Hey everyone. It's been a long time coming, but I'm going to be releasing a new version of Wild Harem soon. You'll be able to download the updated version over here when it's released.

You can also support me here.

Did, uh, anyone else get a cryptic message from the furaffinity forums sent to their email? Was there another hack? The forums themselves seem to be offline for now.

You can now get Wild Harem 0.0.4 over here.

Phew! This one has been a while in the making. Fair bit of backend stuff, but there's also a new scene! Hopefully subsequent updates will be quicker, now that I've invested a lot of work into making things run more smoothly. Version 0.0.4 is available for Fans and Super Fans - you can find them on itoril.itch.io if you've linked your patreon account!

Changelog​
Made a new scene. Check out the shower! 89 seconds of animation, though a small portion of that is reserved for later. ;)
Setup the "loop pool" system, which allows variants of animation loops to be played semi randomly - making scenes less repetitive.
Created a method for weighting loops based on their likeliness to be 'randomly' picked - fuzzy furry logic!
Setup interactivity for scenes. Now characters can be interacted with while they're doing their thing, leading to easter eggs!
Refactored scene function such that it can be reused for lots of different scenes in the future.
Tracked a certain wild hare's, um, wildness....
Created a method for having 'mildly' animated foreground and background images available during scenes.

Known Issues
Using the scroll wheel to cycle through the history of the game can lead to strange effects. This will be disabled in the future, as Wild Harem is more of a dating sim than a visual novel.
After Airt has "relieved" himself, there is no way of regaining his need unless the game is restarted. In the future, his biological urges will be tracked dynamically.
The "responsive" scene transition mode was causing a lot of problems, so it has been disabled for now.
Ren'Py doesn't seem to be predicting scene clips, probably because of the way I've designed the scene showing function. This can cause clips to stutter slightly at the beginning or end, because the periods dedicated to playing them don't match the clip length plus the (unpredictable) time it takes to load on the fly. I might be able to remedy this with the renpy.start_predict function, but I haven't looked into it yet. renpy.image_cache_size may need to be fiddled with too.

Hello everyone. I want to start out by thanking you for your patience and patronage. Supporting a project at such an early stage makes you true angel investors, and I appreciate you joining me on this voyage of self discovery.

I've been very busy, although this time I've dealt with several development based hiccups because I've been pushing my limits. I've grown as an animator and game developer, and the game will benefit from this investment, both immediately and throughout the life of the project.

As learning new techniques takes time, and as I fail to push out an update as soon as I wish, sometimes I try to divert my attention to extra R&D to compensate for a perceived inadequacy. It's not healthy for me, and it also threatens the project in the long run. I think this is because of the impact working like this has on my mental health. I'm trying to put out more numerous updates than saving up all the features and putting out one big one, because I'm fueled by your enjoyment of the end result. So if I can work towards more regular releases that would be great for all of us.

I think I can end up with a better result by balancing R&D and content development. Of course, the game needs to be developed so that it goes somewhere and achieves what it's set out to do, but while that's the "how", the content is the "why". The content is the fun part too, and why shouldn't this project be fun?

Here's a list of things I've been working on since the last release. As I write this not everything is ironed out, but it will be by the next release. I also want to elaborate on some of the work I've done in other posts.

Thank you so much for your time, your patronage, and for helping me make this happen. Here's what you can look forward to in version 0.0.4.

✨ Learned how to apply metaparticles to a mesh - in the test case it was a soap sud material, but I can reuse this for some gooey effects!

✨ Learned how to have a gizmo follow a helper with a script - this blows the door wide open for hundreds of different special effects. It's so flexible I don't even know what I'm going to use it for next.

✨ Learned how to bind a helper to a given polygon or vertex - this let's me add some effects without hand-animating them on top of the animation I've already done with the bone-driven meshes. It will save hundreds of hours of work.

✨ Designed a pretty cool looking soap sud material that is procedural, and thus scalable.

✨ Animated a big solo scene with Airt, which is integral to one of the characters' prologue plots - it's about 80 seconds of animation!

