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

[ffive]

After all, you can defend the progress of a thing that has made no apparent progress for over a year.

You should check the Summertime Saga thread one day, and be amazed.

 

[Senor Smut]

I always approach this game as something that you check in on every 6 months at minimum and play every 18-24 months....

To the point it seems to me avatar enhancements have caused the delay. Adding the previous lifepath with a fast forward button would be 6 months in Crush timing. But CS has the perfectionism issue and keeps getting ideas, which include going back to ideas that caused problems previously. Problem wiith things like avatar is they look great, but artwork takes time and it means the coding for each passage gets longer. I suspect that CS moves onto something else because he gets bored with what he is currently doing or can't keep the motivation for sustained scene writing (i.e. goes back to design work)

Crush's brief for this update included:

• Creating the entire lifepath system
• Customizing the lifepath for each of the five nationalities in the game
• Using the lifepath to generate meanings for all the stats he'd introduced over the years that have thus far meant nothing
• Going back through the ENTIRETY of the current content of the game and essentially rewriting many scenes to provide multiple alternate versions that show what failures and successes in the skill rolls mean, as well as takes into account the various fetishes that that have thus far been little more than window dressing
• Creating an entirely new dynamic sex system that calls on skill checks and provides variant scenes and scene lengths, again based on sex skill checks and fetishes.

That would be at least six months for a competent, honest, diligent indie dev. For Crush...well, he might never finish that work.

And to be clear, what he promised for a Christmas release a few months back was not the full update, but rather a sample scene to show how his new sex system worked and how "hot" it was. He failed to deliver even that small amount. It's entirely possible that Victoria is having issues with the paper doll, but to all appearances they are dwarfed by Crush's inability/unwillingness to do any work.

Even if he does somehow manage to finish the above before the sun turns into a dead, cold cinder, the additional complexity he's created for himself going forward means that his progress [sic] will be slowed even from his normal glacial pace to something that will only be detectable on a geological timescale.

 

[k3069568]

Can't we just report it as a scam on patreon? Or are we reinventing hot water every time?

 

[boobthief]

Can't we just report it as a scam on patreon? Or are we reinventing hot water every time?

Do it or don't. How much money have you lost? Thousands or nothing?

If the answer is "nothing, I lost nothing but I'm still angry" then you paid nothing and got a lot so please go and harness your energy into something, anything creative.

 

[ffive]

Can't we just report it as a scam on patreon? Or are we reinventing hot water every time?

Why would you want to deprive us of the entertainment this thread provides?

 

[boobthief]

Crush's brief for this update included:

• Creating the entire lifepath system
• Customizing the lifepath for each of the five nationalities in the game
• Using the lifepath to generate meanings for all the stats he'd introduced over the years that have thus far meant nothing
• Going back through the ENTIRETY of the current content of the game and essentially rewriting many scenes to provide multiple alternate versions that show what failures and successes in the skill rolls mean, as well as takes into account the various fetishes that that have thus far been little more than window dressing
• Creating an entirely new dynamic sex system that calls on skill checks and provides variant scenes and scene lengths, again based on sex skill checks and fetishes.

That would be at least six months for a competent, honest, diligent indie dev. For Crush...well, he might never finish that work.

And to be clear, what he promised for a Christmas release a few months back was not the full update, but rather a sample scene to show how his new sex system worked and how "hot" it was. He failed to deliver even that small amount. It's entirely possible that Victoria is having issues with the paper doll, but to all appearances they are dwarfed by Crush's inability/unwillingness to do any work.

Even if he does somehow manage to finish the above before the sun turns into a dead, cold cinder, the additional complexity he's created for himself going forward means that his progress [sic] will be slowed even from his normal glacial pace to something that will only be detectable on a geological timescale.

Admit you love their work.

QED.

We both think the developer is suffering problems. We both hope they succeed but you want to pretend you can do better. And you coulda woulda shoulda but... your reasons you can't make a better game... just sound even less convincing two years later.

Put up or shut up time: make your better game.

 

[Vibesy]

Can't we just report it as a scam on patreon? Or are we reinventing hot water every time?

Patreon is more than happy to take a cut from scams like FA. What's sad, though, is that F95 contributes by driving substantial traffic to FA's donor pages.

At the very least, the Female Agent thread should have a permanent ON HOLD tag or some other warning for noobs who might be tempted to donate.

 

[Senor Smut]

Patreon is more than happy to take a cut from scams like FA. What's sad, though, is that F95 contributes by driving substantial traffic to FA's donor pages.

At the very least, the Female Agent thread should have a permanent ON HOLD tag or some other warning for noobs who might be tempted to donate.

I am unclear about why a game that has had no updates for as long as this one does not have the ABANDONED tag.

 

[Dracis3D]

Crush's brief for this update included...... (see full message)

Ah ok, that is 2 years work at Crush speed. I rarely read all the updates anymore. A 'newlife' style sex scene has always been his goal but setting up more linear scenes is more his skillset.

I said it before, literally years ago in this thread, but this is actually good news because we have reached the "all the work while crying" stage of the creative process.

I was quite heavily involved in the first version of the game, with the first life path with the Five Eyes nations and the seemingly never ending 'Lioness' missions. At the time planning for Bangkok was well underway and a new sex system was being tested when 'Make Female Agent Great Again' came out -

You must be registered to see the links

Crush has been through your cycle before, I wouldn't say this is great news, just news. I personally don't think Crush will fix the delivery issues, but my view is I'll just read/enjoy what is produced.

