VN Ren'Py Onhold Sacred Profane [v0.1] [Midnight Arrow]

[MidnightArrow]

To give an example why my approach is better:

Three weeks ago, I decided to roll up my sleeves and meticulously outline every single plot point and variable in Sacred/Profane for every route I plan to incorporate. And not even ten minutes ago, as I was mindmapping a diagram of how the variables connect, I had a breakthrough about the game's design. Spending time with one love interest increases your "desensitization" level. But there was no comparable stat increase for the other love interest. The game design was unbalanced. After chewing this over for days, making countless diagrams linking everything together in different ways, I realized the "concentration/focus" variable, which is necessary for unlocking one ending, could easily be tied into dating the male love interest. He's a hardcore Protestant. He has a strong Protestant work ethic. So his approach towards work rubs off on Sophie, giving her a boost to her concentration stat and balancing dating the two love interests and the flow of the routes as a whole. Now that I've come up with this idea, I can easily incorporate it into the writing from the very start.

That's the kind of insight you don't get if you release a game in thirty-minute chunks and end up stuck with a bunch of renders that prevent you from rewriting anything.

 

[R1k0]

To give an example why my approach is better:

Three weeks ago, I decided to roll up my sleeves and meticulously outline every single plot point and variable in Sacred/Profane for every route I plan to incorporate. And not even ten minutes ago, as I was mindmapping a diagram of how the variables connect, I had a breakthrough about the game's design. Spending time with one love interest increases your "desensitization" level. But there was no comparable stat increase for the other love interest. The game design was unbalanced. After chewing this over for days, making countless diagrams linking everything together in different ways, I realized the "concentration/focus" variable, which is necessary for unlocking one ending, could easily be tied into dating the male love interest. He's a hardcore Protestant. He has a strong Protestant work ethic. So his approach towards work rubs off on Sophie, giving her a boost to her concentration stat and balancing dating the two love interests and the flow of the routes as a whole. Now that I've come up with this idea, I can easily incorporate it into the writing from the very start.

That's the kind of insight you don't get if you release a game in thirty-minute chunks and end up stuck with a bunch of renders that prevent you from rewriting anything.

If this game just a hobby for you, then you can do whatever you want and develop your masterpiece many years but you won't attract new followers.
It's sad that there are very few BDSM games and almost no good.

 

[Joe Steel]

But I want to be clear, this is not a porn game. It's erotica, which has the same literary standards as "respectable" genres of entertainment, except with a heavily sexual theme and nudity. I've never called it a porn game, and I never posted it on this porn game forum.

That's a perfectly proper response to my characterization of this as a "porn game." Erotica recognizes, as your game does, that the brain is the most sexual of all the body's organs.

 

[bernd rosemeyer]

any chance of a revival ?

 

[MidnightArrow]

any chance of a revival ?

It's not dead in the first place.

I released the latest update on itch.io at the end of April.

 

[Wooloomooloo]

It's not dead in the first place.

"The proof of concept (where all the screenshots are from) is an earlier version of the game. The monthly builds are the current development branch. At present, it is in a very early state, with only text and no graphics or audio."

 

[Joe Steel]

"The proof of concept (where all the screenshots are from) is an earlier version of the game. The monthly builds are the current development branch. At present, it is in a very early state, with only text and no graphics or audio."

Those of us used to reading stories can just treat the current game as a story. Lack of graphics isn't really a huge detriment, since the focus (and strength) of the game is the written story. I look forward to seeing graphics added, but think that the dev is wise to get the story down first so that the graphics eventually serve the story and not the reverse.

 

[Arikania]

Those of us used to reading stories can just treat the current game as a story. Lack of graphics isn't really a huge detriment, since the focus (and strength) of the game is the written story. I look forward to seeing graphics added, but think that the dev is wise to get the story down first so that the graphics eventually serve the story and not the reverse.

I don't agree, really. I myself, for instance, am no fan of text-based games. I truly believe that having graphics would gravely improve the game's popularity.

 

[R1k0]

I don't agree, really. I myself, for instance, am no fan of text-based games. I truly believe that having graphics would gravely improve the game's popularity.

I agree, in a visual novel, it is important to strike a balance between the amount of text and images. Reading for several minutes and looking at the same picture can become boring quickly. But it seems the author has his way, he considers himself a great writer first. There is a site Literotica for example, but I think even there these walls of text will be of no interest to anyone.

 

[Joe Steel]

I don't agree, really. I myself, for instance, am no fan of text-based games. I truly believe that having graphics would gravely improve the game's popularity.

You seem to be agreeing with me about looking forward to the graphics, but disagreeing that putting out the text first serves the readers' interest. Since you can just ignore the game while it is text-only, I don't agree with you that showing the text before the graphics is a bad idea. I cannot imagine what you think that the harm is in doing so.

 

[Arikania]

Seeing pictures helps me to relate more to the protagonist, to feel being part of what's happening. I'm not one to listen to audio-novels either, for instance.

but for clarity's sake: there's nothing wrong with text-based only ofc. My personal taste is not necessarily the standard after all.

 

[MidnightArrow]

I agree, in a visual novel, it is important to strike a balance between the amount of text and images. Reading for several minutes and looking at the same picture can become boring quickly. But it seems the author has his way, he considers himself a great writer first. There is a site Literotica for example, but I think even there these walls of text will be of no interest to anyone.

The script for Steins;gate is 600,000 words long.

While I'm not going to go that high, I don't feel the need to make it shorter either.

Seeing pictures helps me to relate more to the protagonist, to feel being part of what's happening. I'm not one to listen to audio-novels either, for instance.

but for clarity's sake: there's nothing wrong with text-based only ofc. My personal taste is not necessarily the standard after all.

It's not text-only. I'm just not making images now because if I decide to rewrite things, I'm stuck with a bunch of useless images.