✨ Developed a way to have the game randomly select variants for animation loops to break up monotony, repetition, and make the characters feel more natural and alive - this is an old technique I came up with in 2008, but I'm applying it to the game's engine this time.

✨ Designed an animated background scene element, tested and implemented it.

✨ Designed, tested and implemented an animated foreground scene in the same vein.

✨ Developed a method for adding clickable easter eggs to animated scenes within the game - this is an integral feature of the game's engine.

✨ Developed condition-based scene selection which modifies the animated scenes based on certain events that happen in the game.

✨ Designed a "wet fur" look. Plenty of applications for that!

✨ Explored CUDA and hardware accelerated raytracer rendering in preparation for transitioning to a photorealistic renderer - hopefully scheduled for the end of the pre alpha phase, I hope I can grow my patronage to the point where I can overhaul my characters and art style. This would be the greatest upgrade to my art style in over a decade!

✨ Defined the scope of the development life cycle stages for the project, both in terms of features and content.

✨ Figured out which areas of the Arcology will be explored during the prologue - version 0.0.5 will allow you to explore these areas!

✨ Started working on a new character whom you'll get to meet during the prologue and the game proper - Langston the Bull. I'm very excited to introduce him!

Hey everyone! Just a quick update about where I am with Wild Harem. I've been working on the next scene for some time now, and it looks like it's clocking in at 82 seconds (1:22) all-in. I'm about 95% finished with principal animation, then I'll go over everything, touching up and testing. It's a shower scene! I've come up with a soap suds material, and a pretty cool way of applying it to the base mesh.

This is going to be the last solo scene before I introduce some other characters to the game proper. It also features a method where I put loops in a playlist and have them play randomly, to break up the repetition a bit. This is a new feature to the game so I might spend a bit more time than I think on it, but the theory is straightforward, and I've done it before in Flash, so hopefully that experience will be transferable!

This scene is part of the plot, because it kicks off a conversation with one of the characters who will be in the prologue, but that's all I'm saying for now! Many thanks to everyone supporting me in this early stage of development. I appreciate you all very much.

Hey everyone! Version 0.0.3a of Wild Harem is now available to everyone. Check out the game on my itch.io page. I have also updated Fan and Super Fan editions from 0.0.3 to 0.0.3a - I fixed a problem with one of the video playback buttons (hopefully!)

Dunno how it works, but yeah.

https://www.pillowfort.social/itoril

Thanks to  creaturecorp for inviting me!

I've uploaded some animation stills for Wild Harem.

You can check out the preview here!

Hi everyone. I've launched a couple of new tiers, and they come with extra rewards!

The "Fan" tier allows you access to a 1080p version of the game. Sex scenes will be presented as such. You also get to see scenes a month before public release on the free version.

The "Super Fan" tier has the rewards in the "Fan" tier, but also includes an extra angle for each sex scene! These exclusive angles will never be made available in the free version of the game. You also get to see sneak previews of the sex scenes before they've been added to the game.

Soon I will make my first Super Fan sneak preview post, and shortly after that the Fan and Super Fan versions of the game will have the first sex scene available!

You can check them out over at my patreon page.

Hi everyone.

I'm hoping you can help me work out my scatter-brained-hare-brain. In trying to make my characters come to life, I've been taking little notes about them and now the notes are all over the place! I want to put them all in one place, and it would be even better if I could do that in a social/public way.

I'm thinking about starting a wiki to do this. But I'm not sure which kind of wiki to use. Which would you recommend?

I've now got 4 different paths to completing the prologue. Each one is tied to a different character you start a relationship with. I'm now working on a bit of programming to test out "image maps" and such for navigating the environment.

Hey everyone.

I've been working on the plot to Wild Harem. I've already got a playable prologue I'm working on, where the player explores the arcology that Airt lives in before he's transferred to Follyville 45. So far, it looks like there might be three different ways you can complete the prologue. There might end up being as many as five or more, depending on what seems feasible. I'm going to hash things out in the discord server, which you can join if you've signed up to my patreon.

Hey everyone!

