VN Ren'Py Startup: Shattered Reality Ep 1 [Development Thread]

[Eezergoode]

***** UPDATE: Condensed thread and moved character profiles into OP *****
***** Edited to replace the word forced with the word unavoidable in relation to the one lewd scene. This ain't a rape game, guys. *****

After several years of thinking about it and not doing it, I have finally decided to buckle down and make my first visual novel. Well, the first one designed for release, anyway. While I have some minor programming experience (many, many years ago), I am not a programmer. While I have had some short stories and essays published (also many, many years ago) I don’t consider myself a writer. And I am certainly not an artist. What I am is a storyteller, and I have years’ worth of stories bouncing around my head. I finally started writing them down, and one thing led to another, and here we are. I noticed that I tended to set many of them in the same location/city/world, and that they would support each other quite well, so I kind of inadvertently have an entire series. Just a little tweaking and they all work together. This is the first, most basic, of those stories.



Game Name:
Startup - Episode 1 of the Shattered Reality Saga



Premise:
Fed up with a dead-end professional life, and a relationship that ended in betrayal, Jacob (can be renamed) finally decides to let that all go and fulfill his dream of becoming an indie video game developer. But he quickly finds that he has bitten off more than he can chew, and calls on some friends, both old and new, to help him in his new venture.

This will be a mostly linear VN. Basically, there is one “ending” but who you reach that ending with is determined by the choices you make throughout the game. Since this is my first full game, at least the first to be shown to the public, I decided to keep it simple.

There are a total of five main love interests, as well as two "side interests". Progression with the main LIs will be a little slower, so the two side girls were added to keep our MC from having to use the self service lane at the gas station of love until he can finally seal the deal with one (or more) of the main girls...

When the MC's grandmother, who raised him for most of his life, passed away a few years ago, she left him a reasonable bank balance, and a VERY large house. He has part of the house turned into an office, and he and the girls all move in there together. This isn't new for Roxie, Jen, and Jacob, since they rented a house throughout most of the four years they all spent in college. Carolyn, their former professor and landlady (I know, cliché at it's worst) has recently also lost her job, due to her short temper and a cheating ex-husband, so she also accepts the MC's offer, after some hesitation and some fast talking on the MCs part. Later, a former co-worker and another girl, currently a waitress at a local restaurant and student at the local college, hop on board to complete the team.

While there is one "ending", the girl or girls you form relationships with can alter the details of that ending. As of right now, I have 12 possible outcomes. You can end up alone, a solo ending for all the girls, if you only go with one, and multiple Harem/Poly endings with different combinations. OH and possibly one BAD ending, and possibly one "secret" ending. Which I think brings it to twelve total, but I'm not at home to check my notes right now. I will double check and confirm later this evening, once I am back home.



Planned Tags:
3dcg, anal sex, bd/sm (light), big tits, cheating/ NTR (***SEE SPOILER BELOW***), creampie, exhibitionism, group sex, handjob, harem/polyamory, lesbian, male protagonist, milf, oral sex, sharing (with other girls only), stripping, vaginal sex, voyeurism. Possibly more to come, I will update this post if I do add more.

Spoiler: Note about the NTR tag:

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A few more notes about the above tags. Most of them are totally avoidable, with most of the girls. Some girls’ paths include/require certain tags. For example, if you pursue Julie, you cannot avoid the threesome and sharing stuff. The sharing will never be with another man. Rest assured, after the prologue, you are the only functional penis in the game. Several of the above tags barely make an appearance, and a few of them are only obtained in a possible "secret" epilogue ending, if certain conditions are met. I will elaborate more on this, and adjust the planned tags, as I develop the details of the story more.

Character Profiles:
Please be advised, the character pics are NOT the finalized versions, by any means... they are old pictures from when I first started thinking about this game, and most were done in a more cartoony style. I have since decided to make them a little more realistic.

Spoiler: Roxanne (Roxie)

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Spoiler: Jennifer (Jen)

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Spoiler: Carolyn (Prof)

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Spoiler: Evelyn (Evie)

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Spoiler: Julie

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Spoiler: Morgan

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Spoiler: Brandy

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Also, full disclosure since I have seen a lot of hate on this, there is ONE unavoidable/unskipable sex scene, in the prologue, which I feel is essential to the story. It sets the stage, but not the theme of the game. This is the only unavoidable lewd scene in the game.

