BEW - Ongoing Dev Thread (DAZ Artists Still Wanted)

[sylakone2]

My brain has not yet exploded; however, there is a notable swelling that may be a precursor to a scanners style explosion.

I suspect the final game will be 7,000 - 10,000 web pages, so it will certainly be big. Day 1 alone is a little over 900 pages. I'm just verifying the coding and achievements before releasing to to playtesters.

I don't think I could pull off a smaller game and make it compelling. I'm making the type of game I would like to play, and I hope this one is as compelling to others as it is to me. I like for there to be at least a semi-decent story so that there is as much desire to see what happens next in the story as a desire to just get to the next erotic scene. But with that much story in this type of game, I think it needs to be balanced with more erotic scenes as well which is probably the main draw. Hopefully the story enhances the eroticism rather than just acting as filler, and vice-versa. To do that well, I feel that the game has to be generally longer.

Just making a long game wouldn't keep me interested though. Where I am having fun is building lore into the game.
Something that will be evident in later days, or even just the strip club branch of day 1, is that taking alternate paths, or even failure paths will hopefully add dimension to the game. Little bits of knowledge about other characters that make things they do more clear. Those that are interested in the story and lore will have fun replaying to find the why. This is also present in the current bar scene, but many of the bar scene payoff's are in day two.

An example from the not yet released strip club scene below (mild story spoiler)

On one branch of the strip club scene, you know you have to get help from one of the supporting characters in order to progress with the love interest, and you can secure their help but you don't know why they would help you in the first place. In one sub-branch, Brad can reject the help because he is suspicious of the supporting characters motivation.

On an alternate branch of the scene, you find out what motivates that supporting character to help Brad, but he misses an opportunity to get additional help from a second character which changes outcome possibilities.

On one of the failure branches, (with the strip club romance, not the game itself) attentive players can begin to understand the catalyst behind the event that motivates the supporting character to help Brad progress with the love interest.

The way I could have realistically made the game shorter is to have fewer love interests in the game from the current 5 planned, or have fewer player choices and make it more of a graphic novel than an actual game, but then again, as much as I like those, I like the challenge of the gameplay elements, and the additional replayability of multiple story paths. My only regret is that it will take so long to get done.

Wolfschadowe

I am right there with you wolf.
I am also attempting the same thing with my game.
I have thought about breaking it up into individual stories for each girl but if I do that I lose the opportunity for players to experience the consequences of their choices.
In mine there will be points that if you make one choice you will continue down one girl's path but lose the others.

I really wish you all the best with your game it is looking really good.

Sy

[Squeeky]

While I know javascript cannot be made to create files, is there some way to write to a variable which can then be referenced when a player returns? I realise that writing to cache may not be a good idea for any number of reasons, not the least being cache refresh.
On entry to a game can a JS file that holds a variable of the player's progress? As the game progresses the variable within Javascript is updated. When the player quits (or is closed out) can an exe program be called which rewrites the JS file overwriting the player's prior progress data?

[Wolfschadowe]

I really wish you all the best with your game it is looking really good.

Thanks Sy!

While I know javascript cannot be made to create files, is there some way to write to a variable which can then be referenced when a player returns? I realise that writing to cache may not be a good idea for any number of reasons, not the least being cache refresh.

That may be a better question for Tlaero's Adventure Creator thread. The current version that I am using for BEW saves the variables in a game specific cookie that persists until cookies are deleted by the browser. I also have 3 save slots, and a quicksave slot that persist between sessions, reboots, etc. I haven't tested it, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't persist through a full cookie clearing of the browser, but it will withstand a simple browser cache clearing that leaves cookies. I have noticed that each browser has it's own set of cookies and progress. (IE, firefox, chrome with --enable-file-cookies switch at startup)

More than that is beyond my javascript-fu.

Wolfschadowe

[Squeeky]

Thank you. It would be fair to say that my use of javascript is somewhat peripheral which would be clearly borne out in my comment.

I knew that tlaero follows this thread so I was thinking that if this didn't gel with you (and sylakone) then she would clearly advise.

[tlaero]

Your two choices are cookies and the new storage API, but storage doesn't work on local files, only the internet. That's why we use cookies. (-:

Tlaero

[Squeeky]

I thought that might be the case, an SSI.

