- Oct 23, 2016
- 4,422
- 13,215
It depends on whether you play games just for the porn or not.
If not, there's a lot to enjoy in General Practitioner.
- Thread starter 7767
- Start date
If not, there's a lot to enjoy in General Practitioner.
- Jul 10, 2018
- 913
- 2,403
The latest version (0.19) is the first time I've tried this game, so I can't speak to the history of bugs and/or how quickly they get fixed. What I can say though is that this version has been effectively unplayable due to the insanely high amount of bugs and errors, and is without doubt one of the most frustrating game experiences I've ever had.
Frequently the report on my examination says that I didn't perform a test that I absolutely did, and even going back to do it again it still insists it wasn't done, docking you the points and money erroneously. At other times, you get penalized for not performing a test that wasn't even available in the interface, which has been as simple as checking extremities. With the examinations being such a central and core part of the game, this is a big deal, and spoils the entire experience.
Unfortunately, without the exam and diagnosis elements being reliable, there is simply no purpose to the game at all. The graphics are of exceptionally low quality, with low quality models in ultra-low quality renders and terrible lighting. The UI is simple and barely functional, especially in the examination scenes, where it is often exceptionally and unnecessarily difficult to even find an option, and then harder still to click it. There is no consistency to the UI of examinations, the central function of the game.
Game mechanics themselves are also frustrating for little if any good reason. For example, it is impossible to speak to family or a live in girlfriend either before or over breakfast without deciding to skip all other actions for the entire morning, including work. You'll also find that you are the only human being in the world who can't take a lunch break without losing the entire afternoon. This limitation feels so incredibly forced and unnatural, especially in 'Story Mode' where relationships and interactions ought to be the major focus of the game, that it just feels like a very clumsy trick to space out the game over more days with less content.
The core concept of a medical game where your skills as a doctor, and your ability to accurately examine and assess patients is core to building your reputation, is a very novel and good idea. Unfortunately, this game does not realise that concept well at all and seems to have chosen to effectively throw it away on very poor graphics, mechanics, and coding.
I honestly struggle to rate the game in its current version at 1/10, so even a 1 star rating of 5 is actually rating it too highly. If the developer were to find someone who actually knows about graphics and rendering, or took the time to learn how to do it to even a reasonable amateur level then it would double the quality of the game. The bugs need to be caught earlier, in more rigorous alpha testing, especially any related to the functionality of the examinations (which is supposedly a stand-alone function of the game). The UI would be bearable if it simply had consistency.
Frequently the report on my examination says that I didn't perform a test that I absolutely did, and even going back to do it again it still insists it wasn't done, docking you the points and money erroneously. At other times, you get penalized for not performing a test that wasn't even available in the interface, which has been as simple as checking extremities. With the examinations being such a central and core part of the game, this is a big deal, and spoils the entire experience.
Unfortunately, without the exam and diagnosis elements being reliable, there is simply no purpose to the game at all. The graphics are of exceptionally low quality, with low quality models in ultra-low quality renders and terrible lighting. The UI is simple and barely functional, especially in the examination scenes, where it is often exceptionally and unnecessarily difficult to even find an option, and then harder still to click it. There is no consistency to the UI of examinations, the central function of the game.
Game mechanics themselves are also frustrating for little if any good reason. For example, it is impossible to speak to family or a live in girlfriend either before or over breakfast without deciding to skip all other actions for the entire morning, including work. You'll also find that you are the only human being in the world who can't take a lunch break without losing the entire afternoon. This limitation feels so incredibly forced and unnatural, especially in 'Story Mode' where relationships and interactions ought to be the major focus of the game, that it just feels like a very clumsy trick to space out the game over more days with less content.
The core concept of a medical game where your skills as a doctor, and your ability to accurately examine and assess patients is core to building your reputation, is a very novel and good idea. Unfortunately, this game does not realise that concept well at all and seems to have chosen to effectively throw it away on very poor graphics, mechanics, and coding.
