Ren'Py Decked in Love [v0.2.0] [MrSilverLust]

[osanaiko]

Hey everyone, please remember that this is an early demo for a side project that Mr. Silverlust has been working on occasionally for a year or so to keep himself sane between the enormous efforts he puts into Nothing Is Forever.

It is not supposed to be a complete, balanced, perfect deckbuilder game. Maybe it will become something like that in the future.

Based on the Dev's past behavior, we can be sure that any constructive feedback that is provided will be at least carefully considered.

Here is the Patreon post that explains the game origin and the thinking behind it:

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And a snip of the most important part:

... snip... (montage scene of MrSL learning to program by making a deckbuilder)

Anyway, fast forward to today and I kind of have a new game gaining dust on my drawer for more than half a year now.

I didn't know what to do with it, maybe I'd never even show it to anyone. It wouldn't be the first game to never see the light of day. After all, it was just something I was doing to learn and relax - it turns out, I enjoy codding. It's so cool to think of any mechanic or gameplay element in my head and be able to make it reality. It can certainly be challenging and uncomfortable at times, but in a different way than, for example, looking at a white page without knowing how to write what I have in mind. It's a whole different process that I happen to like. Most of the time, anyway. There are always frustrating situations, like in everything else.

While the game has been in a limbo for a while now, a few things happened recently that made me make a decision about what to do with it. First, steam gave green light to publish games with AI art. Second, by the end of next month there will be a Steam festival for Deckbuilding games... which I happen to have one gaining dust in some folder of my PC. So... why not take the opportunity and launch what I have as a demo and see if people think it's fun or not?

Fair warning: this game is the complete opposite of NiF. It's not story driven (or even a VN!), or kinky, uses a different art-style, it's strategy game, etc. If you happen to like it, it's totally by coincidence. Chances are, you might not see the appeal at all.

But I am really proud of this thing.

It's hard to explain. It's one thing to write something that people like to read like in NiF... but everyone knows how to write. It's a different thing to learn a new skill like coding from the ground up to make a silly little game that you enjoy playing yourself. The whole thing may be held together with weird hacks, dreams and many tears shed while trying to figure out how the hell I could make renpy do what I wanted; and, if a seasonal have a look at the code, they'll probably laugh for 5 minutes straight; heck, I shouldn't even have made this on renpy with better engines available for this kind of game, I just wanted to learn more about it for future "real games".

And yet, in spit of all of that, I'm still proud of having been able to put this thing together with (hopefully!) no bugs currently.

There's also a pleasure in being allowed to work on something for as long as I want without feeling the pressure to release it, or to show it to someone. To polish it as much as I like, with no hurries. To add any crazy idea that comes to my mind just because I think it may improve the experience.

Anyway, here is the free demo of "Decked in Love":

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If you want to try it, feel free to give me your feedback, it'd be appreciated.

I won't be spending more time working on it than what I was already doing in the last 2 years, so this doesn't change much for NiF's development, in case you're worried about that.

 

[zombie666]

I don't mind the game, I don't mind the art, but unless I'm missing something, there needs to be a way to discard a card from your hand regardless of enemy buffs.

If I know I've got a card that counters cockblock or whatever in my deck, but through luck it isn't on the board when the enemy appears, you may as well just pop up a big "YOU LOSE" overlay (for certain combinations particularly).

 

[Canto Forte]

Dev advice:

I think it has enough counters though - the easiest is to have a passive stat high enough to not be hurt by it; Or enough active stat to eliminate it quickly; there's also a hairstyle that counters it, and a silencing card. Maybe with the nerf to the cards stats in the new version it'll be more fair!

I don't mind the game, I don't mind the art, but unless I'm missing something, there needs to be a way to discard a card from your hand regardless of enemy buffs.

If I know I've got a card that counters cockblock or whatever in my deck, but through luck it isn't on the board when the enemy appears, you may as well just pop up a big "YOU LOSE" overlay (for certain combinations particularly).

Dev stance:

There should also be room for games that are challenging, have true gameplay, are hard, and that take some time to get good at. I want this game to be hard, but fair. The idea is that good players can beat it consistently, but bad players can't.

In essence,
1- you need a certain skill level to get by.
+ 2 - You need to pick cards that synergize well to create powerful combos.
+ 3 - You need to know your enemies to save your best cards for the harder ones.
+4 - You need to know when to add cards, remove, upgrade, spend money, save it, which clothes store to go, etc.

