>>132682
I'd like to see this back as well. What aspects of how the main character evolved?

I'll be honest, I didn't like the main character either. The girls were nice though.

I really liked the quest, too!
The main character was not that bad in my opinion, but I was mostly interested finding out more about the aliens anyway. ^^

As the current New Horizon thread is drawing to a close, I’m just going to post this is all my dis-thread to see what people is interested in seeing next. Whoever wins isn’t guaranteed to picked, but I will take it into consideration. Multiple picks are welcomed as well. (I’ll probably shift between 2 quests at once for a while if all goes well.)
http://www.strawpoll.me/20623296

For those that are unfamiliar with some of those quests, here’s all the wiki’s:
https://questden.org/wiki/A_Feast_of_Souls
https://questden.org/wiki/New_Horizons
https://questden.org/wiki/Boldly_Coming

As for Boldly Coming in particular, I’d like to continue and finish it, but I can’t find a way to change its current state into something I actually want to do, so sadly I’ve taken the decision to reboot it and try again, this time with some more experience behind me.

Kaktus 2020/07/20(Mon)14:54 No. 133475 ID: 2c5282
File 159528208606.png - (188.18KB , 1000x1100 , ZalColorTest.png )

With Boldly Coming (probably) getting rebooted soon, I’d thought I’d dump a few things here before hand. First of we have the redesigned Madam Zalia, who will still be the blind, classy time abyss of a lady she was in the original, though this time she won’t be a tube with legs. I’m also considering changing her color, but that’s still up in the air (I’m leaning towards light blue currently). More to come later.

Ah, she has scales, which means it's less likely for her jaw to unzip halfway down her body. A good sign.

>>133475
You sure? The old design felt more... alien.

>>133478
I actually kind of agree.
The more alien the better.

Her weird limbs with joins I didn't understood was disturbing while this drake design is something I can feel comfortable feeling attraction toward. In a normal date quest this would be a significant improvement but I suspect disturbing is the goal here.

Not that my opinion should matter much here. You certainly know what works better for your story.

>>133475
so you're saying that their species can change color at well

ok that was a joke but the idea of a completely blind species with the ability to change their color amuses my greatly.

Kaktus 2020/07/21(Tue)10:54 No. 133487 ID: 2c5282
File 159535407365.png - (211.32KB , 1000x1100 , ZalTest2.png )

>You sure? The old design felt more... alien.
The last design was just a tube with legs, which someone already pointed out that Qarka got that covered. She’s currently has the role of looking relative normal at first glance, but getting more alien as you spend time with her. Of course, I’m currently just playing with ideas, so that might change.
>The more alien the better.
Yes.
>Her weird limbs with joins I didn't understood was disturbing while this drake design is something I can feel comfortable feeling attraction toward. In a normal date quest this would be a significant improvement but I suspect disturbing is the goal here.
I’m trying to aim for the sweet spot right between disturbing and attractive, though it is a hard spot to hit. Currently her limbs is probably the first thing I’ll change, as I’ve tried to experimenting with bending them in weird and bizarre ways and it isn’t working as good as I’d hoped. We’ll see what I come up with.

>Ah, she has scales, which means it's less likely for her jaw to unzip halfway down her body. A good sign.
Do I have bad news for you, friend. She still got that winning smile she had last time.
>so you're saying that their species can change color at well?
As fun as that would be, I’ll probably save that ability for another species. But I might just let them come in multiple colors, like the Sakkilians in my other quests. Still haven’t decided.

Also, have some more experiments, including such gems as Madam Zalia rotating her head 360 degrees, her horrifying mouth and a male example of her species (Who might or might not become a husbando in the quest, still haven’t decided how I will do that)

>>133487
oh

Is one of those drawings supposed to be demonstrating her being able to turn her head 360 degrees? I think the twist lines went the wrong way if so.

