VN Ren'Py Thaumarotica Devlog

[DoubleProlix]

​

For the past couple months I've been working on an erotic occult visual novel, Thaumarotica. Unlike my previous project - Power Corrupts - I've been teaching myself 3D rendering with Daz instead of using stock-photo placeholders. And you know what I've found? I like working with 3d renders. It's soothing. Not as soothing as it could be with a better video card because as is I get through maybe 5-6 renders on a good day, but I like the process.

(I'm doing Thaumarotica instead of a 3D render version of Power Corrupts because my machine can't handle terribly complex scenes without crashing; and Power Corrupts requires terribly complex 3D renders. It's not abandoned, just on-hold until I have the equipment to work on it.)

So, Thaumarotica. You play this guy.


Fairly ordinary. Works in an art gallery. Has a lot of sexual hangups that he'll have to get over because buddy, you're in a porn game. Sorry, erotica game. Definitely more erotic thriller than pornographic romp, which means slow build-up and a lot of character development before you get to the sex. I will say that there won't be any grinding or "stairway to heaven" tropes; the characters in Thaumarotica are adults, and if they want to fuck? They're gonna fuck.

That's the catalyst for the plot, actually. Fucking. Ol' protagonist there gets black out drunk and loses his virginity to a one-night-stand, and then shit starts getting weird. There's a heavy occult theme to the game drawn from a lot of funky real world sexual practices like tantra and the Ordo Templi Orientis but you don't need to know any of that nerd shit because the protagonist doesn't know it either, he's just a guy.

A guy destined to become a powerful sex wizard.

Anyway, the game is episodic, with an update planned every month. There's already a 0.1 on my patreon but honestly there's so little content and it's so rough that playing it now would only push you away; it's only really of interest to the people who are already my supporters. Wait a few weeks until 0.2 is out - it'll be a public release worth the time to download, if you like slow burn paranormal weird shit.

This week I've been implementing stats. There is one, and it's more of a continuum of Neuroticism vs Stoicism. Basically how anxious/angry/depressive/emotional you are. This controls two things:
- First, how the NPCs see you. The girls in particular have their own preferences, but most people prefer someone with a balance between "neurotic" and "unemotional sociopath."
- How powerful your magic will be. Think of THIS as an analogue to the Force's Light and Dark side in a very rough sense; drawing strength through either being in touch with your emotions or mastering them. Going to the far end of the spectrum either way is a path to power but it is a little dehumanizing and may preclude having a normal life with healthy relationships, instead of being a psychotic sex wizard who can only view coitus as a type of magical ritual.

It's perfectly legit to play the game either way. There ARE "bad end" game overs, but they're more along the lines of making single dumb choices than going down the wrong path and putting the game in an unwinnable state. Who gives a shit, it's Renpy, just scroll back to the choice and do something else.

AAAAAAANNNNNYYYYWAAAAAYYYY that's the general premise. I'll follow up with more details and some WIP screenshots, and I'll mention it when the public release is ready, but at the present time the 0.1 build isn't ready for prime time if you know what I mean.

 

[DoubleProlix]

Core sexual content plan is all along that occult/supernatural axis. Sexual rituals. Spooky partners. Transformations. Understanding and manipulating desire. Lots of BDSM overtones... the magical community (such as it is) is a fringe community tied into the underbelly of the city; people who can peel back the layers of reality to stare at the meat that lies underneath tend to be somewhat experimental and open-minded.

Not everybody is down for everything. The NPCs you meet have their own turn-ons and turn-offs, as well as relationship preferences. Some will be monogomous and wreak a terrible vengeance if they find out you're fucking around on them. Some will be open to polyamorous or casual sexual relationships. And some simply aren't interested in whatever it is you are.

Of course, sex magic is all about desire, its creation, its manipulation. You'll be able to tell what makes people tick, sexually speaking. And with enough power, you'll be able to tweak that in various ways.

You won't *have* to. Maybe you *shouldn't.* But helping people get over their sexual hang-ups can be healthy, right? Right?

Implementation

As mentioned in the prior post the game is episodic in nature; that's the action-line plot. Your character's exploration into this strange world of the occult, and the discovery of your own powers. I've made a big deal of the fact that you're a groddy sex wizard but that's a path you'll have to discover and set out on; the first story arc is mostly "whoa hey the supernatural exists?!?" with a lot of paranormal investigation and hints as to what's to come.

Again: Story heavy. Slow burn. Dipping your toes into a pool of weird.



Sex and relationships, though - these are implemented as sub-plots. Alongside, but not necessarily integral to, the main plot. You can run around like a sex crazed loon trying to build a harem and destroying whatever trust people had in you if you fuck up, or you can be monogamous and build a strong relationship with one girl, or you can go for some weird polycule, or you can avoid entanglements entirely and try to be a chaste sex wizard. I don't know if you can pull that off but you can try.

The relationship subplots - mini-stories - are optional. You don't have to explore them. You don't have to pursue a relationship or sex with characters that bore you. And - I feel that I should mention this - opportunities may be mutually exclusive, barring some sitcom shit where you invite three different girls out to dinner at the same time, wearing different outfits as you run from table to table and hope they don't notice you.

Anyway that's a lot of words but the point is that this isn't too complicated to implement in practice; each potential romantic partner is a state machine and you can advance down different relationship paths with them separate from the main plot, by taking advantage of choices that arise during the main plot.

 

[DoubleProlix]

Spent the morning refreshing myself on the different kinds of shots used in cinematography. I took film classes almost twenty years ago and it's been ten since I was involved in any film projects, but I think my renders will look a lot better if I adapt framing/shot techniques from what little I remember.

At least it'll add a little consistency. Don't know if I want to go back and adjust some of the earlier renders I made - my output is too slow for that - but when I'm able to upgrade my gear I may get around to redoing some of the early renders.

 

[DoubleProlix]

There's an axiom in any kind of creative process - game development, art, writing - your earliest work is your worst. No matter how talented you are, unless you've stagnated your first projects are not going to be your best. Every game teaches you more about the art and craft of what you're doing, so naturally at the beginning you're at your least proficient.

This is true within projects as well. I started doing 3d renders not too long ago, and already I can see that my latest renders are of a much higher quality than those I started with. Maybe in part it's because my inferior hardware is forcing a slow rate of progression, but I can see marked improvement with every scene.

The progress feels good, even if the rate of progress on the project is frustrating.

Still, it's a little galling to know that when a new player picks up my game the first scenes they see will be the least proficient. Those are the scenes that have to hook them. And they'll be the least qualified. I don't know if I'll have the time to re-render EVERY scene that isn't the best it could be - I have to keep moving forward with the project - but I'll probably redo some of those early ones.

 

[DoubleProlix]

Released Thaumartoica 0.1: https://f95zone.to/threads/thaumarotica-v0-1-double-prolix.92856/

Progress is progress, even if it's slow, and I can work on the script and code while I'm spending an hour rendering each image.

(You are cordially invited to support me on Patreon to help me afford to upgrade to a better workstation if you find this process too slow. I think it's too slow, too.)

I don't know if I'll continue to post these logs, or if I'll put them in the game thread, or over on itch.io, or something else. We'll see.