A year has passed since I last shared any news here. I want you to know that I haven't abandoned MoGi Origins. That said, there hasn't been much progress. You might be wondering why.
I've been meaning for a while now to share some of my thoughts and feelings, but I was avoiding this, because it's not a pleasant topic. I'll sum it up by year.
2020: Covid. That was bad for everyone. 2021: Titan, the original programmer left the project. I was disoriented for quite some time after that, while also trying to find viable solutions. 2022: My hard drive broke. It took about one and a half year for the data to be partially recovered. With all that, my creative mood regarding MoGi was crippled. 2023: I got my hard drive back, thankfully, not much of the MoGi data was lost. But the waiting had a toll on me. Let alone having to look each single file, and realizing that some of them are gone forever. 2024: I found a new programmer who also converted the game to GameMaker 2.0. We worked on the game for 6 months, trying to fix bugs. But then a few personal problems came up. Besides a series of failing personal relationships (including Titan), the rise of Ai art made me have some kind of existential crisis. At first was in denial and then it hit me. The blow was paralyzing and it made me lose my artistic drive. At least the new programmer is on board, and... on hold. 2025: My new contact lenses suck. I always had problems with my eyes, but now... I have trouble even reading text messages on the phone. Thankfully, I can zoom everything on my computer screen. I don't like sharing personal problems but at this moment my left eye is pretty much useless. At least my right eye can see about 80%. It feels suffocating at times. Also due to anxiety, probably from all the above, I got tinnitus. But I get pills for it and I'm surviving.
With all that, it was like I'm loosing control over many aspects of my life. Even the MoGi game, I have to rely on others to complete it, and in a way I see that as a problem. So, I felt the need to put MoGi aside and work on something smaller, something that can I control. Something to boost my mood. So, I started working on an idea I had for over 6 years now, since 2019, or even before that. I worked on it for a month, due to a strict deadline. It's not completed, and I've been working on an update, but I hope you like the current version.
This new game is called Courtroom69. The protagonist is Dedu (yaay!) and he gets involved in a sexy crime case. It's been on Newgrounds for a month now, and it has great reception, even though it lacks sound. It is a short visual novel, similar to Ace Attorney.
I remember back in 2006, I said that I won't draw anime. And in 2007 I made Ucogi and she changed my life for the better. Then, in 2011 I said that I will never make any monstergirls, and in 2012 I started working on MoGi Cardfight which in 2013 became MoGi Origins. And later about that time I said that I will never make a visual novel. I found them to be cheap substitute for books and games. And an easy solution for devs who can't program 'real games'. I was wrong. Making a visual novel is hard and requires lots of skills. Sometimes I like giving my own spin to things that are seemingly not up to my liking. I don't mind giving a second chance, as preferences about something may shift.
In any case, that's all I wanted to say for now. I wish you are all alright. And apologies for not writing any sooner. I was in a dark place. I want you to know that I think of MoGi every day. And that I do want to finish it. I will resume working on it when I feel better.
This month I started working with the new programmer on MoGi Origins. I sent him the first things to do on the 15th of May, and we work ever since.
So far we addressed the following: • Voms' and Ucogi's idle animations jerked a bit (fixed).
• The Tower level needed some fixing. Many improvements were made but it's not completed yet. Controlling the camera can be a bit tricky, so I made this animation trying to explain how it should work as it follows the playable character (orange box).
• Bloodstone crashed the game when she was killed, instead of transforming to another Mogi (fixed). • The game can't have multiple languages (because of the way it was originally programmed). • Update the Menu screen (still in development, and that's a huge task). • When Alice faints, her attacking hair should disappear.
Everything goes well so far, and even thought is very early, I'm very
pleased with how things are done. A good thing with the new programmer
is that I can track how much he works.
I hope that by the end of June I would have something more concrete to show you! Happy Summer everyone!
The conversion of MoGi Origins from GameMaker 1 to GameMaker 2 is a success! Everything works as it should, and the new programmer is about to start working on new Bosses and many other aspects of the game! The monster you see in the screenshot below, is a Medusa NPC, that can interact with the right characters!
Furthermore, most of the lost files were recovered, and the development of this game will carry on throughout summer, until everything is completed and polished.
Also, if you haven't played it, here's Orphanarium! It is my most complete Flash game and you can now play it for free. It contains an emotional story when Ucogi was just a chibi girl. Nothing sexy there, but there are many secrets you can find, while waiting for the next MoGi update!
Happy new year everyone! It's been a while since I posted.
There hasn't been much extra progress but the conversion of MoGi Origins from GameMaker1 to GameMaker 2 is 99% complete! Everything works as is should, even new glitches that were worrying me, like a black screen each time the player changes rooms. Now, the conversion is almost completely fixed, except for the sex scenes.
