GPU that could handle DAZ. I don't need one for my work.


I'm fast with shooters game but I don't play VNs with my right hand usually
Minigames must be really chosen carefully because the risk of ruining the player's immersion in the plot is real. That's why I'm not usually enthusiast about them.


I'm into Netorare (while I like Netori/MC cheating), but I'm into avoiding-Netorare, I like to bang all girls but making it in a way to avoid bad consequences, like any competitive gaming where you want to get max points without losing life (but there must be a bad scenario to make it credible). Then when I played all winning paths I can also play the bad scenarios just to see everything (if the VN is well made obviously). I don't associate myself with the MC so I don't get hurt.
I usually dislike harem VN because the plot is banal and there is no real effort or suspence: it's like viewing a film where in the first minute they reveal all the plot. Harem or Netorare-only games are really boring in my opinion. I really like the approach of MC to fight against the netorare scenario, that makes it realistic.


I personally don't mind at all. I don't even consider that Netorare, it's just characters having their own life. It's different from a MC's girlfriend/wife cheating or getting "conquered" by an antagonist.
I know there are a few very noisy people that will see Netorare in everything, but, if the story is not based on a cuck MC, the vast majority of people would be totally fine with non-virgin girls that are or have been sexually active. Just be prepared to face a few angry people on both extremes (full-Netorare and Virgins-Harem-only).

The more exclusive things where made in blender.

As for gameplay, I intend to keep it right-handed, and like I said if you have the right equipment the mini-games won't even happen they will only be for u to get punished for jumping to risky places.

Harem path will be something like you become the main leader of the place it won't be something focused. I will mostly focus on relationships with the girls and some main girls if they find out that u had sex with them others will not be happy with you. But I intend to introduce the character a bit before the race begins.