I’ve mostly figured out the programming side and script branching. I'm taking a similar approach to what Kojima used when he designed Snatcher (1988). He managed to create a game that feels like an open world, in an era when such games seemed unimaginable due to hardware and programming limitations.
Most of the programming hurdles I’m facing are on the Ren'Py side—figuring out how to properly use some of its less well-documented features to achieve the behavior I need for the game.
After so many years, there’s no turning back. But I’m always open to working with new artists for this game. The problem is that I’m having difficulty finding someone who’s willing to draw for it. Most of the people I’ve talked to have some experience drawing one-shot fanart, and many of them say they absolutely love visual novels. But when they see the amount of work involved in creating a game, they either back out or want to charge an amount per sprite that I’m not able to pay right now.
In other news, I’d love some feedback on a scene I’m working on right now.
I want to know if this type of animation is good enough to move forward with, or if it needs any adjustments. This is my first time working alone on more than just simple 2-frame flip-flap animations for this game.
These are just mockups I made in Photoshop to visualize how each body part will behave on screen. In the game, I’ll animate it programmatically for more dynamic results.
I really need feedback on this because I'm not sure if it’s good enough to make this game profitable, or if I need to improve something. I’m low-key afraid of losing support if I release another frustrating update.
