How The Games Are Made - Behind The Scenes (Patreon)

Hey everyone! 

Recently I've had a few people reach out asking about the programs I use and my process to make the games. So I searched Patreon for the post about it but was surprised to find... it doesn't exist. 

So, here's that post! I'll go over how I make the games and advice to anyone considering making a game of your own. If you've heard it before, or if you would rather hear about how the Hypnosis update is coming along instead, feel free to scroll to the bottom for the TL;DR. 

Programs

For graphics, I'm using Honey Select. It's originally a Japanese sex game that has been heavily modded. I started with it because I wanted to make begin making my first game quickly, and it was a program my little $300 laptop could actually run. 

I played around with it for a bit, found a model that reminded me of my buddy's little sister Leah, and remembered the short story I'd written over a decade ago titled Hypnosis. I thought, "what if I started making that into a game? It could serve as practice for a bigger project!"

Sometimes I touch up the images, and for that, I usually use Gimp, an open source program that works as a free version of Photoshop. Other times, I use my phone. Sometimes using a touch screen is easier. The most I use these programs is for promotional images, although sometimes I also touch up images used in the game. I try to avoid doing it too much for fear of spending too many hours on things most people probably won't ever notice.

I also occasionally use a free video editing app on my phone called YouCut. It's simpler and easier to use than any video editing program I've used on my computer, though I've used dozens. I edited the most recent game trailer with it, as well as most of the videos I've uploaded here from YouTube.

For the game itself, I'm using an open source visual novel program called Ren'Py. I had no knowledge of programming when I started out, so I began by looking up documentation online and looking into the code of other games I liked, and copying and pasting their code. I'd like to say that since then I've learned a lot and am now an expert, but sadly, that's not the case. 

The other step is writing. This I tend to do directly into the script file of the game, which I edit using a program that comes with Ren'Py. Sometimes I write on my phone when I'm on the go, but it's difficult with the change in format, so I typically only use my phone to write down notes and thoughts as I have them. 

I do, however, tend to write the side stories on my phone. I do this when I don't have my laptop available and still want to do something work related with my time. I've also found that writing in bed can put me to sleep faster, so I've been writing a few paragraphs at a time before I pass out.

Would I recommend these programs to people starting out? Most, but not all.

Some benefits of HoneySelect are a lot of assets were converted over from other formats, like Daz and Blender. So the trade-off is that there is no marketplace for it, so I'm not spending $40 on assets like shirts and trees. The other advantage is with the lower quality graphics I'm not waiting 30 minutes on each render like most people do working with Daz3D. I can make entire animations faster than most people can make a single image, even when they have a high end computer. 

The downside is that the graphics don't look as nice, plus it's not supported much anymore. People still make assets and post them on a Discord I found, but the main sites for it have mostly disappeared. 

If I could start over, I'd probably start with Daz3D so I'd have experience with the higher quality instead of a program that is basically outdated. I'll probably switch over for future projects eventually, and I'm hoping my experience somewhat translates. 

I will admit, the art isn't my biggest passion. I enjoy the writing aspect the most, the coding, rendering and promoting lesser so. The variety is nice, but I'm not nearly as confident and proficient as some.

I would, however, recommend both Ren'Py and the image editing programs I mentioned. Another popular game making program is RPG Maker. Its advantage is if you're looking to give more of a video game experience, including navigating a map and battling things. But that wasn't my goal, as I wanted more of a story focus.

Advice

As to anyone who has played Hypnosis and similar games and said, "I could do this! Except I'd also incorporate my love of dolphins by making it about mermaids..." 

In general, the advice I would give is... that depends on what you're looking for. Is it a hobby you want to do in your spare time, giving you a chance to learn new skills? Great! Is it a passion project, something you've wanted to do for years and won't be happy with yourself until you've attempted it? I would say go for it! 

But if your goal is to make a big profit, I'll warn you that you'll likely be making less than minimum wage for at least a year. Unless you have experience in writing, 3d modeling and coding, you're going to need several months to prepare before you're even ready to begin the process.

I always recommend starting small. If you're looking to make a visual novel with branching storylines, start by writing out a quick story. Post it to people for feedback. The Expanding Universe Games Discord has a story channel, and you could start there! People would read it and tell you, "hey, I like the premise, but you need more experience with"... 

Next, go onto chyoa.com (choose your own adventure, but for adults) and post a new one, This time with multiple branches and endings Take that feedback, improve your work, and plan out what you want your first project to be.

If at this point you still enjoy the process, start with a small, quick game as practice. If you don't have experience with 3d modeling, expect to take several months to learn the basics, using YouTube tutorials and whatnot. Finally, more tutorials and reading forums will teach you the basics of how to write the code for your game.

Does this talk you out of it? I suppose that's good, as it could be better than you spending six months on a project that never gets off the ground. But that's up to you and your situation. I'm lucky enough to be doing this full time, not held down by things like day jobs.

Speaking of, that leads me into my last section of this post.

Game Progress

I have an apology to make. I started the year with the high hopes of someone looking to join the gym. I made a schedule, I planned out the next few months, I came up with new game plans to work more efficiently. 

Unfortunately, 2022 didn't magically cure the issues of 2021 any better than the previous year did. The pandemic lessened a bit, just in time for... Dammit, Putin!

The struggles have continued, to the point where I feel like I'm making up excuses. But here's how the year has been, to give you an idea:

Got a pretty solid start in January. Wrote up several new scenes to wrap up the endings. 

My brother asked me to be my niece's godfather. Aww. Of course. This involved going to a class and learning everything I'd been told about the Catholic church is essentially true? Huh.

Wife caught covid. Helped her through it, but didn't catch it myself.

Once she was better, we met up with her sister and her husband for a nice weekend in San Diego, because they'll likely be starting a family soon and wanted to go on a last bender.

Next, this has been mentioned already, but the tile in my bathroom floor started cracking, making my wife and I wonder if the toilet was leaking. To be safe, we started using the other bathroom. A week later, my wife noticed several ounces of water pouring out the back of that toilet with each flush. No one had noticed this before, but the sheetrock behind the toilet was soaked.

We called a plumber, they came out and checked everything out with a water detector. Apparently, both bathrooms were fucked. Got a demolition crew who came in with a full containment unit and air dehumidifier to dry out both bathrooms. They took up the tile, finding black mold everywhere. Apparently, both toilets had been leaking through the wax rings for years.

Two weeks later, the crew was still here. They found mold under the shower, which had to be removed. The sheetrock surrounding the bathroom on every wall was removed, as it was on both bedrooms touching the bathroom wall.

This overlapped with my wife's parents visiting for over a month. Four people all sharing a bathroom, with construction crews hammering away, starting at 8am every morning.

This all ruined my sleep schedule, because I'm usually up until around 4 in the morning working and sleep in until noon. That's when I get my best time to work with the 3D rendering, after everyone is asleep and I have the place to myself.

Instead, I had nowhere to disappear to and my in-laws around for over a month.

The fence blew down. Neighbor wanted to get it replaced. What the fuck, why not. Let's get all this shit done at once. There goes the weekend sleep.

In addition, my computer has been giving the blue screen a couple times a day. It times the restart pretty well, right when I'm in the zone...

The error message is quick, so it took me several attempts to snap a picture of it with my phone and look up the error code. Found a list of seven possible fixes. Went through the list right up to "reformat your computer and restart Windows".

Two days of everything working! And... blue screen. A new driver update! Blue screen two days later.

I finally took out the second m.2 SSD I'd installed for extra memory, and, well, it's been two days since then. Fingers crossed.

Hoping I won't have to write this post a fourth time.

So that's a summary of my two months of bullshit. They finished the small bathroom by my bedroom, and the new shower was installed yesterday (the old was broken when they removed it), and they still have to put the bathroom together. 

But I can sleep in again. And there are no more visitors. I've had a whole week of working on visuals to finish the Hypnosis update. That's essentially all that's left, and was the main bottleneck I was waiting on. I'd say I'm about halfway done with it.

On the upside, I was able to get a lot of writing done. On top of planning out future updates, I also spent some of the time where I only had my phone and finished up the side story that was posted a couple of weeks ago. It's still waiting on the second half, but I put it up on Discord and it's currently getting feedback and touchups.

So, I apologize for once again delaying my planned release schedule. I'd hoped I'd have this update finish long ago, with a new one being wrapped up. 

The past few months make me appreciative of what my normal life is. Not having a day job is amazing. Having all my usual time to work on the game is quite the luxury. 

Side note: Where's the image of Ashley from? 

It's her celebratory post for reaching 500 followers on Twitter. There was a 5 to the left of her butt. I also put it on Instagram, which they were apparently fine with. Even though Patreon isn't, which is odd considering I'm an adult content creator with a warning sign when you enter my page. Go figure.

TL;DR:

Had some struggles recently, but I'm back on track with working on the game and about halfway through finishing up the visuals to complete it. 

Thanks again to Fantasy1290 for coming out with the recent stories!

And thank you again to each of you still sticking with me, even during months when my output is small.

I appreciate you!