The Sapphic Princess

An indie game I'm currently making. Date of completion unknown. It's an RPG style game where a princess is stuck in a tower guarded by a dragon and you have to save her. Nothing too original there. However, somebody is trying to stop you as you journey across the country to save her by brainwashing random civilians to block your path; and it's your desicion to save them or get rid of them to move them out of your way. I swear this isn't undertale.

[roboska-lv]

Update: 24/04/2024

I'm going to redo this entire thing to be more polished to be sold but I don't have the skills or popularity yet for that to be effective so I'm not touching that project file until I'm a better developer and I'm well known enough to get a Kickstarter to afford help for things like sprites and voice acting. The next post you'll see here will be in at least 3 years time and it'll probably be about making a demo for said Kickstarter. I might upload the current source code here just for preservation sake as basically everything (music, voice acting, art, coding, writing) will be modified in some way and I like preservation.

Art: my artstyle keeps changing and I want to learn how to animate better. Also I've sketched better designs for Caledeca and Lady Roselyn so I have to redo all those animations anyway. Might make the environment like a flat 3D layered thing to make it look cooler? Idk.

Music: I can tell I'll find the current music bad in a few years time so I'll do a bit of tweaking to the songs.

Voice acting: I still want to voice Caledeca and Lady Roselyn but I have a better mic now and also my voice changed because ✨ puberty✨.

Coding: self explanatory. The current code is held together with sticky tape.

Writing: lore has changed. Intro needs changing. Dialogue needs changing to sound better. If I give myself more time to keep editing the lore, then it'll be cooler.

That's all for now.

- Rosie Ultraviolett

[roboska-lv]

Update: 24/04/2024

I'm going to redo this entire thing to be more polished to be sold but I don't have the skills or popularity yet for that to be effective so I'm not touching that project file until I'm a better developer and I'm well known enough to get a Kickstarter to afford help for things like sprites and voice acting. The next post you'll see here will be in at least 3 years time and it'll probably be about making a demo for said Kickstarter. I might upload the current source code here just for preservation sake as basically everything (music, voice acting, art, coding, writing) will be modified in some way and I like preservation.

Art: my artstyle keeps changing and I want to learn how to animate better. Also I've sketched better designs for Caledeca and Lady Roselyn so I have to redo all those animations anyway. Might make the environment like a flat 3D layered thing to make it look cooler? Idk.

Music: I can tell I'll find the current music bad in a few years time so I'll do a bit of tweaking to the songs.

Voice acting: I still want to voice Caledeca and Lady Roselyn but I have a better mic now and also my voice changed because ✨ puberty✨.

Coding: self explanatory. The current code is held together with sticky tape.

Writing: lore has changed. Intro needs changing. Dialogue needs changing to sound better. If I give myself more time to keep editing the lore, then it'll be cooler.

That's all for now.

- Rosie Ultraviolett

[roboska-lv]

Here's the source code of what I have currently. I'm going to remake it, probably from scratch, so it's just here for preservation sake.

[roboska-lv]

Hiatus

I've lost quite of motivation to continue this so I'll leave it in a dormant state while I focus on other projects. THIS IS NOT A CANCELATION! I'll do bits here and there but don't expect me to update this for the next 6-8 months as I have a ddlc and danganronpa fangame that I have more motivation for (especially the danganronpa one despite it only having 15% of the story writen) and also I'm writting a novella and I have GCSEs to revise for. Also I plan on getting a job to do on Saturdays, so until the long summer holidays, I won't have much time on my hands. It may seem dissapointing considering the prototype was created in Febuary of last year and I don't have enough yet for a demo to be made, but this kind of stuff takes time and I don't want to be rushed. Safe to say, when this game actually releases, it's going to be a big event.

That's all for now.

- PearlHikara

[roboska-lv]

Update 16/11/2023

I'm not going to be making any progress these next few weeks as I have mock GCSE exams and it dictates if I get into a good college or not.

I'm also planning on figuring out how to get blender to run smoothy on my computer as to save time and sanity, I'm planning on remaking all the old detailed sprites and animations in 3D but with a 2D like style to it.

