Astro Vulpus (Still Dead) Aug 02

[Lucky777]

I've been banging my head against this for about 5 hours, and I've only changed about 6 notes.

Did I mention I can't compose?

...Yeah.
Anyway, this isn't ACTUALLY what I had in mind, but I can't get it any closer to what I wanted to hear, I think, because my skills are too lacking.
Also, I kept this version at 144 BPM like the one you sent me, although I have a sped up version for my own use, closer to the one that is currently up.

Essentially, whether the composer is Rachmaninoff or a hobo, I can't stand dissonance - even though the former clearly thought it had a place in music.
I couldn't get rid of all, or... any, really.
But oh well.

HERE YA GO

Ace39SingingintheDarkness2.zip

(1.44 MiB) Downloaded 27 times

(Oh also, the "vocal" track from the ones you sent me has lost that nice legato effect present in the actually uploaded flash, and I've no idea how to get it back.)

[AcetheSuperVillain]

I might actually rewrite the song myself later. Borrow some of the good parts and rewrite the rest to a more standard song format. I was playing around in Anvil Studio to see if I still had it, and I feel like I'm getting back into the musical groove pretty easily.

If musical composition is something you want to try (Lucky or whoever is reading), I don't think it's really all that difficult. Well, I suppose it took me a few years to really get the hang of, but I did start out not understanding the difference between black keys and white keys. In fact, I still can't read music notation, I use the piano notation.

You can learn a lot by analyzing songs you like. There are a lot of midis out there, especially for vg music and pop music. Try http://www.vgmusic.com for a lot of classic vg music and remixes in midi format. I've been able to find a lot of iron maiden midi, not as much luck with other metal bands. Download the midi, open it up in anvil studio, and voila, you can see everything. Piano notation makes it very easy to visually see things going from high to low or short to long. I think it's especially helpful to study a song compared to a remix of the same song. You can clearly see here is something done differently, and here is the effect of that difference.

As far as building your own songs, there's a pretty standard format we're all familiar with. Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Guitar Solo, Verse, Chorus, Final Chorus, Outro. This format is also surprisingly similar to the 5 paragraph way of writing papers that they teach in school, intro, topic, topic, topic, outro. A lot of the things they teach you in composing writing, art or animation can apply to composing music as well. Intro and Outro should tie together. You need to do this for a looping song anyways, but Iron Maiden does this a lot too. You want to repeat certain elements or themes throughout the song, basically give the song a particular flavor and stick to it. Animation principles like staging, anticipation, slow-in-slow-out, follow through, secondary action, can also apply to music.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

Actually, here's the song I started for practice:

ASV_044_WIP_64_Chorium.zip

(1.39 MiB) Downloaded 19 times

Turns out I've got some tight deadlines this week and my top to-do lists will take some time, so it will probably be a while before I do another Astro Vulpus upload, so enjoy this quick musical composition in the meantime. And, honestly, I'm pretty impressed with myself for getting back into it so quickly after 4 years away. Granted, I think some of the animation timing training is helpful.

You may notice that there's only one track right now, need to add drums, base, rhythm, vocalesque, etc. I think I should add some better anticipation before the guitar solo.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

The mighty sleep disorder rears its head. Nothing presentable, but I've released some more Patron-only Astro Vulpus Behind-the-Scenes videos: https://www.patreon.com/user/posts?u=4787605 Video #3 is about making the new shot graphics, Video #4.a and #4.b are about drawing characters from reference.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

Alright, so I've caught a cold, I'm buried under snow, and I'm stuck in a fairly demanding college class for a skill that I don't care about (match moving) using tools I wouldn't use (Blender for life!).

So I might just be exhausted, but I find I'm not very excited to start drawing sex scenes. But I do kind of want to try making 3D animated scenes. But here's the deal...

