VN Ren'Py Strangers on Paper [Development Thread]

gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
cinematico.png

Hi everyone!

Gloomy Ghosts here. We're two people who met by random chance and kinda knew what we wanted to do but neither of us had ever taken part in anything like this. So, we aimed to build a short VN that would help us learn the ropes of it all, a less ambitious project that we wouldn't care too much about.

And that's how Strangers On Paper was born.

The plan was simple: We would write a VN that we would like to play. Some short and sweet stories for two or three characters, nothing too deep, we wouldn't overthink it, just go with our gut.

We'd soon find out that's against our nature, but that's beyond the point.

The premise: MC has been sleeping on his best friend Tony's couch for a while now. After having been approached by an agent, he'd left college to resume his writing and follow his passion, but so far it seems to be a fruitless chase. Nothing he writes seems to please him, and Tony is convinced this is due to his self-imposed isolation and prejudices against people. He invites MC to engage in conversation with strangers at his bar and write about these encounters.

Over the course of three Saturday nights, MC has the chance to get to know two characters (there was a third one but we've been, uh, struggling with her) who are not really strangers at all:

Amy
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Although MC believes to never have shared a conversation with her, he sure remembers Amy Young. How could he not? She was possibly the most popular girl at high school, cheerleader captain with the best grades, the best boyfriend, apparently soon-to-be best husband now. Yet she shows up at Tony's bar looking to complete a bucket-list before her big day. Nothing MC used to think about her seems to match her personality, from her big, carefree smile to the truth behind it.

Rebecca
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Tony's older sister and MC's childhood (and beyond) crush. Whether she's aware of it or not, she's never seemed to care about MC's affection towards her - or anyone's but Tony's. Despite how close MC is with her brother, he barely knows anything about her, which has always made it all that much easier to become obsessed with her. The cold and aloof front she puts up is threatened when she takes MC on a drive that takes unexpected turns.

Elizabeth aka the character we may write out but I, the writer, refuse to let go
The lonely woman - or maybe just a plain loner - who, according to Tony, sits at the same table every weekend. There is something vaguely familiar about her that MC can’t put a finger on. She, however, seems more than inclined to put her hands on him, that is, until realization about their past hits her.

Not a love interest, but Tony will be along for the ride.
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MC’s self-proclaimed number one fan and best friend, MC would describe Tony as a “happy, optimistic idiot” as well as one of the kindest people he has ever met. He owns a bar but never drinks, and he’s a lot more mature than MC would like to admit to his face.

There will be 3 Chapters and an Epilogue. The nature of the relationships and the ending you end up with will depend on your choices throughout the story and conversations. There will be about three endings per character but also some changes in interactions according to your actions so, yes, your choices matter.

The game contains scenes depicting alcohol, smoking, drug use and sexual content. You may also encounter discussions of alcohol abuse, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and bad pop culture references.

So bare in mind, the game focuses a lot more on the story and characters rather than sex only.

We are currently rounding up Chapter 1, looking to have it out in a couple weeks, so we wanted to test the waters and see if anyone's interested to try it out. We’ve also set up a page, but we are in the very initial stages of it for now.

Thanks for reading and we'll do our best to keep you all updated!

-GGS

Update: Some stills from Chapter 1
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And a little snippet from something else...
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MissFortune

I Was Once, Possibly, Maybe, Perhaps… A Harem King
Respected User
Game Developer
Aug 17, 2019
4,578
7,562
Nice to see another VN playing with some darker (but very real) topics.

Renders look great, and based off of what I've read here, the writing seems it'll be quite good. One knock I might have, and I know it's a large part of the story, but the whole "MC is an author"-thing feels quite played out at this point. But that's just me, so feel free to ignore that.

Also, looks like you've got the wrong Patreon page linked?

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gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
Nice to see another VN playing with some darker (but very real) topics.

Renders look great, and based off of what I've read here, the writing seems it'll be quite good. One knock I might have, and I know it's a large part of the story, but the whole "MC is an author"-thing feels quite played out at this point. But that's just me, so feel free to ignore that.

Also, looks like you've got the wrong Patreon page linked?

