VN Ren'Py "World Eater" [Development Thread]

[AspiringA]

Herro again wankerz,

I know the typical first post for a game is usually after six months of prototyping with at least an hour of content and around 1-3 sex scenes, yadda yadda-- but I've decided against that. In my head, if you do the same things everyone else does, you can't complain if you get the same results. So after lurking here and seeing a number of games fizzle out after a strong start (*shakes fist at Demon Boy*), I've decided I'd rather have a strong foundation on a few key concepts:

Progress Updates.
Since I'll be starting from scratch, you guys'll be able to see my progress from zero to hero in real time. Currently, I've got this thread, to chronicle me leveling up my art skills to produce titillating erotica to use in my game. I'm probably around 20% of the where I want to be art-wise, and that thread will take me from drawing boxes in perspective, using 3D to create mockups for overpainting, all the way up to animating rods slamming into compressible squishy holes. That way, you'll know I'm not some pre-existing dev smurfing on alt patreon/subscribestar accounts to milk you while delivering high quality slop--mainly cause you'll see me actively fuck up along the way.

This thread will also serve as a temporary game journal while I work out what story I want to tackle for my first game.

Content Structure.
I'll most likely be utilizing Ren'Py for this game. A couple of features I'm inspired by are the QTEs in Desert Stalker, sex animations in Hero Party Must Fall and Vae Victis, jump-to-scene/CG in Stellar Dream, and a couple QoL features like a quest log, adding shakes and char expressions for sprites, rollback and like 20 pages of saves. THAT SAID, while I'm working on the story, I'll be working in Twine to cut back on the amount of overhead work I'll need to do as I still work a day job, can't use my work laptop to create porn, and only possess a shit jailbroken Chromebook kids I still have from highschool.

Since it's a complete story, I'll release a couple chapters so you can decide for yourself if it's a story you'd want to follow and support in the first place.

I expect it'll be next year until I finish the entire story in Twine as I'm planning for around 10 chapters, five different factions and a maximum cast of 15 LIs with branching storylines and endings. Given that I expect all the choices the player makes having weight on the outcomes for all these factions and LIs, as well as the end state for the MC himself, I'm probably looking at around 50,000+ words, and that number will likely balloon once I actually have to code.

That said, having a complete story means I can focus on deliverables. I'm thinking I'll release chapters in full, for free, while working on each successive chunk of a chapter in sequence and releasing them over time. It'll go from Twine text, to Ren'Py with gen assets, then temp art, release a chunk, then work on art exclusively while fixing bugs in the chunk, then append new chunk to finished chunk ad nauseam until a chapter is finished. Why do it this way? Because I'm sick of playing a game, then realizing I've been looping for a while, or get hit with a 'that's all the content' screen right when the story picks up.

Subscriber Tiers and Rewards.
I'll have full chapters released on Patreon or Subscribestar under a free subscriber tier. You'll get notified of general posts, updates, as well as get to play through the entire story for free, forever. I'm adamant about that. I pirate all my entertainment, and I only pay for something when I want to see more of it, not when it's wasted hours of my life.

It'll probably be: $0, $1, $3, $9, $19, $69, $420 (haven't seen this done before and it sounds hilarious in my head at least, and I'll likely make the guy an in-game NPC).

SO: The main perks will be reading the last three chapters of the completed story document/previewing the ending in twine, being able to add options to polls for in-game content, your name in credits (next to Jesus Christ and Colonel Sanders), WIP art, exclusive channels and roles (I despise Discord but likely would need to implement that so), access to Kick streams while working on art, playtesting the chunks/chapters, and likely extra in-game content/in-universe lore. Oh, and exclusive hand-holding content >.

Subscriber Input
I want to touch on this as well, since I'll be getting monetary support from people. I don't want people to have the wrong idea, but I tend to have strong artistic vision for the stuff I work on. Support is support, but if it comes to going against my own idea of how the story should go, you can go ahead and get mad, I'm not changing my mind no matter how much money you send me. That said, I'll have polls for in-universe stuff, like what clothing should characters wear? what's the culture around nakedness in this region? what does the MC encounter while travelling? Not necessarily plot-shaking stuff that degrades the plot that comes after, ESP since I need a finished concept before I start releasing a version including art.

I'd also like to hear input regarding the story, lore suggestions, and fan theories on how everything's going to go down. Not sure if this forum would be best for that, or if I need to get started with Discord ASAP for that.


So far what I've settled on is a male MC, mid-to-late twenties, lanky but athletic, and starts off getting their hair shaved off, either because of prison, or some other reason (chemo treatments), some ability to change their body, and eventually know how to fight.

I've been trying to figure out a plot to follow, but I have a million potential stories buzzing around in my brain. Paraplegic psychic body-hopper hero turned supervillain getting revenge on his old superhero team? Gritty fantasy involving destabilizing regions, cities, and royal cunts as an undercover high-ranking imperial mage working under your Empress? NEET gets parasyte/venom superpowers from alien dandere cuckquean and attempts to become a hero, ends up on the side of the villains as some fucked up double agent?

