Movin’
Minor Delay
Okay, so now it’s time for things you no doubt hate- delaying the next release and me talking about more house stuff.
The next release will be delayed by a week. This has nothing to do with content or the amount of work I have left to do- I’m pretty pleased with everything that’s going in the next release thus far. No, this has to with testing week. You see, for a indeterminate amount of time during testing week, I will be without internet because of the move. Basically, there was a huge delay in getting some renovations done to the new place so Neko and I are forced to move into a construction zone, and it will be highly unpleasant, and even if we get internet set up in a timely manner I might not have somewhere private to work until the 30th or so when the contractors are done. Normally, I would be totally fine working at a coffee shop all day or something, but I also don’t want to get kicked out if I have to do anything with the H-scenes or have to access the BKG website. Especially in my new neighborhood where nobody knows how much of a weirdo pervert I am.
Anyway, because it would pointless to run a testing week where I cannot receive the tester’s feedback and upload new version of the game, I’m pushing back the release by the week. Take comfort in the fact that I am not playing catch-up, and I will endeavor to cram as much new content as possible into that extra week. Sorry for the trouble, and happy fapping!
Unpolished Gems: Star Wars: Rebellion
With my personal gaming, I’ve been on a pretty serious 4X kick lately. Started with Civ IV, then I rediscovered Master of Orion II. Yesterday, however, I hooked up a really old favourite, that I played the shit out of with my friends in high school- Star Wars: Rebellion.
Its such a simple premise- run the Rebel Alliance or the Empire and do battle in the Star Wars universe, vying for supremacy over the Galactic Empire. It’s a little shocking that more SW games didn’t do that- except for the one RTS and I guess you can count the Battlefront series?
The game is immense in scope to match that premise, though. Both the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance have over 30 recruitable characters and about 20 different starships each, drawing from both the orig trig and the expanded universe (and even adding a few new ships to the EU). There are potentially over 200 different star systems to colonize, woo with diplomacy or conquer with force (depending on the size of the game).
Events can play out in a rough outline similar to the trilogy (there are special events for Luke going to Dagobah to train, learning of his heritage and telling Leia she’s his sister, and having a final showdown with Vader and the Emperor. Similarly, if Han is captured he’s sent to Jabba Palace and Luke drops everything to go rescue him- including abandoning his Dagobah training!) but they all have different triggers and you can encounter these events in any order. More importantly is what happens when you off the rails- it’s entirely possible to win the galaxy through diplomacy, or blow up the Death Star with infiltrators, or start a new Jedi Order(!) by searching for force sensitives among your allies.
The game is not without it’s flaws, however. The resource system is shockingly complex for having to manage a single resource- you have to mine, then refine “resource points”, but every planet has only a limited number of buildings they can have, so you have to decide early if you’re going to have a mining planet or a productive one, and that is a harder choice than it sounds when there are three different kinds of production to choose from. The game is also pretty heavily unbalanced in favor of the Rebels, since they have a mobile headquarters, better starfighters, troop types that are more specialized to different roles, and quickly catch up in terms capital ships. About the only thing the Empire has in it’s favour is having to jump through far fewer hoops in order to start training new Sith warriors and having to build fewer kinds of mission specialists.
Speaking of which, the “Empire” starts out as anything but- only a handful of systems are under Imperial control at the beginning of the game, and the Imperial fleet is less than impressive. It would have been nice if they made the different sides more extreme in their differences, highlighting the Rebels’ reliance on guerrilla warfare and the Empire’s military and control dominance.
Still, if you like Star Wars, especially as it was before the prequels fucked everything up, Rebellion is pretty good. It’s not quite there in terms of the mechanics and GUI, there is not much animation, and the non-union Spanish equivalent of Anthony Daniels somehow makes C3PO even more annoying. But pretty good nonetheless.
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Sorry, but I’m really busy with new-house-stuff this week, and I wasn’t able to really sit down and work on stuff. Work continues, nonetheless- I tried a new build of the game using altered stat values, but that didn’t work out. I have yet to figure out the relative value HP should have to attack power, and RPG Maker really isn’t helpful in this regard- you literally have to keep experimenting until you find what works.
More importantly, the helper elves indentured servants other staff are still hard at work. Pea Sea is working on the new world map tune, Gurotaku is making CGs to go with new “collar immediately” options with Therese and Yeon, and I get to see the battler sprite person’s concept sketches for Glitterfangs and the Kellos soldiers tomorrow. At which time I should probably figure out what she wants to be credited as.
Anyway, that’s all for now!
Day Late But Not A Dollar Short
Sorry for the late post. I completely forgot, distracted by a bit of drama having to do with the move. Protip: If you buy a house, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by not buying a former rental property.
So last weekend Nekochan and I attended an anime convention, and I put my “professional name” on my badge in hopes of seeing if I got recognized by a fan. I was- but I didn’t expect said fan to be a girl I knew from high school who had no idea I am working on an h-game. Weird.
