RPG Active Renfield

[KleptoLizard]

As prices keep going up development keeps slowing.
Gambino and I have both been forced to put in extra hours
and take more clients just to keep our heads above water.

This week I'm going to merge all open branches of the Renfield project.
Then we'll begin the actual release schedule.
We'll start with a simple character creator and animation playback scene.
After that will come some simple combat and adventure mode debug rooms.

If anyone has been watching the Twitch streams/VODs lately you'll have
an idea what I have in mind for the first RF multiplayer implementation.
In the strategy game we've been playing each chatter can make a squad.
The squads can be directed manually via simple commands but also have fallback AI behavior.

They also persist even when the player isn't in attendance, essentially
reverting to NPCs until the player returns and reassumes control.
So when you fire up the Old Inn scene in Renfield you'll be by yourself with the character you made.
Then you can populate it with NPCs from your roster of characters.

As players visit your peer-to-peer network they'll spawn in the inn and save themselves to a guest folder.
You can interact with them in real time but those characters will persist until you boot them.
Characters will also track all sorts of data for cumulative "training" over time.
Dynamic pregnancy will also be fast-tracked.

The screenshot is from a game called Samurai Vandalism showing all the factors I plan for the game to monitor.
People familiar will that genre of RPGMaker game have a good idea of all the info tracked even without a translation.

6/12 - Got all the project files back from Gambino. Just need to fix a few glaring issues and then I'll release the pre-Alpha test client.
6/14 - Having me finish code written by Gambino is like having an Ork repair technology made by Eldar. Nevertheless I've managed to complete the wearable-conforming code.
6/16 - Looking over G's animation studio rig system. Repositioning the anchors.
6/18 - Placed all the partner IK anchors. These control how the participants latch onto each other.
6/20 - Reinstalling / reworking genital occlusion shader. Tweaking render pipeline settings to eliminate color banding.
6/22 - Studying shader coding. Need to do something very specific and it's obligated me to learn URP shader transparency more thoroughly.
6/24 - Finally fixed the fluid simulation. It now blends correctly and it, along with the cloth/rope/softbody suites, are all moved off the main thread.
6/26 - Working on facial expressions and the code to govern them, blend and shift between them.
6/28 - Exporting voice files.
6/30 - Going to start uploading test clients starting tomorrow, starting with the Patreon page itself and later on the forums. Warning: it's in a fairly broken state due to a source control mishap.

 

[KleptoLizard]

I'll put the test client up here after I've finished placing the hands correctly.
For some reason my previous positional updates didn't save.
Also had to fix a bug or two.
Let me know what you want to see fixed/improved/added.



EDIT - Here it is

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and yikes, I ran out of time after getting sidetracked with a refactor of the supplemental animation data structs.
As a result there are still some severe IK alignment issues. Don't worry; they'll get fixed in a day or so.

7/4 - Fixed the last of the hand position issues. Still other positioning issues persist. Fixed issue with some shoes and gloves not attaching properly.

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7/6 - Making a quick debug map to run around in. It'll be nonsensical in layout but give us a chance to test exploration and combat systems.
7/8 - Got the character controller installed in the exploration mode. Now putting in warps and scene transitions.
7/10 - Implementing quest database and testing bridges between the various plugins.

 

[KleptoLizard]

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Here's a slightly updated client with a walkable debug map.
You can take stock of some of the basic building and nature assets.
The field is the size of one cell, of which the base game will have 256.
Since this is a disposable test map anyone can suggest changes to it.

7/12 - Adding stats and skills to the player and testing procedural quest generation.
7/14 - Dumping the remaining unused character assets into the addressable asset system.
7/16 - Extending code to include new assets in the serialization and UI.
7/18 - Finishing up adding skin and eye textures, checking out custom debugging tools

 

[KleptoLizard]

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Added gems to the overworld to collect.
Added a randomize button to the character creator.
There's a known glitch that freezes up some UI elements after you change eye color.

I'm adding NPC spawn points as we speak.
The very first iteration of an actual playable mode will consist of the player gathering gems and turning them into NPCs for H-scenes.
After that we'll start adding proper questing and combat.

7/22 - Working on reducing jitter and framerate stutter on the overworld
7/24 - Adding patrolling enemies to the surface
7/26 - Adding shops to the settlements and dungeons
7/28 - Tweaking combat AI and animations
7/30 - Updating control scheme

 

[KleptoLizard]

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The shops I mentioned in the previous post will be activated after I've updated the item databases.
Don't be shy: let me know if you have any questions.

For example: someone on F95Zone asked "Will character customization be diverse? Like being able to make a femboy character and dress in feminine clothes?"
The answer is yes and yes.
By default all the clothes are available for either sex but you'll eventually be able to customize them with "clothing dimorphism".
This will be like those items in Oblivion that are suits for men but dresses for women.
You can then override them for individual characters.

