HTML The Zeta Sector [v1.2.01] [Primal356]

[Primal356]

How long does the game take to finish?

I ask because I don't think I ever get very far, I mean you do a little bit of research and then at some point you choose the wrong option and once you get the first chain there's no turning back.

I know the goal is to avoid bad choices and keeping free by progressing through the missions.

Well you don't really do that anymore. It's either a bad end or an enslavement you could get out of. The first exception is Neil where you can ask to be a permanent slave if you reach 10 corruption. The second is with Elizabeth if you don't jump in front of the turret. Aside from these there are five missions, 1 the slave barge, 4 from the Caregiver + a bunch of bad ends and some nasty stuff with Elena.

Edit: As for the length, it depends how much you want to read or explore. The final piece of the current version is a kidnapping sequence where a bounty hunter captures Adelyn and Elena but the ship crashes on Alescia. If you go to the Caregiver and say no to all of his missions, the event chain triggers by default, but if you want to explore and do the missions it could take a couple hours.

 

[Primal356]

Thanks for M.Alice, The Zeta Sector 1.1.21 is now available on

You must be registered to see the links

! This way you can play the game through the browser if you didn't have any spare space to download it!

 

[Primal356]

Any opinions about this change?

Edit: I'm asking because I don't have anyone who follows this thing as the updates come out and provides feedback, and it would be nice to hear about this one in particular.

So... Anyone?

 

[Primal356]

Not for the above topic but anyone could advise me on visuals? If you use real images you can go to jail, so I don't really want to use them. I can't draw. I can't afford an artist. I can buy one or two daz assets every month but it is too expensive for me to do a VN yet. I try to use AI better at least, but if I make the images larger, your brain realizes it's fake, and stops looking because of that. So I would need some sort of a solution to have better visuals without these in mind

 

[PickerLewd]

Not for the above topic but anyone could advise me on visuals? If you use real images you can go to jail, so I don't really want to use them. I can't draw. I can't afford an artist. I can buy one or two daz assets every month but it is too expensive for me to do a VN yet. I try to use AI better at least, but if I make the images larger, your brain realizes it's fake, and stops looking because of that. So I would need some sort of a solution to have better visuals without these in mind

Unfortunately, it is true that the more realistic images created by the AI have flaws, especially the fingers, but I have noticed that the ones they try to make cartoonish look good.

 

[Primal356]

Unfortunately, it is true that the more realistic images created by the AI have flaws, especially the fingers, but I have noticed that the ones they try to make cartoonish look good.

Can you give me some examples? :d I don't think the cartoonish style would fit the titles I'm working on, but they could be useful for a later project.

 

[my_name_is_lurkers]

Hi, I have some notes about your previous update (not the latest one), but many of them are more general:

- I enjoy not choosing the MC name
- I like the question style of the intro
- The keyboard controls are good
- I'm disappointed that I cannot change elena's clothes anymore once she becomes dominant. Also, I can't really reverse her dominance. It seems like a one-way drift.
- But the dominant gameplay loop is pretty good. It's cool that there are multiple scenes and that the relationship styles are reflected in later scenes
- The VR glass scenes are also cool. Reminds me abound mindware, another game you should be aware of.
- The water gun is funny and unique. I like it.
- I like the "favourite store" reference
- The StarFund account is a nice little side income
- The many ???? options are annoying because I am unsure whether I can unlock them in the short-term, in the long-term or not alt all. I would only like to see things teased at like this that I can see quickly.
- I'm not sure how the reactor repair worked. It was over a bit too quickly.
- Sometimes the repair shop is called holovid store
- The name "caregiver" is not really intuitive.
- Places like neils ship don't really seem to have different paths. They could be marked more clearly.
- A shortcut for sleeping would be good after trying to work and having not enough energy
- The jobs (strip club and warehouse) are grindy and not that interesting. To afford the smgs, you would have to repeat them a ton. It would be better with either a minigame or having the money distributed in several quests.
- Please play the warehouse seen with the escaped slave in lost in laminate. It is really nice. Comes in the first hub scene after you leave the hotel. You can either cooperate with the police or the fleeing slave. And you find a slave in a box, redy to be shipped to wherever you choose.
- The idea of the slave barge leaving if you fail the assault and flee is realistic, but only frustrating for the player. To see the content and get the catsuits, the player has to replay from the start.
- The professor scene in mariana is a refreshing change. Nice minigame! You expect endless shootouts, but it gets into a sexy mind war.
- In the gunshop the number hotkeys dont seem to work.
- The states of the catsuit clothes vs casual clothes are not consistent. Sometimes the wrong one is equipped.
- The slave barge battle is annoying because it depends on the randomness of enemy damage. Instead, it should be a clear success OR failure, depending on whether the player is sufficiently prepared or or not.

