Patch 7

Fixed an issue w/ the stone blocking the path to the dig site not being removed.  Should fix the problem retroactively. 

0.6b.7 Full
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2r0u5jkamiqh/0.6b.7.rar
http://rg.to/file/471e3fc1696c1a765b2b02cfc5c5103b/0.6b.7.rar.html

Patch 7 - Overwrite files inside of data with new files.  No support for beta copies as usual.
http://www.filefactory.com/file/10zdchz8ht7r/Patch_7.rar
http://rg.to/file/94dae4990a42cef19bb096df1ba2f4d2/Patch_7.rar.html

Patch 6

Resolving issues with enemies not spawning in a few different locations.
Also added a full CG pack download.

Full download
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2zjiso7xiuqv/0.6b.6.rar
http://rg.to/file/37b648324c71e86af0d09258dc57839e/0.6b.6.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/otu0w5yv/0.6b.6.rar.html

Patch 6 (only usable from 0.6a.3 final or later, not tested w/ beta).  Overwrite the data folder with new contents.
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1ii0126lrhnh/Patch_6.rar
http://rg.to/file/3bcf56a480fabc52c3abc45948d0a7e8/Patch_6.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/tx4bpnl3/Patch-6.rar.html

Full CG pack (1.2gb)
http://www.filefactory.com/file/6tu3trvrqf53
Rapidgator only allows free users to download 500mb and bitshare upload didn't complete.  Will try bitshare again later.  Normal small CG packs available on the download page or quick links to the right.

Patch 5

Fixes a freeze on entering the Corsix Mines

Full Download 0.6b.5
http://www.filefactory.com/file/4b08oetjvlzz/0.6b.5.rar
http://rg.to/file/1ece5356f699bb3386cd35ddb190ae71/0.6b.5.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/h5355gcv/0.6b.5.rar.html


Patch from 0.6b.3 or 0.6b.4 to 0.6b.5
http://www.filefactory.com/file/izwtmakb5o5/patch%205.rar
http://rg.to/file/d845889271216755941a843f1acf9028/patch_5.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/iwqhkd97/patch-5.rar.html

Grumble. Final version of the final I guess.

Fix 5 things, break one thing I guess.  There was an issue with 0.6b.3 with the dig site which caused a freeze.  Also the packed version evidently blew up.

Full 0.6b.4 download
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1ec75bgepmtf/0.6b.4.rar
http://rg.to/file/d80693e3c94376be297b7e41dfbcffd0/0.6b.4.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/ebbn3od5/0.6b.4.rar.html

Patch 4 (only usable from 0.6a.3 final, not tested w/ beta).  Overwrite the data folder with new contents.
http://rg.to/file/dc2cfb509206ff8acb2cdfd14c90dd42/patch_4.rar.html
http://www.filefactory.com/file/3use5xluy4h7/patch_4.rar

Currently I am not offering a compressed version.  I will try to get it working but for now just use the full version.

0.6b final

So I think that we've found and killed every major bug in the 0.6b so I'm going to make 0.6b.3 the final version. Resolved since the public beta was release was

-A great deal of issues with the cleanup after Terra including Vanessa, Cecilia, and Ariel with their associated events.
-Fadeouts in the Tenta enclave should be fixed.
-The brothel should spawn more customers, but customers will only spawn the the player is 'at risk'.  Walking around town will not generate customers!
-Changed the text skip button from shift to control so it stops clipping with sprint.
-Tram conversation topic reworked.  If you don't know what to do after recapturing Terra talk to Teresa or Danielle about the tram.  Other subjects need to be discussed first.
-Tentacle caves should work properly now.
-Noemi's capture sequence adjsuted so it should be more reliable.
-as102p and HirotonoRei did a great deal of copy editing so the game should read much cleaner now.

