Aside from your example, there are plenty of sexual actions that work normally with some gender/race/number of participants combinations and wouldn't ever work IRL if you change some variables (with not just flexibility being the issue). Apply some suspension of disbelief or just ignore it.

So, the prologue was okay. Then the game completely freezes at the beginning of Day 1, after Alvy comes to visit, text stops appearing and all buttons become unresponsive. Reloading soesn't help. 

Is it currently impossible to use "Mark" spell (button inactive)? Or it is only available for use in specific locations?

Good to know, thanks for the explanation.

Also...  I only just realized that I never expressed attraction to any of the guys upon first meeting them.  That probably didn't help matters. Now in 2nd playthrough I've decided to become instantly attracted to Adam and Carlos and - wow, how the inner monologue changed! XD (Immersion is not as strong any more, though. Hard to say why, maybe the MC is just getting too bothered for it to feel realistic).

Great game, anyway. Thank you. It literally made my day today.

Wait a sec. I think I'm missing a point here.

Should I inform the prospective LI that I'm gay, at all? And how long can I wait before doing that? I'm still on my 1st run and apparently on the default single route, but I've been very tight-lipped about my business - could that be the reason? Adam I informed first, but not at once, then a bunch of people at Q&A (as in, that was obvious, why else would I go there), then Jake and Co during his own scene... then Carlos while being on the phone with parents, and that was already past mid-October by then.

They killed me on Week 11 *pout* I was almost done! Oh well. Maybe I'll finish another time.

We'll definitely need a guide once it's out. I have no idea what I've been doing with my and princes' stats (apparently keeping even is a BAD idea), what we could or should have been crafting or how tough the skill checks are.

Great game, obviously. (And nice cast. I like the Regent and Serin most of all. And Nazir is a charmer).

Played the demo yesterday. It was delicious. The many secret kinks of mine thank you. Too bad the project is on hold.

The art is beautiful, the music is entrancing, the atmosphere overall is mystical and magical, and I'm effectively hooked. Good start! I'll go check out Chapter 2 now. Didn't know is was out already)

UPD: Aww, the plot thickens! And I like the characters more and more (except August, of course).  I have a good feeling about some of them - a particularly good feeling. I also hope that pursuing someone won't lock you out of interacting with other characters too much. I'd rather like to have friends as well as RO's.

Note: There is something weird going on with Omen's art. His sprite is wastly different from the CG's (the sprite's chin seems too big in comparison), and the CG's portray him just as differently (actually, when I saw him in Ch2, I thought for a second that is was his twin sister in the doorway due to eye and brow shape XD). It's like he can't decide what he wants to look like.

I've never seen her quest. Is it in the public version or restricted to Patreon?

First of all, the art style is beautiful and all of the example MC's look cute. 

However. 

What I see in illustrations now are girls with slightly different facial features and coloring, some of them flat-chested. But still GIRLS. 

See, I'm not sure what exactly is the case, but I'm going to blame the hair. Long hair wasn't a problem for the Red Embrace MC, he still looked like a guy, but here I'd have to stretch my imagination muscles to the limit in order to be able to see any MC as male with options that are available now. If more facial variations are not going to happen, then a short hairstyle would really help. Please make this a goal if everything goes as planned with the Kickstarter?

I normally get rid of "uncivilized" by assigning Tamers (more than one if possible) and wilders to the same occupation, finishing the day and then reloading and reloading and... you get the idea. (There is also a lovely mechanic that wild slaves can be trained as tamers too and eventually "tame" themselves))))

That's why I never felt that degenerating slaves mentally is worth it.

I got "Fickle" on the starter slaves after pairing them with 3+ others (each time in a threesome with MC) on different occasions. Not entirely sure whether the participants need to directly copulate or if any physical contact is enough for the encounter to count, though.

Is there a walkthrough yet? I've just finished on one save and it appears to be a "neutral" outcome for the quest. Can a slave get more that just "grateful" trait? Does the outcome depend on background any, or is it just there for flavor text?

I had Maple, Ayneris and Zoe assigned as Headgirl at different times with maximum charm, and "patronage" is my setting in every save, yet it doesn't seem to affect anything.  I've always assumed patronage is used for lowering fear and stress faster... probably.  But I haven't noticed any difference in frequency of quarrels as occurence with or without a Headgirl, it seems to be entirely random for "neutral" (as to who will be arguing with whom) and a bit more often for pairs with "aloof" relationship and worse. I check by reloading - slaves who don't have an opinion ebout each other vary, but those who already dislike one another usually keep quarelling between loads.

