I gotta give you something

'Tis the season for gifts.  And if you don't have anything new to give, I say go digging around in your closet and find something to regift!

http://www.filefactory.com/file/cl79ydabgu3/n/AS.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/?px6uk9489dd43pw

This is how I got started writing adult games.  Cyrandl at hongfire had created a event/scripting engine called Aslave and posted it for free to let people create their own hentai games.  Essentially the goal was to let people create slavemaker type games without needing to know how to use flash.  I found it enjoyable and created two games for it.

The first is The Training of Yuna.  Essentially the plot is that Yuna from FFX/X-2 was arrested for murder and sentenced to a life as a slave to pay for her crimes and it's your job to turn her into a obedient and useful slave.  A few different paths for doing so and a few different skill sets that you can train her in with some very basic ends in place.  Of course a lot of sexual training of course.  Similar interface to Slavemaker with schedules and stat tracking.

The other is 7 days.  Very much of the Harem prototype.  The women of your homeland has been cursed and made barren and you try to capture women to sell for a profit.  Not a great deal of content in the game as Aslave never really had a combat engine which made the fight scenes very difficult.  Cyrandl ultimately went onto other projects and I switched engines to RPG maker VX

Both games are in the download.  Just run the Aslave executable and select either Yuna or 7 days.  You can also use Aslave creator to try to make your own game!  You can look at
http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/208965-ASlave-Creator-The-Slave-Sim-Creator-Current-Version-1-1-%28-o-%29?highlight= if you have any questions on the engine, although please don't necro the thread as the project is essentially dead.

Also, I am no longer working on Yuna nor 7 days.  Any bugs/missing content will remain from here to the end of time.  Also, I've forgotten most of what I know about both of the games and the engine, so I won't be posting any kind of walkthroughs nor answering questions on the engine.  Enjoy them, play around with the engine if you want.  If you do create something, feel free to link it in comments.  If I see a handful I might dedicate a blog post to what you all have uploaded.

Cancel the paypal thing, already been locked by them.  Bleh

Noemi, FAQ and brothel scenes writing

I had a chance to review a few of the saves from people having issues with getting Noemi.  It's an issue between the wiki and the game.  To capture Noemi you have to have given her the means to escape the jail and cleared the 'Tentacle Cave 1".  Then go to the Western Corsix map and an event will automatically throw the switch that causes her to appear in your chambers.  I might adjust it slightly in 0.6b.

I've noticed quite a few repeat questions in comments and from other sources.  In the next version I'll be packaging a faq.txt file to hopefully answer them.  I'll post a few of the more common ones here w/ answers, and put into comments anything else you'd like to know.  Future plot questions will be off limits of course, background questions are fine as long as they won't be spoilers.

1.  How do you make the game?
     a.  The engine is RPG-Maker VX.  It's available for trial/purchase at http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/

1a.  Why not VX ACE?
     a.  It wasn't released when Harem was started, and the time it would take to convert Harem to ACE just doesn't justify the benefits.

2.  What program do you use for the pictures?
    a.  3d Custom Girl.  I have no idea how you can buy it anymore, nor do I know of any working download links.  Sorry.  Most of the mods I've found on http://cdn.3dcustom.net/TACuploader/upload.html and http://www.nijibox5.com/futabacustom/.  And for practical reasons I can't upload my own mods for you as my arcs folder is 30gb in size.

3.  When is the next version coming out?
   a. I don't know.  I work a full time job myself, Harem is only a hobby for me.  My free time varies wildly as does my own interest level in doing it.  Beyond not this month your guess is as good as mine.

4.  Do you need testers or proofreaders?
  a.  No.  If/When I do I'll make a post about it.  Offering early won't change anything.


In the help wanted post I said that if anyone wanted to help out with the writing, writing brothel scenes would be very helpful to me.  A few people have asked how and what.  The format of VX is a series of 4 line text boxes.  If a character is speaking (ie face is present) each line is roughly 50 characters across.  If not, each line can be 65 characters across.  Preferably a brothel scene would describe a sexual encounter (although it wouldn't necessarily have to be if a john wanted to pay for a different service) using between 5-15 text blocks.  I would create all images unless you wanted to.

General rules
-No loli, guro, or scat.  Isn't in harem and will not be.
-The scenes can be nearly whatever you want but the overall long lasting impact would be short.  If you would want to create a scene that turns into a quest you'd have to be willing and able to create the quest in VX.
-Image creation and coding are not required.  I will do that part of it, as well as proofreading and editing assuming that I can read it.
-Group scenes would be fine but try to keep it under 4 actors overall just to keep the image creation doable.
-Beyond that it's fairly open.  If you aren't sure if the idea for the scene would work  or have any other questions e-mail me at haremrpg@gmail.com

Some ideas that I thought of briefly.  These are minor spoilers so I used white text.  Highlight the remaining section to read (and why doesn't blogspot let me use [spoiler]?)

