- Jul 12, 2017
- 684
- 903
I'm not a good judge of that as the developer, but I'd say about 30-60 minutes.
It helps that like 1/4-1/5th of the screen reveals the secret, so yeah, I didn't even think to attribute it to a secret more as a feature I guess.
- Aug 18, 2017
- 2,318
- 2,429
Really nice idea, but I have some complaints with suggestions for the game so far:
1) the billion and one "one line" bits of conversation that requires a spacebar (or left click) to get through, with no way to backtrack if one of the (very) occasional tips pops up.
Suggestion: adding a forced "ok, I have actually seen this tip, let me continue the conversation" option choice will help a little, at least the game has got more content and the forced acknowledgement can be removed, or changed into an optional "yes, keep pausing when a tip pops up" and "thank you, but stop pausing for tips"
2) Putting in choices that are impossible to pick on Days 1/2, such as the "you can't pick this because your courage is too low"... but you don't even find out you can train your courage until Day 3 Afternoon.
Suggestion: without a future plan to alter starting stats, remove the deadend choices until after Day 4. Right now, it looks that by Day 4 is when the PC actually starts having options about whether he goes to the Crone for magic training, the Envoy for courage training, or goes to Callie to make money
3) The deadend options on Days 1/2/3 that just say "wait for more content from Patreon".
Suggestion: put the actual choices for Day 4 and later, force the PC to do the mandatory meet with Callie on Day 1, Crone on Day 2, and Envoy on Day 3 at the correct times, instead of the illusion you can blow those meetings off and do something else
1) the billion and one "one line" bits of conversation that requires a spacebar (or left click) to get through, with no way to backtrack if one of the (very) occasional tips pops up.
Suggestion: adding a forced "ok, I have actually seen this tip, let me continue the conversation" option choice will help a little, at least the game has got more content and the forced acknowledgement can be removed, or changed into an optional "yes, keep pausing when a tip pops up" and "thank you, but stop pausing for tips"
2) Putting in choices that are impossible to pick on Days 1/2, such as the "you can't pick this because your courage is too low"... but you don't even find out you can train your courage until Day 3 Afternoon.
Suggestion: without a future plan to alter starting stats, remove the deadend choices until after Day 4. Right now, it looks that by Day 4 is when the PC actually starts having options about whether he goes to the Crone for magic training, the Envoy for courage training, or goes to Callie to make money
3) The deadend options on Days 1/2/3 that just say "wait for more content from Patreon".
Suggestion: put the actual choices for Day 4 and later, force the PC to do the mandatory meet with Callie on Day 1, Crone on Day 2, and Envoy on Day 3 at the correct times, instead of the illusion you can blow those meetings off and do something else
You're given free reign from the afternoon on day 2, so your suggestion is a little bit off. The game feels a bit more linear than it's supposed to be since just Evelyn's basic content is available at this point. You won't feel so railroaded once more content is added. A specific example: You can finish the entire game without meeting the envoy even once unless he pops up as part of other events. In practical terms, you're probably going to want to meet him, but you can decide upon the time yourself.
I prefer to keep options in place to both indicate intent and to teach the players where to expect things to pop up. I went back and forth with it, and there are options I didn't add (such as the building site). These are going to mostly disappear, probably already with version 0.15, allowing you to visit locations even if there's not much content in them at that point.
The choices early on are staying, but I plan to include more explicit information about what they are and why they are there (New Game+). I'm trying to gently introduce the player to the scope of the game with them, so they are necessary, even if they feel annoying to you right now. I strongly believe the feel of these will change as more of the game becomes available.
Rollback is being introduced in a coming version (0.15 if I get the time), with some limitations. It should solve the problem where you accidentally skip important text. You're not the only one with that problem, so I'm definitely taking that seriously.
I prefer to keep options in place to both indicate intent and to teach the players where to expect things to pop up. I went back and forth with it, and there are options I didn't add (such as the building site). These are going to mostly disappear, probably already with version 0.15, allowing you to visit locations even if there's not much content in them at that point.
