HTML Applicant [v0.25] [YellowArachnid]

[brahsir]

i have no interest in this game other than the banner picture looks exactly like someone I know, which is freaky.

 

[Rex72]

More than half of the options are not selectable/usable and stats are not supposed to drop, especially if players progress are depending on it. If a fit and smart person stop studying and training it take months for the fitness to fade at all and knowledge and wisdom do not fade. For 300 usd you can get a ok hotell for 3 days, a hostel would be closer to 100 usd per week. Now all the player has time to do is work to pay for the hostel and not to make progress. Please do NOT add consumables like food and water it would only get more in the way of the progress and sex we players are here for. Do not forget, all games here are a complicated way of delivering sexy stories, not to make players work just to "stay alive" in a made up world. We get enough of that fight in real life.

 

[YellowArachnid]

More than half of the options are not selectable/usable and stats are not supposed to drop, especially if players progress are depending on it. If a fit and smart person stop studying and training it take months for the fitness to fade at all and knowledge and wisdom do not fade. For 300 usd you can get a ok hotell for 3 days, a hostel would be closer to 100 usd per week. Now all the player has time to do is work to pay for the hostel and not to make progress. Please do NOT add consumables like food and water it would only get more in the way of the progress and sex we players are here for. Do not forget, all games here are a complicated way of delivering sexy stories, not to make players work just to "stay alive" in a made up world. We get enough of that fight in real life.

I completely understand your concerns, especially given the experience of the last update. No, I'm not planning on making a grindfest. Yes, the idea of adding stat degradation was crude and flawed, and of little use in the current state of the game. I was wrong, I got ahead of myself—and I admit it. I promise to remove it and not return to it until I have at least a few testers to collect statistics and good in-game tools to mitigate this mechanic.
It all partially depends on player experience and how you play, but that's the excuse of someone who made a mistake. Basically, I lack the patience and the ability to implement the idea correctly. That's how it is for now, and I'm extremely grateful for such comments—I don't consider myself a game development guru or a genius.
Regarding consumables, I do NOT plan to add food, water, or other slowing-down mechanics. By consumables, I meant various kinds of stimulants and ways to increase stats. A simple example is buying a textbook to unlock access to the Hostel. I'm not sure it makes sense to make consumable cosmetics and the like. And yes, another classic example of a consumable is a bottle of wine for a one-time event activation.
As for money and pricing, I don't know pricing in America. I simply don't, and I'm not sure it's worth spending a lot of time studying. After all, it's a game, and money is a game mechanic, a resource, nothing more. Also, when I'm searching for bugs myself (I realized that testing the version in my language isn't enough; you also need to check the translator's performance), I had enough resources, and I tailored the balance to my gaming experience. The more information I have about other people's experiences, the better the balancing will be.
Let me repeat, given the choice between a poorly executed, unique vision that frustrates people due to poor implementation and a generic sandbox with unique events, I'll choose the latter, preferring to focus on what I'm good at and what players enjoy, gradually gaining experience, and eventually trying to implement the idea in another project.
Something like that! Handshake, kisses, and hugs!

 

[medassin]

how bdsm in this game because #1 dont show it?

 

[Rex72]

I think the game has potential, it´s just a tad ruff as of right now but still credit to you for learning how to make these games, I like playing them but have never made any thing like this so well done learning a new skill. May I suggest limiting game concepts to those who are solid so far and adding options in later versions as you progress in telling the story and in you gaining programing skills. I did not know programing in a different language made a difference, probably best to not assume the players will have your skills and familiarity with the game details. I encourage you to not give up, and to make regular frequent smaller updates rather than 2-3 big ones a year like some devs do. So far 2/5 stars with hope for more in the future.

 

[Chaos77]

I really like the setup of the game, and believe it has potential, I just felt like that we were supposed to have more actions points, because to work on the mall I need to spend 2 action points.

 

[Jack_R]

So, great start and good potential, but I hate moments that for going to every location you need to use action points. For example, why going in the hostel cost 1 energy? I go in the hostel, lose 1 energy, then go to shower, make 1 energy and in the end it doesn't even mater. I can`t just come to location, look what I can do there and then go back, I need to reverse my choice and that's not good gameplay from my perspective. Plus, please, don't punish stats of intelligence and social every day, that's just to much. Once in 2 to 3 days if you don't update that's stats is okay, but every day is too much in my opinion. Or make that's working in library give you 1 int and working in bar give 1 social, that's quite logical bcs you use that stat in job.

