Java Lilith's Throne [v0.4.10.7 Hotfix] [Innoxia]

[Kallumin]

I like the update. The enforcer encounter is cool. You get more enforcer gear to steal, and the new sets are nice in that some of them only take up two slots. They're also a way to deal with encounters you can't beat, and they will enslave that mugger for you if you have a slaver's licence. You don't even need to enchant an item to enslave them. Nice!

If we get more of that content in exchange for losing companions, then I'll... accept it. Not gonna lie, the companion interactions are a main draw of the game for me, and I'm very unhappy to see them gone. But Inno also promised more slave and guest interactions in the manor, so who knows how that will turn out.

 

[Sewyoba]

Companions had interactions? What did they do?

 

[Nizzquizz]

Enforcer uniforms were made by DSG, not Innoxia.

And surprisingly enough, Sir McWanker, writing 5 times the same dialogues with variations take more time than adjusting a number and adding a condition in the code, yes.

Writing the same dialogues 5 times is just copy&pasting one dialogue 4 times and replacing 'watery' with 'fiery' etc. Of all the things to slow down the development (which was more my point than the individual changes, MrNameCaller), that's on the 'little to no work at all' list as well..
Also I'm very much aware that Innox didn't make the uniforms - but that's exactly the reason why the decision that companions won't be developed further is so baffling. For outright nonsense (like the uniforms but also the other things that you just glossed over..) someone comes around - but for a mechanic that's been in the game since forever there isn't?

Yes, quadrupling the number of variations you have to write for Every. Single. Scene. in the game has a bit more impact on development than changing 1 variable or copy-pasting some files a huge uniform nerd gave you. Who would have thought ...

Not every single scene needs much addition from the companion, and if it's just a check 'companion present if yes add line "what he said", said my <companion type> companion." Again, the different types of companion don't even need to be addressed and if, it can be kept short. One word difference.
Also again, the uniform as a single issue is not my point. No fucking content for MONTHS while adding or changing nonsentical stuff is my point. Giving up on a core feature out of pure laziness is my point. But sure, can't expect a dev to actually do some work on what was already promised - anything but copypasting others work is apparently 'too much'.
Bullshit.

 

[temporaryuser]

and thats all, right? No new story content?

 

[Bocoboco]

The enforcer content is nice, but Inno needs to increase the encounter rate or something.

 

[Aramitz]

Innoxia hasn't released a proper story/gameplay update in like 18 months.
Stop expecting great releases to happen, you're only gonna hurt yourself. Play it as a nice little sandboxy sidegame, check for updates every now and then, and it'll be better. At some point, you cannot fool yourself with comments like "but this game has potential !" anymore; you're only hurting yourself.
And, alternatively, stop paying her a comfy full time salary for something that keeps her busy 20% of a normal work week, if money is an issue.

 

[the Fallen]

this game is slowly turning into another breeding season I'm glad I jumped ship a year ago

1 step forward 2 steps back is what this is

 

[Aknar]

Kind of sad you can't get caught if you keep going with Claire, kind of would have been expected imo.

 

[HornyJail420]

Writing the same dialogues 5 times is just copy&pasting one dialogue 4 times and replacing 'watery' with 'fiery' etc. Of all the things to slow down the development (which was more my point than the individual changes, MrNameCaller), that's on the 'little to no work at all' list as well..
Also I'm very much aware that Innox didn't make the uniforms - but that's exactly the reason why the decision that companions won't be developed further is so baffling. For outright nonsense (like the uniforms but also the other things that you just glossed over..) someone comes around - but for a mechanic that's been in the game since forever there isn't?

What can I say? You clearly are knowledgeable of how the game is coded and should take the reins of it :^)
Also, the mechanic that "has been in the game since forever" was originally a pull request from Irbynx, one of the volunteer coder in the community. Not Innoxia's idea, she didn't originally plan to have all this and failed to analyze the whole thing and see whether or not it would be good on the long run.

Side note : Companions are still available for battle purposes for those who are having a hard time on higher difficulties, it's just scenes that will no longer include them.

No fucking content for MONTHS

Ah yes, the classical "Everything I'm not into isn't actual content" because it's just plainly wrong
Define "months", that's too vague, because in the recent updates there has at least been :

- Helena romance quest
- Helena post-quest dating content
- Natalya content
- Enforcer encounters

Though it's undeniable content has been slow this year and that there hasn't been any progress on the main quest, yeah, it's annoying. But it's just wrong to say there's been "no content for months".

 

[Nox_sopftpaw]

I like this game, have liked it for years and not sure why people expect content to be shoe horned in just cus people are kind and giving money to them

 

[IvoryOwl]

I like this game, have liked it for years and not sure why people expect content to be shoe horned in just cus people are kind and giving money to them

It's the expectation that comes with giving money to people. Some people believe that developers should use donations productively, especially if said donations are what allow them to treat their hobbies as full-time jobs (as is the case here). Developers like Inno are basically "privileged" because they can work from home, make up their own schedules, and have no boss to answer to besides themselves. And they still make more money than most people who work "ordinary", crappy jobs. They're living a good life, therefore, they should also have greater responsibilities to justify what they earn. (Though what some people really mean is "use this money to make things -I- personally find productive or like").

Some people donate because they are truly generous, others because they expect something in return. For a lot of folks money and favors come with a catch, like giving cash to a homeless individual but telling them not to waste it on booze. Your "generosity" comes with a condition, so you don't feel like it was "wasted". The skeptic in me says most people donate, not because they care or are generous, but because they want to feel good about themselves, look good in front of their family and friends, or are expecting some kind of "good karma" in return. This is selfishness posing as generosity IMO.

