Saturday, February 23, 2013

Been busy

Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while.  Haven't had a great deal of time recently to work on Harem.  As I find time I do write, but no ETA on 0.6b yet.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Close to the end!

That was interesting.  Both Sarah and Noemi had a clear lead, but were incredibly close to each other.  Looks like Sarah won, I'll be adding her to to 0.6b as we go.

There is one thing that I could use for 0.6b.  For one of the fights I have in my mind, you'd have to be able to see the HP of the enemies individually.  So far we haven't been able to find or create a script that would let us do that.  Beyond the function of displaying health bars, it would need to do the following
1 - Be compatible with existing saves, or come with a secondary script to make old saves compatible with it.
2 - Be fairly easy to implement.  I don't want to have to recode the entire game to make it happen.
3 - Not to have a restrictive license.
4 - Be able to be turned on and off with a in-event or notes command.

If you know of a script that would do all these things, please let me know!

Also a team member brought up a cool idea for a donation option.  A custom sprite/face file for the main character in Harem!  Play yourself in our merry little adventure :).  It would require an unencrypted download and be a $20 commission work, so it'd should be prices at $50 (unencrypted + custom sprite/face), $70 (non-canon + custom sprite/face) and $120 (non-canon + commissioned scene + custom sprite/face).  The prices feel a bit high, but the unencrypted is just required for to insert a sprite and the additional cost would go directly to Neman who would be creating the graphics.  Tell me what you think of the idea and what you'd be interested.  I'm still fighting to find a way to get the store existing, so it'll still be a bit before anything is available. 

And a few teasers as 0.6b is coming along nicely.  Hopefully begin testing within a month or so and then release a few weeks after that.






Thursday, January 10, 2013

Vote!

Bringing back one of the harem in 0.6b has been bouncing around in my head but I can't decide which one should.  So I've decided to leave that up to you.  Which of the slaves currently unavailable should return in 0.6b?  There should be a poll on the right within a few minutes to vote.  The highest vote-getter will make a cameo at least in 0.6b.  Keep in mind that Jessica, Angelica, Terra, Donnie/Tomas, Rhea/Alena and Cecilia all have roles already so they won't be choices.

Don't worry about the 'how' part of it.  This is simply a 'who do I want to see most' poll.  I can figure out that side of it for just about any character.

Thank you for all the feedback on the Harem "store" for donations.  I'll be working on it over the next few weeks, getting more feedback (feel free to contact me at haremrpg@gmail.com) both internally and externally and hopefully it'll go live around the 0.6b release.

0.6b is going well.  Just finished up 'rescuing' Terra on both paths.  Have to combat, write some conclusion dialogue and then wrap out some side arcs.  Planning on addressing Vanessa and Cecilia as well as creating some side quests/PoI's in the zone as well.  Still hoping to be testing in February.

There's a pair of retcon's introduced in 0.6b both involving what happened when you got off the Tram.
-Vanessa met you in Denai on either path, and ordered you to flee when ambushed by Betsy or Melony
-Denai wasn't burned to the ground, you just fled and didn't return until after Terra was recovered.

I'd also like to highlight a few of the other games that I've been playing recently.
First, a pair of Brothel/Whore management sims
Brothel.sim - Early in development, but very promising so far.  Starting with one whore and the streets, you slowly build up your employees and buildings trying to pay off an old debt.  Good dynamics, does a far better job than most of these types of games in giving the characters personalities.  Playable directly at http://brothels.im/ and give feedback and/or download the game over at https://www.futanaripalace.com/showthread.php?50732 (registration required).  Lots of promise and fun already.
Mission Brothel - Further along in development.  Many more characters, actions, and items but doesn't have quite as much personality.  Definitely worth a play.  Go to https://www.futanaripalace.com/showthread.php?41535 (again registration required) and then go to page 32 to grab direct download links for the game.  Don't do the firefox loading thing, not necessary in the newest version.

A few RPG maker games that look good but I haven't had time to play yet.
Invasion D http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/413464 http://invasiond-e.blogspot.com/?zx=f8e6c0c80bcb48db
Overwhored http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/403147 http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/403147
Bonehead http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/352093 http://regless.blogspot.ca/

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Harem "Store"

So the paypal donation thing didn't work.  Evidently while I have no issue giving things away for nothing, they have quite a bit of an issue if I take something without giving something immediately back.  And their usual 'There are no appeals' sense of customer service leaves quite a bit to be desired, so I've decided to say 'Fuck them' and try again somewhere else.  I'd recommend that everyone else do the same.

I've been thinking of doing a store concept, where if you donate you get access to some secondary things to go with Harem.  Nothing critical or game affecting, but either additional content or easier access to existing content.  It's not live at the moment, but what I'm really looking for in the next week or two is feedback. 

Do you think that these things are enticing and fairly priced? 
Is there any thing which you think I missed?
If you were on the fence about donating, will any of these incentives sway you?

1.  100% CG mode unlock.  Fairly simple for me to create and maintain.  Simply unlocks every scene available in current content for viewing the CG mode.
2.  Unencrypted download for Harem.  I usually use the standard encryption routine in VX when I release Harem, mostly just because I think that it's a cleaner way and that if I give direct access to the code it might tip my hand a bit early.  But it could definitely be a donation item.
3.  Non-canon scenes.  I occasionally have ideas for scenes that don't really fit into the storyline, or the storyline moves away from them after I create them.  Usually they just get left on the cutting room floor.  You'll occasionally see evidence of them in the CG packs where there's pictures that don't correspond to any scene.  I would maintain a separate, private download for Harem where those scenes exist through the CG mode.
4.  CG packs.  It feels odd to take something that's free and put it behind a donation wall, but the CG packs are kinda of a perfect example of something that could be donation only.  Looking for feedback here, if you all would hate it, it won't happen.
5.  Commission scenes - I'll write a scene for you, whatever you want.  (Normal no loli, guro, scat rules would apply).  Give me a plot line, as detailed or general as you want and within a few weeks I would have a new Harem package for you where that scene is accessible through the CG mode.  Something which I think might also be very cool is that any commissioned scene gets put into the non-canon package, so anyone that commissions a scene or donates enough to get the non-canon scenes also gets access to everyone else's fantasy as well.  Very much up to the buyer though.

What I would think of for a donation level would be something like
$10 - 100% CG
$20 - CG packs
$30 - Unencrypted download
$50 - Non-canon scenes
$100 - Commissioned scene

Please let me know what you think about the idea.  The store is definitely not up yet and the non-canon/commissioned scenes may take a while to develop.


Beyond that, general news.  With the holidays finally ending, work is starting to resume on Harem.  The trip up the mountain is done in terms of plot/writing/scenes.  Rescuing Terra is 90% done for light path for plot/writing/scenes.  The dark path mirrors in this chapter so writing that will be fairly simple as well.  Vanessa's arc is almost entirely plotted in my head, and Cecilia's arc is mostly figured out as well.  I have a few ideas for some side-events, maybe even a quest or two in the Western Rata zone as well.  Probably start testing in February/March but don't quote me on that.

And I suppose that I could do a few spoilers as well.











Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

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

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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]

Thursday, November 29, 2012

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.