Ren'Py Abandoned The Void of Deviance [v0.1.8] [Sylventhia]

[dk900]

What is the answer to the first question of Sarah?

 

[Sylventhia]

What is the answer to the first question of Sarah?

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[Wooloomooloo]

I'm sorry I didn't quite catch the problem. Are you talking about the game shutting itself down? Here's how you reach gameplay just in case:
You begin the game, Astrid talks to you about the position at BanKval etc. You are presented with two major choices that are also coloured. One is Purple, and the other is Red. The Red One says "The Actual Prologue". You choose the Red One. After a lot of dialogue, you get a single choice "EMERGE ANEW" You click repeatedly and the game looks like it "crashed." You reopen the game. See that the Main Menu has changed. Do not Load, Do not press Prologue. Press START directly. You are then taken to the intro and tutorial that connects straight to the gameplay. I hope this helps. Please let me know if this was not the problem you experienced

Thanks for the helpful intent. As I already realized in my previous post my problem was that I never clicked on the prologue choice. My issue with this is that that whole choice is not a real choice, because doing what I did and choosing the other option inevitably leads to a game over bad ending soon after, no matter what one does after that first mistake. Essentially, you lose the game as soon as you reject the prologue choice, because ALL subsequent paths are short ways to a bad ending. Which is why I consider this incredibly bad design - in all my decades of gaming I have never ever encountered a game where foregoing a prologue resulted in forfeiting the game.

 

[Sylventhia]

Thanks for the helpful intent. As I already realized in my previous post my problem was that I never clicked on the prologue choice. My issue with this is that that whole choice is not a real choice, because doing what I did and choosing the other option inevitably leads to a game over bad ending soon after, no matter what one does after that first mistake. Essentially, you lose the game as soon as you reject the prologue choice, because ALL subsequent paths are short ways to a bad ending. Which is why I consider this incredibly bad design - in all my decades of gaming I have never ever encountered a game where foregoing a prologue resulted in forfeiting the game.

Thank you, I can understand your reasoning, but as far as I know most visual novel games can include a path where a premature bad ending can be achieved. I am a fairly new developer and at the time I wanted to improve my coding for a gameplay and have a relatively reasonable worldbuilding before I moved on with the actual story. The "fake" prologue only offers a "what if" type of scenario. I had to do it to improve my coding so I used that route as to offer samples of what the game would be Sorry to disappoint.

 

[Anime slave]

Thank you, I can understand your reasoning, but as far as I know most visual novel games can include a path where a premature bad ending can be achieved. I am a fairly new developer and at the time I wanted to improve my coding for a gameplay and have a relatively reasonable worldbuilding before I moved on with the actual story. The "fake" prologue only offers a "what if" type of scenario. I had to do it to improve my coding so I used that route as to offer samples of what the game would be Sorry to disappoint.

I thought that it was a alternative path

 

[Sylventhia]

I thought that it was a alternative path

Do you mean if I was to continue more for that path? No no, as you know that path only leads to three different bad endings. The reason is that as you notice the MC focuses only on the erotic stuff he can do instead of focusing on becoming a member on the Island. That is why the actual route focuses on his becoming a resident first. Then he can still do whatever he likes. And also as I have said, the sampling route is in the name, it was just to offer samples of scenes, a teaser for the game itself within the game itself

 

[Sylventhia]

The Void of Deviance Update v0.1.4 Pre-release Early Access is out for Early Access on Patreon!!! <3

I have also introduced a new Early-Access tier. This update provides content for Astrid's Bondage Path. You can now be enslaved by Astrid There are also a lot of new things tasks/works you can do. And a huge amount of animated scenes as well I hope you will be able to enjoy it, wish you all good day!

 

[warrenitro]

So I tried update 0.1.4 and it's waay too grindy, with no way to check your progress or know what you're grinding towards. Even the "hints" don't help much. They say upgrade this or that stat but don't tell you how to do it or how to monitor your progress or if the woman you're talking to even has any more content available. In it's current state the game is mostly mindless mouse clicking, and that's with the cheat code.
I'm looking forward to the next update My advice is don't worry about adding more content until you've converted what you've already got into a playable game.

