Maggie's Loft Development Diary
Hi Guys! It’s Léa!
I would like to officially announce that starting today, I’m working full time on Paralives!
This week, I’m taking over the Patreon’s page to talk to you more about our artistic work on Paralives! This is a new format, so feel free to give us some feedback!
So here is our first development diary and the process behind the creation of Maggie’s loft.
Alex, Roxane and I took some time to imagine who could be our first Parafolk. Maggie (named last week, thanks to you guys) is an independent woman, she’s a scientist, passionate about astronomy. She loves music, star gazing, roller skating and tropical plants. Single without children, she lives alone with her cat. She prefers to use her bike because she really cares about the environment.
These were important elements about her and her personality that we wanted to find in her loft. We started by looking for references on what we wanted: an industrial look, with a lot of plants and huge bookcases, but also small hints about what Maggie loves. It had to look rough but also comfy and homey.
After finding what mood we were aiming for, Alex created an empty loft for us so we could start imagining what we could do in this place.
At this point we spent some time looking for ways to make this place work with Maggie’s personality. Creating elements that could fit in the loft and also be used again for different styles of interior design. We used a Color Code to give a feeling of unity in the room and we tried to use colors that are trendy for this season.
We are giving a lot of attention to adding details and improving the graphic aspect of Paralives while creating new content. Here, we jumped on the occasion to improve the brick texture that we had.
We gave it more details and made the bricks smaller so it would not look like construction blocks. Here you can find Alex’s process to improve the texture:
Steps 1, 2, 3: Draw the bricks with 3 different tones
Step 4: Draw some white lines between the bricks
Step 5: Fade some of those lines
Step 6: Add a darker overlay on some of the bricks to add some contrast!
Like with the rest of our textures, you will be able to use the Color Wheel on the bricks. That’s why the texture is made in light grey!
As you all already know, we are a very small team, which means that we work as equals and everyone can give feedback on the work created. It allows us to improve things and give you guys the best results.
Let’s take this Monstera that I’ve made for example:
This is not the plant that you can find in Maggie’s loft because we improved it quite a bit. Here is the feedback that Roxane and Alex gave me about the plant:
Thanks to those indications that we call “Paint overs”, I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to improve my Monstera. We use this tool as much as possible and it’s always nice to have feedback from your team!
Here is the result:
And Maggie’s Loft is finally ready to be revealed! Check out the video on Youtube if you haven't already: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIqTswEEcL0
I hope you liked this little sneak peak of our work process!
Take care and stay safe!
Léa
Comments (190)
The first plant was ok, but after modifications it became so much better!
indoor plants need care? I would love to be able to take care of them🌹🌷💧💧
me too
I know this post is ages old but I love the astronomy globe with my whole heart
Damn, looks like my dream home! Well done!
I'm so excited for this game and I love having all these little details. I am very proud to be able to donate $10 a month to this game
So excited for this! Well done for all your hard work
Also, I wanted to suggest something. I dont really know if its possible since I dont really know much about 3d design or programming, but I was wondering if you could create a system where bookshelves dont just come with books in them as design, but instead they come empty and are eventually filled with the books that the para actually buys. I hope Im making sense.
Absolutely love that idea! The same with the closet and/or dresser. To have more clothes than what your para was first created with they have to buy clothes as well.
The inspirations photos that you showed us are EXACTLY my style and I feel like Maggie and I have sooo much in common. Really cant WAIT to get my hands on this amazing game! I love the perfect balance of cartoony and realism and I really like that there are so many detailed objects that us players will be able to customize with WITHOUT spending houuuurssss on the internet looking for good custom content. Also, I appreciate the accurate shadowingand lighting effects which are really important to me and dont really EXIST in a particular plumbobbed game i currently play.
Love this! Lea you're awesome, and so is the rest of the team! Keep up the amazing work :D
i adore the look the new brick texture gives off of basic shapes, detailed designs. it’s so gorgeous, and the lighting is incredible!
Love it Léa take care!
Great job with Maggie's loft. I adore it! Can't wait to see more
That brick improvement is awesome, great job! Can’t wait to see the Maine Coon :)
Considering the amazing detail that has gone into the decor aspect of the game. Would it be realistic to include active career gameplay such as architect or interior designer?
This is a really good Patreon worth the 1$ a month because you guys are very active unlike other people
This is really fantastic work
is that just in-game graphics or has the footage been retouched?
This is so nice! I hope in future you guys would make more development diary~ Good Luck!
