VN Ren'Py Mission Metamorphosis Development Thread

[IamUnderman]

Also to clarify the possible timelines one more time:

The demo would aim to release in the first half of November (with wiggle room either side) and the final release would be sometime in the first half of 2026. I don't want to get too carried away with crazy predictions but it could be out as early as April! (I dare not predict earlier than that no matter what the numbers say. My current speed would make March or even late Feb possible but I just think that is fanciful).

 

[IamUnderman]

Looks like no demo is winning convincingly, although the sample size is small. I will let the poll run its course but I will move forward with the mind that a demo will most likely not be required.

Also some good news. Had another record breaking day yesterday. 17 static images made in one day! Cannot wait to share some of these with you all on the 30th.

 

[IamUnderman]

Ok well looks like the pro demo side got a bit of momentum towards the end. The overall preference seems to be for no demo still, but not conclusively. I will let you know how my tests go over the next couple of weeks in the dev blog on the 30th and we will see.

Thank you for your participation either way.

 

[IamUnderman]

Mission Metamorphosis Development Update #3 (30/10/2025)

Chapter 1 Progress:

• Planning 70%
• Rendering 50% (626 renders total)
• Programming 15%
• Writing 15%
• Polish 5%

Overall Estimated Progress: 31% of Chapter complete

Updated Roadmap

• November 27th: Development Update #4
• December 18th: Dev Update #5
• January 29th: Dev Update #6

Thoughts

Decently long gap since the last update and progress has been good. Nearly 200 renders made since the last official update and I have begun exploring the technical and coding sides of the project. I am starting small currently by just stitching together some of the more visually complete simple scenes with their dialogue and transitions. Nothing crazy but it is a start.

On the rendering side of things, the month started very well indeed. My pace was incredible and I was producing more renders than I have at any other point in the project. The middle of the month saw a workload spike in my job and that slowed things a lot. But despite how stressy things got I still managed to maintain an average of over 2 renders a day, which I think is very solid. The past week and a half has seen my pace increasing again to a very solid speed and I am confident I can maintain this into November.

I wanted to talk a tiny bit about the plot and 'shape' of this update. As the first update in the seven part story it is going to be quite fast paced and active as our two main characters are thrust into this incredible situation. I originally envisioned that the secondary characters of each update would be very self-contained to that chapter, and for some that will be true. However I have now woven a more cohesive and continuous narrative to connect the chapters and that includes a handful of recurring faces. In terms of LI's Emily is distinctly the only 'primary' in the game. But now the chance to see certain side characters across multiple chapters and for 'routes' themed around these side characters is more realistic with the project.

I have also decided that I will not be doing the demo for the game. The first release will be a fully polished release of Chapter 1 in its completed form. My main motive for this, other than the poll, is the importance I place on first impressions. If I click on a game that has promising tags and find it to be underwhelming and short it will take a lot to get me to come back and try it again. Therefore I feel that any 'hype' or 'ancipation' I earn with a demo is undermined by the potential fans I will turn away with a shoddy or rough early version. Plus, at around 1200 renders long, chapter 1 won't be THAT long. I hope it will offer players a couple hours of enjoyment and have some replay value, but it is not substantial enough to be chopped up like that. Either the demo is so short as to be a pisstake, or it is longer and the actual main release gets undermined and feels like a mini update. I hope you understand my reasoning and that this is for the longterm health of the project. To make up for any disappointment I promise to be quite generous with the next couple of render showcases...

Render Showcase

Since the demo is now not going to happen I have opted to showcase renders here from deeper into the game. Every single render here is from after the 30% mark that the demo was going to cover. They show some new makeup looks for Emily and a bit more of the action and suspense you would expect from a spy themed game. Six renders this time as an apology for the death of the demo.

 

[IamUnderman]

... OK go on. Because I am a nice guy here is one extra render. A dirty one.

Ciao!

 

[HeelsMaiden]

It's just not a spy fiction to me unless there's a sexy female agent strutting around in a skintight catsuit and high-heeled boots. I don't need "realism" in my spy fiction.

 

[Buletti]

... OK go on. Because I am a nice guy here is one extra render. A dirty one.

Ciao!

View attachment 5390647

Thanks for the update my friend! I am still not 100% sold on the MC tbh, but in the end the girls are 100% more important And they look really good so far.

So congrats and hats off for the hard work you put into this!

Cheerio!

