Sunday, March 27, 2016

3m2 Release dates



We’re just finishing up on 3m2 and I’m confident enough to pin down some release dates to it.  If everything goes as expected, I’ll release 3m2 to tier 2+ patrons on April 5th and then out to the public on April 22nd.
Please keep in mind that all release dates are projected.  I’m fairly confident in these ones, but unexpected things can and do happen.  They are not set in stone.

What 3m2 is going to add:
3 more sidequest lines
-Phoebe will have another quest for you, this time sending you underneath the Castra Corson and more into its history.  Involves Terra heavily, Fiona lightly.
-Fiona has another quest for you, independent of Phoebe’s.  And if you can attract her interest, she might even join you for a dinner.  Which will not end well.
-Gregory has a quest to send you west, into new lands.  You’ll meet some hardy harvesters.  And take one of them for your own, after doing some quests for her.  And meet someone new.
The resort in the fishing village is now open and Sarah would love to visit.  Even if she doesn’t know everything that goes on there.
Added the library to Castra Corson and put Phoebe and Terra into it.  Your chambers are now your own.
Restructured the way you interact with your slaves in base, making it easier to choose if you want to do their quest or interact with them.  Also added in a ‘quickie’ mode.  Not a scene, but you can call on your slaves at will now.
Added Fenja and Cindy to the base.  They won’t have any interactions but you’ll see them at least.
Restructured the replay scene mode to show what scenes you still have to unlock.
Various bug fixes, like getting the items from the Fenja questline.  They will be retroactive so you won’t have to redo that line.
Made it clear that the inn in Eowen is not actually for sale.  I might revisit that concept later, but it’s not part of content currently.

As always, I love any support and feedback I get on Harem.  If you want to donate to fund development of the game, make sure that you put in your pledges before the end of the month.  Patreon only runs the pledges at the end of the month, and if you don’t get in your pledge before the end of the month you’ll have to wait until next month to get the early release or additional content.

35 comments:

  1. thanks man! love your game and am glad that you returned! the improvements in V2 are really good too :D

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  2. Would that Pheobe quest have anything to do with the area that's blocked off by the gate in the passage between the fortress and corsix?

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  3. ...Dunno if this is the right place to put this, but a couple bugs to report:

    First, if one beats the Fenja sidequest before they've visited their new fortress, the people never show up.

    Second, after doing the Fiona sidequest, the bearded fellow in the bar keeps looping the same dialogue over and over rather than offering the next one or asserting he's got no more.

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    1. Also, the chief jungle orc doesn't drop his axe upon defeat.

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    2. And in the Bleak Bay dungeon, leaving the boss room to explore further results in having to fight the boss again.

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    3. Oh, *and* forces you to walk back inside, meaning there's *no* way to finish exploring the dungeon. Lovely.

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    4. And *after* giving up and warping out of that dungeon with the Hearthstone, it coats everything in that same dark filter. Man, at this point, mentioning I felt the random encounter rate in these archeology quests was a bit too high just seems rude.

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    5. Thanks for the reports!
      Minor slaves don't appear in base in 3m1. Not a bug, but a decision that I've changed my mind on. In 3m2 you'll see them, but they won't do anything really.

      The Jungle Orc items/Bleak Bay combat repeat is known and will be fixed in 3m2 as well.

      If you ever run into a situation where the screen keeps a tint, use the main characters 'check id ring' skill and do a conditional reset to bring it back to full light, but I'll fix that for 3m2 as well.

      On the encounter rate, I'd love additional feedback on that. Sidequests are supposed to be more combat focused than main story but if I've gone too far with that I can pull it back.

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    6. Well... I guess part of the problem is that, to my mind, just *having* random encounters has already made them combat-focused. And when the interior is such a sprawling maze, it feels just terrible to have skeletons and beetles jumping on you every five steps when you'd rather be exploring and looking for loot.

      Still, I like the concept, and I like that the loot you get isn't a straight upgrade, but rather offers trade-offs that reward knowledge of the system.

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    7. Also, considering Terra's primary purpose is blastering people to death with fire magic, and considering she's squishier, slower, and more-dependent on a more-limited pool of resources than anyone but Donna, who plays support anyway, I'd up her damage.

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    8. Yep, she's getting buffed in a few different ways in 3m2

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. M'kay, here i go after finishing v2:
    1. Fun wise, the game doesn't even come close to v1.
    You cut much of the fun stuff out like the beach house owner content in fishing village with the gang rapeys <3.. it was really, really disappointing.
    But v2 is.. more organized now i guess, i liked some of the improvements like layout of things but i was generally very bored anyway.