Beautiful! Keep up the wonderful and talented work 🥰👏🏻 <3
All of this is so amazing! The whole team is so amazing, and I’m so excited, and thankful to have your combined talents and efforts working on this!😍 Every little detail I see looks great, and I know you’re always improving! I could go on more about how impressed and excited I am but my comment will quickly become a novel. Much love, I hope you’re all staying safe!
It's so cool how such a simple brick texture makes a world of difference!
Ahh, I love this so much! You can absolutely tell that your chemistry as a team works so well. I really hope Maggie will be a playable parafolk that already inhabits the neighbourhood once the game comes out (won't be for a very, very long time, I know) but I'd love to play as her, and have her as a neighbour!
I love the little bra, it's too cute to me! Makes me wonder if that's an accessory object or an actual bra she put there?
The amount of details and thoughts put into this loft ! You guys are doing an amazing job. I already want to befriend Maggie (and her cat) and I'll definitly do just that once we can actually met her in game !
is this loft going to be available to play when the games released? :D
This is so wonderful!! Congratulations! You're amazing, Lea!
Its simple, but i really love how the TV's can still be on, even when the characters aren't actively watching them. TV's are excellent background noise.
This is so so so beautiful!
I do agree on that the monstera could benefit from some texturing and shading! And maybe even different sized leaves! It would look more realistic if some leaves were bigger and some smaller, some lower and some higher! Monstera usually lives it’s own life and is rarely this symmetrical! But overall GREAT job <3
I hope she actually has a Maine Coon cat - that would be so cool!
I know right!!.
Congratulations for the amazing work on Maggie's loft ❤ It made me shake while watch the video presentation 😂
Am I dreaming too far if the radios could connect to Spotify? Jesus.. Yes, just ignore me 😂
Haha, that would be amazing :P
This is so amazing <3! Please take all the time you need to develop this and make it as astounding as possible!
Also, i would love the "option" for the soundtrack music to play while im in live mode. Especially if the soundtrack is as ambient as the rest of the game seems to be.
Paralives is so aesthethic. It feels so cozy and comforting. And the body movement so far looks so fluid and natural. I hope to see Parafolk looking incredibly lifelike . Paralives is all ive wanted in a "sims" type of game.
because its real people doing hard work for real people. they put in the time to research, unlike big corporations that just fart out random things no one asked for.
Your teamwork is amazing! Keep it up guys! I'm really looking forward to playing this game <3
Fantastic work!
Amazing work!
OMG!! That's amazing I'm loving it all!!!
I loveeeee the whole loft and the lighting of outside is amazing I like how it casts over each object and creates shadows inside the home. For feedback I think adding some definition to the leaves veins in the potted plant, and add an overlay of shadows on them as well since they’re a bunch layered would be nice because they look somewhat flat. But overall everything looks amazing!
Whats definition?
Maybe is stupid what i'm about to suggest, but I think adding some kind of particles of dust in the air or something will make it feel more comfy and realistic, the whole art makes my heart full :D
They do, in the video you can see them floating around.
is perfect <3
Im so excited for this! I cant wait!
You are doing an awesome job!!!! I'm totally in love with all 😍
I'm loving this! especially the bookcase. just a question tho will the parafolk speak English or will they have their own language or something? super excited for this!!
The Devs mentioned that the parafolk will have a language similar to the one in animal crossing
This is so detailed and iconic y’all are so amazing
I really appreciate that you guys are open to critiques on how to improve the look of objects in the game! Maybe this could be something you’ll implement again for your patreon members? You guys can post photos of 1-3 objects and we can give suggestions on how to improve it if needed. Just a random idea I had. This will give us something to do and keep us busy while you guys finish working on the parafolks and other things lol
Yes, that's a cool idea! Maybe we can try that!
so classy!
Planned, detailed and intricate to an incredible amount 😍
This is so cool! I already love coding and seeing this game come together makes me want to study game design in uni. The game concept, assets, and the way you are so engaged with the community is amazing!
