Ren'Py Abandoned Heavy Five [Ch.2RS] [Nottravis]

[TheDevian]

But yeah, the lack of sex, an the intellectual nature of the game does limit the mass appeal for now, but at least half of that will change soon™!

 

[I'm Not Thea Lundgren!]

But yeah, the lack of sex, an the intellectual nature of the game does limit the mass appeal for now, but at least half of that will change soon™!

Let's just hope it's the right half!

EDIT: If Mike takes over then who knows what will happen to poor Rah-Rah!

 

[Akamari]

My theory on this is that the game isn't sold/advertised as a porny game. The screenshots on the front page are still weak in the T'nA department. The sexiness in the first impression needs to be amped up so people don't just skip it after glancing at the description and screenshots. Well that's my humble opinion anyway.

While I agree with the rest of your post, it should be advertised as a game that has focus on the story. That's the strongest asset. Every crap game here offers porn. We don't want the wrong audience.

 

[Avaron1974]

Let's be perfectly honest.

There are people on this site that wouldn't understand the story. Shit, they wouldn't understand some of the words let alone the plot.

Not saying that to be a bitch, i'm saying that because i've come across people on here that manage to disprove the notion that sense is common.

 

[Nottravis]

WOW! Did you manage that in one render,.....

*is just listening at the moment so is keeping stumn generally*

But.... it took five renders. Had to do two characters at a time and then combine

The hamster would have died otherwise

 

[Nottravis]

Let's just hope it's the right half!

EDIT: If Mike takes over then who knows what will happen to poor Rah-Rah!

She won't be forced to take truth drugs?

 

[popabear]

While I agree with the rest of your post, it should be advertised as a game that has focus on the story. That's the strongest asset. Every crap game here offers porn. We don't want the wrong audience.

I already know from past discussions that we're not going to agree on this, but I still gotta say sex sells and is great for generating interest.
Draw them in with hot tits, woo them with the story. I don't see a problem with this.
Here's what other (somewhat) story-centric games use for advertising:

Spoiler: pictures

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What I'm prescribing has been done before, quite successfully.

 

[TheDevian]

*is just listening at the moment so is keeping stumn generally*

But.... it took five renders. Had to do two characters at a time and then combine

The hamster would have died otherwise

Even with my beast, more than 3 can be a hard drag.

 

[Akamari]

*is just listening at the moment so is keeping stumn generally*

But.... it took five renders. Had to do two characters at a time and then combine

The hamster would have died otherwise

I thought that would be too good to be true. One day hopefully.

 

[Nottravis]

In some things you can be your own worst enemy.

You're not going to let that thing I tried with the champagne go are you?

How many times do I have to concede you were right?

 

[DA22]

You're not going to let that thing I tried with the champagne go are you?

How many times do I have to concede you were right?

I do not think that is what she meant, but we are still listening attentively.

 

[Avaron1974]

You're not going to let that thing I tried with the champagne go are you?

How many times do I have to concede you were right?

There were fizzy bubbles in places fizzy bubbles should never be.

Ever.

For a week every time I passed wind all I could smell was Dom Perignon.

I'm over it now.

Sort of.

Okay maybe not yet.

 

[popabear]

For a week every time I passed wind all I could smell was Dom Perignon.

I realize now I think I may have understood "DP'ing" wrong.

DP is fucking expensive Champagne, and so is Ava it seems.

Thank you I'll see myself out now

 

[Akamari]

There were fizzy bubbles in places fizzy bubbles should never be.

Ever.

For a week every time I passed wind all I could smell was Dom Perignon.

I'm over it now.

Sort of.

Okay maybe not yet.

Did she pop the cork? It is known that gently twisting the bottle instead gives a lot more control.

 

[Akamari]

Let's be perfectly honest.

There are people on this site that wouldn't understand the story. Shit, they wouldn't understand some of the words let alone the plot.

Not saying that to be a bitch, i'm saying that because i've come across people on here that manage to disprove the notion that sense is common.

Hence, why those shouldn't be lured to a game that could be beyond their juniors' thinking capacity.

 

[Avaron1974]

Did she pop the cork? It is known that gently twisting the bottle instead gives a lot more control.

She's amazing at popping bottle corks.

She makes sure the cork is wedged in somewhere then twists it off. Cork is removed cleanly and doesn't fly off anywhere it could hurt someone.

Well...

Hurt someone else.

 

[Akamari]

She's amazing at popping bottle corks.

She makes sure the cork is wedged in somewhere then twists it off. Cork is removed cleanly and doesn't fly off anywhere it could hurt someone.

Well...

Hurt someone else.

Wedging seems a bit crude. Wouldn't a piece of cloth to hold the cork be better? (Provided there is a piece of cloth at hand)

 

[Huitieme]

I think, as much as it shocks me to say this, Huitieme is right. Or as least as right in that I agree with him (which I confess shocks me even more....)

In ya faces, biatches!
*drops the mic*


*picks up the mic*
Actually, I'm not done yet.

Y'see the thing I can't quite get my head around is why H5 isn't played. And comparatively, it isn't. There's a rather nasty little game that came out a couple of months ago with twice the reviews and three times the likes so make of that what you will. But tastes aside, it doesn't seem to matter how good the writing is. Oh, it's a factor for sure, but when you consider BP alone has smarter content than most releases it's obviously not an important factor to many.

Thing is, and many here have said already, good writing (and in your case, great writing) isn't enough to gain popularity. Add to this that the game has been kinda slowburn-ish until the next chapter blows every naysayer away, and you got yourself a great story with interesting characters but "no sexy bits". And most people in F95 are in it only for the sex. Unfortunately, a cheap sex game will 'sell' better than a well-thought one with no sex.

