RPGM Cyberslayers [v0.5] [Maelion]

[loshad]

In my defense: moving from one place to another also allows me to prepare for random events, like the one where Aline gets groped while getting in the cab or meeting the groper in the subway to go to the police station.

If you had a menu, these elements would be difficult to set up....

The difficulty is the balance between this free mode and the interlocking story elements because in my mind, random events can influence the long run and the player can miss things...

Two thoughts here:

First - is there anything technical that prevents you from integrating the existing random events into the "teleportation" system? So if the player elects to send Aline to work, and the event triggers - "On the way to work, Aline runs into..." One transition screen, and you're in the event. Some tweaking/balancing of event frequency may be necessary so they don't undermine the goal of the shortcut system - efficiency - but it would be fairly straightforward, single-variable optimization.

You can give the player the option to select a default means of transport - cab or subway. That way, the "fast travel" system is simply taking care of the busy work, and the player is still in control of the character, and can be exposed to the appropriate events/character interactions.

Second - random world events can be a reward for those players who choose to explore the world, instead of acting as a punishment for those players who want to progress some specific story element.

Even keeping them out of the "teleportation" system entirely doesn't mean that the player will never see them. You can always encourage exploration through a few quests or characters that don't fit neatly into the teleportation system.

Ideally the following (not exhaustive):
Be able to spend a day and switch to evening/night mode
Be able to go directly to downtown
Be able to be directly dressed as a police officer in front of the task board

I could create a kind of portal in the Hotel, in the room when the free mode opens, with the recommendation to explore the world to unlock events. This way, the routine of certain tasks and their automatization would be more pleasant.

I think that would be a great start. I would also encourage you to consider adding a permanent/easy to access "return to home" button when Aline is out exploring the world. It shouldn't be accessible when she's on a mission or fighting monsters or otherwise engaged, but having the option to quickly return to the hotel from, for example, the far end of the downtown area would save a lot of clicking. Clicking that - as of now - doesn't get the player anything.

For corruption, I don't quite get it...Aline behaves differently depending on who she is with but her overall corruption evolves with the Phantasm software that the player unlocks. It may be a weak point but it's also a less classical and linear corruption than in other games.
I try to keep a main line with her "natural traits" that reveal who she really is. Those same traits that you like, are actually at the heart of the story and reinforce the gameplay.

EDIT : For corruption, Aline's very varied moods can also be explained by a cyberpunk side of Hacking her mind...something that breaks down and makes her open up to her repressed lustful side for a moment...only to close down again.
That's kind of the intention I wanted to convey with Phantasm and its sometimes strong reactions, but what I have in my mind is not necessarily well understood by the player. The story will explain this later, as it did with Leridia.

Let me clarify my point a bit.

Spoiler: Deep, long dive on the Corruption Systems

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[matekun]

I don't think there is enough content (right now) to lock events behind traits.It may be possible to modify in the future,I guess.

 

[Kaldian]

First - is there anything technical that prevents you from integrating the existing random events into the "teleportation" system? So if the player elects to send Aline to work, and the event triggers - "On the way to work, Aline runs into..." One transition screen, and you're in the event. Some tweaking/balancing of event frequency may be necessary so they don't undermine the goal of the shortcut system - efficiency - but it would be fairly straightforward, single-variable optimization.

Well, let's discern travel from tedious, repeatable clicking to get from point A to point B for the umpteenth time. The teleport system would work wonders even if it only allowed you to skip some parts, which are not that necessary. The ability to instantly travel around the police station for example. Or to go to the subway from your hotel room directly without having to go through three areas. I don't feel like adding fast travel to everything would even be necessary and actual exploration adds a lot to the game.

 

[Phantombeast]

hello there! i just started playing and i'm impressed, i would like to know something about the "defend and observe" option during battle, it gives 1 energy point but the game seems to ignore that extra point and count only the original starting 4 points, is that a bug or am i missing something? i'm at point of the 2 slayers having their first mission together and sometimes when i have 2 life/energy points the enemy would defeat me even when the slayers r not in dominated states is that related to the hotness? or is it possible to lose more than 1 point with an attack? Naturelly i could go on regardless but i would like to know more about the mechanics first, i guess it comes from enjoyment of turn based combat. I would appreciate any feedback.

 

[matekun]

From my experience:
Enemy hits always takes 1 point.
You can't have more than 4 health points.
There is a chance you can be defeated even with 2 or more points if the girls are hit when almost naked.

 

[TheMathmos]

In my defense: moving from one place to another also allows me to prepare for random events, like the one where Aline gets groped while getting in the cab or meeting the groper in the subway to go to the police station.