Anyway, whatever I choose, I'm going to have to deal with Patreon ToS, not planning on doing loli, beastiality, or sexual acts that are 'hard to distinguish from non-consensual sex', am I safe or is there something else I gotta watch out for? That last one is what I'm worried about, in Stellar Dream, the MC can take the Corruption route and essentially do maledom and the LI's take on a submissive tone, so is that fine? Just gotta convincingly put across that the LI is okay with it? Can't have any struggle? Zero "No!"s? or "Please stop!"s?

Anyway, looking forward to hearing from the denizens and basement-dwellers of this fine establishment. What do you think of my chances? Think I'm setting myself up for success or do you think this is doomed from the start? Let me hear your thoughts on the above, as well as hopefully vote for which story you want to explore the most!

 

[Doorknob22]

I'm afraid you're starting the journey on the wrong foot: a huge block of text filled to the brim with useless data (your future players don't care about your laptop issues, whether you'll change things based on patrons requests or the tiers you're going to offer) and worst of all: no graphics.

My advice:

1. Edit your original message and delete everything.
2. Post again highlighting only what's going to be unique about your game.
3. Add graphics.

Good luck!

 

[AspiringA]

I'm afraid you're starting the journey on the wrong foot: a huge block of text filled to the brim with useless data (your future players don't care about your laptop issues, whether you'll change things based on patrons requests or the tiers you're going to offer) and worst of all: no graphics.

My advice:

1. Edit your original message and delete everything.
2. Post again highlighting only what's going to be unique about your game.
3. Add graphics.

Good luck!

First off, love your game and thanks for taking the time to try and get me on the right track, backed by your own experience as a dev. I understand what you're saying, and likely a presentable product is probably the best bet to increase interest and rally patrons, but again, I don't even have an artstyle that'll be (erotic, efficient, and fast enough to render for week by week updates). The art I'm creating purely for smut purposes is in this thread, as this threads more to chronicle my progress with ideas, game design, exploring character design and plot. Made a poll to force me to settle on a plot and stick with it since I've been twiddling my thumbs since 2019.

I'll probably drop character designs by the time the poll finishes once I have an idea about what my game's going to be about.

As for what'd be unique? I think most Ren'Py games follow the same format, a CYOA game with a number of potential LIs, maybe a couple binary routes geared to a fetish (NTR, Love vs Corruption, Sluttification), mine would just be executed a little differently.

Namely:
I don't want binary choices in my game ('route1-action vs route2-action'), instead, I'd be styling my game along the lines of Hosted Games, or CoG, if you've ever encountered those.
I won't be adding grind mechanics.
I'm going to be tracking the incrementing and decrementing of stats, and said binary routes in the form of a couple stats instead, like how they'd be represented in a TTRPG. Right now I'm still brainstorming but ideally your actions in the story will influence your physical stats (Force, Finesse, Subtlety, Reflex), and your mental stats (Thinking vs Feeling, Judging vs Prospecting), and each outcome and choice you make affecting the binary choice/route (for example, Order vs Chaos).
I'm also planning on a mix of both 3D and 2D art, where 2D art informs sprites, backgrounds, etc., while I have 3D animations and loops for sex scenes, fight scenes, and QTEs.

But more of that later. For now, to all of you reading this thread, let me know which plot would work the best, might shorten the poll duration to kick this thing in high gear.

Ciao.

 

[AspiringA]

This might be cheating, but it's a Saturday, and I got hit with inspiration in a major way today.

Working titles for 'warlock supplying 'mana' to strike team of witches is "A Warlock's Duty", NEET with alien dandere cuckquean is "Charybdis".

I've included my initial notes for both:

A Warlock's Duty
- in this world, witches and warlocks are individuals who are born with an innate capability to generate 'mana', and cast spells, where witches are classified as individuals who are able to cast spells at a higher level than others, while warlocks are the lowest of the low, acting as living batteries assigned to, at most, one witch as a

In this world, witches and warlocks are born with an innate ability to either generate 'mana' and cast spells. Witches are elite spellcasters, able to wield powerful magic simultaneously, while warlocks are seen as the lowest tier—acting as living batteries assigned to support a witch in their missions. Think sniper and their spotter, with mages acting as an auxiliary forces integrated into military units, serving alongside soldiers in various capacities, such as: aerial support/bombardment, providing reconnaissance, or manipulating the battlefield.

All mages draw upon their inherent mana or sacrifice supernatural creatures to absorb their mana for spellcasting, using wands or staves as conduits.

Our protagonist tests as a warlock at an old 'mage school' during conscription, and though they pass every physical evaluation they're unable to cast more than one low-level spell. Despite this, his mana reserves are significantly higher than that of his peers. Because of this, he's scuttled incognito across the border and assigned to an entire Circle of witches, who conducts missions directly under High Command.

Since you could also absorb mana through bodily fluids, I'm thinking of how you could weave that into war... A hand job under fire doesn't sound super sexy, but maybe hidden sex while enemy forces occupy an abandoned village the Circle used as a temp base.

Very exciting stuff.

Charybdis
World has had superheroes well before the story starts, probably sometime in the 1800s, or earlier. Rich people have superpowers, or people who experience immense trauma which triggers some latent 'gene'.

