"In Search of Dustin" Version 0.1 Release

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In Search of Dustin
A gay game made by a gay guy for gay guys.

If you're just joining me now, you can read more about Dustin in the blog entries below this one.

If you're here for PORN, go to my entries here or here to download the clips. You pervs.

So, I've decided to release "In Search of Dustin" Version 0.1. I'm releasing it not because its good or even close to being finished, but because I've decided to stop developing the game with Blade Engine. I've found a far better engine called "Ren Py". And its better in almost every way possible.

Things to keep in mind when you're playing:

• The game is incomplete, so some selections will end up nowhere.
• The selection menu is bugged.
• If you want to skip the movies, right click the screen.

Have fun. Whatever you think of the story so far, the next version will be WAY better.

Edit: Crap, I just noticed a music file playing where its not supposed to be. Oh well.
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My rant about why I'm abandoning Blade Engine

The first reason up to bat is that I've just about had enough of Blade Engine's bugs. When you play my game, you will likely notice the most annoying one: the gibberished selection options. Blade Engine says its working to fix the problem, and I actually believe they will. They're customer service seems fairly good. While there's no guarantee than I won't find bugs in Ren Py, the likelihood is much less as Ren Py's been used to develop hundreds of games already (amateur and professional) while Blade is completely new product.

Second, Unlike Blade, Ren Py is completely free. No annoying company logos and window bars.

Third, I can way more with Ren Py than I could ever do with Blade. With Ren Py, I can make images spin on the screen. You will be able to click on different locations on a map. You can get points for your actions. I can even make snowflakes fall from the sky. The sky is literally the limit.

Finally, and this is the clincher: Blade advertise itself as the most user-friendly Visual Novel creator. Not so. I've just tried RP, and the tabs and script program is way better than the increasingly cumbersome notepad documents I have to generate.

So basically, its Ren Py: 4, Blade Engine: 0.

Anything...

The gay visual novel I'm creating, "In Search of Dustin", is coming along nicely. The mystery and intrigue is thickening. And some parts of the story may cause something else to thicken as well. This is Akbala, my latest character, whom you may or may not meet, depending on the choices you make. He will fulfill your deepest desires... at a price.

Akbala: Hello, Master. What is your pleasure?
You: Er... is Dustin there?
Akbala: Dustin? Perhaps.
Akbala: Anything is possible with Akbala Services.
You: Anything?
Akbala: Anything.

I've also created a two-minute movie for his scene to the tune of Madona's "Erotica". Some of the things on that clip are quite provocative. *grin*

In Search of Dustin

Meet Valerie: She a manipulative little b*tch who hates your guts and will do everything in her power to ruin your chances with your dream guy. She also happens to be your ex-girlfriend.



Meet Stacy: Your dear friend, who's always ready for a laugh and a rockin' good time.


Meet Ben: What a beautiful face and body... Unfortunately, that's pretty much all there is to him.
Meet Phil: Not sure what he's trying to say here, but whatever it is, it'll be important.

As you can see, I've started to compile the images I will be using for the game. Good images are really hard to come by. Only a few sets of the thousands I've skimmed through are suitable for character-construction. The main reason is that I need more than one image per character. I need preferably, a set of images showing the a person wearing different expressions - ie: normal, surprised, upset, sad, happy, etc, images consistant with those you'd find in a regular Visual Novel. The bigger the role of the character in the story the more images I need for that character.

Those that I've found have proven to be quite useful in shaping a personality for my characters. Like they say, a picture paints a million words. Unfortunately, I have yet to find an image for my "Dream Guy", the guy you've fallen in love with and you're trying to track down. I've come up with a tentaive name which I think's pretty hot: Dustin. The title of the game will (possibly) be "In Search of Dustin (insert last name here)". The fact that I've been unable to find a suitable "Dustin" isn't me being too picky. There's plenty of pictures of pretty girls and pretty guys, there are even pretty girls with personalities. But there just ain't no hot guys with personalities. (Art imitating life?) Have you noticed how few pics there are of good looking guys wearing expressions other than "sexy" or "I want to fuck you"? Take this guy:

I'd love him to be my "Dustin", but I've only got a few pics of him and they're not really that different. I need him to cry, laugh, or whatever! This is really important, 'cause Dustin can't keep looking as sexy as hell while he informs you that he's serious considering suicide because you ruined his life.

The best I can find so far is this guy. What he's got going for him is that he's pretty good looking, and I've got pics of him showing a dozen different expressions. He looks like a guy I'd want to meet, rather than a guy I'd just want to fuck (ala Ben). The only thing is... he's an itty bit too old for my liking. I mean, I originally planned for "Dustin's" to be in his twenties. This guy's got white hair at his temples already, though admitedly his true age is more obvious in some pics than others.

Oh, and it seems that most of the character, if not all of them, will be Caucasian. I've no real choice in this matter, as there simply aren't that many images of minorities to choose from.

Also having some technical difficulties, which has been reported to the Blade Engine forum and is currently being investigated.

You knew he was different

I made this video for the intro to a new visual novel I'm planning. The plot will be completely different from Gaydar.


You begin this game by waking up the morning after a party in which you met the man of your dreams. Unfortunately, he's gone. Your goal in the game is to track him down and ultimately try to convince him it wasn't just a one night stand. Its the third phase in the boy-meets-boy, boy-looses-boy, boy-gets-boy sequence. There will be a number of possible alternative endings depending on the decisions you make. I think this storyline will allow me to be more focused in my plot development, as compared to Gaydar, which I now feel to be too ambitious.