HTML Accidental Mind [v3.5] [Myscra]

[smkey21]

This is really good. Excellent writing, and the dreamsculpting in particular is awesome — great Psychonaughts vibe; not to mention how generally interesting it is seeing a conceptual breakdown of a character's psyche.

I agree wth QuietlyReading above, there are some confusing elements - e.g. I didn't realise you could travel by ExcelDrive, becuase when I initially explored the game's available options, it didn't let me do anything.

There are also some early pacing issues that I think will get fleshed out over time & with more content. It could be worth taking the character out of the initial sanbox-styled daily activities until he's mostly trained, though, as much of the content is written with the assumption you've finished your training with Sam.

...I actually enjoyed this enough that I wrote a few, er, pages of feedback on some bugs & issues I noticed with how you're handling things in Twine. Happy to shoot those in a message if you don't mind discussing them. Might help with some of the complexity you're dealing with under the hood.

When the game was first released it was pretty much just Blaire content, and movement inside of areas took part of a time block. Because of this I guess in the current version the amount you can accomplish before you are fully trained has increased noticeably. I wouldn't really mind too much if the game were slightly more on rails until you were fully trained(I spend quite a bit of that time observing to train skills so I can cheat at poker anyway), but considering how often people get lost because they just skim over the text I doubt it would make much of a difference. I do agree that the things you can do on the sidebar do seem to slip by the notice of people pretty often, so a small introduction to it might be worth adding during the tutorial week. Perhaps needing to hurry somewhere to give somebody a lift home or some such would at least give an excuse to demonstrate the cab and the message system.

 

[kvier]

Right now, it's telling me that Prism should be visiting me every 4 days in the morning , and the calendar says 0 days, but it keeps on not firing. I assume I need to advance Kiara's plot line first? But it'd be nice if it told me that.

 

[Myscra]

However, it really needs to be more user-friendly. Half the time I just don't know what I'm doing. At the beginning of the game I found the city confusing as heck. A map would be nice! Or even just an indication of where certain places (like the Mall or University) are in the city! It took me forever to realize that working with the old neighbour was what was giving me woodworking (it was driving me nuts to realize I had 2 of 4 parts, so I must have gotten them somehow...). It would be nice to indicate where you learned a skill while you're still learning it (e.g. the Squid attack, which I still have no idea why I'm learning, in the Parkside area). I've finally done everything I can think of in Blaire's dream, finding two places that tell me she's not ready yet and I need to take her on dates. Which is frustrating, because I still haven't figured out how to ask Blaire on a date - I've gone and followed her around to every place like a stalker, to the point that none of them give me any more friendliness, and I have her phone number but can't send her messages. And Sam just keeps telling me to get her number. Thanks, Sam. (EDIT: And ten minutes after writing that, I found the book in the library...oh well).

Basically, too often I'm finding myself completely stuck and doing random things, and to me that takes away from the fun of playing.

Thanks for the feedback. Sometimes its hard to look at it like this since I have the entire thing in my head and it makes sense there. I'll throw in a GPS type thing for the phone with a rudimentary map for the next update.

I have indicators that you are learning stuff during the event itself (on the bottom) and in the vault part (on the side bar). Blaire will call you for the date and then there will be a time and place for it. The Calendar app on the phone will remind you where you where and when. Getting her number is done through hanging out with her at the gym or sunbathing. I'll think about how to make this more obvious (Are the lounge hints not clear enough?) but if you have any ideas on what might work I'd love to hear them.

This is really good. Excellent writing, and the dreamsculpting in particular is awesome — great Psychonaughts vibe; not to mention how generally interesting it is seeing a conceptual breakdown of a character's psyche.

I agree wth QuietlyReading above, there are some confusing elements - e.g. I didn't realise you could travel by ExcelDrive, becuase when I initially explored the game's available options, it didn't let me do anything.

There are also some early pacing issues that I think will get fleshed out over time & with more content. It could be worth taking the character out of the initial sanbox-styled daily activities until he's mostly trained, though, as much of the content is written with the assumption you've finished your training with Sam.

...I actually enjoyed this enough that I wrote a few, er, pages of feedback on some bugs & issues I noticed with how you're handling things in Twine. Happy to shoot those in a message if you don't mind discussing them. Might help with some of the complexity you're dealing with under the hood.

First, Psychonauts is awesome and I'm thrilled by that comparison

Next, The pacing issues have been a problem since the beginning, I'm hoping to flesh things out but its a slow go unfortunately. Cutting out the first week of lessons is actually not a bad idea, I can just cutscene it for each day and jump right to the lesson each day.