The sex scenes are quite complex to implement. I remember when we had a "white screen" problem, back when we were running every animation as a PNG sequence and the memory couldn't.t handle it. Then, the programmer used a special plug-in, made specifically for GM1, and that worked perfectly. But this plug-in doesn't work in GM2. I tried a bunch of video formats for GM2, but they don't loop seamlessly when I play the game. And even when they play well in my PC, they wouldn't work well in my new programmer's PC. And obviously the game must run smoothly in every computer. So this is the problem I'm trying to fix now. The GameMaker forums and Discord don't have a solution for this issue, so I have to figure this out on my own.
Once this is problem is solved, I will resume working on the development of MoGi Origins once more.
As a side-note, it's been a year since the original programmer, Titan, ghosted me. Usually I don't want to assume things, so I waited. He could have been in an accident for all I knew. But I spoke to his sister and I know now for a fact that he is fine. It saddens me to admit this, but after 10 years of friendship and hardship, I consider this bridge burnt.
Other than that, I had the time to check what was saved from my broken Hard Drive. So far, most crucial files are recovered, but there are some loses. These 3 Ucogi images for example do not exist any more as Flash files, and I can't edit them or render them in higher resolution.
That said, I gave the Hard Drive to the technician to run a deeper and slower scan, and hopefully he would be able to recover these files. It's been over 4 months (maybe even 5) since I gave him my HD, and these Ucogi images were in the folders I wanted him to recover.
For those who don't know, MoGi Origins was originally programmed by Titan, using GameMaker 1.4. Ever since Titan left the project, I was trying to find a new programmer to fill his shoes. Finding a programmer for GM1.4 was hard, but I managed to find a few. But GM1.4 is old, and it's hard to find license, and it's slow... would it be wise to covert the entire project in GameMaker 2? Well, it might be a bit too soon to celebrate, but this is how MoGi Origins looks, in GM2:
I was skeptical because I talked about this conversion with Titan, perhaps 3 years ago. He told me that most of the game would break, so it does not worth the effort. I took his word for it, as he had more knowledge than me on the subject, and he made me abandon the whole idea. Fast-forward to now, Titan has ghosted me for more than 8 months. It's like he doesn't exist anymore. I even tried reaching out to his sister but there's no response. So, I had to accept that he is gone and that I had to carry on, on my own.
After a somewhat depressing Summer, I had to move on and look for new programmers. The procedure wasn't easy as they had to sign an NDA and deal with the necessary formalities for the protection of the game. A few GM1.4 programmers declined for various reasons, but I managed to find a guy to check what happens if we convert the game to GM2. Depending on how good the conversion is, there are many benefits to this: easier level tiling, better video controls, more people willing/able to work with GM2, and even exporting to more than just Windows ports.
It is very early to tell, as I haven't played the entire game yet, but I was surprised by how much of the game is NOT broken! Yes, the backgrounds don't have parallax, the videos are not working and Neko possibly crashes the game, but the extra modes, the save system, the map... everything complex pretty much works as it should!
To some of you, this might feel a step back, as pieces of the game need to be fixed. But having this game work as it is, in GM2, is a huge deal and I'm extremely happy about it! I haven't been this hyped since.... 2016? I don't even remember. The thing is, that after these glitches are fixed, I can finally leave behind the limitations of GM1.4 and work on the game, as I should have done a long time ago.
By hiring new and skillful programmers, I can finally finish this monster of a game! GM2 has many tricks and effects that can be used, and they can make this game even better that I initially envisioned.
Thank you for being around, through the good and the bad times! I love you all! \o/
For me it was a bit of a struggle, but things feel a lot better right now. The tremendous heat, was unbearable. And it was causing power shortage and the internet had good and bad days. Also I needed a break as I was working non-stop from January to June, to create the game engines for Ucogi GO and Cyphergrid.
The last few days I started being active again. I managed to find a new programmer for MoGi and I was working on NDA and contracts with a lawyer, so that everything is done in a legit way, without the fear of leaks or stolen data. The deal is still in progress but we discuss whether we should continue making the game in GameMaker 1.4 or jump to GM2. A few experiments would need to be done to see if this is a viable option. GM2 is way more versatile but if that means redoing most of the game, then I would have to carry on with GM1.4.
Another positive thing that happened is that I got back the MoGi files from my broken Hard Drive. 95% of the files are recovered! Yes, the files were recovered before, but most MoGi files were corrupted. Apparently, the technician did the MoGi files first (as I requested) but he used a "fast" method which didn't work. He used the slow method on everything else and got good results. But when he gave back my recovered data... my mind almost broke with how many MoGi files were not recovered. Thankfully, I asked him to use his slow recovery method on the MoGi folder once more. And I'm happy to announce that almost all MoGi files are recovered! That was a very stressful experience and it lasted a whole damn year! Well, now I got like 3 back-ups. Lesson learned.
I wanted to write a breakdown / retrospective of the 10 years of MoGi development, but that was too hard to even begin and painful to remember the bad times. Right now I just want to look forward and I'm just glad that I can end the Summer on a very positive note!
Yup. 10 years. Happy crappyversary! As you can tell, I feel like crap about this.
Instead of this day being a celebration, it's a very shameful day. Haters are going to gloat and fans might try to be understanding. But that doesn't change the fact that this is a terrible day. It's the day that terrified me for over 6 years, and it's finally here.
