RPGM None [Translation Request] City of Corpses - Fall into the Shadow of Desire [Jiang Hua]

[Sheltercat]

For those interested here are the non translatable (because images) text parts corresponding to hmenu of the girl.

INFO:
She describes her own personality as "gentle and graceful.”
Previously worked in the clothing industry as an administrative assistant.
Once ranked in the top 20 players of a certain famous online game.
Online handle: “Tianna Tianna” (Tiān-nà Tiān-nà).
A good high‑school friend of Jie Zhong.


Name: Zheng Ting-ke.
3 sizes: 84 / 62 / 86.
Height and weight: 163 cm / 46 kg.
Favorite food: sugar‑free milk‑foam black tea; omelette.
Hobbies: video games; reading fashion‑design magazines.


經驗人數：Number of partners
KISS：Kiss
強迫KISS：Forced kiss
自慰：Masturbation
口交：Fellatio
手交：Handjob
乳交：Boobjob
足交：Footjob
性騷擾：Sexual harassment (Groping etc)
素股：Thighjob
SEX：Sex
ANAL：Anal sex
愛撫：Caressing / Foreplay
高潮：Orgasm

口內暴：Ejaculation in mouth
顏射：Ejaculation on face
安全性行為：Protected sex (using contraception)
穴內射精：Ejaculation in vagina
肛內射精：Ejaculation in anus
拍打臂臀襲：Spanking (spanking play)
野外露出：Outdoor exposure / exhibitionism
群P：Group sex
與伴性愛：Sex with partner (main lover)
與他人性愛：Sex with others
與他人性愛（非本番）：Sex with others (not full intercourse)

This is really useful, thanks. MTL only show us a partial notion of the history, but these sex stats has always been very confusing to me, so I appreciate it.

 

[semper_solus]

Few questions :
Where does the girl's female friend live?
What about the netori guy?

She lives in the Apartment complex directly next to the Restaurant... you cannot access it. However, often the two girls will be out together: A bench in the SW, Coffee Shop, Karaoke, Net Cafe.

Other dude, I think, lives in the apartments behind the Net Cafe. Again, you cant access them, but you can sometimes see his activities if you go up the stairs at the top-right corner of the Net Cafe.

 

[Voilsh]

She lives in the Apartment complex directly next to the Restaurant... you cannot access it. However, often the two girls will be out together: A bench in the SW, Coffee Shop, Karaoke, Net Cafe.

Thanks, now I hope she will also get some action from the netori guy

Other dude, I think, lives in the apartments behind the Net Cafe. Again, you cant access them, but you can sometimes see his activities if you go up the stairs at the top-right corner of the Net Cafe.

Good sense of detail from the dev. This game is really shaping to be what nebel should have been if bbq dev didn't quickly get tired of developing his games.

 

[semper_solus]

Thanks, now I hope she will also get some action from the netori guy

So far no. You can find him around town in back alleys and windows with the OTHER blonde girl from the BBQ scene though.

However, FMC and her friend have a scene together (at least that I have found by going into the game files)

 

[Voilsh]

Anyone knows how to access the room where sex happens in the supermarket? Is it bugged?

 

[Otran]

Anyone knows how to access the room where sex happens in the supermarket? Is it bugged?

Kill the boss in the supermarket, you get the key, after there is an opportunity to "open" the door and look inside at the blurred image/s and replicas., no more interactions, for now there seems to be none.

 

[Voilsh]

Kill the boss in the supermarket, you get the key, after there is an opportunity to "open" the door and look inside at the blurred image/s and replicas., no more interactions, for now there seems to be none.

Yeah I meant entering the room after they fucked, while having the key.
So it's not there yet, thanks.

 

[oklololol]

I've played for a couple hours and yeah it's really is a Nebel clone, which is good in my book. The combat is a bit tedious tbf and it almost make me regret Nebel boring ass rpgm combat but I'm glad another dev is making an attempt at Nebel's system with real time stuff. Also the games takes a while to get to the NTR part even if you pick the skip prologue option.

