Work Resumes!

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Quick Game Plug

I'm going to do an actual status update tomorrow, but I wanted to take a moment to plug this game:

http://dreamingofcheshirecat.blogspot.com/

Pendulum.

You know, there's something I really value in my porn. Much like I value in everything in my life; surreal experiences and weirdness.

This is an adult platformer filled with a lot of that, and it's best that I don't say too much. The sex scenes aren't too gratuitous, but honestly I just like it as a game.

Mind that unlike Overwhored this IS a commercial game, but you can still try out the demo for free, which is enough to help you decide if it's an experience you'd care for.

By this point I'm a pretty jaded guy. I tend to view a lot of games that go weird or dark as 'edgy' 90's nonsense. But this triggers... none of my natural cynicism. It's just a fun game, and that's a grand experience.

I should probably go through and give a solid plug to a lot of different games that I like; that may be this week's mid-week update.

Feminist Friendly Facts about Overwhored

"Wait, what?" I hear you say. Yes. Believe it or not, I was amused when looking over a few checklists and tests for feminist friendly works, and it turns out Overwhored somehow manages to pass a whole bunch of them.

Now before you flip out, I'm going to mention to things in advance. 1: There's always some sperglord who flips the fuck out at the very mention of the WORD feminism. I would quite explicitly NOT encourage you to douse yourself in gasoline and play with a box of matches, but I wouldn't be too sad if you did. 2: I'm not some jumble-brained tumblr social justice blogger. I happen to actually like women as people in spite of the game I've made, and I find the fact that this has somehow managed to pass a number of pro-feminist tests amusing. I'm going to be pointing that out, but don't ever expect moralistic rants from me.

Pretty much nothing is going to make it past the basic premise of the game - that is, you're a guy that uses mind control to turn women into sex slaves - but funny enough, that ALSO doesn't erase the fact that somehow my game treats women better than a huge amount of fiction.

Bechdel Test: 
Two women speak to each other about something other than a man. 

This one has been passed several times over already, often in the dialogue concerning objects or things, and there are only going to be more examples of it passing over time. Especially during the flashback sequences I'm going to do later where you'll see the heroines during their full glory.

Basically any time any two characters talk about ANYTHING in the story other than the Overmind, this test is passed, since most of the characters are female. It helps that the Overmind himself doesn't talk much.

Plot Significance: 
A female character is featured prominently in the plot as something other than a love interest who is there to be loved.

All seven heroines have their own story, and I've posted a few here, edited for spoilers. Their actions before they met or first fought the Overmind have real significance in the story. The fact that they become his "love interests" later on doesn't really change that. Moreover, even after capture they're all going to have some major individual driving momentum in the plot. When you eventually make it to Chianina or Nanshe's city or some of the others, you will see that even after capture, they do in fact have lives even outside being the Overmind's sex slaves.

Moreover, most city leaders are female (the towns I'm making now have more female leaders) and actually there's a lot more being planned. Nor are all prominent female characters going to become sex slaves. (A lot probably will though, because that's the point of the game.)

The Finkbeiner test sounds indecent and amusing, but is a gauge for gender neutrality in journalistic articles. Though it isn't meant to apply to games, I'm gonna try it anyway!

To pass the test, the journalistic article must not mention:

• The fact that she’s a woman
• Her husband’s job
• Her child care arrangements
• How she nurtures her underlings
• How she was taken aback by the competitiveness in her field
• How she’s such a role model for other women
• How she’s the "first woman to..."

1: I rarely mention the fact that the female characters are female at all outside the sex scenes, and I don't think I really even explicitly mention it much there, since you can see their gender quite clearly with your own eyes. Other than using "heroine" as a descriptive term or describing how the Overmind's magic works only on women, it's rarely mentioned at all.

 2: None of them have a husband and the Overmind doesn't count. Funny that. It's unlikely that I'll ever have the Overmind explicitly steal a woman from her husband/boyfriend (slave owners don't count). NTR/Cuckolding is not my fetish and is something I rather dislike, so you're HIGHLY unlikely to actually see that in the game.

3: This one is currently passed, though I will have some characters mention how they'd rear children in the next release (in a context appropriate scene), and some will be able to get pregnant. So I don't think it'll be passed in the game as a whole, but it won't be an issue for most characters. It certainly won't ever be a major part of the game.

4: Well most heroines will fail on this account because most of them are going to have underlings in some capacity, though Iskis, Kael, and Alexia will pass with flying colors. Christie, for example, will eventually lead your armies. Knowing how various characters run things is important in this game from a storytelling perspective, so there's no way out of this one. Skree will never have underlings, so yay Skree! The naked nymphomaniac batgirl is truly a pillar of feminist virtue. (tongue-in-cheek-sarcasm intended)

5: Really most of the heroines and main characters have utterly dominated their field of expertise. Fairly, I might add, through legitimate skill and hard work (as you'd see in Branda's history). I don't honestly think any of them were 'taken aback' by the difficulty of getting there; they're heroes. It comes with the job. I've never had them say anything like that and probably never will. (Though I reserve the right to have them speak with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm about anything.)