 

[Primal356]

Unfortunately, it is true that the more realistic images created by the AI have flaws, especially the fingers, but I have noticed that the ones they try to make cartoonish look good.

I'm asking because I'm yet to come across one where the ai art was serviceable even if its cartoonish.

 

[PickerLewd]

Can you give me some examples? :d I don't think the cartoonish style would fit the titles I'm working on, but they could be useful for a later project.

I have so many games in my bookmarks that it is hard to find them, some of them are already abandoned .

Examples:
My New Girlfriend

Reina's Desire (Abandoned)

City of Dreams

Silent Echo (No AI, latex)

 

[Primal356]

Hi, I have some notes about your previous update (not the latest one), but many of them are more general:

- I enjoy not choosing the MC name
- I like the question style of the intro
- The keyboard controls are good
- I'm disappointed that I cannot change elena's clothes anymore once she becomes dominant. Also, I can't really reverse her dominance. It seems like a one-way drift.
- But the dominant gameplay loop is pretty good. It's cool that there are multiple scenes and that the relationship styles are reflected in later scenes
- The VR glass scenes are also cool. Reminds me abound mindware, another game you should be aware of.
- The water gun is funny and unique. I like it.
- I like the "favourite store" reference
- The StarFund account is a nice little side income
- The many ???? options are annoying because I am unsure whether I can unlock them in the short-term, in the long-term or not alt all. I would only like to see things teased at like this that I can see quickly.
- I'm not sure how the reactor repair worked. It was over a bit too quickly.
- Sometimes the repair shop is called holovid store
- The name "caregiver" is not really intuitive.
- Places like neils ship don't really seem to have different paths. They could be marked more clearly.
- A shortcut for sleeping would be good after trying to work and having not enough energy
- The jobs (strip club and warehouse) are grindy and not that interesting. To afford the smgs, you would have to repeat them a ton. It would be better with either a minigame or having the money distributed in several quests.
- Please play the warehouse seen with the escaped slave in lost in laminate. It is really nice. Comes in the first hub scene after you leave the hotel. You can either cooperate with the police or the fleeing slave. And you find a slave in a box, redy to be shipped to wherever you choose.
- The idea of the slave barge leaving if you fail the assault and flee is realistic, but only frustrating for the player. To see the content and get the catsuits, the player has to replay from the start.
- The professor scene in mariana is a refreshing change. Nice minigame! You expect endless shootouts, but it gets into a sexy mind war.
- In the gunshop the number hotkeys dont seem to work.
- The states of the catsuit clothes vs casual clothes are not consistent. Sometimes the wrong one is equipped.
- The slave barge battle is annoying because it depends on the randomness of enemy damage. Instead, it should be a clear success OR failure, depending on whether the player is sufficiently prepared or or not.

Thank you for the notes! You were super quick

For the bugs, I think I could solve them quickly. I want to rework the combat with a variable that checks your aim, which is something that you could improve during the game via shooting range. This was already implemented in Nel's Misfortune (ver 0.6), but it will take more time to do it here. I also want to add the option to heal, throw grenades and flashbangs, the enemy wouldn't be able to heal but they would have grenades and flashbangs, so combat would be more eventful but the player would also have more control. I'm not sure about the randomness, I will remove it if it doesn't suit the final version of the combat.

Work will be boring in general. I want a longer gameplay loop so they will have to work more later on. Sadly I can't find a way around it because there is either some boredom in it or every update will be 2 minutes long. But I think the boredom could be nice as it explains why they are risking their necks/why they escaped their ordinary lives in general.

