Excellent. I think what I was aiming for in general was to make it both harder and easier, more properly balanced overall. Better challenge on the enemies, but avoiding situations like the stair guard. But thanks so much for the kind words! It's been a long time in production, so it's great to see people finally getting, and enjoying it.
Edit: Actually, stumbled on some info recently, and it seems this may be easily tweakable. Keep an eye on future releases.
Limitation of the engine, unfortunately. Keep in mind that the save files are just that, however. If you really want to, there's nothing stopping you from creating a block of them, copying most into a sub-folder in the save folder, and then continuing on to create a new block. Bit of a hassle to swap the blocks out, but better than nothing. In the absence of that, I'd recommend saving only when you're about to do something potentially risky, and having a revolving "progress save" as you work your way through a given combat map. Although there are a few surprises, in general I try to signpost major events somewhat.
Make sure you're fully healed and...energy-d? before the fight. Do you mean you're going into that fight without Blast? Probably out of luck then. The "right" way to fix it would be to start from an earlier save and manage your items better. But if you're feeling impatient and have the Charm, use that to disable the hypno for the fight, which should help considerably. That said, I'm not sure that fight is winnable without Blast. My gut says probably, but you'll have to make several attempts with the charm on.
I can't say in terms of it adjusting or not. In theory RNG should be the same regardless, a fresh chance every time you try a battle again. But there are a number of timers in the game: one that ensures daze happens at least once every five battles, for example. So if you happen to be lined up with one of those, yeah, it'll be a bit tougher.
Really though, this one's on you. No game should ever be played on a single save.
Ah gotcha, yeah i wasnt managing to win if daze triggered so id reload till i got through the fight without it happening. Also yeah i know i should have made more saves, just really didnt think about it at the time. Thank you for info tho.
This is by design. It's supposed to be a challenge, to make the host club a tempting alternative. Of course the club isn't in yet, so it's just extra punishing for now, but that'll be the structure of it eventually. You really should have at LEAST one Dazzle Blast at that point unless you've been wasting them though. The game gives you a ton. Some people were even carrying them over to the boss until I prevented that.
I kind of figured that the alley is supposed to be the hard mode for when you have abundant combat resources to spend while the other route might have it's own deterrents.
I got stuck in here as well, I didn't realize it was asking for something to be typed in instead of giving a list of options, I just pressed esc so didn't know it was prompt box, thanks for the clarification.
You can save your existing save files to a sub-directory and swap them out as needed if you want. Apparently there's a fairly simple engine tweak that can increase the number of slots, so I'll be looking into that for the next version release.
1. I may not know enough about RPG Maker mechanics to answer this accurately, but from what I understand it's always in the same order: enemies do their moves, if able, in sequence, then you go, then they go again (Unless the game maker tweaks it, which I haven't). So I don't think the daze really "takes priority" over your turn: when it's their turn, and they can use it, they may use it, same as any other attack.
2. In my mind it made sense to have a null move to keep track of when each round of turns ended. Now that you mention it yes, it might be more elegant to just skip player turn, so I may look into that. There's a good chance I'd have to redo a number of other things that are relying on the timing to be as it is now though, so we'll see.
3. This is both by necessity and design. Designing super complex and satisfying rpg fight mechanics isn't really my forte, and I actually think it detracts from this kind of game. Grove for example has a lot of things going for it, but its battle systems are so complex they require multiple tutorials, and that ended up being a wall for me when I tried to play it.
I don't want to make things TOO simple, and I haven't. CS combat isn't just "Hit the enemies with your one attack until they die", there are some considerations for timing, whether you should recharge Hard Knocks, heal, or just go for a regular attack, whether you should risk more aggressive play to end the battle sooner or play it safe to avoid the risk of hypno, when's best to use the Dazzle Blast attack, and so on. And I do regret not being able to do a LITTLE more in terms of enemy variety.
But even if I could make the battle mechanics exactly as I wanted, with a bunch of new enemies and art assets, I still wouldn't make the mechanics all that much more complex. This just isn't that kind of game. The battles in CS are meant to provide some degree of challenge and risk and aid in the story that's being told. They're not meant to be the centerpiece. Or at least, not in terms of complexity and depth.
So the answer is that they're as good as I can manage, with my small brain. And they're as good as they need to be to make the game work overall. That's not to say I don't want to improve them: I'll continue tweaking here and there. I think GT's combat is a certainly improved from CS1. Just don't expect anything TOO elaborate.
Also unless I'm forgetting something, you shouldn't be getting one-turn-subbed, or at least one-turn-hypno'd, unless you're referring to the trainers. Daze does usually get your sub to 100, but "open" can't be applied until you're out of it, so you don't go from 0 to locked into hypno without a chance to fight back.
