January Update 2025
Added 2025-01-10 22:55:01 +0000 UTCFirst of many
UPDATES on NOVA - Game Updates
Nexus . Optima . Visual . Adventure
As you may already know, Nina's Leap was sadly over-engineered to hell and back, which is why I took most of 2024 writing a game engine to manage and write events. This is for a reason. collaboration. Not everyone is an engineer, and I wanted to bring more people to make random events, as well as manage them with ease, & want to avoid code-only tools like LUA (Hades) (WoW), Twine (Night in the Woods), and make something designed for this game that anyone can pick and use with no necessity of formal training besides character limits.
I was not at all happy with the pre-made Visual Novel engines out there; they lacked the quality and ease of use that I have grown accustomed to. Nexus Optima now has.
As of Now:
Tree Editor finalized; game events and dialog branches can be edited (COMPLETE)
Screenplay importer built from Fountain (COMPLETE)
Localization tools to L10N standards (Industry standards) (COMPLETE)
Automation tooling to connect the screenplay importer to NOVA (COMPLETE)
TODO: start connecting game content; some light polish in NOVA's Direction system
NOVA DIRECTIONS: a tool in NOVA that is being built allows any NOVA node to trigger an event This is seriously one of the last steps to connect the engine to the visual logic
What's this? The stuff that triggers unique things like cutscenes, CGs, and items being given by characters is the custom event engine that finalizes the requirements.
I'm an engineer, but there is no reason not to allow non-engineers to also have fun. The engine is to make games.
NOVA: NO CODE SCREENPLAY-LIKE EDITOR
Writing the game should be easy for collaborators.
Nexus Optima Visual Adventure
was forced to split the gif due to frame limits
One exciting thing cooking in the back are writer-authoring tools built with me and another programmer. We focused on making tools so an editor or writer can join me; it connects with Nova, our Visual Novel Engine. We also use this for the new localization tools, hoping we can build a community to translate the game as well. its a wrapper on FOUNTAIN, a screenplay editor for VSCODE, the code editor being used here in the GIF.
HELP NEEDED
We're currently on the lookout for writers who want to join, as adding new events is now as easy as writing a screenplay.
Will I get to have NOVA?
All of NOVA's code is going to be 100% available to Tier 3 supporters. no deep instructions, but it will be available to everyone who wants to just build Visual Novels with one of the most advanced tools available.
Will Nova be sold?
Yes and No; sadly, my anonimity as Deep Vesper means that if I sell it, I might be seen or doxxed. I pulled myself into a corner, and this tool is only for this circle for now. I'm collaborating with another creator, as they use it for their projects. They have access to NOVA too, but they are anonymous.
Now on to more normal updates here. Again, Nova took A LOT OF WORK, more than it needed, but the rewards are a tool for my community.
DEEP VESPER ON NEWGROUNDS
Follow me if you dare: https://deepvesper.newgrounds.com/
TIER 3: GETTING FREE MEMBERSHIPS TO BE ENGINEER
You get a free subscription. You get a free 1-month subscription! Only Tier 3 and select Tier 2 will get this as a gift; Tier 2 will have to wait until Tier 3 uses them; after that, I'm sharing to select Tier 2. This gift is meant for Tier 3.
GROWING IN YOUR SLEEP!
Sets now available!
2025 STARTS NOW
Final Words
This is year three of LLMS, and I have something to say, especially about traditional artists—it's a bit of a rant.
Anti-AI artists don't care about you; they only care about their style. Their egocentric lives drive them. Those who claim AI art isn't art or that AI-assisted creations aren't a true part of the human experience are misguided. They prioritize process over the viewer, creation over humanity in observing or appreciating art. They don't care about you; they only care about themselves and their attention. They can't see beyond their own noses. They don’t care about others. It’s hypocrisy at its finest.
These same people look at their audience and dismiss them as 'stupid' or 'dumb'. When I ask why they create, it’s always about 'me me me me.' When I create, I do it with pure love for the people who will see it—love for my readers, for my users. All I see from them, in contrast, is pure, unadulterated, raging, antagonistic, horrific, egotistical, inhuman, uncaring hate. A hate rooted in fear of mediocrity. If hate is all you offer, your soul lacks what's needed in art.
I continue to draw, increasingly so, but always with the goal of improving my work out of love. I started as a game engineer and now do tech art with code and art. I've never viewed art as a possession or as an exercise in self-importance. Yet if you don’t stick to traditional methods, the 'traditional onlys' will attack you online, often hiding behind anonymity. Most likely, it's teens and younger adults who are resistant to change. But if you do what I did—learn what it can and cannot do—you’ll understand its limits.
I do despise how it sometimes looks cheap now. Personally, I leverage these tools to make MORE in my style. BUT We see AI-generated images everywhere, in ads, on apps. I even ordered what seemed like an AI-generated image of a burger. The issue is not the images but what LLMS actually are... LLMS are productivity tools. They are meant for a specific subset of hyper-performers or hyper-users. This is not the gold rush. It will be leveraged by two sets of individuals: the top and the bottom rungs. Let's be clear: these tools are here to stay. The difference will be among these users—those who know drawing and will leverage it for higher quality, and those who might initially try to grift people with the cheapest, low-effort stuff. Yet, over time, some of these people will learn to use the tools better. So please let them learn; all new tech will have growing pains.
