Just finished this one, well mostly, still missing a few scenes. while I can agree that at times this game can feel "grindy" I find that makes it a little more rewarding when you finally reach that next milestone and get that next scene. The story and the way the relationship builds up between the MC and Sarah is great, I love seeing a more realistic approach instead of just throwing H-scenes at the player. great game, looking forward to more
- Jun 30, 2018
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Im more like build up progress ala "Melody, Acting lessons" or "Where the heart is" style
- Nov 15, 2017
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You are going to find this grindy then.
That said, apart from a couple of scenes where if you miss them they are gone, checking your stats and seeing what's changing (along with prudent use of rollback) and it's not too bad to find stuff.
I think the objectives lists could be better done (grey on black to do, white on black done or something), but the full current list has been posted which will help.
However, I like the underlying story and think it contends well with Acting Lessons and Where the Heart Is. If you like them and are willing to put up with the grind, you'll probably like this too.
ETA - didn't compare Melody as I've never played it.
Even if no one really asked, I'll give a rundown on my thought about the "grindyness" of the game.
Some of my favorite games I've ever played, has been very grindy in its core or with "optional grind", I've always enjoyed working on something for a longer period of time and then get rewarded for my efforts with a shiny new thing. This also ties into the instant gratification problem today, and while they are nice for a bit, in the long run they will make you feel very frustrated with things that don't come easy. I'm not saying that everyone who don't like the game are instant gratification addicts or anything, but I definitely think there are cases where this is true, not only in my game, but in the industry at large.
This "mechanic" is widely used in all kinds of games, some have implemented them better than others. As for my game, well, I've been thinking about it a lot.
You will be able to follow your progress quite well if you pay attention to what is happening and what you are doing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like the fact that it isn't holding your hand along the way.
What can reasonably be changed is how many times something is repeated. I've tossed the idea around of a multiplier for most stats (wouldn't work with some) to make the gap between events a little smaller.
This is not likely to happen anytime soon (maybe not ever), but might be relevant before the game is finished.
What I had in mind from the beginning was a game that made people think and evaluate, in turn they would be rewarded with a piece of the story. I like the concept of having a handbook to help you if you are stuck, which is something that has been buried by time in the game industry. While my walkthrough is not anything close to that type of handbook I still like the concept. I also realize that a lot of you do not have access to it, but that is more of a temporary problem seeing as I would like to include it on the final version of the game.
As to the list of achievements, it ties into the walkthrough, which is meant as a complement. The achievements themselves are there more as an indication to the fact that there is something left to see, how to get there is another matter.
I'd argue that the design of the game is fairly solid, but that the execution could improve. This isn't a surprise, it was even something I expected, this is my first game after all.
Some of my favorite games I've ever played, has been very grindy in its core or with "optional grind", I've always enjoyed working on something for a longer period of time and then get rewarded for my efforts with a shiny new thing. This also ties into the instant gratification problem today, and while they are nice for a bit, in the long run they will make you feel very frustrated with things that don't come easy. I'm not saying that everyone who don't like the game are instant gratification addicts or anything, but I definitely think there are cases where this is true, not only in my game, but in the industry at large.
This "mechanic" is widely used in all kinds of games, some have implemented them better than others. As for my game, well, I've been thinking about it a lot.
You will be able to follow your progress quite well if you pay attention to what is happening and what you are doing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like the fact that it isn't holding your hand along the way.
What can reasonably be changed is how many times something is repeated. I've tossed the idea around of a multiplier for most stats (wouldn't work with some) to make the gap between events a little smaller.
This is not likely to happen anytime soon (maybe not ever), but might be relevant before the game is finished.
What I had in mind from the beginning was a game that made people think and evaluate, in turn they would be rewarded with a piece of the story. I like the concept of having a handbook to help you if you are stuck, which is something that has been buried by time in the game industry. While my walkthrough is not anything close to that type of handbook I still like the concept. I also realize that a lot of you do not have access to it, but that is more of a temporary problem seeing as I would like to include it on the final version of the game.
As to the list of achievements, it ties into the walkthrough, which is meant as a complement. The achievements themselves are there more as an indication to the fact that there is something left to see, how to get there is another matter.
I'd argue that the design of the game is fairly solid, but that the execution could improve. This isn't a surprise, it was even something I expected, this is my first game after all.
- Feb 12, 2018
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I appreciate your perspective. Let me add a few thoughts of mine. "Grindiness" is kind of a broad term. Many different things can be "grindy". If a game forces you to grind ressources that's grindy and most of the time that is implemented in ways which are not too diversified so it becomes boring really quickly.
Another kind of "grindiness" is if a game forces you to jump through annoying hoops. You know why you are jumping through the hoops but if they are done in such a way that they basically just function as a time sink it becomes annoying real fast. Developers sometimes do this by forcing you to run over the map all the time for the tiniest amounts of dialogue and stuff like that.
