HTML Gateway [Dev Thread]

[Feebs]

Thanks again, osanaiko. I very much appreciate the playtesting and feedback.

The pacing is meant to be a little different based on the specific women. The strays tend to be more willing to commit early whereas the taboo cast (Tiffany aside) tend to take more to the point Ruby is the only one of them where you can see this has started properly. But I'll see if I can make it a bit more varied between the existing cast.

Long term pacing - absolutely not where it should be. Building timers etc are intended, but there will be upgrades and other aspects to reduce building and research times to help with that. For example, the big one will be opening up second slots for contstruction and research, effectively halving the times.

But more globally, balancing/pacing is certainly something I'm eager to get feedback on to fine tune before a public release.

Tasks-wise, perhaps I need to make them clearer. But to address the points specifically:

• Look into the Buffer - Can be completed by speaking to Kimberly, Megan or (should) auomatically complete when building the monitoring station. I'll check the latter solution is working properly as it sounds like you should have achieved that. Investigate the buffer is completed by checking the buffer at Gateway B, but if the aftore mentioned hasn't cleared, that will be holding it back.
• Fixed ready for build 3.
• I thought I'd removed the explore option in build 2, but perhaps that's in the build I'm working on. It was something I intended to add, then decided it was unneeded... then forgot to remove the button.
• Quinn is available to welcome at 5 attractiveness so that's likely related to the building pacing comment you noted.
• Charlotte is unlocked when you investigate the buffer, so sounds relevant to previous notes. I'll add another step to make it clear the buffer stuff needs completing first.
• Is the spa research just not moving ahead? Or just the pacing issue? If not moving, who is working at the monitoring station and what is their fatigue?
• Will be Rita out on Expedition. I thought I'd made teaching start late enough in the day that there couldn't be any active expeditions so didn't add a check for it... clearly I was wrong!

Days-wise, nothing further yet, no, the last timed event is at day 12 currently, and you've already met Ruby so you've achieved that. All the optional side content and buildings right now can take you well beyond that, but it will be a lot of cake baking until there's more main story content and facility upgrades.

Build 3 probably won't be ready quite as quickly, I get more done at weekends, but I'll try to get the task items addressed this week. Unsure whether I'll get upgrades in that as well, but I'll try! Pacing/balancing obviously a much longer pursuit.

 

[Feebs]

Okay, so I lied... unintentionaly. I've already addressed the task-based issues. But I'll still wait a bit before releasing build 3 as there's a few other stuff I want to add in first. There's also some bugs I've fixed in there such as Kimberly's teaching variable not resetting properly.

However, the esclation feedback got me thinking. For most household members my current intention is to have something like this already, with milestone events unlocking the next tier of corruption once you've put in sufficient work. However, I had no such plans for the strays.

While I don't want the two systems to mimic each other, for lust, I think what I may do instead make it so once you've unlocked, for example, oral, you can't gain more lust until you've performed those acts X times. You then gain lust as normal before you reach the next tier, and so on. It's basically the same, but without the milestone event. And, I don't want it to be the same scene seen multiple times.

Some characters, like Victoria and Darla, will put out without such requirements, and there will be story events, like the Lillian scene added in build 2 that circumnavigate this system.

I'll play around a little, see what I can come up that gives the feeling of escalation without the feeling of a grind and still fits well within in the world. I don't mind a little grind, just don't want it to be repititve. Again, there will be a number of characters this system just won't apply to whatsoever. I'm using Kylie to test atm as her character isn't overly developed right now.

 

[ayy]

I got to the point where I was unable to find out any more information from the buffer, and also stuck in a loop with Kim discovering the truth.

Whats there is quite good for the most part Feebs and osanaiko basically covered the points that I wanted to go over in my playthrough. Good UI, good use of models and keeping a variety in body types. I will say that the writing tends to be verbose at times - this is fine if its Megan, but I do think you can convey sexually tense situations better with writing that is more grounded. I would also say try not to blow up the scope of your game by packing it with LIs. Pick a core group of LIs that you want to focus on, and then include side characters as you need. You don't want a shallow puddle of a game - this will not only make the game very difficult to finish, and also lose the audience's attention quickly.

As it stands, your game reminds me a lot of The Spinney and My Fallen Angels. The latter is, imo, a flawed gem and a personal favorite with regards to this particular type of game. Only issue I find with games like these is that the initial characters you interact with become irrelevant as newer characters and areas are introduced. Maybe also consider a solution for older character's obsolescence as your game continues to grow.