= Total killjoy after a bad run of this demo with so little to gain for such a big hassle.

There's lots of decisions to make and all of them matter. Bad decisions will end your run.

 

[CptValor]

so i been playing after the latest update and it seems pretty solid but i had a few nagging questions...! first, in the screenshots on main page theres a redhead that becomes the love interest is that mirriam with a changed hairstyle or another character? if another character how do i play her story?
second, i seem to be able to pass the "first date" pretty consistently (unless i hit a bad run), but once i get to stage 2 or the second date the rivals all have way higher stats than me! am i doing something wrong? i tend to go for a speed build but by the time i hit date two the rivals all have like 11s and 12s in their stats and im lucky to have 10! it also seems to me the job card only comes around once a round so i usually dont have enough cash to get myself some decent clothes for enough stat buffs! idk i havent even seen any lewd content yet! dont know how far i have to get to get to that point but i guess one thing most rougelikes have that im not seeing here is the ability to earn cash or points to upgrade your character after each run which makes progressing easier as you get to tougher stages! is that something we can expect in future updates or is this gonna be a you have to go through the whole thing in one go type of experiences?

well i guess that was all the questions i had on the game. it looks nice and the card game is addictive as i found myself starting over and trying again to try to get past where i was before. (side note) only thing i didnt really understand was the main stat switching from the tutorial so i kinda avoided that! if you switch main to intelligence does strength become the passive? i would assume so since it doesnt make sense to make initiative your passive but again idk..!

 

[MrBlobby2]

Just as a counterpoint to some of the negative opinions. I think the game is incredible. Yes, it is a bit hard, but the gameplay is great, and the images are very good. One of the best games I've played.

 

[Deckmaster]

Two bonuses for a rival card is just too much. Please maximum 1. We have a big disadvantage anyway as we even lose love points for interacting with Myriam herself.

 

[MrSilverLust]

Thanks for all the feedback. The balancing update 0.1.3 tries to address some of the points raised.

You are of course correct that if someone can win the game first time then it is too easy, but there is a huge difference between "difficult in a fun and challenging way" and "difficult in a boring and frustrating way", and from one of your other comments you are clearly aware of this. For me at least, Cockblocker gets much too close to the latter type of difficulty.

I've reworked the cockblock ability to be less frustrating to play against but still causing a similar pressure to the player.

Fun difficulty: "That enemy is really tough, but I have a Cunning Plan to beat him with an ingenious combination of cards".

Boring difficulty: "Oh, I can't do anything."

I tend to agree with this but, in the end, all strategy games where you can't grind your way out of a situation end up like that, no? This isn't a puzzle game where there is *always* a solution. At some point, you made enough mistakes throughout a run that there is nothing you can do to not lose at a given point, no matter what you do.

At those points, the best you get is thinking "Oh, yeah, if I had done x instead of y at that moment z, I wouldn't lose now".

I'm not talking about general fail till you succeed. I get that. I'm talking about the fact that between stage one and stage two the stats double on your opponents and you have zero chance to succeed because you could not raise your stats high enough to get any form of success. Like I said before, it needs balancing.

I've decreased the stats a bit on cards of stage 2.

It would be helpful for people like me (whose memory is not what it used to be) if there were a confirmation/warning when you press Start in the main menu (if a game is already in progress), reminding us that it will overwrite our existing save.

That was a good idea, I added that in the new update.

Meet Her Girlfriends had "Weaken (2)" on the card before, so I played a card that costs 2 charisma to remove all effects from a card. Now Meet Her Girlfriends doesn't say "Weaken (2)" anymore, but I'm still weakened by 2.

Thanks, fixed it.

Sure, those small levels are not so big problem, but I don't know how many levels are going to be? Imagine redoing entire thing if we fuck up something at level 25 or 50?

It'll (probably) have 18 levels in total.

The art in the samples doesn't seem to match the art I've seen in game, is there some kind of progressive unlocking that's hidden?

In the rewards menu you can see how to unlock more art. The only thing that's "hidden" is Norah, the redhead girl. You need to beat the demo first with Miriam to unlock her.

Generally if the game saves your position in the game when you exit and you gain some sort of benefit when you fail (i.e you get to keep some stat bonuses or cards, or just unlock possible cards) then I don't think you need to be able to save manually.

