VN Ren'Py Abandoned Quest Failed: Chapter 2 [Christmas special] [Frostworks]

[F-Works]

Gosh, it's truthfully a little worrying that people are only using this one single thread as a measurement of the game's progress, when I've been releasing frequent dev logs, in development builds (as of this month!) and tweets regarding the game's development on a near weekly basis.

But to ease any concerns!

- The game isn't dead, just very, very big and taking a lot of time to get to a final build.
- I'm up to alpha 0.13, so there's been lots of activity over the years with plenty of scenes added!
- I even added a new Christmas demo which allowed people to play new scenes over the older demo

I can understand the frustration, but please watch the official channels rather than one forum thread before declaring a game dead!

 

[Succubus Hunter]

Gosh, it's truthfully a little worrying that people are only using this one single thread as a measurement of the game's progress, when I've been releasing frequent dev logs, in development builds (as of this month!) and tweets regarding the game's development on a near weekly basis.

But to ease any concerns!

- The game isn't dead, just very, very big and taking a lot of time to get to a final build.
- I'm up to alpha 0.13, so there's been lots of activity over the years with plenty of scenes added!
- I even added a new Christmas demo which allowed people to play new scenes over the older demo

I can understand the frustration, but please watch the official channels rather than one forum thread before declaring a game dead!

This is a relief, thank you for reassurance on the game.

 

[Paladinpal]

I usually am a man of patience and able to understand that most adventures seldom has a straight path. That being said, "2020 WILL be the year Chapter Two releases. And quite early on, even if it kills me. Thank you all so much for your love and support " is a direct quote and copy from F-Works twitter. That was posted in December 2019.

15 months later and there is still no official estimation of a release. While I respect your work and product, to me it is very strange how one can be so certain of something and miss a mark by that much. This came off as a bit whiny but I needed to shed some light on a predicament.

 

[F-Works]

I usually am a man of patience and able to understand that most adventures seldom has a straight path. That being said, "2020 WILL be the year Chapter Two releases. And quite early on, even if it kills me. Thank you all so much for your love and support " is a direct quote and copy from F-Works twitter. That was posted in December 2019.

15 months later and there is still no official estimation of a release. While I respect your work and product, to me it is very strange how one can be so certain of something and miss a mark by that much. This came off as a bit whiny but I needed to shed some light on a predicament.

Heya there,

Apologies--it wasn't my intention to give anyone false hope, or mislead them on the development process. I made that rather bold proclamation off the back of having done a considerable amount of work at that time, and was excited by the progress I had made, leading me to believe that if I kept up at that pace, things would be done in no time at all.

Unfortunately development can be a rather turbulent process, and things you estimate might take a few days at best to flesh out end up taking a few weeks--and things spiral from there. Needless to say, 2020 wasn't the best year--but I can't blame that entirely on external circumstances. It was just a pretty crappy time in general between a death in the family, and the pandemic quickly becoming more and more present in our lives. Motivation wasn't at its highest. But I still did what I could in spite of that.

I felt it was important that I gave people some hope that there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel--and equally importantly, I give myself assurance that things will be done. Naturally it didn't work out like I hoped, and I still have some work to do--but I'm going to avoid giving any definitive answers on when it'll be done to avoid the same kind of upset. I'll not to make the same mistake in the future, and will definitely reevaluate how I make games after Chapter 2, to avoid making giant beasts of things that drain so much time away, haha.

Hopefully this helped shed light on things, but if you have any more questions don't hesitate to let me know.

 

[Paladinpal]

Heya there,

Apologies--it wasn't my intention to give anyone false hope, or mislead them on the development process. I made that rather bold proclamation off the back of having done a considerable amount of work at that time, and was excited by the progress I had made, leading me to believe that if I kept up at that pace, things would be done in no time at all.

Unfortunately development can be a rather turbulent process, and things you estimate might take a few days at best to flesh out end up taking a few weeks--and things spiral from there. Needless to say, 2020 wasn't the best year--but I can't blame that entirely on external circumstances. It was just a pretty crappy time in general between a death in the family, and the pandemic quickly becoming more and more present in our lives. Motivation wasn't at its highest. But I still did what I could in spite of that.

