[BIG UPDATE] Seeking programmer for CoC-like game

[m0RV]

[ TOP SECRET ]

Nah, just old. No longer need any programming help. It was time to take her down.

R. I. P., old thread.

 

[dndw]

I don't have the time myself, but you are going to need to provide some more information if you want to catch anyone's attention. Here are some questions to get you started:

• Do you have any programming language / target platform in mind? If so, what is it and how flexible are you concerning that choice? If not, what kind of features do you want available? I'll assume you want text and images, but do you want text-based commands, Fenoxo-style buttons, or something else entirely? What about sound? Other features?
• Do you have a set timeframe? How long do you expect development to take? What kind of scope are we talking?
• What's in it for the programmer? Just the fun of it? Will they get a fixed amount of cash, a share of any Patreon income, or some other renumeration?
• How much of their own ideas will the programmer be able to implement. (That is, how rigidly do you want to define what you want done?)

 

[m0RV]

I don't have the time myself, but you are going to need to provide some more information if you want to catch anyone's attention. Here are some questions to get you started:

• Do you have any programming language / target platform in mind? If so, what is it and how flexible are you concerning that choice? If not, what kind of features do you want available? I'll assume you want text and images, but do you want text-based commands, Fenoxo-style buttons, or something else entirely? What about sound? Other features?
• Do you have a set timeframe? How long do you expect development to take? What kind of scope are we talking?
• What's in it for the programmer? Just the fun of it? Will they get a fixed amount of cash, a share of any Patreon income, or some other renumeration?
• How much of their own ideas will the programmer be able to implement. (That is, how rigidly do you want to define what you want done?)

Wow. Thank you for such a detailed response, dndw. This gets the wheels turning for me. Okay, I’ll organize my answers here.

One, I do not have a specific language in mind for programming. I would like a browser-based game so it’s easy for people to play whatever their specs with a minimal tax on the hardware. But that’s flexible. For features, I was thinking buttons. The open-ended “just type all kinda shit to see what works” formula is so 1992. So yeah, buttons, but with a maximum of like 64, just to be sure we’ll never run out of room. (The whole ten button thing in CoC got a little annoying, I’m sure to Fenoxo too.) For sound, just some satisfying clicks and a nice sound track. Maybe some voice acting eventually, but nothing too hulking, just “oohs”, “ahs”, and “aahns”, you know.

Two, the timeframe is totally unformed. I only know the design side and have limited understanding of what that means for the data-crunching left-brainers. I mean, I’ve done some programming, and I tell you, few forces in this world bring me such pain. That being said, development of the alpha would be bare-bones, just sturdy code in the right places to make the story move. Maybe some minimal graphics and a few event .JPGs. Nothing fancy. So the alpha could probably get done in a couple months, maybe? I pretty prolific, so the write’s gonna flow quickly. For scope—shit, I don’t know. Bigger is better, right? But I think it’ll be a meat-and-potatoes main quest in the beginning with few sidetracks. It’ll develop from there, if interested parties remain interested.

Three, the programmer(s) will be my comrade(s), prolly for life or until they get too busy for me. And yes, the Patreon’s to water the whole garden, not just me, so monetary compensation’s on the table. Depending on their maintained workload, they’d get a maintained payout. As I think I’ve illustrated, I’m not in this for the money. But a man’s gotta eat. *shrugs* Oh, and a programmer naturally gets some creative authority as well, provided his preferences stay within the outlined subject matter. (Mentioned in the linked blog above, in “The Advent” section.)

Four, as I sort of said already, the programmer (programmers, maybe) is (are) very close to the project and all of their fantasies and character preferences will be embraced, provided those fantasies and character preferences sync with what I’m into. The only reason I even have content guidelines is because I find I write much better with a chubby. Moreover, I’m really trying to facilitate a “more realistic” CoC game (see Planned Special Features under the “Help Wanted” section here.)

I hope these words give readers enough to chew on. Feel free to inquire about whatever you want.

And about my motivation, oh, I’m fecking motivated. I wrote an eighty-five chapter fantasy book for shits and giggles, people. Tell me that don’t testify.

 

[stuntcock]

There was a somewhat-similar "looking for programmer" post a few weeks ago. I posed a few questions in that thread. You can skip over anything in that post which seems irrelevant to your project (or questions which you'd prefer to answer in a 1-on-1 conversation instead of via a public forum). But those are the sort of things which a programmer might like to know before getting involved, so any additional information that you can provide would be useful.

I would like a browser-based game so it’s easy for people to play whatever their specs with a minimal tax on the hardware.

Do you require support for mobile devices?

For features, I was thinking buttons.

Do the buttons need to provide tooltips?

So yeah, buttons, but with a maximum of like 64, just to be sure we’ll never run out of room. (The whole ten button thing in CoC got a little annoying, I’m sure to Fenoxo too.)

The alternative isn't necessarily great for the user experience, though. By limiting the UI to a few buttons, Fen's games provide convenient and consistent keyboard shortcuts. If you extend the options available to the player then they need to rely on the mouse, which is slightly slower. It's not a problem when someone is playing through a new scenario and considering each option carefully - but if they're replaying a scene (or combat encounter) then they're going to want to do so quickly.

This is a minor annoyance in Nightgames. As you reach the midgame and you're presented with dozens of possible actions in each combat round, you're also forced to expend some effort in chasing down the appropriate button. It's a minor interruption of gameplay flow, and a minor breach of immersion.

For scope—shit, I don’t know. Bigger is better, right?

The important thing is the ability to set a scope and then deliver on it. I'd rather see a game with a half-dozen locations and characters instead of a sprawling mess involving hundreds of bug-laden quests, incomplete sex scenes, and placeholder artwork.

A huge scope can help to catch the attention of consumers, but it risks scaring away potential developers. For example: "the guy in charge of this project has a lot of ideas but doesn't seem to know which ones to focus on, so the project will probably undergo many changes in its priorities and schedules" or "this scope is very ambitious, the leader is unproven, and the team has never worked together before -- so this project is probably doomed" or "half of the stuff on this list is beyond my technical skill level."

And yes, the Patreon’s to water the whole garden, not just me, so monetary compensation’s on the table. Depending on their maintained workload, they’d get a maintained payout.

This may be something that you'd prefer to negotiate 1-on-1 after you've found a promising candidate (so please don't feel compelled to respond to this point) - but you'll need to be more specific. Working arrangements, delivery schedules, IP ownership (and/or licensing), liability, contract vs salary vs revenue-sharing, probationary period, and so on. It's especially important to setup an exit plan -- if someone decides to leave the project, then what (in terms of money, assets, IP, residuals) do they get to take with them, and what are they expected (or better yet: contractually required) to leave behind?

