3.90 star(s) 109 Votes

armoose92

Newbie
Mar 9, 2021
17
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You can do all of those activities, it'll just be summarized.
I guess what my question is what exactly does this entail? I completely understand that you don't want to do a traditional harem route. Which I'm cool with. It is your story, write it how you see fit. But up to this point I have been helping all the girls with their problems. I have already invested into helping each girl. It seemed like that was going to be the main theme for a while(solving their problems one by one), and once I was finished then I would choose a route. That made the screen on this update somewhat jarring. So will helping all of the girls still be the priority, or is my route choice going to now be the focus?
 
Sep 3, 2020
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I've explained many times that there would never be a "full-on orgy" harem. Can go back months and see those comments. What I'm deciding is that if you'll sit down and tell all of the girls you are dating them on a different harem route or if it'll just be a scene or something.

I have no idea why you are saying that is deceitful. This game is in development and I am actively making it and making decisions. I have no idea how the next update is going to be until I sit down and write it. This is not a completed game.

In my first game Picture Perfect, there is a harem route where you are fucking all of the girls at the same time and it is a group relationship. I write whatever is best for the story and not every game can be a harem.




I really do understand everyone wants a harem, but not every game can be one. I'm being called a lazy writer for not making a harem when the first game I just finished had one. I will write whatever is best for the story like I have always and calling me names is not going to change that

Picture Perfect = harem

Sun Breed = harem

Follow the Leader = harem

So Secret Summer is the only one out of my four games that might not be a harem. I am still debating on making a harem route of scene where you spend the day with the girls or something, so I just don't know yet. Nothing is set in stone.
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xxTHESTYGIANxx

Active Member
Nov 11, 2018
598
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I used different materials on accident lol it'll be fixed next update.




The reason I do the screen is so that you don't have to replay the game 5 times over to get on the girls' routes. I could just have code in the game and have it not visible, but it would be the same thing. The only difference is you have to restart the game and only be on Irene path to play this update.

This style works best because the story is going in different directions. For example, you are in Japan with Irene, so having to go back home and start your bakery with Norah, travel for the video game tournament with Coral and the other story lines just wouldn't make sense.

I'm sorry you don't like this style, but I think this is the best way to tell the story which is why there is no harem route. Too many girls have too much going on, so it's better to focus on one girl at a time and it really has been like that the entire game.

Each update has been focused on one or two girls. No difference here.
I get different directions I do, however, is the MC in Japan when he should be at the tournement? No talks to Coral about needing a new controller. Is it the same with the bakery? No because we talked to Irene to get help. Thats the point it went from bust ass to get points with every girl to "wait...hold up...choose a path" and even with this update we see that those "paths" never coincided needing a forced division. I like your VNs a hell of alot but it just seems like, at least to me, breaking the immersion is a way to define paths instead of actually having fun in the original story, on the current PATHS and taking it to the finish line. I am sorry if it sounds like I am attacking, because I am truly not....but, the immersion was broke, the system of gaining points with mulyiple girls to have it kicked out to "choose a path" doesn't sit right. You did a damn good story. It was engaging, it had feels and it had a combination of slow burn with action to force a division after all that didnt make sense to me. My opinion of course.
 
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Deleted member 1412183

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Game Developer
May 15, 2019
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I guess what my question is what exactly does this entail? I completely understand that you don't want to do a traditional harem route. Which I'm cool with. It is your story, write it how you see fit. But up to this point I have been helping all the girls with their problems. I have already invested into helping each girl. It seemed like that was going to be the main theme for a while(solving their problems one by one), and once I was finished then I would choose a route. That made the screen on this update somewhat jarring. So will helping all of the girls still be the priority, or is my route choice going to now be the focus?
Now that I'm thinking about it, I think maybe I will just do the harem route like I was thinking. I will add a scene to this update where you sit all of the girls down and tell them you are dating them and then you will go about fixing all of their problems while dating everyone.

Yes, I think that is what I'm going to do. This comment actually made it spark in my head a little bit so I appreciate it. There will be no route screen next update, and all of the women will acknowledge you are dating them.

For example, Leanne will ask if you were just with Irene and maybe make an inappropriate comment because she knows obviously you guys are together too.

