Because I feel that there's always this dilemma

If I make the game too easy then it's not worth the effot to make it, right ?
But if it's too difficult, lots of try and error, people will also get frustrated

So which one is better ? If it's too easy and straight forward, I think it's better for me o create a comic or movie,
Just need people to click the next button and enjoy it :d

TheBrain wrote :
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.....
Now to go in some further I'm probably gonna give some SPOILERS (although I'll try to keep it to a minimum), don't read on if you want to find out stuff by yourself...

TheBrain?
You've indicated some spoilers follow in your comment. Fine, but do you think those might be 'hidden' using "color=#e1e9ec"? (Someone offered a somewhat different hex number, but this is close enough.)

Let me start with an... It was entertaining and shows promise. I had fun with it even though I got frustrated to the point of calling up and watching the variables change to have any chance. Also, basically bug free. Nice...

That being said, I'll follow up some of TheBrain's commentary with what I hope might be useful. It'll be long winded enough, but I'll still try to provide multiple rough solutions to prime the think tank.

1. First and foremost is a feedback problem. Trial and error isn't always bad, but one needs to have a way of determining error. I tried some things. She seemed to not like them. I didn't repeat them. Found out later that they actually had a positive affect and I needed to do them.

Possible solutions:
A. Display the variable values and allow/force the user to monitor choice/effect.
B. Have her smile when something good happens and frown when something bad happens.
C. Wait until failure and then inform the user (i.e. "Wow, if only you had a dildo right now we'd be having some fun.").

2. Working backward, playing forward. So I want a dildo scene. Okay, here's where it'll be used. Here is where it's gotten...

A. Set up the possibility for the user to know he needs a dildo once he's at the destination and allow him to leave, find it, return, and continue.
B. Tell the user as in 1-C, hey, next game get item X before you get to this spot.
C. Okay, so you're here and your missing the dildo. You know what, she's still hot to trot. Maybe she uses her fingers. If you had the dildo there were bonus scenes, but either way there is something.
D. If she's going to do nothing without the dildo then set it up earlier (she can be asked, do you masturbate. She responds, ice cream and dildos make me horny. You take her for ice cream, and later in the evening [if you don't have the dildo] she says, you know, something just seems to be missing. I'm going to sleep).

3. Game termination... If there is nothing left I can do, I shouldn't be able to spend 15 minutes wondering what I'm missing. The whole image-map genre is already plagued a bit by accidentally overlooking options. Don't make me search when there are zero options.

A. Rather than linking to the city overview, link to a city overview check. If all variables are set to 1 (i.e. I can't go to the mall, nor the park, nor the...) then show Sorry, The Date is Over.
B. Remove mouse-over options as they are no longer available (I know, not convenient from coding side, but nice for a user).

redle wrote : 1. First and foremost is a feedback problem. Trial and error isn't always bad, but one needs to have a way of determining error. I tried some things. She seemed to not like them. I didn't repeat them. Found out later that they actually had a positive affect and I needed to do them.

Phreaky, that is your main problem right there. Providing feedback to the player, letting them know if they're doing something right or wrong. Don't fuck around with the players and make them think they're doing something wrong when in fact they're doing something right.

Your game is incredibly linear, and there is nothing wrong with that. Yes, it branches off to various endings, but for the most part, unless you do a specific order of events, you're basically screwed and can't have a successful date. At that point you really should let the player know they screwed up and they should start over, instead of letting them continue onward for another 15 pages before they figure out they made a mistake somewhere. If the game wasn't linear and there were chances for the player to redeem themselves, this wouldn't be as much of a problem.

phreaky wrote : But in my defense, it's really difficult to design the flow of the games without going backward
Anyway I still can't figure out how to do it better.

Plan ahead when you take on these sorts of projects. I don't know what your design method is but I suggest you write down your paths and puzzles on paper, and then think about what happens when the players not only succeed but also when they fail.

The objective of a game is to condition the player to learn how to surpass its challenges, and to reward them for that success.

Chill out man, I'm just trying something here, if you don't like it just don't' play it
Simple

phreaky wrote : Chill out man, I'm just trying something here, if you don't like it just don't' play it
Simple

Uhm? Was that directed at me? I'm certainly not freaking out or anything, I was just offering my critique. Take it or don't. I merely use bold and underline to emphasize my points. I certainly don't mean any disrespect.

Peace.

@graen

Ok, thanks a lot for the criticism, I appreciated it, and hopefully it can improve if I create another game

However maybe because you use quite hard sentence that I thought you're a bit emotional

Ok man, peace too

I don't know if i overlooked something or if this is on purpose but it's one fundamental thing that needs fixing:
If i visit a location on the map and do something wrong, the only option is to go somewhere else and it's not even possible to go back to that place. If i did something wrong everywhere then i'm just stuck on the overview picture.
And for example in my apartment, if i suggest something she doesn't like, there's no possibility to try something else.

Lots of hasty dead ends.

BUT: I really appreciate your games nonetheless! And i really enjoy the try and error to a certain degree - but it has to make at least a little bit of sense!

If you want to keep making those games (and believe me, everybody here wants that) then take the feedback here seriously and don't take it personally. Graen gave you some real good advice. EVERYBODY here likes to play your games and is looking forward for new versions and/or new games and is doing the best to help you.

@bforce

I know, honestly I regret something. I should allow the player to go to the same place more than once if the goal I not yet achieved

Well, maybe another time, or maybe someone will make a redux for an easier path

Really liked this one. And (Spoiler Alert)...




... I really like that there is a Creampie possible .-)

Thumbs up!

i like it too
it is really hard to solve though
with the help of spying on the html files i
got 4 endings - are those all?
really like some of the pics - beautiful

Hey phreaky don't regret things you should have done, just learn by them, yeah the game is a little tough but hell whats the rush in cruising right trough it ! personally I find the game enjoyable & quite interesting, got one of the endings so far, I know your not a professional game developer but I do appreciate the time and effort you put in your first games so keep up the great work

@Graen although I understand your point of view there's no need to be so damn harsh or in this case rude, polite criticism goes a much longer way !!

Graen wrote : Phreaky, that is your main problem right there. Providing feedback to the player, letting them know if they're doing something right or wrong. Don't fuck around with the players and make them think they're doing something wrong when in fact they're doing something right.

Squeeky wrote :
TheBrain?
You've indicated some spoilers follow in your comment. Fine, but do you think those might be 'hidden' using "color=#e1e9ec"? (Someone offered a somewhat different hex number, but this is close enough.)

I figured they were subtle enough (I think one could barely make out the photo shoot ending from what I wrote) and moreover hidden in a large chunk of text that anyone would've seen "SPOILERS" well before reading anything that could give a hint.
(Btw, I was the one suggested using the color tag recently :P)

Thanks for the game.

I am finding it very hard though, just got one ending in the room.

Just wanna join the choir here:

Great work on the graphics, and quite impressive that its virtually bug free (game tool must be extremely good to generate such nice code).
It's kinda incredible that you've mannaged to design a non-linear game that has to be played linear to succeed!
I think one of the problems is there are too many different ways to please her. If you look at chaotics games, he pretty much just sticks to kiss and drink and a small selection of items needed for special scenes. Alltho the Arianne game has 20+ variables, only about 3 or 4 of them are used to decide how far she will go: kissing, dancing, drink and groping her chest.
Finally as has been mentioned a couple of times already: dead ends are pretty long, and in many cases you actually get possitive feedback eg. the scene in the tub where she has her bathingsuit on.