Veyrra Character Redesigns

Posted over from the dev log on itch.io

I redid the character designs; some of them I only just finalised to a point where they could be designed (unfortunately being back and forth a lot I left characters on the back burner for MUCH longer than I should have) and many got a redesign due to being from RPG Maker content packs when they should really have their own individual look.

A brief word on character design: for video games especially, characters should be designed so they’re recognisable and the player can easily tell who is who at a glance (for instance, the PC should be different from NPC  and it should be clear what an enemy is)  I’ve noticed being around the RPG Maker community it seems like a lot of people don’t really put a whole lot of thought into their character design because they just go with the provided assets whether it actually works with their game or not. (there are also a couple games I’ve seen where it just looks like they pressed random on the generator and called it a day, when that really doesn’t make the best characters)

Anyway, on to the character reveals! (Spoilers ahead, for anyone that cares)

I’m gonna start with the important NPCs rather than the player characters (because some of them changed a lot more drastically and there’s more to reveal than the player characters)

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​New sprite:

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(I still need to add horns and wings, but this is pretty much what it’ll look like)

The only thing I’m actually changing is the original sprite I picked only has a front-facing version, which extremely limits its use. I decided to make a more generalised sprite for less important succubi, but I’ll probably still use the other.   ​

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New sprites:

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This is one of the reasons why I wanted to start redesigning the characters. A good portion of the characters I’ve been using come from  Ace’s  Dark Hero character pack​ that I resized. They weren’t horrible, but editing them in any way got to be a mess since they were already stretched from the size they’re supposed to be. Now, even though Fate doesn’t quite look the same as she did, I can change and add whatever details I want (which helps a bit, because she was one of the ones this was getting to be a bit of a problem with. Not to mention it’ll be a bit better having her be unique to this game rather than from a generalised pack that anyone can use)

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New sprites:

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​​  Another one suffering from being from the Dark Hero pack​ (I see his used a lot, too) I tried not to deviate too far from his original design, but creating it this way is actually helpful since he’s supposed to be in section that takes place on Earth and I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to fix it so he doesn’t look so extremely out of place. Now I can just change his outfit slightly so it looks more modern day.

​Kain

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New sprite:

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​Kain didn’t get a name placard because I wasn’t entirely sure when I was first working on them how important he actually was. He’s probably going to be the NPC face of the teleport system, though (he runs a train and I don’t really want to make a huge world map, so I figure I can use that as a way somewhat around it) He’s supposed to be old and gruff, but that’s a little hard to get across with a sprite.

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I didn’t actually change the Demon King’s sprite. ​It’s already a really cool looking sprite even though it comes from the Parallel Worlds character pack​ for MV. I think I can probably get away with using it for him since he’ll only be shown in the Demon Kingdom.

​Important Angel

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I hadn’t actually designed this character ​because he was supposed to be based off of Karael’s design, but I had problems with Karael’s original colors.  The only thing I haven’t done yet is add wings (which are extras, anyway. I may have that as an animation somehow instead of as a sprite) I’m leaning towards calling him Nuriel, though I’m still thinking of spiting this character.

​Now then. on to the Player Characters:

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New sprites:

​I actually had made an MV sprite for Jason, but on looking at it again I realised the hair wasn’t quite right. His outfits were also some of the hardest to figure out how to put together (surprisingly)

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New sprites:

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Ardien’s original sprite was in full armor, which didn’t really suit his personality. I may do a couple more outfits, but as of now this is what I’ll be using.

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New sprites:

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​Trish now has her own succubus sprite (I don’t think I’ll be adding horns to it, maybe wings, it depends on how I implement wings) Because of who she is, there’s definitely going to be more, but this is it for now.

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​New sprite:

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I know I already made Karael in MV’s generator, but I never really liked the colors that much (I couldn’t exactly explain why) Besides, his original looked really simplistic next to the upscaled  Ace sprites (even though those had their details stretched)  Now he looks like he’s actually important and from the same place as everyone else.