I won't play more for now because I can't deal with Mtool translation but hopefully someone pick this up for a decent translation one day

 

[semper_solus]

Also the games takes a while to get to the NTR part even if you pick the skip prologue option.

2~ hours to get into the gameplay loop even WITH skipping the intro and trying to speed through all the dialogue

I had a Nebel timed at maybe 40 minutes if you took your time, 20-25 if you speed through everything

 

[oklololol]

2~ hours to get into the gameplay loop even WITH skipping the intro and trying to speed through all the dialogue

I had a Nebel timed at maybe 40 minutes if you took your time, 20-25 if you speed through everything

Yeah that was how long it took me too, I did fuck around a bit while exploring the city but it was still quite long.

 

[Ninten121]

are the other two exploration areas in, or are they not finished yet?

 

[Voilsh]

I completely forgot, where do you buy bigger backpacks?

edit : Nevermind it was the clothing store

 

[Voilsh]

Another weird issue I have is that at some point I started getting "invincible girl" syndrome aka : she gets her hp to zero, then it's back to max again. Usually it means nothing ever happens to her during the day or even the night.
I didn't test if it happens every day yet.

 

[Voilsh]

The dev released a Q&A in June, you can check it there :

You must be registered to see the links

I'm not interested in the usual "we need a pure love route" or "we need a revenge/evil route", but some of the other things were interesting :

Q: Will there be gameplay related to the male protagonist's precognition abilities in the future?

A: To cut to the chase... Yes!

But here I must clarify... the male lead does not possess precognitive abilities.



“The male lead does not possess precognitive abilities, the male lead does not possess precognitive abilities, the male lead does not possess precognitive abilities!!”



I know it appears that way in actual gameplay, so perhaps I should rephrase: the protagonist's so-called “precognition ability” doesn't originate from him. He merely glimpses a “possible future” related to the scene—essentially, what players see in that mysterious space they enter while sleeping. This causes him to experience a sense of déjà vu toward unfolding events. I know it often appears as if the protagonist genuinely possesses prophecy abilities, but that's mostly for gameplay purposes or to help players grasp the situation. That said... the fact that the protagonist lacks prophecy abilities should already be clear from his self-narration in the prologue and his dialogue with JohnWuu (the mysterious figure in that space).



But I guess many people skip the prologue and can't be bothered with anything unrelated to H scenes, so I'll elaborate...



Well... the point is, the protagonist doesn't possess prophetic abilities. What he sees in that mysterious space isn't solely the future of his own timeline; much of it pertains to parallel universes. But I suppose my brain is filled with too many bits of soft sci-fi knowledge to accept this setting effortlessly. So, for friends who rarely encounter sci-fi, let me explain...



Imagine you frequently have dreams about the future. One day, you dream that your best friend suddenly and inexplicably slashes your throat with a knife. You wake up terrified, heart pounding. That very afternoon, at the exact same place and time, your best friend sneaks up behind you. You feel an icy chill on your neck—exactly the same sensation as in your dream. The only difference is, instead of slitting your throat, they just gave you a cold drink.



Another day, you dreamt the project you were working on failed, and your irresponsible boss blamed everything on you, leading to your firing. The very next day, this exact scenario played out...



First example: If you believed your friend intended to kill you, shouldn't you have taken preventive action? Initiated a preemptive strike? But... he was just playing a prank with a cold drink. If you overreacted, knocked him down, or even injured him, wouldn't that damage your friendship?



Second example: You believed the project would fail, so this time you were extra cautious. You even reminded your boss and rigorously checked every step, ultimately passing the test. But in the end, your boss felt you were stealing his thunder and started giving you the cold shoulder. You still ended up in an unbearable situation at the company.



This is what happened to the male protagonist.