As of right now, I have the full intro and prologue written, and am partway through chapter one of nine planned chapters. I have the full decision tree already worked out and am currently going back through and filling in the dialogue and scene descriptions. The major roadmap of the story is completed, I am now working on a more detailed outline, and filling in events and dialog. I am so far up to somewhere around 20,000 words, although this may change when I go back and polish and/or fluff the dialogue if I feel the flow needs adjusting.

Most of the pics are old versions, and IMO not anywhere close to being good enough for final versions. I am not an artist, and my Daz Fu is weak. If I get lucky, and an artist likes my work enough to take a risk and offer services for a possible share of potential revenue, sample art could be provided as soon as they have it ready, but I feel that a more likely scenario is that I will finish writing the game, then have to brush up on my Daz skills and do the art myself, so it could be a while. I know these projects seldom make enough money to break even, if any at all. I’m not set in stone on Daz art, it’s just that, if I need to do my own artwork, Daz is about my only option, since I can’t draw a recognizable stick figure, and I’m not at all familiar with any other software that could provide the scenes and figures for the game. I know they exist, but I have never used any of them.

I will update again soon with some character profiles of the girls, and MAYBE I’ll putz around with Daz and get some general prototype character designs done. Since this is all in my free time, and being done mostly on the family computer, my Daz time is limited. I’m not rendering out a bunch of Porn images while my kids are in the room

Feel free to hit me with any questions, comments, or criticisms, I try to keep an open mind. But please note, the story, for the most part, is already set, so I am most likely not going to change anything major.

 

[Eezergoode]

Condensed everything into the OP, it was getting long and messy just adding each update as a reply. Sorry for the mess

 

[Eezergoode]

Updated with more character profiles.

 

[Eezergoode]

Dev update:

Well, I've managed to get about 3k more words written in the story, so that means I'm at about 23k words, right? Well, sort of, not really, kinda... I'm "Officially" at 19k words. Why do I have 1k LESS words, if I just wrote 3k more? Well, mainly, it's because I obviously hate myself, and am a masochist. You see, while I am writing this single game, it is actually a small part of a much larger picture. I have a total of 9 (or 11, depends on how you look at it) games planned, all set in the same world, in the same city, and instead of making the sequential, I decided that they will all be somewhat concurrent... Basically the 9 (or 11) games take place over a 5 year spread, with a lot of overlap between them. So something happening in the beginning of game 1 might be something that happens in the middle of game 4. And main characters from one game can put in a cameo appearance, or even more, in other games. So, for example, Julie starts this game as a waitress. So in any scene in one of the other games that takes place in that restaurant, she might be the waitress you see. BUT if she were to quit somewhere in game one, at a certain time point, someone in game 4 would NOT have her as their waitress if they go to that restaurant. Got it? Awesome.

What happened was that I had two scenes fully written, reviewed, fluffed and polished. BUT i forgot to check my timeline. I had the MC of this game in two scenes with the club owner/manager, who is a key character in game four. But she isn't the club manager at this point anymore, she has moved up the food chain. So she wouldn't be there, she would have hired someone to run it for her. And her replacement has a totally different attitude and personality than she does, so the whole scene will play out differently. Bleh.

This is my life now, I spend more time checking spreadsheets than I do actually writing, I think. But, I bit it off, I'ma gonna chew the damn thing. At the rate I'm going, I'll still be making this series in my 80s... and I'm just now 50. maybe I'll get lucky and win a lottery so I can pay an artist, instead of the horrible thought of relying on my own Daz skills. On the plus side, those 4k words I "lost" should be easy to gain back. I might even be able to rewrite it all tonight after I get home from work. A lot of it really won't need to change, I just cropped both scenes out altogether until I fix them. One of them is actually at the very end of the chapter, so isn't actually "needed" yet, but I had to write it while I was thinking about it.

 

[Eezergoode]

I might even be able to rewrite it all tonight after I get home from work.

So yeah, that didn't pan out as well as I hoped. I did manage to regain about 2k words, but the story just wasn't flowing right, so I eliminated most of one of the scenes altogether, and the other one is slimmed down. I did take the chance to introduce the two side girls, whose profiles I should be updating soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

[zetsupetsu]

Good luck with your game!