And a new never before talked about or seen NPC:

Midori

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​I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with this character, so I didn’t give him a name or design till now. He’ll share wares and stories where ever you find him. As far as anyone knows, he’s neither demon or angel. He’s never straightforward about where he came from, though.

Still untitled visual novel, Plus some Veyrra updates

So, to start off with I’m probably going to work on Veyrra’s battle system separately since it’s what seriously needs the most work at this point (I pretty much know what I’m doing for all the other systems. Everything else generally functions okay. The story’s still a bit iffy in parts, but I’m probably going to just slim it down and remove a lot of the extra pieces I wanted to do at this point) I’m highly considering waiting for the MV version of the Luna engine release this June, since I had that for Ace and it would really help with the issues I’ve been having with the menus (I wouldn’t have to trial and error quite as much myself)

I’m already fairly sure I’m going to be behind on the self-imposed deadline I set (to finish it by December) so I’m not all that worried on holding it back another month. Besides, it turns out I was off by a month on when I’d start having more free time (ah well; these things happen)

As for the VN that I seriously need to think of a good title for (I’m leaning towards “Into the Wonderful Void” but for some reason I feel that’s a little generic…)  I want to make it extremely clear up-front that it’s not a dating sim.I’m hoping it’ll have more horror and mystery elements, though both of those can be a little hard to write correctly. I’m not really keeping a close eye on whether everything I use is copywrite safe to use, but that’s more because I’m not really treating it like a serious project (and maybe this thinking will get me into trouble with some people, but honestly I think not every project has to be strictly ones you’re going to share or ones you legally own all the rights to. Sometimes you just need a way to practice certain skill sets, and one of the best ways is with using already existing content. I already know this due to getting practice with writing from fan fiction, and though a lot of the writing I did back then wasn’t my best, it got me where I am and I still get ideas occasionally… along with messages from people asking to continue fanfics I haven’t even thought about for over ten years)

Anyway, enough ranting. Besides, it’s mostly copywrite law that has people held up about that (even though it’s more enforcement that’s a mess… Though that’s an entirely different rant for a different problem)  Back to the VN in question;

The last post I shared some of the characters, though I didn’t really go over personalities or anything like that. I’m going to try to go over each character a bit deep this time (especially since I buckled down and finished what should be all of them)

Also I want to share the name screen, partly because I’m not entirely settled if I want to have the character have a changeable name (it doesn’t really make all that much sense if I’m the only one playing)  and also I’m split between making two characters share a lead role, and thus both be able to change names (I’ll explain this more later)

And of course an updated character lineup (I know I didn’t have Scarlet or Albert done, and I left the twins off; plus I updated Landon because his old look was bothering me too much. I’ll go over each of them individually)

Madison

A rather strict, no-nonsense kind of woman, though not to the determent of her sense of humor.  She’ll probably be at least slightly meta (more towards being able to guess what’s happening before hand; I do want it to be a mystery, and foresight is a big part in solving any mystery) Works in tandem with Landon after being given a certain task by Albert.

Landon

A soft-spoken assistant  to Albert. He has high social anxieties, which causes people to consider him an idiot a majority of the time. He’s actually fairly intelligent (which is how he became Albert’s assistant in the first place) he’s just not very good at articulating his thoughts, especially with people he doesn’t know or trust. (I’m considering making him another main character)

Von

A notorious thief, and also has more extreme social phobias stemming from some serious past traumas. Has a hard time trusting people, and tends to give everyone nicknames or avoid talking to them entirely. Jack has kind of taken him in as a foster son, not that he seems to have taken much notice beyond a steady roof over his head.  (Von is probably one of the youngest characters; I’m thinking around mid-teens. I know having a story like his makes people uncomfortable, but I’m not going to remove him. The most I’m planning on actually touching on is death, and even that is probably only going to get an off-screen mention)

Jack

A suave, laid back business man (he owns the cafe/bar; I haven’t decided on which yet) He views his business as neutral ground where anyone can come to share a drink, which is true for the most part.  He and Keith seemed to have done business with each other a long time ago, but fell out seemingly over Jack’s involvement with Von. He treats Von like a surrogate son, though the two of them don’t seem to get along all that well. He also views Madison as a daughter and gets very protective of her well being.