All I can say is that I feel terrible for MoGi Origins and the original backers. Not being able to move past this project is a heavy weight in my life as well. I can't even start a new kickstarter campaign without being ridiculed about failing this one. And so, I'm stuck in limbo, with my fate tied to this game.
This curse has been following me my entire life. I kept trying to find partners to make games and each time, my games get abandoned. I have probably made graphics for over 10 games that various programmers lost interest and bailed... even if these games were their concept
Maybe these guys didn't have the same spark as I did. Or maybe it's me as I had also friends and girlfriends abandoning me. But it's me that feels betrayed, and when the only games that I have finished are games that I worked on my own (with 2 exceptions), then I know that it is not my fault. And most of the "friends" that I have now drag me down. They are depressive,without any motivation in life and even their beliefs are messed up. So, I avoid them just to keep my sanity.
Break time! Let's enjoy Elf from MoGi Origins as she has some fun with an Enforcer!
In any case, I'm in a bad and non-creative mood at this point in life. I haven't even played games for months, as I don't find joy in most things. I feel that a lot of things have piled up inside my head and I'm overwhelmed by the tiniest things. Everything feels like a chore. Even the forced "change your discord name" was too much for me to handle. Ridiculous, I know.
I think I'm overwhelmed with projects and that's why I'm shutting down like this. I had ongoing projects when my Hard Drive broke. During the time that I was restoring the data, I started new projects. So now that I got the Hard Drive back, I got both new and old projects to finish... videos, video games and card games. And MoGi! My mind just wants hide until I find a way to deal with all that. I'm probably going through a burn out phase.
Here's something funny! Most of the MoGi data is not restored from the Hard Drive. That broke me. I asked the technician out of desperation to double check just a single folder to see what he can do about it. It had 90% success! WTF right? As it seems, the technician was recovering the MoGi folder using "the old way". But the "new way" is highly successful! Yeah, thank for wasting my time man... but at least I *will* get my files back. Again. Some day. Fuck...
Another reason my morale is low is because I was working nonstop on CypherGrid for 3 months. I had a few positive reviews but I had to keep working and correcting aspects of the game. And when I was done, I decided that I want to re-do it. To add a better story and tutorial. So, I had to start from scratch. And with that thought, my brain shut down. I fucking want to do it so bad, but I feel too tired at the same time.
I was like that back in November. I hope my mood will change soon. I hate my self when I'm being like this. And the 10 year mark makes me feel even worse. Well, not sure how cathartic this rant was... Nothing good comes easy and I want to apologize for my negativity. Sometimes the constant rejection from "friends", partners and even family can get to you. And then you have only yourself to rely on.
Regarding MoGi, I'm still looking for a new programmer. I emailed Titan (the game's original programmer) today, asking why he ghosts me. When someone does that to you after a decade of support and sacrifices... you know. It hurts.
The last time I posted here was 4 months ago. Time has flown by, but at least I'm in a good and creative mood since then. MoGi's programmer, Titan, has gone completely dark and he has either ghosted me or he is in a coma. But even when he was keeping in touch, he wasn't too keen on working on the project, as he never finished the tasks I gave him since September. In any case, I'm still trying to find a new, capable and reliable programmer.
On March I had a minor surgery and I'm still recovering from it. On May I got back my broken Hard Drive (yeah, after 9 months!). Lot's of files have survived, but also many files are lost in the void. For example I lost most Ucogi's files where she appears in underwear, but I have her files where she is naked and normally dressed. I would need to rework on some things, but most of my work has survived. Also, I lost the sound files for Ucogi and Alice, but the voice actress had back up files and I retrieved them from her. I still go through the folders to see what's gone forever. This wouldn't be a problem if MoGi was finished, but it is what it is.
During this time I was testing my programming skills, as I designed a new Ucogi game with original puzzles, named CypherGrid. Feel free to download it for PC (veins.itch.io) or play it on your mobile phone (NewGrounds). This is my way of thanking you for being around for so long. Something small while I try to figure out how to move forward with MoGi Origins.
Hello everyone! Once again, I got both good and bad news. That sounds like butt sex. Some like it, some don't.
Good news: I managed to push through my gloomy mood and I was very creative since January. I managed to enter a couple of card game competitions and I managed to complete 3 small and 3 bigger card games. I even managed to get into a brief pixel art phase. It was very educating, interesting and uplifting. Here's some samples. I may turn this into a digital game at some point, set in the Ucogiverse, but I haven't made up my mind yet. You can see the a screenshot of the prototype at the bottom of this post.
Bad news: My programmer hasn't worked on MoGi for more than 3 months. I actually saw a dream the other day, that it was 2016 and we were finishing MoGi. But this right here a nightmare.
