VN Ren'Py Completed Shaping Her Future [v1.0] [Ellaraia]

[Ellaraia]

I'm slow writer myself. If I'd ever try to write a game, novel or anything, I'd be stuck on chapter 1 forever. Forum posts are manageable, if they don't say what I mean on first try, I'll get there eventually. But something longer, that's bad. I can always say that it's because English is not my native language, but I know best that it's mostly excuse. Oh well, so I won't be another Shakespeare.

About rewards, personally (as a hypothetical game creator) I'd be tempted to take money only as donations, strictly tips for what's already out, to avoid any sense of obligation. But I suspect that I wouldn't get much. It looks like a lot of people prefer to pay for something, rather than just give tips. But then they also expect something in return. Partial solution is to charge per update, so that's less pressing. But someone may still be dissapointed. Clearly, making games single-handedly may not be the best choice for someone who doesn't like criticism. It's good that you're improving. Maybe you could team up with your girlfriend and let her handle the "business & customer care" part.

It's not that I'm a slow writer, in-fact I'm really fast if I'm writing about something I enjoy/am interested in. The issue is that I ramble on sometimes, only to re-read the post and realise that most of it was off-topic and irrelevant and not something that advances the conversation at all.

The pressure of having to release an update each month definitely got to me. For one month, I realised that I wouldn't be able to deliver and was very worried about people stopping supporting me, or being upset. I didn't want to tell anyone.

I pondered on charge-per-update but didn't go with it, mainly because it's really rare in the adult-gaming part of Patreon. I think the reason for that is there is less trust in our community than many others. I think you can set a limit on Patreon of how many updates per month you're willing to pay for, but still, there would definitely be cases of creators who give up charging multiple times then leaving, having given nothing in return.

My girlfriends almost-complete lack of English would make her simultaneously a great and awful candidate for that role. She's also busy making a whole lot more money than I do. :frown:

 

[HeavyEavy]

@Ellaraia Ok, let's look at some games that I felt were very successful on multiple levels, including patrean.

SLoG (Slave Lords of the Galaxy)
Short, simple, can't really fail the game, has skip options for minigames if you fail 3 times. It was successful enough to merit 2 additions to the game. Which then led to the creation of Corrupting the Princess, again another successful game, they are now producing a 3rd game and it looks like they are doing well. My point of this game is: They worked on getting what they originally wanted and kept with it.

Soldiers Life
An rpg style game that you can't really lose. It takes longer to play due to the battles and the RNG. Has tons of choices and content with multiple endings(3). It also has different styles of game play, so you can make her the camp slut, or you can make her your personal fuck toy, I think there is a marriage ending I just haven't bothered trying to find the 3rd ending yet. My point of this gama... Same, had an idea, stuck with it, and is now making more games.

Admittedly these are 'old' games, however still very successful and created a very good foundation for them to expand and continue to do what they want to do. So here's a new one:

Life
A great story line, he's listened to his followers/patreans and ignored most of them and stuck by what he had envisioned and planned, imo it's a very successful game and I love the story, I'm "invested" in the characters and anxiously await his next release. Again here's a guy that stuck with his vision and is becoming successful, I'm not sure if he will continue writing and produce another game, I hope he does he has lots of talent.

So I guess my point is: Stick with your vision! It's getting pretty popular, and it's taught you a lot of things, so take what you've learned and continue on, you have tons of talent! and I believe your endeavours will become successful! I know things can look bleak, but after working in the software industry for as long as I have, I can say this, 99.99% of what you hear is complaints. Fact is, a pissed off person will go out of their way to tell 10 people, while a happy/satisfied person may tell 1 other person. It's just the nature of the beast, so chin up! and march onward! Here a F95 imo most of the people that are here are barely old enough to be here, and just want fap material, which doesn't make sense to me, but it somehow "feels" to them that they aren't really looking at porn since they are just animated or cartoons/games. I've droned on long enough and I think I got lost twice now... Good Luck and I'm rooting for ya!

 

[Ellaraia]

@Ellaraia Ok, let's look at some games that I felt were very successful on multiple levels, including patrean.

SLoG (Slave Lords of the Galaxy)
Short, simple, can't really fail the game, has skip options for minigames if you fail 3 times. It was successful enough to merit 2 additions to the game. Which then led to the creation of Corrupting the Princess, again another successful game, they are now producing a 3rd game and it looks like they are doing well. My point of this game is: They worked on getting what they originally wanted and kept with it.

Soldiers Life
An rpg style game that you can't really lose. It takes longer to play due to the battles and the RNG. Has tons of choices and content with multiple endings(3). It also has different styles of game play, so you can make her the camp slut, or you can make her your personal fuck toy, I think there is a marriage ending I just haven't bothered trying to find the 3rd ending yet. My point of this gama... Same, had an idea, stuck with it, and is now making more games.

Admittedly these are 'old' games, however still very successful and created a very good foundation for them to expand and continue to do what they want to do. So here's a new one:

Life
A great story line, he's listened to his followers/patreans and ignored most of them and stuck by what he had envisioned and planned, imo it's a very successful game and I love the story, I'm "invested" in the characters and anxiously await his next release. Again here's a guy that stuck with his vision and is becoming successful, I'm not sure if he will continue writing and produce another game, I hope he does he has lots of talent.