This is so cool but as for constructive criticism I would've liked to see a more realistic texture on the leaves. They look a bit flat. But overall really cool job and the loft as a whole is beautiful! :)
Yes, I agree. Leaves of the monstera don't match the rest of the furniture. They need some shading. Anyway, this hanging plants are gorgeous :)
Hey! I had some ideas for the game! This game is already way better than I could imagine! You guys are seriously killing it and watching as this game improves with every post is a cool experience -occult parafolks/options (mermaids, witches, werewolves, fairies, ghosts) -farming/ farm animals -raccoons/rats/bugs to make it more realistic -attending schools/colleges/etc -traveling/vacations/islands -hotels/motels/resorts -shopping/malls/spas -amusementpark, fairs, carnival, rides -surfing/skateboarding -adoption(babies/pets) -zoos/aquariums/wild life
I think occult parafolks are a great idea, but for later updates :)
the blanket is so fluffy i love it😍
This game is going to be the best. I love it. I wish I could found the game a lot of money.
this is so amazing you are all doing a great job and I love being able to see the process
I love seeing your design process! Thanks for letting us in on your secrets :) I can't wait for this game!!
Everything you folks are doing is beyond what I thought this would be. The transparency and walk throughs are fascinating so happy to be watching this unfold! Thank you and welcome to full time Paralives!
this looks great! it’s amazing to see the progress you guys have made over the past couple of months!
I almost cried after seeing your video of Maggie not from sadness but from joy. All I could think about was all the great things this game has accomplished and it's still being developed. I am so hopeful Paralives will be wonderful to play so much so I decided to join your Patreon. Waiting patiently for it's arrival very excited 😁
Awww, thank you Rachel :D
I’m curious about how many objects will be functional? Any news about this?
I have always found it impossible to focus on one creative idea at a time and could not imagine how anyone did this. Thank you for the inspiring development diary. Very exciting!
this made me so excited and proud of indy devs! I'm so glad i am to contribute to this beautiful game :3 stay safe & healthy!
I literally burst into tears of joy upon seeing that shadow of Maggie... this game is insane
This is basically a sneak peek into the game, thanks so much for making my life complete!
You guys are wildly talented! Keep up the incredible work, it’s not going unnoticed ;) ^^^^^^
Absolutely amazing!!!! So glad we get to see the process and a little behind the scenes!!
Absolutely love her loft space!
This is wonderful work, especially with you being a small team you're all working together to improve it all is so very important. Good job to you and the rest of the team!
que c'est beau! quel souci du détail! j'ai hâte d'y jouer
This looks amazing and I adore the skylight!
Thank you for this diary ! You made a fantastic job, I can't wait to see parafolks !
i love it so much, it looks great! One tiny thing though, the monstera plant dosnt look like that, the leaves ate correct but the way it grows :)
Hey, thanks for the feedback, we will improve the monstera :)
Development diaries are great! Can’t wait to see more of your hard work
Loving it! This is amazing!! Cant wait for future developments 😇
Hmmm. Has anybody else went back to visit some of the earlier building videos ? The graphics look like an entirely different game ! It looks amazing, but I’m now curious to know if everything we’ve seen is still how it works ? If you can drag couches to make them longer, or pull up on a lamp to make it taller ? This all looks amazing, can’t wait to see the parafolk !
Don't worry everything that has been shown before will be in game ! We just try to show you guys different things so every videos can have something new ! the transform tool is still working :)
Wow, I just noticed something that I missed earlier...Lea, you guys referenced a Maine Coon!!!...I'm going to freak out in the best possible way if that is what her cat turns out to be??...Thanks once again for all your hardwork.
This post is amazing.. thank you guys, stay safe😊
I am in awe of what you are doing and so appreciate seeing the progress pics of the brick wall. Keep well
This is amazing but as a plant mum the monstera is all wrong 😂😂 they are large vining plants and don’t grow how you have animated it! They don’t grow from one point they grow a vine like stem and leaves come off that stem. You need to change it to be more accurate as it’s very incorrect 😂😂
Thanks for the sharing that, we'll improve it! :)
from all the objects i see on the floor, will the parafolks be able to wall over them? unlike the sims 4 where it blocks their path?
Hopefully yes but we are still working on that :)
Hello Lea, thanks for this wonderful in-depth look behind the scenes. It's really amazing to see the work that goes into making such an exciting game...I've got a question for you if you don't mind? - I was wondering if there will be slight height differences between male and female para's, or is this too complex?....Thanks again for the all the hard work, stay safe and I wish you guys eveything of the best.
Hi Bianca! Thank you for the nice words! We are currently testing height differences but it's a big technical challenge so we can't confirm that it will work yet, stay tuned :)
Wow so excited to be helping support this this is going to be amazing and it’s going to forever replace another certain SIMulation game i have that I’m slowly getting tired of.. i literally can’t wait!
Im blown away by what you guys are doing and so excited to see more developments!