Good news: I located a hard drive with some of my lost files since 2020. Also, my technician still works on the broken HD and He told me that by using his slow method, he has managed to recover 98% of a specific but large folder. Hopefully, this nightmare will end up soon. Bad news: I need to resume working on MoGi. But I still don't have all my files and I have to find a new programmer. More than that, I'm afraid that I would have to exclude from the game all the additional languages. Titan had planned that in his head, but I wouldn't know where to start with it, and right now feels like a luxury for the game. So most probably I would have to cut it off. It is a shame, because I had people that wanted to translate this in Portuguese, Italian and Russian. Maybe even Chinese if I remember correctly.
Good news: I finally started writing a sexy Visual Novel game that I had in mind for many years and I wanted to start it 4 years ago. If it is well received, I wouldn't mind making it a series. It has a long way to go, but at least I won't need help from others to get it done. The story is 60% complete (18 pages of dialogue so far). I will tell you more when I have done a bit more work on it. Bad news: I am visiting many doctors lately. I will have a minor surgery in the next couple of months. This is mostly why I haven't been more focused on finding a new MoGi programmer. I need to be available and focused when I resume working on the game, and right now it's hard for me to involve someone else.
This is a prototype image of a boardgame I briefly worked on. You should recognize Rudy, Alice, Dedu and an NPC girl from MoGi. I guess multiplayer adult games are not very popular... adult games work better when they are single player games. But I do keep my mind open and myself busy with various ideas. The main plan for now is to overcome my programmer's fear and hire someone for MoGi Origins once I'm done with the doctors. Talk soon!
I didn't post on November since I had nothing big to mention. I edited however, October's post with minor updates. I was really down, waiting on Titan and other programmers, while also waiting for the recover of my Hard Drive. I was taking everything as they came and it felt like a very unsettling month.
During December things went better, but for every good thing, something bad happened. 1) Titan worked for a couple of days. He still hasn't finished with the things I gave him since September. 2) I got my recovered MoGi folder. I don't think that I can open more than 5% of my work. That's sounds bad, but I still have options. The good thing is that the MoGi project is in the cloud and my MoGi notes are also safe (over 150 pages in Word). Some things however weren't in the game, such as Ucogi's underwear sprites. With Ucogi's files not working, I would have to improvise on how to proceed from here. There are options, like Data Recovery, other technicians or even merging the nude with the clothed sprites. 3) I spent $220 to buy Stellar Data Recovery, in order to scan my old HDs, trying to salvage any deleted work of mine. Slim chance, and I have to go through dozens of folders and sort them out. 4) I got new contact lenses because my eyes suck, but they cost $500. They are new models, that I hope that I would get used to. There is a global shortage, so I had to wait for months to get them. 5) I bought Windows 11 but the interface sucks, so I also got StartAllBack to cope with the madness. 6) I bought Office 2020 and it was crap, so I went back to my lovely Word 2007. All these newer programs are so cluttered and convoluted. Same goes with Photoshop. They keep adding "useless" stuff, turning them into monsters. I guess they need to sell new copies, so they add new shit. 7) I also bought a new UPS to protect my PC. The old one died. 8) Freemake Video Converter used to be $200 and now it's about $60. It's a program that helps me with fast video conversion and size. But yeah, lot's of expenses lately. 9) I gave away many things (clothes, shoes, cups etc.) to various charities. Nothing negative about that. I decluttered my house, earned some space, sorted my things and it all feels good! 10) I got my creative mood back, but I can't work on MoGi until Titan finishes. 11) I found 2 other programmers, but I'm worried that they may not be reliable. 12) I'm thinking of starting a new project while I wait for Titan, but the fans might disapprove because I won't be focusing on MoGi. I do need to keep my self busy while my muse talks to me. Or I will end up crazy from waiting. Yes, my muse is Ucogi. Maybe I'm already crazy.
I was also trying to figure out what happened to my backup files. I was certain that I had a backup HD. It turns out that I had 5 backup HDs during the last decade. 2012 - that HD died when it fell down 1 inch, while running. I lost about 2 weeks of work, specifically the Flash file "Ucogi in snow" (the winter version of the picture above). 2013a - I checked that HD and although it runs, it doesn't open on my PC. 2013b - This HD works. But has my work until, you guessed it, 2013. 2020-2022 - I erased this HD because I wanted space for my photos, and I forgot to replace it. 2022 - The HD that I try to recover for the past 4 months. I'm not satisfied with the results, so I will take it to another technician soon. Hopefully, with Ucogi's help, things will look brighter.
Happy 2023 everyone! And may Ucogi smile upon you!
I spend most of September in USA. I needed a long vacation for a while now and I had the time of my life. The only thing that was bothering me was my broken hard drive. I also talked to Titan, the MoGi Origins programmer. We didn't meet but he said he will finish every task I gave him, by the time I get back home.
I returned home at the beginning of October and I got Covid. The next 2 weeks I was feverish, in my bed. In all this time the hard drive is being copied by a technician, but veeery slowly. Also, Titan said that he will have something by the end of October.
And now it's the end of October. The technician tries to save my HD with his machine running non-stop for about 2 months so far, and my programmer hasn't said a word. So, I have no updates and because of all that, my mood is on the floor.
