VN Ren'Py Zero End [v0.2.4d] [StolenRose]

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

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Hello!

It's been a while, but I'm finally back. After what feels like forever, I've allowed myself some time off to relax and clear my head. It was a very good thing and I feel much better now--I've been more productive and I feel like what I'm producing now is of better quality.
More than that, though, I think I realized just how stressed and miserable I was. I'm sure you've noticed this release has been going at a much slower pace, but that's not something I intended. I just wasn't capable of keeping up with it any more. I think I pushed as hard as I could with having two jobs (basically) and it was going to give at some point.
Now, after having rested and cleared my head, I'm back to where I was before and going at a steady pace with the development of the game. But I'm not sure how long it'll last this time. Maybe I can do another 3-4 months at this pace, I get Chapter 2 out... and then what? Unfortunately, while a break was definitely needed, it doesn't address the source of the problem.
I'm not sure what the solution is quite yet. I have a few ideas, but I need more time to plan and figure out a way forward. The ideal scenario would be that I go full time on Zero End, but that's not possible, so I'll need to compromise somewhere. I just want to clarify that not a single one of the options I'm considering involves abandoning the game. I know it's fairly common that happens and I understand why, but that's not what this is and I just wanted to make that clear.
Anyway, now that that's been said, since I got back I wrote one of my favorite scenes (so far) and almost caught up to the writing with the renders. Next week, I wanna pose and animate an erotic scene and finish the writing for the first part of the release.
Hope you're having a wonderful day. It feels good to be back (though the vacation was really fun too).
--SR

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She's been a lot of fun this release. More than usual
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[Allenebs]

No, I actually am a professional storyteller, it's just my writing style. All my stories require patience and attention to detail in order to grasp the entire dimension of the text. This one is especially obtuse because I used occult terms that I've since learned aren't common knowledge.



I'm not one for authorial intent, but around 60% of that ranges from slightly incorrect to very incorrect. If it's just everyone's knowledge of the paranormal you wanna know about, most characters know bits and pieces, but nobody really knows everything (not even her)

Frankly, it makes sense. The MC addresses this himself in discussing his decision to attend the school in the first place. He felt compelled. You could* argue it's due to the bond between the souls healing, but why would it already have drawn in so many supernaturally inclined individuals, including his ex? The veil is thin and a fragment of Eden is present. Ok. From there, why would supernaturally inclined individuals not run their mouths about being supernatural beings? Well, that's a great way to end up dead.

I have a couple complaints. The first complaint is our hunter should be much more conflicted about Rayne. And I think Rayne's power is too understated - we're talking about one of the entities that inspired modern day vampires. The biggest thing that changes is the bodily fluid they feed off of.

You definitely could argue that it might necessitate a bigger event for them to reveal what they are to each other. It could work, but there needs to be more build up or blow back. It hits too fast and is immediately resolved. Keira reacting more negatively to Rayne would likely fix that.

I'm fine with the fact that it took a trigger for Rayne to actually activate her strength to allow her to go toe to toe with a vampire. Yet I really don't like how succubus are being treated. Lilith herself is often, historically, portrayed as the first succubus and the mother of both. I'm kinda forced to assume that you got the vamp connection to Lilith from watching Supernatural, where succubus never truly show up.

Then the issue of people being able to sense Lilith gets really murky and makes too little sense. Rayne SHOULD be able to sense her, if only due to the change in our MC's aura/power. Lets say our MC starts as a candle, Selene is the moon and Marie is the sun. She should notice the MC going from that of a candle to at least a flashlight, which would evoke as much of a response as coming home and realizing your SO suddenly shaved their head. It's kinda insignificant as far as changes go, but still plainly obvious and needs addressed.