First thing i’m gonna do when i’ll play paralives is to visit her and spend some time with her on her porch, while sitting on swinging chair. I can’t wait for her to be my neighbour
You guys are doing you best and we proud of you creators
I love how collaborative your process is! Thanks so much for sharing and the color wheel for the bricks has me genuinely excited - no really, I’m a little concerned about how excited I am lol. Much love and stay safe, we all want you to succeed ❤️
I loved this post! I really like the idea of a development diary. On that note, WOW! I love the change in the brick texture and the final result of the plant! Your work is stunning and much appreciated!
Love to see what y’all have been working on! Keep up the great work! ♥️♥️♥️
This is so cool, I love seeing the process that goes into making and updating the details. I can tell you guys are really taking your time and showing love to each portion of the game! Thanks for this behind the scene look. The Loft is Beautiful ♥
Also In the future, I think it would be a cool idea to hold a raffle for your Patreon members to be made into one of the pre-made Prafolks. Maybe select 3-5 people, who will then send the team pictures of themselves as well as a brief description of their lives, interests, etc. I know I'd love the chance to be made into a premade Parafolk! Anyways you guys are awesome and congrats to moving to full-time Lea!
Thank you and that's a cool idea! Maybe we can try it eventually :)
I love this style of posts! It's interesting being able to see the team's thought process when it comes to improving the quality of the game :) I love all the hard work that you guys are putting into this. My only constructive criticism is to maybe add some more texture detail to the plant you made? Just to give it a bit more depth to the leaves and stems.
Thank you! And that's a good advice, we will work on that on the future :)
Awesome! Thanks for the sneak peek!
this is amazing!
I really love seeing sneak peeks on the work so please keep them coming, these little snippets get me even more invested to this game . Also if you can reveal stuff around character like this might get me actually interested in premade para in a way I never have had with sims. The whole thing looks so beautiful and I just maybe might have watched the Maggie's loft video about 30 times already just because it's so prett
I absolutely love EVERYTHING about this! 😍
Really cool to see the thought process behind it, I'd love to see more updates like this. Keep up the amazing work ^^
This was very interesting, I love it! It’s nice to see that you guys listen to each others feedback. Thanks for the update :)
This is incredible!! So exciting
Oh, I loved this post! Thank you Léa and good luck working full time on the game! I'm sure you'll do great :)
Wow will Maggie be available in the base game when it is released or is she just for demo? I like the thought of you guys slowly introducing us to your creations like this and then eventually when everything is done we can meet them through game play
She will be in the base game of course ! :D
This is an amazing post, thank you Léa <3
This is amazing! The attention to detail is absolutely incredible! I am so excited to see Paralives when it is ready and I'm glad you guys are including us is decisions for the game!
Your work is absolutely stunning and the game is looking just beautiful.... I can't imagine what I'll look and be like upon release. I am proud and thrilled to have an inside look at this game's development 😊 Keep up the good work guys! And don't forget to take care of yourselves ❤
Just want to say we really appreciate the updates that you give us because transparency is super important with projects like these! You guys are doing great work and I'm super excited for the Para reveal
Thanks for the detailed post, and congrats! everything looks made with such dedication and attention. <3 incredible work. Looking forward to all your posts. good job guys!
This is very interesting, thank you for this sneak peak! I look forward to see more of those in the future 😊 keep up the incredible work 💙
Would also be nice if the monstera had difference in colour since not all leaves look the same. Some have more of a compact leaf and others have those holes that you've made. (I'm a florist) They also have lighter leaves and darker once
The great thing about creating assets directly for characters is that it'll give them all such great personality which then fits with a bunch of other aesthetics and characters. Way to go guys, and I'm loving this aesthetic more than you-know-who's honestly. You're seriously making leaps!
More of those delevoper diaries in the future please!
A comment about the monstera, it actually grows on itself, not indivudual leaves coming up from the earth
Is there going to be the Maine coon cat in the game?!
Maybe! Can't confirm for now :)
Amazing insight! I love your work.
Wow this is actually really interesting. Loving the communication from devs! Thank you!!
This is just amazing!!! I'm loving that you're giving the characters of the game houses that are personalized, that you can see all the details coming together and fitting the character personality. I can't wait for the game to be finalized!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you sharing the process, good luck with the project <3
I love you guys and this is coming from a cold hearted b****!
i’m so glad y’all decided to share this. not only is it super interesting but it also helps us feel more connected to the game!! thank you so much for this post and for working so hard on the game!!!
