Semeicardia

The Real Slim Semei
Modder
Donor
Mar 11, 2017
778
990
What is in 9.5?
Primarily Fixes for v0.9, such as fixing the two houses on top of each other, certain policies not possible to be unlocked due to a circular coding issue (the HR Policy that requires Obeir, which is unlocked through a character action requiring Obeir), the Legal character action that does not get properly disabled and as such stops certain other actions from being possible... Mostly stuff like that, possibly also more new content, but it will be primarily fixes.
 

N3fer

Newbie
May 20, 2017
51
26
how to get tracey's pride down ? Surely there must be some better way to tackle her 160 pride than going 3 by 3.
 

esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
Hey all,

I'm esclavage & I've been recently helping Selectacorp on Company Man since mid-February. I've actually been a supporter of the Selectacorp Patreon for a long time and was happy to assist as a writer. For a smidge of background, I also helped Crushstation on the development of Female Agent as a writer and still serve as a consultant.

I'm excited to see how everyone will enjoy the version 0.95 and will be happy to try and assist in answering questions regarding gameplay or hearing out suggestions. I've already got a list of items in a design document that I am planning on that I can discuss if anyone is interested.

The biggest change in version 0.95 is I tried to give the initial start a more 'on the rails' guided approach as a game intro to set the stage with an intro to all the initial NPCs in the Consulting Services Group before opening things up in the sandbox approach that everyone has seen.

I've also spent the most time doing some rewrites to Susan Granger so the interactions are more in-depth & fleshed out to hopefully be a bit more immersive to the Players. Selectacorp has also continued building out additional content.

Anyways, I hope that everyone enjoys the update but regardless I'm curious to hear thoughts and get hopefully constructive feedback/criticism.
 
Sep 22, 2016
121
21
Hey all,

I'm esclavage & I've been recently helping Selectacorp on Company Man since mid-February. I've actually been a supporter of the Selectacorp Patreon for a long time and was happy to assist as a writer. For a smidge of background, I also helped Crushstation on the development of Female Agent as a writer and still serve as a consultant.

I'm excited to see how everyone will enjoy the version 0.95 and will be happy to try and assist in answering questions regarding gameplay or hearing out suggestions. I've already got a list of items in a design document that I am planning on that I can discuss if anyone is interested.

The biggest change in version 0.95 is I tried to give the initial start a more 'on the rails' guided approach as a game intro to set the stage with an intro to all the initial NPCs in the Consulting Services Group before opening things up in the sandbox approach that everyone has seen.

I've also spent the most time doing some rewrites to Susan Granger so the interactions are more in-depth & fleshed out to hopefully be a bit more immersive to the Players. Selectacorp has also continued building out additional content.

Anyways, I hope that everyone enjoys the update but regardless I'm curious to hear thoughts and get hopefully constructive feedback/criticism.
When will the update come out for non-patrons?
 

esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
When will the update come out for non-patrons?
That's an excellent question. I don't control the time of release that is up to Selectacorp but I can ask and get back a definitive time it might occur. My guess would be at least a 1 month delay to provide early access to our Patrons who've been so gracious in supporting the content.
 

Strec

Active Member
Feb 20, 2018
576
367
That's an excellent question. I don't control the time of release that is up to Selectacorp but I can ask and get back a definitive time it might occur. My guess would be at least a 1 month delay to provide early access to our Patrons who've been so gracious in supporting the content.
When will the answer come out for non-patrons?
 

Semeicardia

The Real Slim Semei
Modder
Donor
Mar 11, 2017
778
990
When will the answer come out for non-patrons?
It was released yesterday for my patreon tier (2 weeks early access), so it should release for the public in about 2 weeks.
While the new update is decent, I would not say it is worth another 12 GB download for just minor bug fixes and a very few new sex scenes (with the woman from the international department). There is new stuff though, the story was expanded. You can go to the cinema to watch a movie and then talk with certain characters about the movie, for instance. Also better intro / start of the game and the ability to name the player character.

