VN's by Talothral

Friday, November 21, 2025

Progress 21.11.2025

Hello all!

Friday. Yay. So how are things? Rendering is going decently. Today has been... slightly a pain in the backside, had a slight accident, nothing to worry about. I’m fine, just my leg and wrist are sore, and a small bruise on my forehead. Anyway, I’m at 1400 renders at the moment, so should reach 1500 by Monday. Getting slightly impatient with it, but it is getting there.

Writing? It’s in decent shape. Assuming I get to actually write some this weekend, I should be done with update 4. It sort of feels weird to write a modern-day setting after a long period of medieval times. There isn’t a long time between events because communication is instant. So, a lot of "important" things happen in a short period of time. It will be... interesting.

And no previews today. As what I’m working with right now involves orcs... a lot of orcs and tribute to a certain goddess. So you can probably imagine what that is about. Thus... Not the greatest render lighting-wise. But at times you need to check the default lighting to see what needs to be fixed. This is obviously intended to be rendered from where the light comes. One of those things that are good to know before doing things with the set. And speaking of... Abigail. She has undergone a bigger change than the rest of the characters. Why? I was never happy with how she looked in Sorcerer 1. At the time, there weren’t resources or morphs to make an older black woman, so I had to use a generic aging morph. It’s fine, but it... it wasn’t what I thought she would look like. Now? She is closer to it than before. With the exception of the body... Yeah, the nun clothing is... it’s better, but it isn’t made for the body she should have. Ah well, can always claim magic. Anyway, I’ll take a break, continue rendering and rest my leg. You all have a great weekend!

Monday, November 17, 2025

Progress 17.11.2025

Hello all!

I need to start lowering my expectations for the weekends. Anyway. How are things going?

Rendering? It’s going. I’m at 1255 renders (minus fixes and one or two miscellaneous renders). So I can’t really complain there. I have thirteen and a half scenes left to do, give or take. So getting there. Luckily, a large portion of the coding is done. So that helps, there is still a lot to do though. Had some unexpected... well, I always expect posing problems, but these were in the category of "What? You got to be f.... kidding me!"

Writing? It’s going as well nowhere near where I would want thanks to partially the posing issue. But it isn’t as dire as I make it sound. I should have four or five updates written before I start rendering so I should keep about a four-updates buffer minimum after the first release is done. So it’s all good, maybe. Would even be happy with three.

And a preview. Rielle this time. There’s not much thieving to do around the tower, so have to keep busy somehow... like spelunking the various rooms with treasures, magical and non-magical kind. And maybe find something... interesting, at least interesting for a thief. Yeah, relatively short today and no bonus render. Mostly because been fighting to finalize a few characters. There are certain types of clothing I have a huge dislike for, and let’s leave it at that. Anyway, short break and then more rendering!

Friday, November 14, 2025

Progress 14.11.2025

Hello all!

So it is Friday once more. So what’s up?

I’m somewhere around 1100 renders, minus fixes. It’s a bit fuzzy if I’m being honest, but progress is happening at the expected pace. There’s not really much to say about it.

Same goes for writing. I started writing the update 4 and pushing things forward on... all plotlines. Although I need to open the other plotline that is still closed on that one branch. But that’s easy.

Gweyr. Posing has taken a lot more time than I expected, but there have been more variations to body types than before, so it is natural. And in turn it means what works for one character doesn’t work for others. And then there is a lot of tweaking when you find something that works. But it’s all good practice in the end.

And then. Double Bruce... The first one is a test, for the most part. There was an idea, well several in fact. So obviously have to check if it was doable. This is something that I’ve said before, but it’s worth repeating. Especially for those who want to do their own VN’s. Always check if you can do what you are planning before you write (and commit to) a scene. Nothing sucks more than writing a good scene only to realize you can’t make it because there are no environments. I’d call this a partial success. For various reasons. There are so many basic things missing in Daz land that it isn't funny. Well there are some, but they aren't necessarily functional to the level I want.

And then the second Bruce. Yeah... there is a sort of story behind this image. And you potentially get to hear it if you ask. I like Bruce. He is... free spirit and has a certain kind of innocence in him. You can write all kinds of things, and you just go... yeah, that fits him alright. Truthfully, during Sorcerer, Bruce’s death scene was one of the hardest to render. But in the canon ending... he is well and alive with his usual antics. Anyway, short break. Then more rendering. You all have a great weekend!

Monday, November 10, 2025

Progress 10.11.2025

Hello all!

It is Monday, and I’ve done stuff... Unfortunately, no preview because, well, yeah... not really anything I can show in public. Anyway.

Rendering is going all right. I have seventeen scenes left to do, give or take. Of course, that is assuming I counted correctly. So, the progress is steady. At times it is slower and at times it’s quicker. Posing can be slightly annoying occasionally, but I’m getting the hang of it again. Somewhere around 950 renders, minus fixes and some additional images.