I honestly struggle to rate the game in its current version at 1/10, so even a 1 star rating of 5 is actually rating it too highly. If the developer were to find someone who actually knows about graphics and rendering, or took the time to learn how to do it to even a reasonable amateur level then it would double the quality of the game. The bugs need to be caught earlier, in more rigorous alpha testing, especially any related to the functionality of the examinations (which is supposedly a stand-alone function of the game). The UI would be bearable if it simply had consistency.
- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
- 2,108
Which version have you downloaded? It might help me understand the issue.
Let me tell you a few things about your feedback, which I both appreciated and not understand.
It's quite obvious you haven't been following the development of the game, else you'd know that the examination review has been introduced a few days ago for the first time and it required me to basically re-write parts of every examination in the game, making it 50 different exams. It might happen that I miss a few things since there are about 600 (six hundred) different examinations procedure in the whole game.
I shall explain this in a more understandable way with a list:
- The game is more than 40 hours long in gameplay, including every choice in every exam in every possible combination this rate could increase to up to 80+ hours. Since the game is in alpha and I work alone it's impossible for me to re-play everything (including every different combination of choices) each month. So it might happen that (a few) bugs might arise.
- Unplayable is a strong word. Unplayable is something that keep crashing no matter what you do and where you have no progression at all. I haven't seen a single report of bugs that made the game unplayable, the only ones being related to a leaked release that's missing something (or has .rpy source files that shouldn't be there) and of which I'm not responsible for.
- The few bugs that have been reported (and fixed) were not game-breaking, they only made the game less balanced. Blizzard is struggling to balance World of Warcraft after 15 years and they have hundreds of people working on it since. Allow me to have some variables slightly unbalanced after 18 months of development and a full year still to go.
- Graphics resolution is 1280*720, because most Visual Novels are 1280*720. That's because it's pointless to have UltraHD renders for static images which aren't so lacking in polygons. Most VN still are 1280*720, especially in Japan, and no one complains. Still, my next project will be 1920*1080, but there's not really a need for that other that my own choice.
- Graphics isn't very good sometimes. I acknowledge that but then again i still lack proper equipment (read: a very powerful PC) to do it myself. I rely on Iray remote servers and when there's plenty of characters and models in the designer it gets laggy as hell. Thanks to Steam support (and Patreon's of course) I'll be able to buy a new PC next month or so, and a full graphic review is planned before Beta hits shelves. Just like I did for the doctor's character, passed on Genesis 8 from Genesis 2 model.
- This game IS in alpha testing. It's an early access and unless people want to stir trouble they know fairly well what an Early Access / Alpha test is. I wrote "ALPHA RELEASE" anywhere within the game to remember people about the nature of the game. I am not selling a polished, final product, neither I advertise it as such. But oh well, there are 1790 people paying Dark Silver to release almost nothing since he abandoned Big Brother for childish reasons, so who am I to judge?
- Who supports a game this early in development usually follows devlogs, that are weekly (sometimes three times a week even) and complete. In one of the latest devlogs I wrote about a full restyle of the Examination's User Interface which is lacking even in my opinion but still serves the game well. I re-made the user interface all around and the work is still in progress.
- Coding is also improving, since I'm learning more and more about Ren'Py every day and newer updates are also coded better. I also take a few steps back and re-code all part of the game which are missing important features, but this is hardly noticeable in the final game and usually doesn't affect gameplay at all. Coding should not worry the player, unless it means crashes, lag or anything like that in my opinion.
- About actions to do during the day, you're perfectly right and that's a feature I'm going to expand in a few months from now. However the game has 365 days where you can do things. Having 3 actions per day to perform is having 1095 differnet actions to gain points, speak to people, go to work etc. and I think it's good enough to enjoy the full experience. If I added, let's say, 2 actions for each timeframe we'd have 2190 actions to perform. My fear about this is to lose the pace (which is very easy even in the game's current state) and bore the player. In Persona 5 you can only perform one action per time period (not including visiting the shops), and Persona 5 doesn't last a full year in-game
Oh and there's also the point where you haven't spent a penny on the game either, so this won't add to your frustration I think. Steam offers the ability to refund the game, some people already used it. I even offered refunds on Patreon for whoever asked me about them (3-4 people in 18 months).