I'm excited to see this game moving forward. Best of luck.

 

[Feebs]

Thanks for the feedback ayy. I think the verbosity will be difficult for me to overcome as I usually think I'm not being descriptive enough, but I shall bear it in mind for future content. I'm not adverse to paying an editor to help with that if this game is succesful enough, but that would be some time down the line.

As it stands, some of the side characters (Zoe, Quinn and Fiona for instance) unfortunately will go the way of obsolence, I have no long term plans for them other then their brief interuptions to progress the main story. There's a couple of others I've introduced for specific purposes but have no longer term plans after that. It may be I need to demote them to side characters, or even minor as a result. The conversation with Elsie regards expeditions has left it open for me to do that within the story if need be. I think what I'll likely try to do, at least to keep them "in the mix" is each update when on to public releases, try to focus a side character along with the main update to keep them feeling engaged, even if not necessarily within the main plot.

Build 3 will probably be a while longer while I get this new escalation methodology in, but hopefully it will address some of the shorter-term pacing issues. Post-story content pacing will be a bigger nut to crack, though.

 

[Feyschek]

Thanks again, osanaiko. I very much appreciate the playtesting and feedback.

The pacing is meant to be a little different based on the specific women. The strays tend to be more willing to commit early whereas the taboo cast (Tiffany aside) tend to take more to the point Ruby is the only one of them where you can see this has started properly. But I'll see if I can make it a bit more varied between the existing cast.

Long term pacing - absolutely not where it should be. Building timers etc are intended, but there will be upgrades and other aspects to reduce building and research times to help with that. For example, the big one will be opening up second slots for contstruction and research, effectively halving the times.

But more globally, balancing/pacing is certainly something I'm eager to get feedback on to fine tune before a public release.

Tasks-wise, perhaps I need to make them clearer. But to address the points specifically:

• Look into the Buffer - Can be completed by speaking to Kimberly, Megan or (should) auomatically complete when building the monitoring station. I'll check the latter solution is working properly as it sounds like you should have achieved that. Investigate the buffer is completed by checking the buffer at Gateway B, but if the aftore mentioned hasn't cleared, that will be holding it back.
• Fixed ready for build 3.
• I thought I'd removed the explore option in build 2, but perhaps that's in the build I'm working on. It was something I intended to add, then decided it was unneeded... then forgot to remove the button.
• Quinn is available to welcome at 5 attractiveness so that's likely related to the building pacing comment you noted.
• Charlotte is unlocked when you investigate the buffer, so sounds relevant to previous notes. I'll add another step to make it clear the buffer stuff needs completing first.
• Is the spa research just not moving ahead? Or just the pacing issue? If not moving, who is working at the monitoring station and what is their fatigue?
• Will be Rita out on Expedition. I thought I'd made teaching start late enough in the day that there couldn't be any active expeditions so didn't add a check for it... clearly I was wrong!

Days-wise, nothing further yet, no, the last timed event is at day 12 currently, and you've already met Ruby so you've achieved that. All the optional side content and buildings right now can take you well beyond that, but it will be a lot of cake baking until there's more main story content and facility upgrades.

Build 3 probably won't be ready quite as quickly, I get more done at weekends, but I'll try to get the task items addressed this week. Unsure whether I'll get upgrades in that as well, but I'll try! Pacing/balancing obviously a much longer pursuit.

The idea is good. Well, it would be nice if other participants helped in improving the base.

 

[Yavathol]

I followed your signature link to this threat and wanted play! Great job with what you've done so far, I can see you've put in a lot of planning ahead. Love the concept of combing Isekai stories with an AVN. Main playtest feedback so far is that I've gotten stuck at a part where it says: I guess that's the resources I was promised. What the hell do I do with them? I don't know how to build anything!

Maybe this is the end of the current content, but from reading the other playtesters feedback I get the impression that there is more and maybe this is a bug?

 

[Feebs]

I followed your signature link to this threat and wanted play! Great job with what you've done so far, I can see you've put in a lot of planning ahead. Love the concept of combing Isekai stories with an AVN. Main playtest feedback so far is that I've gotten stuck at a part where it says: I guess that's the resources I was promised. What the hell do I do with them? I don't know how to build anything!

Maybe this is the end of the current content, but from reading the other playtesters feedback I get the impression that there is more and maybe this is a bug?

