Ren'Py Parasite Black [v0.160] [Damned Studios]

4.20 star(s) 86 Votes
Discussion Reviews (86)
lostraven

lostraven

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Apr 27, 2017
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Hey guys, sorry on the lack of word recently, I wanted to let a bit of time pass to make sure there was actually something working on.

Frankly, this update (I hope) is huge, but it is coming together nicely, there are just a LOT of assets, and we're working as far as we can to prepare them. I don't want to spoil too much or set a deadline yet, but we are getting closer. My goal is to round off act 1, do a small bit of act 2 sorted, and get the free city of Hamun functional - Hopefully also introducing the card game barati as a mechanic while we're at it.

We are preparing Regina assets and have some, but are missing the majority. The artist did get in contact recently and delivered us some spicy stuff, but likely the majority of Regina's content will need to come after, as contact with the artist remains difficult. We are looking at all options, as you know, and I'll hopefully have more to say on this soon.

With that said, we're super excited about this update, it should give a lot of lore, add a lot of fun stuff hopefully to do, move the plot along and more...

Scene from the second battle of Novaras (above).

That's really it in terms of stuff to talk about, we are alive, we're working and getting on with it. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask us here or on the discord and we'll try to get back to you.


A special mini-boss? (Wip)


As always, thank you guys so much for your support,
you guys are awesome!
Love,

-The Damned Studios Team
 
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tuShua

tuShua

Well-Known Member
Oct 29, 2017
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lostraven said:
Alderian News (Important!)

Hey guys, we have a bit of important news to discuss some potential changes coming.

As some of you are aware, recently, one of our artists has been missing. While they have managed to make contact and deliver some work, communication lines with them are very difficult. We have managed to get a hold of them, maybe once or twice a month. We've been holding back on commenting further on the issue in the hopes that it resolves itself soon, but this does seem to potentially be a long-term issue.

Unfortunately, and while I can't delve too deep into their personal issues, for context, they live in a relatively unstable area in one of the south Americas, with both limited internet issues and rampant gang violence that seems to be having a flair up recently.

We've attempted to find an artist to fill in the void while hopefully things settle, and while the art produced was very high quality, unfortunately, for PB we fear it will just create more inconsistencies in the long run.

Furthermore, we're not exactly thrilled at the prospect of kicking someone while they're down, (aka, firing them and replacing them altogether), due to circumstances completely out of their control.

As such, when we did manage to have contact with the artist, with their permission, they agreed to allow us to use AI when necessary, based on their art to create new scenes possibly given the circumstances.

I want to stress that none of the art staff are being let go, in fact, we've hired on MORE art staff recently and their regular work will continue as normal.

Furthermore, any AI art produced, we plan to have the existing artists check it over to ensure it's the highest quality we can get it.

We further hope, of course, this approach will help speed up our production, but we are still entirely committed to delivering the highest quality we can.

We haven't made this decision lightly, we had many internal debates, and we're aware of the sensitive nature of AI, but we hope given the circumstances, and how we're handling things, you and the rest of our fans will be understanding.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If the situation changes for whatever reason, we will let you know.

Thank you.

Alysha (Above) - If she survives her encounter with the Slave Master, she might just find a new meaning in life under the wing of Captain Nyx and the city guard

As always,
thank you all for your support so far,
you guys are awesome, and we couldn't do this without you,
Love,
-The Damned Studios Team
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Personally, I don't mind AI art, and I know a lot of artists use it to further train themselves making sketches. Don't listen to people who "hates" it for the sake of it without giving clear detail as if they have a phobia of AI. As long as the endwork is polished well, then it's all good. AI has made me improve a lot in my sketches, through constant practice. If I get into a mental block, I rely on its help and has saved me more times than I could count. I would still be stuck without it, so I will defend it with proper reasoning. Also, please fix Captain Nyx bug on the romance route. It seems only the domination route works.
 