Writing? It’s in an okay state. I’ll probably start writing the update 4 tomorrow or Wednesday, depending does my brain wants a break or not. My only real annoyance is that there are limited opportunities to make choices in the early part. We are dealing with people who know the MC and have some sort of relationship with him, personal or professional. So there is no need to "win them over," if that makes sense. Update 3 might take slightly longer to render, not sure until I get there, but there’s nothing new in that regard.

Concept. Realistic pacing requires "filler" scenes, granted I rarely do filler scenes that don’t have a meaning. This was titled "Heritage" when I made it. Alexander’s past is shrouded to say the least. Tamara knows things, obviously, but not that much. She knew who Alexander’s mother was, obviously, considering the story in Sorcerer 1. But outside of that? That is unknown. And now you ask, who does this tie to everything else you are writing now? Now, that is a good question. Things are connected, while the problem that our hero ends up dealing with doesn’t have anything to do with him. There might be things about his parents and ancestors that might provide a solution to some problem. Assuming the needed knowledge is found. Will it happen? Maybe. It is one avenue that I’m, let’s say, exploring in the background. Anyway, things are going decently. And now I’ll take a short break and then continue rendering. See you all on Friday!

Friday, November 7, 2025

Progress 07.11.2025

Hello all!

And once again it is Friday and another progress post... whee... So what’s up?

Rendering. I’m around 850 renders. I do roughly 40ish renders a day, which is about 10 more than I normally do, so it’s an okay amount for three weeks. I’ve been trying to get one scene a day, but unfortunately it’s been one scene in one and a half days, which isn’t bad, really. Just personal annoyances and all that. But getting there.

As for writing? I’m closing the end up of update 3, as I should be. So I can’t really complain about that progress. I’m happy with it. My only real annoyance is that there are scenes that I want to write in a specific environment, but I constantly need to check does one exists or I can do it. Few scenes I’ve had to alter because of the answer is no. Eh, not a big deal.

Then, our lovely Eshe, keeping her muscle memory sharp. Truthfully, there is not really much to say about the image. You’ve played most of my stuff, you know this goes by now...

And then the extra bit. Characters are always evolving in one way or the other. And while I try to "know everything" about them before I write, things can change while writing because then the characters will truly come alive. In the VN’s case, it’s more when you know you can make the renders to support the idea. During Sorcerer you mostly saw the "upper class" areas, simply because there weren’t enough things to make anything else. That’s sort of annoying storytelling-wise. You want the visuals to match. If someone is from a rundown neighborhood, you want the visuals to match. And show it if need be. And if you can visualize something, it helps to form the characters’ personalities more easily because it becomes that much more real. Three of the characters in this render will appear in Sorcerer 2, the environment? Not sure, I’ll know when I write one of the three in... Anyway, short break, then more rendering. You all have a great weekend!

Monday, November 3, 2025

Progress 03.11.2025

Hello all!

Wow, okay, so... the weekend was pain. Such a simple scene required the entire weekend. Still, it’s about where I should be realistically. I just hope things will be easier going forward, but I doubt it... 26 scenes left to render, will less since I’m doing one scene as we speak, so 25? There are 41 scenes in total (including variants) if I counted right. So, the progress is steady. I’ve been doing coding while I render and probably start doing post work on the renders already done as well.

Writing? Writing is where it needs to be. I wanted to be further, but the posing issues ate some time. Still not complaining, I should be able to write some more tonight once I start to... dabble with the "animations"... of sorts.

And a preview! One of the few safe for public posts. Ayaka, I like her. Granted, I’m biased there. She grew a lot as a character from what she started. Snotty noble, to a more sensible person. It is a bit bittersweet to end a story, but if there weren’t an end to a story, there wouldn’t be new stories told.

Right. Location... location... location... Urban environments are both a blessing and a curse. You can have action or fight scenes on the streets, and it can easily give some variation to the scenery. But at the same time, most supernatural beings aren’t stupid. If they get exposed, everyone will come to hunt them, thus their survival chances are reduced. So, on top of streets and whatnot, you are going to need "isolated" locations. Warehouses, factories, abandoned places, sewers, thinks like that, where you can stage those action sequences. And that means a lot of testing what works and what doesn’t work. There is an issue or two with this environment, but nothing I can’t fix easily. So it’s in the maybe pile. And Graves and Cross? Yes, well, I did say ages ago that there are people within various governmental organizations that know the "truth". Graves and Cross happens to be two of those people, which is why they aren’t too shocked if evidence goes up in flames. They know that it might turn unhealthy for them... Right a short break, then back to rendering.

Sunday, November 2, 2025

Release: Tribulations of a Mage 0.51.0

Tested and played through it a few times, and all the saves worked. But that doesn't mean things didn't slip by. So, as always, if there are any issues, please report them on Discord if possible. That way, I notice them quicker.

https://discord.gg/GJK5kfKypg