V1 and Gabriel having their third fight, beating eachother up and all that. Its so homoerotic its not even funny. And just as V1 is standing atop Gabriel while choking him with the whiplash, theres a quiet
"Archangel Gabriel..?"
And they both turn to see approximately 10-20 Powers standing in the entrance to the arena "i frew up" style. It turns out the Powers had decided to follow V1 from afar in hopes of it finding Gabriel for them, and had been picking up any other Powers they came across.
Gabriel is horrified and embarrassed that they witnessed his SO fucking gay battle with V1. He never lives it down.
In case you missed the previous post and are wondering why I'm posting this, here you go.
These are all of the After Urbanshade fangame development notes I had archived. I'll briefly explain what you're looking at, and you can read for yourself what's been going on in my evil ass brain for the last year.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP PATHS
This first set of screenshots contains the list of the Relationship Paths I had planned to implement. You technically would've been able to run certain Relationship Paths simultaneously, but it probably would've been a lot to manage, lol.
Pretty self-explanatory. See, now you're starting to understand why this would've taken so long to make.
ENDING PATHS
This set of screenshots contains the list of endings I had planned to implement. I think the darker tone of the After Urbanshade AU really shines through here, so... if you were wondering what the atmosphere of the game was going to be like, here's your answer.
The last few that are listed (specifically the ones involving Urbanshade returning to the Blacksite) were retconned later on... for reasons... โป
The reason I kept them in the list is because I did like the concept and figured they would make for good non-canon endings.
IDEA VOMIT
These are ideas I had that I hadn't 100% committed to but wanted to revisit toward the end of development.
And the screenshot below was a series of experiments I decided to run to further fuck up the game's formatting. Technically, this was for the sake of all of my projects, but... if you have any knowledge of what Ren'Py games look like by default, it does give you some idea of just how much I was planning to fuck it up. (Future projects will undoubtedly utilize a lot of this knowledge.)
DEV NOTES
This is the only devnote I had that I thought was worth reading. This pretty much sums up what the actual programming process looked like.
If you are a fellow Ren'Py enjoyer... Fair disclaimer, I am self-taught. If any of this looks absurdly stupid to you, it's because I'm figuring it all out on my own. Like a loser.
If any of it looks absurdly difficult to you... that's because it probably is! But my journey down the game development rabbit hole has conditioned me to enjoy tedious programming, so... For me, this stuff is easy breezy.
In other words, I can do all the really hard stuff, and I'll have a blast doing it. It's the basic 'reformatting stuff to make everything pretty' part I struggle with, lol. Seven years of experience... and I still struggle to make the main menu look cooler...
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Future projects of mine that run on Ren'Py will likely be just as complex as this, so don't feel too disappointed that the project has been scrapped. I'm stubborn and I like telling long, intricate stories. Everything I make has this level of attention to detail, lol.
Feel free to leave questions in my inbox if you have any. I have lots of answers.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. Happy Tumblring.
REGARDING THE PRESSURE FANGAME PROJECT
(AFTER URBANSHADE)
NOTE: This post is not relevant to the conversation regarding Ren coming forward and the developments that have unfolded since then (aside from the fact that it prompted me to post this). I realize that there are more important things to be talking about right now, which is why I have hidden everything below this.
Random post, I know, but. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, so... here goes.
To recap a bit for those of you who either weren't aware or just forgot: last year, I posted a few vague ideas for a visual novel fangame based on a Pressure AU (that I've quietly been keeping to myself) known as After Urbanshade. I was notably on the fence about whether or not I should continue development because I had a weird feeling about a certain few Pressure devs, purely judging by how they'd interacted with their fan content and how they'd regarded the community in general... It's honestly distressing how on-the-nose that gut feeling turned out to be, but I digress.
The development of the AU has been kept quiet to avoid potentially spoiling certain aspects of the story (there is a lot to spoil), which is why I haven't posted anything about it since then. Despite my silence, I have been consistently developing the AU and working on game assets, so... surprisingly enough, I do have something to show for my time. But... given the ongoing situation between Zeal, Ren, and the few other developers that are involved, I've had to step back and reconsider whether or not I should continue development on the project. That is what this post is about.
THE FUTURE OF THE FANGAME PROJECT
As far as the fangame is concerned, I am 100% definitively cancelling it, no hesitation. To be entirely honest, I was already leaning toward scrapping the idea anyway because of how heavy the themes of the AU are (way too heavy for Pressure's young audience demographic) and how much time/effort the project would've required (likely at least a year or two of development). It would've been a great project, and I'm sure many people would've enjoyed it, butโฆ it was a passion project, and that passion unequivocally died the day I learned that I had been betrayed by the people I looked up to.
(That being said, the work I've already done has given me quite a lot of experience... I've been working with Ren'Py for about 7 years at this point, so I'm capable of doing some really wacky shit with it now... I've got tricks up my sleeves... I've got stories to tell... And I've got a lot of time to tell them... because I'm unemployed...)
