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

[Crushstation]

Thanks for digging into the numbers like this Joe Steel, it's very helpful.

This means that any player trying to maximize their chances will always seek the path that gives them the +1 in the most skills, even though that's not how we really live our lives. Going from 0 to 1 in any skill at all, regardless of profession, is overwhelmingly more important than going from 1 to 2 in any skill related to a profession.

In general, I think that's right. Take, um, astronomy as an example. Going from 0 to 1 is a much bigger change than going from 1 to 2.

There's a

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that you may be interested in. This is from the skills section:

Unskilled. A character without any rating in a skill is "Unskilled". If they try and use the skill, they do so at a -4 penalty to their d10 roll. Example: a character with no rating in the "Ride Motorbike" skill has never or hardly ever ridden a motorbike.

Level 0: Rookie. The character has basic familiarity with the skill. Example: a character with Ride Motorbike (0) has enough motorbike experience to pass a motorcycle test. People have this level of skill in their hobbies, their secondary job functions, or professional skills that have gone rusty.

Level +1: Professional. The character has had at least 6 months of practical experience using the skill. Example: a character with Ride Motorbike (+1) has been a biker for at least 6 months. The average person has this rating in the main skills they use to make their living, and in their main hobby.

Level +2: Veteran. The character has extensive practical experience and holds some position of authority or accomplishment based on this skill. Example: a character with Ride Motorbike (+2) might race motorbikes, or be a police motorcyclist, or a civilian instructor. The average manager or instructor has this level of skill.

Level +3: Elite. The highest level of skill a randomly generated NPC might possess. This character is so accomplished that others seek out and accept his advice. Example: a character with Ride Motorbike (+3) might be a champion racer, or a police instructor. Few people reach this level of skill in any discipline.

Level +4 to +7: Expert. NPCs this skillful are too rare to be encountered randomly. They are acknowledged experts in their field and may have written books or appeared on TV about it. Example: a character with Ride Motorbike (+4) or greater could be such an accomplished racer that they appear on sports TV as a pundit.

Level +8 to +10: Legend. Characters at this level are the great talents of their generation and the masters of their field. Examples of characters with Ride Motorbike (+8) or higher: Joey Dunlop, Valentino Rossi.

This problem would not arise if skills just added their level to the die roll and a skill level zero was just one that added nothing.

The reason for the -4 is that someone who actually has training or experience in a task shouldn't just have an incremental advantage over a total novice. Without it, someone with Coordination +1 would be just as good a shot as an agent who'd completed CIA field officer training at Camp Peary; that doesn't seem right.

The problem with "dueling skills," while I like the idea a lot, is that you'd have to establish skills for the target all the time. I'm content with the RNG telling me that the prof was skilled enough to detect the MC's line of bullshit; it doesn't matter to the story whether the MC failed because the prof had a good bullshit detector, or was gay and thus not swayed by the sexy dress, or was just tired of coeds trying to weasel a better grade. If you want to randomize the reason for failure in the outcome report for "flavor" purposes, that would work and would be a lot easier than establishing skill levels for every RNG target.

One of the things I'm trying to capture is the pen-and-paper RPG vibe, so complex skill rolls are a part of that. In general I think the extra effort is probably worth it. If we over-rely on the RNG then the player's choices in crafting their character get devalued.

 

[Archa LUCIFER Morningstar]

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$pc.confidence

thank you very much, much appreciated, truly. Keep up great work, I look foward to how this game evolves and gains depth. Enjoyable concept and work thus far.

 

[leia_simulator]

This has been requested a few times before, so thanks for pushing it back into conversation. I'm certainly not opposed to it if we can make it work; my reservation is that I can't really see how a prudish agent would (a) get picked for this or (b) agree to it? Let me know if you have any thoughts on how we could make that work.

Crushstation perhaps an extremely ambitious agent with high agreeableness who feels that agreeing to this would be the best way to climb the ranks in the organization (or conversely, feels that refusing this would be detrimental to her career). As for how she even got picked for this - I'm not entirely sure.

I guess another way to somewhat proxy this experience is to let the players directly be involved in losing the agent's virginity.

 

[gobbet]

This has been requested a few times before, so thanks for pushing it back into conversation. I'm certainly not opposed to it if we can make it work; my reservation is that I can't really see how a prudish agent would (a) get picked for this or (b) agree to it? Let me know if you have any thoughts on how we could make that work.

