New Project: Blackthorn - Setting things up

Okay. Feeding Gaia is done and dusted, so it's time to set up the next project. Thanks to everyone who sent me feedback on what worked and what didn't work with Feeding Gaia. I really learned a lot from making that mini-project, and so I should hopefully be able to avoid some pitfalls this time around.
The Aim: I'm planning to make an rpg style adventure with options for multiple types of vore and domination outcomes. I'm thinking I should be aiming roughly for somewhere between 15 - 20 encounters, with an eye to expanding that number depending on how popular the game proves to be during development.
The Theme: The player will take control of Ariana Blackthorn, a young witch from a noble and powerful coven, as she embarks on a coming-of-age adventure in which she must retrieve an artefact that will unlock her full magical potential. However, the path is perilous. Many dangers lay between Ariana and the artefact, including hungry beasts, witch hunters, and other witches from rival clans (motivated by the the knowledge that if they can melt Ariana away inside their bodies then they will be able to absorb her magical powers for themselves). It's a witch-vore-witch world out there.
Initial thoughts on style: I didn't enjoy working with the "animated" busts during the last project, and feel like they felt awkward on the screen. So this time round I'm thinking of how best to show who's talking and what their emotional state is. I HATE the cartoon character generator in MZ, so I'll make my own in Daz3d. Though I'm wondering which works better: a small icon embedded within the text box, or a larger portrait displayed above the box. I think both have pro's and cons. I've included a mock-up of what each would look like below, along with some portraits of the finalized main character - Ariana Blackthorn.
What I'm working on: At this time I'm busily creating characters, re-working the story in places, looking into AI voice generation to see if I can have a narrator for some story elements, looking at learning some animation basics in Blender - I'm using Daz3d at the moment, and Blender has a much better variety of tools (I just don't know how to use them yet). Basically I've got tons of stuff to do laying the groundwork before I can even think of making a start, but the more I get right now the less I'll have to fix later on.
Anyway, that's a bit of an info dump. Sorry about that, but I just want you to know that I'm now hard at work on the behind-the-scenes stuff to make this happen. I'll keep you posted and I'll try to throw in some practice animations for you soon.
Casey