I'll do my best to convince every player, including the most skeptical, to give GP and Bruni Multimedia's future projects a chance now or in the future. When I'm not able to I still am proud of what I achieved until now, because I put all the effort and care I could and I made someone happy for a few hours, which is the most important thing in the entertainment industry as a whole.
And I know that General Practitioner, even with all its issues, is worth more than 0.5 stars. Maybe not 5, maybe just 1, but no less. Of that I'm quite certain
- Mar 1, 2018
- 140
- 394
"Normal" (not compressed) 0.19Alpha... Also I applied every fix you put in this thread for current version.If it means something here is the save game when this happens (click on Seattle hospital)
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- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
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Fix #5, already tested by @GaveMyHeartAway in private, is available here.
I updated Patreon's links as well
Tomorrow 0.0.19 will be out for $3 patrons, consider a tip if you wish to support the game and get an official release
I updated Patreon's links as well
Tomorrow 0.0.19 will be out for $3 patrons, consider a tip if you wish to support the game and get an official release
- Jul 10, 2018
- 913
- 2,403
Yup. It is obvious, because I outright said it as the very first line of my comment. V0.19 is my first and only experience of the game. If I wasn't a member of a forum able to find out if my experience was typical, it would also be the last experience of the game, as it was certainly a negative and frustrating experience.
In 40 minutes of play, I've had 6 Renpy console errors I could ignore that forced the whole scene to start over and that I could only get past by eventually selecting to have another member of staff handle (though the nurse is the only other member of staff). I've had 5 of the 18 examinations done either say I had not done a test that I did, or not give me an option to do in the interface that I could find even when rolling back to do it over. That's 11 bugs in 40 minutes of play, so I think you just might need to revise the idea that a few bugs might arise to, "a notable proportion of examinations are bugged to varying degrees".
That might be a language issue, or mere semantics, but crashing completely is broken, and more severe than unplayable. Non-functional would be a way to describe that, in English. Unplayable means, exactly, that it cannot be played, which is exactly how I'm finding the game. Imagine trying to play football if one of the goals could not be scored into. That would be unplayable. There are many instances where the goals in your exams cannot be scored into, in my playthroughs (2 tries, as I reinstalled once thinking there might be an error in installation).
Yeah, I understand about resolutions, possibly better than you do. I wasn't talking about resolution, and specifically mentioned that the issue was three-fold based on low quality models, low-quality rendering, and bad lighting and filters. I've played quite a lot of VNs, ranging from the hand-drawn to the high-res CGI. The render quality in a game like Timestamps: Unconditional Love is at the high end of the scale, so a 5 star worthy graphic quality. Retrieving the Past is also right up there. In the middle of the pack are renders like those in Acting Lessons (the renders were the weakest part of that game but gotten away with because the writing and characters were good enough to carry them). At the bottom end of CG renders are the graphics in games like LabRats 2, which is quite similar in many ways to what you are doing, but is still above the end result you've been managing. I rate LabRats 2 as 1 star on CGI, and you are below it. LabRats 2 has its graphics as they currently are as mainly a placeholder, and limited thus far by the fact that outfits are randomly generated on changeable variables throughout the game.
Now, to you as a developer, you are aware of your limitations in terms of not having a PC that can manage rendering, but that's irrelevant to a review. If you went to a restaurant and the food was raw, would you accept the chef explaining that his restaurant had no proper equipment, or would you just rate the food based on the fact it was a restaurant and if the chef didn't have the equipment for a restaurant, maybe he should get that BEFORE opening? If you bought a car and found the brakes didn't work, would you give one flying fuck of care for the engineer explaining they didn't have a machine to make brakes yet? Same deal here. I'm simply reviewing the game as a game at its current quality as perceived by a player. It's not saying you are lazy, or not trying, it's simply rating how good the experience is right now.
To some it will be, and of course you will think so, or you wouldn't spend time on it. I can't review the experience of others and be true to myself and my experience. I just give you an honest and open insight into how *I* experience the game, and thus maybe others like me will too, who may not take the time to give a detailed set of feedback and explanations of what could most easily improve the experience.And I know that General Practitioner, even with all its issues, is worth more than 0.5 stars. Maybe not 5, maybe just 1, but no less. Of that I'm quite certain
- May 6, 2017
- 236
- 85
from previous version till this version, i still got this stuck error. is this ending of the game?
