[RELEASE][FEEDBACK] Save Men v0.1

[Dr.Moonlight]

Very nice work so far!

Thanks

As mentioned by others, there are quite a few grammar/spelling errors. This isn't a huge deal, but could easily be fixed by having someone review the text.

Noted!

I very much like the variety of the encounters, and the liberal use of pics + accompanying teasing text. One of the problems I often have with games like these is they end up just having 1 or 2 pics per encounter, which is pretty uninteresting. You've done a great job on this side.

Yeah I want somehow to give a personality to my characters + it's a tease so better for them to be a bit teasing

The combat (and overall time/character management) definitely could be improved from a game design standpoint, but seems like you already know this. Right now there isn't much in the way of interesting decisions

Without revealing too much, I am working on a reworked battle system because yeah battles are too much linear.
For character management, I am still in the thought process..

and the rewards vs. sickness incurred from the various girls is not really balanced.

Rewards are one of the main topic I want feedback on. I would be interested to know. When you reach the bus how much you own in term of dollars.
For now this has been thought with "Wild mode" in mind (which is not really a new mode but more like a content addition). There will have more malus wandering the forest, there is something you can buy to prevent that so it will be dollars consuming. Plus, in "wild mode", there are few new girls who are a bit more challenging so the malus due to Sickness is less bearable which is a clear incentive to reduce Sickness. That been said it doesn't mean that version doesn't need balance changes. I am sure it needs. So that's why I would be really interested to get feedbacks on how many dollars people have reaching the bus.

One thing I'd love to see is a metronome or something similar to tie combat to, uh, other activity :). But I understand this is a contentious topic and people have very different preferences.

I will be honest for now, it won't be my priority. Especially since I don't know how I would make RPG and metronome get along in the same tease. But I stay open to suggestions

The intel system is a little confusing to me right now. Especially because you have intel and XP as being sort of the same thing, but not quite?

Intel is only linked to Quests progression. It values how good you are in the eyes of the Agency. So it's mostly linked to the story. This will lead in future developments to unlock new stories, new quests...
XP are different. They are like a Character trait since they allow character to gain more health over time. So the character will be able to face more girls in the day or stronger girls. The Agency doesn't care of how many XP you have or how many HP you have. The Agency only wants intel. Plus, I created XP to value people which try to battle more instead of going straight to the quests then "escape" to every encounter that have nothing to do with a current quest they have
Now that is said, do you still feel confused?

Also minor, but thematically, I feel like HP/Sickness doesn't really make that much sense. Maybe something like Lust/Sickness would be more fitting.

I don't agree. If I change HP by Lust it would mean, girl decrease Lust overtime ? It wouldn't make sense.
And if I tweak it to make it start from 0 and 45 would be the defeat, I feel I have no way to explain how a girl does more Lust damages than the other in current stage of the game

Overall, I'm very excited to see how this evolves. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for your long and extensive feedback

Naughty regards,

The Doctor

[YDwarf]

I don't know, if I am just stupid and don't find the way out or if there is a bug.
I played it two times now, ending every time the same.

Spoiler: show

Ride Out 1/4
Meet those girls: Met all
Forest Hitman: 8/8
Pink mushroom: 1/4

I bought the bus ticket (in the forest at the girl from the agency), but can't get into the bus. the quest still says "Buy/get a ticket"
I stole the camera, talking to Lucretia, she want something from me, but I should come back later

I think I tried all Buttons on all girls. I have no clue, what I could do more.
Actually, I spent "60 days in the forest" (is it a bug?)

Maybe you have a clue for me? DO you need more informations? You can message me.

[Jackal403]

Enjoyed the couple full play throughs I've done, but the random factor leaves much to be desired. If there were say, 3 or 4 areas to explore, each with a set of girls to discover, it would help with quests like the Forest Hitman. As it is, I often spend days at a time not fighting anyone, just running away and exploring again, to get a specific opponent.

This in part is due to the tedious nature of combat. Health increases, but damage does not. This makes the health values of the opponents very arbitrary. 59 hp requires 6 hits, which never changes. So why not just make it 60? Or 6, and every hit does 1 damage? It definitely led me to believe there would be an increase in damage at some point.

For a first tease it's looking great and has a lot of potential, keep it up! I'm looking forward to future iterations.

[Dr.Moonlight]

I don't know, if I am just stupid and don't find the way out or if there is a bug.

You're not stupid. I reassure you!

So I find 2 bugs thanks to your comment:

1/ You say you are day 60. Normally the game triggers a game over if you don't take the bus before day 30. Last bus leaves on day 29 at 12pm. But I guess you must have argue for escaping exactly at that time and you jumped the game over trigger... I modified it fot it not to trigger anyway.

2/

Spoiler: show

Ride out 2/4 is supposed to be validate when you get at least 20 intel

And you do... And it was not validate according to what you tell since it stays at 1/4. Other seems to have had no issue with that and I cannot explain that issue in the code. I made few tweaks in the code. Hope it will work better for you! I keep an eye on that.

=> Though you understand it since I updated the game with the enforcing the Game Over policy, you are way over 29 days so it should trigger a game over directly when you launch it... I am sorry for the inconvenience for 2/4 not validating normally

Naughty regards

The (apprentice ) Doctor

[Dr.Moonlight]

Enjoyed the couple full play throughs I've done, but the random factor leaves much to be desired. If there were say, 3 or 4 areas to explore, each with a set of girls to discover, it would help with quests like the Forest Hitman. As it is, I often spend days at a time not fighting anyone, just running away and exploring again, to get a specific opponent.

Few things to talk about there...

Areas : I get it, you mean something looking like Hero Corruption. It's not part of my plan. Forest is an area, City will be another one, but I see that more like chapters than places. When you will reach the city (not developed yet), there won't be any way to get back in the forest since it will be a previous chapter (unless you start a new play). They may be different areas like the ones you mean in the City because it would be logical for it to be more crowded but I am not there yet.

Girl rushing: I feel you, you want to find the right girl at the right moment to complete your objectives. I think meeting a main girl (one you have to defeat for Forest Hitman Quests) has already really good probabilities. I did not want patient (like you ) to rush the quests without playing the battles, that's why I came up with the escape penalties.
Each choice you make you must deal with the consequences:
-battling: you loose HP, you increase your Sickness, you earn XP and win mushrooms
-escaping: you loose dollars or time
Small reminder : keep in mind <120 Sickness = standard chances to get caught, 120+ more chance, 140+ even more chance. I don't get into details but the chances to get caught drastically increases...

Quests: You want to complete each quests! The Agency will be very proud of you Gathering intel is really important for them for sure. They sent you because it is a challenging task, otherwise they would have taken any noob on Milovana

This in part is due to the tedious nature of combat. Health increases, but damage does not. This makes the health values of the opponents very arbitrary. 59 hp requires 6 hits, which never changes. So why not just make it 60? Or 6, and every hit does 1 damage? It definitely led me to believe there would be an increase in damage at some point.

Based on what I just answered you and your comment. I think the most important area of improvement is the battle gameplay. I work in a way to make battle more interesting and more challenging. I totally agree about your thoughts on HP, it needs changes. About rising the damage per hit, I hear you though for now I have other plans for battles

For a first tease it's looking great and has a lot of potential, keep it up! I'm looking forward to future iterations.

Thanks! Just one last thing you said you enjoyed a couple a full play. Do you know how much you own at the end (for me to balance it in future update)

Naughty regards,

The Doctor

[Errant_]

Rewards are one of the main topic I want feedback on. I would be interested to know. When you reach the bus how much you own in term of dollars.
For now this has been thought with "Wild mode" in mind (which is not really a new mode but more like a content addition). There will have more malus wandering the forest, there is something you can buy to prevent that so it will be dollars consuming. Plus, in "wild mode", there are few new girls who are a bit more challenging so the malus due to Sickness is less bearable which is a clear incentive to reduce Sickness. That been said it doesn't mean that version doesn't need balance changes. I am sure it needs. So that's why I would be really interested to get feedbacks on how many dollars people have reaching the bus.

I didn't reach the bus, because I think I had the same bug as mentioned above regarding Ride Out 2/4. Here's an idea: could it be happening if you buy the bus ticket AFTER you hit 20 intel? I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me.

One thing I'd love to see is a metronome or something similar to tie combat to, uh, other activity :). But I understand this is a contentious topic and people have very different preferences.

I will be honest for now, it won't be my priority. Especially since I don't know how I would make RPG and metronome get along in the same tease. But I stay open to suggestions

A very simple way to accomplish this would be to just play the metronome whenever a girl attacks. The speed could be scaled according to the attack damage or your sickness level.

The intel system is a little confusing to me right now. Especially because you have intel and XP as being sort of the same thing, but not quite?

Intel is only linked to Quests progression. It values how good you are in the eyes of the Agency. So it's mostly linked to the story. This will lead in future developments to unlock new stories, new quests...
XP are different. They are like a Character trait since they allow character to gain more health over time. So the character will be able to face more girls in the day or stronger girls. The Agency doesn't care of how many XP you have or how many HP you have. The Agency only wants intel. Plus, I created XP to value people which try to battle more instead of going straight to the quests then "escape" to every encounter that have nothing to do with a current quest they have
Now that is said, do you still feel confused?

That makes perfect sense. For some reason, I had assumed that XP only increases when you gain intel. Not sure where I got that idea, I think I might have only realized there was XP after I gained intel for the first time...

Also minor, but thematically, I feel like HP/Sickness doesn't really make that much sense. Maybe something like Lust/Sickness would be more fitting.

I don't agree. If I change HP by Lust it would mean, girl decrease Lust overtime ? It wouldn't make sense.
And if I tweak it to make it start from 0 and 45 would be the defeat, I feel I have no way to explain how a girl does more Lust damages than the other in current stage of the game

I'm not sure I understand the last point. I guess the thing that feels weird to me from a roleplaying standpoint is losing hitpoints without getting hit by anything. I understand there's a sickness aspect to this, but it still feels a little weird. Hero Corruption to me represents this "correctly" -- hp damage for getting hit, lust damage for getting teased.
All that said, this really doesn't bother me that much. Do as you prefer :)

Small reminder : keep in mind <120 Sickness = standard chances to get caught, 120+ more chance, 140+ even more chance. I don't get into details but the chances to get caught drastically increases...

Ah! This was a very important detail. I think the explanation about this is misleading right now. It says "less chance to escape" the higher your sickness level, but I interpreted that as the "leave" action having a chance of failing, rather than a higher chance of being caught. I would recommend rephrasing that in the intro.

[ICBMinthehouse]

This is a great start to a game! Great work! Mechanically it seems quite deep for this early stage, which is something I really like. Unfortunately, the poor grammar takes a lot away from the experience. If you wanted, I would be happy to proofread any text you sent my way during development. I'm a native English speaker from the UK, though if you wanted American spelling I could do that too. Let me know and best of luck with future development!

[YDwarf]

Spoiler: show

I didn't reach the bus, because I think I had the same bug as mentioned above regarding Ride Out 2/4. Here's an idea: could it be happening if you buy the bus ticket AFTER you hit 20 intel? I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me.

I think, this could be the problem at my game - I got the Intels long before I met the girl for the bus tickets

[Dr.Moonlight]

I didn't reach the bus, because I think I had the same bug as mentioned above regarding Ride Out 2/4. Here's an idea: could it be happening if you buy the bus ticket AFTER you hit 20 intel? I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me.

I think, this could be the problem at my game - I got the Intels long before I met the girl for the bus tickets
[/spoiler]

=> As been said for a new game started from yesterday this should be fixed. I did a run today, manage to get 20 intel before buying bus ticket and the game updated my quest the right way after I bought the ticket (from 1/4 to 2/4). So if the problem was linked to that, it should be solved now.

A very simple way to accomplish this would be to just play the metronome whenever a girl attacks. The speed could be scaled according to the attack damage or your sickness level.

=> So it would be an action the patient does which doesn't impact the game economy, I can imagine that. I will think about that idea but no promise

I'm not sure I understand the last point. I guess the thing that feels weird to me from a roleplaying standpoint is losing hitpoints without getting hit by anything. I understand there's a sickness aspect to this, but it still feels a little weird. Hero Corruption to me represents this "correctly" -- hp damage for getting hit, lust damage for getting teased.
All that said, this really doesn't bother me that much. Do as you prefer :)

=> You get HP damages for getting hit. By a lollipop, by a wave or another thing... I just wanted to be a little creative with my naming but you really get hit by the girl. I say "hit by a lollipop" since it seemed more logical to me than saying the girl has a sword or another weapon as it's clear on the picture, she did not. The HP damages have nothing to do with your Sickbess (except the malus damage if you get 120+ and 140+)
=> About sickness, it doesn't increase because you're hit, you're teased. If you watch closely, mostly any pic of girls makes your Sickness increase +1. It's the exposure that gets you contaminated. (since all women are contaminated but the virus has no impact on them). It's different from Lust in Hero Corruption then and there is nothing that happens for getting teased, that's why there is no Lust. Diogaoo can afford a Lust variable because the pictures he has chosen are more linked to sexual action : blowjob, handjob, masturbation... I made a different choice by selecting more erotic less sexual pictures because I want them to tell a story about lollipop or whatever. I feel seeing a girl fingering without a little background is less interesting. And hardcore photo sets haven't usually enough pics I could build a little story about... That's why there is no Lust variable in Save Men. I have thought about that but I gave up the idea (at least for now) since it doesn't match my other wants for the game

Ah! This was a very important detail. I think the explanation about this is misleading right now. It says "less chance to escape" the higher your sickness level, but I interpreted that as the "leave" action having a chance of failing, rather than a higher chance of being caught. I would recommend rephrasing that in the intro.

=> It's because on the slideshow, I wanted to make long story short for patient to start the game really quick. But with all your questions about XP, Intels, HP, been caught, frankly i should take a little more time to explain the different features in the intro.
So there is no way for the escape to fail, the penalty is about being caught. (because Agency can caught you more easily when you're really sick. They protect Men in a bunker so they have a lot of tools to detected sick girl approaching the bunker... They use that tool to track you as well to be sure, you don't desert your missions!

This is a great start to a game! Great work! Mechanically it seems quite deep for this early stage, which is something I really like. Unfortunately, the poor grammar takes a lot away from the experience. If you wanted, I would be happy to proofread any text you sent my way during development. I'm a native English speaker from the UK, though if you wanted American spelling I could do that too. Let me know and best of luck with future development!

=> First thanks for the encouragement. Then I understand that grammar is important for the game fluency. Some other patients had the same comment. I don't react a lot about it for now since I am working on a way to rework the battle system which causes that I will have to write again all girl lines. After completing that, I will come back to you guys to get the text corrected.

Hope it answers everything

Naughty regards,

The Doctor

[YDwarf]

ok, I tried to get to the bus, but still failed.

Spoiler: show

I paid $30, just at this moment I got 20 Intels. the Quest goes from 0/4 to 2/4. And now it says "Get a ticket" as next step. But I have no idea how to get it. Lucretia still didn't accept the camera. (Is she related to this quest?) I would like to finish (and help to debug), but get tired of "clicking girls" (always the same, worst is dodge-girl because you can't leave/skip her)

[Dr.Moonlight]

ok, I tried to get to the bus, but still failed.

Spoiler: show

I paid $30, just at this moment I got 20 Intels. the Quest goes from 0/4 to 2/4. And now it says "Get a ticket" as next step. But I have no idea how to get it. Lucretia still didn't accept the camera. (Is she related to this quest?) I would like to finish (and help to debug), but get tired of "clicking girls" (always the same, worst is dodge-girl because you can't leave/skip her)

=> If you're stuck at 1/4, it would be a bug but you're not it means the bug is fixed. Now the situation is totally following the script.

Spoiler: show

You go from 0/4 to 1/4 by paying the ticket. Then you go from 1/4 to 2/4 since you have enough intel. That's why you see directly 2/4 in your quests summary

Here a little clue if you're really stuck :

Spoiler: show

1st step was to pay the ticket, you paid, that's it, you did not get your ticket since the Agency requires a minimum intel (they only verify that you got when you reach your camp) so now it has been validated, you need to actually get the physical ticket in some way now...

And for dodge girl, depending on your previous choices, you have the possibility to escape her (or not)

I hope it can help you progressing

Naughty regards,

The Doctor

[putkarak]

Hi, thanks for nice RPG game. i stucked

Spoiler: show

I cant find Ariel to defeat her. Maybe she stopped spawns. On 25th day right now 7/8 hunt quest. I cant understand how to get physical ticket to move by bus quest from 2/4 to 3/4? Any ideas? Thanks.

[Dr.Moonlight]

Hi!

Hi, thanks for nice RPG game. i stucked

Spoiler: show

I cant find Ariel to defeat her. Maybe she stopped spawns. On 25th day right now 7/8 hunt quest. I cant understand how to get physical ticket to move by bus quest from 2/4 to 3/4? Any ideas? Thanks.

Happy to see there are some challenging missions!

Here are some clues: (if other people read this, I advise to first try it by yourself rather than watching the clues)

Finding Ariel:

Spoiler: show

I think you are searching Ariel in the wrong place. She won't spawn in the forest. She is one of the 2 traders

3rd mission "A ride Out"

Spoiler: show

First mission was to pay the ticket, you did it to Maria (the girl working for the Agency). Then she asked you to reach a certain level of intel, you succeed since you have 2 completed tasks out of 4 steps as you said. Now you need to find back Maria for her to give you the paper ticket for you to be able to take the bus

Good luck! and be careful last bus departure is day 29 at 12pm, otherwise it's game over and you will have to try again ^^

Naughty regards,

The Doctor

[putkarak]

Thanks for your help.

Spoiler: show

I found 2 traders only. 1 spawns in the morning and her name is Gabi and second trader spawns in 17:00 her name is Heidy. I dont know how to find Ariel... Maria spawns really rarely i found her 2 times only

[Dr.Moonlight]

Thanks for your help.

Spoiler: show

I found 2 traders only. 1 spawns in the morning and her name is Gabi and second trader spawns in 17:00 her name is Heidy. I dont know how to find Ariel... Maria spawns really rarely i found her 2 times only

Spoiler: show

At 17:00 sometimes Heidy shows up, sometimes Ariel shows up. In 25 days of playing, I find hard to believe you never met Ariel since the chances to find either Heidy or Ariel are 50-50. In the "meet those girls" quests there is a button showing the girls you already met, I bet you have already met Ariel!

It depends on few variables but you should have 7% chance (in average) to find Maria each time you go in the forest. Maybe you escape battles often and since you are high in Sickness, you spent a lot of time arguing in your day... or maybe you just got unlucky...

Naughty regards,

The Doctor