For example this talking sprite that was drawn:

Will be more like this:

If you get what I mean.

That's the biggest thing that's slowing me down. Drawing the sprites in the anime style takes hours (and animating takes even longer) and stuff like lighting and perspective is a bit of a hit or miss. If I could make the models in 3D (which don't get me wrong, 3D modelling takes a while) but then use those models for all the talking sprites, battle animations and cut-scenes, then it would benefit me in the long run. Also 3D that looks like 2D is cool and I really want to try it out but my computer just despises blender and I haven't figured out why yet. I'll do all that in December when I don't have my future on the line though.

[roboska-lv]

Alright, I've recently discovered that moddeling takes hours and rigging is a pain (I've been working on this model for a week and I haven't even gotten the rigging right yet) so I will not be doing that thankfully. Instead, I'll use a 3D model as a refrence for the perspective and posing and make all the animations frame by frame as it would take me forever making and rigging 3D models for every character and it wouldn't make it faster in the long run as past me was ignorant to how long this actually takes compared to drawing.

I'll animate the animations in blender, export them as PNGs, sketch over them in pencil2d then export them, finish the drawings in medibang paint pro then export them for a third time as animation requires the steam version which is overpriced, and then finally chuck them into an animationplayer node in godot. It sounds complicated but it's just an extra 2 steps to make the animation less stiff.

[roboska-lv]

Update 02/01/2024

First update of the year!

Computer is still in purgatory and it's because of that 1 wire I accidentally ripped out during surgery and a new one needs to be fitted and it has to come from Poland in the post. Hopefully it should be fixed by next week so I can start on the 3D models.

I've made a plan for the first act and I've typed bits of the script here and there. I've also got a better idea for the box art. I drew this with a mouse on MS Paint but hopefully you get the general idea.

The main villain, the knightess, is at an angle and looking into your soul. She's pointing her sword at you and I don't have the typewriter font on this computer so I used the next best thing.

I've also thought about making a kickstarter at some point once I've gotten half of act 1 done so I can make it into a demo. I'll also have to ask my parents to get me a debit card but I'll probably get that sorted out during the summer holidays. Uploading onto steam and android (and especially apple) costs money and I also want to put it on the playstation store which costs a lot of money aswell (and i have no idea how to port godot games to playstation so I'll have to pay a company to do it for me). Maybe on switch or whatever latest nintendo console is around, but things like console ports and localisation and hiring voice actors costs money and I don't want to have to keep asking my parents for money or have to work a minimum wage job. Probably won't release it physically though as I feel like it's too short to get a physical release. I don't want to make it digital only though so if my plan works than it'll end up in a collection later down the line.

that's all for now - PearlHikara

[roboska-lv]

Computer at repair shop

Because of Christmas, I'm getting my computer back at maybe Wednesday but my family has planned to go visit my grandparents for a couple days mid next week so idk when I'll get it back exactly. I have all the files on my backup USB stick but there wasn't enough space on it for all of the programs I use (godot, medibang paint pro, lmms, pencil2d etc) and the computer I'm using currently (my dad's backup work laptop) doesn't have them already installed and I don't want to install a bunch of software on here (also the specs of this laptop aren't the best: the fan goes crazy with too many firefox tabs open, so i'm not even sure if programs like godot will run if it can't even run roblox theme park tycoon 2 without the fan being on full blast).

I'm saying this here as this maybe the last update of this year, and I don't want to leave on a dissapointing note of "oh i still haven't even gotten the art for the bakery drawn yet and it's the first fricking shop you encounter". Please keep in mind that next year is going to be a busy one for me because of my GCSEs (very very important exams which decide what college I can go to, which decides what uni I can go to, which decides my entire future). I won't have much free time on the easter holidays and the next long break I get from school (with no revision stuff) is the summer holidays so expect this blog to be going crazy then. I promise I'll not let this take years and years but please be considerate about stuff like the failed drive transplant of my computer causing it to not power on (knocked a wire out while replacing the HDD with an SSD).