Thanks for testing, Yavathol. Does Megan talk to you during that scene? Right after it says the thing about resources Megan should present herself, but what she says and how she treats you is dependent upon how much trust you put in her earlier. Perhaps there's a trust level I've not done properly if you aren’t getting to speak to her. But yeah, there's still content after that.

If you did get Megan speak to you, you should hopefully have two tasks right now. "Visit Gateway A" & "Attend house meeting [Unskippable after 19:00]". The first can be completed alone or with a companion, or by waiting until after the house meeting, and the second should just kick in automatically at 19:00, or if you somehow go past it, whatever time, but you'll get a relationship penalty for being late.

If that meeting or Megan's stuff isn't happening, would you be able to send me the save file so that I may diagnose please?

EDIT: Found the issue, she has 0-5 trust... if she has trust of 1, she doesn't talk to you at Gateway B as she's at Gateway A instead... only I don't appear to have actually coded that connection in! Will sort for build 3.

 

[Yavathol]

EDIT: Found the issue, she has 0-5 trust... if she has trust of 1, she doesn't talk to you at Gateway B as she's at Gateway A instead... only I don't appear to have actually coded that connection in! Will sort for build 3.

Ah, good debugging! Yes, I only told her a bit more than the minimum, IIRC. So rather than waiting for the next build, I'll try fully trusting her and see if I get further.. Will let you know if I find anything else

Some typo's I've noticed - Lillian in the car: "pull up up and";
Megan " And it receeded once the gateway was powered? " should be "receded".

 

[Feebs]

Quick update before the weekend slog!
Escalation mechanics now in for three characters.
Elsie, Lillian and Kyle.
Elsie and Kylie follow a similar sequence - a key scene to move beyond flriting, then once at oral have to repeat it 3 times to progress further. Both have 4 oral scenes, all repeatable, some with multiple videos.
Lillian needs romancing a little, flowers, breakfast in bed for eg, then a key scene before getting to oral which is the tier I'm now working on!

So for the first sweep I'm just getting the strays to vanilla sex as part of the escalation. I'll move on to less vanilla relations further down the story.

While the formula is similar, I do want each women to feel somewhat unique in how they progress. As I'm saying do a certain act X times, of course, I can't completely avoid that feeling. Reason I've added four scenes but a requirement of three is to try and give the player choice in how to move forward, while preventing a feeling of reptitiveness. I would like to add more options to this at a later date, but for the initial push, my intention is just always to have at least one more scene than required to tier up.

This has also allowed me to develop their charactrs a little more without just adding more discussion topics. Elsie's selfish/demanding side for instance has been able to show itself a lot more in these scenes - as has the MC's reactions to this.

Other big change coming is to tracker tasks (and soon story tasks) these now have a question mark beside them detailing the exact solution in a tooltip rather than just the hint. These will be optional.


There's a bunch of other updates/changes too, but I'll save those for the full changelog. Just wanted to post something to show the feedback is super valued and being worked through for the next build. Once this mechanic is introduced to all the women who will be using it, some of their existing events will need reworking too. For instance, being able to have sex with Megan on day 2 will no longer fit with the new method. Though Megan will have lower thresholds before tiering up, she won't put out immediately like her mother. Lashonda will also remain "easy", in fact she will probably remain throughout as the only character you can get any lewd content from on day 1.

One thing I've also not preivously made clear is that I haven't yet fully gated discussion topics. Mostly because I want to get the pacing/balancing right, but ultimately that's the main purpose of the like stat.

 

[Yavathol]

Looking forward to playing with the changes, in particular the exact solution in a tooltip. I encountered another error last night, just after meeting Phaedra for the first time. I've attached a save game and a screen shot, sorry I couldn't resize the window to show the whole call stack.

 

[Feebs]

Looking forward to playing with the changes, in particular the exact solution in a tooltip. I encountered another error last night, just after meeting Phaedra for the first time. I've attached a save game and a screen shot, sorry I couldn't resize the window to show the whole call stack.
View attachment 2828663

Brilliant, thank you. Savegame file made it a cinch to debug. Fixed for build 3.
Also attached a savefile with the value manually overriden.

 

[Yavathol]

Hi, been playing a little more and gotten to the management mechanics now. Took me a little while to learn how to generate resources but by exploring other stuff I figured it out. It's turning into quite a little engine, which is interesting but I hope it doesn't get too grindy. On to the bugs!