Four, as I sort of said already, the programmer (programmers, maybe)

This is another detail which you'll need to negotiate. If you're working on a revenue-sharing model, then your programmer might be upset when you expand the team and their cut falls from 50% to 25%. If they've previously been in a solo dev position, they might be annoyed by the inclusion of a new programmer with different working habits -- even if that new person is working gratis.

On the other hand, they might have joined up based on the simple nature of the project ("sure, I can write a visual novel framework") and then get overwhelmed by increases in scope ("these Patreon guys have requested a genetics system for NPC reproduction ... and I have no idea how to implement it"). They might ask for authority to recruit another programmer, and you might take a backseat role in such activities (because you're unfamiliar with the technical details, or you don't understand the skillset which is being sought).

You yourself might become busy with something else -- but the team still wants to proceed and asks you to hire a substitute writer in order to keep the project alive. Or the artist might complain that the programmer is being lazy and failing to communicate, and they insist that you fire the guy and find someone else.

You should put some thought into this sort of thing: how does the team grow? how is authority delegated within the team? how do you handle conflicts? You don't need to reply publicly of course; these are just questions for you to consider before you undertake a leadership role in a software development project.

the programmer (programmers, maybe) is (are) very close to the project and all of their fantasies and character preferences will be embraced

This point addresses the "positive" side of contributions. But what about the "negative" side?

Imagine that the programmer discovers a minor flaw in the writing (e.g. a missing pronoun). You might implicitly expect them to simply fix the error - but they might instead create a bug report and ask you to fix the error. A programmer might feel uncomfortable making changes to the "core" narrative experience of the game (as opposed to the technical "framework" which surrounds and supports it). They might be uncomfortable expressing sexuality in a written form. They might possess poor English skills and be afraid of making grammatical mistakes. They might find the scene distasteful and prefer not to think about it (because of mild homophobia or whatever).

Do you expect all of your team members to be "on board" as creative contributors? Do you expect them to participate in brainstorming, feedback, and writing sessions? Are you willing to accept someone who limits themselves to the technical tasks and abstains wholly from the narrative or sexual details of the game?

The game will be 100% victimless, imaginative porn, illustrations, animations, delicious descriptions.

Can you elaborate on the "animations" item?

If you mean that the game needs to allow for pre-animated images (i.e. splicing a GIF into a frame which would otherwise contain a JPG) then that's fairly straightforward. But if you intend for the game to support responsive animations (or animated gameplay sequences) then you should explain in greater detail -- because such requirements would influence technology choices.

 

[art926]

Can you describe the "world you made"? What will the game be about? What is the main concept, tension, challenge? What fetishes you like to right about?

 

[The Silver Bard]

For scope—shit, I don’t know. Bigger is better, right?

As a general rule of game development, a smaller scope is almost always better. An uncontrolled scope is the thing that kills 99% of first-time game projects. It's the number one thing I look at when trying to predict if a project will succeed or not.

 

[m0RV]

Holy guacamole ... stuntcock, props for the thorough post. You must be a programmer. And regarding your link to your other conversation, I wanted to be forthright and state that this game is and always will be 100% gratis in all forms. For the art, I would like raster, because I’m into the painterly stuff, and both animations and palette swapping (if that’s in reference to color) should be on the table. While I would like to give the programmer as much flexibility as possible, I need someone who knows what they’re doing, someone who can design a relatively robust set of basic features. (More about this below.) The main target platform is the Windows PC, but I’ve been in the game long enough to know ports can be a nightmare, so some consideration for such things up front is best. (More about this below.)

Oh, and modding would be very good to invest in. A strong mod community keeps a project alive years after it would’ve been forgotten.

The scope of the hiring is limited to a couple programmers for the moment. I’d be open to artistic and aesthetic assistance as well, if I can find anyone that’s skilled enough. (Free artists tend to ... underperform.) But if I can’t find an artist, I’ll just make the character portraits myself. As far as communication, Skype seems fine, but that’s open. For distribution, open demos, a beta version with feedback, a final 1.0, and then the sky's the limit from there.

About leadership, as the writer, I would like to direct the story, thus determine the direction of the project. Hopefully I can make for a compelling creative union with whoever’s interested, so they stick around to reap the benefits with me. As long as my comrades work as hard as me, I consider the project more of a Round Table than a autocracy. Naturally, programmers would receive perks both aboveboard and otherwise. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Seriously, though, I ain’t about power, just visionary direction. That being said, I do intend to lead from the front.

Do the buttons need to provide tooltips?

Urr, you mean those little messages that come up when you hover the mouse over something? I doubt it. Let’s just say, “No.”

The alternative isn't necessarily great for the user experience, though. By limiting the UI to a few buttons, Fen's games provide convenient and consistent keyboard shortcuts. If you extend the options available to the player then they need to rely on the mouse, which is slightly slower. It's not a problem when someone is playing through a new scenario and considering each option carefully - but if they're replaying a scene (or combat encounter) then they're going to want to do so quickly.

This is a minor annoyance in Nightgames. As you reach the midgame and you're presented with dozens of possible actions in each combat round, you're also forced to expend some effort in chasing down the appropriate button. It's a minor interruption of gameplay flow, and a minor breach of immersion.

You make a good point here. (Of your many good points.) Honestly, I want clickable action buttons (or icons) with assigned hotkeys and a list at the bottom middle for response and action options (away from “battle”). Once I find some people, I’ll slap together some GUI ideas. But what I found with CoC was I pressed the wrong damn key like <5% of the time. Still, less crowding, I think, would be a good idea.

The important thing is the ability to set a scope and then deliver on it. I'd rather see a game with a half-dozen locations and characters instead of a sprawling mess involving hundreds of bug-laden quests, incomplete sex scenes, and placeholder artwork.

A huge scope can help to catch the attention of consumers, but it risks scaring away potential developers. For example: "the guy in charge of this project has a lot of ideas but doesn't seem to know which ones to focus on, so the project will probably undergo many changes in its priorities and schedules" or "this scope is very ambitious, the leader is unproven, and the team has never worked together before -- so this project is probably doomed" or "half of the stuff on this list is beyond my technical skill level."

Lawls! So true, brother. Yeah, I need a big kid or two on my team, no greenhorns. And as you say, I’m unproven as a leader, and no amount of words can convince you otherwise. But my actions sure as hell will. Regarding scope, let me assure you, the main quest is all I have in mind for the alpha build. That should be a straight-through experience, few bells or whistles, aside from the sex.

This may be something that you'd prefer to negotiate 1-on-1 after you've found a promising candidate (so please don't feel compelled to respond to this point) - but you'll need to be more specific. Working arrangements, delivery schedules, IP ownership (and/or licensing), liability, contract vs salary vs revenue-sharing, probationary period, and so on. It's especially important to setup an exit plan -- if someone decides to leave the project, then what (in terms of money, assets, IP, residuals) do they get to take with them, and what are they expected (or better yet: contractually required) to leave behind?