NB: i mean idk is this error or not but this scene looping every afternoon
NB: i mean idk is this error or not but this scene looping every afternoon
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- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
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Sorry. I was going to reply to your message but I stopped here for some reason.
I'm completely aware that as the players' community around the game grows and the game itself gets noticed I will happen to find someone who, no matter what, will dislike my work, and I'm absolutely ok with it.
I'm very new in the Videogame and VN industry, although I'm not new to software development having more than 10 years experience in the field. And, despite all that, I know (and enjoy the fact) that every day I learn something new.
It's when I find someone who thinks he knows better than me what's around my own job that I get, shall I say... "suspicious" and stop debating. You're basically trying to teach me my job and, while I realize I've got lots to learn, I'm not certain this is the right way to do it.
Again, sorry you didn't like the game and I hope you'll give my next project (announcement next April) a chance.
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- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
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Yep, that's the end of the story unless you pursued Rita's path, in which case the story will continue with a few more scenes (even some involving the sister)
Hi, would like to try this game, I'm looking for the download links for Mac OS, are the download links for Mac?
- May 6, 2017
- 3,987
- 30,410
@Bruni Multimedia my compression process seems to have deleted two image files from your game, and there was also an error in the rpa extraction, but I can't figure out why.
Regardless, I've removed the compressed version and will repost if/when I get it fixed. Sorry for the hassle.
Regardless, I've removed the compressed version and will repost if/when I get it fixed. Sorry for the hassle.
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- Jul 10, 2018
- 913
- 2,403
Again, you've made a few assumptions here, and thus misunderstood what was said, while looking for meaning that wasn't.
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You should probably make fewer assumptions.
For example, you assume that my review is made for you, and to you. It isn't. It's a review, aimed to be the kind of thing that informs a potential player of what another player felt and found about the game. I wrote it to be the kind of review I'd want and need myself as a player.
Now, if it happens to be useful to you, as a developer/producer of the thing reviewed then that's great. But when you say that I am telling you anything, especially what to do or not to do, you've massively missed the mark and gone into self-absorption mode. Just because it is absolute gold for any producer of any product to know what people felt about a product, what they liked and didn't like, and detail on what worked or didn't work for them doesn't mean that review is for you. You can choose to use it (the smart option), or choose to ignore it, or pick and choose some bits for a mix of the two.
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For what it's worth I really appreciate your review. Don't give in to bullying by over-defensive developers. He can politely ask you to re-review after he fix the bugs not start an argument before.
- Feb 24, 2018
- 516
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I'm not very far into the game at all, but I am continually getting errors... constantly, like 1 out of 5 or 6 patients, will actually let me progress. It's always after I've "asked enough questions" and am about to start the exam that it faults.
Code:
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/monique_1.rpy", line 23, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/ellen_1.rpy", line 18, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/helena_1.rpy", line 35, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/rep_teen_female.rpy", line 53, in script call
call rep_load_anamnesi from _call_rep_load_anamnesi_3
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/anne_1.rpy", line 32, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/monique_2.rpy", line 22, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/summer_1.rpy", line 28, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/julie_1.rpy", line 36, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/julie_1.rpy", line 25, in script
call screen julie_1_exam_interface
File "renpy/common/000statements.rpy", line 519, in execute_call_screen
store._return = renpy.call_screen(name, *args, **kwargs)
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1370, in execute
screen julie_1_exam_interface:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1370, in execute
screen julie_1_exam_interface:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1371, in execute
fixed:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1420, in execute
if e10_done == 0:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1421, in execute
imagebutton auto "ui/heart_%s.png" xpos 1053 ypos 23 action ui.ChoiceJump("julie_1_heart_exam","julie_1_heart_exam", location=None, block_all=None) focus_mask True tooltip("{color=#ffffff}Vital Signs")
Exception: Imagebutton does not have a idle image. (auto=u'ui/heart_%s.png').