1) Attached is a save file producing another "error has occurred message", after Continue is clicked.
2) Lashonda's hint says "Lounging alone" but even if I camp out in the lounge all day, there is always someone else in there as well as Lashonda, and I don't see how to trigger her next event.
3) In the hint for Ruby, it says "Progress with Charlotte", I don't know if that is someone that has been renamed or if there is a newcomer called Charlotte that hasn't been introduced yet?
4) Kylie's hint says "Your hub isn't attractive enough yet", no idea what that means but hopefully the tooltip functionality will help with this.
5) I have a task to look into the buffer which I've talked to Lillian about. After that, the task is still there (not sure how to progress it) and I have an optional task to tell Kimberley the full truth. When I do so, after the H scenes, the optional task is completed, but I can repeat it by talking to Lillian about the buffer again. Doesn't seem to make sense for this to be a repeatable sequence from a story perspective?!

 

[osanaiko]

Yavathol Your list of issues is almost identical to the place I ended up at the point I ran out of energy. I detailed most of them here: https://f95zone.to/threads/gateway-dev-thread.164007/post-11372419

The dev has already responded in this post: https://f95zone.to/threads/gateway-dev-thread.164007/post-11372782

I'm now waiting patiently for the next release to see how much has changed, been fixed, and added.

 

[Feebs]

Thanks chaps!
Sorry, build 3 taking a bit, lots of (mostly oral) scenes to work in the escalation process.

Hi, been playing a little more and gotten to the management mechanics now. Took me a little while to learn how to generate resources but by exploring other stuff I figured it out. It's turning into quite a little engine, which is interesting but I hope it doesn't get too grindy. On to the bugs!

1) Attached is a save file producing another "error has occurred message", after Continue is clicked.
2) Lashonda's hint says "Lounging alone" but even if I camp out in the lounge all day, there is always someone else in there as well as Lashonda, and I don't see how to trigger her next event.
3) In the hint for Ruby, it says "Progress with Charlotte", I don't know if that is someone that has been renamed or if there is a newcomer called Charlotte that hasn't been introduced yet?
4) Kylie's hint says "Your hub isn't attractive enough yet", no idea what that means but hopefully the tooltip functionality will help with this.
5) I have a task to look into the buffer which I've talked to Lillian about. After that, the task is still there (not sure how to progress it) and I have an optional task to tell Kimberley the full truth. When I do so, after the H scenes, the optional task is completed, but I can repeat it by talking to Lillian about the buffer again. Doesn't seem to make sense for this to be a repeatable sequence from a story perspective?!

1) Will get it fixed! There's an extra bit here if there's someone else present in the garden while she's painting you. Looks like the two of you were alone, but the code is still trying to give that third-party a lust bonus. Unfortunately, can't mangle a save file for you get past that one. If you go back while Millie or Tiffany are also present, you should be able to get past it, though. Another bug there too, she shouldn't gain 11 like!
2) To get her alone you have to assign the people who would otherwise be in he lounge with her to work in one of the facilities or send them out on an expedition.
3) Charlotte is introduced by going to Gateway B and chosing her instead of Charlie when you check the buffer. The next build adds another step here if you haven't met her yet. It also allows you to switch back and forth between her and Charlotte, and Derin and Derek too.
4) More facilities make it more attractive. The waiting area, toilets, bar & spa are only buildings that currently do this. More will be added later.
5) The optional task repeat is fixed for build 3. To complete the buffer task, try talking to Kimberly or Megan about the buffer, or let Megan know you've built the monitoring station.

Hopefully the task overhaul should address the task issues globally, though.

With regards to the update, I've now only two strays left to handle - Zoe & Rita. Zoe I've mostly done. Rita is actually the character I have written the least scenes for, I didn't realise until replaying, but when i've previously said there's like half a dozen lewd scenes without dialogue yet... they're nearly all hers!

Then need to go through, replay everything and balance/adjust tasks and events accordingly around this new system. There are 14 new lewd scenes thus far, all part of the escalating process so all fingering/peeping/hj/bj rather than anything penetrative.

I also want to add a little more interaction with the voice at Gateway A.

Old saves should work, but no guarantee. It also may feel a bit out of sync if you've already progressed beyond the relevant thresholds and suddenly it's telling you to go do X in order to get beyond fingerbanging or whatever.

EDIT: Looking into this save file, you're not able to progress the main story beyond that buffer task and I'm unsure why. I'll check through the variables to see what choices were made. Presumably same ones the other users had too. by hook or crook, I'll fix for build 3, though.

 

[Feyschek]

Thanks chaps!
Sorry, build 3 taking a bit, lots of (mostly oral) scenes to work in the escalation process.



