BEW - Ongoing Dev Thread (DAZ Artists Still Wanted)

[cpt_hook]

I'm not going to complain if it's released bit by bit - October is a long way away, and patience is not my virtue. I also wasn't bothered by the score vagaries, being one of those players tlaero described (straight to the code if something takes more than 2 tries, that whole patience thing again).

The characters and story so far are very engaging. Looking forward to seeing more.

[Severn]

wow, I should visit the projects section more often!
Excellent first day, I often find myself cheating with this style of game and just browsing the images after a couple of play-throughs, but the premise of the bar scene was too good to spoil.
Very erotic and original, Faith is awesome and the mystery woman is very intriguing.

One criticism though Brad and Emily's skin colour seems to darken a lot when in the bar, I didn't actually realise who Emily was when she first arrived.
A minor issue though. with for me a very impressive game.

[Wolfschadowe]

The characters and story so far are very engaging. Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks Cpt! I'm glad you're enjoying the game. Thanks for the feedback!

Excellent first day, I often find myself cheating with this style of game and just browsing the images after a couple of play-throughs, but the premise of the bar scene was too good to spoil.
Very erotic and original, Faith is awesome and the mystery woman is very intriguing.

One criticism though Brad and Emily's skin colour seems to darken a lot when in the bar, I didn't actually realise who Emily was when she first arrived.
A minor issue though. with for me a very impressive game.

I'm glad the game was able to pull you in. I want to try and have a good story with the game to do exactly that! Faith is one of my favorites too, I find myself wanting to focus too much on her rather than the others. I have to be careful of that so I don't make the game "Faith...plus everyone else." . Maybe I can add content in an "expansion pack" or something after the main game is finished. I've left a lot of hooks in the game to do that.

I appreciate your input about the darkened skin for Emily and Brad. It is a result of low lighting in the bar...and my lack of skill in overall light balancing. Faith is darker too, but not as noticeable because her skin is paler than the others, and we don't really see her in brighter light yet. Those with slight tan's seem to be significantly darker in low-light scenarios. Since I"m doing full scene rendering, turning up the lights means everything gets brighter and ruins the atmosphere. Hopefully I'll get better at environmental light balancing as the game progresses.

Wolfschadowe

PS - I have updated progress on Page 1.

[Frenchi]

Hi Wolfschadowe,

Your game is quite funny and well done.

I've only one things to tell you.

If you use the save button before the bar for exemple, then you complete all the story but, before the last screen, you load your savegame, you kept the earned points.
So by doing the story 20 times, you're able to reach all the ending without doing the right stuff.

Perhaps the load/save button don't restore/store the earned point at the save moment?
Same things if you did 'right click, open in new window'.

Cya!

[Wolfschadowe]

Hi Wolfschadowe,

Your game is quite funny and well done.
...
Perhaps the load/save button don't restore/store the earned point at the save moment?
Same things if you did 'right click, open in new window'.

Hi Frenchi,

I'm glad that you enjoy this early build of the game!

I've seen a few people mention that the save functionality was a little inconsistent. Thanks for letting me know you are seeing it too. Hopefully the next version will address that. It may have something to do with cookie settings in the browser. I've seen some of it myself while play testing, but I'm not sure of the cause. It also behaves a little differently between IE, Firefox and Chrome. I've gotten into the habit of pressing the save and restore buttons twice which seems to help.

Doing right click, and open in a new window can bypass some of the controls that maintain game integrity. I don't really mind that though, I consider it like a cheat code and if that's how someone enjoys the game, they should go for it. Some folks want to play the game as designed, and find all the endings through game play. Others just want to cheat and see the endings without trying to figure it out. Others skip the game and just go through the images with their favorite photo viewer. As long as they enjoy it, they have my blessing for whatever method they use.

Wolfschadowe

[Super]

Don't want to rush you or anything, but any word on when the act 1 demo will be released?