I personally like the cartoony style you are originally going for it'd be a shame if you changed them into the more realistic-looking ones as you said. Having that unique art style sets you apart from the realistic-looking models you can find anywhere.

If there isn't really going to be NTR in the game and just used for story-telling for the intro and setup of the game, I recommend not including the tag. Adding the tag alone already divides your demographic, so maybe just add a disclaimer at the beginning about the scene, and assure them there won't be anything afterwards. And probably make the scene skippable, like many other "mandatory ntr" scenes on other games.

Anyway, as someone who is also in the middle of creating a game, cheers and good luck with your game!

 

[Eezergoode]

Thank you, zetsupetsu! I also actually like the more stylized, cartoony style. The reason I decided against it was mainly, the original styles for the characters was before this turned into a planned "series" of games, with lots of overlap and shared characters. Overall, I'm going to need WELL over 100 characters, and getting that many all in the stylized cartoony look might not be as easy, since there aren't as many base characters to start from. And I don't want a cartoon character from one game appearing in a later game where all of the characters are more realistic. Or a realistic character from game 3, for example, appearing alongside a bunch of toons in this one.

That being said, since I like them so much, I may still go back to it if I end up having to teach myself more than a casual knowledge of Daz and do all of the art myself. None of the art decisions are set in stone at this time.

And for the NTR tag, I was almsot afraid that if I didn't warn people upfront about that scene, I would be defending the gates from a screaming horde of anti-NTR players who were after blood if even a hint of cheating made it into a game they were playing I will probably put in an option not to SEE it happen, but regardless, it is going to happen, and that alone will trigger some people. Once I get to the point where I can release the intro and prologue, and maybe the first chapter or two, I'll wait and see what the general consensus is and adjust the tags accordingly.

 

[Eezergoode]

Okay, so I managed to get about another 2000 words written over this last weekend, since i finally had some time to dedicate to it. Work, as in the work that pays the bills, not my little hobby here, has been kicking my ass a bit. Anyway, the only problem with those 2000 words are, none of them are actually IN the game... I had to flesh out backstory, backgrounds, future story, etc. I've discovered that my worst enemy, other than myself, is the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Since I have this grand, idiotic, asinine plan to have 9 (11) games all tied together, with overlap out the yinyang, something small that occurs in one game can unintentionally affect the story of another. I think I touched on this already, briefly, with the whole "I lost 4k worth of words because I didn't check my timeline" post, but I don't think I really understood how MUCH of an impact one thing occurring in one game can have a ripple effect over, well, almost everything.

I decided I should probably map out more than just the huge incidents and events on the timeline, and I'm glad I did, because if I follow things logically, or as logically as I can in this type of game that totally relies on suspension of logic and disbelief, something small in game 3, with some overlap in game 4, ends up have a huge effect on the "world" these games are set in. Basically, there is an event centering around a rescue mission that results in a high level crime boss, basically a cartel leader, getting capped, and a shit-ton of his people arrested/deadified. I could, in theory, just move some people up the food chain and call it a day, but realistically, there would be damn near all out war between the different crime factions, organizations, and families, all scrambling to take over what this guy and his people once controlled. If I eliminate the importance of the crime families and syndicates, that actually kind of kills a couple of the stories, so I need to leave them in there, or rewrite half of two or three games.

So, ripple effects now mean that certain things HAVE to happen at certain times, across most of the games, in order to maintain continuity across all of them. So I'm taking a short break from the writing of this first game, to finish fleshing out the full timeline of events and follow things to logical (?) conclusions, so I can go back to writing without worrying about the "Oh crap, that entire chapter has to be redone because this person is <dead/in jail/hiding/moved to Japan>" type of stuff.

 

[Eezergoode]

Okay, so THAT took longer than expected. Somewhat because the more I mapped, the more I realized how many little things depended or were affected by said map. Plus a lot of extra hours at work, and the holiday stuff/family stuff etc.... BUT I think I am finally ready to dive back into the actual writing, and am setting aside at least a little time every night, after work, for this task. I'd like to get a rough draft of a chapter finished in about 7-10 days, then spend a little more time to polish it up and fluff and finesse the dialog so that it flows properly. I guess we will see how that works out. I may be underestimating how long it's going to take for a rough draft, but I think I should be able to pull it off, it's the second phase that will most likely take the longest... My rough drafts tend to be REALLY rough, and it takes a lot of work to get them to a point where it isn't a real cringe read due to stilted dialogue and missing major plot points

 

[Eezergoode]

Okay, while reviewing my event maps, I realized I may have hit a small snag... I'm looking for some input from the general public on this, since it can seriously impact the overall story arcs of several games.