I felt it was important that I gave people some hope that there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel--and equally importantly, I give myself assurance that things will be done. Naturally it didn't work out like I hoped, and I still have some work to do--but I'm going to avoid giving any definitive answers on when it'll be done to avoid the same kind of upset. I'll not to make the same mistake in the future, and will definitely reevaluate how I make games after Chapter 2, to avoid making giant beasts of things that drain so much time away, haha.

Hopefully this helped shed light on things, but if you have any more questions don't hesitate to let me know.

I appreciate your lengthy and honest answer. God knows that I look forward to the finished product. Best of luck with however much there is left to work on.

 

[F-Works]

I appreciate your lengthy and honest answer. God knows that I look forward to the finished product. Best of luck with however much there is left to work on.

Thank you! I'll definitely do my best to ensure it's a worthy sequel to the first one.

If nothing else, I like to think I've been nothing but communicative over the development of the game--as I feel it's the least I can do while working away, haha.

 

[Succubus Hunter]

Heya there,

Apologies--it wasn't my intention to give anyone false hope, or mislead them on the development process. I made that rather bold proclamation off the back of having done a considerable amount of work at that time, and was excited by the progress I had made, leading me to believe that if I kept up at that pace, things would be done in no time at all.

Unfortunately development can be a rather turbulent process, and things you estimate might take a few days at best to flesh out end up taking a few weeks--and things spiral from there. Needless to say, 2020 wasn't the best year--but I can't blame that entirely on external circumstances. It was just a pretty crappy time in general between a death in the family, and the pandemic quickly becoming more and more present in our lives. Motivation wasn't at its highest. But I still did what I could in spite of that.

I felt it was important that I gave people some hope that there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel--and equally importantly, I give myself assurance that things will be done. Naturally it didn't work out like I hoped, and I still have some work to do--but I'm going to avoid giving any definitive answers on when it'll be done to avoid the same kind of upset. I'll not to make the same mistake in the future, and will definitely reevaluate how I make games after Chapter 2, to avoid making giant beasts of things that drain so much time away, haha.

Hopefully this helped shed light on things, but if you have any more questions don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you very much for clarifying this project is still alive. I and many others understand that the development process can be tough and that unexpected hitches can come up. I wish you the best with your development going forward.

 

[slazy]

This game will be the next cyberpunk

 

[MaxPain22192]

This game will be the next cyberpunk

I doubt it, I have good expectations from Frost, not many game devs who stick with a title for this long especially with the small team Frost has. Personally, I think it is gonna be better than the first by a long shot, it's just Frost had a lot planned for one single chapter.

 

[falafelswoop]

This game will be the next cyberpunk

In what way? Very different genre, and it certainly hasn't crashed or bugged on me.

 

[slazy]

In what way? Very different genre, and it certainly hasn't crashed or bugged on me.

Oh sorry. I meant Yandere simulator. See you guys in the next 5 years. By that time I think the game would have animated sex scene with the scene having detailed explanation. Then the scene would take roughly 5-10 minutes of the mc describing how good the monster girl is humping on his penis.

 

[slazy]

I doubt it, I have good expectations from Frost, not many game devs who stick with a title for this long especially with the small team Frost has. Personally, I think it is gonna be better than the first by a long shot, it's just Frost had a lot planned for one single chapter.

yeah with the amount of time it took, I guess the sex scene must've been good. It could take 30 minutes of the mc describing how it felt. That's the best of chapter 1. Reading through how the slime girl keeps milking him and how good it felt, or how his dick hurt from being constantly pumped out of semen for more than 20 minutes. Honestly the plot of the game is good. I mean its well written.

 

[slazy]

Heya there,

Apologies--it wasn't my intention to give anyone false hope, or mislead them on the development process. I made that rather bold proclamation off the back of having done a considerable amount of work at that time, and was excited by the progress I had made, leading me to believe that if I kept up at that pace, things would be done in no time at all.

Unfortunately development can be a rather turbulent process, and things you estimate might take a few days at best to flesh out end up taking a few weeks--and things spiral from there. Needless to say, 2020 wasn't the best year--but I can't blame that entirely on external circumstances. It was just a pretty crappy time in general between a death in the family, and the pandemic quickly becoming more and more present in our lives. Motivation wasn't at its highest. But I still did what I could in spite of that.