Also, brilliant first attempt. Bar threesome was fucking hot, and it wasn't even a sex thing I hope you can maintain that quality in the sex scenes, as well as properly deviating. For example, properly exploring the after effects if that threesome. But that sounds hard, like incredibly hard, to do it and also have it make sense. Good luck, you'll need it ... And time to recover from the headaches mapping all rhis out will give you lol

[Wolfschadowe]

Don't want to rush you or anything, but any word on when the act 1 demo will be released?

Also, brilliant first attempt. Bar threesome was fucking hot, and it wasn't even a sex thing I hope you can maintain that quality in the sex scenes, as well as properly deviating. For example, properly exploring the after effects if that threesome. But that sounds hard, like incredibly hard, to do it and also have it make sense. Good luck, you'll need it ... And time to recover from the headaches mapping all rhis out will give you lol

Thanks for playing, Superawesomemans! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm hoping the overall quality will go up as I progress, and not down.

I've decided not to do a demo for the full act one. Act one ends partway through Day 3, and I don't want to burn everyone out by releasing the game piecemeal. However, I will be releasing the full Day 1, which includes the alternate branch through the Strip Club (no Emily or Faith that night). I'm targeting that to be ready for play testers around May 24th, and I'll post it here a week or so later once we flush the bugs out. After that, it will be a few months until the full game is ready. No commitment to that timescale. Sometimes life interferes, and sometimes writers block interferes as well.

I believe the erotic scenes are enhanced by story and character, so I'm trying to infuse that across the board. If we know why the characters are doing what they are doing, and the obstacles they overcome to get there, it's more engaging than just having them meet up and go at it. At least, that's my opinion. So exploring the after-effects of all the bar branches is key to carrying it all forward. I hope I can pull it off too! As for mapping it all out....Visio and Excel are my best friends.

Keep an eye on the second post in the thread, which is the progress post. I update it regularly. Once a week at the minimum. Sometimes the updates are only adjusting the percentage complete in each area, but it can help get a feel for how things are progressing.

Wolfschadowe

[ludwig]

hi
i just downloaded the game to try but there is a Problem:
I want to run it on a Linux-System and it is case-sensitiv! So most of the links are dead - Intro1.htm is not intro1.htm

i will look if i can get a Windoof-System to try it

best regards
ludwig

[Wolfschadowe]

hi
I want to run it on a Linux-System and it is case-sensitiv! So most of the links are dead - Intro1.htm is not intro1.htm
ludwig

Hi Ludwig,

Sorry you're having trouble. I've resolved that in the next version that will release soon, that will also have both branches of day 1 content. Have you tried it under WINE? Load IE or Firefox with an IE tab plug-in under WINE and you may be able to play the prototype as-is.

Wolfschadowe.

[tlaero]

If anyone can get me reliable steps that result in save/restore not working, I'll investigate. I've never had a problem with it and haven't seen reports of save troubles with my games, but if there's a bug, I want to fix it.

Wolf, a few quick points with your current drop:
1) Set your monitor to 1024x768 and try to play. You'll find that it doesn't fit vertically. The three save slots often go off the screen. I implemented a "Save page" in something I was working on, and you need two more functions in _functions.js that you don't have yet. I'll get you an update later.

2) I think the yellow border on the image if there's a hit target metaphor we came up with together works really well.

3) I like how the "score line shows less on harder difficulty" idea works. I may start using something similar in my games.

4) Regarding the code, you have a lot of "if (calc > 9), else if (calc > 13)" sorts of things in your code. I think you're going to find that unwieldy. I suggest instead using constants with readable names.
Near the top of _game.js you can do things like this:
var diffEasy = 0;
var diffMedium = 1;
var diffHard = 2;

var barNeededEasy = 4;
var barNeededMedium = 9;
var barNeededHard = 13;

Then, instead of:
if (diff == 0)
{
if (calc > 4)
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}
else if (diff == 1)
{
if (calc > 9)
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}
else
{
if (calc > 13)
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}

You'd have:
if (diff == diffEasy )
{
if (calc > barNeededEasy )
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}
else if (diff == diffMedium )
{
if (calc > barNeededMedium )
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}
else
{
if (calc > barNeededHard)
{
varPlus1("done");
window.location = "n1-bar35b.htm";
}
else
{
window.location = "n1-bar36b.htm";
}
}

This does two things:
1) It makes the code easier to follow and
2) It puts all the values in one place, which makes them easier to tweak.