Crushstation perhaps an extremely ambitious agent with high agreeableness who feels that agreeing to this would be the best way to climb the ranks in the organization (or conversely, feels that refusing this would be detrimental to her career). As for how she even got picked for this - I'm not entirely sure.

I guess another way to somewhat proxy this experience is to let the players directly be involved in losing the agent's virginity.

I would think the easiest way to deal with why she got picked is to pin it on the psychiatrist. It's already hinted that he may have some ulterior motives for getting her involved. So, in the case of a prudish agent, he wants to see her corrupted for whatever his sinister motive might be (he gets off on the idea? he thinks it's the best way for him to get into her pants?).

As to our affable smuggler's point, he would also be in a position to know just what buttons to push in order to get her to agree to the whole thing.

 

[vince638]

As for how she even got picked for this

The psychologist might just want to get into the PC's pants that bad, and that's a way to get opportunities he'd never get otherwise. Sporting high agreeableness would probably play right into the hypno 'training'.
Crushstation I assume that those sessions only involve heavy petting/groping during the intro, though.
Maybe he's betting on the PC's safe return from Bangkok, with a full set of pro-grade sex skills that he'll partake in a few hours after the last debrief...

(Edit: well, looks like gobbet thought as much)

Which adds one feature request to the already-long list: female psych for bisexual agents y/n?

 

[SymbioticLife]

This has been requested a few times before, so thanks for pushing it back into conversation. I'm certainly not opposed to it if we can make it work; my reservation is that I can't really see how a prudish agent would (a) get picked for this or (b) agree to it? Let me know if you have any thoughts on how we could make that work.

I'm not entirely sure it's realistic the vast majority of non prudish women would agree to go be a prostitute, especially in a shady brothel in a not so safe country. I mean generally women pick prostitution due to lack of choices, sleeping with random men who you have no selection over whatsoever and are in a position of service to is not exactly a dream job. Even porn stars can decline a scene, make more money for their work and takes up less of their time. And even then most women A) Don't want to do porn and B) even those who choose to do it drop out within about 5 years or so of starting it on average from what I've seen.

Basically in short realism is clearly not the primary concern in the first place, prostitution is not a fun job for anybody, some people like stripping, some people like being a porn star, some people even like being a classy escort for high class wheelers and dealers. I haven't heard of anyone genuinely liking being a bottom rung prostitute. It's especially unlikely for a highly intelligent graduate recruited for secret service is going to want to demean themselves that way. So instead of whether or not it's realistic you should be asking is it worth the time to implement.

 

[L7Bear]

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.” - Mark Twain

In reality, the majority of US Porn Actresses are from conservative families - often Mormons from Utah. That probably goes for porn actors as well, but I was never interested enough to look them up.

People tend to assume that porn stars come from broken homes or have a history of sexual abuse, but statistically those percentages are about the same as women in any other industry.

So, it isn't really about "realism" - it is about what fits the narrative.
More importantly, it comes down to "suspension of disbelief," what makes sense to the author's imagination, and what kind of game the Dev wants to make.

That said - the last time I played this game I selected the minimum amount of relationships. After she lost her virginity I think she only had 4 other relationships (and all of them were "oral only") before taking the job. When she got to the first mission in Scotland she kept to oral only. Her handlers got pissed. So, it was on the mission with the ugly guy that she had sex for the first time since losing her virginity. Her handlers loved that. It might not be the same as losing her V-card on mission (although she still hadn't done anal), but it was similar enough for me.

 

[Ripe]

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." - Mark Twain

Is the story realistic? Who cares as long it's a good story.

 

[berny]

OK so we're only so far into the game but so far while I do like it overall, and love the premise, I have to say I have a number of issues with the execution which I'm going to list here. Obviously not everyone will agree, but these are things that annoyed me.

1. This is supposed to be a game where you're a secret agent and yet way too many of the missions are just you randomly going to clubs to sleep with people or do wet T shirt contests, apparently to get ready for your position as a undercover stripper/prostitute. Quite frankly this portion of the game sucks due to how generic it is, it feels like something straight out of newlife and other similar games and doesn't feel "agenty" at all, there are plenty of games where you just sleep with random dudes at clubs or get manipulated by dirty old losers, it's not really anything new. The premise of a sexual agent story is so compelling, but super underused right now, why do I feel like I'm being taken advantage of by nobodies instead of sleeping with politicians for info or having clandestine affairs with other agents maybe even working my way into the confidence of some foreign just to assassinate him and make off with top secret documents. It's just sort of banal? Boring? I mean it's the same stuff I've read a million times before.