Keith

Honestly, I haven’t fully settled on Keith, yet. I’m debating on making him a bit of a creep (not the usually “obviously bad” kind, but the “nice guy” type of creep) Other than that, I kind of want to just leave his personality up in the air because I feel like his character is my wild card at the moment. I know he’s at least some kind of high class assistant.

Scarlet

Simplest way I can describe Scarlet is she’s a classic narcissist; this doesn’t mean she’s evil. She believes what she’s doing is perfectly logical and for the good of everyone.  Tends to keep herself out of the public eye.

The Twins

These two don’t really have a personality, per say. They’re an elite guard; a genetically modified and replicated duo never seen without the other. They tend to mirror each other and if not completely say the same things, then at least be thinking it. They’re basically a hive mind. It’s unknown if the two ever actually had names. They’re best to be avoided. Especially since they heed the queen’s word to the letter. If one dies the other is disassembled.

Albert

I haven’t really settled on Albert’s personality, either, though that’s kind of fitting because he’s supposed to be a bit of a mystery. All I’ve decided on so far is that he’s pretty much the technical mind behind the way the world functions, though prefers being an unknown in the background.

I’m not really sure if I’m going to share any more about this project; it’s pretty much just something I’m doing for fun as a side project so I don’t really expect anyone else to care. I just need to mess around more since the way I figure things out is by tinkering around and not by strictly working on one thing, That might sound wierd to some poeple, but it’s just how my brain works, when I can’t figure something out it’s better for me to step away for a bit to do something else and come back later with a fresh perspective (and new ideas) than it is to just keep bashing at it hoping for the right change to just come to me.

fainning

Update – What I’ve been up to

So, I’ve been working with Ren’Py for a bit now. I don’t really have anything substantial done yet. I think I have decided on what my first project is going to be, though (mostly because I just really want to work on the idea) I haven’t really thought of a title for it yet (I’m hoping to settle on that after I get more of the story done) I have gotten at least a start on designing the characters (you’ll have to forgive the look; I’m not that great of an artist, so I’ve been scrounging together what I can. These are mostly traced from other game sprites, and due to that I doubt I’m going to be selling this game any time soon)

From left to right:

Madison (the only girl I’ve finished so far; I’m currently planning on two more, but may not design one since she may not be shown. As of right now, Madison is going to be the main character. I’m hoping to giver her one alternate design with a different hairstyle and wearing a dress, but I  may wait till I have more of the characters finished first)

Landon (I’m probably going to redo him; he doesn’t quite look the way I’d like yet)

Keith (probably going to stick with what’s shown; I think it shows his personality better than what I was using, plus I have an alternate with and without glasses that I can easily switch between)

Von (There are details I don’t quite like, but at the same time, I almost love this version too much to change it. There are probably a few details I’m going to add, but as much as I’d like for certain things to be different this just suits the character more than I though it would)

Jack (I’ve already had to redesign this character twice. I’m fairly certain this is the version I’m going to stick with since he now not only looks like the personality I was going for but also the right age.. finally)

There are technically two characters I have done that aren’t shown, but that’s because they’re kind of very minor characters using Von as a base (I might show them off later; there’s a few embellishments that still need to be added first) Other than that, there are at least 2 other male characters I haven’t started on yet (one I might just remove since he shares a similar roll to one of the female characters, so he feels a bit redundant) along with the previously mentioned 2 female characters.

Unfortunate Impass

So, due to being at a bit of a block with Veyrra’s development (I’m seriously ready to just rip out the battle system and work on it separately at this point, though even doing that I’m not sure I’d fix all the problems with it) I’ve hit a bit of a more major snag.

I’m not sure if RPG Maker is really the right engine for me to be devloping in anymore.