I'm not sure about the question marks. I guess I could write out the ones that would take longer to get, and add (not available!) to the end.

 

[Primal356]

I have so many games in my bookmarks that it is hard to find them, some of them are already abandoned .

Examples:
My New Girlfriend

Reina's Desire (Abandoned)

City of Dreams

Silent Echo (No AI, latex)

Thank your for recommending these! It's insane what AI could do these days.

 

[Primal356]

Hi, I have some notes about your previous update (not the latest one), but many of them are more general:

- I enjoy not choosing the MC name
- I like the question style of the intro
- The keyboard controls are good
- I'm disappointed that I cannot change elena's clothes anymore once she becomes dominant. Also, I can't really reverse her dominance. It seems like a one-way drift.
- But the dominant gameplay loop is pretty good. It's cool that there are multiple scenes and that the relationship styles are reflected in later scenes
- The VR glass scenes are also cool. Reminds me abound mindware, another game you should be aware of.
- The water gun is funny and unique. I like it.
- I like the "favourite store" reference
- The StarFund account is a nice little side income
- The many ???? options are annoying because I am unsure whether I can unlock them in the short-term, in the long-term or not alt all. I would only like to see things teased at like this that I can see quickly.
- I'm not sure how the reactor repair worked. It was over a bit too quickly.
- Sometimes the repair shop is called holovid store
- The name "caregiver" is not really intuitive.
- Places like neils ship don't really seem to have different paths. They could be marked more clearly.
- A shortcut for sleeping would be good after trying to work and having not enough energy
- The jobs (strip club and warehouse) are grindy and not that interesting. To afford the smgs, you would have to repeat them a ton. It would be better with either a minigame or having the money distributed in several quests.
- Please play the warehouse seen with the escaped slave in lost in laminate. It is really nice. Comes in the first hub scene after you leave the hotel. You can either cooperate with the police or the fleeing slave. And you find a slave in a box, redy to be shipped to wherever you choose.
- The idea of the slave barge leaving if you fail the assault and flee is realistic, but only frustrating for the player. To see the content and get the catsuits, the player has to replay from the start.
- The professor scene in mariana is a refreshing change. Nice minigame! You expect endless shootouts, but it gets into a sexy mind war.
- In the gunshop the number hotkeys dont seem to work.
- The states of the catsuit clothes vs casual clothes are not consistent. Sometimes the wrong one is equipped.
- The slave barge battle is annoying because it depends on the randomness of enemy damage. Instead, it should be a clear success OR failure, depending on whether the player is sufficiently prepared or or not.

Do you think the style needs some updates? Healthbars, colors to the text, surrounding the text with something, a pic of the mc's face at the side, etc. I had some harsh comments that they needed, but some people seems to be fine with it.

 

[Primal356]

Any advice on what to do when you constantly lose subscribers every time you make an update? It's like 1 update, 3 unsubscribe, 1 update, 2 unsubscribe, 1 update 1 subscribe, 3 unsubscribe. I'm asking because this way if I make an update I lose money, and if I don't make an update I lose money, and nobody tells me anything. However I've seen channels where the dev made updates and the channel grew and received more encouragement

 

[Troqu]

Any advice on what to do when you constantly lose subscribers every time you make an update? It's like 1 update, 3 unsubscribe, 1 update, 2 unsubscribe, 1 update 1 subscribe, 3 unsubscribe. I'm asking because this way if I make an update I lose money, and if I don't make an update I lose money, and nobody tells me anything. However I've seen channels where the dev made updates and the channel grew and received more encouragement

There's no good answer because I don't think you're doing anything that hasn't worked for others in the past. Here are some non-critiques from my perspective that could be swaying people however:
1. You release a lot of updates but the content of those updates are relatively small. Taking the same period of time as others you're probably releasing more content than most, but if any patron is downloading each update, they probably feel that the game is barely moving (it's decidedly not).
2. You're probably asking for and responding to feedback a bit too aggressively. While that's commendable it gives off the impression that you have no real plan. It's good to be able to see "this isn't working" and replace it with something that might work better, but when that's on the table for every feature added along with pressure that if you don't immediately play and give feedback then something you do like could get removed because someone else disliked it, they might feel its too much.

