Saturday, April 30, 2022

Voice acting and Boss Alice

Apologies for not posting anything for almost 2 months. Things were moving slowly and I didn't had much to report. 

Titan (the game's programmer) was supposed to work for 10 days during March and hopefully another 10 days during April but he managed to work only 4-5 days during those 2 months. He has almost finish Boss Alice but there are still lots to be done. I added a new move for Boss Alice, to make her be more intimidating: she can use her special attack on air, during gliding. I made the following video to show Titan what needs to be fixed with Alice. And while at it, I did some more testing. 

The weird thing is that Alice was acting fine in the test room but her behavior changed once she was placed in her Boss level, so some additional things need to be fixed. It sucks when something is almost ready and then you realize that there's a lot more to be done.


I also felt that the game lacks in the sound department, so I hired a musician and I was looking for a voice actress. The musician wrote a couple of pieces that I really like. Regarding the voice actress, I managed to find one after a few failed attempts. I came in contact with her on March 1st, and she told me that she would be busy for the next 20 days. 

I used that time to create a list of the voices that I would need and create a video to help her visualize the whole thing (see below). When I was done, she needed another 20 days to work on the voices and then she got sick... and finally, I got the raw files just today. Now I have to go through a bunch of sound files, play with the pitch and other options and decide which ones to use. There is still work to be done in the sound department.


 
I wanted to do a lot and I was in a very creative mood all this time. But I couldn't do much because I had to wait on others. At some point I started doodle-programming on Flash. I know it's a dead program but .exe files still work and I got excited about it. I managed to make a few Ucogi Games run in fullscreen (like Solitaire Quest), and I experimented with many things. Ucogi MultiDice for example, focuses on dice rolls and also contains a new Ucogi edit (maid outfit and nude).

The main problem about MoGi Origins is that I mostly wait for stuff to be done by others. And this waiting is killing me. I'm not just talking about my artistic and creative mood, but literally. It causes anxiety, shame, and so many other negative things. I feel the need to keep myself busy and useful. I have to stop relying on others regarding game creation. During my wait, I actually tried to get myself into Blender but I quit after a day or so (Blender is a very unintuitive program, and I prefer drawing in 2D anyways). I also tried to start doing my own game-music, but then I quit that too as I got overwhelmed. And then my doctor said that my lifestyle is unhealthy and that I need exercise and diet (the food I have to eat tastes really bad). Special thanks to the pandemic and to the countless hours sitting on my PC working or waiting on others!

These are the facts and my thoughts. I keep working on MoGi and I need to finish it more that anything in the world. Things can get hard at times, as I keep bumping into things. We are getting there. Slowly, but progress is being made.
 
 

15 comments:

  1. A brief summary of this update: the Game would not be released this year! Old news...

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  2. I can feel your frustration, but there are worse things than waiting. As I can see you're using your time for learning, that's very good. As flash is dead technology, I recommend to check what you can use in the future as alternative. Learning new skills takes a lot of time, so you might just use it now.

    Happy to see that there is some progress on the game. I recommend that you write at least one blog post per month. Even bad news is better than no news.

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    1. There are many Flash supporters such as Newgrounds, Ruffle and even game jams. But yes, I should learn GameMaker2 after MoGi Origins is done. It would require a lot of devotion and I don't have that luxury right now.

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  3. I don't know if you do it extra but it's enough. You have bad management. You promise us a new update but then you don't contact us for a long time and then you apologize again. Are you still working on the game at all? Why don't you make small updates or report regularly. I understand that it's just a game and your health comes first. (I wish you a lot of strength and get well soon) But when will the game be out? end of 2022? early 2025? did you make anything playable at all?

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    1. I don't know, when the game comes out. It is not entirely up to me, as I have to rely on others. There is progress but it's slow, as you can see from my post above. If it helps in any way, here's some bits and pieces of my dialogue with Titan via Skype: https://ibb.co/n1nKDm4

      You can see from the timestamps that days go by and I keep waiting for some progress as well.

      ---------

      Let me ask you a non-hypothetical question. I do want to have a mid-boss in the farms: Voms has to interrupt and fight a farmer who had sex with a MoGi (the farmer likes the monstergirl and he tries to stop Voms). That would be an extra sex scene, and also a welcome change of pace for the game, since the farms can be long as a level and the Oak Boss-fight is quite far. So I'm talking about adding more content and better pacing, and it expands the lore.

      Should I add that mid-boss, knowing that it might take an extra month? Or just finish the game ASAP, and as it was originally planned?

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    2. Please Veins, remember what you wrote in previous blog posts: you two should try to finish Voms' story mode and release it ASAP. Don't stray from your objectives.

      Then when we're all busy enjoying the game, you can always add secondary stories, voiceovers or any other extra content later on.

      --------

      Besides, while a mid-boss in the farms would be cool, I don't think it fits thematically to have the farmer who literally warns you about the monstergirls to have a change of heart right after you strolled through the farms...

      Perhaps that Voms could fight another mogi (like Okami or Cactus), or thatfarmer could fight Rudy instead. In both case, you should focus on that after Voms' initial story is done and out.

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    3. You are right. I do want to add more to the game and I do feel that the pacing in the farms is a bit off, but rearranging the levels is very time consuming. I wouldn't mind have a new farmer, right after the bridge, who has a different opinion about the monstergirls (as he likes having sex with one). He would challenge Voms' first impressions.

      But yes, that's what we call "feature creep". I dont have the luxury of programming another boss (Alice took us 2 months!), or making another sex scene, or change the menus to accommodate that new scene. Thank you for helping me see that.

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  4. Just release the gallery and nothing else at this point

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    1. anon you are just toxic. they ask you your opinion about something and you disregard everything. they are responsible for your problems you know. if its just porn scenes you are looking for, try pornhub. I'm here for the game.

      my suggestion veins, finish voms and add anything extra later. or at least release a new beta when ever possible. you are alone now but we root for you.

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  5. add it in as the farms are indeed long and with and extra little
    potential ""story"" in it and would help as the farmer gets captured anyway in the begining when the pods fall , maybe even make the event diffrent that voms has to save the farmer from this boss to progress or make it optional, more content is always apreciated as it adds more to the game

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  6. I understand you. Today it is difficult to do large projects with little support, financing, to do everything literally alone, and even develop other projects, in parallel, try not to disappoint your fans of the game, trying to give them a good game full of life. It's very difficult. I remember the sensational Cyberpunk 2077, whose output was a failure, because its developers released it raw, unfinished. I am sure that you will cope, make the game complete, rich, exciting, very interesting for players, and also please with different flash games. By the way, have you thought about organizing a group of developers, people with whom you could make games, share responsibilities among themselves, which would speed up the process of both MoGi and new projects?

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    1. It is a neat idea but "organizing a group" sounds like a lot of work. I don't have the stamina to deal with something like this, as I have tried way too many times working with others and it is a total waste of energy.

      I did partner with a couple of solid programmers in the past. But the majority either gets bored / lazy and abandon the project, or steal money and disappear, or they are incompetent / newbies, or they are busy with their own projects and life, or they don't share my vision. The only games I have ever finished, are games that I started myself (sometimes I had a little help along the way). After 20 years of that, I realized that I can't rely heavily on others.

      I'm not saying that everyone else is to blame, as I can also be part of the problem. Sometimes I keep changing things until I'm satisfied. And involving others in that procedure can be tedious for them, so I'd rather do it alone and spare them the pain.

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  7. we gotta be near the home stretch by now?

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  8. Always working , I’m proud of you guys keep up the good work brother , }{ells, out

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  9. Just curious, is the game using C++ or C#?

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