Thank you so much for your comment! I agree with it being quite played out. But, to be honest, we were looking to have something done and out there, as well as something we’d enjoy ourselves, so every time we thought “is this too clichéd?”, “is this too much?”, we just went with it anyway because it was what felt right at the moment. As for the Patreon, heh, we are in the process of setting it up at the moment, hopefully that will get fixed soon. Just like our lol Thank you for checking it out!
 

gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
Looks great, I'll be looking forward to it. I wish you good luck

Also is there a public discord server?
Thank you for your kind words! We're definitely looking to set a discord server in the future, we will update the thread when we have it :giggle:
 
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ABlackOcean

Member
Apr 27, 2021
115
243
I was also thinking about making a VN, but due to my lack of experience in 3d modelling I decided to go by digital painting (a long journey ahead to get that to be good).
When I see your artwork I get jelous. It shows what can be created if you put effort and love in.
I hope I ll not take forever to reach the level you seem to have achieved already :)
 

gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
I was also thinking about making a VN, but due to my lack of experience in 3d modelling I decided to go by digital painting (a long journey ahead to get that to be good).
When I see your artwork I get jelous. It shows what can be created if you put effort and love in.
I hope I ll not take forever to reach the level you seem to have achieved already :)
Thank you so much for your comment, you've made my day! I feel like I still have a long way to go, but I'm happy I could inspire you. Best of luck with your art and, as you've said, lots of effort and love can go a long way!
 
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gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
End of the Year Update
  • All writing for Chapter 1 has been completed. Still pushing for including Elizabeth though :devilish:
  • Very detalied outlines for Amy and Becca's full journey have been completed.
  • All scenes from the introduction have been rendered and programmed.
  • All scenes from Amy's chapter have been rendered.
We're really proud of everything we've accomplished and are now pushing for a Valentine's Day release for a demo of this first chapter. Also, threw a little Becca snippet from Chapter 2 up there to give you all something in the meantime.

And we're brave enough to ask if there's something in particular you'd like to see/know more of for the next update... He, he, that was a scary thing to type.

Anyways, enjoy your holidays!

-GGS
 

soprano31

Engaged Member
Nov 12, 2021
2,006
14,660
the renders look really beautiful,
really a wonderful story,i am a writer myself,
and this is really well written.
and also really good that you focus more on the story,
and not just on the sex alone.

i wish you the best of luck,
and I'm really looking forward to it.
 
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gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
Quick Update!
  • We've set up a discord server! Still getting the hang of that.
  • One of us was sick for a week, not gonna say who I was, so progress has slowed down a bit.
  • We're now looking for beta testers, so if you wanna try the game, do message us!
  • Updated with some extra renders here for your viewing pleasure :)
-GGS
 

quinfax

Active Member
Jun 4, 2018
508
1,538
Sounds like an interesting game. We need more darker themed story in this sphere.
Really good renders. Girls look great.
Good idea to have only a couple of characters and a focused story. To many first timers try to go all out and have a tone of romantic interests and multiple paths. Looking forwards to chapter 1.
 
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gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
Very nice renders and promising plot... Good luck with your beautifull game! (y)
Thank you so much, appreciate it!

Renders looking amazing man! Is it all the magic of lightning before rendering or do you do a lot of post work?
Thank you! I'd say lightning is for sure the biggest factor into making renders look good.

Sounds like an interesting game. We need more darker themed story in this sphere.
Really good renders. Girls look great.
Good idea to have only a couple of characters and a focused story. To many first timers try to go all out and have a tone of romantic interests and multiple paths. Looking forwards to chapter 1.
Thank you so much for your comment! Our initial idea was a lot more ambitious, so here we're focusing on something... easier to handle for the time being.
 
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gloomyghost

Newbie
Game Developer
Sep 26, 2022
66
823
It's been a great week and this is sort of where we're at with Chapter 1!

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  • The writing that is left to do is mostly editing, which sucks because it means putting those unfinished scenes to rest for a while so we can go back to them with fresh eyes.​
  • Almost half of the chapter has been rendered and coded.​
  • We're very tempted to put a 100% on Bugs/Issues but decided to be positive instead.​

We also had the chance to play this first half and it was damn exciting! We'll be going into detail on this week's Dev Log :)
*throws renders at the screen and disappears*

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