VN Ren'Py Strangers on Paper [Ch.2 v0.2.2] [Gloomy Ghost Studio]

[gloomyghost]

Strangers on Paper - DevLog #28

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Ay, ay, ay. Yeah, I couldn’t think of another way to start this dev log because we are reaching that stage of development in which our brains are turning to mush and our schedules are non-existent and you know, we could really use a Hyperbolic Time Chamber right now. But then again, don’t we all?

Anyway, here’s the cute little thingy, let’s go through each of these to try and make some sense of it all.

• Writing

A great percentage of this chapter was written and edited from my phone due to the FIVE MONTHS (yes, in caps, because I need you to feel my pain) I spent without my laptop and wondering if I was slowly turning into SOP’s MC. I even thought of going back to working at bars. It was only about two weeks ago that I got it back and, shit, after multiple edits with an actual appropriate work tool, it’s all done. Still leaving it at 95% because with every test comes a new perspective and, some things that seemed to work before, no longer do. That’s the remaining 5%, the possibility of some tiny edits and changes here and there.

• Art

This fucker outdoes himself every time. Like, seriously, I’m always in awe of the art in this game. Progress on this side has spiked since Grogu’s epiphany in his dream (not gonna go through this again, but if you’ve been following this turbulent journey, you may have an idea of what I mean). But you know what happens when someone keeps delivering more and more each time? Some things start looking inconsistent. Which is why Grogu’s been going back to some scenes in Chapter 2 and re-doing some things here and there - something I’d object to, but once you see the result, there’s no arguing. Now don't get your panties in a twist, we're not talking about a full-on remaster here, it's more about tweaking some details that didn't sit quite well with us from the beginning, and now Grogu has better tools to get them to the place where he had always meant to.

• Code

Just like with the writing, some things may come up in the code that we’ll still be working on improving. Yeah, I say “we”, but it’s more like I come up with an idea of how a certain consequence could lead to this particular outcome which results in a headache for Grogu who has to code it but, hey, improved gameplay!

• Bugs/Issues

The game seems to forget who my crush was at times. Or refuses to show us Grogu’s beautiful art because it’s just that selfish. We’re working with a psychiatrist to help it get its proper meds and it will soon be ready to go out and play with some friends to work on its social skills, we think that will be good for its wellbeing.

• Steam

Don’t even get me started. It’s the definition of work-in-progress, but no longer a priority. Chapter 2 is the priority.

That’s it for today, I gotta say we’re finally in a really happy place again which is hilarious given exactly one year ago today, our first chapter got leaked, resulting in the worst headache and a rushed release, so, no, you’re not getting a date.
But… if I were you, I’d keep my eyes open for some clues to come.

PS: I ALMOST FORGOT, I’VE GOT ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT! Heh.
After a lot of back and forth, it’s been decided that Strangers on Paper will consist of FOUR chapters, as opposed to the original three we had planned. The thing is, the more I write, the more I realize it would feel rushed to take all characters to where they need to be in just three chapters. Both Grogu and I share the same mixed feelings on this: We’re happy to have more of our beloved characters to discover, we want to be truthful to our story and tell it in a way that feels organic, but this also means more work in the same project (hopefully not so damn slow and without as many setbacks as we had this goddamn year).

So… yay? Do let us know how you feel about it. We truly appreciate your feedback and, believe us, we share both your hopes and frustrations. Thank you for being so kind to us and for showing your excitement for this odd cookie (that was a callback to one of our first dev logs, I should cut down on coffee and if you recognized it, maybe you should too).

PPS: If any of you reading this are into writing or curious about it, look out for a freebie going into some of it coming out this week.

 

[Joshy92]

I can't believe it's been a year since I last played it. Normally I forget what's happened in games soon after I stop playing them, but I remember nearly everything from my playthrough that's how much this story has gripped me.