[spoiler]
-Donna is a healer, so she might see the whoring as a way to help men release their 'frustrations'. Could be in a positive or negative fashion 
-Samantha can go either way as well. Degradation from colonists who she's slighted or lesbian from a fan
 -Sarah's turned into a nympho who likes bondage and anal sex. Also has quite a few soldier/warrior contacts in the colonies. Could be from either aspect. 
-Terra could be approached from three angles. She's the youngest of the harem (only 18) so a school girl fantasy could work. Her magic element could make for an interesting scene as well. Also she's a pain slut who draws arousal from pain if you want to write a dark scene. 
-Cecilia would be distant and get offended at any form of degradation as well as inexperienced. 
-Cindy wouldn't normally be in a scene, but could be with the man running the inn or a john that wanted to fuck the madam. 
-Noemi could play off the hot maid fantasy, amazonian warrior, or topping from the bottom idea. 
-Rhea would be eager to please but inexperienced. Also in incredible shape and probably quite flexible. 
-Alena would also be distant and not to enthusiastic about it. But having one of Lex's old compatriots call on her might be interesting 
-Phoebe would be inquisitive, wanting to please but also trying to learn everything about the john. Inexperienced as well, but with a disappointed with the John aspect as the main character was her only lover. 
-Angelica, Jessica, Betsy, Melony or anyone else couldn't be in the brothel for quite a bit of time, so they're off limits.
 [\spoiler]

Not until 2013

Progress on 0.6b has been far slower than I was hoping.  Mostly my own fault, I don't have a great deal of time during the holiday season (my job gets very demanding this time of year) and numerous other distractions when I do have free time.  Even if I could devote myself 100% to development release wouldn't be until next year.

A few known bugs that will be addressed in the future
-The main characters name changes during the tram sequence.  Fixed internally, I'll put a rename event during the start of 0.6b so you can change it back.  It will be pulled back out for 0.6c.
-Betsy's last scene doesn't trigger.
-f12 still crashes the game
-The readme.txt is woefully out of date and links you to the wrong version of the RTP.
-Numerous spelling and grammar errors.

There's been a few bug reports about Noemi not joining on the dark path.  Once you've visited her in jail and then cleared the first cavern map, she should appear at your base when you walk into the officer's quarters.  If that's not happening, please send a save to haremrpg@gmail.com

And if you have feedback that you would prefer not to post in a public forum or in the comments, also feel free to e-mail me at haremrpg@gmail.com.  I had mentioned that in comments and received quite a few nice bits of feedback in return.

Help wanted!

A few people have offered to help out with editing or other things so I figured I'd lay out a help waned post.  I've done this a few times before and Harem would of been over a long time ago without the help of many people.

Some spots will have requirements in order to be considered so I'll define them now.  Individual roles will list which ones are required.
-SVN access (SVN).  To work as a team I do host Harem on a SVN.  For any independent position you'd have to be able to connect to the SVN, download and update with your own information.  I can teach people how to use one, but you must have an intermediate understanding of how computers work at least and have full access to your computer.  So no work computers, school computers, or family computers (and if your a minor you shouldn't be playing this game, nor reading this blog).  As the readme says, please don't use the SVN without permission.  I don't keep it in a working state.
-RPG-Maker VX  (VX)- You need to own and be comfortable coding inside of VX.  I do like ideas, but there are some roles where I would rather keep my focus on the main storyline rather than doing other things.  So if I bring someone in to do those other things, I don't gain anything if I have to do all the coding myself.
-No position would require image creation I would be glad to do that for you.  But if your comfortable with 3dcg I can send you hardsaves/mods and let you create them.
-All positions will probably require more time and work then what you think.  So be willing to put in some hard work!





Casual roles
1.  Brothel scenes - I'd love to have more brothel scenes, but rarely can find the time to write them.  Anyone that wants to write short adult scenes, this would be a great way to do so.  You'd have to write in the textblox style.  60 characters per line without a face, 50 with a face (dialogue) and 4 lines per block.  8-20 block size overall.  Absolutely no loli, guro or scat.  Generally not plot changing, but if they idea is good enough I may incorporate it anyways.  And if I have to spend more than 5 minutes or so spell checking/proofing it I'm likely to get frustrated and delete your e-mail, so please take the time to prepare it!
2.  Ideas.  Many characters, events, and scenes have come from the players.  If there's an erotic situation you'd like to see, an idea for a new character (woman or man), or event feel free to let me know!  I won't guarantee that I'll use it, but I'll certainly look at it.

Involved roles
1.  Scripter - SVN/VX (ruby) - Raziel321 has been helping me for many months, but I haven't heard from him in a few months.  Projects would be to look at the step counter script and figure out why f12 crashes, keeping the main characters name through a character reset, and figuring out how to get the health bar script working in old saves. Filled by Dramakus, thanks!
2.  Sound engineer - SVN/VX - Sound isn't Harem's strong point.  I usually play the game muted with music loud enough to interfere with normal though.  So the music/SE of Harem is slapdash at best.  Anyone that would want to give an interesting auditory feel to Harem would be welcome.  Note : I do not want moans or sloppy sex noises to play through the scenes.
3.  Battle engineer - SVN/VX+ - I still don't understand combat in VX particularly well and I usually stumble through most of it.  Anyone that understands combat in VX and would want to take over fighting would be welcome.  You would have to work closely with me.  As I develop new content I may describe how I want a battle to work and feel and it'd be your job to make it happen.
4.  Side quest writer - SVN/VX - I would like to see more breadth in Harem, but find myself focusing on the length of it by writing the main plotline.  Anyone that wants to come in and code side quests/events/characters for Harem is welcome to do so.  You'd have to both be able to work closely with me and then independently.  You'd submit a quest idea to me.  You'd get constructive criticism from me and other team members (please know how to react to that) and if we can work out a good way of doing the quest you would code it into the game (with minimal oversight/support).
5.  Editors - SVN/VX - I already have two helping me (Calristian and HirotonoRei) but the more the merrier.  You'd need to be able to directly link into development to avoid having me search for work they've already done and to keep me focused on 0.6b content so the SVN and VX are hard requirements.  If you can't do those, just send me an e-mail with the corrections and I'll relay the corrections to them.

