RPGM The Proteus Effect [v10.3] [Proxxie]

[Boyim]

I like that the game has a structure and background to it. Part of what makes me care about the characters is that they are instantiated in a somewhat fleshed out world. As frustrated as I am with the release schedule I wouldn't advocate making the game much different than it is now, I just want the dev to stop getting distracted making plugins for months at a time and use what's already there to chug out at least a few releases somewhat close to eachother.

I have to agree wholeheartedly that he ought to seriously reconsider his design philosophy of just constantly adding things to rpgmaker, and instead move towards making the game work within the system itself. Even if he does have some grindy fights, he at least knows how to balance a fight and design mechanics. I have full confidence he could design interesting opponents to fight, and as long as he still thinks the characters shouldn't (or should not yet) level up naturally, then he can continue adding in fun scenes, quests, and dialogue about getting the skills and equipment they find to take care of these situations.

 

[FookU2]

Meh, the gameplay was never the strong suit of this game. The main things that were carrying the game for me came from the writing and the decent art (I dig the heavily stylized cartoony models, but let's not pretend they are super high-end art). For the writing, the budding relationship between Ana and Alex was great, the writing was funny, and the story had this very fun feeling of progression.

The gameplay was always a bit of a slog, I personally don't mind RPGmaker fetch quests and simple minigames being used as a bit of filler as long as they build up to something worthwhile, which this game frequently did since they pretty often delivered great humorous situations and they never overstayed their welcome. The thing that absolute KILLS any fun from the first 2 hours of gameplay is that the combat is just terribly balanced, you have to fight damage sponges that have non-threatening attacks with 2 characters that have low damage and 1 spell each. It is just a complete drag.

Honestly what sucks about the development of this game over the last year is that the dev decided to stagnate 2 of the things that were great about the writing: The relationship with Ana and the sense of progression. Apparently there's nothing else to be said about Ana and Alex fucking in the digital world in role-reversed avatar bodies, it is just a thing they do and doesn't add anything to them as people or to their relationship. And the fun of being on the road, learning new lore, finding new people and new places, all of that is gone and now we're stuck going from meaningless dungeon to meaningless dungeon, living in the same boring city seeing the same boring people, just bidding the time until the dev decides we can finally get the mcguffin and continue the story. At least the humor is still solid, although it has started doing some bad flanderization of the characters here and there.

Of course that contributing to that sense of stagnation is the fact that the game barely ever updates, and the updates are not long. I'm fine with the dev being a coding enthusiast and wanting to learn how to do all kinds of stuff all by himself, but goodness gracious, a convoluted gimmick that will only be used for one dungeon and then forgotten about is not what anyone wanted for the gameplay. This is not goddamn mario party, those things he insist on trying to do are not benefiting the product at all, because this is still an RPGmaker game, and the meat of the gameplay is still the combat, and the combat still kind of sucks. The new spells and party members are good to add a bit more complexity, but I just don't understand why this dev seems to like damage-sponge combat so much. If I learned how an enemy works, and figured out a strategy that lets my team beat it, why do you force me to do it like 4 times before the enemy actually dies, and why do I have to fight this same enemy over and over. The dev keeps diving into technically complex solutions for what he thinks will make RPGmaker gameplay fun, but he doesn't need more gimmicks, he just needs better design. Stop trying to make the game be good in SPITE of being an RPGmaker game and make it good FOR being an RPGmaker game, design to the strengths of the engine.

Sorry for the rant but I figure there's not much more to do in threads for games like this. I really got invested in this game and I just wish it would accept what made it good and run with it.

Honestly, I really think the art is well above par, compared to a ton of what I see out there. It's different, and that alone attracted me to it. I'm just so used to seeing the exact same models in every game, that were just slightly tweaked. I.E. the same fat, old guy, with a horseshoe hair cut...Anna's boss in Anna Exciting Affection is damn near the same as the cop is Daughter For Dessert, and I see variations of that same character in SEVERAL games.

Also, Anna Exciting Affection's black guy in the drug dealing group is the same as the black guy in House Party, and in Manila Shaw.

If there's another game out there with similar characters to this game, I have yet to see it.

 

[manscout]

Honestly, I really think the art is well above par, compared to a ton of what I see out there. It's different, and that alone attracted me to it. I'm just so used to seeing the exact same models in every game, that were just slightly tweaked. I.E. the same fat, old guy, with a horseshoe hair cut...Anna's boss in Anna Exciting Affection is damn near the same as the cop is Daughter For Dessert, and I see variations of that same character in SEVERAL games.

Also, Anna Exciting Affection's black guy in the drug dealing group is the same as the black guy in House Party, and in Manila Shaw.

If there's another game out there with similar characters to this game, I have yet to see it.

I honestly play way more games with 2D art than 3D renders, so I might have been a bit too harsh on account of taste. Proxie puts a lot of effort into having good lighting, preventing clipping, and he honestly has a pretty good vision as a director. But the hard truth is that 3d models, in particular more cartoony ones, will have certain limitations that are very difficult or straight up impossible to get around.