Sex and pictures, on the other hand, are important.

They are important in every hand but yours are more expert
As I said, sex is the primary focus for a lot of pervs here. And the preview on the first page should reflect that, as Popabear said. A few boobs here and there, on pic of Sarah's pussy (from the VR), and most people would be attracted. From this new audience, a certain percentage would then be blown away by the game numerous qualities. The new polished renders would surely help in this.

Now I'm a writer first and foremost and nothing is going to change either the story or indeed the way I tell it. Nothing will change the content either. But given that the adult content is going to explode shortly there is a very real risk that the earlier graphics and the UI, to an extent, will put people off despite that- and H5 is a game to be played.

You're not any writer. I consider myself to be quite exigent in the writing quality of media I consume as well as by working in the technical writing world, and I have nothing but praise to say about your body of work. To me, you're not "up there with the best", they're "up there wishing they were you"!

Y'see it doesn't matter that I have to spend say four times as much time to make a piccy as a super rigged dev. That's not a factor in peoples consideration. No one goes "well considering she's got an etch-a-sketch and a packet of crayons that's not bad" (well except you lot!). No, they look at other game's graphics and go "That's poo...".

The old graphics are not poo, madam! Not in any way! I've seen poo, I was born in it, molded by it... Wait, wrong reference! D: What I meant is that those graphics were great at the time, and now they can only be greater!

So yep, once the tags are updated with all the new content - interest may well be regenerated in the game - until they open it...and it's not much use saying "yes but in Chapter Four it looks great!" because that won't I suspect cut it. People don't have patience.

I think I have to do the remaster before Four is released. Now I realise this will go down as well as Marcus offering you vitamin tablets but I feel it has to be done. You've all seen what the game could look like. Indeed should like. Imagine what you'd feel about the game if it had the graphics it could/should/can have instead of the ones it did.

*nods*

I know this is will be an unpopular call. I know that. I know also it will cost me patronage and cash. I know that too. But the longer I leave the remaster not only will it take more and more time to do later down the line (and thus delay the next game - plus bore me to tears as I redo absolutely hundreds of images for an audience that's already played the game), but it also doesn't change the fundamental structural image problems we have at the start of the game. Structural problems that prevent people playing it.

I, for one, don't think you'll lose that many patrons over it. As long as you're upfront and keep posting Old vs New renders, it'll be fine.

So how long will it take?

I've a weeks rendering to finish off Four and I want to do that first. If only so I can get it out to playtesters. The remaster should only take two to three weeks I think as I don't have to do everything. There is a lot in One, Two and Three that are quite passable. It's mainly some of the internal Vanguard shots, the hallways, the plant room and the MC's room that are the main problems I think. The changing the menu option to that which I showed earlier won't take that long to be honest as it's just dropping a screen in and adding the correct button images.

We've waited for chapter 3, and when it came out it was like the second coming of the Chris. I think most of us can wait, knowing that you're not AWOL but working on bettering and polishing your game.

So the end of the month looks viable. If it gets close to overrunning then I'd just pause the patron page so no one got an October charge as it would be unfair to charge people for rework I think.

Instead of pausing the patreon page, why don't you put a poll there about it. If people feel like they shouldn't pay for the month, you'll know who they are and you can discuss it.

*stands back and awaits thoughts....*

Thus spoke Zarathustra Huitieme

That wouldn't work. While Chapter Two took incredible 40 days to leak, Chapter 3 was out in less than 1. I think for many pirate sites it could a business to patron games, leak them first, and get ad revenue from visits and downloads.

Unfortunately, you're right about that. Most scumming sites do have a patreon profile to pay for new games when they're out and they just get a ROI by putting their shitty site behind paywall. Chapter 2 got leaked here 40 days after patreon, but it was out on those sites way before that.

 

[Merseault]

My theory on this is that the game isn't sold/advertised as a porny game. The screenshots on the front page are still weak in the T'nA department. The sexiness in the first impression needs to be amped up so people don't just skip it after glancing at the description and screenshots. Well that's my humble opinion anyway.

I would second this and it can't hurt, to add 2-3 more spicy screenshots to the OP.

Maybe you could also add some more specific information about planned future content ("Genre"-Spoiler).

But let's be honest, H5 is a story-driven, reading heavy game with a slow build up regarding the lewd stuff - with that said, it's obvious (imo), that at least 1/3 (being optimistic) of the audience here, is not really interested in the game, or willing, to give it a try. Maybe i'm thinking to negative here, or I have too bad an opinion about my fellow pervs, but i think it's rather realistic.

Many people are just playing games which are offering the kinks/fetishes they like, looking good enough and don't care about anything else....

Nottravis

Therefore, i'm not sure, if remastering the first chapters would really have the desired result.

If you are generally interested in playing a game like H5, the visuals of Chapter 1 won't scare you away - as already mentioned here, they are above average (at least) compared to what you see around here. Personally, i never had a negative impression. I loved the game from the start - not despite the visuals, but among other things because of them.

Nevertheless: i think you should do it as you described it, remaster, then release chapter 4. You won't find "peace" otherwise and always think about it and stress yourself - and no one wants that And of course, it could only have positive effects in general.

As has already been mentioned, I wouldn't worry about patreon and maybe disappointing someone, too much. You have a strong hardcore-fanbase, which adores your game and you

 

[Huitieme]

Many people are just playing games which are offering the kinks/fetishes they like,

Good for me, my fetish is good storytelling with clever writing and great characters, a game that makes me feel things for its protagonists, that makes me laugh, cry or horny.
Add to that the most charming *innocent* funny dev ever, and that's all my kinks wrapped into one game.

I know, I'm a hopeless fan, but I do adore Big Brother!