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Explaining some "technicalities"
🕑 Added 2024-01-17 00:37:40 +0000 UTCI am frequently asked something like "How is the game's development going?", and I understand that the only real interest is for me to give a release date. Even though it's not the real interest of the person asking the question, I want to share the achievements made during development, and having the mini-game in hand makes it easier to explain the results of the work. Therefore, in this post, I intend to give the most correct answer to the question, which does not mean to be the most satisfactory answer.
The idea of creating the mini-game is to put into use several resources that will be used in the main game. This is not a deviation from S4H development, but a more controlled way of finding flaws and refining mechanics.
What's different about this mini-game is that it only uses procedural animations, which means that every movement made by the characters is calculated during the game.
The first challenge was simply getting the animations to work properly. It is not common in games for characters to touch each other in real-time, because this requires control over the order in which the movements occur. To achieve this control I had to create all the systems and unify the order in which the commands are updated.
This allows for random movements, as you can see in the direction of the gaze and the constant exchange of expressions. It also allows the player to interact with the animations.
For this interaction, I created the "Reaction System", which "reacts" to mouse movement. The big challenge is converting 2D movements into a 3D environment. The system you already tried in S4H simply captured the mouse and converted it into arbitrary movements, it was difficult to configure and that's why I used it very little in the game.
The new system projects the cursor within a "reaction zone" and this allows you to copy real mouse movements. The zone detection itself allows you to trigger all kinds of events, such as camera changes or activating the character's hand to hold the girl's horn during the blowjob.
But the main function of the zone is to activate the "reactors". I created several reactors like the "Gropper" and the "Slapper" that are self-explanatory and work in the player's hand on Penny's butt. I can connect the reactions, making Penny react to the slap and also trigger other game functions, such as making her nose light up.
But the most complex reactor is the "Banger", which allows free control. During the development of the mini-game, I was able to improve this tool a lot. The best idea was to transform the area into a capsule, allowing diagonal movements. You can compare the difference with the making-off video.
And even the cum works on a new procedural system, different from what it was before, just an animated object over the character constantly glitching. I confess that the design wasn't the best for this first experience, but there's a complex code behind this cumshots that makes me quite proud.
I tried not to go on too long and simplify as much as possible, and I hope my text hasn't lost its meaning. There are more things I would like to talk about, mainly the corrections I made to the mini-game based on the feedback left by Archy_TaxiWhy, especially the possibility of holding the button to not leave the zone, which greatly improves control. But it's better to leave this topic for the next time.
I intend to re-release the mini-game with these fixes and more content, and I also intend to make some excerpts from S4H available as mini-games, so you will have some content to test while the game is not ready.
Thank you all very much and especially to Archy for the tips. See you!
Comments
MaliXe
Asking how much time is left is fair, especially considering all the time I'm taking. And I can't complain, especially when the question is asked politely. The only problem is my dissatisfaction with my own inability to go faster which creates anxiety in me. I thank you for your understanding and for continuing to believe in my work, this helps me to continue.
LoOnySsTaR
Stay true to yourself, ignore those annoying morons which only exist to ask/acquire for more like probably myself. Your WIP-posts look awesome. TAKE YOUR TIME.
MaliXe
Your comments were very thoughtful and well-written, and I am grateful for your willingness to share your thoughts with me. Thank you for understanding where I am coming from and for providing constructive criticism. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and opinions.
Archy_TaxiWhy
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to write this article explaining the background to the various stages and difficulties involved in making your mini game. This article is very interesting because it shows once again how far you've come and how determined you are to improve your project. As I already said in my comment under your post on the mini game, I find your gameplay and interaction system really nice and fun. Your description of your random movement system is very well used, both in the scenes and with the expressions, which is a real strength of your characters and your game in general. Your idea of working on mini games to test your project is really good and I can only encourage you to continue along this path. I hadn't seen things in this way when I asked you the question, and I was just afraid that you'd spread yourself too thinly over too many areas at once, which isn't always the best thing to do in this kind of project, especially when you're on your own. But with your explanations and especially with hindsight it's reassuring to see that you have a fairly solid plan and guide for development. All I can say is well done for that! I'm pleased if my comments and feedback help you to improve your work. I try as hard as I can to put the most constructive comments and not to make remarks without building behind them. I admit that at times when I step back, I always wonder about my legitimacy in making comments and how they will be perceived. One of the . I admit that the biggest difficulty with comments and words in general is that it's difficult to convey the intention behind them as faithfully as possible. I always get the feeling that I'm doing something that I'm not entitled to do because I'm a complete stranger to the world of video game development. Anyway, just to say that if any of my comments seem a bit confusing and prone to being interpreted in a certain way I apologise. I've always made it a point of honour to make them as relevant as possible (which creates a real romance given their length). Can't wait to see the updated version of your Christmas mini-game and to see the other mini-games you're going to cook up for us (don't spoil the main game for us ^^). And count on me to give you constructive feedback on it. Take care of yourself and enjoy yourself above all. Kind regards
