VN Ren'Py Completed The Star Cove Incident [v1.01] [Smiling Dog]

[X-Topic]

is it dead?

 

[Rosen King]

is it dead?

No, just on hiatus while working past road bumps. The dev is still active on his other game and would have said something if this one was cancelled.

...Actually, it seems the dev DID say something about the game four days ago, but it's a Patron-locked post. Anyone know what they had to say?

 

[LightingDarkness]

No, just on hiatus while working past road bumps. The dev is still active on his other game and would have said something if this one was cancelled.



...Actually, it seems the dev DID say something about the game four days ago, but it's a Patron-locked post. Anyone know what they had to say?

Tl/dr: He thought that no one liked the game, so he didn't focus on it.

So... I might have underestimated the number of players that were interested in this. I kinda expected like 10-ish players to be interested in this game so I didn't really expect a lot of people to actually care about this project, considering most of the questions I get when posting stuff with OC are normally "When is Fairy Hunting getting updated?" and "Where is the download for Jikage Rising?", and as much as I enjoy making them, I didn't want to insists on putting my own OC projects in the spotlight be like some narcissist, which was why I didn't really talk much about it in recent updates. However, in light of recent messages that I got suspiciously close to each other, I thought it would be a good idea to let y'all know what's going on with the project.

It is not cancelled, I'm still working on it in the background while waiting for art, progress has been slow to say the least, we went from getting 2-3 pieces from the artist to about 1 piece a month, which was kind of expected I suppose, considering how last minute the game was planned and started, not enough time to properly vet the artist like I did with the other artists.

Art stuff aside, the game is also being re-written entirely with feedback from players. I've been adding in more choices for the game where the players will be able to have greater control over their actions (hopefully). There were also some changes to the story that is closer to what I originally had in mind now that I have all of the character sprites, instead of changing the order of some encounters due to missing art. I've discussed some changes with a couple of members in the server, but not a lot of them cause there are some plot details that I want to keep hidden.

I've experimented with some ideas and also some suggested methods, but many felt either too linear or it becomes too much of a maze for players to try to achieve certain paths, there's also the issue of needing to place the timeline properly so that the paths make coherent sense, but snug enough for it to be fun. The most promising method so far seems to be have various segments scattered around where the player will be allowed to spend their day to investigate. We should still be able to tell a story with it being too RPG like since it's still a VN at the end of the day, albeit a bit pulp fiction styled.

I want to assure everyone that I didn't kept quiet about the project out of malice, but rather it was more of a "I didn't want to keep bothering people with a game that no one cares about, so I'll do this project quietly and release it when the build is ready" mind set. On the bright-side, I should have the reworked build ready by the next month for the release, continuing around the part where we left off, though you would definitely need a fresh save for it. But anyway, talk is cheap, it's probably better to check out the build when it's released.

Also, no, Fairy Hunting is not cancelled, Raiha (the artist) is working on art used for Jikage Rising at the moment, so things are delayed for a bit more.

 

[Pokemun]

Thanks for posting the update, this is actually the game they are making that I'm looking forward to the most.

The changes sound interesting enough, we will have to wait and see.

 

[X-Topic]

omg....this game is awesome...why did he though we didn't like it?

 

[Rosen King]

Tl/dr: He thought that no one liked the game, so he didn't focus on it.

Wow, thanks for sharing the post, but that is a very misleading tl;dr. Like, someone who actually didn't read it is going to miss out on the most important parts, and think that he's been ignoring development of the game altogether. Here's a real summary for the people who didn't read: "I didn't mention it because I thought people didn't care, but I've actually been working on reworking the game to be less linear and rewriting the early story. I should have a build of the new version by next month. (Also, getting the art is slower than I expected.)"

omg....this game is awesome...why did he though we didn't like it?

Because most of his followers only care about his fanfic game, because people are more inclined to gravitate towards something they know that's already popular rather than something that's actually new. Which is very disheartening to think about, especially when he thinks it would be "narcissistic" to focus on something that's actually his own.

 

[Mograx]

I prefer original projects with original ideas and characters from the dev. I tend to steer clear of games like Jikage Rising since already knowing of the characters and world can mitigate the interest for me. I'd rather play something a dev created themselves and seeing how a world they envisioned and where it branches from there, from both a story and character development perspective.

But that's just me.

 

[Rosen King]

Excerpts from the weekly progress report:

And finally Star Cove, haven't touched it for the past 2 weeks due to me working on Jikage Rising, but I'll begin working on it once I get back on Monday, I'll make a quick post detailing some of the changes and have you guys decide on a "how to do it" thing, which will probably make more sense next week. Pretty excited about it haha. Also, once more, and I will repeat this for the post next week as well, old saves cannot be used in the new version due to how different they work.

The Star Cove Incident (ETA: v0.11 for Patrons on 7th May, v0.11 for the public on 21st May)
-Rewrite
-Lots of rewriting

 

[fuzzyskywalker]

Glad to hear progress is picking back up on this one. Probably my favorite from Smiling Dog, which already puts it near the top of the heap for my favorite erotic games in general.

 

[speedapple]

Yeah, sorry about that guys. Didn't really have people talk about it, and generally the post for the downloads were pretty quiet with little to no responses, so I kinda figured people weren't really into the game. I am still working on it though!

 

[Mograx]

Yeah, sorry about that guys. Didn't really have people talk about it, and generally the post for the downloads were pretty quiet with little to no responses, so I kinda figured people weren't really into the game. I am still working on it though!

Really glad to hear that.

 

[Fipsi]

Yeah, sorry about that guys. Didn't really have people talk about it, and generally the post for the downloads were pretty quiet with little to no responses, so I kinda figured people weren't really into the game. I am still working on it though!

I really enjoyed the game thus far so I'm happy to see that you haven't lost motivation. I'm looking forward to updates, however long they may take

 

[wildlslayer69]

comment!

 

[ReVo15]

I really like this game, hope the developer will continue doing it. It's the game i'm looking forward the most from all his games

 

[Rosen King]

I really like this game, hope the developer will continue doing it. It's the game i'm looking forward the most from all his games

No need to worry (probably). Here's part of a post from yesterday:

Anyway, back to topic, this Saturday will be the release of The Star Cove Incident for Patrons/Subscribers! And also the public release of Jikage Rising as well! Still have a few things to do with Star Cove, so hopefully I'll get that done asap. I am pretty nervous about it to be honest haha.

[...]

The Star Cove Incident (ETA: v0.11 for Patrons on 7th May, v0.11 for the public on 21st May)
-Rewrite
-Lots of rewriting

 

[Dr. Fernet]

Great game!!

 

[ashley_1147]

whens the next update?

 

[Rosen King]

whens the next update?

Patron version in two days (May 7) and public version on May 21.

 

[speedapple]

No need to worry (probably). Here's part of a post from yesterday:

whens the next update?

Patron version in two days (May 7) and public version on May 21.

I kinda screwed up on estimating the amount of time needed to do the stuff I wanted to do, pushing the update back for a bit cause I don't any weird inconsistencies popping up. I'm sorry guys.

 

[Tyr Unchained]

I kinda screwed up on estimating the amount of time needed to do the stuff I wanted to do, pushing the update back for a bit cause I don't any weird inconsistencies popping up. I'm sorry guys.

As long as it's an actual update with content - I'll be happy to play it. But if it's another case - where every girl you enslaved comes to offer you sex only for you to turn her down (because you have no option to accept) and instead read bland descriptions about you waking up, going to school and going back home - I'm out. This game is barely keeping my attention because I'm hoping for more interactions with Jaina...