I felt it was important that I gave people some hope that there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel--and equally importantly, I give myself assurance that things will be done. Naturally it didn't work out like I hoped, and I still have some work to do--but I'm going to avoid giving any definitive answers on when it'll be done to avoid the same kind of upset. I'll not to make the same mistake in the future, and will definitely reevaluate how I make games after Chapter 2, to avoid making giant beasts of things that drain so much time away, haha.

Hopefully this helped shed light on things, but if you have any more questions don't hesitate to let me know.

Nice. you should also end the series at chapter 2 once and for all. Move on to making new stuff. make it interactive using RPG maker. Honestly I think people would like the interactivity of RPG maker more than reading bunch of text that you can just skip through.

 

[azraelswegul]

Nice. you should also end the series at chapter 2 once and for all. Move on to making new stuff. make it interactive using RPG maker. Honestly I think people would like the interactivity of RPG maker more than reading bunch of text that you can just skip through.

i actually like the VN aspect of Quest failed, mostly because it's not lazy.
Some creators sometimes use VN as an excuse to have the game revolve around easy sex scenes with minimal effort, but in Frost's case, with the amount of storytelling and also going through the trouble of voice acting the scenes it's clear the product has quality and the team seems to be working hard.

I also am eager and also a bit annoyed at how long it takes for it to come out, but i believe they'll deliver a good product in the end. (i just hope we don't have to wait another 5 years to get it)

 

[falafelswoop]

Nice. you should also end the series at chapter 2 once and for all. Move on to making new stuff. make it interactive using RPG maker. Honestly I think people would like the interactivity of RPG maker more than reading bunch of text that you can just skip through.

What a stupid thing to say. Visual novels are a thing, they have a fanbase, and they're better for some kinds of stories. Deal with it.

Also, RPG Maker? Look, I play a lot of RPG Maker games, but it's far from the best possible engine and if anything it has more of a stigma attached to it.

Anyway you can quote multiple people in one post so please stop cluttering the thread with back-to-back posts.

 

[Frumi]

What a stupid thing to say. Visual novels are a thing, they have a fanbase, and they're better for some kinds of stories. Deal with it.

Also, RPG Maker? Look, I play a lot of RPG Maker games, but it's far from the best possible engine and if anything it has more of a stigma attached to it.

Yeah i agree, RPG maker would probably not be the best choice for this game. It´s been a good while since i played the first chapter and the demo of ch.2 but if my memory serves me right there were nothing you could call a "battle" of some sort, right?
I mean, for example: Monster Girl Quest. I think, since it had a battle system in it´s own visual novel style it has at least some potencial as an RPG game. Therefore is MGQ Paradox in RPG maker not such a bad decision (in my opinion).
I can not really see how this game could fit the bill like MGQ Paradox, exept a bit more freedom for the player and more interaction with the world.

But falafelswoop, could you tell me what you meant with the "stigma of RPG maker"? Just asking out of interest, cause i don´t really get what you mean exactly.



Funfact at the End: This Game was the first one that presented a slime girl to me that i really liked, she has such a cute personality i just can not put her in the same hole with all the other slimes i´ve seen so far.

 

[slazy]

i actually like the VN aspect of Quest failed, mostly because it's not lazy.
Some creators sometimes use VN as an excuse to have the game revolve around easy sex scenes with minimal effort, but in Frost's case, with the amount of storytelling and also going through the trouble of voice acting the scenes it's clear the product has quality and the team seems to be working hard.

I also am eager and also a bit annoyed at how long it takes for it to come out, but i believe they'll deliver a good product in the end. (i just hope we don't have to wait another 5 years to get it)

hopefully when its out, we'll have easter egg to find in the text.

What a stupid thing to say. Visual novels are a thing, they have a fanbase, and they're better for some kinds of stories. Deal with it.

Also, RPG Maker? Look, I play a lot of RPG Maker games, but it's far from the best possible engine and if anything it has more of a stigma attached to it.

Anyway you can quote multiple people in one post so please stop cluttering the thread with back-to-back posts.

OH look at that! You can quote! Thanks for the guide. Never used quote reply before. I guess all that reading from visual novel really makes people smart eh? i should play some to read more.

