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Hello everyone!
I’m writing this post to clarify definitively what Lycoris Radiata is, what it aims to achieve, and what it does not. I recognize that I have not been sufficiently clear about certain aspects of the game and have not addressed players' misconceptions adequately. I regret this, but it is what it is.
I won’t offer excuses, as they won't resolve anything. Instead, let’s focus on the future and pay attention to what I’m about to outline here.
I'll divide this post into different sections and explain each one in detail.
1. HS2/SNeo2, and Transition to Blender:
-Was choosing HS2 and SNeo2 for renders a mistake?
I've voiced my complaints about them many times, but upon reflection, I can't ignore that this experience played a crucial role in getting me to where I am now. I'm grateful for what they have taught me, and despite their flaws, I appreciate their existence. Without trying them, this game might never have come to fruition.
This journey has also introduced me to this... interesting community and new friends who have kept me motivated throughout the entire development process. Thank you all!
Going forward, I will be using Blender as my primary tool for renders.
-But, what about chapters 1 to 7?
It would be odd to have the first seven chapters using HS2 models and the future ones using Blender, so I will remake them. With additions that will enhance the story and changes that will help me deliver updates faster.
-Why make these additions and changes?
Firstly, apart from the obvious reasons, when you work with SNeo2, your creativity is restricted to what the program can deliver. If you aim to create something original, be prepared for a suffering experience as modding can be quite nerve-wracking, especially since it's done through Unity. It's a different story with Blender, where the only limit is your own imagination and creativity—both of which I have in abundance.
Secondly, I aim to reduce the time needed for the development of new chapters to a maximum of two to three months.
Due to my new IRL schedule and future plans that coincide with Lycoris Radiata development, I will be very busy starting August. These changes will allow me to focus mainly on the plot and avoid spending sleepless nights on renders.
In essence, upon reevaluating my development process, I concluded that it would be impossible for me to deliver speedy work using the current storytelling approach.
-What will I change and add?
Chapter 1 will be enhanced to provide a better introduction to the story.
The narration delivery style will be altered to include sprites in specific scenes. Action and highly emotional scenes will still be presented as usual, but I will do some changes to reduce development time.
You saw a demonstration of this in Chapter 7, but it will look different after the transition. Chapter 7 had a limited variety of sprites because SNeo 2 only allows transparent renders in rendered screenshots, not in normal ones that I was using. This limitation forced me to manually cut out the sprites, which was not an enjoyable experience, and I wasn’t thrilled to repeat that process multiple times.
The relationship system will be updated and refined, with a different approach to choices and progression.
Game menus will be revamped to provide more information to players about various aspects. This will also involve reworking the CG collection menu, including adding notes about conditions to unlock certain CGs and more.
2.Blender models:
I remade the base models a couple of times after releasing the Sakura model, and hopefully, I have improved them.
Several characters will undergo visual changes, but I will always draw inspiration from the original models.
I will provide updates on new models and environments later.
3. Clarifications and explanations (
Very crucial):
-Number one:
Lycoris Radiata
will not include
adult content such as explicit sex scenes, inappropriate depiction of minors, genital exposure, extreme fetishes and so on.
I acknowledge that the HS2 models, the game's option for partial nudity, and my own naivety contributed to this issue. However, with the transition to Blender and the
removal of the Luna scene and uncensored D&A scene, I hope to resolve this headache.
This seems to be the only way for the game to avoid being labeled as an "Adult Visual Novel" by players.
Players will still have the option to romance and date characters in the future, but it will not be the main focus of this game. To be honest, I’m not even comfortable creating erotic scenes, and even if I were to include those scenes, they would be delivered in a poor quality manner because I do not give my utmost attention to things I dislike doing.
I know I’m a bit weird; even when using HS2, I never clicked on a Start Game button, and while working on the characters in the character creator, I had their genitals removed (To my surprise, there was an option to do so).
Lycoris Radiata characters are very dear to me, even characters like Koga or Yamazaki.
Just to be clear, I’m not antagonizing, criticizing, or thinking badly about those who enjoy such things; everyone has their needs, including myself. But let's keep this game free from sexual themes.
