malixegames
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Planning, technical details, and other definitions
🕑 Added 2024-04-16 23:24:47 +0000 UTCHello again, everyone!
First of all, I want to say that I am surprised and happy with the response to my last post. I expected a stampede, but not only did you stick with me, but all the demonstrations I received were supportive. Thank you very much indeed. It's great to be able to count on you.
Because of the last few posts diverting the subject, I ended up damming up a lot I wanted to tell you, and I don't see any solution other than to release it all at once in one devastating stream. So, in case you're interested, take cover, I want to talk a bit about the latest technical achievements, the changes to the gameplay and concept, the definition of the lore and potential future content, and the planning of future releases of the main game.
Latest technical achievements
In addition to the graphical changes, there have been other things I've been working on. Some are more conceptual but require a change in the programmed logic of the game. Others are more visible and I'll try to explain the main ones.
I've already explained to you how the clothing variations work and the need to adapt the skin mesh to avoid clipping. Until then, the system required me to create a body mesh for each clothing variation, which forced me to limit the number of clothing variations. Note that each minimal variation requires a different skin.
The solution was to use a system that hides some of the skin polygons when triggered, so I can use the same body mesh for all the variations, which makes my job much easier.
But I still need to work on the mesh of the clothes to match the mesh of the skin, otherwise they bend differently, like Nicole's shirt strap does in some poses.
Of course, the ideal would be for the clothes to be welded to the skin, but that would be the work for a large modeling team. At the moment a bit of skin clipping is unavoidable, but I'm gradually making adaptations to minimize this as much as possible.
Another element that took up my time was map navigation. This posed several challenges for optimization, since there are so many elements displayed at the same time. I believe I've achieved a functional and fairly lightweight system.
The biggest trick is to make the locations load and unload in a smart way. There's no point in keeping a house and all its furniture loaded in memory if the player chooses another location to visit. The mapping system decides what should be loaded and this makes navigation fluid, without long waits.
Changes in gameplay and concept:
I've always thought of S4H as a game to be played more than once, with different events depending on how you make your choices. However, many people prefer to experience games only once, which leads to some mismatches, players being alienated from much of the content, or never finding the content they like best. To improve this, I'm going to change a few things:
A progress panel will be added where you can see the percentage of in-game progress, achievements, and replay scenes. This will give you an idea of how much of the game you've experienced.
The option to play in "VN Mode" will be added, which dispenses with the open-world elements and strings the game scenes together more or less like in a Visual Novel. This mode is for those who don't like open games, but it will also serve as an option to re-experience the game.
The game will no longer allow you to change characters in the middle of a Step; you will choose your character at the start of the Step and will only be able to change at the next Step. This is to simplify the paths, but also to encourage you to start another game to see the other character's point of view.
When you finish each Step for the first time, it opens up the possibility of restarting the game with another character, so if you finish Step 1, you can restart the game from Nicole's point of view, finishing Step 2 allows you to restart as Barney and later as Jane.
Note that these changes also remove your obligation to play with some characters, except Brendon, who you'll have to play to unlock the other characters. For example, most of the content planned for Nicole's gameplay is lesbian and female masturbation, so if you're not interested in this content, just skip her part. When the game is complete it will be possible to play all with just one of the protagonists or alternating as you prefer. So there will be several ways to experience the same game.
The Blowhard Lore
Much of the game's open-world content relates to stories that will never be dealt with within Steps 4 Happiness. They're ideas that helped me develop the characters, but that don't fit into a single game. I've separated these stories into other content that could become later games or, if there are resources, I could pay an illustrator to turn them into comics. Or I could simply release the scripts for you to read. These contents are as follows:
An epilogue to Steps 4 Happiness.
A parallel story involving the Crankshaw family, with Angel, her sister Honey, their mother, and the player taking on the role of the family's stepfather.
Another parallel story involving the Nutter family, with Chloe, Lisa, and from Jason's point of view.