 

[Sylventhia]

So I tried update 0.1.4 and it's waay too grindy, with no way to check your progress or know what you're grinding towards. Even the "hints" don't help much. They say upgrade this or that stat but don't tell you how to do it or how to monitor your progress or if the woman you're talking to even has any more content available. In it's current state the game is mostly mindless mouse clicking, and that's with the cheat code.
I'm looking forward to the next update My advice is don't worry about adding more content until you've converted what you've already got into a playable game.

Hmmm sorry to hear that The majority of the focus was for Astrid's bondage content and I mentioned that it has an "End of Update" marker at the end of Bondage level 6 in the changelog. I might have the fallacy of tracing my own footsteps when playtesting the game myself, as I know where to look for content :/ I will try to improve on that. Thanks so much for the feedback! I am thinking of making a poll for the future update when this one comes out for public, and I'll be asking whether to do a content poll or an overall world + gameplay update. I should probably also buff the rewards and points earned

 

[warrenitro]

Bondage level 6? I played for several hours and only made it as far as level 3 before I got fed up and quit. I have no idea how to even get to level 4 and that's using the cheat code. Game needs to be a lot clearer about how (and why) you upgrade a particular stat and let you see your progress. The way it is now it's mostly random mouse clicking and about as much fun as filling out tax forms.

 

[Axel F]

So I tried update 0.1.4 and it's waay too grindy, with no way to check your progress or know what you're grinding towards. Even the "hints" don't help much. They say upgrade this or that stat but don't tell you how to do it or how to monitor your progress or if the woman you're talking to even has any more content available. In it's current state the game is mostly mindless mouse clicking, and that's with the cheat code.

I haven't played 0.1.4 yet, but this was also the problem in 0.1.3, no way to know where the content is and how to progress to unlock it. But my actual problem is the clicking. Like, i don't want to use the mouse too much in a porn game since i'm planning to use my hand in some other way (eating snacks).

 

[Sylventhia]

Bondage level 6? I played for several hours and only made it as far as level 3 before I got fed up and quit. I have no idea how to even get to level 4 and that's using the cheat code. Game needs to be a lot clearer about how (and why) you upgrade a particular stat and let you see your progress. The way it is now it's mostly random mouse clicking and about as much fun as filling out tax forms.

You just advance in levels by going to astrid and clicking on act, then bondage, and you will see options for I II and III, and you see interval scenes like "Change of Tides" "Change of Seasons" etc. after Level 4 Astrid takes you to her home for you to live there and then you can access chores, and after a while Astrid can Train you etc. You need to spend 14 days for her to give you a contract, and after that 2 more weeks to finally see level 6 content

I haven't played 0.1.4 yet, but this was also the problem in 0.1.3, no way to know where the content is and how to progress to unlock it. But my actual problem is the clicking. Like, i don't want to use the mouse too much in a porn game since i'm planning to use my hand in some other way (eating snacks).

You are both right, maybe I should simplify things more for the next update, maybe even get rid of some mechanics. We'll see

 

[warrenitro]

I like this game and want it to succeed, so rather than just gripe I made a short list of some of my issues with 0.1.4. I hope you find it helpful

1) Game has far too many dead links. I realize that these are "place holders" for future updates but there should be some indicator of this before you click on it. Plus they work for some characters but not for others and it's very frustrating
2) Game says I need to be "Immaculate" to advance with Astrid but doesn't say how to do it
3) How do I unlock Susan's content in the coffee shop?
4) How do I unlock Leah's mini-game?
5) The map button is worse than before. Now instead of one click to close your phone it's close the phone, open the map, close the map, search the phone again etc
6) When the game deducts an endurance point for asking a question does that mean there is more content with this character?
7) Game keeps telling me to increase my pain tolerance but doesn't say how. or what happens if I do. Is there more hidden content here?
8) Why do I need to wait 2 weeks (or more?) to spend time w Astrid? Why is everything gated?
9) Old saves don't work. This didn't bother me too much as it is par for the coarse on a game still in development, but it did lead to a lot of repetitive mouse clicking

These are just a few gripes, I hope you find the list helpful

 

[Sylventhia]

I like this game and want it to succeed, so rather than just gripe I made a short list of some of my issues with 0.1.4. I hope you find it helpful