If you had a menu, these elements would be difficult to set up.

The following comes from a place of really enjoying the game BTW :

I don't think any random encounters/events system is worth the aggravation of clicking dozens of times between, say, your hotel room and your work desk at the station.

The way games like Girl Life and others segment regular free roaming in as many areas as possible is entirely a negative as far as I'm concerned. Compared to Porn Empire or World of Horrors (great game on Steam) this design feels very archaic.

The exploration of detailed subdivided areas à la Myst should be reserved for quests and dungeons IMO, not areas like home, work, or shops.

 

[Phantombeast]

From my experience:
Enemy hits always takes 1 point.
You can't have more than 4 health points.
There is a chance you can be defeated even with 2 or more points if the girls are hit when almost naked.

thank u for replying! i played a little more and saw the gained life points r counted probably, but it seemed to me that the enemies can inflict crit damage and the slayers lose 2 life points. i immediately assumed this could be a bug while thinking the game was just launched and didn't notice the thread date.

 

[Kaldian]

thank u for replying! i played a little more and saw the gained life points r counted probably, but it seemed to me that the enemies can inflict crit damage and the slayers lose 2 life points. i immediately assumed this could be a bug while thinking the game was just launched and didn't notice the thread date.

Assuming it works the same way as in CoL, you can be defeated by submission even if you have HP left. There was a second, invisible "HP pool" for the domination mechanic.

 

[Maelion]

Yes, the traits are important in the story but they were not thought to take precedence over the gameplay of the skills, which is the heart of the game.
The traits stand out precisely because the phantasm unlocks certain parts of Aline's brain. The player reveals the traits by unlocking the Phantasm software, there is an explanation in the lore provided and it is a gameplay choice.

Reversing the mechanism and conditioning the traits to the hacking skills, it's rethinking all the variables and the writing, whatever one can say, it's necessary to rethink everything. I'm not going to start from scratch.

The traits should be seen as a bonus in the gameplay (they are bonuses in dialogues or small scenes) and not the heart of the game. However, they will be highlighted more prominently with the story but the idea is that the player decides to unlock what they want when they want rather than a classic corruption where one trait opens paths and then another...
This is a difficult exercise but it also makes the game original.

It is far from perfect but coming back to more "classical" traits would be frustrating I guess for some people and too much work for me.
Corruption mechanics are very hard to think but Aline's conflicts and other slayers with their mind are also a part of the cyberpunk hacking feelings.
I agree that some scenes are not very good, I need to rethink dialogues or behaviour.

I disagree about Aline turning from an innocent teen to a slut in a flash. Bonds are here for that with most of the characters (Fred, Raph, Lucius...). I agree that some scenes without bonds may sound weird sometimes. It is not easy to see the global evolution of the heroine corruption from an "everyday" point of view.
It's more clear for a player, testing it without the dev approach.

About Cybercorp and the power to corrupt Aline in one go...They don't do it for a reason.
Aline and Kassiah are test subjects...there's no point to completely corrupt them without a good reason. Of course they could do it but they don't do it.
The evil mind is the player and he makes choices in a game following a story...but one can't forget virtual hearts are just a part of the game, they don't really exist in the lore.

We could also ask the other player what they are thinking of the actual corruption system.

 

[cdr00d]

Is it possible to do the Dirty Rats II or Rising Star tasks?

 

[GlaFo]

I'm fine with the current corruption system. I'm not a fan of lengthy grinds so I'd say, continue as-is.

I'm all for a quick-travel system to the central hub of a location, once a location is known/visited for the first time. An interrupt for events sounds nice, possibly with an option to skip if it's a repeatable event?

 

[loshad]

Maelion, a few quick things:

First - thanks again for taking the time to share your work here and engage with criticism/feedback.

Second - despite my posts leaning into the critique side of things, Cyberslayers still does many things better than the vast majority of adult games, and that's absolutely worth acknowledging.

Third - in re-reading my last post, I noticed that several times I occasional used some excessive sarcasm. In hindsight, I recognize that's not helpful to the overall goal of constructive feedback.

As far as detail:

While I disagree with some of what you said, I don't want to get caught up in the gnarly details - we can take that private if you like (i.e. if it would be useful to you for feedback purposes). I do think you've slightly misunderstood what I was driving at - but if my point wasn't clear after I spent ~15 paragraphs of text on it, at least some of the responsibility is on me.

