Well, I've finally done a few playthroughs of the game as it currently exists over the past few days. I have a long list of bugs, but most of them are no real issue to fix before Monday. This version of the game is entirely playable and pretty fun in most regards.
However, a few bugs are related to the battle engine I have. It claims a number of event switches (without visibly naming them or indicating it has done anything) and does weird things like flip images backwards or stopping movement of monsters and townsfolk. The only way I can fix this is to cut ALL of the switches out from that area and paste them on a higher number, then redo every event which uses that switch to use the new switch number. For obvious reasons, that could break the game. So releasing a beta before I do that is sort of crazy. The reason I didn't realize it up until now was that when you test events in the new area the problem switches are in the range of 70-100. The new area's switches are in the range of 100-160. The problem switches are attached to the chapel area. I made basically all the events there before realizing that the battle engine was using them. This was what caused the bug in playtests for the last version where you could not gain experience after battles. I had THOUGHT that was all of the issues it caused, and left the switches where they were. Now I realize that is definitely not the case. The problems they caused aren't immediately apparent until you play through the chapel and then go to Sayda. My testing of the Sayda area alone wouldn't have revealed the issues because the problem switches weren't on.
The second issue is Prince Amezwar. I had originally envisioned a struggle between him and Princess Tasa that drove the missions in Sayda. You could choose between his "evil" path and her "good" path. Except that the more I play it out, the more I realize absofuckinglutely no one is going to choose the guy over the girl in a game like Overwhored. Particularly if he's the evil path.
There's also some incestuous subtext there, and I'm going to edit it out. I'm purposefully making this game somewhat vanilla to appeal to more people. I believe that would squick a lot of people, even if it's something I personally would find fun.
At this point I'm considering just removing Amezwar (whom you know as the bandit leader) and replacing him with a girl.
Honestly I could let you playtest it at this point and find a few bugs. But realistically, I should probably postpone it for a week so I can sort out these issues. Remaking the chapel and replacing Amezwar with a female character is probably the way to go. I apologize because I had promised to have the beta out this week and I've pushed it back a few times already to expand the content (Which has been successful; this is by far the biggest section of the game so far). I *could* release the beta at this point very easily, but it would cause a great number of problems. Particularly important to me is that most beta testers don't like to play the game multiple times. I have no intention of draining your enthusiasm for a new release by requiring you to play through the game five times in a row as I solve new bugs and introduce others.
So one more week, and I should have this sorted out. Thanks for your patience.
It probably wasn't a good idea to schedule a beta test to start on April Fools Day anyway.
Hi Cypress, can I start with my savefile and have you done more changes to the current game s.t. major story changes so it is recommended to start over again?
ReplyDeleteOld saves from after the chapel likely won't work because I'm changing some switches that made that area function to fix those bugs. I regret saying so, but it seems that is how it'll end up.
ReplyDeleteHey, at least you figured out what was up. That's good.
ReplyDeleteAlso, depending on the storyline-related consequences, I was totally going to choose the bandit-leader's path when it came out.
Dunno if making him a female will actually have any effect on that, but hey, I most certainly ain't gonna complain about more pixel-chicks in my porn games.
Oh, also ... I ... I don't know for sure if you're going to squick people with a little something like wincest, when the entire CROWD who likes your game is going to be composed of fans of the rather more extreme fetish of brainmelting mindslavery, but ... WELP.
DeleteI want to note here that the reason I made the game is not just to feed the existing community, though I'm glad it does that. Rather, it was designed and always intended to be, "Mind Control Fetish: The Vanilla Person's Introduction". It's meant to work to draw people who are on the fence or don't know about about mind control into the fetish and encourage them to make games or other content of their own.
Delete...Huh. Didn't know that.
DeleteSeems like an interesting goal.
Maybe one day after the game's finished, we'll find out if that second-stated aim was ever successful.
To a certain extent it has been already. And that makes me very happy.
DeleteOh gods darn it and i was actually hoping you would post a file with a prank game... its what i would have done
ReplyDeleteApril Fools day is a big deal for me, but unfortunately I just don't have time this year to post a prank update.
DeleteVanilla people aren't interested in fetishes in the first place... so I feel the idea of what you're trying to do is a bit of a wasted effort. It is, however, your game, and thus far I'm enjoying it.
ReplyDeletePostpone as much as you need, good sir. Be as comfortable as you wish for your releases.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like you're a certain company that couldn't release a sequel for 15 years .... I'm definitely not bitter about it either ... not at all.
And as long as you keep that nice "you've played before" treasure box at the beginning, I have no problems starting over again. Besides, I tend to forget what's happened and so forth anyways.
Hey I downloaded the newest one but I couldn't get past the part right after the tutorial. All it says is something about needing a strong willed person.
ReplyDeleteBizarre. Could you post the exact message?
DeleteWell first off I had a ton of trouble due to the whole RTP not found thing, but when I got it working (the newest one is the one with the chest and password right?) the babe in glasses tells me "The slut mage is off making her lab... and remember it has to come from someone with strong willpower" other than that the only places I can go are the slave bedrooms, slave pits, teleport room, my throne room, and the forest where the tutorial battle happened. I can't get any where else.
DeleteThat's very odd indeed. It's from an event not in the current release. No one else has told me they had this problem, but the wording is distinctly . I'm not sure how it happened. Maybe try restarting and if it happens again. If it does, you're probably best off just waiting for the next release.
DeletePushing the release date back is part of the bug fix process. It happens alot and so long as you don't do it too often no one will really mind. I also don't see the issue with the bandit leader being a guy, because the fact that he is the "bad" path means princess raping time. I also haven't redownloaded the game in a while and had no problems that you mentioned with the chapel and such.
ReplyDeleteGreat game, don't worry about taking time to fix bugs. I don't mind that the bandit leader is male and their's incest, why don't you do a quick poll about it?
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Incest would be pretty tame compared to some of the other fetishes in this.
DeleteVanillas don't like mind control in the first place.
A poll isn't a bad idea. I may do that.
DeleteWhat are going to be the different benefits from choosing the good side over the evil side? vice versa? How does it effect the story (other than the obvious "good storyline or evil storyline")?
ReplyDelete1: You'll get different quality soldiers for war missions.
Delete2: You'll put a different person on the throne.
3: You'll get a different quantity of girls depending on whether you do the "good" mission or the "evil" mission.
4: Assorted other little things.
I have to say this.. you are apparently stuck in Yakov Smirnov's "Soviet Russia" for the time being, because April Fooled you.
ReplyDeleteYou could always have them be sisters fighting over succession. Then the Overmind zaps them both for a double-bj.
ReplyDeleteIs there any area where enemies re-spawn? I always try to avoid enemies because I don't want to waste exp on weak party.
ReplyDeleteThere's an arena that can be used for XP in the current build (0.2). It's in the desert city, on the island between the starting island and the island with the conversion chapel.
DeleteI wouldn't mind play testing through the beta I actually enjoy going around and finding bugs. as long as its not debilitating enough that I cannot leave a certain area
ReplyDeleteYa what you need is two girls to choose from for a good and evil path. You ally with the winner and enslave the looser.
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of sad, but I didn't get the portal in the desert drug dealing town, and I can't find a way back from the town with all the strict guards in it...... And the boat is now unreachable lol!
ReplyDelete