1) Game has far too many dead links. I realize that these are "place holders" for future updates but there should be some indicator of this before you click on it. Plus they work for some characters but not for others and it's very frustrating
2) Game says I need to be "Immaculate" to advance with Astrid but doesn't say how to do it
3) How do I unlock Susan's content in the coffee shop?
4) How do I unlock Leah's mini-game?
5) The map button is worse than before. Now instead of one click to close your phone it's close the phone, open the map, close the map, search the phone again etc
6) When the game deducts an endurance point for asking a question does that mean there is more content with this character?
7) Game keeps telling me to increase my pain tolerance but doesn't say how. or what happens if I do. Is there more hidden content here?
8) Why do I need to wait 2 weeks (or more?) to spend time w Astrid? Why is everything gated?
9) Old saves don't work. This didn't bother me too much as it is par for the coarse on a game still in development, but it did lead to a lot of repetitive mouse clicking

These are just a few gripes, I hope you find the list helpful

Thank you so much warrenitro, your feedback is extremely helpful. I guess I was so bent on making this a femdom game and had that spirit in mind, I wanted the MC to be hurt but not the gameplay experience But alas, I guess that was my downfall. You unlock Susan's and Leah's content by improving MC stats and reputation but if you use cheat mode you can view Leah's game during her task and Susan's strap-on scene during her work content. and for being immaculate, when the gameplay first begins you start immaculate, an orgasm (similar to Isla's strap-on scene) will break that status. if you break that you can regain immaculacy by just using rebirth mechanic (you do this by clicking on the symbol near your health, and then the "head" that comes in that additional screen, clicking on the lady in the middle to talk to her and choosing "I wish to be reborn" ) But yeah, that sounds like a lot of hassle when I type it out And for Astrid, you spend 14 days at her house doing chores to advance in her enslavement content, I thought it would be rational, like her owning the player being a test process. I was mistaken I guess I will be doing polls again before the next update, asking about what to do regarding the overall gameplay. I want the content to be easily accessible. Maybe I can make the phone menu a hover button completely to show all the buttons you need so that you can simply switch between them. I also do not want the game to feel grindy, so I will definitely buff rewards. looking back, content locking or gating seems like a cruel way to present a game, so I will lift that off of scenes, at least for the MC stats because that way the player does not even notice if they missed something. I actually am starting the believe that there are leftover scenes that only I am aware of For the next update, I'm probably going to do an overall Island update, where I focus the content on providing erotic work/task/content for the Island, while balancing the gameplay so it no longer feels like "Oh improve this to get this or this to get that." I'm really sorry for making the gameplay too tiresome for an erotic game. I hope the players can forgive me as this is my first time being a game developer, I only wish to improve this game and provide a satisfactory femdom game <3

 

[warrenitro]

Thank you so much warrenitro, your feedback is extremely helpful. I guess I was so bent on making this a femdom game and had that spirit in mind, I wanted the MC to be hurt but not the gameplay experience But alas, I guess that was my downfall. You unlock Susan's and Leah's content by improving MC stats and reputation but if you use cheat mode you can view Leah's game during her task and Susan's strap-on scene during her work content. and for being immaculate, when the gameplay first begins you start immaculate, an orgasm (similar to Isla's strap-on scene) will break that status. if you break that you can regain immaculacy by just using rebirth mechanic (you do this by clicking on the symbol near your health, and then the "head" that comes in that additional screen, clicking on the lady in the middle to talk to her and choosing "I wish to be reborn" ) But yeah, that sounds like a lot of hassle when I type it out And for Astrid, you spend 14 days at her house doing chores to advance in her enslavement content, I thought it would be rational, like her owning the player being a test process. I was mistaken I guess I will be doing polls again before the next update, asking about what to do regarding the overall gameplay. I want the content to be easily accessible. Maybe I can make the phone menu a hover button completely to show all the buttons you need so that you can simply switch between them. I also do not want the game to feel grindy, so I will definitely buff rewards. looking back, content locking or gating seems like a cruel way to present a game, so I will lift that off of scenes, at least for the MC stats because that way the player does not even notice if they missed something. I actually am starting the believe that there are leftover scenes that only I am aware of For the next update, I'm probably going to do an overall Island update, where I focus the content on providing erotic work/task/content for the Island, while balancing the gameplay so it no longer feels like "Oh improve this to get this or this to get that." I'm really sorry for making the gameplay too tiresome for an erotic game. I hope the players can forgive me as this is my first time being a game developer, I only wish to improve this game and provide a satisfactory femdom game <3

Thanks Sylventhia, I'm glad that you don't mind a bit of well meant criticism
So after a lot of clicking I found where I am to be "reborn". Does the game ever tell the player how to do this? And apparently I lose a lot of my hard earned stats in the process, why? Is this s'pose to add to the "fun"?
Also after about thausand mouse clicks I learned that I can no longer do the Sunday event with Mary and Leah, any idea why?

