HTML Female Agent [v1.20.1p] [Crushstation]

[menatv]

Wow....in the time it took to post that prose and put up those graphics in that update, he could have written a scene or two from the upcoming Bangkok mission.

And then he goes on saying there really isn't much reason for her to be in Dubai. On that I agree. So why keep messing around with that part of the story? <smh>

Poor guy is like a rudderless ship bouncing around in the midst of a hurricane. Seems like he has no clue where to go from here. I'm not holding my breath for much else happening with this game, unfortunately.

 

[berny]

Hmm ,
don't know what to think about this. I guess it's nice and about time that he realized he can't go on like that and that the game is way too complicated. Accepting that is the only chance this game has if it wants to survive.
Still, I remain skeptical. Talking about it is one thing, actually doing it is another. And even if crush suddenly becomes extremely progress-oriented, it will probably take months or even years until we can see the improvements in the game. Kinda like one of those huge container-ships that take forever to turn.
The development so far has just been too much of a mess to believe in some miraculous change for the better.

 

[prodigy]

So in short. All the features that made people excited and he spend most of time on it will be butchered.
Here it goes it "looks promising". I was saying while back it is pipe dream that he has no idea about future, but he insisted that it is not true that he as all planed out. Right.

 

[Deleted member 2514303]

So in short. All the features that made people excited and he spend most of time on it will be butchered.
Here it goes it "looks promising". I was saying while back it is pipe dream that he has no idea about future, but he insisted that it is not true that he as all planed out. Right.

I mean Bangkok wasn't going to happen with how he approached the game before. He has just admitted it now.
I will refrain from making fun of him for the forseeable future.
Unless he doesn't get anything done again

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

I mean Bangkok wasn't going to happen with how he approached the game before. He has just admitted it now.
I will refrain from making fun of him for the forseeable future.
Unless he doesn't get anything done again

...and even then, he's still looking at reworking Scotland/Dubai. He could leave them as they currently are, not even looking at them, and start writing Bangkok right now. But no, they still need rework so that "the scenes in Bangkok make sense and are coherent". Because I guess putting some kind of disclaimer saying something like this new content only takes into account the character path X is too simple.

 

[Blob]

So tell me if I'm wrong but to me it sounds like what they want to work on for the foreseeable future is only redoing the content that we already have... and the end result will be less content than we have right now?
Cool.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

So tell me if I'm wrong but to me it sounds like what they want to work on for the foreseeable future is only redoing the content that we already have... and the end result will be less content than we have right now?
Cool.

His idea is that the game will have less content for some time, but then it will gain new content at an increased pace than it currently is.

...But then again, that's the same reason he gave for the past 2 or 3 reworks.

 

[littleone]

its all seems just excuse to delay bangkok part

almost 3 years working on avatar , job experience , body type etc . Now he decides its all too much and need to reduce and messy code ?

how long it take to reduce ? 6 months ? 1 year ?

got a feeling next excuse is "code is messy im gonna spend 8 months to rewrite the code so i can deliver better content"

 

[Breezerr]

" I spent the last few weeks working flat out on a turnaround plan."

Really?


"Cut Dubai. Trim the fat out of the Scotland sequence so it runs faster and has more of an impact on the heroine."

How long is he working on this scene? Let it be and got to Bangkok! You can "deactivate" some skills and routes so that they don't have an impact on the game and activate it later.


"Before writing, plan how each scene will impact the plot."

Basic??? So, he doesn’t have an outline of the sorry? WTF


"3 body shapes x 6 bra sizes = minimum 18 hand drawn variants of any top or dress we want to add into the game."
"The reason we haven’t considered doing this before is that it would also require rewriting the avatar code that’s in the game."

You don't paint the art. The art isn't the problem of YOUR slow writing and the endless reworking! You reworked the character. It’s nice but not necessary! Stick with this system, ad 3-5 new outfits and that’s it. Later (in 2 years maybe) you can add new outfits if you want. In the end it’s only a text-based game and the avatar system shouldn't have priority!



The “plan” is to rework again the shit you reworked and reworked and reworked and reworked before? Sorry but that’s bullshit! Start with the fucking Bangkok story and keep the intro as it is!

 

[ScarletCrow]

So basically he listed all the complaints that has ever been made here at some point. All those bad team management, dirty code, too many variations of avatar image, etc.

I'm all for cutting superfluous variation of the backstory tbh. There is not that much difference between backstories anyways. As long as the meat of the game later on still has customizable content, I can live with whatever backstory he wants to advance and which one to cut. There is not that much difference in nationalities, language, etc. And the freaking relationship table that they spent quite some time to tweak also affects ZERO content.