[karrek]

Have you already got your playtesters lined up, or is that still open?

[hrmf]

Tlaero, For what it's worth, local storage works fine for me in both Chrome and Firefox on a file:// url (I tried it in Safari and it works there too, but I haven't tried Windows browswers). As an example, save this file locally and open it up in various browsers. Apparently there was a bug which got fixed recently in Firefox that got it working again.

I think using this instead of cookies would probably save you some headaches (like not having to pass that command-line flag to Chrome for the local cookies), and since you're using strings for all your variable names anyways, it doesn't seem like it would be too annoying to convert over to it from cookies. Anyways, this is all a little off-topic, sorry.

[Wolfschadowe]

Have you already got your playtesters lined up, or is that still open?

Thanks for your interest karrek! I currently have 5 playtester slots, and 4 on a waitlist. I'm happy to add you to that list. I hoped to start the next round of playtesting this weekend, but I haven't done a grammar/spelling pass, and I'm still tweaking/balancing the strip club logic paths and making sure the day 1 achievements are set up. Maybe next weekend. It's really close, but I don't want to burn-out the playtesters who are already generous with their time by giving them a lot of crap laden junk.

When I put out the call, the preference will go to those who playtested previous rounds. If any are unavailable or unresponsive, or quit providing quality feedback, I'll backfill from the waitlist. As the game grows, I'm considering expanding the playtest slots to 10, just to help with game coverage. We'll see how it turns out after the next round.

Wolfschadowe

[Wolfschadowe]

Playtesters,

The next version of BEW is ready for playtesting. This version includes the full Strip Club scene, as well as implementation of Achievements, a new savegame format, and game menus. Links are available on the BEW playtest site. The game is now 1080 pages in size, so there is plenty to do. HighRes and LowRes versions are available. LowRes primarily for those of you with metered connections since the HighRes version is now 371 MB!

There are two methods of achievements, one is a "standard" implementation, similar to Meeting Keely. The second is available once you get the achievement for completing the intro, and shows a breakdown achievement system. Due to it's experimental nature, it is only fully implemented for the office scene, and has some placeholder images. It is partially implemented for the bar and Strip Club scenes. Let me know which achievement system you like better. Some achievements are intended to span multiple days, but for playtesting they have been compressed to available gameplay.

On the Start Menu, there is an option on the page tacked to the wall behind Brad to reset all achievements for testing purposes.

Also, if you filed a bug report for version 0.0.9, please check to confirm it has been fixed if the status is listed as "fixed in next version." If it is fixed, please change the status to "Confirmed by Playtester." I will follow along and delete items in that status to clear old stuff out. If it isn't fixed, just change the status back to new. Some items are still pending fixes for either laziness or logistical reasons.

The recap for the strip club is not ready yet due to a sub-scene that takes place at the diner that is not finished yet. That is an exposition scene that allows for more characterization and backstory, plus the option to begin the Natalie corruption branch. Each girl has an optional corruption storyline. In this case, corruption doesn't necessarily mean you are taking a good girl and making her bad, but that you are influencing her to change her nature in some way. These storylines are much more difficult to complete and have many more failure paths than standard storylines. Emily (bar) and Nataile (diner) start in day one, Faith's corruption storyline begins in day 2.

There is no rush to this round of playtesting, it will take me a couple weeks to finish the diner scene and finish up the recap for the strip club side.

Please drop me a line to confirm that you are participating in this round of playtesting, or if you are not available or interested, let me know that too so I can fill your playtest slot from the waitlist. You will not lose your playtest status if I backfill your slot.

Anyone interested in playtesting, send me a PM if you haven't already, and I will make sure you are on the waitlist. As the game progresses, I will likely take on more playtesters to help ensure the full scope of the game is covered.

Thank you in advance for all of your help, input and time! I couldn't do it without you!

Wolfschadowe

[AnotherWannabe]

Hi, I signed up on this board really just to comment on this project.

I think this is the most promising project currently in development. I really like pretty much everything about it. I even like the difficulty levels, and how different scenes are unlocked with progressive difficulty. I think this makes the experience very different on each walkthrough. There is an understanding of pace and character development. It's also hotter than Hell, and that's only half due to the graphics... I think the buildup is incredible and masterfully done. It made me realize that good porn is perversely like a good horror movie... lots of tension and subtlety, slowly building atop each other for an epic climax (pun not intended).