6: Being heroines becoming a role model comes with the territory, but few of the heroines are ever going to actually talk about that. Not that they're really role models at this point in the story anyway.

7: None of the heroines are firsts. They aren't the first women to kill the Overmind. They're simply the greatest heroes of their time, and Branda, for instance, looks at Femcinnatus as a big inspiration, but primarily for historical reasons.

I also have a personal test, which isn't necessarily feminist but is one of my personal pet peeves:

The Not-River-Tam-Or-Buffy-Waif-Superasskicker Test.

I love Joss Whedon, don't get me wrong. I love Firefly and Buffy. But it bothers the hell out of me that you have pretty waifs or supermodels effortlessly beating up everyone. If a woman in my game is supposed to be strong, I prefer that she have some muscle on her or is at least well built. Branda, for instance, doesn't have a lot of visible muscle definition, but she's definitely not a twig (and there's that potion) and is well built. Honestly she reminds me of some girls I knew in the army who were strong but curvy. Audr is short, stacked, and looks as strong as she is, since she's a Dwarf. Heck, even the mage Nanshe has nice abs.

I do have the artists hold off on super-muscle to maintain a broad appeal, but I personally am fine with ladies with good muscle definition.

Something about the whole concept of the waif-superheroine just strikes me as off and probably vaguely sexist, somehow. I'm not sure why, but I relegate it to the uncanny valley of writing concepts.

Believe it or not I do try to give women a fair shake in my game, and if I notice something has a disturbing subtext (other than, you know, the main premise) I'll work to correct it. I'm not perfect; I'll probably screw up in that respect a few times. Help me make sure those moments get fixed.

Considering the main premise I don't expect a lot of women to play my game, but in the event that they do I'd like it to be a game that gives women a fair shake. If nothing else, that's just good writing. Treating women like props and love interests that are just there to be there is piss poor writing, and I don't want to engage in that.

I'm not going to try to defend the basic premise of the game. It'd probably still be viewed as sexist even if the main character was female and the slaves were male (which is a potential idea for a future game I've toyed with). That's just how it goes; you're either going to like mind control or not. But as far as things go, I'm going to work hard to keep explicit sexism out of the game to the extent that I can. Not because I'm a white knight, but because I actually like women as human beings and most importantly, because I want to do a good job writing.

So if you see something you like; comment on it. If you see something you don't, comment on that too. I do listen to your feedback and want to hear it.

In other news the hiatus is over; I'll give full details on what work I'm currently doing on Monday! Have a good week!

Still on Hiatus

Sorry folks, I'm running ragged lately. I haven't been able to work on the game lately. So the hiatus continues.

I did find an hour or so tonight to sketch up a bit of hypno-themed mind control porn in the hopes it will appease you. Enjoy.

Story Post: The Age of Titans

Some say that once all men were titans.

In the beginning of the world the gods who shaped creation combined the elements and divine power to create their greatest servants. They were powerful creatures that attended to the fine work of the world, beings of magic and vast size and power. Enormous, they dwarfed all other living beings both physically and in terms of magical power.  They shaped the mountain ranges, they created the seas and skies, they heated the heart of the land in molten flame, and they created all the races in the world.

They imbued the elves with magic, making them natural mages. They created the dwarves to build and craft and shape. They created the Lamaak to inspire and invent. They created many great creatures and works of power. Great beasts that dwelled beneath the seas; powerful dragons and spirits of air and earth. While the goddess and other creators of the world had shaped the world and given it life, the Titans made it the world it is. They were a force for order, creation, and power.

They were corrupted.

Records of the earliest period of history are fragmentary, even among the races that can date back to the earliest eras. It was, however, an era of peace. The titans were builders and shapers, created to form the world in a manner pleasing to its creators. By all account they were pleased to do so for uncounted eons.

When they changed, they changed suddenly.

Mountains were ripped asunder. Seas were boiled. The deep of the earth cooled and the skies ripped apart with thunder. They waged war and leveled their great cities. The races they created cowered in fear. Worse, many created their own new servants - those now considered monsters. Goblins, the undead, horrors lurking in the oceans of the deep; dragons of a new and vile kind. Creatures of living lava emerged from volcanoes and ravaged the land. The Titans aided none, devouring their former servants, creations, and each other in a massive orgy of war and consumption and corruption.

This was the first time the Overmind was spotted in the mortal world.

He was not a titan. Though taller by far than any of the servant races, by human standards he is merely very tall. The titans stood between dozens and hundreds of meters tall. He stood a mere eight and a half feet. But he was vastly powerful.