Note : Sometime between now and July the RTP for VX changed.  If you get crashes around the jungle orcs or with any missing files please download and reinstall it new.  Harem should have absolutely no crashes from missing files in the final version.
http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download/run-time-package#vx

0.6b.3 final.  Rar file with the images and songs at 'normal' quality.  150mb, just unpack and play after installing RTP. 
Links obsolete

CG packs - Full size high resolution pictures from the scenes.  I usually shoot in 720 but VX can only use 420 in-game so these are the full images.  No in game use just fluff.
0.6b
http://www.filefactory.com/file/69ca9nwgl0f3/CG%20pack%200.6b.rar
http://rapidgator.net/file/d6ec3a7e4d031d17cfde8023f04dd6aa/CG_pack_0.6b.rar.html
http://bitshare.com/files/ufx6zgq2/CG-pack-0.6b.rar.html
0.6a
http://www.filefactory.com/file/28yv2c9vgi8z/0.6a%20CG%20pack.rar
0.5
http://www.filefactory.com/file/h01gorpxonb/0-5%20CGs.rar
http://rapidgator.net/file/6766266/0-5_CGs.rar.html
0.4
http://rapidgator.net/file/6679379/0-4_CGs.rar.html
0.3 and prior
http://www.filefactory.com/file/679025wwmpor/0-3%20CGs.rar
http://rapidgator.net/file/6668515/0-3_CGs.rar.html

Patch 1.2

As usual, just unpack the contents of the patch into your existing Harem folder.  Over-write all files.

Fixes
-Noemi not appearing properly in early content.  Retroactive, if you haven't cleared Western Corsix go back to your quarters in the fortress for a visit.  As usual, requires her jail scene and clearing tentacle caves 1
-A freeze when talking to Teresa after freeing Terra.  Retroactive
-Credits should roll again.
-During Samantha's job you can't repeatedly get drinks or masturbate into them
-Fixed an issue in the hunter quests where you might not get spawns again.
-Countless typos and grammar issues

-There's also a side issue going on.  Evidently Enterbrain updated VX to 1.03a this July and never told their english-speaking customers about it.  But it does cause some discrepancies between the different executable and RTPs.  If you've been having crashes try downloading and re-installing the RTP too see if that helps.  Even if (actually especially if) you've had it on your computer for years.  I think this is the cause of the jungle orc crashes as I haven't been able to replicate any of them.

Links obsolete

Patch 1.1

Found an issue in patch 1 where when you talk to Ulya before going up the mountain the screen doesn't fade in properly.  This patch corrects that as well as many typos.  If you ever find yourself on a black screen, use the id ring which will fade in the screen at the end.

Same as patch 1, this is an incremental upgrade and requires Harem 0.6b to be download.  It is cumulative so it does not require patch 1 to be installed.  Unpack the files in the harem directory, over writing the data folder and adding/overwriting the fonts and swapxt folders.

It sounds like there's a crash in the jungle orc portion of Fenja's sidequest.  I can't see where this is occuring so I haven't been able to pinpoint it.  I really need someone to save me a save from immediately before the crash so I can find it.  Either links here or an attached email to haremrpg@gmail.com please.

Links obsolete

Patch 1

Thanks for all the reports from the public beta.  I think I've fixed every critical bug that's been reported to me so far so I'm releasing a patch to fix those issues.

Patch notes :
-Numerous progress resets fixed.  Unfortunately these can't safely be  made retroactive so those saves affect should be considered corrupted.  Also see below
-Ariel, Vanessa, Terra, and Isabella sequences should all be fixed.  Talking to them should put you back on the path if you are using an old saves.  Note : Teresa/Danielle only giving you options to sleep/leave isn't a sequence issue, it's a result of a progress reset.  That cannot be fixed.
-Sarah and Noemi will only appear when appropriate.
-Terra, Sarah, and Noemi will rejoin your party, not just your harem.
-Tram conversation should be working now.  Once you've done the final assualt, talking to Teresa/Danielle about the tram will let you know what there's left to do outside the base.
-Numerous typos, CG mis-assignments and Ralph references fixed.
-Terra's 2nd dark scene in 0.6b should fire properly.
-Font has been changed for readibilty.  Included in the patch download.
-Text skip has been changed from shift to ctrl.  So when your sprinting through the world and an event pops up you shouldn't miss the first few text boxes.  As a strange side effect f7 lets you walk through walls.  For now I'll accept it, but if you break your save by doing it it's not considered to be a bug.
-In a new game the slave collar from Cindy is an accessory.
-Brothel customers happen more frequently.  This is something which I think is being misunderstood.  The brothel will only get new customers when the player is 'at risk'.  It's tied to the random encounter system.  If you're in a zone that would normally generate enemies, moving around there also adds to the brothel's customers.  It should announce every time you get a new wave.