I thought of this question after I could have asked it in-quest, so I'll ask it here: With how flexible raolme are, could they literally tie themselves into a knot, and if so could it be one that couldn't be undone without outside assistance? I'm asking because I got the idea of two or more young and inexperienced raolme having sex, testing their limits with positions and in the heat of passion inadvertently tying each other together in such a way they couldn't untie themselves. It's the sort of humorous anecdote that I figure Madam Zalia would share and probably would have been part of.

Kaktus 2020/07/22(Wed)09:49 No. 133490 ID: 2c5282
File 159543659389.png - (159.35KB , 1000x1100 , ArmAndALeg.png )

>Is one of those drawings supposed to be demonstrating her being able to turn her head 360 degrees? I think the twist lines went the wrong way if so.
That’s what happens when you just drawn something without thinking too much about it or using a reference piece. These are just some quick concepts I’ve drawn up to help me figure out how she works, but yes, she’s supposed to be able to rotate her head more than 360 degrees, and yes, it seems like I accidently drew the twist lines backwards (not to mention most of her neck simply disappearing).

>With how flexible raolme are, could they literally tie themselves into a knot, and if so could it be one that couldn't be undone without outside assistance? I'm asking because I got the idea of two or more young and inexperienced raolme having sex, testing their limits with positions and in the heat of passion inadvertently tying each other together in such a way they couldn't untie themselves.
While the old, really long ones would easily have done so, my new design might just be a bit too short to do it on their own in most cases. Two of them, on the other hand, should easily be able to be tied together. I might just need to make a test drawing of this…
>It's the sort of humorous anecdote that I figure Madam Zalia would share and probably would have been part of.
Well, you just have to ask her if she’s has experience in the matter, don’t you?

Speaking of Zal, have some experiments I did with her limbs.


Now, for the big change in the quest, the main character. While I would like to have something close to human, I’m completely abysmal at drawing them, not to mention that I don’t particularly like drawing them in the first place. So my current idea is to borrow either a Sakkilian or a Varkian from my other universe, as they are for all intent and purposes just a human with a funny head on them most of the time.

I’ve also been grumbling over the gender of the protagonist as well, as I have some scenarios I’d like to do about a female main character as well as a male one (in fact, originally I was planning on running a sequel to the original quest starring a female protagonist and a few lads to seduce). The question is, should I just let you choose from the beginning and write from there? Or should I have two different characters that you can control, depending on the thread? (Maybe a pair of siblings?)
Another idea is to have a new character for each lady (and possible gentleman), though that might just make them all too bland in the end.

One last idea I had about it was to make the main character a bit more alien as well. Someone that while looking a lot more humanoid than the other characters, might be able to change certain aspects of themselves, given time. Things like color, height, weight, gender etc. making them a bit more flexible when it comes to how they like to present themselves. But that’s just a silly idea I had.

Any thoughts and ideas about all that? Other ideas are welcome as well, as I’m still just messing around with it in my head.

>>133490
How about a brand new alien species for the protagonist?

Hmm you could give raolms extra joints...

>Things like color, height, weight, gender etc. making them a bit more flexible when it comes to how they like to present themselves. But that’s just a silly idea I had.

So like a frog or a fish that can switch genders if need be?

If you do decide to make the MC a not-Sakkilian or a not-Varkian, if you wanted to make them a little more alien you could maybe tweak the base designs a little. Like the Sakkilian stand in could maybe be a little more gorilla like as in their upper body is much more dense so they usually walk on their hands like a gorilla does when they move and while they can stand on their back legs it's more comfortable to walk on all fours. Maybe make them larger overall as well so you can have a few jokes where they have trouble in smaller spaces, maybe have it so they're a bit clumsy or something. And the not-varkian could maybe be a bit more harpy like as in replace their arms with wings and just give them very dexterous feet that can act as hands when they need to interact with something with their quirks being they have very powerful legs and things can be awkward for them to use if it wasn't made for harpy varkian in mind.

