HTML Masters of Raana [v0.8.3.6d] [GrimDark]

[Gunner Rey]

Regardless of a currency exchange, I don't think it's at all worth it. This game actually does a good job demonstrating exactly what I don't like about the current subscription model for games in development.

If I could just buy the game as an early access type situation for 20 bucks, I'd do it. 50 bucks would be incredibly pricey in my opinion, but it wouldn't be out of the question either.

But 25 bucks a month, in perpetuity, is not at all worth it.

Here's the Tier 4 quest, as it currently exists:

You get a letter telling you to read a newspaper. You go to Town Hall. You read the newspaper. You go to Crow's End and into a wine cellar. You get through a door with a keypad, and you get some items, including a bunch of gold.

*Final Fantasy Victory Fanfare*

That's it. That's literally it.

Outside of a debug menu, earlier access to releases, and access to discord and patreon posts (which are of no value to me), that's all you're getting for 25 bucks a month.

The perk of the debug menu is subverted just by knowing how to give console commands, so really, the only part of it that hold additional value is earlier releases, which is, not to be rude, something that isn't exactly of great value either in my opinion.

And while I'm not positive, given how this game's releases mean giving you a new HTML file every time, I don't think you'd be able to take the tiered content into a free file unless you edited it in. Maybe you can if the content is already active, and items in your inventory wouldn't disappear, but my understanding is that you would lose access to that content, at least in subsequent playthroughs.

So yeah, the Tier 4 content isn't exactly a great value, and the Tier 2 content is a customizable slave that comes with an unfinished quest.

You're right of course, from a purely financial standpoint it's not worth it, that's why it's better to think of it as just little bennies Grimdark makes for his supporters. He wouldn't have been able to quit his job and dedicate more time to the game without the legions of supporters who contribute each month to keep him going. They're nice, but you can play the game and get the mass proportion of scenes and renders without any tier benefits, or you can save-edit the game if you know how to do that and quicken the pace that way.

 

[Gunner Rey]

I just found this game a few days ago and have been mind blown at what is available so far... But I have a question to veteran players that have experienced Tier2 and Tier4 gameplay.

-What EXACTLY are we 'free players' missing out here? I'm not talking about 'what content' is locked out (one can look at the wiki)... I'm asking if those content is... Worth it?... And will it ever be released to the public?

I've supported, and still support some ongoing H-games on Patreon... But this is the first time I've seen actual quest content locked out based on Tier in such a way.
With Tier2 a fully customizable slave.
And... Tier4 is kinda steep asking price for a guy who lives in a country with a much weaker currency. (That's 2+ weeks worth of what I pay for lunch every month.)

I want to know in more detail what I'm missing out here as a free player. I could be... 'coaxed' into thinking it as an expansion DLC like how modern videogames works... But with this setup, my access to up to Tier 4 quests is only for a month... Unlike getting the expansion for Monster Hunter permanently.

Aside from what content Tier2 and 4 have my other question is...

-Would I lose my Tier2 slave once my patronage ends and a new version pops up etc kind of question.

-Could I load an older save file from a Tier4 new game save to a newer free tier version?

Again. Sorry for the TLDR post, but thanks in advance.

As far as I know, you can update a tier-2 or tier-4 save with the free version and you won't lose anything. You'll still have the Tier-2 slave and can keep playing a tier-4 character but you won't get any updates that have been made to that slave, her quest and you won't be able to create tier-4 characters anymore, but you'll still have everything you had before. I know that was the case as of a year ago because I've accidentally clicked the wrong link at times and I didn't lose anything I had.

There's not a whole lot of updates exclusively for tier-4 and tier-2, the recent character creation update ('Enhanced') was the biggest for tier-4 for a long while, and there's been a quest update and some wardrobe renders for tier-2 in the last year or so. You can contribute once and odds are you won't miss out on anything for a while, if you're the sort who dislikes subscriptions or can't justify the expense.

 

[bolondro2]

Felton Gang (Stokke Hills)
It seems that I wiped them out accidently many moths ago
Just found out that it was a possible investment.
Can I restore them on the map somehow? Maybe edit some variables in the save-file?

It´s not worth the trouble. It´s a really small investment.

 

[Gunner Rey]

Crap... my techies are not amazing fighters and I fear it will be a tough fight...
Speaking of tough fights does anyone play this game permadeath? like if you lose the "game ending" battles you just restart? it's too much grind for me personally but I was curious.

It used to be if your NPCs went down, they were Dead, dead. Recently in the Alphas Grimdark reintroduced it through Iron Man mode where if they hit -15 hp they'd be gone.

As for restarting, I may hold the record. Often I'll just play the first few days or maybe a month just for the fun of seeing if I can get off to a better start.

I've never lost a game-ending battle, he didn't introduce that until I knew enough not to walk into a fight without superior firepower or the best vibro-blades in Ikaanos.

 

[Fauno36]

As for restarting, I may hold the record. Often I'll just play the first few days or maybe a month just for the fun of seeing if I can get off to a better start.

I doubt it, look at my last start:

 

[ibell420]

I have noticed when you capture a slave the process button does not show up immediately. It has been 2 weeks since capturing my last slave and still no process button. Is this a bug?

 

[errte13]

I have noticed when you capture a slave the process button does not show up immediately. It has been 2 weeks since capturing my last slave and still no process button. Is this a bug?

