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Back From the Dead, Again...
🕑 Added 2020-10-21 17:26:06 +0000 UTCThere are three parts to this update: Complaining about Covid-19, Mod Support, and Previews.
Complaining about Covid-19:
Covid-19 sucks. It really, really sucks. Like a hell of a lot of people, I’ve been dragged into a shitty financial position, and things are bleak. I’m barely scraping by. Debt is mounting. I'm Working more, sleeping less, and getting less time to work on side projects. Stress is high and...well you guys are probably going through the same thing I am. So...yeah. That’s all I’ll say about that. We’re all going through some shit right now, and you’ve got your own shit. I feel you. You feel me. Things suck.
Mod Support:
I’ve said it before, but once again, I apologize for how long these updates take. Know that I haven’t forgotten development, nor have I been taking breaks. I’ve been putting in the hours, working on the game as much as possible, often more than is perhaps healthy. I know it really sucks to wait for a game to release(looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077), but I’m trying to avoid the pitfalls of most games in this genre by creating a solid, enjoyable experience that doesn’t feel like series of stitched together “episodes.” While it’s true that it’s much faster to create updates by just stacking new content onto the existing game, that tends to feel disjointed and, frankly, exactly like a game cobbled together in someone’s spare time. My goal is to create an actual game. A single, cohesive experience that feels less like the now hundreds of -insert popular IP- trainer games with predictable, by-the-numbers content loaded with quick and dirty pygame powered, time-wasting minigames and more like an actual game worth your time and attention. To that end, incorporating new features and content requires ripping apartthe old code and integrating those new features into the game at appropriate points. This really doesn’t lend itself to piecemeal updates. Most systems in the game are integrated with one another and that means that concurrent development is faster and easier than working linearly. Faster, small updates are appealing to the side of us that craves instant gratification, but ultimately they’re harder and more time consuming. And make no mistake, there have been a lot of missteps. I have honestly spent hundredsof hours writing code and making art assets for things that just don’t work, or for systems that seem fun early on but are terrible when actually implemented. As much as I wish I could pull the game together faster, actual development takes time. You guys have shown a lot of faith in me, and I really don’t want to let you down. I’m pushing myself to finish the game as quickly as possible.
All of that said, my policy on posting updates here is that any update I post should be something worth your attention. Countless times over the past months I’ve had lengthy development updates ready to post that I’ve had to put off at the last minute because features and content I had been working on just didn’t work. There’s a lot of really cool stuff that I’m not ready to show you. The Deepthroat Training System finally works, the Work feature is almost ready, and the Enhanced Physical Discipline System is finally coming together. There are still a lot of issues that need to be resolved with those systems, but progress is being made. What I can show you is a larger system that has take a ton of time and work: Mods.
For the past few months I’ve been rewriting the code for the majority of the game. This was necessary to accommodate the new character image system, which supports custom clothing. As per my last update, you know this, but what most of you don’t know, is that while I’ve been working on the clothing customization system(which has gone through many iterations), I’ve also been building a unique mod system for Bitch Breaker. This system makes it possible to easily and seamlessly add clothing mods to the game. Automatically. It’s drag and drop.
Before I get into the details, and there will be details, I’ll tell you a bit about the history of the mod system, because it’s one of the reasons why this update has taken so long. As you know, I have been rewriting the game’s code base from the ground up to accommodate customizable clothing options and (later) body modification. During this long, mind-numbing process, my wife happened to ask me about the clothing system and how I had implemented it (at the time I considered this feature close to 100% done). My original implementation simply used brute force coding(an old friend), utilizing Ren’Py’s inbuilt menu system to just provide players with a list of simple clothing choices, all hardcoded into the layered images that make up the character sprite, utilizing a ton of conditional statements (and it worked really well!). But my wife, quite innocently, asked how I would add more clothing to the game. I replied “by adding it to the code, of course!” This seemed like the logical way since adding new clothing in this way was fairly simple at this point. She then asked if the players could design and add their own clothes(she’s a fan of The Sims), and if there was a limit on the number of clothing options. My immediate response was, “I don’t see why not,” and “the limit is likely what the menu system can display” But then I began to seriously consider what that would entail. As development continues, I’d obviously be altering the .rpy file where the layered images were coded, which would mean effectively destroying compatibility with player added clothing at every update. The alternative would be isolating the relevant code to a .rpy that I didn’t edit, but this would likely be impossible as development moved forward and would limit my ability to add clothing as a developer. More than that, it would mean that anyone building a clothing mod would have to manually add code for every clothing item to each of the layered images and make significant adjustments to the code, altering variables and adding new conditional statements, and even then the modded .rpy could only support whatever clothing was added to it by the coder of the modpack, meaning that players could only use one at a time, which is...well dumb. I then began to experiment with the python code I used to build the email and furniture systems. That’s when I came to three simultaneous realizations: I was an absolute idiot; I had been doing things wrong; and finally, building a broadly compatible modding system would be not only possible, but simple! Simple, but not as easy as I’d thought and not as quick as I’d hoped.
