This is the 2nd time I have tried this game. This is the 2nd time that I got fed up with it and just looked at the good CGs.
So my review of the game:
Pro's
Seems like a good base story, hope to expand and learn more about it later
Good CGs
Diary is okay but not great
Cons
too much of a grind fest
Clock system is too much (I end up clicking on it more than anything)
Intro/Tutorial should give hints or a direction to go (so not stuck on path not wanted)
Diary is to vague at times.
For example: After catching her in bedroom, according to the diary, you are suppose to talk to her when she is in the right mood, well hmmm, Do I raise a stat to a certain level? Do I wait days/weeks for something to happen? So grind until I may get lucky to raise/lower the correct stat or see an event that shows she is ready?
I really would like to see what actually happens and read the interactions, but I was literally nodding off while clicking so much. At the current state of the game the clock system is too much, should have been 4-6 time zone like morning, afternoon and so forth. I understand that thinks happen at certain times, but with my current and past tries to play there isn't anything that I have seen that couldn't be done with a much less clicking than a 30 mins at a time system.
Thanks for the feedback.
First off, the diary. The diary is still new and I'm trying to find a balance between telling the player what to do but also not making it too obvious. I will be tweaking the diary in certain places where players are often stuck to help improve things. The tutorial wasn't even in 0.06, it was added in one of the bug-fix updates because people were getting stuck and confused. I may still refine it and add things to it.
As for the time system. I understand the pros of a simpler system. Before I started ShF, I was making another game which was never released, this game used a system like you described. When I was designing the game, I looked at both options. A simpler system is definitely better for the short-term, but it has great limitations. It does a good job of covering up a lack of content and variety, however, I had a few issues with it. My main issue was flexibility. With 0.07, I will be adding the school. For the school to work, the time slots would have to be so numerous that you may as well just use my system. In early plans for ShF, I went from 6 time slots, to 13. I needed dusk (before Sarah woke up for future molestation content), morning (so you can say good morning to her and see her before school), lesson 1, lesson 2, midday, lesson 3, lesson 4, early afternoon (so you can welcome her home), afternoon (the time that you eat), late afternoon (you can spend time with Sarah), evening (when Sarah does her homework), night and late night. At this point, it was irrelevant. Even if I consolidated the school day into just two lessons, and maybe cut late night and early afternoon, it's still at 9, which I still find as too many to not just use a direct time system.
The main problem with the time system I am using is a lack of things to do at certain points, also a feeling that it's really grindy. The fix to this is lots of content and variety when it comes to interactions with the characters. This is something that comes with time. One thing I am guilty of is focusing on scenes. My life is rather full right now so I don't have the time I'd like to devote to the project. Still, perhaps I should drop a scene to add more interactions, more unique dialogue and more options. With the 0.07 update, I plan to make helping Sarah with her homework more involved, rather than just random, and I may look to add some more interactions if I have some spare time.