My fear is that, the bar scene being so well done and obviously having so much polish, that the author will not put as much effort into scenes later in the game. Seven days is... pretty ambitious... after all, considering the first scene. Now, while I'm not the most experienced of AIF writers, I have done something most do not: finish a game. And so my piece of advice is that it's sometimes best to work outside of chronological order. Day 7 will probably have the most elaborate sex scenes, and yet by the time you get there you'll probably be sick with the game. Why not start at day 7? That way, those particular scenes receive the most attention over time, rather than the beginning scenes which really should be there only to whet the player's appetite. That's what I'm doing with the game I'm working on, and I think it's a pretty good way of doing things. A month since I've started working on it's already possible to do a playthrough from start to finish, which means that everything I've been doing since then has been fleshing out details on the skeleton I've built.

So... I'm not sure whether to offer my services as a playtester, or to wait for the final release to come which could be crazy long time. Then again, I'm extremely curious about this project, and I do want to see it. So please consider me on the wait list

[Wolfschadowe]

Hi, I signed up on this board really just to comment on this project.

I am flattered and honored that you are interested in my game! Also, thanks for all of your kind words.

My fear is that, the bar scene being so well done and obviously having so much polish, that the author will not put as much effort into scenes later in the game. ...... And so my piece of advice is that it's sometimes best to work outside of chronological order.

Thanks for the advice! I've made a commitment to myself not to rush through the end of the game. I have most of the story mapped out which also helps, and I've done some work on days 3 and 6 as well. I tried working ahead and found that due to the nature of the story, and storytelling of the game, which to me is just as important as the sex scenes, working too far ahead tends to trap me. I fear that if I built the end of the game first, most of the rest of the game would be me trying to force the story to that ending so that I wouldn't have to redo the work, which would limit the options and creativity.
The characters tend to surprise me as I build out the story and take a life of their own. Some examples of this are in spoilers below:

Bar Scene

When outlining the original story, I always intended Faith to watch Emily and Brad make out. I never expected Emily to want Faith to join in, or for Faith to go along with it, but when I got to that part of the story, they just kind of made it happen. It created an interesting dynamic for their characters that opened a new story branch. What happens if Emily, so desperate to prove that she can be adventuresome asks Faith to join, and what happens if everyone is so caught up in the moment that they go along with it. What are the effects for day two when Emily realizes what she did? Not just with Brad, as originally intended, but with Faith too. That whole branch and sequence was never in the original plan, but it opens a lot of possibilities.

Also, in the Club scene

Natalie is working in the scene, so doesn't really have much time to develop characterization and story. There were plans to develop this later in day two, but while trying out different endings to the scene to make it a smoother ending, Brad surprised me by asking to buy Natalie breakfast so that they could actually have time to talk. (it's 2am or so when the club closes). That spawned new possibilities that were too good to pass up, so now there is an additional, unplanned scene (or, more a sub-scene) for day one that will make the game better.

I find that when working towards a pre-decided ending, I don't really consider these new ideas. Then, of course, there is the problem of scope creep into the game, and I've decided to allow some of it, as evidenced by the new branches and scenes described above from the original story outline. I still have to be careful about it though, and for every 1 idea that I add to the game, I probably discard 10, and add another 2-3 on an "expansion pack/directors cut" list that I may add to the game after it is finished.

There are also things that I've cut out. For example

in the bar bathroom scene with Emily, that was originally planned to go further, but it didn't fit either Brad or Emily's characters, and also began to feel a little too much like...well...date rape, which was not the tone or vibe I wanted, so I abbreviated the scene from the original. Reluctant willingness is fine, coerced willingness is not, at least for my game.

In the end though, I have several things going for me to getting the game out. First, because there are so many storylines, once I get sick of one, there is another I can pick up that feels fresh. When I'm tired of Natalie, I can play with Brad and Faith, or Brad and Emily, or....well, wait and see.