So, orphan, sub-genius intellect but insecure and suffers from depression after disease takes his mother. Later gets diagnosed with the same disease and spends last couple months of their life with dwindling savings, eating broke-til-payday meals while job searching online. One day, decides to commit unalive at the same time as a cosmic entities starts to harvest earth, by raining down 'eggs' in secret at night, speeding up evolution and absorbing the strongest entities that remain afterwards.

One such person that gets hit with one is our said protag NEET. The 'egg', faced with a hostile environment fails to fully integrate into the psyche of their victim, and ends up absorbed as a separate gestalt consciousness with the ability to absorb powers from other living beings (base ability of all eggs, but most eggs lose that after they've been born with their unique ability). This is Scylla, pictured on the left as that snake like thing. Yes, that hole is fuckable (the fangs retract).

The idea for this story would be following NEETMC as they attempt vigilanteeism for a month (likely starting with their bullies or a criminal gang, maybe merge the two?), and inadvertently saving a group of amateur villains that got implanted with eggs. This will eventually balloon into crossing paths with the established hero's, a crime syndicate, and eventually an alien invasion on the same scale as Galactus eating earth, or something.

Thinking this'll be like Spider-Man if he didn't have spider powers, no morals like 'With great powers come great responsibility' to follow, and worse social skills. Sounds less like Spider-Man and more like what if you gave the same nerd the symbiote instead.

 

[AspiringA]

Yo. Polls will close for until next Saturday instead, since Charybdis seems to be in the lead by a large margin. For the four people who voted for our NEETMC, I've been hit with a little sting of motivation and have thus created a mini-cast of heroes and villains, as well as draw an initial unmasked version of our NEETMC.



Of course this was made with my thumb, over the course of three painstaking hours but I like the bootleg Venom analog in the form of a tentacled monster. The color scheme I'm settling on is purple bordering on pink, to contrast one of the LI's, and this brings me to the first addition to the cast:

Brooke Baxter (AKA Mantis)
Powers: Near-Precognitive Reflexes, Superhuman Agility/Durability/Strength, Combat Mimicry, Retractable Blades
Personality: Confident, Moralist (with great power comes great responsibility), Optimist
Physique: 5'4", Athletic, Shapely but mostly lanky
Mantis is a registered Hero (still deciding on terms in-universe.. Stalwart? Aegis?), meaning most people with high enough security clearance can look her up on a database and find out she's a cherished alumni from the local uni, and currently works as a ____ at the ___.

She's cleared to engage in hero work during 12am to 6am, and has an average response time of 3 minutes and 35 seconds for alerts made within the city. During combat, she can project sharp chitinous blades from her forearms and legs, and use them to either clamber up buildings or slash into her opponents. She does attempt to be as much of a pacifist as possible, though.

Amara Delgado (Banshee)
Powers: Intangibility, Weapons Training, Genius Intellect
Personality: Brooding, Prideful, Vengeful, Sporty
Physique: 5'10", Muscular, Curvy
Essentially enscripted into hero work, Banshee was given the choice between getting sent to MAXIMUM-SECURITY-SUPERS-PRISON, or work with the local team handling threats within downtown, after having been taken down after a string of 'vigilante activities involving excessive force'. Evidently, they chose the latter, as the 'non-lethal' rounds and stun batons she's been assigned hasn't softened her approach to dealing with criminals. Her entry in the database has her listed as a super-senior and was on the track and field time at ___ High just six months ago, before abruptly transitioning to said violent vigilanteism.

Banshee's power isn't 'intangibility', per se, but rather 'pushing' the tangibility away temporarily to become invisible, and then becoming 'doubly tangible' when she chooses to, amplifying both speed and mass at will, riiight as her fist connects with your jaw.

Emily Li (AKA Flicker)
Powers: Temporal Echo
Personality: Paranoid, Workaholic, Nerdy Scatterbrain
Physique: 4'10, Petite, Four-head, Four-eyes
The brain behind the TEAM-ASSIGNED-TO-NEETMC-CITY, Flicker usually sets themselves to work monitoring, repairing, planning, and inventing various tech at HERO-HQ. Her ability to split herselves into copies who share their thoughts, senses, and brainpower over distance basically allows her to be a one-woman-team that carries the rest of the team, and is the unsung hero/second in command of the TEAM-ASSIGNED-TO-NEETMC-CITY.

Unfortunately, not a lot of people recognize that, and she's left to deal with all of the stress of managing a superhero team on her own. Whatever does a girl with the ability to do anything anywhere behind closed doors do?

Okay, I'll be honest the nerdy shorty is explicitly porn material. I'll work extra hard to give her a satisfying arc that isn't just lots of clone sex and FFFFFFFM bjs...

Oh, any ideas on what city we should set this in, real or otherwise? I'm thinking tech should be reasonably advanced, like having robot nurses, but still have issues with the rail system, if you're putting up what I'm picking down.

But yeah, let me know what your thoughts are so far. Looking forward to reading through em later after work.

 

[AspiringA]

Devlogggg... 5 now?