 

[ffive]

I am unclear about why a game that has had no updates for as long as this one does not have the ABANDONED tag.

It's per forum rules:

Abandoned: used in the following cases:

• The developer states that the development has been permanently suspended.
• After 3 months of inactivity from the developer's public creator/crowdfunding accounts (Patreon, SS, etc), we will resolve special circumstances or scenarios on a case-by-case basis (no creator accounts, creators developing for free, Patreon accounts under review/ban).
• No game update has been released for an abnormally long period of time (>18 months).
• Game threads that are marked On-hold for over 6 months with no game update.

18 months with no updates or 3 months of radio silence is a rule of thumb. This one isn't there. (yet)

 

[boobthief]

Crush has been through your cycle before, I wouldn't say this is great news, just news. I personally don't think Crush will fix the delivery issues, but my view is I'll just read/enjoy what is produced.

I feel bad for the developer, genuinely, I do. They created a really successful game. So successful, that months after their last half release, we are still here discussing their game.

People care so much that they support financially for months without demonstrable progress.

People care too much that they try to punish the developer here, which is really impotent.

This is the same old release cycle: months of hype (longer each cycle), then silence, mental anguish and a tortured release.

But their updates have always been good enough to keep you, everyone else (especially the haters), coming back to post for months after.

Maybe it's "the one that got away" myth. Just can't let it go.

 

[voerman]

I'm just here for the pop corn.
Didn't read the last update (play would mean there was gameplay).
I'd be interested in reading a final version, but I doubt it will happen.

 

[boobthief]

I'm just here for the pop corn.
Didn't read the last update (play would mean there was gameplay).
I'd be interested in reading a final version, but I doubt it will happen.

Probably push an update just after billing cycle in late January. Something, something beta test feedback, pretty picture. Then slack for six months before a summer release about the game mechanics to roll D20 for THAC0 bed sheets (+3 silky feel, -4 shit stains) leading to a sexy flowchart for (bad luck, you ejaculated on your curtains and fell out of the window) sex.

Return to Bangkok in mid 2027 when patreons get bored. No, really.

 

[voerman]

bad luck, you ejaculated on your curtains and fell out of the window

That's what happens when you roll a 1 and your DM believes in critical fumbles.

 

[D4n0w4r]

Probably push an update just after billing cycle in late January. Something, something beta test feedback, pretty picture. Then slack for six months before a summer release about the game mechanics to roll D20 for THAC0 bed sheets (+3 silky feel, -4 shit stains) leading to a sexy flowchart for (bad luck, you ejaculated on your curtains and fell out of the window) sex.

Return to Bangkok in mid 2027 when patreons get bored. No, really.

This just makes me wish for a Disco Elysium-style h-game, botching every skill check and still making it to the end somehow.

 

[ffive]

That's what happens when you roll a 1 and your DM believes in critical fumbles.

This brings up a question, would MC getting pregnant be tied to critical fumble, or critical success.

 

[aifgamer]

Doing my annual check-in here and the funniest thing remains that when it started development in 2017, the game name-checked ISIS as the big bad guy's org. But the game development actually outlasted ISIS and the dev removed that reference by 2020-21 -- now it's stayed in development so long that ISIS is back in the news again.

At this rate the game development might outlast the US/UK alliance.

 

[Sharpx23]

this game will outlast putin

 

[complication77]

This is maybe the best html game I've played here, and it's abandoned.

Author is extremely smart and I hope he doesn't give up.

 

[Prawnstar69]

Admit you love their work.

QED.

We both think the developer is suffering problems. We both hope they succeed but you want to pretend you can do better. And you coulda woulda shoulda but... your reasons you can't make a better game... just sound even less convincing two years later.

Put up or shut up time: make your better game.

Admit you love their work.

QED.

We both think the developer is suffering problems. We both hope they succeed but you want to pretend you can do better. And you coulda woulda shoulda but... your reasons you can't make a better game... just sound even less convincing two years later.

Put up or shut up time: make your better game.

Bip bop bip bip boooop

Of course, we love FA so we are all wasting time discussing it!

But can we agree, rebooting development every four years, minimal progress despite promises, and reintroducing old features after removing them for 'speed' raises serious questions. This pattern, especially from a former project manager, is concerning.

Creating a game, even a text-based one, isn't just about capability; it requires resources, time, and financial stability. Most critics don't have a steady income stream to fund years of development, but Crush DOES have a decent income which he claims he's using to work full time on this (his words, not mine)

Criticism isn't about personal ability, it's about accountability. Asking supporters to be patient for nearly eight years with little progress and poor communication is frustrating. It's fair to expect professionalism and transparency, especially when financial support is involved. Catch-22: if there was steady progress, these critics would probably be Patreons eh?

How's this for helpful? Write the full CYOA since Twine is built for that; later you can go back and tweak engine and graphics etc till kingdom come. Can we agree this should be doable, working full time on one game for 10 years? See you all in 2027 then, so we'll know for sure whether this was a long drawn scam or not.

In the end, it's about fairness. Everyone deserves to know where their money is going and see tangible results. That's not unreasonable.