Notes from playing the latest version linked by Googly here in the forum responses rather than the download from the OP.
This is not a review, but instead a publishing of my notes taken while playing. I am writing these from the perspective of a play-tester/fan.
Notes regarding gameplay, bugs, and interactions:
Crashes:
- I crashed at the Eastern Storage Cabinet. I was not interacting with it in anyway at the time of the crash. I was moving towards the cabinet to unlock it
with the code written on the back of the hiding spot[wrong code but unrelated to crash], (which needs a bit of a camera tweak so that it's easier to read imo. You can see it with the first person perspective very easily, but it can be hard to figure out which way you need to move the camera to center it.)
- A second crash when moving into the 1F West Hall, while watching Mr. Green stop and stand still in the middle of the main hall. This crash completely locked up my computer's graphics drivers. Flickering black screens, unable to open task manager, unable to change desktops, unable to force desktop, etc... They were likely operable and working, but due to the inability to see anything, I needed to hard restart.
- The logs attached are from the crashes, and they end with many errors regarding texture rendering. Lines of particular note to me, (take it with a grain of salt, I know nothing about Unity, as I have only ever dabbled with Godot):
- Current Room: MainHall
RoamPoint: Failed
- d3d11: failed to create buffer (target 0x5 mode 1 size 21376) [0x887A0005]
d3d11: failed to create buffer (target 0x2 mode 1 size 2004) [0x887A0005]
D3D11: Failed to create RenderTexture (4096 x 256 fmt 53 aa 1), error 0x887a0005
- Cannot initialise Cloth: All scale components must be non-zero.
- I have attached the saves that I made during this initial playthrough, so I hope they can provide any further insight to assist with debugging the unfortunate tendency for the game to crash, currently.
Lighting:
- Much better lighting, but still odd in many places. Doors cast their own light rather than being lit by atmospheric lighting, which is jarring and hurts immersion. This method might be better for performance, but I'd recommend revisiting the lighting methods asap.
- The lighting now allows us to see the goodies when hiding from Mr. Green, but the shifting camera angles and animations are still janky and leave a lot to be desired. I'd recommend more restrictive camera control during the transition phase of entering the hiding spot. This would allow you to prevent the camera rotating around through a wall, as well as giving you an opportunity to provide the player with some nice views.
Interactions:
- Huge HUGE QoL improvement by introducing a "Hold" mechanic over the button spamming method for the button prompt events. I've always hated button-spamming, personally. I have carpal tunnel, so they absolutely wreck my already abused hands. I do think replacing the "Press" mechanic entirely with some kind of QTE would be more fitting (i.e. reminiscent of RE, as well as accessible, and engaging.)
- Hiding is currently a bit buggy, as the mini-game will very rapidly appear and disappear.
- Hiding could have a stronger mini-game. I'm nostalgic for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but I wasn't a huge fan of the balance mini-game there either. I think a QTE rhthym mini-game would be more engaging, accessible, and less frustrating (if done correctly ofc.) Matching the QTE to Mr. Green's footsteps or noises would help sell the illusion of hiding from a scary monster.
- Mr. Green feels faster in this update, though that might just be me not having been able to get too far into the game because of crashes lately. This is a good change, as Mr. Green is still really easy to avoid for the most part, and geting caught doesn't feel like it has much in the way of consequences. The more dangerous he is, the more satisfying and important it feels to break line of sight and hide.
- I managed to hide from Mr. Green by running away barefoot and hiding beneath the staircase. Moments like this are what makes this game special from other H-games out there. The more opportunities we have to dynamically hide from Mr. Green and other monsters will greatly improve the pace and engagement of the game. Ideally, introduce drawbacks to hiding, such as being violated or continually aroused by something with no way to resist without alerting Mr. Green.
- BUG - I see it has already been mentioned, but the lock on the Eastern Storeroom cabinet is facing the wrong direction when interacted with.
Cosmetics:
- BUG - Wardrobe is bugged with a flickering background that is not disabled when turning off "Flickering Lights" in the settings. I was wearing the "Silk Robe," but it did not unlock in the wardrobe display.
- Outfits are still very sexy, and it's incredibly satisfying to see Keira get embarrassed when she's wearing something revealing. More expression of her thoughts, reactions, and overall mental would be a huge boon to keeping the player engaged with the erotic aspect of the game, though preferably with text and expressions rather than voice acting.
SUGGESTIONS:
- Consider utilizing alternate audio for when Mr. Green is standing idle. At present, even if you're looking directly at him, he cycles his footsteps, which is jarring and immersion-breaking. You could swap the footsteps for some kind of monstrous breathing, erotic gurgling noises as the CVC is being produced in his body, or something of this nature. Anything is better than the current unlinked stepping SFX.
- The game needs more erotic dynamics to the gameplay. You could consider a status sheet that details her thoughts regarding the events she's going through. This could lead to her having slightly different lewder animations when performing some actions after being violated enough (i.e. corrupted, reduced morals, etc...)
- For example, you could change the full infection state being a game over to an inconvencience by allowing players who've been a bit corrupted to safely get pregnant without the game ending. This would result in certain clothes being unable to be worn, much slower movement, and a timer that requires you to find a safe place to release your eggs/green goo cum.
- Another example, that would be Much MUCH harder to code, design, and implement is a mechanic that lets you temporarily stun Mr. Green by having Keira reciprocate his advances when she's aroused and corrupted. This could be done with a QTE mini-game or something similar. This mechanic would give the player options for willingly engaging with the erotic parts of the game without causing factors that could result in a gameover screen. Ensuring that this still has drawbacks shouldn't be too hard.
- Reduce the amount of game overs for the player character to encounter. I know this requires a significant amount of work compared to game overs, but being able to find a way to continue playing, whether with debuffs, stronger enemies, or something like additional traps, would go a long way to improving the flow of the erotic gameplay.
- Most players want to feel that the violation is having an effect on the protagonist in hentai games, so introducing any kind of long-term effects that are noticeable AND arousing for the player is very much worth considering.
I'm going to continue trying to play the version I have, but if it keeps crashing, I'll need to put it back on the shelf for awhile. I can't risk any corruption to other systems on my computer, as this game tends to crash pretty hard when it does. Having said that, this has been one of my most closely followed projects within the hentai game "realm," so to speak. You have a genuine diamond in the rough here, and I can't think of ANY other h-game that matches the feeling of this game. You've done some seriously great work.