I was thinking of starting the development of a new Ucogi game while I wait, but at this point I feel tired. I have no energy. And I feel bad about it. I thought that some vacation time was all I needed but... I don't know, I guess I was wrong.
I hope this will change soon. Thanks for listening.
--------------- EDIT (3/11): I just got some of my HD files. Specifically my work from 2021 and 2022. Most of my work is there but I have seen a couple of empty folders. I assume their contents weren't saved. These folders don't contain any MoGi work, as that was in a different folder. But the next things I'm trying to retrieve are some MoGi maps that I want to work on. Folders 2021-22 are 100GB and took a month to be retrieved. I'm glad that in folder 2022 I have a lot of important code that I was planning to use on my future games.
--------------- EDIT (9/11): Lately I feel unprecedentedly bad. I have no will to even have creative thoughts. I guess after all the years of waiting and begging for a few lines of code... I finally collapsed. Emotionally and mentally. It's hard for me to admit it, as by doing so, it makes it real. And I'm worrying all of you. My mood may change for the better, as it usually does. But right now I feel unable to be creative and I barely function in my real life. Titan hasn't spoke to me in weeks and that's a huge part of why I feel like crap.
Hopefully this will change soon.
--------------- EDIT (15/11): Titan is still nowhere to be found. These where my latest messages, and the realization that this is going on for years... It is taking a huge toll on me. I even called him and it goes straight to voicemail. So I have to move on.
On the bright side, Ivel contacted me and we tried to find out how to work together. We havent found a middle ground yet, but his initiation alone, was just enough to wake me up from my depressing slumber. Currently I'm looking for a decent programmer. I contacted shaunspalding.co.uk but he didn't reply. And now I try to find a GameMaker programmer on fiverr.com
My HD is still in recovery. it will probably take months before I have all my flies back. Until then, I plan to buy a couple of new HDs (100 euros each) and a recovery program (200 euros) during Black Friday. I need the HDs for future backups and the a recovery program to try and salvage anything I can from the HDs that I already have. Something good needs to come out of all this madness.
--------------- EDIT (24/11): Titan contacted me a few days ago and he calmed my soul. He worked a bit the past 2 months and he managed to do some more work yesterday. Seemingly small stuff, but I'm glad.
Because of that and other small things that have happened, I'm back in my normal mood. The slightly bad news is that I'm on a strict diet and I have to exercise because of some medical exams that I got. Also, some of my HD data has been recovered, even though it is still a work in progress. I can verify that some of my data is back in my hands, but a few images and files have been lost, probably forever.
Regarding MoGi, I got the "new" Scene Maps, that I made back in 2021. These are flat images of certain areas in the game that I have to re-design. 3 out of 23 images got corrupted, but thankfully I got some older versions of these files. Other than that, I discovered a couple of non-MoGi folders that were completely empty, which means, that their data is lost. The procedure might take months (it's been 3 months so far and there's a lot of data to recover). Some of my work will be lost, but Most of it seems like it's going to get back to me, in time.
Something bad happened. Worst case scenario. At first I didn't want to say anything about this. Not because I wanted to hide it, but because don't want you to worry, until I know more. Because what happened, happened and it is now outside of my control. Also, because talking about it, it makes it even more real. But since I had to announce it on my Patreon, I couldn't hide it here.
The hard drive where I keep my work started malfunctioning, until it stopped responding. I gave it to a specialist to try and recover anything he can. Because of that, I'm not able to post new rewards this month and that's why I had to mention it in Patreon.
The good news is that MoGi Origins is mostly safe. The game is in a server where both me and Titan have access and work on. But there is a lot of important data in my HD, such as plans, dialogues and art that are not in the game yet, due to the various delays. Any bit of data that I lose would be a piece of me that I would never get back.
This is so bad that my brain can't accept the loss just yet. So I try to focus on the positives. Usually I keep backups, but most probably that backup has been overwritten by other data. If that's the case, part of it can be recovered. I have many HDs and I was sure I backup everything, I just can't find it right now. And even if I do find my backup, it must be about a year old, so every new thing I did in 2022, won't be there. I had time to only scan 2 older HDs with Recuva (data recovery software) without any luck.
The damaged HD needs 15 days of slow and deep scan. This should recover many of my files. If that fails, I can try another specialist. Also, I tend to keep many files while I work. So even if I lose Ucogi115.fla, due to disc corruption, there is a good chance that I can still access Ucogi114.fla. So yeah, there's hope. The surface scan currently can save only about 6% of the HD, but the deep scan may as well save over 80% of the content. That's what the tech guy told me.
This procedure would take place during my vacations. So even though it ruins my mood, at least I know I wouldn't be able to work if I was at home. I would just sit around wasting time, doing nothing but waiting in mental agony. Other than that, I hate myself because of how sure and cocky I was with my backups.