If you are interested please send an e-mail to haremrpg@gmail.com describing what you want to do.  I'll reply asap.  I've turned off the mediafire autoreply so if you can't get any existing links to work send me a PM on any forum or a e-mail requesting it and I'll send it out.

Testers
1.  I am not looking for any testers at all currently.  0.6b is not in a testable state, nor will it be for a while.  I may be using a private forum for testing and thus not asking for testers at all this cycle.  Offering your assistance before I ask for it will not get you any consideration nor advantage when/if I do.

Donations
1.  A few people have asked me in the past if there was any way to donate in thanks for the game.  If you want, feel free to send money to haremrpg@gmail.com through paypal!  This isn't a demand, Harem development will continue regardless, nor am I offering to take commissions for particular scenes or characters.

Workflow

Work is continuing on 0.6b.  I never quite realized exactly how much writing goes into the game.  I've changed my workflow a bit during content creation, where the last thing I actually do is use VX.  I'll write directly into Word now, using a combination of margins and frames to match the workspace of VX.  It's been so much easier to write with the benefits of a spell check and grammar check.  And simply being able to read the end result without using the game's interface is great.  Switch over to 3dcg to create the images and then open up vx and worry about the actual code.

And it also lets me know how many pages of content is actually created.  0.6b is over 50 pages already and I doubt if I've written anything more than 20% of what I have planned for 6b.  50 3dcg images, maybe 15% of that workload done.  Maybe 5% of the actual coding, but that's usually a bit shorter.  And of course 0% of the testing done, so don't interpret any of those percentages into eta's.

And teasers!

I'm still alive!

Sorry about the extended abscence.  Things are getting back to normal for me and there's some work going on in Harem.  Maybe I'll have a teaser or two within a few days.

Nothing resembling an eta.

Bleh, I'm getting old!

So dealing with a few medical things which is making my life a bit unpleasant currently.  Nothing life threatening, but rather painful when trying to work through it.  It's been very hard for me to find the time and especially the energy to put much work into Harem.  The project is in no way discontinued, but you might not hear much from me in the next few weeks.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone that played Harem, particularly those who left feedback either here or on the forums.  Feedback is both motivation to me and guidance on how to develop the game going on.  It's been critical for me to correct issues that I make and improve the game overall.  I've gotten quite a bit of it, but can always use more.  Please let me know your opinions of existing content, what you want to see in future content, or just any idea you have for characters, scenes or events.

I'm still on break from development, but I've just uploaded Harem 0.6a.3 to mediafire and re-enabled the haremrpg@gmail.com to autoreply with the link.  Again I'd ask that you try to use the links directly on the blog, but if none of them will work just send an e-mail for the link.  Please don't send any feedback or requests to the email as I'll be ignoring it as I get quite a few requests.  You can also send me a PM on any of the listed forums and I'll send you the link through there.

0.6a.3 upgraded to final

With 48 hours and nearly 800 downloads, I'm upgrading 0.6a.3 to the final release of 0.6a.  There are two known bugs with the release, neither serious enough to warrant a 0.6a.4.

Known bugs
-Pressing f12 will crash the game.  Solution : Don't press f12.
-Re-entering the Jungle-orc camp after getting Fenja can freeze the game.  There is no content in that area after getting her, so again the solution is not to do it.

On Saturday August 11th I'll upload the game to mediafire and re-enable the email address to auto-reply.  Exact instructions will come at that time.

I'll have the 0.6a CG pack up by the end of today.

This is the time where I normally need a bit of a break, so don't expect to hear much from me for the next few days/weeks.  When I get re-energized and start work on 0.6b I'll post again.

I will be active in the forums and in the comments section during this time, so please stop by and give me some feedback on what you thought of the game.  I do read and respect constructive criticism and telling me that you enjoyed it is always a motivational booster, so please stop by and tell me what you think!

Harem 0.6a.3 release (consider it a beta)

Figured out why there was an issue with the crash in combat.  Essentially the enemy health bars script requires a new game, otherwise it crashes old saves.  For the time it will be removed.  When my ruby wizard gets back I'll have him take a look at it, but for now it has to remain out.

Fixed a handful of other bugs as well.  Hopefully this will be the last of the 0.6a releases and I can happily go into a coma for a period.  Consider this a beta release.

Fixes
-Combat interpreter error.  The script worked fine when I took it out, but now it seems to crash the game.  Pulling it back out until later at the earliest.
-Fixed a final freeze in the corsix tunnels.  One event was hiding behind the other and escaped me in 0.6a.2
-Sarah's corsix event completeable
-Angelica's event in Corsix completeable if you didn't have her speak to Edrin in Western Corsix
-Can no longer go walking on the train tracks (which is a bad idea btw)
-Hopefully made it completely impossible to enter the tram without either Donnie or Tomas in the party, as well as Jessica and Angelica.   Will require a save from before the tram yards.
-The step counter script error still remains, so avoid pressing f12 which is what seems to cause it.

I'm going to hold off releasing this on the forums until I get some feedback here saying that it actually works, so please comment if you get through the game successfully.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/k8oiceeatgl
http://shareupload.com/wfh42gzwgqzu/Harem_0.6a.3.exe.html
http://rapidgator.net/file/30037370/Harem_0.6a.3.exe.html
http://bitshare.com/files/cg3utwi7/Harem-0.6a.3.exe.html

Harem 0.6a.2 released

Alright, lets try this again.  Harem 0.6a.2 released.  Entirely a bug-fix versions.