1) Will get it fixed! There's an extra bit here if there's someone else present in the garden while she's painting you. Looks like the two of you were alone, but the code is still trying to give that third-party a lust bonus. Unfortunately, can't mangle a save file for you get past that one. If you go back while Millie or Tiffany are also present, you should be able to get past it, though. Another bug there too, she shouldn't gain 11 like!
2) To get her alone you have to assign the people who would otherwise be in he lounge with her to work in one of the facilities or send them out on an expedition.
3) Charlotte is introduced by going to Gateway B and chosing her instead of Charlie when you check the buffer. The next build adds another step here if you haven't met her yet. It also allows you to switch back and forth between her and Charlotte, and Derin and Derek too.
4) More facilities make it more attractive. The waiting area, toilets, bar & spa are only buildings that currently do this. More will be added later.
5) The optional task repeat is fixed for build 3. To complete the buffer task, try talking to Kimberly or Megan about the buffer, or let Megan know you've built the monitoring station.

Hopefully the task overhaul should address the task issues globally, though.

With regards to the update, I've now only two strays left to handle - Zoe & Rita. Zoe I've mostly done. Rita is actually the character I have written the least scenes for, I didn't realise until replaying, but when i've previously said there's like half a dozen lewd scenes without dialogue yet... they're nearly all hers!

Then need to go through, replay everything and balance/adjust tasks and events accordingly around this new system. There are 14 new lewd scenes thus far, all part of the escalating process so all fingering/peeping/hj/bj rather than anything penetrative.

I also want to add a little more interaction with the voice at Gateway A.

Old saves should work, but no guarantee. It also may feel a bit out of sync if you've already progressed beyond the relevant thresholds and suddenly it's telling you to go do X in order to get beyond fingerbanging or whatever.

EDIT: Looking into this save file, you're not able to progress the main story beyond that buffer task and I'm unsure why. I'll check through the variables to see what choices were made. Presumably same ones the other users had too. by hook or crook, I'll fix for build 3, though.

The old save will work as long as you don't add a new variable to StoryInit.

Although to be honest, there seems to be a way to make the old save work if you add a new StoryInit variable. Well, I'm too weak a programmer in this regard to say for sure. Well, I’ll say for sure if you add a new variable to StoryInit, then the old save does not work.

 

[Feebs]

The old save will work as long as you don't add a new variable to StoryInit.

Although to be honest, there seems to be a way to make the old save work if you add a new StoryInit variable. Well, I'm too weak a programmer in this regard to say for sure. Well, I’ll say for sure if you add a new variable to StoryInit, then the old save does not work.

Yup, a good number of new variables. I've created checks for them where appropriate, but no guarantee I've caught them all. I'm also trying to get out of using State.variables for content that doesn't need to be there. Basic building info and scene replays I had stored in SV originally, but actually all the gamesave needs to store is that they are unlocked, not the static content associated with that unlock. Basically, I'm trying to get out of using naked variables in passages for that kind of content and focusing more on using JS for it so I can edit the core data without people's old savegames ignoring it. Won't be such as issue in public releases, but obviously alpha goes through several changes and iterations before getting to an RC.

 

[Feyschek]

Yup, a good number of new variables. I've created checks for them where appropriate, but no guarantee I've caught them all. I'm also trying to get out of using State.variables for content that doesn't need to be there. Basic building info and scene replays I had stored in SV originally, but actually all the gamesave needs to store is that they are unlocked, not the static content associated with that unlock. Basically, I'm trying to get out of using naked variables in passages for that kind of content and focusing more on using JS for it so I can edit the core data without people's old savegames ignoring it. Won't be such as issue in public releases, but obviously alpha goes through several changes and iterations before getting to an RC.

I ran into this problem when I started making my first game. Well, I use a lazier way, that's why I have such problems.
So I gave up on my first game because it became too demanding. Especially in terms of game size

 

[Dropdude]

Ive hit a wall, I have objectives that I cant seem to complete. This is based off whatever version is in the first post. If youve released more versions, please update your first post.

 

[Feebs]

Ive hit a wall, I have objectives that I cant seem to complete. This is based off whatever version is in the first post. If youve released more versions, please update your first post.

Thanks for trying to game.
You've ran into the same issue the previous users did the buffer stuff, Build 3 will be coming soon, I hope to finish the last of the major changes tonight then spend tomorrow testing and rebalancing based on the new content.

 

[Dropdude]

So, how indepth will the TF mechanic be? I like TF's so, having control over changing characters coming through a gate is like