Creating a Naturist Theme Video Game

[Dogoegma]

Took me all of 45 seconds to come up with it.

Well, in any case, it's a good base to build off of. I'm more of a visual type of guy so I always approach things from visual side first. Having a vague story is just as good as having a solid one in my case.

I'll hold off on the platformer idea for now and opt in for a more accessible game to reach a wider audience. I think the original concept of a tycoon-style game is probably the best option in that regards. I'll get some rudimentary development going, making concept art and throw some ideas on paper during my off time. First phase I want to hit before getting a working, minimal viable prototype is to get some boards on the general direction that the game would take, since that's my forte.

Let's keep this project open for everyone on the forums, as a way to document it publicly and be a good learning resource for the future. It would be great if people would help out in the process by giving feedback or share assets or contribute stuff to keep the momentum going.

Timeline:
Mid to End of July - concept art, preliminary character sheets, environment, mood board, asset samples
Early to Mid-August - minimal viable product
December - final product?

I'll try to post something every few days as my free time allows.

Sounds good, I am happy to help in whatever way I can. I know limited visual basic and I am a Pure Math major, Philosophy minor. Not sure that helps, but hey, it is something no? lol.

[carbon]

Sounds good, I am happy to help in whatever way I can. I know limited visual basic and I am a Pure Math major, Philosophy minor. Not sure that helps, but hey, it is something no? lol.

Hey, every little bit helps. As long as there's a will, there's a way. Since we're pretty much bare-boned right now, it'll be great to start generating ideas such as a dialog or story, inspirational images and media on which direction we should take it, sample code snippets from github, etc.

One thing I like to do for any creative project is to start a mood board or a board full of inspirational stuff. Here's an example with some rough sketches:

This was for a 48 hour game jam.

It can be anything that leap out to you like, "hey, this is cool" or "I think this is something we should do!". I don't know how to coordinate this here though. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Maurits]

I would also be willing to help if I can.
Are you planning to make this game available on a computer or on a smartphone?

[carbon]

I would also be willing to help if I can.
Are you planning to make this game available on a computer or on a smartphone?

That's a good question, and I don't know which would be the best. I feel like having some research on the pros and cons of both would be useful to make the final verdict. Personally, I'd like this to be a web-based game and be able to run it on any device.

[Riot.EXE]

Web based is the best bet considering all the damned nudity involved.

[carbon]

Web based is the best bet considering all the damned nudity involved.

Yeah, don't think any platform will realistically pick it up. Though it's a little early talking about publishing when we haven't even started the actual development process.

-----

Now a small update.

After scouring around for a good engine to use, I've decided to go back to what I'm familiar with: Unity.

Initially, I thought that it should be 100% 2D (because 3D is scary), but after looking at Octopath Traveller and Knights and Bikes on the GDC channel, I was inspired by the use of 2D assets in a 3D environment. I'm going to be using Illustrator to make most of my assets, probably Photoshop for animating the sprites, and maybe Blender for 3D stuff (if that's even necessary).

I have a soft-spot for mid-century modern design, so I might stick around with this style until proven otherwise. I'm just doing some rough sketches right now: architecture, plants and people, etc. and writing some basic story points, likely mechanics, and some things I found playing tycoon-style games, resource management, and city-building simulations.

If anyone wants to contribute by playing these sorts of games and making a document outlining some common tropes, necessary elements, what is vital for a prototype, that would be great.

[NaturalInNY]

I'm in love with Octopath Traveler's visual style and it's my second most anticipated game of the year behind Spider-Man for PS4 so I love that design idea. Sprite based might be the way to go since it might come off as more...innocent I guess? Despite Conan: Exiles doing the whole full nudity thing, nudity is one of the last taboos left in video games.

[Dogoegma]

Web based is the best bet considering all the damned nudity involved.

Yeah, don't think any platform will realistically pick it up. Though it's a little early talking about publishing when we haven't even started the actual development process.

-----

Now a small update.

After scouring around for a good engine to use, I've decided to go back to what I'm familiar with: Unity.