Bugs squashed
-Donnie/Tomas not appearing on the tram
-Freezes in the Corsix tunnels
-Danielle vanishing from the Convent
-Ulya sending you to your room alone
-Jessica resisting the focus buff
-CG for Melony playing for Kathleen
-A few typos/face issues
All of these should be retroactive and work with existing saves.

Things brought back
-Health bars and location reports.  The community has spoken!

Bugs not fixed
-The step counter script error.  I don't know how to script in Ruby at all, and my normal script wizard is on summer vacation (Europeans...)  Unfortunately the script is vital for the way the brothel works, and the 0.6a content overall and would be a massive undertaking to program around it.

The error seems most commonly associated with using the f12 key while playing.  I'm not sure what it does, I've never used it, nor had the script error.  Maybe in the future that can be addressed. Until then, stop pressing the f12 key.

DDLs  (more coming as uploads finish)
http://www.filefactory.com/file/6379z21hpv9l/n/Harem_0.6a.2.exe
http://rapidgator.net/file/29578719/Harem_0.6a.2.exe.html
http://bitshare.com/files/9mit6c25/Harem-0.6a.2.exe.html
http://shareupload.com/s0ahi2aw0e9v/Harem_0.6a.2.exe.html

Acknowledged bugs

So looks like 0.6a is a bit buggier than I was hoping.  I'm going to make a list of bugs here that I've read and am working on fixing.  Hopefully releasing 0.6a.2 sometime this weekend.  Please do not repost bugs already listed.

-Danielle disappearing after going to grove (event is there, just click on where she was) (fixed internally)
-Donnie/Tomas disappearing on the tram, preventing progress (fixed internally)
-Game freezing in the Corsix tunnels when doing the tentacle sacrifice. (fixed internally)
-Jessica resisting her self-buff (fixed internally)
-Ulya sending you to an empty room in the convent, preventing progress (fixed internally)
-Step counter script errors.  Not something I can fix myself, but I'll have Raziel take a look
There's a few text issues that I want to look at again, as well as sleeping and health indicators.  Should be able to release 0.6a.2 Fri or Sat.  Thanks for the patience!

These are being worked on, please do not repost.

Things that are not bugs
-Text not dispalying.  I'm not sure what's causing it, but that's something between your computer and VX, not Harem.
-Doors not doing anything.  They don't.
-Enemy health not displaying.  That was something I intentionally did, thought it made combat too predictable.  Most people seem to want it back in, but I'd like more feedback on that.
-The defend skill is not a 100% skill.  Works about 30-40% of the time normally, double if the main character guards.

Things I need more more reports before I decide it's a bug of Harem.
-

Work is being done, but no immediate eta on the next version beyond hopefully over the weekend.

Things I need.
-A save from immediately before entering the Tenta enclave

Harem 0.6a.1

So there's a bug in 0.6a that kinda prevents you from accessing any of the new content.  Easy fix, boneheaded mistake.  I'm uploading 0.6a.1 now to resolve that bug.  Shouldn't affect any saves, just download, load em up and get fucking!

I'm going to be editing this post as more hosts come online
http://www.filefactory.com/file/59289rp71a53/n/Harem_0.6a.1.exe
http://rapidgator.net/file/29056323/Harem_0.6a.1.exe.html
http://bitshare.com/files/n4z8zqbk/Harem-0.6a.1.exe.html
http://shareupload.com/kx9ep0bfee54/Harem_0.6a.1.exe.html

Whoops

Dangit, trying to fix a bug created another.  I'll have  a new version up within 10-20 minutes

Harem 0.6a released!

Final push is done, and 0.6a is ready for release!  My brain is a bit fried so I hope nothing implodes as I upload, but past the point of no return.

0.6a brings in
-First phase of Western Rata, as the player pursues Terra's kidnappers (or savoirs) to get her back.  Playable through the tram section, ending with the scenes in the Tenta Enclave.
-20+ new scenes!
-Text skip feature.  Simply press down and the text will go by quickly.
-Jessica will finally join the fold along with a friend, and introduces Betsy and Melony while going further into Teresa and Danielle, Isabella on dark path only.
-Brothel leveling redone - no longer based on level.  Once the brothel is open, every 200 steps on an overland map will cause the next group of customers to come through.
-Fixed the bug with random encounters being turned off after the party scene.

Things that are not bugs!
-There is no ability to go back to prior content once you enter Corsix in 0.5.  0.6c will allow you to go back to the colonies (Celee) but not until then.
-0.6a is linear, intentionally so.  0.6b will finish Terra's arc and open up the Western Rata to exploration.  0.6c will introduce the royal whorehouse (actual name tbd) and allow the player to go backwards to resolve old content.

Downloads!
Fixing, rerelease within 10-20 min

Do not ask for alternative DDLs.  One week from today I will upload to mediafire and set up the gmail account to auto-reply again and be will respond in forum with it.  But until then there's 4 links to try and none require registration or payment.
0.6a CG pack will be up in a few days.  Same as prior packs, only on the usual downloads.


As usual feedback is greatly appreciated!  In particular, how did you like the linear design of 0.6a.  I thought it allowed me to focus far more on character progression.  It won't be part of every release, but it was a nice change of pace for me.  Preferably on one of the feedback threads linked from this blog, but in comments if you prefer.

