Game tries to inform player on what to do and how to proceed. You must pay attention to what advice you are shown.
There is FAQ page in the Wiki.
Relationship level is increased by story events. You may not be able to raise Lin relationship level now, you must increase some other persons relationship level first.
To win the competition I think the important attribute is obedience. Let Jin help in preparing for the competition.
Buy Sylvia on the computer in MC hotel room.
Hey Apis, it sounds like you weren't sure if you were going to like the game, sped run it, then realized you might actually be starting to like it. You're missing some key basics that are explained very early in game in the tips screens.
Stats aren't a requirement for any story to occur, and money is best earned first through the farm, then the bar, which you should have leveled a bit by now.
But I'm confused by your timeline of events. You're saying that Lin's story is ready to continue with the competition, but are also getting told to buy Sylvia, who you meet during the competition? You can only buy her after.
Nope. Once Lin MET Sylvia whilst trimming the hedge, and then Lin and I met the Minister For Elves.... and I had the option to begin the competition in Ellen's menu... even BEFORE taking it, I was then getting the morning message to BUY SYLVIA.
And I was SO lost, because I COULD NOT find any way TO buy her.
THAT only happened AFTER the competition. But because Lin was so hard to build stats with at the time, except obedience, I was focused on taking her to the dungeon every chance I could, until I had her submission at level; 10, and taking her in the Shower, or visiting her at night. to her Slutiness up.
Thus I had held off for days on that competition, getting a random message I could not do anything about.
Only after finally completing the comp.. which I won... did I then get the Kidnapping thing, and pursuant to that, access to the new Elves.
I finally JUST saved up enough to by Sylvia NOW.... got the message she was ready to be picked up... but there is NO option TO pick her up when I go to the front door.
Yeah the bar makes me about 600 bucks a week now, and I grow Hops, and sell them, four at time, every few days, for 400 bucks.... so make about 1000 bucks a week, but that is still a HUGE grind lol.
Its is OK when I save up Straweberries... those plants never die, unless you do not water them, and like other berries always produce, so I save up the max load of them, and sell them for like.. what.. 250 bucks at a time, every few days also.... but TBH, it will still take me a month in game to be able to afford the Binbo Elf (I bought Nia, immediately, had to save for Sylvia, whom I just bought, and who cleared out of all but 25 bucks), so still a bit on the fence about this.
I rated this game highly, and gave it a great review, but I feel like I am in the midst of a mid game grind, where the curve shot up. I understand that, this game is not designed for speed running... and that is what I do... and if there were NOT these blocks and grind moments, I would have ended the game on the first days session.. but it is still a grind :P :P :P :P
I looked through the entire script for mentions of buying Sylvia to double check, it's possible I missed something, but the only way I see that you could get a "I need to buy sylvia" message is after the kidnapping event, or if Felicity and Emma's level is 35. Can you please confirm which is the case? If you were getting the message from Felicity and Emma's event, and Lin was below level 25, I can see how you ran into the issue you did.
Anything you buy on the computer can be received through the "Check for mail" button at the front door. This is also true for the elves.
I'm a bit lost at the grind part. Are you saying that passively collecting bar money and watering crops is grinding? Most of the money you earn in Harem Hotel is passive income, completely hands off, except for farming, which grow exceedingly fast. All of this is designed so you can focus on the actual gameplay and mainly story.
You can do deliveries at Bernie's once a day, tend to your crops once a day, and... well that's kind of it in terms of active income. You don't have to farm if it isn't engaging to you. These things are probably 5 mouse clicks each, takes less than 1 minute to do.
Thanks for the insight into your gameplay, it's very valuable to me. I don't want there to be any big speed bumps getting in the way of the player's enjoyment. You mentioned that you were earning about $1k per week, and only able to afford Ann, who costs $2k, in 4 weeks. This tells me something (which could be wrong, but it's what I as a dev am hearing). You are spending money and not saving, possibly buying outfits at any chance and before vital upgrades to the hotel. Being this late into the game and being close to $0 is unusual from the feedback I've gotten. You could have afforded her in two weeks but you spent half of your income on other things in that month instead of saving it for Ann. (If I understand correctly, you bought sylvia, was set to $25, then had to earn $2k). The proper gameplay loop is that there should be something that you're trying to unlock at any point, buying it within reasonable time, and chasing the next thing.