As for the gender thing, unless you decide to make the character able to change gender, both genders, or just simply make them bi make just pick whatever option has the most options and save the other for a possible sequel or you could just plan out all the possible romance options and then just have the players pick a gender and then just focus on all the romance options that would be comparable with that option and save the rest for later.

I don't know I'm just spitballing some ideas at you to see if any of them strike your fancy.

>>133487
I noticed the last time there was a lot of conflict on which character to pursue. Might you consider multiple 'runs' of the quest as different protagonists, so that those whose waifus don't get picked can eventually still get theirs and characters we don't explore can get spotlight?

>>133490
If the protagonist will be a furry that is basic human avoid any species that resemble the aliens. Similarities give the impression of compatibility, so a reptilian having a relation with a draconic creature feel much more natural than a human. I suggest a canine or a monkey.

I would prefer human for this because of the peculiarities of the original protagonist.
From what I recall he was an incel so desperate to have his existence validate by sex that he considered death preferable to remain virgin. His mentality was so pathetic that I would have trouble taking it seriously if I didn't know that people like him exist.
I fear that the further away from human the protagonist get the more difficult it will be for the readers to accept his preconceptions as something we have work around.

Multiple protagonists could be nice because it would allow us to establish multiple stable relationships.
We could start with one character, learn a little about the romantic options, pick one and have a long term relationship established before changing to a different protagonist to interact with the remaining romantic option.
Jealousy could be an element. The partner could feel offended if we pay too much attention to other romantic options once the relationship is established.


For the joints: how about they look normal but the knees and elbows can bend in any direction, and what appear to be normal forearm and shin can actually stretch twice their normal size.

A mostly-humanoid alien species from your other quests would work fine.

I don't think multiple protagonists is a good fit, but I could be wrong. A bisexual main character is always a solution, but so is just having a sequel. Keep in mind that the players are unlikely to want to cheat on anyone, so one character is unlikely to explore more than one character's relationship fully, so just having two separate adventures may allow exploring those relationships more fully.

Kaktus 2020/07/25(Sat)13:30 No. 133503 ID: 2c5282
File 159570900441.png - (174.28KB , 1000x1100 , Xi1.png )

>Hmm you could give raolms extra joints...
That’s an amazing idea that I will probably use. Thanks.
>For the joints: how about they look normal but the knees and elbows can bend in any direction, and what appear to be normal forearm and shin can actually stretch twice their normal size.
They are already supposed to be able to bend whatever way they want to, but I can’t really get it too look right. I might just give up and start deforming their body a bit to make it work, like stretch shins and forearms, as you said. Their bones structure is supposed to be more of a suggestion than a fact anyway…

>If you do decide to make the MC a not-Sakkilian or a not-Varkian, if you wanted to make them a little more alien you could maybe tweak the base designs a little.
The whole point of the quest is non-alien dating something very alien, so that won’t work.
>Like the Sakkilian stand in could maybe be a little more gorilla like as in their upper body is much more dense so they usually walk on their hands like a gorilla does when they move and while they can stand on their back legs it's more comfortable to walk on all fours. And the not-varkian could maybe be a bit more harpy like as in replace their arms with wings and just give them very dexterous feet that can act as hands.
Combine those two with a silicon based life form and you just described something that I might have been considering making into a datable character. We’ll see how it pans out.

>If the protagonist will be a furry that is basic human avoid any species that resemble the aliens. Similarities give the impression of compatibility, so a reptilian having a relation with a draconic creature feel much more natural than a human. I suggest a canine or a monkey.
Actually, I have never had any mammals in my quests before, so that would be a great idea to add. They are after all a lot closer to humans than anything else while being as far removed from the alien’s ladies as possible, as none of them are mammalian in nature.