Don’t get me wrong; I love using RPG Maker, it’s a great engine, I’m just hitting a point where my abilities and what I want to do aren’t exactly possible without seriously rewriting the code (because a lot of what I want to do involves visual novel aesthetics and features, and though there are a few script out there that cover some of those things since it’s a common form for cutscenes these days, there isn’t one for everything and I’m really not skilled enough as a coder yet to change or add what I want to have on my own… nor do I have the money to pay somebody else)

The other problem is the community surrounding the engine. RPG Maker itself is billed like it’s a hobbyist tool (the whole “simple enough for a child”) but there’s a lot of elitism that honestly makes the whole community (both the people making games in the engine and the people playing games) extremely toxic. I didn’t say anything before, but I had to step back a few times and avoid forums and other places because as much as the community tries to put out a friendly and inviting air underneath that the drama thrown around gets to be too much. That’s all I’m really going to say. It’s all I should really have to say. I’m not going to stop following creators or paying attention to new things that come out; I’ve sunk way too much money to just stop following what’s happening in the community entirely, but it’s a good time for me to just move on right now.

This actually doesn’t change as much as people might think; Veyrra will still be made in RPG Maker MV, mostly because I’ve already done too much work to switch to anything else at this point (I don’t know any of the other game engines I could switch it to well enough, and besides the battle system and some menus I pretty much have it all working. It’d be a pain and WAY too much of a hassle to port it to something else at this point)

As for everything else, I’ll probably mess around with Ren’Py, since I have used it a bit before and understand a little about how it works (plus it’s designed a bit more for making VNs, so that’s a bit of a plus) The other reason why I should probably switch is I’m not always at my computer anymore, and so working on events gets to be a lot harder, especially since I could write the entire script out, but it still has to get paste into the game engine, and there’s always a high chance in between the text editor and the engine it gets in there wrong. With Ren’Py, I can pretty much work on at least a portion of the game in a text editor no matter where I am  (provided I keep the terms and formatting right. My spelling isn’t always the best, which might be why I struggle with coding)

I think the first thing I’m going to do is just make a silly, personal little game (something I’m never going to release publicly) just to see if I can use it, then I have about one or two ideas I can modify (I’m already using assets that can only be used in RPG Maker, so I’ll have to switch those out, but otherwise it shouldn’t be that hard to move either of them over)

Veyrra work sidelined till May; Further details contained

I stated before that I’m getting burnt out; well the reason I’m putting Veyrra aside now goes a bit beyond that. I’ve started volunteering at an elementary school which is taking a good portion of my time (I’m there the full time as an aid helping in whatever way I’m needed)

Veyrra is a very intensive project (especially since I’m doing pretty much all the work myself) so I don’t always have the energy or focus necessary to continue working everyday (and it has a lot that needs constant work at this point) That’s why I came up with three different solutions for this:

1. Simplify the original concept by removing many features and split paths (it would probably end up being just a linear story) so it can be finished a lot sooner
2. Work at the same scope I am now, but it would take much longer than I thought (2-3 years, maybe more)

I personally don’t like it when games get rushed in development and end up being shipped in a noticeably unfinished state. I know it happens for various different reasons (strict deadlines, executive meddling, nowadays early access release with no subsequent updates or belief that the full features can be patched in later) That’s why to keep Veyrra up to the best quality possible I’d like to put it on hold until I  can focus on it a bit better.

It doesn’t mean I’ll be stopping work completely. I still haven’t gotten the tech system working, and it’d be better to practice my scripting outside of the actual project so I don’t screw anything up (I know that’s probably a little hard to do with the way MV is setup, but I’m still getting started with it and I’m sure I’ll mess something up) I’d also like to learn how to make Live2D models. I’m not sure I’ll be using them for Veyrra just yet (I haven’t heard back from the artist in about a year, so that probably isn’t happening anymore) but I’d like to at least try and test it out, because I’d like to have the characters have some motion to them. Unfortunately, most of the other things I’ve tried still looks stiff or need a lot of work while implementing to get the effect. I’ll probably at least try to see if I can figure out how to get that to work over the next few days (the various tutorials I’ve seen make it look fairly straight forward, once you have the proper parts separated out) and I own a copy of Visual Novel Maker which already has Live2D SDK built in (at least it has DLC that I bought with it because I thought I’d eventually try use it) I’ll probably just try to see if I can figure out how to add the SDK to MV instead since I tend to use that more (There’s probably somebody who’s already figured it out. It’d be better to find that before trying myself, since I’m sure implementing an SDK is WAY above my current level right now)