This project really needs a fucking manager, and also a somewhat senior game dev / designer who can help structure his game, including the "game rules" or whatever that he mentions. I feel that it should be a priority. A game needs rules, boundary, objectives, stages and you build the story on top of it. I imagine it'll be pretty hard to go the other way around. Because in a typical game, there is a difficulty escalation. Like, the game should feel gradually more challenging the nearer you are to the end. Unless of course, you just want to develop a VN-style game. Which basically rail-roaded to the end, with some branches and twists in between.

 

[ScarletCrow]

" I spent the last few weeks working flat out on a turnaround plan."

Really?


"Cut Dubai. Trim the fat out of the Scotland sequence so it runs faster and has more of an impact on the heroine."

How long is he working on this scene? Let it be and got to Bangkok! You can "deactivate" some skills and routes so that they don't have an impact on the game and activate it later.


"Before writing, plan how each scene will impact the plot."

Basic??? So, he doesn’t have an outline of the sorry? WTF


"3 body shapes x 6 bra sizes = minimum 18 hand drawn variants of any top or dress we want to add into the game."
"The reason we haven’t considered doing this before is that it would also require rewriting the avatar code that’s in the game."

You don't paint the art. The art isn't the problem of YOUR slow writing and the endless reworking! You reworked the character. It’s nice but not necessary! Stick with this system, ad 3-5 new outfits and that’s it. Later (in 2 years maybe) you can add new outfits if you want. In the end it’s only a text-based game and the avatar system shouldn't have priority!



The “plan” is to rework again the shit you reworked and reworked and reworked and reworked before? Sorry but that’s bullshit! Start with the fucking Bangkok story and keep the intro as it is!

Seems to me that he just realised that although he has some ideas about the game, he doesn't have any clue how to materialize it into a working game. He wants an RPG game, but never finished the fucking rules. To me, it looks like he just doesn't have a clear vision for the game, and just now starting to realize.

And who was it that said about them developing a highly customizable game engine which can be used for future projects as well? That's just BS. He said it himself, the game, the code, the arts, all happened ORGANICALLY. Or in another word, they're just being added ON A WHIM with no long term plan. That's why the scene just HAPPENS, doesn't advance the plot, because there is NO PLOT.

He said the rules are 85% complete. But like, has he even planned about how the actual game will play in Bangkok? How will the game divide the time? Hourly, daily, weekly? How will conflicts (sexy & non-sexy) between characters be resolved? By a dice game, yeah, but how? How much input will the player have in affecting the outcome? I actually cannot imagine how he's going to be able to write a story that won't be scrapped again once it reaches Bangkok, if he doesn't finish all these game play rules.

 

[slkasdjf]

Well, there's a lot of positive things there - though, as others have mentioned, we've heard a lot of it before.

One concern is that the action plan centers around reworking things to make Bangkok easier, but without a prototype of Bangkok, Crush doesn't know what that means. AFAIK, this is the first project of this type Crush has worked on. I've been in the same situation before as a developer. When you try and structure your design around something you've never worked with, you always need to change the design. I think the most healthy thing for development happens to coincide with what we all want - start making Bangkok. Even just a skeleton. He'll have a much better idea of how to change the prologue to suit the mission.

My biggest concern is of course with this line though. "I’m living on takeouts and trucker pills, and getting drunk to tune out the stress." Even if all you care about is the game, the game isn't going to be made if the dev has a breakdown. Crush, if you're reading this, take care of yourself man. If your financial situation allows, consider pausing your patreon and taking a month off. Definitely see about seeing a therapist, or at the very least talk to someone. The internet can be an absolutely shitty place, and feeling like you're in over your head is stressful as fuck. Just know that you have a lot of people behind you.

 

[berny]

Seems to me that he just realised that although he has some ideas about the game, he doesn't have any clue how to materialize it into a working game. He wants an RPG game, but never finished the fucking rules. To me, it looks like he just doesn't have a clear vision for the game, and just now starting to realize.

And who was it that said about them developing a highly customizable game engine which can be used for future projects as well? That's just BS. He said it himself, the game, the code, the arts, all happened ORGANICALLY. Or in another word, they're just being added ON A WHIM with no long term plan. That's why the scene just HAPPENS, doesn't advance the plot, because there is NO PLOT.