Please, help with twine is appreciated. I'm not a good coder and just basically smashing a bunch of stuff togehter and hoping it works.

 

[Myscra]

When the game was first released it was pretty much just Blaire content, and movement inside of areas took part of a time block. Because of this I guess in the current version the amount you can accomplish before you are fully trained has increased noticeably. I wouldn't really mind too much if the game were slightly more on rails until you were fully trained(I spend quite a bit of that time observing to train skills so I can cheat at poker anyway), but considering how often people get lost because they just skim over the text I doubt it would make much of a difference. I do agree that the things you can do on the sidebar do seem to slip by the notice of people pretty often, so a small introduction to it might be worth adding during the tutorial week. Perhaps needing to hurry somewhere to give somebody a lift home or some such would at least give an excuse to demonstrate the cab and the message system.

...That's a fantastic idea. I was already thinking about doing a cutscene week for the training sessions but using it as a tutorial will hopefully fill in the blanks about what can be done.

Right now, it's telling me that Prism should be visiting me every 4 days in the morning , and the calendar says 0 days, but it keeps on not firing. I assume I need to advance Kiara's plot line first? But it'd be nice if it told me that.

Damn, can't believe I missed that. I'm assuming you had Prism's second visit but Kiara is not leveled yet? Yeah, Ill add something in for that. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[QuietlyReading]

Thanks for the feedback. Sometimes its hard to look at it like this since I have the entire thing in my head and it makes sense there. I'll throw in a GPS type thing for the phone with a rudimentary map for the next update.

Thanks! That sounds great.

I have indicators that you are learning stuff during the event itself (on the bottom) and in the vault part (on the side bar).

Yes, I've seen that - but you can learn skills long before needing them. So, for example, I started learning chemistry very early on, without knowing why - I had just learned cooking (which I still haven't used...wasted opportunity?) and law, so I thought it was cool that I could just master a bunch of skills! But then when I hung out in other classrooms, nothing happened. This confused me a great deal until *hours* later when I realized I could use chemistry in the dream world. Anyway, the point I'm making here is that by the time I realized I needed woodworking, I'd totally forgotten where and when I'd learned 2 parts of it.

Blaire will call you for the date and then there will be a time and place for it. The Calendar app on the phone will remind you where you where and when. Getting her number is done through hanging out with her at the gym or sunbathing. I'll think about how to make this more obvious (Are the lounge hints not clear enough?) but if you have any ideas on what might work I'd love to hear them.

I didn't have a problem getting her number. The problem is that after getting her number, nothing happens. In two games now (I forgot my browser automatically deletes history when I close it, doh) I've gotten to the point of knowing Blair's number and maxing out her affection as far as I can tell (as in, spending time with her in multiple places tells me "Blair doesn't seem any friendlier") without her texting me for a date. In the first game, I then finally found the book in the library and this managed to push things forward - she texted me the next day. In my current game, it's been a week or two in-game since the book event and nothing I do seems to add friendliness to her, but still no text, so I know I'm doing something wrong...but what? All Sam says is "you should try to get her number." (EDIT: Once again, it seemed to fix itself soon after I wrote that, so who knows?)

On that note...I found it hilarious but not really fitting that, often when I first have a sexual scene with Blair, the game tells me "Blair doesn't seem any friendlier or sexier." Like...dude, she just gave me a blowjob in the taxi. She seems a *lot* sexier. Maybe these events could be required to raise sexiness?

General suggestion: my connection to Blair and Kiara let me know where they are at all times...but I have to check the Index to do so. How about indicating next to location choices where someone is? I.e. you could see Andersen's House [Blair] or Parkside [B+K].

Specific hints: the squid room should have an action (like the forge room) so the player knows that they should be trying something to get to the treasure chest. Or the treasure chest should be a link, or *something* to make it clear that you need to do something about it. I got very frustrated because I had mastered anti-squid combat (4/4) but there was no new text in the Squid Room. In this case, the hint helped me figure out I had to go talk to the crazy guy again, and that worked, but it was less clear than I'd like. Elsewhere in the same dream, the dev hint for the forge room is...stealth 20+. I'm sitting at stealth 39.5 and no luck. Maybe the hint could be a little more specific?

