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Turning Fabienne into a Violinist - My thoughts on my future here
Someone called for a violinist? Yes?
No?
Alright folks, here we are again with some great
news:
Gotta tell you a little story about what's going on with my
ideas and about my future installments because this update opened me
some doors to the next level:
Well you know, after that last
release I thought I would update all my characters with just new
nipples and from that on we'll see.
Yeah, not gonna happen!
I have eight slots for garments and a triangle limit of 35000. Time to go all out!!!
At first I figured to start chronologically so Cass Moon is number one and I already went over board designing a new loadout of garments and a guitar and such stuff. So updating her to full equipment wasn't that hard and she's my favorite as you might know so she's always got more attention than any other of my creations.
Anyway.
Next up is Fabienne.
I must say I haven't touched her in quite a while because of one big issue: I had absolutely no clue what to do with her!
So I started messing around with the custom offset function to get used to it and while I was working I realized that we now have nipples on mesh basis (*facepalm*)! Gotta try a bra with that now!That went pretty nice, but just a bra looks a bit odd so let's do some nice panties. After those were done I found myself struggling once again.
What kind of clothes should I make
for her? I already thrown her old dress out of the window since I
figured it didn't suit her so well. The last time I worked on her I
simply made it as an excuse that I have no real plan. I even wrote
"Added a transparent dress to give her some kind of garment, but
I think she look's naked with fur way better, so you decide 
"
on her update in April.
Now I got stuck once again. OK, let's
upload her and move on.
Not even half a day had passed and
while I was working on a new character when Fabienne returned to my
thoughts thoughts. I pondered about my lore and really sunk into it
for like an hour or so when suddenly an idea grew an me:
Maybe
she's traveling around finding other half-dragons (and of course her
dad, Cyrill) and actually met with one of them like Niamh or even
with Stevie. Both are from Ireland, and since I'm working almost only
on my "Savage Union" band project maybe they
influenced her in some way. Maybe they met because of the music she
was playing!
You see it's getting dangerous when my grey
cells kick in...
Now that's where we are going!
A
traveler outfit like a "ranger" in a fantasy game,
something with cloth and leather, oh and some boots! Maybe a hat
would look cute on her...a flat cap or in Ireland better known as a
PADDY HAT! There is a Irish folk band called "The
O'Reillys And The Paddyhats" and they have a female
violinist.
The stars had aligned, let's go to work!
As you can see Fabienne is now capable
of a few different things and you're able to combine all those
different garments as you like. They are all made in such a way that
they work in layers without clipping (most of the time). Also for the
quick action in the future you can drag down those pants and get the
thong out of the way really quick to get something started!
Now that brings me to the future
I reached the point where five pictures
inside FVNE aren't enough to show what the character is able to and I
haven't even started on expressions. Of course I could take what I
have done here to a completely new character instead of investing
months in updating old stuff but here's the point: I for myself
decided to have a rather small roster but filled with personality. I
really love my old creation and I want to push them to the limit.
That's probably not the most efficient way on farming karma, but I
have higher goals set for myself for now. FVNE is no longer a simple
tool for creating only hot stuff, this, for me is about creating
characters that leave a impression on you folks.
I want to create high quality content and unique stuff!
Something that will be remembered when I have to quit.
My journey can't go on forever, but I hope I'll have enough time to finish what I imagine right now:
I have concepts for like three new
characters for my rock band on the table as well as new clothing
concepts for several oldies. So much to do! Filling all eight slots
of garments is not the goal here but I wish to do for all of them at least a
set of lingerie and a set of casual wear (sort of).
So, you see a lot is going on behind the scenes and though I got way more efficient in creating clothes I also long for better quality and more detail.
Let me hear your thoughts on the new style and stay tuned!
-Blacky out-
Comments
Looking good, nice and folk-y. Reminds me that I've got some big plans to misuse the interaction system to create entirely safe-for-work music videos for various songs that I've visualized a story and/or characters for over the years. Several songs by Blackmore's Night come to mind, given the current context.
I guess I've missed something here. Got some incoming long term obligations that will severely interfere with this sort of unpaid hobby work? I certainly know that feel all too well. Still, it isn't impossible to do a little something on the side in your spare time, but I definitely also know how draining a day job can be, so I can see why one might want to drop everything and just relax on those precious few days off the clock.
One thing that can always be done is uploading a version of the characters with more complex meshes somewhere and link them here on the forum. Probably could also put the same link into the character's description on the cloud, too, so as to not miss out on karma. Bit of extra hassle for both creator and viewer, but eh, could be worse.