Edit: So I got "reborn" and now my stats with Astrid are back to square one. Is this s'pose to be fun? WTF were you thinking?

 

[Mister_M]

Does the game ever tell the player how to do this?

Threre is a tutorial shortly after the beginning, but unfortunately it cannot be replayed (at least in the current public ver.). It would be a good idea to have some info screen in the game, especially since it's a WIP so a lot of people will forget the tutorial after some time. And making the activities that doesn't do anything (like talking to girls that don't have content, etc.) not consume any stamina could be a good idea. The player won't be penalised for clicking on placeholder and not losing a stamina could be a way to say to the player that there's no content (left) for this particular activity. I did lose a lot of stamina on clicking on random conversations and stuff and after spending 2 (or more?) in-game days on clicking on 1 girl and seeing that it doesn't lead anywhere I was discouraged from clicking on other girls (that's why for example I didn't know about some scenes or about 1 of the options how to make my stamina go higher) since I wasn't sure if there's anything to do and returning to home to reset the stamina bar and all these clicking on the phone and map get boring after a while. Map could be accessible with one click without the need to use the phone (maybe MC has an paper map in his pocket) imo.

So I got "reborn" and now my stats with Astrid are back to square one. Is this s'pose to be fun? WTF were you thinking?

It kinda makes sense; if the player accumulates someone's love pts and wants to try hate route or vice versa it could serve as a quick reset mechanic. But having it reset all the relationship pts, reputation and lower player's stats at the same time does seem like an overkill to me too. Maybe having some kind of soft reset mechanic or just making it easier to gain/lose relationship pts would be a better idea. Tbh I didn't try Reborn mechanic myself, cause I got quite a lot of reputation pts. That made me not see the toilet cleaning scene you get for the "hate" route in the massage parlor, cause I thought that maybe I'll want to try her "love" route in the future and losing all my rep and lowering my skills sounded like a too big of a penatly just to see 1 or 2 scenes.

 

[warrenitro]

If this update had been free I'd regret the waste of my time. However, since it also cost me 8 bucks on Patreon I regret the waste of my time AND my money. Guess I won't be doing that again.

 

[Sylventhia]

Thanks Sylventhia, I'm glad that you don't mind a bit of well meant criticism
So after a lot of clicking I found where I am to be "reborn". Does the game ever tell the player how to do this? And apparently I lose a lot of my hard earned stats in the process, why? Is this s'pose to add to the "fun"?
Also after about thausand mouse clicks I learned that I can no longer do the Sunday event with Mary and Leah, any idea why?

Edit: So I got "reborn" and now my stats with Astrid are back to square one. Is this s'pose to be fun? WTF were you thinking?

As Mister_M has also mentioned, there were points in the game that explained all this stuff. Also you get warned before using the Rebirth mechanic. I am not that insane, I don't want the player to lose all the points and stuff just for a whim but unfortunately if you advance in a route there are mechanics in play to ensure the consistency between dialogues and interactions. If you advance so much with Astrid and want to do the same with another girl, how will the coherence and unity for context be achieved? if I do not reset those a lot of mechanics will also clash and probably will result in even more bugs. I do not understand, do you not use SAVE/LOAD when playing the game? just make sure to save before an important decision and then load if you regret it I thought a mechanic such as Rebirth would have the connotation that it is indeed a reset mechanic.
I completely agree with what you previously stated, while focusing on the S&M aspect of the eroticism in the game, I made the gameplay painful as well unfortunately, I have been absolutely terrible at empathising with the player. That will absolutely be fixed as the first thing for the next update. I don't want the player to constantly be reminded of things they have to check either but my intentions were absolutely pure and I was hoping to offer a very detailed gameplay, thinking it would please the player. Why would I not want to please the player? I don't think I need to state that it is my primary intention. :/

I will try my best to improve this game, based on player and patron feedback especially, and always will. I will also always value feedbacks. But please, please know that I am susceptible to making mistakes. This is my first game. Ever. I have no coding education. I have no game design expertise. I am literally learning, on-the-go. Most of the complications in the gameplay arise from me having to make ends meet with the coding process so that the context and the flow/coherence of the scenes are not disrupted and lead to inconsistencies and logic-breaking narrative in the game. Obviously, I prioritised the wrong aspect of the game, considering that it is also in a very new and raw state.