This is a patch, not a full download.  It will require 0.6b to be installed.  Simply copy the folders into the Harem 0.6b installed directory and over-write everything.  When 0.6b final goes out I'll do another full version download.

Links obsolete

MrTTao from Hongfire had a great suggestion.  Rather than me trying to play through the game once again to create saves, the community could do this themselves.  If you have a save you want, please post it into comments or in the threads describing which path you followed and how far you got.

When 0.6b goes final I'll grab a handful of them and it will be my official 'saves pack' for players who don't want to go through all the content again.

Thank you for all the bug reports!

So a couple of things to clarify and resolve.

First the game does require the VX rtp.  Any dll issues is caused by that not being loaded.  You'll see it on the right under downloads.

The brothel will only get customers in areas that pose a threat to you.  Walking around town will not trigger the customer event.  I will be reducing the number of steps that it requires in final though.

Restructured the Tram conversation topic in final.  Should resolve any issues with the final credits not playing after resolving Vanessa and Ariel.

Many other fixes.  I still need a few saves to go along with reports so I can figure out what went wrong.

Harem 0.6b Public Beta released!

Harem 0.6b has reached public beta!  Much thanks to all of my hard working testers, you caught so many bugs that would of made the game not playable, as well as many small ones which had slipped through the prior releases as well.  This should be the cleanest, most legible version of Harem ever!

A few notes :
-Initially 0.6b was about 160mb large which is too large for the VX packager.  So I compressed the images and audio down quite a bit and made the package only 70mb.  I might of been a bit to aggressive in the compression so I'm also uploading the uncompressed media.  If you want to use it, download it and over-write the graphics and audio folders with the other images.  Should work just fine.
-There was a bug in the encrypter so this is my first version in a very long time that's unecrypted.  Not quite sure why I always encrypted it anyways.  If you want to see how Harem is made you can dig around in the game files (VX required of course) but be warned.  There are spoilers, false flags and much randomness inside the code and if you have programming experience it may cause you to scream in pain.
-When I do a 'final' release I'll be doing the usual email to mediafire option for those people who can't get RG/FF/BS to work.  Please don't e-mail me about it until then.  I will try to add more hosts over time.
-I'm still working on providing saves to skip existing content.  They will be provided in the next week or two (certainly before 0.6b is final).
-I am calling this a public beta.  I got all the bugs that we found, but I'm sure have slipped through.  If getting a bug would be traumatic to you, wait a few weeks for the 'final' version to be released.  There will not be any content differences between them.
-Install the RTP if this is your first time playing a RPG maker VX game.  Instructions on the side as well as in the readme file

Links obsolete

I'm going to ask anyone who wants to give feedback to use one of the linked forums on the right instead of the comments here.  The blog was created to reduce the fluff posts in my threads there as well as to give a less annoying place to the 'status update please' posts but I think it's gone too far and the threads are getting less traffic then I'd like.  The threads are how new players find the game, so if you think that it's worth playing, well please tell them that it is where they'll read it!  Bug reports can be emailed, commented or posted in the forums.


Patch notes : (spoilers in white font, highlight to read)

-Retcons - Vanessa met you in Denai, regardless of path.  Both paths she told you to flee and then you don't see her again.

       -Denai wasn't burnt to the ground.

