Sapphire Safari News

Hello explorers! Progress continues along smoothly as we grow closer and closer to releasing v016 of Sapphire Safari. Let’s break down what's been made since we last spoke!

[h2]Wool, Scale, and Tail[/h2]
Three new species of Monster Girl! Yes, you read that correctly. Three new Species will be findable in the next build of Sapphire Safari. We have the cunning Fox, the trusting Lamb, and the seductive Snake. These three will find a home in our Plains Biome which is easily accessible from the very beginning of the game.


They join the cast for the biome consisting of the curious Bunny, the skittish Deer, and the nocturnal Bat.

[h2]Sapphire Island details[/h2]
To go along with the new cast of monsters we have a vastly more detailed island to discover and explore! As I mentioned previously we are focused only on the Plains Biome for the next couple of patches, so while the surrounding areas will get some detailing (so your photos don’t look like doodoo) they will not be accessible.


[h2]Day and Night[/h2]
Within the game currently is a working day/night cycle that will affect the behavior of the wildlife, events, and other assorted time-sensitive things.


[h2]Exploring with a Map[/h2]
Navigating around Sapphire Island is going to be an exciting adventure, we will be breaking the world down the world into small sections that need to be uncovered by finding radio beacons to extend the map and wireless submission capacity you’ll need in the field.


Once a map is uncovered the GPS tool can be used to help with navigating to the points yet to be uncovered or for finding a path to a specific point. These can be done in batches of three markings and auto-remove when you arrive at the destination.


[h2]AI Optimizations[/h2]
Here we can’t show much right now as it's a major focus for reducing the calling and references the game makes for AI state. This should drastically improve how quickly monster girls react to things and how smoothly the game processes information. In the near future we will do a deep-dive on how things will be behaving in the next patch so please be patient for more information there.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1526900/Sapphire_Safari/

Okay, that is it for now. We hope you enjoyed this issue of our dev blog. Stay tuned for more! Remember, v016 is scheduled for early August and so far we look to be on time for the release.

First up, a little advanced warning for all of our dedicated players out there. Version 016, the next build for Sapphire Safari will be delayed for an extra month. The simple reason is that v016 is a super large patch for the game, and we need more time to work out everything before we put it in the hands of our community. The current ETA for v016 is in Early August.

With that outta the way, let's show off what we are doing.

v016 is the biggest we have made! The reason for the massive update is simple, we are moving to a fully open-world game. What exactly does that mean? The simple answer? It means a new map, new systems, a new user experience, new menu systems, and new locomotion.

[h2]Sapphire Island[/h2]
Previously we wanted small islands, each with its own biome. Now that system is pressed into one mega island, with 6 (so far) biomes. The island is being built to support a casual exploration system. It is still early days in terms of prop design and such, however, we are finalizing the final shape of the island itself along with the borders for the biomes.


For the next several patches we will be focused on the beach landing area, along with the new biome “The Plains”.


Within the plains, we will put in three of our existing Monster Girls, the Bunny (Bunbuns), the Deer (Rubii), and the Bat (Echo).


Along with three new creatures. These include:

• A Sheep - This sheep will have a standard version and a chubby version. Along with various configurations of wool and colors.
  
• A Lizard - Scalies rejoice! The lizard is going to be our first cold-blooded animal.
  
• A Fox - The predator creature for the Plains, the fox is a human-sized Monster Girl. Her personality will be sly and feisty, looking for easy prey around the area.
  

[h2]Events, Quests, and the Map UX[/h2]
The first major reason for the delay is creating a robust sandbox experience. The key to this is making a map tool for the player to set up their goals, track what's been done, and travel around the map quickly. Here are some examples of the objectives we have planned.

• Explore - The map is covered in a fog that unveils as the player finds campsites, once activated, the camps uncover the events, points of interest, hidden item completion values, and allow the player to upload photos from that region.
  
• Static Events - Until the player completes the event (by submitting photos documenting the unique event) there will be a note on the map saying something in the vicinity has yet to be discovered. These normally take place at points of interest. An example of this would be that Bats at night use this tree as a party spot. Visiting the same POI during any other time period would not have the event active.
  
