4.50 star(s) 156 Votes

Machete

Engaged Member
Apr 7, 2020
2,895
5,215
Considering the use of AI CG imagery you would think that each update might have more than 2 minutes worth of story.
As far as i get it, i did some minor attempt too, not with porn, to maintain AI CG coherent you don't just say "now i want violet to suck everyone's balls dry" and it magically appears. After a batch of images are generated it takes quite some work of traditional photoediting to get to the final image.
 

SymbioticLife

Member
Mar 17, 2019
462
4,446
the people whining that the MC is not enough of an alpha chad are just insecure self-inserting dorks. no amount of convincing will ever change their mind: they want to play harem games

which is why it's so funny the dev is adding EVEN MORE women characters to the game for the MC to fuck and build his harem... while the original fans of the game supported the game because of the NTS storyline with Vi, which is constantly teased but rarely progressed

these whiners will NEVER be satisfied, but the dev is happy to placate them because it helps him fulfill his true mission: extend the development for as long as possible to milk patreon subscribers
Many you're on the most notorious whiners though, what are you talking about? This was always CG's direction, it's why Vi watched Cuckquean porn in chap 2, it's why Sonia teases Laura/Sonia BJ in chap 2 as well, as well as Ari also literally implying she wanted to ask Vi to share Erics dick in chap 2.

At no point the direction changed, nor did some amount of whining happen from the crowd that already liked this direction. Quite the contrary man, you come in here for a game you claim to dislike and endlessly whine about what it always intended to be. You can literally read the Q&A yourself from the summer of last year, just after chapter 1 released if you go on the discord, nothing's changed at all except you chose to ignore the things you didn't like then whine, whine, whine when the things hinted at started to happen. From the very start CG's plan was to weave together several different genres into one game, I'm sure he knew there'd be some level of backlash from conflicting crowds but he wanted to make the game he desired.

Like I literally could not imagine the psychology to repeatedly go into a game thread and complain like you do, and then pretend it's other people that are doing the whining.

If some of the original fans were too blind to see the obvious harem aspects, that isn't CG's fault, just like it wouldn't be CG's fault for failing to see the NTS/interracial aspects. It's not his job to handhold everyone and spell out for them what should be fairly obvious.

What I do when I don't like a game is forget about it, not go for months to post about how much I dislike it's direction and then pretend it's others crying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: akki_sky
Dec 17, 2024
102
474
Many you're on the most notorious whiners though, what are you talking about? This was always CG's direction, it's why Vi watched Cuckquean porn in chap 2, it's why Sonia teases Laura/Sonia BJ in chap 2 as well, as well as Ari also literally implying she wanted to ask Vi to share Erics dick in chap 2.

At no point the direction changed, nor did some amount of whining happen from the crowd that already liked this direction. Quite the contrary man, you come in here for a game you claim to dislike and endlessly whine about what it always intended to be. You can literally read the Q&A yourself from the summer of last year, just after chapter 1 released if you go on the discord, nothing's changed at all except you chose to ignore the things you didn't like then whine, whine, whine when the things hinted at started to happen. From the very start CG's plan was to weave together several different genres into one game, I'm sure he knew there'd be some level of backlash from conflicting crowds but he wanted to make the game he desired.

Like I literally could not imagine the psychology to repeatedly go into a game thread and complain like you do, and then pretend it's other people that are doing the whining.

If some of the original fans were too blind to see the obvious harem aspects, that isn't CG's fault, just like it wouldn't be CG's fault for failing to see the NTS/interracial aspects. It's not his job to handhold everyone and spell out for them what should be fairly obvious.

What I do when I don't like a game is forget about it, not go for months to post about how much I dislike it's direction and then pretend it's others crying.
As much as I respect you, you also need to stop engaging with these people man. It's equally as unhealthy to constantly engage with people like that. If anything, it makes me question your psychology for the constant need to defend the developers interest. I agree with everything you said, but you're wasting your breath man.
 

SymbioticLife

Member
Mar 17, 2019
462
4,446
As much as I respect you, you also need to stop engaging with these people man. It's equally as unhealthy to constantly engage with people like that. If anything, it makes me question your psychology for the constant need to defend the developers interest. I agree with everything you said, but you're wasting your breath man.
I'm sitting here concept rendering anyway, not much I can do other than play card games/watch shows on one monitor while keeping an eye on the thread on another. If anything it gives me at least something to do while I wait for a good image to work on.
 