I'm sorry that you have to hear all this. I was hoping to tell you after everything is resolved, so that you won't be at the edge of your seats for the next month, like me. I will try to forget about it, because there's nothing to do but wait. I will write more when I have any updates. Hopefully I will get good news. And to think that I wanted to go on vacations and get back full of energy to start working... Now I have this sinister cloud in my mind to deal with, because this is not only my fault but a stupid rookie mistake as well. I really need to escape my own head even more that before. I have devoted my life to these files. Which may sound stupid. But I think I won't be the same person after this. One way or another.
Regarding Patreon, the only thing I could to in order to compensate for the lack of new
Rewards, was to share two games that I was working on my free time. EnigmAttic and High School Crush
(demo) are semi-educational couch multiplayer games. I programmed them
myself in an attempt to start making games without having to lean on
other programmers. I was very happy with my progress and the result, even though they never got very popular.
This might be the last version of the games, as their data and fate are currently in limbo.
Other than that, I proposed to Titan to visit me in my vacations, even for 5 days, so that we can work and can finish up some things, without any distractions. I haven't got a definitive answer since I asked him, 2 weeks ago. Which probably means "no". But I will leave him a document with things to do in my absence. Let's see how that goes.
It is hard to explain it, but I didn't work a lot during August. I could blame the fierce heatwave, or that I was waiting on other things to happen for the game, or my mood, or that friends visited me as everyone had vacation time and wanted to see me or that I had a lot of real life paperwork to attend to. Or it's just burnout. Which is described as "a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment". I found my self sleeping a lot and feel constantly tired. Even now as I type this.
That said, some progress was made. I bought new music and sound effects. Also Titan made some fixes in Golem's level and the Golem bossfight. I checked them, and they need even more corrections, as usual. Titan said he would figure out a way to work more during August but his plan didn't work out. So, all I got was only a bit of progress after a lot of waiting. Hopefully his plan can work in the months to come. Also, I proposed to him to meet again, even for 5 days, and work together once more. But I'm waiting his response.
In this video you can see the latest problems with Golem. During playtest, she glitched and Voms escaped. Titan explained to me the reason: "What's happening is that you're getting knocked down, not being grabbed immediately, pressing the button, and in the middle of getting up get caught. But you already "escaped" so the escape goes through."
Each MoGI and Boss may break some of the basic programming of the game, and sometimes special exceptions need to be created. Golem is the most recent example of that, and due to her exceptions in the code, new additions need to be made. It's hard to anticipate everything, but that's why we playtest and fix.
I know you all want to play the game, even a new playable demo. Please be patient for a little more. During September I would be absent, as I do need some vacation time and some change of scenery. Hopefully, when I return, Titan would have finish any tasks I have for him, and then it would be up to me to do my part. I still need to add new art and change a lot of the levels myself. I can't wait to return to the game with refreshed mind, spirit and motivation.
Here's some of the progress that's been done lately. In this video you can see a few updates, such as the crates, the cheat menu, Alraune's attacks, and Golem's level.
The crates didn't had precise collision when Voms was stepping on them, and they wouldn't break with Ground Pound. Now they do.
Alra has more constant attacks and shoots 5 projectiles. Originally she had only 2 projectiles and she wasn't very challenging as an enemy.
Golem's level had an experimental double camera (just like Slime Girl Red), but that was slowing the game's framerate. We went back to just 1 camera and the overall fight and the presentation is much better.
Also, I get hyped listening to the new music!
Of course none of this came easily, as there were many delays on many fronts. My new plan regarding my programmer also failed. I suggested that I pay for an Airbnb for him to stay for 10 days and focus on the game, but that wouldn't work for him. He had a counter-proposal where he could find a few extra days to work... let's hope it would work. Otherwise I would have to start looking for other GM programmers.
Sadly, the delays have no end and I have mentioned this in the past few entries. The progress is there but it's very slow. It is by no means a cause for celebration, but July was this blog's 9th birthday. I'm embarrassed of how long this project is taking to be completed. But I don't know what else I could have done differently.
Besides the programing delays, if I can try to justify my part, it's because there are 6 playable characters. This is like making 6 different games that overlap in one big complex setting. And every character has story, cutscenes, puzzles to solve and additional details (nudity, sex scenes, Rudy has 3 transformations, etc). The game design was challenging from it's inception.
Thanks to player feedback we improved the game by adding a map, cheat codes, guides on the map, teleport rooms and more. And even more were added by pledges, such as sex scenes, map scenes, custom Npcs, Survival mode, Time Attack mode, Galleries, Safe mode etc. None of these things were in the original plans, but we had to add them. So, looking back, these extra additions make the game a more complete experience and I'm glad they exist.
At this point, I need to mention that Titan is a great programmer. He might be slow regarding deadlines, but he was able to do pretty much everything I asked of him. And many of these things were almost impossible to pull. For example, he figured out that the sex scenes can only be shown through a video plug-in, made specifically for Hyper Light Drifter. That solved the white screens a few years ago. As a result, Titan always says "thank you Hyper Light Drifter" when he deals with new sex scenes. Pretty random and funny.
- A short history -
Titan, the game's main programmer, contacted me by DeviantArt back in 2013. Soon after we started working on a demo of MoGi Origins, based on characters from my card game MoGi CardFight. Voms was a character we both designed just for this game. Then we started this blog.