Anyway I'll be getting my new mic tomorrow at Christmas which according to dad is "a good one". My headset mic refuses to be recognised on my computer so I've asked for a USB mic as the built in mic on my computer sucks. I also want to rewrite a bunch of cutscenes that I've already written to make them better (I have to revoice them all anyway and the dialogue system has changed so I would have to remake them anyway). This video is now cut from the game, minor spoilers (like 1 line) but you'll forget about it by the time the game comes out. It plays right after the tutorial battle if you accept the paper that teaches you how to do a pacify spell. Due to it's length and the fact that the old dialogue auto progresses all the time, I made it a video to avoid coding it all. When rewriting it, I'll make it shorter and organise everything better. Also it won't all be voiced, just the important lines. I feel like I gave away too much info with Lady Roselyn in this conversation which doesn't fit her character, so I'll limit the amount she says in the final piece (she is a spy after all). Background music is on my Newgrounds if you're curious.

That's all for 2023. - PearlHikara

[roboska-lv]

Visit Original Link

A remixed version of the start screen music with drums and stuff

Harmonies of the wonders of start screens

also has the leitmotif from the roboska songs and there is a canonical reason for that...apart from me recycling

Sci-Fi RaiRoboska!? Soundtrack

I came up with this melody while being bored in a music composition lesson. It's also start screen music but at a specific point of the game which deserves a cooler version. It's not going to fade out like that in the actual game, that's just for the non-game version to sound less abrupt and still have the looping bit.

[roboska-lv]

Update to the dialogue system

I've used dialogic in the past for a visual novel and I've decided to revamp the dialogue system to incorporate this instead. This will be better than the script I used previously because:

Will be easier to replace sprites

wouldn't need all the audioplayer nodes you can see on the left

has more flexibility

doesn't take as long to make

other stuff

For comparison, this was the way I coded dialogue's previously:

This is for 2 lines.

I would have an animatedsprite for the textboxes, an animated sprite for the characters, a function to change the label's text to whatever the function tells it to and each line of dialogue's voiceover was in an audiostreamplayer node. Then once the audio stopped playing, the next line would play. It's not too complicated but it's not very efficient for coding lots of dialogues. Also dialogic has a save function which I don't know how to use but I'll figure it out.

The SSD for my computer is coming soon. Hopefully blender will work on that. The next update will probably be about the 3D models. My exams finished yesterday and I really want to continue working on this.

[roboska-lv]

Update 16/11/2023

I'm not going to be making any progress these next few weeks as I have mock GCSE exams and it dictates if I get into a good college or not.

I'm also planning on figuring out how to get blender to run smoothy on my computer as to save time and sanity, I'm planning on remaking all the old detailed sprites and animations in 3D but with a 2D like style to it.

For example this talking sprite that was drawn:

Will be more like this:

If you get what I mean.

That's the biggest thing that's slowing me down. Drawing the sprites in the anime style takes hours (and animating takes even longer) and stuff like lighting and perspective is a bit of a hit or miss. If I could make the models in 3D (which don't get me wrong, 3D modelling takes a while) but then use those models for all the talking sprites, battle animations and cut-scenes, then it would benefit me in the long run. Also 3D that looks like 2D is cool and I really want to try it out but my computer just despises blender and I haven't figured out why yet. I'll do all that in December when I don't have my future on the line though.

[roboska-lv]

Artwork

This is most likely not going to be the final design. This is more of a very elaborate prototype design.

[roboska-lv]

Important notice about how long it's going to take

A while. It's going to take years. My plan is to hopefully finish it by the end of college (year 13) max, and considering I'm currently in my final year of high school (year 11) I think that's a reasonable time as I have 4 acts planned and I'm not sure how long the other 3 acts are play time wise as I've only focused on act 1, and that's going to be around 1/2 hour play time for a single route. In total the game will be around 2 and a bit hours for the pacifist route (the neutral and merciless route only have 3 acts and the 4th act is all 3D). The main reasons why it's going to take so long is that:

Like I said earlier, I'm in school and have to do GCSEs and A-Levels (which are a really big deal).

I have rushed games before and I'm dissatisfied with their quality. I refuse to rush games ever since (Sci-Fi RaiRoboska!? looking at youuuu).

