v0.5.0 is out (and has been out) and also I'm working on v0.6.0

 

Hi all!

I'm going to keep things brief here, as I normally do my long posts about the deep creative process and whatnot on this blog, but I made a little post about current development on my itch.io page which you can read.

v0.5.0, which contains the first half of Day 3, is available now! You can find the links on the game's F95zone landing page or you can download it from the itch.io page.

v0.6.0, which will finish Day 3, is in the works and all four planned dinner dates are entirely written as of this posting.

Also, I've been neglecting this majestic .blogspot.com domain since taking to twitter for my brief updates and my itch.io and F95zone pages for the more intermediate stuff. I'd update my Discord, too, but I realized the link I shared in v0.5.0 is a dud... (fixed for the next release, rest assured, you can complain about the lack of dicks directly to me when v0.6.0 is released!)

As for the longer stuff? I've been trying to keep it in and channel that energy into the actual game writing a little more. Not that there's anything wrong with getting that energy about explaining the process out, but... It's not as interesting right now. 

Rest assured I'll share and archive special content like the Christmas renders here, though! I'm sure some fun cosplay renders are in my future with that upcoming FF7 remake installment almost CERTIAN to get creators making Yuffie outfits (finally!) Of course, I won't let this eat into my production (too much).

Anyway check out the post in the link at the top  of the post and keep your eyes on those other, more frequently updated channels until I decide to rant more here! Thanks for playing!

Happy 2021! - Xmas Renders & Update

Hi and Happy New Year everyone!

This is my first, long overdue, update to the blog - and possibly one of the few long-form posts you'll see from me here. For the most part, I've moved to making longer updates on the game's f95zone page and shorter updates on my Twitter (@ErisaSummer). I also actively monitor the game's itch.io presence and reply to any comments there.

First off: good riddance to 2020. Though I was able to complete day 2 and do the remastering work to integrate the old RPGM day 1 content (at higher quality) into the modern Ren'Py client, I was medically debilitated most of the year and any time I pushed myself to work on the game, I made things worse for myself. Naturally, everything was compounded by coronavirus, including my day job. I still feel very fortunate to have secure employment, but things have just gotten busier and busier there as well, which has cut down on development time.

In short: I was able to put out a few releases (hooray!), but global and personal problems prevented me from doing more (boo!). I don't expect things to get better from the job perspective, but I'm optimistic that COVID will get better at the end of the year now that vaccines are being distributed and I'm in the late stages of recovering from the medical procedure I underwent to correct my own non-COVID troubles. So, things are getting better for me.

I also went ahead and upgraded my rendering situation by purchasing an RTX 3090, which is capable of doing amazing things like fully converging the image below in 15 minutes. Previously, it had to render on CPU for over 8 hours. 

This is helping me get higher quality images and (especially) more complex images done at a more rapid pace, so I'm hoping this will help me be more productive and weigh against some of my other limitations. It should also help improve animation quality.

As for where things stand right now, I've changed my process for day 3 and am writing and rendering concurrently, where I used to make a bunch of images and then write around them. I think this new way is working out better and makes more sense now that things are more set in motion and there's more to keep track of from a writing/coding perspective.

I have all of the images and text completed through three morning mini-events and four primary breakfast paths, each of which has about three sub-paths. Last night I also completed transitionary scenes into what I call the "midday" portion of the day - this is where you would have your pool/casino/gym/bar/peeping options in day 2. It'll be a bit of a different setup in day 3, but I think you'll still enjoy the different experiences of getting to know different girls.

I'm still not sure how far into 2021 it'll be before I make a new release, but I intend for v0.5.0 to comprise day 3 and all possible routes from morning to evening. Depending on how things go, it may be still be a while, but I'll keep doing my best to push forward as quickly as I can and will keep my channels updated.

Thanks for staying interested in this long-developing piece of work - I hope to make it worthwhile and I'm hopeful 2021 will deliver on that.

Here as an added bonus are a few fun Christmas-themed renders I did for the holidays:

Erisa and Chrissy getting into the Christmas spirit

Liz doing a pin-up pose by the tree

Grace and Abby exchanging gifts

Allison, Nina, and Erisa exchanging some... other gifts

Amanda preparing to unwrap and enjoy some special presents (Rey, Olive, and Merri)

The twins (River and Sandy) share a family tradition - to Whit's surprise!

Happy New Year and a late Happy Holidays!
-[IM6]

Erisa's Summer v0.4.0 is LIVE!

 

Hi everybody!

As of this moment, v0.4.0 of Erisa's Summer is live and available for download!

