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VN Ren'Py [Dev Journal] Choices that Break Us

aexiel

Member
Sep 5, 2018
173
214
This thread will be used to record my development for a game idea starting from the story, renders, then programming, in that order. Hopefully, this thread will allow me to gauge interest and inspire me to spend more time in the development of the project as I am working on this on my spare time. Criticism is very welcome and I will be more than happy to collaborate.


Setting: University(yes, there's a bunch, but its the only possible venue the plot can revolve around without being too extensive)


Gameplay: The game will have a morality system and 3 different parameters: Respect (REP), Notoriety (NTR), and Influence (INF). REP will measure your good standing in the campus and affect how teachers perceive you and how you can befriend other students. It is increased by selecting certain choices at key points of the game. This is basically intended for a vanilla route. NTR will measure how badly other people perceive you. This will increase by pursuing your quest for revenge throughout the story. The darker stuff such as BDSM, and black mail is only available via this route. INF is a measure of how strongly you can persuade someone. At certain points in the game you will need influence to access the more special content or gain access to other characters. INF is increased by performing certain actions in game and for every successful REP or NTR interaction.

An additional planned feature would be regarding Lily, over the course of the story, you will be given choices on how to raise her and how she dresses. This will build up Purity or Corruption. She relies on you for emotional support and will most often follow your word regardless of REP, NTR or INF. This will affect dialogue options and may impact the story. (I may scrap the idea entirely if it becomes to convoluted.

(I believe in "actions have consequences" meaning, the player will have the multiple opportunities to increase NTR but will have higher penalties on your REP the later in the story this is done. In short, if you decide to enact your vengeance at a later point in the story, it will be harder to increase your REP and you will be soft locked to the dark route.


Plot: Your family died due to a car crash with you narrowly surviving the incident. You barely recall the events of the accident but a few things were stuck in your mind: A sports car, a varsity jacket, and an obnoxious laugh you can never forget. You had your clues, all that's left is to enrol at that university, blend in, and find the bastard. That is, until you stumble upon your niece Lily who recently ran away from her parents. She reminded you of your late sister so you took her in and bonded on the mutual bitterness you had for the world.

You were already hell bent on exacting your vengeance when you had nothing to lose, but what now that someone is relying on you for emotional and financial support? Will you continue your way through college and forgive or will you embrace your dark side and ruin the lives of everyone that crossed you? Will you tread the path of no return or reach out to salvation in the arms of a new found love? Your choice will matter and it will make or break you.


Planned Tags: (Aside from the normal stuff like stripping, sex etc.) male protagonist, blackmail, voyeurism, BDSM, NTR, possible incest patch if needed.
Style: I am planning to use DAZ3D models for all renders, music will be added at certain points, sound effects will be a non-priority (if someone just wants this story and/or concept, do hit me up, otherwise I will be doing everything myself in my own free time)

Introduction: (changes to the intro may be made as I continue to work on the story)

You (the MC, name changeable) have lost a portion of your memory and found yourself in a hospital bed and greeted by a police officer. You, your parents and your younger sister got into a car accident and you have been hospitalized for a week. The officer notifies you that your family did not make it and you were lucky to survive with just a concussion and a few broken ribs. Later, a lawyer visits your room to discuss with you your inheritance and the life insurance policy your parents had. Confused with the loss of your family, you needed time to calm down and think. The lawyer notices your apprehension and agrees to meet at a later time. You think bank to the events just before the accident and barely recall anything aside from a speeding sports car, loud voices, and a varsity jacket. You then plan your next actions while you wait for your injuries to heal.

After weeks of physical therapy, you finally found yourself strong enough to go home. This has been something you've been putting off for a while as you realize in grief that there's no one to come home to. Alone at your empty home, your mind is bombarded with dark thoughts, depression, grief, anxiety, anger... multiple emotions you've kept bottled up since your horrible time in high school all came gushing forth and with tears in your eyes you shout to the top of your lungs and all your might, angry at the world's cruelty. Then you notice your beat up phone ringing, it was the lawyer calling to check up on you and asked when you could meet. At this point you decided to take a deep breath, wipe away your tears and set up an appointment. After the call, you decided that staying home alone with your thoughts would be a bad idea and went to your family's garage and take out your dad's car for a drive on this rainy night. As you drive aimlessly throughout the streets, you find yourself in the outskirts of the city and happened by a bus stop. There you noticed a girl slouched on the bench, seemingly exhausted. She immediately reminded you of your late sister and decided to stop the car and check up on her. Once closer, you quickly realize the poor girl is your cousin Lily. She looks dishevelled and exhausted and thought to yourself that she must have run away from home again like she did so in the past, only back then your parents would have picked her up from the stop. You ended up carrying her back to your car and drove home. You carried her to your sisters room, and unconsciously stared at her developed body, her underwear visible under her wet uniform. You shook your head in shame and briskly walked to your neighbour's door.

~~sleepy... will continue the rest later.

**Currently working on the script for story boarding**

Characters:

  • Lily - She is a runaway and currently lives with the MC. You took her in because she reminds you of your late sister and form a bond since you are both alone in the world. Lily will not be biologically related if I ever intend to set up a Patreon for my work since they apparently censor incest. However, on a purely narrative perspective, I intend Lily to be the MC's cousin or niece rather than a random girl as I feel that this set up will have more emotion and conflict than some random chick he picked up on the streets.
  • Katelyn- Your neighbour and childhood friend. She had always stuck by you through thick and thin and the only person that outside of your family that was genuinely friendly towards you.

To other developers here, please give feedback and tips for workflow. Currently, I am focusing on script/story boarding. Once the main cast is conceptualized, I'll upload the characters. (my GPU is a bit slow in rendering high resolution though so they may take a while)
 

aexiel

Member
Sep 5, 2018
173
214
Computer is fixed with enough hard drive space, working on models of characters (thinking of at least 5 LIs to cover common interests). Each via different routes of courting (traditional, forced, partnership, blackmail, bribery, etc.) But each will have their own unique personality and interaction with the player depending on previous actions.

It won't be a harem game but certain routes will allow for multiple partners while some will lock you out of others.

Again no sandbox but I intend to use a days of week system.

Decided to go with HS2/AI shoujo instead of DAZ due to space constraints and Les demanding on rendering/setup.
 
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Harem Trooper

Well-Known Member
Oct 4, 2017
1,224
2,425
It won't be a harem game.
Damn, would be awesome if that was the case but I see you go more for a path tpye of game, backed up with a morality system. Welp.
Story sound nice. Nothing new but the magic lies in the details. ;)
I always like some revenge stories.

Ah, and about NTR:
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