I've been mulling over what makes compelling player choices in adult games. So far from the videos/video essays I've watched and some scattered articles I've collated from websites that specialize in creating interactive fiction, I've narrowed it down to three concepts.

Branches (also called Cascades)
Represents the potential paths the player can take when presented with multiple choices. Best thought of as either a minor branch, or a major branch, depending on how much the story changes after a player's choice.

Callbacks
A way to take note of the actions a player has done by flagging which choice they chose. Boolean flags are easier to read, but I wonder if assigning numbers to flag the outcome of a choice would be performant. Since I plan on my game having counter-stats (Integrity vs Corruption, Justice vs Vengeance, Humanity vs Transcendant, Daring vs Cunning), it might be best to do numbers instead since I'd have 16 potential variables to track at a time (Might fold J vs V into I vs C to make sure I can reasonably give focus to each path. Also means there's 8 potential versions of the MC at any point in the story).

Callbacks aren't just limited to Branches either, they could also inform how an NPC reacts to player choices. Best practice seems to be to flag each choice, irregardless of whether it seems important during development. (Ex. PC trips in front of LI in Chapter 1, by Chapter 3, LI recalls PC tripping in a conversation about first impressions. Another Ex. PC came in LI's mouth without warning them, LI ruins their orgasm the next time they notice PC about to cum. Short scene plays for one time and then next time you're free to fuck with your LI.)

Heuristics
This is a fancy name for how PC and NPC stats affect their state during a story. Say you have an NPC who values people who are cunning, backstabbing pieces of shit, they would like your MC more, than say, someone moralistic and highfalutin. Heuristics also work with callbacks, and theoretically, could track if you've been kind to a certain NPC and have those actions inform whether or not they, say, turn evil or betray you, or even help you during a fight.

But again, even with just three counter-stats, I'd have to write a story for 8 potential MCs who would have different options available to them during different parts of the story. NPCs would react and interact with said MC, so for each chapter, each NPC would have 8 different states... definitely a little ambitious, but I'm up to the task.

The main concern I have is this: How would you feel about missing out on a story path (and potentially sex scenes), because of choices you made near the start of the story?

Because how I see it is your choices should have weight, always, even down to the nickname you choose for an NPC. But if I did that, some players would get locked out of certain scenes and paths, and I know most of you prefer to cum and go. One potential fix I'm thinking of is once you finish a chapter, you'd unlock all the scenes in that chapter, but I dunno... I have a distinct feeling some players would want to see everything in a single go, like a kinetic novel and a gallery mode might not be the best choice in that event. Any thoughts?

 

[AspiringA]

Lots of writing this weekend. So far, I've settled on the rough outlines of the story, as well as a tentative MC name. Declan Ward. I hope you'll forgive the rambling nature of my notes, as I write these half-awake with nothing else in my stomach but two boiled eggs and three cups of coffee. Sidenote, I should probably edit this entire post, or create a new one, since this is getting a liiiittle bloated.

Anyways, I've narrowed down the scope of this project, and pared down the number of RO's to six max, with other scenes being throwaway NPCs.

Think my goal for this game, is for players to be able to create their very own version of Declan Ward, and experience the story through different lenses on each of their playthroughs. Declan's views on certain actions, thoughts, approaches to conflict will change depending on these stats, according to the choices a player takes in the story. I also plan for NPCs and ROs interactions with Declan to also change depending on the player's actions, whether they'll respect him, fear him, enjoy his company, or be disgusted by his presence.

Each Branch will have a dedicated ending based on HvC, DvC, HvV, which influences the end-state of the different factions, NPC relations, the City, and Declan's fate, based on your choices in the story, to maximize replayability. I'm mainly making it this way to easily insert scenes to the game, limiting access to certain routes. (Yes, I'll include a gallery mode. How else would I debug?)

Plot:

I don't want to reveal too much of what I've already outlined, at least for the grander cosmology of this universe, but suffice it to say, the 'eggs' (which I will call Fragments moving forward), and by extension, Scylla, have some sinister purpose unknown to the MC at the start of the story. Declan will have a special ability unknown to him as well, which he'll learn to use as the story progresses, and the ability to absorb powers from his ROs (where you need to have long, strenuous skin-to-skin contact where both you and Scylla fuck them silly in order to absorb said powers. very fun)

For the game, it'll be an origin story for our NEETMC, who I've taken to calling Declan Ward as a sort of trial name (probably subject to change in the future). So far, I've already outlined the entire plot, as well as a couple of arcs I'd like to explore, but I'll keep the latter acts secret for now. No point in hyping this up if the first arc falls flat, right?

Rough Outline:

Act 1.
Introduction, we'll watch Declan's day to day, saying goodbye to the few people he's on good terms with, write a suicide note.
We'll go through the first night of Declan getting infected by the Fragment.
We'll watch Declan's first couple of attempts at 'being a hero', experimenting with his superpowers, his first run in with the super hero world (namely getting caught in the crossfire of a fight between a hero and a villain, and ending up injured.) (Setup)
(MINOR BRANCH/PINCH)
His vigilanteism then attract the attention of the local superhero team, and gets forcibly/unofficially recruited by Flicker to do missions across the City. (Consequence)
Explore two different mini-stories that introduce the first two ROs, a cat burglar (Mantis), and a string of violent killings (Banshee). (PUSH)
Explore him returning to civilian life, doing research on the Fragment bonded to him, searching for Fragments and other hosts like him, as well as running into the crime syndicate attempting to hunt down Fragments.
Have some *random* encounters with civilians and other supes alike while exploring the City. Smexy scenes, ofc.

