Feyschek

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Jun 12, 2021
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I definitely agree with that. I think a lot of times, all of the creativity is put into the initial premise and setup. Once you get past there, though, what is the actual story? The second act is what kills most creative works (games, books, movies, etc.). The creators just never really thought about how to stick the landing.
Usually the beginning is enough for the project to pay off. Then do what you want if the start paid off your time on its creation. That’s why in my game I’m now using an interesting system of routes, in the form of characters.

For example, I have now finished the route of the main character’s mother and can calmly start a new character. And if you imagine that I now have about 15 options for events in the game for my mother + I have left some room for future updates.

And if you throw into this basket the fact that this game version 0.0.3 is only a month after work on the game began. So I'm basically happy with my work :)
 
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Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
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Usually the beginning is enough for the project to pay off. Then do what you want if the start paid off your time on its creation. That’s why in my game I’m now using an interesting system of routes, in the form of characters.

For example, I have now finished the route of the main character’s mother and can calmly start a new character. And if you imagine that I now have about 15 options for events in the game for my mother + I have left some room for future updates.

And if you throw into this basket the fact that this game version 0.0.3 is only a month after work on the game began. So I'm basically happy with my work :)
I wish I worked that fast lol.
 
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IDontGetWomen

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Sep 9, 2021
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is there a guide or something? Had a conversation about the relationship with her and absolutely nothing has happened or triggered since. Not seeing any new options either.
 

Feyschek

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Jun 12, 2021
1,188
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I wish I worked that fast lol.
Here are a couple of screenshots from the game.

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I think from the screenshots it’s clear where this speed comes from. I'm not involved in translating the game into another language :)

Essentially, I excluded all annoying factors from development: translation, poorly written code and other issues.
 
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Trasher2018

Engaged Member
Aug 21, 2018
2,141
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There is quite a bit of content here, but you do have to pay attention to the hints in the text to see what to do.

There are some plot-related functions that will be developed and become more robust over time, but those are more non-linear in nature and are not likely to be perfect until the game has made significant progress (possibly as much as 50% complete before it is perfect on all paths).
Only found the bartender - but in that scene there is a lot of empty space below the last image ... maybe a bug?

Then the chef hints about going out, but I cant find a way to talk about that to the wife. And after that I lost interest because there is nothing. And I like slow born, but this is just painfully clicking links.

I didnt researched the 2 topics because I am not interested in both of them, only after nothing happend I did and you get a new sexy video that triggers something - so I guess we are forced to do that?


Is there a point in showering/eating? - The skip window hints to an energy system?

Time skip shouldn't be in a separate window - add the buttons to the side bar.

Add a "Go to work" link so we dont need 3 or 4 clicks to do that.

Dont hide the save/load button so long - that is really annoying.


On content:

I like unfaithful wifes that cheat behind the MCs back without his knowledge ... so I hope that there will be hints for the player that something is in the bush, even if you dont use the wife perspective. I dont like cuckolding. I like games (and there are not many) where the MC triggers something and than the wife is starting to become a slut and starts cheating (bc of corruption or like as it is hinted here, bc of neglect) without his knowledge.


Currently it is a bit rough and empty - and buggy ( in the bar e.g. "Look around" leads to an empty screen) - or being drunk doing nothing. You can just go home and talk to the wife .... will keep an eye on it.

Edit: found another mayor bug ...

When you click "How to get away with cheating" ...

Code:
Error: cannot find a closing tag for macro <<if>>
<<if visited() lte 1>>…


Error: child tag <<else>> was found outside of a call to its parent macro <<if>>
<<else>>

Error: <<randomvideo>>: error within widget code (Error: <<set>>: bad evaluation: random min parameter must be an integer)
<<randomvideo

//I really need to stop using the RedditChan to research things. It's rotting my brain!.//
<</if>>
 
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ShinyBoots1993

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Apr 7, 2020
927
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The other game lost its writer (who was a woman).
Then my question is why not just pull a rule 63 and make a realistic coming-of-age story from a male perspective?

One thing I have to seriously question is the stark double-sidedness of the relationship. The game opens up with the male protagonist falling head over heels in love and paints him as a supportive if a tad lazy husband. He thinks everything is fantastic if a bit shaky.

I had to replay the intro a few times and rewrite this part because I really didn't want to come off as too harsh but there's no nicer way to say that the wife comes off as a total bitch. In her narration, she clearly didn't feel the initial sparks and just settled down with the dude saying he was "good enough." She's promiscuous to the point where she doesn't think her husband could handle knowing the number of dudes she's banged. I'm not slut shaming, I'm just saying the girl should own it if she's gonna be so critical of her husband instead of being insecure.