And of course if you are not dating all the girls, you won't get those type of comments. Only those on the harem route will get those type of comments and acknowledgments and the harem scene in the first place.

This is why I come to this site and engage with the fans of the game, because I like to hear different ideas and constructive criticism like this. Thanks again. Definitely have a lot of thinking to do.

I LOVE HAREMS lol for those getting angry and facepalming. If you want to change a developer's mind then have constructive criticism like this guy or some of the others here trying to convince me because now I do see it in my head and that is exciting for me because I want to make everyone happy and I think I can write it where it can make sense now.

Thank you for those providing feedback and not just getting mad at me lol
 
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Mistress_Kixen

Engaged Member
Jun 12, 2017
2,218
1,568
I see there is no harem route in this game. If that is the case then the harem tag needs to be removed so people won't get the wrong idea. Fortunately for me I decided to use individual routes instead of just one big harem one so this doesn't bug me. However I had to start from scratch with this one instead of just uploading from the last one.
 

Wolfbeckett

Member
Jul 25, 2020
113
281
Okay, so I've read through the last few pages, and for what it's worth feel like I want to weigh in on the debate. There is no problem with games that don't want to have a harem route as long as the game still makes sense from a narrative perspective without it.

No harem works for games like (just to name a couple of super popular ones) BaDIK or COBD because these games have cohesive narratives outside of what's going on romantically that still brings all of the main characters together and has them interact with each other to overcome challenges even if the MC is not romancing them. So you can be completely uninterested in romancing Jill in BaDIK but she still befriends Josy and still joins you to study in the library with her. She's still a present force in the game.

This game's overarching narrative, however, was set up from the beginning to be that of a harem game like Sisterly Lust: the main plot is that the MC needs to solve all of the girls' problems. And that's all. There is no other plot and outside of the beginning of the game where the introductory stuff is happening the girls rarely interact with each other in any plot relevant way. Coral content is 100% about Coral. Irene content is 100% about Irene. Removing the harem aspect of this just makes the game feel like you're playing 5 separate games that all happen to feature the same MC. It's not my game so I'd never tell anyone what to do but my personal feeling on the game at this point is that if there won't be a future harem route then the narrative up to this point is disjointed beyond my ability to enjoy it. With a harem route, the way the story in this game is presented makes sense, we need to solve the girls' problems so that in the process they fall in love with MC thus paving the way for the harem. Without a harem route, it just feels like 5 separate, unrelated stories all jammed into the same game for some reason.
 

Deleted member 1412183

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
May 15, 2019
1,725
8,218
Okay, so I've read through the last few pages, and for what it's worth feel like I want to weigh in on the debate. There is no problem with games that don't want to have a harem route as long as the game still makes sense from a narrative perspective without it.

No harem works for games like (just to name a couple of super popular ones) BaDIK or COBD because these games have cohesive narratives outside of what's going on romantically that still brings all of the main characters together and has them interact with each other to overcome challenges even if the MC is not romancing them. So you can be completely uninterested in romancing Jill in BaDIK but she still befriends Josy and still joins you to study in the library with her. She's still a present force in the game.

This game's overarching narrative, however, was set up from the beginning to be that of a harem game like Sisterly Lust: the main plot is that the MC needs to solve all of the girls' problems. And that's all. There is no other plot and outside of the beginning of the game where the introductory stuff is happening the girls rarely interact with each other in any plot relevant way. Coral content is 100% about Coral. Irene content is 100% about Irene. Removing the harem aspect of this just makes the game feel like you're playing 5 separate games that all happen to feature the same MC. It's not my game so I'd never tell anyone what to do but my personal feeling on the game at this point is that if there won't be a future harem route then the narrative up to this point is disjointed beyond my ability to enjoy it. With a harem route, the way the story in this game is presented makes sense, we need to solve the girls' problems so that in the process they fall in love with MC thus paving the way for the harem. Without a harem route, it just feels like 5 separate, unrelated stories all jammed into the same game for some reason.
Well, I commented above that I will be making it harem, but fixing each girls' problem is the focus of the game. And that would still be the focus for the solo routes, the others would just be summarized as you focus on one specific girl. Anyway moot point, you'll be dealing with them all at the same time lol
 

xxTHESTYGIANxx

Active Member
Nov 11, 2018
598
823
Okay, so I've read through the last few pages, and for what it's worth feel like I want to weigh in on the debate. There is no problem with games that don't want to have a harem route as long as the game still makes sense from a narrative perspective without it.

