Game- FURRY DATING GAME?!?!
DA / TUMBLR/ PICARTO / PATREON / WEB COMIC
Here she be mateys, the pearl in the oyster- the unicorn in the glade- The rare and beauteous all-out furry pick-a-path dating game you've been waiting for.
NOW YOU MAY YIFF IN STERIO!!!!! OAO~~~~~~
Download the game and tell me what you think!
\\\\\\\\ http://www.mediafire.com/?3a7f9a133twx7u5 ////////
This is our beta/demo Puppy Love game, made in the Novelty engine, by our lovely game coder and script writer Doubting Thomas- http://doubtingthomas.deviantart.com/ . For you serious dating game fans we want to know about any game feature you want to see in a complete dating game. Let us know any thing you would just love to see in the comments thread here or in the auctions journal next week.
Oh, that's right. Did I mention that all the characters slots for our full game are gonna be auctioned? You heard correct~~~~ your characters... staring in... a teen furry drama and romance dating game. (side note... we WILL make serious fun of you and everyone you've ever loved... you'll be lucky if you get off as lightly as our demo hero Houzie did, and we planted a bomb in his stomach.)
SO YEAH! This demo stars a cast of 20 cameos all taken from the last two years puppy love commissions! (i told you guys i would do it!)
Houzie & Annalyn
houzie
Fa'Lina & Abel
missmab
Peaches & Cream -
miupix
Shred -
shonuff44
Silas -
psycho-mantis
Diego & Shiina -
daigo
Neo-P -
carnival
Kyo -
kyofoxtrot
Chaosie -
chaosie
Ebony Leopard -
ebonyleopard
Edhel -
peritian
Efrath -
efrath
Mora -
chalodillo
And myself-
nai-chan
Also, sorry to all you Mac or Linux users, this game is for PCs only ^^;
(i know, I'm sorry >w< If anyone knows of any good cross platform visual novel engine programs, please let me know!)
Here she be mateys, the pearl in the oyster- the unicorn in the glade- The rare and beauteous all-out furry pick-a-path dating game you've been waiting for.
NOW YOU MAY YIFF IN STERIO!!!!! OAO~~~~~~
Download the game and tell me what you think!
\\\\\\\\ http://www.mediafire.com/?3a7f9a133twx7u5 ////////
This is our beta/demo Puppy Love game, made in the Novelty engine, by our lovely game coder and script writer Doubting Thomas- http://doubtingthomas.deviantart.com/ . For you serious dating game fans we want to know about any game feature you want to see in a complete dating game. Let us know any thing you would just love to see in the comments thread here or in the auctions journal next week.
Oh, that's right. Did I mention that all the characters slots for our full game are gonna be auctioned? You heard correct~~~~ your characters... staring in... a teen furry drama and romance dating game. (side note... we WILL make serious fun of you and everyone you've ever loved... you'll be lucky if you get off as lightly as our demo hero Houzie did, and we planted a bomb in his stomach.)
SO YEAH! This demo stars a cast of 20 cameos all taken from the last two years puppy love commissions! (i told you guys i would do it!)
Houzie & Annalyn
houzieFa'Lina & Abel
missmabPeaches & Cream -
miupixShred -
shonuff44Silas -
psycho-mantisDiego & Shiina -
daigoNeo-P -
carnivalKyo -
kyofoxtrotChaosie -
chaosieEbony Leopard -
ebonyleopardEdhel -
peritianEfrath -
efrathMora -
chalodilloAnd myself-
nai-chanAlso, sorry to all you Mac or Linux users, this game is for PCs only ^^;
(i know, I'm sorry >w< If anyone knows of any good cross platform visual novel engine programs, please let me know!)
Category Other / General Furry Art
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 800 x 600px
File Size 310.5 kB
With commissions I was always ok with them, but this time I think I can't since people are gonna have to prove they can back up their bid before I can go ahead. ^^i
This is the first time I've tried something like this so it will be an experiment for me too!
I hope it'll work out fine for everyone, games should be fun, ne?
This is the first time I've tried something like this so it will be an experiment for me too!
I hope it'll work out fine for everyone, games should be fun, ne?
Well, while it is the standard to go to in terms of design, Game Maker is a good means to go about it, hell, a lot of games on Steam were made using game-maker, though it'd require learning how it works.