Instead, please take a look at the following quotes from your two successive messages (emphasis added):

I try to keep a main line with her "natural traits" that reveal who she really is. Those same traits that you like, are actually at the heart of the story and reinforce the gameplay.

The traits should be seen as a bonus in the gameplay (they are bonuses in dialogues or small scenes) and not the heart of the game.

Are Aline's traits "at the heart of the story" and reveal who our MC "really is?" Or are the traits a "bonus" that's "not the heart of the game?"

For corruption, Aline's very varied moods can also be explained by a cyberpunk side of Hacking her mind...something that breaks down and makes her open up to her repressed lustful side for a moment...only to close down again.
That's kind of the intention I wanted to convey with Phantasm and its sometimes strong reactions,

I disagree about Aline turning from an innocent teen to a slut in a flash. Bonds are here for that with most of the characters (Fred, Raph, Lucius...).

It's not very consistent to both explain Aline's "very varied moods" and simultaneously deny that they are there in the first place.

My point here is not "oh, look at Maelion, he made a mistake!"

My point is that in my experience, when this sort of "have it both ways" double-speak creeps into the "defense" of a product from a critique, it's usually due to a lack of clarity about what the product wants to be and where it wants to go.

Again, let me be clear - you don't "owe" me an explanation. You're not making the game for me, personally. I'm not a final arbiter of what's "good" and my goal is not to convince you that what you're doing is "bad."

My goal is to provide you with some detailed, actionable feedback - because I think that Cyberslayers has enormous potential as a game.

And to that end - please take a moment to think through what (if anything!) these contradictions in your responses mean for you and your vision for the game.

I do wish you the best as you continue to work on future releases.

 

[Maelion]

I won't go into too much detail as it can quickly become time consuming when ideas are exchanged on a project and criticized.

I really appreciate these criticisms that point out the weaknesses of the game. I read them and think about them in the long run. It's easier to read a long text of reviews too when they are not toxic or from a frustrated fan that this or that content has taken a certain direction. I've had them before, it ultimately served no purpose other than to waste my time.

By responding, I knew it would be taken as a contradiction and it will be until I do a better job on corruption.
Let's be clearer, or at least try to be: Aline's traits are at the heart of a story but not at the heart of gameplay where they are a bonus for sentences/scenes.

This means that I thought of the traits while making the story after I had made the gameplay of Phantasm. They should be seen as a way to get to know Aline better and make her, still naive at her age and coming from the Alpha system, discover her own personality.

The gameplay side leaves the player the possibility to shape her as he wants in this or that direction and her traits sometimes conflict, which explains the contradictions in her behavior.
But again, the traits are for the story and the skills for the gameplay. The mix of the two needs to be improved.

Then for the variations in Aline's attitude, I stand by what I say but in form there can be inconsistencies and passages of text where I change radically. Often when she says a rather daring sentence, she thinks about it and wonders if she really said that, it's the Phantasm that acts on her. We can imagine that these passages to the extreme, her lust controls her combined with the Phantasm, so in fact the story at the heart of the game and the gameplay unlocked by the player.

I agree that it's confusing at this stage and it's detrimental to the game but as the story progresses it will become clearer and I think players are not so bothered as they want to understand the grey areas...it's just that we're only at 0.3.1 and the core of the Cyberslayers universe is yet to come.

 

[Kitsoka]

v0.3.1a can only unlock the Barrier in Lust tree. Despite having all previous skills on Lewdness and Submission before their respective barriers- including ones you have to scroll down for. Is this the limitation of the game version?

 

[matekun]

v0.3.1a can only unlock the Barrier in Lust tree. Despite having all previous skills on Lewdness and Submission before their respective barriers- including ones you have to scroll down for. Is this the limitation of the game version?

In theory,you can unlock all phantasm skills.The only one beyond barriers I needed is Sexy poses III,used in the event with the hotel manager.

 

[Maelion]

Unlocking everything in the Phantasm doesn't mean you can play with all skills. Excepting Sexy Pose III, the other skills on the right and globally the high tier of skills are not implemented yet.

 

[mindyesawesome]

Take my money. This is fucking amazing. Going to be a patreon right now.

 

[crocro0000]

It is a pity that there is little content currently because it is one of the best games I have played so far. Can't wait to play the new update.

 

[erisedxes]

Even I am not a fan of female protagonist corruption pov. I still rate it very high because of its gameplay and cyberpunk world it displayed.

 

[Pizzaking]

How do I unlock barrier of indecency and barrier of sex doll. I read the comments from a few pages ago saying you need to unlock everything before those two points but I did and I still can't unlock them. I have finished all the main/side quest avaliable right now too.