Salutations explorers! Welcome to our next patch for Sapphire Safari! Version 017, just a few days after our massive v016 release.
So unlike our other patches, this one will be short and sweet, so here we go.
AI Eyes and Sightlines In the last patch, we had to turn off the eyesight for the roaming monster girls on the island, which in turn disabled the stealth mechanics of the game. It added a lot of computation requirements to the game leading to stuttering and just making it unplayable. So this patch includes our new system (instead of using the standing Unreal Engine tech). Each girl will see roughly 20 meters in front of them, if you hide behind objects they won’t be able to spot you. Making noise like running, stepping on noise makers like twigs and branches, or jumping into vegetation like bushes while near the AI will cause them to look around, if they spot you during this time they will react, and then flee.
No Beacon left behind We have unlocked and lightly developed the missing area of the plains, which previously held a radio beacon you couldn’t access. This is now available to explore and the beacon can now be activated. Supporters of the $5 tier or higher can grab their downloads here: https://subscribestar.adult/posts/1022636
This patch also includes several fixes to AI and UX. Overhauls some of the problems the save system was encountering holding onto map discovery and such. But here is the full changelog.
new vision system for girls
new area on previously locked-off radio beacon
clipping removed on some rocks in the plains
wind animation added back to some foliage in the plains
river barriers now do not block throwable tools
save system bugs related to the FOW and Map not loading in are fixed
save system bugs related to beacon activations not loading in are fixed
bounty computer UI navigation tweaked
notifications for entering and leaving radio beacon zones added
photo capture flow bug related to the submission system deactivating on scoring has been fixed
I hope this patch finds you well! We would love for your continued feedback.
Hello explorers! Man, what a month, our projections had put us releasing v016 much earlier in August than we initially believed. The TLDR is that we are still working on implementing the overhaul of the sex system we are introducing. The reason is a lot of code debt, meaning we have revised the system too many times, it needed to be cleaned out of the game before it caused issues in the future.
We are close. Really close. I would not want you all to wait any longer without any updates from us regarding the progress.
Those of you on our Discord might have already seen more on this system, but it is something we are quite proud of. We had a huge task ahead of us, making an open-world game that captures the feeling of exploration without relying on combat systems to fill the gaps. We have a couple of methods we are building for Sapphire Safari.
Activating Radio Towers
Yeah, this is a take from early Far Cry games, the system is great for our needs, so we have unashamedly taken cues from it. As you explore Sapphire Island your ability to upload photos are limited by the radio beacon coverage you’ve activated. Turning on a tower means climbing a natural formation of Rock and Tree, mixed with a quickly erected man-made support structure. The tools you’ll need to scale these towers will come from the shop after some progress has been made on your research level. For version 016 you’ll just be able to climb and activate them as we have yet to build the shop system out.
Also unveiling the map, showing off all the unexplored POIs in the new region. Progress!
Narrative Tools and Loot
The narrative for Sapphire Safari is broken down into two areas. Main Quests and Loot Crates. Quests are easy, you follow a breadcrumb system looking for clues on the whereabouts of the original science team that has gone missing. The quests are the present, the story is relayed with a mixture of in-person conversations and hologram phone calls.
The second narrative option is the Loot Crates, these give the player a couple of things, currency, some give costumes for the players, but all will give the player an audio log, that once all collected tell the story of how each member of the science team ended up lost in the first place. We are working with a very highly regarded author to create the full narrative experience in Sapphire Safari and our goal is to have everything voiced. Here is a sample of one of the audio logs.
Sarah (matter of fact): So, this particular site I have been investigating paints a more interesting picture of the natives. As I guessed before, they have a language. From my personal observations, I believe I have discovered their word for 'dick'. They repeat it over and over near this rock. Sarah (curious): I wonder what significance this site has in their culture? And since they have culture, how does the culture differentiate from species to species? Do the other species on the island have sites of religious significance too? Do they all speak the same language, or are there distinct dialects among different groups? Sarah (sheepish): ...Yeah, sorry. I tend to ramble a bit. I just have so many questions (A sound of Sarah fumbling with the recorder. There is a noticeable thud in the audio as she catches it before it hits the ground.) Sarah (shocked): Shit, nearly dropped the recorder! (Several cries from the bunbuns as they run away) Sarah (annoyed): God damn it, I spooked them! Why do I have to be so damn clumsy?! Sarah (defeated): Oh well... Guess I can come back later.
The loot and 95% of the narrative will come in a later patch for the game. But v016 will have a new “temp” intro that will show off some of the new dialogue tech the game has.
Spawning Systems and Stealth
The new system for monster spawning is finally inside Sapphire Safari, monster girls are spread out across the plains with Prey being far more regular than Predators. The girls are far more attentive to their surroundings, but also their AI has been softened to allow more of a chance to react to them. The new Stealth system also reinforces this, running around, and generally making noise will get them to stop what they are doing and search for the sound. If they visually spot you, they do a reaction and then move away from you. In the full version, you can follow them if you like as they shouldn’t disappear from view unless you leave the area they are in. Crouching will not alert any girls around you unless you step on a branch or something of the like.