 

[my_name_is_lurkers]

Do you think the style needs some updates? Healthbars, colors to the text, surrounding the text with something, a pic of the mc's face at the side, etc. I had some harsh comments that they needed, but some people seems to be fine with it.

I personally am quite fine with a minimalist style.
One of my personal favs is lost in laminate and it barely has any interface.
If you do put work into an interface, it should not be generic, but fit the theme.
I think mindware does this quite well: https://f95zone.to/threads/mindware-infected-identity-v0-1-5-subjunctive-games.205574/post-15339212

One thing I LOVE about interfaces is if they are a way of showing the effects of equipment, decisions, transformations or other temporary or permanent progressions.
Lost in Laminate already hugely profited from offering different latex suits with SLIGHTLY different gameplay mechanics. I love that.

You must be registered to see the links

is another interesting game to learn from. I think it NAILS the idea of a character image in the sidebar that is very dynamic and updated with every change that happens. And the starting sequence until the first meeting with the bosswoman is really well made because there are like 5-7 different possible paths that all make sense and are all merged into the main path elegantly.
But it is also too grindy and too long for my taste. It feels like they had a great concept at the start and then kept tacking on things that didn't really fit. Now it would take so long for me to reach new content that I don't bother playing.

I think as a creator you have several big advantages you can leverage:

• You make authentic content for the sci-fi BDSM worldbuilding niche that is simultaneously underrepresented, but has huge potential. The complex 3D projects are mostly more vanilla. The gems in the genre are technologically simple. The genre has great potential for incorporation of cool scifi materials (latex etc.) and with multiple planets you have the option to have different civilizations with varying takes on slavery etc... So it is a niche that is not filled and has huge potential. And I think there are enough people who like it.
• You can make good graphics. Big competitive advantage. This is why I would suggest thinking about some kind of character image system. You equip the ballgag, it shows up at the sidebar. You equip the chastity belt, it also shows up. That's easy for you to do and very hard for other creators who maybe rely on AI that cannot create consistent images that compose different equipment pieces believably. And if the equipment influences the play in interesting ways, then you make me happy.
• You create consistent concepts in your different gameplay loops which are quite diverse. So the slavery loops are VERY different, but make complete logical sense in their context. Don't get discouraged by other people here. It's fine to ask for feedback. Just keep in mind that the biggest reason for failure in games is lack of focus. 25+ unfinished paths are worse than one finished path. So whatever you do, think it through to the end and only do it if it REALLY fits with your vision for a particular project.

So don't make a generic interface. Really think about what your setting would benefit from. Gameplay is always more important than looks.

Any advice on what to do when you constantly lose subscribers every time you make an update? It's like 1 update, 3 unsubscribe, 1 update, 2 unsubscribe, 1 update 1 subscribe, 3 unsubscribe. I'm asking because this way if I make an update I lose money, and if I don't make an update I lose money, and nobody tells me anything. However I've seen channels where the dev made updates and the channel grew and received more encouragement

You could check best practices from other Patreon creators.

To me, it seems like the successful ones post around 90% teasers about new things they are working on, like concept graphics etc.. And then, SOMETIMES, they post a big update and subscribers get it a month earlier than the others. A good update is often a finished chapter or a new mechanic, or something else for players to EXPLORE.

It looks like a matter of "shut up until you have something important to say". I guess people unsubscribe if they play an update and don't find anything new that matters to them.

It is probably fine to freely ask around for feedback on discord and/or in forums. Many creators discuss around for weeks/months before publishing updates. A small minority of people like to nerd around and talk about mechanics. They are very helpful, but the way of interaction with them should be direct interaction and not piecemeal updates. They can also wait, and discuss while waiting. The normal people want polished content, which means rarer updates that are polished and playable.
You might want to consider some kind of discord, closed beta test or similar. And for public releases, there should be a certain amount of polished high quality playable content.