I have no experience with Novelty, but thats my take on it, its an easy tool to learn but I dontk now if its much of an improvement
I have no experience with Novelty, but thats my take on it, its an easy tool to learn but I dontk now if its much of an improvement
Yup, simple as that, lemme grab you a link:
http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/windows
Its used as a teaching tool in my university course so worth a looksee
http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/windows
Its used as a teaching tool in my university course so worth a looksee
I'd say keep it eechi at best. Make it suggestive, but not full on nudity.
The reason why I say it cause of several reasons. For one, you don't want the players to play it cause there's some raunchiness to it (unless that'd be your full intentions). It may distract those to why the game was made in the first place. 2nd, too much smex/nudity in the game may make the game too 'tasteless.' Your main selling point should be the story and conflict the character goes through.
This is my 2 cents on the matter.
The reason why I say it cause of several reasons. For one, you don't want the players to play it cause there's some raunchiness to it (unless that'd be your full intentions). It may distract those to why the game was made in the first place. 2nd, too much smex/nudity in the game may make the game too 'tasteless.' Your main selling point should be the story and conflict the character goes through.
This is my 2 cents on the matter.
No.
I refuse to play or take part in a dating game where the health bar represents your self esteem. That has to be the WORST idea for a health gauge I have ever encountered, and if the demo was any indicator, I want nothing to do with a game as lacking in intelligence and tact as this.
I have played a few really bad Visual Novels in my time, but this is obviously going to be a pretty bad one. Story-wise alone, again if the demo is any indicator, this is going to be nothing more than the main character getting laughed at until he DIES for hours on end. Seriously you guys, you couldn't find any better thought processes behind a Life Bar? We had to make it "oh well if you lose all your self-esteem, at the end of the day you go home and KILL YOURSELF" or something else equally asinine?
This is bollocks, and the engine sadly also makes even Nai's exceptional artwork look like a total joke. 0/10, won't play, won't buy.
I refuse to play or take part in a dating game where the health bar represents your self esteem. That has to be the WORST idea for a health gauge I have ever encountered, and if the demo was any indicator, I want nothing to do with a game as lacking in intelligence and tact as this.
I have played a few really bad Visual Novels in my time, but this is obviously going to be a pretty bad one. Story-wise alone, again if the demo is any indicator, this is going to be nothing more than the main character getting laughed at until he DIES for hours on end. Seriously you guys, you couldn't find any better thought processes behind a Life Bar? We had to make it "oh well if you lose all your self-esteem, at the end of the day you go home and KILL YOURSELF" or something else equally asinine?
This is bollocks, and the engine sadly also makes even Nai's exceptional artwork look like a total joke. 0/10, won't play, won't buy.
I am not sure what's wrong with the 'life bar' name of it. For a school setting, it seems to make total sense IMO. The story and feel of it itself is a mere parody of a high school life. Ya know, bullies, BFF (Best friends forever), romance interest, teacher conflict, and more. The game seems to be made to make a joke about it.
I think the problem here is that you're reading too heavily on the game image itself. The game was not meant to be serious at all from the looks of it. I also suggest well....SUGGESTING how to make the game better instead of just bashing at it. You could've simply said 'I really dislike the name of 'self esteem.' Do you think it's possible to name it something else like (insert your suggestion).'
I think the problem here is that you're reading too heavily on the game image itself. The game was not meant to be serious at all from the looks of it. I also suggest well....SUGGESTING how to make the game better instead of just bashing at it. You could've simply said 'I really dislike the name of 'self esteem.' Do you think it's possible to name it something else like (insert your suggestion).'
Gosh... thats a pretty rough response. ^^; If you have some suggestions on what you think would work better i would love to hear them.
The point of the demo was to get some good feedback, but its hard to deduct anything constructive from what you've said other than "give up"
Could you suggest what you would do to fix the problems you see as apparent? If not im just left unsure how to direct the team working on this game.
^^;
The point of the demo was to get some good feedback, but its hard to deduct anything constructive from what you've said other than "give up"
Could you suggest what you would do to fix the problems you see as apparent? If not im just left unsure how to direct the team working on this game.
^^;
Okay, after giving it some serious thought, I have come up with a bullet list of things I disliked about the game.