Initially, I thought that it should be 100% 2D (because 3D is scary), but after looking at Octopath Traveller and Knights and Bikes on the GDC channel, I was inspired by the use of 2D assets in a 3D environment. I'm going to be using Illustrator to make most of my assets, probably Photoshop for animating the sprites, and maybe Blender for 3D stuff (if that's even necessary).

I have a soft-spot for mid-century modern design, so I might stick around with this style until proven otherwise. I'm just doing some rough sketches right now: architecture, plants and people, etc. and writing some basic story points, likely mechanics, and some things I found playing tycoon-style games, resource management, and city-building simulations.

If anyone wants to contribute by playing these sorts of games and making a document outlining some common tropes, necessary elements, what is vital for a prototype, that would be great.

I'd see about if you can implement some more sprites when you get the time. Some basic hairstyle choices (with binary pubic and body hair) could be implemented. This would isolate the game from modern social criticism (which I disagree with, but it is a current trend in leftwing spheres [a main marketing demographic for the game]). Such random sprites would also add variety and would be a, labor wise, cheap improvement to improving the polish (assuming you decide to use your sprites).

[Dogoegma]

Also, I would decide which features to work towards, and which to abandon early on (with priority to cheap, easy, and effective). Letting the community know what features need commentary would help focus our commentary to help.

[Riot.EXE]

Web based is the best bet considering all the damned nudity involved.

Yeah, don't think any platform will realistically pick it up. Though it's a little early talking about publishing when we haven't even started the actual development process.

-----

Now a small update.

After scouring around for a good engine to use, I've decided to go back to what I'm familiar with: Unity.

Initially, I thought that it should be 100% 2D (because 3D is scary), but after looking at Octopath Traveller and Knights and Bikes on the GDC channel, I was inspired by the use of 2D assets in a 3D environment. I'm going to be using Illustrator to make most of my assets, probably Photoshop for animating the sprites, and maybe Blender for 3D stuff (if that's even necessary).

I have a soft-spot for mid-century modern design, so I might stick around with this style until proven otherwise. I'm just doing some rough sketches right now: architecture, plants and people, etc. and writing some basic story points, likely mechanics, and some things I found playing tycoon-style games, resource management, and city-building simulations.

If anyone wants to contribute by playing these sorts of games and making a document outlining some common tropes, necessary elements, what is vital for a prototype, that would be great.

I'd see about if you can implement some more sprites when you get the time. Some basic hairstyle choices (with binary pubic and body hair) could be implemented. This would isolate the game from modern social criticism (which I disagree with, but it is a current trend in leftwing spheres [a main marketing demographic for the game]). Such random sprites would also add variety and would be a, labor wise, cheap improvement to improving the polish (assuming you decide to use your sprites).

Hold up...are you insinuating that diversity is a nuisance?

[Dogoegma]

Web based is the best bet considering all the damned nudity involved.

Yeah, don't think any platform will realistically pick it up. Though it's a little early talking about publishing when we haven't even started the actual development process.

-----

Now a small update.

After scouring around for a good engine to use, I've decided to go back to what I'm familiar with: Unity.

Initially, I thought that it should be 100% 2D (because 3D is scary), but after looking at Octopath Traveller and Knights and Bikes on the GDC channel, I was inspired by the use of 2D assets in a 3D environment. I'm going to be using Illustrator to make most of my assets, probably Photoshop for animating the sprites, and maybe Blender for 3D stuff (if that's even necessary).

I have a soft-spot for mid-century modern design, so I might stick around with this style until proven otherwise. I'm just doing some rough sketches right now: architecture, plants and people, etc. and writing some basic story points, likely mechanics, and some things I found playing tycoon-style games, resource management, and city-building simulations.

If anyone wants to contribute by playing these sorts of games and making a document outlining some common tropes, necessary elements, what is vital for a prototype, that would be great.