I tried really hard to see if I was just reading it wrong but it seems like she never communicated her lack of satisfaction outside of a few jabs that we're not given examples of. She insults his hobbies and acts entitled that he didn't include her in things she clearly doesn't like, she never communicates her unhappiness with the sex, and she comes off as petty and passive-aggressive in regard to the chores. They say open with your best foot forward so I'm just sitting here wondering why bother putting in the effort beyond keeping her happy enough to at least not cheat when she seems to have no positive qualities?

I'm COMPLETLY against cheating in real life but this is a game. The wife just seems utterly unlikeable if you play with dual perspectives so I'm wondering if this was done intentionally to incentivize players to go the non-monogamous route?

Side note. Nothing mentioned in the forums or the meta of the narrative, so far, implies this is going to heavily focus on NTR, quite the opposite, but if that were the case why point out that the dude has a below-average dick and claim that he's shit at sex? Unless that's an unreliable narrator on the wife's part linking back to her promiscuity.

I'm not kinkshaming.jpg

I'm sorry if I crossed any lines in my criticism but this just seems like a terrible introduction for the wife if you intended for her to be even remotely likable from the start and aren't building to something special as the project continues.

If not, I'm rooting for the guy to find someone who actually cares about him and doesn't see him as "good enough."

Aside from lame sex puns in the mobile app the previous game had such a good start in comparison.

I lost her due to some family health issues, nothing game-related.
Oh dear. That sounds worrisome if she's permanently gone the projects. Sending good vibes in case things go south.
 
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Surprise & Delight

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Game Developer
May 28, 2020
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Only found the bartender - but in that scene there is a lot of empty space below the last image ... maybe a bug?

Then the chef hints about going out, but I cant find a way to talk about that to the wife. And after that I lost interest because there is nothing. And I like slow born, but this is just painfully clicking links.

I didnt researched the 2 topics because I am not interested in both of them, only after nothing happend I did and you get a new sexy video that triggers something - so I guess we are forced to do that?
You may be more interested in the next update then, which should be posted here by the last day of this month. It sounds like you are looking for content that is more along one of the less-developed paths.

The bartender scene is incomplete and is also part of the plans for the next update.

Is there a point in showering/eating? - The skip window hints to an energy system?

Time skip shouldn't be in a separate window - add the buttons to the side bar.

Add a "Go to work" link so we dont need 3 or 4 clicks to do that.

Dont hide the save/load button so long - that is really annoying.
Honestly, there was originally an Energy system but it became too much of a hassle without enough reward, so I dropped it. Showering can help lower Arousal if you need to do that (in a long shower). Doing things (like eating) with your wife might have some benefit to your relationship.

There are reasons not to put the skip time in the side bar and why the Go to work has steps to it. But I understand why you are suggesting those things and have actively looked for places to reduce the number of "screens" a player has to visit to do different things.

I will have a "Skip" button at startup to skip the Preface & bring up the Save/Load. I planned to do it for this release and just forgot to do it.

On content:

I like unfaithful wifes that cheat behind the MCs back without his knowledge ... so I hope that there will be hints for the player that something is in the bush, even if you dont use the wife perspective. I dont like cuckolding. I like games (and there are not many) where the MC triggers something and than the wife is starting to become a slut and starts cheating (bc of corruption or like as it is hinted here, bc of neglect) without his knowledge.

Currently it is a bit rough and empty - and buggy ( in the bar e.g. "Look around" leads to an empty screen) - or being drunk doing nothing. You can just go home and talk to the wife .... will keep an eye on it.

Edit: found another mayor bug ...
The bar is currently incomplete and very rough. This release is primarily focused on the wife, so you may want to wait for the next update if you're not interested in your wife.

I am already aware of that bug. That content is not supposed to be showing up. It is incomplete and I thought I had removed all of the triggers but I seem to have missed one.
 

JFox1991

Newbie
Jan 18, 2020
66
23
Thank you!

When you say "hearing the details of sex with brian," do you mean Ricky? I don't think they have a conversation about Brian. Brian should stay with them from Friday night through an entire week to the following Sunday (9 days). There is still a little bit of work to finish that sequence of events, which should be done in this next update. There are other scenes that can occur at different times, so it's hard for me to say whether or not you have seen all content. The next update will include a scene "checklist."

