Ren'Py The Fixer [v0.3.3.21] [Sam_Tail]

[Highland_Hunter]

I think early game Emile stuff will probably be enough to smooth over all those details. But if it's not I will look into a more direct solution like you mention.

Especially since an "it is what it is" attitude translates across all of the changes around her. Attending school, being the fixer, the world changing, living in a walled city, doing questionable things to earn money... While an answer like you mention is a good way to inform the reader that I am just handwaving it away so stop asking questions and roll with it. It really is just restricted to the body change and not many of the other things (thought I suppose it depends on how I hand wave it away).





Yeah, I have played so many games where clearly as a player you want to gender bend the MC but the game does everything in its power to prevent you or draw it all out. While at the same time it has so little content for those who full on resist transforming. Bit of an odd juxtaposition.

A little bit of the same with most fem protag games (With this one also being guilty of). In such porn scenarios, the woman holds the keys to sex so to speak. In a male protag game it would be about repeating events to slowly unlock the doors to better sex outcomes. But with fem protag the player can surely just avoid all those hurdles to jump straight to sex right?
But then people complain how there is no progression or build up to it, so you need to put in artificial barriers for sex. Most games have the MC start out a pure virgin and have people "force" affections onto her, building her corruption stat. Mine is also a bit guilty of that with the confidence stat.

It unfortunately seems that if you jump straight to the good bits, people lose interest. I guess people want a bit of foreplay before the climax



I should have maybe prefaced my comment with "If you choose to gender bend Emile". There has always been 4 planned outcomes for her story. Dead, FF relationship with MC, MF relationship with MC or finally just a friendly relationship with MC while she follows one of the flatmate branches you were locked out of.

The Emile MF path will probably be best experienced if you have a M2F MC while still being a virgin and not protecting against pregnancy. But of course will still contain content if you don't tick any of those boxes.

You guys are posting as I am writing. Roadmaps do change, and has changed. One of the main changes currently was to push some quests forward so we can get to the Emile content quicker since she is popular. We will be seeing her change a lot earlier in the story than I initially planned. Her change was supposed to be end game after the main storyline was resolved but it seemed a shame to leave so late such an interesting storyline so it was pushed forward. It does put a bit of a spanner in the works of the main storyline, but I am sure I can work with it.

Sam_Tail :

Thank You for Your Reply.
It's been awhile, since I had last looked at your "Road-Map", and remembered the conversations we had in reference to Emile .

It was just reading those last current postings about her, just had me a bit worried, (as in the Road-Map plans for her, had been recently changed, due to 'other's ' comments to F2M her, and there might not be a choice anymore), so I had to comment my 'fears'.

I'll be sure to re-read the "Road-Map " again, soon.

I'm also looking forward to Sammy's interactions/relationships with Cass & Mira !

 

[Pink Chaos]

Oh, a lot to go over here



Was me that said it.

I understand the point you are making and think it goes to highlight something I mentioned a lot earlier in the thread (Even I cant find it now) as to why I am not really mentioning transgender in the story despite the game being gender bender.

That the topic of trans is a very complex and deep topic. And I feel that, despite the game having a gender bender theme, doesn't really fit well with the story. Most of the info I give generally tends to be on the concise side of things so to introduce such a complex topic would, I feel, be counter productive to the overall story and would leave so many more holes to pick at.

As such I have tried to stick to much more surface level topics with the body swap. As if the MC just swapped from an old American muscle car to a safe and modern VW. Both being perfectly fine cars but each having a lot of differences. Just something you need to get used to.

To add to that, my goal has always been to have the MC be quite accepting of the situation (Mostly because I dislike gender bender stories that have so much resistance/angst despite it clearly being what they player wants). Sammy is, while cynical and snarky in many ways, is also quite pragmatic and adaptable. So approaches most situations as they are, and not as they should be. So she has no real choice but to just roll with the new body and not get caught up in what "should be".

Finally, it is a porn game, my job is to titillate. And the unfortunate realities that the trans community suffers and the impacts of depression overall are not really inline with that goal.

Yeah, I have no issues with you not tackling deeper gender issues and never really was asking for that. I was just disputing the statement that no sane person would prefer death over having a differently gendered body. However, this is a genderbender porn game, it's perfectly fine that such issues aren't really discussed on the game.