 

[Drinex]

I can't believe it's been a year since I last played it. Normally I forget what's happened in games soon after I stop playing them, but I remember nearly everything from my playthrough that's how much this story has gripped me.

Same, glad this gem will see ch2 at least.
Writing and li's in this game (especially Amy for me) are just masterpiece, and story feels very interesting and natural.

I hope the game will get its interest back, especially when it comes to steam. GL to the devs.

 

[Josus Joestar]

Now that is really what I anticipated.

 

[Black Orchid]

The devs shouldn't be worried about a steam release...
When the game only has one chapter..

Focus on delivering.. because that episode was suppose to come out a long time ago..

steam releases plague a lot of new VNs. devs see the $$$ that other top VNs manage to rack in and they try to cash in on that as well by scrambling to release anything on steam. this particular VN will either get abandoned or stuck in a never ending dev cycle, we have seen the same exact thing happen time and time again.

 

[Jarulf]

I can't believe it's been a year since I last played it. Normally I forget what's happened in games soon after I stop

Yup, same here. Really looking forward to the new chapter, it's probably time to head over to Patreon again.

 

[DevinHesi]

Behind the Scenes #9: Writing Tips | Characters

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Hi there! It’s Gizmo here this time, and I’m coming out of my writing cave to share some writing tips with you. I’m not sure whether I’d call them tips myself, it just felt fitting for the title. Without further ado, these are some strategies, tools and exercises that I've learned and that have helped me in different stages of my writing journey.


Why “Characters” again?

I believe building your characters should be the first task you set out to do. You may have an idea for a story you want to write, but I’d always encourage you to make sure you know who the characters in it are before developing the plot too much. If not, the story will feel more like a bunch of situations that happen to random people the reader/viewer won’t care too much about, and why would they, when they and their creator don’t know them at all? While I’ve gone into the specifics of creating

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or

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in some BTS articles before (as well as on

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, which also goes into the MC and Tony), today I wanted to be more practical about it, and share some things that hadn’t really occurred to me to share before.



Defining their voice



You may have an idea of your character’s personality, but some situations you’ve put them in make you unsure of how to depict them. One tool that helped me a lot as I began writing is the

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. It’ll throw some questions your way that you will answer as best as you can as your character, and by the end it’ll show you what movie or tv character those answers sound like. This is a very useful tool to help you understand what trope of typecast your character belongs to and how they may behave according to that. It’s a great starting point, and, the more you write, the more you will get to know them. Aaaand it’s also a fun quiz to take if you want to get to know yourself better.



Backstory



I keep individual profiles for each character and take some time to write some important (and absolutely unimportant details) about them. Things that have happened to them, things they like, and random traits that may or may not come up in writing (you’ll probably never learn that Amy hates purple and just can’t see it, yet it’s a quirk that’s present in her own file). If you’re not sure where to start, there’s a lot of questionnaires out there to help you develop them as real people. I usually like to ask myself questions like, what kind of drunk are they? How do they react when they get mad? What kind of things do they talk about and what kind of things do they keep to themselves? And then slowly dig deeper into the whys and therefore into the next item.


Internal conflict



You may be familiar with this term already, it refers to the struggle each character is dealing with on their own journey. There’s always something they want (their goals, dreams, what they think will be good for them), something they fear (rooted in past experiences), and a misbelief they have about themselves (rooted in personal trauma) that supposes an obstacle in them moving forward. Every step, every choice the characters take will be guided by a tug of war between these three: The fear will try to keep them in their comfort zone, while the want will push them to overcome it, yet the misbelief will have them second-guessing themselves every step of the way. There’s a lot to go into on this theme, so feel free to google examples on works you’re familiar with to get a better idea of what it entails.


Character arcs and growth



My favorite way to look at it is this: By the end of your story, your characters should be able to do or say something they were unable to at the beginning. They should be able to look back and be like, huh, I did that. In a romance plot, this will be tangled with a relationship, but more on that on the next item.


