Thank you for your feedback on several issues. I want to address these concerns and work together to find a solution we can agree on.
A suggestion - make the prologue 'Chapter 0', then Ep 1 would be Ch.1 and they would align?
Yeah, Dev. Prologues are usually a "0" and not an actual Chapter/Episode. Doesn't make sense the way you've done it. Stick to Episodes then, and don't call anything "Chapters".
So, 9 Episodes in total. If I got it right (Prologue, Episode 9, Epilogue) Which is pretty crazy with how quickly Episode 1 finished and barely much happened.
In-game, it's only mentioned as The Prologue, Episode 1, Episode 2, etc. However, in storefronts and other places, I've tried to package The Prologue and all episodes under a common term, totaling 10 chapters. I agree that The Prologue is typically Chapter 0 if you follow the chapter format, but it might be confusing to say there are 10 chapters if it ends with Chapter 9/Episode 9.
Would it be better to use "10 total parts" instead? Part 1 would be The Prologue, Part 2 would be Episode 1, and so on. My goal is to convey to the audience the number of main updates. However, I can't simply call them "10 updates" because there are many smaller ones as well.
I welcome any suggestions.
I feel you. I felt like it barely started and bam, it ends before it has even begun. I can see it being a good starting point for the next Episode though. It just needs to have enough content to balance things out. Content as in stuff we can do in the Episode before it ends.
Good looking game, but the time between updates is quite the killer. I know good work can't be rushed but where chapter 1 ends on is rather anti-climatic.
I don't expect everyone to read the public announcements on Patreon, Discord, etc., nor the comments where this information was shared. However, I explained a few things on the release day of Episode 1 in those platforms. I'll share the same information now as well:
Hardenville Episode 1 Is Now Available
It's been a long wait for this release. I've redone renders countless times and should have prioritized and been much more efficient.
Episode 1 Changes
The home alone party was originally planned to be in Episode 1, which was going to include some sex scenes. However, Episode 1 is ending after the preparty and right before the main party begins. This is to avoid rushing into scenes too early. Now, we have a calmer approach to Episode 2, which will be very lewd.
Focus of Episode 2
Episode 2 will only focus on the party, which will take place at home in one location. This should make development much faster. The planned release for Episode 2 is Fall 2024.
To expand upon this, the party was originally supposed to start sooner, but I wanted a smooth transition from The Prologue to the party, even if some found it boring. I believe that was the right decision. I realized Episode 2 could be expanded to add more interactivity, allowing players to get to know many more girls at the party. Additionally, I needed more practice to improve the animations for the sex scenes and create more detailed renders.
Personally, as you may have noticed, I prefer detailed scenes. For example, in upcoming sex scenes, I want to show the other person undressing one item of clothing at a time, sometimes leaving some items on. In contrast to many other AVNs where the characters are suddenly completely naked, I prefer to sometimes leave a bra, socks, or a hoodie on during sex scenes. This approach is more realistic and can be more attractive, leaving something to the imagination and gradually revealing details like how their breasts or nipples look later on.
So, Episode 2 will be a big release with a lot of lewd content. Episode 3 will have less lewd content but will focus more on the build-up within the household.
Why the "Never Have I Ever" game though? is that really a mini game? I consider a mini game something akin to QTE = that ball game. Never Have I Ever plays a role, story wise. You get to learn about the girls (you even get an achievement for doing so) yourself (I guess since IDK what the hell the MC has done...)
To me, I don't think this part should be skippable. Also, think how short the Episode would be if you did skip it.
the never have I ever shouldn't be skipped. It's not a qte and it's part of the plot.
I agree, in fact, it should be expanded to include some dialogue between turns, as that would make the game more believable, and is a good opportunity to get to know the characters better. At least that's the purpose these types of games serve in other AVNs. At least it's not spin the bottle, or truth or dare.
"Never Have I Ever" will indeed have more dialogue added, but I believe I will need a few more renders for this. Therefore, it might not be included in the next small update since I'm on "vacation" with only my Mac for coding, and not my main rig with an RTX 4090 for rendering. If you can call working 8 hours a day coding a vacation, haha.
I agree that, theoretically, it shouldn't be skipped, but the way it is presented is kind of a mini-game, as they're also playing a drinking game. For example, if I included important story dialogue within the handball mini-game, should it not be skippable then? This confuses me about what people want and don't want here.
Please share your opinions on this. I remember people complained a lot about not having a skip button for the rock-paper-scissors mini-game, which required at least two clicks to win or lose.
Missing font fonts/BeautyMountainsPS.ttf causing the menu screens to fail
This issue is due to the WT mod not being updated for Episode 1. I'm not the one responsible for creating this mod. The temporary solution is to play without the WT mod, which will prevent any errors.
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To wrap up this long comment, thank you for your feedback. This is the kind of constructive input I want to improve the game and clear up any misunderstandings.