Direct download from my itch.io page
Or, use one of the filesharing links from the F95zone page

All day 1 content from the RPGM version of the game has been remastered and added in to the Ren'Py client. Several new scenes have been added and existing scenes have been expanded to enhance gameflow in the new client. A few new scenes may have been added to the end as well...

An Android version has also been added. If it sucks and/or is broken, I do not intend to provide support for it beyond initial build. I apologize, but Android support is above my (free) paygrade. You'll have to start from the beginning to enjoy this update, but I hope you'll download and do so!

Support: As always, this game is released totally and entirely for free! Some folks have offered to support me through a Patreon or download fee in the past, but I'm simply not interested.

Instead, if you want to support and motivate my development efforts, I ask that you identify and donate to an animal shelter or charity of your choice. If you do and would like to share confirmation withme, it will definitely make me feel good and motivate me to keep going! Also, as further incentive, I'll gladly provide a 4K still of any existing game image for any confirmed charitable donation.

Of course, if you just want to play the game, that's fine too! Enjoy! If you do feel like leaving a few words of encouragement or a positive review, that's great too!

Ren'Py Day 1 & 2 - Coming this Friday!

 

That's right, you read correctly! Be prepared to get off your couch and run like Chrissy to grab the latest update to Erisa's Summer this Friday!

This update focuses on unifying the content previously only found in RPG Maker with the content for Day 2 released solely in the Ren'Py format. From now on, everything well be Ren'Py only - with everything all in one place!

The update also sees many (if not most) of the Day 1 images remastered or retouched to enhance quality. There have also been a handful of brand new scenes added to the game (starting with the intro!). These new scenes either add new information or optional information into the natural game flow, or fill the cracks that were previously open world gameplay in RPGM. I know, I know, you're all bummed that you can no longer find out about the stoner bros next door or read the Mitch Hedberg joke about Dufresne Hall, but the experience, I promise you, is both more seamless and better motivated.

I've finished proofreading and technical checks today and am upgrading just a few more renders that didn't pass my quality playtest. I'll continue to spot check and work on a few other odds and ends, but the full Erisa's Summer experience (through Day 2!) will be released on Ren'Py this Friday.

And from there - we head to Day 3!

Thanks as always for your support and enjoy!

-IM6

Houston we have an update - Version 0.3.0 is Live!

That's right, it's been less than a year and we have an update to Erisa's Summer!

Version 0.3.0 picks up in the midday of Day 2 and offers several paths to explore before bedtime.

Check it out here:

Win/Lin : MEGA - MEDIAFIRE - FILESUPLOAD
Mac : MEGA - MEDIAFIRE - FILESUPLOAD

I've been working on the update without much of a break since the last release (v0.2.1) and I'm glad to finally have it out in the wild!

The next update is where things get interesting - I'm still making a few decisions on how to model the mechanics for day 3+, but my intention is to currently move the game off rails and into free-roam.

Well, to a point. There would always be a dinner date and an evening event. But other events would fire off of conditional triggers based on where you go, who you meet, and how you treat them (and how they treat you!)

I'll be brainstorming, listening to feedback on v0.3.0 (and making bugfixes as needed!), and maybe even posting a few polls in the weeks to come! There's also consideration of integrating Day 1 into Ren'Py... Though I haven't started to explore this yet.

Anyway, nothing crazy to ramble about this time - I just hope you play and enjoy!

Ren'Py Client Now Available!

You can read a lot of the (lengthy) details below, but this post is just to say that the Ren'Py continuation of Erisa's Summer is now available!

Enjoy and, as usual, please leave me any feedback!

Links below:

Win/Lin : MEGA - MEDIAFIRE - FILESUPLOAD
Mac : MEGA - MEDIAFIRE - FILESUPLOAD

ALMOST HERE! Day 2: The Cruise & Some Monologuing

Bonjour! (No, I'm not French - I lack culture)

First off, I made a twitter and am making relatively frequent updates.
Whaaaaat? You can follow here: @erisasummer

We're getting ready for the release of the first edition of the Ren'Py client for what I'm terming "Erisa's Summer: The Cruise." Yep, you read right - after nearly A YEAR since I finished the RPGM Day 1 of Erisa's Summer, Ren'Py is about ready for prime time.

Well... a pilot with prime time ambitions, maybe.

What will be set initially as version 0.2.0 will comprise the following:

• Prologue recapping, but not completely rehashing day 1 (from a new perspective)
• Introduction to the cruise
• One set of branching sex scenes depending on day one choices
• An introduction to the expanded cast of The Cruise
• An introduction to the environments of The Cruise
• Establishment of the general cadence of the game

I think this probably reads a little more sparse than it actually is. I've tested the game a few times and I think the combination of images and text comes together pretty strong. I've played a lot of other games, including many in initial versions, and I feel like this is a healthy offering. Of course, you, the player, will ultimately tell me.