Making a feminine face on a male or vice-versa is really a matter of how skilled you are with the sliders.
We could try to port the various sex-specific blendshapes to either model.
But I'm not sure at this time how practical that will be - I'd have to run some tests.

8/4 - Adding equipment to database
8/6 - Adding data to serialization, implementing full save/load functionality
8/8 - Ran into some issues with the adventure mode save system.
The simulation manager is fighting with the save plugin for reasons that aren't clear.
Until I can get G to look into it I'll be focusing on filling in the inventory database.
8/10 - Adding unique artifacts

 

[KleptoLizard]

I took down the Patreon and got a 2nd job to fund development.
If anyone wants to help out you can treat the Itchio page as a tip jar.

My desktop is still at the repair place. Hopefully it'll be back in a week or so.

Gambino has been overhauling the H-animation system to make it much cleaner.
The current system uses a ghost armature for the IK systems to align them with a traditional hip-to-thigh humanoid hierarchy.
This was used to circumvent the intermediate pelvic bone that Genesis 2 models have.
But the new system will employ splines as motion guides without the need for the redundant armature.

Once I get my tower back I'm going to release a client with a compass and coordinate display.
Users can then start selecting areas for themselves on a first come, first serve basis.
You just say "I want coordinate XYZ" and from that point on you choose what to build there.
Example: "I want a town like the one at [coords] with a dungeon underneath it like at [coords]"
"I want a plain/forest/lake/mountain/swamp here" "I want this place to remain wilderness" etc.
This is a test map for debugging purposes so we can just play around with it.

8/22 -

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8/24 - Texturing clothing and fixing clipping
8/26 - Looking for advertising partners
8/28 - Adding quit to main menu feature. Fixing bugs in save/load system.
8/30 - Tower's busted again.

 

[KleptoLizard]

The desktop I just had repaired bricked again so there will be another brief hiatus on demo clients.
Once I get it back the first priority will be to adjust the overworld map.
Among the complaints/concerns I received the map being too large and empty was the most common.
So I'm going to flatten the terrain by half and bring all the hidden underground structures to the surface.

9/4 - Managed to fix computer myself. Resuming work.
9/10 - Saving and loading in the field fixed. Finishing up overworld layout tweaks.

 

[KleptoLizard]

Overworld is now easier to navigate.
Gambino says he'll be done with the animation overhaul soon.

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9/14 - Fixed bug causing soft lock with quest menus
9/16 - Working on Visual Novel Mode
9/18 - Continuing work on VN Mode, studying intermediate-to-advanced C# patterns

 

[KleptoLizard]

The architecture from Age of Empires 2 is going to form the basis for the default RF buildings.
I'd previously made a massive list of cultures I wanted to represent but I'll be mapping them all to 11 parent groups.
Many of these buildings can already be made with the assets already on display in the debug map.
Simply retexturing or sometimes merely recoloring various materials will suffice in many cases.

The Visual Novel Maker is coming along really well.
It uses the exact syntax from Ren'Py scripts.
Users will be able to quickly convert any existing Ren'Py script into a Renfield scenario.
Of course you can now use 3D models for your characters and use expression/pose presets instead of alternate sprites.

Still haven't heard from Gambino about the animation system overhaul.
A lot of work is dependent on him finishing.
Not sure when that will be.
All I can do is focus on other features in the meantime.

Remember that you can stake out a claim on the debug map as your personal area.
Just send me the coordinates and it's your land to do (almost) whatever you want with.

9/22 - Fixing issues with wigs and teleporters
9/24 - Testing light baking solutions for performance
9/26 - Opened up a SubscribeStar page. All backer rewards from the original Patreon will be honored.
9/28 - Drafting design document for the new hires
9/30 - Switched in appropriate model for First Person arms

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[KleptoLizard]

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This minor update fixes a few serious issues.
You shouldn't get softlocked in quest windows anymore.
Also many shadows have been baked so let me know if performance is better.
It can vary from system to system.

I'm currently merging Gambino's tweaks to the animation studio scene.
Also hiring someone new this month.
The next main feature implementation will be the Visual Novel Mode.
It should bring us closer to something that feels more playable/complete.

VN Mode parses a script based closely on that used in Ren'Py.
I'll add it as soon as we can duplicate all the functionality
contained in the sample Ren'Py project "The Question".
With this you'll be ready to remake anything made with Ren'Py itself
but with the added ability to use 3D models, poses, and blendshapes.

For example you normally declare a character like so:

define p = Character(_("Prince"), color="FFFFFF")

and load a sprite of them onto the scene with

show prince normal

where you have a PNG file titled "prince_normal.png" in the appropriate folder.
Then you load different expressions by changing the sprite:

show prince determined

With Renfield's system we can use a PNG file with character data loaded into it.
The program checks the PNG to see if it has such data and loads the character.
If not, it loads the sprite normally.
When we use an expression RF responds by loading in another card with just the
facial expression blendshapes applied. Same with poses and other things.