The two main things to me is that sometimes the models look really glassy-eyed, I don't know if there is a technique to get around that (like focusing both their eyes on a fixed point outside the screen), but it just feels pretty derpy sometimes. And the really big one: there isn't a single graphically explicit penetration scene. Try to review the game if you want, but I'm pretty sure there isn't one and I don't fault the dev, avoiding clipping, modelling the labia, it is just super difficult to make it work with 3D models. I don't really have much of a frame of comparison, so maybe this game really is among the better ones for 3D art, but if you allow 2D into the competition then I can think of several games that have consistently better art.

 

[RustyV]

Animation of sex scenes between the characters would add to the game far better than canned combat scenes.
It's frustrating that the dev has created a unique and attractive art style and then barely uses it. There are less than 300 images.
Why give the blonde girl a new more revealing outfit if you may only see it in a few images? What's the point?
A strength for this game is the 3d art that actually helps sell the player on the virtual world concept. Why then concentration on off the shelf RPG characters that have been used in too many RPG games already?

You must be registered to see the links

is a fairly complete collection of most of the 3d art.

 

[FookU2]

I honestly play way more games with 2D art than 3D renders, so I might have been a bit too harsh on account of taste. Proxie puts a lot of effort into having good lighting, preventing clipping, and he honestly has a pretty good vision as a director. But the hard truth is that 3d models, in particular more cartoony ones, will have certain limitations that are very difficult or straight up impossible to get around.

The two main things to me is that sometimes the models look really glassy-eyed, I don't know if there is a technique to get around that (like focusing both their eyes on a fixed point outside the screen), but it just feels pretty derpy sometimes. And the really big one: there isn't a single graphically explicit penetration scene. Try to review the game if you want, but I'm pretty sure there isn't one and I don't fault the dev, avoiding clipping, modelling the labia, it is just super difficult to make it work with 3D models. I don't really have much of a frame of comparison, so maybe this game really is among the better ones for 3D art, but if you allow 2D into the competition then I can think of several games that have consistently better art.

I get it. I do see your point. But personal taste does come into play. I dunno, maybe for me it's kinda like music.

Imagine the song that hits radio, then everyone loves it, then it gets played 4 times a day on every radio station, 2 times a night by every bar band, and sang 2 times a night in every karaoke bar.
Then imagine the lesser known song on the album that never got radio play, but you still like it enough to repeat it on the cd over and over. But you don't play it too much to the point where you despise it.
Initially, the radio popular song would be a 9/10, and the unreleased album song would be a 7/10. But, once you heard that radio song so much, you drop it down to a 2, because you just heard it way too much. So, now that unreleased song has become a better song, in your ears.

I think of art in the same way.

You may be right about the differences between 2D and 3D, but in the end, as I said before, the number one draw to this game, for me, was how different the art is. It's a breath of fresh air for me, just cause I haven't seen any other similar looking characters in any other games. I absolutely love Anna Exciting Affection, but if some of the characters weren't replicas of other games' characters, it would be that much better.

 

[Boyim]

The art is unique to be sure, but to say that the biggest draw of this game is that he did a 3D anime-ishe style correctly seems to miss the point. Although not many people have applied 3D art to this fetish area, or even have done it close to as well, this art style has been done before.

The shimmering tip of this game is the writing and world building.
I love the way the 3D art looks but it isn't the end all be all of why I love this game. I really like the whole deal. And part of the deal is the way the story progresses. The main concern I have is whether or not that progression really requires the amount of half year long plugin distractions that it currently seems to """""""""""""""""""""""""""require"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""".

 

[RustyV]

I would bet no, it doesn't.

 

[MsKris28]

I can't find the black straw. a couple of clues as to where she might be?

 

[Boyim]

Shit man, I might be able to remember. What's the name of the quest again? I remember its either a special item from a shop that sells animal feed supplies, or you somehow make normal straw black. At least I think it's one of those But I might be able jog my memory if you tell me more shiz.

 

[Boyim]

Ok, after double checking the rules apparently double posting isn't against the guidelines as long as you have new shit to say, and therefore aren't spamming.

Luckily I do, we have reached the two week rubicon since Proxxie has last spoken to us. Plus a day.

Either a big excuse for being late-late-late-late-late-late is incoming in the next two days, or we're going to see the patch within a two day period. Either way, buckle your pants. Also, MsKris28 please tell me more about the quest you need doing, I autistically love this game and want to catapult you into the final sex scene zone.

 

[RustyV]

Let us hope this is not yet another play for time by the dev.
He seems to have a penchant for delays.

 

[Boyim]

Bad news vis-a-vis update. Looks like it was my prior guess. Somehow despite him finishing the first four and a half quests in a week or so, it took longer than two weeks for him to finish just one that he already half finished while brainstorming and beginning work on another big one.