1.) The Self-Esteem bar. Now, personally, this is probably me being overly sensitive, but even if you guys were JOKING that the main character would die from losing all self-esteem, you should have realized that joke is in poor taste. Because, quite frankly, people do die from lack of self-esteem. By killing themselves. I have lost people close to me like this once too often in life, so I think I should know what I am talking about. A different explanation in the finished version would be a much preferred direction. Suggestions I can think of would be (although I don't like any of these much either): He was ostracized by his former friends and peers so much he just gave up on ever being popular or dating, he was so embarrassed by the way he was treated that he moved/dropped out/became home-schooled, or (and this is the best option I've got so far for the self-esteem route) You can hve him wake up back at the beginning of the day, saying that his failure was just a terrible terrible bad dream.
Now, I have also come up with an alternative! It took me a day or so to come up with it, but it could very easily replace the Self Esteem meter, and frankly, for purposes of the game, wouldn't change a thing except the seriousness of failure. Replacing Self-Esteem with Popularity. Let's be honest, High School was never anything more than a popularity contest for some people, and if the education is crappy, then being popular is all that matters. If you lose all your popularity... well, your social life is as good as dead, so you could explain it that way. The main character doesn't die, but his/her hopes of being Prom King/Queen would certainly be dead in the water. No suicide, no dark overtones, no bad jokes, just a little slice of reality from the world of High Schools in Anime.
2.) The Self-deprecating humor. Specifically, the jokes the narrator made about the fandom and furries in general. Now don't get me wrong, I like a good joke as much as the next guy, but in future, please, PLEASE try to write yourself away from the stereotyping jokes or bad (often false) generalizations. You can make fun of furry life and even the fandom if you really want to, but make sure the jokes aren't just pulled straight from Urban Dictionary, Encyclopedia Dramatica, 4chan, or any other anti-furry source. Again, this one's just a peeve, but it left a welt in my mind.
3.) The engine itself. Honestly, it looks pretty bad. The low resolution on the screen textures very much clashed with your high-quality artwork, and it frankly looked mish-mashed. Now, I know that his was simply a demo, and I realize that you guys may not actually be able to fix the in-game graphics or replace the engine, but I have to be honest about it, because even for a demo, it looked VERY unpolished, and not at all like something I would expect to pay for. Even if the game ended up being free, I would still say it looks wonky. The biggest thing this does (and what the overall tone of the demo itself did) is destroy Immersion. I couldn't relate at all to Houzie, or anyone in the game for that matter, because almost everyone was written very strangely. The interface just made things worse by looking very out-of-place.
Finally, the last thing that killed the demo for me was pretty simple.
4.) Attitudes. Jesus god, even among popular people I have never met ANYONE who was as big a jerk as some of these people came off to be. This may have been a simple case of not having a whole lot of choice for characters for the demo, but honestly? I think the protagonist(s) should be original anyway. For one, it makes them more relatable, even if they aren't your favorite species, and for two, it gives them a blank slate personality, which the story helps to fill in as the game progresses. This has often been the big reason for main characters being likeable or not in these types of games, if you define them too much as a character to begin with, you will alienate parts of your target audience. Even if you only give them a choice between one personality type or another, just the option of choosing which way to go will make your main character TONS more human and win the audience over that much quicker.
Now personally, if it were me, I'd like to see a choice of *many* different protagonist species, but something tells me that within the limits of this slightly underpowered game engine, the most we're like to see is two or possibly three, and if the furry standard holds, it'll be a Lupine or Canine Male, a Feline or Vulpine Female, and a Hermaphrodite or Intersexed character of some unusual species choice. I'm not saying that these should or should not be the choices made, but it would be nice to see a little variety from a big project like this.
Now, I may have been overly harsh when I rated the game 0/10, I was having a really terrible day. This is at least competently executed for a demo, even if a lot of the choices made were (in my view) somewhat unprofessional and extremely disheartening. At lowest, I'd give this demo a 4/10, it's passable, but it didn't exactly fill me with anticipation for the full game.
Despite my harsh criticisms, I will continue to follow this project with marked interest, just in case any future demonstrations answer and/or fix the issues I have presented.
Now, I'm not going to be egotistical and hope that all my suggestions are followed to the letter, as I realize this is *your* baby, not ours, but I hope my extreme reaction did its job and at least got the lot of you thinking about ways to improve the game and it's concept further.