But that situation with my favourites hating each other is most frustrating and I'd rather not have them getting "Fickle" trait, so sex as a mediator is not an option(

So, we have clans: Toreador mixed with Ventrue, Malkavian with a bit of Tremere, and... Bruja? With a dash of Gangrel, maybe? 

Actually, it's great, I'd love to see how many things are similar and how many different between the 2 settings. 

Is sex and joint work assignments the only way to maintain decent relationship between servants?  And is there a way to raise them from "bitter" to "friendly" other than via sex? (Sending people to work together doesn't help much, they just keep arguing).

Also, is this a bug or a feature? The 3 people resting in the master's bed are constantly bickering (even if before getting there they were on good terms) and as a result their stress skyrockets as long as they sleep in the same bed. 

EDIT: Nevermind, I've found it. Thanks for the tip.

Not gameplay-related, but how do I revert Emily's portrait? I've "var oldemily = true" in variables.gd, but only full body image is affected.  Her portrait is still the same new one.

I also start by buying a cheap slave or two and send them on hunts (while also building their courage to improve results). Depending on grade where may be jobs available for them, too (I also try to up the starter slave's grade asap to Commoner, so they can perform paying jobs as well). If you are lucky, you can buy a suitable slave for Mages' Guild 1st quest relatively cheap very soon. 

Pick up Emily around that time and be nice.

Once there is enough money, buy combat gear and form a hunting party of 2-3 slaves plus you, attack bandits harassing people outside Wimborn for rep, gold and XP. 

There is no denying that this game stands head and shoulders above others of the similar genre that I'm familiar with. I do hope my message didn't come off as a critique. Pessimistic is my default setting, so I guess that colors my turns of phrase)

Enslave Hade or Gathor... now that's a thought. Shame it's never going to happen.

The game as it is now leaves an impression that the developer is not interested in the slightest in making any named male NPC's recruitable (especially if they can't be gender-flipped like Ivran). Pretty standard for these kind of games, given the target audience. So female NPC's are prioritized at all times, at least story-wise (that's why I never made any suggestions of my own - there seems to be no point to it). Of course, there could me many other ways of resolving the final stage of the main quest, logically, but logic takes second place to giving the player an opportunity to get yet another"special" female. 

There is not enough to upload that would be useful to many ( I mean, since I don't do girls and definitely don't do futa, it would take a substantial amount of pictures I do not possess to make one gender-restricted pack).

Well, as long as they are human from waist up, I personally don't care what kind of fish tail there is. (I have about 6 mermen in my folder, and pretty sure none of them qualify as proper Nereids).

0.5.16a Win 7x64

Cali and her stupid confession scene again. Still impossible to stay friends (the dialogue initiates again and again and again...). accepting feelings leads to her disappearing from the game entirely. (After reload she appears the next day as if she never returned from her parents before. Looks like scenes are chronologically wrong).

Thank you so very much for the males, they are all good! *bags and drags them home* (After seeing the girls, however, I have to retract my "not caring about tastefulness" statement XD)

How about watery ones next? Scylla or nereid? (Or anything you feel like doing, really).

Male images, pretty please. They are difficult enough to find on my own, and those few I have lack racial variety.

Tasteful or not, don't care, just need more males. Transparency is optional. Preferably monster races and rarities.

C (not sure is it is always disc  C, but it is for me):\Users\[your PC Name]\AppData\Roaming\Strive\portraits - this is where you put the images. Better name them accordingly (WolfGirl 01, OrcBoy 00, HumanGirl 03, ElfGirl 05, etc.) and/or put them in separate folders for different races. Then in-game you can "customise" and either search images by folder or try "race locked" option (if image names contain race name as well). Or search by word (like "girl" for all female portraits you have, or "orc" for all orc images).

There are probably better methods, but that's all I know.

Version 0.5.15d

Infinite loop with Cali's love confession right after her personal quest.  She is supposed to be still with her family, but the dialogue plays as if she already returned. Either accepting or refusing leads to the same result - after closing, the dialogue window pops up again. No way out.

And it triggers at the start of a new day, so the whole save is now broken. What could be done?

Version : 0.5.15d

A character with "Alcohol Intolerance" trait passed out from "Chat" interaction. 

EDIT: Any interaction, really. He passes out no matter what I do.

EDIT EDIT: Also a character with "Frail" trait. Impossible to talk to, insta-blackout.

And I second Emily portrait switch request from above. The new style doesn't match the rest of the cast. (Please don't tell me the others are going to be changed too? I already miss the old Hade's sprite as well).

I think some clarification is required. Either there is no accounting for taste, or my assumption that 5* is the highest rating was wrong. Or you have to do something very, very, very unexpected and specific to get anything other than okay ending where the master tells that everyone hates your ratings (or a bad ending where random fans poison you via mail).

