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Serenity Devlog (21 Sept. 2021) Public
🕑 Added 2021-09-21 16:55:14 +0000 UTCHello everyone! By now, most have had a chance to catch up on Serenity with the recent 1.1b update. I've received some great feedback and some helpful ideas. Creating Serenity has taught me a lot about how to build a satisfying and entertaining story through a visual novel. I've had to learn things the hard way, but that's the best way to get through my hard head. Over the last week, I've been asked a lot of questions about Serenity and also my next project, Last Human. So in this devlog, we will erase the slate and I'll outline my current plans for both. Cryoxxx, this is a long post so you might want to skip it all LOL... Let's get started...
Serenity 1.2 Development Update: I'll get this out of the way first... the 1.2 update is already coded and written, and of course, I'm constantly making small changes and adding/removing things as I render each line of dialogue. I already have about 100 images rendered (into the second part of Day 12), with around 1000 images planned as with 1.1. There will be a bit less lewd scenes here. I always try to keep it sexy when it fits the story... and it is after all, a story about pleasure and magic. Anyway, my personal deadline to have 1.2 ready to roll is October 31st. Of course, you all know that isn't carved in stone... Could be earlier, could be a bit later. At my current rate, I'm leaning towards earlier.
Serenity future: I've had comments ranging from "I hope this story keeps going!" to "When will Last Human come out?". Let's start with Serenity... I know I've been all over the place as far as my plans for this project and I apologize for that. As a first project, it has definitely been an adventure... stressful, loss of sleep, etc... Many comment that Serenity feels rushed. It wasn't. That happened due to a lack of understanding about timing when writing a VN. The thing is (and probably any dev would agree with me)... While writing it, and while rendering, a scene can feel like it is really long. But then you play through it and it is really only seconds. This is something I have struggled with, I accept that. With that said, I do want to go back and add some content later. As well there are large CHUNKS of the story and graphics I will want to go back and completely redo. So that is definitely happening. But currently, I'm reaching a sort of crossroads with the story. This last ordeal MC is dealing with (trying not to spoil for those who may not have seen it yet)... it is the last bad situation I had planned. And it won't be resolved until 1.3. Now, beyond that... I have nothing written. I'm literally flying by the seat of my bare ass after that. (Don't look at my bare ass please, pay attention).
After giving this a lot of thought, I do want to extend the ending of Serenity. But not at the cost of bad content. So I am considering several ideas where the girls have some inner struggles to work out. Looking back, there are some situations that weren't completely resolved, and there is a lot of room to explore that further. The early budding romance and history between MC and Kat is a prime example. Will Rin get her wish for bigger boobs? Or even better... when do the girls get to use their amazing powers? I've banged my head against my desk trying to think of interesting (and original) ways to make that happen. Someone told me to create an arena where the girls have battles and tournaments against each other. I like that idea and it could present some very interesting and funny situations. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, whether you're a patron or just a follower who just discovered Serenity.
Last Human: Alright... I'm sure most of you have seen the recent image I shared of 3 LH girls (attached to the header of this post). I am already preparing a project folder for Last Human and making certain purchases ahead of time. I am licensing a software that will help me create realistic looking scenes in Space. I have already purchased music. And I am actively shopping for graphics to import into hs2. Last Human will be a sci-fi, episodic AVN. Think of Star Trek except with sex and Nekos LOL. And if the title doesn't make it evident enough, you (the MC) will be the last human from Earth, saved by Neko girls from Pantheria... who themselves are facing a crisis. As soon as humans gained the technology for 'faster than light' space travel and even built a ship, they were attacked by... Something, wiping out all of humanity. MC was the one who developed the technology for deep space travel and plans were underway to travel and explore the outer solar system as a first step. The ship was ready, floating in orbit around Earth. But he was stuck at an observatory in Antarctica. The pilot release will bring all this together, and the rest will be 'episodes' based around this new universe I am creating, and the interactions with these Neko girls with varying personalities. My intentions with this are simple: I want romance, drama, humor, and situations, lots of them. At some point, the MC along with his new Neko friends will have a ship of their own and chase down the (Something) that attacked earth. They will discover very interesting, dangerous, and fun things along the way. Each episode will bring a new situation. While at the same time, MC tries to develop his relationships with the girls.
The MC in Last Human is an interesting character. Due to an accident in a lab, one of his arms was replaced with robotics. He's a big, stocky guy and very intelligent. Think 'Tony Stark'. He can build almost anything with the right parts. And he won't be what you think on the ship either. Nope, not the captain! While alone in Antarctica, he designed an AI to talk to and help him solve problems. She's basically just a box of parts wired together, but Xena will have a part to play in LH. Yes, that may be partly inspired by Tony Stark's character and his J.A.R.V.I.S. (or F.R.I.D.A.Y.) AI support characters. But trust me, only the idea is similar. My obvious inspiration for LH is a mix of a lot of different movies and tv shows I've seen over the years. It is my own story, from my own imagination. And as with Serenity, should be completely different from any other AVN you've read. It will also be kinetic. However, I am toying with the idea of having two possible endings for each episode. If I can make that happen without it causing a confusing mess of pathways 10 episodes in, then I'll do that.
So there is Last Human and some basic information about it. It will be a lot deeper than Serenity, story and character-wise. I think I will enjoy the hell out of creating it and hopefully you guys will enjoy it as well. But, with the plans I have for Serenity before "The End", I think realistically, it will be early next year before I actually start coding LH. I want to keep my Serenity fans happy first; you guys got me here. So it will go on for a while longer than I originally planned. Originally, it was going to end after this last struggle. Please feel free to chime in below in the comments... I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this.
Comments
ElderLichJoe
I'm with bishop (the comment above) regarding the arena not quite being a match. While I could see Rin getting a larger training area where friendly fights or training bouts with other girls might occur, anything more just doesn't quite fit the feel of the story. I would love to see more of getting to know the girls, one way could be to spend time expanding each of their personal domains, as if the story starts with the basics of what they like but the MC actually makes it perfect for them. Honestly, you should feel free to take a break from Serenity after the epilogue to give yourself more time to flesh out stories you want to tell rather than worry about adding to it just to add to it. Regarding the idea of LH having varying paths, just be careful as Renpy isn't exactly known for it's stability handling a bunch of variables, I would suggest maybe reaching out to devs like Bluecat who have a ton of variables in their game. They would also be good to talk to because they have been doing a major overhaul to get their Month 1 update working right, and the code was a large problem for them. Disclaimer: This is all just my opinion.
bishop083
A tournament arena thing doesn't quite seem to fit, although I could be convinced otherwise. I would love to see us spend some more time with the girls, tho. Getting to learn more about them has been fun so far, and I would love to learn more. Could make for a nice extended epilogue.
cryoxxx
TLDR. Love you tho
