discussion Hoping for help to get me started.

[Deleted member 111004]

I was hoping to get some help here to create my own game.

Now before you react to any of my questions, please note. I want to make a game I like myself, monetizing it comes last. If I like it, I might share it, If more people like it I might keep sharing it.

I've been researching for a while now how to best approach this and tried out different programs. the only definitive conclusion I came to is, that its gonna take a lot of time to figure all these options out and if after that I find out I went for the wrong option it will have been a major waste of time.

This is why I am here asking experienced developers, how to best reach the end result I want.

So what I already have is a small script, a couple of characters designed on paper and some scenes.

I already decided on Renpy.
but now for the rest.

What is important to me is the following.

- Need to be possible to create Western look.
- Need to be able to create animations.
- Need to be able to change expressions (a lot)
- Need to be able to morph models
- Need to be able to use Liquids.
- Need to be able to change hairstyles and clothing (preferably on a whim).

It might not be realistic but the following would be ideal for me.
I would prefer to create on low res for higher render speed and upgrade once I am finished.
It would be nice to not having to create everything from scratch. I do however want my own unique models and assets, so being able to create them easily is a big pre.
It would save me a lot of time if there was a program that, collision, internal and external. what I mean with internal is that depending on the size of the entered object you see the effect externally.


What would also really help a lot would be a decent guide to show me how to create penetration animations for whatever program would be best for above.

To get some more reference, the style I really like is, Power vacuum, Sex bot, Dumb Koala,

What I don't want, is Anime style or Cartoon style.

All help will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance

 

[kuraiken]

I was hoping to get some help here to create my own game.

Now before you react to any of my questions, please note. I want to make a game I like myself, monetizing it comes last. If I like it, I might share it, If more people like it I might keep sharing it.

I've been researching for a while now how to best approach this and tried out different programs. the only definitive conclusion I came to is, that its gonna take a lot of time to figure all these options out and if after that I find out I went for the wrong option it will have been a major waste of time.

This is why I am here asking experienced developers, how to best reach the end result I want.

So what I already have is a small script, a couple of characters designed on paper and some scenes.

I already decided on Renpy.
but now for the rest.

What is important to me is the following.

- Need to be possible to create Western look.
- Need to be able to create animations.
- Need to be able to change expressions (a lot)
- Need to be able to morph models
- Need to be able to use Liquids.
- Need to be able to change hairstyles and clothing (preferably on a whim).

It might not be realistic but the following would be ideal for me.
I would prefer to create on low res for higher render speed and upgrade once I am finished.
It would be nice to not having to create everything from scratch. I do however want my own unique models and assets, so being able to create them easily is a big pre.
It would save me a lot of time if there was a program that, collision, internal and external. what I mean with internal is that depending on the size of the entered object you see the effect externally.


What would also really help a lot would be a decent guide to show me how to create penetration animations for whatever program would be best for above.

To get some more reference, the style I really like is, Power vacuum, Sex bot, Dumb Koala,

What I don't want, is Anime style or Cartoon style.

All help will be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance

Okay, there's two tools that can help you create those images:
Daz3D and Blender.

1. Daz3D is a pretty easy to use tool that can do all you list, including the animations, and has tons of existing assets you can use.
2. Blender is a more powerful, universal model & animating tool. There's assets, but not quite as many to my knowledge and you need to learn a lot more. It's more powerful, but it comes with a much more sophisticated learning process.

So Daz3D is ideal if you don't mind working with assets of other people, who already have all the functionality you desire. (expressions, poses, liquids, morphs, etc.) Blender is better if you want something even more professional with your own custom assets.

I would suggest you don't immediately jump to doing a whole game, though. Try to experiment in whatever program you wanna do first and pick a smaller goal: maybe an image or animation. Then work your way up to a scene or a sequence. Nothing big, no big expectations. Use it as a playground to figure out how things work & what's interesting to you.

And don't underestimate just how much animations rely on having a good GPU. Depending on the framerate you pick, it can literally take a dozen hours or days for a short video, depending on its length & how many assets & effects are in it.
In fact, I'd start with just using images and once you understand them, maybe start with smaller sequences and test the waters.

The thing with a decent VN is that it's multiple systems building ontop of each other.
You need to learn how to create good shots with good composition & color grading. You need to figure out how to arrange shots to convey a scene. How to set tone & dynamic.
You need to figure out how to build a narrative, introduce readers to a scene & prime them for it, and how to build scenes up and write good characters.
You need to figure out how gameplay choices actually work, and the way gameplay systems function. What degree of agency is good for your kind of story, and how much asset and content creep will occur due to choices & variations.
With animation you'll have to learn how to convey weight and motion, how to sell a motion or an effect, and what to pay attention to in order to craft something that feels impactful.

So I'd suggest to pick something, tackle a part of the greater whole, and slowly get experience without overwhelming yourself. Celebrate every success and achievement and take every failure as opportunity to learn.

 

[TwistedMoony]

I already decided on Renpy.

Have you ever worked with it or python before?
If not, you might want to look up tutorials on youtube to get you started.

As kuraiken has pointed out, start small with the renders, practice with those renders in Renpy to make a short 10 render story. This way you can get a feel for how things work.
Also, don't underestimate the work ahead if you really want to start!
Don't be to scared to ask others for help. There are different discord servers from games, that have renpy and daz channels where you can ask questions! Make use of that.