Jivapeira

New Member
Mar 17, 2025
9
46
Very good update! A bit short, but honestly, I was expecting this outcome. I'm curious to see what kind of animations you'll integrate to make it pop even more. Just a small note... too much animation in a visual novel can become a problem. I bet a lot of folks would agree with me on that?
That said, let's get the story side sorted first, and then move on to the real criticism. I imagine you're struggling a bit to satisfy the fans while maintaining your vision. My advice? Don't stress over it too much. Take fan feedback into account, sure, but ultimately, do your thing.

If you try too hard to please everyone, the game might lose what made it special in the first place. Remember why you started this project... (I'm guessing here taking monetization into account) it was a passion project, right? It gained traction because of your skill and storytelling, not because you were chasing trends or appeasing everyone?

So don't lose that. Go back to your roots. Use others for inspiration, but don’t let them dictate your direction. I hope that makes sense.
Storywise, that’s all I really want to say... at the end of the day, it’s you, the dev, who makes the story. And that’s exactly why I’m here.

Now, onto the ugly part... and I’m sorry if this annoys you, but it needs to be said.

These “mystical animators” you're referring to... who are they exactly? Why are they getting paid? Are we talking about folks with 32GB dual GPU setups or something? Because, honestly, most of the animations you're using seem like something you could create yourself... unless these guys are absolute prompt savants.
At this point, I’m sure you could afford a 32GB GPU yourself and just generate animations on the fly without needing an entire animation crew. So what are we talking about?

Second point... and this comes from me as someone who's also trying to break into the AI visual novel space, I dig deep. Really deep. So let me reassure your fans, quality has very little to do with the time between your updates. The quality is good, no doubt, but it's not the limiting factor. Which tells me... you're stalling...

Now, I’m not saying that as an accusation. There could be all kinds of valid reasons... life, burnout, other obligations, but let’s just be real about it. (I got through all of those btw)

Normally, I wouldn’t want to spark tension or make direct comparisons, but… there's a SoA update dropping soon, and I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be absolutely massive in every way. We’ll see...
I don’t know what it is exactly, but the dev behind that project comes across as the coolest, most deviously clever mastermind out there. And from what I’ve seen, your teams are linked somehow, (shoutout SymbioticLife) whether through collaboration, mutual inspiration, or just being part of the same creative sphere
So why not take the best parts of each other's work and push it even further? Make the most freaking badass visual novel the world has ever seen?
Address the fans, yes... but stop overthinking and just do what you want to do. Set a schedule, stick to it, and trust your instincts.
Honestly, you could wrap up the story in two or three solid chapters and move on to your next project if you wanted too...
Good luck, my friends. Keep pushing forward.
 

SymbioticLife

Member
Mar 17, 2019
462
4,446
Very good update! A bit short, but honestly, I was expecting this outcome. I'm curious to see what kind of animations you'll integrate to make it pop even more. Just a small note... too much animation in a visual novel can become a problem. I bet a lot of folks would agree with me on that?
That said, let's get the story side sorted first, and then move on to the real criticism. I imagine you're struggling a bit to satisfy the fans while maintaining your vision. My advice? Don't stress over it too much. Take fan feedback into account, sure, but ultimately, do your thing.

If you try too hard to please everyone, the game might lose what made it special in the first place. Remember why you started this project... (I'm guessing here taking monetization into account) it was a passion project, right? It gained traction because of your skill and storytelling, not because you were chasing trends or appeasing everyone?

So don't lose that. Go back to your roots. Use others for inspiration, but don’t let them dictate your direction. I hope that makes sense.
Storywise, that’s all I really want to say... at the end of the day, it’s you, the dev, who makes the story. And that’s exactly why I’m here.

Now, onto the ugly part... and I’m sorry if this annoys you, but it needs to be said.

These “mystical animators” you're referring to... who are they exactly? Why are they getting paid? Are we talking about folks with 32GB dual GPU setups or something? Because, honestly, most of the animations you're using seem like something you could create yourself... unless these guys are absolute prompt savants.
At this point, I’m sure you could afford a 32GB GPU yourself and just generate animations on the fly without needing an entire animation crew. So what are we talking about?

Second point... and this comes from me as someone who's also trying to break into the AI visual novel space, I dig deep. Really deep. So let me reassure your fans, quality has very little to do with the time between your updates. The quality is good, no doubt, but it's not the limiting factor. Which tells me... you're stalling...

