- Dec 2, 2016
- 150
- 373
Hold "W" to skip dialogue, really helps since this version seems to have borked old saves.
RPGM Project Skyward [v1.3f3] [Skyward Foundry]
- Thread starter Project Skyward Dev
- Start date
I stand corrected. In the very most recent update, at least, the dev updated the Wendigo scene so that if you win it takes the player to a screen that accuses them of cheating and then gives them and instant game over.
While not perfect, at least it gets rid of the potential problem of players thinking they can beat Wendigo. But personally, I believe that it would have been better to just make the Wendigo fight a cut-scene. Or at the very least have a player "win" still be treated the same as if they "lose." Fighters do things like that all the time, and I think I've seen a similar method used in other games.
I still think the game is still too grind happy. Lotta monster spawns, comparable to gen 1 Dragon Quest. While that is fine to have in a typical RPG, porn is a genre built on instant gratification, not sending the player down a 30+ hour battle loop.
I've heard people complain about the text crawl speed...and I can agree. It feels slow and unresponsive. I can say that about a lot in this game - slow and unresponsive. With the way it is implemented, it feels more like padding than a style choice. From what I understand, players don't enjoy having the control taken from them - which is apparently why the Half-Life games did so well. This game has a lot of scenes where the player is just waiting for the characters to walk across the screen, or for the correct emoji to appear. I see this a lot in indie games, and it is a practice I don't agree with - because, again, players don't like having control taken from them.
At the very least the dev implemented a text skip button, which saves a lot on the aggravation incurred from waiting for a scene to play out. (Text skip is locked to "W" key, people)
I know my arguments can sound too whinny or antagonistic, but I'm meaning it more as constructive criticism. I can see a good game here, and what IS here is very polished. But there is a lot of little problems that complicate the game and reduce how enjoyable it can be.
As it stands, right now it feels as if most of these problems exist because (it feels) like the dev is using them to pad out the experience. I dunno if that is true or not, since I just now passed the Wendigo fight. But with what I've played already it certainly feels that way.
I'd argue it is better to simplify the game instead of padding out the duration, since a porn dev's greatest hurdle is going to be convincing their audience that it is better to play their game over another devs, and filling a game with content that the players aren't interested isn't a good look for a porn game.
For a main stream game? Sure, combat, stats and complex story lines can work. It is almost expected at this point.
But for porn games? Most players want to get to the porn as quickly as possible, and damn everything else.
A dev can get away with including more of the features found in more typical mainstream games, depending on if they are implemented well.
A complex story can be enjoyable if the players like the characters and the world-building is good, especially if they have a lot of chances to explore the lewd aspects of the story they originally came for.
Battle mechanics in a porn game can be great, provided that they incorporate more lewd actions in the fighting than what you'd find in a typical JRPG battle system. You can find good examples of such systems in the works of Butakoma 300g, and of course the ever illustrious Violated Heroine game. I think a lot of porn game devs miss out on incorporating the porn into their battle systems, and because of that a lot of players like to skip the battles entirely, or do what they can to mitigate having to battle (IE: Cheat)
If the porn was integrated better into the combat mechanics more players would probably get involved.
Of course that means more time and effort and money spent on the game's development, but just having a system like that in a game immensely helps give the game a unique identity.
Stats are mostly fine...although I think ever porn game should have sex stats. It's a porn game, so I feel as if that aspect should be incorporated into as much of the DNA of a game as possible.
Really, the only way I could see stats being improved is if the player was somehow able to selectively choose which stat to level up whenever they increase their player level, or whenever they have enough "skill points."
A customizable experience at the very least has a lot of replay value, and players will more easily be immersed if they have more control over the characters and story.
About story - going back to what I said about players being immersed in stories if they like the character and world-building? Yeah, right now the protagonist (Yoshiko) isn't very likable.
I can kinda see what the dev intends to do with her character - starting her off as young, inexperienced and carefree only for a great tragedy to force her to grow as a character and person... but right now she isn't a very likable person and a lot of work would need to be done to improve her character if the current direction she's heading remains the same.
She an self-centered, air-headed bimbo who couldn't be arsed to bother listening to others and shrugs off all responsibilities.
Thing is...she could probably be fixed if a few things were changed in the early game. Right now it's very obvious that that the Tribute day thing is a big deal and failing to uphold it is really bad news. A lot of characters talk about it, constantly reminding Yoshiko about it and warning about delaying and what will happen if she doesn't follow through. She even uncovers notes and books and letters about the subject during her exploration of the town.
