Spankers and Spankees,

I’m currently working on some fairly major extensions/modifications to The Potion Wars‘ engine, and at this stage I’ve sent the game out to my editor (Emily) and beta testers (Johny741, and Uninventive).

Unfortunately, we’ve run into a problem where the changes I’ve made to the game have made it incompatible with PlayOnMac. I have absolutely no idea how to fix that, or even if it is fixable without dedicating all my time to it.

It’s patently absurd that the woman who has volunteered some of her precious free time to edit my game can’t then play it. So, I’m looking for someone who owns a Mac, and is moderately tech-savvy, who could compile the game from source.

What you would need to do:

0. Receive from me a zipped file containing the game’s source code, plus some third-party stuff you’ll need to compile the game.

1. Make sure Python 2.7 is installed on your machine (I’m 99.999999% sure it comes pre-installed on Macs these days).

2. Download and install Pygame.

3. Execute a command on the command-line that I give them.

4. Basic troubleshooting, so I don’t have to try to fix any compilation errors you come across over e-mail (obviously I would be willing to help with any errors you find, but the more you can fix on your own, the faster the game will get compiled).

5. A willingness to recompile the game every time I come out with a new version. Note that this should be much simpler than the first time. All you’ll need is the updated source code, and any new songs/images that I add to the game.

Ideally, I’d also like it to be someone who knows/can figure out how to use git so that most compilations are as simple as pulling the most up-to-date source code off of git and executing a command on the command-line.

If you’re willing to help, you get the following “perks:”

1. A name of your choice under my Acknowledgements page in the game.

2. The (rather buggy) next version of the game a week to two weeks (depending on how buggy the new release is) before anyone except the beta testers.

Furthermore, if you’d like to also be a beta tester (since you’ll have the new version of the game at the same time as the beta testers anyway), you can be. Just let me know that you’re interested in that as well.

 If you’re interested, then please send me an e-mail at sprpgs@gmail.com.

Spankers and Spankees,

Fixed a few crashes pointed out by Uninventive at AnimeOTK (thank you!), and a bug in Cosima’s encounter (some of her path’s weren’t properly triggering unlocking the ability to ask Paloma about getting a white ribbon).

Get the latest and greatest version over at Downloads.

Spankers and Spankees,

I’ve taken full advantage of the long weekend, to finish up a fairly significant update.

First, I’ve fixed (hopefully) the various crashes that people have pointed out to me.

Second, I’ve modified your encounter with Paloma. Now, Paloma does not give you the ribbon after the two Vengadores harassing her leave (if she does give it to you without you asking, please let me know because that’s a bug). Instead, she just heals you and send you on your way.

Once you encounter one of the other guild trainers, they’ll tell you to go get a ribbon. Now, if you return to Paloma you have the option of just accepting her offer of healing, or asking about the ribbon. If you’ve been spanked as a result of not having a ribbon, you’ll also unlock a chance to spank Paloma.

Third, I’ve now included the beginnings of a manual (potionwars.pdf). It doesn’t have everything (for one thing, it doesn’t explain what the colored x’s on the floors of the dungeons mean), but it’s a start. It’s meant primarily as a reference, so I wouldn’t recommend trying to read it cover-to-cover. I would however recommend looking at the chapter on combat. Also, there’s a little seven page frame story at the very beginning, so I’d suggest checking that out.

Fourth, I’ve tweaked the combat some. First, I’ve made your enemies more powerful, and given you a few more hitpoints to start out. Second, I’ve tweaked the initiative system so that there’s a bit more randomness in who goes when.

Fifth, Emily over at AnimeOTK has graciously agreed to serve as my editor for future episodes. This will have the following impacts:

1. It will take a little bit longer for you guys to get each new episode, but since we don’t really have a set update schedule, that doesn’t matter anyway.

2. I have a much better chance of properly growing all the seeds I’ve planted in the first episode. I can’t begin to stress how important it is for a writer to have someone else whose willing to look at a story and poke holes in it. Especially for a multi-year project like this.

3. If you ever find yourself overcome with rage at low quality episodes, character derailments, or idiot balls, you can now blame Emily, because it will totally be all her fault.

Finally, one comment about the Paloma spanking: I’m sure you’ll notice that you have an unusual amount of control over the spanking. This was an experiment on my end. I wanted to try giving the player maximum control over the direction the spanking went. Unfortunately, the experiment is a failed one. Writing this scene was very time consuming and very boring. Seriously, there’s only so many ways you can describe essentially the same spanking scene. I also didn’t really want to have some sort of lego block thing, where the same thing happens just in different orders, because that would feel like a bait and switch: “Oh hey, look at how much control you have over this spanking! Hah! Sucker, looks like you don’t have as much control as you thought!” (That ended up happening anyway, because I got bored and wanted to finish the damn scene.)

Furthermore, having so many branches discouraged me from writing much in the way of dialog, because it would feel weird for the player to give Paloma a proper scolding in one path, and not in another when the only difference is that Paloma’s getting spanked with the bare hand instead of wooden spoon. Finally, testing it was a butt, because there were so many branches. So don’t be surprised if that encounter crashes a few times.

In short, don’t expect that kind of hyper-branching to happen again. I think it made the spanking scene duller than it could have been, it was tedious to write, and it doesn’t really contribute all that much anyway.