Spankers, Spankees and Switches,
So I finally worked up the guts to let a local friend who knows what I’m up to take a look at my game. It’s been very enlightening watching over their shoulder. This version contains a bug fix they stumbled across when trying to load their save file. I believe it’s only triggered if you try to change font size (particularly body font size) through the Options menu.
Furthermore, I’ve cleaned up to the office park scene at the beginning of the game, and rearranged the buttons some.
It became clear while watching my friend futz with the game that the UI is way too busy. In particular, there are too many buttons along the bottom row on the story screen. While they were added so that people could know what to do, it does mean it’s difficult for them to notice things like the scroll buttons. Plus, it just makes the screen look really crowded on their small laptop screen. So the utility style buttons ((T)itle, (O)ptions etc) have been moved behind “(Spacebar)Commands.” The key commands all still work the same as you’d expect, but you can click on Commands or press “Spacebar” to view the list of available commands, and from there click on the buttons.
Furthermore, I’ve also used that idea for story choices. So now, you can click on “(#) Choices” to see a list of buttons containing each choice, and then click on the appropriate choice. Which means the story screen is now 100% useable with the mouse! It’s a little bit clunky, but it’s the mouse. Mice are always clunky.
The next update will see the same treatment applied to the combat screen.
Again, *none of the key commands have changed.* You can still press 1 or 2 or 3 to select a choice from the story screen. You can still press “c” on the story screen to view your character. The buttons have just been hidden.
Also, the statistics have been moved off the character creation screen. There’s no reason for it to be there anymore, since your stats are now displayed on the story screen, and you can’t edit them anyway. Plus they were taking up valuable screen real estate on my friend’s very small laptop.
Let me know what you think of the changes.
AKA
Just checked this out after forgetting about it for a while, glad to see its still getting updated! And the new option that lets you skip combat is great for people like me who kept getting their spanked ass handed back to them on a platter by Prometheus and Poseidon. I actually got to see that optional Buzzsaw fight you get when you beat them at the stadium! I didn’t even know that was there. Its amazing what you can miss by being bad at games.
Anyway, it looks like Scarlet has her own little growing rogues gallery, each with their own weird personalities. Buzzsaw, Succubus and now Prometheus and Poseidon. I wonder who the next addition is gonna be, if any. Can’t wait for future updates. You’ve been doing this for years now when most other kinky creators would have given up much sooner. You do good work, keep at it!
Were you able to beat them at the end of the episode, or not at all? I’ve been thinking they might be a bit too powerful. You’re supposed to be able to beat them at the end of the episode without having to fully master the game mechanics. The fights you don’t have to win are meant to be challenge fights for people who are as into RPGs as I am and are willing to really dig into the game mechanics. Also, have you tried using the Average or Dumb AI? The Average AI doesn’t use any buffs, and those are what make Prometheus and Poseidon dangerous in my opinion. The dumb AI doesn’t use powers at all. The game defaults to the smart AI, because that’s when the enemies are at their most interesting so that’s what I want people to see first.
Also, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! My current thoughts are that there will probably be something like a dozen or so villains. My planned rogue’s gallery is currently going through a pretty significant transformation right now though, to make them zanier. So we’ll see when the dust settles. Prometheus and Poseidon were my first “serious” villains, the kind you might expect to see in more modern comic books, and I don’t feel like they really gelled with the rest of the game.
I wasn’t able to beat them, but I don’t quite remember the reason or what setting I was on. I might play through it again with the combat on and see what my problem was when I have time. I just remember being able to take down one of them but struggling to get the final blow on the second.
Zanier? That definitely sounds exciting! I’m curious what sort of villainous butt-slapping weirdo you’re gonna send after Scarlet next. You and your friends seem like you have a knack for writing superheroes so I’m sure it’ll be good.