 

[Highland_Hunter]

Yeah, I have no issues with you not tackling deeper gender issues and never really was asking for that. I was just disputing the statement that no sane person would prefer death over having a differently gendered body. However, this is a genderbender porn game, it's perfectly fine that such issues aren't really discussed on the game.

Well*, technically, it's not*, ( or, as intended to be), according to the Dev themselves, had stated, originally.

It was used as a method/way to explain the mechanics of the need to switch the bodies, to the "special-enhanced" designed body, for the sake of the Dev's planned story, as I remembered them explaining it .

Am I wrong Sam_Tail ??? . . . . . Please correct me, if I misunderstood your "explanation" of what you had stated, when discussing this topic, at an earlier time . (This is directed at the Dev to answer, other's please refrain, if possible, from "answering" for the Dev, they don't need your "help", even if you think they do, and I'm asking them, Not You.)

 

[05841035411]

I think early game Emile stuff will probably be enough to smooth over all those details. But if it's not I will look into a more direct solution like you mention.

I think part of the issue here might also be that the game's description doesn't really mention anything about a body swap, or switching genders, so the player doesn't really have enough context as to what to expect regarding the transformation. Different games handle these things their own way, but going in, the player usually knows what kind of game they're looking at, and are already ready to paper over some of the odd bits on their own if they like the idea behind the scenario.

Also, early game interactions with Emile will help in making it feel less weird, but... The first scene sets people's first impression for the game, and if the player feels like they're too out of tune with the game's portrayal of the situation, they might make a bunch of incorrect assumptions and not even reach the Emile scenes.

Then again, once you're given the option to choose your background, that will likely be a less of an issue; if people think it's handled weirdly, they'll probably just choose the other start.

 

[Sam_Tail]

Yeah, I have no issues with you not tackling deeper gender issues and never really was asking for that. I was just disputing the statement that no sane person would prefer death over having a differently gendered body. However, this is a genderbender porn game, it's perfectly fine that such issues aren't really discussed on the game.

Then I will change my statement to "very few sane people..."

Although I think most issues would probably occur after the fact and not at the point of choosing. But no point in going too deep into the topic as yes, you are right that there are people who do suffer from such a thing.

It was used as a method/way to explain the mechanics of the need to switch the bodies

At the end of the day, yes, that's what it is.

Almost all of the story is there to support the gameplay elements I wanted to include. The death of the MC is to put them in a new body that can be customised. The plague is there to explain away the change in society and the differences between the game and real world. The game is set in an undetermined near future to explain away some of the scifi elements. The MC has very selective memory so I can address what I want to address and hand wave away anything I don't.

But of course that doesn't mean that these story elements can't have a lot of depth or interest in them. While they are there to support the gameplay mechanics, if they fail to captivate the player or prevents them from suspending their disbelief then I should address that.

I think part of the issue here might also be that the game's description doesn't really mention anything about a body swap, or switching genders, so the player doesn't really have enough context as to what to expect regarding the transformation. Different games handle these things their own way, but going in, the player usually knows what kind of game they're looking at, and are already ready to paper over some of the odd bits on their own if they like the idea behind the scenario.

Also, early game interactions with Emile will help in making it feel less weird, but... The first scene sets people's first impression for the game, and if the player feels like they're too out of tune with the game's portrayal of the situation, they might make a bunch of incorrect assumptions and not even reach the Emile scenes.

Then again, once you're given the option to choose your background, that will likely be a less of an issue; if people think it's handled weirdly, they'll probably just choose the other start.

Possibly. I didn't really mention it in the description since the focus of the game is being the Fixer and customising your body to suit the needs. With so few words to work with I just didn't add it. Also, body swap games tend to focus entirely on the bodyswap element in its story, and tend to have heavy sissification themes. Something I do neither of.

Honestly I didn't really expect it to be such a sticking point for a lot of people. But it has been so it is something I need to address.

 

[05841035411]

Possibly. I didn't really mention it in the description since the focus of the game is being the Fixer and customising your body to suit the needs. With so few words to work with I just didn't add it. Also, body swap games tend to focus entirely on the bodyswap element in its story, and tend to have heavy sissification themes. Something I do neither of.