1.) The Self-Esteem bar. Now, personally, this is probably me being overly sensitive, but even if you guys were JOKING that the main character would die from losing all self-esteem, you should have realized that joke is in poor taste. Because, quite frankly, people do die from lack of self-esteem. By killing themselves. I have lost people close to me like this once too often in life, so I think I should know what I am talking about. A different explanation in the finished version would be a much preferred direction. Suggestions I can think of would be (although I don't like any of these much either): He was ostracized by his former friends and peers so much he just gave up on ever being popular or dating, he was so embarrassed by the way he was treated that he moved/dropped out/became home-schooled, or (and this is the best option I've got so far for the self-esteem route) You can hve him wake up back at the beginning of the day, saying that his failure was just a terrible terrible bad dream.
Now, I have also come up with an alternative! It took me a day or so to come up with it, but it could very easily replace the Self Esteem meter, and frankly, for purposes of the game, wouldn't change a thing except the seriousness of failure. Replacing Self-Esteem with Popularity. Let's be honest, High School was never anything more than a popularity contest for some people, and if the education is crappy, then being popular is all that matters. If you lose all your popularity... well, your social life is as good as dead, so you could explain it that way. The main character doesn't die, but his/her hopes of being Prom King/Queen would certainly be dead in the water. No suicide, no dark overtones, no bad jokes, just a little slice of reality from the world of High Schools in Anime.
2.) The Self-deprecating humor. Specifically, the jokes the narrator made about the fandom and furries in general. Now don't get me wrong, I like a good joke as much as the next guy, but in future, please, PLEASE try to write yourself away from the stereotyping jokes or bad (often false) generalizations. You can make fun of furry life and even the fandom if you really want to, but make sure the jokes aren't just pulled straight from Urban Dictionary, Encyclopedia Dramatica, 4chan, or any other anti-furry source. Again, this one's just a peeve, but it left a welt in my mind.
3.) The engine itself. Honestly, it looks pretty bad. The low resolution on the screen textures very much clashed with your high-quality artwork, and it frankly looked mish-mashed. Now, I know that his was simply a demo, and I realize that you guys may not actually be able to fix the in-game graphics or replace the engine, but I have to be honest about it, because even for a demo, it looked VERY unpolished, and not at all like something I would expect to pay for. Even if the game ended up being free, I would still say it looks wonky. The biggest thing this does (and what the overall tone of the demo itself did) is destroy Immersion. I couldn't relate at all to Houzie, or anyone in the game for that matter, because almost everyone was written very strangely. The interface just made things worse by looking very out-of-place.
Finally, the last thing that killed the demo for me was pretty simple.
4.) Attitudes. Jesus god, even among popular people I have never met ANYONE who was as big a jerk as some of these people came off to be. This may have been a simple case of not having a whole lot of choice for characters for the demo, but honestly? I think the protagonist(s) should be original anyway. For one, it makes them more relatable, even if they aren't your favorite species, and for two, it gives them a blank slate personality, which the story helps to fill in as the game progresses. This has often been the big reason for main characters being likeable or not in these types of games, if you define them too much as a character to begin with, you will alienate parts of your target audience. Even if you only give them a choice between one personality type or another, just the option of choosing which way to go will make your main character TONS more human and win the audience over that much quicker.
Now personally, if it were me, I'd like to see a choice of *many* different protagonist species, but something tells me that within the limits of this slightly underpowered game engine, the most we're like to see is two or possibly three, and if the furry standard holds, it'll be a Lupine or Canine Male, a Feline or Vulpine Female, and a Hermaphrodite or Intersexed character of some unusual species choice. I'm not saying that these should or should not be the choices made, but it would be nice to see a little variety from a big project like this.
Now, I may have been overly harsh when I rated the game 0/10, I was having a really terrible day. This is at least competently executed for a demo, even if a lot of the choices made were (in my view) somewhat unprofessional and extremely disheartening. At lowest, I'd give this demo a 4/10, it's passable, but it didn't exactly fill me with anticipation for the full game.
Despite my harsh criticisms, I will continue to follow this project with marked interest, just in case any future demonstrations answer and/or fix the issues I have presented.
Now, I'm not going to be egotistical and hope that all my suggestions are followed to the letter, as I realize this is *your* baby, not ours, but I hope my extreme reaction did its job and at least got the lot of you thinking about ways to improve the game and it's concept further.
Thank you very much for giving us your thoughts and feedback~!