In general, if you are stuck, just the hit the back arrow in the left sidebar and try again. Because of the wide variety of possible actions, it's possible that I missed a small bug. Those will be worked out naturally as I continue to add/revise the wife pov content.
No I mean Brian So i choose the open marriage route and she is sleeping with brian all the time to always being around him. I did the back space thing to escape the stuck part I think its trying to do an event but just nothing there or could just still be a bug but pressing back and reclicking a few times fixes it. Brian has left so now just trying to see what else happens and have not gotten anything so far no texts from richard couldnt even give me the option to go to the club with richard so might have to restart and see what i missed.
 
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Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
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Then my question is why not just pull a rule 63 and make a realistic coming-of-age story from a male perspective?
The other game is very specifically intended to be a female protag game. I'm just not interested in creating a similar game from a male perspective. Precisely because there are already so many good ones out there that do that well. Good, sex-positive female protag games are a little harder to come by.

One thing I have to seriously question is the stark double-sidedness of the relationship. The game opens up with the male protagonist falling head over heels in love and paints him as a supportive if a tad lazy husband. He thinks everything is fantastic if a bit shaky.

I had to replay the intro a few times and rewrite this part because I really didn't want to come off as too harsh but there's no nicer way to say that the wife comes off as a total bitch. In her narration, she clearly didn't feel the initial sparks and just settled down with the dude saying he was "good enough." She's promiscuous to the point where she doesn't think her husband could handle knowing the number of dudes she's banged. I'm not slut shaming, I'm just saying the girl should own it if she's gonna be so critical of her husband instead of being insecure.

I tried really hard to see if I was just reading it wrong but it seems like she never communicated her lack of satisfaction outside of a few jabs that we're not given examples of. She insults his hobbies and acts entitled that he didn't include her in things she clearly doesn't like, she never communicates her unhappiness with the sex, and she comes off as petty and passive-aggressive in regard to the chores. They say open with your best foot forward so I'm just sitting here wondering why bother putting in the effort beyond keeping her happy enough to at least not cheat when she seems to have no positive qualities?
Hmmm. That is an interesting take. It's not what I intended. However, I did want to highlight that people see things in different ways.

First, this is not the perspective of either of them at the beginning of their relationship. So their respective attitudes come from where they are right now emotionally.

The husband, who has had all of his physical, mental, and emotional needs met, is still looking at the relationship as if it were perfect. The wife, who has not, sees more of the cracks. She loves him despite his flaws, while the husband isn't looking deep enough to see the flaws. He loves an idealized version of his wife, not the imperfect human he actually married.

I'm COMPLETLY against cheating in real life but this is a game. The wife just seems utterly unlikeable if you play with dual perspectives so I'm wondering if this was done intentionally to incentivize players to go the non-monogamous route?

Side note. Nothing mentioned in the forums or the meta of the narrative, so far, implies this is going to heavily focus on NTR, quite the opposite, but if that were the case why point out that the dude has a below-average dick and claim that he's shit at sex? Unless that's an unreliable narrator on the wife's part linking back to her promiscuity.
I don't see her as "promiscuous" but she wasn't a virgin either. She had a normal sex life for an attractive young adult woman. A few long-ish term relationships, a couple "friends w/ benefits," a couple short-term physical relationships, one or two one-night stands. The problem again stems from the fact that the husband was engaged with an idealized woman, assuming certain things about her based on this ideal, and then never even attempting to engage with the reality. Or at least, this is what the wife believes concerning the husband. Both of them are unreliable narrators because they are both seeing it only from their own perspective----the "truth" lies somewhere in the middle.

Physically, at least earlier in their relationship, he struggled to satisfy her but managed to make do most of the time. Later, he stopped trying so hard, and she is the one to suffer. She wants her husband to satisfy her sexually because she loves him. Maybe she waited too long to try to talk to him about it because she didn't want to hurt him or because she didn't realize that's what the problem was. But by the time she realizes this is an issue, it has already begun to affect other parts of their relationship. Again, two people in very different places emotionally viewing the same set of facts in very different ways.

In other words, players can't assume that the player-character is the "hero" or "is right" in this game. He is a fallible man and some of the issues in his marriage are his fault. Part of the challenge of the game is for him to improve himself in ways that help to solve the problems in his marriage.

That said, I thought my description was clear that the game is going to be mostly focused on the non-monogamous routes. I want the monogamous route to be developed enough to be a good, solid alternative for people who aren't necessarily into the non-monogamous stuff (where avoiding it is the goal of the game). Primarily because so many games in this genre unrealistically ignore the possibility that loving people might want to just simply work on their relationship in productive ways that don't involve fucking other people. I don't want it to be considered an afterthought either, but actually just as well written and developed as the other routes.

