Originally Posted by: Digital_Mercury 
Regarding dForce:
There is a lot to it and you can use it on anything... almost, there are some geometries that don't work well but most do... it's great for natural drapes of hair, clothing etc but can be used on otherwise solid stuff for weird effects. I'm sure Salvador Dali used it in some of his works lol.
You can also capture realistic motion for those actions shots, add wind effects, depict alternative gravity and so on.
Clothing can be a bit more involved particularly for seated poses and such like but from the above image it looks like you have a handle on the cloth drapes already.
Hair drapes are usually quite easy if the the hair geometry is compliant, I have had a couple that just fall apart.
Like I say, there is a lot to dForce but for hair drapes in short:-
1) Save the scene - dForce can crash DS.
2) Use morphs / bones to get all hair strands clear of the body / clothing, it will snag otherwise.
3) Select the hair model on the Scene tab then Edit > Figure > Geometry > Add dForce Modifier: Dynamic Surface
4) Just try a static sim to start with - On the Simulation Settings tab set Start From Memorised Pose to Off and Frames to Simulate to Current Frame and give it a go.
5) If the hair does odd things or tries to fly off into space try reducing the stiffness parameters in the Simulation category that will have been added to the hair surfaces on the Surfaces tab.
You don't necessarily need a weight map but it can be useful / necessary to reduce the effects of dForce across a surface. Ponytails for example can fall flat without, a weight map can reduce the the effects of dForce at the root of the tail while allowing the rest of it to flow / bounce / drape nicely. But if you just want to capture that drape or movement shape try playing with Simulation Settings > Environment > Gravity or Surfaces > Simulation > Structure > Dynamics Strength first.
For me I think the time invested in learning dForce, well some of it anyway, has been well spent but for you it depends on the importance and what value it may add to your project or your art.
Nice, great info. Besides hair and clothing, I cannot see at the current moment how much dforce is going to be involved in the development process, at least in this title. However, the more I know about it, the better it can be implemented if needed. I really appriciate the tips and advice.
Originally Posted by: Geramdrir Thank You for taking the time to tell the whole story around th game :-)
As i had no connection to Anthros so far it is definitely the idea and story around that attacts me here. I do like the intro and the situation You are creating. It sounds interesting for a player - and provides a good setting as for the player as well as for the character the situation in the 'outside world' is new. Apart from that there are many nice questions raised and from what You write i could imagine You will work with them inside Your story.
Just as a kind of feedback here these would be the questions i as a new player would have at the moment (not asking You to answer them as they should stay hidden - just so You know what soemebody not knowing the background is thinking about): First i am wondering if the plague was coming with the Anthros and if the humans now hate them for that (or to be exact why not). Second i wonder the scientists united and tried to breed both species - and even more why they decided to mix them up or even allow that. At this point i as a player would assume there must be a reason for that, like this being the only option to save both species on the long run.
Of course the setting is nice for a male player - at first look it seems the goal might be to fulfill the 'duty' as much and good as possible ;-) -- but i also would assume this is not the only thing and what You say about background seems to support that thought. Still for people getting in contact with Your game the first time You maybe will need to place a few hints somewhere - as with the setup so far - that story until they are realeased at 18 suggests that mating-storyline being the main part of it. So You might attract those who will not value Your surprises and miss the others who would have liked them but do not dive deeper (this thought coming from someone having worked in advertising for some decades ;-) )
I absolutely LOVE the music in Your link! - It sounds wonderful if YOu won some composers and can add something of that quality! I compose myself but it's rather trance and melodic tecno. And there is no connection at all to this graphic self of me :-)
And i can understand You very well doing a passion project. I am working on my opus magnus for about seven years now and hope to be able to start creating pictures and share them soon. It will have some huge depth if i really manage to express what i have in mind (and the huge pile of papers that are already here) - it will take me years to complete if i manage ever, but it is something i just have to do - so i understand You well. Already now i was rather coming for the story and world, so i could imagine it will work the way You hope.
Sadly i can not help with Daz or dforce as i have a very different workflow (cinema4d, vray - in the meantime marvelous desiner)
But i will lve to follow this project if You post some of the stuff You create here :-)
Well... not the whole game :p.
Something to take note of before I start going though your questions. It has been 8 years since the Anthro had arrived when the game starts (2023). The plague broke out 1 year after they arrived and was cured 2 years after it first started. So it has been 5 years since the last reported infection. Most of the conflict has since past, expect a positive experience for the most part during the first few acts.
You are treading that line of things that indeed I cannot answer, some of this is for the player experience. However, there are a few things I can shed light on without giving away too much just to see if it peaks your interest further.
The plague broke out due to what is believed to be a containment failure with the arrival of the Anthro race. It was a year after they first arrived, so the theory is that the area where the ship had landed was not cleared to it's fullest extent. Something the ship had picked up during it's voyage, not the Anthro's themselves, is what started the reaction. The contagion from that point infected terrestrial animal which carried the virus. Upon consuming said animal, the spread of the infection began. The game goes into detail on how it is spread if the player chooses the option to hear it, so I will not go further into it than that on this part of the subject. Please take note that I chose my words very carefully, note that I said "theory" :).