You gain a benefit when you fail, yes: the probability of getting a "fantasy card" in a level increases, to help you get a chance of better stats in the next run.

You'll probably need different difficulty levels to appeal to more people. For someone like me, harder the better really.

Yeah, that was planned from the begging. This update makes the game easier, but I'll add difficulty levels in the future and rewards for beating the game in that difficulty.

I've cleared the 2 chapters with Both characters, and I've seen nothing remotely as saucy as the first screenshot. Question is, "do those just unlock by continuing to play, or is there some other trigger?"

Right now, it's basically by continuing to play (check the rewards menu to see the conditions to earn them). There will be more "challenges" to beat that give more rewards in the future.

first, in the screenshots on main page theres a redhead that becomes the love interest is that mirriam with a changed hairstyle or another character? if another character how do i play her story?

You need to reach the end of Miriam's demo first (level 6).

know how far i have to get to get to that point but i guess one thing most rougelikes have that im not seeing here is the ability to earn cash or points to upgrade your character after each run which makes progressing easier as you get to tougher stages! is that something we can expect in future updates or is this gonna be a you have to go through the whole thing in one go type of experiences?

That's something I've also been wondering about. Right now, each failed run gives you some probability bonus to get better stats in the next one (if you win a run, the probability resets). But I may add other things.

The one thing I don't like about adding those things is that the game is the hardest the first time you play, and get easier the more you play. Which is a bit weird.

if you switch main to intelligence does strength become the passive? i would assume so since it doesn't make sense to make initiative your passive but again idk..!

Yes, the passive and active stats change. You use the active to attack and the passive to defend. So, the intelligence would be your attack, and strength your defense, until you change again.

 

[MrSilverLust]

Update 0.1.3

Bug fixes:
- fixed a bug where silencing weaken/hot/cute/burden effects wasn't working as intended.
- typos.
- removed a couple extra fingers here and there.

Balancing:
- lowered some stats form stage 3 cards to make them less punishing.
- reworked the cockblock effect: preventing a player from doing something as important to the game as playing cards isn't fun.
- re-roll prices for clothes reduced: this should help players more easily get the clothes they are looking for.

New mechanics:
- new type of card: check out other girls: you can trade max love for a reward. A good player will know when to be greedy and when not to.
- new activity effect for activities you do with your crush (rekindle) - put all cards in the discard pile back into your deck.

QOL improvements:
- If there is a saved game, you'll be prompt to continue it even if you start a new game.


This should make the current levels in the game more consistently beatable, make some mechanics less frustrating, give more options to get to the end successfully, all without removing the skill needed to do so.


Download:

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You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Everblue]

I've been really enjoying your game so far. I'm excited to see how the game will turn out as you continue to develop and improve upon it.

 

[Prokopije]

It'll (probably) have 18 levels in total.

That's also way too much to start from beginning every time if fuck up after 6-7 level. And we will, because we don't know what's coming at us. Without crystal ball it is impossible to make "long-term strategy" without playing level once, so it will be a lot of trials and errors. And repeating.
We need ability to save after each level.

 

[rb813]

re-roll prices for clothes reduced: this should help players more easily get the clothes they are looking for.

This reminded me; it seems like you have to pay your money just to go into the shop to see what clothes are available? Meaning, if you decide not to buy anything, you don't get your money back, right? That's not exactly how buying clothes works in the real world, nor is it how shops usually work in the roguelites I've played (including StS, unless I'm having a serious memory lapse). Why can't the shop have a per-item price instead of an entry fee?

 

[CptValor]

so i played the updated version released a few posts up and with all the bugfixs and tweaks implemented it seems to run pretty smoothly for me now and i dont know if its just persistence or that the tweaks to the game made it so it wasnt as difficult but i finally cleared Miriam's route for the first time! started again to play on Norah's route and i ran into some bad runs again! maybe it just takes some persistence but its a fun experience overall and the art is nice!

i dont know if its already in there as i havent unlocked all the images by far, but it would be nice to get some actual sexual images when completing the game! while i was stoked to have beat it for the first time i thought it would have been nice to get to have sex with Miriam since being with her was ultimately the goal all along and while all the lewd art unlocked along the way is nice, it would be a good reward for finishing her route to get an image of sex with her if not an animation but i know AI art animations are a bit on the janky side atm!