I can certainly consider adjusting some prices, but it is extremely rare for me to hear of anyone having money issues in HH. Quite the opposite actually, most desire more things to spend their money on. This is primarily a story game though, think of it more as a book. Speedrunning a story is just skipping to the final page and closing the book haha. If you just want all the scenes unlocked, you can do that too. There are cheat codes available for that. But the gameplay should be enjoyable too!
This might be a good time to mention some plans I have. I'd like your thoughts.
Side Characters visiting the hotel is becoming more of a developed mechanic over time. Right now they currently just visit the hot springs, and you can have sex with most of them. But it could be deeper. You could purchase upgrades such as a professional coffee machine, hotel breakfast, and other amenities. Side Characters would begin actually using the hotel, which would get you money. If a character decides to show up in the morning, they'll purchase breakfast, maybe some coffee. Or if they visit later in the day, you could spot them at the bar, or maybe they just decided to use your vending machine once or twice that week. Most of this would work behind the scenes, except for seeing them in the bar, and it would be included in your end-of-week report, so you can see exactly what each side character did that week. So after purchasing these upgrades, it would be passive income that scales based on how many Side Characters routinely visit the hotel. Earning you an extra $100 - $300 passively per week by the end of the current update.
OK last things first.
Yeah, growing stuff is cool, not a bad thing.... and the hotel bar makes some cash..... but at first, there is not enough money for that, yeah? Like, early doors... BUT the Pin Up thing, kinda IS. That is dependent on relationships, but you CAN build those kind fast, enough to get that happening.
So I was way LOW on cash, and there was not many options. I sped through the Caliber city content... well most of it... that earned you some cash.... and was left with JUST deliveries for 15 to 25 bucks... and the gamble of the Bowling comp. So YES... I spent money on OUTFITS, even pricey ones, but this was because I thought the hotter the Pin-Ups, the more cash.
I managed to get 10k from Kali's old man, eventually... but that all went, mostly, on upgrades.... so when it came to BUYING the Elves... well I had big debt too, of like -3600 bucks too... so paying that, and all... essentially... yeah... going to the Elves thing.... I was only a couple of K... and Sylvia was 7.5k and Ann 2k. Oh... and maybe I had to buy Jin too still. If I am lucky, from the bar, I might make 700... but sometimes it is only 500... and the farming is fine.. unless you forget to water the plants... then you get nothing.
So to be honest, yeah, personally.. I DID find it a bit of a grind, I hit that band of the game, with limited funds, and it took weeks in game to get close to doing it. Personally, I am not slow SOL type games gamer. I am hardcore gamer, and not just that, but a ground level, day zero, genesis moment, gamer of over 45+ years gaming experience. I am used to finding everything hack, and every 'Quick Grind'.... method possible to make money/resources in games ( trying to put that in perspective of what that means....maybe I can say I play Red Dead online, for example, and have almost 1000 gold bars, and almost $200K...even though I have barely played for almost 3 years, because once you know the grind, and know the loops... you win), and being able to either do immediately what I am directed to do... OR, be able to IMMEDIATELY work towards it, without any resources being time dependent.
So I am NOT sure *I* am reflective of the MAJORITY of your players though, so that probably is not something too concern yourself with. I am just and old, hardcore, min/max gluttonous gamer who will spend thousands of hours in one game, and very quickly learn ALL slick tricks to be as OP as possible ASAP. Just for me, having to wait for every Monday to make money, or grow enough Hops or Strawberries to for it be worth selling, is bit hard.
Now as for the Sylvia thing... yeah. I think I might have high Twin Clones relationships? If I had to guess. It was pretty high. That might been the issue. It was pretty confusing, because there were no events, or 'missions' if you will I could do with Lin, by then, EXCEPT the Competition... so I had this directive, and no way of finding out how to DO anything about it.