It should also be said there is still some glaring bugs in the Cadence version. Obeir is still not unlockable with regular play, despite being in the game, but Pry Medical is now available, though it has very little impact.

It said something about Ms. Blodsoe that you could have her committed and potentially make her your wife, but I was not able to get that option, despite having all policies in place. Also the Sugarbaby you can get is not able to go to 0 pride (stuck at 80), with 0 required for 2 of her options.
 
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esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
When will the answer come out for non-patrons?
Well, I've spoken with Selectacorp and we plan to spend this upcoming week workshopping things with regards to the Patreon and the release. That said, I think Semeicardia's prediction of the a general release happening sometime in the next 2-4 weeks is a reasonable estimate.

I also want to note that the game file is sizable (12 GB) so it is considerably more expensive on the hosting end of things for Selectacorp. I've made suggestions on how we might address this for future updates and releases.
 

esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
It was released yesterday for my patreon tier (2 weeks early access), so it should release for the public in about 2 weeks.
While the new update is decent, I would not say it is worth another 12 GB download for just minor bug fixes and a very few new sex scenes (with the woman from the international department). There is new stuff though, the story was expanded. You can go to the cinema to watch a movie and then talk with certain characters about the movie, for instance. Also better intro / start of the game and the ability to name the player character.

It should also be said there is still some glaring bugs in the Cadence version. Obeir is still not unlockable with regular play, despite being in the game, but Pry Medical is now available, though it has very little impact.

It said something about Ms. Blodsoe that you could have her committed and potentially make her your wife, but I was not able to get that option, despite having all policies in place. Also the Sugarbaby you can get is not able to go to 0 pride (stuck at 80), with 0 required for 2 of her options.
Thanks for the feedback. I can touch on a few things. For the Pry Medical & Tracey Bledsoe storyline, I think you also need Maxwell to replace Tracey's medication with the Placebo. After that, you need to speak with Carolina Tyson-Fontaine in HR to get Tracey committed as a patient. Selectacorp hasn't incorporated the 'wife' aspect yet though so you'll reach the end of the content when you finish Tracey's 'treatment'.

With regards to Ashley (the Sugarbaby), I recall the bug being an incorrect variable that accidentally gated things. I'll take a second look. I think it's also the same with the Obeir with Jada which I'll also check on.

Also, unless I'm mistaken there's a huge addition with Debbie overall which makes up a huge portion of content (in the Player's Office) unless that was already part of the Deborah release. Personally, it's some of my favorite content done by Selectacorp, capturing the feel of the novelization which we're using as a basis for the overall game design and flow.

Lastly, I'm most curious to hear your thoughts on the new game intro which is where I spent the most of my time along with trying to give Susan a more distinct 'voice' narratively. Do you think it overall added to the game experience? Or would the time be better spent elsewhere in the game?
 

Semeicardia

The Real Slim Semei
Modder
Donor
Mar 11, 2017
778
990
Thanks for the feedback. I can touch on a few things. For the Pry Medical & Tracey Bledsoe storyline, I think you also need Maxwell to replace Tracey's medication with the Placebo. After that, you need to speak with Carolina Tyson-Fontaine in HR to get Tracey committed as a patient. Selectacorp hasn't incorporated the 'wife' aspect yet though so you'll reach the end of the content when you finish Tracey's 'treatment'.

With regards to Ashley (the Sugarbaby), I recall the bug being an incorrect variable that accidentally gated things. I'll take a second look. I think it's also the same with the Obeir with Jada which I'll also check on.

Also, unless I'm mistaken there's a huge addition with Debbie overall which makes up a huge portion of content (in the Player's Office) unless that was already part of the Deborah release. Personally, it's some of my favorite content done by Selectacorp, capturing the feel of the novelization which we're using as a basis for the overall game design and flow.