Thing is, with her basically ignoring everything said to her and everything she's read about it, it just makes her look like an irresponsible twat and basically ruins any chance for the player to connect with her and empathize with the tragedy. As it is, we can only look at her experience and say "Well that's what you get."
She could probably be fixed if fewer characters talked with her about the subject, and if they tried to downplay the seriousness of the situation in an effort to "shield her" from the horrors of the world. Plus it would make it a better surprise to the player to go from the idyllic innocence of Yoshiko's everyday life to suddenly! GrimDark.
Right now it feels as if Yoshiko is an irresponsible cunt shirking her duties only to be surprised when her actions come back to bite her arse.
With the changes I suggested, she'd instead feel more like a sheltered innocent suddenly confronted with the horrors of the world. The tragedy alone would make the story and her character more gripping.
As for Hitomi? Selfish cunt taking advantage of an innocent's emotions to gain access to something she desires despite knowing that she could very well spell the doom of her new acquaintance's village and life.
My suggestions for her? The dev could still keep her as standoffish and arrogant as she's depicted, but have her more mindful of the situation, maybe have her desperation more obvious (despite already being fairly obvious, it needs to be even MORE), and maybe actively trying to hurrying their pursuit of the goblins and examination of the ruins as fast as she can, constantly reminding Yoshiko that they need to hurry.
With those changes she'd go from feeling like an arrogant user and abuser who discards everyone as soon as she has no further use to them, to a character with layers that while arrogant and standoffish actually cares about the well-being of others deep inside and just may or may not know how to express those feelings.
As it is, her decision to save Yoshiko and nurse her back to health is sudden and jarring for the character we're presented before these actions. While I feel that the dark turn the Tribute day takes would be improved with a more surprising reveal, I think Hitomi's heel-turn of her personality following the destruction of Yoshiko's village is just too jarring and needs to hinted at far earlier.
...
So I realize I essentially wrote an essay about my feelings and thoughts and suggestions for this game. Didn't mean to derail, but as you should definitely see, I actually do like what I see of this game. There are a lot of good points, and there's a great game buried here, but there is unfortunately quite a few problems the game suffers from that I think can be improved.
I hope the dev sees this posts and considers my suggestions. I love what you've done, but I hope to see your work improve and your game to be seen as truly great, and so I offer my criticisms to you in the hope that you will find them constructive and they help in the development of your game.
While not perfect, at least it gets rid of the potential problem of players thinking they can beat Wendigo. But personally, I believe that it would have been better to just make the Wendigo fight a cut-scene. Or at the very least have a player "win" still be treated the same as if they "lose." Fighters do things like that all the time, and I think I've seen a similar method used in other games.
I still think the game is still too grind happy. Lotta monster spawns, comparable to gen 1 Dragon Quest. While that is fine to have in a typical RPG, porn is a genre built on instant gratification, not sending the player down a 30+ hour battle loop.
I've heard people complain about the text crawl speed...and I can agree. It feels slow and unresponsive. I can say that about a lot in this game - slow and unresponsive. With the way it is implemented, it feels more like padding than a style choice. From what I understand, players don't enjoy having the control taken from them - which is apparently why the Half-Life games did so well. This game has a lot of scenes where the player is just waiting for the characters to walk across the screen, or for the correct emoji to appear. I see this a lot in indie games, and it is a practice I don't agree with - because, again, players don't like having control taken from them.
At the very least the dev implemented a text skip button, which saves a lot on the aggravation incurred from waiting for a scene to play out. (Text skip is locked to "W" key, people)
I know my arguments can sound too whinny or antagonistic, but I'm meaning it more as constructive criticism. I can see a good game here, and what IS here is very polished. But there is a lot of little problems that complicate the game and reduce how enjoyable it can be.
As it stands, right now it feels as if most of these problems exist because (it feels) like the dev is using them to pad out the experience. I dunno if that is true or not, since I just now passed the Wendigo fight. But with what I've played already it certainly feels that way.
I'd argue it is better to simplify the game instead of padding out the duration, since a porn dev's greatest hurdle is going to be convincing their audience that it is better to play their game over another devs, and filling a game with content that the players aren't interested isn't a good look for a porn game.
For a main stream game? Sure, combat, stats and complex story lines can work. It is almost expected at this point.