By August we had our first demo and by Spring we had a very successful Offbeatr. We wanted to make a small game at first, and in our excitement we promised things that we thought it would be easy to do. But soon reality settled and we realized that we ended up with a mountain of things to deal with.
The original deal was that I would do all the graphics and Titan will be working on everything regarding GameMaker. At first I was designing levels and Titan was tiling them in the game by code! I don't know how that it's possible. Very tedious work. Later, the game showed problems with white memory screens and video playback, but that was thankfully solved. Overall the game was mostly working fine, but it needed a lot work.
2 years later Titan started having personal problems. And from 2015-16 until today the game's progress is very slow. I tried to work around this, so after talking with Titan, I spent a lot of time looking for GM programmers to help us with our project. The process was painful. Everyone I contacted had to pass Titan's test first, to see if they got what it takes. Many were lazy or fakes. And Titan wasn't often available. We had programmer's steal money
from us, or doing terrible work (while being expensive), or just
wasting our time over and over. Details of all that can be found in this blog.
In 2016 we decided to add an extra attack for Voms,because his gameplay felt flat. That attack was the Ground Pound. In 2016-17 we added 7 sub-weapons and the Swing move that repels enemy projectiles.
In 2017-18 we paid to have level artists do the tiling and programmers to deal with various aspects of the game. This was GM work, so Titan was overseeing this. I wasn't satisfied with the end result. Most of the people working on this were doing the bare minimum and making changes was costly. At least we finished the level naming which was a burden for years.
In 2019 and 2020 I invited Titan to fly and stay with me, in order to finish the game. I insisted that he won't pay for anything during his time here, as he was my guest. A huge chunk of the game's code was finished during Titan's visits, so it was worth it. In any case, some of these solutions worked well, some didn't. This is what they call "development hell". And I live in this hell for far too long.
With all that behind the scenes, it was hard to remain focused and creative. But by 2020 all MoGi (sprites, programing, sex scenes and map scenes) were finished (except Golem and Stheno). Also all playable characters are designed and playable (except Ninjuco). Details for all the above can be found throughout this blog.
During the game's development, little by little, I had to compromise and take on more responsibilities. The graphics were always my department. I gladly took on music and voice acting, even though it needed a lot of research and attention. This blog was Titan's idea but after a while it became my thing as well. Patreon too. Videoposts too. The level tiling in GameMaker is now also my job. So yeah, everything ended up being on me. Furthermore, Titan for personal reasons, forfeited his rights to this game. But he promised to help whenever possible. I'm sure I am missing a few other things that we had to sacrifice for the game's development... oh yes, one other thing is that I had to remove Vor as a playable character. And the seagulls! I made an animated seagull to give some life to the static backgrounds but... I have to let go and focus on the necessary additions until the release.
All that may sound negative but there is a bright side. The game is still going. This may not seem like much, but I can see here in the blog's sidebar that other gamedevs haven't posted anything in months or even years. Furthermore, I had to learn GM and do the levels on my own. Thanks to that I'm not limited by other people's skills, and I also added simultaneous vertical and horizontal parallax to some levels. So, I don't have to burden others for any nitpicking details! And I might have removed Vor, but naked Alice is added as a secret character!
I want you to know that I do the best I can with what I got. For now I have to balance quality with quantity and finish the game with as few compromises as possible, while making the game feel complete and fun.
There's one more thing, if any of you have any info. Does anyone knows how can I get an ITIN or a Ben-8? They are forms I need to fill in order to get MoGi Origins to Steam. I better prepare for this now, than having to wait in yet another thing in the future.
A lot of things happened this month. And my hard work starts to show. Although not in directions some of you may like, but let me elaborate. I was working on many personal projects that manage to see the light of day. I know you want to hear about MoGi, but perhaps it's all relevant in a way.
I'm happy to announce that Orphanarium got ranked 1st, in 6 categories, in 2 game jams! And one of the jam's
hosts decided to play it and comment on the story. I love his reaction on certain moments, how well he received the game and his on point analysis!
It is a game where I made pretty much everything on my own (except for composing the music
and programing the game engine). The story and the graphics can be a
glimpse of what I try to do with MoGi, and of what is yet to come.
Other than that, some more of my card games were finished, and a few more are near completion. These are games that I slowly work on for years, because their art, rules and shop pages need special attention. This month I managed to release Super Magical Gems with Rudy. Apparently Ucogi's version had offensively sized boobs (according to a few random internet people), so I made an alternative cover, featuring Rudy.
15 Ghosts and Super Magical Gems got their own promo videos and the 3rd game, Rainbow Kings, is something I'm still testing. Rainbow Kings also has an alternative version with Fish instead of Ucogi. Why people are scared of boobs? Why do they judge a book by its cover? Don't they know proverbs?
In any case, I was working on a few digital games as well. Which gave birth to even more ideas. But I'm talking too much and actually I'm supposed to be finding new sfx for Mogi Origins. About Mogi...
