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I totally forgot the blog this week.

Shit.

Uh, things have been busy. And also, I really need to write these waaay in advance. Also, buying a house is a lot of work. I mean, damn.

Uh, see you next week with the public release!

Get it while it’s hot! Well, I’d hope it’s hotness would not decrease with time. Whatevs.

Changes in this Version

If you’re updating from the Backer’s Pack version:
-Serade, Therese and Larelle now have proper chat messages.
-Some more banters have been added.
-Buncha bugs fixed.

-There is a brand new secret quest! Good luck finding it.
-There is a quest to cure Gargan now. Successfully completing the quest adds Gargan as a party member.
-There are five new sex scenes.
-There are now CGs for when you walk in on the tentacle sex during Virgin Gynocides.
-Southport has been redesigned! Huzzah.
-Two new harem girls(?)
-The blacksmith can now be chatted with and gifted.
-A skill trainer has been added to give the Hero some of those high-damage attacks many have been looking for.
-Seeker’s Stone should now work for all hidden items, not just buried treasures.
-The Lore Book counter now works properly, and there are around a dozen new lore books to find.
-Key items you no longer need after dungeons should now disappear from your inventory when you advance a day.
-Raina’s Phalanx and Deflect skills no longer have a failure chance.
-Raina’s Shield Bash and Shield Rush have had their damage increased, and no longer remove Phalanx/Deflect. Phalanx and Deflect are still mutually exclusive, though.
-Therese’s Shining strike no longer hits automatically.
-Meline, Larelle and Chimei have new top-level spells/prayers/invocations they learn at high levels, if you’re really obsessive with that Timeturner.
-A minor lore change: succubi are the only demons capable of interbreeding with humans, instead of being the only demons with primary sexual characteristics.
-There are two new roaming encounters on the world map.
-Added/changed some battle animations
-A small disclaimer has been added to the pre-game dialogue.
-Fixed a slew of bugs, see Bad Kitty Games forum for the deets.
-Removed Herobrine

My health is steadily improving, and I’m getting more adjusted to my medication. Still averaging only a couple hours of work per day, but I’m pretty confident I’m only going to be delayed a week.

As of this moment, the mega huge dungeon is finished. I need to rejigger some enemy abilities to be copacetic with Harem Collector canon (didn’t realize the conflict I put in until I finished everything), but that’s it. After that, I have some gift script to add, need to fully implement the new housing, and fold in Kakurine and Gurotaku’s contributions. All in all, should be pretty easy.

So, a quick rundown on what to expect in the next update:

-Southport University redesign
-At least two new roaming encounters on the world map
-Two new quests
-Two new harem girls
-Five new sex scenes
-Westcastle manor is in
-Westcastle Noble District is accessible
-You can now chat, gift and receive bonuses from the blacksmith
-Seeker’s Stone will work for all hidden items
-Five or so more Dark Seeds, plus a new reward to for having 30+

So please bear with the delays a little bit longer, because even with all the problems it’s going to be a pretty fucking awesome update!

Things were proceeding so well. I was working well, getting things done, everything was great. Then last Wednesday I suddenly came down with the worst cold I’ve had in memory. Then, as happens when you share a bed with someone, Nekochan caught it, so just as I was feeling better I had to take care of her. And I’m still fighting it, as we speak. Even though Nekochan and I have both improved enough to work, we’re also still coughing and sucking down Buckley’s like there’s no tomorrow. If things don’t get 100% better by the end of the week, I’m heading to a doctor.

However, even though I did get really sick, work on the game hasn’t stopped entirely. I managed to get the big huge quest I’ve been working on about 75% complete. Just have to finish up the last few encounters, do the boss fight, then write the closing stuff. Considering that it’s two weeks before testing week, I should have plenty of time for that (knock on wood).

The third quest is going to have to be cut for time. I was already doing that before I got sick, though, so I wouldn’t have to rush. Instead, what I’m going to do with my spare time is add a bunch of little stuff to the game. Investments, encounters, that sort of thing.

The way things are looking, February’s release will see Doll’s Love Quest, elf village (finally, I hope), and time permitting the quest that recruits Kyrie into the harem. For now, just please look forward to next month’s release.

Spoilers below, you have been warned

Man, I’ve been bad about keeping up this blog lately, haven’t I? I’ll try to do better in the future.

Progress updates: Picked up a nasty cold on the weekend, which, combined with three appointments I’ve had to keep this week, has put a crimp on progress. I have found time to implement the Blacksmith’s relationship interactions, though, so it’s not a dead stop.

Now, on to the main topic- why is there no Big Bad in Harem Collector?

Villains are usually pretty important to video games, after all. They provide a call to action, a reason for the adventuring to begin, as well as a challenge to surmount. Extra Credits recently did a pair of really good videos about villains, which you can watch here and here, in which the EC crew deconstructs the roles that villains play in video games.

However, although individual quest lines have specific villains who will recur, like Borgan and Evanie the Sword-Saint, there isn’t really a Mr. Big setting the plot into motion. Or… is there?

