Runey : Nice update, even if I think this one SEEMS a bit short - but the below message may explain it.
The lack of update for Maim Lain's mod gave me the urge to propose you some possible upgrades, maybe...
NOTE: I don't want to discuss about the mod itself here, neither about Maim Lain, or anything else. There's a thread for that.
First, an obvious but significant observation: I think that when a game "requires" (or benefits so much from) a mod, then there is probably something missing in the game itself. I think that it's a constructive criticism: nobody's perfect, everything can be upgraded and, being a dev myself - even not in lewd games - I know that, sometimes, we don't see obvious improvements / simplifications because our own mindset is wired to use more complex behaviors.
- Interface: clearly, mod's interface for following progressions is better (everything is seen in a single panel). I think you should really get some ideas here: following these progressions is currently annoying, because everything is dispatched in per-girl panels. And it's a harem game, so we ALL follow SEVERAL girls. I think that a panel for main girls and one for side girls should be better - it doesn't requires to remove current individual panels, but to upgrade the current information panel only.
I know that there is the little icons at bottom/right of new day screen, but the icons aren't so easy to recognize, and when playing on a fast computer, they aren't displayed enough time to be clearly seen - but it's a proof that you HAVE this information easily accessible, so it can be displayed elsewhere, too.
Harem Hotel shouldn't require a mod or walkthrough at all. All events tell you exactly what you need to do, when, and where it happens. If there is a spot it doesn't, I need to be made aware of it. No one has been able to tell me a spot in the game where they have gotten stuck since v0.14 launched (aside from android's human kit, which is being fixed). I am currently under the impression that Harem Hotel is very simple to play, but if there is a confusing spot, please point it out to me! I want to make the base experience of Harem Hotel the smoothest ride possible.
I have no clue what the mod interface looks like, and I'm not too sure what you're explaining here, but I'm not interested in turning Harem Hotel into a menu clicking simulator. Currently you can view main character stats by clicking the "i" button, and you can view side character stats by going to Misc Info after that.
The game pauses on that screen for exactly 3 seconds when it's not raining, and 5 seconds when it is raining. This was actually not intended and is changing in v0.14.1 to wait for your click to continue, so you can view those icons for however long you would like.
- When a quest/story requires to wait several days, it should be written in the girl's status. The location where it will continue would be a great thing. "Chasing" a girl during a whole week is simply boring.
As it says at the very beginning of the game, story events start on * Talk * options on their door. There is also a chance for it to happen elsewhere, but checking their door should ALWAYS tell you where they are. There should be no need for chasing, because the game will tell you exactly where they are and the conditions needed to be met. If this isn't the case somewhere, please let me know. I will fix that.
- Inside mod, there is several "cheat sheets" to indicate where girls are, considering day and time. Honestly, while playing, we can all remember that - more or less. But after several months and when starting a new update, we forgot a lot. It's simply annoying, and I think that searching the girls in every location don't add anything neither to the game nor to the gameplay.
Can you add these informations to the "Info" panel? Or to a "Help" panel? I think that the upper panel can be easily reduced (no need for 4 icons for time, it can changes instead of moving a cursor) and so new buttons can be added easily without getting a huge thing on top of screen.
All this information should be clearly stated at some point. MC has almost omniscient god levels of intelligence when it comes to when and where every girl he knows is. MC will even say "I have a feeling I should buy Ashley's slutty schoolgirl outfit" unprompted. So again, if this isn't the case anywhere in the game, and anything is confusing at all, please tell me! I will fix it.
- Some grindings are really annoying: getting the "Buttslut" trait for both Emma and Felicity was annoying - they can't do a lot per day. Some are even worse, like "Paizuri Star" with Autumn. Maybe lower the number to 5 instead of 10 to get the trait? Or allow to "repeat" a scene instead of advancing time constantly? Or get the trait once it was done in each costume?
Requiring 5 points in any stat for the trait means they become masters at that option in just 2 days. There are 4 options in a day where you can have sex, so normally, that trait could be completed in under a week of in game time, or just a few minutes. With your suggested change, they would become masters in barely more than a single day.
- Grinding again: the mod was showing every possible scene done (or missing!) for each girl and each location. Currently, ingame, I don't see anything like this. Did I got all dungeon scenes for each girls? All beach scenes? All cafe scenes? I don't know. I CANNOT know, but trying to redo ALL of them - dude, it takes HOURS to do so!!
Can you add a resume panel to show all these informations? Because I think that this is the reason why I think that this update is "short"...
All options are present during the dungeon scenes, beach scenes, and cafe scenes. You can know because it literally shows you. When an option is greyed out, it is because you can't do it. Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying, and you're saying you can't remember if you saw all the scenes so you want something to show you have? I can generally remember if I've done Maria's 2nd exhibitionism scene for example, and clicking it once and seeing what happens for a few seconds is more than enough to jog my memory, so I can simply scroll back.
- Riddles aren't so obvious for non-native speakers. Maybe change them to more obvious/international ones? Being forced to switch to an Internet search for something obvious for a native teenager (to not say child sometimes) is quite frustrating. I was heavily helped by the mod, for this part.
Translators will likely change the riddles to make more sense in other languages. I'm sorry, but I'm an english speaker, this game is designed for english speakers.
- Cheating: once money is high enough, no real cheats are needed, but to change slave/love route for the Sanctuary - I'll develop this below. However, it MAY be useful to allow the money cheat to be used more than once, without editing the save file and/or use the Ren'Py console. Or simply increase the income significantly...
Slave/love route for Sanctuary:
I think that I'm not alone to wish to see both scenes. But honestly, grinding TWO TIMES everything is just above what I can do - the game is too big and there is too much grinding for that. So I was used, once completed the main route ("Love" for me) and once all grinding was done, to save in a secondary slot, use the mod to change the route and speedrun it (since it was reseted to the very beginning, sadly...) in order to get the new "Slave" scenes.
Isn't it possible to allow an EASY access to these "other routes" scenes? Even if it's only once the current update is fully finished - at least for everything related to Sanctuary? It's always frustrating to KNOW that you are missing content...
Thanks for everything anyway, it's always a pleasure to get a new update of HH.
Why would you restart the entire game for the other route? Haha, you could have just saved before the option and make two different save paths. There's an infinite amount of saves for this reason. You can also change their routes using a cheat code, but this isn't something I would do in the story.
No, these are completely separate routes which are incompatible with each other. The reason you can't see both at the same time is because it would make no sense. But this has nothing to do with a walkthrough.