Relationship Arcs



Just like with a character arc, characters in a romance story should be able to overcome obstacles individually and together. They should grow together, learn from each other and that influence should be portrayed in their actions and views as the relationship progresses. Many stories lean too heavily on one of the characters being the only one who’s doing all the job (ever heard of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl?) and frankly that’s a balance that’s been kind of a struggle for me to write from a VN point of view. Again, it all comes back to looking at a character and a relationship at the beginning and end of each chapter or story and understanding how it/they have changed since their first encounter, even if that growth is almost imperceptible at first.




I think this one has been long enough as it is, but I may come back and write up a few more of these on other subjects. I would like to know though, is there any area in particular you guys would be interested in learning more about? What should the next writing article focus on? I’ve thought of digging into the thinking processes that go behind writing choices, tropes, mistakes, world building… you name it.

 

[Xabior]

we have seen the same exact thing happen time and time again.
Like WTF.!
take the HDD out and stick it in another computer reinstall renpy or python transfer fileseven if you have to install OS it's like a few hours work
5 months

 

[Deleted member 7440346]

is the update coming early/mid June? or maybe even longer?

 

[Radnos Salazar]

is the update coming early/mid June? or maybe even longer?

Don't hold out, try playing different games. This one is among a very few masterpieces on this site, Dev taking a significantly long time for development is one of the reasons for that. Dev has not even hinted at any release date as far as i know. It will come when it does.

 

[Bnshy]

is the update coming early/mid June? or maybe even longer?

It's been over a year, since the first update...
Which was supposed to be released a long time ago...
If I was you, I wouldn't try to guess...
Try playing other games..

 

[Ass prefer]

is the update coming early/mid June? or maybe even longer?

Spoiler

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[FantasmaVoador]

I'm going to play again, to satisfy my needs.

 

[Golden Trump]

Total 4 Chapters with 3 left...........So this game will finish around late 2026

 

[Radnos Salazar]

Total 4 Chapters with 3 left...........So this game will finish around late 2026

Can't say for sure, it can also go to 2027, since chapters get bigger their development time will surely rise. As you can already see it's been more than a year for the 2nd chapter, but still no solid release window that should tell you the game will end later then sooner.

 

[Fapparition]

Strangers on Paper - DevLog #28

You must be registered to see the links

If you'd like to listen to this dev log being read out loud,

You must be registered to see the links

Ay, ay, ay. Yeah, I couldn’t think of another way to start this dev log because we are reaching that stage of development in which our brains are turning to mush and our schedules are non-existent and you know, we could really use a Hyperbolic Time Chamber right now. But then again, don’t we all?

Anyway, here’s the cute little thingy, let’s go through each of these to try and make some sense of it all.

• Writing

A great percentage of this chapter was written and edited from my phone due to the FIVE MONTHS (yes, in caps, because I need you to feel my pain) I spent without my laptop and wondering if I was slowly turning into SOP’s MC. I even thought of going back to working at bars. It was only about two weeks ago that I got it back and, shit, after multiple edits with an actual appropriate work tool, it’s all done. Still leaving it at 95% because with every test comes a new perspective and, some things that seemed to work before, no longer do. That’s the remaining 5%, the possibility of some tiny edits and changes here and there.

• Art

This fucker outdoes himself every time. Like, seriously, I’m always in awe of the art in this game. Progress on this side has spiked since Grogu’s epiphany in his dream (not gonna go through this again, but if you’ve been following this turbulent journey, you may have an idea of what I mean). But you know what happens when someone keeps delivering more and more each time? Some things start looking inconsistent. Which is why Grogu’s been going back to some scenes in Chapter 2 and re-doing some things here and there - something I’d object to, but once you see the result, there’s no arguing. Now don't get your panties in a twist, we're not talking about a full-on remaster here, it's more about tweaking some details that didn't sit quite well with us from the beginning, and now Grogu has better tools to get them to the place where he had always meant to.