The greatest challenge with building this system has been creating something would be easy to use for almost anyone, regardless of their knowledge of python or coding in general. My goal was to create a modding system that would allow easy installation and removal of mods, and provide broad compatibility between mods. Something that doesn’t force the community to wait for a modding guru to create mod packs specific to each version number that only add a handful of clothing options to the game. I’m talking real goddamned mods. And that’s precisely what I built.
The mod system uses python objects to store the information for each clothing item, allowing the system to automatically add the mods to appropriate inventories. The game then populates in game menus with the clothing, seamlessly incorporating the added clothing into the game in a natural way (that is, in a way that doesn’t expressly feel like modded content). When the player selects a clothing item from the in game clothing customization menu, the code assigns the data from the python object to variables which are linked to the layered images which are then linked to the main layered sprite system. This system allows for surprising compatibility. It is fairly complex, but a lot of work has gone into making sure that modders don’t see most of that complexity. Adding a mod is as simple as dragging the mod file into the Bitch Breaker folder and dropping it in. That’s it. The game code automatically grabs the necessary data and adds the clothing to the in game shop and the game itself. You won’t need to wait for me, or anyone else, to add your stuff to the game’s code, even better, updates won’t break mods.
While I don’t have the latest update ready for you guys to play yet, what I do have is a detailed modding guide and significant modding resources to get you started making mods so you’ll be ready to add your mods when I’m done with the latest version of the game. Inside the linked archive you’ll find detailed instructions; .xcf files to relevant in game assets including base body images; examples for each clothing type; menu images; additional example images; code templates; a sample mod to give you an idea of how a finished mod should look, and finally a mod testing environment that will let you test your mods. In fact, there’s probably enough assets there for you to make your own game, if you’re comfortable using the crayon scribbles of a drunken primate.
Oh, and one last thing, I don’t plan to stop with clothing mods. I’m currently working on a broader modding system that will allow pussy mods, tattoo mods, body mods, full content mods(including ‘favors,’ work events, and random events), and possibly even total asset replacement mods. If you’ve ever had a thought for a cool scene, or really wanted to see a fetish explored in the game, you will be able to add it via modding. For each new mod type, I plan to create detailed modding guides, resources, and instructions to make the process as simple as possible. When I’ve finished, you’ll be able to mod the game to your hearts’ content and add significant custom content to the game with relative ease, and most importantly with limited knowledge of python. Any beginner with a basic knowledge of Ren’Py will be able to create and share mods as simpleor complex as you want to make them.
You may be asking yourself why I would expend so much time and energy on things like modding, or rebuilding the games codebase when it would be much easier to just keep stacking half-baked slideshow content. The answer is simple: I genuinely want to create a good game. By now, you’re probably all painfully familiar with the same copypasted Ren’Py UI with a cellphone, a map, and a backpack inventory in the upper right corner of the screen, with the same “town map” that leads to the same empty locations, click frenzy gameplay loops where you click from room to room aimlessly looking for the next trigger for the next linear slideshow to play until you hit the end of that update’s content. I’m tired of those experiences. They’re boring. It seems like it’s always the same stuffover and over, and that’s...fucking lame. My goal is to create something truly special for the community that has supported me, to give you all something you can really enjoy, something you can make your own, because as much as Bitch Breaker is mine, it’s also yours. I want you to feel that. When the game is finally completed, I want you to be able to tear it apart, take whatever code or assets that are mine to give and make something of your own with it, something as incredible as you are.
Previews:
Here’s a quick look at a couple of new systems. These aren’t quite finalized, and there’s a lot of work left to be done, but they’re close. Here you can see how these systems look in action.
First is the Character Customization System. There 8 total clothing slots that cover most basic types of clothing: panties, bras, leggings(which includes stockings etc), pants(which includes skirts etc), shirts, jackets, dress (full body clothing that occupies both the pants and shirt slot), and masks(which includes glasses, masks, bunny ears etc). As you can see, it deviates greatly from traditional, prebaked Ren’Py menus. You can check it out for yourself with the Bitch Breaker Clothing Mod Tester. For potential modders, it may seem intimidating, but the Mod Guides should make things fairly simple.
