Alright I've compiled a list of almost 100 suggestions, requests and complaints.
I'll be jumping around the list fixing / adding things in a random order.
Some are simple adjustments while others are significant overhauls.
Everyone stay tuned and keep the comments coming.
Some of the menus from the middleware I'm using are sticky, unresponsive or unintuitive.
I'm tinkering with my own handmade menus to overwrite some of them.
Later today I'll focus on processing all the sound files I have backed up.
The unique voices for all the girls, as well as the slurping sound necessary for the fellatio scenes, have all been recorded.
But editing it all is going to take some time.
Yesterday was quite an ordeal.
That's the problem with middleware; they can save you hundreds of hours of coding basic systems,
but when they lack a feature or have a misfeature it can be a HUGE pain in the ass circumventing it.
The good news is that the new volume setting menu looks nicer, is much more responsive / smooth and can increment by a smaller amount.
Also, the volume settings are now stored in the registry and shared across save files.
You'll no longer get blasted by the music at full volume when you start up.
Lastly, a new Voice slider has been added to adjust moaning levels.
Perhaps I'll add a Master Volume or an H-sound effects slider later on.
But today I'm going to focus entirely on finally processing all those voice files.
When it's all said and done we'll have a unique voice for each girl's H-scenes.
Sucking / slurping sounds will also be ready so the oral sex scenes can be activated.
Sound is one of those things very important to some people and all but irrelevant to others. I'm on the latter end of that scale, so not much to say there except a generic (yet genuine) "glad things are coming together."
You wanted people to de-lurk and talk about the characters and scenarios they'd like to see. In the context of H-scenes, in general or both? I need some brain food to get the digestive tract of creativity working. Pitching a scenario like "Hanna gets groped in a crowd while exploring the marketplace; X, Y or Z could happen if such and such choice is made in response" won't be very helpful if the starting point is a two-horse village without a marketplace.
You wanted people to de-lurk and talk about the characters and scenarios they'd like to see. In the context of H-scenes, in general or both? I need some brain food to get the digestive tract of creativity working. Pitching a scenario like "Hanna gets groped in a crowd while exploring the marketplace; X, Y or Z could happen if such and such choice is made in response" won't be very helpful if the starting point is a two-horse village without a marketplace.
Well it's never a bad time to brainstorm.
Even a vague idea at an early stage can be formative in the long run.
The starting point is anywhere.
This isn't going to be like the RPGMaker games people are used to.
The whole world is open from the beginning and there won't be a lengthy prologue.
I can't stand the format of moving through a linear series of scenarios.
If you have an idea for an event in a marketplace, that's an environment that's sure to be encountered sooner or later.
Many writers I've worked with have a very tough time adjusting to scenario writing.
Modularity and flexibility are key.
Still working on editing the voice files.
Some of the content was unusable due to background noise.
This one girl in particular must have been sitting in a leather or vinyl chair while she recorded and she kept fidgeting.
All you can hear on the resulting audio files is the constant squeaking sound of the chair cushions.
I've gone ahead and hired a new environmental artist to help make wilderness maps.
Once they're ready, you'll be able to wander around the world in first person instead of the menu-based exploration.
The fighting will remain the same at this stage however.
A lot of buggy pathing, AI and movement animation issues need to be sorted out before we make the change to Elder Scrolls-style combat.
Much of the world will be procedurally generated like in Arena.
But the fidelity of the environments will be like Skyrim, or a bit better.
I always liked the sprawling worlds of Arena and Daggerfall, but to say the graphics are outdated on those games is an understatement.
Once we make a world of decent size and variety using procedural methods, we'll go back and implant handmade areas and handwritten questlines.
Can be a specific, named character or one of many encountered in the world.
Male, young adult or older.
Possibly useful for the PC to cultivate as a contact, but risks guilt by association and other troubles.
Blackmail potential.
Scenarios
Pay Me - Entry fee into a town or city, toll for using a public road. Whatever the payment is, he either made it up or it's not his job to collect it. Pay up, bribe or fuck your way out of the situation. Or just kill the fucker, if it's a field encounter with nobody else around. Non-lethal meeting would unlock the guard as a contact for further happenings.
Deliver the Package - Guard wants you to take something to someone somewhere. A shady job, obviously, but pays well enough for little trouble. Maybe the something is highly illegal contraband or a cursed magical artifact. Maybe the someone is a Hypnotist or other vile villain. Maybe the somewhere is a nasty, dangerous place full of tentacles and creepy crawlies... or a slave brothel, and you're the real delivery.