He doesn't possess prophecy—only subconscious fragments of “possible futures” he's glimpsed. He can't discern whether events unfold in parallel timelines or his own. This uncertainty plunges his life into chaos. Believe, and it doesn't happen; disbelieve, and it does... Such paradoxes play out daily.



One cannot live perpetually doubting the future. Thus, the protagonist chooses to ignore the blurred lines between illusion and reality, allowing his life to proceed smoothly. Though occasionally, he still clings to the mindset of “better safe than sorry,” giving these visions a modicum of attention. In short... all this is explained clearly if you play through the prologue and don't skip any dialogue... Of course, I've also scattered hints elsewhere. Honestly, for most people's mindset when approaching eroge... this probably doesn't matter. But human behavior is always shaped by past experiences. I simply wanted to establish a complete character arc.



The bottom line is: the protagonist himself doesn't actually possess prophecy or supernatural abilities.



Of course... this doesn't stop him from suspecting he has them. But because it causes immense disruption to his life and is filled with uncertainty, he sees it more as a curse.



Now then... having said all that, back to the question.



“If the male lead doesn't have precognition, why design gameplay around it??”



Well... it's essentially related. It's that whole astral projection thing the male lead does.



I designed it so that at night, the male lead astral projects to witness certain events unfolding. But rather than calling it gameplay, it's more like... I took what should be seen in that mysterious space and brought it into the actual community setting, then let players move there to observe it... Anyway, if the female lead hasn't returned home by dawn, the player gains extra movement time in the early hours to investigate what she's up to.

[...]

Like the dev said, it's actually explained both in the prologue and in the dream space area.

Q: Questions regarding the female protagonist's status interface

A: Future improvements will be made

Actually, I've been meaning to fix this for ages... The reason I haven't touched it yet is because changing this would mean players couldn't continue inheriting their save files to play the game. All the data for the female lead's status interface starts recording the moment she obtains the watch. Since I plan to separate the data for relationships with the male lead from relationships with other characters later on, the data would inevitably get messed up. And this probably can't be fixed with a simple in-game switch or event, so...

Regarding the interface art, replacing static images with animations, and updating the heroine's body parts with different images after ability changes—all of this will be redone. Additionally, we'll add an internal view status during the heroine's H events. Essentially... the current status interface needs a complete overhaul. This will render player saves completely useless (unless you don't mind data chaos and status interface bugs preventing access), and it will likely consume nearly a month of my time—work that contributes nothing to advancing the story. Therefore, I will keep postponing this remake until the game's narrative is largely finalized.

Mostly satisfied with his sex interface idea.

Q: Has the author prepared a phased production plan?

A: No. But I have something similar—my design outline for this game.

Mainly... I find phase plans somewhat unrealistic. There are elements beyond my control, like last month's surveillance system. Even with a solid approach in mind before starting, I couldn't predict the actual difficulty—it could take a day or stretch into weeks. So phase schedules... hold no value for me.

Based on current progress, the latest this game should be finished is March next year. But if it needs to go through platform reviews for release, I honestly have no idea how long that would take.

I expect the game to be fully out in June/July.

As for ideas from netizens, I've indeed incorporated quite a few elements not originally in my outline. But these additions lean more toward... suggestions that align with my existing creative direction, just aspects I hadn't fully considered. Fundamentally, I won't adopt suggestions unrelated to my creative vision.

This might upset some people, but I'm well aware... Many people only offer ideas, or even have genuinely good ones, but they haven't considered how those ideas should be implemented. Part of my previous job involved shutting down those who only brainstormed creatively without thinking about follow-through. Sometimes seeing a great concept completely fall apart because the creator never planned how to execute it is... quite frustrating.

Then there's... I'm not sure if this is normal...