I also had ANOTHER strange happening out of order it seems. I played through to when Maria was unmasked, and taken.... and Ellen had yet to show up to tell me she arrange her reclamation. Maria was just MIA. HOWEVER, about two days AFTER she was gone.... I go down stairs, and there is a NEW scene.. the one where the fake cops come to try plant evidence. And lo, BEHOLD, there is MARIA talking as if NOTHING happened, and there is NO evidence she is who she turned out to be. I was confused as hell lol 'What... when did she get back, and why is she acting like she has not been through hell?".... but then she was GONE again, AFTER that. A few days after THAT, Ellen then DOES show up and tell me we can pick Maria... and I was so lost thinking to myself 'But isnt she HERE, she IS, I JUST saw her dammit".... lol.
Now as for the future features you're thinking about, I think THAT would be GREAT. Though I would perhaps suggest just ONE thing... opportunities, they do not have to be bill-boarded, hand held led, or anything...but just random, or possible, if you look hard enough... ways to make some fast, solid income. I mean, I just mentioned the grind feels being sucky, but actually...if daily... even grind feature... money making.
So you do not have harvest like ten Hops, or a ton of berries, or wait a week to make money, if you even DO find yourself broke for some reason. I know that might mess things up, because his game seems to have very deliberate pacing, But I was broke almost when I got to the Elves buying bit... I had about 2k... and Nia cost 500 odd... so then I had Ann, and Sylvia.. almost 10k... and possibly Jin too, idk, maybe I bought her a little earlier, and that's why I only had 2k... but I was looking at between close to 10, to close to 12 K... and had only 1500. Even growing plants, and selling them... it still took a pretty long multi-week grind, even with supplemental garden income. I had advanced all stories about as far as could, too, it seemed.... I either had to BUY Sylvia, or get Lin's relationship score up... which was dependent on buying Sylvia and Ann, or get Kali's relationship up, which was dependent on Lin's being high enough .... so hit a wall, and was locked out of most actual story content until I ground that money for those other two .. possibly three (though I think Jin was not requirement)... Elves.
That was a hecka boring passage of play. Yeah I went one some dates, did some kinky things, really really REALLY leaned on my Dungeon lol... but it was still a repetitive scenario of Go to beach with this one, then that one, then another one, or go to dinner with this one, then that one, etc etc... shower sex, dungeon, head pats, clean my room.... all things I knew inside out by then... but no actual progressed, because it all came down to being locked behind those damn elves lol. Any way to speed run some fast cash, and I mean not 10 or 30 bucks a day, but more like 500 to 1000, would be EPIC for resolving that.
But this is just a suggestion from an old hardcore day 0 gamer who plays these kinds of adult sex games, the way I play every other game, speed in, go deep hard and fast... and that is not a euphemism, despite the nature of this game :p.... and seeks to push as hard and fast deep in the game until my first major block, being a skill, mission, or just power curve block because of levelling. Then tries to stomp that block ASAP at the exclusion of all else. being that is how I roll... the waiting a week for money is torture :P
Still love this game though, it is still 5 Stars, 10/10, all day.. I will still play.... but it makes me feel a little masochistic to do so :P :P :P :P
Precisely.
When I had F all money, only making scattered income from the few early game opportunities in the city.... then basically running out save for Deliveries for the bowling alley, and hoping I won the Saturday comp.... then I had no idea I should be just saving every cent for upgrades that seemed out of reach.... how did I know Kali's old man would dump 10k on me?
At 25 bucks a day, multi thousand dollar upgrades were looking like a NIGHTMARE GRIND. But Ellen tells me about pin-ups! I can schmooze these girls enough to get those happening, methinks. I do. I think maybe it is worth the investment in wardrobe so I can make more money off them.
So I never bothered with any unreachable upgrades.
Sorry no one wants to grind for months in game for that.
Ofc, we DID NOT HAVE TO... but I DID NOT KNOW THAT.
The artificial handbrake on progress, namely only making money every few days from the garden, and once a week from the Hotel's income, Can be a sad thing, if you get in trouble by spending on bad returns you do not know are, and I think even if it IS a grind, a way to make a few hundred a day, every day, would really help. Sure, it would allow faster gameplay than the Dev might want, but that is better than a great game being viewed a lot worse than it is by players who hit a wall and have zero patience.
TBH, the only reason I did not walk away when I hit the wall I mentioned, was that Ashley is my spirit animal (sorry world, sometimes you SHOULD put your D in crazy). If she had been slightly less off her effing tree, I would not have thought her worth the effort and just quit this game and not looked back. Given it a VERY different rating and review as well.