Three stories with the Sackrider family, involving Penny, Misty, and their parents. Tell the history of the family and the town. Also played mostly from Jason's point of view.
A closing story, about a family made up of a widowed man and his three foster teens, who move to the outskirts and become involved in the town's hidden mysteries.
Next steps
Something I want to avoid between updates of the game is discovering that some system doesn't allow me to progress, forcing me to redo the system and, consequently, the entire game. This happened between updating from Step 1 to Step 2 and happened again when I went to update to Step 3. To avoid this I'm testing the systems beforehand and minigames are one of the ways of doing this. Before I update again there are still a few systems I need to test. I think the best way to do this is by remaking the three demos. So the next steps will be:
Demo 1: Sneak Peeking - Where you'll try out the new navigation system, collectible items, secret scenes, and the VN mode option.
Demo 2: The Besties - Where you'll test the photography system applied to a dialog scene, among other things.
Demo 3: Not Related - You'll test the achievement system and progress display and a sex scene with various possibilities.
While I'm working on these demos, I hope to sort out the last details regarding the snowdrifts between maps and also finish furnishing the scenarios. Then I'll have no excuse not to focus solely on the main game. I plan to finish the game in four releases:
Release 1: Step 1 for Brendon and Nicole with optional quests for each.
Release 2: Steps 1 and 2 for Barney and Step 2 for Brendon and Nicole. Optional quest for Brendon and Nicole.
Release 3: Steps 1, 2, and 3 for Jane and Step 3 for Brendon, Nicole and Barney. Optional quest for Barney and Jane.
Release 4: Step 4 and conclusions for each of the characters.
I expect that the time between updates will be a lot shorter, as I'll need to worry mostly about the artwork.
I must make it clear that this planning is based on the content prepared so far. Some of this content is at the synopsis stage, and even the part that is already properly scripted may change along the way and this could affect the content of the releases.
Have I confused you? Don't worry, you'll understand everything as I release the content. Until then, I'm here to answer your questions and listen to your opinions.
Many thanks to all of you!
Comments
MaliXe
Hi, let me briefly explain your questions. What I call an epilogue would be more like a post-conclusion. It would focus on two characters who are mentioned but don't appear throughout the story, and would provide extra information about two of the four protagonists. To be honest, this epilogue is the content that is most likely never to see the light of day. The possibility is that I'll make it available to you as extra content when the game is finished, but I'd have to look for another platform to publish it on. I'd rather avoid problems with Patreon's rules. As for translations, they will exist. I usually manage with Spanish and Portuguese. The languages I need help with can be added in later updates. At the moment the script isn't completely closed, so working on it wouldn't be ideal.
Archy_TaxiWhy
Hello, Thank you for your quick reply and for taking the time to answer! 1) - Okay, I asked myself this question in view of your selection card and the work you've presented for the creation of each location. I find that you've gone into a lot of detail in the locations, only to leave them unexploited. After all, I know it's harder to manage a semi-open world with good optimization. So I've taken the right example without being too forward XD. 2) - OK, so we're sticking with the same storyline as the first two steps, but with more detailed relationships and a few changes. That's very clear, thank you. 3) - 3) - Yes, I remember this. So it's still based on the choices we're going to make in the story that will determine whether in stage three she'll have more hetero o lesbian interraction. I agree with you that there must also be interraction between the girls, as this adds possibilities both in the story and in the erotic acts. I just had a doubt about the fact that you're going to pigeonhole Nicole solely into one category when the beginning of the script and the character's bt show something else. But that's not the case and we have a choice. Can't wait to see all Nicole's routes ^^ 4) - Agreed, it's much clearer and I find it effective. At first I thought you were going to process each character in one go for each version, which seemed like a lot of work and too much stress for the style of gameplay. Thanks for the explanation And great if choices are still part of the game, this is one part that I think gives your game an edge. So our choices will dictate the rest of our adventure, got it. Just two more questions that I unfortunately forgot to include in my original post. _________________________________________________________________ NEW QUESTION AND LAST ONE _________________________________________________________________ 1) - When you say "An epilogue to stage 4 Happiness" in the possible sequel, I'm a bit confused because then you talk about the final version of the game which will be I quote "Version 4: stage 4 and the conclusions for each of the characters". So the game won't have an ending, or are you talking about an epilogue for the S4H universe ? 2) - On the subject of translation, are you still planning to offer several languages? This is not a priority and I think that if it requires too much extra work, do it last when you have finished the game ?
