Holy hell, we’re finally here; characters are FINISHED baby! Woooooooooooooooohoo!
It’s been a rough two weeks, lemme tell ya. Between multiple mid-life crises (at once) and catching a bad case of the flu, I’m honestly surprised I got this much done. But I did it. Somehow.
Today we got a whole bunch of juicy updates in store, so let’s just crack straight into it.
Flesh Achieved
Alright ladies and gents, the moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. The male and female characters are now fully complete and game-ready. It’s been a long road, but I’m finally outta the trenches. It. feels. amazing.
Feast your eyes on the raw magnificence of 2D smut (just kidding, clothes are coming up next, I promise):
(Literally as I’m writing this, I just noticed the skin tones are slightly off… FML. Well, that’s going on the whiteboard for later, ain’t no way I’m going back to that grind right now. The flesh is staying achieved.)
Here is the full version too, for those that wish to see all the details (for the lore and history, of course):
NSFW – Full (Uncensored) Showcase
So, apart from having two naked 2D characters, what else does this milestone mean? Well, on top of the art/asset side of things, we now have the following functionality (which applies to both the player and all NPCs in the game):
– Fully rigged and weighted skeletons for both male and female models, with separate bones for all limbs and key body parts.
– Modular body structure with limbs, head, torso, genitals and more separated for customization and stat tracking.
– Inventory and outfit framework in place, allowing gear and clothing to be equipped through the inventory system.
– Support for dynamic gender and body type selection, with prefabs able to branch into multiple in-game variants.
– Animation tested bone structure and assets, with movement, physics, and aiming, all functioning correctly.
– System is prepared for dismemberment, with most limbs able to be damaged, removed or swapped for gore layers.
– Fully integrated ragdoll skeleton with joints that support physics simulation like hinges, IK and spring behavior.
– Random NPC generation is supported, with unique characters assembled procedurally using the rig and sprite libraries.
– Modding pipeline is in place, allowing external assets to plug into the character system without code changes.
So yeah, it’s a huge milestone. I won’t bore you with further technical jargon, but sufficed to say, a lot of systems are now firmly in place – which means all the really cool stuff is that much closer.
Speaking of really cool stuff, let’s take a squiz at what else is new.
The Grey, the Black, the Ugly
Alrighty, I definitely gotta preface this one: the UI is very early. Like, placeholder-tier early. So let’s mainly just focus on the functionality for now (it’s got a great personality, okay). Check it out:
Yep, that’s right – we got a MAIN MENU now, heck yeah!
Complete with some nice little sliding animations and a rough layout of the core buttons and functions, I think it’s off to a great start. I’ve got a pretty clear vision for how I want the final UI to feel too – something gritty and industrial, with exposed wiring, scorch marks, rust, and all that good stuff. The picture I have in my head looks pretty damn sweet, so expect to see that yourself too once I do the full visual overhaul down the line.
Said overhaul will have to wait for now though, since I don’t wanna get bogged down for weeks fine-tuning UI visuals when I could instead be moving into actual gameplay.
And on that note, this next image is what you’ll see when starting a new campaign – the Character Creation screen!
Looking pretty funky huh?
Again, this is still very early design, but I’m definitely vibing with the direction it’s heading. It even gives off a bit of a Kenshi feel, which was completely unintentional, but I’ll take it. A little callback to an all-time great.
The basic idea is this: core character details go on the left side (as pictured), and the right side will be where you customize each limb individually. So if you want to slap a snake tattoo on the upper left arm, a bullet scar on the lower right leg, plus a nose piercing and pink lipstick – this is where you’ll do it.
I haven’t fully nailed down the layout yet though, so the above screenshot is very much just an early build. Having one super long scroll list for every single limb/part probably ain’t the most elegant approach, so I’ll have to figure something out.
All that said, it feels pretty damn good to finally be reaching this stage of development, where an actual RPG is starting to take shape. And wouldn’t you know it… there’s even more RPG goodness coming at you right now:
What Makes You GFRNI? (It’s Like S.P.E.C.I.A.L., But Worse)
Character stats and mechanics, ooooooh yeah! Now we’re really cookin’ with bacon.
This section’s mostly a preview, but it should give you a solid sense of where things are headed.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve put a lot of thought into how I want characters to function in-game – and I’ve since thrown together this simple (but long) info-chart to lay out the basics. Sadly, there’s no real TLDR here – everything’s pretty interconnected, and trying to summarize it would just create more confusion. So you’ll have to bear with me for this one.
(You may need to open the image in a new tab to read it – sorry, it looked bigger in Photoshop)
That chart pretty much lays out the foundations of how characters will actually function in the game – from core stats and skills, to traits, perks, mood systems, reputation, and more. It’s the underlying framework that’ll shape everything from moment-to-moment gameplay to long-term character progression and relationships.
It probably seems like a huge info-dump at the moment, and well.. yeah it kind of is. If I had to sum it up, I’d probably just say: RimWorld meets OG Fallout meets The Sims. I’m aiming to take the best parts of each game (subjectively, of course), trim down the excess, and – hopefully – bake it all into one big ol’ juicy apple pie.
I’ll save the proper breakdown for a future log – once I’ve got actual in-game screens to show these systems in action. For now though, this should give you a solid overview of what I’m aiming for – and what you can expect from the game, mechanically speaking.
With that, I think we’re just about done for today’s log. I’m honestly pretty hyped with how things are going lately, especially since the project is finally turning into an actual game, not just a collection of folders and assets.
Getting past that major asset bottleneck, which took like 6 months all-in-all, is a MAJOR win for me, and I think you’ll soon see why. No more fortnightly texture updates.
Now, it’s time for the good shit.
As always, thanks for tuning in – and I’ll see you in the next one!