 

[Deleted member 111004]

Thanks for the awesome advise. I think I will jump into Blender. seems like it has a higher pay off for time invested. I never expected it to be easy. far from. but approaching it in baby steps is good advise, something I needed reminding off.

Regarding the rendering Time, thats why I was wondering if I could create animations in low quality first and once I like them I could upgrade them. This all to reduce waiting time. I do have quite a powerhouse of a computer. but I know that even that will still take a lot of time

 

[kuraiken]

Thanks for the awesome advise. I think I will jump into Blender. seems like it has a higher pay off for time invested. I never expected it to be easy. far from. but approaching it in baby steps is good advise, something I needed reminding off.

Regarding the rendering Time, thats why I was wondering if I could create animations in low quality first and once I like them I could upgrade them. This all to reduce waiting time. I do have quite a powerhouse of a computer. but I know that even that will still take a lot of time

If you jump into blender, don't think about projects or final things yet. Look at it like a sandbox, your little playground. Just take a cube, deform it, build silly things with it. Have fun.
Take things slow. Don't look at things and go: "Oh, I haven't made textures yet!" Instead, take small steps and celebrate every cool little thing you do.

Gradually use tutorials & advice to bit by bit put more tools into your toolbox. Spend time on each of them, and learn to pay attention to details so you learn not just "Do this to get X" but you start gaining an understanding of the underlying principles of how things like materials, light & shadows, composition, etc. work.

Two pretty good pieces of advice for your journey:
1. Do small projects, and SAVE THEM. Often people pick one project, and then they work and improve that until the end of time. After months of work, they have 1 thing to look on and all they see is the flaws. By creating a history of your past projects, including failures, you have a visual timeline of your progress and improvement. You can go back to look at some of your earlier projects and actually see how much you've improved. And that's much more encouraging than being trapped in a never-ending "not good enough" loop.

2. Look for a blender community. It can be a normal one, or a NSFW one, or both. Talk to people. Listen to advice & try things out. And more importantly: make your own thread where you post your work in progress. Ask for feedback (while making sure people know you're a beginner), and don't be discouraged by criticism. Take nothing personal and instead use the knowledge and feedback of experienced artists to help yourself spot issues and gradually build up a confidence in your own work.

On animation:
There's not really that much of a reason for it. Low quality animations won't impress you and also don't help advertise your game. There should be an option in blender to render an animation individually as frames so you get hundreds of pictures. Those can then be turned into an animation file.
By doing this, instead of rendering the entire animation at once, you can bit by bit render it in parts across days.
But again: don't jump in with the expectation to soon be doing animations. Use it as blender playground first, familiarize yourself, learn about topology (crucial), and bit by bit create more advanced projects.
By the time you get to do your first NSFW animation, also start simple, but for your progress, check out both very HQ animations (e.g. on rule34video) and amateurish animations and try to spot in the difference what makes the good animations so good.

 

[VNThrowaway]

Okay, there's two tools that can help you create those images:
Daz3D and Blender.

1. Daz3D is a pretty easy to use tool that can do all you list, including the animations, and has tons of existing assets you can use.
2. Blender is a more powerful, universal model & animating tool. There's assets, but not quite as many to my knowledge and you need to learn a lot more. It's more powerful, but it comes with a much more sophisticated learning process.

So Daz3D is ideal if you don't mind working with assets of other people, who already have all the functionality you desire. (expressions, poses, liquids, morphs, etc.) Blender is better if you want something even more professional with your own custom assets.

I would suggest you don't immediately jump to doing a whole game, though. Try to experiment in whatever program you wanna do first and pick a smaller goal: maybe an image or animation. Then work your way up to a scene or a sequence. Nothing big, no big expectations. Use it as a playground to figure out how things work & what's interesting to you.

And don't underestimate just how much animations rely on having a good GPU. Depending on the framerate you pick, it can literally take a dozen hours or days for a short video, depending on its length & how many assets & effects are in it.
In fact, I'd start with just using images and once you understand them, maybe start with smaller sequences and test the waters.

The thing with a decent VN is that it's multiple systems building ontop of each other.
You need to learn how to create good shots with good composition & color grading. You need to figure out how to arrange shots to convey a scene. How to set tone & dynamic.
You need to figure out how to build a narrative, introduce readers to a scene & prime them for it, and how to build scenes up and write good characters.
You need to figure out how gameplay choices actually work, and the way gameplay systems function. What degree of agency is good for your kind of story, and how much asset and content creep will occur due to choices & variations.
With animation you'll have to learn how to convey weight and motion, how to sell a motion or an effect, and what to pay attention to in order to craft something that feels impactful.

So I'd suggest to pick something, tackle a part of the greater whole, and slowly get experience without overwhelming yourself. Celebrate every success and achievement and take every failure as opportunity to learn.

This is really solid advice, the thing with any kind of game development is that people grossly underestimate the time/skill it takes to build something even if you're using assets created by other people. If you really want to get into development then starting small and working towards manageable goals is going to be really important. It's a bit like saying "I want to learn to golf so I can join the PGA Tour", you don't set out with that as your first goal, you have a thousand smaller goals before that and once you reach the 999th one *THEN* you set your sights on the ultimate dream.

 

[exlurker]

I would recommend not to set anything in stone just yet, like your decision on Renpy. It may be best to start with a written idea of what you want to do, and maybe a little storyboard with some paths to see if the ideas work for you. Then, you can use these ideas in Renpy if you want, or use them in a different engine if that is more suited to what you want to do, once you have a better idea of how the story develops.