Drawing all the assets takes time. That's my biggest road block. This isn't a pixel art typical 2D RPG where I could just make tiles and reuse them, all the backgrounds and objects have to be drawn for that place and nowhere else for it to look right in that style. Take for example this road:

Sure, the style is quite simple, but even this took a good couple hours. All the layout planning, lineart, colour, lighting adds up. Don't get me started on the animations.

4. I have 2 medium sized games planned to make in-between as well as a few small game jam games. This variety also helps with point 5 while making myself more well known in the indie game industry.

5. I don't want to spend every minute of my free time working on it as I'm terrified of burning myself out and losing motivation. I also don't want to end up like Yandere Dev by working on this for almost a decade only to produce a demo, but I don't think "The Sapphic Princess" is going to be too long of a game and considering there's just me, I think I can handle it. Speaking of which...

I don't trust people enough to hire others to help me. I'm very controlling and I want it to be exactly how I in-vision it. Also I find doing it all fun but if it gets too overwhelming then I may consider it but only as a last resort.

The 2 medium sized games that I have planned is a visual novel DDLC fangame that won't take too long to make (most of the time will be in writing as Dialogic is a great godot plugin and would make all the coding a breeze), and a Yandere Simulator "fangame" (more like a different interpretation from a horror game fan who actually knows how to write and design characters). I've gone into more detail about these on my main blog as linked above. The second one is quite big but not as big as my current plan of LV. Essentially this is my main project and those are short term projects, if that makes sense.

My plan is to release this on itch.io and Steam for around £3. I don't want to make it too high as it can be beaten in about 2 hours on the neutral route (ignoring the other 2 routes) but I also don't want to make it too low as I want to feel compensated for all the work I've put into, putting into and will put into. I may also make a Playstation version but don't count on it as I only have a PS4 and I don't feel like it's worthy due to it's short run time (but physical copies would be cool...maybe as a game compilation though). I'll get some people to beta test it in the future and ask what they think would be a good price.

I made this blog when I had a smaller idea for this game. Now that is not the case. I'll post updates whenever I feel like I have something worth updating about but I don't want to spoil it too much.

That's all for now. - PearlHikara

[roboska-lv]

I've spent most of my free time working on a game jam game for Halloween so progress is going to be slow for a while as I also have my mock GCSE exams coming up.

[roboska-lv]

I've just written down the plan for one of the areas and I can gladly confirm that there are going to be ducks in "The Sapphic Princess".

[roboska-lv]

Update 05/09/2023

I'm almost finished the foundations. Basically I've spent this summer holiday creating the basic mechanics and polishing and bug fixing them so they can be the best I can do before copy and pasting them into the rest of the game. It's important to get the main mechanic working well before doing the rest otherwise you end up with the mess that is Yandere Simulator where there's a lot of extra stuff but the actual main mechanic isn't complete. I don't want to go too into detail as I don't want to give spoilers or give too much detail about the game before it releases.

Also Caledeca doesn't always automatically look to the right whenever she isn't walking!

Another thing is I figured out how to make it so when the window is a bigger size, the camera resizes with it. I wish I knew that earlier as I created this with the intention that it'll be stuck in a 1280 x 720 window so all the drawings are in 720p but oh well It's too late now!

[roboska-lv]

Visit Original Link

Intense background music for walking across a long road.

Visit Original Link

For another route where everything is darker. It's 10% slower, in a minor key, has reverb and the sample rate has gone from 41000 to 8000.

[roboska-lv]

Finally...after god knows how long and a bunch of discord posts on the official godot discord help channels...the tutorial battle is coded. Now I can just copy and paste the code for all the other battles. Finally I can get 'round to coding the bakery with the pies and stuff! Yayyyyy!!!!!

[roboska-lv]

I've spent way too long on this 1 section of the game, but once I get the basic battle structure coded then I can just copy and paste that into whatever level.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to get a dice roll to work like in mario party.

Edit:

Someone sacrificed their free super reaction for this (probably because I think everyone in that channel was getting fed up of me constantly asking for help).