Damn, son.

Okay, so I had to take a break and cry. Not really, but you got me thinking. The truth is it’s like this: I don’t know how this is going to pan out. I have high hopes, but as far as money, no clue, no “projection”. The IP is mine, obviously, but for the game itself, the construct, no one could claim that, and since it’s not for sale, no one stands to profit by trying to do so. So I guess I’d want a legal agreement wherein people agreed not to get legal, if that’s a thing. Shareware, you know. That mentality. And as far as leaving a path, the programmer who seeks to work with me needs to play nice. He or she would need to leave a note beside every line of text. (Maybe not every line, but you get the idea.) If you ever get tired of working with me, the next guy needs to be able to pick up the pieces. That’s just common courtesy. (Not that I’m especially hard to work with.)

And no formal contracts. Pro bono until a profit can be turned. (Id est, money exceeding the first goal on the Patreon page.) Programmer applicants should a) be committed to doing this for fun, and b) expect generous compensation if financial success is reached. But don’t let me tell you what that means. Name a fair price. I’ll meet and exceed it, if the time ever comes that I can. And as I stated before, some of the Patreon earnings can always be yours, provided you commit to sharing the ongoing workload with me. Again, name your price and I’ll name what I expect from you.

Cool?

This is another detail which you'll need to negotiate. If you're working on a revenue-sharing model, then your programmer might be upset when you expand the team and their cut falls from 50% to 25%. If they've previously been in a solo dev position, they might be annoyed by the inclusion of a new programmer with different working habits -- even if that new person is working gratis.

On the other hand, they might have joined up based on the simple nature of the project ("sure, I can write a visual novel framework") and then get overwhelmed by increases in scope ("these Patreon guys have requested a genetics system for NPC reproduction ... and I have no idea how to implement it"). They might ask for authority to recruit another programmer, and you might take a backseat role in such activities (because you're unfamiliar with the technical details, or you don't understand the skillset which is being sought).

You yourself might become busy with something else -- but the team still wants to proceed and asks you to hire a substitute writer in order to keep the project alive. Or the artist might complain that the programmer is being lazy and failing to communicate, and they insist that you fire the guy and find someone else.

You should put some thought into this sort of thing: how does the team grow? how is authority delegated within the team? how do you handle conflicts? You don't need to reply publicly of course; these are just questions for you to consider before you undertake a leadership role in a software development project.

I don’t need to reply, but I will. It’s best this stuff gets published so I don’t have to answer these same questions again and again.

As far as the pie goes, the actual money, everything is available for distribution to the team. The pie will start in a few big pieces and stay that way. As you say, I’d delegate authority to hire programming help to the programmer (or programmers). But the only reason he or she (or they) would ever need to do so was if the tasks being asked of them had grown beyond them. What I really need is someone who finds such an idea unacceptable, a programmer committed to constant self-growth.

This point addresses the "positive" side of contributions. But what about the "negative" side?

Imagine that the programmer discovers a minor flaw in the writing (e.g. a missing pronoun). You might implicitly expect them to simply fix the error - but they might instead create a bug report and ask you to fix the error. A programmer might feel uncomfortable making changes to the "core" narrative experience of the game (as opposed to the technical "framework" which surrounds and supports it). They might be uncomfortable expressing sexuality in a written form. They might possess poor English skills and be afraid of making grammatical mistakes. They might find the scene distasteful and prefer not to think about it (because of mild homophobia or whatever).

Do you expect all of your team members to be "on board" as creative contributors? Do you expect them to participate in brainstorming, feedback, and writing sessions? Are you willing to accept someone who limits themselves to the technical tasks and abstains wholly from the narrative or sexual details of the game?

Any and all contributors may abstain from enjoying the game, of course. I would really like it if the team shared some of the vision, but that’s just the ideal. However, those involved mustn't be ashamed of their work nor any of the game’s contents, nor should they find any part of the game disagreeable as an exercise of the imagination. Therefore, the team should be at peace morally with the idea of a fictitious place created mainly for sexual expression, vanilla or otherwise, and understand the existence of such a place to be a needful thing.

But yes, I am comfortable with a programmer being unsympathetic to the game’s sexier elements.

Can you elaborate on the "animations" item?

If you mean that the game needs to allow for pre-animated images (i.e. splicing a GIF into a frame which would otherwise contain a JPG) then that's fairly straightforward. But if you intend for the game to support responsive animations (or animated gameplay sequences) then you should explain in greater detail -- because such requirements would influence technology choices.

You are doing your homework. I like that.

No, just the spliced in GIFs for now. Maybe in the next game? (Lawls.)

 

[m0RV]

As a general rule of game development, a smaller scope is almost always better. An uncontrolled scope is the thing that kills 99% of first-time game projects. It's the number one thing I look at when trying to predict if a project will succeed or not.

Everyone seems to be forgetting I wrote a sentence after that one, one in which I express that I understand the scope has to be narrow in the beginning. I was just being silly.

 

[Zavos]

As a general rule of game development, a smaller scope is almost always better. An uncontrolled scope is the thing that kills 99% of first-time game projects. It's the number one thing I look at when trying to predict if a project will succeed or not.

I believe its "Less complex is better". Complexity leads to bugs. Bugs lead to unspeakable rage. Unfortunately, good games require some complexity, which leads to the need for development teems and a high tolerance for frustration (divided by the programming team's size)

If you could copy/paste any scene from gdoc into a game with little work per text wall, it wouldn't matter much how big the game is. When you start adding additional processes and variables is when things begin to really get screwy.

 

[m0RV]

Can you describe the "world you made"? What will the game be about? What is the main concept, tension, challenge? What fetishes you like to right about?

Heh-hemm. Already sourced related links, including a link to a free fantasy novel about the world in question.

But if you want a short answer, see my Patreon page’s description at the end of the “It’s Time for a New Way” section. And for the fetishes, see my blog, under the “Favored Fetishes” section.

 

[m0RV]

I believe its "Less complex is better". Complexity leads to bugs. Bugs lead to unspeakable rage. Unfortunately, good games require some complexity, which leads to the need for development teems and a high tolerance for frustration (divided by the programming team's size)

If you could copy/paste any scene from gdoc into a game with little work per text wall, it wouldn't matter much how big the game is. When you start adding additional processes and variables is when things begin to really get screwy.

Now I know I’m among programmers... Oy, people. It was a joke, really.

 

[stuntcock]

The main target platform is the Windows PC, but I’ve been in the game long enough to know ports can be a nightmare, so some consideration for such things up front is best. (More about this below.)

This point wasn't addressed below. Your general sentiment is fairly clear, but if you meant to share any specific details or requirement then you might want to edit them in to your post.