I've gotten some private messages that start by boasting about how they've played hundreds and hundreds of games, then conclude that if I don't follow their advice, my game is guaranteed to flop. Some are more polite about it, but the underlying tone is pretty much the same. I... I don't know. If someone had actually worked on hundreds of games or conducted field research on hundreds of titles, I'd genuinely be open to their suggestions. But “played” hundreds... You've played hundreds, they've played hundreds, I've played hundreds. Your tastes differ from theirs, theirs differ from mine—so whose advice should I follow?

This absurdity is like... I don't even have a chef's license, never held a spatula in my life, know nothing about seasoning or heat control, yet I've eaten thousands of steaks. So one day while eating steak, I storm into the kitchen and start giving the chef advice. When he asks where I trained, I tell him I've never even cooked a steak properly in my life.

[...]

Anyway, it's similar to that... Suggestions not based on the game's existing content, but rooted in personal preferences—I usually ignore those. Player experience feedback is one thing, but deciding which feedback or suggestions to adopt... I can only say some genuinely differ from my design vision but are compromisable. I'll find a middle ground within my capabilities. But, my games are first and foremost made for myself to play, and secondly for those who genuinely enjoy the game. As for the nonsense spouted by people who have no interest in the game or had a terrible experience playing it—that's simply not within my consideration.

I like this dev, he has a vision, and doesn't need to add every fetish under the sun to make everyone happy, which almost always makes a diluted experience where no one is happy.

Well... that last sentence might have been a bit harsh, but over the past couple of months, I've received a steady stream of pointless private messages, along with a few containing personal attacks, which have been rather unpleasant. As for those folks... well, setting aside why they can describe sponsored content without actually sponsoring it (yet get it wrong in every way, like skipping all dialogue—many seem to have played just the first five minutes before jumping straight to the full CG gallery), that's beyond my control.

I'll honestly never understand literally ignoring the story and just watching the cg gallery, but to each their own.

But seriously... aren't there plenty of great games out there waiting to be discovered and played? Why waste time writing a lengthy essay to “educate” me on how to be a decent person? Where does this attitude come from—that “not making content he wants to play is some great insult to him and a failure to society”? It's genuinely baffling. Or... did I step on someone else's toes? That... doesn't seem likely either?

And... well, to prevent some jerk from taking this out of context after reading this rant, I should clarify: “I never said player opinions and feedback aren't important.” What I'm saying is that opinions and feedback, by their very nature, don't yield the best results when accepted wholesale. It requires consideration based on the game's circumstances, my personal capabilities, subjective judgment, objective factors, and more. If everything were accepted wholesale, it would likely end up like the restaurant example I gave. And... even if I decide your suggestion doesn't work for this game and choose not to adopt it or ignore it, who's to say? Maybe for the next game, I'll find that following your advice was the right call.

Who the hell made a fuss about adding their ideas to make the dev this annoyed lol?

This is a question that requires a multilingual answer...


Unfortunately, for the time being, there are no plans to produce versions in other languages. It will largely depend on how the Chinese version performs in terms of sales.
The main reason is that the game contains a very large amount of story text, and I personally cannot write in any language other than Chinese. Therefore, translation would be necessary.
First of all, I'm not sure how to calculate the exact cost for translating such a large-scale text-heavy game (the script exceeds one million characters).
Secondly, I would require the translator to actually play the game and fully understand the story, so I can ensure the translation quality and prevent it from ending up like machine translation.
Lastly, since almost all of the game's CGs were created with AI, it cannot be sold on DLSite (as far as I know, AI-generated works are only available to Japanese IP addresses).
This leaves me with only itch.io and STEAM as possible platforms. itch.io is less of an issue, but for STEAM... well, while STEAM doesn't prohibit AI content, the review process is beyond my control, so I can't say anything for sure.


In conclusion: if the Chinese version is successfully released and performs well in sales, then I may start considering translations into other languages. I sincerely apologize for this situation.

Honestly, Mtool+deepseek gives a good enough result for most of the story bits. It's not perfect, and I feel like a better model would do a better job, but it's not bad.