The amount of scenes that Astro Vulpus is set up for represents a pretty hefty amount of scenes, characters, animations, etc to work, and I have never actually done this kind of 3D animation. I have done 3D animated brawler characters and 3D printed posed figures, so I wouldn't be starting from nothing, but I've never done something "close up" and I'm not sure if I could do facial expressions (though I have been animating faces in school). So I'm kinda nervous to just start doing Astro Vulpus in 3D. I may run into an unforeseen problem I can't overcome.

So if I were going to do Astro Vulpus in 3D, I'd want to do some sort of test game first, which means stopping work on AV to do the practice. To be fair, I had started doing such a project and then the idea for Astro Vulpus interrupted it.

This is something I did before taking 3D animation classes (it's not sex):

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

My main inspiration for 3D is MMD hentai, and my immediate goal would be to produce something of similar quality. Here are some video link examples of that:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ph560676b449870
http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?v ... 23c3b&t=48
http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?v ... 06ea4a20f5
http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?v ... e40d45d6e9

The main thing that MMD has that I don't have is the floppy physics for hair and boobs, but that's supposedly not that hard, or at least something that good ol' Blender can definitely do. The models are also more detailed than what I usually use, but I can handle that. And after that, it's just a matter of being good at animating. Heck, maybe I'm freaking out about nothing. Maybe i have the power to do Astro Vulpus in 3D already...



Anyways, I would value your input.

[Lucky777]

From the first post, "Character art will still be 2D, but better than what I have now".
That's fine.
Regain your health and get some rest; few things make life seem "not worth the energy" as effectively as just straight up plain old NOT HAVING ENERGY.

Generally speaking I'm not excited about 3D unanimated porn at all, and even 3D animated porn is only good if it's Umemaro quality or just plain amazing.
The linked stuff is fine though.
And of course, with the right context and dialogue, even 3D unanimated porn CAN be pretty great, so there's that.

Anyway, if you're better with 2D I don't see the slightest reason for you to use 3D character art in this game.
If you want to try your hand at 3D animated porn you can just do some animations.
You could always make or remake some or all of AV's scenes with 3D art later when you're skilled.

Having said that though, if you want to, you probably just should try some 3D porn animations with the AV characters.

If YOU think they're passable you can ask duders on the forum whether they'd like to see 3D animations of that quality or 2D static pictures, going forward.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

(This may sound argumentative, but you are helping me sort out my thoughts)

Generally speaking I'm not excited about 3D unanimated porn at all, and even 3D animated porn is only good if it's Umemaro quality or just plain amazing.
The linked stuff is fine though.
And of course, with the right context and dialogue, even 3D unanimated porn CAN be pretty great, so there's that.

I actually think that a huge majority of 3D porn is done completely wrong. So generally speaking, I agree with you, but I think that I can do better, or at least, I can make 3D porn that's more like what I would make in 2D.

Anyway, if you're better with 2D I don't see the slightest reason for you to use 3D character art in this game.
If you want to try your hand at 3D animated porn you can just do some animations.

So the end goal is that Ace the SuperVillain will become famous for 3D porn games, and the 2D stuff will just fade away. I definitely still have a lot of hang-ups when it comes to 2D art, like drawing backgrounds, drawing characters consistently and drawing people touching, which are not a problem for me in 3D, which is actually part of why I want to switch to 3D and not try to master 2D.

The classic trade-off between 2D and 3D graphics is that 2D is easier to make a one-time drawing, but doing new animations/poses/scenes/whatever is like starting over every time. 3D is difficult to start, but once you have a rigged model, it's really easy to make animations/poses/scenes/whatever. So honestly, 3D would be ideal for the Astro Vulpus plan, it's just a matter of being afraid of the unknown. But because 3D is difficult to start, if I go with 3D, I want to go all-in. But then I've done 24-hour models in the past, so it doesn't have to be a major undertaking. I don't know.