But I'm going too deep for nothing... Basically, everyone thinks differently. Just because you have little to no expectations doesn't mean others will feel the same. Everyone has their reasons for thinking the way they do... and for donating.

 

[Darknesssilent]

I like this game, have liked it for years and not sure why people expect content to be shoe horned in just cus people are kind and giving money to them

Its like you going for fast food and you order a fries but then when you get your order its onion rings do you go and complain that they messed your order or deal with, giving money to a dev to help them make a game you enjoy but after so long for story updates people see this as its not going for what we are paying for and they get mad and complain to a dev that doesn't listen to anything.

 

[Kallumin]

Inno announced a big update/announcement on the 15th. And she's basically finishing the last things she promised to do before advancing the story. So if you're not paying for her Subscribestar, I wonder why you would abandon the game now of all times, when actual progress seems to be right around the corner.

 

[SordidDreams]

Inno announced a big update/announcement on the 15th.

Let's be real, that means nothing.

 

[kenny]

how do you even get the enforcer encounter? literally walk around alleyways for a 1/100 event?

 

[NoStepOnSnek]

how do you even get the enforcer encounter? literally walk around alleyways for a 1/100 event?

1/50, but yes, for now. There'll probably be some easy/reliable way to access them for the next full release though.

 

[Nox_sopftpaw]

Its like you going for fast food and you order a fries but then when you get your order its onion rings do you go and complain that they messed your order or deal with, giving money to a dev to help them make a game you enjoy but after so long for story updates people see this as its not going for what we are paying for and they get mad and complain to a dev that doesn't listen to anything.

But it like complaining about the onion rings while theres been like 3 years of wrong orders and missed targets, also you get those onion rings just for turning up as well. Do people really want conent with the core gameplay being of something like leave 2gether where it's like playing the game where all events or quest fire randomly, break each other and being forced into the stable hand content no matter what just so theres content Being pumped out each month?

 

[FireSauner0]

Honestly, Java isn't very hard. Especially as it is in this game. there is a reason why modding it is so simple. the framework is good and flexible enough, for a text game in my o.

A very simple example of variations in text is that the game has multiple words for different bodyparts (I don't know what precisely they are but something along the lines of: boobs, tits, breasts, etc.). whenever they appear on screen, the actual code has variables instead of specific words, and writes them from a list randomly (or in a cycle, i don't remember anymore).

Coding in the actual companion variety texts is as easy as what i wrote above. they teach you that level stuff in high school. the companion's name, race, body parts, and every single piece of usable information about them is stored as are the player's stats either in memory when the game is running, which means they can be checked for with a simple variable.

Writing the actual text for it probably takes more time than coding it in, because there was far more text in them, than just writing variations for the word ,,penis".
Other reason could be that not many players tried them out or fonud them in the first place. I for one remember 2 instances in the entire game where having a companion made a difference in 2 scenes, and it didn't matter who/what the companion was. either you have one with you or not. I'm not sure what other ,,companion content" there is. (would love to get a reply about that if anyone knows)

EDIT: turns out Inno meant literally every interaction the involves multiple characters on the player's side (that aren't pre written character part of a quest). I initially thought she meant stuff like the slaver alley encounter where having a companion and new parts and dialogue to the scene. or some parts of the imp fortress quests.

 

[ObligatoryAccount]

From the blogspot page:

Companion Support


I also need to mention the fact that I'm planning on dropping support for companions in this next version. This wasn't an easy decision to make, especially considering how much time has been put into them, but the amount of complexity that they've been adding to new content has been a large part of the reason why so many releases have been delayed. Not only was it taking a considerable amount of time for me to both write and make the framework variations for companions, but doing so was very repetitive work and was draining my enthusiasm for adding new scenes.


As an example of how companion support was slowing me down, I'll give a quick example of how I need to take into account attractions & available sex areas when starting a sex scene with a random NPC:
Without companions:
- Check NPC attraction to player.
- Check if the NPC's desired sex type with the player is available.
With companions:
- Check NPC attraction to player.
- Check NPC attraction to companion.
- Check companion attraction to player.
- Check companion attraction to NPC.
- Check if the NPC's desired sex type with the player is available.
- Check if the NPC's desired sex type with the companion is available.
- Check if the companion's desired sex type with the player is available.
- Check if the companion's desired sex type with the NPC is available.


The situation gets even worse when there are two or more random NPCs, as I then need to check all of the possible variations between the player's companion and these extra NPCs. Having to factor in all of these variations is what's been causing a lot of the delays in getting new content added (especially in the Rat Warrens), and so that's why I'm going to have to drop support for them.

 

[IvoryOwl]

Look at all the armchair "developers" popping up in this thread! One would think Inno knows more about her own game and how much effort it takes to build than most of us but apparently some people just like to brag about how "knowledgeable" they are and how "lazy" Inno is for ditching a feature that is "sooooo easy" to implement (either that or they're just mad a feature they liked bit the dust and have to insult the dev for her choice. I reckon its the latter. Bias does that.)

I'm not saying Inno is all-knowing... but in most cases, I'm more likely to take her word for it than a bunch of random Joes on the internet who probably don't even have a single game under their belt.

If you're so good then here's your chance to prove it - every time Inno releases a new version, go to GitHub, take a look at the code and either expand upon the support system or write new content yourself. Go on. Put your money where your mouth is. Since the game is open-sourced and Java is "isn't so hard", the only thing stopping you is yourself.