Maybe switching "After playing through one of the origin stories, you find yourself in Blaston, having been rescued by the cities main power base and in return you agree to work for them as a 'Fixer'." to "After being given a new, extremely customizable body following a near-death experience, you find yourself in Blaston, having been rescued by the cities main power base and in return you agree to work for them as a 'Fixer'." would reference it concisely?

It's true that it's important to keep the description's focus on the actual Fixer part of things since you want that to be the game's focus, but currently it doesn't mention the bodyswap at all - when I downloaded the game, I was expecting more of a "Spy doing her best to save the city" kind of scenario, and was initially confused about whether I'd opened the wrong game by mistake.

The description also doesn't really mention body customization currently, though it's going to be an important element of the game; maybe changing "Someone who solves potentially sensitive problems using tact, diplomacy or underhanded means." (which is currently a bit redundant with the description's first paragraph) to "Gifted with the ability to change your body to suit the mission's needs, you are now the perfect agent to handle sensitive problems" or something similar?

That said, though, I guess you don't really need to stress too much about the game's description this early in development; it's just an issue that stood out to me as possibly being related.

 

[Highland_Hunter]

Hi All ! I just started to play the "latest" version, 0.2.24. Went from the start, and didn't skip the intro, got through the "Simon Mission" (Back-Alley version) , and everything (?), up to having the "long-talk" with Dr. Tucker, (am waiting a day or two to get the Pub job started ).

My query, concerns that "Pub Waitress" job.
Have there been some changes made lately, ( to the mechanics, of that scenario) ?
It took nearly 5 "shifts", to get her first 'pervert' interaction, a guy wanting to buy her Socks @ 250 euros(?), which she jumped at, he followed her to see her take them off, "tried" to fuck her pussy, but backed off when she said "No", and he left, with the Socks. The amount of Cash at the top didn't change to reflect the added 250 Euros !

So, was that a BUG, or did she just get "robbed/taken" (Euro-wise), by a recent 'change' to that scenario ???

I remember, from before, they always got paid for the 'clothing', separate from the wages . Has that changed Now ?

Also, the "RNG" was being extremely "tight" with giving out "pervert-interactions" with my "Sammy" !?

Also, still having problems, with her "sleeping-in-the-Nude", 'she' did it several times, and everything was Fine, (barring the 'normal' complaints, that someone will see her naked in her room . . . . there's currently, no-one-in-that-area, to see her ! ) . Then it started again, you 'select' her "sleeping out-fit', click the "go to sleep" icon, and bamm, she's wearing her "Daily-outfit", and calling it her "PJ's" [facepalm] !

PS - She is also more "Confident", NOW, then when she was sleeping naked before, go figure .

 

[Felkesste]

Heya Sam, the game's pretty exciting so far, lots of neat ideas being built up. I'll admit to only skimming over some of the latest posts, but maybe the problem is the separation between the player and the player character? Like for example, only being able to play along with perverts if you're confident, drunk, or horny enough, so even if the player wants to say yes, their character answers for them and the player is left denied choice and interaction. That's not the most fun, especially in a game that offers so much choice and freedom in other areas, like your appearance and outfits. Most developers include those sorts of things to prolong game-play, "Do this same exact scene three or four more times to build up the relevant counter and get to make the choice you were hoping for." It keeps people playing for longer, but not necessarily having fun with the time they're spending with it.

I don't know if it's a particularly popular opinion to have, but I like being given choices myself. I don't know how I feel about things like a Confidence stat, or anything else that might dictate personality and personal choices, building walls up between the player and the character they're meant to be in the game. Even if it's just a small difference in dialogue or text that acknowledges a very small choice between timidly accepting something out of quiet fear, or playing along with something out of some morbid curiosity for what happens next, being as confident or timid or chaste or lewd as I choose to be in the moment is part of the fun and builds way more investment.