Act 2.
(New World)
Go on mission-dates with your ROs while searching for leads and fixing up the city. (Fun and Games)
SECRET.

Act 3.
TOP SECRET.

Heuristics:
I've decided to remove stats altogether. The point of the suit is that it let's you do pretty much anything, and I'd feel bad if I was locked out of any one action that's within Scylla's capabilities. Plus, if she wasn't able to do something, why make that an option in the first place?

Humanity vs Corruption

This stat tracks two things; Scylla's understanding of what makes a 'human', and Declan's level of symbiosis with Scylla. The first one really just changes Scylla's dialogue. The latter, though, determines the route players can choose for the ROs, which in turn affect Branches down the line.​

​

Namely, higher levels of Corruption gives Declan access to more powers, but in doing so, Scylla will begin to whisper honeyed words, urging him to breed and dominate ROs, and NPCs alike. I'm aiming for something akin to RAPTUS, and the Black Suit options from Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Brutality, perversion, domination. If Declan chooses to resist the allure of absolute power, Scylla remains a symbiotic partner, acting as a voyeuristic third wheel/ally when pursuing ROs, as well as a kind of 7th unofficial RO.​

​

Daring vs Calculating

This stat tracks how this Declan approaches conflict. High Daring let's you succeed at being brash, impulsive, and reactive during the events of the story, while High Calculating rewards you for hanging back, lying through your teeth, and utilizing stealth.​

Heroism vs Villainy

This stat determines how ROs and NPCs will regard Declan. At high Heroism levels, Declan is viewed as a hero by ROs and NPCs, civilians will act friendly towards him and cheer him on, and news about his exploits will usually be positive; at high Villainy levels, ROs and NPCs alike will see Declan as a villain, civilians will tend to fear him, and the local radio show host will have some choice words for our caped crusader.​

The important bit to remember, is that all of the above will always ADD, not SUBTRACT from player options. Achieving a win-state for every version of Declan is possible, although what defines a win for your version may vary. I'm probably going to write the main 'True' route as a centrist approach, that'll only be available on a type of New Game Plus route, which lets you save everyone. Might be a tad too ambitious an attempt for a first game, though.

---

Anyway, that's pretty much all I've got at the mo'. I've attached some loose scripts I'm trying my hand at just to get a feel of the writing style I'll be using for this game. Based on my research, 1st Person is best for these types of games, but let me know what you think.

Oh, drew Declan with the mask on. Not sure if the octopus lenses are obvious, enough, but I like the High Corruption version where Declan's fully transformed. A beast whose sole function is to breed, infect, and absorb. Oh, and lots of tentacle sex. Lots and lots of tentacle sex.

See you all next week.

 

[wisesage]

Lots of writing this weekend. So far, I've settled on the rough outlines of the story, as well as a tentative MC name. Declan Ward. I hope you'll forgive the rambling nature of my notes, as I write these half-awake with nothing else in my stomach but two boiled eggs and three cups of coffee. Sidenote, I should probably edit this entire post, or create a new one, since this is getting a liiiittle bloated.

Anyways, I've narrowed down the scope of this project, and pared down the number of RO's to six max, with other scenes being throwaway NPCs.

Think my goal for this game, is for players to be able to create their very own version of Declan Ward, and experience the story through different lenses on each of their playthroughs. Declan's views on certain actions, thoughts, approaches to conflict will change depending on these stats, according to the choices a player takes in the story. I also plan for NPCs and ROs interactions with Declan to also change depending on the player's actions, whether they'll respect him, fear him, enjoy his company, or be disgusted by his presence.

Each Branch will have a dedicated ending based on HvC, DvC, HvV, which influences the end-state of the different factions, NPC relations, the City, and Declan's fate, based on your choices in the story, to maximize replayability. I'm mainly making it this way to easily insert scenes to the game, limiting access to certain routes. (Yes, I'll include a gallery mode. How else would I debug?)

Plot:

I don't want to reveal too much of what I've already outlined, at least for the grander cosmology of this universe, but suffice it to say, the 'eggs' (which I will call Fragments moving forward), and by extension, Scylla, have some sinister purpose unknown to the MC at the start of the story. Declan will have a special ability unknown to him as well, which he'll learn to use as the story progresses, and the ability to absorb powers from his ROs (where you need to have long, strenuous skin-to-skin contact where both you and Scylla fuck them silly in order to absorb said powers. very fun)

For the game, it'll be an origin story for our NEETMC, who I've taken to calling Declan Ward as a sort of trial name (probably subject to change in the future). So far, I've already outlined the entire plot, as well as a couple of arcs I'd like to explore, but I'll keep the latter acts secret for now. No point in hyping this up if the first arc falls flat, right?