I'm working on Wild Harem and was wondering, what sorts of things would you like me to animate in the game?

Hello everyone!

I've just released the first pre alpha version of my game, Wild Harem!

I'm hoping I can be allowed to work on it with your support. Please check out my patreon!

I feel good. I feel full of energy. How are you getting on?

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to thank you all for lending your opinions on this submission.

The reason I was having a bit of a conundrum was that I learned that I can change the perspective of the virtual camera I use to render scenes. I noticed that 3D Studio has a bunch of presets for stock lenses. Then I read into different camera lenses and discovered that traditionally for portraiture, an 80mm or 135mm lens is considered more flattering for the subject.

I was working with FOV angle instead. The default was 45°. The 80mm lens preset changed the FOV to about 29°. I rendered both for a side by side comparison. Although the differences are subtle, they're still there. I couldn't really decide which one looked better.

It turns out that the version most people preferred is the default. Oh well! Thanks again, everyone!

I'm trying Twitter out. My username is itorilfur.

Ngyahh! I'm so excited! I didn't know I could enjoy marketing so much, but I've been working a lot on the patreon campaign for my new game and it's been so much fun! I'm not quite ready to unveil it yet but I'm so eager. It's like I've barely scratched the surface on worldbuilding and designing systems to let my characters take centre stage, and already I feel such a deep love for them. It feels like giving them the chance to portray their personalities is giving me a closer connection to them. It's like I'm treating them with greater respect.

It might sound weird, but when I literally animate a character, it feels real. Like I'm actually bringing them to life. Such an intense emotional connection. I hope I don't sound too detached from reality or like I'm dreaming my time away. Things are happening, and you're going to see the fruits of my labour soon.

I just had to gush about this somewhere. I'm so happy!

If you want to support me via tipping, you can do so on my page by giving me a shiny.

I'll buy a Ferrari with mine.

Hey guys and gals, I've been throwing around this idea for an interactive erotic experience, here's a summary of what I've established so far:

× I want to release short animations at least once bi-monthly, and would not start the Patreon campaign until I was sure I could keep to a schedule

× I want to "frame" my art inside some collective, interactive experience, like a video game, probably

× I don't want this "framing" device to suck up all of my time or detract from the art. It would likely be relatively basic, like one of those "wander around an environment, banging random people" flash animations

× I want players to establish relationships and rapport with the characters, not the "howdy stranger, let's fuck!" approach. The characters would be relatively well developed

× The two above criteria sort of point to something like a dating sim, but with more of an actual payoff, gratuitously speaking

× I would release a version of the game for free

× Patrons would probably receive deluxe updates, though I haven't formed precisely what I mean by that

× The game would likely feature a mix of straight, gay and pan (dickgirls, really) sexual material

× I want to explore some of my own kinks, ones I'm more familiar with (like femdom) and less familiar with (like BDSM in general)

× I'm thinking of having two playable characters, one male and one female

× I've got about 18 non player characters in mind, I'd likely launch the game with several and then add more gradually as time goes on

× I'm not promising specific features yet, but I'd like to aim for standards like 4K resolution, 60fps, stereo 3D and VR. I'd even consider binaural/Dolby Atmos style environmental audio too. Whatever's feasible, given that it takes a long time to render animations and I'd be working to a schedule

What do you think? As there are plenty of questions floating around, especially about how the gameplay would work, I'm all ears.

Hey folks,

I'm currently working on a commission. My biggest ever. It's a couple of scenes long, and each scene is pretty complex. My very generous (and very patient!) commissioner will receive production stills soon. As usual, I'll post the animation once it's completed.

Although I'm enjoying animating this commission, such a long project has felt like a bit of a drag. This is a lot of work for one person, as most of my animations are. An auteur needs to wear many hats.

The thing that I don't like about such long projects is that the time in between posting art is so long. I would prefer to release art more frequently. As I spend a lot of time and effort on my animations, I struggle to find enough time to produce enough work that it's usually commissions that I have to take to keep myself going. We haven't reached a social utopia yet.