Status

Testing is continuing.  A bit slower than I was hoping, but we're approaching the end.  The game itself is playable and we're just taking care of a few odds and end bugs.  Maps have to be gone over to make them more visually interesting and I'm adding in some filler dialogue.

Hopefully release by the end of the month.

Testing begun for 0.6a

I've found enough testers for 0.6a to start the process.  Thanks to everyone who was interested!

As testing begins I should be able to start to get some ETA for release, but atm we're a few weeks at least.

Asking for testers

0.6a is coming along well, and it's getting near (but not yet at) the point where I'll need some testers for the new content.  Seems like most of my usual testers on are summer vacation or something, and I'll need 3-5 more for testing so I'm seeing if anyone wants to help me find the many bugs that are still in 0.6a.

What I'm going to need is testers to do some specific testing, trying to find bugs primarily, spelling/grammar issues as a secondary.  I'll be communicating via a SVN for bug reports and secondary releases.  There will be a few requirements to doing so.

1.  The free time to do so.  I'm expecting to start testing on 7/7 and have it run for a week hopefully, but no more than 2-3 weeks.  But during that week I do expect people to be able to put in some fairly serious testing.
2.  You will have to install a SVN software to get the newest versions.  I have a nice walkthrough on how to install it, but it will be required.
3.  The patience and wherewithal to actually do testing.  This isn't a public beta, this is a testing phase.  The game is most certainly broken at the moment and it's your job to poke and prod every crevice finding the spots that it's cracked.
4.  You must be fluent in English.  I understand that people from all over the world play Harem, but for testing I need to be able to communicate easily.

If you are interested, send an e-mail to haremrpg@gmail.com including the following.
0.  The subject must be 'Harem Testing'.  If it is anything else (or less or more) I will automatically delete it without reading it.
1.  A few sentences on how testing is different than playing.
2.  Any experience you have working with RPG-VX
3.  Any experience you have in game design or testing previously.
4.  An idea of how much time you'll be able to put in over the next few weeks for testing.


Thank you to everyone who applies in advance.  Please understand that I am intentionally keeping the number of testers fairly small so I can manage the team and with the number of e-mails I'm likely to receive from this, I won't be able to contact anyone but those I chose.  If you didn't get an email by Friday, sorry, but you'll have to wait until release.

And hopefully release will be sometime mid to late July.

Progress, distractions, and file hosts

So we've made quite a bit of progress on 0.6a and it's coming together nicely.  Phases 1 and 2 are done, and when phase 3 is completed testing will begin.  Still a few weeks (3-4) until testing begins, and then another few weeks until release.  Diablo 3 is proving to be a distraction as it's an amazing game but I had been figuring that in all my estimates so far.  Total scene count is up to 169, but a few of those is scenes that weren't part of the system before.  Think actually scene add is 18 or so.

On a side note, holy shit does 3dcg work better when it's on a SSD.  If you're another developer using the program to create images for your game, getting one will make things alot easier for you.

Finally, Rapidgator seems to have crashed.  The admins are saying that it'll be back up soon but they've been saying that for quite a few days now.  Fortunately I had just triggered a payout so I didn't lose much if they don't come back.  I've added filelaser and bitshare as hosts to make sure the game is available, because file factory isn't enough on its own.  And if any of you are developing your own content and want some information on how to go about keeping your game free while making a bit of money on the side, send me a PM on one of the boards I have a nice writeup explaining how to do it right, and the upsides and downsides of it.

Edit : Uploading CG packs to Bitshare and Filelaser now, gonna take a while though.

Rough 0.6 release schedule

 0.6 breaks into 7 phases kinda naturally. Phases 1-4 inolve the primary arc and Terra with a few threads of leftover arcs from 0.5 and prior. Phase 5 is the opening of the new area to general exploration and is heavily focused on the other unresolved questions from 0.5. Phase 6 and 7 involve intergrating content from 0.4 and prior into the 0.6 content and a new sexual training sidequest.

0.6a will be phases 1-3 and will be comletely linear. 0.6b will be 4&5 and will be a bit more open world, but still confined to one region map. 0.6c will be phases 6&7 and you'll be able to go whereever you want (except further foward).

Optimistically I'd like to have 0.6a in testing within 4-6 weeks and released within a few weeks of that, with the following versions spaced not more than 3 months apart.

But this is all just planning, what I want to and to some degree think that I can do.

Edit : And a teaser of course

Wiki!

A big thank you to Savyar and StarkePK over at Legend of Krystal, who have started a wiki on Harem.  Wander on by, see what's there and contribute anything you think is appropriate.  They're planning on adding in a walkthrough and CG unlock guide as well as character descriptions and pictures from the game.

Thanks!

http://haremthefantasyslavegame.wikia.com/wiki/Harem_The_Fantasy_Slave_Game_Wiki

I'm doing a bit to support them, but by in large it's completely they're creation.  For my part work is ongoing on 0.6 and progress is being made.  Figure about 20-30 minutes of gameplay currently, with 12 new scenes added.  0.6 is going to be another very large content patch like 0.5 was, but with it's design it'll be fairly easy to carve into sections to allow for more progressive releases.  Ultimately there will be 7 phases to it that all are fairly discrete.  So current plans is to release phases 1-3 together, 4&5 later, then finally 6&7.  There won't be any big cliffhangers between the sub-releases, although there is a doozy coming at the end of 0.6.

Stay tuned!  Of course, no ETAs on anything yet.