    2. Lots and lots of typos, misspells, wrong word usages, text mismatches with whats actually going on with the models, etc, etc.
    The entire text needs a thorough scan and fix.
    Then some of the new places are bugey as well, like the treasure hunt.

    Verdict: You got lot's of work to do, indeed. Especially if you ever want to catch up to your previous quality work, it seems that a year of emo-slacking did not do you any good.
    But i expect good things from you anyway, since v2 looks and feels okay-ish generally, just not quite up to par to v1 yet.

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    1. Also it's gettin' bit annoying, the continuous ranting about holy quests and "savior of ZE people" or whatever from our dear protagonist.. I want him to be a proper jackass when his ethos is in the minus, i want him to rant about taking over Ratan then sending it's army over the sea to conquer his homeland, which how a proper jackass version of him should get back at his king buddy back there, neat huh? :D

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    2. And obviously if you hadn't guessed yet, we keep all the sluts for ourselves. Like hell i'll be selling my sluts to some fat asshats who backstabbed me at the first sign of the king wanting my hide when i got too powerful for his liking back then. HA! :D

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    3. Well I like the new combat quests, it's not bad for all so please don't speak for all the players. It's a good way to gain money for better equipment especially now that we have our lovely Fiona.
      About keeping the girl or not for example I'd like an ending where you could choice for example who will you buy or who not, maybe all maybe just some, maybe no one. I love all the girls so i'll be really sad if i need to saygood buy to them after all the time spent adventuring with them, but we need a solution anyway for the problem of the kingdom. Of course giving them all in exchange for nothing it's a bit too generous, but the angel give us powers in order to help us find a way to make thing better for all not just us. That is for the light path. But about the dark part i have the same opinion as Meatbag, there is no way if i play dark that i want just to give the girls i've got to someone else. That's just my opinion of course.

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    4. Also forgot to mention the fonts in v2 suck, get the text frame and fonts from v1 and import em into v2 or i'll break my eyes soon. :D
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    5. Before i got to sleep, and before i forget all about what i'm about to say i guess i'll bother to say it even though i'm barely conscious at this point so here goes:

      The game is quite suitable to have 3 different main storylines, 1 for positive ethos, one for neutral ethos, and one for negative ethos - with 3 different endings as well. How the protagonist behaves should be affected by which ethos hes currently in, 'tis simple just like i mentioned already he shouldn't be ranting about saving and holy quests and whatever when hes in negative, etc.

      M'kay, i'm almost out of it so figure the rest yourself, i'm sure you'll be a good boy and make everybody happy. :P

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    6. Hmm, not much constructive here, but I'll try to respond.

      1. Very little content has been cut. I'm recoding and rewriting it for VX ACE. Fishing resort is starting in 3m2. Brothel is out, but even that's up for discussion.
      2. Content is changing. Having the main character be a brain dead misogynistic sadist wasn't what I was looking to create, and that's what v1 turned into. If that's your thing, well v2 will not be what you want.
      3. The holy quest is your motivation. That will change over time, but that's where the character starts. Yes he dreams of power, but his people are dying off. And that's the core issue. Having your character shrug it off immediately makes no sense.
      4. What happens to your harem at the end is way too far for me to even guess at.
      5. 3 storylines? 2 is plenty of work as it is.
      6. While I definitely want people to enjoy Harem, I know I can't please everybody. Some have to be left behind, and I'm pretty sure that you will be one of them.

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    7. I see. Well, excuse me for not being any more clear. Basically, you need to clean up the text.
      Unless by "constructive" you mean me sweeping through the entire text the game has, and reporting to you all of the myriad of typos it has? no thanks.

      1. Good, and it better NOT to be out, was one of the cool things about v1.
      2. I see, so basically now you feel like you want to create yet another (yeah they're everywhere, like roaches) hero type protagonist.... who goes around all heroic-like and makes everybody his slave.. heroically. :D Genius.
      By all means, do make him all hero-like but then please remove your entire "ethos" system, what's the point of having that there if all you want for the protagonist to be, is hero? But, if you want to keep his evil side... Currently, his evil side is severely lacking.

      Let's see, i simply want to get you to make his evil path to be proper evil-like, no bs, do it like it was in v1 or make it even worse.. for you see when it comes down to evil; "misogynistic sadist" is like a badge of honor, the crazier the better.

