HTML Deep in Hollywood Inc. [v0.20] [Ulysses Games]

[riadhloch]

Also, if you want to do any sleuthing into the code behind the game to understand why the mechanics work the way they do, you can also open up the .html file in an editor like NotePad++ and search around within it.

For example, multiple players have complained that they don't seem to be able to access all the content in the game so far, and that's because of gating variables set by the dev that simply can't be reached yet. Let's look at the first time a player can visit the church. Their character will likely be unable to see all the content because their stats are not high enough.

In the code, this looks like:

‘Like this, Father?’

‘Are you teasing me, my child? More.’

<<if $exhibition > $flash_tits and $submissive >1

Meaning that the exhibition stat must be greater than the flash_tits variable hard coded value, and submissive must be greater than one (1).

Further down within the code, we can find the flash_tits value, along with others.

/* Flashing */

<<set $flash_bra = 14>>
<<set $flash_panties = 29>>
<<set $flash_tits = 34>>
<<set $flash_pussy = 49>>

What this means is that to access all flashing related content, the player will likely need an exhibition stat of 50 or more, which is not currently possible in the game as it is, unless I'm mistaken.

So, unless you're willing to edit/cheat the values for exhibition, depravity, submission, etc. stats (and even some of the NPC _rel values), you as a player may be banging your head against a wall trying to access everything.

 

[riadhloch]

On the topic of code and content, I can see that there is code for sexual encounters with the night club bouncer (Mr. D) and even related images as part of the download package, but darned if I can't figure out yet how to access them in the game proper.

There are references to them in a variety of places in the code so it's a bit of spaghetti understanding the logic.

 

[Torp]

How to increase or cheating characteristics?

The "game+" menu item is missing. It’s impossible to get exb >6 to a clothing store.

 

[Candy1970]

a quick cheat file to save you some grind i went into the story innit and edited the parameters
exhibition 50 depravity 50 money 1000 etc View attachment Deep in Hollywood Inc. v0.18 cfix.zip
just replace the current HTML file with this file and it should all work

 

[Torp]

a quick cheat file to save you some grind i went into the story innit and edited the parameters
exhibition 50 depravity 50 money 1000 etc View attachment 3441388
just replace the current HTML file with this file and it should all work

Tnx

 

[K3nzi3]

any compress?

 

[Tiegez]

Also, if you want to do any sleuthing into the code behind the game to understand why the mechanics work the way they do, you can also open up the .html file in an editor like NotePad++ and search around within it.

For example, multiple players have complained that they don't seem to be able to access all the content in the game so far, and that's because of gating variables set by the dev that simply can't be reached yet. Let's look at the first time a player can visit the church. Their character will likely be unable to see all the content because their stats are not high enough.

In the code, this looks like:

‘Like this, Father?’

‘Are you teasing me, my child? More.’

<<if $exhibition > $flash_tits and $submissive >1

Meaning that the exhibition stat must be greater than the flash_tits variable hard coded value, and submissive must be greater than one (1).

Further down within the code, we can find the flash_tits value, along with others.

/* Flashing */

<<set $flash_bra = 14>>
<<set $flash_panties = 29>>
<<set $flash_tits = 34>>
<<set $flash_pussy = 49>>

What this means is that to access all flashing related content, the player will likely need an exhibition stat of 50 or more, which is not currently possible in the game as it is, unless I'm mistaken.

So, unless you're willing to edit/cheat the values for exhibition, depravity, submission, etc. stats (and even some of the NPC _rel values), you as a player may be banging your head against a wall trying to access everything.

it feels like the values are chosen for it to be a sandboxey open-ended game, so that you can progressively unlock these things. but then the game ends on day 3 before you can unlock a load of it..

 

[DrDerpington]

1 year, as much a content as the average 0.1 HTML scam.

Where are these 5 star reviews coming from?

1.) Every oppinion is subjective. What you might find borind, other people might find amusing.
For example I had really good laugh at the game. It is funny. It is sarcastic. It is a decent parody. It is also a hot.

