Serenity Dev Log (3 August 2021) (Public) (Patreon)

Hello everyone!

I've been so busy it's been hard to socialize with everyone on Discord or other sites as much lately. My last couple of posts were patron-only and included some preview images from version 1.1. Today, I thought I would share a couple previews publicly. I know, they aren't much and you just want the finished product. Trust me, so do I! That's why I am working almost nonstop to try to have this thing ready for the end of this month. But given that this update will be the biggest one I've done, plus I've gotten a lot more picky about the quality of my work... well it takes longer.

Today, I have around 200 renders completed (out of 1030). Also finished 3 animations on my own that I think I did a pretty damn good job on. The images attached are Trixy and Fade. Some of you will immediately notice that Fade is green - you'll see why in the update. Trixy is in one of the new locations I've been working on. There will be several new locations introduced in this update. In fact, some of the reason this one is taking so long is because I've been carefully building them, add lighting, and touching them up.

Something I don't remember if I've announced publicly yet... I am no longer using AI. I've switched completely to using HS2. The change is pretty seamless, I doubt most will notice. I was having a lot of issues with AI and finally decided to make the jump. And I'm so glad I did. Thanks to Cryoxxx, I was able to get things set up and modded with most of the latest stuff. There are a few Serenity-specific issues that I have to work around, but they are minor.

The other reason for my move to HS2 is, well... Last Human (the next project I'll be on after Serenity). There are a few specific items and other assets available that will be very useful for telling that story. LH will be similar to Serenity in some ways - a 'harem' story with drama, comedy, and of course, sexy Nekos. The sci-fi fan in me needs to tell this story though because it will take place in space.

Let's talk about 'kinetic' visual novels... All along, I've said that Serenity is kinetic (no branching) because it was my first and I didn't want to be trying to learn while also trying to maintain a bunch of branches and plots. Recently, I've said that I am planning multiple endings for Serenity. Well, I'm not going to do that - at least not right now. Although I have some cool endings for each girl, it would take a month to write each path. I would rather finish out Serenity the way I first envisioned it, then MAYBE come back later to add some endings by creating patches. Some of you may not like that idea, but I think when you see the first release of Last Human, you'll see why I wanted to do this. And speaking of LH, I may do that story the same way I am doing Serenity - kinetic. Yes, I know some won't like that and if I'm being honest, I just don't know if I can tell the story that way (with multiple paths). With that said, I have heard from MANY people that they love a kinetic story rather than confusing choices and endings. And I think after this experience, I've learned a lot about pacing, character building and introductions, etc.. 

Anyway, enough about that. Serenity still has quite a few updates before we get to LH. Just wanted you to be aware of my plans (even though I tend to change them sometimes). I know my previous updates seem short, but keep in mind that I render a lot more images than most developers do because I want those poses and facial expressions to show what a character is feeling. LH will be done exactly the same way... an image to every 1 to 3 lines of dialogue. That's how I roll. I was able to get so many images done quickly in the past because I thought I knew what I was doing. As it turned out, I had to go back and fix a lot of shit - and now I have increased my release schedule because I spend more time on my scenes than I did before. I want quality AND quantity... time is what that costs me.

Alright, sorry for the long one again. I've noticed a few new patrons joined up over the last week - thank you for your support guys! And thank you out there who may not be able to support, but still follow me! Keep up with my updates, join my Discord... I try to stay active and communicate as much as I can. Feel free to message me if you have questions or comments. Back to work now... my break is over and I have a nympho Neko here waiting to get some attention, Haha!

Love you guys,
...Fire