Threre is a tutorial shortly after the beginning, but unfortunately it cannot be replayed (at least in the current public ver.). It would be a good idea to have some info screen in the game, especially since it's a WIP so a lot of people will forget the tutorial after some time. And making the activities that doesn't do anything (like talking to girls that don't have content, etc.) not consume any stamina could be a good idea. The player won't be penalised for clicking on placeholder and not losing a stamina could be a way to say to the player that there's no content (left) for this particular activity. I did lose a lot of stamina on clicking on random conversations and stuff and after spending 2 (or more?) in-game days on clicking on 1 girl and seeing that it doesn't lead anywhere I was discouraged from clicking on other girls (that's why for example I didn't know about some scenes or about 1 of the options how to make my stamina go higher) since I wasn't sure if there's anything to do and returning to home to reset the stamina bar and all these clicking on the phone and map get boring after a while. Map could be accessible with one click without the need to use the phone (maybe MC has an paper map in his pocket) imo.


It kinda makes sense; if the player accumulates someone's love pts and wants to try hate route or vice versa it could serve as a quick reset mechanic. But having it reset all the relationship pts, reputation and lower player's stats at the same time does seem like an overkill to me too. Maybe having some kind of soft reset mechanic or just making it easier to gain/lose relationship pts would be a better idea. Tbh I didn't try Reborn mechanic myself, cause I got quite a lot of reputation pts. That made me not see the toilet cleaning scene you get for the "hate" route in the massage parlor, cause I thought that maybe I'll want to try her "love" route in the future and losing all my rep and lowering my skills sounded like a too big of a penatly just to see 1 or 2 scenes.

Thank you so much Mister_M. I agree with your points as well. I'm definitely going to consult these feedbacks provided so that I can make the right adjustments. for the next update I will definitely be making it easy, not even easier, plain, simple, easy, for the player so that they can just enjoy the content.


Sorry to disappoint that much. I hope you can give the game another try in the future. </3

 

[Mister_M]

I hope you can give the game another try in the future.

Oh, in general I do like your game and feel there's a great potential in it. The game is in very early in development so I don't expect it to be perfect yet, especially since it's your first game and quite ambitious at that. For me personally it just seems slightly impenetrable and tedious; for example I like your descriptions of skills, but at the same time I don't feel they're infomative enough and the game doesn't clearly offer any explanation as to how to level them up. Personally I don't mind them not saying what do I need them for as they're rather self explanatory, but some general hints as to where I can raise them (like pointing at 1-2 places/activities and the leaving it for the player to discover more similar acitivities that give higher bonuses). I think that this QoL improvements are more necessary for porn/adult games than in other types of games, since majority of people playing them don't do it for fancy mechanics (though they are appreciated; for example I really like - even more than the h scenes - puzzles in Code Blue), but "live" through their sexual phantasies and let off some steam. The tediousness imo comes mostly from the facts that there's this constant need to click on the same icons all the time (so limiting the amount of clicks to reach the most often used menus [map, relationships, skills] to minimum would be appreciated [I'm finishing Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One now btw and in order to open map or case files I just need one click, and they still match the tone and language of the game]) and having to go back home every 3-4 activities (that often are limited to just reading placeholder dialogue).

 

[warrenitro]

Sylventhia this thread is 22 pages long, did you even read the previous 20? From what I can tell about 90% of the complaints are about the roadblock at the end of the prologue, and the other 10% are about other bizarre obstacles that you chose to insert for who knows what reason. Very few players of this sort of erotic game are in it for the fancy mouse clicking. But no worries, first attempt and all that, lets move on. So when I saw this version was uploading I thought cool, that one should be a lot better let’s grab it. Nope, big mistake. Just more of the same amateurish roadblocks. Live and learn. For some of us.