I have been working on all the various points of the story for the prologue. I currently have 18 different decision points that are still in progress and will directly impact how you proceed into chapter 1.

In the meantime, DAZ has released some new tools to bridge your DAZ Genesis 3 and Genesis 8 models, hair, and clothes into your animation/render studio of choice... as long as your choice is 3D Studio Max, Maya, Blender, or Cinema 4D.

The images in this post are using Blender with Eevee render settings, Blender with Cycle render settings using GPU/CPU combo, and DAZ 3D with iray settings.

I'm surprised at the stark difference in the render quality and the way certain elements are displayed. For example, the hair in the eevee render is almost transparent, making the scalp textures too prominent for my taste, and the skin is very glossy... but the clothing looks better. Cycles is difficult for me to get the quality good enough right now (still learning the settings) so the image is a bit grainy... however, I really like the way the eyes came out in this one compared to the DAZ render. But, iray seems to do better with the texture in the hair, and while I prefer the face shading there, but the hands look better, IMO, in the Cycles render. Lots to consider for each.

Since I am primarily focusing on stills, currently, I will continue to stay in DAZ. Once I get more comfortable with rigging and animation in Blender, then I may go there for that. I can animate in DAZ, that's not too big of an issue as long as I keep it simple, but Blender does have a built-in game engine and more flexibility on exporting from Blender for other formats than what DAZ allows.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update on the goings on in the world of nFoManiacs!

What's on the menu?

Well, for those who have played Damsels and Dragons so far, you've seen there are plenty of options still in development. The final scene available so far is really the primary one that has multiple variations.

The upcoming scene that is to take place after this will be the final scene of the Prologue/Chapter 0.

Since this scene is instrumental in establishing the opening to the story, and to the world in which our main character has found himself, I want to make sure the setup is executed right.

In order to do this, I will be taking extra time and extra care to get it right.

Does this mean it will be a long time before the next release? No. There is plenty to be done in the Prologue. I've only scratched the surface.

As you can see from the below screenshot, I have only completed 8 of 24 currently known possible options. Don't forget that you still can't currently follow the right path.

What is the difference between the 2 paths? I've left a hint at the top of this post.

I'd like to provide you with more ways to get to know these two and complete the varying paths of the prologue and better define the characteristics and stats you'll be able to impact through your influence and decisions.

In the future, stat impacts, unredacted content, teasers into what is in development but not yet available will be revealed to higher tiers. You will be able to look ahead and map your plan to figure out the story you want to experience.

Yes, I know... in only 1 week, we've now reached, what? 5 build releases? Granted this is likely not a pace that will be maintained... but it is definitely aligned with how I work. If a piece is ready, why hold it back? The more I can release, the more regularly, the faster I can get feedback from subscribers like you.

This update does have quite a bit compared to the one released only hours ago... I have added much to the dialog, changed a few bits of code that were slowing down my unit testing, added lots of close-up renders, and even added a new scene. The latest scene is the first time I've released a scene where 4 of 5 currently defined options are available, which can lead to drastically different interactions with the characters. Not just how they interact with you, but also how they interact with each other.

I have not yet fully integrated the stats system into the game. The framework is there already, but since I have not yet established exactly which stats I want to track (trust, happiness, attraction, arousal, magic, agility, strength, dexterity, etc.), and which all ways those combinations can impact the gameplay, nor what will be the scale I will use (1-10? 1-100? 1-999? will it vary based on character level? will NPC levels be based on MC level?), I am only leaving comments in the code for where I anticipate certain stats will need to change.

I'm also maintaining the flowchart from my earlier posting so that I can track where certain stat changes make the most sense, and to help keep the game focused and on track. I'll likely have continuity errors, but I'd like to minimize that as early as possible.