And what's a post without teasers.  New characters!  Well not exactly new, but only hinted at or brushed on in current content.

0.6 progress

Been writing away on 0.6 and it's turning out well so far.  If everything works out how I think that it should I think it will be the best content that I've written for the game so far.  0.6 is going to revolve around the recovery of Terra (either rescue or recapture depending on path) but goes much further into the backstory of Rata/Celee and the different factions.  Should be interesting and make the world of Harem a bit more vibrant.

So far I've mostly written the first of 4 arcs in 0.6 which occurs while you're traveling into Rata on the tram.  Heavily focused on Jessica and either Donnie or Tomas and how they integrate themselves into your group.  It also is the first time that the character really has had time to talk to his companions/slaves for a while and goes into his quest, backstory, and goals a bit further.

Oh yes, and of course there's a lot of sex in it.  Already added in 10 new scenes (each path will see three of them during the first arc, but they'll be very different based on the path and how you've acted to Jessica in the past).  Jessica's gotten a cock in every hole so far, and Angelica gets to introduce herself to her new companion as well.

Progress is being made, but I don't have any eta beyond months away.

And what's an update without a few teasers.

Now is the time for feedback!

Alright, with the bugs and file hosting issues pretty much taken care of, all my attention is going to be focused on 0.6.  Well once this move is finished and internet is back to a consistent thing.

But what I need more than anything else right now is feedback.  Let me know what you've thought of the game so far, either here or in either of the feedback threads.  If I develop in the dark the results won't be as good.  What work, what didn't, what you want to see expanded, what you want to see closed.  I've added a poll off on the right for a quick answer.

If you can spare a minute or three, let us know what you thought.

I'm unlikely to make another post here for a few weeks until I have something worthwhile to say about 0.6.  But I will be responding to comments both here and in the feedback threads.

Possible alternative ddl

So I have been hearing about problems with file factory, and am trying to find other download sites that I can use and gain some small commission off of.  Unfortunately most of the big ones don't allow any US resident to participate.

Rapidgator doesn't seem to have that restriction, so I'm going to try them.  For now just the Harem 0.5.1 game itself, but if it works out I will copy all the CG packs there as well.  Try it, let me know if it works properly.

http://rapidgator.net/file/6356152/Harem_0.5.1.exe.html

And as always, if you can't get either of these to work, please send me a PM on either hongfire or futunari and I'll reply back with a mediafire link.

Update : The requests that I've gotten for the MF link have gone to about 0 since adding the rapidgator link.  For now I'm going to call the downloading question answered and continue using both File Factory and Rapidgator from here on out.  The CG packs will be available on both, that should be updated very soon.

I'm still exploring donation options, possibly with extras.  Thinking of throwing in a 100% CG save for donators, maybe the unecrypted version.  But I'm not going to worry about that too much until we get close to 0.6, which is still months away.

Work starting on 0.6

So from reading the feedback, I'm fairly happy with 0.5.1 as the final release version of 0.5.  There's a bug or two left, but nothing gamebreaking enough to call for a 0.5.2.  Work will begin on 0.6.  My number of blog posts will be less over the next few weeks and months, but be confident the game is being worked on.  I have no ETA on 0.6 release at all currently, so don't ask :)

Two more people have joined the Harem team, otakujoe23 and HirotonoRei, both will be focused on editing and proofreading.  Hopefully 0.6 will not be as much as an affront to the English language as 0.5 is.  It will still be as much of an affront to human sensibilities as 0.6, potentially even more.  But that's why you all play :)  Many thanks to the both of them.

Still feel free to hit me up for mediafire links if you can't get filefactory to work.  I'm working with some ideas to better release 0.6, monetizing it to some degree while trying to give access to as many people as possible.  I'm considering a time tiered release, but it's still just in early thoughts.

I would ask everyone to play the game to come by and leave feedback on either the hongfire or futunaripalace threads.  A few reasons.  First feedback is critical to make the game better.  I need to know what worked and what didn't.  What scenes had you fapping and which ones yawning.  What you want to see happen in later versions.  Things like that are tremendously useful to all of us, both in terms of the quality of what we make and our own motivation.  It also helps people find the game by keeping it active on the forum.

And drop off a few plus reps and thanks as well to anyone in the team that's responding in the thread.  Just makes us feel good!

Thanks for playing and let me know what you thought!

Oh, if any mods over at LoK is reading this.  I'm trying to post your game there as well in the creative corner, but the mod for that sub-forum hasn't be on for a few days and the post is in the moderation queue currently.  Your board seems to be a great place for Harem and any help would be appreciated.

Other great VX games

Seems that April is the month for homebrew smut games!  Both Elysium from Seyser Kose and Despair Labyrinth by KITAmaru have been updated this month and both are well worth your attention as being very well made adult RPG-VX games natively in English.  There's definitely some similiarites between them and Harem.  Very much worth your time to play.  You'll find them both through the links at the bottom of the blog.

And in between debugging 0.5.1 (found a few, but nothing that demands a new version yet) I've been starting on 0.6.  Probably going to be my most linear update as I'm focusing heavily on story and character development in this.  And slowly coming to grasp with basic picture editing so I can start doing multiple images merged to show clothing damage beyond what the actual .tah has built in.  Let me know how they look

Bug found in 0.5.1

There is an out of order bug in 0.5.1.  It's a little bit to narrow of a bug to justify a new release, but let me know if you feel otherwise.  I might do a request only 0.5.2 for the few people affected by this.

