VN Ren'Py Project update. And some questions!

[betterzett]

Hello again!

Almost 2 months ago I've asked your opinion about my project. And after reading your feedback I went back to development.
Here is my previous post: https://f95zone.to/threads/need-you-opinion-about-my-project.93924/
First thing I changed is visuals. I remade the main character and "mother". And also, almost every render was changed with new one, because of lights.
I really think that now renders are looking much better than before.
Here is some examples that you can compare with my last thread.


Second thing, that I've started developing is DoA. DoA is that VR game inside the game
It took a lot of time to code inventory, crafting and battle system.
When I was developing battle system for DoA I was refering to JRPG style, because it's easier for me to create and manage afterwards.
It still needs some polishing, but I think we could make it work together, after some beta-testing.
Here is some examples from DoA:



So I came here with this update, but I also have some questions to you.

First question is, of course, your opinion about new visuals. Really wanna know what do you think!

Second - how do you think I should add NSFW-content to VR-dimension?
I have one thing in mind - guardian. Guardian is NPC that will be located in your home location and do some stuff(but I'm not sure what exactly). And you will be able to change it appearance via skin-cards that will be received through game-progression such as combat, quests, secrets/easter eggs, crafting, etc. And depending on rarity of the card - you will be able to do some things with Guardian.
For example, common card - just skin, rare card - skin + skin without clothes, epic card - all previous + sex scenes, legendary - sex scenes animated. You got the point.

And last but not least question: Should I create discord or patreon for my project now?
I was thinking about it because it will be easier to ask your opinion on the fly, rather than developing some things for 1-2 months and ask you here.
I'm not thinking about going hard in paid-only WIP content. For now I just wanna stay tuned with you as much as possible.

Looking forward to your feedback. Feel free to ask me anything!

 

[desmosome]

Looks good. I like the VR parts a lot. I'd like to see the VR story being integrated somewhat with the main story. For example, you do some missions and possibly some horny interactions inside the VR game with a female friend/relative and see how that affects their real life relationships/conversations.

The Guardian idea is ok, but it seems like it would be just a side thing that doesn't tie into the real life or VR storylines. Personally I don't find that as interesting, but the clothing customization sounds cool.

 

[desmosome]

Also, just had an idea. You were considering some mini games to make money like waiting tables and stuff. That is really mindless and boring in pretty much every game. What if you make a currency exchange between the VR game and the real world? That way, you could make money by running some dungeons in the VR, which is much more involved and interesting than repeatedly doing menial tasks in part time jobs.

Think about Love of Magic. The combat system is SO fun. There are many different builds for the main character and party composition. A system like that is fun to play on it's own. You run optional dungeons and can make money, improve your character stats, and even find some side events in the dungeon. It never really feels like a chore in that game, which is good design.

 

[betterzett]

For example, you do some missions and possibly some horny interactions inside the VR game with a female friend/relative and see how that affects their real life relationships/conversations.

Yeah, I was thinking about something like that too.

Also, just had an idea. You were considering some mini games to make money like waiting tables and stuff. That is really mindless and boring in pretty much every game. What if you make a currency exchange between the VR game and the real world? That way, you could make money by running some dungeons in the VR, which is much more involved and interesting than repeatedly doing menial tasks in part time jobs.

And about that, I wanna add something like black-market into VR-world to exchange currencies. But waiting tables and construction work is still needed, because you won't have VR headset right at the start.

 

[Tor7]

Looks good. I like the VR parts a lot. I'd like to see the VR story being integrated somewhat with the main story. For example, you do some missions and possibly some horny interactions inside the VR game with a female friend/relative and see how that affects their real life relationships/conversations.

Yes, totally agree here. AND if you tie it in with your idea of "cards", as the MC, when you earn a card, you could give it to the other player and their character will "upgrade" their armor to something more revealing and you can add the sex scenes too (as the IRL relationship develops, the game sex scenes could push that relationship towards that level.)

 

[betterzett]

AND if you tie it in with your idea of "cards", as the MC, when you earn a card, you could give it to the other player and their character will "upgrade" their armor to something more revealing and you can add the sex scenes too

Sure, but cards is item just for Guardian.

But I'll add several key-items that you'll give to other characters(such as new skin-items like dresses, lingeries, etc.).

And what about patreon/discord for weekly updates, polls and feedback? Just don't wanna spam here to everybody, when I can gather some followers, that interested in project and discuss things with them.

 

[Tor7]

My thoughts on polls... be very careful with that. Don't let polls dictate how the story goes. It's your story. Also, be careful if you give special rewards that affect the game to patrons. One of the VNs, I forget which, allowed a patron to rename a character (small side character.) The patron decided on something stupid like "Bluey McBluehair". When I got to that part of the VN, the stupidity of the name temporarily broke my immersion from the game. I got through the secne then I went looking for why this character had that name and found out.

I have a discord, but I never use it. Most games have a discord server. I assume a lot of game discussion goes on over there, but no clue personally. And it might be a ghost town until you get more followers.

Yes, at some point, you will want to set up a Patreon/Subscribe star. If you are intending for the game to have incest, then you will want to use Subscribe Star. Otherwise you will have to make the game with "landlady" and "room mate" and then someone will have to create a patch. You could set it up now, you might gain some followers, but my understanding is that Patreon doesn't allow NSFW content to easily be found. Before you launch the first version of the game, you will probably get very little followers. Once the first version is released, you'll start to get some.

Honestly, releasing your first version is the best way to get feedback. You'll be able to set up a page here and players will discuss and provide feedback. Plus bug test.

 

[Deleted member 3917737]

I just wanted to say, I love this image :3 she is so adorable <3 Also, it definitely looks better than the older one.

 

[betterzett]

Hey, I got one question for you again!
And it's about music and SFX.
Do you listen to game's music or you just turning it off?
I'm almost done with demo version and soon I'll be polishing all details. And I really need to know about your opinion on music/sound effects in the game.