These features will be supplemented with additional commands specific to RF
such as loading up a combat/exploration scene or initiating an H-scene.

10/4 - Merging 2 branches of the studio scene code
10/6 - Formatting sample VN story with first volunteer guest writer. Thanks to Innocent World for participating.
10/8 - Converting the Python code to format readable by the Dialogue System plugin.
10/10 - Finishing VN mode parser

 

[KleptoLizard]

Gambino had to leave the project to take care of some IRL issues.
It comes at a bad time since we were right in the middle of refactoring the animation code.
The current H-animation system is functional but very
janky/wonky/awkward and severely impacts the game's presentability.

But we've brought on 2 new people who both show promise.
It will take at least a week to familiarize MigatteNo, the new coder, with the project architecture.
The project files are quite sprawling by now so I don't expect anyone to jump right in.
We're also joined by InnocentWorld who is writing the first sample VN adventure.

His original draft was based on a short story involving a mysterious tower dungeon and various transformation themes.
He's currently reworking it after I showed him the functionality Renfield's VN kit will offer.
On that topic, here's what's working so far in the prototype VN mode:

-define statements
With these you designate a PNG card file made in the Character Editor.
The game loads, skins, morphs and clothes your character and saves an instance of it.
Or you can just use sprite art.

-default statements
Various variables used to track decisions and progress.
You'll be able to branch code based on these and your characters' stats.

-labels, jumps and menus
Branching by choice or by test allows CYOA functionality.
These can be set up with a standard old-school cardinal direction navigation scheme.
So dungeon crawls are possible in addition to linear/branching stories.

-play, scene and with statements
For now you only have sprite art to work with but eventually you'll be able to use 3D locations.
The spawnable 3D locations will consist initially of a selection of scenes.
I do have a system for building directly in the world a la Fallout 4 but it's far from ready.
Only simple fade and dissolves for scene transitions for now.

-show statements
As stated above, you can use 2D or 3D characters.
Sprite-based characters will change their emotions or stances via alternative sprites in the usual Ren'Py way.
However the 3D RF character models will morph according to specific morph names or by defined presets.
[show marco smile] Will make the defined character Marco raise the first morph containing "smile" to 1.0.
But with a defined character card called "giggle" with 0.5 smileFullFace,
0.3 flirtingMasculine and 0.2 raiseEyebrowLeft we can have much more control.
Now [show marco giggle 0.5] sets it to half the weights of each of those sub-morphs.
[show marco giggle +-0.1] creates an idle animation where he ping-pongs between 0.4 and 0.6 of the "giggle" composite.
A similar system will be used for various poses by blending 2 of them and varying the weight of the blend over time.

-markup commands
Covers bold, italic, variables embedded in speech, etc.

In order to expand the features of this system in a useful way I'm organizing
the commands and keywords in the order they appear in Ren'Py's documentation.

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What I'm trying to achieve, with the help of the community, is something akin to the Eamon RPG system from the DOS days.
Eamon was all about making your own adventures and playing those made by others, usually with the same character.
The adventures varied tremendously in quality and content, but even the bad adventures were fun.
With RF you can choose to make a very self-contained story with all premade characters or allow players to field their veterans,
retaining all the progress and physical/emotional/stat changes that might apply.

Further, the 3D realtime action/adventure segments and the VN segments will be interchangeable.
You could have your primary game play out with an open world and use the VN to handle conversations, lore dumps and time skips.
Or you could have most of the story told in VN with instanced 3D action scenes.

As always let me know if you have any questions or would like to volunteer.

10/12 - Added nearly 400 pose bases
10/14 - Gathering / organizing materials for the new team members
10/16 - Working on a CSV-based alternate system for the VN scripts.
10/18 - Comparing Ren'Py functionality to various popular engines/systems seen on TFGames. Looking to scale from a pure VN style control and gameflow model to an optional RAGS model of adventure interpreter.
10/20 - Outlining long-term branching paths for sample story.
10/22 - Nearly finished with the sample story outline
10/24 - Resolving an issue with Unity package cache

 

[KleptoLizard]

Updates may become more sporadic due to my current work schedule.
Right now the team consists of 3 people: myself, Migatte the coder, and Innocent the writer.
Migatte is still undergoing an onboarding and training process.
This is to be expected as RF's solution is fairly sprawling at this point and utilizes many advanced Unity features and packages.

Innocent is working on an example story to showcase the VN Mode's capabilities.
It is structured like an old school CYOA.
The pyramid below shows an outline of the "zones" which will be released serially.
You start at the top and choose a branch heading downwards as you proceed deeper into the island fortress complex.

As you go down and down there's a "pachinko" effect where the same point in
the story could be very different based on which route you took to get there.
I've made a complete suggestion-storyboard of the entire map for Innocent to fill in with the actual decisions, events and prose.
You'll also have lots of hidden loot which adds up to a final score, just for fun.