Has this really been confirmed? I really liked bare witness for the solo routes and particularly the in depth endings with each individual LI. I knew harem stuff would be in this but assumed it would have satisfying solo routes as well, disappointing if not...
From the Steam store page:
Ah, hadn't looked on the steam page. I get the challenge with lots of LIs, but still really disappointing after bare witness if it's just a generic harem where you collect all the girls. I think I assumed some of the girls would be main LIs with endings and some less developed side girls. I guess I'll check back when it's completed to see exactly how in depth and satisfying those ending variants mentioned are. Better to know now though, thanks!
There's 11 main LIs, and the game is optionally full harem with them. That means you can pick and choose which ones you want to be with, so you can be with 0-11 of them and everything in between. It's safe to assume they can have reasonably significant parts in the endings, but you won't get a fully different ending for each.
That's going to be difficult to make though surely? Unless some girls will be in separate groups initially, that will only come as a group. For instance if you don't accept Patricia then Nikki won't be with you? If there are 11 girls and can pick and choose which to take or not, that would remove some of them from certain group scenes. Which would require different renders for the same scene? Sorry I'm not a developer so I don't know exactly how it would work.
Lots of harem games have the option to technically do a solo route with one girl, but I haven't played one yet that makes it actually feel like a satisfying relationship. To me they usually just feel like you're ticking boxes on a menu of which girls you want to see. You tick one box or you tick ten but it doesn't really matter. I don't believe the relationships and the games don't usually adapt to acknowledge you're on a solo path. Just not my thing.
It does make group scenes potentially more complicated, but there's ways to mitigate that some. The simplest, of course, is to skip a group scene if you aren't with everyone involved. The alternative is to make multiple versions, as you suggested.
Handling branching complexities will always be difficult. That said, it's pretty clear that the decision to enable a player to be either/or/both with Patricia and Nikki is obvious on the second visit to HD when Nikki is absent and Patricia prompts MC to answer who he's there to see. They're not going to let a user make meaningless choices when it comes to choosing LIs.
You also gotta keep in mind that most LIs (so far) are strippers.
Yeah, Mike might like us now. But I think he might have a problem when we end up taking his entire stock of strippers.
Mike can join the harem too?Yeah, Mike might like us now. But I think he might have a problem when we end up taking his entire stock of strippers.
don't remember who Mike is but does he cook a killer steak like Dylan if so thenMike can join the harem too?
The owner of the Heaven's Door club. No idea about his cooking skills.don't remember who Mike is but does he cook a killer steak like Dylan if so then
We're basically stealing his harem.Mike can join the harem too?
I don't think he's just coming quietly along.
so you are saying by the end of the game he should be paying us for the girls helping out with his BarWe're basically stealing his harem.
Well the story is about strippers, that means they're meant to be banged, not for romance. hahahaha
If it was a brothel and they were all prostitutes I'd probably agree, but if they're just strippers it could work. Pretty sure most strippers don't just randomly sleep with anyone, although they'll know that pretending they will could make them more money! Some might, but most probably completely detach their job which doesn't mean anything from their genuine romantic relationships.
Maybe he is into sharing his harem? Harem sharing is that a thing (yet)? Maybe we enter a new genre?!We're basically stealing his harem.