The choices early on are staying, but I plan to include more explicit information about what they are and why they are there (New Game+). I'm trying to gently introduce the player to the scope of the game with them, so they are necessary, even if they feel annoying to you right now. I strongly believe the feel of these will change as more of the game becomes available.
Rollback is being introduced in a coming version (0.15 if I get the time), with some limitations. It should solve the problem where you accidentally skip important text. You're not the only one with that problem, so I'm definitely taking that seriously.
@Belle Wow great game idea! I really dig the investigative part as oppose to the average grind: earn money, buy MC drug, boost obedience. I'm hyped up to see you work on how the characters gradually change to match the bits of brain tweaking we're doing!
The devil on my shoulders also had a few mean things though:
1) I thought the pixie banter was trying too hard to be smart/funny and i thought it was neither. That said, you haven't seen the dialogues i write - they're just worse. Hence, I really admire that you writing them down and in the process improve your writing ability but would love the option to skip.
2) I find three exposition a bit jarring. Women being treated equal as men (sister), also the sister's promiscuous reputation without the slut shaming consequence (maybe we're just not far enough along the story), your childhood friend making a dress for the princess or even her handmaidens - velvet/royal color dye were too expensive for a peasant artisan to have enough practice working on, i think... Anyways I'm being super pedantic at a fantasy setting, but i think your story just have that potential given the long-haul approach you're working on! The more real they are, the more fun to mess with them, i guess?
Either ways, the game is super awesome if all the criticisms involve a degree a nit-picking. Also this is also coming from a bored dude down in the basement who may not even pay regularly $5 on the patron page
PS can't wait to see if there's an option to turn the table on that ANNOYING PIXIE
The devil on my shoulders also had a few mean things though:
1) I thought the pixie banter was trying too hard to be smart/funny and i thought it was neither. That said, you haven't seen the dialogues i write - they're just worse. Hence, I really admire that you writing them down and in the process improve your writing ability but would love the option to skip.
2) I find three exposition a bit jarring. Women being treated equal as men (sister), also the sister's promiscuous reputation without the slut shaming consequence (maybe we're just not far enough along the story), your childhood friend making a dress for the princess or even her handmaidens - velvet/royal color dye were too expensive for a peasant artisan to have enough practice working on, i think... Anyways I'm being super pedantic at a fantasy setting, but i think your story just have that potential given the long-haul approach you're working on! The more real they are, the more fun to mess with them, i guess?
Either ways, the game is super awesome if all the criticisms involve a degree a nit-picking. Also this is also coming from a bored dude down in the basement who may not even pay regularly $5 on the patron page
PS can't wait to see if there's an option to turn the table on that ANNOYING PIXIE
That's fair. The problem with comedy is that, as far as I know, there's no form of humor on Earth that will work on more than 50% of the audience. We're all wired differently. I, for example, can't wrap my mind around the concept that some people don't enjoy Monty Python, but it turns out lots of people don't. People are different. As long as I'm writing some kind of comedy (and I keep it very light outside of the pixie interactions so far), we're going to run into this problem. Not much I can do about except drop the comedic aspects altogether, and I don't really want to do that.
Now, this is assuming that my comedic writing works in the first place for that other 50% of the audience. I think we need more data first before we can draw any assumptions about that.
I actually never thought about this. I guess I'm so used to modern fantasy settings that it just comes naturally. That, and I'm a bit of a feminist. Yeah, I know, a feminist who creates a game about sexually dominating women. Freud would have a field day with me.
I guess I don't find slut-shaming to be entertaining enough to include. There are other aspects of this situation that will be explored in the future though. I'll just say that I always strive to make 3-dimensional characters, even when it's "just" for a porn game.