 

[Primal356]

There's no good answer because I don't think you're doing anything that hasn't worked for others in the past. Here are some non-critiques from my perspective that could be swaying people however:
1. You release a lot of updates but the content of those updates are relatively small. Taking the same period of time as others you're probably releasing more content than most, but if any patron is downloading each update, they probably feel that the game is barely moving (it's decidedly not).
2. You're probably asking for and responding to feedback a bit too aggressively. While that's commendable it gives off the impression that you have no real plan. It's good to be able to see "this isn't working" and replace it with something that might work better, but when that's on the table for every feature added along with pressure that if you don't immediately play and give feedback then something you do like could get removed because someone else disliked it, they might feel its too much.

These are valid reasons sadly. I won't lie that I have a clear plan and that on my side everything is rosy. I love making submissive games where the MC gets enslaved, but with my current titles as far as earning money goes it's just hopeless. At one point someone advised that I should make a VN. But just to start a VN I would have to multiply my revenue several times over, and even then going full time, or even part time, would be a distant dream because of the asset prices. I started to develop a Dom type game for this reason too, but I don't like working on it that much. I guess learning how to draw would be beneficial for me, it would take years, but for the aforementioned reasons it actually might be faster as far as earning money goes. I refuse to stop my projects, because once again I love making this stuff, but learning art at the side might still be better for me, as spamming updates in this quality is just not enough. And after I would know how to draw I could do anything.

 

[Primal356]

I personally am quite fine with a minimalist style.
One of my personal favs is lost in laminate and it barely has any interface.
If you do put work into an interface, it should not be generic, but fit the theme.
I think mindware does this quite well: https://f95zone.to/threads/mindware-infected-identity-v0-1-5-subjunctive-games.205574/post-15339212

One thing I LOVE about interfaces is if they are a way of showing the effects of equipment, decisions, transformations or other temporary or permanent progressions.
Lost in Laminate already hugely profited from offering different latex suits with SLIGHTLY different gameplay mechanics. I love that.

You must be registered to see the links

is another interesting game to learn from. I think it NAILS the idea of a character image in the sidebar that is very dynamic and updated with every change that happens. And the starting sequence until the first meeting with the bosswoman is really well made because there are like 5-7 different possible paths that all make sense and are all merged into the main path elegantly.
But it is also too grindy and too long for my taste. It feels like they had a great concept at the start and then kept tacking on things that didn't really fit. Now it would take so long for me to reach new content that I don't bother playing.

I think as a creator you have several big advantages you can leverage:

• You make authentic content for the sci-fi BDSM worldbuilding niche that is simultaneously underrepresented, but has huge potential. The complex 3D projects are mostly more vanilla. The gems in the genre are technologically simple. The genre has great potential for incorporation of cool scifi materials (latex etc.) and with multiple planets you have the option to have different civilizations with varying takes on slavery etc... So it is a niche that is not filled and has huge potential. And I think there are enough people who like it.
• You can make good graphics. Big competitive advantage. This is why I would suggest thinking about some kind of character image system. You equip the ballgag, it shows up at the sidebar. You equip the chastity belt, it also shows up. That's easy for you to do and very hard for other creators who maybe rely on AI that cannot create consistent images that compose different equipment pieces believably. And if the equipment influences the play in interesting ways, then you make me happy.
• You create consistent concepts in your different gameplay loops which are quite diverse. So the slavery loops are VERY different, but make complete logical sense in their context. Don't get discouraged by other people here. It's fine to ask for feedback. Just keep in mind that the biggest reason for failure in games is lack of focus. 25+ unfinished paths are worse than one finished path. So whatever you do, think it through to the end and only do it if it REALLY fits with your vision for a particular project.

So don't make a generic interface. Really think about what your setting would benefit from. Gameplay is always more important than looks.




You could check best practices from other Patreon creators.

To me, it seems like the successful ones post around 90% teasers about new things they are working on, like concept graphics etc.. And then, SOMETIMES, they post a big update and subscribers get it a month earlier than the others. A good update is often a finished chapter or a new mechanic, or something else for players to EXPLORE.

It looks like a matter of "shut up until you have something important to say". I guess people unsubscribe if they play an update and don't find anything new that matters to them.