As you have it now, if you decided that 13 was too hard and you wanted to change it, you'd have difficulty. If you had it in a constant at the top, you'd just change the one place.

Similarly:
var fpoints = readVar("done") + readVar ("fhappy") - readVar("fangry") + (readVar("faroused") * 2) - (readVar ("fthreat") * 3);

If you had:
var arousedMultiplier = 2;
var threatMultiplier = 3;

Make sure you add
var happyMultiplier = 1;
var angryMultiplier = 1;

and use them too. If you want to get really fancy, you set the angry multiplier to -1 and add the readVar.

You could put them in the functions and tweak them later more easily.

Tlaero

[Super]

So, since its seven days and act one is 3 and a half, that means it'll be 2 acts right?

[tlaero]

And while we're on the topic of code, I'd write gameShowScore this way:

function gameShowScore()
{
var score = calcScore();
var str;
var diff = readVar("difficulty");
var save = " <a onclick=\"SaveState('BEW1');\" href='#'>Save</a> ";
var restore = " <a onclick=\"RestoreState('BEW1');\" href='#'>Restore</a> ";
var save1 = " <a onclick=\"SaveState('BEW2');\" href='#'>Save</a> ";
var restore1 = " <a onclick=\"RestoreState('BEW2');\" href='#'>Restore</a> ";
var save2 = " <a onclick=\"SaveState('BEW3');\" href='#'>Save</a> ";
var restore2 = " <a onclick=\"RestoreState('BEW3');\" href='#'>Restore</a> ";
var epoints = calcEPoints();
var fpoints = calcFPoints();
var spoints = calcSPoints();
var npoints = calcNPoints();
var lpoints = calcLPoints();

var relStr = "Your current relationships status is: E: " + epoints + ", F: " + fpoints + ", S: " + spoints + ", N: " + npoints + ", L: " + lpoints + ".";
var scoreStr = "Your current score is " + score + ".";
var saveStr = "Save slot 1: " + save + restore + "<br> Save slot 2: " + save1 + restore1 + "<br> Save slot 3: " + save2 + restore2;

if (gameDoDebug > 0)
{
str = relStr + "<br>" + scoreStr + "<br>" + saveStr;
}
else
{
if (diff == 0)
{
str = relStr + "<br>" + scoreStr + "<br>" + saveStr;
}
else if (diff == 1)
{
str = scoreStr + "<br>" + saveStr;
}
else
{
str = saveStr;
}
}

outputString(str);
}

Tlaero

[tlaero]

Score system feedback:

Does it make sense that your relationship with women you haven't met yet goes up because you said hello to Emily? I understand the mechanics of it, and can come up with a "reputation" angle to justify it, but I think most people are going to find it weird.

n1-home1.htm "meager" apartment jumped out at me. At least 5 rooms. Hardwood floors. Breathtaking city views. Doesn't seem very meager to me.

Tlaero

[Wolfschadowe]

So, since its seven days and act one is 3 and a half, that means it'll be 2 acts right?

Each day has three time periods that holds a scene. For example, the current public build for Day 1 has:
Morning (intro)
Day (Office)
Night (Bar)

When full day 1 releases it will be
Morning (intro)
Day (Office)
Night (Bar or Strip Club)

So as the game progresses, there may be multiple scenes for each time slot but they will be mutually exclusive. For example, during the night of day 1, you can't go to both the Bar and the Strip Club. Instead you would have to choose one or the other, and that choice will affect the rest of the game.

Act 1 ends after Morning, day 3. Day and Night of day 3 are part of Act 2. Act 3 begins the night of Day 5 and goes through the end of the game. The acts are not arbitrary lines. There are significant story events at each point.

If anyone can get me reliable steps that result in save/restore not working, I'll investigate. I've never had a problem with it and haven't seen reports of save troubles with my games, but if there's a bug, I want to fix it.

