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Aeterna [18+][B/B][B/G][G/G][SFW mode][VN][Surreal][Update v.0.9.6.0]

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:47 pm
by Sunkra
Hello everyone.

Ever since 'Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator' came out I've had the itch to give the visual novel medium a go (especially since I found this game to be lacking in content but I still liked its charm).
I've authored a ton of short stories and two webcomics before.

TL;DR:
Download the game here. (Public version)
Download the game here. (Patreon version)

1. Introduction

My visual novel game is set in an anthropomorphic world and concerns the everyday life of an otter named 'Sunkra' and his love interest; a zebra named 'Milo'. The story focuses on Sunkra and his group of friends, his work and his environment.
The world is a mix of modern day commodities and fantasy, leading to surreal situations as well as very normal ones.

Though this is not a dating simulator, there is a friendship mechanic to increase Sunkra's standing with his friends to unlock possibilities in the game (some sooner than others). There are 18+ situations and sprites in this game, and in the future there will be 18+ scenes as well. These are mainly homosexual in nature but bisexual and heterosexual content is also provided. You will always have the option in the story to avoid sexual content not to your liking before it happens.
When starting the game you're offered a choice between NSFW and SFW mode, the latter will censor nudity below the waist with a fig leaf and will cut out sexual tension and situations in the game.


2. Artwork

Most of the artwork in the game are placeholders for now. The drawn characters are from my older webcomic projects and the backgrounds from Google. It's the intention that everything will be replaced with brand new art assets.

These are the collected assets so far:

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And a few screenshots of the game itself:

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3. Constructive critique

I welcome constructive critique, feedback and tips very much!
Please do keep in my that it's my first ever visual novel project.

I haven't been able to get much feedback on the game, only from a few very close friends who are getting tired of me asking them to play test. :P
So I thought I'd stop lurking the forums for answers to questions and start being public about my project.


4. The game download links

Download the game here. (Public version)
Download the game here. (Patreon version)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your anti-virus may flag the game as a false positive because the program is unsigned. To bypass this, add the game to your anti-virus' exceptions list/whitelist, restore the .exe from its quarantine and try again.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 2: Never use old save files on a new version of the game! Always start fresh (and use the 'skip' button), otherwise the game may bug out.
Patch notes v.0.9.6.0:

Art.
- added Mr. White’s art assets
- added Lucas’ art assets
- added Chantelle’s art assets
- added Jennifer’ art assets
- corrected a bug where Leia would keep grinning in chapter 5

Spelling and grammar.
- corrected a lot of dialogue

Gameplay.
- added more dialogue outcomes during the intro’s tabletop game scene
- added tweaks to some dialogue

Technical.
- optimised various sections of the code
- added Patreon credits to the end of the game

Other.
- probably a lot of stuff that slips my mind right now

5. Patreon link

I very much appreciate any support over on Patreon, every little bit helps. Thank you!
The Patreon version adds more content to play test, as chapters become fully completed they will shift over to the public version.

Thank you for your support!


6. Thank you for reading

Thank you for taking an interest in my project and possibly giving feedback on it!
It means a lot to me.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:32 pm
by illuminate001
I dunno if you knew this, but once I unzipped your demo...the EXE file was causing all my malware and virus protection stuff to want to guarantee it. :(

Suffice it to say, I did not try your demo because of that.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:08 pm
by Sunkra
illuminate001 wrote: Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:32 pm I dunno if you knew this, but once I unzipped your demo...the EXE file was causing all my malware and virus protection stuff to want to guarantee it. :(

Suffice it to say, I did not try your demo because of that.
Hey Illuminate001, the warning about the anti-virus stuff is marked under the download links in red.
Basically my program is unsigned and unknown to the AV's database, so it flags it as potential malware.
After doing some research, it seems any Ren'py project without a digital signature has the same problem.

Rest assured that my files are completely malware free.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 3:51 pm
by illuminate001
Doh~! That's what I get for not reading the fine print...or in this case, the GLARING RED print. Thanks for clarifying!

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:09 am
by Sunkra
Update: Added Sunkra's completed art assets.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:07 pm
by Sunkra
Update: Added Leia's completed art assets.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:03 am
by Magiriano
It's very quiet here, although the game looks promising. An easy story about everyday life with elements of humor, charming characters and at the same time without the elements of a thriller becomes already a rarity in the world of Gay or BL games. More and more often I see in games physical and psychological violence, sophisticated cruelty and other dark and painful themes (I do not even want to write about this strange trend).

I really like the completed assets. They are warm and friendly, and even with the fact that there will be adult content in the game, they look cute. Such characters evoke an emotional response, I want to empathize with them.

I can not evaluate the quality of text and style or look for grammatical mistakes, but the Sunkra's speech is hard to read without a good understanding of the language - there are too many corruptions of a text. I guess this is a kind of accent. Maybe it would be better not to give native speakers and foreigners the wrong samples, but add an explanation or a note that the hero speaks with a special accent or illegible, for example, in a state of intoxication. This is a common technique in literature, because a visual novel assumes as much text as in books.

Since the game is at an early stage of development, I do not see what can be criticized. However, if this is not met with hostility, I can share some ideas about the aesthetics of in-game design.

Since the atmosphere in the game is cozy and playful, each character's speech would become brighter with individual fonts with very little differences. You used different colors - it's wonderful, but for people who do not distinguish colors, you can create visual differences of fonts so that the letters can somehow resemble the speaker's personality.