So, basically just updating what I’m up to right now. Hopefully I’ll get some system test builds or even work on a VN (I have one in the works currently) showing off some of the more visual stuff I’d like to be able to eventually do. I’ll also at least try to update a bit more (it’s a little hard because I’m not really social by nature, so I don’t really feel comfortable sharing all that much. I do understand that people generally like it when things are upfront and honest, though, so that’s why I’ll at least try)

Audience Survey (Please Participate!)

I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I put together a survey with some questions to gage just how people view Veyrra and how to continue with updates and such moving forward. You can find it here. Please fill it out so I have a better idea of who I’m making this game for (plus, if this work I’ll probably ask more about what people think towards sections of the game, especially depending on how answers are with this)

Veyrra Update and other Information

Here’s a test video of the voice acting so far (it’s not entirely indicative of the quality that will hopefully be in the final game, especially since I still need to tweak the audio balance a bit)

A big thank you to  GamemastersXD,  SueshiRoll, and all the rest of the voice actors helping out.

I even (possibly) have an artist on board (they’ve had some real life stuff to deal with so I haven’t heard from them too much, but hopefully I’ll be able to share more with that soon)

Beyond that, I’m afraid things have been a little slow here on my end (and I don’t mean just because I haven’t updated in awhile) It’s mostly due to a few headaches and other personal issues that make it a bit hard to sit in front of a computer and work for tons of hours, but nobody really wants to hear about that.

I do have a few more maps done. the most significant probably being this one that will replace the path at the start of Jason’s first segment (there are still a few details I’d like to add/change, but otherwise this is pretty much how it’s going to look)

I’ve also been thinking about streaming the game development, but the major problem with that is my wi-fi isn’t always that reliable (it works, just not always at the speed promised) I could always just record in the background and edit down into a sort of highlight video, but that just adds even more to do which was why I was thinking streaming to either Twitch or YouTube would be a better option (I have accounts on both)

Also (since I don’t think I said it here) there’s a demo available that isn’t the Game Jam version (it’s slightly longer, has a bit more branching paths to it, and changes up the battle system from the Jam version. I’m hoping to have all the systems ironed out in the next month to put out a better fully featured version that’ll possibly function closer to the final version)

About the only thing I personally don’t like with the demo is the menu I put in, but that was due to not really having enough time or experience to implement the menu I actually want:

 It’s really looking like I’ll have to be the one to code it though, which just means I need to sit down and get into more than just the basics of JavaScript (thankfully I at least know some of it due to learning a bit of web coding, but this kind is… a bit different from that) If I do have to code it myself, I think I might edit the look a bit more like a mobile device (like putting the time in a top bar and having a battery meter) I might even have the bottom icon by the location and time do something. I’ll update on that as I get to it (I’ll probably be focusing a bit more on getting the story implemented)

EDIT: I forgot to mention the other stuff. I think I’m getting a little burnt out (which is bound to happen when you’re working mostly by yourself on a fairly dense project) so that’s another reason why updates have been sporadic. It’s another reason why I’ve been thinking of starting to live stream my progress so that people can see and hold me accountable towards getting things done.

I’ve also been thinking of possibly working on a smaller project for a bit. I know that might annoy or not make sense to some people, but I’ve found personally that if I really want to continue with a project it stays in my head (though I do still make sure to write a lot of what I want to get to down beforehand)

Veyrra – Recruitment

Not expecting to get much help from here, but I’m going to post this, anyway.

Synopsis:

The world seems about to go to war.
A demon prince is being perused after an attack. A human who shouldn’t be on the planet somehow is. An angel kicked out from the Outposts without given a reason.
There’s a lot more going on that connects and entwines all of this together.