I've seen some goofyness, but haven't found anything reliable to reproduce. I'm pretty sure from what I do see that it's probably client side. I'll let you know if I find anything consistently reproducable.

1) Set your monitor to 1024x768 and try to play. You'll find that it doesn't fit vertically.

I'd like it all to be on a page where there isn't a need to switch to a save load game. I'm probably privileged, in that I didn't think there were any 1024x768 monitors out there. I don't want to count those folks out though. Maybe align the save games horizontally in a table somehow?

4) Regarding the code, you have a lot of "if (calc > 9), else if (calc > 13)" sorts of things in your code. I think you're going to find that unwieldy. I suggest instead using constants with readable names.
Near the top of _game.js you can do things like this:
var diffEasy = 0;
var diffMedium = 1;
var diffHard = 2;

var barNeededEasy = 4;
var barNeededMedium = 9;
var barNeededHard = 13;

I like the first part of this, but personally, I find the second part unwieldy. Generating three global variables for every function generates more permanent variables than I like, and then I have to look in two different places if I am troubleshooting a function, in the global variable declarations, and in the function itself. For my work process, it is easier just to keep everything in the function. Also, I generally don't like creating a variable for something that will only be used once. That's why I like the var diffEasy = 0 part. That would be used in just about every function, and if it ever changed for some reason, I'd only need to change it in one place to affect multiple functions. the barNeededEasy would only be used in one function, in one place, so it seems inefficient to require two entries (one in global variable declarations, and call it in one function) to accomplish one task. I'm sure there are other scenarios where it would come in handy though, and I'll keep it in mind.

Toward the end, I did start making the variables declared in the funcitons easier to follow later in development. For example rather than using var calc=fPoints, I would use var faith = fPoints, and similar.

If you had:
var arousedMultiplier = 2;
var threatMultiplier = 3;

I could go either way on this part since the multipliers are in 5 places, once for each love interest. One one hand, it makes it easier to read, and gives one place to change the multiplier globally. On the other hand, I'm not sure that all the girls will end up reacting the same way. At some point I may want to make Emily more sensitive to threat, and increase her multiplier to 5. So now we look at the multipliers independently for each love interest and we are back to declaring a variable for a single use. Still, the concept is sound and I appreciate the input and advice.

Wolfschadowe

[Wolfschadowe]

2) I think the yellow border on the image if there's a hit target metaphor we came up with together works really well.

3) I like how the "score line shows less on harder difficulty" idea works. I may start using something similar in my games.

I like the yellow border thing too. I think it's working out well.

I think the reduced information at harder difficulty levels, paired with restricted erotic scenes (in a game like this) is a good compromise. It will give folks a resource if they get stuck. They can just lower the difficulty and figure out where they are going wrong, and then turn the difficulty up again to get the full experience. There's still a challenge in hard difficulty because there is still an ability to gain or loose relationship points during some of the erotic scenes that are restricted to lower levels, but those points are minor, and except for the elite path can be made up later.

Score system feedback:

Does it make sense that your relationship with women you haven't met yet goes up because you said hello to Emily? I understand the mechanics of it, and can come up with a "reputation" angle to justify it, but I think most people are going to find it weird.

n1-home1.htm "meager" apartment jumped out at me. At least 5 rooms. Hardwood floors. Breathtaking city views. Doesn't seem very meager to me.

Tlaero

There is a reputation effect in place based on how the player reacts and progresses. The intent is to lessen the impact of a scenario where Brad is rude to everyone in the early game, and then expects to be Mr. Perfect and succeed later with others. It's not intended to have an effect for the first few days of the game, but later on it will be useful, especially in the transition from Act 1 to Act 2. I'll add something to the instructions page to help alleviate confusion.

As for meager, there is a bedroom, Kitchen, Living/Dining area and bathroom. 4 rooms counting the bathroom. I'll give you the city views though. I may reconsider the work meager. With that view, it would probably have to be a one room studio to be considered meager.

Wolfschadowe.