View attachment 3223807

I'm sorry if I crossed any lines in my criticism but this just seems like a terrible introduction for the wife if you intended for her to be even remotely likable from the start and aren't building to something special as the project continues.

If not, I'm rooting for the guy to find someone who actually cares about him and doesn't see him as "good enough."

Aside from lame sex puns in the mobile app the previous game had such a good start in comparison.
Don't worry, no lines are crossed. I appreciate constructive criticism. As writers, it's literally the only way to improve. (And I say this as an award-winning published author of over 20 years----completely different genres of writing----but accustomed to working with editors.)

I will definitely be taking your feedback into consideration and look at the Preface, first night conversation, and relationship conversations. I want to make sure that I am getting across the points I am trying to get across (as summarized above) effectively. If not, some rewriting may be required.
 

Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
716
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No I mean Brian So i choose the open marriage route and she is sleeping with brian all the time to always being around him. I did the back space thing to escape the stuck part I think its trying to do an event but just nothing there or could just still be a bug but pressing back and reclicking a few times fixes it. Brian has left so now just trying to see what else happens and have not gotten anything so far no texts from rick couldnt even give me the option to go to the club with rick so might have to restart and see what i missed.
Oh ok, I might have just misunderstood what you meant. Ricky (the one I thought you meant) is someone she meets on a dating app. Richard is the husband's boss. You should receive a text from Richard at home one night after having an interesting conversation with him at work. You can't go to the club with him yet though.
 

Dragunav

Newbie
Dec 8, 2017
99
135
Sorry, i don't know if this has been posted.
But how do i raise her satisfaction in the "we'll make it work" route?

Even after sex it just goes down, doing chores with her, talking with her, going on dates (lunch/dinner) and watching TV doesn't raise it, atleast it doesn't look like it.
 
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Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
716
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Sorry, i don't know if this has been posted.
But how do i raise her satisfaction in the "we'll make it work" route?

Even after sex it just goes down, doing chores with her, talking with her, going on dates (lunch/dinner) and watching TV doesn't raise it, atleast it doesn't look like it.
It's not just about having sex. She has to have an orgasm, and her overall Arousal needs to be kept low.
 

Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
716
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Right, ok. But 'replaced' then. Same disappointment.

Very few interesting female protagonist games out there.
No, this is just a different game. As I said, the other game is currently on hold but active plot development will be resumed in a few months. There will be a technical update cleaning up a lot of legacy code and adding a few new features before that.
 

ShinyBoots1993

Active Member
Apr 7, 2020
927
2,275
First off, thank you for responding to my jumbled thoughts.

Precisely because there are already so many good ones out there that do that well.
Any recommendations?

So their respective attitudes come from where they are right now emotionally.
I can understand both viewing the current state of things differently but in the wife's perspective, it reads like she's viewed her husband as pretty mid since the beginning. Like unless the "good enough" is a recent opinion based on hindsight she just seems sort of awful and if it was a recent realization there's nothing suggesting that.

She loves him despite his flaws, while the husband isn't looking deep enough to see the flaws. He loves an idealized version of his wife, not the imperfect human he actually married.
See the issue I take is that the opening has her almost non-stop ragging on the dude. I have no idea what she actually likes about him because she thinks he's lazy, hates his hobbies, and considers him shit in bed. What does she actually love about him other than he has a good job that funds her writing?

I don't see her as "promiscuous" but she wasn't a virgin either.
As I said I'm not slut-shaming. I mean it in the literal sense. Multiple short-lived and nondiscriminatory interactions. Maybe the husband is the kind of person who'd be a lot more judgmental than I am but if she has that fear it says something about her more than her husband.

Physically, at least earlier in their relationship, he struggled to satisfy her but managed to make do most of the time.
This directly contradicts what the wife says.
Own Hands 1.png
In our own hands 2.png
I mean yeah the process of sex is incredibly enjoyable but "satisfy" I would take to mean that she didn't need to fake the majority of her orgasms.

Because text doesn't convey tone, this isn't me trying to pull a gotcha. It just seems like a contradictory statement.

Maybe she waited too long to try to talk to him about it because she didn't want to hurt him or because she didn't realize that's what the problem was. But by the time she realizes this is an issue, it has already begun to affect other parts of their relationship.
This is fair and very humanizing but perhaps this should be a thought she has conveyed in the intro? I'd be more sympathetic to her if it was but I'm going off first impressions.

