Changelog: Update 25
Okay, this is the non-proofread version, so I'll either issue a patch for it or wait until 26 is out.
Release schedule:
So let's get this one out of the way first. As those of you on discord knows, I got ill last night. I'm better right now but not much. So what does that mean? Bit slow progress on the rendering for the next few days, which doesn't mean that much since I have about half a scene of 26 to render, 70 to 80 renders give or take.
I guess that told how rendering goes. As for writing? It's about where I wanted it to be. Writing will be easier to progress, depending on how I feel. But it shall be done as well as always.
As for update 25, I'm just running the android test I couldn't do last night. Then, if all is well, I'll do the change log and release posts.
Unfortunately, I'll just give one render today. It's one of those inspirational renders, and while it uses the characters from the next one, it was done for fun. But regardless, enjoy...
It has been a weird week on many levels.
Anyway, update 25 will be out for all patrons on the 27th at the latest. That depends a bit on the upload speed. It might slip slightly to the 28th if things go bad. Regardless, I'll ensure everyone who has been a patron this month will get it. Hopefully, I will get it out earlier, but it remains to be seen.
As for rendering update 26, that's going well. I'm on schedule with that. And as for writing update 30? I'm a bit behind where I wanted to be, like two and a half pages, but that is easy to remedy. As I said, weird week.
Surprise, something that doesn't spoil things. Well, nothing major, anyways. Maybe.
Few outdoor scenes will get repeated in the next one. I'll try to make them different from each other as much as possible, but yeah, there are some limits to them. Yeah, only one fantasy render this time. I've been trying to get a scene out of my head, but I just can't find the right environment at the moment... one that doesn't put my computer to its knees. But at the same time, doing these has clarified how I'll start the next one. Now just will need to fill the gaps between the start and the end. No big deal.
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 (https://discord.gg/GJK5kfKypg).
This is proofread version. Enjoy!
If you share the links outside of the blog, please use the gofile folder: https://gofile.io/d/U1bXW9
Uncompressed:
Uncompressed update only:
Compressed:
Compressed update only:
Android:
Man, I'm sleepy. But then again, I had a few late nights... well, later than normal over the weekend, but it happens when I write occasionally. And speaking of writing, it's on update 30. It's funny when at certain points, all you want to do is write.
Anyway, started rendering update 26 this morning, and it's going okay. Just the usual blues of starting a new update. And yet amusingly enough, I always reach the goal I've set for that day. Go figure.
And because of the ending of 24, I won't post TRS2 renders until update 25 it's out. Which annoys me as they are a good way to show progress. Ah well.
And thus, we do other stuff for the renders.
One problem when using male characters is that many skins don't suit younger characters. Mostly because most of them have stubble painted on them. And matching skin can be difficult. But luckily, there are changes when we age, so it isn't too harrowing if you can match things reasonably closely. Either that or I switch to black and white renders for "flashbacks." Although, I need to find a better shirt for the young version. Ah well.
And this. I've had the genie asset for a while. Over a year, I think. I'm not entirely happy about the cloudy tail but can live with it.
So... This will be shortish, at least in theory.
Update 25 has been sent to be tested and proofread. There is a hard release date before the end of this month, so it's coming soonish. I'll be finishing up the update 29 writing this weekend. And I'll start rendering update 26 on Monday. And you know that this means that I won't be sharing spoilers this time.
This render is a test for something I want to use, well, parts of it in an upcoming update. I'm happy with the render overall. A few things need to be changed to a different prop, but overall, it looks good.
That wyvern... massive. I scaled it down to fit this render. If I use it on a full-scale scale, it needs to be from a distance. But this is why I run the tests, so I know what I can use and how, and no nasty surprises at the last moment.
This is one of those things I'm starting to consider as canon events. Something that happened when the MC was younger. I still need to make a proper young MC model for these things, early to late teens, give or take. And then make a proper render about this.
And thus we start a new week.
So yeah... Update 24 is being delivered, and all is good in the kingdom. Just not sure in which kingdom.
Anyhoo. Update 25's rendering has entered the final stages. I'm not going to lie; the final scene will take a few days to render, and the amount of renders it needs is going to be... large.
Writing update 29 is going moderately well, mostly because I'm entering the final stages of update 25 it's stalled as there are some tasks I need to do that I can't do before rendering is done. But it's fairly close to being finished, so I'll just take two days to write once the rendering is done.
Some events that happen have started even without me originally writing them. I never gave that much thought to a character that appeared during update 12 until I wrote the scene. This? This is an important bit regarding something that happened a bit earlier. What was that? Well, you have to wait and see.
I had a conversation over the weekend. And no, the extra images I do aren't spoilers of the future story. That particular story is kept secret; as I've said, they are things I try. Of course, characters and environments do appear, some of them anyway, but they might not appear as shown in these images.
And as for these two? Fellowship of the Ring was on TV, and I was listening to it for the first one, and the second one was just because. I might also do a fantasy version of my gorgons in the future... Amusing phrase.
