Beginning to work on my first ren'ai game......

[Jarkota]

I recently acquired Ren'Py, and am going to be writing a ren'ai game to share with you all while I learn the program. I'm not sure what characters I want yet; I may try to hand-draw the images, or I can have pics that look good. :p But what I want to know is are there any sort of limitations of just how much is allowed on this site. I mean, it wouldn't bother me at all to write a hentai game, but I could just as easilyt keep it PG-13 or R at the most. I just want to know what my limitations are. Domo arigato.

[PyTom]

I just want to know what my limitations are.

We want to know what your limitations are, and to help you exceed them.

Seriously, though, we don't have much in the way of content restrictions here. I do ask that if you release a H game, you clear it with me first, rather then just attaching it to a post here. This way, I can ensure the bandwidth exists to properly distribute it.

[Jarkota]

Well, I don't think bandwidth will be an issue, as I'm going to try and get my own server to host my creations. And I won't be setting out to make H-games right off; I'd probably start off with a basic "Choose Your Own Adventure" type story, with a few choices smattered here and there, then work my way up. I doubt I'll ever reach even Blue Lemma's quality, but hey; I'll never know if I don't try.


Since I've got your ear for the moment, PyTom, I had thought about, in my early games, using pics I'll take in and around my hometown for the backgrounds, giving it a more authentic/customized feel. Care to give me your opinion on that?

[PyTom]

I doubt I'll ever reach even Blue Lemma's quality, but hey; I'll never know if I don't try.

On Blue Lemma's behalf... Ouch.

Since I've got your ear for the moment, PyTom, I had thought about, in my early games, using pics I'll take in and around my hometown for the backgrounds, giving it a more authentic/customized feel. Care to give me your opinion on that?

Well, it's fine with me, but there are much better artists then me around here. I suggest processing the pictures to remove some of the high-frequency information... and edge-detection is way overused.

But who am I to give advice?

[Jarkota]

But who am I to give advice?

Probably one of the best, IMO, since you did make Ren'Py and all.

Also, I just got through playing around with the demo that came with Ren'Py, and that option where you can invert the picture (i.e. have a person appearing as though they were upside down) gives me more than a few ideas.........heh heh heh.

[PyTom]

Probably one of the best, IMO, since you did make Ren'Py and all.

Bah. You don't ask the guy who makes paintbrushes how to paint the next Mona Lisa. Well, you can ask him, and he has opinions... but you need to realize the skill sets are different.

I can give advice. But so can a dozen or two other people on this board. and many of them are more qualified then me to give artistic advice. I can tell you what I like, but that's just the opinions of a crotchety old man.

[Jarkota]

Well, here's something you CAN help me with: I've started my script and want to test out what I have (the init block, screen size, title, etc) before I go on, but I don't know how to make the .EXE file, and I can't find it in the Ren'Py tutorials on bishoujo.us/renpy. Care to to give me an assist?

[PyTom]

You don't make the exe file. You should download renpy-5.6.1.zip, uncompress it, and stick your game inside the game/ directory underneath it. You then run run_game.exe... and presto!

[Jarkota]

MODERATORS: Please move this to the Wrks In Progress thread, as the project has officially started and has some tangible (if limited) results.


Okay; for any who might have been curious, the premise of my first game.

The title is "Melting The Ice". It's a ren'ai date sim based on the Anime/manga Ranma 1/2 (I chose to use a pre-existing universe so I could concentrate more on making the game than pictures and histories, etc).

The plot so far is that you (the player) is an unemployed American college student who is in Nerima, Japan via the study abroad program at the University of Northern Iowa. The day you move in to the apartment you'll be using for the fall semester, you realize that you only have 120 days before you have to return to the United States for evaluation by the Board of Directors at UNI.
You then decide to make your stay a memorable one and snag yourself a Japanese girlfriend. You place a personals ad in the local newspaper and wait. The next day, you get a phone call from a girl named Nabiki Tendo, who asks you to meet her at her house so you can talk. This starts your adventure (and the 120-day countdown).