In other words, players can't assume that the player-character is the "hero" or "is right" in this game. He is a fallible man and some of the issues in his marriage are his fault. Part of the challenge of the game is for him to improve himself in ways that help to solve the problems in his marriage.
Oh, I'm 100% fine with a fallible protagonist. I've played enough of these HTML games starring a badass who has no trouble getting laid to find fallibility appealing. However, what's currently in the game just has it seem like he's a guy trying to please his wife and comes home tired to relax with his hobbies while his wife does nothing but talk shit about him behind his back.

Again, I don't know what she actually likes about him. It seems like she just settled for the one guy that was remotely reliable and is still ungrateful like it isn't her problem.

Maybe that was intended to be something revealed as the story unfolded but we should have some sense of affection instead of the somewhat resentful pity.

Don't worry, no lines are crossed. I appreciate constructive criticism. As writers, it's literally the only way to improve. (And I say this as an award-winning published author of over 20 years----completely different genres of writing----but accustomed to working with editors.)

I will definitely be taking your feedback into consideration and look at the Preface, first night conversation, and relationship conversations. I want to make sure that I am getting across the points I am trying to get across (as summarized above) effectively. If not, some rewriting may be required.
And this is why I even bothered posting to begin with. So many people put out crap and cynically slap a Patreon link to it but coming off of In Her Own Hands, I can tell there's a genuine passion for this project.

Again, hope I didn't come off more critical than warranted, it's just that it's hard to be invested in a relationship when one of the characters seems to barely care at all.
 

Surprise & Delight

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May 28, 2020
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Any recommendations?
I don't have any, as it's not really the genre I like to play. I just assume that at least some of them must be good because they are so much more successful than female protag games. At least I can say that I'm not "in it for the money" or else I'm just not very smart lol.

I can understand both viewing the current state of things differently but in the wife's perspective, it reads like she's viewed her husband as pretty mid since the beginning. Like unless the "good enough" is a recent opinion based on hindsight she just seems sort of awful and if it was a recent realization there's nothing suggesting that.

See the issue I take is that the opening has her almost non-stop ragging on the dude. I have no idea what she actually likes about him because she thinks he's lazy, hates his hobbies, and considers him shit in bed. What does she actually love about him other than he has a good job that funds her writing?
I see what you're saying. I think I may need to be a little more explicit in the Preface about this. Shouldn't require a lot of words, just a handful of more positive.

To me, "good enough" was more her understanding that "Prince Charming" wasn't out there coming to her rescue. "Good enough" is better than a string of assholes or abusers or any other flavor of bad hombres. But it's not perfect. It was meant to convey that she didn't need him to be perfect, she just needed him to be decent. It's a very cynical approach to finding a mate that I think a lot of modern women fall into. (There's even the old joke about women trying to "fix" their husbands, which is a similar expression of the same thought process, just maybe slightly less cynical.) It never really dawned on me that "good enough" could be viewed as negative.

This is fair and very humanizing but perhaps this should be a thought she has conveyed in the intro? I'd be more sympathetic to her if it was but I'm going off first impressions.

Oh, I'm 100% fine with a fallible protagonist. I've played enough of these HTML games starring a badass who has no trouble getting laid to find fallibility appealing. However, what's currently in the game just has it seem like he's a guy trying to please his wife and comes home tired to relax with his hobbies while his wife does nothing but talk shit about him behind his back.

Again, I don't know what she actually likes about him. It seems like she just settled for the one guy that was remotely reliable and is still ungrateful like it isn't her problem.

Maybe that was intended to be something revealed as the story unfolded but we should have some sense of affection instead of the somewhat resentful pity.
I think this is all similar to the above. I thought I was conveying certain impressions that clearly weren't coming out. I will look to see where some of this might be productively made more explicit.

And this is why I even bothered posting to begin with. So many people put out crap and cynically slap a Patreon link to it but coming off of In Her Own Hands, I can tell there's a genuine passion for this project.

Again, hope I didn't come off more critical than warranted, it's just that it's hard to be invested in a relationship when one of the characters seems to barely care at all.
Thanks again!
 

Modsognir

Newbie
Dec 26, 2020
68
167
I am always a bit skeptical about HTML games with open world, most of the time they end up becoming very repetitive with endless filler content to simply click through without reading it after the first time it is encountered.

There are some issues with this in this game too, but the scenes that are in the game (I have checked out the cuckold route) are very well written and really hot.

What I would like, if it is possible, would be a warning that we've reached the end of the current content in the main story line.
 
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