Ren'Py The Expansion of Slavers Guild [in development]

[Eloth001]

Hi all. I am a beginner Russian indie developer also known as ThatMadMan, at one time inspired by such authors as Old Huntsman (Jack o' Nine Tails) and Maverick (Strive for Power).

Let's just say that I can do a little bit of everything, but there is nothing that I can do too well, so I couldn't start creating a game for a very long time. Fortunately, the development of neural networks has managed to cover some of my shortcomings, so right now I am working on a renpy game in the slave trainer genre, which combines the features of a visual novel, a story-driven RPG, an economic strategy and, of course, a game for adults.

Why did I first mention that I am a Russian author: due to some events, both sad and shameful, I am no more able to use Patreon, so I created an account on boosty, which anyone can see: I blog in English. New materials will appear.

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I don’t promise that it will be fast, since my main job, aka my source of livelihood, also takes time, but I can say that work with the engine is already underway, and several scenes are ready. I don’t set myself a time frame, but your interest, feedback and questions would greatly inspire me to continue working on the project.

Thanks to all.

 

[LeFapman]

I can relate to the part where you say "I can do a little bit of everything, but there is nothing that I can do too well", I think it fits me the best.

I'm developing my first project too and it has been an incredible two months period of work and adventure getting to learn how to do things, and I love how there are many different skills to use doing stuff by myself so I've been learning all sorts of things -- nothing too well though, my code is functional but super messy, my U.I art is decent but simple, and I haven't been able to decide the story, yet I think I'm capable to write decent (not that boring) dialogues. I pretty much just go with the flow and try having the most fun. Implementing gameplay is tiresome but a rewarding experience, specially the new ideas that always seem to pop.

Wishing the best of luck with your project, hope there are some more visuals coming next! I hope things go well for you!

 

[Eloth001]

There definitely will

For example I would like to introduce you the early screenshot from the brothel location. The characters are MC (at left), the owner of the brothel Ophelia (at right) and her lover Ordek (at center). So far, I'm building the game in Russian, for convenience, but it will be released in two languages.

For understanding, I'm posting a translation of the scene:

Ordek says, "Honey, I'm off! Hi, Al. Can't stay, we'll chat another time. Make yourself at home. "

 

[LeFapman]

The image display shows its crashed, there's no link to open in a new tab but I opened through inspect element.

EDIT: Oh yea I forgot, you can't post links to images here, u have to post the pictures themselves from your HDD instead.

Those visuals are stunishing! Did you make that art yourself? Because holy, that's a great artstyle, MC looks good and not a weakling like we're used to see in most VNs hehe, that's a big plus.

So it's based in the medieval era with fantasy style? Do you have a story that is already planned? I'd like to know more about how people make their storylines up, because as for me, I just go with the flow trying to finish a chapter first and then we'll see what's next, scrapping plenty of ideas.

 

[Eloth001]

Thanks Fapman, I'm really grateful for your feedback!
Technically, I use about 3 neural networks in different orders to get the image I need in the right quality and resolution (I think I mentioned that as a hand-artist I'm not very good...). It’s very important to me that the characters end up looking the way I see them in my head, so post-processing in Photoshop is always a must (fortunately, this is one of those skills that I’m good at).
The world - yes, hybrid fantasy, completely original but with references to classic fantasy. As soon as I figure out the ability to post pictures directly on the forum, I'll post a little background.

UPD: It seems I can post images now, perhaps I needed 3 posts to do that

UUPD: Actually, the main story takes place off-screen three years before the events depicted in The Expansion. I tried to work on that story and realized that I couldn't handle it, because in that game there was such a wide range of choices and development of the character's personality that I realized that I need a team for that, and left it for later as a prequel, in case that What I present to you here and now will be a success.

UUUPD: Bonus. A screenshot from another scene. MC (at right), Alma (the city coroner and a close analog of vampires in the setting who, though, feed on pure life energy instead of blood) and Alma's vessel, a slave who is already almost "done".

Alma: "By the way, I would be obliged if you help me get rid of her and find a replacement."

 

[LeFapman]

These visuals are breathtaking, really. I don't mind which tool people use to make their art, neural networks are a tech advancement and are here to stay whether people like it or not. I certainly don't mind, I mean, just look at these! Alma is the dream goth girl, and a vampire, hey I've got too much blood in my veins anyways, don't mind sharing some hahah.