At one point, in game 4, the player will encounter a choice between two girls, basically eliminating the unchosen one from the story, and with all of the overlap I have, it will also affect several minor, and at least one major, event in other games.

What I am trying to decide is, do I

A) Eliminate the choice, thereby reducing some emotional impact from the storyline of game 4

B) Pick one girl as the "canon" choice for the purpose of future stories, regardless of the actual player choice in game 4

C) Same as B, above, BUT also create a persistent variable that will carry over their choice into future games if the player DID play game 4, and the girl they chose will be there, but if they didn't play, go with the "canon" option.

D) Make a "secret" path that can only be obtained in a replay after getting a couple of other endings first. In this ending, both girls will remain in the storyline, and will be the "canon" ending.

Personally, I'm leaning towards D, BUT I know that I'm probably biased, possibly because I loved a lot of the old Japanese visual novels which had the "hidden" endings that you could only get after beating the game a few times, with a few different basic endings.

I'm not sure what the current feelings on this would be, since i really don't see it in many, if any, contemporary games.

Let me know, either in a reply, or via DM, and if more than a few people actually respond, I may make it a poll...

 

[Reifon]

Okay, while reviewing my event maps, I realized I may have hit a small snag... I'm looking for some input from the general public on this, since it can seriously impact the overall story arcs of several games.

At one point, in game 4, the player will encounter a choice between two girls, basically eliminating the unchosen one from the story, and with all of the overlap I have, it will also affect several minor, and at least one major, event in other games.

What I am trying to decide is, do I

A) Eliminate the choice, thereby reducing some emotional impact from the storyline of game 4

B) Pick one girl as the "canon" choice for the purpose of future stories, regardless of the actual player choice in game 4

C) Same as B, above, BUT also create a persistent variable that will carry over their choice into future games if the player DID play game 4

D) Make a "secret" path that can only be obtained in a replay after getting a couple of other endings first. In this ending, both girls will remain in the storyline, and will be the "canon" ending.

Personally, I'm leaning towards D, BUT I know that I'm probably biased, possibly because I loved a lot of the old Japanese visual novels who had the "hidden" endings that you could only get after beating the game a few times, with a few different basic endings.

I'm not sure what the current feelings on this would be, since i really don't see it in many, if any, contemporary games.

Let me know, either in a reply, or via DM, and if more than a few people actually respond, I may make it a poll...

I also think D is a good idea, and disappears directly into the story, that girl is so pitiful

 

[Eezergoode]

On the plus side, it happens pretty late in the game, so if I go with Option D, you could finish the game, reload an earlier save, and make the other choice. Then have the "Secret" ending unlock after that, so you wouldn't NEED to replay the full game multiple times.

This is really tying me up, because one of the girls in question appears a few times in Game one, as a background character, but with a somewhat important role, and on my timeline, the event from Game 4 happens before the end of game 1. If she isn't around, she can't appear in game 1. I guess the immediate concern is, should I go ahead and put her in game 1, then worry about how she is there later, or should I rewrite that part and use a throwaway character for her role in game 1?

 

[Reifon]

On the plus side, it happens pretty late in the game, so if I go with Option D, you could finish the game, reload an earlier save, and make the other choice. Then have the "Secret" ending unlock after that, so you wouldn't NEED to replay the full game multiple times.

This is really tying me up, because one of the girls in question appears a few times in Game one, as a background character, but with a somewhat important role, and on my timeline, the event from Game 4 happens before the end of game 1. If she isn't around, she can't appear in game 1. I guess the immediate concern is, should I go ahead and put her in game 1, then worry about how she is there later, or should I rewrite that part and use a throwaway character for her role in game 1?

I would think it would be better to put her in the first week, but this requires thinking about the relevant plot after her.
As for rewriting, replacing it with a new one-off character is also a way, but what if this character is also very attractive? Maybe the question will be repeated again.