This leaves 5 quests left with one of the big ones having been started. Sad times ahead for anyone who had been given ample reason to think this would have been out months ago, but not surprising.

As for good news, Proxxie has decided to adopt a design philosophy that doesn't involve giant plugin minigame tangents and focuses more on fleshing out the game within the systems already present. A pleasantly familiar turn of events given what we were suggesting earlier.

I can't imagine this is enough to make anyone who has had their fingers crossed and balls clenched waiting for this update for the lion's share of a year to find relief in, but at the very least the update still looks promising and we are still being actively updated on it.

 

[RustyV]

Sounds like the dev finally accepted he had to revise the game layout.

 

[Brothers of Bourbon]

Despite what I am reading so far, and from what seems to be an issue with the huge delays on the devs part...I really think the game is fantastic! Sure the RPG game play is a little...I donno, but the story is solid, I believe! And the characters are lovable and in my opinion the art is well done!

To me if you want to play a simple game, and enjoy a pretty well written story with cute characters! This is a game for you. Obviously the Dev works alone and therefore there are large gaps between updates and what not. What is available at the current time is still quite enjoyable!

 

[RustyV]

It took Michelangelo less time to paint the Sistine Chapel.

 

[Boyim]

Obviously the Dev works alone and therefore there are large gaps between updates and what not.

I wish I could sympathize with this statement even a little bit. But this is an RPGmaker game, and the dev used to have an update out once every month or two. So even by his own exact capacity to work this is taking too long.

Furthermore, he has openly admitted that the current update schedule is way off of what it should be and that it is the direct result of his own shenanigans. There is sadly no "He's just one guy" excuse to be found here. Because just that exact same guy used to be doing the exact same thing faster and while talking about it. And just that exact same guy admitted that this scenario is ridiculous, never should have happened, and is the result of him either not working or distracting himself with plugin tangents for months at a time.

Please love this game, please don't enable the dev's bad behavior.

 

[MsKris28]

How can I cure Razormaw Swine Flu in a hospital? As soon as I apply my cure spell on a patient, he immediately becomes infected again and the number 14 does not decrease at all.

 

[MsKris28]

Shit man, I might be able to remember. What's the name of the quest again? I remember its either a special item from a shop that sells animal feed supplies, or you somehow make normal straw black. At least I think it's one of those But I might be able jog my memory if you tell me more shiz.

Hi. Thank you for participating, but if you had used the "reply" button then I would have received a notification. I found black straw in the store. My mistake was that I had to click on the counter to activate trading. I clicked on the seller himself. The reward for the quest was a decorated sword, it doesn't make much sense. Now I need to treat sick green patients in the hospital (Razormaw Swine Flue). But as soon as I use the spell, the patient turns green again. I can't cope. This is just a real epidemic. Patients refuse to use masks and gloves. They didn't care about social distance. I'm very sorry I'm a cleric, not a fire war mage. It would have been much easier to burn them.

 

[Boyim]

Hi. Thank you for participating, but if you had used the "reply" button then I would have received a notification. I found black straw in the store. My mistake was that I had to click on the counter to activate trading. I clicked on the seller himself. The reward for the quest was a decorated sword, it doesn't make much sense. Now I need to treat sick green patients in the hospital (Razormaw Swine Flue). But as soon as I use the spell, the patient turns green again. I can't cope. This is just a real epidemic. Patients refuse to use masks and gloves. They didn't care about social distance. I'm very sorry I'm a cleric, not a fire war mage. It would have been much easier to burn them.

You don't just have every game you play on permanent 'watch' setting and then check the bell with sweaty palms every single day multiple times a day? Whack bro.

Also for the sick patient quest it can get to an 'overwhelming' state where you can't win anymore due to how fast its spreading. Also one time for me it had a singular incurable patient and was hard impossible forever and I needed to make a new save. If its the latter, I have no idea what to do I just made a whole freshie save. If its the former try doing the quest on easy mode (no consequences for this) or just retrying if too many people are infected.

 

[MsKris28]

You don't just have every game you play on permanent 'watch' setting and then check the bell with sweaty palms every single day multiple times a day? Whack bro.

Also for the sick patient quest it can get to an 'overwhelming' state where you can't win anymore due to how fast its spreading. Also one time for me it had a singular incurable patient and was hard impossible forever and I needed to make a new save. If its the latter, I have no idea what to do I just made a whole freshie save. If its the former try doing the quest on easy mode (no consequences for this) or just retrying if too many people are infected.

Here, notifications work )
I play a lot of games. If I have a dead end somewhere, I just switch to another game. I don't like to waste time.
At first, I managed to keep the epidemic at the level of 1-2 patients. But the management did not allow them to quickly cure them and new cases of infection appeared. As a result, the number 14 does not decrease at all.
The last save point was a long time ago, so I don't know what to do.