Seriously, though, I ain’t about power, just visionary direction.

You can't exclude the power element, though. At some point in this project, someone might need to say "James is abusing the other team members and delivering shitty work, so I'm going to expunge his contributions from the repository and then fire his ass."

If you're unwilling to do that, and you haven't delegated the authority to someone else, then James simply stays on the team until his presence has completely demoralized everyone and the project falls apart. That's a silly worst-case scenario, but there are many lower-stakes scenarios involving disputes within the team (e.g. "lolicon: yes or no?") wherein a quick executive veto can avoid a long and unproductive argument.

The point is: don't promise your team "I won't be a dictator." Convince them that your dictatorship will be enlightened and benevolent.

Once I find some people, I’ll slap together some GUI ideas.

You don't need professional tools for this sort of thing. High-end tools allow you to quickly sketch out a wireframe, apply different skins, playtest some of its interactions or navigation features, and then import/publish the whole GUI skeleton into a coding environment ... but that's just "bonus" stuff. There's no harm in spending a half hour in MSPaint to draw a few UI mockups filled with lorem ipsum.

And as you say, I’m unproven as a leader, and no amount of words can convince you otherwise.

Leading a software project is different from many other forms of leadership. It's not just about nurturing your team and giving them the resources that they need -- you must also act as a consistent source of deadline pressure. If you leave programmers alone then they'll spend months refactoring code, improving inline documentation, re-fixing old bugs, and so on. Or they'll devote excessive effort to niche/pet features that aren't very important to your overall vision of the game.

The challenge is to treat your team with compassion and respect (i.e. as people), while still pressuring them to provide accurate estimates and complete their deliverables on-time (i.e. as machines). And also do the usual management stuff (maintain cordial working relationships within the team, resolve conflicts, report to bosses or clients). And also keep up with your own workload (writing, editing, blogging, etc).

It's not easy to do all of these things well. Experience is very useful; many first-time projects will fail because of problems which could have easily been avoided or corrected (with 20/20 hindsight).

The IP is mine, obviously

Not obviously. If I draw a sex-scene CG, then that IP belongs to me unless I explicitly assign the rights to you or release the image into the public domain. Depending on where I reside, the moral rights might be transferable, or they might belong to me in perpetuity. Creative writing and code follow similar principles, although they tend to get mixed and collaboratively edited (so that it becomes very difficult to say whether any individual "owns" a specific line of source code).

If you're going to ask all of your team members to grant their IP rights to you then that's fine ... but it's exactly the sort of thing which belongs in a written agreement. Along with clauses about future revenue sharing, waivers of liability, separability of assets, and so on.

And no formal contracts. Pro bono until a profit can be turned.

If you intend to share the revenue once the project hits the 2500 threshold, then why are you reluctant to put that promise into writing?

I can understand reluctance to get highly formal (e.g. because you're unfamiliar with IP law and prefer to focus on erotic writing, or because you feel it injects a cold impersonality into the team spirit that you're trying to establish, or because you don't want to pay thousands of dollars to a lawyer when you're struggling to pay rent). It's okay to write out a fairly loose collection of principles which can be superceded by a more businesslike contract at a later date (if/when it becomes necessary). This shit is complicated, and you're not going to get it 100% right on your first attempt.

But if you make a promise -- especially regarding payment -- and flatly refuse to put it into writing ... then people may become suspicious about your intentions.

And as far as leaving a path, the programmer who seeks to work with me needs to play nice. He or she would need to leave a note beside every line of text. (Maybe not every line, but you get the idea.)

This is a useful tidbit of information. Many programmers habitually slack off on inline documentation, and a few may avoid the project altogether because they don't want to be micromanaged at that level. Others might be more attracted to your project because they consider documentation important.

So it's very helpful to state such expectations clearly



A minor warning to any programmers reading this thread: be aware of text encoding stuff. Some of the proper nouns in this story employ extended characters (å, þ, û, etc) and so you might need to worry about ANSI support when importing text files.

 

[m0RV]

stuntcock, shit, you must have a vested interest in this (I hope). Props again, bro.

This point wasn't addressed below. Your general sentiment is fairly clear, but if you meant to share any specific details or requirement then you might want to edit them in to your post.

You can't exclude the power element, though. At some point in this project, someone might need to say "James is abusing the other team members and delivering shitty work, so I'm going to expunge his contributions from the repository and then fire his ass."

If you're unwilling to do that, and you haven't delegated the authority to someone else, then James simply stays on the team until his presence has completely demoralized everyone and the project falls apart. That's a silly worst-case scenario, but there are many lower-stakes scenarios involving disputes within the team (e.g. "lolicon: yes or no?") wherein a quick executive veto can avoid a long and unproductive argument.

The point is: don't promise your team "I won't be a dictator." Convince them that your dictatorship will be enlightened and benevolent..

Very well. I’ll be frank. Leading from the front also means making the hard decisions. Cause trouble, get expunged and expelled. I’d rather not talk about sacking, because the team will always be really small, and that should make it really tight, hopefully. But as you alluded to in the your previous post, if the programmers aren’t in it for the sex (don’t share the vision), there’s more of a chance of their becoming disaffected. Wise words and a seasoned leaning, my friend. Precious few people would go to such lengths to try to save a stranger’s project before it’s even begun. Your passion for success is evident, and I thank you for the investment you’ve made here.

You don't need professional tools for this sort of thing. High-end tools allow you to quickly sketch out a wireframe, apply different skins, playtest some of its interactions or navigation features, and then import/publish the whole GUI skeleton into a coding environment ... but that's just "bonus" stuff. There's no harm in spending a half hour in MSPaint to draw a few UI mockups filled with lorem ipsum.

I know. Actually, I’ll toss something together after I post this.

Leading a software project is different from many other forms of leadership. It's not just about nurturing your team and giving them the resources that they need -- you must also act as a consistent source of deadline pressure. If you leave programmers alone then they'll spend months refactoring code, improving inline documentation, re-fixing old bugs, and so on. Or they'll devote excessive effort to niche/pet features that aren't very important to your overall vision of the game.

The challenge is to treat your team with compassion and respect (i.e. as people), while still pressuring them to provide accurate estimates and complete their deliverables on-time (i.e. as machines). And also do the usual management stuff (maintain cordial working relationships within the team, resolve conflicts, report to bosses or clients). And also keep up with your own workload (writing, editing, blogging, etc).

It's not easy to do all of these things well. Experience is very useful; many first-time projects will fail because of problems which could have easily been avoided or corrected (with 20/20 hindsight).

Once again, back with another win. Props. It’s a bitch sometimes, getting the kids to play nice. But yeah, you seem to have experience in the arena. Am I right?

Not obviously. If I draw a sex-scene CG, then that IP belongs to me unless I explicitly assign the rights to you or release the image into the public domain. Depending on where I reside, the moral rights might be transferable, or they might belong to me in perpetuity. Creative writing and code follow similar principles, although they tend to get mixed and collaboratively edited (so that it becomes very difficult to say whether any individual "owns" a specific line of source code).

If you're going to ask all of your team members to grant their IP rights to you then that's fine ... but it's exactly the sort of thing which belongs in a written agreement. Along with clauses about future revenue sharing, waivers of liability, separability of assets, and so on.

Yeah, but that’s definitely subject matter for a private conversation, or a series of conversations.

I would like to state, however, that all my work is set to be given away freely and I expect the same commitment from those I keep close. The game would be free, with nobody legally empowered to claim any part of it. The only right I’m asking for as project lead is the right to hold the final say in matters of canonical inclusion in the creative entity known as Voln.

If you intend to share the revenue [...] then why are you reluctant to put that promise into writing?

Not reluctant. But this is still sketchy as of now, when no money is being generated. And again, this is prolly best kept private, since I intend to pay harder workers more and slouches less. Whoever I bring into my confidence will learn I really have no aim to get rich or even to get compensated, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be prepared if people want to give back. If you get hired, for instance, I’d be happy to discuss a reasonable cash payout at the far end (and a monthly royalty based on how much maintenance you intend to do and whether or not you want involved with the sequel or potential expansions).

I can understand reluctance to get highly formal (e.g. because you're unfamiliar with IP law and prefer to focus on erotic writing, or because you feel it injects a cold impersonality into the team spirit that you're trying to establish, or because you don't want to pay thousands of dollars to a lawyer when you're struggling to pay rent). It's okay to write out a fairly loose collection of principles which can be superceded by a more businesslike contract at a later date (if/when it becomes necessary). This shit is complicated, and you're not going to get it 100% right on your first attempt.

But if you make a promise -- especially regarding payment -- and flatly refuse to put it into writing ... then people may become suspicious about your intentions.

Lawls! I’m a cartoon villain. Actually, I kinda look like one, don’t I? But seriously...

Once a person gets hired, I’ll be happy to get specific and talk to them about what they expect to earn, if anything. The way you’re coming at me, stuntcock, you must’ve been burned. No, if anybody’ll get the short end of the stick, it’ll be me. I mean it, too, I’m like the Santa Claus of p0RN. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just download the novel I spent fourteen months taming. Do I ask for compensation for that? No. That’s a pretty good example of what I do. I’m in this for the love of it, not to plunder everybody else’s creativity and hoard cash in some pyramid scheme.

This is a useful tidbit of information. Many programmers habitually slack off on inline documentation, and a few may avoid the project altogether because they don't want to be micromanaged at that level. Others might be more attracted to your project because they consider documentation important.

So it's very helpful to state such expectations clearly

A minor warning to any programmers reading this thread: be aware of text encoding stuff. Some of the proper nouns in this story employ extended characters (å, þ, û, etc) and so you might need to worry about ANSI support when importing text files.

Yeah, there’s Unicode stuff, non-English characters.

Again, stuntcock, thank you very much for your contribution to this thread (so far).

 

[wrdmnr]

Hi, I'm the guy that accepted the assignment from the other post. I'd like to say that I've read this entire thread and its so confusing that I have no idea what this programmer you're searching for is going to have to do.
(I can't do it due to the other project) maybe you should note down all the requirements for this employee in one spot?

 

[m0RV]

(I can't do it due to the other project) maybe you should note down all the requirements for this employee in one spot?

Good idea. Thanks. The introductory post has be renovated.

 

[wrdmnr]

· A working knowledge of browser-based games
· Familiarity with CoC, and the ability to recreate it from scratch
· An advanced understanding of GUI and its implementation
· A mod-friendly work ethic, including the leaving of notations every few lines of code
· A free schedule (or free enough for a few hours a day or two days a week)
· An understanding of how to use Unicode characters in descriptors

I've got some criticism, no offence, this you would only know if you were a programmer:

1: CoC is not actually browser-based and is built in Flash. Flash functions within a browser (optionally), but on the programming side its something entirely different.
Browser based has the advantage of being very easy to connect to the internet with and is fairly safe to use as a consumer.
Non-Browser based programs don't have the restrictions forced on them by the browser and can mess with the computer itself, like interacting with files on the computer.
The choice rests mostly on the programmer's skillset as well as the requirements you put on the game. From what i've read, browser based is an option here.
Note that Flash is horribly outdated and should be avoided if possible.

2: GUI is just an idea. There are many ways to accomplish a GUI.

3: You are asking for a big minimum in time here. Personally my schedule is all over the place. I don't think I total on 2 hours a day on a side project.

4: Unicode is a very strange request. I think it belongs more in the project requirements.

I think it would be better if you would describe more of the workethic(like having to make reports, or voicechats) and give a list of things that would be harder to implement(like the unicode, saving, Button tooltips, etc)
This way the programmer can decide on their own if they have the skills required. This is the problem with finding a programmer. You are trying to find a stranger that will either make or break your project.
Then you have to thrust your selection to do it right, because you can only see their results, not their promises.

 

[m0RV]

First of all, thank you sincerely for taking the time to organize a response, wrdmnr.

I've got some criticism, no offence, this you would only know if you were a programmer:

1: CoC is not actually browser-based and is built in Flash. Flash functions within a browser (optionally), but on the programming side its something entirely different.
Browser based has the advantage of being very easy to connect to the internet with and is fairly safe to use as a consumer.
Non-Browser based programs don't have the restrictions forced on them by the browser and can mess with the computer itself, like interacting with files on the computer.
The choice rests mostly on the programmer's skillset as well as the requirements you put on the game. From what i've read, browser based is an option here.
Note that Flash is horribly outdated and should be avoided if possible.

About Flash, that’s what I hear. Not sure what platform (language) to use, really. Just something extremely flexible, but no more than is needed to capture working builds of the three poorly rendered mockups above.

2: GUI is just an idea. There are many ways to accomplish a GUI.

Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to say. I want someone with an advanced understanding of ideas (specifically for GUI and how to implement it). Hope that’s clear.

3: You are asking for a big minimum in time here. Personally my schedule is all over the place. I don't think I total on 2 hours a day on a side project.

I get that people are busy. Frankly, what I’m trying to say is: I want this thing to be a priority through the first demo, because once the demo launches, it should begin to attract backers, patrons, whatever you want to call actively-participating supporters, thus making the project more palatable and rewarding for those involved.

4: Unicode is a very strange request. I think it belongs more in the project requirements.

I thought it was in the project requirements. Hm. I’ll have a look. Thanks for the heads up.

EDIT: OH. I just got what you meant. Takes me a minute sometimes. Right, yeah. As far as project requirements, the mockups do a decent job of hinting at what those’ll be. Typical RPG elements, including a two-way EXP system (which I’ll be happy to expound upon privately; it’s nothing revolutionary, just clever), Unicode, of course, saving / loading, nothing new or too abstract. Bread-and-butter stuff, mostly.

I think it would be better if you would describe more of the workethic(like having to make reports, or voicechats) and give a list of things that would be harder to implement(like the unicode, saving, Button tooltips, etc)
This way the programmer can decide on their own if they have the skills required. This is the problem with finding a programmer. You are trying to find a stranger that will either make or break your project.
Then you have to thrust your selection to do it right, because you can only see their results, not their promises.

I think I’d have to be a programmer to understand much of what’s harder or easier about what you’re describing. Briefly, and I’ll put this up top, I need Unicode to present location and character names accurately. But I can’t imagine needing tool tips. If the whole project feels a bit retro at demo, that’s fine, as long as it feels meaty too, like a world rich with content. Part of the feel comes from the writing obviously (and I’ve got plenty to share), but part is visual. If you think you can recreate working drafts of the screenshots above and can use Unicode in descriptors, that’s all I need to know.

As far as your time constraints, I’ll work with you, if you’re interested in the position. (I know you’d said you’d taken the other project already, but who knows? I’m a patient man, wrdmnr, a patient man.)

Again, thanks for the post. Take it easy.

 

[wrdmnr]

Well for the project I've accepted I've chosen for html and javascript, its the most basic option out there in terms of browser-based games, but that just means more browsers support it.(more advanced stuff might not work on some browsers)
As to give you an idea for GUI. it can be as easy as creating a .txt file, writing "<button>Click Me!</button>", then renaming it to an .html file. Or it can be a horrible mess of frustration where you take 3 hours to move a dumb } sign slightly to the left and still fail.

Html and javascript seem both pretty fine with Unicode. The downside is since its browser-based it can't make save-files. However Javascript is promised 5MB storage by the browser. this equals 4,000,000 characters total.

If you're more into non-browser based because you don't like the browser rules. I like Java(standalone version of JavaScript). But to each programmer their favorite language.

We estimated the project to take about 4 years, which is a long time, but since my specialty is automation I'm kinda already making something that will do the boring part of my job for me. So we'l see what happens.

 

[m0RV]

We estimated the project to take about 4 years, which is a long time, but since my specialty is automation I'm kinda already making something that will do the boring part of my job for me. So we'l see what happens.

I imagine I’ll have somebody (and possibly be done with the first iteration of the game) by then, but who knows? Keep me posted.

In the meantime, I’ll just hang in the window this NAKED LADIES INSIDE sign, and this one that says AND ALSO NOW HIRING right beneath it. (It could work!) *crosses fingers*

 

[wrdmnr]

If you have nothing better to do, you could also make your own html and css.
There are lots of tutorials out there on how to do it, and it gives a good image of how you want your game to look like.
Note that html is static, it can't do anything on its own, and css is simply styling to make the html look better.
If you can get a programmer that can write JavaScript they can use your already created html for your game too.

You don't need any special tools for creating html or css files. The default texteditor on your computer is enough(rename the .txt to .html if you want to run it)
You could start with the example I already gave above. Good luck!

 

[Aälea]

Have you considered using RPGMaker?
I know the program has a bad rep due to all the half assed projects made in it, but it has really a lot of things already in place for the such a project.
Already defined actors, enemies, items, encounters, a save/load system, loads of available scripts,... It also meets your criterai of being able to use and display unicode characters.
It's also highly customizable in terms of GUI with only a basic JS knowledge (and if you are absolutely allergic to that there is a nice community to help you).

I read a bit of your book example, up to page 60 I believe, it was a nice read, so I decided I could show you what you could make with RM. I'm no experienced programmer, and absolutely wouldn't be able to make a game like you envision from scratch, but that GUI took me little time to make:

Spoiler

BTW: It's not a mockup, it actually works within the engine, those character windows will display whatever character you tell them to and you're able to change who the hero window displays.
The text display itself would need some work, because the engine is made to display 4 lines only so it would necessitate some more work on this part, but really everything else works right off the bat.
The items on the right are selectable.
You can get rid of the map in the background if you want.

I'm not actually telling you I'm game if you take the RPGMaker route. (I could likely help a bit though.)
Only that it's doable in it, and that it would likely take you a lot less time than to come up with an engine yourself. Now if you find a willing programmer to make the engine, then you should totally go for it.
Disclaimer, I have no actions in RPGMaker, I just like the program a lot. You can do absolutely everything you want if you don't get lazy with it and learn some basic Javascript.

Anyway, good luck with your project. I hope that you find the programmer you want, but if you don't I hope I pointed you towards a possible solution.

 

[m0RV]

If you have nothing better to do, you could also make your own html and css.

*face-palm* I wear too many hats already to be learning programming too. Believe me, I’ve tried, and I’ve subsequently cried myself to sleep many nights in a row. Thanks for the advice, but it’s lost on me. I struggle with basic grade-school-level algebra, no joke.

 

[m0RV]

I read a bit of your book example, up to page 60 I believe, it was a nice read ...

Thanks for mentioning the book. I know hundred of people have downloaded it so far, and hundreds more have picked through the chapters on hentai-foundry looking for the sex scenes, but you’re the first to utter a word about it. Plus, I feel special because you created an account and I’m the only person you’ve posted for so far. Thanks for making my day. Not to mention...

Spoiler

BTW: It's not a mockup, it actually works within the engine, those character windows will display whatever character you tell them to and you're able to change who the hero window displays.
The text display itself would need some work, because the engine is made to display 4 lines only so it would necessitate some more work on this part, but really everything else works right off the bat.
The items on the right are selectable.
You can get rid of the map in the background if you want.

WTF! Very nice work. And you say this is easy for you?? Man, wish I had them skills. Now I feel bad for dis'ing RPGMaker earlier.

I'm not actually telling you I'm game if you take the RPGMaker route. (I could likely help a bit though.)

Thanks for specifying. My hopes woulda been way up there.

You can do absolutely everything you want if you don't get lazy with it and learn some basic Javascript.

I think I’ll spare myself the pain of failure and wait for a math-brain, a lefty, to come along. In the meantime, I’ll seed this thread in lands far and wide.

Anyway, good luck with your project. I hope that you find the programmer you want, but if you don't I hope I pointed you towards a possible solution.

Yeah, maybe you did. Take it easy, Aälea (pronounced ah - ey - lee - uh, I presume?)