I like the idea of some kind of anthro rodent or bat creature… or maybe just a canine? Hmm…

>I noticed the last time there was a lot of conflict on which character to pursue. Might you consider multiple 'runs' of the quest as different protagonists, so that those whose waifus don't get picked can eventually still get theirs and characters we don't explore can get spotlight?
>Multiple protagonists could be nice because it would allow us to establish multiple stable relationships.
Having taken some time to consider it, I’ve currently settled on a multiple run / multiple protagonists’ kind of idea. The base idea is to make a character, chose one a lady (or maybe guy), go on a date, then see how things pans out from there.

So:
Choose gender.
Choose basic personality and looks, for example “nerdy, timid and lean boy” or “Confident and forward punk lady” etc.
Be introduced to the aliens (I’m thinking some kind of dating app or site maybe? That might be fun)
Go on date.
See where things go from there.
Repeat with one waifu / husbando gone.

Thoughts?

>>133503
I like it so far.

A dating app is the most logical way for the premise to work but I would prefer if we could meet them in a physical space. I don't have a good argument though, the app make sense.

The big ears rat look good.
Have you tried to draw lemurs? They should work well in your style.

For the forearm I was imagining a rail like structure made of three bones. Two bones would have a normal connection to the wrist while the third bone would connect to the elbow with a scapula like sock.

>>133503
Ooh, neat, The Rodent/Bat designs are cool. Human protag again would also be neat but hey if there's multiple we can go through many protagonists of many types.

I like the idea of it being like a dating app or something, makes the multiple run situation work rather well and allow for disparate camps on who is best boy/girl get their own time with a given person

Heck, going that route could even be something of a government initiative, promote some interstellar unity.

I have to say I like the new quest significantly less than the old one.
Why are we playing as this asshole rat now?

>>133530
Cause people voted for him.
Also I don't think he's done anything particularly assholish

>>133531
Why'd they vote to play as a rat?
Also, he looks like an asshole, and his dumbass punk schtick is already getting on my nerves.

It doesn't matter.
The quest has changed too much for me, so I'm out.
Have fun, y'all.

I don't mind the protagonist, but I wanted someone else to pair with the bow tie dragon.

I rather like the rat honestly. He's a nice change of pace from the normal characters Kaktus does

Votes were had fair and square.

I like the rat, he's cute. I think people got the wrong first impression of him.
I also wonder how much his freakout was motivated by people saying he was too different from the original protagonist...

While a part of me preferred a human protagonist I'm okay with animal people as a sort of human stand in, like they aren't technically from Earth but everything (culture, history, species) is basically the same.

I am glad KaKtus is showing the character acting more in line with the idea that they came to an alien world to escape a shitty life where they didn't fit in.

Yeah, I'm a fan of the new character. I'm also of the understanding that he won't be the *only* character, so we're going to be getting a diverse cast, and that's only interesting if they're all different.

Is Mel a Burettian?

What did you all think of my recent big paragraph about, 'we're poor recently contacted primitives, EVERYONE is wealthy here, I have no idea what's going on! Everything is awesome!'

>>133977
Too many words to speak. As a text message or forum post it would make sense as stream of thought writing, but if someone actually spewed all that it would be incredibly socially awkward.

>>133981
Maybe you can make a shorter version? What were the important parts?

>>133982
Well, taking into account your summation here >>133977
I think the main point would be for Tristan to express amazement at all the technological advances he's seen since coming here. Make it clear that he is indeed naive and out of his element.

So the person here:

https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/973220.html#978978

Obviously has a bit of a problem that most of the other players don't share. Kaktus, can you weigh in a bit about what's going on and this person's points?

>>>/quest/978978
What is it exactly that you want us to do in regards to Zalia?
We can't remove ourselves from her, she's made it very clear that she will be around so long as we continue to date Ztolt. To fully disengage would be be to end the quest.

Since we know she's gonna be around, might as well make life easier for everyone and at least try to be friendly.

Yes she bullied us with a power-play.
Yes that feels shitty.

But from her perspective we're just some alien hussy out to take advantage of innocent little Ztolt. She was in full mama bird mode and realizable threats tend to be effective.