I've read your response and taken the notes on board. This will probably remain 'not your cup of tea' as game projects go but your concerns are valid and we'll look into them.
Thanks for getting involved. ^_^
I've read your response and taken the notes on board. This will probably remain 'not your cup of tea' as game projects go but your concerns are valid and we'll look into them.
Thanks for getting involved. ^_^
Oh mai! I'm gonna have to hit you with all the lawsuits ever! Totally original characters do not stealz or...
...
...yeah I can't even pretend to keep that up. Super neat! It's nice to see you being so productive and busy and its amusingly fun to see mah chars lurking about in a game. Even if it is just the demo. I hope you get all the funs and funds ever. :D
...
...yeah I can't even pretend to keep that up. Super neat! It's nice to see you being so productive and busy and its amusingly fun to see mah chars lurking about in a game. Even if it is just the demo. I hope you get all the funs and funds ever. :D
Thanks miss mab. I was tossing between asking your permission first and making it a surprise.
in the end i left it a surprise. I don't imagine too much will come of this so i figured its kinda like seriously labor intensive fan art. ^^
I really love your sense of humor and writing style. if you have any other recomendations let me know here, or just PM me like usual. ^^!
in the end i left it a surprise. I don't imagine too much will come of this so i figured its kinda like seriously labor intensive fan art. ^^
I really love your sense of humor and writing style. if you have any other recomendations let me know here, or just PM me like usual. ^^!
I do say, the game was pretty fun to play.
One of the things I liked about it was the conflict with the narrator and the main hero. I say have him ressurected so he could torture the hero some more/do some gags.
The jokes themselves were very good. Entertaining at best. Peer pressure in high school can seriously kill ya. lol.
As of yet, the only problem I see in the demo so far is how to recover your self esteem. In the demo, no matter which thing I chose, I always lost no more then 10 points. If the challenge of it all is trying to lose as less self esteem as possible, they would indeed be cool. Can you go into more detail about this?
I WANT TO PERSONALLY SAY I LIKE HOW SHRED TALKS LIKE THIS. IT FEELS SO CANNON, AND THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT. I WAS GONNA SAY IT NEEDS SOME EXCLAMATION POINTS, BUT NAH. TALKING LIKE THIS IS BETTER CAUSE IT STILL GIVE A SENSE THAT HE'S SHOUTING (JUST LIKE IN ALL OF SHONUFF'S WORKS WHEN HIS CHARACTERS TALK).
looking forward to the full release of the game.
One of the things I liked about it was the conflict with the narrator and the main hero. I say have him ressurected so he could torture the hero some more/do some gags.
The jokes themselves were very good. Entertaining at best. Peer pressure in high school can seriously kill ya. lol.
As of yet, the only problem I see in the demo so far is how to recover your self esteem. In the demo, no matter which thing I chose, I always lost no more then 10 points. If the challenge of it all is trying to lose as less self esteem as possible, they would indeed be cool. Can you go into more detail about this?
I WANT TO PERSONALLY SAY I LIKE HOW SHRED TALKS LIKE THIS. IT FEELS SO CANNON, AND THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT. I WAS GONNA SAY IT NEEDS SOME EXCLAMATION POINTS, BUT NAH. TALKING LIKE THIS IS BETTER CAUSE IT STILL GIVE A SENSE THAT HE'S SHOUTING (JUST LIKE IN ALL OF SHONUFF'S WORKS WHEN HIS CHARACTERS TALK).
looking forward to the full release of the game.
Ah, if you only lost 10 each time, you must have picked all the best options. The others lose you 20, 30 or 40.
Because the demo was just to show how the actual game will work, I made it fairly obvious in the wording as to which choices were bad and good. In the full game, there'll be far more choice-points, and they'll be more ambiguously worded. :) It'll be much easier to die by halfway through the game if the player isn't careful. We may also implement self-esteem recovery; again, it'll depend on how long these chapters end up being. It would certainly be a nicer flavour if players can make a choice that goes "well" rather than just "less bad".
In this game, which, again, isn't intended to be any kind of a challenge - just a quick runthrough so people can see all of it - the goal is just to get to the end credits without dying. However, the full game will have multiple endings dependent on earlier choices, and will poooosssibly offer you a chance at a bonus ending or two if you can scrape through with significantly more than minimum self-esteem. <.< >.>
Also, your other question - whether the main character is male or female will depend on who wins the "main character" auction. However, if we get a huge amount of interest, we could maybe build around a choice-of-two-or-more-main-characters model to open it up for more people to get involved.
