VN Ren'Py The Harem Garage - Development thread

[Echoesinthedarkness]

I mean the tracks are nice, but I fear the extent at which they will be able to convey that "night race" feel will be highly limited by the fact that player essentially will be casully clicking through images by one hand and jacking off by the other . at least thats how I see it for now kek
making these scenes feel equally tense visually could be quite a challenge

 

[CyberTurul]

Racing scenes won't include lewd scenes (for now) and there are a lot of scenes between the proper fapping materials, so this is a tool to make these otherwise boring scenes exciting. But yeah, you're right

 

[osanaiko]

The rectangular stuff is the burnout tyre marks. I tried scaling, placing higher/lower, but it's still visible. It has one on the right side aswell and they are 2 different assets, so I just have to use the right one.

Ah, that makes sense. I'd suggest using the Daz Geometry Editor tool to take a look at the asset. If it is made of a grid of faces, then you can use the Edit functions to select and delete the faces that extend behind the car. that will fix the issue of a different reflectivity of the road surface in that specific, highly noticeable place.

Btw I played with spotlight for car headlights earlier and it is really hard to make it realistic. I'm struggling with it because the spotlight's light doesnt "travel" far enugh to be realistic no matter how I set it up.

That's interesting. Again, I think this might be related to road surface reflection. What we are seeing is lots of direct reflection (a straight line from the source light, bouncing off the road, and reaching the camera) and very little "diffuse" reflection (light goes from the light source to the road surface in the main directon the light is aimed, then is reflected by the tiny bumps of the different faces of the rough road material in many different directions, some of which go to the camera.

The question is how to fix it...

It's just an idea but one method could be:
- do two renders (could be spot renders) of the scene emcompassing the road in front of the car and the two figures
- the first render is what you currently have (perhaps with the road surface reflectivity turned down a bit in the surface material iray settings)
- the sceond with the reflectivity turned waaaaay down, and perhaps a bump map setting added (or turned way up if there is one already)
- then overlay and selectively mask/combine the two images so you get both the direct and the indirect lighting in your scene.

Obviously thats a bunch more work and postwork, so maybe you don't need to do it at this stage. but it would make it a better shot!

All of these advice / constructive criticism aside, I really like what you are doing! Good work!

 

[CyberTurul]

Thanks for the advices, and don't worry, I need criticism. I know it, because obviously I'm new to this, so I learn every day something new. I saw this technique on other forums aswell, but I wanted to make the scenes properly in one piece, because I think that method messes up the shadows, and I use shadows a lot.
(But I'll definitely try it later, when I gain some more experience.)

And in this early stages, one of my biggest satisfaction is when I'm able to make an idea reality in DAZ. But I hear you, and agree with you, I have to improve lighting more.

However I have an other idea. DAZ has a tool called surface selector. The road surface itself is a simple one piece texture. So it doesn't matter wheter if its the road or the pavement or curbs, it uses the same. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it is possible to adjust the surface reflections within DAZ. Maybe I'll try it later.

Meanwhile (first 3 renders of the last day): MC's car is getting ready for its first deployment...

 

[osanaiko]

However I have an other idea. DAZ has a tool called surface selector. The road surface itself is a simple one piece texture. So it doesn't matter wheter if its the road or the pavement or curbs, it uses the same. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it is possible to adjust the surface reflections within DAZ. Maybe I'll try it later.

Yeah that exactly what I meant by adjusting the surface reflectivity.

 

[CyberTurul]

Okay, so next problem... I have these black lines on the MC's head. If I delete (or hide) the hair it disappears, so it must be somehow part of the hair asset. Sometimes its good, and not visible, but sometimes I have to deal with this. First I thougt its just a minor problem and I can fix this in PS but now I have more and more shots like this.

Is it possible to fix this with tweaking the settings within DAZ?

 

[osanaiko]

it's fairly common issue that occurs with hair models that use a skullcap piece to darken the scalp. If i understand it is an unintended interaction with character morphs that have a skull shape changed from the G8M (etc) default.