It is probably fine to freely ask around for feedback on discord and/or in forums. Many creators discuss around for weeks/months before publishing updates. A small minority of people like to nerd around and talk about mechanics. They are very helpful, but the way of interaction with them should be direct interaction and not piecemeal updates. They can also wait, and discuss while waiting. The normal people want polished content, which means rarer updates that are polished and playable.
You might want to consider some kind of discord, closed beta test or similar. And for public releases, there should be a certain amount of polished high quality playable content.

Thanks! I don't know, I'm just so far away that it looks like nothing works. At some point someone advised I should make a VN, but even for a VN I would need to multiply my income several times over. And even then you don't actually profit, the Daz store does. I'm thinking of learning art at the side and eventually make games where I use just my art instead of the Daz render/ai image combo when my style becomes excellent.

I'm thinking about the months of teasing stuff too then one big update, but I don't think what I make is strong enough. Just as you said sci-fi bdsm is a very under represented genre. I mean the very reason I started is that I love the genre but when you love the genre your life is waiting waiting and more waiting, with the occasional 10 minutes of content thrown in. So the fact that l'm working in this genre and still can't find success sort of speaks for itself. I mean I keep working on my titles and I try to make them better. But I have no illusions.

 

[Troqu]

These are valid reasons sadly. I won't lie that I have a clear plan and that on my side everything is rosy. I love making submissive games where the MC gets enslaved, but with my current titles as far as earning money goes it's just hopeless. At one point someone advised that I should make a VN. But just to start a VN I would have to multiply my revenue several times over, and even then going full time, or even part time, would be a distant dream because of the asset prices. I started to develop a Dom type game for this reason too, but I don't like working on it that much. I guess learning how to draw would be beneficial for me, it would take years, but for the aforementioned reasons it actually might be faster as far as earning money goes. I refuse to stop my projects, because once again I love making this stuff, but learning art at the side might still be better for me, as spamming updates in this quality is just not enough. And after I would know how to draw I could do anything.

I don't know that a focus on on visuals is necessary. While I certainly appreciate the ones we get, I think your themes are underrepresented enough to get you by on writing alone. Outside of the Torei game and a few others there's not enough games that go for it so I think you've got a good base if you were to say re-focus and get one storyline done with enough points where people can see branches and want to come back for more. See something like Devious World / Mundanity but instead of going wide with fetishes and players you go narrow but give each aspect you do choose to focus on more depth and detail as you are doing with the various slave masters so far.

Edit to add: The above is assuming that you're motivation in learning art is because you feel its necessary to see success. If you're instead just using it as an opportunity to learn something you always intended to then it's a much more worthwhile pursuit.

 

[Primal356]

I don't know that a focus on on visuals is necessary. While I certainly appreciate the ones we get, I think your themes are underrepresented enough to get you by on writing alone. Outside of the Torei game and a few others there's not enough games that go for it so I think you've got a good base if you were to say re-focus and get one storyline done with enough points where people can see branches and want to come back for more. See something like Devious World / Mundanity but instead of going wide with fetishes and players you go narrow but give each aspect you do choose to focus on more depth and detail as you are doing with the various slave masters so far.

Edit to add: The above is assuming that you're motivation in learning art is because you feel its necessary to see success. If you're instead just using it as an opportunity to learn something you always intended to then it's a much more worthwhile pursuit.

I am aware that it is underrepresented, and for that reason I was very hopeful at the start. However the project is going on for more than a year now and I don't see the amount that I get would turn into anything serious. I'm still going on because I like doing it, but I don't see that it could be something that people would financially support.

As for the art, I don't really know. I ended up liking to make daz3d art because finally the figures in my head came to life. And I'm curious if drawing them would be even better. But I never drew before so I couldn't know until I start. The possibility of making games where you can move is a variable too, because I'm up for doing them, but it is also a new realm to explore.

 

[my_name_is_lurkers]

I would financially support it.
The genre is really small and it's rare to get something good that is likely to be finished.

But I'd say: Don't expect huge financial success quickly.
I think for a side project like this, you have to be fine with it being satisfying to do and to see the money you might get more as a compliment to your art than as a serious income.

Don't build up negativity in yourself through huge expectations.
Do it in a way that is fun to do for you.
Let your perfectionism out in some stories.
Get some feedback when you are satisfied and need a new direction. Not when you are half-done and demotivated.
And take a break if necessary.