• Vista Sites - Take vista shots of Sapphire Island by matching your photo to another, matching the time of day, direction, etc.
  
• Hidden Containers - These are chests left behind by the first exploration team on the island, within are cosmetics, attachments, “fun” tools, audio logs for narrative elements, camera upgrades, etc. These containers will be hidden under rocks, high in trees, inside rivers, and under bushes. So keep your eyes open for them.
  

Without a fantastic tool for this, it would be hard for the player to make their own objectives. How much we can add of the above to v016 is hard to say, but those are our plans.

[h2]UX and Flow changes[/h2]
To better support a system where the player “never retires” back to the boat, several flow changes are already implemented. The first is the photo submission process. Our previous design had the player going back to the boat, submitting their photos for the monpedia, and having their top 10 photos count towards the total Research Level progression.

Here is the new flow.

1. Players now have a maximum photo capacity. This starts at 10, but items found around the world will increase it. Reaching the capacity stops the player from taking more photos.
2. As a photo is taken, it is scanned, and a score is calculated right there on the spot. The score also is shown on the image, along with a color grade border.



3. Pressing the submit button (this time it is “X”) will enter the submission panel. As long as you’re within wifi range of an activated camp you’ll be free to submit the photos you’ve collected.
4. Here the player will be presented with slots each photo can fill, the player only needs to “replace” the photo with a newer one. If the previous photo has less value the difference is added to the Research Level.



5. The new popups will showcase the changes to the player's progression.



Obviously, it goes without saying, the actual UI and UX are always subject to change, but this is how it is currently and likely how it will be in the next version. The Research Level is how progression will be unlocked for the player, so later biomes will require tools to access, these are awarded with Research Levels. Doing events, submitting photos, exploring, etc will all add to the Research Level.

[h2]Monster Girl scale system overhaul[/h2]
Another system we were only slightly happy with. Some of you might have already noticed how “janky” the current doll system is. The reason for this is simply “math”. Each girl currently is scaled independently to each other, Bunbuns is this high, and the players are this high, so when the two interact using the animations each needs to be “manually” corrected with Inverse Kinematics. It is even more apparent when we take a large Monster Girl like Taiga and pair her with a small Monster Girl like Monkii. It just is a lot of work, prone to being broken, and the results are not as polished as we hoped.

So the answer is a scaling guide. All Monster Girls will now be reworked to fit into special sizes, which means a “Medium” creature will be the same size as other “Mediums”. You likely won’t notice it too much, the results mean all the animations will work better. Everyone wins! Here are the classifications we landed on.

• Enormous - A special class for one or two Monster Girls you won’t see roaming the lands.
  
• Large - Bigger than the player: Taiga, Skully.
  
• Medium - The default size: Player Characters, Most NPC Humans, Rubii, Fox.
  
• Small - Slightly smaller than the player: Monkii, Echo, Bunbuns, Sheep, Lizard.
  
• Tiny - A special class, these creatures will be your Shot Stacks.
  

The current animations we have for sex will mostly be used for the Medium and Small classifications. The Large and Tiny classifications will be getting their own animations.

[h2]Narrative and Dialogue systems[/h2]
With the move to a fully open world and third-person animations, we now need a narrative system to support them. We will mostly be mimicking the great games that came before us, with the major inspiration being Mass Effect. The goal here is to bring in our custom-made Voice and Lipsync system called VLife.



The mixture of the two will let us start building the story of the island, why the player will need to investigate each section, and why everyone seems to be so thirsty!

[h2]Species AI and Monster behaviors[/h2]
The other major goal of v016 is to start building a vastly more dynamic set of generic behaviors for the Monster Girls. These include searching states for investigating noises and sights, better responses to finding the player (other than running away), what they do after seeing sex, etc.

Then we have species-specific behaviors. Examples of this are Monkii taunting the player after finding them, and chasing them around. Bothering them and alerting other Monsters. The sheep girls clumped together and moved around in groups. The predators hunt other Monsters for sexual urges. Getting this right will just take time, testing, and feedback.