... Well, that's not entirely true. I do have some negative feelings towards those who send me inappropriate questions about Mirai.
-Number two:
The game will include
fictional acts of violence and gory moments, but I will provide an option to censor those scenes for players who find them disturbing.
This decision is motivated purely to avoid potential issues in the future.
-Number three:
QTEs will be reworked and will have three difficulty options for players to choose from:
Option number one: Original mode for players who enjoy the challenge and have no issues with the current QTEs. Reward: All CGs can be unlocked.
Option number two: For players who like QTEs but find them challenging to pass due to some difficulties. This option will provide more reaction time to complete the QTEs. Reward: All CGs can be unlocked.
Option number three: For those who dislike QTEs and prefer not to engage with them. The scenes will play automatically. Penalty: QTE-specific CGs will be locked for this option.
-Number four:
I will be altering the world of Lycoris Radiata to be somewhat based on the real world, including geographical locations, but with different names, historical events, and so forth—a sort of alternative world with a unique foundation.
This change will provide me with greater freedom for clear world-building, a unique setting, and distinctive style. It will primarily affect the enhanced Chapter 1, where I will delve deeper into the world itself.
-Number five:
Relationships and romance will now function differently, inspired by amazing games like the Persona series and The Legend of Heroes series. Each major character will have a relationship-building system that will unlock side stories about them. For certain female characters, this journey will give the MC the choice to either deepen that relationship or maintain it as it is. (Yeah, I totally stole this recipe from Persona, but I'll add my own ingredients to make it somewhat different.)
Romanceable characters will have clearer indications on their profile.
-And finally, number six:
Mirai
is not and will never be a romanceable character.
4. Answers to players' questions (For those who haven't played the game yet, this may contain minor spoilers):
-Question: How many chapters will Lycoris Radiata have? Will the Sculptor arc be the finale for the game?
Answer: The story of this game will be very long, so I can't provide the exact number of chapters until the ending. However, I do know that there will be many chapters, enough for me to divide it into three parts in my Lycoris Radiata story draft.
Regarding the Sculptor arc, no, it is just the beginning. It will not be a long arc, but rather a stepping stone for what is to come.
-Question: Do I have a picture for the ending of the game and for the romanceable characters?
Answer: For the ending of Lycoris Radiata, yes.
For romanceable characters, the answer is both no and yes. The reason is that who you choose to romance will not have a significant impact on the main true ending. It will be separate, a final side story for that character, but not for the game itself.
Note: I know I wrote something about solo girl endings a long time ago, but at that time, I had no idea what that meant.
-Question: Will the power Ren used while fighting the Red Hands manifest in the real world?
Answer: Sorry, I tried to think of a way to answer this question without spoiling anything, but didn't find any.
-Question: Will we see how Mirai was before the incident?
Answer: There will be flashbacks depicting it, and the enhanced Chapter 1 will add more to the overall story.
-Question: Will this game have branches?
Answer: If by branches you mean something like in Detroit: Become Human or Baldur's Gate 3, then no.
This would only be possible if I took a 4/5 years vocation to finish the game completely.
The game has a Route feature, which will evolve in the future and make more impact down the road.
-Question: Can I confirm the current list of characters that can be romanced?
Yes.
Inei: Luna, Diana and Artemis, Reika.
Ren: Nobume, Akira, Shion.
Both: Sakura, Sumire.
-Question: Do I plan to release Lycoris Radiata on Steam?
In a near future, no. The development of this game is a hobby of mine that helps me in many ways, mostly by motivating me to learn new things and improve. Maybe in the distant future, when I learn Unreal Engine and am able to turn it into a turn-based RPG game.
-Question: Will I do cameos or collaborations with other Ren'py VN developers?
This is an old question, and I have received propositions from other developers regarding this, but I have always declined them. I don't mind the references that the Discord community has shown me about some games putting references to my game, but I've never been a fan of collaborations in media.
I understand that the main reason for doing such things is to help promote games or other forms of media, but it's just too much work for me, and I'm happy with the way things are right now.
Okay, I believe that's all I wanted to write about, and I hope it will connect all the dots.
I will pin this post until further updates and then create a condensed version to add to the game's description.
Thank you for your attention!