Minor issue: when you get the psychic power to work smarter and harder, you earn more than twice as much money. Great! But working at the library doesn't match this - it says you earn $50, but when you do the math you've earned $112.50. Maybe the $50 text should match the new value? Also, maybe some explanation for this - like you are super fast at sorting books, or you program a routine to make your life easier, or you get a promotion?

Bug report: Once I partnered with Kiara, I had the chance to send her messages (at last a use for that button!...maybe have it only show up then?). One of them ended up being a discussion about what we knew about Prism...which included telling her that I'd seen her go into a sex shop, which confused me since I...hadn't. Anyway, a day or two later I saw Prism and had the option to follow her and ended up...going into a sex shop. So yeah.

Bug report: While teasing Kiara at the mall, I got this dialogue:
You: Error: cannot find a closing tag for HTML <i> Your hand feels amazing<./i>

Bug report: While inviting Prism over, I got this message:
Error: macro <<br>> does not exist
Virtual Consultant: It is best to keep things light. Speaking about University, your or Kiara's family life, popular entertainment, and animal companionship should be safe.
Error: macro <<br>> does not exist

Minor suggestion: Instead of "Blair does not seem any more friendly" or " Blaire does not seem any more flirty or sexual to you", have the messages vary depending on each girl's attraction to you. Right now it feels a bit off-putting to have her be incredibly friendly, only to have it say "doesn't seem any friendlier", which is kind of negative. Maybe at higher levels it should say things like "Blair is just as friendly as usual, but doesn't seem to be getting any closer" and then "Blair is as perky and devoted as always" or something to that effect.

Major suggestion: Some of the powers you can unlock really seem to only have one or two applications. For example, I chose the "Virtual Consultant" as one of my first choices because the description made it sound like I'd be able to talk my way into the VIP room, say the right things to make Blair interested in a threesome, talk my way out of an angry Kiara's mother, et cetera. Instead, it basically did nothing until I finally got to the point where I could invite Prism over at will. I started thinking that some of the powers ought to be 'late game' powers that show up only when certain criteria are met...and then I started remembering how much I enjoyed the first week, when Sam was teaching us. Maybe instead of throwing 12 different powers at the player from the get-go, you could have sessions with Sam as he explores your mind with you, the two of you discuss how and why each power could be useful, and together you create the potential for you to buy that power in the future. This would give the player a session learning what the power does, and also give you more engaging activities with him at night.

Major Suggestion #2: It would be nice to have a purpose to the Dream world even after raising it to 5. What if we could talk to Blair in her dreams and ask her questions she might not answer in real life? What if we could have sex with her in her dreams, in front of the football team/in the cheerleader showers/whatever? What if we could bring Kiara along somehow and have her comment on things?

Minor bug: when Kiara is hiding her trail and you call her, she tells you to place all the relays rather than telling you it will take X number more days like she does for other things. And on that note, it would be nice to have a reminder (maybe in the calendar) of where I'm supposed to place relays.

I really do *love* the writing in this game. It's superb. And I think this may be the only mind control game I've ever seen where the MC isn't a complete asshole about it. So please take all this as constructive criticism - I'd love the game to be improved.

 

[kvier]

Is there a good place to put typographic errors? I'll put a few in a spoiler here, but I don't want to be overwhelming...

Spoiler

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[scyne]

In two games now (I forgot my browser automatically deletes history when I close it, doh)

Just as a general FYI — and forgive me if you already know — if you run *.html games with a local webserver, your session storage will generally be saved across browser restarts (unless you're in incognito mode). The security profile is roughly the same (provided the server is installed from a trusted source).

There's an

You must be registered to see the links

on it, mostly up to date, but if you're on Windows you can install python directly from the Microsoft Store (and the command to use it is just py).

 

[gunshot bride]

this game is brilliant. the world building, characters, h scenes, all of the writing is so good. prism best girl

 

[wiseold6996]

You cannot relieve random event scenes

 

[thug73]

Some people were asking for a map, and I see my old links (over here) appear to have expired or something. So here they are again:




Note I haven't checked these against the latest version. Also note there are SPOILERS in these maps!

 

[Myscra]

Thanks! That sounds great.


Yes, I've seen that - but you can learn skills long before needing them. So, for example, I started learning chemistry very early on, without knowing why - I had just learned cooking (which I still haven't used...wasted opportunity?) and law, so I thought it was cool that I could just master a bunch of skills! But then when I hung out in other classrooms, nothing happened. This confused me a great deal until *hours* later when I realized I could use chemistry in the dream world. Anyway, the point I'm making here is that by the time I realized I needed woodworking, I'd totally forgotten where and when I'd learned 2 parts of it.