Overall, this instantly jumped into my list of favorite VN's bc you do properly hit many emotional beats. The problems I had can generally be easy to overlook or simple enough to retroactively fix. I'd also suggest adding some more dark gothic aesthetics like what Ocean is showing he's doing with Veiled Whispers. So far, what you've shown is very Texas Chainsaw Massacre vs what he's doing being Bram Stoker. With so much supernatural influence, dark gothic might be a bit cliche, but it's more fitting. Even if only rarely.

Sorry for the encyclopedia length response, but if I genuinely didn't really like what you're doing here, it wouldn't be worth the effort of posting and giving feedback at all. I could sit here and say this or that sucks, you might hate criticism, but no one will ever be able to say my criticism isn't constructive. And might not like the criticism, but I really like your work, and I only want to see you get better bc your work is very good.

 

[PickerLewd]

Sorry for the encyclopedia length response, but if I genuinely didn't really like what you're doing here, it wouldn't be worth the effort of posting and giving feedback at all. I could sit here and say this or that sucks, you might hate criticism, but no one will ever be able to say my criticism isn't constructive. And might not like the criticism, but I really like your work, and I only want to see you get better bc your work is very good.

Buy your copy of Chapter 1 now .

 

[Stolen_rose]

Sorry for the encyclopedia length response, but if I genuinely didn't really like what you're doing here, it wouldn't be worth the effort of posting and giving feedback at all. I could sit here and say this or that sucks, you might hate criticism, but no one will ever be able to say my criticism isn't constructive. And might not like the criticism, but I really like your work, and I only want to see you get better bc your work is very good.

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I actually enjoy reading people's thoughts on the game. One of the benefits of the episodic format of releasing a game is being able to receive feedback and make improvements as I go.

I have a couple complaints. The first complaint is our hunter should be much more conflicted about Rayne. And I think Rayne's power is too understated - we're talking about one of the entities that inspired modern day vampires. The biggest thing that changes is the bodily fluid they feed off of.

How succubi work in Zero End is basically going to be explored through Rayne's story arc, but some of your points are addressed in the new release. What I can say now is that nobody really considers succubi a threat because they don't cause harm. Some hunters hunt them, but that's out of a personal grudge, not because they're dangerous.

Then the issue of people being able to sense Lilith gets really murky and makes too little sense. Rayne SHOULD be able to sense her, if only due to the change in our MC's aura/power. Lets say our MC starts as a candle, Selene is the moon and Marie is the sun. She should notice the MC going from that of a candle to at least a flashlight, which would evoke as much of a response as coming home and realizing your SO suddenly shaved their head. It's kinda insignificant as far as changes go, but still plainly obvious and needs addressed.

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Lilith herself is often, historically, portrayed as the first succubus and the mother of both. I'm kinda forced to assume that you got the vamp connection to Lilith from watching Supernatural, where succubus never truly show up.

I did watch a few seasons, but it was a long time ago. I didn't even know Lilith made an appearance there. I got a lot of my info on Lilith from

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and drew some inspiration from

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[c.mork]

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Hello!
It's been some time and I feel like I've had the best couple of weeks in quite some time. Getting some rest and my mind off things has been very helpful.
Since the last update, I've managed a lot of what I intended to do. I'm again quite a bit ahead with the writing, enough that I'm not worried about it anymore. I was inspired to write a significant part of this chapter's special ending and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I don't want to spoil anything, but it was really cool to write.
As for static renders, it's going at a steady pace of around 20-25 per day, excluding weekends. I've gone up to 60 in the past, so it's nothing stellar, but I feel like it's a good balance where I get stuff done without straining myself. I also got a short animation posed and rendered, but it might need some touching up.
For my next trick, I wanna wrap up this part of the story and start designing the second part. With static renders, I intend to keep the same pace. I will have quite a few animations to do next, and I'm hoping I'll get a chance to really get them feeling more natural.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now! I hope you have a wonderful day!
--SR

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I wanted to feature Keira for the preview, but then I remembered how much more popular Lily is, so here's both.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