But for porn games? Most players want to get to the porn as quickly as possible, and damn everything else.
A dev can get away with including more of the features found in more typical mainstream games, depending on if they are implemented well.
A complex story can be enjoyable if the players like the characters and the world-building is good, especially if they have a lot of chances to explore the lewd aspects of the story they originally came for.
Battle mechanics in a porn game can be great, provided that they incorporate more lewd actions in the fighting than what you'd find in a typical JRPG battle system. You can find good examples of such systems in the works of Butakoma 300g, and of course the ever illustrious Violated Heroine game. I think a lot of porn game devs miss out on incorporating the porn into their battle systems, and because of that a lot of players like to skip the battles entirely, or do what they can to mitigate having to battle (IE: Cheat)
If the porn was integrated better into the combat mechanics more players would probably get involved.
Of course that means more time and effort and money spent on the game's development, but just having a system like that in a game immensely helps give the game a unique identity.
Stats are mostly fine...although I think ever porn game should have sex stats. It's a porn game, so I feel as if that aspect should be incorporated into as much of the DNA of a game as possible.
Really, the only way I could see stats being improved is if the player was somehow able to selectively choose which stat to level up whenever they increase their player level, or whenever they have enough "skill points."
A customizable experience at the very least has a lot of replay value, and players will more easily be immersed if they have more control over the characters and story.
About story - going back to what I said about players being immersed in stories if they like the character and world-building? Yeah, right now the protagonist (Yoshiko) isn't very likable.
I can kinda see what the dev intends to do with her character - starting her off as young, inexperienced and carefree only for a great tragedy to force her to grow as a character and person... but right now she isn't a very likable person and a lot of work would need to be done to improve her character if the current direction she's heading remains the same.
She an self-centered, air-headed bimbo who couldn't be arsed to bother listening to others and shrugs off all responsibilities.
Thing is...she could probably be fixed if a few things were changed in the early game. Right now it's very obvious that that the Tribute day thing is a big deal and failing to uphold it is really bad news. A lot of characters talk about it, constantly reminding Yoshiko about it and warning about delaying and what will happen if she doesn't follow through. She even uncovers notes and books and letters about the subject during her exploration of the town.
Thing is, with her basically ignoring everything said to her and everything she's read about it, it just makes her look like an irresponsible twat and basically ruins any chance for the player to connect with her and empathize with the tragedy. As it is, we can only look at her experience and say "Well that's what you get."
She could probably be fixed if fewer characters talked with her about the subject, and if they tried to downplay the seriousness of the situation in an effort to "shield her" from the horrors of the world. Plus it would make it a better surprise to the player to go from the idyllic innocence of Yoshiko's everyday life to suddenly! GrimDark.
Right now it feels as if Yoshiko is an irresponsible cunt shirking her duties only to be surprised when her actions come back to bite her arse.
With the changes I suggested, she'd instead feel more like a sheltered innocent suddenly confronted with the horrors of the world. The tragedy alone would make the story and her character more gripping.
As for Hitomi? Selfish cunt taking advantage of an innocent's emotions to gain access to something she desires despite knowing that she could very well spell the doom of her new acquaintance's village and life.
My suggestions for her? The dev could still keep her as standoffish and arrogant as she's depicted, but have her more mindful of the situation, maybe have her desperation more obvious (despite already being fairly obvious, it needs to be even MORE), and maybe actively trying to hurrying their pursuit of the goblins and examination of the ruins as fast as she can, constantly reminding Yoshiko that they need to hurry.
With those changes she'd go from feeling like an arrogant user and abuser who discards everyone as soon as she has no further use to them, to a character with layers that while arrogant and standoffish actually cares about the well-being of others deep inside and just may or may not know how to express those feelings.
As it is, her decision to save Yoshiko and nurse her back to health is sudden and jarring for the character we're presented before these actions. While I feel that the dark turn the Tribute day takes would be improved with a more surprising reveal, I think Hitomi's heel-turn of her personality following the destruction of Yoshiko's village is just too jarring and needs to hinted at far earlier.
...
So I realize I essentially wrote an essay about my feelings and thoughts and suggestions for this game. Didn't mean to derail, but as you should definitely see, I actually do like what I see of this game. There are a lot of good points, and there's a great game buried here, but there is unfortunately quite a few problems the game suffers from that I think can be improved.