-Numerous map and faces upgrades

-Climax of Terra's arc.

-Resolution of Vanessa's disappearance and Ariel/Cecilia will make an appearance.

-Complete removal of the random encounter system with a random event system in its place.  While this isn't used all that often in 0.6 content it will give me far more flexibility with random encounters in any zone.

-The id ring has resumed some functionality as a guide, pointing the player to the next step of the main plot.  Very much in beta stages and needing feedback for when it doesn't work properly.

-Fenja has been reclassified as a minor (or inventory) slave.  Her quest will remain as it is but after she's captured there isn't any additional content for her.  Essentially it allows me to create minor slaves at the end of an optional segment or when the character would normally buy/acquire a new slave but without the burden of really creating a character or weaving her into the plot.  While there will still be more major characters introduced it gives me more flexibility in writing.

-Over 90% of people in the survey voted yes to letting me break old saves, so that will be done.  Saves will be provided whenever 0.6b final is released.

-Continued editing and polishing.  While the Corsix edit is still a few months away, Western Corsix and before should be much cleaner.  Along with a change in workflow to increase accuracy it should be far easier to read  Thanks to Hirotono on this.

-New faces.  While this isn't complete, TheEye92 showed me a few issues with my workflow in creating faces that was creating the heavily pixelated look and new faces should be much smoother.  Over time I'll work on going back and replacing as many of the old faces as possible.

-Donna's first two scenes on the dark path have been completely rewritten and imaged.  That was some of my very early rough work and really needed to be updated.  Feel free to [politely] suggest other scenes/events that could use a rewrite and I'll put them on the list.

-I haven't counted precisely yet, but 0.6b should bring on another 100-150 pages of text and another 30 scenes or so.  Wow I really am developing like Valve.

-Rebalancing of characters to make combat more enjoyable and smooth.  This has been going on for a few updates and has gotten to the point where old saves must be junked and new games must be created.

-Made it easier to find the fights to do the hunting quest

-Finding Terra's memories in her mind is a bit easier to do now

-Removed timer from Corsix quests.  It never worked properly.

-Added quite a bit of new music

General timetable

A few people have asked for release dates, which I normally hate to do.  A developers schedule quickly turns into a promise in the minds of the reader and a schedule is nothing but numbers written in sand on the beach.  But I'll lay out what I think will happen.

This is all guesswork and needs to be taken as such.

-In this week I hope to move from alpha testing to private beta testing.
-If the private beta goes well it should last 2-4 weeks.  It'll depend on the level of response I get from my volunteers, the number of bugs that alpha missed, the severity of those bugs and my ability to find and fix them.  Then we'll move into public beta (buggy release).
-Depending on how the alpha and private betas go, the public beta may be fine and be upgrade to final within a week or two.  Depending on how much slips through testing the public beta may go through several releases (ala 0.6a) pushing the 0.6b final into early next year.

After 0.6b goes final I'll probably disappear for a few weeks and then start doing some polls, help wanted posts and gathering general feedback to help develop later versions.

Beta invites sent out

Thank you to everyone who applied to help test 0.6b.  Unfortunately it'd be completely impossible for me to manage the number of people who offered to help so I only took a small number of applicants to be part of the beta.  No offense meant to anyone who didn't get the invite.

Beta apps by end of day 10/28

Thank you to everyone that has applied to help me beta test 0.6b.  I apologize that I won't be able to respond to everyone who did but I'll be deciding who'll be part of the program Wed morning, so have your app in by the end of Tuesday if you want in.  Probably only going to have 5-6 testers out of the 30 or so that's applied so far so don't feel bad if you didn't get chosen.

Help Wanted : Scripter

Hey all.  My current scripter just bowed out so I need some help from someone good with the scripting language of VX.  SVN experience is preferred but not required.  Please apply at haremrpg@gmail.com

10/30 position filled - Thanks to Scripter9

0.6b entering alpha testing

So nearly finished up with content for the 0.6b version and moving into the favorite of times, testing!  I'm starting with an alpha test which is essentially me making sure that everything works if the player behaves exactly as I expect them to.  There is a lot of new content in 0.6b and changes to existing content (ie the complete scrapping of the random encounter system) which I need to play through to make sure that it works at all.