Also, I've designed escape hatches for the overall game. After the morning of Day 3, there is a place where I can end the game naturally and call it quits, or end the game calling it Part 1, and release Part 2 at some later time. There is another similar point at the end of day 5. Currently I am calling these "acts" in the overall game. There are also natural story points where I can throw off or combine storylines to ease the work that will be relatively transparent to players. I've left myself a lot of flexibility on how far I take the game. There are hooks to add secondary characters as main characters, and I can always bring completely new things in by giving Brad another option of where to go after work on day 1. That flexibility is what keeps me personally engaged in the game.

So please consider me on the wait list

You're on it.

Wolfschadowe

[tlaero]

I feel that writing these stories is similar to writing other forms of fiction. Most writers, myself included, will work out an outline and some major scenes ahead of time, but we write the actual story in order. I've never written the end of a novel before writing most of the story. Similarly, I don't write the ends of these games before I get to them. Too much tends to change as you flesh out the story. That said, Rowling reportedly wrote the epilog to the Harry Potter series very early in the process. So what works for one person is different than what works for another.

That said, I am concerned about this game's length. If it's 7 times longer in total than Day 1, it'll be enormous.

Minimally, we need to talk about image size. Wolf, if you don't change something, your game will be too big to download. Do you make use of jpg lossy compression? Usually that comes on a scale of 1-100 and 70 tends to be excellent. It results in a file that is around 15% the size of the original with little human-noticeable loss in quality. I wrote a tool called ImgQual that will run through a directory of files and lower their quality automatically. When I fed BEW 1.5 to it at 70, the aggregate size of the images went from 371M to 54M. Also, you only show images at 1250x625, but a number of them are higher resolutions. I wrote another tool called ImgRes that scales down images in a directory. Converting all of BEW 1.5's images to 1250x625 reduces the size from 54M to 47M. These tools are the reason Meeting Keeley is smaller than the original game, even though it includes the second game and the bonus scene.

If you'd like, I can start including ImgQual and ImgRes in the AdventureCreator distribution.

Tlaero

[tlaero]

I played through 1.5 once quickly last night. The poses in the strip club scene are excellent. The characters, especially Natalie, look fantastic, and the storyline is still great (though the bar scene is a bit better). I'll give bug reports and specific feedback in private, but talk about general things here. While my wrist is holding out, I want to call out are the images that don't have toptext. For at least some people, a sexy image with a good description is twice as erotic as the image alone. It's a ton of work, I know, but I think you should never have an image without toptext. Whoever said "a picture is worth 1000 words" never met a good writer...

Tlaero

[Wolfschadowe]

Thanks for the feedback Tlaero.

...I want to call out are the images that don't have toptext. For at least some people, a sexy image with a good description is twice as erotic as the image alone. It's a ton of work, I know, but I think you should never have an image without toptext. Whoever said "a picture is worth 1000 words" never met a good writer

It is only when watching the dancers on stage where the toptext is missing, and I was wondering if top text for that would add or detract from just watching. This is an area I was waiting for feedback on before committing one way or the other.

The hard part is not putting in some descriptive text, but coming up with descriptive text that is useful and engaging rather than just "she twirls around the pole" drivel.

Earlier

That said, I am concerned about this game's length. If it's 7 times longer in total than Day 1, it'll be enormous. ... Do you make use of jpg lossy compression? Usually that comes on a scale of 1-100 and 70 tends to be excellent.

The low-Res version uses jpg compression and I think it came out around 45MB total. Give or take a few MB. For reasons listed below, I haven't done a lot of experimenting with jpeg compression. Each time I make a low-res build, I haven't been happy with the results. This last time I compressed to 70% which is better than the 50% I used for the last version, but I haven't compared them to the originals yet.

If you'd like, I can start including ImgQual and ImgRes in the AdventureCreator distribution.

I would like. The tool I'm using now is an annoying shareware with pop-up reminders and closes after every cycle. I can do a mass conversion, but it closes upon completion, and if I want to try again with different settings I have to go through the shareware nag screen with a lengthening countdown.

I don't know if I'll continue to make the High-Res available, or just post the low-res version. The only purpose of the high-res is for those who want what was the significantly better images. I kept the low-res available for those with bandwidth concerns. Once I'm satisfied with the low-res quality and size, I'll probably dump the high-res version because it will be big.

Wolfschadowe.