Ren'Py Lucky Paradox [v0.9.2f Public] [Stawer]

[divingmedic]

I am only one voice but I would advise against a remaster - unless there is something you consider really terrible and blemishing the project. These games are long term projects, and your skill will always move on while you make it, and the technology, both hardware and software, also gets better. You may easily get stuck in a neverending circle, have seen that before.

Also I have the feeling - but cannot prove it - that remastering lends itself to graphics becoming more generic. With all the work of post production in this game the risk may be lower than usual, but there seems to be this tendency to move the sliders ever so little - but all towards the same spot. Which may be dictated by your general preferences or by some kind of trend going on, with changing tastes, however in my very subjective experience, it tends towards looks being more same-ish, losing their uniqueness.

But in the end, this is your game, your project, do what you feel is correct, not what people tell you - because then it will become really messy really quickly

I second your motion kind sir. Dev's that stop mid game to fix things is usually a death knell for a game.

 

[divingmedic]

My intention is to progressively improve the animations and when I feel more comfortable to revisit the old ones of the game, add sounds, etc...

But at the same time I have this internal conflict about making a “remaster” of the first half of the game, which would put on hold the release of new content (This can take a long time, between problems in saves and other things), or continue releasing new content.

Please remaster later after the game is done and then go back and fix it. I think many over look the start of avn's/games more so for a new dev as the dev is learning the craft.

 

[hoshimota]

Plenty of games do this automatically, they just don't announce it or ask the fans if they should do it. Ideally it gets done incrementally - so they keep putting out "regular" updates but each one includes some improvements to the old content (like adding music or sound, cleaning up early rough dialogue or little continuity / flow issues.) At some point they replace the model for a particularly low quality early character.

Lucky Paradox is honestly showing it's age a lot at this point. When I first played it the art style was different but it didn't hit me so hard how it looks really out of date (the way it does now.) So on one hand, I think a significant graphics overhaul would be a major advancement for the game. Even as a smaller fix, at least freaking ship the game with higher res / quality renders - because I am convinced at some point the dev compressed the *shit* out of the image files. Several of the early scenes have weird slightly blurry / not crisp patches that I definitely do not remember being there on my first couple play throughs years back.

However, I'm also a realist, and from my perspective, development on this game has slowed way down. That makes me think it's unlikely the dev is going to sink significant time/effort/funds into improving the art significantly. I wish things were different, because this game was kind of special and unique when I first discovered it. But it is starting to take forever to go anywhere... I remember playing this maybe 2 years ago or a little longer, then trying it again about a year later and again a month or two ago. Literally most of the same dead ends that I hit ~2 years ago, are still there. The screen that shows the LIs is just like completely littered with messages indicating X or Y is not available yet in this version or you have reached the end of the existing content. Mind you, this is not a game in it's first or second year of development, it's like... 5 years old at this point.

 

[Stawer]

Plenty of games do this automatically, they just don't announce it or ask the fans if they should do it. Ideally it gets done incrementally - so they keep putting out "regular" updates but each one includes some improvements to the old content (like adding music or sound, cleaning up early rough dialogue or little continuity / flow issues.) At some point they replace the model for a particularly low quality early character.

Lucky Paradox is honestly showing it's age a lot at this point. When I first played it the art style was different but it didn't hit me so hard how it looks really out of date (the way it does now.) So on one hand, I think a significant graphics overhaul would be a major advancement for the game. Even as a smaller fix, at least freaking ship the game with higher res / quality renders - because I am convinced at some point the dev compressed the *shit* out of the image files. Several of the early scenes have weird slightly blurry / not crisp patches that I definitely do not remember being there on my first couple play throughs years back.

However, I'm also a realist, and from my perspective, development on this game has slowed way down. That makes me think it's unlikely the dev is going to sink significant time/effort/funds into improving the art significantly. I wish things were different, because this game was kind of special and unique when I first discovered it. But it is starting to take forever to go anywhere... I remember playing this maybe 2 years ago or a little longer, then trying it again about a year later and again a month or two ago. Literally most of the same dead ends that I hit ~2 years ago, are still there. The screen that shows the LIs is just like completely littered with messages indicating X or Y is not available yet in this version or you have reached the end of the existing content. Mind you, this is not a game in it's first or second year of development, it's like... 5 years old at this point.

The first two years of development I could barely dedicate time to the game, right now the updates are almost 10 times bigger than back then, plus I already made a general improvement to the game with much better UI (old one was very archaic), each update brings new features, including new interactions and some secondary girls, gallery, etc... that takes time. this is not a linear VN, I have always wanted to keep the player's freedom and that requires a lot of testing.

