Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #120
Added 2020-06-09 12:57:15 +0000 UTCHiya, everyone! Gosh, is it dev log #120 already? The weeks sure do just fly by, don't they? Like...really ZOOM by. Completely. Haha...ahh... Time is scary.
But moving on from scary things--let's move on to happier things!
Namely that I've been continuing to make steady progress with Chapter Two's writing. A lot of the main scenario continues to be fleshed out, with a mix of more serious moments and then cutesy/silly moments interspersed throughout. One of the largest criticisms for Chapter One's writing (beyond why is Matt so weak and pitiful????) was that the story maybe had some tonal issues, in that there was quite the mental whiplash when swinging from serious to wacky/erotic moments. And I can certainly see where people are coming from in that regard.
But admittedly I'm not sure if I've struck a better balance in Chapter Two, or a worse one when I look at how super serious strategy meetings devolve into Looney Tunes-esque antics whenever Ren pipes up. Maybe it's just impossible to have a serious story when so many characters are so...UN-serious. (That's a word, isn't it? Yeah. I'm a good writer, me.)
I have a lot of fun writing these more comedic moments and feel that they help break out what would otherwise be dull info dumps--but then wonder how other people will look at them, and if they'll see the story as a random jumble of silly moments and extremely violent ones before the sexy times happen.
In case you couldn't tell--my writing process is very much a never-ending internal battle, where I constantly question if what I'm putting down on the page is good enough, or makes sense, haha. Which I'm sure a lot of writers go through, too. I also constantly compare my writing to old pieces of work I've done before, and on some days I feel like I've improved, and other days I think I've devolved. It's a struggle, I tell you! At a certain point I just have to convince myself that what's there is good enough, and let other people be the judge of it at the end. Of which the alpha builds have really helped in that regard as I gather and collect feedback on what people of all the scenarios so far.
Speaking of the alpha builds--I don't want to jinx myself (as I often do) but with the current progress I'm making, I feel I might be able to get a new build out, judging by the current speed I'm going. And hopefully include several new h-scenes, along with another large chunk of the main story. As I want to start getting them out at a far faster pace now that I'm clearing a lot of larger hurdles on the way to the main game's release. I really want to avoid what happened with build 0.10 ever again if I can help it, as that was just unacceptable in terms of how long it took me.
I'll update everyone closer to the middle of the month in the next dev log and see how it's looking--but it's something I really want to strive for, as I find that while having self-imposed dead lines is stressful--it's also a really good motivator for me. Let's all give it our best this month and go above and beyond to achieve the impossible! Hrraaaghhhhh!
Oh yeah, and you might have noticed the lovely art attached to this post, of our favourite royal spy enjoying a nice dip in a bath. Since I thought it was a fun piece and wanted to share it with everyone!
I'll say that it's not a scene in Chapter Two, and that it's not intended as this month's bonus art. So where is it from? Who knows! Maybe it'll show up in something one day. Or maybe it'll never be included in anything, and you were lucky to see it here! Either way, I hope you enjoy this piece! This was from a new artist who I was potentially testing to see if they would be a good fit for future contributions to the series--and I hope you'll agree they really captured the art style--and Ren's adorableness really well! Also, cute feet.
That'll about wrap it up for this week's dev log. Which was sort of a shorter one than usual admittedly due to everything going on--but I'll hope to come back in full force next time with a lot more to discuss!
Until next time~
(Also if the formatting if this post messes up and everything seems to be in bold, let me know. Patreon's text editor has been goofing up lately and when I try to make certain words in bold I never know anymore, it's kind of strange. Aaaa)
Comments
Ah, yeah, I definitely think there's ways to approach his growth without him becoming a completely OP warrior capable of destroying everything. And his more timid nature typically sprouts up when he's with characters he's unfamiliar with. I try to make his interactions feel a lot less stilted and shy when he slowly grows more accustomed to some characters. (At least until they purposely start teasing, huhu.) Though even then, I want him to avoid growing too confident. And maybe in cases where he DOES become confident, he'll get shot right back down again. You can probably recall how he was at the start of chapter one, acting like a typical adventurer that wasn't afraid of anything and talking about justice and stuff, until his encounter with Jilly where he pretty much had a big dose of sticky reality--that maybe he wasn't as tough as he thought he was. And from there he's been slowly building himself back up. I can't claim to be the best writer in the world when it comes to handling characters, and can often be overwhelmed with so many story arcs at once, but I think things are coming along nicely!
Frostworks
2020-06-15 18:50:23 +0000 UTCA truly super ultra bust!
Frostworks
2020-06-15 18:46:17 +0000 UTCMan, Rin's stacked
TRlegacy
2020-06-15 00:27:01 +0000 UTCThe best way to make an audience take serious tones seriously is by suspending their sense of disbelief. The story is always going to have a lot of silliness in it, so just let it act as a natural disbelief suspender that makes people less likely to find the serious moments overdramatic. Wild changes in tone are becoming more of a common tactic because people are finding it works so well, look to things like Danganronpa or The Parasite, with so much silly, goofy comedy that still remains in some extent even during serious and emotional scenes, and it works wonders.
James J Canon
2020-06-13 03:45:18 +0000 UTCI don't think Matt needs to grow more confident or less timid to be fun to watch, because those have yet to be character flaws that actually result in tragedy or loss. I think Matt can grow in satisfying ways without him needing to specifically abandon his wallflower nature and physical weakness. Growth isn't necessary for good writing, but in a case like this, I'd agree that it'd be fun to watch substantial character growth, but I definitely don't want to see Matt become some confident adventurer or talented warrior or anything like that. Maybe he just becomes more sympathetic to bizarre creatures and people and becomes a better diplomat between rivaling species or something.
James J Canon
2020-06-13 03:41:30 +0000 UTCI have to agree with the criticism of Matt being portrayed too weak. One big attraction to monster girls is how they can overpower a man and have their way with them, without the man feeling emasculated since the monster girls are typically far stronger than a man, meaning a man will need cunning and skill, not just brute strength to beat such a girl in a fight, but that isn't the issue. Matt always being portrayed as weak and timid hurts him as a character, because we're not seeing him grow as a character, the young man has been through a lot after all! So you'd expect to see him evolve as a person over time, becoming wiser and more confident, yet still vulnerable to the monster girls. We're just not really seeing that in Chapter 2 as of late. Which is bad because it makes him an uninteresting character without any redeeming qualities. For example, one quality he has since chapter 1 is determination, and yet despite everything he has been through he still lacks resolve. So I think the thing to take away from all this is consistency with character development! Just my two cents, and all my criticism is sent with love. Now don't beat yourself up, you're doing a great a job and have created characters we've fallen in love with, it started with Jilly, and now Ren is one of the latest addition, who will be next? That said, I can appreciate trying to keep a serious tone is a hard thing to do with characters as fun as Ren around. Perhaps this will help... Next time you write a serious scene, imagine Tywin Lannister is in the room, or if it was being said directly to him, and imagine how he'd react, if not well, then either the dialogue is out of content, or, Tywin's imagined rebuttal is exactly what you need to keep the tone serious! I have no idea if this would work, but who knows, worth a shot! Keep up the good work! p.s It'd be real shame to waste that completed scene of Ren in the bath, I could absolutely see her sneak into Matt's bath, I wonder how he'll react when he finds out?
No
2020-06-09 15:57:21 +0000 UTCI didn’t even realize it was a different artist. Also, on the point of your writing, whether or not you’re getting better or worse, you’re still doing it, and that’s the most important part
Richard Hardslab
2020-06-09 15:27:51 +0000 UTC