 

[m0RV]

[no longer apt]

 

[Aälea]

So, I've read the book up to chapter 15. It's been interesting. I like GOT's style, introducing each chapter by developping a character's story in particular, and unsurprinsingly I like it in your work.
One thing to consider would be to add a lexicon at the end of the book to tell precisely what all your titles and altered words mean. Most of the time they're close to the actual words so it didn't bug me, but sometimes I had to pause and think about what you meant which kinda made me lose track of what I was reading. I'm french, so it may be just that too.
If all things are explained in the story or learning exactly what they mean is a plot point explained later, feel free to ignore that.
On the porn itself: so far there's been only one sex scene, so I can't really give a review. I read better, and I read far far worse, so congrats I guess.

I may sound a bit harsh in the following section, but I don't intend to. I genuinely just want to help you. Also, it's just my opinion, me, a random person on the internet that doesn't have a succesfull patreon, so take it just as that.

Some advice for patreon:

Spoiler

- You're not promising anything as monthly updates. I read your page and it seems that if I were to support you right now I may get a new book in some unknown future, which will be free anyway.
By investing I get to modify it a bit and to read it a bit ealier, which is nice, but if I don't know when it's coming or even if it's coming out one day then that's worthless. It's your first project, people don't know if they can trust you to deliver.

- I'd also advise against using your patreon page as a blog and be efficient. Your thoughts on fanfiction don't belong on there, for example. The post should probably start with what your project is, with bullet points for crucial features. You'd then expand on each of these features in it's own section, saying what you have right now and what the goals are.
On the other side, it makes you look really passionate about your work, so that's nice.

- Your page should include examples of your work, not just a link to the book. Just some quotes you're proud of, that could be used to sparkle interest in the reader or introduce major characters.

- Your page also confuses me in terms of your project. If I were to invest in it, what would the $ be used for? A new book, or the game?
You need to keep patreon for a single project. This is especially important since you ask for a programmer to partner with you.
I suggest having a patreon page for your books and another for the game. That will save you and, I hope, your future team many headaches if you make money with it one day. There will be no difficult questions such as: which % is for your books and which is for your game that way.

- If you're advertising for a game then you'll have to prove there's something. You should advertise after you've got an alpha working and you can show sample pictures or a demo at the best.
Even if you were known to have made amazing games in the past, just saying "I'm making something new and it's going to be awesome!" isn't enough. You need to show tangible results. Double that when you're unknown.

Now for the fun stuff:
I looked into the UI I made more, and it seems there are free to use plugins allowing for crucial features such as word wrap, and being able to actually display more than 4 lines at once.

Spoiler

I had to reformat the text a bit, but it was easy enough and didn't necessitate much else than copy paste from your book. Removing default line breaks and adding a space to accomodate for the word wrapping, and putting manual line breaks where it was necessary was all it took.
Also I took your image and some text from your book for this screenshot. I hope it doesn't bother you.

It may look like I'm teasing you with pictures but I'm trying to determine if:
- a: I'm actually able to implement what you envision within the engine. (probably)
- b: I would actually have the time for it. (unlikely, or over a long period of time)
Making that UI wasn't hard, but it was time consuming (3h).
I don't usually have 2 days a week or even several hours a day to invest in a side project sadly, too busy with studies and work just like everyone else I guess.

UI probably isn't going to be the deal breaker when it comes to actual programming work. What is likely going to is your choice of battle system. So maybe try to think about what you're aiming for, in details.

I'm taking some time to read more of the book to see if I'm definitely interested, but even if at the end I can't, or you say no, precising your ideas can't hurt.

As for actually pronouncing my alias on these forums, Aälea, your way is close enough.
In my mind its' more a - è - lé - a, but ultimatey it doesn't matter, and probably doesn't make sense if you're not french anyway because we don't have the same sounds.

Cheers.

 

[m0RV]

So, I've read the book up to chapter 15. ... On the porn itself: so far there's been only one sex scene, so I can't really give a review. I read better, and I read far far worse, so congrats I guess.

You’re on the heels of a whopper. : P

I’m still digesting your words... Give me a while to reflect. (And scads of thanks in advance for the beautiful work!) More soon.

 

[m0RV]

[Your book's] been interesting. I like GOT's style, introducing each chapter by developping a character's story in particular, and unsurprinsingly I like it in your work.
One thing to consider would be to add a lexicon at the end of the book to tell precisely what all your titles and altered words mean. Most of the time they're close to the actual words so it didn't bug me, but sometimes I had to pause and think about what you meant which kinda made me lose track of what I was reading. I'm french, so it may be just that too.

Lexicon. It is so wrong that I didn’t think of that. Thanks. And I’m so glad you compared my work it to Georgie Porgie’s (that’s what I call George R. R. Martin, affectionately). You probably didn’t mean it as flatteringly as I’m interpreting it. (Just let me have this moment.) Lawls, just kidding.

You’re French? Magical. That shouldn’t give you points with me, but it does anyway. (I love the French.)

And all of your Patreon concerns have been addressed on the site itself. Please have a look and tell me if I did a good job.

Now for the fun stuff:
I looked into the UI I made more, and it seems there are free to use plugins allowing for crucial features such as word wrap, and being able to actually display more than 4 lines at once.

Spoiler

I had to reformat the text a bit, but it was easy enough and didn't necessitate much else than copy paste from your book. Removing default line breaks and adding a space to accomodate for the word wrapping, and putting manual line breaks where it was necessary was all it took.
Also I took your image and some text from your book for this screenshot. I hope it doesn't bother you.

This gives me a huge smile. You went out of your way to make something for me with three hours of your valuable time... Thank you so much!

Spoiler

You are awesome.

It may look like I'm teasing you with pictures but I'm trying to determine if:
- a: I'm actually able to implement what you envision within the engine. (probably)
- b: I would actually have the time for it. (unlikely, or over a long period of time)
Making that UI wasn't hard, but it was time consuming (3h).
I don't usually have 2 days a week or even several hours a day to invest in a side project sadly, too busy with studies and work just like everyone else I guess.

I understand. *sags with resignation* I'll just keep looking.

Say, do you mind if I use your beautiful screenshot to advertise Voln for a while? It really would be a pity to waste such a lovely effort.

UI probably isn't going to be the deal breaker when it comes to actual programming work. What is likely going to is your choice of battle system. So maybe try to think about what you're aiming for, in details.

I'm taking some time to read more of the book to see if I'm definitely interested, but even if at the end I can't, or you say no, precising your ideas can't hurt.

True. The battle system, well, it’s done the same way as you present your screenshot above, only with baddies in place of the text-wall. The whole game takes place in the three environments mocked-up at the top of the thread. By the way, I’m prettifying the mockups tonight. So who knows, maybe they’ll be ready to share soon. I hope so, and I hope the better artwork will encourage programmers to hop onboard.

Again, thank you for your great effort. I owe you one.

 

[Aälea]

True. The battle system, well, it’s done the same way as you present your screenshot above, only with baddies in place of the text-wall.