 

[F-Works]

Don't worry--the h-scenes are even longer in this one, and there's even more story segments between each scene. There's more reading than you'll ever know what to do with!

I'm writing it as a visual novel first and foremost--with heavy emphasis on the novel aspect. I really enjoy fleshing out the narrative, and taking my time with scenes to explore the inner thoughts and turmoil of the main character, with lots of dramatic scenes along the way. I understand that won't mesh with people looking for more gamey aspects, but there's plenty of other experiences for people to dig into if QF isn't their jam. I'm making the product I'd like to see the most--and if other people like it as well, that's awesome.

 

[falafelswoop]

for example: Monster Girl Quest. I think, since it had a battle system in it´s own visual novel style it has at least some potencial as an RPG game. Therefore is MGQ Paradox in RPG maker not such a bad decision (in my opinion).
I can not really see how this game could fit the bill like MGQ Paradox, exept a bit more freedom for the player and more interaction with the world.

But falafelswoop, could you tell me what you meant with the "stigma of RPG maker"? Just asking out of interest, cause i don´t really get what you mean exactly.

RPG Maker is not good for reading long passages of introspective text or displaying a lot of full-resolution images that move and shift around, especially in the old low-res versions. Building a game like Quest Failed in a (fairly versatile) visual novel engine like RenPy is absolutely the correct choice; people who get bored not being able to virtually walk around and explore an interactive environment just need to play a game more suited to their tastes.

RPG Maker is good for if you want a simple JRPG style combat system or the ability to walk around in a 2d pixel art environment and examine objects. I've played some interesting games in it without combat, like

You must be registered to see the links

.

As for stigma, just lurk on F95 for a while and you'll see. New game threads are made and people will comment just to sneer about it being in RPG Maker. As an engine, it does have some baked-in bad design decisions like slow movement and slow text speed, and in particular the combat is by default very dumb and annoying and requires a lot of work to make it better. RPG Maker is very customizable but it requires a lot of coding to do it.

RPG Maker is also very easy to use. A lot of newbies who have no idea what they're doing use it. A lot of "veteran" studios use it to quickly make crappy games, especially porn developers. And it comes with some stock tiles and sprites, nice for newbies who can't do pixel art - but this creates a look, an aesthetic, that is easily identifiable. People see the RPG Maker "look" and instantly have bad mental associations.

 

[Frumi]

RPG Maker is not good for reading long passages of introspective text or displaying a lot of full-resolution images that move and shift around, especially in the old low-res versions. Building a game like Quest Failed in a (fairly versatile) visual novel engine like RenPy is absolutely the correct choice; people who get bored not being able to virtually walk around and explore an interactive environment just need to play a game more suited to their tastes.

RPG Maker is good for if you want a simple JRPG style combat system or the ability to walk around in a 2d pixel art environment and examine objects. I've played some interesting games in it without combat, like

You must be registered to see the links

.

True, that hits the nail on the spot i would say.
I had not had the pleasure of trying out Ib so far just heard a lot of it, so i can not say much in this case...maybe something i should finally change, but yes i heard it has no combat and there are some good games out there that did a good job without it.
I think especialy in the horror genre.

As for stigma, just lurk on F95 for a while and you'll see. New game threads are made and people will comment just to sneer about it being in RPG Maker. As an engine, it does have some baked-in bad design decisions like slow movement and slow text speed, and in particular the combat is by default very dumb and annoying and requires a lot of work to make it better. RPG Maker is very customizable but it requires a lot of coding to do it.

RPG Maker is also very easy to use. A lot of newbies who have no idea what they're doing use it. A lot of "veteran" studios use it to quickly make crappy games, especially porn developers. And it comes with some stock tiles and sprites, nice for newbies who can't do pixel art - but this creates a look, an aesthetic, that is easily identifiable. People see the RPG Maker "look" and instantly have bad mental associations.

Thx for the explanation.
it´s kinda sad that those games take up a lot of space among all the RPG maker games percentwise.

Those quickly made crappy games have flooded the market. I am always schocked if i see a game which has just some labyrinths with empty undecorated rooms connected with long single tile tunnels like a "pokemon dungeon layout" and lacking a solid plot. Most of them don´t even make the least effort to bring at least something other but the included sprites and music. But that´s the downside of RPG maker, as you said it´s easy to use.