 

[YellowArachnid]

So, great start and good potential, but I hate moments that for going to every location you need to use action points. For example, why going in the hostel cost 1 energy? I go in the hostel, lose 1 energy, then go to shower, make 1 energy and in the end it doesn't even mater. I can`t just come to location, look what I can do there and then go back, I need to reverse my choice and that's not good gameplay from my perspective. Plus, please, don't punish stats of intelligence and social every day, that's just to much. Once in 2 to 3 days if you don't update that's stats is okay, but every day is too much in my opinion. Or make that's working in library give you 1 int and working in bar give 1 social, that's quite logical bcs you use that stat in job.

Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, I understand some frustration and dissatisfaction. Regarding the stat reduction, I've removed it for now, but it will all come with a major update in a week or two.
Regarding the stats for work—that's a great idea. I actually just forgot to add it because each work was written at different times, with long gaps, and I just... forgot.
Regarding energy—I'm currently at a crossroads. On the one hand, there's an original idea in which stat degradation acts as a limiting factor, and action points act as a resource. But to implement it, we need more mechanics, activities, and interactions. Overall, at the moment, it's more likely to be a hindrance than a new experience. On the other hand, there's a huge reluctance to turn the game into another sandbox, where the player's only goal and motivator is to collect all the NSFW scenes in the game...
By the way, I decided not to remove the ability to roll back scenes at this stage, but I'll try to remove it (if I can) closer to the final version.
The same applies to the overall balance of the game. It's still raw. I'm adjusting it based on comments, which is why they're so important to me. And here, too, there's a huge temptation: I can work on mechanics and interactions with an eye toward future changes... or I might at some point be faced with having to rewrite half the formulas and so on.
So, alas, I don't have a game design background; I'm moving blindly toward a bright future. Please don't throw too much dirt at me—I'm trying to make the game enjoyable, primarily so I can learn.
Thanks again for the comment—a lot depends on people like you! Unfortunately, I don't yet have the ability to ask whether something is worth doing or not BEFORE I do it.

 

[cmwj614036]

If you choose to make money, you basically won't be able to do much in a day. If you do something else, then the game will end soon.The overall concept is quite good, but earning money to pay the rent is quite exhausting.

 

[YellowArachnid]

If you choose to make money, you basically won't be able to do much in a day. If you do something else, then the game will end soon.The overall concept is quite good, but earning money to pay the rent is quite exhausting.

As always, everything requires balance. Unfortunately. I understand the frustration. Especially now, when the game hasn't fully implemented everything. I want to emphasize replayability, and that means unlocking all the content in one run isn't possible.
What can I say at this point?
1) The game CONTINUES after the ending; for each unlocked ending, you get extra points to distribute.
2) Talk to Jenny and ask her about housing in the city. Then talk to the Hostel owner; you'll unlock the cleaning option. At the end of the day, before you go to bed, wash up and get extra AP—spend them on cleaning; you'll save a lot of money.
3) When creating a character, think about which job you want to focus on—every job has a combination of a profession skill and a primary attribute. A basic character is fine for a first playthrough – on average, you'll earn 40-60 dollars from work. After a bit of work and leveling up your stats, you'll no longer need to clean.
4) Try to raise your Fitness stat to 25+, and use the Park occasionally.
5) Talking to characters increases your stats. The game rewards exploration (I think).
6) "Life Hack" – sell Duration Days or Depravity Limit at the start. Level up the stats you're interested in.

In future updates, I'll add more options for manipulating stats, money, and the surrounding world, including temporary boosts and permanent boosts (like clothing). But for now, yes – unfortunately, I'm trying to balance the game a little further than rebalancing it every patch due to new features. I apologize if I did a poor job.

 

[Sakhmeth]

If you choose to make money, you basically won't be able to do much in a day. If you do something else, then the game will end soon.The overall concept is quite good, but earning money to pay the rent is quite exhausting.

Yes. Most of the bugs that I remember are gone, but the stat decay and action economy are still un-fun.

Here is the first morning when you start the game, for example:
The base template gives you 20 athleticism, 10 beauty, and 4 actions.
Going into the hostel and taking a shower is net neutral for actions, and grants you one beauty. (4)
Going outside, your only choices in the morning are the cafe, which you can't work at yet, the mall, and WAIT.
You lose 1 action for going to the mall.
There are three options; coffee shop, pawn shop, and working as a promoter.
The pawn shop does nothing in the morning.
You can spend FORTY FUCKING DOLLARS at the coffee shop to get either 0, 1 or 2 action points.
Working as a promoter uses up an action point, and hysterically gives you 40.5 dollars.
So you are back to your original money amount plus a whopping .5 dollars, have lost a time slot, and are at somewhere between 3-5 action points.
You would be better off clicking the WAIT button after leaving the hostel, since you are guaranteed to have 5 action points, and have only lost .5 dollars in opportunity costs.