One easy thing to try is to select the hair object and ever so slightly adjust it's scaling, down 1 or 2%. You can get tricky and only do it on the relevant axis. Or also/alternatively move the hair object by 0.02 ("2cm")

https://f95zone.to/threads/solved-skin-rendering-issue.88267/

https://f95zone.to/threads/solving-dark-lines-render-artifacts-around-the-hairline.48297/

update: oh, and if i remember correctly it is also exacerbated when the character model is a relatively long way from the 3d environment origin point (x/y/z = 0/0/0). This is something to do with the Iray model's use of floating point calcs slightly differently for different surface effects, and the relative error is magnified by greater values. apparently it also causes black eyeballs a lot, when the character is several+ meters from origin. In this case, the common fix is to move the entire scene geometry so the figure(s) with the issue are as close as possible around the scene origin.

 

[CyberTurul]

Holy shit that makes sense. I have huge city sets, and I usually find a nice spot for the scene that I need somewhere within that. Basically I'm 10.000 away from the origin point. But I can make it work, all I need to do is parent everything together, and move the scene closer to the 0. Also I'll try to adjust the hair asset aswell.

Thank you, yesterday I almost had a mental breakdown because of this... But this is extremely helpful, I appriciate it.


MC and his main car, last day of prologue (and the most difficult to make ):


I like the surface reflection with this render, also trying to make a nice summer evening feeling.

 

[Bakaa_si]

Keep going bro. I will also start game development in a year or two. Can you tell me what graphic card are you using and specs of your current pc. Because I too need to upgrade my pc in future. Thanks

 

[CyberTurul]

Keep going bro. I will also start game development in a year or two. Can you tell me what graphic card are you using and specs of your current pc. Because I too need to upgrade my pc in future. Thanks

Sure! I recently bought a new pc for this. It's enough to start doing more complicated renders, but it's still entry level.

Ryzen 7 9700X, 32GB Kingston Fury DDR5 6000Mhz, RTX 3060 12 GB. These are the most important parts, but obviously a decent SSD is also required, because assets are occupying hundreds of GBs of storage.

When I researched the topic they said VGA memory is the most important feature, because DAZ will eat infinite amount of memory. I learned basics on a 1060 6GB with a gen1 ryzen5 so you can make less crowded sets even with a potato basically. Problems start with 3+ characters, and big scenes. 3060 is the cheapest VGA that has at least 12 GB VRAM. 4070 and other cards (with similar or more RAM) are much more expensive. Also, Iray engine requires nvidia hardware, so radeons are not good for this.

 

[Bakaa_si]

Sure! I recently bought a new pc for this. It's enough to start doing more complicated renders, but it's still entry level.

Ryzen 7 9700X, 32GB Kingston Fury DDR5 6000Mhz, RTX 3060 12 GB. These are the most important parts, but obviously a decent SSD is also required, because assets are occupying hundreds of GBs of storage.

When I researched the topic they said VGA memory is the most important feature, because DAZ will eat infinite amount of memory. I learned basics on a 1060 6GB with a gen1 ryzen5 so you can make less crowded sets even with a potato basically. Problems start with 3+ characters, and big scenes. 3060 is the cheapest VGA that has at least 12 GB VRAM. 4070 and other cards (with similar or more RAM) are much more expensive. Also, Iray engine requires nvidia hardware, so radeons are not good for this.

Thanks for the information. Just calculated those parts prices and with out a job I don't think I can create a game right now. Game development is pricy........ My current specs are i3 9th gen, nvidia 210 graphic card and 32 Gb 3200Mhz ram(16x2) and 240gb SSD.
I will just work on learning Programing language right now.

 

[osanaiko]

Lovely render, you are improving even as this thread progresses!

MC and his main car, last day of prologue

So is that a 370Z? Never thought any of the Fairlady series considered much of a street racer's car...

 

[osanaiko]

Thanks for the information. Just calculated those parts prices and with out a job I don't think I can create a game right now. Game development is pricy........ My current specs are i3 9th gen, nvidia 210 graphic card and 32 Gb 3200Mhz ram(16x2) and 240gb SSD.
I will just work on learning Programing language right now.

I was about to say that you don't need a kickass Nvidia card to get started, learning the basics of DAZ... but then I looked up your GPU and was... amazed. A GPU from 2009 that is still running? that's actually cracked. You'll be able to register it as a vintage computing device soon...

Anyway, there's lots of ways to build a game, and you absolutely don't necessarily need to have high-res perfect 3d renders. One of my favourite 3d render games was done mainly on a laptop GTX1650 (https://f95zone.to/threads/nothing-is-forever-v0-7-3-mrsilverlust.87506/). The gfx are simple and stark because the dev literally had to strip out the complex figure materials to get it to render, but the story and gameplay is incredible.