Rough Outline:

Act 1.
Introduction, we'll watch Declan's day to day, saying goodbye to the few people he's on good terms with, write a suicide note.
We'll go through the first night of Declan getting infected by the Fragment.
We'll watch Declan's first couple of attempts at 'being a hero', experimenting with his superpowers, his first run in with the super hero world (namely getting caught in the crossfire of a fight between a hero and a villain, and ending up injured.) (Setup)
(MINOR BRANCH/PINCH)
His vigilanteism then attract the attention of the local superhero team, and gets forcibly/unofficially recruited by Flicker to do missions across the City. (Consequence)
Explore two different mini-stories that introduce the first two ROs, a cat burglar (Mantis), and a string of violent killings (Banshee). (PUSH)
Explore him returning to civilian life, doing research on the Fragment bonded to him, searching for Fragments and other hosts like him, as well as running into the crime syndicate attempting to hunt down Fragments.
Have some *random* encounters with civilians and other supes alike while exploring the City. Smexy scenes, ofc.

Act 2.
(New World)
Go on mission-dates with your ROs while searching for leads and fixing up the city. (Fun and Games)
SECRET.

Act 3.
TOP SECRET.

Heuristics:
I've decided to remove stats altogether. The point of the suit is that it let's you do pretty much anything, and I'd feel bad if I was locked out of any one action that's within Scylla's capabilities. Plus, if she wasn't able to do something, why make that an option in the first place?

Humanity vs Corruption

This stat tracks two things; Scylla's understanding of what makes a 'human', and Declan's level of symbiosis with Scylla. The first one really just changes Scylla's dialogue. The latter, though, determines the route players can choose for the ROs, which in turn affect Branches down the line.​

​

Namely, higher levels of Corruption gives Declan access to more powers, but in doing so, Scylla will begin to whisper honeyed words, urging him to breed and dominate ROs, and NPCs alike. I'm aiming for something akin to RAPTUS, and the Black Suit options from Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Brutality, perversion, domination. If Declan chooses to resist the allure of absolute power, Scylla remains a symbiotic partner, acting as a voyeuristic third wheel/ally when pursuing ROs, as well as a kind of 7th unofficial RO.​

​

Daring vs Calculating

This stat tracks how this Declan approaches conflict. High Daring let's you succeed at being brash, impulsive, and reactive during the events of the story, while High Calculating rewards you for hanging back, lying through your teeth, and utilizing stealth.​

Heroism vs Villainy

This stat determines how ROs and NPCs will regard Declan. At high Heroism levels, Declan is viewed as a hero by ROs and NPCs, civilians will act friendly towards him and cheer him on, and news about his exploits will usually be positive; at high Villainy levels, ROs and NPCs alike will see Declan as a villain, civilians will tend to fear him, and the local radio show host will have some choice words for our caped crusader.​

The important bit to remember, is that all of the above will always ADD, not SUBTRACT from player options. Achieving a win-state for every version of Declan is possible, although what defines a win for your version may vary. I'm probably going to write the main 'True' route as a centrist approach, that'll only be available on a type of New Game Plus route, which lets you save everyone. Might be a tad too ambitious an attempt for a first game, though.

---

Anyway, that's pretty much all I've got at the mo'. I've attached some loose scripts I'm trying my hand at just to get a feel of the writing style I'll be using for this game. Based on my research, 1st Person is best for these types of games, but let me know what you think.

Oh, drew Declan with the mask on. Not sure if the octopus lenses are obvious, enough, but I like the High Corruption version where Declan's fully transformed. A beast whose sole function is to breed, infect, and absorb. Oh, and lots of tentacle sex. Lots and lots of tentacle sex.

See you all next week.

Are ROs Lis ? If so won't absorbing them kill or weaken their powers?

 

[AspiringA]

Are ROs Lis ? If so won't absorbing them kill or weaken their powers?

Yes, RO's (romance options) are LIs. I'm not too sure which one's better since I'm more familiar with CYOA games. I suppose both terms apply to a harem game?

So far, I've set it so that Scylla, because of having issues with bonding with their host, was both incapable of either bestowing a power (which is really simulating trauma in their host enough to trigger a version of the X-gene), and fails to achieve symbiosis with their host at the beginning of the game.

Despite this, the fragment can 'store' information in its biomass, and allow Declan to use it. Only issue is that it is finite (unlike the 'living tesseract' forms of the Klyntar), which means damage can effectively delete its accumulated biological data, and, the information required for additional powers actively harms Scylla in the beginning because of the sheer amount of info she'd need to store.

This means that over time as Scylla gets smarter/increases in biomass, she'll be able to manipulate not just her biomass, but slowly map out Declan's genome, adding slow marginal improvements to him over time. So, no absorbing mantis shrimps for cavitation sonic booms or ants for proportional strength, yes to mimicking gorilla musculature and changing where the tendons attach to increase his base strength.

Important bit: Declan's power level increases based on the level of symbiosis he has with Scylla.

I guess I didn't write it in my previous post, but Humanity vs Corruption also determines symbiosis, where high Humanity Declan uses Scylla as more of a suit, while high Corruption Declan will have Scylla bonded to Declan's very DNA.