Anyway. Seeing as I've now chosen to cancel the project, I figured it would at least be interesting to showcase a few development notes, some of the unfinished OST, and whatever other treats I manage to find buried in my files. A lot of early game footage and concept art is unfortunately stuck on my old laptop (which I can't access because it has a hardware issue that makes it literally impossible to use), so it'll probably be a long while before I manage to get my hands on that stuff. I won't be sharing anything in this post, but I'll try to get around to posting what I do have access to sooner rather than later. I'm pretty proud of what I did manage to get done, so... stay tuned if you're interested. โป
THE FUTURE OF THE AFTER URBANSHADE AU
As for the AU itself, that is not something I think I can drop entirely. It singlehandedly established a lot of things that I've consistently used in my writing since its inception, and it did so in a way that I haven't really been able to replicate (yet). It would feel really weird for me to just drop it and pretend that it wasn't peak Erosian Era cinema. Of course, going forward, the AU will be rewritten to further distinguish it from the source material, and future developments will no longer be strictly constrained by canon lore, but... Otherwise, I fully intend to keep it around and continue working on it (when my autism demands it and my ADHD agrees to let me do it).
After Urbanshade is one of the best stories I've ever had the pleasure of writing, and I honestly believe it's something that a lot of people could strongly identify with. I see no reason to abandon it, and I think it could do a lot of good with its message, no matter how dark the story itself may be.
IN CLOSING
I've only ever posted about the AU once, and that post was intentionally vague to avoid spoiling the story. I actually kind of regret that, because I cooked up a lot of really interesting stuff that I think people would've liked to see. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm not really comfortable with posting about Pressure unless it's specifically been asked for, so... I'm not sure how that's going to look, BUT. Now that the fangame is definitively off the table, I think I'm willing to answer most questions you could have about it. Feel free to leave questions in my inbox if you're curious, and I'll happily answer with a wall of impenetrable text.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Here's to hoping my next project lives up to the vision of its predecessor. โป
You may now return to your regularly scheduled content. Happy Tumblring.
I desperately need more Virtue / Providence art so Iโm taking it upon myself to make it. Consider this a warmup
+ POWER IS ALSO HERE, I GUESS
armor is fucking hard to draw man. i gave up. consider it payback for greatswording me at literally every opportunity. i am number one greatsword hater. fuck u
Anyway ramblings of a character designer / angel obsessor down below. I have Thoughtsโข๏ธ about these guys.
As someone who knows a lot about angels in theology (because Iโm autistic as hell), I have a lot of things to say about ULTRAKILLโs angels. I think the most interesting part of their design / lore is the implication that the hierarchy may have changed since God first made them, and perhaps even more so after He disappeared.
This is purely speculative on my part and Iโm fairly certain this is not at all true, but likeโฆ hear me out.
Providences in particular are so fucking interesting to me because they seem to be inspired by the modern depiction of seraphim. Granted, traditionally, seraphim only have three sets of wings and these guys have six, but the resemblance is there. In Christian theology, seraphim are the highest choir of angels (the highest in Heavenโs hierarchy), surrounding Godโs throne and singing His praises.
I know ULTRAKILL isnโt exactly rooted super firmly in Theology Canonโข๏ธ, but likeโฆ Imagine if Providences were actually seraphim. Theyโre classified as Lesser Angelsโฆ Seraphim are the highest choir of angels in Christian theologyโฆ So I imagine that Providences WERE among the higher ranks of Heavenโs hierarchy, but maybe humanity's actions and Godโs disappearance made their purpose redundant, the internal struggle that followed proved that they were too fragile to remain in a position of authority, and now they reside among the Lesser Angels.
WILD fucking theory, but the idea was so kickass that it kind of became my headcanon lol.
By this logic, Virtues wouldโve been higher in the hierarchy as well, and they likely wouldโve been demoted for similar reasons. Alsoโฆ canโt help but notice the chainsโฆ What is that about? I donโt think God wouldโve made angels with crumbling bodies and floating debris on purpose, so the chains could be related to whatever made them like that. Iโm thinking Sisyphean Insurrection era, possiblyโฆ I dunno. Iโm curious about that.
Anyway, Powers are pretty much in the same part of the hierarchy that they would be in Christian theology, so thereโs not much to say there. (I do adore them and their design though. I think they're weirdly adorable and I can only see Gabriel as their collective girl dad.)
But Archangels. OHHH ARCHANGELS... Traditionally, archangels are on the lowest tier of the hierarchy, outranking only guardian angels. Theyโre considered Godโs โmessengersโ, andโฆ not really anything more than that.
So likeโฆ what if they actually were at the bottom of the hierarchy at some point? I canโt exactly think of a scenario based in canon that would explain this jump in the hierarchy (given they were apparently important enough to have a portrait made of them when God was still around), butโฆ itโs not entirely off of the table because Iโm autistic and I like pretending I do not see canon events!
Judging by how our interactions with Gabriel have gone, itโs safe to say that Archangels are quite formidable in more than strength alone. They couldโve always been that way and just made their way up in the hierarchy for it, or they couldโve been Godโs favorite weird little bugs and were thus nurtured to become what they are nowโฆ I dunno. Itโs all possible and I canโt decide which idea is the most interesting to me.
Seeing as a lot of things about ULTRAKILL's angelic hierarchy seem to be a little backward when compared to Theology Canonโข๏ธ, now would be a great time to very subtly mention my long time running, extremely out-of-pocket Game Theory that ULTRAKILL is upside down. I will not elaborate further, but Iโm sure you can see the vision. This is probably way wrong but like. Wouldnโt it be so cool tho
Ughhhh. UGGGHUUEHR. ULTRAKILLโs angelology is so fucking fascinating I NEED MORE hakita save me
anyway thanks for reading im autistic โค๏ธ enjoy your tumblring
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