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Sneak Peek #21: A Whole New You
🕑 Added 2023-03-27 18:00:20 +0000 UTCUpdate 28 March: Thank you for your feedback yesterday! I've already made a few changes to the model based on the responses. Check the bottom of this post for those details plus a test CG that shows the model in an actual in-game scene.
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Today I have a first look at a big change for the game, something I've been working on for a while—a new Connor model.
Connor was the very first model I made the for the game, one that worked great to begin with. But as I created more and more characters, Connor's rough edges became ever more apparent. What pushed me from idly thinking about updating his model to doing the update:
a) More than a few people have been commenting that Connor is not as hot/cute/attractive as the other guys in the game, or that something looks "off" about him. Not a great reaction to the lead character.
But more importantly for me:
b) The original Connor model is unreasonably difficult to pose/light to make look good. There's a reason I can swiftly produce 16 or more Patreon CGs each month but it takes longer to get game CGs made. I sometimes have to spend hours tweaking a Connor CG to get it to look right, and often I finally settle for "good enough" so I can move on. Again, not a great attribute for the game's lead character considering he'll be in the vast majority of the game's CGs.
This was obviously a big decision since it means recreating every CG and sprite in the game that features Connor. But after some render tests, I decided it'll be worth it.
I want to note right here that this change would come after the Club Update! I already made a significant number of Club Update CGs with the original model, and the update is delayed enough as it is.
The plan is to do this sweeping refresh to coincide with the first Grind'm hookup release so I can use the new model in that scene. Luckily, the work involved to remake the CGs isn't too tough since the model is designed such that I can swap the pose from original Connor onto new Connor with only minor tweaks needed to fix things like fingers poking into arms, etc. It's mostly just a matter of the time it takes for images to render.
With all that said, this post is serving not just as a sneak peek but an open forum for feedback. I'm happy with where the new model is at, which is why I'm sharing him today, but that doesn't mean he won't have more tweaks before being finalized. I'd love to know your thoughts.
Let's get into it! I've got commentary about all the test renders below and my decision-making process, but the gallery has bigger images to go through if you want to start there.
The New Model
The new Connor has been created from scratch to be more HD and more poseable, with an eye towards capturing the essence of OG Connor while overall improving his appearance.
Facially, I was looking to land somewhere between cute and hot, with his facial expression determining which he is in the moment. I started by honing in on the features of original Connor that I wanted to carry over most: his eyes, his brows, and his lips.
The eye textures are the exact same as the original. The brows are new, but I knew I wanted to keep them thick and prominent since it's such a face-defining feature. The lips are a different shape, but I wanted to keep the slightly fuller lower lip.
Beyond that, I was inspired by faces like model Dani Garcia with a sharper jawline and smoldering eyes. It was a balancing act to keep his face soft enough to feel youthful without making it too soft, and I think I landed in a good place. He now looks more in line with the other characters his same age—he won't look quite so young-looking when next to Matt, for instance.
I also wanted similar hair but something fuller, since the tightness of original Connor's hair made his head seem oddly narrow at the top. This new hair asset also has the benefit of being more poseable, meaning I can muss his hair up rather than always having neatly combed hair even when fresh out of bed. (For some reason it looks like he's graying at the temples, but I'll figure out how to fix that.)
For his body, I took this as an opportunity to give him the frame I'd originally envisioned, which was similar to Ryan Phillippe's body from his nude scene in Cruel Intentions (a scene that cemented to young me that I am very, very gay 🥵)
New Connor is the same height as original Connor with more or less the same shoulder-width. But I wanted him leaner overall with more of a swimmer's build. And directly inspired by Mr. Phillippe, I wanted him to have a perkier ass.
I also took the opportunity to fix some design decisions I've grown to dislike. His dick is the exact same as original Connor, but I got rid of the dark veins since it just didn't look right on him. And I always hated the sparse-ness of his body hair, which was mostly determined by the assets I had access to at the time. He's still mostly smooth, but I filled out his pubes and gave him better armpit hair.
To compare, here is new Connor next to original Connor under the exact same lighting conditions and in the same poses.
Pose Tests
As I worked on the new model over the past several months, I did a lot of posing tests to make sure I wouldn't have a problem like OG Connor, who has to be at very specific angles to look attractive.
The most important test was determining if his expressions look good, since that's mostly how you see Connor in-game—his sprite emoting in the corner. Here are some of his common expressions with the new model.
Then came full body tests where I applied pre-made poses to him to see if anything awkward cropped up when in different positions. I think he took very well to all of these, and I can easily picture him in all sorts of scenes where he needs to be particularly... flexible 😏
Character Chemistry Tests
Lastly, I wanted to see new Connor next to some of the other characters to get a feel for how they'd look together. I chose three of the most popular guys—Matt, Will, & Riley—and they looked so good that it pushed me over the edge to make the change. In particular, this first image of Connor and Matt is what fully convinced me. I absolutely can't wait to do intimate scenes of them together.
So there we have it, a first look at one of the biggest changes to the game to date. As I said up top, I'm open to your feedback on how the model looks, whether it be comments here or via DMs. I know games change models during development all the time, but this is the first time I'll be doing something this massive. I hope that overall it seems like a good change!
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Update 28 March
Thank you to everyone who responded with feedback yesterday! I'm glad to see so many of you find the new model hot, and I also really appreciated those that had a more critical eye. I've already made a few changes based on the latter comments:
- I figured out how to dial back the abs without affecting the rest of the body, so he now has a softer middle
- I widened his waist
- I dialed back the HD body details that made his musculature so prominent
His body is now closer to OG Connor's while still being refined. I haven't adjusted his face yet, but that's also an area I'm planning to make some tweaks.
I'll share images of the tweaked model next month, but in the meantime I wanted to share a quick test CG I did with the new model. There were concerns that new Connor doesn't seem as innocent as original Connor, so I wanted to see him in one of Connor's most vulnerable scenes: being comforted by Owen after Julian runs out on him.
Here's the comparison between original and new; this was done quickly, so the final revised CG will fix things like his hand going into the bed. The pose was copied over without any adjustments. I think Connor looks just as vulnerable and that the HD upgrade is super clear side-by-side.
Bigger versions of the images are in the gallery. Let me know what you think!
Comments
Don Hillsman, Jr.
Aw... I love the picture of him and Riley!
Danny Nym
Connor can be played as a top, bottom, side, or verse, so I'd say that's a good thing 😉
Rumbadub
I feel like this new guy looks a lot more vers to me. Not saying we should buy into stereotypes or anything. That's just what came to mind