So I guess my point is: Stick with your vision! It's getting pretty popular, and it's taught you a lot of things, so take what you've learned and continue on, you have tons of talent! and I believe your endeavours will become successful! I know things can look bleak, but after working in the software industry for as long as I have, I can say this, 99.99% of what you hear is complaints. Fact is, a pissed off person will go out of their way to tell 10 people, while a happy/satisfied person may tell 1 other person. It's just the nature of the beast, so chin up! and march onward! Here a F95 imo most of the people that are here are barely old enough to be here, and just want fap material, which doesn't make sense to me, but it somehow "feels" to them that they aren't really looking at porn since they are just animated or cartoons/games. I've droned on long enough and I think I got lost twice now... Good Luck and I'm rooting for ya!

My 'vision' for ShF has definitely changed as I've realised that some things are really boring, some are too difficult or time-consuming for me to create and others were just not as great in reality as they were in my mind. The core is still the same, but I've removed a lot of the silly frilly bits and changed how the basic premises of the game are presented, in terms of mechanics that is. I think 0.09/0.10 will be a better game than any previous release and it's been very fun to develop so far. I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment in programming when I was in school, and that's still the case with ShF. However, I sometimes got overwhelmed with some of the things I wanted to do and I'd just have to stop developing the game for that day. Now everything's simpler and I've not hit this wall yet and am ahead of schedule for the first time in ShF's history.

 

[HeavyEavy]

@Ellaraia I would argue that your vision hasn't change at all, the scope and mechanics have changed quite a bit. When I played this game at OP I really like the premise, to me is was just you and a cute girl that I could "make" into the "girl of my dreams" using various actions to influence a point system to reach said goal. Well.... It still is and I think it's gotten better and look forward to future releases. So for me at least, my vision of the game hasn't changed at all.

 

[Ellaraia]

@Ellaraia I would argue that your vision hasn't change at all, the scope and mechanics have changed quite a bit. When I played this game at OP I really like the premise, to me is was just you and a cute girl that I could "make" into the "girl of my dreams" using various actions to influence a point system to reach said goal. Well.... It still is and I think it's gotten better and look forward to future releases. So for me at least, my vision of the game hasn't changed at all.

It depends on what you mean by premise. I was being rather broad. But yeah, that hasn't changed, just how you go about achieving it.

 

[smnb]

("Slow writer") I meant the whole process. Write something fast, then some more, then realize that the earlier point would be more clear after the new stuff, so shuffle things around, then it gets too long and the main message gets obscured, so it needs some cuts and adjustments, ... stuff like that. And in the end, it takes an awful lot of time.

(Charge per update) From supporter perspective, possibility of dishonest creators who would charge multiple times and then flee to Bahamas didn't really occur to me. Probably because it would be hardly worth it for them, so it's unlikely to happen. I prefer regular payments myself, because I like the predictability. But when you think about it, it doesn't really matter. If you support creator with per-update payments and you don't like what you got for it, you stop and you lose one payment. If you support creator monthly and don't get enough for it, you stop and lose how many payments you were comfortable to send before without getting any reward. In any case, you have zero guarantee what you'll get, so anything what you pay is what you're willing to lose, simple as that. And if you don't keep track and pay for a long time without knowing, then you clearly don't care about that money, otherwise it couldn't happen.

(Vision) Technical details don't matter much, some things are expected to change, because not many people are good enough to plan everything in advance. Ideally, your vision is what attracted supporters so far, so keep doing that. It won't be true for everyone, but tough luck. If you involve supporters in decisions, don't give them any choices you don't like. You do want to make them happy, but not at the cost of not enjoying the result yourself.

 

[Ellaraia]

("Slow writer") I meant the whole process. Write something fast, then some more, then realize that the earlier point would be more clear after the new stuff, so shuffle things around, then it gets too long and the main message gets obscured, so it needs some cuts and adjustments, ... stuff like that. And in the end, it takes an awful lot of time.

(Charge per update) From supporter perspective, possibility of dishonest creators who would charge multiple times and then flee to Bahamas didn't really occur to me. Probably because it would be hardly worth it for them, so it's unlikely to happen. I prefer regular payments myself, because I like the predictability. But when you think about it, it doesn't really matter. If you support creator with per-update payments and you don't like what you got for it, you stop and you lose one payment. If you support creator monthly and don't get enough for it, you stop and lose how many payments you were comfortable to send before without getting any reward. In any case, you have zero guarantee what you'll get, so anything what you pay is what you're willing to lose, simple as that. And if you don't keep track and pay for a long time without knowing, then you clearly don't care about that money, otherwise it couldn't happen.

(Vision) Technical details don't matter much, some things are expected to change, because not many people are good enough to plan everything in advance. Ideally, your vision is what attracted supporters so far, so keep doing that. It won't be true for everyone, but tough luck. If you involve supporters in decisions, don't give them any choices you don't like. You do want to make them happy, but not at the cost of not enjoying the result yourself.