And I'm glad you enjoyed THE HOOPRAGE. >w>
Because the demo was just to show how the actual game will work, I made it fairly obvious in the wording as to which choices were bad and good. In the full game, there'll be far more choice-points, and they'll be more ambiguously worded. :) It'll be much easier to die by halfway through the game if the player isn't careful. We may also implement self-esteem recovery; again, it'll depend on how long these chapters end up being. It would certainly be a nicer flavour if players can make a choice that goes "well" rather than just "less bad".
In this game, which, again, isn't intended to be any kind of a challenge - just a quick runthrough so people can see all of it - the goal is just to get to the end credits without dying. However, the full game will have multiple endings dependent on earlier choices, and will poooosssibly offer you a chance at a bonus ending or two if you can scrape through with significantly more than minimum self-esteem. <.< >.>
Also, your other question - whether the main character is male or female will depend on who wins the "main character" auction. However, if we get a huge amount of interest, we could maybe build around a choice-of-two-or-more-main-characters model to open it up for more people to get involved.
And I'm glad you enjoyed THE HOOPRAGE. >w>
I would suggest two being the maximum of main characters, since that'll be less stress and hassle for the game. Good to know about the point logic behind it.
I demand there be 'Slam Jam' music playing during this HOOOPAGE. it would make it COMPLETE. LOL
Thank you for explaining this ^_^
I demand there be 'Slam Jam' music playing during this HOOOPAGE. it would make it COMPLETE. LOL
Thank you for explaining this ^_^
^^; Yeah, gotta admit, I agree, more than two characters would take a lot of time. We're using the Novelty engine, and because of the way it handles variable-based threads, even two characters would mean essentially making two games stuck together - unless we characterized the two different player options blandly enough to make them indistinguishable, in terms of what scenes and/or dialogue they'd encounter, which would be dull as balls.
We might juuuust be able to manage a "Slam Jam" death-metal tribute, but don't hold me to that. :p
And no probs, it's neat to have people so interested!
We might juuuust be able to manage a "Slam Jam" death-metal tribute, but don't hold me to that. :p
And no probs, it's neat to have people so interested!
I did wonder about emulation; we've got no Linux machines available to test on, but we do have a Macbook that could run the OS X port of WINE.
My only concern was that Novelty's engine, being a beta itself, might be too buggy to run in an emu environment, but it's well worth a go. I'll look into it. It would be nice to not deprive all the poor Mac users. ;^;
Another option, if Novelty proves too unstable and emu doesn't help, is we might go back to Renpy, it's cross-OS-compatible - although, just having learned Novelty, I would miss its features.
My only concern was that Novelty's engine, being a beta itself, might be too buggy to run in an emu environment, but it's well worth a go. I'll look into it. It would be nice to not deprive all the poor Mac users. ;^;
Another option, if Novelty proves too unstable and emu doesn't help, is we might go back to Renpy, it's cross-OS-compatible - although, just having learned Novelty, I would miss its features.
Well... the few choices we were presented with were meant to demo the mechanics of the game, but it felt very constrained.
I understand this is still a demo and a WIP, but i felt a bit like t I couldn't really see which choices were better than the others, except for the falina fight.
Of course there must be some level of difficulty and consequences for the player's actions, but since all the choices I made just made me loose more or less points, it didn't feel like those choices were very meaningful, since I lost points every time, even when I thought I'd done a good choice with Falina.
Now, I am unsure as to there is any way to regain points, as I have not seen any evidence of this in the demo.
(mind you, I've only had the chance to play the game one time, and I'm sure I've missed a lot)
But considering the length of the demo, there weren't that many choices to make, and so to see what the other choices change you would have to go through all of it again.
I know you can skip ahead with the space bar, but after finishing the game the first time i didn't really feel like replaying immediately through all of it.
A save or checkpoint feature, or a menu for the tutorials, would maybe make re playability more valid.
My suggestion would be to include a short and simple explanation of the game mechanics (how to win or loose points) at some point at start. which could then be taught to the player via the tutorial after. Maybe the choices the player would be presented with after that would be clearer.
Basically, I feel difficulty is a good thing in a game, but the challenges should be easier at the start of the game, so the player can understand the consequences of each type of action. before he is subjected to them later.