[h2]Scoring and Testing environments[/h2]
The last thing v016 will include is more backend tech for making sure our new works can be tested correctly. This means that we need to test all Monster Girl related poses and the tagging associated with them. We can only do this by building environments we can use to test everything correctly. If this can be accomplished you’ll never run into an issue of a pose or animation not giving you the rewards you need.

We will also be coupling this with a scoring overhaul to match the new systems. It means your photos will be graded a lot worse, making those perfect shots all that more important.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1526900/Sapphire_Safari/

Okay, so that was a lot. As I mentioned in the intro, we will be using the next two months to build most of what you’ve read above. It will also likely carry over into v017 as well. We can see what we need to do more clearly than ever, and we are glad everything is finally coming together!

Hello explorers! Welcome to another patch for Sapphire Safari! Version 015 was actually a very short development time for us, given that our last release was pushed really far into May we only had about 15 days of total dev time for the release. If things appear a little rushed, that is why!

So let's go over the biggest changes!

[h2]A new way to Install![/h2]
One of the biggest pieces of feedback we get on the regular is general installation problems and launching issues. People having issues extracting the files, or making mistakes about replacing older versions with new files. It leads to a lot of very strange bugs and such. So now we are dropping the ZIP delivery system for patches and going with an executable installer.


We are using the open-source NSIS system which allows us to package everything together as one file (no more zipping confusion). During installation you will be prompted to choose an install location, if this is a future patch, the installer will always know where the previous version is located and will install in that directory. First, it will remove all the older files that are not needed, then it will install the new version. It will also install shortcuts onto the desktop and start menu. It took a bit of wiggling around to get the installer to look nice and be customized for our customers. The end result is an amazing system that all our future patches and additional games will be using!

[h2]First to Third person animation and interaction system.[/h2]
v015 is kinda like a middle patch for us, with v016 being the biggest change to our release in a very long time, however, the swap to 3rd person had to be bundled with this release since we kinda needed the extra time to start building in that direction. What you’ll get to play with in this patch is a first implementation, with some of the older animations being used that need replacing. We hope you all like it!

[h2]Camera ADS UI and System change.[/h2]
A change we have been wanting to implement for a while is the reduction in photo UI controls. Now the only part of the shot that will capture is the space within the white box, everything else will be used later for camera mode UI and information.


[h2]Player Sex Participation.[/h2]
All players will have unlimited access to a new tool called the “Lust Bomb”. Simply select the tool from your “Q” menu, aim at any Monster Girl you desire, and toss it at them. If they are hit they will be overcome with sexual desire, allowing for anyone Human or Monster, to plow them stupid! To interact with them just walk into the slot selection hologram that spawns.


Along with players now able to join in on the fun, we have put together a drone camera system so you can take photos of your participation as well! Camera controls are the same as normal.


We have also added another animation so Females can now interact with the Doll System, this works both as Futa and Female on both Female and Futa.


We hope you enjoy everything in the new patch! However you all need to be very excited for the next build, v016 is shaping up to be one of our biggest!


[h2]Changelog v015[/h2]

• Developed Installer system deliverables.
  
• Swapped the game to a third-person animation system.
  
• Reduced the capture window during camera ADS.
  
• Added “Lust Bomb” to usable test items.
  
• Added Stone interactions to Monster Girls.
  
• Monster Girls now craft their own Doll Points.
  
• Player interaction points on Doll Points spawned with Lust Bomb.
  
• Photography drone during Doll interaction with Player and Monster Girl.
  
• Added Female x Female Doll interaction animation.
  
• Added Icon to Unreal Engine executable.
  
• Added Header to Unreal Engine splash.
  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1526900/Sapphire_Safari/

See you next patch!

Okay, I know we are late. Lots of little annoyances happened during development causing the slowdown. Mostly the flu and other assorted things like that. Having said that we made massive leaps when it comes to our internal tools, and we can share with you all today an example of how our new sex system will work.

All of this will lead to our most significant change yet, a move to a fully open world.

[h3]Focus Target system update.[/h3]
This was a long time coming, but our focus system was not correctly giving players information on the targeted creatures. Now when you aim your focus the box showcasing the targeted creature will be displayed properly. We also changed the colors to highlight them better.