I will be taking applications for the private beta test phase currently.  Players don't always behave exactly as I expect so I need people to play through the content without much guidance to see if anything doesn't work or leaves the player hanging without any real guidance as to what to do now.  Particular emphasis will be placed on the 0.6b new content of course, but combat balance feedback will be important as well.

I'm hoping the private beta phase will start in about 2 weeks.  I will be sending out a link to download the 0.6b test content through e-mail and might try to create a thread somewhere for it.  Trying to teach the testers how to access the game through the SVN really didn't work last time so I'll be sending out packages for conventional download and testing.

Requirements/expectations.
1.  The free time to do so.  I'm expecting to start testing in 2-3 weeks and have it run for a few weeks hopefully, but no more than 4 weeks.  But during that time I do expect people to be able to put in some fairly serious testing.  Plan on committing about 5 hours a week at least.
2.  The patience and wherewithal to actually do testing.  This isn't a public demo, 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.
3.  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. 
4.  No prepackaged saves will be available for testing and prior saves will not work so you'll have to play from the beginning.
5.  Be willing to communicate bugs and give a fairly detailed report and attach a copy of a save if necessary.  This isn't a demo.

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.
5.  If you are comfortable with SVN deployments let me know and I'll link you to the repo and you can join in the alpha testing.  Keep in mind that fully recursive it will be over a gigabyte worth of content.  I will not try to walk anyone through SVN configuration, sorry.

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 don't get a response, sorry.

There will probably be a public beta after the private.  0.6a's release took a few attempts and some people got frustrated with the number of bugs in it, so I'll be releasing a 0.6b bugged version publicly then following up with a 0.6b final when it's ready.  Essentially saying that if you want to play it early there may be some growing pains.

What 0.6b will bring

Still working on getting a handle on the code again so no ETA but I'd figure that I'd make a feature list for 0.6b for all of you.  The first two are spoilers in a small sense.  I've hinted and said them before but some people don't want them.  They are written in a white font so you'll have to highlight them to read them.



-Climax of Terra's arc.  And yes  it will involve quite a few climaxes
-Resolution of Vanessa's disappearance and Ariel/Cecilia will make an appearance.
-Complete removal of the random encounter system with a random event system in its place.  While this isn't used all that often in 0.6 content it will give me far more flexibility with random encounters in any zone.
-The id ring has resumed some functionality as a guide, pointing the player to the next step of the main plot.  Very much in beta stages and needing feedback for when it doesn't work properly.
-Fenja has been reclassified as a minor (or inventory) slave.  Essentially her quest will remain as it is but after she's captured there isn't any additional content for her.  Essentially it allows me to create minor slaves at the end of an optional segment or when the character would normally buy/acquire a new slave but without the burden of really creating a character or weaving her into the plot.  While there will still be more major characters introduced it gives me more flexibility in writing.
-Over 90% of people in the survey voted yes to letting me break old saves, so that will be done.  Saves will be provided whenever 0.6b is released.
-Continued editing and polishing.  While the Corsix edit is still a few months away, Western Corsix and before should be much cleaner.  Along with a change in workflow to increase accuracy it should be far easier to read  Thanks to Hitoroni on this.
-New faces.  While this isn't complete, TheEye92 showed me a few issues with my workflow in creating faces that was creating the heavily pixelated look and new faces should be much smoother.  Over time I'll work on going back and replacing as many of the old faces as possible.
-Donna's first two scenes on the dark path have been completely rewritten and imaged.  That was some of my very early rough work and really needed to be updated.  Feel free to [politely] suggest other scenes/events that could use a rewrite and I'll put them on the list.
-I haven't counted precisely yet, but 0.6b should bring on another 100-150 pages of text and another 30 scenes or so.  Wow I really am developing like Valve.
-Rebalancing of characters to make combat more enjoyable and smooth.  This has been going on for a few updates and has gotten to the point where old saves must be junked and new games must be created.