• Code

Just like with the writing, some things may come up in the code that we’ll still be working on improving. Yeah, I say “we”, but it’s more like I come up with an idea of how a certain consequence could lead to this particular outcome which results in a headache for Grogu who has to code it but, hey, improved gameplay!

• Bugs/Issues

The game seems to forget who my crush was at times. Or refuses to show us Grogu’s beautiful art because it’s just that selfish. We’re working with a psychiatrist to help it get its proper meds and it will soon be ready to go out and play with some friends to work on its social skills, we think that will be good for its wellbeing.

• Steam

Don’t even get me started. It’s the definition of work-in-progress, but no longer a priority. Chapter 2 is the priority.

That’s it for today, I gotta say we’re finally in a really happy place again which is hilarious given exactly one year ago today, our first chapter got leaked, resulting in the worst headache and a rushed release, so, no, you’re not getting a date.
But… if I were you, I’d keep my eyes open for some clues to come.

PS: I ALMOST FORGOT, I’VE GOT ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT! Heh.
After a lot of back and forth, it’s been decided that Strangers on Paper will consist of FOUR chapters, as opposed to the original three we had planned. The thing is, the more I write, the more I realize it would feel rushed to take all characters to where they need to be in just three chapters. Both Grogu and I share the same mixed feelings on this: We’re happy to have more of our beloved characters to discover, we want to be truthful to our story and tell it in a way that feels organic, but this also means more work in the same project (hopefully not so damn slow and without as many setbacks as we had this goddamn year).

So… yay? Do let us know how you feel about it. We truly appreciate your feedback and, believe us, we share both your hopes and frustrations. Thank you for being so kind to us and for showing your excitement for this odd cookie (that was a callback to one of our first dev logs, I should cut down on coffee and if you recognized it, maybe you should too).

PPS: If any of you reading this are into writing or curious about it, look out for a freebie going into some of it coming out this week.

Almost there... need to wait... a little bit longer...

But, all in all, 4th chapter was to be expected since 1st chapter is only one evening long. Hard to imagine a story like that will end in half a week or so.

 

[block_block_No]

Liked first chapter. Hope that this one will not become abandoned.

 

[3D Reaver]

Meh, the writing is good and so are the renders, but the options for LI are just off, at least for me.

You have Becca, the online prostitute and drug addict that you simp for, who treats you like dirt. You have some moments with her, and then she immediately goes kissing someone else. The dev used a female and her refusing sex to lessen the sting, but like, c'mon. There is a moment of realization when the MC admits that he doesn't know anything about her. The only reason he excuses her shit behavior is because she's attractive. It would be interesting to make two versions: one where she's hot and one where she's ugly and fat, and ask people what they think about her 'character.'

Amy is some girl who seems to be getting married because of some sense of obligation or something, and she cheats, but her fiancé knows about her list and laughs it off.

 

[gloomyghost]

Strangers on Paper - DevLog #29

Today’s update is a short one! We’ve been writing too much lately, so this dev log is mainly for your visual pleasure. As for what we’ve been up to these past two weeks: Testing, last-minute changes, and more testing. So much fun (actually, I meant to be ironic but I do low-key love it until it gets a bit too much).
Anyways, we hope you enjoy these previews!

 

[Radnos Salazar]

Strangers on Paper - DevLog #29

Today’s update is a short one! We’ve been writing too much lately, so this dev log is mainly for your visual pleasure. As for what we’ve been up to these past two weeks: Testing, last-minute changes, and more testing. So much fun (actually, I meant to be ironic but I do low-key love it until it gets a bit too much).
Anyways, we hope you enjoy these previews!

The blue haired girl is actually blonde??? Hotdamn that made her hotter!. Yo btw i had a question, when you guys do introduce lewd scenes, do you plan to animate them or are there no animations in this game at all? I haven't played it yet, i'm waiting for completion, so i was curious.