Paraloop Productions
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Clearing up some things about the game; mini dev log?
🕑 Added 2024-11-19 14:05:39 +0000 UTCTLDR in comments.
In the opening paragraph of my page for Once Again's description, I alluded to the fact that the game was about using your "limitless powers" of memory from the first loop to do whatever you want. That was kind of my initial idea, but I dropped that idea pretty early in development. While the game does have elements based on using your memories of the past timeline/loop in order to shape your current journey, MCs memory is severely limited. He has to go through mental hurdles and unexpected triggers in order to recover his memories.
So while I advertised stuff about "winning the lottery" and "limitless powers," that's not in the cards for the story I created, and it was something I failed to even think about changing. While this may give an impression that I'm really bad with little details, that's not true. I'm just an idiot lmao
Heres some other things I want to clear up:
I, Lampy, do none of the art for the game. I often post promo renders, and most of them are done by Krash, who does way too much in the game already. The game would be dead in the water without him or Hex, our coder. Rick was our artist for the first release, but he left due to real-world conflicts. Our current artists are Farmer and Astro, and we also have Lovorko on animations.
The two trans characters are Harper (MC met her at the Cafe, she's Haru's coworker) and Jenny (Joy - the bookstore worker's- twin. You haven't met her yet. Jenny has blueish hair and Joy has reddish.) While there is an option to turn off trans romance, that does not mean that the trans women will disappear from the plot; Harper shares a class with MC, and Jenny... well, you'll learn the twins' gimmick in the next release.
The main girls are Summer, Winter, Autumn, and Haru (Haru means Spring in Japanese). The naming process started as a gimmick, but I think it actually does really well for their characters and adds personality to the game. These main 4 are also referred to as "The Seasons," so if you ever see that, I'm talking about the main 4.
Winter is VERY important to the story. I've seen concerns that just because she hasn't physically shown up that I will forget about her, but we will prove to you guys just how important she really is. For now, though, we have to let the story form properly.
Chapter 1 (the next release) is another introductory chapter. The chapter will still be focusing on world building- but that will not stop the story from being built as well. You're not just meeting the good guys this chapter, after all.
There will potentially be a 1.5 chapter with a pool party. It will be shorter than Chapter 1 but probably longer than the prologue. This will be the first taste of freeroam type scene- no confusing navigation, though, just a lot of variables Krash and I will have to keep track of. However, girls in bikinis!!!!!
I've seen a lot of questions and concerns about CNL or the Chaotic/Neutral/Lawful system. While these don't seem to have much meaning so far, they will, I promise. As someone who doesn't play rpgs with this alignment system, I'm working with the nerdiest of nerds to make sure we do this right. You won't notice big changes around CNL anytime soon, just minor changes; however, I've got a lot planned out. Just think of it like this; chaotic means you don't care about your consequences, neutral means you have a "shit happens" mindset, lawful means you are focused on doing things correctly.
Summer's variables are "love" and "relationship." To clear those up; "Love" is equal to her viewing MC romantically, where "relationship" is equal to her viewing him more as a friend. The variable names WILL be changed.
MC is not changing physically. It's too far in the dev process to change how he looks. That won't stop us from improving him, though!
When it comes to the seriousness of the plot and subject of the game vs. some of the goofiness - expect goofiness in the beginning. My humor is fucking dumb, and I love goofy jokes and scenes. However, the game will get serious, and I'm going to work hard to feel out the script to make sure everything flows naturally, and we don't have any drastic inappropriate mood shifts. I understand your concern on that end and it's totally valid, however I do not want to compromise mood identity.
I'm not gonna talk much about the payment thing, but remember, I'm doing rev share with a crew for MY dream job, and they deserve to be paid for the great work they do. I understand all your points; however please stop trying to convince me to change things about the way we work our revenue, because it's a group decision, and trying to tell me how I'm wrong for it is just shouting to the wind.
Thats it! Thank you, guys, for your support, I see all of it and am very thankful for it. Can't wait to bring you more info on the next release log!
-Lampert
Comments
Calhoun28
Thanks for the clarification. It's nice to know how things are done around here. :)
Paraloop Productions
tldr; -MCs powers are not limitless; they are, in fact, very limited. -Lampy does lead dev stuff/writing/design, Astro and Farmer are our current render artists (Rick and Krash did renders our first release), Lovorko does animations, Hex is a master coder, Krash does everything else pretty much including promos -The two trans girls are Haru's coworker and bookstore girl's twin (who hasn't shown up yet) - Haru, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are the 4 lead girls - Winter is important - Chapter 1 will focus on world and character building, and will be very SoL, but that's not permanent - May be a 1.5 with a pool party - CNL doesn't have much of an impact right now but it will - Summer love= romantic love. Summer relationship= friendly love. - mc won't change - Game will be goofy at some points and serious in others, but never at the same time - Please stop talking to me about monetization - Love you guys!