Compounding this is the fact that commissions are few and far between, understandably because such a great financial burden is placed on one person. Again, understandably, commissioners tend to want to see their own characters featured in their animations. The problem with this is that it takes a disproportionate amount of time to create a character in 3D compared to animating them. So I feel like I'm constantly modelling and skinning and texturing and rigging and morph targeting and.... you get the idea. There's a lot less scope for me to actually bring the characters to life.

What I would love to do is create a stable of recurring characters, and animate them regularly. Long before the days of Patreon, before I'd heard of the word "crowd funding" , I wondered if it would be possible to have some kind of system where several people joint commissioned me to spread the financial load. I think I called it a "commission pool". It seems to have been a decent idea because we have things like Kickstarter and Patreon now.

So basically I want to transition from infrequent commissions to frequent, patron backed art. Over the years I've come up with a bunch of characters in my head that I've scarcely realised. I've moaned about not being able to bring these characters to life to my friends for years. If I'm sick of it, think how they might feel! Numerous factors have conspired to stop me from taking the plunge. I feel like I'm almost ready though.

I'm looking for opinions and guidance on how such a Patreon campaign would take shape. I've already done a lot of research on the commercial aspects, but I want input from my fans about what sort of content I would produce and how I'd deliver it. If I started producing art regularly, what would I make and how would my Patreon be laid out?

Hey guys. Long time no chat.

I'm mostly just confirming that I'm still active, even though I haven't posted anything in a long time. I haven't been idle though, I'm working on my biggest animation project yet. I thought I'd just drop a journal entry to let people know that primary animation is all but complete and I hope to have some production stills soon.

How is everyone doing?

I've been feeling lots of ups and downs lately. I usually don't make my feelings known on this website. I'm not really sure why I'm putting this out just now. I feel so lonely. I don't know why. I haven't had a bad day. Nothing has gone wrong. It's been a good day, and a sociable one. Yesterday I felt so good as well. I found rare solace from chronic pain last night and I felt so elated. A mixture of enthusiasm and relaxation. A feeling that I didn't have to "do" anything.

I could spend hours listing the things that are going well in my life. I really am making progress. Spinning every plate. But sometimes it all feels pointless. No one's life is perfect, but I don't see why I'm forced to feel so negative. It's not boredom. It's not tedium. It's not angst. It's not languor. I don't have a word for it. I'm not even in pain right now. The vast amount of variables that could change the way I feel haven't changed, but something is off.

How do you stop yourself from feeling bad when you're thinking good? I just need to fill the void with something. I don't know if that something is this spilling of my thoughts and feelings or if it's this creative pursuit I have going on just now. Maybe most of my creative drive comes from my fear of the void? Maybe it's a form of escapism.

I wish to cry.

Hi everyone!

I think Flash has had its day. It's kind of difficult to access with modern devices, like smartphones and tablets. It's nice for adding interactivity to videos, which I often tend to do. But I think I'd like to support my fanbase better by giving them an optional way of viewing my art. Also, a lot of the Flash videos I've uploaded use the VP6 codec. I think. Probably. Maybe. I'd like to use H.264 or VP8/VP9 because they seem to be more modern.

The tricky thing is, Fur Affinity is a bit Web 1.5 in its trappings. It doesn't support HTML5 (and I haven't learned HTML5 yet anyway) so I can't move from Flash and maintain interactivity. It also doesn't allow the uploading of videos in any format, apart from being wrapped inside a Flash file. It also has a decidedly dated maximum upload size of 10MB. I suppose I could upload the video files to a different website and post links. I could even post a Flash version on FA and a video version elsewhere.

What I'm not sure of is which video codec to target. I'm guessing H.264 is accessible enough, but would VP8/VP9 via WebM future proof me for longer? Is H.265 accessible yet? Can a noob like me make H.265 without trying to remember how to run a command line interface? Last time I properly used one of those was like two thirds of my life ago. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

The thing is, I'm sitting on the original stills for most of the animations I've created. I don't intend to re-render them, by the way. But I do want to re-encode them with less compression artifacts.