      And if you did not get me the first time i hope you will this time, i wish you well and success in fact, don't misjudge me, i just never sugar-coat anything.


      3. You can't possibly... be thinking of using one motivation for 2 sides of the same coin? Hm?
      Why should evil care about some people somewhere?
      Evil, is damn selfish my friend. >:)
      So unless these people of his are useful enough to justify him needing them alive.. i don't see the point.
      It makes perfect sense for evil to desire power and control and anything else his selfish self may want, using any means necessary to get what he wants.
      And currently, among other things, he wants - REVENGE.
      Not to be some savior. Evil? Wants to be a savior?
      Does that actually makes sense to you? xD

      Sure, his hero side may want to be a savior, just don't mix this savior glue into the evil path like you are doing it now.

      This is why i also offered the neutral option, the third possibility for you and our protagonist, should you wish to bother making it. In quick summary being neutral would make him fight himself mentally at every turn, torn between revenge and wanting to save his people.. in the end what would he choose? You would adjust the story to suit this and i'm sure it could turn out epic.

      You could also shut down the evil and the light path and make it all into one neutral path while making evil and light conversion into bad ends for him, the angel and the demon would tempt at every turn wanting him to do their bidding, will he resist? Also an interesting twist hm? xD

      Sigh~ my, i have created a couple of stories for you here already, figure the rest yourself i guess. xD

      4. Fair enough, just sayin' ^^)
      5. Also fair enough, just an idea i thought i'd say, see if you want to cook it or not, your business.
      6. Maybe you can't, but even so you have to try.
      That is how legends are made, with supreme effort and dedication, being half-assed about your work will only grant you a half-assed result. ;) Just something to.. keep, at the edge of your mind. ^^)v

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    8. 1. 'It better NOT'? You're crossing the line between giving feedback and orders. As I'm not on your payroll, feedback is what you can do.
      2. You aren't asking for an ethos system though. You want the character to be one extreme or the other. A toggle which is not a story. What I'm trying to do is have the main character starts roughly in the middle and your choices move him one direction or the other. Ditto for the rest of your characters.
      3. There's multiple flavors of evil. I don't want to create a simple evil, it's boring. Evil brought on by lust for power, nationalistic pride and callousness is much more interesting. Especially if it develops over time.
      6. Trying to make something that everyone likes is the easiest way of making a dull product.

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    9. I enjoyed the old story much more too. Having the ability to be good or evil made it much more enjoyable. I have only done a few hours but it has already prevented a murder by one of my slaves and Terra's full mind possession has almost no effect.

      If you have delusions about taking out misogynistic protagonist you would need to take away his magical power that comes from his ring. The power of his ring is pretty much GHB but much much worse. The only way you can show that the protagonist is not misogynistic he would need to use the ring's power to get male slaves. But that would not be a very fun game for heterosexual men.

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    10. I think I'm make a Patreon poll after the 3m2 release to see what the thoughts are on the dark path. Try to get a sense to see if more people want it ramped up a bit. I've been doing that slowly so far but I can accelerate it if people want.

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  6. You are being a bit rude here Meatbag, there is a difference between being rude and being direct without sugar-coating anything.
    The protagonist evil or good start with the same motivation, please think a bit before speaking. Do you think that if he didn't care for his land the angel would give him the id ring? Nope buddy.
    Also don't misunderstand being evil with true evil. ker doesn't want that kind of evil, one can be evil in many ways, chaotic evil, true evil, etc... The evil part is on how he treats the slaves, not on how much he wants them. I don't see any problem on how the character is, that's me, you may not like the evil character of ker and that's also okay, but that doesn't mean that he is lucking something, it's just not what you wanted as an evil character.
    The path changin midway will give us more understending on how one can be different, but it's more realistic if the good path and evil is similiar, it's like the evil path is him being controlled by his emotion, while the good path he can think also about the other and not just himself. Even being egoistic is a form of evil.
    When Ker said that your review was not very costructive I think that he refers to the fact that you almost says that everything apart the slaves sucks just because thins aren't like you want them.
    THere are some typo mistakes, but it's not all horrible as you make things like
    And about the ending, he doesn't need to make everyone happy ok? He is sharing his work and I'm truly grateful for that, not giving us what we want especially if we are not patrons. If you want the protagonist to be non canon you can pay and that may be a differnt story maybe, but if you are a free player like me just enjoy the ride and if something is not as you like use your immagination if ker has other idea about that.

