Play with Us! Episode 1 (Visual novel with interactive sex)

[Dolphin-BR]

Overall i can honestly say i'm more impressed and hopeful for this game than I was previously.

Based solely off of the previous posts and releases I had experienced some disappointment in that I felt that Palmer was moving away from traditional aif in favor of the more popular but less immersive graphic based adventures that seem to be taking over these days(this is of course, only my opinion). Not to mention i was concerned he was going to sacrifice his return to "homecoming" and the rich (again, just my opinion) potential for expansion that story holds, in favor of something more shallow.

In short I was afraid that Palmer was going to sacrifice story in favor of graphics. It seems that won't be the case, at least as far as I can tell so far. That gives me some hope for sure. ^_^
Perhaps i'm also inclined toward hope because i have a thing for anime and those kind of story lines ;P

That said, some constructive (i hope) criticism.

I do understand that this is only demo and you may have some of these ideas planned for the final release. If so wonderful! If not no worries.
Either way, Thank you for all your hard work and willingness to share it so generously with the world.

1) cartoon hands rip me out of the story. I assume one part of the gold in making this something of a 3D game is to increase the immersion experience but the white mickey mouse hands really undo that at the worst possible, most intimate times. How difficult would it be to render the hands as interactive implements? sexy beach 3 being the example i'm thinking of here. Also the question is not a hypothetical one, my 3d rendering experience, not to mention programming, is non existent, so i'm sincerely curious how hard this would be.

2) Speaking of intimacy and taking someone out of the moment; the first time i got to the night sex scene i thought i had spanked her by accident. This was exacerbated by the screen shake effect. Then i thought maybe it was a really terrible sound effect for popping her cherry. Finally i realized it was supposed to be (?) the sound of my body slapping into her ass, which seems completely out of place given the slow, gentle, quiet nature of this particular event.
So suggestions
A. that sounds really needs to change...
B. That entire scene would be greatly uplifted by some simple animation. even switching between two different stills of the male sliding in and out of her would be an improvement over the camera shake.

3) the "do nothing" scene was incredibly hot. Something about a character in the game really displaying their own initiative greatly appeals to me. I think that's why i like your characters in general, they seem to have a bit more agency than those you find in other AIF. There are of course exceptions like in Tlaero's characters but generally speaking I feel like it's a fair statement.

Anyway thanks for all your hard work! looking forward to your future releases!

About:
"2) Speaking of intimacy and taking someone out of the moment; the first time i got to the night sex scene i thought i had spanked her by accident. This was exacerbated by the screen shake effect. Then i thought maybe it was a really terrible sound effect for popping her cherry. Finally i realized it was supposed to be (?) the sound of my body slapping into her ass, which seems completely out of place given the slow, gentle, quiet nature of this particular event.
So suggestions
A. that sounds really needs to change...
B. That entire scene would be greatly uplifted by some simple animation. even switching between two different stills of the male sliding in and out of her would be an improvement over the camera shake."

I think that sound effect was REALLY sexy! I agree thou that if it was supposed to be a kind of a 'sneaky attack' the player should move more gently. But it seems it wasn't really true that Emma was unaware of what was happening. The expression on her face gives out a sign of complicity.

[palmer_aif]

Emily will never leave my heart. It might sound cliche, but she's the reason I got into adult gaming, and I'll never abandon her. Yes, I do like to experiment and do do other stuff (you should see the 2D version of Emma I'm working on), but every single day i start up Adrift, load up Homecoming, and can't wait to start writing again. Every time I do it's like I'm returning back home. AIFs are forever special for me. Yes, it might take more time than originally planned, but then again so did ESA, and I will most definitely finish Homecoming, just like I did my first game. Hope you're all being patient I might not have the time to blog about it the same way I did before, but rest assured, Emily is REALLY looking forward to seeing her brother again.

And oh yeah, if you're still having issues playing the latest version of PWU you should try downloading one of the uploaded versions. Hope that helps

[jk103]

Is there a particular reason you're going with the big anime eyes + 3d model look? It's kind of freaking me out. Anime eyes work in anime because there's no form to the face. But if you stick anime eyes onto a 3d figure with actual form and depth and perspective, it tends to look wrong in a creepy, inhuman kind of way. You might be better off either using normally proportioned 3d models, or if you're deadset on the anime look, finding someone who can draw it out in 2d.

[Hoboy]

Personally I like the art style - it's different, and gives us something not seen in every other generic Daz Victoria based works...