Well, part of it is that I don’t think the Hero needs a villain to motive him to adventure. The Hero has a clear goal and the desire to attain it, plus he works as an adventurer and his primary means of getting income involves solving other people’s problems for money. The only purpose that a villain would serve is mechanical, a big boss to end the adventure with. And there will be one of those, I promise.

The Hero is referred to as such with more than a little irony. After all, said Hero has little problem with abducting women, murdering sentient beings, robbing people’s houses, having sex with women with at best dubious consent, and breaking his word in order to get what he wants. Depending on the player’s choices, the Hero is also plenty capable of brainwashing girls to turn them into mindless slave drones, plainly committing rape, and allowing women who are in his care to be gangraped in order to make a surprise attack.

Most video game heroes commit moral dubious actions- looting the homes of random people, killing scores if not hundreds in pursuit of some quest or another- while still being heralded as the “good guy”. The Hero’s personality was specifically designed to be a person who could commit the various terrible things a JRPG hero does- often without the player considering the moral ramifications of their actions. However, you could easily interpret the so-called “Hero” as a villain instead, and that Harem Collector serves as his origin story.

Regardless of how you choose to view the Hero, I’m pretty comfortable with Harem Collector not having a single, main antagonist. This game is more about the Hero’s rise to power than anything. But for the sequel… let’s just say I’m making a good main villain a priority.

Oh shit, I almost forgot a blog post today.

Uh… the game is in for testing! Hooray!

I actually had a really good idea for a blog post, but unfortunately, with getting the game ready for testing week I totally forgot to update the blog.

So, uh, come back next week!

Wow. The internet is dumb this week. I mean, the internet is dumb most of the time (while simultaneously being very smart in very specific ways) but this gamergate stuff is especially stupid.

Maybe next week or something I’m going to post the “official” Bad Kitty Games policy on gender politics. Right now, teh interntz r to dum.

Until then, please check out this awesome website. It’s full of cool, interesting historical and mythological women. On rare occasions, the author is a little too eager to reinterpret some figures to suit her agenda, but as a nifty stepping-off point for further female appreciation* you can’t go wrong.

* I realize that women don’t exist just to please me. Despite the efforts of the worst feminists, however, I am nonetheless pleased by them. I don’t make porn because I like looking at pictures of dicks all day, after all.

So, Nekochan’s condition is improving in accordance with the doctor’s predictions. As of Monday, I’m back to working on the game at least 6 hours a day- so things should continue to progress well. Monday was mostly spent on adding the ability for characters to learn spells from the tomes they can be equipped with, but I also added a new shop and a couple new investments. Yesterday was mostly spent on Meline’s Love Quest, and I’m very pleased with how the revamp is turning out so far. Next week, I intend to do a full-on teaser for new content, characters, etc. So for today, in honour of the recent release of Guardians of the Galaxy (and the fact I am seriously pining for Avengers 2 next May). I present for your approval some scraps from the ol’ idea book, superhero ideas of mine that I always intended to do something with but never got around to it.

Painless

Painless is probably the weaker of the two superhero concepts I came up with. I originally concepted Painless in college, during the unit on abnormal psychology in Psych 101. Painless was a regular joe, until a fateful day where he and his girlfriend, driving while out on a date, are both shot in a failed carjacking. While Painless’ girlfriend dies due to her injuries, Painless just barely makes it out alive, having been shot through the forebrain. His injuries leave Painless with, among other things, amnesia, analgesia, and a terrible anger management problem.

A scheming neurologist, realizing that A) our hero is now prone to rages, B) is completely insensitive to pain, and C) is probably going to have a severely shortened life expectancy, decides to try and make something positive out of it. Through the neurologist’s manipulations, Painless is convinced to take to the streets as a vigilante, fighting a partly-imagined criminal syndicate to get revenge for his dead girlfriend.

Painless was meant to be very dark and gritty- there are no superpowers that aren’t explained by actual medical science, no real villains, and not even any real “hero” in the strictest sense. Painless was supposed to take injuries over the course of the series and either get patched up by his doctor buddy or do the job himself by way of staples and duct tape, but his analgesia means he can keep fighting despite being in a pretty gruesome state. Also, in a subversion of the usual amnesia tropes, Painless would be fully aware of his past, he just doesn’t feel any connection to it- and part of the doctor’s plan is making out Painless’ relationship with his girlfriend to be more poignant than it actually was, to the point where Painless fetishizes the poor dead girl he was only dating for a few months at best.

The story- which I had kinda sorta plans to write eventually as a novella, but never got around to it- was supposed to end on a downer, with a bunch of dead petty criminals and mobsters, Painless himself being dead, and the doctor getting away clean. Maybe a series would come out of it, based on this doctor searching for other, similarly afflicted people to turn into similar vigilantes. Either way, the story is too dark for me at this point- I’m not all that interested in writing it, but I may come back to it someday.