 

[Harem Trooper]

I like the "landlord" vibe and the option that I can end it in a harem makes it even better.
I find it interesting that if you want to go for some specific girls you have to "fit" in their specific fetish.
Like threesome and sharing stuff (Only MC of course I know )
This makes them kinda feel different from each other then "just" a different Li with a different face.
Perhaps we gonna see also a lesbian where MC gonna show her where the "real" fun is
I know this game is not really a power fantasy, but still, imagine it guys
Roxie and Jen are my personal fav.



About the "NTR" thing.
I hope you dont make the same mistakes like others devs. made where the "cheating" part ruined the game/lost their audience.
Dont get me wrong, I agree with zetsupetsu about making it skipable since the cheating part is essential for your story.
But like you said you will make people angry with this part alone.
People will demand that it will have the NTR tag since its unavoidable.

IMO, how you do it is how you can defuse the incoming raging.
I saw some interesting methods how different authors used different tricks to still have a NTR scene in their vanilla/Harem Manga/Manhwa/Adult game etc without much backlash. And if you saw how people here react about this topic I peronally would use it If I want to creatre a game myself. (Im one of the anti-NTR people btw)

Since the cheating GF is not a LI and wont play any role after that and is more a catalyst for MC to left eveything behind to start his adventure, I wouldnt even show it at all.
The player cant get the emotional collapse like the MC since he saw her just for a single scene but this will still enrage him. You could accomplish the same outcome when you just mention the part that he was cheated on and this was his reason to move on but here they wont rage.

If you still wants to show it, lets say for the sex scene alone, I would make her face unrecognizable. People wont get much attached to her when she has not a face. (Like two random NPC banging each other)
A possible scene is when she gets boned on the desk and the scene shows her in a specific angle where her face is behind a monitor.

A important point which I almost never see is that the MC behaves "manly".
Instead of keeping them watching most such people who get angry about this wants the MC to confront them.
And if its done, they want to see the MC to grow a backbone and not him seeing crying siting in a shower.

 

[Eezergoode]

Well, the MC of this game isn't exactly being written to be the "Macho manly eats bears for breakfast" type, but he's not a pushover either. Really, how he behaves towards someone is mostly going to be determined by how he feels about them, and how well he knows them. For example, he knows Rox and Jen quite well, them having been roomies for almost 4 years, and long-distance friends for 3 more years after that, so he's very comfortable around them. He knows them, he knows how they think, and he has a general idea, or better, as to what might offend or upset them. Granted, he's still stupid sometimes, but aren't we all? And he might not know them quite as well as he thinks he does, but.. he doesn't know that he doesn't know.

Whereas with, say, Evie, while he has worked with her for most of the last 3 years, he still doesn't know her WELL, like he does Rox and Jen, since they were on different teams, and they didn't hang out outside of the workplace. While he considers them friends, they aren't, at least at the beginning, CLOSE friends. So there may be situations where he may be a little.. hesitant.. to act with her the way he might act with some of the other girls. But at no time will ANY of my MCs for any game be a pushover, a total wimp, or somebody's emotional tampon. They may have certain weaknesses, but they will not be some wet noodle, or a block of clay for a cute girl to shape into what she wants.

As for the "NTR" scene, it's not a full-blown sex scene, it's a BJ in an elevator, and he sees it on a recording from the security camera. The player actually seeing it will be optional, but it's going to happen. I MIGHT, at the very beginning, add an option to skip past that part and start out with the breakup with Morgan that follows. And it does happen, not with the MC crying and asking why. She comes home, he tells her why he is throwing her out, and to have her shit packed up and out by the time he gets home from work the following day, then heads to a hotel for the night.

I also may, since I've gotten a few interested responses, add an option later in the game to try to reconcile with Morgan, but that's still not set in stone. I do have a whole storyline for that option, but even if I add it in, it won't happen until much later in the story. If I do add the secret ending, I'll have to add the "Reconcile" route, because Morgan has a part to play in the "secret" ending.

Also, as an aside, I just noticed I never added a profile for Brandy's wife, Leeza.... I'll have to do that tonight when I get home from work.

 

[Harem Trooper]

If you wanna reconcile with Morgan give her a good reason why she did that. In her description it can go both ways. She is really a cheating whore who fooled everybody...or there is something what we dont know. What ever it is, I hope it was a good reason so the player can "reconcile" with her...and ofcourse add her into he harem...