He said the rules are 85% complete. But like, has he even planned about how the actual game will play in Bangkok? How will the game divide the time? Hourly, daily, weekly? How will conflicts (sexy & non-sexy) between characters be resolved? By a dice game, yeah, but how? How much input will the player have in affecting the outcome? I actually cannot imagine how he's going to be able to write a story that won't be scrapped again once it reaches Bangkok, if he doesn't finish all these game play rules.

I 100% agree. The more posts and comments from crush I read the more I think that the biggest problem seems to be that he has no real plan for the game as a whole. That would actually explain a lot.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

Well, there's a lot of positive things there - though, as others have mentioned, we've heard a lot of it before.

One concern is that the action plan centers around reworking things to make Bangkok easier, but without a prototype of Bangkok, Crush doesn't know what that means. AFAIK, this is the first project of this type Crush has worked on. I've been in the same situation before as a developer. When you try and structure your design around something you've never worked with, you always need to change the design..

Not to sound confrontational or anything, but this isn't something happens only when you "try and structure a design around something you've never worked with". This is something that happens in every software project, be it a game or a generic TurboSpreadsheetDatabase2000 enterprise software.

Yes, even when Call of Duty gets a(nother) sequel, they'll run into some problems, some things that need to be scrapped off completely and so on and so forth.

Why am I saying this? Because we've also warned Crush of this. We've basically told him "Start Bangkok now, because there are problems with Bangkok that you're not aware yet, and will need redesigning. It happens everytime, and it's okay, but start it now so you find the problems early."

He (and some supporters) still seems to think that once he starts writing Bangkok, there won't be any problems, the gameplay will be perfect, it won't ever feel sluggish, or too fast, or too slow, or some locations might prove impossible to code, or the plethora of issues that can arise but you simply can't know what they are until you see them.

 

[Breezerr]

And the biggest problem with this game is: I don’t know how he will structure Bangkok. when I played it the first time, I thought: fuck that has a big potential and I love it. I wanted to support crush, but I also saw that his plans are a sandbox game when it comes to Bangkok. I usually don’t like sandbox games so I thought I wait some month until he shows how his sandbox concept will be

I still don’t have any clue!

 

[Elli Wölfin]

No idea why I expected anything different. He admits his failures and mistakes, sets plans so that going forward to ensure development will actually happen at a reasonable pace, listens to the suggestions from supporters to make said plan, and the people (most of whom have payed nothing and never will) still complain. It's beyond absurd at this point. He could suddenly release a complete version with absolutely every want and idea implemented and ninety per cent of the comments would be still be whinging about it.

As a separate point, I hope Crush reconsiders the Bangkok section. Obviously I do not have any way of being sure, but it seems likely to me that most of those supporting his project would not be doing so for the hypothetical idea of a sandbox prostitution game. I feel the strength of this is the intelligence-work with a heavily customisable protagonist (what the game already has and shows), and that is largely what's being supported. I personally think it'd be best for the elusive Bangkok portion to retain at least some of the linearity that he and everyone who's played or worked on it is used to. There'd be complaint (not like's that'd be new), obviously, but it'd be a much safer option since everyone already has experience with it, especially Crush, and would keep him from needing to make an entirely new major system.
I may also be unrelatedly biased in that I really dislike the idea of a degrading Bangkok prostitution sandbox while loving (most) of what's already here :/

 

[ScarletCrow]

No idea why I expected anything different. He admits his failures and mistakes, sets plans so that going forward to ensure development will actually happen at a reasonable pace, listens to the suggestions from supporters to make said plan, and the people (most of whom have payed nothing and never will) still complain. It's beyond absurd at this point. He could suddenly release a complete version with absolutely every want and idea implemented and ninety per cent of the comments would be still be whinging about it.

Why do people always have to point out whether the complaints come from a paying Patron or not? A valid complaint is a valid complaint. Don't people think that the "complainers" don't become patrons because well, they have complaints about the game, which sadly, not being addressed by the devs. Not all non-paying players are pirates, thieves, freeloaders, or whatever, like what some "paying" patrons are trying to paint them. They're just as likely to be some "undecided" customers. They might be supporting other devs, and that's why they compare the experience that they got from supporting them with what they got here.

And not to mention that the game is FREE to public, patrons just got to receive some perks. So are the non-paying players not the game's audience? Why put the game out for free in the first place then? They can just slap $30 price tag before anyone can even play it, assuming there is already a working game to sell.