as stated before, some kind of system to give your character points to distribute or some kind of bonus to add to the players stats to make repeated playthroughs a bit easier would be nice! maybe let the player keep their upgraded cards as they play through so that each playthrough is a bit easier as the deck cards get added to a codex or something and then they retain their upgrades after a player completes stages and stuff! so this may be an idea to use instead of the points system for upgrades. it would also motivate the player to try out other cards to add them to the codex and improve their stats for later playthroughs.

this is just my ideas for things to do to improve on the game! the game is already fun and aside from any explicit sexual content that may be locked away behind the rewards i havent unlocked yet im enjoying the lewd art even if it isnt fully sexual! seeing added sexual content/images as rewards would be awesome but the lack of it doesnt take away from the fun of the game! also as someone who has a thing for games with collectables, i think the codex thing would be a great addition for those avid collectors who wanna fill up the card codex! dont know if this would be a game breaker but its an idea (use it or not) im just throwin it out there!

 

[MrBlobby2]

Love the game. Can't get enough. But it is tough. I know it is rogue-like, but it would be good to have a save point after the completion of a stage. Right now, even with my super skillz, I'm still struggling on Level 5.

Also - Please can you change the Fantasize about to only give positive bonuses. Right now, that part of the game is too random and broken. Some choices give positive, some give negative - so why would you ever choose the negative one?
And sometimes, they are all negative - which sucks.

Just remove the negative possibilities from those cards please.

 

[osanaiko]

I'm pretty sure the game currently auto-saves at the end of each battle. It doesn't tell you this, but it is happening. That's how the "continue" works at the main menu.

 

[CptValor]

Love the game. Can't get enough. But it is tough. I know it is rogue-like, but it would be good to have a save point after the completion of a stage. Right now, even with my super skillz, I'm still struggling on Level 5.

Also - Please can you change the Fantasize about to only give positive bonuses. Right now, that part of the game is too random and broken. Some choices give positive, some give negative - so why would you ever choose the negative one?
And sometimes, they are all negative - which sucks.

Just remove the negative possibilities from those cards please.

i assume this is similar to fantasy themed roguelikes where if you get a new weapon in later stages it give you a big boost to one stat for a small cut in another stat! for example, if you came across a berserker sword you typically get like +5-10 in strength boost and get a negative boost to your intelligence! its the same once you get to the events in the later stages where instead of getting a flat +1 for doing athletics or chess club, the new ones give you a +2 to a stat but also subtract 1 from speed or charisma or something! its a way to add strategy in balancing your stats! you have to choose if you want the extra strength but be slower or be smarter while taking a cut in strength! typically you can grab the item/event that boosts a lower stat to lose a point off a stat thats already high! it just adds another level of strategy to the game!

 

[MrBlobby2]

i assume this is similar to fantasy themed roguelikes where if you get a new weapon in later stages it give you a big boost to one stat for a small cut in another stat! for example, if you came across a berserker sword you typically get like +5-10 in strength boost and get a negative boost to your intelligence! its the same once you get to the events in the later stages where instead of getting a flat +1 for doing athletics or chess club, the new ones give you a +2 to a stat but also subtract 1 from speed or charisma or something! its a way to add strategy in balancing your stats! you have to choose if you want the extra strength but be slower or be smarter while taking a cut in strength! typically you can grab the item/event that boosts a lower stat to lose a point off a stat thats already high! it just adds another level of strategy to the game!

When i say “some choices are positive and some are negative”, I mean that literally.
one card gives +1 to a stat, nothing more. And another card gives -1 to a stat…
you would never choose the card with the -1 to the stat. Sometimes, you even get 3 choices, all of which give a -1 and you are screwed.

 

[rb813]

you would never choose the card with the -1 to the stat.

I think the point in this game is choosing the card with the negative stat to unlock that image in the gallery (the first time I ever got a Fantasize, they were all negative, so I incorrectly extrapolated at the time that the whole point of it was taking a hit on your stats for the sake of eye candy). I agree that's not really worth it in a game that's already so difficult at times.

 

[Cherox]

The single turn statboost cards feel really bad rn. Compared to cards like the Counter Teaching, Gain 4 until end of turn, they just feel kinda bad. I'd suggest making them cheaper or last longer, or even add a second effect to them.

 

[MrBlobby2]

Any idea when the next update might be?

 

[Malshandir]

It is nightmarish. Level 1 all stages easy and then you get level 2 much stronger opponents. I am missing a save button after every stage.