Thoughts on something new!

Hey guys,

With Summer in Springtime at v1.0, I think I should put that and the version of Godhood that I'm doing aside. For now I think I should just support Sharkie's with the character sprites and sexy scenes he needs for his version of the game. 

So this brings me to be able to focus on just the following:

• Ramen no Oujisama - Post v1.0 improvements and add-ons
• Godhood sexy stuff and build support if/when Sharkie needs it

I think I want to put aside Summer in Springtime as well since I feel that you guys might want to see something fresh and new this time around. I know Sharkie's also busy, so I need to learn from my mistakes with our two games and I feel I need to be able to write this stuff on my own. I've got a couple of things in mind after experiencing these two games and learnings from other Patreon-backed projects:

• Open-endedness:  I think I should go with this format. The path and routes of the story needs to be flexible with no clear endings so soon. The structure of the story is fleshed out as the story is developed over time. I'm not as verse as Sharkie when it comes to story structure, but I think I can manage it if it's like this. This also means that whatever I write in the early part of the game will eventually change or tweaked.
• Linearity and branch-outs:   This is what got to me in Summer in Springtime, coupled with how the story is programmatically structured in such a way it was literally like a read-your-own-story-book kind of spaghetti format. I think a linear format with optional branch-outs needs to be done for the sake of my sanity. That is how I designed to engine to be after all. 
• Short scenarios:  Enough for me to handle. If I'm to do the writing, I need this to be in the right size of chunks that I can do.
•  Fantasy and interspecies kinkiness thingy:  I think I'd like to give this a shot. I do want to keep things a little closer to being human-like though, like cat girls and stuff like that. But let's see, if Ukyu can make things look cute, let's go with that. This will also let me and Ukyu sync our work with Godhood's needs.
• Gradual build-up of assets to create a bigger world: I need to keep this in mind, that since I can't do a lot of assets at once and what more, try to build it up, I'll need to build things like lego blocks. I'm attempting to realize the kind of stylized background graphics that's been on my mind for some time now, so this kind of work will take up additional time to do.
• Simplify animation scenarios: I think I need to shorten these. I'll see what I can do. It can't be too short, nor should it be too long. I've already done some backend work that relieves me some of the animation script troubles of the past that I've been enduring, stuff like autoplay the correct blinking animation when I set the eyes.
• Multiple single releases: This is mainly for the web version of things. At the start, I'll have to make simple builds that only contain a specific chapter.

The Idea

Now that I've got my points down on some guidelines I want to follow, I thought about an idea that kept me up the whole night. I think this one needs refinement, but hear me out and see if you like it. I'll put down some detail, but these are all not set yet, things like names and names of places, geographical positioning, buildings, town, kingdoms and stuff - all of these can change down the road. I will bring some details to light, but not all of them will further touched upon unless needed, since the working scope of the game needs to be quite narrowed down to what I can handle.

The Big, Big Setting

The world of Ilvicia, Kingdom of Valus, 980th year since the era began. The Kingdom sits at the center of diversity, representing the light, alliance and peace across several nations, races, and species. But not all is peaceful in this world. Ilvicia hosts the darkness as well. Beyond The Gap, comprising of thick forests, chasms, steep mountain ridges, and bogs, lies the unknown. Dark creatures that align themselves with the other side. There are even the Kingdoms of old, consumed by the darkness beyond this Gap. No one has come to tell their tales about the other side, much less the depths within The Gap. But it's well known that creatures from The Gap come into the outer territories of the Kingdom of Valus to cause a number of problems for the denizens of light. Petty thievery down to disappearances are often a problem reported by the local townsfolk.

Focusing Down The Setting

Our story takes place in the border town of Eclucea, in the Kingdom of Valus, where you, the MC, plays the role of the local Healer. 

You are mostly human, but part Elven - which gives you your partial magical abilities - and part mongrel - of which this part of your ancestral origins are unknown to you. Trained in the ways of bare-fisted martial arts and other deadly weaponry as a child, when you hit adulthood, you were called for a higher-duty in life: that of a High Paladin-candidate to personally be in the service of  the third Princess Luciea of the Kingdom of Valus. But you turned down the call in favor of leading a much simpler life, doubling as a Designated Guardian on the town's border with The Gap. 

As the Healer and Designated Guardian of the town, you service mostly travelers and those who need your services.  Eclucea is close to the border of the Elven forest, that provide safe travel for traders and alliance denizens to and from Eclucea, but once closer to this side of town, they are vulnerable to attacks coming from The Gap, since Eclucea also borders this.  

Rumor has it, you make short work of even the most violent ogres and crush goblins like it's nobody's business. Another rumor that's been spreading, is the Holy Milk that you may or may not possess. The rumor supposedly came from a female Elven knight who was seen previously coming out of your house. With a big smile she was seen, they say.

The Game and The Story's Scope:

I'm thinking the game will be in a VN format, released as chapters. Not 4 chapters in one go, but really, one chapter at a time. Chapters will be kept short and sweet - maintainable by me. There should only be one type of build  to maintain - with the exception of single release web builds - to make this happen.

The chapter will detail the day-to-day encounters of you, the Guardian Healer. It can be expressed as a recent memory, or as an on-going event. Day-to-day encounters will be varied. Some will be fun "filler-like", others funny, serious, while others can be just down-right sexy. Chapters may or may not have sexy scenes - I'll scatter them around.  I'd like to see this as something like an anime or cartoon TV series where you have a variety in every episode.

Most of the time, things happen in your house and nearby locales.

I'm not expecting to create a serious story that span 10 chapters or something like that. I'd like to keep it fun and varied. But I mean, if it leads to that, well, let's see? 

 Art Style

I'll keep this open, but I do want to have a background style that fits the art style that I produce with Ukyu. I'm experimenting with this for now, and maybe have some custom BGs done later on depending if I can take this on. I'll stick with the anime-style, not too moe-ish. No more cartoon hybrid stuff.

So with something like this, are you interested in seeing a demo of this?

I say demo because I really need to start with the small, focused stuff first.

Example Demo Story 1: Let's start with a classic save-the-damsel

• Story starts with an elf lost in the forest
• She almost makes it out, but is surrounded by goblins
• Scene turns to you, the Healer starting his day and decides to go for a kind of wild berry hunting
• Coincidentally, you stumble on the elf getting g*ng b*nged by a bunch of goblins (we'll have to not put a lot of graphic detail here because we can't have glorified non-con scenes, just enough to get the idea, no animation - but as the Guardian Healer, ahem, you surely are disgusted by this!)
• So you kick some goblin ass hard, leave them for dead and save the elven damsel
• You take home the girl and tend to her needs
• She introduces herself. She's impressed by you, and she offers you her body as thanks (Sexy time)
• She discovers something unusual about you as she accepts your seed
• -End of Chapter-

Story 2: Another example story following the demo above:

• An old woman comes to visit you, is dying and is desperate for some "Holy Milk "  she thought she heard from the townsfolk.
• You don't know what she's talking about, but tend to her needs as she falls flat to the ground.
• The young elf who you saved is now staying with you, helping you out with your profession.
• She overhears about the Holy Milk and wants to confirm it with the old woman.
• That night, you have sexy time with the elf. (Sexy time) 
• After which, she collects "Holy Milk" and while you're asleep she makes the dying old woman drink it.
• Something fucking weird happens!!!
• -End of Chapter-

Story 3: Another example story following the one above (not all stories need to follow the timeline btw)

• There's now a younger-looking woman in the room, and she's not fucking dying.
• The elf explains the situation to you
• You look baffled as the young beautiful woman thanks you
• She offers to have sexy time with you (Sexy time) and she insists on it
• At the end she's happy with the outcome, introduces herself, and leaves your house
• The elf looks pretty jealous and kicks your ass in a funny way (maybe we can have a CG where she's biting hard on your dong or something)
• -End of Chapter-

 Story 4: This follows Story 3, and just to show that well, quite anything goes when it comes to the story

• An unknown female knight comes to visit your house
• She says she wants to test your skills, you question it but oblige
• You fight her, and end up pinning her down.
• But she ends up reverse pinning you and she strips herself of armor and has sexy time with you (Sexy time). Your elf girl is out looking for herbal medicine at this time.
• The knight reveals to you during your sexy time that she's part serpentine, and she uses her long tongue on you. (or maybe some other kind of monster/species thing)
• At the end, the knight says your seed confirms her reports about you. She introduces herself briefly before leaving with a smile.
• Your elf girl comes back jealous, seeing her with that smile 
• -End of Chapter-