A lot of things have changed since the initial upload of this game here.
What started with simple models, a small map, and some monster girls running around turned into... well, at first a more defined map, some more models, as well as some interactable, joinable sex scenes and the possibility to take pictures.
... and from there nothing really changed for a long time.
Mhh, that's not true. The whole system of taking pictures got worse, with images/sex scenes being an absolutely blurry mess and monster girls not getting recognized in the pictures.
After that, the ability to join the sex scenes vanished.
Updates were made, big speeches about how they want to change their whole system and goals and stuff, but improvements... not noteworthy, really.
This was going on for quite a while until the newest update from just a day ago! Because now... we have a bigger map. Oh, and the pictures are not blurry anymore.
Anything else worth mentioning?
Nah, not really.
Sex scenes still can't be joined. Animations are still rather basic. Models look a little better, though (probably the shaders, yay!).
And while monster girls and activities get finally recognized again in the pictures... that's janky as hell. It's not uncommon to stand directly next to a monster girl, getting a nice, clear front shot with the little yellow rectangle indicating that the girl in the picture got recognized... nope, nothing, bad picture, nothing gets recognized at all. Not that it would matter because the game still has nothing in it that makes it worth playing.
And I understand that when you decide in the middle of a project to basically change everything about the system and redo it all, that takes time... but looking at the main game page here I see a lot of window dressing.
Let's take a look:
- Explore five fully realized environments, teeming with Monster Girls.
(if those are fully realized, that is very sad and empty-looking with not many girls wandering around and a barebone variety of what, five, six, maybe seven different species?)
- A full complement of voice acting by industry professionals.
(aside from some noises the girls make, there is nothing; not even the introduction when "Professor Frida" is talking to the player character has any voice lines)
- Explore many unique locations and capture/catalog the wildlife on display.
(unique and rather empty, yes; and cataloging the wildlife might be a tad difficult with the currently inadequate recognition system of the camera)
- Bond with the Monster Girls in their unique environments, and experience new sensations!
(the sensation of being bored? that's not new)
- Unlock special photography sessions with all the Monster Girls, and capture perfect pinups!
(uh, when is that supposed to happen? Haven't seen anything that would even imply this is part of the game)
If these are your future goals, give the people visiting this site an adequate idea of what's actually really in the game and declare those things as goals. If I would buy this game here for its original price of $ 20 and see the sorry state it's in, I'd be pretty p***ed. (EDIT: I didn't realize the on-sale status of this game is a permanent thing so far)
I'm not saying you are not working on it. And I'm not saying that I can't see or don't believe that the finished game will be potentially awesome as hell.
But right now?
This simply feels like bad planning or, rather, bad handling of a project, as well as bad communication with the people who bought it or would potentially buy it. At this point in time, $20 is a rip-off, and people who only see what's advertised here on the front page walk into it blindly.
Viewing post in Sapphire Safari (Early Access) comments
We have never sold the game for 20 dollars, it's always on sale as it is still in early development. That is what's great about the game as it stands, we want to make sure we can capture everything we want. If that means pulling something because it is not fitting, even after working on it for months, we will. We will refine and update it until it is perfect.
Everything you've talked about, how we have changed things remade things, or swapped out entire systems and flows. Yes. That is what we are doing. We will do it until we get the perfect ideal game we want to make.
If someone says it is not worth purchasing, I would tend to agree with them. We are making this game completely transparently. Customers should vote with their wallets, and until you believe it is worth the cost, you should never purchase.
Ok, I didn't keep track of the constant on-sale status of the game. That's a mistake on my part. But the transparency... I don't know about that, chief. I doubt new people dig through the past development logs to figure out what the current status of the game is. So, the most prevalent source of information is the game's main page. And that gives off the vibe of a more complete game with intricate systems and a lot more variety than there actually is at this point in time.
I know it's probably dumb of me - who has bought this game over a year ago and is looking forward to it's completion in the future - to make such a fuss about it, but trying to look at it from the perspective of someone who just stumbles across it, it feels... insincere (I know it's not meant to be).
And yes, it's just a lack of adequate adaption of the main page.
And yes, new people could try to dig deeper into the actual, current state of the game.
But not everyone does this, especially when they believe that the main page is giving them a summary of the current state of the game.
I feel that this is 100% valid criticism in the games current state.
Cutscenes that don't seem to be implemented in the game used into marketing material, promises of things you can experience, but not currently implemented in the game. Even if you are straightforward in backchannels, you shouldn't be representing it as the state of the game on the page where customers are actually purchasing it. If you are being transparent, add the details described to the games description ^ up there.
I also think that this game can be quality and successful, but I think in the current state it's in, you are presenting a bait and switch.
Maybe I'm the odd one, but I always check the past logs and comments before I pay for something in places like this, and I figured others did too? Is it really that rare?
I guess I just know that these things are works in progress, so while I may grab a free game on a whim without looking into it, I want to make sure the developers are active in there games so we don't end up with another Monster Girl Island type situation.
I haven't bought this game yet because it seems like it's still in it's early stages, but I've saved it to a folder of stuff I want to keep an eye on, because Kinky Fridays does seem to post updates fairly often, relative to what I've seen from a lot of others on here, and the quality of what they're making shows promise. I'm just waiting for it to get further along before I spend the money is all. It seems a bit harsh to fault the dev for people not looking into what they're spending their money on.
There are different ways to look at it. It's fair to say that people could invest the time and go through devlogs and comments to see the current state of a game. But a good number of people also look at the front page to see if it's a work in progress, a demo, a small but basically finished indie game, and so on and so forth. So, the front page should give at least a somewhat concise summary of the game's current state. The blame doesn't lie solely with the devs, but it's equally not right to blame people for not wanting to spend time digging through logs and comments when the front page is - at first glance at least - well-managed and informative. Something simple like "This is an early (or relatively early) alpha build for our game that's still WIP. Here, have a roadmap or a short summary of already implemented systems. Otherwise, look at our latest development logs" would already help increase transparency and give people a 'fair warning' and a gentle nudge to look more into it if they are unsure.
The things currently on the front page don't do that and give off the vibe of a much more complete game. By which, I don't mean to imply it is done purposefully to lure people in or anything along those lines. It was probably done to share this game's goals and ideas. The problem is it can be very easily misinterpreted as intent and drive people away. Which I would like to prevent because I think this game could be great. Putting just a little more information and transparency on the front page can reduce that risk and show that the developers care about clear communication with this game's (potential) buyers and the people who follow their progress. Yes, it's a little extra work to put in, but it gives off a better feeling and can help increase trust in this project and the devs.
You have full control over the price, right? I mean, you can change the price of the game whenever you want? Just make it a $7.99 game, and when you reach the state that it's fully done, or at least far enough on its way to deserve a $19.99 price tag, change it back to that price. This way, there is no in-between when a sale ends.