RTE VN Update: "Secret" Scene System Part 2 (long post)
So in the previous post, I introduced the first half of the system where multiple choices contribute to the reveal of a single hidden scene like points towards a total. This half works the opposite way, but is arguably just as impactful. Keep reading to get the details:
I call it the "origin choice mechanic" - when one choice can reveal multiple hidden scenes and/or impact the resulting dialogue of other choices at later points in the story.
This screenshot shows one of the very few "origin choices":
To put this in the simplest terms possible:
Choosing the highlighted(purple) option - "No...can you fill me in?" will tell certain parts of the game to treat you like it's the first part of the project you've ever interacted with.
Choosing the idle (black) option - "Just a flash of white light...." will tell certain parts of the game to treat you like you've already read the webcomic and/or seen the storyboard that the game adapts.
While the actual text of choices affected by the origin choice remain the same no matter what, the dialogue they show in response to being selected will change.
With this half of the system, there are two important things to note:
Unlike the multiple choice half of the system, the origin choices can be of a different level than the choices whose dialogue they affect. Example: an origin choice can be primary (shown no matter what) while the choices affected by it can be secondary (only shown if their "parent" choice is selected) and vice versa.
Like the other half of the system, I will NOT give any hints or UI elements to help find the location of these choices. The players who want to earn all of the achievements will eventually discover and select every available choice in the story anyway, and the version of the dialogue you see does not count towards them.
And that about sums up the other half of the secret scene system!
Fun Fact: the origin choice shown in this post is from the playable demo (though the demo doesn't get far enough for its effects to be seen).
Play the demo through either of the following links:
All right, time to talk about the real elephant in the room - what you'll be hearing as you play the Return to Eternity VN game!
This being the main difference of the game from the storyboard it is built from, it takes importance second only to the story itself. Details under the cut:
The image shows the Music Maker Studio app for Windows, the tool with which I make music for all of my story-driven media with dialogue.
The software itself is what I call "freemium", in that it can be used for free, but it comes with limited tools and anything more must be bought (either individually or through a paid subscription). I don't plan to make any money off this project, but this part of it is important enough to merit my current paid subscription allowing access to the app's complete collection of chords. The reason why ties into why I have shared the least about this aspect of the project:
With my art, the only limit is my imagination even I have nothing but a rock and a wall to work with (as long as I have some kind of utensil and surface, I can draw anything). The limits of making music are far more dependent on what I have access to - in this case, a single free app with a range of like 8-20 chords(via the subscription) and maybe a few hundred pre-mixed loops (often from places difficult to harmonize). There are only so many sounds I can make by arranging these elements in different orders and even fewer that make a cohesive harmony. Though I can handwave the appeal I see in repetitive sound from being musically inspired by Robert Glasper (famous for using it effectively in his collaborations), I know that this is not universal so I feel the need to try my best and find the golden area that allows players to enjoy the game should they not have access to their own music (cos let's be real, the ones that can could have a playlist just for reading VNs for all I know).
Anyways, because of the full game being built as a browser game, there are only so many songs I can include (I'm anticipating a maximum of 15-20 songs to fit the entire story without making the game way too big). Once I get as satisfied as possible with them, however, I will share a few here and on my other devlogs.
You will have to play the game to hear everything, but six potential tracks (two of which are finalists) can be heard in the playable demo!
Give the demo a try through either of the following links:
Per the Q&A, uploading the full RTE VN game as a downloadable package will be a last resort due to the risk of vandalism and theft, so I'm gonna take my best shot at making it a browser build. Problem is, both hosting sites for the game normally allow up to 1GB for game uploads.
The demo's final build is about half a gigabyte. The full game's size is already close to a gigabyte and and still isn't done yet (and this is after I have compressed every asset, decreased the amount of sprites, soundtrack songs and CGs, and compiled the code as much as possible).
Steam would be a first line of thought, but joining as a developer to be able to upload the game is gonna run me $100 I don't have. (Not that I would consider it, as I could only get that back through game sales and I cannot stress enough that my game is NOT designed to generate profit.)
I will have to contact the support staff at GameJolt and ItchIO and present a case to try and get the space I need for the full game's release about a week or two ahead of time (as of this post, I'm planning to release by March 30th-April 10th). The case will gain better ground as more people play the demo, so between now and March 15th (when I plan to present the case) please give it a shot through either of the links below and tell other people to do so as well. I'm hoping for maybe 20-50 plays on either site!