This is just spitballing an idea, and being that I have no idea what things are like on the code or engine side of things, this may seem like insensitive thing to even suggest given the amount of work it may amount to, but maybe something like a radial drop-down menu from the top of the screen that lets you choose between Polite or Cheery as denoted by a green smiley face, Aggressive or Defiant as denoted by a red or burnt orange angry face, Timid or Submissive as denoted by a purple blushing face, Flirty or Lustful as denoted by a pink kissy face, and a completely blank blue face in the very center to offer a complete and total poker-face 'Neutral' response as though you're not feeling anything at all in the moment. Depending on which you're set to in a scene, you could have certain excerpts of text swapped out to the flavor of reaction that suits the mood dynamically. So a line of text is full of angry, embarrassed shouting if you're set to Defiant, but will change to being more playful and suggestive if you change to Flirty, or totally impassive if you set it to Neutral. (Little faces seem easier to turn into stylish buttons than entire words would be, or you can just color code some buttons.)

The choices would still be the same choices, leading to the same consequences, but the reaction radial can help the scenes play out as the player might prefer, so the people that want to freak out over their transformation can freak out more and live in a constant state of defiant rebellion, while the people that want to play a professional agent can wear a poker-face and only bother adopting other moods as brief personas to get jobs done. Maybe that's what the radial menu is from the get-go, just choosing a persona to play from moment to moment to get the desired result which is part of what makes you an ideal Fixer, having that kind of awareness and control over how you behave. Again, this is just a random idea I'm throwing out there, not meant to be a demand. I suppose it could be incorporated into other game mechanics too, with people remembering how you reacted or behaved in certain scenes and holding it against you or showing you favor later down the road. You leave a very different impression on pervy private investigators when you strip down in an alley with a playful smile, than if you were to strip while shouting profanities at them and aggressively insisting you don't actually want to be doing that, (even as you continue to do it.) The game's shaping up to be pretty interesting as it is, and I'll be looking forward to future updates.

 

[Parmolax]

Meh, with all of these recent discussions about the game, I rather just have the developer flesh out his initial vision first before others start giving out suggestions that could affect the story's structure and game mechanics. I quite like the game as it is right now and am looking forward to the updates.

 

[KhaelDragon]

What to do after the second visit to the police station? Are there any activities in the game besides the school and the bar? All locations are just empty, there are no characters. Or am I not understanding something and playing in wrong way?

 

[maankamara]

Heya Sam, the game's pretty exciting so far, lots of neat ideas being built up. I'll admit to only skimming over some of the latest posts, but maybe the problem is the separation between the player and the player character? Like for example, only being able to play along with perverts if you're confident, drunk, or horny enough, so even if the player wants to say yes, their character answers for them and the player is left denied choice and interaction. That's not the most fun, especially in a game that offers so much choice and freedom in other areas, like your appearance and outfits. Most developers include those sorts of things to prolong game-play, "Do this same exact scene three or four more times to build up the relevant counter and get to make the choice you were hoping for." It keeps people playing for longer, but not necessarily having fun with the time they're spending with it.

I don't know if it's a particularly popular opinion to have, but I like being given choices myself. I don't know how I feel about things like a Confidence stat, or anything else that might dictate personality and personal choices, building walls up between the player and the character they're meant to be in the game. Even if it's just a small difference in dialogue or text that acknowledges a very small choice between timidly accepting something out of quiet fear, or playing along with something out of some morbid curiosity for what happens next, being as confident or timid or chaste or lewd as I choose to be in the moment is part of the fun and builds way more investment.

Personally I stand on the opposite side of this. I think many choices ruin the corruption experience.

To be corrupted is something that is done against one's initial behavior that changes the way they behave. If I as the player must make that decision it no longer feels like getting corrupted but rather just lame attempt to excuse pervert behavior that is and always was there to begin with. Japanese games are full of examples of this lame format where "pure" heroine must click through 3 'Are you absolutely sure?' dialog boxes before getting "corrupted". Games where you must go out of your way to find situations where the heroine might get fucked, like surrendering to easy enemies on purpose. I personally much prefer the experience where the decisions aren't so black & white as "Do you want to get raped? y/n", and games where there's a real chance you get fucked even if you actively tried to avoid it. It's called non-con for a reason. I know this isn't exactly what you mentioned, but I think it's close enough.

That being said, I am not against it at all if the game gives you an option at start to decide that your character is already bit of a pervert, or uncommonly confident, and would skip the initial resistances for those who wish it so. Things like this is where I think perks would shine. (I know Sam is on the fence if perk will ever be a thing)

 

[EroHero01]

Thanks, fixed that locally and will be in the next update.



