hmm i can’t see/say clearly about the Braden pic.. but in the 2 with Zack in them, he looks way more like a rl person/less of a 3d person as in the old version - which already featured great renders. they might have had this slight “sim-my” look back then, now not any more ^^ i know you use DS (right?) cuz lol.. Zack’s tank top which i also have and love, but sth really improved ^^
yeah, Daz3d. the biggest change on renders in the revamp is lighting, more shots, and more variance in camera angles to make the game more cinematic. i'm going for a different type of genre within the vn world and i'm calling it a "cinematic novel" as opposed to vn's which traditionally have sprites flying around all over the place. the cinematic novel approach will have tons more renders and camera shots and hopefully kinda look like a static movie.
cinematic novel.. interesting name. and concept.
since i’m trying to create stuff in daz too (with variable results, most of them subpar, lol, but my old crappy laptop is 10 y.o. and lags behind on every level, this sure doesn’t help +sobs bitterly+), and many vn sprites and their management in homemade games are awful, even before i played str8 i also wondered - in case i’d finally move my ass and manage to try creating a small fun vn - if i wouldn’t do it like you did, with full screens created in 3d. or maybe a mixture of both, 3d screens AND 3d sprites, because what i sometimes don’t like with some vn is when the backgrounds, the cgi (for the gallery, the goodies) and the sprites are made by so different artists that they kinda don’t fit well together. i haven’t seen that yet, sprites made in 3d totally fitting into the background. but yeah, full images are the best visually, the only thing i think might be problematic is the huge ginormous amount of data you end up with… maybe this system of returning backgrounds and sprites with minimal changes was exactly created to minimize the size of data. but yeah, this was also created when hd and internet couldn’t handle as much data as today i guess? and also you have to write all your coding yourself, since any codes you might find for renpy (or whatever) are made for sprites and conventional vn… anyways, i’m very interested in your project - for the story and for your art! ^^
oh for sure, it's a ton of work. since i started doing this, i really have an appreciation for watching the credits at the end of a movie or game because i see how many people it took them to pull off their project and then I try and do it all solo with 2 other guys that help back me up with some plot organization/writing feedback and tech support/visual help.
this hasn't been an easy project for me. i had zero experience with any of this. i literally googled everything, step by step to try and make it work. buddies have helped me out when i got stuck as well as the discord community we have now. it's been a group supported effort. i'm definitely sitting on the shoulders of others. if you want a laugh, here's a link for my original demo for the game back in 2017; preserved as originally posted and i even left the errors in it because it's raw. i keep this around and actually post it publicly still on my patreon page so people who are interested in starting a project like this know how this project started. it's pretty bad, lol. but enjoy :)
lol.. i usually hate reading credits - absolutely not out of disrespect for those who have worked hard, i DO appreciate their commitment and creativity and the fact that they allowed me to spend a great moment gaming/watching their invention, but because they’re always waaaaaaay too long.. and i have a lot in common with gnats XDD i think i’ll like yours tho: 3 people XDD - that’s my kind of credits ^^
i personally love to grow/learn “on the job”, while doing something, discovering how it works, not by first learning how to deal with it, study. i’m too curious and too easily bored for that… ok, since i might not be the brightest match in the box, the results are variable - the variety being how fucked up they’ll be XDD. but it’s more fun. i think you’ve come a long way, and hey, the journey is the goal, innit? while we play the game as an adventure, your adventure was creating it ^^
so, i tried the demo of your oldest version.. it’s not like i can compare with the version i played 2 yrs ago, i deleted it and my memory is what it is.. but i don’t really see a difference. i think Zack has blue eyes in just some pix, and in the shower there’s 1 (or more?) where he looks younger than usual maybe. like if there were pix i’ve seen 2 yrs ago but also some older ones mixed in.. i don’t remember the interface at all but it was kinda the same, no overloading the screen with fancy design (which i don’t mind with usual VN where the bgd stays the same forever etc, ofc when it’s a success and not an eyesore. but with 3d renders changing nonstop it’s sensory overload. avatars are not really needed either since often in str8 you see the person speaking directly in the render). the expressions in the cafeteria are way over the top, lol, parameter sliders overkill, but i think it was like that 2 yrs ago too.. ok stuff crashes, but maybe it’s the demo effect?… otherwise, short: i don’t see what you were trying to show XD