[Lucky777]

Hey, if you think you can do good 3D porn and you want to try, go for it.
It's possible for sure, and when it's good I like it.
If you're afraid of not being able to make expressions or running into some hangup, just try your hand at the 3D animations and see if you DO run into such a thing.
Maybe your classes will help you though they're in a different program - for my sake, I certainly hope they do and you can get your pornz in order successfullly.
While you're unsure of yourself I wouldn't commit to making Astro Vulpus scenes in 3D, but there's no reason not to try it out and see what you and the forum think.

...Two words of caution though.
One; I don't actually like the non-sex animation you showed, since the furrys' actions seem way too wooden and I can't even tell the intent behind them.
[Maybe the first one is aggressive, and the second one is frightened, towards the person who is in-scene in the position of "behind the camera"?
Facial expressions might assist there too.]
Two; don't get discouraged if you sink many hours into the models and scenes and nobody likes them; that's just how ventures start off sometimes.

Good luck.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

As for the quality of the non-sex animation I showed, I think I mentioned it, that was before any of my animation classes started. The models will probably be pretty similar, but the animation should improve. Let me show you some of what I did for school:

First was 2D Animation:
Practicing physical mechanics, a sense of weight/force in this case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpEzJTtDso

Basic human motions like standing up, balancing bodyweight and so forth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAt2u1BOKUo


Basic 3D Animations:
Given assets, make a story out of animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6f2Yx8gkA0

Rhythm practice, using "primitives":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgwvDsJ9H2A


Real 3D Training:
Given a rigged character, props and a movie quote, animation is all me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_h2ZdN9OIU

Given the rigged character and scenery, and a storyline to animate:
(Initially I was annoyed that the specific scene I was given didn't give me a lot of room to storytell, but in the end, I think I made the best of it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqrjd4VZTe8


Uncalledfor Animation:
There were a few classes that asked to make video presentations or slideshows for final projects instead of whatever dumb shit your boring college does for final projects.
I was not expected to use animation or really given the time to animate well, in addition to doing the actual final project, but I played it for humor and I'm pleased with it anyways, which may end up being the mood I end up in when making games.

Compositing Final:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IXVTNri0SI&t=89s

Psychology of Play Final:
(simultaneously, the worst and best animation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeB8v8z68C0


Also, I did the animations for the open brawler engine around the same time as the schoolwork: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=6990

[AcetheSuperVillain]

Alright, sort of got some work done this time. I've been making a block-out for the 3D squadroom. My original plan in the first place was to make the backgrounds in 3D and then draw the 2D characters on top of them, so this is something I wanted to do anyways.

(animation, might take a while to load)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

squadroom_intro.gif (4.93 MiB) Viewed 2413 times

(floor plan)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(shots)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The idea is that most of the sex scenes will happen here in this room. Instead of the floating heads upgrade screen we have now, I will have a scene of the girls in the squadroom and you click on them to talk.

The proportion of objects feels pretty good right now, but I want to put some people in the scene to know for sure before I start finishing things up.



As you may have noticed in my previous work, backgrounds aren't really my thing, doing it in 3D will be a brand new experience and I expect to stumble through it. But then that's the point.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

Alright, sloooooowly starting to get some work done on 3D characters.

3D_pepper_start_ortho.gif (320.68 KiB) Viewed 2363 times

I briefly considered doing a 3D version of that lemonade dildo game for practice, but in the end, I think it will be just as fruitful to just go slowly with Astro Vulpus.

Next I will try and work on the hair. There are a lot of different ways to handle it, so I need to think about what will work best.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

The dream is still alive.

3D_pepper_body.jpg (24.45 KiB) Viewed 2322 times

At first I was determined to make an all new and improved body model, but after struggling for a few days on it, the "improved" part didn't happen, so given my slow progress and various other deadlines, I decided to just use one of the body models I made before.

I should probably give them vaginas. Part of me says, "but PlayShapes didn't make vaginas and those models are still hot", and I answer "yeah, but then there's less valuable in a nude shot, everything has to be animated to be sexy".