My programmer worked for only like 2 days during June. Which sucks, and that's why I keep my self busy. Otherwise I would've driven my self crazy. March's 10-day working deal, lasted for over 100 days. It's always one delay after another and unfortunately the MoGi project has a snails pace. Perhaps you can see why it is so important that I finish and release all these other games. Because relying on others can go on forever. And I like finishing things. My completed games are proof of that.
In any case, my programmer is online now and I should be working with him because this is his "10th day" of working on MoGi. And we have lot's to do: Cyclops sfx, breaking statues, harder Alraune, cheat menus... But I also had to post here. Crazy month!
Oh yes, I also managed to fall off a ladder and hurt my dominant hand. Did that stop me from doing all the above? Not by much! I feel better now. Stupid ladder...
I wish I had better news, but the past 2 months the progress was slow. Alice's Ai was a challenge, Titan was very busy, and the voice actress hasn't made Ucogi's voice yet. We are using SourceTree to update the game, and here's the dates and progress we made during April-May.
I know you are all waiting for a beta, or an update. This is painful because I am waiting for things to get done as well. My programmer sometimes promises deadlines that he can't meet for various reasons and that delays the development of the game. This month was very nerve-wracking, as I was waiting and waiting for some progress. The following Skype messages are between me and Titan, the programmer. It shows how days fly by, and sadly that is just a glimpse of the whole story.
All that said, I'm not pointing fingers. I'm explaining the situation. I do have to do many things on my own and this waiting and pressure is killing my creative mood. But I try to keep my chin up and be professional. Some of the challenges I'm facing has to do with the sound. I got some good voice samples but they do need to be edited and placed in the game, and tested and if they are not good enough, I have to repeat the process.
I made a rough video regarding Alice's progress and I tried to show off some of the new sfx. The sound in the video is quite out of synch but it was a hassle to fix, so I left it as it was. Still, you can see the improvements since last month. One of the biggest changes is that the soldiers used to be black and now they are white (in the story, the black soldiers appear later). When progress is made, feels really good. The background looks bad, it's one of the designs that I have to re-do.
This waiting made me think and reconsider. I know now that I need to give the least amount of work to anyone else involved in this project. And to do the best I can with what I got. I have to find a balance what is important and what can be shown in other ways. For example, I wanted to have a mini-boss in the farms, as a story beat, world building and change of pace. I can compromise and have an NPC dialogue, without the fight. Which means that the programmer won't struggle for another 5 days to deal with this, and he can work towards completing more important things.
These are my thoughts for now. What remains to be done? Programming-wise we have to finish Alice, Stheno, Succubus 2 and the ending presentation. The title video needs some sound work as it is out of synch. I need to re-check Succubus, Red and Golem Bosses. We need to add 3-4 dialogue cut-scenes, and a new cheat menu. These are the most important things for now. We are almost at the finish line.
Of course bugs and corrections are unavoidable, and I do have to fix the design aspects of levels and dialogues. But Voms' timeline is really close to an end. Once the programming is completed, everything else should be a breeze.
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.
I was extremely busy this month, dealing with some lose ends. I'm glad Ucogi was around to help me clean up my dusty folders and put a few things in place.
There was contest that inspired to me to finally finish a bunch of card games (currently one of my games is in semi-finals! ^^). I wanted to complete these games for quite some time and that was a good opportunity. Also I went back and revamped existing games and their shop pages:
I modified the MoGi Deck, adding about a dozen new mogi. Ucogi Deck and Ucogi Nude Deck are updated and edited to be as identical as they can be. Ucogi Nude Deck has special improvements regarding the nude edits. I revisited the Ghost Deck and released 2 original games, the 15 Ghosts and Super Magical Gems. Creating images, videos and pages for all these games was madness.
Finishing these games and the fact that it was "itch.io day", motivated me to work on Ucogi's last game, Solitaire Quest. And after it's release I added a playable demo for both SQ and Orphanarium. And then I had to add all the above in Ucogi.com with new thumbnails and everything. And I had to work on my personal site (nobody goes there). Not to mention the work on another 3 card games. Like I said, madness!
Around that time I placed Ucogi Valentine on Zazzle... but with all the above, I missed the Valentine's deadline! Still though, I'm just glad I managed to do so much, and that now I can move on.
I've made so many things that I'm starting to lose track. So, I decided to create one more thing: a small program where everything is gathered in one place, giving easy access to anyone interested. That includes links to videogames, card games, merch and social media. Feel free to download "Ucogi Links.exe" from my Patreon. I will be updating that file from time to time.
Regarding MoGi Origins, I did some research about voice actresses. Right now I need to create a word document with all the MoGi and decide
where they need voices. And then hire a few people that I found, so that every MoGi has a consistent voice when they hit you or when they get hit. I hope everything works well, because 28 MoGi and 5 female playable characters are a lot of work.
I will resume working on it this week. I just had to distance myself a bit, deal with all these unfinished projects that were clogging my mind, and return with a fresh pair of eyes.
.png)