I gave some consideration to putting in the next set of events I have in mind before launching, but it's been almost a fucking year since I released something. So, with that in mind, I'm trying to take the alternative approach of putting things out in chunks. This is a big bite, and I want to make each of the next bites at least a bit sizable, but also doable on my end.

Development-wise, I think things will go pretty quickly with adding that next bite, though. I have the ideas in mind and am starting to storyboard them. It'll probably be a few weeks (at least) after the release of 0.2.0 (and any subsequent bugfix releases), but here's what I'll be considering for the next update:

• Branching event immediately following 0.2.0
• First dinner (number of different choices available)
• Group event in the evening (with a few smaller choices)
• An ending to the evening (maybe some options depending on girls you've spent time with)

From there, we'll lead into the meat of the game. I'm still wrestling with making it more or less stat grind-y or just offering different sequences of events/choosing who to spend time with at different intervals. This is where the dev gears are turning at high speed! I've got ideas and those ideas will come out to sexy fruition sooner or later!

So anyway, I'll make a post in a few days once there's been a liiiiitle bit more testing of the initial version. Look forward to it!

***

I also just wanted to take a minute to reflect on why I'm still working on this game and how long it really took me to get modern. I really like adult games and have played a ton of them - starting primarily with Chaotic's vdategames, Lesson of Passion, and the games put together by Tlaero and Mortze.

But my inspiration to create a game was first the "more simple" Tesliss Equation by Goblinboy. I'd always had a soft spot for text adventures and this one made me feel like I could create something cool in that space.

Unfortunately, TADS/RAGS/ADRIFT are all showing their age. And most are stupid hard to code in.

I worked on an ADRIFT version of the project initially. ADRIFT was the most user-friendly of the bunch, but still, it was a pain in the ass for me to just create a simple loop attribute. How BBen designed a (very!) functional combat system in Pervert Action: Legacy, I have no idea, but he deserves incredible credit.

Around this time, I was playing a number of games in RPGM systems - most notably The Humbling Experience, The Coceter Chronicles, and DanielsK's games (in particular, Zoe's Temptations and My Girlfriend's Amnesia). So, naturally, the next jump was to RPGM.

In hindsight, RPGM is both wayyyyy too resource intensive (having to build every map environment, sprite, etc.) as well as too code-limiting (constructing logic trees and declaring variables in RPGM is infuriating). RPGM burned me out for a long time, but unfortunately, it was already the system I'd adopted. And I wasn't able to make a release until well after any sort of prime RPGM enjoyed, as other devs were already moving onto Ren'py or Unity.

And now...

Well, honestly, Ren'py is great so far. It's built for this. But it's also built on python and built around python, so there's a simple, common code denominator that can be invoked relatively easily to accomplish other game functions. I know I've talked a lot about my foray into another game called "EveL" which I silently created and toyed with while keeping Erisa on the backburner. Here's a shot from that client:

I made the above in relatively short order, compared to any of the complicated variable changes in RPGM for Erisa's Summer. And the custom buttons, clocks, menus - they all work. It's like a new day. Seeing this made it obvious I had to move to Ren'py.

So what am I saying here?

Not too much! Just indulging myself in the journey I've taken to get to this place, from a system standpoint, but also paying homage to the games that got me here along the way. That said, there's an obvious thread in Erisa's Summer that I've found lacking in (most) other games: the female only/lesbian only angle.

I get it, devs are working to acquire the largest crowd possible and lesbian content probably works best as a supplement to straight m/f content. That's cool! I totally support that! There are great m/f focused games! But... I wanted to make something focused exclusively on girl-girl stuff.

There are some games I have to give it up to: from the above LOP have a lot of games where you can take a female protagonist on a lesbian route, and vdategames have a number of games where you can play as a female (and, of course, you're dating women). Zoe's Temptations, The Coceter Chronicles, and The Humbling Experience also all have prolific lesbian content and some more modern favorites include VULVA and CLIT by yahotzp (full-lesbian games! sexy, well thought out content!) and Healslut by Davie Zwei (lots of choices, great story, and f/f-only route possible!)

But even with the modern efforts listed above, I still feel like there's not enough wholesome girl-meets-girl, girl-fucks-girl content, so I'm continuing to do my part to rectify it. That's all! Sorry for rambling, but I just wanted to do a little riff on why I'm still here after 3 years of sporadic development and platform changes! Hopefully we all find that things are a little more routine from now on!