[Dead2112man]

keep it up ace (meant two ways)

[Lucky777]

I should probably give them vaginas.

Yup.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

Continuing

3D_pepper_body_spin_index.gif (578.88 KiB) Viewed 2285 times

Now equipped with a simple, yet elegant vajingjang, and a head of hair. Various little minor tweaks everywhere too.

I've been going back and forth on how flat to make the face. On the one hand, my main experience with 3D so far has been making side-scrolling beat 'em up characters. These are mainly shown from the side, so they need a strong profile to feel expressive. If you're making these in 2D, you tend to actually distort the face a bit in order to exaggerate what you need, kind of like ancient egyptian artwork. But I've been studying up on anime figurines to get a sense of things that are both cartoony and 3D, and most of these sculptors make the faces very flat. Ultimately, this hairstyle destroys the profile anyways, and this isn't a beat 'em up, so I went with a flat face, or at least, flatter than usual.

The next thing is probably to work on the rigging, shape keys, soft-bodies, then textures.



I'm thinking of skipping the Jewelia character. She's starting to feel very unnecessary. Gameplay-wise, having another helper ship on the screen would be overkill, and I already don't have a firm idea of what her weapon would be like or what upgrades she should grant you. As for the reward CG, the goal of 20-ish reward scenes would stay the same and the 3 other girls would pick up the slack. (Although switching to 3D kinda throws a wrench into that calculation. A) not sure how difficult/easy it would be to make that many 3D animations B) not sure if Flash can handle that many 3D animations) And if I were going to make a sequel later, adding Jewelia would be a good excuse to do so. It also matches the original Star Fox timeline.

[Dead2112man]

I'm thinking of skipping the Jewelia character. She's starting to feel very unnecessary. Gameplay-wise, having another helper ship on the screen would be overkill, and I already don't have a firm idea of what her weapon would be like or what upgrades she should grant you. As for the reward CG, the goal of 20-ish reward scenes would stay the same and the 3 other girls would pick up the slack. (Although switching to 3D kinda throws a wrench into that calculation. A) not sure how difficult/easy it would be to make that many 3D animations B) not sure if Flash can handle that many 3D animations) And if I were going to make a sequel later, adding Jewelia would be a good excuse to do so. It also matches the original Star Fox timeline.

So Jewelia will be basically your version of Krystal, If that is the case, you is your Falco.

But yea, seeing how you didn't really do much with those demos for her other than her picture, waiting on her for either an add on, or sequal is not a bad idea.

[AcetheSuperVillain]

So Jewelia will be basically your version of Krystal, If that is the case, you is your Falco.

Harriet is Falco.



On a roll today.

3D_pepper_anim.gif (1.85 MiB) Viewed 2276 times

The ears are supposed to flop around too, and they do in the editor but not when I render for some reason. It's late and I don't have a clue how to fix it.

The stone face is a bit creepy, I'll have to add the shapekeys next. I think maybe the arms are too long. Lots of other little things to fix too.

Also I realized after I set this up that these are Lola Rabbit's colors and I probably shouldn't make the female Peppy O'Hare look like Lola Rabbit. I might just make her darker, more of a chocolate bunny, but I need to think about how all the characters will look together.

[Lucky777]

Sure, I guess leaving Jewellia for later seems fine.

Good luck with the expressions; stoneface is indeed a little weird.

I like this one's face a lot better with hair, but should rabbit ears be coming from the side of the head like that?

[AcetheSuperVillain]

There's this whole thing with the ear position. It can look weird to have ears coming out of the top, or really to have a blank spot on the side of the head where ears should be. In 2D, you can cleverly avoid this, but in 3D it's trickier. So it's a little safer to put the ears in human ear places, but also not as conventional.

I'll try it both ways at some point. The ears are easy to adjust.

[Lucky777]

I mean you could also cheat and just have human ears and also rabbit ears, but eh ... I'm sure you'll come up with something.