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Hello!
It's been some time and I feel like I've had the best couple of weeks in quite some time. Getting some rest and my mind off things has been very helpful.
Since the last update, I've managed a lot of what I intended to do. I'm again quite a bit ahead with the writing, enough that I'm not worried about it anymore. I was inspired to write a significant part of this chapter's special ending and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I don't want to spoil anything, but it was really cool to write.
As for static renders, it's going at a steady pace of around 20-25 per day, excluding weekends. I've gone up to 60 in the past, so it's nothing stellar, but I feel like it's a good balance where I get stuff done without straining myself. I also got a short animation posed and rendered, but it might need some touching up.
For my next trick, I wanna wrap up this part of the story and start designing the second part. With static renders, I intend to keep the same pace. I will have quite a few animations to do next, and I'm hoping I'll get a chance to really get them feeling more natural.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now! I hope you have a wonderful day!
--SR

You must be registered to see the links

I wanted to feature Keira for the preview, but then I remembered how much more popular Lily is, so here's both.
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my queen my goddess My Everything I can't breathe I can't breathe
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahjkhvjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjgh
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[PickerLewd]

Can anyone remind me where Stolen_rose is in the development, he is in the second part of day 5?

I remember it was supposed to be 10 days, but there is so much going on that it feels like a very full game, at least until the end of day 3 .

 

[Stolen_rose]

We're about halfway through the story

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

We're about halfway through the story

half already

please brother if I have to get out of this wheelchair and get down on my knees you have to

make more visual novels after this

I am tired of visual novels with horny stupid MC

and I'm tired of one-dimensional women that just want to have sex all the time

please I want more monogamy romantic stories like this one

 

[RandomGuy99]

We're about halfway through the story

Any ETA for release? It's been a while or you need more time to cook ?

 

[Stolen_rose]

I need more time. I burnt myself out working two jobs over the last two years and I could barely get anything done the last 2-3 months. I'm finally back on track now, after a two-week vacation, but I'm going at a leisurely pace so I don't get myself right back where I started. I treated this project as a sprint for the last two years, hoping I could go full time at some point, but I had to slow down and treat it as a marathon

half already
please brother if I have to get out of this wheelchair and get down on my knees you have to
make more visual novels after this
I am tired of visual novels with horny stupid MC
and I'm tired of one-dimensional women that just want to have sex all the time
please I want more monogamy romantic stories like this one

I don't think I'll stop making games or writing stories, but I can't guarantee the next project I make will be an adult visual novel. We'll have to see. No rush, there's at least two more years until Zero End is done. After that, who knows

 

[love2fomox]

I need more time. I burnt myself out working two jobs over the last two years and I could barely get anything done the last 2-3 months. I'm finally back on track now, after a two-week vacation, but I'm going at a leisurely pace so I don't get myself right back where I started. I treated this project as a sprint for the last two years, hoping I could go full time at some point, but I had to slow down and treat it as a marathon



I don't think I'll stop making games or writing stories, but I can't guarantee the next project I make will be an adult visual novel. We'll have to see. No rush, there's at least two more years until Zero End is done. After that, who knows

please take all the time you need. i absolutely love this game and it has already moved into my top 10. the story is awesome. swansong is my fav lol.

 

[RandomGuy99]

This game is under rated AF.

 

[TheNowhereWolf]

Paranormal, no harem and romance focused?
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[TheNowhereWolf]

Rayne is best girl for sure, her relationship with MC is so wholesome already. Can't say I care much about Marie though which I feel like Is the opposite of what the game Intends, just glad MC seems to just want answers about her rather than trying to get back with her.

Having just got to chapter 2 I can safely say I am fully In favor of Lilith being a LI, I may not trust her but she Is hot...

Edit: Got the end of the current update, not sure what choices I messed up but I never got Rayne's scene in the second tab of the gallery(second full sex scene). I am assuming you miss It If you don't save Brianna, It's a shame If so because I'm never going to redo It to save her. Fuck Brianna.