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IMPORTANT: The $500 Milestone and LifePlay 3.0 (AI and Interaction Overhaul)
🕑 Added 2020-02-15 15:39:00 +0000 UTCOverhaul Progress: 100% (v3.0 Stable Released)
$500 Milestone Reached! v3.0 AI and Interaction Overhaul coming!
First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your support of the project, whether it's directly financial by pledging on Patreon or more indirectly by helping to promote the game, modding or bug testing. Thanks to your support, I'm glad to say that the first Patreon goal of $500 is finally in sight (we're two-thirds of the way there right now - 15 Feb). That may not sound like a lot compared to some popular Patreon creators, but this first $500 goal is arguably the most important goal for the project to reach as it would mark the day LifePlay officially becomes a part-time JOB for me rather than just a committed hobby, allowing me to dedicate around 30 hours a week (4+ hours each day) consistently to working on the game.
Not only this, this $500 milestone will give the project the financial security and consistent development hours enough for the project scope to be expanded beyond the currently quite simplistic gameplay and NPC behavior. In fact, as soon as the $500 Patreon goal is reached, I will immediately start working on LifePlay 3.0 - the most ambitious overhaul to date, even more so than the character model overhaul last year:
Current Flaws of LifePlay v2.x:
- With the lack of AI, NPCs are currently treated like lottery balls basically! All each NPC does is staying 'dead' as a lpcharacter text file in your Saves folder and waiting for their ID to be called out by the RNG (Random Number Generation) goddess to 'resurrect' them into scenes whenever you take certain actions under certain conditions. They aren't actually 'alive' when they're not in a scene with you: They don't go to work, have a home (even your GF may get assigned a home, but she doesn't really live there!) or go anywhere when you're not around and the RNG doesn't call for their presence.
- Any NPC-NPC relationships(spouses, parent-child, etc) are static and only there because one of the 'introduce' scenes get triggered because of RNG. NPC doesn't have any opinion (rapport, attraction) of each other whatsoever - any breakup or domestic violence scenes are pretty much RNG-based or not a part of a revolving relationship.
- Overall, NPCs are just very shallow - tons of new NPCs are generated through scenes every day but they're all equally forgettable - after all, they have no AI!
- Because NPCs don't 'live' when not in a scene, they never have any physical location on the map so you don't have many options in terms of proactively interacting with NPCs location. A common complaint about the game is that everything seems so passive - you wait for things to trigger a lot, adding tons of buttons to force-trigger scenes isn't a good solution because the fundamental problem is that there are no NPCs around to interact with.
- Only bedrooms have proper 3d space, all other buildings/ location types are represented by 2d background images.
- No animations for daily activites (eating, drinking, working out, etc), only for sex.
- Because of the lack of NPCs in locations and lack of 3d space and animations, all actions have to be represented by a progress bar - watching a progress bar for every action you take isn't very enjoyable gameplay.
- Also, because of these factors, scenes are a bit like in a 2d visual novel - even though the characters are 3d, the camera is static during scenes and the characters aren't even looking at each other when talking, let alone interacting. Relies a lot on text to describe what's going on between the characters (even dramatic moments like fighting), which is a bit of a waste of Unreal Engine's capability and the fully rigged 3d characters
- Also because of the above, the gameplay feels very much like 3 different games constantly 'interrupting' each other: Moving around the map and watching the action progress bar (Game 1, lifesim without daily activity animations), interrupted by scenes telling some story on a 2d background (Game 2, visual novel), then interrupted by a sex scene (Game 3, sex similator / animation slideshow). Not very immersive at all.
What would the "LifePlay 3.0 AI and Interaction Overhaul" include, when the $500 milestone is reached?
- I will need around 5 updates (or 2 months and a half from the day the $500 goal is reached) to add all the new systems and features for the overhaul, as listed below. This is a similar number of updates to the character model overhaul last year, but with the $500 goal achieved, each update will involve a lot more development hours (around 60 dev hours per update, or 300 dev hours for the whole overhaul).