What 0.6b will not include
-With the exception of Donna's first two scenes, any new Celee (colonies) content. 
-The ability to go back after entering Corsix.  This will be the end of the current rails section, 0.6c is planning on opening up the world again.

Thank you.

I've been reading through all the comments to my last post and want to take a moment to thank everyone for their warm wishes and personal story.  It reminded me of something that I knew but had forgotten in the news.  There is nothing wrong with having dark fantasies, even sharing them with a loved one.  Losing the distinction between reality and fantasy is a threat to everyone but finding proper outlets for them can give you safe outlets for them.  I have decided to continue developing Harem.

If memory serves me correctly I had included a readme in 0.6a and I'll end the conversation by quoting something I had said long ago.  (if not, it will be in 0.6b).
"This is dark fantasy.  If at any time you watch a scene and think 'That's a good idea' you should stop playing and get some therapy.  Or at least a good hooker."

Since making the last post I've been doing a great deal of writing, nearly 60 pages worth of content in just a little over a week.  But I've still been out of the code for months and it is going to take me some time to review what needs to be done to even get a timetable for 0.6b.  I'll post updates as I get a grip on the situation.

But delay might give me an excuse to do something that needs to be done.  Never let a crisis go to waste as they say.  My understanding of VX combat has grown tremendously since starting Harem but an issue with the game is that character stats and progression are fixed by the save, not by the game.  So character from earlier saves don't behave quite how they should.  While people have tried to help me create scripts to get reset the characters, they've created issues of their own (for example Ralph renaming himself mid-game).  Wiping the slate clean and forcing new games would make the game much easier from a code perspective.  I would provide 'typical' saves from the end of 0.6a packaged with the 0.6b release for the people who wouldn't want to replay everything.  I will post a poll for it in the next few minutes.

Note : Even if we do this now, I can't guarantee that it won't happen again in the future.  I have been learning the engine continuously over the last two years and I doubt that process has ended.

Sorry

I’m sorry for the extended absence.  I had been working on 0.6b until I heard the news out of Cleveland with Castro keeping those poor women as slaves in his house and it was deeply disturbing to me on a personal level.

Harem is a fantasy game.  But fantasy is just that.  Thoughts that may excite you but that you know rationally can’t be.  Things you enjoy thinking about but know should never actually be done.  Slavery is a horrible practice and the world will be a better place when it’s finally purged.  Having fantasies of control and domination may be exciting but they must only be explored consensually. 

If you think that your mate might enjoy a bit of bondage and rough sex, talk about it before trying anything.  Be a bit rough and she how she responds.  Indulge in her fantasies and let her indulge in hers.  BDSM play can be exciting, but no means no and always have a safeword.  A simple no is far better than ending up in a prison cell somewhere.  And bedroom play is just that, it belongs in the bedroom and never to the point where anyone could be hurt.

Respect your mate.  Love them as it’s the greatest thing in the world.  Enjoy their company and let them enjoy yours.  Don’t force anything on another person.

It’s taken me a while to even be comfortable writing again but I firmly believe that everyone that plays Harem knows the difference between right and wrong and that if you do almost anything that happens in the game you are wrong and will end up in jail. If you ever play the game and disagree, please stop.  Uninstall Harem and go and seek professional help.  It would be just as bad as if you bring any FPS into real life.

As to what’s going on with the game I can’t say that I’m completely sure.  Maybe I’ll pick it up again but maybe not.  I will try.  For simplicities sake I’m just going to say that it’s on hiatus.  If that changes I’ll let you know.

Thank you for your patience and all the warm wishes.  I wish I could have spoken sooner but I need to work through this first.

And one last note, I hope Castro suffers for the rest of his life for what he did and that the creator makes a special place in hell for him.