Lastly, I'm most curious to hear your thoughts on the new game intro which is where I spent the most of my time along with trying to give Susan a more distinct 'voice' narratively. Do you think it overall added to the game experience? Or would the time be better spent elsewhere in the game?
I had already done the placebo replacement. But I had progressed HR too far (the male Jada signing package).
There should be some checks in various places that only show certain text if that option is still possible ( such as in this case ). The tutorial about controlling, breaking and money should also only be shown once ( check if those tutorial messages have been seen.)

You are right about Debbie.

In regards to the intro, I think it gives the player some direction, which for newcommers might have otherwise been very confusing (you had a lot of locations to choose from). Personally, I think the meeting with Kempler from the book should be in the game, but be skippable. I feel like that would really fleshout the intro and would introduce the player to Selectacorp if they were not already familiar. During the meeting is also where the entering of the players name would be done (unless skipped, in which case the current one works fine).

Also from a Quality of Life point of view, an option to skip already seen text (in previous playthroughs) like you have in Renpy games would be very welcome.

And while the new additions are neat, I hardly think they justify a new 12 GB download. That is the issue with these big games, if there is not a massive, substantial addition to the game of the kind that the player want, it hardly justifies a new download, but if it was incremental patching (so only the new content / the new changes were downloaded), I think a lot more people would be willing to download and play every version.
 
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esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
I had already done the placebo replacement. But I had progressed HR too far (the male Jada signing package).
There should be some checks in various places that only show certain text if that option is still possible ( such as in this case ). The tutorial about controlling, breaking and money should also only be shown once ( check if those tutorial messages have been seen.)

You are right about Debbie.

In regards to the intro, I think it gives the player some direction, which for newcommers might have otherwise been very confusing (you had a lot of locations to choose from). Personally, I think the meeting with Kempler from the book should be in the game, but be skippable. I feel like that would really fleshout the intro and would introduce the player to Selectacorp if they were not already familiar. During the meeting is also where the entering of the players name would be done (unless skipped, in which case the current one works fine).

Also from a Quality of Life point of view, an option to skip already seen text (in previous playthroughs) like you have in Renpy games would be very welcome.

And while the new additions are neat, I hardly think they justify a new 12 GB download. That is the issue with these big games, if there is not a massive, substantial addition to the game of the kind that the player want, it hardly justifies a new download, but if it was incremental patching (so only the new content / the new changes were downloaded), I think a lot more people would be willing to download and play every version.
I'll check things with Van Engen in HR & if that breaks the Tracey Patient interaction. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

With regards to the 'tutorial' text, I don't think there's a way to control it per se as a 'check'. At least I don't think anything has been built into the current setup we are using in Unity. I think it's either have that the text/prompts in multiple spots or only have them in a single spot & make the Player do those interactions to learn the game & the system set up.

You make an excellent point about Kempler in terms of narrative; I actually think the easiest way to insert him is in the 'first weekend' interaction that's part of the game intro. I think that can be added/worked if it's something that will overall help with the immersion in the game. I do think Selectacorp wanted 'Hunter' be more an 'empty vehicle' for the game as opposed to the novelization so there is a give & take in how best to handle it.

As for the quality of life suggestions (skip text you've already seen) & patches to make content more digestible, I'll pass that along to the the lead programmer on the team and whether or not it makes sense.

That said, I guess what 'massive, substantial addition to the game of the king that the player want' did you specifically want? I pointed out Debbie in the Player Office as one of those large additions to which you agreed. But it doesn't seem like you think that alone makes the game worth redownloading so I'm just curious to hear other suggestions as to what you might have wanted to see.

I fully agree that my small, more incremental changes to flesh out Interactions are not worth a pure redownload on their own- the goal for those is the tortoise wins the race so I'll do them slowly but surely and in about 6 months time there will be a far more intriguing game with more dynamic gameplay and characters that people want more content for.
 

esclavage

New Member
Mar 16, 2022
9
12
Does anyone have a save file
Once the general release occurs, I will try and figure out how to provide a few of my own save files here. Basically, the old is to have different 'points in time' saved so you can get to the right places to enjoy/replay content.