- AI: Add a sophisticated NPC Behavior System to the game. Each and every NPC will now have a home (and they actually live there and can be found there at night! Some NPCs may be roommates / spouses living together), a workplace / university (where you can actually find them during the day) and their favorite places for shopping, dining, socializing etc. They will all have daily schedules that are flexible and make sense (NPCs will explore new places and be moody too, they won't just go to the same shop every day at the same time like how some other Patreon games handle schedules.)
- AI: most importantly, each NPC will be somewhere physically on the map doing something (or simply sleeping at home ...) at any point of gameplay. If you go there, you can find them and interact with them. Go to your local grocery store after work and you may find some of your neighbours there etc
- AI: NPCs will now have rapport and attraction for each other. NPCs in a relationship or in the same family will act like that - couples usually appear together etc. NPC-NPC relationships will develop with more opportunities for drama with a backstory / buildup, rather than just random dramatic scenes out of nowhere.
- Interaction: Bye bye, 2d location backgrounds! The bedroom won't be the only fully 3d location in the game anymore - all other building types will now have at least one preset each of a fully 3d space: shops, gyms, nightclubs, restaurants, stripclubs, you name it ... all in 3d. Whenever you select a location on the map and move there - the camera will now show the actual place in 3d (with other NPCs already there doing different activites) that you can move around (bit like how the current sex camera during bedroom sex scenes work), rather than just the map and the progress bar. The map is only seen when click for it when you want to move elsewhere.
- Interaction: New animations for common daily activities (including animations that involve interacting with furniture like running on a treadmill etc) so you can watch your character actually do things rather than just watching the progress bar.
- Interaction: Not only can you interact with buildings, you can now interact directly with the NPCs you see in that building - this will make the gameplay a lot more proactive and less 'doing unrelated things and wait for RNG to trigger scenes'
- Interaction: Even in passive situations when you're just going about your day and a scene triggers, it's a lot more immersive because you actually see the NPC walking towards you in the 3d space, talk to you while looking at you and use other animations when appropriate (fighting etc) - very smooth transition, scenes aren't 'interrupting' your action anymore, in fact, scenes should feel like part of your experience interacting with locations and NPCs, not something separate and RNG-reliant.
- Interaction: Since there are no more 2d backgrounds, all scenes now have free camera control to look around the 3d space where you can watch you and other characters talking and interacting (perhaps you want to move the camera up and look down and it will look like the Sims with actual dialogues, or if you keep the camera on your character or go into first person, it will look a bit like a proper 3d RPG), which gets rid of the whole 'visual novel' feel and makes the best use of Unreal Engine's capability.
- Interaction: If a scene leads to sex, the transition is also a lot smoother because during normal scenes, you're already in a 3d space with the same camera control as sex scenes. The 'three interrupting games' I mentioned earlier should now feel like one immersive overall experience.
Before and After LP 3.0 Overhaul - Examples:
1. Going to the gym and getting hit on
- Current: Click on gym > do cardio > watch the progress bar while still in map view > half way through, a scene triggers and blatantly interrupts the action > scene UI shows up on a 2d gym background > randomly generated guy shows up and starts the chatting up dialogue not even looking at you
- After Overhaul: Click on gym > do cardio > the camera does the zoom-in effect and shows the 3d interior of the gym (already with NPCs working out there) which you can move around > you watch your character running on a treadmill > a scene triggers but it feels immersive because of no sudden camera/ UI switch, a guy who was already working out before walks up to your character and starts chatting up while making eye contact with your character
2. Asking for a cute shopkeeper's number
- Current: Click on shop > pick a random action and grind out until the specific scene triggers - nothing you can do to influence the RNG goddess > a scene finally triggers and interrupts whatever you were doing > generate a new shopkeeper (a different one each time even though it's the same shop! How many staff do this shop have!?)
- After Overhaul: Click on shop > go there > camera zooms into the 3d interior of the shop > that's the cute shopkeeper standing there (she actually works here so it's the same one no matter how many times you visit the shop. Also, some of your neighbours are here too since it's a local shop) > click on her > ask for her number > a scene is force-triggered in the background but it stays immersive because there's no change in camera and UI - your character simply walks towards the shopkeeper and starts the dialogue to ask for her number.
