[Move The Chains] - Character, UI, and General Progress Updates.

So, been a bit since I've talked about what's going on with Move The Chains. There's been a lot of progress since the last pseudo-projgress report talking about the UI. Some more impactful than others, but what I figure to be equally interesting, at least for some.

One part where We Were Just Kids has been lacking was with UI, so I wanted to push myself a bit with this one. Making something a bit more unique than the standard Ren'py UI. Obviously, I'm not pulling a Summertime Saga and basically rewriting the entire UI. But I wanted something more cohesive beyond fonts and colors. Hopefully I've achieved that, though I guess time'll tell.

While I liked and do still like the fundamental base design of her, the more I looked at it, the more I wasn't a fan of the structure of her face/skull. The hair was fine, but I wasn't exactly keen on using the same hair asset more than once in the same VN. So, while I was playing with the process of converting G9 clothes into G8 and 8.1 versions. I figured I'd try it on the hair, and sure it enough it worked. So, I ended up using a G9 hair here and definitely like it quite a bit more.

As for the shape of her head, there isn't a huge change, but I'd say it's at least visible. Felt like her jaw was too wide and/or sharp, a feeling that seemed to apply to the rest of her head shape. So, I made it a bit more narrow/pointed. Definitely fits a lot better to me.

This is one I'd been brewing on for a while and wanted to make a decision on before I put the first release out as she'll be showing up in it. It's not that the original looked bad, but just something feeling sort of 'off'. In a way that I can't really explain. So, this one's pretty self-explanatory. Same hair, similar general facial structure, but different skin and eyes. Her character is of the more serious variety (against the other LIs in the VN, at least.), but the general idea with her is that she slowly starts softening up around the protagonist, so that more serious look has room to expand into something a bit softer.

I'm still not sure I'm entirely satisfied with this figure, either, but it's starting to feel like one of those things where I'll never be entirely happy with it, and I don't really want to spend more time than I have adjusting her. We'll see, I guess.

This is one where I really don't know what I was originally thinking. Pretty sure I was drunk at four in the morning when I was making this. This one is almost entirely changed. Different skin, different figure, different clothes. Only things that aren't different, and that's only stylistically, are the hair color and the chokers.

The skin is still a bit pale, I think, but I'll test in different lighting conditions to see if it's the skin that's pale or the lighting creating it. But I'm definitely preferring the softer features, especially in the eyes.

It's a harem VN, but not everyone has the same tastes, so I'm just trying to flavor up the options. Not all of these new characters are LIs, to be clear. Some are side pieces or one-offs, some are just friends (or friends of friends) and reoccurring extras. That isn't the case for Maya. same applies for Na Yu below her. A lot of this will depend on fanfare and how the story progresses, though (e.g. if a certain character that isn't an LI seems to be popular, I may toss them in.).

That said, I'm not going to describe who some of these characters are in relation to the VN as some might be spoilers. Will explain the process of creation instead.

So, I figured an older character/LI would be a fun addition. A MILF without the kid (yet). She does play a key role in the story, though, and does (or should, at least if everything goes to plan.) make an appearance in 0.1. With an already good base for the skin, and adding a just a little bit of Zev0's Aging Morphs, I got the 'slightly older' look I wanted.

Also, a big shoutout to JackMancactus (Twitter / DA) for what was the original character design. While I largely didn't keep what he shared (there are still parts of it in this current figure.), the fact that he shared his original OC is still legit.

As is with most VNs, most of the girls are packing (not that kind, but. . .heh.). Anyone who's played with Daz for any extended amount of time probably knows how tough it is to get a realistic looking petite girl that doesn't look like a 30-year-old midget or an oversized preteen.

The idea of the design here is pretty obvious, petite Asian-American (with mostly American/Caucasian features.), with a touch of rebel/artistry (tattoos, piercings, etc.)

Protagonist's teacher for his junior year and part of his senior year of high school. Partially a one-off, might make an appearance or two, but nothing near an LI. Could aways change, but no real plans beyond a fuck or two. May or may not change as the VN evolves.

Deshaun's girlfriend, past fling with Protagonist. Not going to say any more than that. Ignore the expression, though. Was like four in the morning, didn't feel like fucking around with it.

Still not sure if Ivy's going to be a potential LI or side piece. If you look closely, you'll see what the character design was here. A bit tropey for a VN at this point, I suppose, but tastes. Another early morning render, so again, expressions somewhat blank and I managed to forget to make sure her entire head was in frame.

Not sure I like the tone of the skin here, may rework it prior to rendering. But otherwise generally finished.

A friend of Diana, and hopefully the type of character comes through with the design. A raging bitch, always angry. Will soften up a bit, probably. Most likely not a sexable character.

Sky's sister. Not an LI, nor sexable. A hard-partying troublemaker for, well, basically everyone. Not much else to say here.

So, most of the UI was already done in the previous post/update specifically for this. Nothing huge has changed. Just some little addition. One that isn't posted below was a slider for the textbox transparency, mostly because it doesn't really need it. Though, I'll add, with a transparent textbox, you'll still see the quick menu on the left side. I'm not entirely sure if I can make change/move when the textbox is transparent. Will have to look into that.

So, with some of the choices in MTC, you'll see an icon like this:

And when you hover over it, you'll see a popup explaining what it said thing is or what it'll lead toward if I feel it is necessary. Like so:

(Full size, because Patreon formatting sucks.)

Then there's something of a character page. With their names, where they're from, and some character attributes. While the attributes are there to flesh out the characters a bit more, I may more not involve them as some sort of reference to use when spending time with an LI. Still a WIP, for the most part, but turning out pretty good. Still have some smaller UI stuff to do, but it's 

(Also full size. Because above.)

So, to close, I thought I'd post a couple preview renders from the upcoming 0.1 release (Most likely early 2023.). But before I do that, I'll put some clarity as to where I'm at with the first release, how much more there is to go, and the current state of everything beyond the renders.

So, you might've seen it already, but I'm currently sitting just over 600 renders for the first release. The goal for this release is 800, just to give something sizeable for the players to experience. Could very well end up being more, though, seeing as a lot of the first release takes place before the protagonist leaves for Texas. But I'd like to introduce at least a few of the main LI, if not all. 

Beyond that, most of the first quarter of 0.1 is written (The first half of the VN itself is already outlined, as is most of the back quarter of it.). For the most part, I have the scenes for all of the animations left to do set up, and some of the animations already done and are just waiting to be rendered. So, overall, there's still a way to go. But it's definitely getting closer. So, with all that said, here's a few teaser renders for 0.1 (if you're so inclined, please ignore the lack of post on these. :P)

- MissFortune