Firstly, batch rending things overnight\u00a0is good, but it isn’t as great as I thought it would be.\u00a0Using the graphics cards for so long wears it down a little so that the next image takes longer. So, say you have 20 images which will take 30 minutes\u00a0each to render. The first 8 will take about\u00a030 mins, but then they will start to take 40, then 50. By the time you get to image 15, they are taking about 2 hours each to render. The issue is solved by simply restarting the computer, but it’s not really an option at 3am.<\/p>\n
About a third of the time, there’s also normally another issue. Maybe the scene is too dark, maybe there’s weird reflection from a character’s eyes that makes them look possessed. Maybe, as occurred earlier this week for an entire set of ten I rendered overnight, Kristen will be super shiny for some reason and I’ll have to re-render the entire set, but first of all do about 7 test renders to find what the problem was.<\/p>\n
So, I was generalizing and optimistically saying that I could render 150 images per week – and that would be true if everything worked flawlessly the first time. But it doesn’t. This week I’ve only been able to add about 30 new images to the game. There may be some weeks when I’m on a roll and get 100 images plus rendered, but I think they’re going to be the rare ones.<\/p>\n
I’m rendering what I can during the daytime, but the another problem with that is it’s interfering with my work a little. I have a ‘main’ job away from this site and I do a lot of it from home. Some of the softwares I use for the job require a graphics card, so\u00a0I can’t really render anything using IRAY while I’m doing that.<\/p>\n
The artistic view<\/strong><\/p>\n Some things have been starting to bug me about Leanna from an artistic view too. As it is, the game is more linear than I’d like.<\/p>\n The game structure of Betsy goes something like this :<\/p>\n Leanna by comparison, goes like this :<\/p>\n As you can see, there’s much less choice in this game, and it’s been really starting to bug me. I made things a little more linear in order to reduce the amount of work, but I don’t know if it’s worth it. As much as I could at the time, I’ve always tried to make these games have the most amount of choice possible.<\/p>\n So, what I intend to do is expand the game, even if it means more work. I want to do this game right more than I want to do it quickly. So, that’s what I’m going to do!<\/p>\n I need at least one more day in there with three choices. I also need to expand the times you have a choice of 2 activities and make it three.<\/p>\n I am also going to include the choice of selecting ethnicity! I know according to the stats that only (I think) 25% of people play as black characters, but that’s still a pretty significant amount. Having that option has been a hallmark of my games ever since Maddison too. It’s only right that it’s there.<\/p>\n So, what is<\/em> happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve been pushing to finish this one as soon as possible, but my normal schedule is to release two big game per year – one around January\/February, and one around July\/August. Maybe that should have been the reasonably expectation this whole time.<\/p>\n I’m going to continue working on Leanna as much as I can, but I don’t expect it to be finished until late May. It may even be longer, so be prepared! It is possible the game may not see a release until October (ish). If it looks like game production will take that long, I will probably start another game with the intention of a summer release. Most likely Crystal Part 3, but another possibility is the Girl Group game I was floating the idea of last week. Either way, it’ll be rendered with Poser, but IRAY.<\/p>\n To make up for the delay a little though, here a picture of Leanna doing her best Marilyn Monroe impression.<\/p>\n\n
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