Blackmail - I know what you did! You fucked/helped/accompanied that Guard! You'll do as I say, or all the ten or so people living here in Mudfort will know what a bad person you are and your reputation will be ruined forever!
Guilt by Association - Guard got caught, or maybe you told the Blackmail NPC to get bent. Now you're being suspected of something, or maybe the bastard framed you to save his own hide. Guilty or not, it's time to do some persuading or face consequences. Fined, jailed, enslaved, exonorated, banished, sent on a geas quest, transitioned into a new scenario... a lot could happen. Or maybe you decide you've had enough and reduce Mudfort into a smoldering ruin with your murderhobo powers.
The Hypnotist
Can be a specific, named character or one of many encountered in the world.
Male, middle-aged or older if powered by scholarly magic, possibly younger if using a trinket or natural ability.
Can be a mentor or rival for male PC.
Likely an antagonist for female PC.
Why does he not rule the world yet through mind control? Limited/situational powers, not the only one with such abilities, anti-MC trinkets and spells available.
Scenarios
Mentor - Glasser meets the Hypnotist on neutral or friendly terms. Tuition, quests ("Bring me a blonde/brunette/redhead/elf/orc, tamed enough not to bite"), trade, info sharing all possible. Maybe he's part of a cult or secret society Glasser can join and/or eventually rise to lead.
Rival - There can be only one! This is my turf! Your hypno harem is now my hypno harem, muhahahaha! NPC could be aggressor, but so could Glasser. Mentor/Rival state could be fluid: betrayal, deception, disinformation possible. Who betrays whom first?
Antagonist - Maybe a random encounter, maybe part of a sprawling plotline. Hanna loses a fight against Hypnotist, puts on a gifted/rewarded fancy necklace, agrees to assist in a magic experiment, drinks herself senseless in the wrong tavern or any other suitable entry into the scenario. However it happened, she's now under mind control. Used for pleasure, whored out, sent on quests, released with inconvenient post-hypnotic triggers... just about anything could happen here. Maybe she's aware of what's happening but has only limited ability to resist. Maybe she can snap out of it on her own. Maybe escape becomes top priority objective. Maybe she grows to enjoy being controlled.
The Sleazy Companion
Can be a specific, named character or one of many encountered in the world.
Male, any age.
Detrimental to both male and female PCs, but this is not obvious from the start.
Tags along as part of a formal or informal escort quest.
Scenarios
Thieving Bastard - The PC takes a bath or a nap and notices all/some of the money is gone, or something valuable stolen. Companion is nowhere to be seen. Time to track down the bastard! Or let him go, because it's not worth the trouble.
Rapey Bastard - Companion takes advantage of the PC as opportunity arises. Anything from peeking to groping to rape, maybe progressively during the time spent together. This could be semi-consensual as well. Could also be a Thieving Bastard.
Cowardly Bastard - Oh please mister brigand, don't hurt me! My hired bodyguard here will suck your cock, so tell your henchman not to stab me. Okay, you hold off that orc raiding party while I get to safety; they might rape you a bit, but me they'd kill. ...could also be Thieving and/or Rapey Bastard.
An Antagonist type Hypnotist could turn into a sort of Rapey/Cowardly Bastard, following his controlled victim around. She may or may not be aware of the control - letting the dirty old man/insolent little boy fuck her ass seemed like a good idea yesterday.
Can be a specific, named character or one of many encountered in the world.
Male, young adult or older.
Possibly useful for the PC to cultivate as a contact, but risks guilt by association and other troubles.
Blackmail potential.
Scenarios
Pay Me - Entry fee into a town or city, toll for using a public road. Whatever the payment is, he either made it up or it's not his job to collect it. Pay up, bribe or fuck your way out of the situation. Or just kill the fucker, if it's a field encounter with nobody else around. Non-lethal meeting would unlock the guard as a contact for further happenings.
Deliver the Package - Guard wants you to take something to someone somewhere. A shady job, obviously, but pays well enough for little trouble. Maybe the something is highly illegal contraband or a cursed magical artifact. Maybe the someone is a Hypnotist or other vile villain. Maybe the somewhere is a nasty, dangerous place full of tentacles and creepy crawlies... or a slave brothel, and you're the real delivery.
Blackmail - I know what you did! You fucked/helped/accompanied that Guard! You'll do as I say, or all the ten or so people living here in Mudfort will know what a bad person you are and your reputation will be ruined forever!