I apologize for the messy explanation, but it's 2 am here and I just got back from work. -_-'
I understand this is still a demo and a WIP, but i felt a bit like t I couldn't really see which choices were better than the others, except for the falina fight.
Of course there must be some level of difficulty and consequences for the player's actions, but since all the choices I made just made me loose more or less points, it didn't feel like those choices were very meaningful, since I lost points every time, even when I thought I'd done a good choice with Falina.
Now, I am unsure as to there is any way to regain points, as I have not seen any evidence of this in the demo.
(mind you, I've only had the chance to play the game one time, and I'm sure I've missed a lot)
But considering the length of the demo, there weren't that many choices to make, and so to see what the other choices change you would have to go through all of it again.
I know you can skip ahead with the space bar, but after finishing the game the first time i didn't really feel like replaying immediately through all of it.
A save or checkpoint feature, or a menu for the tutorials, would maybe make re playability more valid.
My suggestion would be to include a short and simple explanation of the game mechanics (how to win or loose points) at some point at start. which could then be taught to the player via the tutorial after. Maybe the choices the player would be presented with after that would be clearer.
Basically, I feel difficulty is a good thing in a game, but the challenges should be easier at the start of the game, so the player can understand the consequences of each type of action. before he is subjected to them later.
I apologize for the messy explanation, but it's 2 am here and I just got back from work. -_-'
There is actually a save function; it's accessible from the in-game menu, or from the window options at the top. If people aren't spotting it, I'll make it part of the game's instructions in the title screen.
It's interesting to note what you say about the choices and points; our original design was for a setup that was very much about "survival", that you're going to lose points either way, and that victory is just making it through to the end. But the kind of inherent negativity in that, seems to be the main thing people are picking up on in more detailed critiques such as yours, so I'm open to shifting the design of the full game accordingly. It would make it easier to have more choices without making them too huge and monolithic, and could certainly give players more of a sense of achievement.
It's interesting to note what you say about the choices and points; our original design was for a setup that was very much about "survival", that you're going to lose points either way, and that victory is just making it through to the end. But the kind of inherent negativity in that, seems to be the main thing people are picking up on in more detailed critiques such as yours, so I'm open to shifting the design of the full game accordingly. It would make it easier to have more choices without making them too huge and monolithic, and could certainly give players more of a sense of achievement.
Making it a survival game isn't a bad idea in itself, but then I would suggest that you be more precise in the tutorial. It wasn't clear if there was away to gain point.
When I lost points in the demo they went down very fast one time and very low the other. At the end I think I had lost half my points.
If the player looses that many points on one choice, how long one play-through supposed to be?
Does the character loose after only three bad choices?
I don't mind if some catastrophic choices exist, or immediate death choices, but making do all choices in the game make the player loose the same amunt of points?
Are there not some choices that are more important or more devastating than others?
Like I said before, a sinple and short ecplanation of the gameplay before the tutorial would be helpful. :)
More testing would be in order to find a balance to the points system so it doesn't feel like the player is going to loose very quickly, whatever he does, perhaps?
If it is to feel like survival then the player must as least have some points of respite between the tension, to feel and realise he is indeed surviving.
When I lost points in the demo they went down very fast one time and very low the other. At the end I think I had lost half my points.
If the player looses that many points on one choice, how long one play-through supposed to be?
Does the character loose after only three bad choices?
I don't mind if some catastrophic choices exist, or immediate death choices, but making do all choices in the game make the player loose the same amunt of points?
Are there not some choices that are more important or more devastating than others?
Like I said before, a sinple and short ecplanation of the gameplay before the tutorial would be helpful. :)
More testing would be in order to find a balance to the points system so it doesn't feel like the player is going to loose very quickly, whatever he does, perhaps?
If it is to feel like survival then the player must as least have some points of respite between the tension, to feel and realise he is indeed surviving.
Thanks, it's good to know exactly where we need to be specific in the tutorial. That said, in this one, you'll find, the main character is told by the narrator - in the second scene - that he can't gain points, only lose them. I'll try to make it more obvious in the full one, probably with a separate "How to Play" section that can be accessed from the title screen or in-game menu.