Random encounters are turned off after re-entering the Corsix mines after defeating the tentacle king, with no way of turning them back on. This will prevent you from fighting enough of the jungle orcs to find their village in side quest 2. You HAVE to finish the sidequests before re-entering the Corsix mine after the party.

0.5.1 released

Ran into enough bugs to justify fixing and re-releasing.  I'm going to use the filefactory link because when I give the choice, 85% of people are choosing mediafire.  If you need the mediafire link, send me a PM on either hongfire or futunari and I'll send it to you.

http://www.filefactory.com/file/33p6pt7zoerx/n/Harem_0.5.1.exe

CGs remain the same:

CGs from game (100% detail, no reductions or conversion) Broken into content versions.  Some images from scenes that didn't make it into the game.

0.1-0.3 http://www.filefactory.com/file/679025wwmpor/n/0-3_CGs.rar

0.4  http://www.filefactory.com/file/5qbx3tk2y5tj/n/0-4_CGs.rar

0.5 http://www.filefactory.com/file/h01gorpxonb/n/0-5_CGs.rar

0.5.1 bug fixes
A set of conditions could have you see the flame wall, be told to talk to Phoebe at the brothel, and have nothing happen.  Fixed
Sarah's poison quest would only finish if you brought powder, fixed.
A few bugs with the sidequests fixed
Angelica's bonus quest no longer repeats
Ariel's voting text fixed (she was voting properly, just saying that she wasn't.)
Jon "Tax collector" appears before you talk to him
Ralph is actually under house arrest now, can't leave mansion.
Francis will recognize the fact that he's no longer talking to Samantha
Frenja doesn't know about Kathleen's condition before you meet her
You can wait to enter Corsix now where the screen comes back on.
Mayor's amulet disappears properly now
Can no longer repeatedly get elemental cloaks
Numerous grammar fixes (but not all)

Most of these should work with a 0.5 save.
Any kind of content skip will be part of 0.5.2

File factory down, mediafire link from download

Seems that file factory has gone down, I'm going to use my mediafire account temporarily to distribute until it comes back up.

Links updated in download area.  CGs will have to wait.

First bug in 0.5 found

First bug has been found. If you choose to poison Sarah and the barter Samantha, Lex will disappear before you can reclaim Samantha. Don't barter her, that will be fixed in 0.5.1

For now, either just pay for the poison or find his powder.  Don't barter Samantha.

Make that two bugs.  Don't investigate the burning village (sidequest started in Eleen) with Terra joined but not Sarah or the sidequest will not be completable.  

0.5 released!

The vapor has condensed into a solid, playable game!  0.5 is released!  As well as the graphics used in the game.

Game :  http://www.filefactory.com/file/4dwmcl1uwqyt/n/Harem_0.5.exe

CGs from game (100% detail, no reductions or conversion) Broken into content versions.  Some images from scenes that didn't make it into the game.

0.1-0.3 http://www.filefactory.com/file/679025wwmpor/n/0-3_CGs.rar

0.4  http://www.filefactory.com/file/5qbx3tk2y5tj/n/0-4_CGs.rar

0.5 http://www.filefactory.com/file/h01gorpxonb/n/0-5_CGs.rar

As usual, any and all feedback is welcome.  I'd prefer any bug reports on one of the linked forums just as comments aren't a good spot for them.

Very close

We should be within a few days of release.  I'm sorry for how long it's been since I've had a real content patch, but if you can just wait a few more days, I think that you'll find that there's a huge amount of new content coming in.

0.5 will bring
-Scene count up to 148.  This more than doubles the number of scenes in the game.
-Corsix (Proper or Ratan) major zone added with unique quests for every character.
-A dramatic upgrade in many of the systems underlying the game.  Grammar should be far better, combat should be less awful (notice I didn't say good), and music should be better (I usually play RPG maker games muted and had simply forgotten about it).
-A epic sidequest that winds through the 0.4.2 and before content.
-Introductions to 7 new characters, one capturable.
-Two existing characters will finally join the fold.

A repeat of an old message.  Your old saves will not work in 0.5.  Regrettable but necessary.  Initially chapter skip will be disabled while you all find the bugs that we missed.  I will try to have a 0.5.1 release within 2-3 weeks of the 0.5 release that will enable chapter skip again.  But I think the amount of new content in old zones should justify the replay.

I will be switching to filefactory for the hosting.  Harem is free and I have no plans to charge for it in the future, but if I can make a few dollars and not inconvenience anyone, well I don't see any reason not to do it.  If it's a big issue for people I'll release side by side with mediafire, but I'd prefer that you use the filefactory link.

Here is the 0.4.2 link if you want to make sure that it works for you.
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2gvthnhu7hph/n/Harem.exe


Also if anyone knows of a blogging site that would let me have advertisements and income generated by the blog, please let me know.  Assuming that it's not a pain in the ass of course (no pop-ups or aggressive banner ads.  Evidently you all enjoy this game enough to check this blog on average 150 times a day.

New download link.

I'm trying a new site to download Harem, and want to give it a bit of a test run before I release 0.5 (which will happen in a few days).  I do get paid a bit for your downloads but I want to make sure that they don't inconvenience the people who play my game.  So let me know if there's any issues with the new service.



edit : removed turbobit link


And just to clarify - I have no intentions of charging for Harem.  The game is free, all that I'm doing is making a bit from the distribution.  I may also be moving this blog in the future to one that I can draw some income from as well.  If anyone would know of a good blog host that allows you to monetize a adult blog, please let me know.