The force daze after 4 fights of not being dazed happens at the start of turn 2 instead of during the enemy action, which interrupts the player action effectively adding an extra turn of stun. It's extra punishing but when it happens you just went 4 fights without being dazed so it's not too bad. This appears to be the only place where enemies act first. In other circumstances you choose your action, then you act, then the enemies act.
Tested this out, fighting and letting myself gradually accumulate the hypno statuses.
Out of the battles accumulating the statuses, I got dazed once, and it was never an issue (IE, could have easily won the fight without hypno if I had wanted to).
Once I got to "Slipping", I saved and replayed the next battle several times:
-First time, no daze, no hypno. Defeated enemies without issue.
-Second time, defeated the enemies rapidly (3 turns), no daze, no hypno.
-Third time, no daze, no hypno. Defeated enemies without issue.
Given, this was an unusually good string of RNG. But the point is it's just that: RNG. There's no hard-coded system that ensures there's always a daze on the second turn (again, unless you happen to be on the fifth battle without daze, in which case, bad luck). And in general, the balance of the RNG isn't too brutal. Sometimes you'll get good strings, sometimes bad, but if you're managing time and items properly, you shouldn't be reloading THAT much, especially on the first half of Ent. Dist. I.
Thanks for the feedback, and glad you're enjoying it so far.
1. No really worth the hassle in terms of complexity and the potential to throw off balance. In general it's much easier to "clean slate" each game. That's why what I did choose to carry over is story-related, rather than gameplay.
2. Again, once you start modifying stats with accessories that's a whole 'nother level of complexity to try to balance and play test. It also means an impractical level of sprite work, since I don't "layer" my sprites like some games. This means I have to do a new sheet for every combination if I'm going to represent it visually, which is obviously untenable. A few costume changes are doable, especially if only one shows up in fights, but not so much for the rest.
3. Already in, check out the DataCrystal stuff if you haven't. And I plan to build on this in future chapters.
That's Haven, but don't worry, I had a few mangled words in the game myself before some of the bug testers pointed them out. If you don't know what to do next in Haven, pay closer attention to what Mezz says at various points, that'll point you in the general direction of what you're doing next. Other than that, just explore: make sure you've gone everywhere and talked to everyone. Worst case, talking to every NPC in Haven only takes a few minutes.
Glad you're enjoying the games so far!
The ending with the scene is a dead-end, yes. There will be another once I finish up the slut mode content. As for the fight itself, which hypno-immunity item? The good luck charm won't help with him, you need another. If you ARE using the one specifically for him, defeating him shouldn't be that difficult. Keep in mind that it's a multi-use item, and you have to re-up as the fight goes on.
Oh thank you, I didn't notice it was multi-use, thought it was a one time consumable.
Keep up the good work ^^
Wow, this post puts some of mine to shame for thoroughness. Love it! Let me dig in here.
Glad you're enjoying the non-sex battle mechanics so far. IMHO they're still fairly simple, and that's largely an artifact of me not being an RPG nerd. And also, as I've said elsewhere, I feel difficulty and complexity in a game like this has a sweet spot: it needs to be a LITTLE challenging, so it doesn't become boring, and so you can bring elements of the narrative and characters into it (hyenas do small damage, but they do it fast, they go down quicker but there are more of them, etc). But not overly complex, because that distracts from just enjoying the game. I'm glad what I've got so far is jiving with you.
A few thoughts on the puzzle idea. I'm actually a big fan of "real hypnosis" too, and what's in the games definitely isn't that. But that's a deliberate decision: real trance guidance takes two to five minutes at least, and I don't even want to think about the nightmare that would be trying to squeeze that into RPGMaker's nightmarish text formatting.
Of course that's the extreme end. It's obviously a spectrum, and I do try to push what's in the games beyond just "and then mind control." The fun of this kink is the process, and I do spend a fair amount of time in the proper scenes dwelling on the experience rather than just the bare bones of what's happening.
Here's the thing with battle mechanics though: they've got to keep moving. My original plan for the new GT stuff was even more elaborate. The general idea is that GT is about learning SERVICE rather than SUBMISSION like CS1 was about, and to that end there was this whole elaborate element of turning the battles into whoring sessions. But it DRAAAAGED way too much in practice, and the initial draft was also too...voluntary, which sucked some of the fun out of it. There has to be that loss of control, that floor-dropping-out moment. I was actually concerned that even what ended up in the game might be a bit much for some people, but I think the game moves fast enough that the amount of time you spend with the mechanic isn't TOO bad, isn't enough to make it start to feel annoying or samey.