His origins were unclear, but his purpose was not. He was not a deliverance for the created races. He conquered and enslaved them, breeding a vast army of monstergirls. With incredible magical power he faced the titans, fought the titans, and slew the titans.

He was slain in turn. For though he was powerful, they were capable of rivaling gods.

He did not fight for hatred of them, but for the reason he has always fought; to conquer, to breed, to claim.

Titans cannot be claimed. In time, they died. Unlike the Overmind, they did not return.

The servant races created heroes to fight the army of Titans and Overmind, striking whenever one side was weak. The Titans devoured all, the Overmind enslaved all he could. The mortal races survived and struck blindly at all. Beasts of nightmare ruled the land.

In the single greatest instance of divine intervention in history, the goddess acted.

Over centuries of war with each other, the mortal races, and the Overmind, the Titans had weakened considerably, but still undoubtedly ruled the world. She struck them down with incredible power in a single instant. Why she did not also strike down the Overmind - why she has never struck him down - is something no scholar or priest has been able to answer. Most believe him to be a divine test or punishment for the mortal races. Why then did the titans rebel? Why did she strike them down?

It is recorded in most histories that they had died at that moment. However in the most ancient and fragmentary records of the elves and dwarves, it is recorded that something quite different happened.

The titans did not die, but were changed. Stripped of their vast power, stripped of their size, stripped of everything that made them great, they were remade into a new race. A savage race. The race of Mankind.

It is known to be true that humans first appeared shortly after the titans died. It is known to be true that for many eons mankind fought with its own nature to claw its way to civilization. Though many humans rank among some of the most powerful mages in history humans have no innate magic of their own. Though there are many powerful human mages they borrow from the goddess or beings of ancient power or are descendents of humans and non humans interbreeding. Humans also have the innate need, drive, and desire to reshape the world in their image. Modern humans are not savage cannibals, however. Indeed, they consider themselves to be the pinnacle of civilization, and have done so since the time before the era of the Chianinan empire.

Are the humans the descendants of titans, stripped of power and allowed to wallow in savagery until they beat the madness out of themselves? No one knows. Few remain who were alive in that time, and even the Overmind has lost his memory.

But there is one who could say.

The Overmind could not conquer the titans and could not claim them. But even so, one of those proud, mad beings willingly lay with him.

Once, and only once. Through poetry, romance, wit, and guile, he briefly charmed a Titaness.

The first daughter of the Overmind. A titan by birth, slightly shorter than the Overmind, but no lesser in power. Godlike power, godlike will, and the Overmind's endless, relentless desire to conquer and consume and take. She did not disappear in the divine purge with the titans. Like her father she remained untouched.

In her time she sought to become queen of the world. To slay or capture or rape all, to consume everything and become the queen of all things. The first true queen of monstergirls, rival to her father, and last titan, surviving beyond the purge.

For the first time in his existence the Overmind did not try to claim and enslave a woman through corrption, magic, strength or guile. He went to true, total war with her empire.

The Overmind is not a man. He does not choose; he is a being made of his own purpose. His purpose is his power, and his power IS his purpose. Never before or since has he deviated from his own path in this way. None know why. Perhaps it was the similarity of their nature and soul, or perhaps it was a different reason, known only to the Overmind himself. Were the actions that he took thereafter some form of lengthy guile? Were they taken out of fear? Hate? None know. Even with the titans he did not take an action such as this.

They battled in a conflict that shattered the heavens and rent the earth. No record survives of that battle, but it is clear that the Overmind emerged victorious. On that site was created a shrine, tended to by ancient monstergirls. It was not a tomb, but a prison. Its keepers would never become warriors or slaves, forever given leave from that requirement. They had only one duty; to ensure that her prison would never open by any hand. Daughters of the strongest mortal heroines in the age of titans and the Overmind at the height of his power, they are undoubtedly the most powerful monstergirls in the world - if they still exist.

No one has seen them or the shrine in thousands of years. Or, at least, seen it and escaped to talk about it. They take their duty seriously.

But one thing is true. Only she could truly say the truth; whether all men were once titans, and recall the first age of the world.


Authors Note: 
The First Daughter is not the last boss. She is not going to be a party member. You will be able to visit the shrine in the next release, but she will not factor in the game in any important way. 

A short hiatus?

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5/Aug/13 Update

My apologies for making this update so late at night. Real life interfered last week and is going to interfere this week in a big way. Long story short I'm making some big life changes and there is a lot of paperwork. I may return to college soon.

The team is making progress everywhere. I've gotten back new sketches and new maps are being made. Unfortunately my own work is going to be rather delayed.

Don't think I'm slacking though; the next release will probably be out within two months, and may not just be version 0.4, but version 0.4 and ver. 0.5. It depends on whether or not I'll be able to get in a day or two to cram.

I've been wanting to do another story update but haven't had the time. We'll see if I can figure something out.