I didn't have a problem getting her number. The problem is that after getting her number, nothing happens. In two games now (I forgot my browser automatically deletes history when I close it, doh) I've gotten to the point of knowing Blair's number and maxing out her affection as far as I can tell (as in, spending time with her in multiple places tells me "Blair doesn't seem any friendlier") without her texting me for a date. In the first game, I then finally found the book in the library and this managed to push things forward - she texted me the next day. In my current game, it's been a week or two in-game since the book event and nothing I do seems to add friendliness to her, but still no text, so I know I'm doing something wrong...but what? All Sam says is "you should try to get her number." (EDIT: Once again, it seemed to fix itself soon after I wrote that, so who knows?)

On that note...I found it hilarious but not really fitting that, often when I first have a sexual scene with Blair, the game tells me "Blair doesn't seem any friendlier or sexier." Like...dude, she just gave me a blowjob in the taxi. She seems a *lot* sexier. Maybe these events could be required to raise sexiness?

General suggestion: my connection to Blair and Kiara let me know where they are at all times...but I have to check the Index to do so. How about indicating next to location choices where someone is? I.e. you could see Andersen's House [Blair] or Parkside [B+K].

Specific hints: the squid room should have an action (like the forge room) so the player knows that they should be trying something to get to the treasure chest. Or the treasure chest should be a link, or *something* to make it clear that you need to do something about it. I got very frustrated because I had mastered anti-squid combat (4/4) but there was no new text in the Squid Room. In this case, the hint helped me figure out I had to go talk to the crazy guy again, and that worked, but it was less clear than I'd like. Elsewhere in the same dream, the dev hint for the forge room is...stealth 20+. I'm sitting at stealth 39.5 and no luck. Maybe the hint could be a little more specific?

Minor issue: when you get the psychic power to work smarter and harder, you earn more than twice as much money. Great! But working at the library doesn't match this - it says you earn $50, but when you do the math you've earned $112.50. Maybe the $50 text should match the new value? Also, maybe some explanation for this - like you are super fast at sorting books, or you program a routine to make your life easier, or you get a promotion?

Bug report: Once I partnered with Kiara, I had the chance to send her messages (at last a use for that button!...maybe have it only show up then?). One of them ended up being a discussion about what we knew about Prism...which included telling her that I'd seen her go into a sex shop, which confused me since I...hadn't. Anyway, a day or two later I saw Prism and had the option to follow her and ended up...going into a sex shop. So yeah.

Bug report: While teasing Kiara at the mall, I got this dialogue:
You: Error: cannot find a closing tag for HTML <i> Your hand feels amazing<./i>

Bug report: While inviting Prism over, I got this message:
Error: macro <<br>> does not exist
Virtual Consultant: It is best to keep things light. Speaking about University, your or Kiara's family life, popular entertainment, and animal companionship should be safe.
Error: macro <<br>> does not exist

Minor suggestion: Instead of "Blair does not seem any more friendly" or " Blaire does not seem any more flirty or sexual to you", have the messages vary depending on each girl's attraction to you. Right now it feels a bit off-putting to have her be incredibly friendly, only to have it say "doesn't seem any friendlier", which is kind of negative. Maybe at higher levels it should say things like "Blair is just as friendly as usual, but doesn't seem to be getting any closer" and then "Blair is as perky and devoted as always" or something to that effect.

Major suggestion: Some of the powers you can unlock really seem to only have one or two applications. For example, I chose the "Virtual Consultant" as one of my first choices because the description made it sound like I'd be able to talk my way into the VIP room, say the right things to make Blair interested in a threesome, talk my way out of an angry Kiara's mother, et cetera. Instead, it basically did nothing until I finally got to the point where I could invite Prism over at will. I started thinking that some of the powers ought to be 'late game' powers that show up only when certain criteria are met...and then I started remembering how much I enjoyed the first week, when Sam was teaching us. Maybe instead of throwing 12 different powers at the player from the get-go, you could have sessions with Sam as he explores your mind with you, the two of you discuss how and why each power could be useful, and together you create the potential for you to buy that power in the future. This would give the player a session learning what the power does, and also give you more engaging activities with him at night.

Major Suggestion #2: It would be nice to have a purpose to the Dream world even after raising it to 5. What if we could talk to Blair in her dreams and ask her questions she might not answer in real life? What if we could have sex with her in her dreams, in front of the football team/in the cheerleader showers/whatever? What if we could bring Kiara along somehow and have her comment on things?