We have already tested the numbers, as you say, but the heavy point losses are intentional in this case. The choices in the finished game will involve far less severe point losses - as there'll be more of them, of course, and we're not going to try and make the game un-clockable. However, for the demo, it being short and having just a few choices, I wanted players to still be able to see the game-over screen if they picked the worst ones. I assumed that if we made the demo in such a way that the player actually couldn't die if they tried, people might feel it was a tad incomplete. :p
The point losses are not the same for each individual answer you choose, or all this would be a bit pointless (pun not intended.) You start the game with 100 points of self-esteem; answers, depending on how good/bad their outcomes are, lose you 10, 20, 30 or 40 points, and the gauge will decrease accordingly. (As said, the numbers will be smaller and more precise in the final version; for example, a rather bad choice might cost you 10, or a not-very-bad choice, 3. Point-neutral outcomes and/or particularly-good-outcomes-that-restore-points will be included too, I think.)
We have already tested the numbers, as you say, but the heavy point losses are intentional in this case. The choices in the finished game will involve far less severe point losses - as there'll be more of them, of course, and we're not going to try and make the game un-clockable. However, for the demo, it being short and having just a few choices, I wanted players to still be able to see the game-over screen if they picked the worst ones. I assumed that if we made the demo in such a way that the player actually couldn't die if they tried, people might feel it was a tad incomplete. :p
The point losses are not the same for each individual answer you choose, or all this would be a bit pointless (pun not intended.) You start the game with 100 points of self-esteem; answers, depending on how good/bad their outcomes are, lose you 10, 20, 30 or 40 points, and the gauge will decrease accordingly. (As said, the numbers will be smaller and more precise in the final version; for example, a rather bad choice might cost you 10, or a not-very-bad choice, 3. Point-neutral outcomes and/or particularly-good-outcomes-that-restore-points will be included too, I think.)
I know right! You can thank the brilliant
corillion for that. Hes our resident game designer.
Im seriously looking forward to making more furry game junk with him. ^^
corillion for that. Hes our resident game designer.Im seriously looking forward to making more furry game junk with him. ^^
Awww please i play the demo and is very intresting. I know you'll have a long list of gamers that want to play the full version.
An the bid probably rice a good amount of money for the proyect ^^
I still have some problems here but i hope everything get better soon.
An the bid probably rice a good amount of money for the proyect ^^
I still have some problems here but i hope everything get better soon.
Ooooh ! I totally wanna play this , I love visual novels and the art style is so cute and what's the starting bid i wanna be in it i wanna be in it :D
Wait wait wait does it have to be my fursona or can it be any of the characters I've ever drawn EVERRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSS
*spaz*
Wait wait wait does it have to be my fursona or can it be any of the characters I've ever drawn EVERRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSS
*spaz*
Do you know if, perhaps, maybe, well do you have a payment plan XD I WOULD have money but my dad cancelled the yardsale till the first week of september >w> So the most money I have will come from doing menial tasks and i won't nearly have enough until SEPTEMBA comes around I think XDDD....
so on the off-chance that I win the auction, can I pay you in chunks XD
so on the off-chance that I win the auction, can I pay you in chunks XD
Unfortunately I can't accept payment plans or it would be to easy for people to just lie about their bids. v.v Normally I'm totally chill about that kind of thing, but I can't do it with an auction model. Buut~ This won't be the last Puppy Love game, so basically there will always be a next-time!
Might as well get big questions out of the way dealing with gameplay.
1.) Will the final version allow for a character selection? Or are we stuck with Startledawg?
2.) Will there be any variance in play-throughs? (example: Character X meets main character early on but in another play-through previously unseen Character Y shows up while Character X comes in much later) Gonna guess no due to the amount of effort it would take to add that kinda feature.
3.) Chest high walls and QTEs? (hur hur hur)
1.) Will the final version allow for a character selection? Or are we stuck with Startledawg?
2.) Will there be any variance in play-throughs? (example: Character X meets main character early on but in another play-through previously unseen Character Y shows up while Character X comes in much later) Gonna guess no due to the amount of effort it would take to add that kinda feature.
3.) Chest high walls and QTEs? (hur hur hur)
think about something disgusting to throw up the bomb in my stomach. Wait we are furries what disgusts us? Consensual sex in the missionary position. Throws up Huaah Huaah Huuuhuah Huaah i hate you but the bomb didn't come out. Hahaha
Lol who writes the dialogue it's so funny!
Lol who writes the dialogue it's so funny!
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