(Game jam version available here)

Characters:

(these aren’t all the characters; just a few important ones. These are also still tentative)

The demon prince of the kingdom.

The human trying to figure out how he ended up on the planet (this isn’t his current design)

A succubus who travels with the prince. Prefers looking human rather than her true form.

What I need:

• Graphic artist (for busts, battlers, backgrounds, cutscene images) – This doesn’t have to be one person, since it is a lot, and I’m open to doing trades for the same reason
• Sprite artist (I can edit, I just have a few problems with making sprites on my own; note that parts of the game will be in a VN style which will minimize some sprite work)
• Scripter (The jam version got corrupted so I’ll be starting from scratch. I know that I’ll be using Yanfly’s core and message system still, but I’ve been debating changing the battle system. I’ll update this if I decide on anything else)

You can contact me through my email (smallhobbit365@gmail.com) but please put the game name and position you’re applying for in the subject.

What I do:

I’m a writer and fairly good at mapping. I also know my way around MV’s database pretty well. I can also design gui elements (it’s just implementing them where I tend to have the problem)
This game is completely my idea and I really just want to see it done. There are projects that I’ve unfortunately left to the side as well, but I want to focus on this one first.
I have a few other projects up on itch.io that show off what I can do.

Thank you in advance to any

Update – Reworking Veyrra

(Reposted over from my Devlog over on Itch.io)

I’ve decided to get to work polishing and finishing up some games (and game ideas) that I’ve either had laying around and haven’t felt I had the time to work on, or haven’t gotten around to just hitting the build button to release (because I don’t feel it’s good enough yet)

I thought a good first one to get to would be Veyrra since I’ve been meaning to get back to it, and quite a few people seem to like it. I think the reason why I’ve been holding out on it is because I’ve been wanting to expand on it in a scope that personally I can’t do on my own, so instead I’m paring it down to just telling a story through a visual novel format (I’ve gone back to using base assets till I figure out a bit more of the style since I’m not really an artist) Currently I’m using Visual Novel Maker (yes, I know it’s still fairly buggy, but I’m finding it actually fits how I work much better than most other engines)

Here’s what I have for the message system so far (I’ll probably be changing this up a bit more) I’ve kept Ardien and Jason’s base art the same, but since those were the only two seen in the Yaoi Jam version, there’s plenty of new surprising characters to meet.

On saying all of this, there’s actually really only one big issue that I haven’t fully settled on; I’ve realize I want to tell two different stories (both Ardien’s and Jason’s) but I’m not sure whether to keep it all in one game (which might mean cutting out some stuff, or having a bigger file size to include everything I have in mind to do) or splitting them up as completely separate episodes. Since I can’t really decide, I figured possibly people who would want to see a full  version (or at least more complete than the one here) would have some thoughts on what they’d like to see as well.

For people who don’t feel like commenting on the matter I made a quick poll.

Updates for the new year

Things got really hectic towards the end of last year, so I didn’t get a lot of time to work on stuff. On the plus side I got Visual Novel Maker for Christmas (which I like the functions of, even if it does still feel a bit like a beta product) I’ve just been messing around with it so far, but I’ll probably try making something a little more serious soon.

  For example, this just uses the base resources and a bust from an RPG Maker pack I’ve had laying around (Parallel Worlds Character Pack) I understand how a lot of it works, since it’s at least fairly similar to RPG Maker (there’s tons of UI differences, but the basic functioning is the same) I have a couple more serious ideas already that I’d like to try to implement in it, but those might take awhile.

The other thing I’ve been meaning to do is learn 3D modeling (I started to learn the basics of using Blender, but due the hectic last few months I haven’t been able to do much else. That’ll probably be the next thing I look into)

I also got some decent video editing software for Christmas so I hope to put together some videos showing what I’m working on rather than just screenshots. (Seeing things in motion is sometimes a much better example than still images, plus that way I can show off gameplay a bit better)