Unfortunately, I greatly doubt that a NV210 gpu is supported in Iray. You'd have to stick to making a text only game (or with placeholders which you will come back to fix later)

Eyecandy games have their place, but having "state of the art" renders is absolutely not the only thing that makes a game good or bad.

 

[Echoesinthedarkness]

"state of the art" renders is absolutely not the only thing that makes a game good or bad.

yes but that is one of the most if not the most important thing that makes a game successful lol

 

[Bakaa_si]

I was about to say that you don't need a kickass Nvidia card to get started, learning the basics of DAZ... but then I looked up your GPU and was... amazed. A GPU from 2009 that is still running? that's actually cracked. You'll be able to register it as a vintage computing device soon...

Anyway, there's lots of ways to build a game, and you absolutely don't necessarily need to have high-res perfect 3d renders. One of my favourite 3d render games was done mainly on a laptop GTX1650 (https://f95zone.to/threads/nothing-is-forever-v0-7-3-mrsilverlust.87506/). The gfx are simple and stark because the dev literally had to strip out the complex figure materials to get it to render, but the story and gameplay is incredible.

Unfortunately, I greatly doubt that a NV210 gpu is supported in Iray. You'd have to stick to making a text only game (or with placeholders which you will come back to fix later)

Eyecandy games have their place, but having "state of the art" renders is absolutely not the only thing that makes a game good or bad.

Thanks for the info bro. Yeah its pretty old gpu. Well blender does not work on my pc properly, I have recently upgraded my ram to 32Gb and next I am planning to add an additional 1TB SSD (Not m.2) Just for storage. And currently learning python programming. I saw this thread and was amazed by this developer like how much he is improving and developing his skills when he also started on a low end pc.

 

[osanaiko]

yes but that is one of the most if not the most important thing that makes a game successful lol

I agree it's a factor, but there are many different preferences for gamers - I prefer the games with great gameplay / excellent writing and story, because that increases my enjoyment far more than something stupid or poorly written with perfect graphics.

I also don't think it's the best idea to direct new developers to focus on graphics. Less than 1 in 1000 new devs manage to "tame the lightning" and have a financially successful game on their first attempt. There is just soooo much to learn about game design, dialog, implementation AND asset creation.

 

[CyberTurul]

Thanks for the information. Just calculated those parts prices and with out a job I don't think I can create a game right now. Game development is pricy........ My current specs are i3 9th gen, nvidia 210 graphic card and 32 Gb 3200Mhz ram(16x2) and 240gb SSD.
I will just work on learning Programing language right now.

Good luck with you project, man. I hope you'll find a way to make your idea a reality!

 

[CyberTurul]

Lovely render, you are improving even as this thread progresses!



So is that a 370Z? Never thought any of the Fairlady series considered much of a street racer's car...

Nope, this is a Toyota Supra MK4. The king of streetracing memes. And orange, like the one in the first F&F movie. It's an homage from me, but MC will have a lot of cars later. (And this is just a stage one version of the orange Supra)

However, I'd love to have a Fairlady asset aswell. As you said, its not a streetracer material, but it is a gorgeous looking car.

Yesterday I worked a lot on this scene. I think this is now starting to look like a real night shot.


Fun fact: this supra asset does not have different shaders for lights. You cannot switch the car's lights on/off. And the funny part is that the headlights are always on, the tailligts are always off. Here, I used tiny point lights, positioned them inside the taillamp and here we go.

 

[DickoNicko]

That'd be so much slower. I mean for a pro creator that's not a big deal, but I'm learning everything on the fly with this stuff. I don't like how they look but I need them, however I can try to blur the background more. And there are renders like this, with 100+ individual people and a dozen+ vehicles...

View attachment 4476845 Proper composition, positioning and scene building using DOF is the key I think.

Sorry for being nosy when I'm not even sure what you need. but have you tried something called "

You must be registered to see the links

" for that people in the back? I heard that's what a lot use to fill the background without all the weight of making a lot of avis.

 

[CyberTurul]

Sorry for being nosy when I'm not even sure what you need. but have you tried something called "

You must be registered to see the links

" for that people in the back? I heard that's what a lot use to fill the background without all the weight of making a lot of avis.

Yep, I had seen this before, my only problem was the gigantic size of the whole package. I think its around 15 GB, which is quite brutal for an asset that's not even in focus but it looks better, I agree.