I imagine interactions will also have restrictions put on them for cloud upload, so a similar workaround might be useful there, since I'm guessing it will be possible for interactions to be saved locally as well, and thus shared outside the cloud. I'm presuming they can also make use of locally stored characters too, so particularly complex scenes with many complex characters might require a big .zip of all the necessary components. Or one could just record the interaction, add some fancy flourishes with video editing, and upload the result to whichever porn video site one favors. No cloud karma that way, though, hmmm.
I don't know, I've found that a bit of friendly rivalry is an excellent motivator for innovation and improvement. Of course, once it veers into unfriendly rivalry, which includes such pleasantries as sabotage, malicious rumors and drama, it becomes a hindrance. Still, the presence of the karma system isn't a cause or a solution to these sorts of interpersonal dynamics; people will always find ways to establish a pecking order, no matter how hard you try to engineer systems against it. The primary benefit of a karma system is to give viewers an easy shorthand to find popular (and therefore, presumably, quality) items on a large list, so I'd say it's worth the petty e-peen size contests associated with such systems.
Of course, this is all easy for me to say, given that I have no skin in the game yet on account of me being a lazy perfectionist who is perpetually tardy on his contributions to the cloud.
Which is why it's probably best to stick to what can be done now rather than worry too much about how things will be. We can make some educated guesses and in light of them, make some attempts to future-proof our creations to some extent, but an old adage about counting chickens comes to mind; don't presume too much and you'll waste less time and effort when it comes time to upgrade your creations with the latest bells and whistles.
For a concrete example, I've been thinking of giving that cyberpunk rat concept of mine a long trench coat. It will be a bit finicky, but with a bit of creative application of the tools available, should work for a few static poses, at least. I've heard a few things about how cloth simulation works during my studies, though, so I know that as a general rule, you can't mix skinning and cloth simulation on the same mesh. The way to solve this is to make the simulating part of the cloth a separate mesh, and then mask the seam with something, such as a belt. So, presuming similar limitations will exist for the eventual cloth physics implementation in FurryVNE, I'll take that into consideration when making the design. Should be easy enough, since trench coats rarely come without belts.
Aye, making more abstract, narrative-related plans that don't depend on the tech available is a good way to go about it. Been doing that myself, though I've also got plenty of old ideas that can be repurposed as well. And, should things fall through, such ideas can always be repurposed again for other things easily enough. I suppose, though, that the same could also be done with many of the 3D assets created along the way, too; with a bit of work to hide the lewdness, and some extra polish, they'll make good portfolio material. Or, should one be aiming for work in more risqué circles, why hide it?
You're right because you have to filter somehow, but how would a new creator ever become as "famous" or "big" in terms of karma like Craket or Chyanna? We are a whole year ahead of everyone else who just starts now.
Ah, now that whole section is a extremely good call. You remind me to update Cyrills trench coat for that matter
Seems that will become something of a genre of FurryVNE animations in the future, eh?
Understandable. I wish we lived in a world that doesn't so readily judge one for one's sexual tastes, but such is not the hand we've been dealt, unfortunately. Still, there's ways to live a double life, though I can see why people might not want to deal with the hassle of juggling separate (online or otherwise) identities.
I'm pretty sure there will be a market for SFW characters in the future, too. Doubt they'll ever be as popular as their lewd counterparts, for obvious reasons, but catering to a niche has its merits.
Wish I could say the same. I like doing it just fine, being a creative outlet and all that, but it does demand a lot of time and effort for the level of quality I demand of myself, and then there's the need to constantly learn new things along the way to further complicate the equation. Recently, there's been a lot of other things that I've been needing to do, so all I've wanted to do after plowing through them has been to commit to some more passive activities to recharge before even considering jumping back into any of my character concepts. Of course, by that time, there's likely other distractions coming down the pipeline, so I've been stuck in something of a vicious cycle of procrastination for months.
Fair enough, and there's a case to be made for the benefits limitations have on creativity, since it tends to give a nice kick to figure out ways around said limitations. Still, when you absolutely, positively got to exceed every limitation in the room, accept no substitutes.
First in, best dressed is a factor, of course, but merit has a funny way of bubbling up to the top. Despite our efforts, we're amateur hobbyists at best. What would happen if a real industry professional were to start moonlighting in our circles, I wonder? Even with the day job eating up the majority of their time, I've got a feeling they'd be capable of producing better stuff than us in a fraction of the time it'd take for us to come even close, so they'd quickly become the talk of the town. Especially if they take requests from the crowd.
