Hey everyone, before I get started, I'd just like to say a big thanks to those who have picked up the first chapter of OIL. If you didn't already know, you can get it for yourself at the Affect3D store at the link below:
Anyway, I've had a bit of a busy week but I wanted to provide an update and reassure people that the first public demo will still be coming out by the end of the week. Though there's still a lot to do before then! So I'll be keeping this one short (probably...).
I figured I'd talk a bit about the game dev schedule and how I'm handling things with this project. And sprinkle in some renders for good measure.
There are three main phases I am cycling through right now:
- Writing/Planning.
- Rendering.
- Implementing.
Now that probably sounds super straight forward, but its a big step up from just rendering images or making comics. Especially when you take into account that for pretty much the first time ever I'm holding myself to strict deadlines. I want to release a new build every month. Sure I could delay it another month or so and make it super awesome for the first release... but then I'd fall back into a comfortable schedule of taking my own sweet time and never releasing anything until it was perfect. I can guarantee that holding myself to this kind of monthly development cycle is the best thing for the game as a whole. Plus it means you guys won't have to wait years for it to be done.
I hope what I'm saying is making sense! Basically by having monthly deadlines you guys will actually get content and it will force me to work smarter. Where as taking all the time I'd like means I'd never release it and develop it for months before getting something out there. Which is also a silly thing to do since I can't be entirely sure how much support the game will get at this stage.
Release Schedule (Planned):
So let's talk about my Patreon/release plans real quick. I'm still working on the page and tiers etc so I'll let you know when it's live. There will probably be a link embedded in the game's menu so you shouldn't miss it. My current plans are to release monthly builds or 'versions'. Here's how it will most likley work:
September:
- v0.01 will come out by the end of the week and will be available publicly for everyone.
- The Patreon page will go live and will have $1, $5 and $10 tiers to start with.
October:
- v0.02 will come out by the end of October and be available for $5+ patrons.
- It will continue the story and contain at least 2 new sex scenes and other improvements/features.
- During the month, patron's will discuss and vote on what they would like to see in v0.03.
November:
- v0.03 will come out by the end of November and be available for $5+ patrons.
- It will contain scenes or features as decided by patrons during October.
- v0.02 will be released for $1 patrons.
- During the month, patron's will discuss and vote on what they would like to see in v0.04.
December:
- v0.04 will come out by the end of December and be available for $5+ patrons.
- It will contain scenes or features as decided by patrons during the month of November.
- v0.03 will be released for $1 patrons.
- v0.02 will be released publicly for everyone.
- During the month, patron's will discuss and vote on what they would like to see in v0.05.
Well, that's the plan at least! :)
So what other rewards will there be for patrons? Well it might change at some time in the future, but as of now it's looking like the tiers will be
$1 Patrons:
- Access to last month's Patreon build.
- Access to the weekly previews/progress updates.
- Name in the credits (optional).
$5 Patrons:
- All previous rewards
- Access to this month's current Patreon build.
- Access to general discussions and polls
$10 Patrons:
- All previous rewards
- Access to important deciding polls about game content.
- More previews of upcoming scenes.
- The option to help playtest the new Patreon build a few days early.
Of-course this may change in the future. I may add some different tiers or change the rewards. The main difference between $5 polls and $10 polls will be that the $5 polls will mostly be for gathering feedback and deciding what direction to take the game in. Where as $10 polls will be used to decide on specific features, character designs, scenes, quests, events, enemies, etc. Hopefully it will become more clear when you see it in action. :)
1. Writing/Planning:
Alright, back to the original topic at hand. When dealing with image sets, the writing and planning stage is a lot simple. You brainstorm what's going to happen, then you decide what the action in each image is going to be, and finally you write the dialogue for the characters if there's any.
In a branching RPG like 'Terminal Desires' though, it gets a lot more involved. Not only because, depending on player choice, Tiffany can react in different ways or scenes can be bypassed entirely, but also due to the fact that there are gameplay segments that fit between the story & sex scenes. If you've never played one of these hentai RPGs before, the best way to describe it is basically a series of 'choose-your-own-adventure' image sets with gameplay segments in between. There's combat, exploration and other quests that will be added in the future to make things interesting as you progress through the game's story with Tiffany.
If you've honestly never played one of these types of games before, I'd highly recommend checking out the following two games, since they're great examples of RPG's that inspired me to make my own:
Anyway, this stage also involves planning all the various gameplay features, like the 'armor pieces' mechanic I mentioned in
the first Devblog. But also the combat progression, loot, character stats and needs. And other more complicated things such as how the pregnancy system will operate, but more on that in another Devblog. Just know that for now, it will be possible to get Tiffany impregnated in this game, as early as the second sex scene as well! But it will also be possible to avoid it by either player choice or using birth control pills, etc. Only human characters for now (since the infected's sperm are 'dead') but who knows what developments are not-so-secretly planned for the story's future. ;)
2. Rendering:
This one is mostly the same, except now I need to render character dialogue shots, with different expressions & states of undress depending on the player choice. Making multiple variations of an image can be time consuming. But I can also cut down on renders with the gameplay segments, so it all evens out in the end I think.
3. Implementing:
This is the phase where I stick everything together, actually add in all the game systems, set up the scenes add sound and effects to make the sex scenes more interesting. And also adding the combat segments and designing maps. RPG Maker MV is incredibly simple to use, in some ways it's a little too simple, but it's fine for my current needs. After doing nothing but renders for around 7-8 years now, this is the part I find most refreshing and enjoyable. Hopefully people will also appreciate this fresh way to experience these little stories of mine. :)
Well what do you know, I ended up writing a bit of a short novel here! I had to cut things a little short here since I really need to get back to it! Thanks for your support. Leave your questions & comments below as always. I hope you're as excited about this as I am!
~ Jim