If you're not in the area of your home at north redhaven, you won't be able to process slaves. I think you can process in an area where there's a slave market. If you're at the swamps and have fort sera, instead of process you can donate to fort sera

 

[ibell420]

If you're not in the area of your home at north redhaven, you won't be able to process slaves. I think you can process in an area where there's a slave market. If you're at the swamps and have fort sera, instead of process you can donate to fort sera

That would make a lot of sense. Thanks!

 

[Fauno36]

I have noticed when you capture a slave the process button does not show up immediately. It has been 2 weeks since capturing my last slave and still no process button. Is this a bug?

You can only process in North Redhaven, Crystal Heights (when you can access it), Watery Eyes, and Preacher's Hall.
In this last location NEVER sell slaves, only process. The preacher pays very badly.

 

[Gunner Rey]

I doubt it, look at my last start:

View attachment 3587557

I don't keep them, but my toll no doubt runs in the hundreds. For weeks at a time I've played the first few days like ten times a night trying to find the 'optimum' opening. Every few nights I'll take one to thirty or so and see where I get.

 

[Gunner Rey]

If you're not in the area of your home at north redhaven, you won't be able to process slaves. I think you can process in an area where there's a slave market. If you're at the swamps and have fort sera, instead of process you can donate to fort sera

You're right, Crystal Heights and Watery Eyes have slave markets, thus you can process them there as well. The Mad Preacher will also take hotties off your hands but has little use for men so don't bother if you process in Preacher's Pond, the fourth place you can sell slaves.

 

[Fauno36]

I don't keep them, but my toll no doubt runs in the hundreds. For weeks at a time I've played the first few days like ten times a night trying to find the 'optimum' opening. Every few nights I'll take one to thirty or so and see where I get.

For me it has become like a whole chess game, trying new openings until I find the optimal one (I think I did it).
Of course, until Grimdark makes a new radical change and we start again.

 

[Gunner Rey]

For me it has become like a whole chess game, trying new openings until I find the optimal one (I think I did it).
Of course, until Grimdark makes a new radical change and we start again.

In your most optimum start did you hire Ansel, the Peasant and Bud and take out the neighborhood nemesis and start on the Redhaven Gang before moving anywhere else? I've tried it both ways, but for the reward versus the time investment and risk that is a good payout and allows you to buy more tendstims to keep you going longer.

 

[Fauno36]

In your most optimum start did you hire Ansel, the Peasant and Bud and take out the neighborhood nemesis and start on the Redhaven Gang before moving anywhere else? I've tried it both ways, but for the reward versus the time investment and risk that is a good payout and allows you to buy more tendstims to keep you going longer.

Everything except Bud, I have him banned.

 

[Gunner Rey]

Everything except Bud, I have him banned.

You don't abandon the boys in the 'hood where I come from. Yes Bud is an obnoxious twit most of the time, but he's our twit. We have to take care of him or no one will.

He makes me laugh sometimes, mostly at him and not with him I must admit.

 

[khumak]

What mercs are you hiring?
So far i'm more on the lecturing / arms (crafting/manufacturing) route

Depends on whether I start with more or less than 1500 influence. If more then I head straight to the bank, take out a loan and go round up the top tiers. If less then I hire the cheap guys first so I can make enough money to hire the more expensive ones as soon as possible.

If you're not focusing as much on combat then I would probably stick with mercs that have a combination of decent health plus cheap salary. Ansel, Jack, Bud, and Doyle would be great for that. Doyle is kind of expensive up front, but his salary is cheap. I don't fight with people who have less than 100 health past day 1, which excludes most of the low salary mercs.

If you're playing one of the latest versions there are a couple of unique male slaves you can capture that are absolute melee monsters but they don't go down easy. Once you get them though you have combat monsters on par with the top tiers with no salary.

 

[khumak]

You don't abandon the boys in the 'hood where I come from. Yes Bud is an obnoxious twit most of the time, but he's our twit. We have to take care of him or no one will.

He makes me laugh sometimes, mostly at him and not with him I must admit.

Bud is less annoying than he used to be now that pool parties are a thing. Plus he got buffed at some point so his starting ranged skill isn't so terrible (he starts at 60 now, used to be 50). He's actually one of the best day 1 mercs now IMO when you take into account his decent health, reasonable ranged skill, ammo pack, and low salary. The only other low salary mercs with the same or better health than Bud are Jack, and Doyle and neither of them has an ammo pack.

 

[Fauno36]

Bud is less annoying than he used to be now that pool parties are a thing. Plus he got buffed at some point so his starting ranged skill isn't so terrible (he starts at 60 now, used to be 50). He's actually one of the best day 1 mercs now IMO when you take into account his decent health, reasonable ranged skill, ammo pack, and low salary. The only other low salary mercs with the same or better health than Bud are Jack, and Doyle and neither of them has an ammo pack.

My problem with Bud is that he is constantly losing happiness and affection, I tried everything and he tired me out!

 

[khumak]

My problem with Bud is that he is constantly losing happiness and affection, I tried everything and he tired me out!

Pool parties count as "spending time" with him for the attention whore perk so build a gazebo with a pool and throw some parties. They make everyone in your house happy, including Bud.

 

[Clemency]

I apply a Neuraclean to Bud almost every time when I can buy it. He losses every trait except Ammo Pack and Scavenger, the two traits I need. If he ever spawns with Workaholic, I have no choice but to spare him. It fits timing-wise too since when I can access the Palace and afford to easily spend on Neuraclean also happens to be the time I use him less and ergo pay less attention to his happiness.