Next is a very early look at the Gloryhole system. As part of the “Shared Favors” and “Deepthroat Training” systems, you’ll be able to force the character to use a gloryhole. This system utilizes a new location, the Gym Bathroom. The Gloryhole System itself was surprisingly difficult to build, mostly because of the new Character Customization System, which I’ll talk about a little more later. (This system was originally designed to make use of an adaptive NTR System that worked in conjunction with the current Whore Level system to seamlessly -more or less- enable NTR scenarios, for those interested in such things. Unfortunately -or fortunately depending on how you feel about NTR-, the original system proved to introduce too much complexity -full implementation would have slow development of the game- and the simplified NTR System lacked the appropriate punch to satisfy fans of the fetish. It would have been boring for fetishists and annoying for everyone else. At the moment, you should consider the NTR Feature scrapped.) When the player initiates a gloryhole event, he is given the option to observe from his office. This brings up a “live feed” from a camera hidden in the bathroom. To preserve the 1980’s aesthetic, this camera feed is designed to be low-res and monochrome. At the moment, the character model used for the animations displayed in the gloryhole camera does not support customization (which is why she’s wearing the gimp mask). This is a direct result of Ren’Py’s limited Image Manipulation code. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried. If you want a more detailed explanation, you’ll find it along with information about the new CG system below.
Here’s another quick look at the updated character models. Sugar got a makeover as well. While I was reworking Claire’s assets, I took another look at Sugar Brown and realized...well she looked weird. I’d made her torso too long, and now that the Clairewas more muscular, I had to add a little more definition to Sugar. Sugar’s initial design was supposed to be more bottom heavy than Claire, and because my redesign had given Claire such a juicy ass, I needed to give Sugar a bit more and in the end...well, Sugar’s got a real dump truck of an ass. I mean, she’s so thicccccc I’m worried I might break my c key.
While reworking Sugar’s art assets, I’ve been really tempted to re-examine a lot of Sugar’s content as well, which in retrospect feels fairly weak, but doing so feels dangerously close to feature creep, which I already feel is an issue. For the current update, I intend to stick with the core mechanics and focus on properly reworking the core game. If there’s enough interest, I may rework Sugar’s mechanics later and maybe include more customization. However, I still consider Sugar a secondary character and she probably needs to stay that way. I will say that if I do end up adding FFM threesome content to the game involving Sugar, I’ll likely add more Sugar content anyway since most of the asset creation necessary for FM Sugar scenes would need to be created anyway.
Lastly, the new CG System. It’s simple enough to create CG’s for scenes, but adding character customization required building a new CG system that would properly display the newly customized character model. Ensuring mod support for these tied systems creates an additional layer of complexity that makes everything much more difficult. Any additional customizations, like custom hair, tatoos, or clothing layers, that appear in a CG require that modders create additional content to accommodate these systems, which can easily double the amount of work required. This is only exacerbated by the continued development of the game. Not all CG’s are completed (obviously) and it’s likely that I’ll continue to refine the CG’s as my artistic skills develop. For that reason, I decided to limit the amount of customization that will display in CG’s. Currently, any hair, tattoo, and piercing mods will require additional assets for CG’s, but not clothing items. CG’s utilized after the player has access to the Character Customization System will have the character completely nude. I consider this less than optimal, but the alternative would make mod creation that much more difficult. If this becomes a problem in the future, I may revisit the mod system to add support for modded clothing in CG’s.
For those of you interested in a more detailed explanation of the Gloryhole Camera and how it works(or more accurately how it doesn’t work) with the new CG System: Variables. That’s the issue. Every image defined in Ren’Py is a variable that points to a file. The new CG System uses layered images to place customizations at the appropriate place in the image, but the layered image itself is still just a defined variable. Ren’Py has a relatively simple image manipulation system in place, which seemingly could be used to automatically resize and adjust the existing CG images to create the camera images. However, Ren’Py’s image manipulation system cannot work with variables. The system requires that the code point to a specific image file. Now, I could build a system to work around this limitation for the specific content that I create for the game, since I could write additional code for each image and create new animations, but that would be much more complex and wouldn’t work with mod support, since it’s simply not possible to point to image files that do not yet exist. At the same time, it is true that modders themselves could define their own images in their mods, or create additional image files specifically for the camera, but doing so further increases the difficulty of creating mods and the mod creation process is already complicated enough. My solution for this is to simply have Claire wear a mask for all gloryhole camera scenes. Players may still notice a lack of tattoos or piercings, but it shouldn’t be too distracting.
Link to the Mod Resources Zip: https://mega.nz/file/ZZ0BSIZT#CL-jpxRog28gyT0Uwb7trGgeTgANGpkZX-zoLhqMV-A
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Comments
MeTheMe
There is a thread on F95 for modding purposes, but no contributions (yet). I hope that the community will be active to support this awesome project with selfmade content!
MeTheMe
welcome back!
bruce
cool your back
The Frinky Dink Man
Happy to be here man
UnknownError
I also want to apologize for not checking my patreon enough. When things started getting tough, I put a lot of nonessential stuff on the back burner, and kept waiting for things to get better. But one month turned into two, and then six. I never could have thought that it would be almost a year later and we'd be in the same damn place. Those of you who stuck around, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