 

[LordD99]

the stat requirement to trigger some scene is too high. I have 20+ stat for some of them but i still can't see the scene. I try new games three times in current version but it is hard to get all stat above or reach 20 or more. Is there a way to by pass this with cheat or something? Thanks..

 

[Candy1970]

the stat requirement to trigger some scene is too high. I have 20+ stat for some of them but i still can't see the scene. I try new games three times in current version but it is hard to get all stat above or reach 20 or more. Is there a way to by pass this with cheat or something? Thanks..

post #362 i made a cheat HTML exhibition 50 depravity 50 money 1000 etc
using twine I found the story init file and changed the starting values if you download it and replace the HTML file in the game folder with the one I made the cheats will take effect

 

[SagiriChan]

Which would be the difference between having Captain Howard respect low or high?

 

[Candy1970]

Which would be the difference between having Captain Howard respect low or high?

the relationship respect is its own value and so far does not do much to change the outcome of the game
If he has low respect he currently just chews your ass more .....and you see more of the comedy side

 

[Joe Steel]

Just played the latest, and it is still as fun as before (once I cheated my way to enough score to see the bulk of the scenes). I understand the fact that the game is in early days and so stats can't get all that high yet, so we will see more later for most scenes, but that doesn't hold true for some, like the initial robbery or visiting Longfingers (love the play on Littlefinger). In those one-offs, if you don't get lucky enough to have high stats when the scenes start, you'll never see most of the good parts of those scenes.

I'm just going to believe that all of those issues will be smoothed out as the game balance is adjusted. Overall, this remains one of my favorite games here for both the sexy and the funny bits. You've got a winner here, Ulysses.

 

[LarryButz]

When's the next update?

 

[SagiriChan]

Are there supposed to be paths or do I just have to play in some precise way? Because it says "Exhibitionism and/or submission" but even having only played submission and Exhibitionism I cant pass the check.

 

[169134]

Are there supposed to be paths or do I just have to play in some precise way? Because it says "Exhibitionism and/or submission" but even having only played submission and Exhibitionism I cant pass the check.

The church is a repeating event that keeps unloking as your stats increase, same as the TV news and such.

 

[FromLv]

From game file :
<<set $flash_bra = 14>>
<<set $flash_panties = 29>>
<<set $flash_tits = 34>>
<<set $flash_pussy = 49>>

Those are the Exhibitionism values you need for certain actions. Flashing tits requires 34 and it is impossible to get that stat as of yet. You can change the values in game file or wait for next versions of game. In this version for example it is possible to "legally" get 22 exhibitionism and do the photo shoot that was impossible in previous version of the game.

 

[Ulysses Games]

This game has a surprising amount of tongue in cheek humor. Looking forward to future updates!

EDIT: There are two glaring problems I have with this game though:

1. If the player fails a check, please tell them the target number they need to reach to succeed at that check. Otherwise they'll keep coming back again and again only to be disappointed, and that will drain their excitement and enthusiasm. No one likes to fail without knowing a goal target to reach for eventual success. Arbitrary goals make no one happy.

2. There are events or choices gated by delaying a reply, and no indication that the player should delay to see if something more could happen. It can be inferred from the text in some cases but not all. If I may, I'd recommend some sort of icon on these pages to indicate that something more could happen if the player waits. Otherwise, it's frustrating having to wait on every screen for an arbitrary amount of time to see if there are other choices the player can follow. That kind of unpredictability can be fun in a few cases, but not for every single decision; what should be excitement quickly becomes tedium instead.

Balancing the stats requirement is proving to be a bit challenging and I agree it needs tunning, and I am working on the problem that this does not become an potential lock, as somebody insightfully mentioned.

My goal with the game is that choices matter, scenes are available or not according to these, etc. For example: according to what you told Long Fingers the first time you met him in the Hideout, then the scene with him at the club changes; if you don’t see the van picture early on that means you have missed an investigation opportunity, and you won’t meet Pat in this update but the next… PLus there are random events, just as the poster and church images change randomly every day.