Let's try to the get the whole origin story available and free for all!
The official request to the GameJolt support team for extra space has been submitted.
More details under the cut:
Now the first thing I have to cover is the fact that ItchIO will NOT be a host for the full game. It has a limit for game uploads of 1GB, but for web builds specifically, the limit is reduced to 500MB and a file number limit of 1000. The demo barely made the limit with 445 MB contained withing 343 files, with the full game being twice that size and unfinished.
Next, on the GameJolt side I have submitted an appeal for more space in the event that the final game build is greater than 1GB. Where is all this data coming from, you ask? A quick breakdown:
30 characters, each having between 6 and 30 emotion sprites for every outfit or appearance change
An estimated 10-20 songs (most of which have yet to be composed)
Over 40 CGs (all compressed to a smaller format)
20 backgrounds (with some being "static" like gifs)
Custom GUI elements for some game features (compressed to match original defaults in size as closely as possible)
The story itself stretches over 3000 lines of dialogue with over 100 choices, and has an estimate running time of 90 mins.
Now before you pelt me with the "just delete some stuff and you'll be fine", the site does welcome requests for spaces, even if they aren't always granted, so I'll be damned if I don't give it my best try first.
There is a bonus on the GameJolt side that I will cover in a future post, but that's all for now!
RTE VN Update: "Secret" Scene System Part 2 (long post)
So in the previous post, I introduced the first half of the system where multiple choices contribute to the reveal of a single hidden scene like points towards a total. This half works the opposite way, but is arguably just as impactful. Keep reading to get the details:
I call it the "origin choice mechanic" - when one choice can reveal multiple hidden scenes and/or impact the resulting dialogue of other choices at later points in the story.
This screenshot shows one of the very few "origin choices":
To put this in the simplest terms possible:
Choosing the highlighted(purple) option - "No...can you fill me in?" will tell certain parts of the game to treat you like it's the first part of the project you've ever interacted with.
Choosing the idle (black) option - "Just a flash of white light...." will tell certain parts of the game to treat you like you've already read the webcomic and/or seen the storyboard that the game adapts.
While the actual text of choices affected by the origin choice remain the same no matter what, the dialogue they show in response to being selected will change.
With this half of the system, there are two important things to note:
Unlike the multiple choice half of the system, the origin choices can be of a different level than the choices whose dialogue they affect. Example: an origin choice can be primary (shown no matter what) while the choices affected by it can be secondary (only shown if their "parent" choice is selected) and vice versa.
Like the other half of the system, I will NOT give any hints or UI elements to help find the location of these choices. The players who want to earn all of the achievements will eventually discover and select every available choice in the story anyway, and the version of the dialogue you see does not count towards them.
And that about sums up the other half of the secret scene system!
Fun Fact: the origin choice shown in this post is from the playable demo (though the demo doesn't get far enough for its effects to be seen).
Play the demo through either of the following links:
A lot of sprites to do, but most of the ones for the four most frequent characters are done. As for the game itself, fixing the interface is almost as fun as converting the dialogue of the original story into playable choices.
Since the minimum run/play time (provided that the text flows and auto-advances at a normal speed) is probably going to be the length of the storyboard (64.5 minutes), this game is probably gonna take up a TON of storage. I only hope the final product isn’t too big for GameJolt to handle!
If you want more frequent and exclusive updates, feel free to join my Discord and grab the "EF Project" role once you are there!
Check out the ✨E11ED0RAD0 Studios LOL🎬✨ community on Discord - hang out with 27 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
Other wise, I hope you have a great day and I will continue working towards bringing you an awesome visual novel!
Here's another update on the Return to Eternity Ren'Py Visual Novel remake!
I will be recycling some of the more abstract material I originally made for the film, as that makes things a bit easier on me (but don't worry, most of the game will used brand-new sprites and freshly remade/remastered backgrounds).
Also a reminder that while the VN story is linear, a lot of the player interactions matter in that you may get either more background lore or hints/potential spoilers for the events of the comic (which chronologically takes place after the VN, serving as the final part of the project's story) depending on your choice.
If you want more frequent (and exclusive updates) feel free to join the Discord server and grab that "EF Project" role once you're there!
Check out the ✨E11ED0RAD0 Studios LOL🎬✨ community on Discord - hang out with 27 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
Otherwise, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and will eventually share more updates here!
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