No harem works for games like (just to name a couple of super popular ones) BaDIK or COBD because these games have cohesive narratives outside of what's going on romantically that still brings all of the main characters together and has them interact with each other to overcome challenges even if the MC is not romancing them. So you can be completely uninterested in romancing Jill in BaDIK but she still befriends Josy and still joins you to study in the library with her. She's still a present force in the game.

This game's overarching narrative, however, was set up from the beginning to be that of a harem game like Sisterly Lust: the main plot is that the MC needs to solve all of the girls' problems. And that's all. There is no other plot and outside of the beginning of the game where the introductory stuff is happening the girls rarely interact with each other in any plot relevant way. Coral content is 100% about Coral. Irene content is 100% about Irene. Removing the harem aspect of this just makes the game feel like you're playing 5 separate games that all happen to feature the same MC. It's not my game so I'd never tell anyone what to do but my personal feeling on the game at this point is that if there won't be a future harem route then the narrative up to this point is disjointed beyond my ability to enjoy it. With a harem route, the way the story in this game is presented makes sense, we need to solve the girls' problems so that in the process they fall in love with MC thus paving the way for the harem. Without a harem route, it just feels like 5 separate, unrelated stories all jammed into the same game for some reason.
I agree with you about non harem, but you forgot "Retrieving the Past". We all remember that thread and the outrage even thought it was stated to NOT be a Harem game. Like you said it comes down to the narrative and this one was, or at least with tags, set up to something that suddenly got changed.
 

Deleted member 1412183

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Game Developer
May 15, 2019
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I agree with you about non harem, but you forgot "Retrieving the Past". We all remember that thread and the outrage even thought it was stated to NOT be a Harem game. Like you said it comes down to the narrative and this one was, or at least with tags, set up to something that suddenly got changed.
It originally had no Harem tag and then it got added. It did not have it from the beginning. Like I said the game is being made actively and definitely not all figured out development wise so that's the reason. Hope you understand but it turned out how you wanted anyway lol
 

Wolfbeckett

Member
Jul 25, 2020
113
281
Well, I commented above that I will be making it harem, but fixing each girls' problem is the focus of the game. And that would still be the focus for the solo routes, the others would just be summarized as you focus on one specific girl. Anyway moot point, you'll be dealing with them all at the same time lol
Haha, I do see that now, I think you must have posted that while I was writing up my dissertation there :).

Excited to see how it turns out!
 

xxTHESTYGIANxx

Active Member
Nov 11, 2018
598
823
Well, I commented above that I will be making it harem, but fixing each girls' problem is the focus of the game. And that would still be the focus for the solo routes, the others would just be summarized as you focus on one specific girl. Anyway moot point, you'll be dealing with them all at the same time lol
That is most of our points. The way the "main Story" went we as players dealt with the girls problems while getting closer to them. Honestly, I would rather wait for updates like 0.8 than deal with the division of 0.9. Nothing in this update said: " Hey, the MC needs to be in a different country from the rest" Just like, with how well you have written the story up to this update says: " every girl needs her own solo path to fix her problems". We have all enjoyed going at it a prblem at a time with each girl but still having content for each girl.

I can't and won't speak for most on here but for me, I would rather you take time and keep the past format building up to the "pay day", rather than, turning it into a solo here or a solo there. To many girls that need to be addressed that way, and it turns into several VNs rather than the one that brought us here.
 

armoose92

Newbie
Mar 9, 2021
17
50
Now that I'm thinking about it, I think maybe I will just do the harem route like I was thinking. I will add a scene to this update where you sit all of the girls down and tell them you are dating them and then you will go about fixing all of their problems while dating everyone.

Yes, I think that is what I'm going to do. This comment actually made it spark in my head a little bit so I appreciate it. There will be no route screen next update, and all of the women will acknowledge you are dating them.

For example, Leanne will ask if you were just with Irene and maybe make an inappropriate comment because she knows obviously you guys are together too.