2. The university segment was actually one of my favorites, but felt too short and too non descriptive, I apparently had a boyfriend at graduation, but then I apparently dumped him by the time I got a job and I don't recall it ever saying how or why whatsoever. And these sort of time skips where a friend or boyfriend or something will be mentioned one page and then forgotten the next with never a mention again are extremely common during this portion of the game. Somewhat annoying to say the least.

3. Lack of agency. I have some options but quite often I'm streamlined down one path regardless of what I say, with the only thing that changes being slight flavor text if anything at all. I realize more paths = more dev time and for content that some people will never see, but if I'm a special agent I want to be able to get things done in more than one way. By the same token make successes/failures/choices matter more, or else replayability suffers.

4. Sex scenes suck, seriously way too few options, way too little flavor text no personality behind any of it (It'd be nice if guys had at least 5 or so personality subsets that each approached sex and dialogue differently). Again dev time I realize is a factor but even just having a couple more alterations of the extremely short flavor text for some of the sex options would be nice. As of right now it's much like newlife that you just click click click until orgasm. Not exactly very engaging.

5. Get rid of chance to fail. This is suggestion but people are just going to reroll until they get what they want anyway, there should be flat barriers for how much you need to get a certain result based of various stats, and that should be that. Or else people will game the system and get the same result anyway.


Overall I like the game, but the very premise of the game and what it could (and in my opinion should) be is really not there in the way I thought it would be. I don't feel like an agent, not even a slutty one. I feel like just some character from any number of life sims. Make me feel like an agent more please.

Some very good points, I especially agree with the "make me feel like an agent" part.
Another thing I noticed while playing the game is, that your kinks seriously limit your options. IMO this doesn't really fit the narrative as an agent.

Let's take a look at the wet t-shirt contest for example. I was playing an agent whose only kink was "bisexual". I only managed to win the competition by being drunk (I really liked this part, my somewhat reserved agent was having a hard time winning the contest while an exhibitionist would just flash her tits and excite the crowd), that's the kind of roleplaying I can enjoy.
However, when I was asked to the "audition" my options were seriously limited and I had to stop it very early. That's the part where the game lost me. I'm supposed to be this badass agent, but I can't do anything because my kinks don't allow it? Why can't I reluctantly go along because it benefits my mission?
Why not add a "does whatever it takes" kink or something like that that makes me feel more like an agent and not just a slutty woman who enjoys being taken advantage of.

 

[NudeSpades]

I would like there to be options to do the things kinks let you enjoy reluctantly for 'the greater good'. While an exhibitionist will happily flash the crowd, I think there should be an option to reluctantly flash as you believe it would further your goals. Just like having sex with the ugly guy, you may need to do some things that you don't like.

You are a highly trained agent, willing to become a common prostitute to catch a criminal, your obviously willing to sacrifice, I don't think you'd let your lack of enjoyment stop you from completing actions.

 

[Tanzie]

Kinks should not be used as "restrictions" as they currently are throughout the game. They should only help determine whether or not the agent "enjoys" certain sexual acts. Also, as I mentioned some time ago, they should not be treated as permanent, fixed attributes, as one may acquire new kinks and fetishes (or may even lose them) throughout his/her life.

Some of us have also mentioned that the current plot didn't make much sense, as someone who's very intelligent and well educated, no matter how prudish or slutty she is, would not accept such a job, unless she is somehow "tricked" into doing it (which is not what the game currently does). The game has no interest in being "realistic" or making you "feel like an agent", it's just a glorified "exploitation porn" plot and should be treated as such, therefore, you're not doing yourself a favor by not picking up the entire kink package from the start (as well as choosing the sluttiest options where possible). At least for the sake of convenience. You may then decide whether or not you should utilize them in the game if you wanna do some role-playing.

 

[ie2adm]

Uninstalled of course. Grindy as hell, barely customizable, and the actual mission does not even start.