For me it seemed logical that Allie wouldn’t go from naïve to do crazy sexual stuff in 4 days, and when the checks are failed it is either because it was possible to get there playing normally or because it is a repetitive scenario and will be in the future (you just have to play as you think it is best and see where you are heading to!), because yes, the game is a mix of a progressive story that moves on every day with elements of sandbox. I should explain this better in the intro and perhaps you are right and I’m thinking of eliminating those not possible to achieve yet to avoid frustrating people, as that has never been my intention.

And for the time sensitive events, I’ll check the text to see if it can be a bit clearer.

Thank you for playing!

BTW, if anybody cheats and go into options not possible yet, they might enter unexplored territory and the game might break.

 

[riadhloch]

Thank you for the patient reply. There have been some tough words in this thread and it speaks to your composure and integrity as a game developer that you read them and even replied without losing your cool.

If I may offer some more constructive criticism? I do respect that ultimately this is your creative vision and your project, not mine, and it's your satisfaction that must first be achieved, not mine. Otherwise, game development can become a chore or burden, rather than a rewarding indulgence or goal to pursue.

But I digress.

Regarding failing stat checks, I'd advise the following in any combination (i.e. use one, several, or none if you have other plans):

1. If a player is going to fail a check, tell them the target number they needed to reach to succeed. It won't hurt anything and will help players inform their replay decisions when pursuing specific gated dialogue or scenarios.

2. If they're going to fail and there was never any chance for them to succeed normally, modify the failure text or provide some other indicator so they know this isn't the last time they'll be able to attempt that check.

If it's a singular test that will never come again, then #1 is kind of essential as well as some sort of clear indication that this is a big decision. You could color code it, even. I appreciate that method is not as diegetic as interpreting your prose, but I'm afraid subtle textual cues are not as forgiving as subtle visual cues. like how in an action-adventure game devs often make the proper path out of a cave a better lit than other paths.​

3. Reduce the number of early failed stat checks and instead make those checks progressively more prevalent over time as player choices organically and emergently direct their Allie down one path or another. Running into several of them in the first couple days is arguably a little jarring and doesn't necessarily ease the player into them, even with a fun disclaimer in the beginning. Players reading a thing and experiencing a thing can be quite different.


Regarding quicktime events (QTE), this is where it gets a little trickier given the fluidity of your strategy in implementing them.

To clarify, in most contemporary games, QTEs are used to challenge and punish players. Smash the button as quickly as they can, or they will miss an opportunity of one kind or another. Uncharted, Arkham Aslyum, Lara Croft, Shenmue, even the OG Dragon's Lair -- for all of these, failing a QTE is bad. But that's not the case with Deep in Hollywood.

In this game, failing a QTE is just as often good. In fact, I think that depending on the player's desired path for Allie, failing QTEs is actually better than trying to beat them. The challenge is again one of transparency.

- Players don't know that they're in a QTE, nor do they know how long they have to wait for the QTE if they figure out there might be one.

- Players don't know if they should satisfy the QTE, or let it expire.

This isn't an easy problem to solve given the fluidity of your design choices for QTEs -- few UI/UX design challenges are -- but it isn't an insurmountable one either.

One possible solution is to simply provide a timer bar or spinner that appears and reduces. This demonstrates the presence of the QTE as well as how much time the player has to make a decision.

As for whether they should let that QTE expire or not, it might be possible to inform the player by again using color-coding or icons. There are Accessibility concerns with color-coding, but even so there are advantages. For example, at the moment, Exhibition, Depravity, Law, Masochism, and Submission all have icons, but they could also have colors.

If these stats did have colors too, then when a QTE occurs, if using a timer bar, that bar could be given a matching color to what kind of stat decision was being decided -- if applicable to the situation, assuming a stat change would occur or a path linked to a stat would be affected. Or, be even more blatant and slap the stat icon at one end of the timer bar, or even an icon and the color (satisfying Accessibility concerns).

It's then up to the player re-read the existing text and try to determine whether they want to fail or not.

If there is no stat consequence, then an icon or color for the timer may not be necessary, and while the player still knows that there is a QTE event, they'll understand the difference.

 

[gzpepco]

what use of the "respect of the law"? any influence？