 

[MagicMan753]

Thanks for the update my friend! I am still not 100% sold on the MC tbh, but in the end the girls are 100% more important And they look really good so far.

So congrats and hats off for the hard work you put into this!

Cheerio!

I agree, not biggest fan of Mc, not a deal breaker, like some other games, but is a bit of a let down, just wished he looked different, maybe better. But also agree the girls are top tier, especially, our main heroine, Emily.

Excited for first part dev, nice job and good work.

 

[Alias#2]

It is still early in this game. I know of at least two games where the MC started out looking like kind of a looser and over time became one bad ass MoFo.
This can actually fit into the story as well.
There are not many games I can think of where the MC is that great, now that I think about it.
But it does help somewhat for them to look decent. Naturally if the girls look good enough, who will notice anyway?
Of course, if I look in the mirror, they will all look good .

 

[araneansis]

The MC is not amazing, but I would prefer a F/F coupling alone, so I cannot judge too much.

The roadmap says that there will be a developer update in ~8 days, but does that mean that there will just be an update post, or will a demo be attached to it? Because if we are talking simple dev updates until February, it will be quite a long time to wait until the game

 

[IamUnderman]

The MC is not amazing, but I would prefer a F/F coupling alone, so I cannot judge too much.

The roadmap says that there will be a developer update in ~8 days, but does that mean that there will just be an update post, or will a demo be attached to it? Because if we are talking simple dev updates until February, it will be quite a long time to wait until the game

Just a dev update I am afraid. With how fast things are progressing a demo release just does not really make sense. It wouldn't really build hype in this case and would rather just be a stumble out the gate for the game. The thing to remember is that when the game gets its own official page and download links it will get FAR more attention than this thread ever will, so that is the chance for this project to make a strong impression. I really don't want a janky incomplete update to be how people experience the game for the first time. Most people following this thread seemed to agree since that decision won the poll.

I personally am still confident the MC will grow on people. He stands out compared to most male MCs out there and I think he has a bit more personality than most of the generic Gen 3/8 Micheal models people use. Taste is subjective but I think going for something a bit more unique will pay off long term.

 

[IamUnderman]

Mission Metamorphosis Development Update #4 (27/11/2025)

Chapter 1 Progress:

• Planning 75%
• Rendering 60.5%
• Programming 15%
• Writing 20%
• Polish 7.5%

verall Estimated Progress: 35.6% of Chapter complete.

Updated Roadmap

• December 18th: Dev Update #5/Special Christmas Renders
• January 29th: Dev Update #6
• February 26th: Dev Update #7/Start of Potential Release Window
• March 26th: Dev Update #8
• April 30th: Dev Update #9
• May 28th: Dev Update #10/Latest release date within current predictions.

Thoughts

This month felt like the end of a significant stage of development. At this point every planned scene and sequence in the game has something occupying it. A lot remains unfinished of course, but I am now past the 'mystery' stage. I know what each scene will look like, what will lead into what, and where I need to pay the most attention moving forward. As I am now over 60% of the way done with rendering I expect that my productivity in that area will slow as I am not working with a blank canvas often anymore. I am now adding renders to already existing renders and connecting the dots.

What this means though is that I can now truly get to work on the structure, writing, and layout of the game. Its like making a film, I have most of my principle photography so now I can get to editing while second unit and reshoots happen.

I am also very confident that the game will release in the 'Spring' of 2026 instead of the Summer as originally predicted. If everything goes perfectly from this point on I could see the game ready for release in February, but that is optimistic. March and April are far more likely. Don't worry though as any 'slowness' with this first update will not longterm slow the project down that much. If I end up banging my head against a wall for months figuring out the scripting, UI and writing I will be able to get started on the rendering for the next chapter early. So if the update comes out in May, you could find that chapter 2 starts its first dev update already part done.

Next month's update will be early as the last Thursday of the month is Christmas... Not posting then. So we will do the 18th as I have been outlining from the start. Since the gap is so small I would not expect enormous progress, but I will tempt you in with some special festive renders! (Don't worry, they will make it into the game as unlockables so no wasted work... Speaking of renders!)

Render Showcase

The theme of this month's showcase are the secondary girls who will feature in the update. One image for each. Let me know who you are most excited to see in action.

 

[Buletti]

I prefer long hair, but would still go with the asian chick.

Sounds really good my friend!

Wish you all the best and that you hopefully have fun keeping the train rolling.

Cheers!

 

[labbu]

dev can u post main charcter fully nude image here