Edit : actually never mind, evidently they are fine to let you create an account and upload a file from the US, just not actually download it.  Dumb.  Mediafire links put back.

First front to back playthrough

Getting close.  Was just able to complete our first playthrough front to back and get through all the content.  Ran into a load of bugs on the way, but was able to fix all of them and never have to use any manual switches to fix anything.

Normally this would happen a bit earlier in the dev cycle, but 0.5 has a different design then most prior releases.  Generally each release focuses primarily on a single event chain which is long and winding.  0.5, from a dev standpoint, is far more like a batch of 15 simple strings.  Each string in itself is easy to check, but what proved the biggest challenge was binding them together properly where everything works as it should and the it all feels natural. That part is done, mostly just oddball grammar bugs, the always present /n[1] (which needs to be \n[1] to work) and a few missing faces.

I may throw in a few more scenes while my testers try to find what I missed, but Harem is over 140 scenes with what 0.5 adds in.

April release is almost a certainty.

I can't stop writing scenes!

I'm trying to test.  Really I am.  But every time I play for more than 30 minutes a new idea for a scene comes in.  Get through Eliba, I get an idea for a bonus scene in the pirates cove.  Clear out the orc camp, and here's one for the Tower of Selem.  And they're starting to breed.  One scene is making ideas for another.

I guess that's why I'm thankful for my testers.  Because I suck at it ;)

Up to 140 scenes between major and minor scenes.  So you all have quite a bit of porn coming at you.  Still on pace for a release sometime during April.

Testing has begun on 0.5

0.5 has reached an beta state!  Where the update isn't finished, but the vast majority of content is in as well as a huge number of bugs.  moonblack and Calristan have been doing a great job digging through the new content and finding the many many errors I made.  Part of development I guess.

Raziel321 is working on a few new combat scripts which should hopefully give the combat in Harem some much need flavor.  Don't want to go into too many spoilers about it, but I'm quite excited on how it's going to play and feel.

Megaflamer and ninjican are finishing up the last of the art content in 0.5.  Looking very nice so far, much like a living world.  Sprites are solid with a few custom sprites for different character outfits.

Myself, I'm still writing.  Finishing up the end sequence of 0.5 and then going to go back and add a few more scenes to the 0.4 content.  I'm a fairly lousy tester (as I act the way that the I expect the player to act) so during most of the testing phase I work on backfilling some content.  There's still about three long events that I have to finish writing before 0.5 could possibly released, and 5 more scenes or so I'd like to add if time permits, although I can release without them.  Then a bit of breadcrumbing events and some NPC filler dialogue.

Also we've squashed some bugs that were in 0.4 content.  Noemi's brothel sequence should be completable as well as Sarah's orc GoR scene.  

I'm not looking for any more testers (or contributors at all atm).  But 0.5 is progressing nicely and I'm giving a rough ETA of some time in April for initial release.

Updated link and compromises

First a bit of clerical.  With the chaos in file host services, my multiupload link doesn't work.  Steveman on Hongfire is hosting the game temporarily, so check the thread to download it.  When 0.5 is ready I'll take a look at the situation for hosts and use a new one.  But I have time to not worry about it.

Just to quickly address one common response to this.  While I do use a SVN for development, it's not appropriate for release.  My skill in VX has grown past the sledgehammer stage, but only up to machete.  Not scalpel.  The development version is not a working version, and I like it that way.  Lets me develop more freehand and worry about the consequences during testing.  And I'd prefer to work hidden to avoid spoilers.

Also please do not use this blog for bug reports.  It's a horrible format for it.  Use the blog for either feedback or suggestions.  Use the forum threads linked for bug reports please.

On a positive note, Musca from Futanari and imercenary from Hongifre have offered their help in writing the last few scenes that I've been having issues with.  I want to thank them both.

Finally I've decided to make a few compromises in developing 0.5.  The biggest will be save compatibility, or lack thereof.  The core engines in Harem have changed dramatically during development, and trying to write correction events has turned nightmarish.  I will not be doing so for 0.5 and you will have to restart the game fresh.  Kurupt has been kind enough to do a grammar pass on nearly the entire game, so it should also be a better experience than it has been so far.

I might rebuild the chapter skip to support the new version, although that is not a promise.  When 0.5 goes in for testing I will work on it, but those tend to be very complicated events as well and buggy.  It's in the maybe pile, but you might have to restart at the beginning.  Sorry.

There is currently no eta on 0.5. 

Strange

So I've been gone for a while.  Most of it had to do with Holiday busyness, but I've also been having a huge writers block about the game for the last month or two.  To the point where I actually went onto the forums and put the game on hiatus.

I definitely over-reached with 0.5.  Both the most complex code that I've worked on, both in terms of eventing and content.  Some of it flowed easily, but with the way I've set up the content, every character needs their own story arc and some of them just won't come.  In hindsight I'm working to much on character rather than story, but there's too much content already in 0.5 for me to scrap the general idea of it.  I'm not quite sure how I'll finish the remaining arcs.  0.6 and beyond will definitely be different, I'm going to be doing a few deus ex machina moves in order to streamline the content so I can focus more on the story.

But after putting the game on Hiatus, it's actually been easier for me to write.  Rather than dealing with the arcs that I'm stuck on, it's allowed me to skip over those steps and write some of the end parts of 0.5.  So while I'm still leaving the status of the game on Hiatus, 0.5 will come out sooner or later.  I just don't have any idea of when.