I love that you've shared this with us!! Thank you so much!! The improvements and the process is so intriguing!! It makes me excited for more! Please continue to share more like this!! Thank you guys for all your hard work! I can already tell it's gonna be amazing! ♡
Cheer to the most wonderful 3D artist in the world ! <3
This is definitely dope, and appreciate all the hard work the whole team has accomplished. Looking forward to more like this! Thank you!
i'm so freaking excited about this
yeah i love it, it's so interesting to read and love how you guys put your hearts in every detail.
This is so interesting! It’s so fun to read about the process behind the amazing work you guys are doing. Congrats Léa for joining the team full time, can’t wait to hear more from you! :D
Yay, so happy for you and the team (and for us), Léa! Thanks for showing us the different steps you guys took! I love these behind the scenes posts.
Thank you so much for sharing the process, this was the best thing to read! It’s like a learning experience for everyone and it really makes me feel like this is a big family or community of learning! :D we’ll be cheering you on and excitedly waiting for more!
I was smiling so wide while reading this post! Not only the amazing job your doing, but also how happy and excited you seam to be sharing it! Is beautiful, there's so much passion and love behind this project, you can just feel it!
Love that you are sharing the process! Very cool to see behind the scenes work. Keep it up and I hope to see more dev diaries (especially the creative process of parafolk)!!
It's super interesting to read about the thought process behind design decisions made for the game & it's great that you share that with us. I would love more posts like this in the future that give us a look at the development side of things.
I loved this.
This is interesting, share it with us more often
Amazing work! Love all of it.
That team work is goal !!!
Random thing, but I really hope there’s stargazing in the game ! I thought about it cuz of Maggie’s love for astronomy, cuz one of my fav things to do in sims 3 was have my sims go outside and star gaze. I feel like in sims 4 there aren’t enough passive, relaxing activities like this.
Yesss! Agree with you
Oh my god I can't believe it, I honestly can't wait for this game to come out, keep it up guys
It looks absolutely amazing and you guys should be so proud!
Thanks for sharing this. The pot looks beautiful now. You are doing a good job!
Ive never been more interested to read something. It’s amazing! Thanks for showing us and I personally would like more of these posts in the future, if possible and only if you guys want that of course. I love it a lot!
It’s really interesting to read and see the development process of it all. Thanks for the post! :D
We can even chage the color of bricks, Wow!!
Thank you for sharing this!! It's awesome seeing the process in creating something so wonderful!
Love this kind of stuff thanks for trying to post things for us ❤️❤️❤️
So cool! I’m a plant gal so I’m absolutely using that monstera when the game comes out! You guys do such amazing work <3
So excited to hear that you’re now full time, Léa! This loft looks incredible! 😍It’s SO interesting to be able to get a peek behind the scenes at how things are made! Can’t wait to meet Maggie... she sounds a lot like me, actually! 😁
When things are made with love 💖
Oh.my.goshhhh. Very much in love! This is beyond awesome and cannot wait for the game! Thank you Lea 🤩
This looks amazing! I also really like the longer article-like post! You guys should do that more often!
As much as I love seeing the big updates with all the new things, I absolutely love learning about the process behind the scenes too. Thank you for sharing this, and hoping for more in this vein ❤
Saying woman got me thinking, will we be able to have non-binary or trans paras? One thing I think the sims did wrong was not allowing us to choose pronouns, not even giving the option to choose they
It’s confirmed they will have support for both of those.
love the insight of the game and watching you guys grow!! I'm so excited for more!!
Such a fantastic job!
This is simply beautiful and quite interesting, im looking forward for more entries in this diary.
I love this diary! Would love to see more of this stuff! Keep it up guys! You're awesome
Never clicked on a notif so fast. I love seeing all the behind the scenes ! I’m learning so much 😊
So amazing. You guys are killing it!
Omg I looooove!
Awesome post. Love you guys. Stay safe. Can't wait to see what's next. I love you, you talented people!
Nice!!
Thank you Léa for keeping us updated <33
this is really fun!
Wow this is amazing! I’m looking forward to more of this behind the scenes stuff
This is epic ngl, best way of getting to know a character!!!
It looks so so beautiful! I can’t wait to see what Maggie looks like! 😍
Woah! This is sick. FANTASTIC 🤩
very nice, good job on it all, looks amazing <3
Oh my gosh! It looks amazing 😍
Looks amazing! Keep up the good work, I cannot wait!
Yey! First!