 

[Sakhmeth]

FYI, the park bench is probably bugged. You can sit on it at noon as many times as you want, getting action points in abundance.


(edit: this means you can spam community center lessons, since the time slot usage there is a bit buggy, it seems to either stay evening, or go back to afternoon)

 

[Sakhmeth]

Community Center Housekeeping button is broken. The rest are fine.

 

[YellowArachnid]

FYI, the park bench is probably bugged. You can sit on it at noon as many times as you want, getting action points in abundance.
View attachment 5342365

(edit: this means you can spam community center lessons, since the time slot usage there is a bit buggy, it seems to either stay evening, or go back to afternoon)

Yeah, looks like I forgot to add a safe word for it, eh...
Overall, yes – I agree that the balance at the start of the game is far from ideal. I'm constantly fixing it, tweaking it. Regarding AP, actions, their "cost" and "profit" – you're absolutely right, some actions give more than others. Unfortunately, given the choice between spending two weeks tinkering with balance, replaying over and over, and developing the project as a whole, I'd choose the latter. I'll definitely do this someday; I'll take a break from new content and spend two or three weeks balancing and properly designing the game. Why not now? We simply need more stats, and I want to implement all the "basic" and all the "second-level" features, like working as a barista.

Ideally, all this is played through a "loss." The first run is an introductory one – you chat with the characters, figure out where everything is, and so on. You'll likely lose, and discover you've been awarded points for it. Next time, you'll "sell" stats you don't need, aiming for the ending you want... and so on.
And at this point, I realized it would have been nice to add a quest log or at least some kind of indicator... yeah. Damn

 

[Sakhmeth]

Here is a personal peeve of mine.
You are automatically kicked out of the Hostel in the morning.
You have to spend a point just to go back in.
Can you please consider starting the day inside? Or can you at least give the same 4 starting points that you have on day 1?

 

[YellowArachnid]

Here is a personal peeve of mine.
You are automatically kicked out of the Hostel in the morning.
You have to spend a point just to go back in.
Can you please consider starting the day inside? Or can you at least give the same 4 starting points that you have on day 1?

Damn, this started to annoy me when I was testing the update. It was originally planned that way, but then I ran into a problem with time tracking and cycles. How do I give players the option to "continue" their morning after waking up in the hostel? Or give them the option to "return to the city" at any time of their choosing? That's pure abuse. That's how waking up in the morning and having to return to the hostel came about. Should I not charge AP for that? That's also abuse. Should I give them one extra AP in the morning? Well... anyway, I got to the current version and calmed down.
BUT RECENTLY! I REALIZED AND DEVELOPED a time tracking system, and implemented it in the mall—after working there, you "scroll" through time. I can hide behind the fact that the system needed testing and all that jazz.
But in practice, I simply forgot to rewrite the wake-up location and the associated values and dependencies. Or rather, I didn't even think about it. I've been playing all versions of the game a lot over the past few days—catching bugs, checking the translations. There are still some bits of broken code left here and there because the translator forced a syntax change and simply threw out some <span>.
Okay, yeah—I'll change the location where I wake up with the bug fix in 2-3 days, once I've collected a bunch of bugs and returned from work with a clearer head, I'll sit down again to fix the text and <span>.

 

[YellowArachnid]

Here is a personal peeve of mine.
You are automatically kicked out of the Hostel in the morning.
You have to spend a point just to go back in.
Can you please consider starting the day inside? Or can you at least give the same 4 starting points that you have on day 1?

In general, the Hostel will be a universal hub for everything and anything over time. A kind of city within a city, where you can meet most needs and develop most of your stats, plus there will be plenty of content.
At a minimum, it will have 4 or 5 characters, 3 of whom are already in the game. Each will receive development, their own branches, and activities. There are already some ideas, but expansion will be gradual. For example, in the next update, the gym will be expanded to combine showers and cleaning. If we get around to it, there will be a part-time job at the gym, combining money-making and exercise. I'm not sure about adding events, but I'm 100% sure; the rest will be as we can.

The next update will focus on inventory, wardrobe, and clothing. Accordingly, the Mall will receive an expansion with its associated shops.