So that's one of the big reasons I avoided doing anything overly complex. I don't want it to drag, and I don't want the sex mechanics to be overly complicated, any more that I want the normal fight mechanics to be overly complicated. I want the whole thing to flow, for it all to be fairly intuitive for anyone with a reasonable amount of functioning neurons, without needing a tutorial. IMHO if your mechanics need a tutorial, you've failed (at least for the kind of game I'm trying to make). No one wants to read a manual for a sex game. I realize what you're suggesting isn't SUPER complex, but it is still another layer.
Another reason is that any of these mechanics implemented have to fit with the flow of the story and character. Minigames as I'm envisioning them would be a little too abstract, though there might be possibilities if done in a really clever way.
And third, I'm not a super fancy programmer. Most of the stuff in the game is just clicking plugins together like lego bricks (though I DID make something I'm pretty proud of that will hopefully be in the first content pack). So doing anything in battle mechanics beyond the basics gets to be tricky fast.
That said, it is in the back of my mind. I saw an explicit fan-made Undertale fight recently that was...wild. And while I doubt I'll be doing anything that elaborate, it does give some good inspiration. We'll see what develops in the future. To be clear though, fight system for GT is probably in its final form (at least the main one).
I AM an RPG nerd so if you ever want advice feel free. I come for the lewd for these types of games, but I stay for the gameplay. The gameplay is definitely a bit more polished than the previous installment, and it's impressive that you were able to create such a fairly balanced game with little RPG knowledge under your belt.
And I agree entirely on the fact it needs to strike a tight wire balance. :) Anything outside of that is what difficulty sliders are for, but against common believe, making enemies damage sponges and hard hitters doesn't make an RPG more difficult, it's just the illusion of difficulty. An RPG at its core is about tactics, strategy, and having options that you need to use for the most optimal solution to situations you're involved in, compared to action games that require you to know the fundamentals of your dodging and hitting and various skills. Someone familiar with both game designs can easily make genres crossing these, similar to something like Parasite Eve 2.
You have a pretty good idea of what makes an RPG tick already, having enemies with different methods of operation, but that's true of many games. Where it gets really difficult for RPGs is the balancing act as you add more elements, elaborate on pre-existing elements, etc. Keeping it simple, but allowing for depth is where the cool factor comes in. Such as an ability that makes an attack guaranteed hit next time - this may not seem like much, but given there's sometimes an opportunity to miss there are circumstances where planning ahead can come in clutch, it's all just a matter of knowing exactly what situations it'd be used in. After all, it's easy to have moments where you're about to die and RNG just isn't on your side and you lose in traditional RPGs - in harder challenges with Pokemon for instance especially you need to play around crits and misses and have back up plans and prepared for each situation, very rarely letting RNG have its way with you like an unscrupulous dom. :^)
I agree. Though to be fair I also have the ability to fall into trance just from sheer energy space alone, even if I don't go fully deep. But I'm also prone to wanting to relax, even if I try to resist. There are a lot of elements to hypnosis, and it impacts everyone differently. Which, while this is clearly fictional hypnosis in the regard that you can't really just throw someone under who's not wanting to (not without putting them through a whole load of stuff in forcibly relaxing them - drugs, binaural beats, occasionally visuals, certain comforting touches (given there's a type of hypnosis that relies on pressure points) - and even then it sometimes has to be consistent to really ingrain. So don't even worry about trying to squeeze it into text, there are other ways.
Personally, I feel like you do a good job as is with the extrapolation on the process. The gradual brainwashing and trigger-inputting process you get in the darkened room cutscene is pretty peak, and I feel like the nature of the art and various stimulus that cases the art to change is good enough to make the triggers feel real, palpable, etc.
I love doing hypno in roleplay and irl, I may be a bit of a Hypnospace Cadet. :^)
If it helps, while I tried to avoid it as long as possible (the game's pretty easy currently as far as mechanics go for someone like me, so long as I don't act like an idiot) once I finally couldn't stand it anymore and really just wanted Mezz to go under and forced the issue I really enjoyed the choices you had. Even if it doesn't really make a difference mechanically I do genuinely believe you should keep those. We play NSFW games for NSFW, and ultimately this is a consensual experience. We are roleplaying a noncon experience because horny brain is horny brain. So never worry about it too much. I know you gotta strike the balance, but that's also what tags are for, so people know what they're getting into. I felt it was just voluntary/involuntary enough as it was to be hot. And it didn't need to be fully fleshed out. I feel like the sheer breadth of the fact Mezz is clearly a heroboy who is being put under against his will, at least initially, especially due to the dialogues he has with other characters, makes it pretty clear what this game's main fetish is - resistance play + being a cute herosub. Or as some might put it, a Gyro. :^)
Besides, you got time to potentially do so, no need to rush it all. This is only the second chapter, you got time to futz with the mechanics and extrapolate on the basics over time. Especially since programming will get easier the more you practice, to the point you can start implementing those more complicated things. And the more code you have, the more you can start copy/pasting and reusing coding assets but changing bits and pieces.
