render first or dialog first?

[khumak]

I'm curious what method other people use when developing scenes. I've found that I almost always get new ideas for what I want to happen in a scene during the rendering process, but it's tough to remain focused on what you really want to happen if you don't write the dialog first. So I usually wind up writing the dialog first (but not doing the coding/events/etc), then doing the rendering, then rewriting the dialog as I do the coding last so it matches up with what I actually have rendered.

I have a hard time imagining how you would keep everything straight if you had separate people doing each. Sometimes I find that what I had imagined in my mind just doesn't look right to me when I try to render it so I end up changing it based on whatever renders I do instead. Less common are the instances where I'm doing the final tweaks to the dialog and coding and feel that I need extra renders for transitions but occasionally I find the need for that as well.

 

[RanliLabz]

I do it simultaneously, scene by scene. I have the idea and make notes, do a whole load of renders, write the dialogue and then go back to make a large number of fill-in images (mainly expressions, but quite often entire sequences). After a bit of back and forth I stop when I'm happy with the result.

I also don't get how the job can be split (though clearly some are capable of doing it!) I've tried storyboarding, and have been consistently unable to keep to it as new ideas pop into my head, or characters take the dialogue off-piste.

 

[polywog]

Typically the story is written before the story is illustrated. An image paints the picture based on the story. A sequence of images based on the dialog. Occasionally, you might make some changes to both during the process.

 

[mickydoo]

You can write the most detailed script ever written by man, then think of something completely different as soon as you see the first render. I'm about to start a new chapter, in my I head I know what I want to happen, I will write some notes, but the first thing I will do is make 3 - 5 renders and go from there. A lot of times, when you see characters sitting/standing/talking you get a whole new idea for the scene on what the dialog should be.

 

[Domiek]

The general consensus I got from talking with other devs about this very topic is this.

Plan on the key elements/structure in the scene. Write out the actual words as you render. It's easier to be "in the moment" as you're doing this and your characters will take on a life of their own.

For example, I have a scene with a big buff girl getting teased for her girly dress. I planned on her beating up a guy at a coffee shop for teasing her. I did not plan on her stealing his shoes after she laid his ass out flat. That was something that came in the moment when I realized that this girl knows the code of the streets

 

[79flavors]

As with anything in life... you ask people and get different answers.

Whilst I've never written a game... my inspiration comes from George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones). One of the reasons it takes him so long to write the books is that he starts with a rough outline (the start, a rough middle and an end). The "end" is the point, so it has to be firmer than most everything else... and then he starts writing. After a while, he tried to figure out if the characters are being true to themselves. If they're not, he rewrites the story (not just the part involving that character) so that character's actions fit his view of them. Often that leads the story in directions he had no inclining of when he started. A character will do something unexpected... which has consequences... which leads the story somewhere slightly different. An idea will pop up that will require some backstory not currently in the book. So he goes back... incorporates the backstory (or at least hints of it) and then reworks anything that backstory might also impact. More changes... more consequences... more rewriting. It's a very time consuming way to work. It does however end up with Game of Thrones instead of Twilight.

I think the same is true of rendering. You can render to fit the story. Or you can fit the story to a render. But if you let one impact the other and visa-verse - you'll end up with a better overall story/game... It will however take a lot longer and really doesn't fit with the "monthly release" style of game delivery most people stick to in order to maximize their Patreon income.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Pretty much like this.

I have my points down on where the next episode is going with each scene i have planned laid out.
Then i do the renders for a scene and once done i do the dialogue. I know DocP does it differently and I think Philly too. If i need additional images which most times i do i just add them.
My dialogue i actually plan when I do the images in my head. Basically i need the images to tell me the story when I finally do the dialogue for them.

Most importantly for me is that i do a scene if I am in the mood for it. If not in the mood then I skip and do another scene.

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

I haven't done any renders yet but I've completed the "script" for the characters for the first three episodes and I'm halfway through the fourth. I've storyboarded all 13 episodes. I'm using MS Project and MS Visio to visualise how stuff is going to go. I plan on having all of the writing and the coding done before I touch a single render. (Although I keep going back to the images in my head of how I want the two MCs to look and wondering if I should at least do them!). The point I think you'll see here is that everyone does it differently; find something that works for you and stick with it.