Changelog: Update 24
Okay, this is the non-proofread version. I didn't get the script back in time, so I'll either issue a patch for it or wait until 25 is out.
Release schedule:
And good day to all of you.
So Adry mentioned getting the proofreading done on Saturday or so. Thus I will start deploying update 24 this weekend, hopefully by Sunday, assuming my upload speed isn't tanked, but it shall be out soon regardless!
Then update 25 matters. Rendering is going nicely. Shy under 200 renders which I will reach today after I've done today's "render quota." It's not an exact thing, really. I have certain goals I want to do daily. I usually reach them fairly easily. Keyword usually, Wednesday was a bit dragging as I had to build a set three times just because it wasn't working. Took 8 hours in total. But never the less! I'm right on schedule with things. And that being said, time for today's secondary rendering goal, as the primary just got completed...
As for writing, I'm one and a half pages (about) from the goal I set, but I haven't written today, so yeah, I'll reach it. Update 29 seems a bit patchwork when looking at it without the context of the previous two days... and about all of the previous 28 updates.
And then the first non-spoiler render of update 25, sure, it is a spoiler that you get to talk to Qivian and Zarinah. Still, it doesn't spoil anything from update 24 either or context of 25.
One of the things I dislike is clothing design, or put it simply, selecting clothes for the characters. At times, like in the case of the protagonist here, it was easy. I saw the outfit, and it was that's it. For others? At times it works the same way. The mage was easy, it was the first thing I saw, and that was it. The others? Not always so easy. Generally speaking, when doing the outfitting, you must keep the whole rendering process in mind. Lots of flowing and lose clothing that needs to be dForced? Only if there isn't a lot of movement during the scene. For fighting scenes? Pants... and non-high-heeled shoes, although the latter is a bit... let's just say that you probably have higher chances of finding that proverbial needle from the haystack than finding an outfit for females without high heels.
At times you get these ideas that you have no idea how to do simply because materials don't exist. Although, at times, you get lucky, and someone just makes the materials for it. The glow on the trees isn't as strong as I would like, but that's just a matter of doing tweaks. Now to get a similar shader set for leaves and ground...
And time for a progress post.
Proofreading is still progressing. But I've set a release date regardless of its status, but more of that towards the end of the week.
I started rendering update 25 yesterday, and it's going fairly nicely. Daz is still being annoying, but that's nothing new.
And writing is on update 29. Honestly, at the moment, I'm not entirely sure how many updates there are left overall. There are a few events I need to write before I can move on to the finale. Seems sudden? Not really. We have been moving along toward the final phase of the Sentinel Stations story for a while. It's just the speed is accelerating now in a certain sense. But there is still a while to go.
I tried to make a sci-fi render for this update since I can't show you anything from update 25, well, almost anything, without giving major spoilers. But it wasn't happening. When you work with X day in and day out, it's just... So you get to see what I do with the other Daz instance while I wait for renders and the mood to write.
One of the issues, generally speaking, with DAZ is that there is a limit on available assets. With how many VN's are out and coming out daily, you are bound to use the same assets. I'm fairly certain you've all seen that one particular clothing store... a lot.
So, you have to alter them somehow. It doesn't need to be a major alteration, but enough to make sure it looks different. The change is relatively small, but it does alter the scene enough. Although unfortunately, it became a bit heavy to render in the scene I wanted. But I still can use it, just not with as many people as I would have wanted.
It isn't easy as a novice mage vs. younger and more experienced students...
And then there is this. I've said it before, testing is part of the process. What works, and what doesn't. Then at times, it is trying something you haven't tried before. Iyanda came to be from one of those experiments. With animal figures, it's more challenging as there are fewer resources for them than for humans. But that doesn't mean one can't try to do things. This particular experiment? Didn't work as well as I would had hoped for. Still a nice render.
Friday, so progress post and things! And this is going to be really short and sweet on the actual update process.
Update 24 was handed to be proofread and tested, so there is that for the starters. This means that I'll write for a day or two and start rendering the next update by Monday.
And speaking of writing, if all goes well, I'll finish up update 28 today. I only have a few pages left to write.
And that's about it. Stuff is good and all that in the update regards. Then we move to bit random renders since I don't want to spoil things.
This is one of those things. I'm not sure why I did it, but I just "needed" to render it. It's one of those inspirational pieces that just happens. It gave me an idea for a scene. I just need to figure out how to build it to the vision.
Okay, so, the usual disclaimer. Not everything that is seen will appear as is. Some elements might appear... This is one of them, at least at the moment. I browse various asset stores daily. There are so many items existing that even though I look and search for assets to use, I still miss 99% of them, so I constantly discover new things. At times a prop or environment just leaps out in a way that says, "Hey! I have uses for that!" In this case, it's the slime props. Yeah, when I saw it just clicked. I have 6 scenes I know I can use them in my mind. In fact, I would have used it in the cave scene in update 20 if it had existed back then. Beyond that, I like the render a lot, but granted, I've always liked the contrast between light and dark.
Hello all! Friday... I'm sleepy. No, I've slept relatively decently this week. Anyway, so what's up? I'm putting making the ...