[bangkokdangerous]

@ Palmer : Thanks for the reply! It's good to hear some more of what your thoughts are. ^_^

@Dolphin : no doubt, super sexy - in the right context ;P my contention is that this was not the right one but hey it's just me and clearly it's working for others so it's all good either way

I'm with Hoboy - art style is nice because it is different

[palmer_aif]

Is there a particular reason you're going with the big anime eyes + 3d model look? It's kind of freaking me out. Anime eyes work in anime because there's no form to the face. But if you stick anime eyes onto a 3d figure with actual form and depth and perspective, it tends to look wrong in a creepy, inhuman kind of way. You might be better off either using normally proportioned 3d models, or if you're deadset on the anime look, finding someone who can draw it out in 2d.

I wanted to make something myself, something that was fairly unique. Some people are freaked out by this look, which is totally fine of course. I can definitely see how it might take some getting use to. It's obviously a case of personal taste. I am however currently experimenting with a 2D approach which I can post if you're interested.

[Rexxx]

it's not so bad and you have improved much in the graphic part from the beginning.
I would be curious to see the 2d image.
I'm happy that you are doing also Emily, it's something very different from PWU and variety is good, each style can please someone more someone less, even if you one day decide to create a longer "visual novel" instead of an episodic one the effect would be different from PWU.

[palmer_aif]

it's not so bad and you have improved much in the graphic part from the beginning.
I would be curious to see the 2d image.
I'm happy that you are doing also Emily, it's something very different from PWU and variety is good, each style can please someone more someone less, even if you one day decide to create a longer "visual novel" instead of an episodic one the effect would be different from PWU.

Yeah, if you put the first version of Emma I did next to what's there now I'm sure almost everyone would agree there's at least been major improvements. I'm still learning 3D and I can definitely improve a lot. I was not particularly satisfied with the fellatio scene, despite re-designing it more than three times. I can accept the fact that people subjectively don't like the visuals of the game, but what I can't accept is if people find it "creepy". If they do, I've failed. Episode 2 is planned to be a lot longer. We're on good terms with the NG staff after being hosted on their adult games collection, so we're confident we can produce and release longer games now (size wise). Thanks, like always, for your comments.

[Rexxx]

it's not so bad and you have improved much in the graphic part from the beginning.
I would be curious to see the 2d image.
I'm happy that you are doing also Emily, it's something very different from PWU and variety is good, each style can please someone more someone less, even if you one day decide to create a longer "visual novel" instead of an episodic one the effect would be different from PWU.

Yeah, if you put the first version of Emma I did next to what's there now I'm sure almost everyone would agree there's at least been major improvements. I'm still learning 3D and I can definitely improve a lot. I was not particularly satisfied with the fellatio scene, despite re-designing it more than three times. I can accept the fact that people subjectively don't like the visuals of the game, but what I can't accept is if people find it "creepy". If they do, I've failed. Episode 2 is planned to be a lot longer. We're on good terms with the NG staff after being hosted on their adult games collection, so we're confident we can produce and release longer games now (size wise). Thanks, like always, for your comments.

Only with experience and practice one can become better, learning 3d isn't simple and uncanny valley is also a bit subjective, maybe I and Palmer and several other fell less than other, and so for him (or her now that i see better the profile) is more difficult understand if a picture can result creepy (personally the only place in which I have had a bit that impression has been in the night scene, once when Emma opened the eye I had a stroke).
Remembering a post of Bbben it's possible that this eye's problem is more evident when Emma looks at the camera.
I'm also happy newsground will give you more space, 250 mega were a bit too little if you wouldn' t have began to use the low-res format when posting there.

[palmer_aif]

I would be curious to see the 2d image.

Emma, GTA style Don't worry though, we're not changing the art style anytime soon. It's just something to experiment with.

[ut1stgear1]

Nice 2D render. I actually prefer this Emma to the one in Sister Attraction. Well done. If you get the 3D render would be interested in seeing it.

[Skelaturi]

Nice 2D render. I actually prefer this Emma to the one in Sister Attraction. Well done. If you get the 3D render would be interested in seeing it.

Only thing is there is no Emma in Sister Attraction. Emma is the girl in Play with Us!. Emily is the girl in Sister Attraction.

[ut1stgear1]

Nice 2D render. I actually prefer this Emma to the one in Sister Attraction. Well done. If you get the 3D render would be interested in seeing it.

Only thing is there is no Emma in Sister Attraction. Emma is the girl in Play with Us!. Emily is the girl in Sister Attraction.

Oops. Just got games mixed up. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Gio]

2d is nice but i prefer 3d :P

[KingsRaiden]

Worked through the game to get 100% and nice effort! I remember Sister Attraction and liked that as well.

The art does make it feel like a hentai novel, which is not bad, the mouse AI was fine once I got used to it. Only part I could not see making too much of an effect was when finger fucking her, does that do much? Going by the sound I didn't notice much reaction on her part so focused on masturbating. I did notice if I finger fucked her too quickly she did wake up, wasn't sure if there was something I missed on that one.

Great game! Looking forward to more!