Voilsh

Well-Known Member
Apr 30, 2017
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The one thing that seems to be the most agreed upon aspect is the art...seems as if if the art matches it doesnt really matter who they add.. i mean lets be honest if the art is good who cares where they come from this isnt cannon...
Indeed. Works in the other way too: they should hire artists able to copy the character design of the game, because the big problem for me in this game is how slow it's developed.
I love the direction it's taking (corruption, lots of teasing, clothes variations, management...), but man at this pace we'll see a completed game in 2020 or something...
 

SmokeShank

Newbie
Game Developer
Aug 26, 2016
45
203
I'm into it.

Really I'm just into more progress in the cells.

The Private Rooms are fine and all if you're just in it to see some super heroine action, but the cells add that extra dimension of training the girls so they "voluntarily" perform for you.

Here's a question for everyone:

Do you prefer the existing workflow, or would you rather existing scenes be reused and slightly altered across, for example, the bordello and the cells? As in, take the sex scenes that have already been drawn for the bordello, make slight alterations to the facial expressions, etc. so that it fit the dialogue, and then use that same artwork for the cells?

Similarly, using the same "skeleton" and changing the faces/skin tones so that the same artwork can be reused for multiple girls (this is already done in the prison).

Assuming that he'd put out new artwork at the same pace (and presumably, over time, add "new" alternates to scenes that were simply reworked from other scenes) I think this would be a decent way to prevent production of artwork from bottlenecking the development of the game.
The problem isn't with creation of the artwork. As of typing this there is like 30+ costumes set up for the Halloween event already. SR7 can do a picture in about 1.5 hrs and a simple costume in like 30 mins. The problem is the implementation of the content. There is content just sitting there waiting for implementation. Also we run on scheduled releases, so there are deadlines, unlike releasing when the content is implemented. What happens is sometimes large updates are say 90% complete but are not in a state to release and will be put on the back burner. The best example is the prison event, which began creation in May I think, and was released in Oct. So hopefully with the new workflow, and the simplification of the animations that need to be finished (flip book instead of full animation) will allow us to finish sections faster and devote more time to content in other parts of the game. This new work flow will take time to iron out but we are extremely confident in what we can do.
 

Voilsh

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Apr 30, 2017
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The problem isn't with creation of the artwork. As of typing this there is like 30+ costumes set up for the Halloween event already. SR7 can do a picture in about 1.5 hrs and a simple costume in like 30 mins. The problem is the implementation of the content. There is content just sitting there waiting for implementation. Also we run on scheduled releases, so there are deadlines, unlike releasing when the content is implemented. What happens is sometimes large updates are say 90% complete but are not in a state to release and will be put on the back burner. The best example is the prison event, which began creation in May I think, and was released in Oct. So hopefully with the new workflow, and the simplification of the animations that need to be finished (flip book instead of full animation) will allow us to finish sections faster and devote more time to content in other parts of the game. This new work flow will take time to iron out but we are extremely confident in what we can do.
Is it because of the engine? (Unity)
 

HaseoOfDeath

Engaged Member
Game Developer
Sep 13, 2017
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Is it because of the engine? (Unity)
No.

Unity by far gives the most freedom especially with UI design. SU is layered in a way that if you tried to do a similar concept on Ren'py, it would slow down everything to all hell.

Plus with Unity there are switches pre built to handle new content. If the content is not available then you add what you have and just turn the switch off. You are allowed to work around unfinished content.

You can't do that with Ren'py.

Sunset just wants to make sure stuff is working correctly as well as meet his quality standard. He doesn't want to waste time which is why he is going to jump into mainly flip book animations. The last full animation he did took him a day. He doesn't want to put that much time into one scene especially if it doesn't work out correctly.

Maybe when all the core stuff is finished and all the girls are 100 percent complete, will he consider replacing the flip books with full animations.

At the moment he just wants to add to the game and finish storylines.
 
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gnd53

Member
Jul 6, 2017
252
386
It sounds to me that if the ultimate goal is to put out as much quality content as possible, the "next hire" (if someone else ever gets hired) should be a dedicated, professional Unity developer. Let SS7 do what he does best, write and draw, but let someone else worry about making the game work.

I understand he's said multiple times that this will forever remain a one man project, but damn it sounds like this is the one area where having another person working on it would dramatically increase the output while allowing him to maintain complete creative control.
 
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Grayking666

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Oct 22, 2017
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Is the newest contest poll for which 1 costume will be added or is that poll for which costumes will be added first?
 

SmokeShank

Newbie
Game Developer
Aug 26, 2016
45
203
It sounds to me that if the ultimate goal is to put out as much quality content as possible, the "next hire" (if someone else ever gets hired) should be a dedicated, professional Unity developer. Let SS7 do what he does best, write and draw, but let someone else worry about making the game work.