 

[Joe Steel]

I think (or maybe just hope) that the "kink from the start" mechanism (and lots of the other "starting traits") as we currently see them are a placeholder for kinks and traits developed over the course of the game, but agree that said kinks shouldn't determine whether the MC takes an action, but whether she accepts it or feels bad about doing it. Again, this plays into the neurotic stat - does she develop bad thoughts based on what she does, or does she just accept them as the price to be paid. I'd like a mechanism where, the more neurotic the MC gets, the more likely she is to pack it in and lose, but the less neurotic, the more like she is to make a mistake and lose. The player would have to "pick the spots" where they want to make a stand for some self-respecting action and where to go with the flow.

Yeah, at the start of the game, why would the player NOT pick all the fetishes and max the stats, so as to see the most scenes? Rading between the lines, though, I don't think that is the long-term plan for the game.

There are some good ideas in this thread and I think it is great that there is a game where such considerations can be discussed and have at least a chance of being implemented.

 

[torkenstiem]

I guess it would determine whether she kept in touch with the rest of the team but, seems like the MC could get so enveloped in her undercover role, and start believing it to be reality. There could be a situation occur that causes her to lose contact for a certain amount of time, that would push her towards that "fractured reality", especially if she took the hypnotic treatment.

Meh, it sounded better in my head. Now it just sounds like it would eventually lead to a "bad end".

 

[Crushstation]

Uninstalled of course. Grindy as hell, barely customizable, and the actual mission does not even start.

Hey man, sorry you didn't like it.

 

[berny]

Kinks should not be used as "restrictions" as they currently are throughout the game. They should only help determine whether or not the agent "enjoys" certain sexual acts. Also, as I mentioned some time ago, they should not be treated as permanent, fixed attributes, as one may acquire new kinks and fetishes (or may even lose them) throughout his/her life.

Some of us have also mentioned that the current plot didn't make much sense, as someone who's very intelligent and well educated, no matter how prudish or slutty she is, would not accept such a job, unless she is somehow "tricked" into doing it (which is not what the game currently does). The game has no interest in being "realistic" or making you "feel like an agent", it's just a glorified "exploitation porn" plot and should be treated as such, therefore, you're not doing yourself a favor by not picking up the entire kink package from the start (as well as choosing the sluttiest options where possible). At least for the sake of convenience. You may then decide whether or not you should utilize them in the game if you wanna do some role-playing.

While there is definitely some truth to what you're saying, I'm having a hard time believing that the dev would go through all that trouble with the agent setting/backstory etc. just to make a game where the only enjoyable way of playing is to become a full-on slut. I could be wrong though.
As for the "realistic" part. The game doesn't have to be realistic, in fact, most games (adult and non adult) would be pretty boring if they were realistic, but a game should try to be somewhat believable in its universe. So I actually would have no problem believing that a highly intelligent and shy woman would go on this mission because she believes it to be important enough, especially when I as the player can shape her motivations.

However, I would really like to hear Crushstation thoughts on this, he's been pretty quiet during this discussion. After all, he is the only one of us who can shed some light on what the game wants and doesn't want to be.

 

[Crushstation]

Hey berny, thanks for the mention.

Kink Vignettes
My original intent with the Kinks was to try and humanise the heroine by making sure there was something that turned her on, independently of the mission requirements. I felt that it was important for the story to give her some kind of sexual agency from the start.

In version 1.0 every agent had one Kink (randomly determined). The ability to pick your Kink was added in the first update, and the ability to pick more than one Kink was added as a Patreon reward later.

I think the observation that Kinks shouldn't necessarily be the only requirement for choices is good. This is something we've been experimenting with during certain scenes in the game. If you've played through recently, you may have noticed a few decision options that allow this, e.g.:

• (Promiscuous or high Agreeableness) Stay in the bathroom with the guys.
• (Exhibitionist or high Openness to Experience) Okay, you can sign me up.

Additionally, Jakk16's idea that the agent should be able to do things "for the mission" is a good insight. Our plans to introduce a Stress meter could provide a good mechanic for this: if her Stress is low, she has enough emotional capacity to act dispassionately. e.g. imagine the agent being tasked by the boss of the brothel to get on stage for an intense girl/girl floorshow. Her decision options might look something like:

• (Bisexual or low Stress) Sure thing, boss.
• Do I have to?
• No way. Not doing it.