Guilt by Association - Guard got caught, or maybe you told the Blackmail NPC to get bent. Now you're being suspected of something, or maybe the bastard framed you to save his own hide. Guilty or not, it's time to do some persuading or face consequences. Fined, jailed, enslaved, exonorated, banished, sent on a geas quest, transitioned into a new scenario... a lot could happen. Or maybe you decide you've had enough and reduce Mudfort into a smoldering ruin with your murderhobo powers.
This brings up an important aspect of integrating sex into the game mechanics.
Glasser and Hanna may end up playing very differently.
At least as differently as 2 distinct character classes.
Glasser is mostly geared towards acquiring sex.
Hanna will likely be in a seller's market so to speak.
She'll be able to sell her body to some thirsty dude for.... well just about anything.
If you don't want to play a "pure" character, then Hanna might get too easy. (double entendre unintentional)
In a sense, it would be like having an array of Illusion spells at your disposal.
Bartering could be easier, bribing guards to overlook crimes easier.
Assassinations would become MUCH easier if you can isolate someone who's normally under heavy guard or in a public place with too many witnesses.
Eventually when we add multiplayer I'd like for sexual acts / favors to be something you can put in a trade window.
You'd be able to sell yourself in a virtual brothel and there'd be a real player fucking you and paying you gold.
Or you could haggle for all the miscellaneous things people trade for normally.
(Get a rogue to open a box, an enchanter to enchant something, a smith or other craftsman to make something, etc.)
A sexy heroine might be able to take shortcuts and generally have an easier time dealing with people, sure. But there are downsides as well. All the creepers and lechers want a piece of that, so there's bound to be unwanted attention from casual harassment to outright obstruction.
What if whoring could have consequences? The john is actually an undercover slaver scouting the village: fucked, drugged and bagged. You banged the innkeeper for free room and board, congrats: his wife murders him and the inn closes. Letting the boatman have his way with you in the bushes seemed like a good idea ten levels and five thousand gold coins ago: now he won't row you across unless you fuck him first, and his tastes are getting more and more perverse. And so on.
How is Renfield planned to handle conversations and narrated encounters? List of options with precise dialogue lines (Skyrim), vague topics (Fallout 4) or something entirely different?
How is Renfield planned to handle conversations and narrated encounters? List of options with precise dialogue lines (Skyrim), vague topics (Fallout 4) or something entirely different?
At first I was using runtime methods to change pitch in audio, but I found that using Audacity's quality stretching is worth waiting for.
The oral sounds should be fully processed by the end of today.
We have a total of 48 positions made including penetration, fellatio and cunnilingus but few of them have been implemented.
There's just so much to do.
DLSite posted this on their Tumblr:
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Which reminds me that I still need to make a playable demo and preview video.
So I've been asking people everywhere I go "If you could make your own Elder Scrolls-type game, what would it feature?"
The overwhelmingly most common answer is "Co-op".
Not massive multiplayer, but co-op.
That's got me thinking....
How would everyone feel about an early experimental multiplayer mode?
To start, it would probably be like a deathmatch game with rape.
I know that's a far cry from the experience of adventure co-op that people want.
But it would be a quick-and-dirty way to test online functionality.
I've made net games in the past and it's really not that hard.
I've tinkered with multiplayer modding since back in the days of Quake and games like that.
Plus I've set up a dedicated server for a project using the BigWorld engine.
Using Unity's multiplayer extensions is child's play by comparison.
Let me know what kind of multiplayer modes you'd like to see.
Never forget: We're making this game from the ground up so anything's possible.
Did you clue any of those people in on the erotic elements said game would have? I'm guessing no. See, porn changes the way people approach things. Co-op/massive multiplayer might be good for smashing skeletons and gutting goblins, but add sex and it gets weird. Awkward weird, not fun weird. Though these things do pop up here and there, they're very niche and usually geared toward roleplaying, from what I've seen. Personally, I have zero interest in the online functionality and wouldn't touch it.
On the earlier subject...
Pregnancy is something of a special case, as far as consequences go. It's important to separate the player's goals from the character's goals. Hanna probably doesn't want to get pregnant. I might not want her to get pregnant, but the possibility of it happening could add a titillating sense of danger to my playthrough. Anon #3 might get a raging erection at the thought of Hanna being knocked up. Anons #4, #5 and #17 might stay the hell away from the game, because pregnancy is high on their squick list and they're not dealing with it.