And then there is the kind of "grindiness" where you are forced to fish in the dark and waiting for things to happen. This is stuff like events having a random possibility of happening, or events having to be repeated for an unspecified amount of times until you pass a certain threshhold and continue with something new. The dev implementing it knows what's going on. But the player doesn't and if this is going on for too long it's easy for the player to think he does something wrong or there simply isn't more content yet (which is a reasonable assumption for games that are still in development).
A grind is not bad in itself. But depending on how it is used it can be annoying or confusing.
Another kind of "grindiness" is if a game forces you to jump through annoying hoops. You know why you are jumping through the hoops but if they are done in such a way that they basically just function as a time sink it becomes annoying real fast. Developers sometimes do this by forcing you to run over the map all the time for the tiniest amounts of dialogue and stuff like that.
And then there is the kind of "grindiness" where you are forced to fish in the dark and waiting for things to happen. This is stuff like events having a random possibility of happening, or events having to be repeated for an unspecified amount of times until you pass a certain threshhold and continue with something new. The dev implementing it knows what's going on. But the player doesn't and if this is going on for too long it's easy for the player to think he does something wrong or there simply isn't more content yet (which is a reasonable assumption for games that are still in development).
A grind is not bad in itself. But depending on how it is used it can be annoying or confusing.
- Apr 22, 2017
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I know what you mean bobbo69... some keywords are just too short! I tend to use the "watch thread" option - then I see the thread whenever there is a new post... sure - you see some rubbish posts but I find it easier to keep up with what's going on.I go through hell to get to this thread every time, is there some sort of hotkey to get to this thread??? whenever I write life in the: enter your search here] box thing, this thread doesn't show, could this be a problem?Could one of the mods here or admin take a look at this please, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I'll agree that there are different types of grind, some of them are more appealing than others.
I'm not sure I can agree with your latter point as that is more a matter of opinion. I've done some rather lengthy grinds in my day, which most people tend to shy away from, that does not inherently mean it's poorly made.
Some of the scenes in the game are time sinks and that was because they were requested to be there.
There is, however, a purpose to the pace of the game. All the events are taking place over a couple of months, I'm just at about two months when I play through it but I've seen people who are just above three.
This is pacing to the story, the amount of events and interaction I would have to make in order to pace the game like that would not really reasonable right now.
I too am a victim of the RPGM running simulators, so I know what you're saying and agree with your stance.
Both of these are sort of present in my game, but not really.
I tend to dislike when things seem to happen out of nowhere, and while I do have a handful of events that rely on random factors, they have little to no baring on the progress of the game.
I also dislike when you have to keep going on something without an actual goal in sight, which is why I made sure that there are stats, not just a random hidden number that the player has no idea even exists.
I'll agree with that this is a problem in general, not so much with my game, at least I don't think so.
Ever since I implemented the achievements there is a pretty clear indication that there may or may not be something left to do.
I'll agree that the logic has to be clear, which I think I've done at least an okay job with, or you need good documentation for how things work, which I also have.
I wasn't sure if you were speaking in broader terms or specifically about my game, either way I appreciate your reply.
P.S. I've read a lot about what people don't like and what they do like, the good and the bad, it's hard to find the right balance and then make everything fit together. I really like what I've got, can it be better? Sure, everything can.
- Feb 12, 2018
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I was talking mostly in general. Your game didn't strike me as too grindy. There is some ressource grind but you don't need much money so it's fine and not that boring. There is also some affection grinding but you get to look at pretty pixel girls while doing it which is what I came here for, so who am I to complain? The only thing that had me confused was the last achievement of the neighbor twins, as I didn't quite understand what to do for that. The way I played the game everything else had been done for a while and I pondered if maybe my choices had made the achievement unlockable.
Oh well, I guess it's more of an extension to my first post then.
Well, it's a little different... one thing is that there is a maximum energy requirement for it along with an affection requirement for it to trigger in the first place. Then something I hadn't anticipated happened, which is that a lot of people didn't get it even after Jenna talked about it. This is due to how the workout system works, if you work out prior to the time of that specific event, it won't happen.
I kind of liked the idea behind it, even if it wasn't entirely intentional, as it does make a lot of sense once you think about it.
That's understandable and a pretty rational conclusion, it's a game in development after all.
I do test quite a lot before I release it, but things are bound to break every now and again.
- Feb 12, 2018
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That actually made perfect sense to me. Once Jenna talked about using the gym I assumed that I should not block it by going there alone. But it just took a while until she asked about the gym. I guess I had spent needlessly much time working at the university and thus was slow at improving the fitness stuff.
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- Nov 15, 2017
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You don't. You get it as part of one of the tasks with Helen, the professor.
It is toward the end of the current (0.7.3) version. Note, even when you get it you can't use it just yet.
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I'd highly recommend not messing with anything as it is very easy to mess the whole game up. If you're feeling like it's worth the risk then you can press "b" in game and there's a neat menu to increase most of the stats.
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- Apr 22, 2017
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I don't normally like models in games that have 'balloon' boobs but @Fasder, the face's on your models are enough for me to overlook my preference! LOL!! I've enjoyed this game so far thanks...
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