Thanks for taking the time to play my game and give feedback!
I'd be happy to respond to some of your points ^^
-There are definitely still a few bugs poking around, working hard to get them fixed, and hopefully many/most of them will be fixed for the next release (including the missing assets and Chloe coming back a bit late).
-The reverse potion is missing for now, I ran out of time just a little bit, will definitely be implemented in the future. For now the content filters work as a poor man's removal service.
-The scene unlock was 100% an oversight on my part, I didn't realize that the way I coded that interaction would lock out that memory. Will definitely be fixed for next patch.
-The money thing: As you read in the dev log, this is very high on the priority list for the next patch, and hopefully the entire economy will feel a bit more balanced when the new system(s) are in place. Leading up to it, I was of the mind that, besides a few minor hurdles in the early game, I'd rather have money be plentiful and not very impactful than scarce and frustrating.
-I think this one is a legitimate criticism. For what it's worth, I tried to vary the characters a bit, so you wouldn't have 3-4 characters with the exact same issues/arc. My take was:
-Camilla: has legitimate issues with her race, lots of insecurity
-Tirria: Has no issues with her race, but is an unwilling outcast just for how she is different from the rest of her people.
-Maria: Generally confident and comfortable in her skin, she struggles more with the reputation of her people than the physical side (As far as I remember she only has really one scene where she is doubting herself? And that's more of worrying about compatibility rather than body issues)
-Charlie: Yea, fair enough. A lot of her content needs to be rewritten/redone ^^;
-Alice/Beth/Kirana: While they definitely all have self-esteem issues (don't we all?) I tried to approach it from different angles/reactions, with Alice hiding her pain behind a cheerful and sexual mask, Beth burying her feelings to focus on her daughter, and Kirana being forward and confident, but having the tendency to give up when hitting obstacles in her life. Maybe they still track too closely to each other in their arcs, but I hope their characters are at least distinct enough...
-Regarding the transformation and futa content. I'm not too worried about the reaction, since, as you said, it is very easy to disable. It will definitely be expanded on in the future. A lot of the "embarrassment" around the content comes more from a story side. I think many women would react a bit sheepishly if you suddenly suggested they grow a dick haha. I wanted to have it not feel like an afterthought in this game, but a real decision that the girls would have to make. In the future, when it can be given to more girls, some will react positively, and some might react very negatively or hesitantly. The biggest thing I wanted to avoid is the common thing in some adult games where a girl gets transformed and has no real reaction or thought besides "This makes me feel nothing other than horny. Let's fuck."
I hope that can explain my view on a few of these issues. It makes me really glad to hear you enjoyed the game, and I'll do my best to keep on improving. I hope you have fun with future releases!
Hey there.
Glad to be of some help. A project like this is a huge undertaking, there’s plenty to deal with, loads of moving parts… if I can help shed a different perspective or track down a bug or two, that’s all I’m hoping for. I think that a lot of the time, people end up commenting without having this sort of perspective about an evolving project that’s long and difficult.
As I read the devlog, I got the hint “oh, this resource thing may be in the list already” so it was not unexpected that these would already be outdated impressions by the time I voiced them =P. Again, curious to see how it’ll go
I get your angle with how you tried approaching the girl’s backstories and all. I think one of the strong points is that by relying on well established fantasy and eroge tropes and then giving your own twist as you fleshed out the background of the world made for a consistent foundation on top of which to build. This worked well, none of their stories felt out of place, they all fit in nicely.
I think the way it ended up irking me a bit is because though they have different paths, they end up in similar places. The “innocent and awkward girl” is not really my thing so perhaps this contributed to me getting that impression… I guess a way to more finely deconstruct this is that to me they DO feel like their own distinct characters on their own, but in their relationship with the MC a lot of them seem to fall back into being the same type of girlfriend. As in, Tirria wears her arrogance as a weapon and is a hyper competent person who lives off of a profession expressed primarily through violence while Camilla is a super shy and insecure bookworm who is terrified of crowds and a cute little nerd. These are two very different people. But they both relate to the MC primarily through their perceived bodily inadequacy and nervousness. When it comes time to lewd they’re both just as shy and sheepish, not knowing what to do…. You meet two very different women, but then you date the same girlfriend, if it makes any sense.
Again, this is A point of view and I get how daunting a task it is to manage all these story lines and characters within the constrained context of a porn game. It’s all here in the spirit of “maybe consider this point and, should you agree with it, it’s a thing to have in mind when writing future encounters”. If not, that’s all fine as well. Heck, you can always just double into these themes and go all the way, kind of like Harem Hotel builds up towards turning to the player and “joke’s on you, suckers, this was about systemic oppression all along, it’s the thematic core of this whole thing!”. The themes of discrimination and the effects thereof on actual people are already very present, depends on whether you feel like you want to use it as set dressing or actually, deliberately say something about it.
With the futa content, it’s all early days, it seems so bound to be a lot of rough edges. Perhaps the way to go to achieve what you want, though, is to have the girls initiate it. Right now MC buys a potion, goes “here, try this” and they do. So it’s very passive on their part. One step that could help would be to have one or more of them show interest, or have this whole thing be triggered by a new “main route girl” who just is futa and, as she moves into the hotel, ends up making waves and piquing the curiosity of the other girls. Especially as they get closer to each other, this then could be a catalyst for experimentation on their part. With regards to them feeling different ways about it, I think an easy route to go towards would be something like the old Slave Maker, where the effect is temporary the first few times, so they can have some fun and see how they feel about it. This would give them time to breathe and think, rather than the jump to a permanent change.
Something I remembered now, too. Once Camilla mentioned she lives mostly in the library but also rents a room in a boarding house, it felt weird that the MC didn’t offer her one if his rooms instead. She’s getting some interpersonal contact through Kiara which I guess is part of your plan for her becoming more confident so I would expect the offer to be, at least initially refused, but it could always be a set up for future developments.
Anyway, this is already waaay to long. Just, again, hope I can give you an outsider’s perspective on how things are going, hopefully at least something useful. Can’t wait to see what comes next
Ah, I think I see what you're getting at.
Definitely, Camilla and Tirria have some similarities in their backstories and hang ups, one feeling like she's not a proper member of her race, one being happy with her race, but scarred after a lifetime of mistreatment because of it. They both have major body issues, and I can totally see how they open up to the MC is very similar.
However, I think it is also worth mentioning that out of all the girls in the game, they are the only ones with this explicit problem (other than moments here and there for a few other girls, but in a world with as many distinct races as this, I don't think that's super unlikely).
What my goal is, and hopefully I can convey in the future, is that this is only part where their "routes" intersect. Now that the MC is "dating" each of them, I plan/hope that their stories will be going in much different directions, and as girlfriends, they will feel very distinct.
With regards to the futa stuff, that could also be a way to approach it for some of the girls in the future, assuming the player has that specific content enabled. Definitely planning to iterate on all the transformation systems in the future, and as the game progresses.
For the Camilla thing: honestly, I didn't even think of that at the time. She'd most likely refuse, especially at first (no way she'd want to live somewhere bustling, at least right off), but it could be a point that she grows into, and having the MC at least offer would be a decent character moment.
Once again, thanks for all the feedback, scripting for the game can be a very isolating experience, as with this genre, many people don't want to engage beyond just downloading and experiencing it.