It's perfectly valid of you to not like how she treated us, but some initial hostility does not a villain make. There is nothing here that suggest Zallia might be the Devil.

>>134086
>What is it exactly that you want us to do in regards to Zalia?
Well, asking that question in the first place is a good start. It would seriously improve our situation if people would consider options besides "give in to her demands", instead of just posting things like this:

>>/quest/978794
>I for one would look forward to being openly threatened in future meetings.

Very few were even acknowledging that there was a problem; when they addressed her actions at all, they were either denying that she actually said or meant the threats she said, or acting like they were Tristan's fault somehow, like saying he "asked for it" even when he clearly didn't. Of the few that did acknowledge it, most of them just went "welp, looks like we have no choice" and decided to go along with it anyway without looking for any alternatives.

Now, to handle the Zalia problem, we need to not give in to her demands all the time. We have to show a willingness to tell her "no". She likes to act like we have no choice but to do whatever she wants because of her political power and contrived situations, but also like she's just having innocent harmless fun because her threats are vague enough to allow for some kind of deniability so she can act like they're unrelated even if they're in the same monologue. She can only keep telling herself that if we keep doing whatever she wants. Refuse, and she'll have to show how she deals with rejection.

If she doesn't do anything evil, and admits that her coercion was just empty threats or a "misunderstanding", then we'll know it's safe to say "no" and we won't be forced to deal with her anymore. Problem solved.

If she does decide to do abuse her power like she said she "could", then she won't be able to act vaguely innocent anymore. We'll know that she's really just a predatory bully, and she'll know it too, along with anyone else who learns about whatever she tries. Then at least we'll know to treat her like an enemy.

Why would telling someone who has an unknown amount of power over you, whose psychology you literally cannot definitively accurately model, 'no' be a good thing?

Like I said in the thread, I do not agree with your interpretation that she was using threats to get head scratches. She directly prefaced that request with the suggestion that she could put in a good word.

In short, head scratches were a bribe for a political favor. Not extortion.

>>134117
The coercion had nothing to do with the head scratches. She threatened to take action if we tried to scam or hurt her grandson. What about that seems remotely evil to you?

>>134117
But what would she have to gain by manipulating us? We have nothing she doesn't already have more reliable access to. It's not like she's gonna have us deliver unscrupulous packages. Nor is it likely that she'll coerce sexual favors out of us, as that would hurt Ztolt and is antithetical to her character.

However, I will grant that we'll need to be more assertive on the future, if we keep seeing Ztolt.
I'll also grant that Zalia is a terrifying, inhuman, semi-immortal space Kennedy who's peerlessness has surely been gnawing away at her sense of identity and moral fiber for generations the states of which are unknowable for the countless practiced faces learned over the years enclose here decaying heart in a shell born of necessity, the likes of which likely hasn't seen the light of day in over a century.

Or something like that.
In any case this is a person we should choose our battles with, and so far we've been presented no hill worth dieing on.

>>134117
Like. I know this meta, but 2 Things.
First, Zalia is a returning character from the original boldly coming. Many of us already know she's pretty cool and are already disarmed around her. Take that as you may.

Second, Boldly Coming isn't Coxxwette, Enemy quest, or a Smik Dating quest. Your level of paranoia would be welcome in any of those, but BC has never in tone or narrative suggested that it's in any way like those quests. While Kaktus can write any story he wants, you seem to be expecting scenarios outside the apparent scope of the quest.

>>134139
Indeed, its a dating quest. We're not going to suddenly have Sloth pop out of nowhere and it turns out we've been under a True Illusion all this time.

I want to see a Khraxian playing Bloodborne. That is all.

here have a lizard thing if you want i am just showing around what i made today it was originally 2 centimetres so a literal giant jellybean.
also deeply interested in questions such as how do the blood death worms eat and how does a mushy look like they must smell good like rat BOI and what dimensions are between 3 and 21?

>>134468
I think you forgot to attach the image.

Honestly, I prefer the original version compared to the new version.