Like I already have done called 'Post Intro' which starts the Player after the 'intro' is done. I'll likely have another save files to with content already discovered & unlocke.
 

Semeicardia

The Real Slim Semei
Modder
Donor
Mar 11, 2017
778
990
I'll check things with Van Engen in HR & if that breaks the Tracey Patient interaction. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

With regards to the 'tutorial' text, I don't think there's a way to control it per se as a 'check'. At least I don't think anything has been built into the current setup we are using in Unity. I think it's either have that the text/prompts in multiple spots or only have them in a single spot & make the Player do those interactions to learn the game & the system set up.

You make an excellent point about Kempler in terms of narrative; I actually think the easiest way to insert him is in the 'first weekend' interaction that's part of the game intro. I think that can be added/worked if it's something that will overall help with the immersion in the game. I do think Selectacorp wanted 'Hunter' be more an 'empty vehicle' for the game as opposed to the novelization so there is a give & take in how best to handle it.

As for the quality of life suggestions (skip text you've already seen) & patches to make content more digestible, I'll pass that along to the the lead programmer on the team and whether or not it makes sense.

That said, I guess what 'massive, substantial addition to the game of the king that the player want' did you specifically want? I pointed out Debbie in the Player Office as one of those large additions to which you agreed. But it doesn't seem like you think that alone makes the game worth redownloading so I'm just curious to hear other suggestions as to what you might have wanted to see.

I fully agree that my small, more incremental changes to flesh out Interactions are not worth a pure redownload on their own- the goal for those is the tortoise wins the race so I'll do them slowly but surely and in about 6 months time there will be a far more intriguing game with more dynamic gameplay and characters that people want more content for.
Well, I still think the meeting with Kempler could still happen before the actual tutorial, but not necessarily have Hunter's previous experiences. Just the briefing part that Hunter gets about Zenith and Artemis (+ the selecting the name).

As for Van Engen in HR in regards , maybe have a warning that this choice might lock away other choices and make the player confirm. Same in other cases where characters are going to disappear after the choice (other than the Fire / Dismiss options, those are obvious, but could still have the player confirm).

There is also an issue with one of the options on Donald. It shows Deidre's panties and another image, making the box too tall for you to close the box, essentially forcing you to either reload or close the game. That's a game-breaking one, which is worse than a story-stopping one (like the issue with the Sugarbaby, which is not that big a deal compared to not being able to continue playing at all).

I think a massive update that would be worth a re-download would be once the International Department and all the issues that are currently still in the game (Obeir access and the other HR Department-related issues for example), the sugarbaby being stuck at 80 pride and other silly stop-gaps that really should not be there.

I will say that game has gotten a lot better. But I do not think that the changes from 0.9 to 0.95 is big enough to warrant that 12 GB re-download, not while there are those silly issues (which as you previously mentioned are probably just incorrectly set variables or some such).

I am looking forward to the version in 12 months. I see the potential in the game. And while some of the new changes in 0.95 are great, I think a bunch of people might be disappointed after downloading 12GB again. I definitely think the 1.0 or 1.1 release will have enough new content to justify downloading 12 GB again for everyone.

Either that or an incremental patch system is implemented. I think if the base download was the current 12 GB and then additional expansions of 100 MB to 1 GB would warrant a download EVERY patch, might also make us Patreons happier.

Also in regards to the person asking for a save file. I think that is going to be hard, especially when it comes down to some of the choices that could make certain characters leave the game, such as with Van Engen in HR or with Jill in CSG.
 

Strec

Active Member
Feb 20, 2018
576
367
On another side if the 9.5 resolve all the bugs of the 9.0 it's worth downloading, giving at least a really playable version...

There is a major lack of unitary tests in the dev of the 9.0 with a lot of blocking bugs, that can kill the game and Selectacorp reputation because deceipted players rarely come back to such a game, don't know if it's due to patreon system but it's better to take the needed time for debugging than to deliver version like 9.0.
 
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