I never tested the self voicing since I wasn't aware anyone really used it. I just now tested and yes, it is annoying. I will see if I can fix that.



Currently you can sell yourself in the pub. The full on prostitute job will come later in an update.

Thank you. This game will be great, you have a lot potential

 

[Furmilk]

Sorry if this has been addressed, but is every update going to require a new save? When it happened the first time for 1.16 (I think that was the first), I shrugged and marched on. When it happened again at 2.20 I got a bit annoyed, but again just started over. Now with a third new start for 2.24, I'm very much concerned about playing this anymore. It'll be ok (for some people) while there's not too much content, but as the game becomes more developed this will become tedious very quickly. I don't even feel like starting over again as it is. If there's no planned resolution, I think I'll just wait a while. Negative rant aside, please keep up the good work. This looks like it'll be a real gem of a game once it's nice and polished.

 

[Sam_Tail]

Maybe switching "After playing through one of the origin stories, you find yourself in Blaston, having been rescued by the cities main power base and in return you agree to work for them as a 'Fixer'." to "After being given a new, extremely customizable body following a near-death experience, you find yourself in Blaston, having been rescued by the cities main power base and in return you agree to work for them as a 'Fixer'." would reference it concisely?

It's true that it's important to keep the description's focus on the actual Fixer part of things since you want that to be the game's focus, but currently it doesn't mention the bodyswap at all - when I downloaded the game, I was expecting more of a "Spy doing her best to save the city" kind of scenario, and was initially confused about whether I'd opened the wrong game by mistake.

The description also doesn't really mention body customization currently, though it's going to be an important element of the game; maybe changing "Someone who solves potentially sensitive problems using tact, diplomacy or underhanded means." (which is currently a bit redundant with the description's first paragraph) to "Gifted with the ability to change your body to suit the mission's needs, you are now the perfect agent to handle sensitive problems" or something similar?

That said, though, I guess you don't really need to stress too much about the game's description this early in development; it's just an issue that stood out to me as possibly being related.

Good suggestions. Didn't really add anything about body customisation in the overview so would also be good. Thanks.

Hi All ! I just started to play the "latest" version, 0.2.24. Went from the start, and didn't skip the intro, got through the "Simon Mission" (Back-Alley version) , and everything (?), up to having the "long-talk" with Dr. Tucker, (am waiting a day or two to get the Pub job started ).

My query, concerns that "Pub Waitress" job.
Have there been some changes made lately, ( to the mechanics, of that scenario) ?
It took nearly 5 "shifts", to get her first 'pervert' interaction, a guy wanting to buy her Socks @ 250 euros(?), which she jumped at, he followed her to see her take them off, "tried" to fuck her pussy, but backed off when she said "No", and he left, with the Socks. The amount of Cash at the top didn't change to reflect the added 250 Euros !

So, was that a BUG, or did she just get "robbed/taken" (Euro-wise), by a recent 'change' to that scenario ???

I remember, from before, they always got paid for the 'clothing', separate from the wages . Has that changed Now ?

Also, the "RNG" was being extremely "tight" with giving out "pervert-interactions" with my "Sammy" !?

Also, still having problems, with her "sleeping-in-the-Nude", 'she' did it several times, and everything was Fine, (barring the 'normal' complaints, that someone will see her naked in her room . . . . there's currently, no-one-in-that-area, to see her ! ) . Then it started again, you 'select' her "sleeping out-fit', click the "go to sleep" icon, and bamm, she's wearing her "Daily-outfit", and calling it her "PJ's" [facepalm] !

PS - She is also more "Confident", NOW, then when she was sleeping naked before, go figure .

There is progression to the naughty events. Can't remember the numbers off the top of my head but the first few shifts no one will grope you and there will only be the leering events, then groping, then asking to stay for a chat and so on. Think it takes 15 shifts to unlock it. There is also supposed to be some mini events where you notice your barmaid colleagues vanishing off with patrons or returning without socks during this build up that isn't in yet.

The basic idea being that she is new and isn't aware such things go on so wouldn't be jumping on peoples lap on her first day on the job even if she was the most slutty whore on the planet.