3. Invited to a house party
- Current: You're watching the progress bar with 'Doing cardio' > interrupted by the scene UI > your best friend shows up (with the gym background behind him) and invites you, apparently it's to show a phone call even though neither of you are even holding a phone > you say yes > you're instantly teleported to his house (not really, your character is physically still in the gym for the whole house party scene). Oh wait, isn't it a different house (you can tell because it's using a different bedroom preset) from the last time the same guy invited you to his house party? Yeah, cause all NPCs are homeless so a random place is generated each time the house party scene triggers > You choose to chat up a girl and pick a name from the list of options(although all you see is the girl appears on screen from nowhere, not even looking at you, and the text 'We spend some time talking'.) > She's into you, so you kiss (both of you are kissing air while standing parralel to each other ...)> You choose to fuck > teleported to the bedroom and 3d bedroom sex scene interrupts the visual novel UI.
- After Overhaul: Your character is running on a treadmill in a busy gym > suddenly, he stops the treadmill and picks up the phone from his pocket > a bubble from the phone shows the best friend's face lipsyncing and the invitation dialogues (he doesn't just magically appear in the gym, it's a phone call!) > you say yes > You get a mini-quest objective to go to his home (the same one he's lived in since you first met him) > You switch to map view for a second and click to go there > Camera zooms into his living room, in all its 3d glory > the host and his guests are already there sitting around the table > that girl looks hot, you click on her > chat up > your character moves to the chair next to her and they start talking, making eye contact of course > they kiss (with proper animation) > then they walk away from the living room and into the bedroom where they start having sex. Everything transitions smoothly.
Why is the $500 Patreon goal necessary to start working on this overhaul?
The $500 milestone allows me to guarantee at least 30 hours a week (60 hours each update) to dedicate to the project, which is necessary because this overhaul will expand the project's scope significantly. There's not only the work actually implementing the features and assets required for the overhaul, but also the work to add more code to existing scenes and actions to make use of the new features. Most importantly, the overhaul adds extra work to every scene, action and location type that I will add in the future too. I really need that minimum 30 hours a week to be able to handle a project with such an expanded scope going forward, otherwise it would just be too much for one person to handle as a committed hobby (and not as part-time 30-hour-a-week job that the $500 milestone would make this project become) and everything would just be a buggy mess even if the AI and interaction systems are in place.
The character model overhaul last year was a great improvement, but it didn't expand the project's scope or lead to more work for all future content. It was just 'repainting the house', once done, you get to enjoy the new look right away with little 'maintenance' for the forseeable future. This AI and interaction overhaul would be more like 'turning your house into a smart home', which is not only a big intial effort, but also carries future 'maintenance' costs as well.
I need your help achieving this milestone and making this overhaul a reality!
I firmly believe that this LP 3.0 Overhaul will dramatically improve the game and make it a truly enjoyable and more realistic 3d adult life simulator that makes full use of Unreal Engine's capability. However, in order to reach the $500 milestone necessary for the overhaul, I need your help!
If you're not a patron or are a former patron, please consider pledging on Patreon to support the project if you enjoy the game.
If you're already a patron, please consider increasing your pledge if it's financially sensible for you and if you have been pleased with the progress the project has made in the last year.
Again, my Patreon's 'Charge Upfront' feature is disabled, so you can pledge or increase your pledge right away - you will only actually get charged on the 1st of next month.
As further incentives for pledging / increasing your pledge, check out the rewards I just introduced for patrons that allow you to commission animations, scenes and maps each month.
Also, please continue to spread the word about the game to others (via forums, messaging service, social media) whenever appropriate. Even if you're not in a position to support the game financially, someone else who have heard about the game from you might.
Right now (15 Feb), we're about two-thirds of the way to the $500 milestone. As an example, it would only take about 30 new patrons and the average pledge to increase by $0.50 per patron to reach the target. So with your help, I hope this goal can be achieved and this ambitious overhaul for the game can become a reality!