This update does not include expanded interaction with Leonard, as it is tied to the Beauty Salon, which doesn't exist yet and will be added in the next update.
The general plan is this: a small expansion of the Hostel + finalizing the Cafe + a location from the vote (god, I hope it's a bar; that's just the foundation) + developing general mechanics—inventory, clothing, and items.
Currently, I see several priorities for developing game mechanics (besides balance): opening all tier 2 jobs or their equivalents to the starting pool—the Cafe, Library, and Bar. Adding universal, always-available jobs that pay less but utilize core profession stats and character attributes. Creating other related activities for the player. All of this should ultimately solve two problems: easing the start by allowing players to earn money with their waitress skills not just once in the morning but throughout the day, albeit less frequently and without unlocking other advanced jobs. Again, clothing and other ways to boost stats will be introduced for this purpose. Besides helping early on, this will help utilize excess money in the future, converting it into new opportunities, events, and so on. By the way, what do you think of the new cleaning events? I'm proud of them, to be honest. I've never seen such variability in the event descriptions. It's not exactly a template, but it's a marker of where I want to go and how. In the future, any random event will have several descriptive and visual variations to increase replayability and overall interest. I've never seen anyone do that (except for random images).

 

[ihl86]

I played the game for a little while, "achieved the good ending".

I can't bring myself to play it again but I wanted to leave some feedback:

- You can't see the time of day (or I couldn't see it) and can only determine it from the locations available. You also don't really know what will advance time and what will not. You can study 20 times and the com center but not advance time, or run 3 times, walk 3 times and sit on the bench infinitely but you drink and chat at the bar and time moves on? You can also work out and clean the whole hostel and fuck everyone as long as you have energy with no time advancement. It feels very bad an inconsistent.

- Raising of the stats makes no sense. Working out in the gym, running, walking, reading about working out all raise fitness. The numbers seem to be between 1 and 3, 1-2, 1,1. Not completely sure about it though and also unclear what determines which value you get or if it's just random. It's also weird that all raise the stats with same strength no matter where you are (20 or 150 fitness). For intelligence studying or talking to Jenny gives the same amount. Why would anyone want to study in this case since it's more clicks. Also how can talking to Jenny give any intelligence after a certain amount (I expected it to cap at 20-30).

Some stuff is bugged: Some walk in the parks returned a blank screen where I had to press the back button. Talking to Paula (chatting) whenever she wanted to mention Elizabeth it got bugged as in the check looked as dialogue and I had no option to continue, only the back button. Same for talking to Elizabeth about helping with college. You can't get to the end of that chat. I think there were 1 or 2 more but can't remember them since at some point at any bug I just pressed the back button and did something else.

The infinite energy in the park was already mentioned as a bug, I'll only write it as a single line.
Starting in the city instead of the hostel also feels like a bug. I can understand how after the first few days you prefer to be in the city as the first action as a matter of convenience but it still feels like a bug and not a feature.

Some stuff isn't intuitive as to how to achieve. I went to the loan shark for 3 days and only found him fucking with no other option (my promiscuity was around 40 so not that low).
I saw Paul and her boyfriend fucking in the com center but there was no option to talk about it with Paula. Was I supposed to keep going to com center and hoping something else would happen? Maybe but it was the same time with my bar working. That is another problem, if you want to work at the bar, most of the actions I think progress the game can't be done. Drinking and socializing, talking to Nick, spending time with Paula at the comm center. While in the morning you only have the cafe and mall (which seems useless, at least to me)

If I had patience to play it again I would probably know more about the game and could give more feedback but I can't subject myself to that again. Writing this feedback felt better than playing the game. I do think it has potential, if bugs are corrected and experience is improved. Will probably check back in a few months, see how it is.

 

[YellowArachnid]

I played the game for a little while, "achieved the good ending".

I can't bring myself to play it again but I wanted to leave some feedback:

- You can't see the time of day (or I couldn't see it) and can only determine it from the locations available. You also don't really know what will advance time and what will not. You can study 20 times and the com center but not advance time, or run 3 times, walk 3 times and sit on the bench infinitely but you drink and chat at the bar and time moves on? You can also work out and clean the whole hostel and fuck everyone as long as you have energy with no time advancement. It feels very bad an inconsistent.

- Raising of the stats makes no sense. Working out in the gym, running, walking, reading about working out all raise fitness. The numbers seem to be between 1 and 3, 1-2, 1,1. Not completely sure about it though and also unclear what determines which value you get or if it's just random. It's also weird that all raise the stats with same strength no matter where you are (20 or 150 fitness). For intelligence studying or talking to Jenny gives the same amount. Why would anyone want to study in this case since it's more clicks. Also how can talking to Jenny give any intelligence after a certain amount (I expected it to cap at 20-30).