The other things you mention are probably bugs that I need to look into.

What to do after the second visit to the police station? Are there any activities in the game besides the school and the bar? All locations are just empty, there are no characters. Or am I not understanding something and playing in wrong way?

That's the end of the current story and I am working on the rest of it now. Aiming to release it this month.

Sorry if this has been addressed, but is every update going to require a new save? When it happened the first time for 1.16 (I think that was the first), I shrugged and marched on. When it happened again at 2.20 I got a bit annoyed, but again just started over. Now with a third new start for 2.24, I'm very much concerned about playing this anymore. It'll be ok (for some people) while there's not too much content, but as the game becomes more developed this will become tedious very quickly. I don't even feel like starting over again as it is. If there's no planned resolution, I think I'll just wait a while. Negative rant aside, please keep up the good work. This looks like it'll be a real gem of a game once it's nice and polished.

I know having to start a new game is annoying but in the early stages of development, too much core code gets changed for me to make saves compatible. Once things settle down a bit I will make saves compatible

And onto the topic of corruption and choices.

First of all, corruption and confidence is not the same. I decided to not include corruption in the fixer for a couple of reasons. Main one being that corruption suggests sex and the like is a bad thing and you need to be corrupted into doing it. With the nature of my game and you being a sexpot fixer, I wanted sex to be a good and positive thing (It is, after all, what everyone is here for). Secondly, corruption games normally involve someone who hasn't even heard of the existence of penises and seem stupidly naïve, something Sammy is not even at the lowest level of confidence. And finally because I wanted confidence to be able to go down as well as up and that's not really something that can be done with corruption. Getting robbed in an alley or teased by girls at school can hit your confidence but wouldn't do anything to corruption.

So Sammy even at lowest confidence is perfectly aware of what men want but is just not willing to go through with it or accept it, although high desire or alcohol might be able bend her a bit more in that direction. High confidence allows her to take more control of the situation and choose if she does want to go along with it or not, or how far.

In this regard, think of Sammy as a typical western girl from a major city. Even the more innocent of girls are willing to have fun with a trusted bf and do all manner of naughty sexual things but would not have a one night stand or even flirt with random guys. A more middle ground type is perfectly fine with one night tinder/nightclub hookups until someone they like comes along. Then the more "high confidence" girl is willing to do whatever she wants as long as she gets something out of it (Money, pleasure, promotion).

In regards to choice. While it might not be balanced correctly right now, choices being taken away from you is intended to be a failure on your part. Desire rises based on your clothes and eventually toys you are wearing and allowing your desire to get out of hand will result in choice being taken from you.
The same with alcohol. You need to balance your mood properly or use the quick fix of alcohol to boost it. Get too drunk and choice might be taken from you. Combine that with high desire and it gets worse.

So you kind of do have a choice, it's just you need to pre-empt it. A good mood without alcohol and keep a handle on your desire and the player will always be given the chance to back out of situations. Get her drunk while super horny and it's only a matter of time before she is dragging some guy into the toilets without the player being given the choice.

 

[KhaelDragon]

That's the end of the current story and I am working on the rest of it now. Aiming to release it this month.

Ok, good luck then. Be waiting for updates

 

[Bentsay]

What are the RNG main quest scenes other than simon's?

 

[Mwanted]

I see from the last post on Patreon that the Female start is coming ..and my support is gonna come too, as promised

 

[Sam_Tail]

What are the RNG main quest scenes other than simon's?

Simons quest is the only main mission that has any naughty content as of now.

I see from the last post on Patreon that the Female start is coming ..and my support is gonna come too, as promised

That's right. Though as discussed before, it follows the same pattern as the male protag start and isn't the big one mentioned in my design doc. Male protag start has also been edited.

And since I am here, might as well post a little teaser. Was playing around with xray effects for he belly yesterday.

Spoiler: Teaser

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[Mwanted]

Wow.. and to think I couldn't see this game getting better, features-wise .. x-ray sex effects would be super cool (and hot) to see, and I think they really fit the game art.

 

[Erosoft]

Hey, I'm loving this game! But am I the only one who has no sound? Is it not implemented? Just simple UI interaction, button clicks and whatnot, are all I'm really itching for.

Pretty sure I'm not being dumb here so I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue