trinian
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A Helping Hand
🕑 Added 2024-06-26 17:53:12 +0000 UTCHi everyone and thanks for reading this week's public update. Today's agenda is to discuss a new feature coming in the mini-update to help those of you that struggle with where to go and what to do, and then we'll talk poll results from last week.
Being a game dev can sometimes be an enlightening and frustrating experience, and one thing I consistently find is that as easy as I think I've made something, there are always questions about it. This is coupled with the fact that so many people today expect their games to be made in Ren'Py, many simply do not have the patience for the RPGM interface and aren't interested in the exploration and discovery element of the game. Over time, I've tried to introduce a variety of things to help, but now I've gone the full hog and made a mode that will lead you by the hand through the whole game. Introducing Quest Hints!
Like Narrative Mode, Quest Hints can be turned on and off at the start of the game or from Missy's laptop. Maybe if I can figure out how later, I'll add it to the in-game menu, but for the time being, that's how it's going to work. Switch it on and wherever you go, there'll be a handy big pink arrow or bubble marker telling you where to go and who to speak to next. I really couldn't make it any easier if I tried.
It will always show you your current active quest. You can change this yourself in the menu screen, but the game will also select the most relevant quest for you if there isn't one currently tracked. In the mini-update, it will only work for the main storyline, as this took a bit more setting up than narrative mode, but every new quest I make will now come with them and the existing side-quests will soon be compatible too.
For those of you who really just want to be playing a Visual Novel or get to the next scene quickly, this mode is as close as I can offer you. And for everyone else, if you're stuck at a part and don't know what to do next, switching it on temporarily could be a godsend for you. I hope you find it useful!
Poll Results
Last week I asked you for your feedback on Chapter Six and the Reign of Jess arc as a whole. As this was a mega-poll, I'll break it down into relevant sections to discuss each in context.
There are spoilers below, if you haven't played Chapter Six yet.
17 respondents thought the chapter was perfect. I appreciate the ego-stroke, and am happy you're happy.
Consistent with other recent releases, there is, as usual, a large majority that would be happy to see the game get darker (than four of the main characters being sold into slavery for life!?)
Once again, this is about as dark as it gets for the time being, and while I'm happy with less than 4% for too dark, I don't want that number to rise too high. I feel like we're about where we should be at present.
A significant improvement on Chapter Five, with the majority happy with the length and a couple even thinking there was too much of it. I was a bit concerned after that last poll, as this time around, there wouldn't even be the element of exploring Fivaviana, at least not as much of it. There's a few things to see in Old Town North and at the Governess's Mansion, but not enough to take up a lot of time. Still, it seems that with the puzzle elements and dungeon, plus the punishing Jess minigame and everything else, this chapter provided a decent chunk of game time.
On the subject of the puzzles and bearing in mind what I've said above, I was frankly amazed that I didn't get more questions about the clock in Elizabeth's house. Well done, all of you!
I'm pleased with this result. A nearly 75% majority liked running around Scarlett's base. Again, I wasn't sure how this part of the chapter would be received, but I worked hard on it and was pleased with the result, especially the chase sequence on level 2. Did you manage to find all four of the things you can throw at her? I bet a lot of you got caught accidentally-on-purpose a few times though didn't you? ^^
Several of the upcoming stories have scope for adding more content like this to them, so I'm glad it was mostly well received.
I added this out of curiosity, and again, it shows progress on the results from Chapter Five. It's clear that a majority are still looking for more of a choices-matter experience, and one of the main (and fair, at least in context of what you know right now,) criticisms of the ending are that in the end, nothing mattered with everyone's memories getting erased. I'll decline to comment further on that, and just leave you to ruminate on the cryptic part about "what you know right now."
But I digress, this, I think, is why Poppy's story remains so much more popular than the main storyline, the payoff is immediate and the effects of the choices obvious. And the good news is we'll be seeing more of that in some of the upcoming side quests.
Nonetheless, this doesn't seem to have stopped the overwhelming majority of you from enjoying the Reign of Jess. Even some domme players have remarked that they didn't mind seeing what Jess did to Missy and took the story in the manner I intended it - just a bunch of really hot stuff that happens while doing the business of telling the story.
Some of the feedback I've received (and again, I'm grateful for all constructive feedback, good and bad,) has criticised the big undo, but again, it seems the majority were still able to just enjoy a good schoolgirl blackmail/submission story for what it was. I'm pleased you enjoyed playing it, because I really enjoyed bringing this long-awaited tale to life!
So on we head into Act Two, and in the next public post, we'll learn a little more about that. There most definitely are going to be consequences from the Reign of Jess and Act One in general. You're at a super-strict school and there's been a lot of misbehaviour! Now the other shoe is about to drop...
Have a great week!
Trinian
Comments
Trinian
Yeah she has more stuff planned ^^
MindWizard
Renpy only users missing out on this gem in an already niche genre, such a pity. Also is Lola getting any future updates? Not sure if it has been talked about before.
Frank Baum
I really like the game and your way of taking players' experiences and opinions into consideration. That is great. When it comes to the "hint" function. I think you are addressing a relevant challenge to this game engine's way of working. It can be extremely annoying if one cannot find out how to complete the quest on hand. But also here: So far, I felt like you had a good approach in respect to the hints you provide - in particular in the "quest log". As long as the steps there are clear enough, I think it will be fine. I also like the fact that you have written the names of buildings or landmakrs (e.g. "Jessy's Home") onto the map. These things are very helpful. Overall, I find the biggest challenge, that the world which you created in your game is fairly complex and large. There is always quite a time lag between the releases. In between I don't play the game and typically, I try to then continue where I left off. When I do, it then takes quite a while in order to remember who's who and what's what. For me, it is more of a challenge to find back into the game after a two month break or so than the way the hints are structured in the game. For me, something like a "phone book" of characters encountered would be helpful. If then the quest says "find Claire's notes" or something like that, I have a chance to look up who Claire was to begin with. Something like that. Another thing, that I am struggling with a bit is the different names of the segments on the map. "School", "Red light district", "Town Center" or "Park" are clear. But the different residential areas are somewhat random (It takes a while to remember again which area the bad girls live in and so on). But maybe I am the only one struggling with the names. And ultimately, after a while it is clear.
NobaraAdict
Although REAL ones know Poppy > Jessica
NobaraAdict
(don’t get me wrong I loved the update) I think personally a lot of those darker fans like myself are just salty Jessica couldn’t win in the end. I don’t think anyone wants anyone dead or anything too dark. I think we just want Jessica to win hehe.