I understand he's said multiple times that this will forever remain a one man project, but damn it sounds like this is the one area where having another person working on it would dramatically increase the output while allowing him to maintain complete creative control.
We would have hired someone long ago if it would be feasible. SU keeps the lights on in our business, if we were to source out the programming at this point (with scheduled releases) all it would take for us to lose faith with the fan base is not come through on a build due to a hire. We have all seen this scenario play out in countless Patreon small teams already (future fragments, viper v, breeding season, simbros). If this was a few years back then I could see it working, but now it just isn't an option. Another issue is that SR7 has built this game with Fungus (visual scripting editor), meaning that a programmer would have to come in and work through 2.5 years of work to find out how he did things. We need to eliminate any potential set backs we can with this project due to its importance to our Patreon. In this game it isn't who is first it is who lasts the longest. So right now the idea is continue and improve the workflow as much as possible while we develop internal pipelines with our other hires (Newman and Locke). Once SR7 is done with SU (the game is designed to continue forever at this point) he will move on to another project with one or both of those other members.
 
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SmokeShank

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Game Developer
Aug 26, 2016
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203
found the problem right there, all VSE's are garbage for large projects. there as never been a good VSE in existence. problem has already been made tho too late to fix it now.
He gets by amazingly well so far. But yes moving forward we would use something more optimized. Also all games outside SU will release complete. Not sure if we would take on another early access game once SU is finished. What you can do outside the early access model is really nice.
 
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CodeMonkey

Member
May 31, 2017
391
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He gets by amazingly well so far. But yes moving forward we would use something more optimized. Also all games outside SU will release complete. Not sure if we would take on another early access game once SU is finished. What you can do outside the early access model is really nice.
Early access isn't the issue so much as being able to effectively put out content in a timely manner unfortunately a visual editor can't replace a skilled coder in speed and accuracy. as far as your example of breeding season being an example of bringing people in as a bad idea that's kind of wrong there were several problems Primary one was Management, the reason breeding season ultimately imploded was poor management that and the idiot lead thought it was a good Idea to give the artist all rights to the art assets for the project (which by the way never happens ever except this one time. again bad management) the other was Direction the lead was effectively a Knucklehead who knew how to code in flash to some extent but would often meander and give crap instructions. But SR7 and you seem to have a good fix on direction, and SR7 as an Artist seems to be able to put out content in a fast and timely manner, the only issue just keeps coming back to implementation of said created assets in a timely manner.

I.E. just sucks you guys have 2/3rds of a winning and working solution for future projects.

oh and been going over fungus's documentation it is possible for a coder to come in as long as they follow it's coding standard which they pretty nicely layout all the hiccups if you are trying to do it without the visual editor. tho at this point probably just be easier to find someone proficient in using it.
 

SmokeShank

Newbie
Game Developer
Aug 26, 2016
45
203
Early access isn't the issue so much as being able to effectively put out content in a timely manner unfortunately a visual editor can't replace a skilled coder in speed and accuracy. as far as your example of breeding season being an example of bringing people in as a bad idea that's kind of wrong there were several problems Primary one was Management, the reason breeding season ultimately imploded was poor management that and the idiot lead thought it was a good Idea to give the artist all rights to the art assets for the project (which by the way never happens ever except this one time. again bad management) the other was Direction the lead was effectively a Knucklehead who knew how to code in flash to some extent but would often meander and give crap instructions. But SR7 and you seem to have a good fix on direction, and SR7 as an Artist seems to be able to put out content in a fast and timely manner, the only issue just keeps coming back to implementation of said created assets in a timely manner.

I.E. just sucks you guys have 2/3rds of a winning and working solution for future projects.

oh and been going over fungus's documentation it is possible for a coder to come in as long as they follow it's coding standard which they pretty nicely layout all the hiccups if you are trying to do it without the visual editor. tho at this point probably just be easier to find someone proficient in using it.
That was what I was trying to get at with Breeding Season. The fact that geographical restrictions exist with these projects and that we don't have the funds or means to sue someone if they did keep all the assets puts the power solely in the hands of the contractor and not us. All the projects I listed had a problem with a team member that actually stopped development for months. Lastly Patreon was at a different place back they also, it was more pay for hype then progress. You could literally get away with a fucking commissioned art that looked like a screenshot and get 2k funding in a week. Now things are changing.

SR7 used to be in direct communication with the Fungus dev team. They played SU and didn't even think fungus could do half the stuff SR7 has done with it. Right now it does what it needs, the project is just very large and that is the bottleneck right now.
 
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