At the beginning the patches were only 2000 words, some without animations, the graphics were much worse than now and there were many more problems, but they took less time to be released.

Right now my focus is on adding the content that was missing for years, I don't plan to make a remaster, at least in the short term... Maybe touch up some old scenes, but I don't know yet if I should spend time on that.

I also think that even though the game already shows an age, I feel that the positive thing is that I want to keep that unique style in the game. The easy way would be to switch from HS1 to HS2, and do something with more generic models and stuff, but I feel that would kill the soul of the game.

 

[Stawer]

Please remaster later after the game is done and then go back and fix it. I think many over look the start of avn's/games more so for a new dev as the dev is learning the craft.

I know this, but as a creator there is always that temptation to fix your “sins of the past”, there is a lot of learning in this over the years.

But I don't plan on making a remaster, right now I'm focused on finishing the story.

 

[Joey's Conscience]

My intention is to progressively improve the animations and when I feel more comfortable to revisit the old ones of the game, add sounds, etc...

But at the same time I have this internal conflict about making a “remaster” of the first half of the game, which would put on hold the release of new content (This can take a long time, between problems in saves and other things), or continue releasing new content.

Actually, I would also advise against remastering old content, at least for the forseeable future. It's always a huge gamble, one that more often than not doesn't pay off. I was thinking more on the lines of improving the scenes that are yet to come.

It's not that I think your game looks bad, or dated, or anything, I do think the renders hold up really well, and it's an overall great looking game. It's just that after you've been playing these games for a while, watching the same riding scene for the 100th time over dozens of games gets really old.

I feel the newer devs are catching up to this, and more and more newer games are trying to go beyond the standard engine stuff. I know it's something that takes a lot of work, and for a story heavy game like this, it might not be a top priority. I was just asking out curiosity, if that was something that was on your mind at all.

 

[Stawer]

Actually, I would also advise against remastering old content, at least for the forseeable future. It's always a huge gamble, one that more often than not doesn't pay off. I was thinking more on the lines of improving the scenes that are yet to come.

It's not that I think your game looks bad, or dated, or anything, I do think the renders hold up really well, and it's an overall great looking game. It's just that after you've been playing these games for a while, watching the same riding scene for the 100th time over dozens of games gets really old.

I feel the newer devs are catching up to this, and more and more newer games are trying to go beyond the standard engine stuff. I know it's something that takes a lot of work, and for a story heavy game like this, it might not be a top priority. I was just asking out curiosity, if that was something that was on your mind at all.

Yes, for now I'm trying to experiment and learn as much as possible, and I want to improve the animations gradually

Animations are a complicated issue, since you can make a very detailed and long animation, but the weight of the game increases considerably as well, I want to keep a balance in that sense, since an ambitious game like Lucky Paradox tends to have a high size by itself.

 

[Soulpuppet]

Since you're talking about animations. The one that really needs fixed is Prims blowjob. Compared to the rest of the game, It's pretty bad. I was sure it would of been fixed but I think it was forgot about lol.

 

[Stawer]

Since you're talking about animations. The one that really needs fixed is Prims blowjob. Compared to the rest of the game, It's pretty bad. I was sure it would of been fixed but I think it was forgot about lol.

taking notes*, although I'm currently working on a huge update, so I'll have to postpone it for the next next one xD

 

[Soulpuppet]

taking notes*, although I'm currently working on a huge update, so I'll have to postpone it for the next next one xD

I know you're working hard on the next update. I'm a patreon . Can't wait for the new girl btw. Just thought I'd bring up that animation since you were on the topic of them here.

 

[divingmedic]

Yes, for now I'm trying to experiment and learn as much as possible, and I want to improve the animations gradually

Animations are a complicated issue, since you can make a very detailed and long animation, but the weight of the game increases considerably as well, I want to keep a balance in that sense, since an ambitious game like Lucky Paradox tends to have a high size by itself.

There is an AVN on here that is really popular and the does not have any animations in it. He says he can spend 6-8 weeks cranking out animations for a short update or spend 6 weeks making a long update without the animations.

 

[Stawer]

I know you're working hard on the next update. I'm a patreon . Can't wait for the new girl btw. Just thought I'd bring up that animation since you were on the topic of them here.

Working on the post rn, so will be ready in 40 min on Patreon

There is an AVN on here that is really popular and the does not have any animations in it. He says he can spend 6-8 weeks cranking out animations for a short update or spend 6 weeks making a long update without the animations.

Time management is always a problem

but he is right to choose between those extremes, in my case I prefer to look for a balance between the two

 

[Dark XG]

Does anyone know if the recent update is going to be made public?