So... pregnancy probably needs to be optional, through player's choice (checkbox to enable/disable the feature) and/or character's choice (Hanna takes contraceptive herbs, wears Preg-B-Gone trinket, activates shrine). If the player's choice is nullified, that's either a bug or terrible design. The character's choice being nullified could create interesting situations. Held captive in a monster lair, our heroine must escape before the frequent rapes overwhelm her protection, or risk becoming a breeding bitch. Maybe she does escape... with an inhuman bun in the oven. Maybe she's adventuring around thinking she's safely on herbs, blissfully unaware of the baby bump already showing a bit because she was hypnotized by the rapist into ignoring the symptoms.
Hmmm.... I'll do a poll.
I know some players that won't use the multiplayer on a game no matter what.
Many of the Dark Souls / Bloodborne speedrunners and challenge runners I know are particularly allergic to the thought of co-op and/or pvp.
But for other players it's absolutely essential.
One thing's for certain: We need to spark interest in the game to generate sales and donations.
Until we get money coming in, development is going to be painfully slow.
So I need to think of something to hook people in.
Right now the studio consists of myself, 2 part time coding advisors, 1 part time artist, 1 animator working on new H-positions and 1 new hire working on level design.
Even these few people cost a good deal of money.
If we bottom out in terms of funds, I still won't let the game die.
But it'll just be me at that point, with few to no original assets.
I mainly agree with what Krh said regarding multiplayer. Whilst the concept of a co-op elderscrolls style game has always been something I've been interested in, as soon as you add sex and H-content into the mix, it becomes a very different thing. It's not exactly something I could just invite all my regular steam friends to play, and it's rather hard to imagine how the game would play out even with friends from these forums. I mainly worry it would divert man-hours from the core development efforts, and influence the design process somewhat.
It might be enticing to add in such a feature because you don't feel it would be to hard in the short term, but once it's in there you have to commit to it, and making sure that every future aspect of the game works well with it. There's a whole multitude of additional potential issues that could be introduced with it. The idea of H-games finally breaking into the multiplayer scene, is novel, but I don't feel this is the game that should be testing such murky waters, not alongside it's existing ambitions.
Focus on those fantasy sandbox goals I say. Even if the world itself starts out overly simple, you need a base to start working out mechanics and gameplay flow.
NO, anything more then 1 person playing would not work.
We have countless amount of examples in history telling us that law of game physis: porn is for one, not for two or more.
You're not going to please everyone, no matter what you do. Broad appeal through varied and optional content is the closest you'll get - and that just isn't there at an early stage of development. Your apparent programming skills and experience with various systems, along with the fact that you're a gamer out to create something wonderful, do give the project credibility. But not enough for most people to start throwing money at you. Two big problems: lack of focus and payment model.
Selling it on DLsite AND you have a Patreon up? I get that you want both visibility and funds for development, but the "why should I donate to something that's going to be sold" question pops up right away. "Because I really want there to be a Renfield" is the only answer I can even think of.
As the squid above stated, implementing multiplayer of some sort may not be a problem for someone with your technical skills. It will create a host of issues in the long term, however. Game balance is the most obvious one. In singleplayer it doesn't matter how overpowered a sneak archer is or how unfair dual-casting Destruction spells with Impact might be. All that matters is the player having fun. In a multiplayer environment, be it co-op or competitive, all the cheese needs to roughly even out.
The scene is saturated. Everyone and their grandma has a Patreon nowadays; there are many worthy (and unworthy) projects in need of patrons. Fortunately for you, the majority of the competition are either RPGMaker or VNs. You're doing 3D and you have the techy stuff under control. Skyrim with sex built in from the ground up? Grand! Fenoxo in 3D (hopefully without everything and everyone having fur and a horsecock or two)? Good. Somewhere in that general direction awaits great justice.
What you need: something solid, sexy and playable to show people.
What you do not need: alchemy system, shotagonist, ten character classes, multiplayer butterfly chasing.
Well it was unanimous that we should focus on Singleplayer.
Glad I asked before spending all of next week adding a feature people don't want (yet).
Ultimately I'd like to make a game that can stand on its own as an RPG and have a safe-for-work setting.
But there's something else we should resolve.
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Here's another poll regarding Classic vs First Person gameplay.
By Classic, I mean keep the game in a mostly 3rd person mode with turn-based combat.
First Person would mean focusing on making the transition to full-blown realtime First Person exploration and combat.
Keeping it Classic would mean we could focus more on fundamental features for the time being.
It has been rightfully pointed out by several people that any overhaul comes at a cost.
If support for First Person is high enough, we'll make the transition as soon as the obvious bugs and imbalances are solved.
Or perhaps we could have Renfield 1 remain Classic while Renfield 2 makes the jump to First Person