Now, I’m not saying that as an accusation. There could be all kinds of valid reasons... life, burnout, other obligations, but let’s just be real about it. (I got through all of those btw)

Normally, I wouldn’t want to spark tension or make direct comparisons, but… there's a SoA update dropping soon, and I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be absolutely massive in every way. We’ll see...
I don’t know what it is exactly, but the dev behind that project comes across as the coolest, most deviously clever mastermind out there. And from what I’ve seen, your teams are linked somehow, (shoutout SymbioticLife) whether through collaboration, mutual inspiration, or just being part of the same creative sphere
So why not take the best parts of each other's work and push it even further? Make the most freaking badass visual novel the world has ever seen?
Address the fans, yes... but stop overthinking and just do what you want to do. Set a schedule, stick to it, and trust your instincts.
Honestly, you could wrap up the story in two or three solid chapters and move on to your next project if you wanted too...
Good luck, my friends. Keep pushing forward.
Hey Jiva been meaning to actually DM you back for awhile now... sorry about that, just to clear up a couple things the animators are paid because they're actual animators, it's not done by AI. Both the MNGF and SoA devs feel AI animation (at least in the NSFW space) is still not quite where want it to be before we make that sort of switch. Although the latest advancements are very impressive and we're following them closely. I don't know if I can give the number for how much we've spent on animations for the latest SoA chapter... but it's a lot and obviously both MNGF and SoA would make the switch if we could do so without compromising on quality at all. There is certain things AI animations do better, but there's a lot of things they do worse too (at least again, in the NSFW space).

In terms of the story stuff and I really, really want to make this so crystal clear because I feel I already have, CG has not at any point changed direction. His direction from the beginning until now has been pretty much a straight line with only very slight changes to fine details and never the overarching plot, there seems to be some level of misconception this is not the case, but I assure you it's true.

The rest I have nothing I can really comment publicly so much, I will say that there's no plans to wrap up the story in 2-3 more chapters though, too much story left untold.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pantera1320

Jivapeira

New Member
Mar 17, 2025
9
46
Hey Jiva been meaning to actually DM you back for awhile now... sorry about that, just to clear up a couple things the animators are paid because they're actual animators, it's not done by AI. Both the MNGF and SoA devs feel AI animation (at least in the NSFW space) is still not quite where want it to be before we make that sort of switch. Although the latest advancements are very impressive and we're following them closely. I don't know if I can give the number for how much we've spent on animations for the latest SoA chapter... but it's a lot and obviously both MNGF and SoA would make the switch if we could do so without compromising on quality at all. There is certain things AI animations do better, but there's a lot of things they do worse too (at least again, in the NSFW space).

In terms of the story stuff and I really, really want to make this so crystal clear because I feel I already have, CG has not at any point changed direction. His direction from the beginning until now has been pretty much a straight line with only very slight changes to fine details and never the overarching plot, there seems to be some level of misconception this is not the case, but I assure you it's true.

The rest I have nothing I can really comment publicly so much, I will say that there's no plans to wrap up the story in 2-3 more chapters though, too much story left untold.

No worries! I was kinda shy to message you myself... :p I thought you might think I was too weird.
I'd still love to hear how you build your scenes and use Controlnets, especially the specific settings you're using and the scene building? I've made some solid progress myself. I'm using DAZ, since I’ve been making custom models for it for years. I built a dataset from my 3D models for AI training, with some cliche loras like Melkor. I'm even using your mngf lora from civit, and it works super well. My ultimate goal tho is to replicate the shader in full 3d enviromet, that would be mega awesome but the progress is not promissing... sorry, tho exciting...

But... how do you get four characters to interact properly in one image? And how can I make the same image with just a slight change to the mouth... without spending hours on inpainting? I’m guessing it has to be done in 3D, right?

I’m still an amateur in that regard, though I think I’ve nailed consistent characters somewhat.
That said, I’m super excited about my new game... it’s not really a porn game tho, just a regular story-driven one.
I know I’m kinda lame, but my fans are actually really hyped for me to “get lewd,” haha. I promise I'll get there ok... I do have a super cool story that I want to get out
 

Jivapeira

New Member
Mar 17, 2025
9
46
Oh the wrapping up with the chapters part... I was being cheeky coz I want you guys taking on the new project including me... :D sorry :p
 

Jivapeira

New Member
Mar 17, 2025
9
46
SymbioticLife Oh, and by the way... I wanted to ask you, since you're a collaborator on both projects:
Do you actually build the scenes yourself? How much time does that take, and how are you managing it all? What is exaclty you are tasked to do? You don't have to answer... I'm just a curious bean! I'm sort of a fan of your civitai page, you're like my AI sensei in a way :p
 
4.50 star(s) 156 Votes