Sex System Overhaul
Our white whale it turns out is this blasted sex system. We had a lot of issues getting our (on paper) amazing system off the ground without issues. It either worked and was not that appealing, or it was appealing and didn’t fit into the system we wanted. The new one is a little more focused on what we want to achieve while also being much easier to build amazing sex animations for.
Basically, it flows like this: Monster gets horny enough to start masturbating > creatures around get curious and begin to watch/masturbate themselves > one of the observers joins in and plaps away > others also join in (up to five participants) > as they orgasm they leave.
Previously we would have attempted to make transition animations and try to make the task of adding another monster to the mix look natural, now we just puff some smoke and choose one of the animations that match the sizes of participants and the number of participants. Version 016 will only go as high as threesomes though, we will have like 20ish animations for the system that are simple loops. These will be expanded on later.
Bugs and Fixes
Naturally, there were a lot of old bugs and such we have fixed since moving over to v016 and half the team has a bit more time to focus on fixing these things. Stuff like, blurry characters in the locomotion, the camera being blurry when you’re not focusing on monster girls, girls disappearing, etc.
We also had a bit of time to work on UI presentation and giving the player better throwing animations, along with a camera hip holster and such.
Conclusion
We are still working very hard on all of this, it is a massive sweeping patch, that changes just about everything about Sapphire Safari. It is worth pointing out now, that version 016 will have some things missing until we get to focus on those systems again. The major one is the Monpedia, in its place, will be a system we are calling bounties. Monpedia will be back, we just need more time to correctly implement the system along with a testing environment to make sure there are no unexpected behaviors.
As a final treat, I have included the next official collection of screenshots we will be using after v016 drops. I hope you all enjoy the sneak peek of what we have going on!
Wassup explorers! Welcome to another Sapphire Documents Issue! Today we are talking all about the progress our team has made, along with a long-requested feature!
The angle of the dangle
Yes, you’ve guessed it, the team has created flaccid penis assets for our models. We have been putting off this long-requested feature for a while, as it was never essential. With the open-world rework, we decided “why not” and threw in the tech needed to arouse and unarouse?
The mobs will determine when they grow, normally when they enter sex poses, but we could have a system that shows how toey a monster girl is by the size of their erection. I mean. That just makes sense…
The full erection sizes won’t change as it will make our sex system complicated, however, we have a nice way to randomize the flaccid penis size. The system will spawn a dong size between our largest and smallest possible sizes. They all grow to the same length, but it will offer a nice diverse selection of futaness.
And yes, physics is a thing…
Speaking of physics, the first pass for our new models for physics is up and running, here is a look at our lovely fox, with her floppy ears and bouncy assets.
Dialogue and Holocalls
On the back of an open-world move, we had to develop our own conversation system. There will be about 6-8 human NPCs and some more intelligent monster girls you can converse with in the game so building a system that allows for unique conversations is important. Couple this with our dynamic facial animation system we have quite a nice system in place. We can configure close-ups or wide shots, over-the-shoulder shots, etc depending on the dialogue used and how many participants in the conversation there are.
Two examples here are talking to NPCs in person and taking a Holocall (our version of a phone call).
Sapphire Island gets more tweaks
Surprising no one we continue to build upon the island to get it ready for her launch in v016. Here are some money shots to keep you all excited!
Hope you all enjoyed this brief look at what we’ve been working on! More to come soon!
First up, a little advanced warning for all of our dedicated players out there. Version 016, the next build for Sapphire Safari will be delayed for an extra month. The simple reason is that v016 is a super large patch for the game, and we need more time to work out everything before we put it in the hands of our community. The current ETA for v016 is in Early August.
With that outta the way, let's show off what we are doing.
v016 is the biggest we have made! The reason for the massive update is simple, we are moving to a fully open-world game. What exactly does that mean? The simple answer? It means a new map, new systems, a new user experience, new menu systems, and new locomotion.
Sapphire Island
Previously we wanted small islands, each with its own biome. Now that system is pressed into one mega island, with 6 (so far) biomes. The island is being built to support a casual exploration system. It is still early days in terms of prop design and such, however, we are finalizing the final shape of the island itself along with the borders for the biomes.
For the next several patches we will be focused on the beach landing area, along with the new biome “The Plains”.
Within the plains, we will put in three of our existing Monster Girls, the Bunny (Bunbuns), the Deer (Rubii), and the Bat (Echo).
Along with three new creatures. These include:
A Sheep - This sheep will have a standard version and a chubby version. Along with various configurations of wool and colors.
A Lizard - Scalies rejoice! The lizard is going to be our first cold-blooded animal.
A Fox - The predator creature for the Plains, the fox is a human-sized Monster Girl. Her personality will be sly and feisty, looking for easy prey around the area.
Events, Quests, and the Map UX
The first major reason for the delay is creating a robust sandbox experience. The key to this is making a map tool for the player to set up their goals, track what's been done, and travel around the map quickly. Here are some examples of the objectives we have planned.