It was definitely not too much for me. :P
If it helps, I wasn't referring to the sex mechanics themselves, just the entranced part. Because there's the bit where first they flash signs at you or click a clicker, and it's not only RNG whether or not they proc it, but after your Submission is up it's complete RNG whether or not you are able to get up out of trance after dropping. And that's where my suggestion comes in, so you can make the chances of them trying such a thing a bit less rare (I had it happen maybe twice in three times as many battles, and the second I just reeeeeally wanted to... you know), and also makes it so you don't have to rely on RNG alone to get out of trance while in it. But with the difficulty increasing with just small visual affects, you can ultimately make it less likely for someone to get out of it if they keep putting themselves in situations where they get to 100% Submission. Or, you know, don't wear the charm. :^) And if you do this you can also include items like the charm that make it easier to do those puzzles, even outside of the options allowing you to turn that off to return back to the basic coding the way it was originally.
You are right though, no one wants to read a manual for a sex game. It's why all of my dice games, especially my Brain Tamers one, is rather simple all things considered. All dice games and NSFW games should be simple enough to read half a page or two pages (or pick up on what is going on fairly fast, like how elements in a Mega Man game start isolated and separate, but eventually combine in later parts), but complex enough to have depth, with occasionally some extra stuff to use for people who want more of a thing to their thing. :^)
I remember when this game first came out - the first chapter. It was how I found you as an artist originally, through some fanart of Cruel Serenade. I looked into it and you a bit after that, how you'd never programmed before and this was your first real foray into it. All things start somewhere, the fact you have enough passion to have fun with it and feel proud of your accomplishments and milestones (which you absolutely should, no fucking doubt about that, coding and programming is really hard mate), is what really matters at the end of the day. And I'm happy to follow this game no matter where you take it or how you take it.
Always let your inspiration run wild. Even if it ends up not going the direction you wanted it to go, you may still be able to use pieces of what you came up with for something else. :)
Excellent then, glad the mechanics were clicking for you overall.
"but after your Submission is up it's complete RNG whether or not you are able to get up out of trance after dropping...that's where my suggestion comes in"
I should clarify, CS1 and GT have very different mechanics here. CS1 allows for a lot of struggle up front, as it's supposed to be more slow and plodding. I wanted the fights in GT to be fast and snappy, so there's deliberately no way to escape once you go under: you're going along for the ride at that point. Some degree of struggle will probably pop up again at some point though, so we'll see.
What do you mean by dice games? Software, or something more IRL like a D&D session?
And aw, thanks, appreciate it. I have my weird little space where I make my weird little games. They're still pretty humble, and I work to gradually improve as I can, but I'm glad people are enjoying what I've got so far.
Huh really? I thought I was able to break out of trance by chance after like two times trying with the elipses function. Was that weird or am I misremembering?
Actual TTRPG dice systems, but meant more for text than face to face, as writing is more effective for lewds than just saying what you're doing unless you're excellent at phone sex. :^)
Np at all. And humility should always be kept. It's about the passion, not the glory. About the fun and the arousal and the enjoyment of the process, not the ego. At least imo. I am enjoying it alo. :) <3
Np. Hmm... odd. Did you by chance change the old Struggle to ...?
It's neat. Dice are suggestions, not rules in circumstances like those, since it's an organic, constantly growing thing with people rather than something that needs concrete rules.
Np.
Okay! So. Figured out it was the dazed status effect, not the trance itself, I was confusing the two. :P
But also I found something really funny!
Also it was interesting. The scene here and everything after it that I'm showing was both... familiar and also uncomfortable. But also arousing. It was like a very tender scar that hadn't fully healed yet but felt incredibly sensitive to the touch and nice. But it also actively made me more desperate to not play anymore games and actually beat them all up. The recording of Mezz's trance and getting to watch it back is also hot 20 ways from Sunday and something I've wanted to play before. It's just, you know, quite darker here. :^)
The game's incredible in every way, and I too as a fellow heroboy cannot determine whether or not I wanna give in or keep fighting. Because both extremes are tantalizing. There's a lot of realness in it. And that's what makes it arousing. Yet at the same time it's not too real to be unpalatable, just real enough to be uncomfortable and still arousing, and arousing because of that discomfort, while also still being uncomfortable, if that makes sense.
Ahh, that makes sense then.
Ha! For what it's worth, I did wall off a bunch of stuff for that brief moment you have the hyena in your "party," but it's hard to think of everything. Easy enough to fix though.
And thanks! Connection with Mezz was definitely a priority while making the game: that's why there aren't any dumb jokes at awkward moments (plenty of dumb jokes at appropriate moments though :D) or other stuff that takes the player out of it. He's definitely intended as something players can self-insert into, potentially without even realizing it at first, rather than just a character to control.