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/monique_1.rpy", line 23, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/ellen_1.rpy", line 18, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/helena_1.rpy", line 35, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/rep_teen_female.rpy", line 53, in script call
call rep_load_anamnesi from _call_rep_load_anamnesi_3
File "game/clinic_choice.rpy", line 430, in script call
call screen buttonclinic
File "game/anne_1.rpy", line 32, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/monique_2.rpy", line 22, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/summer_1.rpy", line 28, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/julie_1.rpy", line 36, in script call
call screen patient_selection
File "game/julie_1.rpy", line 25, in script
call screen julie_1_exam_interface
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\ast.py", line 1859, in execute
self.call("execute")
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\ast.py", line 1847, in call
return renpy.statements.call(method, parsed, *args, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\statements.py", line 179, in call
return method(parsed, *args, **kwargs)
File "renpy/common/000statements.rpy", line 519, in execute_call_screen
store._return = renpy.call_screen(name, *args, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\exports.py", line 2724, in call_screen
rv = renpy.ui.interact(mouse="screen", type="screen", roll_forward=roll_forward)
File "C:\Users\-----\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\ui.py", line 289, in interact
rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 2662, in interact
repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 3049, in interact_core
root_widget.visit_all(lambda i : i.per_interact())
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 521, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 521, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 521, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\screen.py", line 424, in visit_all
callback(self)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\core.py", line 3049, in <lambda>
root_widget.visit_all(lambda i : i.per_interact())
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\screen.py", line 434, in per_interact
self.update()
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\display\screen.py", line 619, in update
self.screen.function(**self.scope)
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1370, in execute
screen julie_1_exam_interface:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1370, in execute
screen julie_1_exam_interface:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1371, in execute
fixed:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1420, in execute
if e10_done == 0:
File "game/exam_screens.rpy", line 1421, in execute
imagebutton auto "ui/heart_%s.png" xpos 1053 ypos 23 action ui.ChoiceJump("julie_1_heart_exam","julie_1_heart_exam", location=None, block_all=None) focus_mask True tooltip("{color=#ffffff}Vital Signs")
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\ui.py", line 929, in _imagebutton
idle = choice(idle, idle_image, "idle", required=True)
File "C:\Users\------\Downloads\General_Practitioner-0.0.19_002-market-crunched\renpy\ui.py", line 923, in choice
raise Exception("Imagebutton does not have a %s image. (auto=%r)." % (name, auto))
Exception: Imagebutton does not have a idle image. (auto=u'ui/heart_%s.png').
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 7.1.1.929
General Practitioner 0.0.19_002
Fri Nov 16 22:44:49 2018
- Sep 13, 2017
- 2,012
- 13,721
Try these if it is not Compressed Version. If it is Compressed then Download Un-Compressed and add these...
- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
- 2,108
Guys I don't know how to explain that these issues come from this forum's releases (especially the now removed compressed version as per its author's own admission).
The release has been played by hundreds (hundreds) of paying patrons without all those issues. If I really released something so buggy or unplayable, since they PAY for it I'd be facing a turmoil right now, which I am not.
I cannot help you with something already stated, some bugs (those who I made) are fixed, some are not. If you wish to try the game I advice you to have official links only, at least if they don't work you can safely blame me at least.
The release has been played by hundreds (hundreds) of paying patrons without all those issues. If I really released something so buggy or unplayable, since they PAY for it I'd be facing a turmoil right now, which I am not.
I cannot help you with something already stated, some bugs (those who I made) are fixed, some are not. If you wish to try the game I advice you to have official links only, at least if they don't work you can safely blame me at least.
- May 24, 2017
- 1,456
- 2,108
In particular the missing "heart" image you are getting means your release is missing files, as that png is used since 0.0.6
- Feb 24, 2018
- 516
- 601
thanks, your suggestion seems to be working. I still run into an occasional error, but much more rarely, and the game is a lot more playable now.
- Jul 10, 2018
- 913
- 2,403
That's the bugged crunched version that's been mentioned, I believe. I think I read it was fixed recently but I haven't tested that, since by then I'd downloaded and played the uncompressed official release. The bugs in the uncompressed version are less extreme and of a different flavour.