Minor bug: when Kiara is hiding her trail and you call her, she tells you to place all the relays rather than telling you it will take X number more days like she does for other things. And on that note, it would be nice to have a reminder (maybe in the calendar) of where I'm supposed to place relays.

I really do *love* the writing in this game. It's superb. And I think this may be the only mind control game I've ever seen where the MC isn't a complete asshole about it. So please take all this as constructive criticism - I'd love the game to be improved.

To comment on your suggestions:
Minor Suggestion: This was pure laziness since I was just copy pasting to save time. I like the idea though and will add in to the queue.
Major Suggestion: I plan on making all the powers more fleshed out and useful down the line. For example, the virtual consultant (which I will try to clarify it's function) will come into play a lot more with other women since they will have fail states if you do or say the wrong thing too much. I have some ideas about this and I'll think how best to add them in.
Major Suggestion 2: I've thought on that as well and was thinking of using them for bonus scenes. For example, if you get 100% of the scenes a new dream scene opens up in part of the dream. I like the idea of talking to her. I was going to add in dialogue trees for Blaire and Kiara but having an "unfiltered" one in the dream is a great idea. Thanks!

Is there a good place to put typographic errors? I'll put a few in a spoiler here, but I don't want to be overwhelming...

Spoiler

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This is the place for it and thanks for letting me know!

this game is brilliant. the world building, characters, h scenes, all of the writing is so good. prism best girl

Thanks!

You cannot relieve random event scenes

It's working for me so far. Is there a specific one thats not working or all of them. If it's all of them, are you getting any errors?

Some people were asking for a map, and I see my old links (over here) appear to have expired or something. So here they are again:

View attachment 1382084
View attachment 1382085

Note I haven't checked these against the latest version. Also note there are SPOILERS in these maps!

Thanks for posting this. There are a few added places here or there but they are mostly accurate.

 

[wiseold6996]

To comment on your suggestions:







It's working for me so far. Is there a specific one thats not working or all of them. If it's all of them, are you getting any errors?

Only the random scenes other scenes can be relived. All the random scenes are not working

 

[smkey21]

Only the random scenes other scenes can be relived. All the random scenes are not working

If you are talking about the street observation scenes, those unlock, you just need to see the full version of the scene before it is added as a replay.

 

[kvier]

Is it explained anywhere what the letter in the superhero ability means? I've got smaller number - more powerful but haven't noticed any obvious correlations for the letter.

Having a few problems on Kiara's "partners" path:

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[Myscra]

Is it explained anywhere what the letter in the superhero ability means? I've got smaller number - more powerful but haven't noticed any obvious correlations for the letter.

Having a few problems on Kiara's "partners" path:

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Which letters do you mean for the superhero ability. I'll take a look at the issues you mentioned and see what's what. Also, I can throw in a current mission summary for SuperManagePart as well.

 

[kvier]

I mean that when you're got a bunch of descriptions of super abilities:

Spoiler

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[slappy slap slap]

When using the skip to end content option for kiara, delphi cannot be selected.

It would also be really nice to be able to skip the skill grind.

 

[Myscra]

I mean that when you're got a bunch of descriptions of super abilities:

Spoiler

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Ah Duh, completely forgot about that. C stands for Class. It's a rough scale but basically Class 5 is the lowest for Super status and means at or slightly better than human potential (Class 6 and 7 exist for non-powered Heroes and villains). So for example, Prism is a Class 5 standard array which means she's basically faster, stronger, and more agile than Olympic athletes. Class 1 is where people like Thor, Superman, or Professor X would hang out.

The A scale is on the same metric but the A stands for Artificial. This is mostly for tech based heroes and villains.

Z-list is just a derogatory remark. A-list is what people call the best of the best or the most well known supers (I believe it started with celebrities originally) , Z-list are the crappy and unknown ones.

Ill find a way to put this in the game somehow

When using the skip to end content option for kiara, delphi cannot be selected.

It would also be really nice to be able to skip the skill grind.

The first one is weird. Ill take a look at it.

I'll add in an option to increase the amount of skill you get each time.

 

[Malleee]

Sorry just found a fairly serious typo, unless Blaire is hiding something we need to know about...
The page is called "Poolside massage"

Spoiler: Pool side massage

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[Malleee]

Also the library gopher job seems to be seriously overpaying... far more the the $50 that was advertised.