Realism in general
I know it's just a porn story, but it's still a story, and I think that readers can only stay engaged with a story as long as they believe it could happen. In my mind every reader has an internal bullshit meter (tuned to varying degrees of sensitivity) and basically I try to trigger that as rarely and as mildly as possible.

On the specific topic that brought this up – the idea of a virgin in her mid-twenties being selected for this mission of all missions – I'm not saying it's impossible to believe, just that it seems to make it a bit harder to believe at a time when I'm already asking the audience to swallow some bullshit (i.e. that a female intelligence officer might be sent undercover in a brothel), so I feel like it would need really deft handling to insert. Not saying it will never happen, just that there are writing challenges to overcome in order to add it.

 

[Tanzie]

Her decision options might look something like:

• (Bisexual or low Stress) Sure thing, boss.
• Do I have to?
• No way. Not doing it.

Spies, undercover agents etc. have to be able to "lie" and "act" well while under stress. Judging by her dialogue options, your agent does not seem to have the capability to lie or act AT ALL and she seems to react every situation based on her real emotions, sexual preferences etc. There's NO WAY someone like her can be tasked with such a mission and expected to be successful. If you really want to add the possibility to "slip up" sometimes due to excessive "stress", you must also add the background story that leads to that situation. Kinks, sexual preferences or other personal traits should not even be included in casual dialogue options for someone working undercover, unless there's a specific situation that demands her to expose her true identity, either voluntarily or by mistake.

If you've played through recently, you may have noticed a few decision options that allow this, e.g.:

• (Promiscuous or high Agreeableness) Stay in the bathroom with the guys.
• (Exhibitionist or high Openness to Experience) Okay, you can sign me up.

Everyone should be able to pick either of these options no matter what their "kinks" or personal traits are. One indeed CAN pick any of these options, as neither of them actually demands a particular skill that one may or may not have, in order to "succeed". The only difference should be how much sexual arousal they get out of it. Also, is one really born as promiscuous or exhibitionist etc., or do people pick up these traits along the way? I think it's the latter and your approach explicitly prevents that to happen.

The design of your game suggests that you want players to gradually "build" a character from scratch, rather than creating an existing one. But forcing people to pick up kinks and traits for the character right from the beginning goes against that kind of design.

 

[Crushstation]

Spies, undercover agents etc. have to be able to "lie" and "act" well while under stress...

Yes, good point Tanzie. They also crack under the pressure, and this is something I want to simulate. My thinking is that when the agent is highly stressed she *is* emotional and at risk of losing her composure.

Kinks, sexual preferences or other personal traits should not even be included in casual dialogue options for someone working undercover, unless there's a specific situation that demands her to expose her true identity, either voluntarily or by mistake.

Hmmm, this is interesting! I think my assumption is that when operating undercover, you'd want to create as few fake details as possible. (e.g. I don't think there's any point in an agent who is Bisexual to pretend that she Likes Rough Sex, or an agent who grew up in New York to pretend she grew up in Alabama.) But do you think it would be more realistic for her to try and reveal nothing real about herself?

• (Promiscuous or high Agreeableness) Stay in the bathroom with the guys.
• (Exhibitionist or high Openness to Experience) Okay, you can sign me up.

Everyone should be able to pick either of these options no matter what their "kinks" or personal traits are. One indeed CAN pick any of these options, as neither of them actually demands a particular skill that one may or may not have, in order to "succeed". The only difference should be how much sexual arousal they get out of it.

Those examples are from the Lifepath, but I tend to agree in general that the agent should be able to do things that don't turn her on during the mission. (After all, she didn't accept the mission because she has the Prostitute kink.)

Also, is one really born as promiscuous or exhibitionist etc., or do people pick up these traits along the way? I think it's the latter and your approach explicitly prevents that to happen.

The design of your game suggests that you want players to gradually "build" a character from scratch, rather than creating an existing one. But forcing people to pick up kinks and traits for the character right from the beginning goes against that kind of design.

Yeah I think that people pick up their kinks and fetishes through life experiences in reality. I believe that many are formed during childhood, though, and I really don't want to write about kids developing kinks.

 

[AnyName'llDo]

A text-based erotic game? Can I really enjoy this? Put it off, put it off. Finally try it, and play for hours straight. Yes, yes, I definitely can. What little bit of character graphics there are help, too. Well done so far.