Some stuff is bugged: Some walk in the parks returned a blank screen where I had to press the back button. Talking to Paula (chatting) whenever she wanted to mention Elizabeth it got bugged as in the check looked as dialogue and I had no option to continue, only the back button. Same for talking to Elizabeth about helping with college. You can't get to the end of that chat. I think there were 1 or 2 more but can't remember them since at some point at any bug I just pressed the back button and did something else.

The infinite energy in the park was already mentioned as a bug, I'll only write it as a single line.
Starting in the city instead of the hostel also feels like a bug. I can understand how after the first few days you prefer to be in the city as the first action as a matter of convenience but it still feels like a bug and not a feature.

Some stuff isn't intuitive as to how to achieve. I went to the loan shark for 3 days and only found him fucking with no other option (my promiscuity was around 40 so not that low).
I saw Paul and her boyfriend fucking in the com center but there was no option to talk about it with Paula. Was I supposed to keep going to com center and hoping something else would happen? Maybe but it was the same time with my bar working. That is another problem, if you want to work at the bar, most of the actions I think progress the game can't be done. Drinking and socializing, talking to Nick, spending time with Paula at the comm center. While in the morning you only have the cafe and mall (which seems useless, at least to me)

If I had patience to play it again I would probably know more about the game and could give more feedback but I can't subject myself to that again. Writing this feedback felt better than playing the game. I do think it has potential, if bugs are corrected and experience is improved. Will probably check back in a few months, see how it is.

Honestly, I understand completely. And I really appreciate this feedback. Truly.

It's exactly as you describe – the game is simply unfinished. This is a 0.25 alpha build of a game by someone with no experience or knowledge of programming or game design, which is why there are so many rough edges.

My sincere advice is to give the game some time. You can come back sometime in winter and give it a second chance; by then, many things will have been fixed.

Currently, my code is messy, the translation is terrible (which also breaks my code, causing bugs where there weren't any before), and I'm still learning and mastering a lot. The game will be filled with new content and the like before winter, then I'll take a break from updates for polishing (or sooner), during which time I'll seriously focus on balance and, most importantly, clear indicators.

There are bugs and glitches in some places, some things are unintuitive, there's no proper display of stat changes, and there's no "aftereffect" from the chosen solution. Some things I simply don't know how to implement, and others require reworking the entire game.

You might remember what HTML games, and most NSFW games for that matter, were like 10 years ago – individual projects without polish. I understand that releasing a half-finished product isn't comme il faut, but... how am I supposed to learn?

The game is barely two months old, and I'm asking for a chance in two or three months, once I've mastered balance and coding, found a translator, and asked the designer for some advice. Unfortunately, right now I have none of that, just enthusiasm. So, once again – THANK YOU! Thanks to your feedback and the comments from others, I understand the problems and weaknesses more clearly, which allows me to improve the game. Some of the issues you described were present in the game early on, and I've already found solutions for them—but without feedback, it never occurred to me to address them. So, thanks!

 

[StillFuckingLost]

First things first: I think this game is a decent html game. Not the best, but not even close to the worst I've tried. However it is very buggy right now. I will attempt to list all of the bugs I encountered (on Firefox) while trying to find all of the content.

Not a bug, but more of a consistency thing: Sometimes Paula is Paulina, sometimes Rada is Radara or Radar. Probably just translation issues like you've mentioned in your previous posts.

Trying to talk to Jenny occasionally doesn't give any options, locking you into a blank screen that you have back up to the previous passage to escape.

Rada has a few broken conversations, after raising your relationship with her 'Do you have a boyfriend?' seems to break. 'What can you tell me about the guys from the Hostel' breaks as well. The 'learn to make coffee' option also seems to not actually progress the quest around the coffee machine. I've tried to 'learn to make coffee' probably 20 times without anything changing. I checked both the cafe and the mall and could never figure it out. I ended up just giving myself 1 barista stat to trigger it.

Mrs. Elizabeth completely breaks if you get a single promiscuity lowering lesson.

Paula also occasionally breaks when starting a conversation with her showing this instead of the next passage link ( - [[I... I'm not sure yet, to be honest|Paula][45 += 1; 1 to 0; "6 += 1," you answer cautiously, to which Paulina smiles and shrugs. ).

The pawnshop owner Larry won't give you the coffee machine if you let him finger you and blow his employee. The quest will only finish if you talk to the bar owner Nick. Might just be because the quest is only halfway finished as Larry says he "might have a job for you".

That's what all I encountered from what I remember. There was probably more small stuff, I just didn't take note of it. G'luck dev.