Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Ucogi & Beta progress

During the past few months we are working on several ends to release the new (and most likely) final Beta version before the release of MoGi Origins. Many decisions were made and a lot of work has been done, but we are not done quite yet.

Talking about the Beta and the release of MoGi Origins, we mean Voms' timeline. The other characters (Ucogi, Alice, Rudy, Chibi and Ninjuco) will be released as DLC, later on. Right now we want to Focus on Voms and the level design. The level design however is affected by other characters as well. So we had to finish Rudy and all 3 of her transformations back in March, and also finalize Ucogi this month. Their versatile moveset is crucial for the final design of many levels and they do appear as NPCs in Voms timeline.

Ucogi was a beast to make. She has about 200 frames, many unique moves and 3 states of undressing. And she has to look as good as possible! Right now Ucogi exists only naked for testing purposes. Once we are happy with the way she feels in the game, I would need about a week to dress her up, and make her presentable for Voms timeline. In total, Ucogi will have 600 frames!

All that said, Titan prepared a Beta for me to play and test, but there were many game braking errors and glitches that needed to be fixed. That's the cruel truth about gamedev... adding new things sometimes break old things... and many other things need to be updated or upgraded or corrected. 


I wrote over 7 pages of notes, for both me and Titan. Some are high priority, and some are low. But they all need to be addressed sooner or later, if not for this Beta, then at least for the final version of the game.

- Veins



21 comments:

  1. You guys bit off more than you could chew with this game. Too many promises offered, noble intentions but, not thought through realistically. Could have been just as expensive, but just less promised. Probably would have generated same amount of sales imo. Would have been less frustrating to older contributors, not that you owe us anything to begin with but something to think about.

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    1. I was like... 19 when I contacted Veins, to start this project. I had so much free time, and way too much self-confidence, while underestimating game development massively.

      If I could go back in time, I'd smack old me in the face.

      My life, and the amount of free time I have now, doesn't even compare even a little bit to the amount I had back then too. I've learned a lot and am seriously sorry for the older contributors that supported us way back when for the speed of development.

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    2. That's because you did not take a time to learn and understand some theoretical basics about software engineering (game development in particular). A couple years ago I was asking you about The Mythical Man-Month book. Have you read it? Of corse not! From your answer I concluded that you haven't even heard about it!!! And this book is very important for everyone who is going to make any software application! That very moment I understood this project is doomed and I was right! You guys made so many typical mistakes. VERY typical mistakes!

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    3. Yes we made mistakes, but we are still here fighting, while also being transparent. It is a struggle, and playing the upcoming beta was quite discouraging, because I couldn't anticipate that so many things need to be fixed.

      I don't think that a computer book from the 70s would have made any difference. The programing and gaming world has evolve since then. Perhaps we were very optimistic and we wanted to do too much. What is important right now, is that we keep progressing. The project is not doomed unless we quit. And we are too close to quit now.

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  2. Maaan, so much work (past and ongoing), so few words of encouragement...

    Thanks for keeping us updated!
    We're glad to see Stheno or Ucogi 100% or close (people not understanding the amount of work behind that should look videos more closely! ...And they can't even show the titanic ;) implicit codework)

    Apparently Titan already has himself a good, if nitpicky playtester (F09: unremarkable. C05:a bit boring xD) so you don't need us to pitch in. Oh well, take your time, we're quite aware next beta will likely be the last before the full release (in more than just one sense of the word).

    So, keep it up, guys? Good luck!

    By the way, "Essays on Software Engineering", good advice, if purely theoretical. Indeed, people who've it should know better what not to add "to a late software project" not to make it any later. Right? ^_^

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    1. Thank for the positive vibe :)

      Yeah, I guess I am a nitpicky playtester. What you see here are my unfiltered notes for both me and Titan and the game in general. I hadn't play the game in a while and I went through everything with fresh eyes. I have to be objective and perhaps strict about what I see, in order to improve the game. Some of the things in the list are discussion points between me and Titan, or simply, my sense of perfectionism for later polishing.

      Levels F09 and C05 are plain boring to me, so they need to have interesting elements in them. Many levels were left almost empty with the thought of coming back and add art that I will make later on. Of course during my playtests, I can miss something important, so we welcome anyone to playtest and report facts or opinions. The game is already shaped by player feedback (SFW mode and other things). And just the other day, someone reported that if you jump during dialogues, Voms freezes... apparently nobody ever tried that!

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    2. Definitely be proud of the game its a great accomplishment.

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  3. Shot in the dark, is Ucogi going to have any unique scenes or anything, outside of the boss fight one?

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    1. Ucogi may find some NPCs having sex in her playthrough, to spice things up a bit. But we dont have plans for anything else.

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    2. Ahh, gotcha. Since she's such a mascot for you guys I was figuring people would be more excited for content with her than just nameless NPCs.

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    3. Ucogi's story doesn't allow her to be romantically involved with anyone in this game. Originally she was just going to appear naked when you play as her. Even the NPCs sex is an extra addition, to keep her exploration interesting and fun.

      There aren't really any sex crazed male enemies even if we wanted her to have forced sex. So, until a good idea comes around, that's the path we will follow. Alice on the other hand will have a male boss fight, to balance things out a bit ;)

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  4. Can't wait to play this awesome game.

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    1. I really appreciate the positive words. Sometimes is all I need to get through a tough day.

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  5. Definitely make use of everything learned in the engine.

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  6. "We also plan on releasing a new Beta soon. Probably next month if everything goes well."
    This was April 30th. And yes, I was one of those that did the original pledege and am STILL WAITING

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    1. It is one of my rules not to promise a new Beta because promises usually come and bit my ass. I was really hopeful back on April because of my on going work on the game. But then delays happened and when I played the Beta I realized that it wasn't presentable. So we try to fix that.

      In short, and as much as I don't like to admit it... some things didn't go well. The way things go (and it hurts me to say this), I dont think we can have a proper Beta before September.

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  7. Honestly, do you even still have the records on who pledged how much from your Offbeatr campaign all those years ago? Just curious. ;-)

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  8. Wow. I just re-found this game on F95zone and was reminded of it. I still have the 2014 email with the dropbox.com location for the game when I donated to it. It doesn't work, but I still have it, LOL.

    So, how are things going with the updates of this game since I lost track five or six years ago? Can I still get a download link for the game, or do I need to go somewhere and re-donate for this game?

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    1. Sent us an email with your details. If they check out I will send u the new beta link.
      The updates.. you can find in this blog all the details.

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