I hope the dev sees this posts and considers my suggestions. I love what you've done, but I hope to see your work improve and your game to be seen as truly great, and so I offer my criticisms to you in the hope that you will find them constructive and they help in the development of your game.
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So I start act 2 from the blue crystal and my character is invisible?
Also the first 10 minutes of act 2 has more artwork than 3 hours of act 1? ok...
Also the first 10 minutes of act 2 has more artwork than 3 hours of act 1? ok...
God guys what's wrong with my game? in the first ruin which only you and mage, i know i should push the square stone but i can't........should i start from the very begin?
holy shit! i just spend about an hour in the ruin. you should not only use "enter", you need push "enter" and arrow together
- Dec 2, 2016
- 150
- 373
You just walk into the object you are trying to push and hit "Z" to push it in the direction you are facing.
and make sure you keep walking into it while you do it.
can anyone tell me where the save games are located? .....i kind of softlocked myself and need to give myself some gold
- Dec 2, 2016
- 150
- 373
you should press the arrow first, like up, down, left, right, and then press the"enter" or z, make sure you press the two button together
The part 1 is such a slow drag with hardly any content but part 2 has so much content at the start but super buggy... one day this game could turn out great probably in a year from now when they iron out the issues and add more art to characters and more scenes
It is probably indicative of how little time the dev had to bug fix the newest release. Remember, most of the time a game spends in development is spent on programming and bug fixing.
Game studios spend the most money on paying the wages on the devs, because game development is a full time job and developers have to dump insane hours into making and fixing up a game.
Games made in an RPG Maker engine at least have the benefit that the engine is already complete and they can rely on the RTP for game assets instead of waiting on the art team.
Of course, devs using an RPGMaker engine still need to design the levels, do a little bit of coding, play test and bug fix... but it tends to be to a far lesser degree than a full time professional studio.
Skyward Foundry is probably hoping to iron out the bugs as they continue. No telling if they will, but we can hope. Certainly, they should be able to do much better than Altered Heroines, which has so many bugs it is unplayable.
So basically, give it a little time, and see if it improves any?
But in the meanwhile, report any bugs you find to the dev in the hopes they can do some fixes for future updates.
Game studios spend the most money on paying the wages on the devs, because game development is a full time job and developers have to dump insane hours into making and fixing up a game.
Games made in an RPG Maker engine at least have the benefit that the engine is already complete and they can rely on the RTP for game assets instead of waiting on the art team.
Of course, devs using an RPGMaker engine still need to design the levels, do a little bit of coding, play test and bug fix... but it tends to be to a far lesser degree than a full time professional studio.
Skyward Foundry is probably hoping to iron out the bugs as they continue. No telling if they will, but we can hope. Certainly, they should be able to do much better than Altered Heroines, which has so many bugs it is unplayable.
So basically, give it a little time, and see if it improves any?
But in the meanwhile, report any bugs you find to the dev in the hopes they can do some fixes for future updates.
Heads up. After the scene where Yoshiko and Hitomi chase the gutter rat and save the prince, the gutter rat leader gives a pass code to say to a guy at a tavern. I forgot it, and was stumped when having to reiterate it (because forcing players to memorize phrases is a no-no in games, and yet somehow found its way into this game). Luckily, I don't think it matters much, because if you fail it 3 times Hitomi takes over and says the phrase instead, insulting Yoshiko for it.
But for those of you who want to get the phrase right, it is "The Angel receives warmth..." stop "From the sun..." stop "During the day..." stop "Her wings give her comfort..." stop "In the night..."
You'll know you have it when Yoshiko repeats the phrase back to the player. However, you will notice that each option to select the pieces of the phrase are conveniently the topmost choices given to the player each time.
Figured I'd post this for anyone who also wanted to know.
But for those of you who want to get the phrase right, it is "The Angel receives warmth..." stop "From the sun..." stop "During the day..." stop "Her wings give her comfort..." stop "In the night..."
You'll know you have it when Yoshiko repeats the phrase back to the player. However, you will notice that each option to select the pieces of the phrase are conveniently the topmost choices given to the player each time.
Figured I'd post this for anyone who also wanted to know.
- Dec 2, 2016
- 150
- 373
You get it at the farm to the northwest of the big city, talk to the blue chick for a scene and the milk and then come back after rescuing the ushi warrior for more scenes and then proceed through main story until you reach the area with the bees and return once again for more scenes.