MaliXe
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment! It means a lot to hear such a breakdown of my work, especially your appreciation for the details. Let me answer your questions in order: 1 - Most of the places to visit are buildings, but there's also the park. The campus is a case in point because you can walk around the courtyard and access some of the buildings. Is a more Nicole-oriented place, you'll have more content to explore there only from Step 2 onwards. 2 - The events of the previous versions will be redone but will remain the same, content will just be added. For example, there's more development regarding Sarah and Brendon's relationship, and the process of Brendon and Barney getting closer. I think the only major retcons I've made are about the kinship of some characters: Brendon, Chloe, and Jason are not blood relatives, even though they treat each other like cousins and siblings. 3 - Nicole actively participates in the game-plays of the male characters, but until the end of Step 2 (when she has that moment with Brendon), there is only the possibility of seeing her with other girls. Step 3 will be decisive for Nicole to decide whether she will get more chicks or dicks, but this will depend on the player's choices. Apart from a few specific moments, it's possible to prevent Nicole from sexually engaging with girls. I just think it's a bit cruel, it doesn't hurt to let the girl have some fun with a boob now and then. But it's up to you to choose. 4 - It's simpler than it sounds: each release will have a complete stage for Brendon and Nicole's gameplay. Barney's first stages come out in the second release and Jane's in the third release. All the characters' fourth stages will be released in the fourth release. 5 - Choices continue to lead to different consequences. What happens in the fourth step depends entirely on what happened in the previous steps and even the epilogue has different scenarios that depend on how you finish S4H. I hope I've answered your questions. If not just ask again, I'll be happier if I can make everything as clear as possible. Thanks again!
Archy_TaxiWhy
Questions : (Take your time answering, I went a bit overboard with the questions ^^.) 1) -For the navigation in the places I want to know I'd like to know if we can just visit a building or if we can explore different locations such as the university more freely ? 2) - Since you're going to be making demos again, I'd like to know whether the content of the first two Steps is still in line with the story, or whether you're going to start from scratch without taking into account the various elements of these two Steps ? I remember you weren't able to set up certain scenes the way you wanted because of technical problems. and would like to revise some parts of the scenario to include them. 3) - I wanted to know if there's going to be only lesbian content with Nicole or if there's going to be other scenes with them? I thought the idea of Nicole losing her virginity was pretty fun, with lots of possibilities for self-discovery. So I don't know if you're planning on Brendon and her. I can't remember if you said she was going to lose her virginity to him in a post or not, but I hope it's still relevant ^^ I find the relationship between Brendon and Nicole very amusing, especially given Nicole's character and her manipulative temperament, which can lead to amusing eroctic or sexual scenes with Brendon or a others man. I really want to see how the loss of virginity that you've teased for us is going to happen (of course, if it's still part of the scenario). I must admit that I've also wanted to see Nicole's scenes with men ever since I discovered the game, because I really like her characters, which can make for some very amusing erotic and sexual scenes. After all, this can also happen in the path of other characters, that's also a possibility. So to sum up, is Nicole going to have interactions with only women in the game, or is there hetero content planned for her ? (I hope you'll be able to answer without spoilers XD) 4) - If I've understood your planning correctly, are you going to release each stage in its entirety, or are you going to divide them up either by character or into several parts ? 5) - Finally, I'd like to know if the system of choices with consequences is still in place, or if it's more of a linear scenario? So much for my questions, and once again, bravo and courage in your current work and for the future of the game! Can't wait to see your answers and the rest of your work! Kind regards