 

[polywog]

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[Saki_Sliz]

Looks at my gigabytes of custom made assets, unfinished projects, and countless google docs that describes all my ideas and coding.

I have no method

 

[polywog]

Looks at my gigabytes of custom made assets, unfinished projects, and countless google docs that describes all my ideas and coding.

I have no method

 

[Saki_Sliz]

Thanks X3

 

[Joraell]

Both, first is raw plot about what will happen in scene and consecvences. After I'm do renders and during it making exact texts. Than after renders is ready comes "polishing text to fit good on faces expressions. Of course during that sometimes I'm adding new renders to make scene better flowing.

 

[khumak]

I've stumbled into another reason to start with the dialog now that I've actually started working on my own game rather than just modding. I've noticed that as I'm developing a scene I tend to find myself getting drawn into that particular scene and get kind of carried away with it, taking things farther than they should go. In the moment, I'm thinking about how to make the scene as hot as I can without really thinking about what stage of the game it's sitting in.

Then I'll take another look at it the next day from more of a player perspective and realise that I need to scale things back a bit. It's a lot less wasted effort to change the story if I haven't rendered it yet. I suspect this may just be me showing my inexperience as a writer. Hopefully that will get easier to avoid as I get more practice.

 

[Mortze]

The educated answer, and the advice I give is to first write down a bare minimum of notes of what the scene will be, and if possible a base of the dialogues (and modds/expressions/poses/actions) first and then render them. Afterwards polish the writing.

What do I do?
The exact opposite of what I advise. I always make the pictures first, write the dialogue, and render additional pictures if needed.

 

[Deleted member 167032]

Spot on... I do exactly the same. I do have a layout of the episode but its all in my head...

Also if you horni, then use that to make sexy scenes otherwise sexy scenes in un-horni state are bland

As Mortze says write down before hand as much as you can really.. If we had time like the movie houses then we would do draw out storyboards but common who's got time for that?

The educated answer, and the advice I give is to first write down a bare minimum of notes of what the scene will be, and if possible a base of the dialogues (and modds/expressions/poses/actions) first and then render them. Afterwards polish the writing.

What do I do?
The exact opposite of what I advise. I always make the pictures first, write the dialogue, and render additional pictures if needed.

 

[lancelotdulak]

Looks at my gigabytes of custom made assets, unfinished projects, and countless google docs that describes all my ideas and coding.

I have no method

I probably have 50 gigs of renders and scenes mostof which i will never use because i look back at an old character/render and have gotten so much better i refuse to use it .. or entirely rework it I feel you

 

[lancelotdulak]

I love all the advice in this thread

 

[polywog]

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The military saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” is very true. Without a plan, managers are set up to encounter errors, waste, and delays. A plan, on the other hand, helps a manager organize resources and activities efficiently and effectively to achieve goals.

Writing the story up front, gives you a roadmap for your game, and you're more likely to get to your destination when you know where you're going. Those who "make it up as they go" are more likely to abandon the project, than people who have their shit together. You'll get more patrons, if you show that you are going somewhere, rather than just running in circles.

 

[khumak]

I haven't done any renders yet but I've completed the "script" for the characters for the first three episodes and I'm halfway through the fourth. I've storyboarded all 13 episodes. I'm using MS Project and MS Visio to visualise how stuff is going to go. I plan on having all of the writing and the coding done before I touch a single render. (Although I keep going back to the images in my head of how I want the two MCs to look and wondering if I should at least do them!). The point I think you'll see here is that everyone does it differently; find something that works for you and stick with it.

Sounds like you're being more organized about it than I am. I pretty much have a separate little text file for each different character and any big events that I know for sure I want to happen as well as certain other things like ideas for game mechanics, etc. I won't be rendering anything until I get a hardware upgrade which probably won't come for awhile so I'm sort of toying with the idea of digging in and writing my code/dialog and using real porn as placeholders for what I will eventually do renders for. Lack of time and substandard hardware is my big issue right now.