In the meantime, of course I will continue working on the 2.x versions in accordance with the Quarter 1 Plans posted at the start of the year (next version v2.19 for example will add facial expressions for sex scenes, I will post detailed plans for that in a couple of days)
Thank you so much again for your support!
Comments
Icarus Media
In case it's not apparent i like your game. :-)
Thank you so much for your support so far and for increasing your pledge! Yes, the support from everyone over the last 24 hours or so has been amazing and we're almost at $400!
Vernon Banks
I have loved watching this game progress and now we are finally getting some AI to have meaning?! woot i hope we reach the goal! we are almost at 400 at least
Thank you for increasing the pledge, Lee. And for all your help with the video and promoting the game. And yes, I have considered the performance impact. The thread thing won't be much of an issue because I'm going to implement multi-core processing to the game soon (probably v2.20) anyway, And of course, nothing will be rendered graphically unless it's on visible on the screen - UE4 has a pretty good Occlusion Culling system. I might even use some LODs too for crowded space like nightclubs etc.
Lee Thompson
Ok I'm in, I'm going from the cheapsake $1 tier to the slightly less cheapskate $5 tier. (I wish it could be more but I'm already pushing my Patreon budget.) 3.0 looks intriguing but one note - I'm sure you've thought of this already but you'll want to watch out for your NPC 'living their lives' thread(s) causing performance issues. Obviously they shouldn't be rendered in any form unless the player is near (or at) their location.
Thank you for your concern about the project - it means a lot to have a fellow creator supporting and caring so much about the project. Honesly though, I seriously doubt I would ever enable that Charged Upfront feature - giving patrons the freedom to pledge whenever they wanr id pretty much one of my commitments for the project, up there with each update being free and released to everyone right away. Sure, like every other Patreon creators, I always lose some pledges during the last week of the month and then some declined ones at the start of the next month, but I’m pretty much used to that now. pledging and deleting the pledge before any charges have reduced a lot since I include a reminder about “Charge Upfront is disabled” in my welcome and thank you message (which shows that most people doing it before were simply intending to make a one-off donation but made a mistake, not deliberate). Pledging and deleting only to download isn’t a problem at all tbh, the game being free is pretty much the first thing a person would learn about the project (it says so in the first loading screen!)
Thank you so much, King Crimson! For the generous support and the kind words :)
Paying my dues ;) Looking forward to 3.0, I think you can make it happen especially with all the content you've poured into this game for the past two years... Can't wait for the next update!
Icarus Media
A few ideas, suggestions etc: As nice as that figure is, you and I as creators both know that that figure can change rapidly. Even more so when it gets near the 1st, people promise to pledge, download and then unpledge. Meaning you get $0. I know you don't like it but for more financial security you may wish to reconsider the charge up front feature. I like the planned improvements. It sounds that it will be almost like a 3d game as opposed to a 2d one with 3d elements. I did have one idea: Personalities. Personalities could affect the text of scenes as well as the likliness of an NPC being in a certain building, i.e. dirty personalities will be more likely to appear in a strip club than a shy or religious personality etc etc. Keep it up.
the interacting with npcs directly by click on them in a 3d space in itself would be a big UI improvement too. For certain actions that interact with furniture objects. I will also allow the player to click on the object (like clicking on the treadmill on the gym to start doing cardio for example).
All the best mah dude, we get there, might increase my pledge. Btw, would like to see huge changes to the UI of the game, something far nicer and user friendly to bring in more traction to the project.
Thank you so much for your support! I always try my best to continue improving the project. The game isn't all that popular right now but my philosophy has always been 'try to make a great game and the players will find it eventually'.
Skalli
Reading this I'm glad I decided to pledge, it's just a small amount, but the game kept getting better and you deserve it. If you can pull of these changes the game will probably gain a lot more traction. Seeing you other changes I have no doubts that you can pull it off. Good luck!
yes, of course. Your spouse will be the very first NPC AI package to work on.
Matt Gorman
Does this mean a spouse will actually live and be in the same bedroom with you?