Had Patreon not allowed me, and everyone I believe, to charge-up-front, then I may have switched to charging per update instead. But now there's no reason for me to change it when it's fine as is.

I just did a poll on Patron for a clothing choice. I made four options then chose the two I liked and the patrons chose between those two. While clothing isn't as important as scenes or the general direction of the game, I don't offer a poll option I don't want to do, and I plan well for both outcomes so I'm ready to get to work as soon as the results come in. Also because I enjoy planning out my ideas.

 

[Ti'elby Mercedes]

I got one bad comment and I deleted the video and my channel. I think I'm better at taking criticism now.

I hear ya. The first time I got a negative review on Literotica, I immediately deleted it, even though I had a lot of positive comments too. Later I wished I'd had an "undo" button. But even though I think the feedback is useful, I agree that you should usually stick to your vision. Ganbatte!!!

 

[acidnightmare]

Interesting game, the only criticism i would have is that the journal isn't very clear in telling you what to do and the stat requirements are unknown unless you look it up in a walkthrough or on the forums, which will lead to many frustrated players who don't know why they aren't progressing.

 

[ZagorTeNay]

Great model, good graphics. Just curious on one thing here: why do some push for stat grind to unlock scenes/etc?
More freedom, sandbox design? I understand appeal, but imo you need to add a lot of events/content to make it work. In this case, multiplied by x for each path.

 

[Ellaraia]

Great model, good graphics. Just curious on one thing here: why do some push for stat grind to unlock scenes/etc?
More freedom, sandbox design? I understand appeal, but imo you need to add a lot of events/content to make it work. In this case, multiplied by x for each path.

I'm currently in the process of an entire re-work of the game's mechanics which give more freedom and greatly reduces the grind. The stats will be completely gone in the next version.

 

[ZagorTeNay]

I'm currently in the process of an entire re-work of the game's mechanics which give more freedom and greatly reduces the grind. The stats will be completely gone in the next version.

That sounds interesting. Do you mean to do something like "Life with Mary" or "Wifey Dilemma", adding more story, dialogue, relationship development with branching paths?

 

[Shirafune]

NTR Content? Lots of it? None? Sup? Hello?

 

[HeavyEavy]

NTR Content? Lots of it? None? Sup? Hello?

Not so much, just one scene. And imo it's more cuckolding, since she won't do it unless you tell her to, and you are there to watch.

 

[Ellaraia]

That sounds interesting. Do you mean to do something like "Life with Mary" or "Wifey Dilemma", adding more story, dialogue, relationship development with branching paths?

I've played neither fo those games. What I'm transitioning to is essentially a tech-tree system of unlocking scenes. In real-world terms, as your relationship progresses you try more and more things with your partner. As you progress your relationship and level up, you'll be able to unlock sets of scenes. Some sets contain more than others, but this will even out as more scenes and interactions are added. There are also affinities which changes the dialogue amongst over things. These are girlfriend, pet and so on.

It may sound like it doesn't fix the grind at all, but it's currently balanced at roughly one set of scenes per in-game week and you get experience for doing everything. Also, it's a less confusing system than before as the scenes are readily available once unlocked

In the near future, I'll aim to begin adding dates to the game. These will be more story-driven than the current scenes, and will aim to expand your relationship far more.

 

[Ellaraia]

NTR Content? Lots of it? None? Sup? Hello?

Not so much, just one scene. And imo it's more cuckolding, since she won't do it unless you tell her to, and you are there to watch.

Yeah, not much. It was, and still is, something different that I want to try adding. However, it seems to just cause more arguments than anything, so it's far from my priority right now.

There are a few scenes I definitely want to add, beyond that depends on how they're received.

 

[mihiro]

I can't seem to get the "Pluging the Hole" to trigger? I got the ButtPlug and the lube, but I can't figure out how to trigger the "Foreplay"

 

[HeavyEavy]

I can't seem to get the "Pluging the Hole" to trigger? I got the ButtPlug and the lube, but I can't figure out how to trigger the "Foreplay"

She needs a lust at 120, and happiness of 90(or more), then just ask her if she wants to try anal.

 

[sdibolcrif]

Damn, I just started this and the "have you had sex since..." topic made me way more depressed than I expected from a porn game. I went into this expecting to corrupt her, now I just want to hug her forever :|

That's not a bad thing, mind you. I'm actually quite impressed by the approach you've taken - and by the amount of meaning you managed to put into a single short conversation

 

[GhostPhil]

I really like the idea of this game and the character models are great.
I don't really like the gameplay, it feels like I do always the same plus skipping time.
But I already saw that there will be Gameplay changes, so I am looking forward to this.
It is just a bit weird at some point, when you are at the slave route and she looks really down and submissiv, that she is exactly the opposite at some other points/places. I kind of wish this was more driven by choices, so that the paths have some clear lines and the characters act more like this. And I have to say it is a bit weird to insult her all the time just to get that one stat down. I hope the development will feel more natural in the future.

I will definitly have an eye on this game!