So your story is situated in its own time with your own lore but has reference to classic folklore, okay, think I got it. It sounds like a serious-tone story, I'm all in for that. Character development is difficult, I get why you'd need a team, the backgrounds are a tough part and plays a huge role in how much trauma someone has, what scenarions that person fears of, or avoids, or if that person is more confident so going to let's say dark places isn't a worry, things like that can be complicated to manage long term.

I'm a lucky boy since I'm making a parody of something that already exists, I pretty much knows what my characters think because they were already developed beforehand, personality-wise I'm good. Making (I counted just yesterday) 74 characters in total, each with their own personalities + background stories can get messy, so I've been making lots of them just extra characters or participants in side-stories that will be developed after the main story has some content to play.

 

[Eloth001]

Thank you for your feedback Fapman, I really appreciate it.
I hate to break it to you, but vampires (called revenants in my setting) don't drink blood. They feed directly on the life essence of the sentient being that is near them. It happens instinctively, but they have limited control over this property, so they use slaves to drink from them without harming others around them. The girl in the screenshot above is an example of what happens to revenants' slaves when they are around them for too long.

Well, I can say that I have never had any particular problems with developing a story, and I can create characters in batches without interrupting my main activity. This is something I've been lucky with. What I had a problem with was giving my ideas a tangible form. With modern tools, there's now one less thing to worry about.

I had spent the previous week working on the brothel scene, including designing the prostitutes, writing backgrounds for each of them, preparing the arts, and then assembling it all into a single scene. There's still a long way to go, but here's what it looks like. All characters on the screen are already interactive.

 

[Deleted member 2595272]

Thank you for your feedback Fapman, I really appreciate it.
I hate to break it to you, but vampires (called revenants in my setting) don't drink blood. They feed directly on the life essence of the sentient being that is near them. It happens instinctively, but they have limited control over this property, so they use slaves to drink from them without harming others around them. The girl in the screenshot above is an example of what happens to revenant slaves when they are around them for too long.

Well, I can say that I have never had any particular problems with developing a story, and I can create characters in batches without interrupting my main activity. This is something I've been lucky with. What I had a problem with was giving my ideas a tangible form. With modern tools, there's now one less thing to worry about.

I had spent the previous week working on the brothel scene, including designing the prostitutes, writing backgrounds for each of them, preparing the arts, and then assembling it all into a single scene. There's still a long way to go, but here's what it looks like. All characters on the screen are already interactive.

View attachment 3192648

Wow, very good details. I wonder if you can say quickly your workflow about ai

 

[Eloth001]

Sure, why not. First, you need to have an image of a character or location in your head (for example, I’ll take the character). To create the basic concept, I use neural network playground.com because they allow you to create up to 500 images per day and they have a lot of filters. We enter a text description of what we want to see, including “full body view”, “concept art”. Of course, the neural network does not read your thoughts, so, depending on your meticulousness, you can go through dozens or even hundreds of options. Personally, I'm very meticulous. Below is an example with the prostitute Sandra, which you can see in the final screenshot.



Next, I use the Kandinsky network, because it imitates painting well, is useful and simple in the outpaint and inpaint functions, and with its help you can improve the quality and resolution of the picture, as well as fill in the missing details.
But there is one problem: all of the above neural networks have an adult filter, so it is not possible to create even naked female breasts with their help. And this is where the Yodayo neural network comes to my aid. This site offers 150 credits per day and is uncensored.

Even though neural networks have made giant strides in recent months, they still have shortcomings, such as difficulty generating anatomically correct hands. Sometimes I have to manually cut out a fragment of a picture and run it through a neural network until the result suits me, and then fit it into the image manually in the same Photoshop, like a collage. I often use this technique if I need to change some details in an art that I'm generally happy with.

In short, something like this.

 

[Eloth001]

Hi all! It's been a while since I posted here the last time, however, I want to assure you that work on the game is in full swing. During this time, I managed to complete the cutscene with a horror-style sacrifice. Nothing but neural networks, Photoshop, imagination, as well as my first experience of recording video from the screen. The scene is somewhat spoiler-like, but I'm too itchy to share it.

Warning: The cutscene contains a combination of nudity, blood and a more or less realistic visualization of violence.

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