Without further ado, here are the latest download links for Damsels and Dragons - Prologue:

PC: https://bit.ly/38Nho45 

Mac: https://bit.ly/303U0LE 

Download now and see what has the girls so emotional

More content for Damsels and Dragons is already available? Really? Already???
That's right, more content is readily available for Damsels and Dragons.
Is it a lot? Well, it is a scene that has a complete path associated with it... There are other [currently disabled] options that are in development, but you'll at least get a preview of the kinds of things you'll be able to do!

Speaking of previews for what you'll be able to do... I'm attaching a redacted flowchart of the prologue showing the level of decision making you'll start to have as the game develops. This is only the prologue, but you can see there is already a planned major story change impact where you'll have entirely new dialog, entirely new scenes, and the new scene combination will have multiple different stat impacts that are not available in the other scene. Neither way is wrong... yet... but depending on what steps you take in the game, consequences can be anywhere from minor, to completely story changing!

Download links are available here:
PC: https://bit.ly/3fmRgzo
Mac: https://bit.ly/38Mfjp0

I am continually working to improve and keep adding. Again, I'm drastically changing my model every day, because my biggest goal is getting content out to my subscribers.

Since I don't have any subscribers... I'm learning a lot about getting my work done, and how I want to build and what kind of pace I want to set and am capable of maintaining. I don't want to stop for a while, end up with writers block, and just give up on it because whatever... I want to just add some things here and there and push a release. Fix some bugs where I find them, and push a release. No need to wait, if I have some aspect that I feel is complete unto itself, I'll release it. If something else isn't ready yet, then I'll either have a teaser to it, an option that just says "well, no, you can't actually do this yet... so... I'm going to pretend like you actually clicked this other option" or whatever. Long story short, I'm running myself like an Agile shop on a CI/CD pipeline. If a single feature is done or ready to release, no reason to let it sit waiting to deploy. If bugs are fixed, fix them and roll out an update. Do a bit here, document the changes there, etc.

Anyway, there is a scene in a gypsy store where you're given 3 options, and only 1 is currently working... if you select the other 2, it's supposed to redirect you to the first option (I don't make you click the only thing that works... I just say "this isn't enabled yet, so... option 1 it is..." [this is as literally close to the verbiage as I can get without giving a spoiler]). Anyway, here are the links to the fixed versions:

Mac: https://bit.ly/3iTlDzx
PC: https://bit.ly/3flV3wX

You will also notice that I have officially updated the build numbers.

I have a few additional scenes from where this ends where I'd like to finish out and wrap up the first linear route through the prologue. After that, I will begin working on some other potential routes so the prologue has enough varying content to show the types of changes a single decision can have on the entire game.

Once I'm content with the state of the Prologue, I will begin unlocking aspects of Chapter 1, but those will not be available on the public links. They will only be available to paid subscription tiers.

Anyway, happy adventuring!
- d3v1lman1337

A new update of Damsels and Dragons is available for download. I have added a bit more content, and am beginning to demonstrate some of the types of options that will be available in game. Many of these (like all of them) only have a single path created so far, but I'm changing my strategy.

I want to get content out quickly. So I'm not going to sit and wait between releases. If I have enough to roll out an update, I'm rolling out an update. It might only be a build version update of the latest, and I might not update the minor version until much later, so you may see more content flowing more regularly at the higher tiers, but for now, you'll get to see how quickly I plan to release content before I get Chapter 1 ready to lock for the final build of v0.1.

I need to be more disciplined on updating my version/build numbers, so the download says it's v1.0. In the future, know that my version numbers will be as follows:
[Major].[Minor].[Revision/build]

Major will only update once the complete first volume is ready for release.
Minor is essentially the chapter.
Revision will let you know if you're on the latest released build for a given chapter.

Chapters are how I will ladder the tiers.

Until I have the first book complete, Major will stay at 0.
Prologue is Chapter 0.
The release in this post is the first real revision of the Prologue.
That makes this release version: v0.0.1

Anyway, here are the links to MEGA!

PC: https://bit.ly/3egS3As
Mac: https://bit.ly/3fh2Xru