Forks: A Weight Gain Visual Novel (Cancelled, all assets posted for everyone)

[tharsus]

I love getting to see behind the scenes, this is a great way to get a sense for your process. It’s really neat that you’ve been so willing to keep us in the loop - even if there’s nothing for us to try right now, it’s almost as good when we get such frequent interaction here. Thanks for taking the time to do a little community engagement.

This comparison does bum me out just a little, with Hannah specifically. I’m a little biased, she is my favorite, but her redesign felt the most like a step backwards. I think it’s the change to her chest shape - something about how much lower it is (particularly between these two, in the “same” outfit) doesn’t gel with her figure anymore to me. I get we’re past the point where anything is really going to get done about it, but it still feels like it bears mentioning.

[e123b]

Got bored, morphed the new Alex. Just like the default, but with some post-stuffing bloat:

I also did one that has a bit of growth all over, but primarily in her midsection. Here’s that one side-by-side with the bloat and the original.

Maybe the bloat one would be useful for a post-stuffing scene?

@Tron one suggestion: maybe the background behind the text should be a bit more translucent, like the older version. That way, you can see more of the characters on-screen.

[notmaebarakeiichi]

Well, well, well. I’ve been looking anonymously around every posts but this one is still the only that excites me so much.

[TDG]

I’m posting to hope this thread ain’t dead because I’m super excited to see more because this is easily my favourite WG VN right now.

[Tron]

Nope, it ain’t dead! Just getting enough new content together for an update, I’m planning to post one this weekend.

Didn’t realize the last one was almost a month ago

[TDG]

New update THIS Weekend? Oh dear, my hopes are very high now!
Looking forward to it!

[Ike_Loberson]

Is this update going to give us a new demo to play? I’ve been dying for one ever since finishing up the initial Forks build.

[Tron]

@TDG Not yet, but it’s been nearly a month and I wanted to show you all what we’ve been working on. We’re a good step closer to the new demo! I’ll be spending the rest of this week trying to mark one last milestone before then.

When we do wind up for the next demo release, you’ll know about it in advance. We aren’t working so hard to just drop it

[Tron]

Come one, come all! The Forks Meter has filled, and it’s time for an update!

We’ve been running steady this past month, slowly grinding through content and checklists to get us that much closer to the new demo’s release. How much closer? Let’s ask the spreadsheet:

That’s looking a lot greener! As ever, FoxFire’s been a mad artist on a mission to finish these backgrounds. Some, like the gym, have been remastered inline with his new skills and experience. Here are a couple of others you may recognize:

He wanted to take a break from chairs after the classroom. I wonder why?

Others have given us the opportunity to reshape their direction, both visually and narratively. The Barstucks Alex visits early on? Enjoy it while you can, because the Kino Cafe’s back!

How about that, Morgan?

Righto!
Others still are brand new, for future scenes in the new demo:

Nice morning, sure would be a shame for a bunch of fatty shenanigans to spice it up.

In music news, Ars has finished yet another piece! It’s crazy to look inside the Forks music folder and already see eighteensongswhat?!

How many people actually unlocked the placeholder bad end in the first demo?

These guys are slaying milestones in their spare time! And I’ve got yet another surprise to share in this update. BEHOLD!

A working line graph! This, and many more additions and enhancements to Fork’s code and portraits are all possible thanks to the generous help of @e123b ! Within a month, he’s single-handedly solved the biggest programming hurdles, things my weak brain never would’ve figured out on its own. A fully realized texting system, optimized weight tracking, proper call histories, and more! People, this guy’s just popping these out like cheap magic tricks, it’s amazing! This game is going to release in a much smoother, feature complete state due to his help, and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks again, @e123b !

That about wraps it up for now, it’s slow, steady progress until the last of the backgrounds are all done. Then it’s on to the next step, and so much more thereafter! I’ll show you what I can once we get there

[Xpansionism]

Hot damn those backgrounds are amazing! Huge props to the artist. Really excited for the demo!

[SlothBear]

I noticed on the spreadsheet the phone had animation and I’m little curious as to what it means its probably really simple but my ape brain can’t figure it out

[LeftHandManGary]

Bad end? What’s that?

I kid, I kid. I think I recall having at ask about getting that ending, and was told I’d have to crush all of Alex’s hopes and dreams. Never could bring myself to do it.

Heh. Hangover.

Project looks amazing, and I can scarcely wait.

[e123b]

Howdy all! As @Tron said, I’ve hopped aboard to give him and FoxFire a hand with various bits and pieces of Forks.

Originally, I was just going to help with the art, using my morphing skills to add some more variations of the character portraits. Make no mistake, FoxFire is still the sole genius behind the art- I just happen to be decent with GIMP. One day, I decided to poke around in the code a little bit, and before I knew it, I had rewritten a sizable chunk of the game. It takes some Pythonic manhandling to make Ren’py do anything beyond “show this picture here” and “show this text here,” but things are coming together pretty nicely.

[e123b]

I’ve been cleared to give you all a look at some of the work I’ve been doing. The chat app still needs some refinement, but here’s a little peek at its current state.

[Durandol]

Wow. I don’t know if that really needs much work. I’ve honestly seen people text like that before, so I’d say you’re pretty spot on.

[cheddar]

It’s a minor detail so not worth worrying or investing too much time into. But that’s not always helpful feedback lol.

Maybe round out the rectangle corners to give it that little extra corporate UX feel and add some changes in background colour (ie; a lighter shade of white) behind things like the ‘signal bar’ so that they’re easier to read. Don’t feel bad about crimping the style of real-life apps, since a lot of the little deets in their design are there on purpose.

Apps really like having semi-transparent backgrounds which might be more trouble than it’s worth but it is one other way to convey emotion and mood.

I could probably gush about typing style and more as tools of characterisation (lol, homestuck) but that is best done in moderation. If any of the girls start using full quirks, let me know who is responsible so I can rage at them for precisely 10 seconds xD

[tiggertoo]

I like it! Looks way better than the phone screen that I added to my game!

[GoldenSkull]

When is the new demo officially releasing?

[Telefang1]

At this point I’m thinking they might just finish the game and release it like that. At least that seems like the thing to do to me, as they’ve said in the past a 2020 release is fairly likely. Honestly at this quality they could sell the game on steam and I wouldn’t be surprised. Hell it’d be a lot higher quality than most of the Vns on there anyway.

[LeftHandManGary]

@Telefang1

it’d be a lot higher quality than most of the Vns on there anyway.

That is so depressingly true, lol.