A little status update :) (Patreon)

Hey everyone, we've been quiet this month since the Halloween update, but we've been busy as usual. We've been working on two things mainly, in prep for getting some demo story content out -

First is a face overhaul, where we're creating an extensive emotion system using blend-shapes, exactly the way MMD models do it. It's difficult to show without animation, but here's a preview of how this system is done, with creating many versions of the face that can be switched between and blended in-game:

We're also remodelling our face to allow for some better face shape options, since there's been some feedback that it's impossible to make non-moe characters, and that our characters potentially look too young / cutesy. We'll be addressing that with a better shape system that will allow for some specific facial feature tweaks, so it should be possible for people to create older or even more masculine characters. There are a few sliders in Fitting Room that were planned to do this, but they aren't powerful enough really. Overall, characters should look much more attractive as well, and will have deeper and more immersive eyes, since we're switching away from the texture based solution, and onto physical eyes and eyelids.

Second is a dialog box overhaul. We're calling our dialog system the VR-ADV, and we're rebuilding it to prepare for some story gameplay test builds we want to release sometime soon. 

Here's a clip of it in action 

We wanted the VR-ADV initially to be a very flexible system that was user customizable, but the way we previously built it was super limited and rigid, since it was impossible to do basic things like change text size. We've re-built it with a powerful text system that uses the Rich Text format, which allows us to:

• Use non Latin characters, so other languages can be supported
• Format with color, bold, italics 

And allows the player to:

• Customize font size
• Change text default color
• Change text outline color

Because it's important in VR to have very comfortable-to-read text, especially for a visual-novel game. On top of the text customizations, the player can change the background color and opacity, default text speed, and the whole VR-ADV is grabbable and and can be placed anywhere in VR for optimal reading. Here's a few screenshots demonstrating the player customization that will be exposed. The design isn't final, but we'll have a final version to show off soon. 

And if you really want... 

We're planning on doing some ADV specific tests soon so that you guys can give your feedback on interacting with it, what you think could be better, and feature suggestions. Since it will be one of the most important mechanics in the game, we would like it to be perfect for everyone :)

Thanks everyone, please tell everyone who might be interested in Virtual Novel about the project! Even if they don't have VR just yet, moving forward, we are supporting non-VR, so please spread the word,

Love Virtual Novel Developers