This means the former will effectively share lesser versions of his ROs superpowers, while the latter will drain other superheroes of their powers constantly, keeping them depowered (and likely as docile sex pests in a constant state of draining and pleasure), and transmitting that info to Declan.

If Scylla really wanted to, they'd probably be able to create additional functioning dicks and have multiple reproductive systems, but I don't want to delve into Declan's version of a Daemonculaba.

Anyway, I've been busy writing and drafting some loose endings for this story, as well as a couple other side characters. Vicky Vaughn (news reporter), Yukki the Clown (supe with Hammerspace and increased durability), and a mafiosa with the ability to psychically 'push' human beings down a certain line of thinking.

 

[wisesage]

Yes, RO's (romance options) are LIs. I'm not too sure which one's better since I'm more familiar with CYOA games. I suppose both terms apply to a harem game?

So far, I've set it so that Scylla, because of having issues with bonding with their host, was both incapable of either bestowing a power (which is really simulating trauma in their host enough to trigger a version of the X-gene), and fails to achieve symbiosis with their host at the beginning of the game.

Despite this, the fragment can 'store' information in its biomass, and allow Declan to use it. Only issue is that it is finite (unlike the 'living tesseract' forms of the Klyntar), which means damage can effectively delete its accumulated biological data, and, the information required for additional powers actively harms Scylla in the beginning because of the sheer amount of info she'd need to store.

This means that over time as Scylla gets smarter/increases in biomass, she'll be able to manipulate not just her biomass, but slowly map out Declan's genome, adding slow marginal improvements to him over time. So, no absorbing mantis shrimps for cavitation sonic booms or ants for proportional strength, yes to mimicking gorilla musculature and changing where the tendons attach to increase his base strength.

Important bit: Declan's power level increases based on the level of symbiosis he has with Scylla.

I guess I didn't write it in my previous post, but Humanity vs Corruption also determines symbiosis, where high Humanity Declan uses Scylla as more of a suit, while high Corruption Declan will have Scylla bonded to Declan's very DNA.

This means the former will effectively share lesser versions of his ROs superpowers, while the latter will drain other superheroes of their powers constantly, keeping them depowered (and likely as docile sex pests in a constant state of draining and pleasure), and transmitting that info to Declan.

If Scylla really wanted to, they'd probably be able to create additional functioning dicks and have multiple reproductive systems, but I don't want to delve into Declan's version of a Daemonculaba.

Anyway, I've been busy writing and drafting some loose endings for this story, as well as a couple other side characters. Vicky Vaughn (news reporter), Yukki the Clown (supe with Hammerspace and increased durability), and a mafiosa with the ability to psychically 'push' human beings down a certain line of thinking.

Damn I like corruption route as opposed to love ones but it seems I have to play love over here as I don't want to turn the Lis into brain-dead puppets devoid of any personality

 

[AspiringA]

Can't sleep, been busy writing and fleshing out the entire story, inserting scenes where I think it'll make the most sense. I saw that some people started voting for A Warlock's Duty, but I'm afraid that'll have to stay in my back pocket for the time being. I'll probably bundle that in with working directly under the Empress to destroy settlements/kingdoms from the inside.

I've decided to make a preliminary pass of what will eventually replace the first post of this thread (and likely inform my following games), the structure of which is:

Intro (Who am I? What are my socials/contacts? How can I give feedback on this game where you'll actually read it?)
Story (otherwise known as 'what the hell is this game about')
Cast ('who can I fuck/fight/befriend in this game?')
Gameplay ('what can I do in this game')
Overview
Mechanics
Planned:

• Trainer-lite style disposition tracking for ROs (whether they like you, if you made them angry or happy recently, etc.)
• Animated sprites and backgrounds.
• Parallax screen (mechanic to be used for multiple things in-game, denoted by * prefix for a gameplay feature)
• *Telltale style choices (smoothly pan across screen to hover on a choice while a timer runs)
• *QTE sequences (have to either swipe or hold on highlighted nodes in order to succeed at a task)
• Interactive map (changes as the story progresses)
• Interactive phone (to plan dates/missions, send and receive messages and nudes from ROs)

Nice-to-Haves:

• Fondling character sprites (basically an animation that plays when you click a certain area on the sprite, tits, crotch, hips, with reactions dependent on an ROs disposition)
• Live2D animated sprites (expressions, animations, potentially porn animations as well.)
• *Screen panning (lets you look at characters during play, and interact with the environment)
• Voiced characters (Probably the most ambitious thing on here)