 

[ScarletCrow]

I agree a sandbox game wouldn't be as fun as a story game... but we can sandbox the customization aspects. When the character develops enough kinks and progession through the mission/corruption they can start doing and wearing more risque things. and you can eventually modify a linear story to end up in multiple paths. my only concern with this is (i do want to know ahead of time what path a choice will lead to). i don't have hundreds of hours to explore 10 story lines in a game and chances are i will only play a game 3 times just hitting the paths and content i want to see the most. ideally most content is open in every path and just experienced differently depending on your character, choices, background.

so for knowing what you are choosing, ideal is a mod that tells you, that comes with the game. just turn the mod on, and each choice you make reveals what it does so you can decide what choice to make... or minimally at least a walk-through is released.

anyway so sure, linear story, but no reason it can't be tri-linear, or even quad linear. etc. and lead to multiple kinks etc.

i'm not so sure a sandbox would be that fun. you can mini sandbox different things. but still structure it within a story too.

i've been saying for awhile crush should be taking weekends off, and just relax those days. spend 1 hour on admin on your day off if you feel the need to organize your thoughts etc.

I think we all would like if all the stories are tailor made to each individual player fantasy. But we also got to be realistic about the amount of work needed to accomplish it, whether it's feasible or not with the resources they have. So from the pdf it seems that HE just now realized how much work it would take to accomplish this "vision" of the game. After 2 years of development, and he realised now that the variation of the stories are just too complex for a single writer to COMPREHEND, let alone to write.

I think the patrons has to be kind enough to let go some of the initial ideal image of the game. The man is clearly suffering from trying to deliver on this unrealistic expectation. Just let him cut what needs to be cut. And then start planning the game in Bangkok. I mean, is this even going to be an RPG anymore, or just a VN-style game? Why are all his comments about the stories, game needs a gameplay as well, no? Like, what are we even going to do once the intro is over? Just read more stories?

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

No idea why I expected anything different. He admits his failures and mistakes, sets plans so that going forward to ensure development will actually happen at a reasonable pace, listens to the suggestions from supporters to make said plan, and the people (most of whom have payed nothing and never will) still complain. It's beyond absurd at this point. He could suddenly release a complete version with absolutely every want and idea implemented and ninety per cent of the comments would be still be whinging about it.

But that's the funny thing, he didn't! Everyone has been telling him (for about a year by now) "I like what you have right now, don't worry, just start implementing Bangkok now, we'll see if the intro needs some tuning later." and Crush's response has been "no no, you see, that's not how it works, I need to rework the intro for the 4th time so that Bangkok can happen quickly." And guess what his next plans are, after that long document? Rework the intro, again. Granted, removing content is slightly easier than implementing new content, but that doesn't excuse him.

You can check the Patreon comments if you want, almost everyone is saying the same thing: "I like that you acknowledge your mistakes but please stop thinking about the intro and do Bangkok now".

Maybe you're new here (don't take that as a bad thing, everyone joins at different times), but this is, I believe, the fourth time Crush has said "I need to rework the intro so Bangkok can happen quickly and efficiently."

 

[Arkady]

Well, the good thing is, it was probably better for the RMS Crushtanic to hit this iceberg now than even later. He's finally on the right track with the idea of keeping things simple, though he's clearly reached the point of not seeing the woods for all the trees.

For example, "there’s really no good reason for the heroine to be in Dubai in the first place"? Yes there fucking is. It's a major stopover hub!
"Obviously, MI6 wasn't careless enough to book you on an easily traceable direct flight from LHR to BKK. Rather, your new persona's official story is they got an incredibly good deal on a flight with a two-day stopover that gave them a chance to see the best of Dubai, so here you are."
Problem sólved.

Unfortunately, I don't get the sense Crush truly understands that what he calls "writing long" is simply "doing it right". I swear, if he just fucking started doing that, the community would not generally come in to add much detail, because odds are nobody actually cares about having every random John or johns of other names comment on the MC's theydontgiveashitwhich accent. Because they literally don't give a shit which. They're there to fuck that mouth, not to praise it!

The same holds true for any other backstory detail that isn't actually inextricably linked to sex. And even those don't necessarily warrant more than a short, passing comment, because unless a john has a clear preference for a specific boob size, he'll probably just call them nice regardless. Horny men really are simple creatures, deal with it.

As such, going back and reducing the feature bloat (that some people did warn against literally years back) now probably isn't quite as necessary as Crush makes it out to be. And it's almost certainly not a good idea, as it'd lose him a fair share of patrons that kept supporting the RMS Crushtanic's current course despite it obviously heading for an iceberg. Reducing avatar options is likely going to do enough damage in that regard, considering the dress up doll has been one of the main reasons to support the game for entirely too long. Seriously, don't cut too many text-based things, just stop unnecessarily supporting it all the time. (They still don't give a shit which accent she has.)