That's not what she's doing. She's making dresses for the villagers, not the royal entourage. I'm also bending realism quite a bit when it comes to clothing in this game since I'd rather have things look a little sexier than they're supposed to. This especially goes for underwear. As for color, it's a modern misconception to think that medieval fashion was all brown and grey. Their fashion was typically much more colorful than what we wear today, but as you point out, their color choices were somewhat limited. This is one of the many, many reasons why I love The Witcher 3. It depicts a somewhat realistic medieval world in its fashion.
Your feedback is welcome even if you choose to never support my Patreon. Long Live the Princess is free, and I mean it. My patrons get a head start on new releases and access to some unique articles and polls, but that doesn't mean I won't interact with anyone else who has an interest in the game.
There's only so much we can glean from a 0.1. We can establish the premiss , wrap our heads around the gameplay , and that's it. I have to say, those medieval girls sure don't act very medieval. Not throwing a temper tantrum over it, i can imagine that in a far away Galaxy, there's a planet out there, who hasn't figured out basic sanitation, but is totally "woke". I'll keep an eye out for 0.2, and see where it's going. Hey, Belle, if you happen to see this, i'm with Gomly, the Wise Penguin, set your story in Granith, stick to your guns, and don't let anybody throw you off course. Starting with ME. Funny thing, i also had a computer story this week. Last Sunday, i had the ominous warning "DISK FAILURE, MAKE SECURITY BACKUP NOW " . So i had to get a new computer, and take what i needed into the new one. So, i DO feel your pain.
Yeah. If they did, that would become almost an entirely different game. The typical medieval social constructs would lead to most of the girls acting very similarly to each other, and that's just boring when so much of the game is focused on talking to them. It's tempting to include a more "traditional" medieval girl in the roster (I have far more girls mapped out than just the 4 currently in the game) as variety, so thanks for putting that idea in my head.
" The typical medieval social constructs would lead to most of the girls acting very similarly to each other, " Oh, my friend, you nailed it ! That's Middle Ages quintessential. Everybody looks, acts, talks and thinks EXACTLY alike, and if you're an outlier, the pitchforks are not far behind. That only began to change after Black Death. Are you by any chance European ?
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In that case, i apologise for being Captain Obvious about the Middle Ages. But anyway, i'm not going to bust your balls over it. It was just a passing comment. But i was dead serious about "sticking to your guns". Somewhere in this forum , you can find the thread of a game called "Ethan's Legacy", which is the cautionary tale of what happens when a Dev tries to please everybody at the same time. Or "Big Brother", which is like you buying a ticket for Star Wars, and after half a hour, everybody starts singing, and it turns into "Hamilton". I really liked the concept, i'm just cheering you on, to not be swayed one way or another, by anybody, starting with ME.
Belle, I super appreciate that as a dev who's also coding, creating models, and writing you're also sitting down and chatting about this. At the end of the day, I'm also doing this cause it's pretty fun to talk about stuff even if it doesn't get implemented. (Sorry about the long post, promise i tried to make it not boring )
1) About humor. I agree. It's pretty moot to argue about humor and hence it's pretty nice to have the option of skipping. But I'll post my opinion anyways.
2) About Medieval fantasy world. I think you can do whatever you want with it. I also think that for all the rules we change, people should react to it. Game of Thrones women was super strong because despite the constraint put on them they play the rule to their advantage sometimes using sex. Wanna do your sister? Sure you can, but if a kid see you, you might have to push him out the window. Can't be burn? Of course let's go make a scene and pretend to be the messiah! If I brought up slut shame even if I don't enjoy it at all, it's because I thought good stories are based in consequences. And i think you're writing a pretty good story.
Anyways, would love to hear what you think! And I can't wait for the next release. Please also disregard my input too much if that means slower release date
)1) About humor. I agree. It's pretty moot to argue about humor and hence it's pretty nice to have the option of skipping. But I'll post my opinion anyways.