I dont mind, if it will even be this option, to reconcile with her but at least give her a redemtion arc. If it some cheap blackmail stuff people wont buy it. And people like myself wants to see her change during the story.
You know, like she is suffering without MC because of what she did so when you get the option to forgive her it wont feel lifeless.
Like some scene when she tries to contact MC, tries to visit MC multiple times to let her explain herself etc etc.

 

[Eezergoode]

I don't know how effective it will be, but in the story I have planned for reconciliation story-line, you WILL see a change in Morgan. It might not be as big as some hoped, but she will change. And yes, she does have a reason for what she did. It's not a good reason, in my opinion, but some may be able to forgive her for her actions. The biggest change would be in the "secret" ending, though. It's not so much a change in her, but in our perception of her... It's always been there, we just weren't seeing it.

 

[Eezergoode]

Holy hell, but the holidays kicked my ass this year! On the plus side, I now find that I have time to get back to writing, which is a good thing, since I had to redo a huge section of the first chapter (again) since the story flow was totally off. I had a somewhat significant series of events happening towards the beginning of the chapter, and it felt... off, I guess. Basically, it had things moving too fast, ramping up too soon. I am moving it to the end of the chapter, but so many things that WERE following it, are now preceding it, and there were a ton of lines that referenced the series of events that had to be reworked. Now that I have that fixed, I can go back to actually WRITING, and actually progress the storyline. And I realized I still haven't added Leeza's profile, which I swear, I will get to as soon as I can get on my desktop , where all the pics are currently stored. Got my kids some new games for xmas, and figured I'd let them play on the (semi) good PC.

And back to the whole Morgan cheating thing... There are basically two reasons people cheat. One, they are a cheater at heart. Now, there are multiple reasons they may be this way, but some people just cheat, period. Or two, there is something they NEED that they aren't getting from their current relationship, but for one reason or another, aren't willing to end that relationship. They may love the person they are with, but they are missing a vital SOMETHING, that their partner can't or won't provide.

Which of these describes Morgan? I guess we'll have to wait and find out

 

[Eezergoode]

Well, after a substantial break due to having to take two jobs to replace the one I lost due to the pandemic and the recession-that-isn't-a-recession, things are starting to settle down again, and development is back on. At least a bit. Right now, I am going back and cleaning up my code, which, to be totally honest, was some seriously sloppy spaghetti shit code. I'm also going through and commenting each scene so it's easier to fix any errors when found. I'm also going through and doing some simple placeholder art, i.e. basic backgrounds and sprites, to at least provide the general concept for each scene and interaction. Once I get the concept 'art' caught up to the current writing, I'll be diving back into that as well. I may also do some basic full renders for some scenes, but I dunno about that. My PC is in a public spot of the house, and there is usually at least one kid in the room, so it's going to be fun trying to find a window of time that I can work on them.

***Update***
So things may be looking even better. I received an 'informal' promotion offer from one of my jobs, which would most likely be enough of a salary increase that I could leave the second job altogether. It also comes with more hours worked at that job, but not as much as the two combined. I would take a small total salary hit, but not enough to hurt, and the fact that I would also be saving almost 200usd a month in gas, and decreasing mileage on my vehicle, makes up for the difference. I will have to see if the 'formal' offer holds up to the 'informal' one to be certain, but things are looking good right now. If this all pans out, if will give me a decent chunk of extra time to devote to Start Up, allowing me to get the writing knocked out at a much quicker pace. Still working on the sprites, backgounds, and the rest of the concept art right now, but I am really looking forward to getting back to advancing the story.

 

[Eezergoode]

Okay, so the unofficial offer has become official, so, in about 2 weeks, I will be down to just the one job. Which, in turn, will give me a lot more time to focus on StartUp. I'm figuring this will free up about 25-30 hours a week for me, so hopefully the story will start progressing again at something faster than a snails pace. Once I get another couple chapters fleshed out, I'll start focusing on the art side of things, and decide whether I'm going to try to muddle through that side of things myself, or try to find an artist. I guess THAT depends on whether I can afford one, since I doubt I'll be able to find someone willing to work for free/hope of potential revenue to share.