Himeros Hotel - Adult Adrift Adventure 1.04

[redle]

Story
The story, was decent, 1 of the few things that kept me going. And some plot twists where insane

Fuck rain - > rain your cousin -> guilt -> not cousin -> sex

The above particular plot twist was the one I felt left a few too many gaps in the narrative.

Scruffy's version of the threesome felt, to me, like he force-fed us the fact that the Uncle couldn't be the father. I could have lived with that, except that we seemed to completely miss it. It's questionable enough whether he would have gone to such explicits, detailing a past love to anyone, let alone to us in our somewhat odd relationship with him (but it is Scruffy and he's a bit of an odd duck, so anything's possible). That said, I do feel he should have been more vague or we should have caught on right away (or potentially we specifically inquired to try to figure out who the real father is).

Then, along the same thread, when we finally do realize that Scruffy's story means she can't be our cousin, we instantly accept it as fact. Given how adamant the main character is about not getting sexual with his cousin, would seem he might want a little more proof than a he-said-she-said before he caves on the issue.

Would also seem like after years of believing one way, Rain might be demanding some DNA testing being done to be sure once and for all. There was enough corroborating information to make it all plausible. So the shock, awe, and awkwardness was all well founded. Still, felt like there should have been a continued side story of proof (either in trying to get scientific tests, or in intentional stalling/avoidance of said tests for fear of discrediting something that finally feels like resolution).

Also, viewing the story in hindsight, it's a little unclear what Rain's motivations were.

While the main character is mislead from the beginning into thinking that the Uncle has been alive and around for a great many years and only recently disappeared, Rain only knows the story from her mother's perspective. From Rain's perspective, the Uncle has been gone for 20 years. She seems to have accepted from day 1 that the Uncle is not present, and hasn't been. So, while there is reason for her to pursue the magical means of "what happened on that night", there doesn't seem to be any reason for her to care at all about some random company that just happens to use her father's name in an absentee figurehead capacity. She doesn't seem to be pursuing anything that has any connection to the company (Well, it does because of Scruffy's connection, but she neither knows about the connection nor is searching for such a connection).

It was fun to follow the story and see where it took us. The above didn't make the plot collapse or anything, but it did feel like it could have been shored up a bit in the area.

[Seztworks]

Good points Redle.

A lot of the plotdevelopments are intended to be somewhat unclear to the player. As a novice writer there has been situations that could have been explained better. This can be one of those cases.
Spoilers about the plot developments background:

Rains version of events was 2. hand. She had the same information as the player about the hotel and her mother only told her that the Uncle had disappeared that night (vanished) along with the third member of the threesome (Scruffy who ran away). The uncle had shown up in media when the hotel opened (very early story point) and Rain's motivation was to get access to the hotel and confront the Uncle. To her and her mothers knowledge the Uncle is in hiding after the supernatural event. Since she didn't have any luck getting in direct contact with the Uncle she used her time to research the event while waiting for more information about the Uncle. Just like the player in a way. At the end of the game she is still no closer to knowing what happened to the Uncle but she might know who her father is and that has taken some of the focus off her first target. That was my idea behind her motivation.

Regarding Scruffy being the father. Every version of the event is colored by the person telling it. Scruffy makes it very clear that the Uncle can't be the father. You mention that the player misses the fact, but I see it as the player taking in another version of a story and maybe not wanting to take Scruffy at his word at that time. I tried to set it up so the player could come to the conclusion before the game got there and you are right that I could have given the player the choice to do something about it. At the time I was just focused on not breaking the game with non-liniar story paradoxes. The player giving in to Rain that soon after the reveal was intended to show that he might be just as sexually attracted to her as she is to him...bloodlines be damned.
You mention a continued side story of proof and there will be something like this in game 2 depending on what choices the player made with Rain and Scruffy.

It is not easy being a writer...that much I have learned. There are a lot of things that could have been worded better and more clearly.

[redle]

Most definitely, writing is a complicated beast. You wove a nice tale, but bits and pieces are always bound to get away a bit.

As for my specific critique on that part of the narrative

I was thinking that a comment or two should have been slipped in somewhere of her trying to find her father. 1. Maybe comments from Celeste questioning if Rain has always been unstable. She always seemed normal, but her history within the company had her putting in transfer requests on multiple occasions. This hotel was actually her fourth location within the Himeros family, which seems a bit high for the position of waitress. 2. An early chapter of the notebook detailing attempts to try to meet Uncle. It fails and her priorities shift as the book progresses. 3. Rain finds out that we are the Nephew. She specifically prods us about his whereabouts or how she can speak with him. 4. Some combination of the above three, with more or less direct mention of the Who's and Why's.

And yes, I understood why her drive seemed to slide off at the end. Finding the potential father figure totally changes everything for her.

As for getting there before the game, well, yeah... as soon as we got 2 stories about college roommates it was already an obvious conclusion that they were the same group of people. We didn't need Scruffy's detailed event-night to get us there. That just filled in some specifics. And I didn't mean the main character needed to take Scruffy's word as absolute fact at this point. But the story read like he didn't even realize it was a possibility. I still likely wouldn't have mentioned it though. What made it noteworthy is that the player hears all this, then makes his firm stand that she is his cousin, never gets any new information, then later makes the firm stand that she is clearly not his cousin. While some people flip-flop like that, the player is supposedly us. It's much harder to accept that we are waffling without any narrative to support us doing so.

But, yes, everyone reads things differently. Also, every story has limits. No matter how deep one delves into anything, one can always go further. They were just some editor's notes type comments on where I thought changes would be most useful (if changes were to be made at all, but there have been occasional mentions of a potential future gold edition... whether in jest or not). I do know it can be frustrating to get editor's notes once you consider your work finished. There's certainly such a thing as untimely advice. Feel more than free to shrug and move on.

[Seztworks]

No such thing as untimely advice All advice is always welcome.
I am working on some improvements based on the last couple of posts. There is a reason the game is still in Beta. I won't be able to do a lot about the "gameplay" at this point but I will go over certain events to make sure some story points are a bit more clear or vague as needed . No major changes but fine tuning for any future players out there.

For anyone else out there wanting to give feedback please do so. Anything from spelling errors, grammar, bugs, stuff you thought was weird etc. Bring it all on. Feel free to post here or send me a PM.

[paquito]

I'm stuck for several days (in game), nothing happens and the task list is empty.

There's my code: 2014181317211710161515

Could I get a hint, please?

[Seztworks]

Hello again paquito

You should have something to do. Lets take a look

You should have an event with Rain in the alley again at 16. If in doubt check the alley out
This could very well be the only thing blocking you from the endgame.

Hope that helps

[paquito]

Thank you for your very fast answer.

[Seztworks]

Early Weekend Developer Update - "L stands for Love, Lust and Loyalty" edition

Normally I would make a post launch future post, but since the near future will be patches I will wait with Game 2 talk until I am ready to start on that.

This will be a tips and tricks post for new and old players. There might be no surprises to some of the veterans, but it might help somebody. I will add a permanent copy to the game forum.

The L: number. We have all seen it and some of you have used it to to get help.
As the title listed the number shows the progress of each non-player character in the game.
You start out with 11 zeros and it grows from there.
Each zero represents a character in alphabetical order by character names.
Actress, Boss, Starlet, Waitress, Model, Singer, Chef, Babe, Janitor, Instructor, Receptionist
As you progress through each path each number grows to show your increased connection with them.
The middel 3 paths are what I call the intro paths. The first 3 implemented and the easiest to complete. They will end at 17, 21, 17. Mmmm symmetry.

If you are stuck and one of the numbers is at 0 or very low compared to the other paths you might need to hunt down that character.

L for Locations: If you don't have anything to do in your task list you might need to find an event.
This was designed so you can follow a path through the hotel in the rooms that will trigger events.
Bedroom, Basement, Lounge, Reception, Lobby, Restaurant, Kitchen (Once open and at the right time.)
But wait you say...stupid Seztworks...what about the Alley.
You are right. They Alley is the exception to the rule and that is why the events happening out there always happen at the same time of day to make that easy to investigate.

I hope some of this can help the players and that you all have a nice weekend.
Seztworks

[LRM]

I'll nick myself for going a little off topic here.
Seztworks; Thank you... Your posts are clear, concise, and use proper English.
Given the amount of text you post I'm very pleased.
@ EveryoneElse; Anyone posting in French, Italian, German or any language other than English use complete, properly spelled and punctuated text in their native language. These same posters in English and especially the English/Americans seem compelled to butcher the language. Complete, properly spelled, punctuated, and capitalized, translate.
It's important for anyone using a translator. If you want others to understand your message you MUST use proper English. Oh yeah... it makes me happy too. LRM

[Seztworks]

Well thank you LRM.
I was somewhat rusty when I started posting here and it took some practice to shake off the worst bad habits. Since I wanted to write the games in English, I use every opportunity to improve. I figured the market for AIF games in Danish was slightly too small to warrent 3 years of my life and my German grammar would only lead to tears if I had attempted to go that way

Thanks for making my day (in more ways then one....that avatar puts a smile on my face every time)
Seztworks

[LRM]

Reon Kadena... Probably a Great Grandmother by now. I firmly believe if you watch long enough, just as you avert your gaze, there is a nipple flash.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reon_Kadena
Lou

edited 15 Jul and 17 Jul 2016
I don't recall where I got the original. If you look closely under her right breast you'll see a slight moving imperfection. There was a headset wire that danced there. Arnulf the Giant did a very good job of removing it. I'd guess he too was mesmerized by her.
Rest In Peace Arnulf and thank you.
Lou

[Greebo]

As far as I can tell, LRM, your avatar appears to be a clip from the first minute or two of "Virginity", a DVD from 2005. Anyone wanting to ogle it can find it on YouTube -- all highly innocent yet sweetly sensual.

(By the way (I was going to put "Btw" but i thought you might smite me mightily with a "BFG" (Big Fricking Gun) from your service souvenirs) -- how many Great Grandmothers aged 30 do you know?)

PS (Post Scriptum) The clips in "Virginity" appear in their turn to have come from a longer item which has a nice edit as http://xhamster.com/movies/4457786/reon ... dited.html -- she really is a happy, chirpy soul isn't she?

[wasexton]

Just a quick error I noticed, when taking cooking lessons from Morgan she says to come back and we can pick up "where we left of". That should be off.

[Seztworks]

Thanks wasexton

I will add that at once.

/seztworks

[M]

Does anyone else have problems with the game crashing a lot? I've never had an Adrift game do that, though this might be the first one I've played since replacing my computer a couple months back.