Humanity responded mostly positive to the Anthro arrival, even after the outbreak. Most people actually blame the CDC for doing a poor job. There are some human factions that do not like the Anthro race at all, they feel as though they have been invaded. Others go to the opposite extreme and cannot get enough of them... if you know what I mean :p. Most humans and Anthro live together peacefully these days, at least in the "Green Zones", the "Red Zones" are a different situation and I will not say much on this subject. Lets just say some humans like the fact the world burned and some Anthro's did not want to assimilate, thus "Red Zones" were created. These ungoverned areas are never really mentioned by the civilized individual. This will be a large part of the player experience. Sorry that I cannot say more than that lol.
As for multi species breeding, the Antho population was down to 100,000. Of that 100,000 only 1500 of those were males. The birth rate of male and female is very imbalanced among the Anthro, only 4% of births are Male. Of that 4%, on average 10% of them are steril. Mix the low male population with their aggressive territorial behavior and you have a recipe for disaster.
Pre-outbreak, the population of humanity was hovering around 8 billion. Post-outbreak, the population dropped massively to only 2.5 million remaining. This number in itself is fine and humanity could recover in due time. However, male humans were now less fertile post-outbreak, and the birth rate had changed drastically to only 5 males per 100 females. The amount of births per year also dropped from 140 million per year (obviously), to only around 10,000 births per year.
These numbers led to great concern of the long term survival of both species. "Project Geniture" is a government controlled "Green Zone" program to try and make the species compatible so the genetic pool can increase helping the chances of both species survival. This program is also to help create a new culture for both species. The main character of our game is one of the first to successfully undergo the process. He was 12 when he was first taken into the institute, he was a very genetically healthy male, it's the only reason they made an exception. Normally they would not take anyone of that age as the institution serves other purposes than just genetic manipulation and the younger they are, the more adaptable they are.
I could have just wrote that we genetically modified eggs and sperm, then went the artifice route, but where is the fun in that :p.
Essentially, the game does start out basically as a breeding style of game. As you can tell, just by what I have said so far (my little hints are probably driving you mad lol), this game will evolve into so much more. I plan to release a bit more as the first chapter grows closer to it's completion. The main bulk of the audience I expect to be those who are attracted to this type of content, it maybe a niche audience but they deserve a quality game for once. Most Anthro / Furry games are no where near as complex or flushed out. On top of of this being a personal journey for me, I wanted to give the Anthro / Furry community something that they would be very happy about. The community is always very nice and it feels good to be working towards something that will hopefully blow their minds.
I never really put much thought in the game appealing to those not attracted to Anthro characters. I'll keep this in mind when it comes time to release the next bulk of information before the first chapter release.
I love all types of music, but fell in love with film music when I was a kid and have always had a passion for it. I also do love edm of all types, techno, house, trance, future bass, melodic dubstep, chillstep, etc.. Love it. I wouldn't mind taking a listen to what you come up with. I have a decent sound setup as I have done a few things in the world of music. Sound treated room, soundcraft mixer, jbl designed studio monitors, open back, semi open, and closed back headphones from Shure, Sennhieser, and Audio Technica at the ready. Expect a musical journey with this game, everything from moogs to uilleann pipes, from classical to EDM will be in it, and well placed. I'm not just fitting music in there and hoping it works, each track I place in the game is treated like a character and has a very important purpose.
As for your project, I do not know much about it but I have learned a bit about you. Most of the general public is no where near as detailed as you are (that is not a bad thing btw, I like in depth stuff). The reason I say this is that you will most likely want to try and find a balance between to simplistic and too overwhelming. You just seem like the type of guy that will use 5 paragraphs to capture the full essence of a leaf falling into a pond that created a ripple that captivated the mind of a character XD. If that is how you write then that's cool too, it will appeal to less people but who is to say that is a bad thing. It would also take you a couple of life times to complete :p.
I understand as an example that my product is a niche type of genre and I embrace that fact.
Thank you for finding interested in this project, it's still very early in it's production but the progress being made is ahead of schedule. I'm not sure what do to on here to post updates besides making a thread for it. I use a site that cannot be named for funding as well as keeping people informed. I'm also very active at Fur Affinity and post all updates there often.
I cannot express enough how awesome the community on rotica has been. You all are the main reason it's going as quickly as it is. I have a question it gets answered quickly and is almost always the exact info I need right away. It blows my mind tbh.
EDIT : Btw, I meant to mention this before but it skipped my mind. Grace is an aspiring music artist who loves EDM. She mainly works on with Dubstep but dabbles in a bit of all of it.
Edited by user Saturday, May 8, 2021 9:11:24 PM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified