VN Ren'Py Trials of Penance [Development Thread]

[VisualBard]

Hello you wandering souls. I bid you welcome to an exciting erotic visual novel.
I’m Akhilles and I’m the writer for Trials of Penance. ​

This is my first venture into VN so (*deep breaths*), I'm pretty nervous typing this. Today, I’m going to take a moment to explain the 5 distinct gameplay and narrative features that make up this exciting game. But before that, let’s whet our appetites with the story.

Story
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Name	Trials of Penance
Tags	3DCG, Supernatural, Mystery, Ren'py, Male protagonist, MILF, Lesbian, Incest, Oral Sex, Handjob, Teasing, Masturbation
Themes	Fantasy, Survival, Supernatural, Action, Romance, Multiple endings, Smart characters, Battle royale

Story Overview: 21 people find themselves inside an abandoned university, playing sinister games organized by a supernatural entity for the very survival of their lives and a chance at redemption. Who will survive? What is the true endgame of the entity? Why were the survivors chosen?

The story takes heavy inspiration from Thai folklore. We delve into the idea of preta, spirits often called "hungry ghosts" that have accumulated poor karma in their corporeal forms and are now doomed to wander the world. So what does this mean for our characters? Well, you get to find out.

Features ​

• Mysterious World

One of the inspirations for this VN is the German sci-fi thriller TV show, Dark. The show features an intricate story, along with characters who have compelling arcs and connections that allow for several ‘WTF!’ moments across its 3 seasons. Most importantly, there is a sense of mystery in not just the stories and characters, but in the world itself. From the small town setting to the nuclear power plant to cave systems to weird machines (whose purpose I won’t say, since that would be a spoiler), everything keeps you guessing its purpose.

That is what I wanted to bring to Trials of Penance; compelling characters, complex stories, and a mysterious world that raises plenty of questions (that will be answered, of course).

In fact, see the lotus symbol next to the dramatic looking headers? A lotus is the Buddhist (majority religion in Thailand) symbol of enlightenment. That's important in the story as well!

• Balancing Act

Let’s not forget the SEX! We don’t want to create a game where you grow old before you even see a single handjob scene.

This is not us belittling games with slow pacing. Slow-burn stories are fascinating, intriguing, and allow for scenes and characters to develop organically. However, we are aiming for a different direction. As the story gets more mysterious and characters more compelling, the scenes get hotter!

• Developed Characters

I have been using the word “compelling” as though I just looked through a dictionary and said, “wow, look at this word I can use!”. But I have a reason for its usage. It’s far too easy to create characters such as the “douchebag you get to punch in the face” or the “annoying bitch you get to dominate later”. Now there is nothing wrong with that. They are fantastic story devices (and let’s face it, great fantasy role-playing elements). But our goal is to create human characters. You will like them. You will dislike them. But ultimately, none of them are inherently awful and we want you to root for all of them.

• Audio Visual

Two things I wanted to achieve with this:

1. Try to create an engaging audio featuring sound effects and music that compliment the game.
2. Visual intensity. This means that there aren’t just hot scenes and cool character moments, but awesome action set pieces. We hope you get to enjoy the sequences we will be creating.

• Choice Consequences

Finally, we want choices to have long-term repercussions that not just affect the relationship between characters, but the storyline itself. However, we want to give you the freedom to explore both relationship-based choices and story-based ones by clearly distinguishing the two. This means that we don't want you to accidentally click a choice and wonder why a certain hot girl has disappeared from the story.

Overview ​

Here is a short overview of the progress and other details.

Chapter 1 (for the Demo) progress

Script	100%
Opening sequence (releasing soon)	98%
Renders	13%
UI/Coding	5%
Marketing (after this post)	2%
Planned release date	Late Q3, 2022 - Early Q4, 2022

Patreon and Social links:

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Discord (coming soon)
We have other cool social stuff planned out as well.

On that note, welcome to Trials of Penance. We can’t wait for you curious souls to wander into its mysterious world.

 

[skrusher]

Looks very promising. I wish the devs good luck with your game!

 

[VisualBard]

Looks very promising. I wish the devs good luck with your game!

Thank you skrusher! That means a lot. We can't wait for everyone to experience the story

 

[MissFortune]

Intro teaser (releasing soon)

I recommend against doing this, speaking from experience of others. Teasers/demos often get battered because of how short they tend to be. Especially if you tend to be active on here or plan to be on your game thread. You're going to get a lot of "too short", or "see you in a year" type stuff. Going with a solid/lengthy (500+-ish renders seems to be a standard for most, for reference) release and slamming down a cliffhanger is going to achieve a lot more than a short teaser/demo will.

Just a recommendation, though. You (guys) do you.

 

[VisualBard]

I recommend against doing this, speaking from experience of others. Teasers/demos often get battered because of how short they tend to be. Especially if you tend to be active on here or plan to be on your game thread. You're going to get a lot of "too short", or "see you in a year" type stuff. Going with a solid/lengthy (500+-ish renders seems to be a standard for most, for reference) release and slamming down a cliffhanger is going to achieve a lot more than a short teaser/demo will.

Just a recommendation, though. You (guys) do you.

This is sound advice and we agree! So what we have planned is an opening title sequence that we are going to use in the game. It sets the tone for the VN really well. We shall change it from "Intro teaser" to "Opening sequence" to avoid any misunderstanding.

Thank you for pointing that out!

 

[VisualBard]

Name: Livia
Age: 27
Nationality: Italian

Created by the talented JPace .

 

[VisualBard]

Dev's Diary #1: The Fantastical Fantasia of Fantasy

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So I was asked this; why fantasy? I mean, there are a lot of genres that I could have picked. The simple answer to that question is that I LOVE fantasy. No matter what genre I touch; romance, horror, action, or even thriller, there will always be elements of fantasy. However, that does not EXACTLY answer the question. I mean, that tells you what I like to do something.

So let me talk about three stories.

• The Mist by Stephen King is a fantasy-horror where people are trapped inside a supermarket while a, well, mist outside surrounds the building. Inside the mist are strange creatures. Step outside, and you're dead. While it is a horror-survival story, The Mist is more importantly about a message; the monsters outside are not that scary compared to the human beings inside, who are the real monsters.
• The Lord of The Rings is about the power of strong bonds and love overcoming all odds, including war.
• Spiderman essentially is about a young man just trying to balance his life and his new job, all the while just being a fantastic human being to everyone around him.

I think that fantasy can tell awesome stories while delivering a good message. I wanted to create a story that has a simple message; live your life to the fullest! But I wanted to do it without sounding preachy. I wanted the story to have several 'WTF!' moments, cool characters, exciting moments, an ending (I hope) that will blow your mind, and sex scenes (I SERIOUSLY hope) will help you blow your load.

I mean, it is an erotic visual novel. Key word: erotic! So it should be fun, but it should be an experience I don't want you all to forget.

Can't wait for you all to experience the story.

Tomorrow, I'll be releasing the Intro Sequence!

Also, I would love to answer any questions you may have, if you have them. Seriously, ask me anything about the story, characters, inspiration, future plans, whether I love cats or dogs, anything. I'll tell you as much as I can (provided I don't have to give away any spoilers).

Thank you everyone! Hope you all have a fantastic day.

 

[VisualBard]

As promised, I present to you, the Intro Sequence. We hope you enjoy it.

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More updates to come, so keep your eyes on this space.

If you would love to support us, then consider following our socials. We have so many stuff planned for you all.

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[VisualBard]

Time to meet another character. Here's the gorgeous redhead of the group:

Name: Elaine
Age: 27
Nationality: Ireland

Created by the talented JPace

 

[VisualBard]

Dropping in a little poster tease for Trials of Penance. Wonder who that mysterious figure in the background is? And what's with all that smoke?

I guess you'll find out.

As always, it's the awesome JPace at work.