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    1. Sorry if i seem rude to you, that's just how i am. ^^)
      Now please think before YOU speak, not me, i think constantly myself.. thats just how we virgos work. ^^)
      I think the first thing you guys need to figure out, before all else, is what your protagonist starts as in the first place. The fact that you say "evil or good" is proof enough that you yourself have no idea what he starts as, and obviously there is no way in hell evil and good can start with the same motivation, thats just ridiculous so do yourself a favor and abandon this line of thinking asap.

      There can be 3 roads for him in this game, he can start as one of the three i already mentioned namely good, neutral, or evil. After one solid ground is picked out of the tree we can create ways for the players to mold the protagonist into what they want as we progress through the game. Then these changes can be made visible by the game to the player in a myriad of ways.. for example, the manner of his speech. Of course not limited to only that it's all limited only by your imagination, the actual dev skills, what you actually know about games aka experience, and the possibilities of the games' engine.
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      That's all from me for now, i'm done here since looks like the fanboys started to pop out with their endless praise of the most perfect game the universe has ever seen. xD
      I have provided tons of info to think about and i wish to provide no more for the moment, let's see what you will do next with your game Ker, then, perhaps, i will appear again.
      *casts teleport spell* *poof* ...........

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    2. As a virgo, I find you saying "we..." offensive. Please think before you speak, thank you.

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  7. Hi, since it seems that you're redoing the brothel concept, may I suggest an idea for how you can put a twist on the idea and maybe make it even more interesting? How about in major cities going forward there are small Red Light Districts where you can send your slaves to prostitute themselves. You would control them and find clients; this format would be more interactive and give you the flexibility to incorporate sidequests or special encounters. Just throwing the idea out there!

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    1. It's an interesting idea, but I've gotten so much negative feedback on 'sharing' your slaves that I'm a bit hesitant to devote much time to something that many players don't seem to enjoy.

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    2. If it's not too much trouble, I humbly suggest that you solve the dilemma democratically; put up a poll that allows your players to vote on whether or not they would like to see prostitution return. The negative feedback could very well just be from a vocal minority.

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    3. So 'Sharing' your slaves is bad and since Ralph's goal is to bring back slaves for other men do you plan to change up the story plot? Otherwise using them to make a little money on the side didn't seem so 'Bad' as unless you can select a 'Favorite' then they're all going to be whored out in the end... Also unless he is a real patriot shouldn't he be claiming land and amassing power as he goes so he can get home faster? Even if you put other 'Girls not fit to be in the Harem' in the Brothel then that's still some vassals of yours making money for you without much upfront investment on your part.

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  8. I don't have any issue with sharing slaves. It's actually a fetish of my own.

    The issue is threefold

    1. Player feedback that I've gotten which has been generally negative toward whoring out your slaves. I do want to create content that people enjoy.
    2. I never thought that the content was particularly high quality and am unsure if it's worth the development time to recreate it.
    3. From a plot perspective it isn't great. The story is still moving forward not setting up businesses and planting roots. But this is probably the last important concern as the content would be optional.

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  9. Hi I'm the Anon who posted the first two comments on this subject (not the last one). I really believe that the reason you got mostly negative comments about prostitution is that people kind of took that feature for granted. Now that we're facing the possibility of never getting it back, people are beginning to speak up in favor of it. I personally would really like to see it return in some form, and I'm clearly not alone. It's a fairly common fetish (as you can clearly relate to it too). The fact that it was always OPTIONAL should satisfy the folks with different strokes.

    The execution last time around was maybe a little shallow, but there are plenty of ways to improve upon it, and now that you're remaking the whole game this seems like a golden opportunity to do so. I really think that the best way to make that content high quality would be to provide some interactivity; make it so that you can control the girls, either in scripted scenes or in a more open setting where they have to actively find clients. It would mean more work for you, obviously, but higher quality does tend to require that.

    Imagine controlling Noemi on the streets of Corsix at night, deciding whether to take a room at the local brothel, visiting glory holes at the public restroom, or trying to attract wealthy looking customers on the street.

    To cut down on work you could make each type of encounter follow largely similar scripts, with slight variations for each girl. Each girl might be better at certain tasks, making more money for better performance. Some might get more unique dialogue than others, and of course, there would be some special scenes and special clients to unlock.

    These are all mechanics that have, at least separately, been used already in other HRPG games. If you were inclined to adopt them, I think it would take Harem to the next level.

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    1. Those are some really fantastic ideas, even if I don't recreate the brothel I'm almost certain to implement them. Not sure when though.

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