Planned Tags ('what kind of content can I expect from this game?' Arguably the most important thing for a dev to list)
Yes: 2DCG, Animated (TBA), Male Protagonist, Multiple Endings, Voiced (TBA), Anal Sex, Big Ass, Big Tits, Blackmail, Cheating (Netori, not NTR), Corruption (Corruption Path), Creampie, Exhibitionism, Footjob, Group Sex, Groping, Handjob, Harem, Humiliation, Internal View (you kind of need this for creampies, so.), Interracial (Declan "Mr. Worldwide" Ward, everyone), Maledom, Milf (mentor-type character I'm building into an RO), Multiple Penetration (tentacle sex baybee), Oral Sex, Pregnancy
(not sure if the timeline will allow any of the ROs to reach a trimester where the pregnancy is visible, but some thankful citizen you save might offer some relief, or you could force them convince them to do so anyway), Prostitution (for NPCs), Sex Toy (you'll stumble on a certain Technopath who specializes in making these), Sexual Harassment, Sleep Sex (consensual, of course.), Spanking (one of the ROs has a thing for this), Swinging (MC only to other partners, never RO to other partner), Tentacles, Teasing, Titfuck, Transformation, Vaginal Sex, Virgins (need to clarify some things, read below), Vore (high Corruption path), Voyeurism (3rd person perspective shifts in the form of other characters witnessing MC, through CCTV's, other ROs, NPCs, etc.), Adventure, Dating Sim (Not sure if date/missions count), Graphic Violence, Horror (mainly body horror and high Corruption Declan), Mind Control (one of the NPCs), Monster (MC, and a number of NPCs), Monster Girl (NPCs), PoV, Romance, RPG (CYOA games kind of need this, right?), Sandbox (you have certain sections you can roam around until the story progresses), Sci-Fi, Strategy, Superpowers, Trainer (confused if this applies to my game, since it'll involve making overtly sexual changes to the hero's costumes, pushing ROs into exhibitionism, or just influencing them to do stuff they wouldn't normally do),

No: Dystopian setting, Fantasy, Combat (not enough time or money for this), Humor (not.. heavily present), No Sexual Content (duh), Platformer, Point and Click, Possession, Puzzle, Religion, School Setting (only one of the characters is still in college, and Declan's been a highschool drop-out ever since his mother died), Shooter, Side-scroller, Simulator (this tag just translates to 'tedious' in my head), Turn-based combat

Hard No: Incest (i will never ever make a patch for this, nor will i condone or ever be associated with any group, or individual who sets out to do such a thing.), Loli (uhh, patreon prohibits this, and I need to eat somehow, same rules as previous), Masturbation (I don't see the point of watching Declan jerk off instead of actually tapping RO ass, so tentatively placing it here), Necrophilia (I don't think even High Corruption Declan would do this), Netorare (no, go look for a different developer, shoo), Prostitution (for ROs), Rape (Declan's just very, very good at convincing women.), Scat (still not that kind of developer), Shota (Declan's in their early 20s, and none of the other male NPCs who have sex in this game are younger than 25), Stripping (none of the ROs)

Maybe: Female/Futa Protagonist, Ahegao (very strange tag, is this tag purely for that single facial expression???), Drugs, Female Domination (not sure what falls under this), Furry (genderbent King Shark style one off character? does that count lol), Futa/Trans (shrug, in case I ever get around to letting players play as Fem/Futa Declan), Gay (optional content?), Sissification (depends on whether an audience exists for 'Gay', cause if so one of the Male NPCs could probs be turned into an RO with fairly little effort), Trap (same as before), Urination (golden shower maybe), Twins.

To be clear, I won't be pasting the above as is, need some feedback to see if I'm even using the tags right. Also I need to clarify some things regarding two tags: NTR, Harem.

In the game, Declan will be able to either pursue one RO, two-three ROs, and any number after that he creates a harem. During the first two Acts, Declan won't have a defined relationship with any of the ROs, and is pretty much the city's bike, heroes, villains, and citizens alike. That said, most ROs will either have personal reasons that stopped them from pursuing a relationship (or if they had partners, never went further than hugs and kisses on the cheek), or if they have had partners in the past, they've either divorced, or had their partner die, OR if they do have a current partner, they're abusive to the RO, not a good fit/fuck, or ignores the RO.

So here's a few of my questions: does a harem need to have explicitly defined romantic relationships between the MC and ROs for it to count as a harem? Or is it a harem just by the MC having multiple sexual partners? Second, would you see, say, a divorcee to be NTR since she had a previous sexual partner in the past? If so, how long would her dry spell have to be before you would want her as an RO? Last, should a character actively having other sex partners outside of the MC disqualify her from being an RO (Even if there was no established relationship between the MC and the RO)? Personally, I can see the merit of slowly convincing someone that you're the only partner they need to be satisfied, but from the countless wars in the comment section I'd rather check first before writing a de-sluttification arc.

Please let me know what your thoughts are on the matter.

Anyway, moving on...
I still need to create graphics, like DK mentioned, and to that effect I've been doing lots and lots of character design for the three hero RO's (Mantis, Banshee, and Flicker), and have settled on working designs. I'd honestly rather post potential character designs and hold polls for them, but I've been needing to focus on my current job (which I may or may not lose in the next month.. December's shaping up to be very interesting, for sure), SO I'm afraid you'll all have to settle for my sense of aesthetics. I'll have to make time to take pictures of my sketches or just post the colored versions once I get around to them. What else... OH! In a couple days, I'll be sharing some of my notes on how powers in this world work, different classifications, the official 'government ranking system' most supes are categorized by, and I'd like some help figuring out some supes and villains I can drop into the background.