And of course if you are not dating all the girls, you won't get those type of comments. Only those on the harem route will get those type of comments and acknowledgments and the harem scene in the first place.

This is why I come to this site and engage with the fans of the game, because I like to hear different ideas and constructive criticism like this. Thanks again. Definitely have a lot of thinking to do.

I LOVE HAREMS lol for those getting angry and facepalming. If you want to change a developer's mind then have constructive criticism like this guy or some of the others here trying to convince me because now I do see it in my head and that is exciting for me because I want to make everyone happy and I think I can write it where it can make sense now.

Thank you for those providing feedback and not just getting mad at me lol
I really appreciate you replying to my post. It was not my intention to convince you to make a harem route. It was mainly a question about the structure of the upcoming content. But the fact you are willing to listen to, and reply to, criticism/suggestions is really cool. Even on a site dedicated to pirating your game. I wasn't a patron before, but you definitely earned it today.
 

xxTHESTYGIANxx

Active Member
Nov 11, 2018
598
823
It originally had no Harem tag and then it got added. It did not have it from the beginning. Like I said the game is being made actively and definitely not all figured out development wise so that's the reason. Hope you understand but it turned out how you wanted anyway lol
Now I did say and stand behind the fact I wasn't attacking you or this VN. I for one love it. Minus this update. It was just a critique based on how this was and where we are now nothing more.
 

Deleted member 1412183

Well-Known Member
Game Developer
May 15, 2019
1,725
8,218
That is most of our points. The way the "main Story" went we as players dealt with the girls problems while getting closer to them. Honestly, I would rather wait for updates like 0.8 than deal with the division of 0.9. Nothing in this update said: " Hey, the MC needs to be in a different country from the rest" Just like, with how well you have written the story up to this update says: " every girl needs her own solo path to fix her problems". We have all enjoyed going at it a prblem at a time with each girl but still having content for each girl.

I can't and won't speak for most on here but for me, I would rather you take time and keep the past format building up to the "pay day", rather than, turning it into a solo here or a solo there. To many girls that need to be addressed that way, and it turns into several VNs rather than the one that brought us here.
The only thing I am arguing against is the format. From the beginning, it has been focused on one or two girls each update, minus the first or to update where you had to meet all of the women.

Go on a date with Norah > go hang out with Zoe. Update 6, you only see Irene and go with her ice skating and to the party and everything. Update 7, you only see Coral and Leanne while focusing on their problems. Update 8, you only see Norah and Zoe again and both of their content is isolated and not together.

From the beginning, you go from each girl to each girl, you are never with them all fixing their problems, it's always separate and all of my games are pretty much like that. This update was no difference as you focus on Irene and her problem just like you did in update 6. You don't see any of the other girls, absolutely no difference.

I really appreciate you replying to my post. It was not my intention to convince you to make a harem route. It was mainly a question about the structure of the upcoming content. But the fact you are willing to listen to, and reply to, criticism/suggestions is really cool. Even on a site dedicated to pirating your game. I wasn't a patron before, but you definitely earned it today.
Thanks a lot, man. I am making the games for you guys so obviously it matters what you all think. Thank you for the support!

This was a great update dev, thanks! But please, focus on ANY girl but Coral. She is the only one I don't like
Lol that's actually pretty funny because I put up a poll that is still up on my patreon about who is your favorite girl in secret summer and she is by far number one by like 50 votes

Now I did say and stand behind the fact I wasn't attacking you or this VN. I for one love it. Minus this update. It was just a critique based on how this was and where we are now nothing more.
Oh, no, even if we don't agree on every point I appreciate your constructive criticism and I will always listen to it so no problem at all.
 
Sep 3, 2020
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27,310
I really appreciate you replying to my post. It was not my intention to convince you to make a harem route. It was mainly a question about the structure of the upcoming content. But the fact you are willing to listen to, and reply to, criticism/suggestions is really cool. Even on a site dedicated to pirating your game. I wasn't a patron before, but you definitely earned it today.
yeah SuperWriter is absolutely amazing

and I'm not just saying that because I may or may not have gotten to turn one of the women I love into my baby mama
he's a prince among men
 
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3.90 star(s) 109 Votes