Anyway, I’ve been busy splitting my attention between packing and working on HC. I’m hoping to have two full-sized quests in the next release, now that I have a better idea of the demands on my time this month. The first will be a Kellos Invasion-related quest that you’ll get from Shally. For the second quest, either something related to the Demon Cult or Save the Elves plotlines- probably Demon Cult because I don’t know if I’ll have time for creating and introducing an entirely new character (which the Elves demand). So if anyone has a preference for either “Sacrifices for Algernon” or “Cannibal Corps.” please let me know in the comments!
Plans for July Release
There aren’t any! Shortest blog entry ever.
Okay, I guess I should explain.
This weekend Nekochan and I are going out of town for awhile. Then, when we get back, we’ll be taking control of our new house, overseeing renovations, and the finally moving by the end of June. Exciting stuff, but I don’t know how much this is going to affect my ability to work day-to-day.
Basically, I’m not making promises I might not be able to keep.
This doesn’t mean that no work will be done- I’ve already put together the extended dungeon for Finishing Unfinished Business, plus I already have music to put in from the new composer- it’s just that I can’t predict with any confidence what I’ll be able to get.
Anyway, that’s it for now. I have a vacation to pack for.
May 2015 Public Release
Changes in this version:
-New full-size quest, “Hall Monitor from Hell” now available at the Southport guild if you’ve completed Scholastic Excellence and received your Journeyman Guild Card.
-Gargan’s first relationship reward quest, “My Little Chimera” is now fully implemented.
-New harem girl and party member, with a new sex scene.
-Random daily quest has been revamped.
-Two bonus scenes can be unlocked via code. Use the code “Rule63” to unlock the sex scene from the April Fool’s version and the code “JuFJrY” to unlocked a special custom Patreon backer scene starring Raina and Gargan.
-In replay scenes the Hero is now referred to as “Master” as opposed to “Ferdinand”.
-Yamamaya is now immune to a bunch of status effects (mostly mind-related ones) while raging.
-Non-magical enemies are now immune to Mana Shock. Constructs, plants, spirits and undead are now immune to Bleed. Spirits and Illusions are now immune to Sticky Acid and Burning Pitch. Sorry Bronwyn.
-On that note, the same goes for the party- Hero, Elaiya, Bronwyn, Raina and Gargan are now immune to Mana Shock in case I every want to make an enemy that has it.
-Meline no longer learns Lightning prayers and Chimei no longer learns Poison evocations.
If you already have the backer release, the new sex scene is now fully implemented, plus several bugs have been fixed.
May Backer Release Update
The new content for the backer release should be ready by later today. I just have a little bit of polish to add, and it’ll be ready to go. Even the truncated testing week doesn’t seem to be a problem, as there weren’t all that many bugs. Maybe I’m finally starting to get good at this?
One wrinkle- Last night I had a brainwave regarding one sex scene, so I’ve asked Gurotaku for some image edits that should make the scene more unique and interesting. You’ll still be able to unlock the scene for the replay menu and get the satisfaction rewards, though.
I’m also meeting with a potential monster artist later today, which is great! So I’d better get going on delivering that polish. See you next week for the public release.
Project Starship joins Bad Kitty Games!
So, Harem Collector’s a wee bit delayed- testing week should begin either tonight or early tomorrow depending on how much I get done today. Hopefully that won’t impact testing much- after all, it’s only two quests (one quite short) and the revamped daily quest stuff to check out.
Anyway, the big news for today: Dr. MadDoc’s adult visual novel Project: Starship is now hosted at badkittygames.net! Give it a try, it should tide you over til the next HC release. Check it out here!
One of Those Days
I had spent the last couple days stressing about the tester release, basically sweating bullets because pretty much everything seemed delayed. It was only this morning, when I sat down to write a blog explaining why everything was delayed, that I released I was getting ahead of myself- Testing Week starts NEXT Wednesday, and I actually have a full other work week with which to finish polishing everything up.
That’s not to say that everything is necessarily peachy keen. I think we’ll be able to pull everything off on time for the May release, but I am very frequently wrong about these things. Now that the Patreon is up, releasing on time is a pretty high priority for us here at Bad Kitty Games.
Part of the problem, I think, is our late start. While that April Fool’s version of the game was a lot of fun, I think it was a poor use of my already limited work-hours. Oh well. By the way, there will a code that will unlock the April Fool’s sex scene in the next version, in case you wanted to keep access to it.
Also in the next update will be the first custom sex scene from a Patreon backer, which is pretty exciting. Plus, a new harem girl, as promised. It’s going to be a smaller update overall than last one though, but I hope the new content (brand new character, the daily quest revamp, one full-size quest and one mini-quest) satisfies.
Now, I’m back to work. Only two weeks until the backer update, so if you want in on that please hit up the Bad Kitty Games Patreon before the end of the month!