BZZZZT! Wrong answer. UI isn't designing a battle system. Battle systems are usually the defining feature of RPGs, progression is made through battle, you use it to tell the story, to make a point that someone is weak or powerful,...
As such the battle system is what is likely to take the most place in your programmer's time.
Making a UI isn't really that complicated. Mostly time consuming. Given the final design and the actual ressources, I could probably create the whole UI for your game in a few weeks.
Actual battle systems? That can take months of work, or even be outright impossible depending on the chosen engine and the experience of the programmer.

COC is a turn based battle system, where turns are taken in function of the speed parameter of each warrior. Each warrior has at least three ressources HP, Lust and Fatigue. Battles are won when someone's hp reaches 0 or when someone's lust reaches 100. Any ressource can be spent to cast skill, when fatigue reaches 100, your charachter can't act anymore for a few turns.

This is a pretty basic definition of COC's battle system, but your introductory posts fails to even give that. By looking at the image provided and saying you want it COC like, I can guess it will be turn based with multiple party members and enemies at the same time. That's it. Right now, no one can know if they can implement it because you don't give even a basic explanation of how you want it to work.
If you already have a design document with the detailed features you want for your game and battle system and don't want to share it with everyone, state it and let us know it's available for anyone that takes an interest.


As for patreon, it's much clearer and organized so that's definitely a step towards the right direction. It also tells me what I get each month if I subscribe which is great.

I didn't have the time to continue reading sadly.

Feel free to use my screenshot as you see fit.

 

[m0RV]

BZZZZT! Wrong answer. UI isn't designing a battle system. Battle systems are usually the defining feature of RPGs, progression is made through battle, you use it to tell the story, to make a point that someone is weak or powerful,...
As such the battle system is what is likely to take the most place in your programmer's time.

May I just say, Aälea, thank you for posting. It’s always a delight to read your words. (Might I suggest an email swap for brevity?)

I think you’re right about the programmer’s time. I mean, battles are awesome and important, but they’re also secondary (or tertiary) to the relationships, sex, story development, art in Voln. The game should be more of an experience than a matter of conquest, but with a subtler element of victory through cooperation with friends (and sometimes rivals). (It’s all in the game’s story, which continues from Part Three of A Game of Bones, Keet’s quest into Ulmårddûn’s unplumbed reaches; and no, not a spoiler )

Making a UI isn't really that complicated. Mostly time consuming. Given the final design and the actual ressources, I could probably create the whole UI for your game in a few weeks.
Actual battle systems? That can take months of work, or even be outright impossible depending on the chosen engine and the experience of the programmer.

You shouldn’t bother too much about that. I’m in negotiations with a few veteran programmers as I type this message. One is especially promising...

COC is a turn based battle system, where turns are taken in function of the speed parameter of each warrior. Each warrior has at least three ressources HP, Lust and Fatigue. Battles are won when someone's hp reaches 0 or when someone's lust reaches 100. Any ressource can be spent to cast skill, when fatigue reaches 100, your charachter can't act anymore for a few turns.

This is a pretty basic definition of COC's battle system, but your introductory posts fails to even give that. By looking at the image provided and saying you want it COC like, I can guess it will be turn based with multiple party members and enemies at the same time. That's it. Right now, no one can know if they can implement it because you don't give even a basic explanation of how you want it to work.
If you already have a design document with the detailed features you want for your game and battle system and don't want to share it with everyone, state it and let us know it's available for anyone that takes an interest.

It is available for anyone who takes an interest. Actually, I’ll just put it here, since it’s on my Patreon. It’s a two-way leveling system, kind of acting like BDSM. Tops gain levels. bottoms lose them. Both are powerful in different (and balanced) ways, so if your Character is a bottom, it’s actually better to lose battles, in a certain way. That’s the battle gimmick. Other than that, it’s fairly generic, dealing with (up to) 4 Allies + the Player Character versus (up to) 7 baddies, including some that are nigh invincible (with trick means of becoming very weak by playing the story a certain way).

I hope the provided information helps.

As for patreon, it's much clearer and organized so that's definitely a step towards the right direction. It also tells me what I get each month if I subscribe which is great.

Thanks, friend.

I didn't have the time to continue reading sadly.

Too bad. You’re sitting on some real crazy stuff in the next five chapters. Let me know what you think when you get to the end of Part One, if you want.

Feel free to use my screenshot as you see fit.

I hoped you’d say that. Like I said before, I owe you one. Ugh, so... tired... Goodnight, Aälea, my buddy.

 

[The Silver Bard]

I think you’re right about the programmer’s time. I mean, battles are awesome and important, but they’re also secondary (or tertiary) to the relationships, sex, story development, art in Voln. The game should be more of an experience than a matter of conquest, but with a subtler element of victory through cooperation with friends (and sometimes rivals). (It’s all in the game’s story, which continues from Part Three of A Game of Bones, Keet’s quest into Ulmårddûn’s unplumbed reaches; and no, not a spoiler )
...
It is available for anyone who takes an interest. Actually, I’ll just put it here, since it’s on my Patreon. It’s a two-way leveling system, kind of acting like BDSM. Tops gain levels. bottoms lose them. Both are powerful in different (and balanced) ways, so if your Character is a bottom, it’s actually better to lose battles, in a certain way. That’s the battle gimmick. Other than that, it’s fairly generic, dealing with (up to) 4 Allies + the Player Character versus (up to) 7 baddies, including some that are nigh invincible (with trick means of becoming very weak by playing the story a certain way).

If combat is not your primary focus, you are probably going to need to start cutting unnecessary elements to make it more manageable. Based on your mockup and the post above, I'm going to start listing observable elements that are going to add complexity to your battle system.

• Player stats, which will presumably each affect combat variables and need their own growth curves.
• Multiple allies, which each need to track stats and effects. Also need to implement enemies selecting targets.
• Multiple enemies in an encounter. Need to track each one and determine turn order. Now you also need to implement player targeting different enemies.
• Spells. Need to implement those individually. Presumably means spells and attacks have different effects. Now you need to track different types of damage and resistance, which means more balance and implementation work.
• Items. Need to implement an inventory system, as wells as implement and balance each of those items individually.
• Non-combat events influencing battle encounters. Unless you're just planning to include alternate instances of the enemies, it means the combat system needs to be reading your story flags, which means more balancing work.
• You have two separate and mutually exclusive leveling curves, which is a balancing nightmare. Also, are players that trend toward neutral just fucked?
• That event box may just be there incidentally, but if you're planning to include story choices in your combat encounters, fuck that noise.

All of the above is probably doable by a couple of full-time programmers in a game that is only about combat. If that's not your focus, I recommend you take a hard lock at each of the items on the list and decide whether they are vital to your core concept. If you have a few million dollars and a AAA development studio, you can make a game that does everything. However, if you're planning to get by with a small team, pick a couple things to do well.