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A

Alberis

Newbie
Nov 21, 2021
19
21
tuShua said:
Personally, I don't mind AI art, and I know a lot of artists use it to further train themselves making sketches. Don't listen to people who "hates" it for the sake of it without giving clear detail as if they have a phobia of AI. As long as the endwork is polished well, then it's all good. AI has made me improve a lot in my sketches, through constant practice. If I get into a mental block, I rely on its help and has saved me more times than I could count. I would still be stuck without it, so I will defend it with proper reasoning. Also, please fix Captain Nyx bug on the romance route. It seems only the domination route works.
Click to expand...
It's fixed in the version 0.161. There is a link to the Android update a few pages back.
 
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FrapFrapper

Member
Nov 6, 2020
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lostraven said:
The AI is literally, with permission, being fed art from the artist in question.
The artist who, otherwise, we'd likely have to fire if we didn't do this.

... And again, if it looks shit, I'll just reject it...? I have no interest in something that doesn't look indistinguishable.
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Well if the guy is okay with it and you are willing to compensate him then that is actually pretty good on you.
Why would you have to fire them? Can't just put them on hold until they can produce some content or submit something?
What do you mean "looks indistinguishable"?

Sayajin2205 said:
The game doesn't have any Ai right now that's just a different artist
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This is less reassuring. I'm not a fan of the new art style in the preview as it feels too soft and "cute" compared to the more grim and gritty story and earlier art. It doesn't feel quite right, I felt that the earlier versions had a more serious feeling style.

lostraven said:
If the AI fails to deliver, I'll reject it. My goal is very much "Can I and others tell in a line-up if it's AI?"
If the answers yes, it'll be rejected. Otherwise, it's just adding more problems.

As for the character art changing, the old character artist left, and while the new artist did have some early designs that weren't as detailed and as popular admittedly, I feel they've improved significantly over time and broadly speaking, we get a good reception from the character art we produce now. (I am, however, always pushing my artists to improve and do better.)
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Part of what I like about this game is that the art and story seemed to have a style that worked with he art most of the time and the rather unusual story. Would it be possible to have the new artists try to draw inline with the previous styles to be more consistent?

Side note: I understand if you must put in Ai to save on costs or keep production moving, but many of us are rightly worried about what AI churns out, and we can see it pretty much everywhere these days. The lower quality or uncanniness of the images that flood the internet or places like rule34 with Ai slop. Now, you've said you would hold things to a high(er?) standard, so all we can do is hope for the best and provide our feedback when we see the next release.
 
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Phase_01

Phase_01

Well-Known Member
Nov 27, 2021
1,530
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Gear42 said:
Most people are already familiar with the "quality" you get from AI, just look at how well its working for something like Taffy Tales.
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That's like saying most ppl are familiar with the quality you get from an artist, and assuming every artist has the same level of quality lol
I'm not defending AI art that steals artwork but a proper one would be trained enough to make proper quality "art" that would look well made with no mistakes

Whether that "art" is soulless or not though is subjective.
 
lostraven

lostraven

Engaged Member
Donor
Game Developer
Apr 27, 2017
3,037
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FrapFrapper said:
Well if the guy is okay with it and you are willing to compensate him then that is actually pretty good on you.
Why would you have to fire them? Can't just put them on hold until they can produce some content or submit something?
What do you mean "looks indistinguishable"?
Click to expand...
Because you need steady and consistent workflow for a project like this.
They can produce content, (and still are), but regular communication is difficult, so the workflow is chaotic.

What I need a missing variation on an art piece?
What if I need a sudden additional scene?
What if I need X?

Previously I could have arranged for that in 24 hours and may receive the art piece back in about 24 hours... that may now take over a month.

It's not really an acceptable wait time, even with ALL the workarounds we're doing, so this is the compromise, hopefully.

And indistinguishable in the sense that if I put the regular scenes in a line-up with the AI produced ones, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Will the AI be able to achieve it? Who knows, it's not ready yet.