Explore - The map is covered in a fog that unveils as the player finds campsites, once activated, the camps uncover the events, points of interest, hidden item completion values, and allow the player to upload photos from that region.
Static Events - Until the player completes the event (by submitting photos documenting the unique event) there will be a note on the map saying something in the vicinity has yet to be discovered. These normally take place at points of interest. An example of this would be that Bats at night use this tree as a party spot. Visiting the same POI during any other time period would not have the event active.
Vista Sites - Take vista shots of Sapphire Island by matching your photo to another, matching the time of day, direction, etc.
Hidden Containers - These are chests left behind by the first exploration team on the island, within are cosmetics, attachments, “fun” tools, audio logs for narrative elements, camera upgrades, etc. These containers will be hidden under rocks, high in trees, inside rivers, and under bushes. So keep your eyes open for them.
Without a fantastic tool for this, it would be hard for the player to make their own objectives. How much we can add of the above to v016 is hard to say, but those are our plans.
UX and Flow changes
To better support a system where the player “never retires” back to the boat, several flow changes are already implemented. The first is the photo submission process. Our previous design had the player going back to the boat, submitting their photos for the monpedia, and having their top 10 photos count towards the total Research Level progression.
Here is the new flow
1. Players now have a maximum photo capacity. This starts at 10, but items found around the world will increase it. Reaching the capacity stops the player from taking more photos.
2. As a photo is taken, it is scanned, and a score is calculated right there on the spot. The score also is shown on the image, along with a color grade border.
3. Pressing the submit button (this time it is “X”) will enter the submission panel. As long as you’re within wifi range of an activated camp you’ll be free to submit the photos you’ve collected.
4. Here the player will be presented with slots each photo can fill, the player only needs to “replace” the photo with a newer one. If the previous photo has less value the difference is added to the Research Level.
5. The new popups will showcase the changes to the player's progression.
Obviously, it goes without saying, the actual UI and UX are always subject to change, but this is how it is currently and likely how it will be in the next version. The Research Level is how progression will be unlocked for the player, so later biomes will require tools to access, these are awarded with Research Levels. Doing events, submitting photos, exploring, etc will all add to the Research Level.
Monster Girl scale system overhaul
Another system we were only slightly happy with. Some of you might have already noticed how “janky” the current doll system is. The reason for this is simply “math”. Each girl currently is scaled independently to each other, Bunbuns is this high, and the players are this high, so when the two interact using the animations each needs to be “manually” corrected with Inverse Kinematics. It is even more apparent when we take a large Monster Girl like Taiga and pair her with a small Monster Girl like Monkii. It just is a lot of work, prone to being broken, and the results are not as polished as we hoped.
So the answer is a scaling guide. All Monster Girls will now be reworked to fit into special sizes, which means a “Medium” creature will be the same size as other “Mediums”. You likely won’t notice it too much, the results mean all the animations will work better. Everyone wins! Here are the classifications we landed on.
Enormous - A special class for one or two Monster Girls you won’t see roaming the lands.
Large - Bigger than the player: Taiga, Skully.
Medium - The default size: Player Characters, Most NPC Humans, Rubii, Fox.
Small - Slightly smaller than the player: Monkii, Echo, Bunbuns, Sheep, Lizard.
Tiny - A special class, these creatures will be your Shot Stacks.
The current animations we have for sex will mostly be used for the Medium and Small classifications. The Large and Tiny classifications will be getting their own animations.
Narrative and Dialogue systems
With the move to a fully open world and third-person animations, we now need a narrative system to support them. We will mostly be mimicking the great games that came before us, with the major inspiration being Mass Effect. The goal here is to bring in our custom-made Voice and Lipsync system called VLife.
The mixture of the two will let us start building the story of the island, why the player will need to investigate each section, and why everyone seems to be so thirsty!
Species AI and Monster behaviors
The other major goal of v016 is to start building a vastly more dynamic set of generic behaviors for the Monster Girls. These include searching states for investigating noises and sights, better responses to finding the player (other than running away), what they do after seeing sex, etc.
Then we have species-specific behaviors. Examples of this are Monkii taunting the player after finding them, and chasing them around. Bothering them and alerting other Monsters. The sheep girls clumped together and moved around in groups. The predators hunt other Monsters for sexual urges. Getting this right will just take time, testing, and feedback.
Scoring and Testing environments
The last thing v016 will include is more backend tech for making sure our new works can be tested correctly. This means that we need to test all Monster Girl related poses and the tagging associated with them. We can only do this by building environments we can use to test everything correctly. If this can be accomplished you’ll never run into an issue of a pose or animation not giving you the rewards you need.
We will also be coupling this with a scoring overhaul to match the new systems. It means your photos will be graded a lot worse, making those perfect shots all that more important.
Okay, so that was a lot. As I mentioned in the intro, we will be using the next two months to build most of what you’ve read above. It will also likely carry over into v017 as well. We can see what we need to do more clearly than ever, and we are glad everything is finally coming together!
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