Outside of that, for someone who starts with nothing but a fresh install of Blender and a can-do attitude, they'll eventually grind themselves a nice skillset and (hopefully) a few dedicated fans. By that time, the environment could have changed quite a bit; older creators will have moved on, and while their stuff remains in the hall of fame, people eventually get tired of retreading the classics and go looking for newer, hidden gems. With a bit of luck, our hypothetical plucky new creator's works will be noticed, and seen to be good by many. Perhaps even good enough to see them take their place in the hall of fame. Still, that's a long and arduous road to tread, so a few shortcuts wouldn't hurt. Perhaps, once the interaction system rolls in and we get a big influx of new people because of it, there might be incentive and demand for some community programs and events designed to highlight up-and-coming talent. Character/interaction design contests based around a specific prompt or theme might be one type of such event, for example.Fuck! Thats such a good idea! I support that!
I know it is easy for me to say all that ive said as im diving into my big pool of karma like scrooge mcduck but in all honesty, I dont think it will matter.. In the end, just having fun with fvne is the important aspect.
Luckily, the sky's the limit when it comes to potential contest ideas, especially once interactions enter the fray.
You know an old game series by the name of Thief? Some of the best stealth games ever made, still the gold standard by which others are measured. Excluding Thi4f, of course, we don't talk about that misbegotten abomination. Anyhow, the first two games shipped with a robust map editor called DromEd, and the community around those games is still making stuff with it to this day. They hold mission design contest every now and then, and the prompts have ranged from holiday-themed missions, maps built around gimmicks such as verticality and climbing, limiting the creators to only using vanilla assets from the base games (with bonus points for clever, unusual use of them) to even one case where there was no gameplay design at all in favor of wringing as much graphical fidelity out of the old Dark Engine as technically possible to make eye candy maps for players to simply gawk at.
They have an interesting way to handle the logistics of it, too. The entrants are always anonymous, the names disclosed only once voting is done and the winners declared, so as to keep the process as objective as possible. Of course, being a tight-knit community who know many of the design quirks of their creators, guessing who made what mission before the names are disclosed is very much part of the proceedings, and all in good fun.
As for what themes would be applicable in our specific corner of the internet, specifically in terms of character design since interactions are still a ways off, I've got a few ideas:
Something based around clothing could be fun, and can be approached form a variety of angles; maybe give the entrants a specific character template to design an outfit for, or do the opposite and give them an outfit template to design a character for.
A vague description of a character with plenty of room for creative interpretation might be workable as a starting prompt. Hell, could even be as simple as a single word. You can get a lot of mileage out of that, believe you me.
Here's a twist; make the entrants design a character they'd never normally even consider. Maybe have each of them come up with a bunch of terms and/or concepts they personally dislike, and randomly pick one to be their specific prompt.
One idea I've been considering trying out myself is trying to emulate a specific artist's distinctive style for a FurryVNE character. Might also work nicely as a contest prompt, provided the artist in question doesn't mind. A variation on that could also be to design a parody caricature of the artist's style, too.
Holidays might be a bit boring, especially if they're done annually, but there's ways to make those interesting, too. Taking your Christmas example, simply prohibiting reindeers, Santa/elf outfits and other such obvious holiday clichés would force the entrants to do something a bit more unusual. Julbocken and Sonargöltr, anyone? And, of course, some holidays are more versatile than others. Halloween, for example, has practically infinite permutations of spooky critters and phenomena associated with it to use as a basis for a character. Could even go so far as to theme a Halloween contest around a specific type of monster, with extra points for those taking it in an unusual direction.
That's about all I can come up with for the moment. Oh, and since there was talk of trench coats, I went ahead and made a rough, box-modeled mesh of one:
Clocks in at just 1160 triangles total, though that'll probably quadruple once it's done. The clipping shouldn't be an issue once I slap some subdivision and other modifiers on it, but it definitely still needs work. Not too bad for a few hours work, though, if I do say so myself.
Thank you kindly. I'm very much guilty of being one of the much derided "ideas guys," but I guess I'm lucky to be an exceptionally good ideas guy.
Definitely a possibility, though we'd likely have to organize it unofficially amongst ourselves. I get the feeling the devs are a bit busy with things that take higher priority than building a proper cloud backend for holding community contests at the moment.
I actually had that "design a character you dislike contest" idea even before the first playable build dropped back in the day, since I figured it'd make a nice counterbalance to people finally getting to design the things they'd been wanting to make. I was planning to propose the idea as a way to get the community more engaged once we had some expanded options for character creation to better facilitate variety, but then Covid hit and I became too busy with IRL bullshit to do much of anything. Still, better late than never, I suppose.