FrapFrapper said:
This is less reassuring. I'm not a fan of the new art style in the preview as it feels too soft and "cute" compared to the more grim and gritty story and earlier art. It doesn't feel quite right, I felt that the earlier versions had a more serious feeling style.
Part of what I like about this game is that the art and story seemed to have a style that worked with he art most of the time and the rather unusual story. Would it be possible to have the new artists try to draw inline with the previous styles to be more consistent?
Click to expand...
The reason the art changed is that the old artist left - triggering a massive revamp of art.
People are under the delusion that you just pull a random artist out of a hat and suddenly your problems are solved.

Finding an artist who can not just mimic a style well, but is also passionate, consistent, willing to work on a LONG-term project, and *within reason* price wise, is not an easy task - We will, however, do whatever it takes to improve our work flow.


FrapFrapper said:
Side note: I understand if you must put in Ai to save on costs or keep production moving, but many of us are rightly worried about what AI churns out, and we can see it pretty much everywhere these days. The lower quality or uncanniness of the images that flood the internet or places like rule34 with Ai slop. Now, you've said you would hold things to a high(er?) standard, so all we can do is hope for the best and provide our feedback when we see the next release.
Click to expand...
My answer is, I don't give a fuck about the tide of low effort AI stuff, and the bombardment on rule34 with trash tier is insufferable.

We have our standards, they're either met, or they're not met.
 
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Vitklim

Vitklim

Active Member
Feb 22, 2018
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lostraven said:
Because you need steady and consistent workflow for a project like this.
They can produce content, (and still are), but regular communication is difficult, so the workflow is chaotic.

What I need a missing variation on an art piece?
What if I need a sudden additional scene?
What if I need X?

Previously I could have arranged for that in 24 hours and may receive the art piece back in about 24 hours... that may now take over a month.

It's not really an acceptable wait time, even with ALL the workarounds we're doing, so this is the compromise, hopefully.

And indistinguishable in the sense that if I put the regular scenes in a line-up with the AI produced ones, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Will the AI be able to achieve it? Who knows, it's not ready yet.




The reason the art changed is that the old artist left - triggering a massive revamp of art.
People are under the delusion that you just pull a random artist out of a hat and suddenly your problems are solved.

Finding an artist who can not just mimic a style well, but is also passionate, consistent, willing to work on a LONG-term project, and *within reason* price wise, is not an easy task - We will, however, do whatever it takes to improve our work flow.




My answer is, I don't give a fuck about the tide of low effort AI stuff, and the bombardment on rule34 with trash tier is insufferable.

We have our standards, they're either met, or they're not met.
Click to expand...
What's the ETA on the update like?
 
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SheHump

SheHump

Newbie
Mar 14, 2023
92
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Saraf said:
Am I the only one who feels the finite xp-mechanic is really asinine in a sandbox/open world structure?
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Eh, I don't mind grinding for crafting materials & loot. I just wish weapons sold for more & I had something to spend my hard earned gold on.
 
Saraf

Saraf

Active Member
Mar 16, 2018
897
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SheHump said:
Eh, I don't mind grinding for crafting materials & loot. I just wish weapons sold for more & I had something to spend my hard earned gold on.
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Neither do I but if thats your only progression its going to drain motivation fast(especially right now while both are rather limited in progression and dont substitute for the lack of character growth after a certain point).
Though even if they did/once they do,that would still feel like a disassociation from the narrative(you are supposed to be a venom like monstrosity growing in power,not a merchant with an infinite bag of healing pots and the legendary shiny sword of erectile dysfunction).
Whats even the point outside of balance(and if a player wants to shred that by grinding...why not?Let them,thats their choice and actually a big part of why many people enjoy RPG systems in the first place)?

Dunno,just wondering what the thought process behind it is,especially here,where the game is build on repeating content(in the form of quests,traveling and combat mechanics)while not going for the survival angle.
Very weird.

Imo finite xp-systems are better off in linear games(like MGQ or The Last Sovereign but even those two have their own problems because of it).
 
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Lykanzz

Lykanzz

Member
Jun 17, 2021
158
318
with the female gender-bending of Marcus its only a matter of time before a parasite on parasite sex scene surely lmao
 
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4.20 star(s) 86 Votes