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2) About Medieval fantasy world. I think you can do whatever you want with it. I also think that for all the rules we change, people should react to it. Game of Thrones women was super strong because despite the constraint put on them they play the rule to their advantage sometimes using sex. Wanna do your sister? Sure you can, but if a kid see you, you might have to push him out the window. Can't be burn? Of course let's go make a scene and pretend to be the messiah! If I brought up slut shame even if I don't enjoy it at all, it's because I thought good stories are based in consequences. And i think you're writing a pretty good story.
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Anyways, would love to hear what you think! And I can't wait for the next release. Please also disregard my input too much if that means slower release date
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Engaging with players (potential or otherwise) is very important for many reasons, so I give it a lot of attention. It's not delaying any release dates, at least.Anyways, would love to hear what you think! And I can't wait for the next release. Please also disregard my input too much if that means slower release date
As for what I think, there's not much I have to add to what you said. Those are sensible, well-thought-out opinions, and while I may not agree 100% with everything, that's why we have opinions in the first place. I can't talk in detail about where my story is headed since I don't want to spoil it, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that my approach to these things should cover most of your concerns. My characters are 3-dimensional and possess an ability to act instead of just reacting to the player. This will become apparent as the game's story advances. The thing with the sister has already been referenced in version 0.1 in that the player character comments that he has "heard rumors about her." That should tell you a lot right there, and that's not the end.
I am personally very fond of *ahem* butt stuff, so no worries there. While it may be optional, I'm going to make it optional very often.
It'll take us a little time to get there since I like to build up to this kind of thing, but we'll get there eventually.No mom. Incest isn't the primary focus of this game, but it will be a recurring theme and is front and center in version 0.1. I'm approaching these fetishes from a slightly different angle from most other games like this I've seen, but not so different as to be completely alien. Stay tuned.
I am impressed with the game thus far, but reserve judgement until it is more complete. I don't like to judge at this early stage. The quality is awesome, both in writing and renders, and I hope it stays like this. However, one of the most positive aspects of this game is the fact that the dev is actively engaged with us, the audience. That means a lot to me. And I would like to become a Patron, but real life says "NO" right no. So, instead of financial support, I will offer encouragement and accolades.
I look forward to good things, and will keep a close eye on this.
I look forward to good things, and will keep a close eye on this.
- Sep 29, 2017
- 7,319
- 15,637
I must say I love this game so far.
1) each character so far has the 3 Arc story structure going on.
2) I'm glad primrose's dialogue didn't have a courage check
3) The envoy is too shady. Was his last lie a threat to the MC, a lie or the truth?
4) the clue analising part was fun, but it could be more branched. A wrong opinion results in instant failure.
1) each character so far has the 3 Arc story structure going on.
2) I'm glad primrose's dialogue didn't have a courage check
3) The envoy is too shady. Was his last lie a threat to the MC, a lie or the truth?
4) the clue analising part was fun, but it could be more branched. A wrong opinion results in instant failure.
Thanks for your useful comments.
1) I write "from the gut," so I tend not to follow the 3 arc structure rigidly, but I do often end up there anyway. Don't expect the traditional structure from all of these girls though.
2) It kind of does during the panty part, but yeah. It's hard to decide how many checks are too much and how many are too few. Until we get the ability training system in the game, I guess they'll all fall into the "too much" part of the spectrum.
3) That's the question, isn't it?
Hopefully people also find him somewhat likable, but we'll see.4) I started out wanting to both give the player a few chances before failing as well as making the wrong branches deeper. Upon implementation, it turned out that this would increase complexity and required word count dramatically, so I ditched it. The alternative turned out to give the player a certain number of opportunities to cast Invade Mind each day and have this value increase as the game progresses, so even if you make a mistake you can often just cast the spell again to try anew (or wait a day and try again, which you should almost always have the time to do). The Invade Mind puzzles are already complex enough as they are, so it ends up being a matter of balancing gameplay vs development time. I think most people would rather have me write additional scenes instead of expanding these puzzles, but I might very well be wrong.