Page 2 of 2

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Thu, 17May11 23:06
by yahoo
If I were a creator and put hard work into making an adult visual novel, I'd make sure that everybody appreciates it full and doesn't treat it as an adult comic book for cheap thrills, so I don't think releasing two separate versions can be expected.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Thu, 17May11 23:19
by Dolphin-BR
I like to play games as if I was in the main character's shoes, so I pursue the female characters I feel attracted to, and I choose the options that are closer to what I think or feel. Once I finish the game playing it my way, I like to play it again making different choices just to see scenes with the second most attractive female character. I never play a game to see all available pictures because some have just no appeal to me, like orgy scenes or MMF scenes. So an option to visit any part of the game after completing the game once is perfect for my playing style.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Fri, 17May12 02:35
by karrek
I think everyone else has already covered my thoughts, so I won't repeat them. I just wanted to point out that the "It's unlocked when you successfully finish the game once" currently has 69% of the vote. [img]images/icones/icon13.gif[/img]

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sat, 17May13 02:55
by tlaero
Thanks for the feedback, folks. I'm thinking along the lines of, "I've played as much as I'm going to. Then, later on, I want to go back and revisit things without playing the whole game again." I'm not really going to devote much time to making sure scripts and things work in Free play mode. I'm just going to make it so that places that check for points (sex scenes) don't stop you in Free play.

Tlaero

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17May14 13:23
by bobsuncle1
In all honesty I like the idea of once you have seen a scene you unlock it in the replay area. Means people have play the game to unlock the scenes but don't have to replay to see them again. I know in a web based game that is hard as it is nearly impossible (I know cookies are a thing but if you clear your cookies you lose your save game) so even though I like this idea unless you have a way around this I also can't see this being implemented.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17May14 19:27
by kessie8dn
bobsuncle1 wrote:In all honesty I like the idea of once you have seen a scene you unlock it in the replay area. Means people have play the game to unlock the scenes but don't have to replay to see them again. I know in a web based game that is hard as it is nearly impossible (I know cookies are a thing but if you clear your cookies you lose your save game) so even though I like this idea unless you have a way around this I also can't see this being implemented.


Presumably you have a cookie for completing the game once and if that's "True" then any other cookie gets the appropriate value by whichever option the player selects? Then you could play every option up to a given point, Save your game, then continue to play every option up to the next point, and so on, without having to wonder whether you've locked yourself out at an earlier stage...

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17Oct08 11:28
by Nightshade09
I would revamp your game a bit differently

Achievements shouldn't be automatically given just for playing the game. But instead eventually spaced click about hot spots through the entire game. Both in the Good and Bad paths.

One of the bit upsetting things I found about RfJ was having to play the bad path in order to get all of the achievements.
Here I was trying to set Marc up with Jess for a few days only to come to end and shocking dark ending with Chloe!
That was a psychologically haunting for a few days. I never expected to see such a dark ending in any adult game. gasp An did spoil the mood of Good ending. Believe it or not was teary eyed over Marc and Chloe because of that scene.. lol

When I came back to the game in order to play the good path. It really spoiled the mood during the Good Path for I was haunted by outcome for both of the characters from the bad scene.

I think better then having to play both paths in order to get to the bonus. Achievement should be hidden hotspots through out the game. Through out both paths. Such as ash tray in bar or door in the city center scene or a band instrument in the club scene. Something the player should hunt for through out the entire game.

It would also make the player slow down and enjoy each beautiful scene and story. As they forced to inspect and hunt for the hidden object :)

Like in real life employment Bonus' are not given for zooming through your work. But instead because you put in the extra effort and rewarded. :)

Then once you get all the achievements and bonus.

You automatically unlock a lets say scene menu where you can pick segment of the game in free mode. So you can revisit your favorite scene. Nor should the Bonus scene be accessible by way of the freeplay mode.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17Oct08 13:07
by L1nk1980
I like the way that all the else verse games have a good and a bath path

you never see what will happens if the bad guys wins. these paths are also fun to play.

I think Tlaero write these paths to let you know, why Chloe is doing these things see do. and if you find all the achievements in the good paths you don't have to play through the whole story she mend you to play/read

I think they put the bad path also in saving chloe.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17Oct08 13:14
by Shiv
Been thinking about this idea a lot - each sex scene having it's own achievement then once that's unlocked, the scene can be replayed by clicking on the achievement screen. That way it balances out by not being to excessively difficult to get the ability to replay scenes, but still having to play through the game/scenes to get them.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17Oct08 17:18
by tlaero
I ended up not doing "Free Play Mode" (FPM) because I felt that it would end up being confusing to the user. FPM would have, effectively been, "If you get to a place where you need a high enough score to continue, and the player doesn't have that score, let him continue anyway." But what happens in a game like Finding Miranda where many of the scenes are different depending on which of the 4 character types you choose. Do we do a complicated "Ask a bunch of questions before each time you go to FPM" so the user can set things up the way he wants too? What if he doesn't know which parameters matter? Etc.

So, what I did instead was give people 9 extra save slots with pictures to show you which save is which, and the ability to export your saves to a file and re-import them later (giving you, effectively, infinite save slots). Then, if people want to save the game at the beginning of each sex scene, they can have their own version of FPM.

If anyone is really interested in being able to jump to anywhere and manipulate the variables at will, ask me in a private message and I'll tell you how to enable debug mode.

Tlaero

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Sun, 17Oct08 20:32
by BloodyMares
Well, I think i'm late to the party but this sounds to me like a 'New Game Plus'. If you ever think about adding this feature in the future, then I think it would be logical and fair to unlock this mode after completing the game once. The ability to replay certain chapters without starting a new game would be amazing, I think.

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Wed, 17Oct11 19:04
by Lalelu
tlaero wrote:I ended up not doing "Free Play Mode" (FPM) because I felt that it would end up being confusing to the user. FPM would have, effectively been, "If you get to a place where you need a high enough score to continue, and the player doesn't have that score, let him continue anyway." But what happens in a game like Finding Miranda where many of the scenes are different depending on which of the 4 character types you choose. Do we do a complicated "Ask a bunch of questions before each time you go to FPM" so the user can set things up the way he wants too? What if he doesn't know which parameters matter? Etc.

I think the way "Play With Us" did it (which is similar to how JP VNs tend to do it) is the simplest & best solution. Just a way to revisit old scenes straight from the main menu.

Of course, extra save slots is also always a good workaround and greatly appreciated [img]images/icones/icon7.gif[/img]

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Thu, 17Dec07 02:52
by h4h4
I'm confused, where do I play the game? This is in the "Free sexy games" forum but I don't see a link anywhere? What am I missing?

Re: Thoughts on "Free Play Mode"

PostPosted: Thu, 17Dec07 05:24
by ut1stgear1
h4h4 wrote:I'm confused, where do I play the game? This is in the "Free sexy games" forum but I don't see a link anywhere? What am I missing?

Not a game right now. Just a poll for future Tlaero games on how to unlock free play "go back to play previous unlocked content" so you don't have to replay from the beginning. Tlaero always releases her games to the public when finished via this forum. So this is probably the best place to run this poll since right now there isn't a forum for polls. Not the first poll of this kind here. the polls usually disappear after they have completed.