I'd see about if you can implement some more sprites when you get the time. Some basic hairstyle choices (with binary pubic and body hair) could be implemented. This would isolate the game from modern social criticism (which I disagree with, but it is a current trend in leftwing spheres [a main marketing demographic for the game]). Such random sprites would also add variety and would be a, labor wise, cheap improvement to improving the polish (assuming you decide to use your sprites).

Hold up...are you insinuating that diversity is a nuisance?

No, I find poorly informed activism a nuisance. Well informed activism, I champion. I don't appreciate people running off half-cocked with half the story and deciding that a political slogan (developed by the same kind of people that generally don't believe their own rhetoric as a rule, i.e. a politician) is sufficient evidence for the cause. Being able to shout a slogan is completely useless to me. I care no more for repeated chants of MAGA and 'merica or anyother such nonesense phrase than I do for calls that so and so is alt-right or a Nazi. Hysterics are not my thing. I prefer reason and discussion. I would rather people have actual conversations and learn about the issue at least well enough to explain the opposition's argument to them to their satisfaction. I am in the political center and generally refer to myself as a libertarian who believes in freedom for all. I don't see an issue with me preferring discussion to shouts and chants.

Thus, preventing the hypothetical problem seems to be for the best. Avoiding a problem before it occurs is just good business. I'd rather not have Feminist Frequency give the game bad marks and thus ruin a major market for the product. My opinions on Ms. Anita Sarkeesian are irrelevant, as is my political views. However a bad mark from her could sink the game as she is regarded in some left wing circles as a credible critic. It behooves anyone trying to reach a more leftwing audience (I think it is safe to presume that many of our fellow naturists and nudists lean onto the left-wing of the political spectrum, not to say that there are not valuable right-wing naturists and nudists) to try and keep such concerns in mind.

I'd rather keep the topic on the discussion at hand and veer away from my political opinions as if not, I shall have to go into my crack pot transhumanist political ideas, and noone wants to hear a cooky Kurzweilian like myself.

[Octavia]

For my part, I think diversity is always a good idea for this kind of thing. It will help appeal to a wider base. So a diverse selection of body types, skin tones, and even potentially some form of non-binary option would be ideal. Whether you support diversity measures for their own sake (personally, I think they are quite important), it makes sense from a marketing perspective. Sprites are relatively uncomplicated, so a "large" and a "small" form for each gender, with palate-swapped skin tones, would be realistically doable (I think).

[Kyle]

Well, this took a turn.

[carbon]

Aight, so a small update. I've figured out what the minimum viable product would be. All that's needed is to implement it. The steps are as follows (forgive me I'm no programmer):

• A ground
• 3 "structures"
• Give each of the structures a set of values/booleans
• When placed on the map, change the values of the tile to the values within the structures
• Values decay the further the tiles are from the structure epicentre
• Tiles can have multiple values
• When placing a tent/suite/trailer to the tile with the values, they are adopted to the residence(s)
• When placing a visitor to the residence, check if visitor values (wants/needs) and the residence values match
• If match, add +x to player score; if not, add +0

For my part, I think diversity is always a good idea for this kind of thing.

Ask and you shall receive! Behold! Young adults.



These are dialogue portrait samples I've made when I felt like doing it. Thinking of using them for things like... cutscenes, quests or general dialogue what-not. I'm currently making other ages such as seniors, adults, kids, and toddlers (maybe). Made in Illustrator, 100% vector for scaling. In the future, different body shapes, hairs, accessories, and expressions.

I still need to make the overworld sprites. It's gotta be pretty simple for easier animating (probably rigging rather than frames, from the looks of it; something like Tinierme avatars when that was active, or the sprites from Vanillaware), it needs to be well composed to be differentiable even if it's shrunken down and standardized to make palette-swapping efficient.

And just for my personal enjoyment, have some foliage!



I'm currently researching mid-century architecture to make the structures. For the MVP prototype, I'll probably use a hot tub, a playground, and a pool. For the final game, clubhouses, restaurants, etc. etc.

[Dogoegma]

Thanks for the work so far. Any more news, thanks mate.