Suggestion for new members

[JFR]

I suspect that some (many?) of the newer non-patron members of the forum may not have noticed that they have read-only access to one of the "Patron Only" forums listed at the bottom of the Board Index page. The two lowest patron forums are indeed private but the "Coffee and Beer" forum is open to all registered members for reading. You must be at least a basic, Coffee-level, patron to contribute posts or respond to them but any general (blue username) member can enter the forum and read the various threads.

I mention this because there is a lot of fun being had in the patron groups, including that one, involving some rather far-fetched theories, along with some rather interesting story background and a few broad hints that might help newer folks get caught up. On the other hand, read with a grain of salt as some of the ideas are just for fun and might steer you way wrong if taken seriously.

Just one more way to "join the conversation."

[infiniteignorance]

You're going to need to ninja edit that first paragraph.

[JFR]

You're going to need to ninja edit that first paragraph.

That was quick!

But - - you are right. I'll see to it. Thanks for the reminder.

[Wolfschadowe]

You're going to need to ninja edit that first paragraph.

That gave me a good laugh.

[dutch]

First off let me say the work on this game is very impressive. Someone is trying to create a new standard for other games to be judged by. That being said, I found the first 6 sections to be fun and a challenge. However section 7 goes beyond that. For me looking for fun and a little distraction for the few hours a week of downtime and can play. Section 7 was too much. I've given up on it. It's too bad, I guess I just picked the wrong game. But it's been fun. Great work, you and your staff have tremendous talent. I wish you all the luck with the project.

[JFR]

... Section 7 was too much. I've given up on it. ...

I am sorry to think we may have chased away any new players. In another thread, Wolfschadowe explained the technical reasons for the extra complexity in Episode 7. It was much tougher than he ever intended but there wasn't any way around it. The challenges presented by including 3 new romantic characters midway through the game were just too great to avoid the difficulty. That is why we felt we had to relax the rules about giving in-depth hints for that episode only. I caught some flak in the forum for "giving away the nuclear codes" but we couldn't see any other way to maintain the fun factor for most players. That chapter was just too convoluted and difficult. We did the best we could through hints and virtual walk-throughs but some members thought we didn't give enough help and others thought we ruined it with too much help. There was no way to win on that one.

The up side of all that is that the upcoming episode (E8) will be much more like the first 6 and far simpler to play. Wolf took care of the hard stuff all in one episode and future chapters should remain in the "challenging but fun and fair" model. I hope you will stick around to try the next chapter. If not, we are sorry to see you - or any other players - go.

[Wolfschadowe]

First off let me say the work on this game is very impressive.

Hi dutch! Welcome to the forum, and thanks for playing. I appreciate the feedback, but the good and the constructive criticism.

I recently discovered that there is a bug that blocks a couple of the branches in Episode 7 at Brad's apartment. That might be causing some of your frustration.

[JFR]

... there is a bug that blocks a couple of the branches ...

Something I should know about, boss?

[Wolfschadowe]

Something I should know about, boss?

Any path where Brad is zipped in the cab will fail to elevate properly to the no-pants version of the "lap-dance contest" at the apartment later. This blocks the Azumi Wins and Oops paths, among a few other minor branches.

[JFR]

Something I should know about, boss?

Any path where Brad is zipped in the cab will fail to elevate properly to the no-pants version of the "lap-dance contest" at the apartment later. This blocks the Azumi Wins and Oops paths, among a few other minor branches.

Good to know.

I said it before and I'll say it again. Snake bit!

[infiniteignorance]

I caught some flak in the forum for "giving away the nuclear codes" but we couldn't see any other way to maintain the fun factor for most players.

All in jest. Everyone likes a challenge but the game isn't titled, "Mission: Impossible"

[boulimanus]

It's not a straightforward matter but just to thrown in my 2 pence, I much prefer this game than those that are just a pretext to sex scenes with 'gameplay' consisting of time-wasting furious clicking.

The complexity is one of the reason one of my favorite scene is Natalie's private lap dance. It makes getting the full dance and best outcome rewarding.
That being said, I'd agree the taxi scene was very tough to prep what was coming next, in particular due to the delayed impact, and the trial and error it generated could be frustrating indeed.
But overall I still say it is for the best and well balanced.

[dutch]

I'll stick around, but I'm taking a short break. After almost 100 attempts to get the apartment scene and the taxi scene to develop I have become very frustrated with total failure. I do agree with the member above who points out it's about the challenge not the sex scenes. I could find porn anywhere. But I like working the brain more. I only play on difficult and try to avoid clues and hints if possible. But sometimes it seems they are the only way to proceed. Now if there was a bug in the game and I was in a no win scenario I'm not sure how much better that makes me feel. But I'll give it another try in a few weeks and see if it proceeds better. Again very impressive work, though I find myself trying to interject logic into my path choice. Looking at the romantic interests only one seem viable to follow. But that may change in future episodes. Or, it's possible none would be a good option. We'll have to wait and see. Thanks again for everyone's efforts on this project. You folks have some mad skills.

[JFR]

Glad to have you stick around for awhile. My best advice for newer players is to just find a story and follow it to the end or at least as far as it goes. Don't get hung up hunting different choices. When you finish a path, save the game for future content and then go back and play through another path, making different choices. One big hint - IMHO the "best" story line does not involve what some think is the "best" apartment ending.

[dutch]

Well JFR, now I'm curious. What I considered to be the only path with a chance of success had nothing to do with the apartment. It will be interesting to see where it goes. I look forward to future sections.