[h3]A new interaction system.[/h3]
Turns out our player characters have two working hands! This new system will make use of the previously unused left hand and allow the player to equip a variety of tools. Pressing the “Q” button will cycle between the tools available, for now, you can simply choose the “rock” tool which when pressing the “Left Mouse” button will aim and throw a rock. Eventually, this will be used to interact, distract, guide, and manipulate the creatures into various states and influence their needs to make better photos.


[h3]Version 3 of the Doll System.[/h3]
Oh lordy, this one was a doozy. We have a brand new animation system for all interactions in Sapphire Safari, that will also be used in other products we build. The very first iteration is now working within this build.

Please note that currently it is designed with Futa Characters in mind, so setting a higher spawn rate of Futa’s will lead to better results.

Okay so, how does it all work? Right now the AI has a few spots around the map they can enter and exit for the purpose of doing sexy things. A solo character will begin the chain, followed by a futa, and together they will go through animations. The timing, the length of the animations, the changes in speed, and when they “finish” is all decided by the characters in the moment. The next version we make will add more interactions, for group sex, female on female, and eventually onlookers.


We have massive plans for this system which will allow for orgies, unique interactions with plants and traps, using things for self-pleasure, using the player for things, etc.


Lastly, I wanted to take the time to let everyone know that we once again have had issues with getting PayPal working with our sales. It is a huge pain for us as PayPal as a payment option adds a whole lot. So thank you all for choosing to support us all the same. Our customers are very important to us, and we want this game to be the very best it can!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1526900/Sapphire_Safari/

We hope you enjoy the patch! Hopefully, v015 won’t take so long!

​It’s about time we talked about the birds and the bees, the hanky panky, the horizontal tango, the special wrestle. Yes, we talking about butt slapping, jaw stressing, ball milking, stomach filling, hole stretching sex. Specifically the amazing new overhaul of our Doll system.

We have gone through a lot of iterations on the Doll system, but it can be boiled down to a system that the game can automatically push NPC’s into realistic-looking sex animations, have them bang however they want, and fulfill their needs, all while being able to animate and move limbs, etc however they like. Then throw in the player being in this, allowing them to move NPCs how they like and ultimately craft and be a part of something really engaging.

Yeah, it is a lot to ask from a system.

It is also the reason we have been releasing something, then remaking it, releasing another, remaking it, etc, etc. The biggest issue comes down to expectations players have with what they need to do, along with making it look amazing.

So here we are. On the 4th iteration of the Doll system, I believe we have a winner!

Here is the first version of iteration 4 that we will be adding to Sapphire Safari. The animations you see here are all chosen by the system, they are mixed together organically and it allows for up to five total participants within one sex animation.

Full video can be seen here.

Allow me to explain just what is happening here. Each character in a scene is split horizontally in two, with the top and bottom halves capable of animating independently of the other. Also, characters can control their animation selection based on whatever we tell them. In Sapphire Safari, characters have a selection of “needs” which are based on how horny they are, how close to coming, how bored, how excited, etc. This will lead them to choose a base animation.

When a second character joins an existing character already in a sex animation, they choose an open slot (the example given in the video shows only one, but expect all orifices to be made available), they then choose an animation based on their needs, they enter the animation position and begin to animate as intended. The amazing part here is when they enter an existing animation they now take over control of whatever half of the body the slot they took is a part of. In the video above it is the lower portion of the pink character. But imagine in the future it could be the mouth, the anus, or the vagina of any character in a scene. A third character could use the anus or mouth of the blue character or the mouth of the pink. The only rule here is that new characters choose the animation the slot on the base character is going to play.



Oh and before you ask, yes, these will include face animations and such as well.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1526900/Sapphire_Safari/

Anyways, we are working hard to make this a reality, there are still a few bugs and stuff we need to work on to get it all smoothed out. However, it is also worth pointing out that this tech, is our unique system. We have also made it backward-compatible. Meaning all our previous and future Unreal Engine games will be getting this system. Yes, that means Elewder. Hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek! More to come!

Cheers,
Kinky