Of course, a great variety of music will help the game and the player equally. Changing melodies can create dynamics that will help the player to move more energetically on the plot and better feel the prevailing mood. Good music creates a mood and helps to stay in the game, but it probably will be added in the last stages of development.

It would be nice to attract the attention of the forum visitors. The very top of the topic is empty, maybe there you can place at least the name of the game in large font or somehow encourage guests to stay. Perhaps it would be useful to add the most important questions to development experts or just future players.

I will be immensely happy to play the full version, if the game really does not have any stress and depressive themes. If the game will contain negative episodes, like a recently released "Nekojishi", please write about it in the introduction here and in the game. This will help players who are susceptible to stress.

I wish you good luck and inspiration and will try to follow the news about the game.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:22 pm
by Sunkra
Magiriano wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:03 am It's very quiet here, although the game looks promising. An easy story about everyday life with elements of humor, charming characters and at the same time without the elements of a thriller becomes already a rarity in the world of Gay or BL games. More and more often I see in games physical and psychological violence, sophisticated cruelty and other dark and painful themes (I do not even want to write about this strange trend).

I really like the completed assets. They are warm and friendly, and even with the fact that there will be adult content in the game, they look cute. Such characters evoke an emotional response, I want to empathize with them.

I can not evaluate the quality of text and style or look for grammatical mistakes, but the Sunkra's speech is hard to read without a good understanding of the language - there are too many corruptions of a text. I guess this is a kind of accent. Maybe it would be better not to give native speakers and foreigners the wrong samples, but add an explanation or a note that the hero speaks with a special accent or illegible, for example, in a state of intoxication. This is a common technique in literature, because a visual novel assumes as much text as in books.

Since the game is at an early stage of development, I do not see what can be criticized. However, if this is not met with hostility, I can share some ideas about the aesthetics of in-game design.

Since the atmosphere in the game is cozy and playful, each character's speech would become brighter with individual fonts with very little differences. You used different colors - it's wonderful, but for people who do not distinguish colors, you can create visual differences of fonts so that the letters can somehow resemble the speaker's personality.

Of course, a great variety of music will help the game and the player equally. Changing melodies can create dynamics that will help the player to move more energetically on the plot and better feel the prevailing mood. Good music creates a mood and helps to stay in the game, but it probably will be added in the last stages of development.

It would be nice to attract the attention of the forum visitors. The very top of the topic is empty, maybe there you can place at least the name of the game in large font or somehow encourage guests to stay. Perhaps it would be useful to add the most important questions to development experts or just future players.

I will be immensely happy to play the full version, if the game really does not have any stress and depressive themes. If the game will contain negative episodes, like a recently released "Nekojishi", please write about it in the introduction here and in the game. This will help players who are susceptible to stress.

I wish you good luck and inspiration and will try to follow the news about the game.
Hey Magiriano, thank you for testing my game!

The game is not completely without psychological or darker aspects, but nothing that should be construed as unpleasant themes.

Thank you for the compliment on the completed assets, the artist I commission them from is pleasant and works hard to make them great. :)
There will be another completed character added to the list very soon.

I've had feedback about Sunkra's accent before, mostly about the fact that it's hard to read. I'm evaluating ways to remain true to the character and make it more easy to read for everyone. I will likely experiment around and change things around further.

The layout of the dialogue boxes will be unique to every character to help indicate that it's them talking, also to brighten up the UI a bit more. For now the focus is on adding more art assets and improving existing code and chapters, but these changes are definitely in the works!

And indeed, great music certainly makes a game even better! You're right that this will be added in the one of the last stages of development, as the music needs to befit the characters, art style and mood of the entire visual novel perfectly.

This is something I consider indeed, best would be to have the game's logo at the top. The one I have for now is a placeholder, but a logo is in the make and will be added to the top (and the game) soon.

I don't think the game contains (or will contain) any exceedingly stressful elements, though it does have psychological aspects. Mainly backstory of certain characters. The only way I can be sure is to have people play it and give me feedback on it, as the writer I may not be the most objective person on the subject. In any case, it will never contain anything that is intentionally mean-spirited. :)

Thank you for this great feedback and for playing the game, both are really appreciated!

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:44 am
by Sunkra
Update: Added Max' completed art assets.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 11:23 pm
by Sunkra
Update: Added Colo's completed art assets.

Re: Aeterna [Furry][18+][Gay/Bi/Straight][SFW mode available][VN][Surreal]

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 1:53 am
by Sunkra
Update: Added Sauvage's, Crystal's and Orlando's art assets.
Update: Added v.0.9.5.3

Re: Aeterna [18+][B/B][B/G][G/G][SFW mode][VN][Surreal][Update v.0.9.5.3]

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 11:48 pm
by Sunkra
Update: Added Maya's completed art assets.

Re: Aeterna [18+][B/B][B/G][G/G][SFW mode][VN][Surreal][Update v.0.9.5.3]

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:24 am
by Sunkra
Update: Added v.0.9.5.5a on Patreon.

Re: Aeterna [18+][B/B][B/G][G/G][SFW mode][VN][Surreal][Update v.0.9.5.3]

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 1:09 pm
by Sunkra
Update: Added v.0.9.5.5b on Patreon.
Update: Added updated UI screenshots.

Re: Aeterna [18+][B/B][B/G][G/G][SFW mode][VN][Surreal][Update v.0.9.5.5c]

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 4:02 am
by Sunkra
Update: Added v.0.9.5.5c on Patreon and for public.