Since we are talking upgrades, is there going to be implemented any way to modify chest/butt shape for males in future? Specifically from "flat" (which qualifies as feminine in the game) to "masculine"? 

This is hilarious :) No save feature is frustrating, but otherwise... I mean, it's not even... I can believe I'm still playing! And I've started hours ago!

I love the artstyle. The protagonist and Nikolai are particularly good-looking. Blinking animation is adorable. Main menu BG music is trilling.

How many options for romance is there going to be, approximately? Are they all going to have different pacing (I mean, I've already did Nikolai, but the kelpie took a rain check, so it seems that the bird has most content at the moment)?  Will the game be long (I like them long)? 

The customiser is okay as it is, for me (mostly because I already love the MC's face, please keep it), and I'm content with the colouring options.

During a drinking game, I thought it would have been good to have some opportunities to actually answer the questions, at least for RP's sake. I'm not a big fan of autodialogue. Maybe consider it, at least for future interactions of this kind?

Don't slaves lose loyalty (or gain stress) when you rape your captives? I remember (vaguely) it happening in older version of the game. (That's beside the point that my MC's don't usually rape anyone).

Hello, thanks for the quick response, nice to see you're keeping track of users' feedback! And I have some intriguing news:

Yesterday night I've attempted to raise Obedience via traditional slaver's means:  unlocked intimacy with Maple, tied her with a rope and used a bunch of S&M actions. Stress and Obedience skyrocketed and she acquired "Likes it rough" trait (really didn't want to do that with a lady, but needs must). After that, as an experiment, I've removed all luxuries, set her up in a communal room and clicked through 6-7 days straight to see the dynamics. And guess what? No. Obedience. Change. It stayed exactly where it ended up after the sex session.

Point is, before doing that, I've only focused on raising loyalty without taking advantage, and you know where it got me... I'll get back home and check if I still have any saves where she is without intimacy unlock. Failing that, I'll start a new game and see if the situation repeats itself. 

But omg. Imagine if that was the coded punishment for refusing to screw her... *mind blown* XD 

Ok, I don't think I get it. Please bear with me.

In the previous version that I played (long ago) Maple's obedience was constantly lowering, day by day, despite the maxed loyalty and all the luxury I've provided (mansion was fully upgraded, she had everything I could possibly give, from clothing to extra privileges ). It eventually came to a point where I had to get rid of her and was glad for it. I even swore never to buy her again, it was so not worth the effort.

Now (naive me, I thought it would be easier this time) I seem to be having the exact same problem.  Isn't "grateful" trait supposed to remove luxury requirements? Is she bugged? Is she coded to be insufferably picky, or is her obedience actually tied to something else? 

I wonder - Aneirys used to be a major pain in the rear too, but at least for now, in my current game, she is doing much better, and I don't even have to bend over backwards to maintain her obedience levels.  So why is Maple being worse than a spoied bratty noble?

Weird, that. The only instance in which I can understand "no sex -> no lust" formula is when a person is a virgin (like Cali and Zoe in my game). You can't miss what you've never had. 

(Good idea about a celibate team, why haven't I thought of that? Though while I level up Cali and tame a captured lvl 11 arachna to replace my guys in combat, I'm stuck))

Sorry to clutter the forum, but where else can I ask a question?

I have these 2 guys I usually take out with me on adventures (good, sturdy, hard-hitting, the absolute best 2 fighters that I have), and I'm tired of seeing "(very)horny" debuffs next to their icons. I've equipped both with Miko outfits, I make sure to spend time with both every day via sex interactions, I've tried putting them in personal rooms so they can jerk off or something instead of going down on me every night... Sometimes it seems that I have this all figured out, but go one (!!!) day without involving them in activities (I DO have to pay attention to other slaves, after all) - and it's "unable to calm their lust" again.  And there also was one (long since sold) male slave who even suffered some kind of meltdown due to unquenched lust (according to a bright red notification), even though I remember him getting off that same day during a training session.

Some of the girls do suffer from this occasionally, but it's these two males that most concern me. I don't punish them. I don't tease them during "normal" interactions. I don't give them any lust-raising potions. All the gear they use are regular items with no special effects (except for those outfits that are supposed to be reducing lust and stress). One of them is a Pervert, but since the other one is Prude and seems to be having the same problem, I don't think traits are responsible.

I'm at a loss, tbh. (The old energy-based system used to make managing slave's desires easier... Although "a single kiss = instant hard-on" protocol was a bit unrealistic, so no complaints about the change on my end). Are there artefacts or spells/potions to help that I don't know of yet?