The 144

When the first Fantastic Four movie came out, my friends and I were pretty pumped about it. Keep in mind this was 2005, and we didn’t really know any better. Joking around and hanging out after seeing the movie together, Nekochan, Chibi and I, along with a fourth friend, came up with superhero personas for ourselves and theoretical powers we would have, imagining ourselves as another “Fantastic Four” in the same universe. We really were just goofing around, and didn’t even come up with much of an origin story or even villains to fight. But the idea stuck with me, in time would be influenced by Heroes, the TV show, as well.

The 144 sort of grew naturally out of that. The initial story had a group of four people discovering they have superpowers around the same time, and foiling a group of domestic terrorists in their home town. The original team of four were a guy who had super-toughness, a woman with super-agility (both had a minor strength boost as well- the female character in particular was inspired by Cybersix), a second guy who had the ability to alter the state of matter by touch (that is, he could turn any contiguous object into a solid, liquid or gas as needed) and a second woman who was capable of controlling light and projecting energy beams. The foursome agree to work together to discover the origin and limits of their strange new powers, with crime fighting in general not on the menu- yet.

They eventually track down theirs origins to a cult that had operated somewhere in the US about twenty years ago. The cult engaged in genetic experimentation, guided in part by an ex-Nazi scientist who worked with the cult without buying into their pseudo-Christian belief system. This experimentation lead to a group of 144 genetically engineered children being born to cult members, that the cult believed were Nephilim. Before the cult’s plans really get off the ground, though, a Waco- style government raid breaks up the cult. The affected children are distributed to new families through adoption centres, with no idea that the cult’s crazy beliefs actually had a basis in reality.

The main villain of the piece was a guy with a healing factor, who discovered his powers pretty early on in life and was literally worshipped by his parents, and discovering the truth about the cult only made this guy’s messiah complex worse. He eventually recruits a group of similar cult orphans who have powers that are extremely dangerous in terms of scale- including a woman capable of absorbing and then selectively spreading any disease she has contact with. The messiah-healing-factor guy plans on using this woman to wipe out “normal” humans in preparation for the “eventual” dominion of the earth by his fellow “angels”. However, they are eventually foiled by our team of heroes (supplemented by other superpowered orphans they convince to help out).

From there, the plan was to keep the series relatively small-scale and contained. The focus was on the lives and dramas of the 144 orphans- hence the title- and the conflict would never be larger or smaller than that. I think this concept would be really good for a tabletop RPG, and I’m thinking of running it using a system like BESM one of these days (obviously letting the PCs in control of the heroes pick their own powers, too).

Anyway, just wanted to share that stuff with you, because I’ve kinda got superheroes on the brain. Next week: something actually to do with Harem Collector.

Okay, here’s the scoop:

Nekochan received a injury to her eye last Thursday night, and since then things have been kind of crazy. The injury was pretty serious- it wasn’t until Sunday for us to have a day where we spent more time at home than at a hospital. Nekochan’s eye is going to weeks or maybe even months in recovery, and she requires full-time care at home, from me. The good news is that she isn’t in a lot of pain, other than some medicinal eyedrops that cause some stinging.

I’m leaving it to Nekochan to give you all the gory details, if she wants- she’s considering popping on to write a blog post in the fullness of time, because, well, let’s just say that the accident that caused the injury is pretty fantastic and singularly nerdy.

So, what does this mean for you? Well…

Harem Collector will be delayed. “Full-time care” means exactly that- I get only a handful of hours each day when I’m not either caring for Nekochan or cleaning the apartment. Those hours have, so far, been spent on stress management- ie, playing enough video games and enjoying enough internets that I don’t go crazy. Every day gets a little easier, but I probably won’t have significant time to sit down and do some game work until at least another week.

Sangreal will be delayed. When I announced that I was working on Sangreal again to the testing team, they seemed pretty excited. And honestly, I’m excited too, it will be nice to have made a game I can share with my family. But Sangreal didn’t have a firm release date before and it sure as hell won’t be getting one now.

Indecent Gaming Podcast will be affected, somehow. Since out producer/editor is now down for the count, I think editing duties will be passed on to Cypress_Z for the time being, but I’ve been to busy to get ahold of him. IF anyone sees him, please ask him to contact me. We are definitely not recording new episodes for now, until I can get my shit reasonably together.

GameDev Blog will be ongoing. I will give you guys updates as I get them. Also, I will update you as I get shit done on the game- funnily enough, because of the delay I might be putting up more than usual updates about the actual game just to prove that I’m not doing nothing.

Universal health care is awesome. Don’t worry about us, all our medical bills are paid for. I always appreciate more donations, but this isn’t a cry for help- we’ve got our costs covered courtesy of the Powers that Be. If you have the urge to send us some charity, why not pass it on to Doctors Without Borders because they could use it a lot more than us.

Sorry for all this, but this was a surprise to all of us, and I hate that it comes immediately after the last update that took three months. But this is the reality. Sorry.