The goal is to get Nabiki (or the other "secret" girl I'm going to add in there that you can target) to fall in love with you and marry you, via having conversations with her, buying her gifts, taking her on dates, etc. You will be able to work odd jobs to get money for these things.

I'm going to try and keep Nabiki in character as much as possile, but there's a reason the game is called "Melting The Ice". Nabiki is commonly called "The Ice Queen", and part of your goal will be to make her leave that personality and be herself.


I hope I can finish this prroject before too long; Tom, the oh-so-ingenious creator of Ren'Py, has helped me out a little on getting started, and I've made more progress just in a few hours than I thought possible in a few days. I'm trying to be optimistic without overdoing it, but I'd like to have this ready for its first public release by June of 2007.

[Watercolorheart]

MODERATORS: Please move this to the Wrks In Progress thread, as the project has officially started and has some tangible (if limited) results.


Okay; for any who might have been curious, the premise of my first game.

The title is "Melting The Ice". It's a ren'ai date sim based on the Anime/manga Ranma 1/2 (I chose to use a pre-existing universe so I could concentrate more on making the game than pictures and histories, etc).

[...]

I'm going to try and keep Nabiki in character as much as possile, but there's a reason the game is called "Melting The Ice". Nabiki is commonly called "The Ice Queen", and part of your goal will be to make her leave that personality and be herself.

That stops me dead in my tracks right there.

Firstly, I've already read a fanfic based on this premise. Several of them in fact, I believe. And, secondly, I think that you should try an original idea with the same plotline and your own characters.

Secondly, not only is it much more satisfying, but you won't eliminate people who have never heard of Ranma 1/2 and won't understand the references.

I know people believe that they cannot write their own universes with their own characters, but please listen to me on this - if your story is going to be any good, then you can do it. Otherwise, if you can't, I probably won't play it at all.

I played through enough cookie-cutter demos that think "because this character already exists, why bother with backstory or detail work?" ~_~;;

Gomen, I don't mean to come off so harshly, where I'm usually pretty polite. But I feel really strongly about this, and would like to encourage you to do your own thing instead of borrowing someone else's vision (which has already been extended and overused in another community.)

[papillon]

I dunno, doing a *first* game learning experience with a less original subject seems perfectly reasonable. Few people even complete their first games. (You, BCS, should know this... ) A simple idea, particularly one where you won't get bogged down trying to obtain the graphics, makes sense for gaining experience working with the tools and with the whole concept of game design.

The game as you describe it may be a little too complicated for such a first easy learning project though. I would suggest making it much shorter and faster than a 120-day countdown with finances to juggle. Give yourself a single MONTH of dating Nabiki and see how it goes, then make a longer better game with an original girl later?

[Jarkota]

I never was one to take the easy route in that regard, though I appreciate your input Papillion. If the 120-day thing does turn out to be too much I can always shorten it. Regardless of how I do it, if I can manage to at least get this finished to the point of a "public beta" (or at least enough for my fellow Ranma geek/beta tester to give me a fullopinion on) then I'll begin working on something more original. Although, I shudder at the thought of having to create original characters. Backstories I can do - but I couldn't draw to save my life. That's why I'm basing this on a pre-existing Anime/manga (and I only chose Ranma 1/2 due to the abundance of pics available; I can easily find pretty much whatever I'm looking for just in screencaps from the Anime). Creating a character's personality and history is very easy for me, but I cannot draw them as I envision them, and it's hard for me to communicate how I want them to look to someone who would be drawing them for me.

[musical74]

Nabiki??? Geez unless you happen to be Kuno...what DOES she see in him anyway?

Joking aside, it looks to be interesting. I think Nabiki IS a good choice, because she seems to be the least emotional of all the characters - male or female - in the Ranma universe. It will be interesting to see how this works out. You MIGHT want to explain a little about the Ramna universe in the beginning, so that people who haven't heard of it know what's going on. Also, I admit to being curious who the *secret* girl is...Ranma in female form, for laughs, maybe?

Looks good =)