Love Inn
Big list of updates
I'm really bad at spacing these updates.
First of all, hello! It's been a while, time passes so fast.
Before the update, I'd love to know your opinion about this: I'm planning to launch a Steam page really soon, so the game can gather wishlists while I keep developing it. The problem is, there's three different ways of doing so in an adult game.
1. All the adult content is included in the base game in Steam. This gives me two problems:
- People in Germany and China wouldn't be able to play it.
- Risk of Steam banning the game forever, with no undoing.
2. The base game in Steam, but the erotic part of the game is a free DLC. People in those countries would be able to play the game, but not the DLC (which I'm guessing, would be easy to find online). In case of banning, I'm unsure if Steam would ban the DLC only, or DLC+ Base Game.
3. Release the base game on Steam, with no adult content. Then, SOMEONE, would upload a +18 patch to the internet. Main problem of this I see is, I'm guessing a lot of people wouldn't realize there's a +18 patch.
Adult games are allowed in Steam, but sometimes some games are banned for questionable reasons. I really dislike the idea of having the game out there, and somehow a year after release it gets banned, or me having to heavily watch out what I include in the game for fear of the banhammer. Please, let me know your thoughts!
After all that, let me update you on what I've been doing in the game since resuming development.
Instead of static encounters with characters, I wanted characters to move around the ryokan so it felt more lively. Since that didn't make sense with static times like morning / noon, I started developing a real time system.
After that, the big thing was navigation of NPCs. Moving a character from one position to another is easy, but making them go between scenarios that are not loaded to the player, proved to be a pain. But after a lot of prototyping, things went well.
In the back garden, I wanted weeds to grow ala Animal Crossing. That meant delimiting a "correct" space for placing objects. Then, when things are placed, the game remembers that, and won't allow other objects to be placed in the same tile. So here is that.
Here's the system a bit more "full". Chiharu and Aya are sharing the exact same schedule in this clip because of copy-pasting, don't mind them.
I finally also developed the inventory system, with pick up objects, merging, subtract when placing objects...
On the graphical side, during my break from Love Inn, I did a bunch of studies about pixel art, and tried mimicking the superb style of Metal Slug. Here's 6 sprites I did for something I was doing with my friend lewdlinuxgamer.
That lead to me learning and enjoying some things in pixel art, like separating parts with outlines, more contrast... Before, I rawdogged the proportions which caused some weird things (chiharu's head was way bigger than Kenta's), so a redraw was a nice thing.
Also, finally, I'm using Godot's compatibility for localization, so translation of the game is way easier now. Now I just have files containing texts, separating each language into a different column, so it's easier to translate and send those files.
Big overhaul in how the menu looks.
Also, with the Steam page up really soon, I'm doing a bunch of extra art that didn't think of, but it's required. Since now everything is pixel art, I changed the logo to be consistent.
There's more things and changes, and some things I'm still prototyping, which I'm excited to share in the future :)
As always, thank you for your patience and comments. I've grown a bit anxious about the attention, since I'm more critical now of my own work, but I guess it's part of the process and I'll get used to it. But truly, thank all of you. See you soon!!
Comments
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looking good, on the steam problem you could upload the game into steam without the NSFW content and have it as a downloadable patch on some other site outside of steam, the patch should be able to work with the game even if it is from steam, a lot of other games do this since steam has some weird regulations on nudity
Yeah, that's what I'm going for at the moment, these days I'm preparing the Steam page and it will be 100% SFW on there.
I love this game so much. had a blast playing it can't wait for the full Release. Art style is also amazing.
And the fact that takes place in a hot springs inn Is pretty awesome
I'm really glad you like it! Thanks for playing friend :)
Always nice to see your posts!!
For the Steam dilemma, I guess going for DLC is the best option? Other games have done similar things. I would try to delve a bit deeper on why some games are being banned for their lewd content. House Party is an incredibly erotic game with explicit nudity & Sex and it's still there going strong. Mind you, it has been one of the most successful lewd games, so there's that. But maybe you can find more reasons as to why they were banned and get a better idea of what position you're in. For example, I know for a fact that some lewd games in certain platforms have been banned not strictly because of their content (thought that was the excuse), but because the developer was problematic to put it in a way, and the platform didn't want to associate with them, not the game specifically. Just an example, but I mean to illustrate that sometimes there are external reasons, maybe you find something that can help you.
Other than that, the new ideas are great. I like how you're going for the pixel art fully. It looks super good. I do have to say that I like Chiharu's outfit A LOT more in the previous version. It's much more colorful, more stylish, with more personality imo. Overall the new models are super great.
Now in terms of game design, you've got some interesting choices there.
I like that you got rid of the static times. It's good for certain games I guess, and in the early game it works well, but in terms of gameplay at lot of times you just end up clicking through stages endlessly while you're trying to get something you want. It devolves into "click this things to do", "Click pass time", repeat until you get what you want. It was fine for a short game, but as you play more and you get to the "end game" it starts feeling repetitive. idk, it's just a balance that I've found hard to maintain in my own games. A real time system obviously feels much more dynamic. It's harder to code due to navs and pathing and such, but the advantages are great. Being able to walk through the Onsen while the day advances will create a much better connection to the player. It will feel more alive, like you're actually working there and not just assigning tasks in a certain order. So yeah I really support this decision xd.
The other thing you showed is also interesting. I understood that you're going for a kind of a gardening / building mechanic, placing plants, etc. I'm guessing the inventory system will come into play here. I didn't expect this here but it is much welcome! It can be a really good decision, it might open up a lot of new gameplay mechanics options for you in the future.
Overall, I feel like you're making the whole gameplay have a much more dynamic flow. The real time passing, inventory systems, gardening / building, etc. It ties much better to what you said (if i remember correctly) about wanting to let the player leave the Onsen, go to town, etc. Doing it this way is much more effective for that goal.
Sorry for the long post xd but I really enjoy game design and chatting about it!
BTW is your first language spanish? Cause I saw in one photo it was all spanish (it's mine too heh)
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment friend :)
Yeah I've been thinking a lot about the whole Steam dilemma; there's some pretty raunchy with no problems in, and a big list of banned games include underage characters. I'm just cautious in case I want to include some things because I don't think Steam would love some things, like if at some point in the plot a character is drunk + sex happens, they may think there's no consent... Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, but better safe than sorry, there's no coming back from a ban as far as I know.
I'm glad you like the new pixel :) Chiharu is for sure the one I'm still not on board so don't worry, I've been sketching other designs, it's just that sometimes I have to move on to other things because I get fixated on something and then spend too much time, so I let it rest for a bit haha
Yeah about the fixed times, you explained perfectly my reasons for the change. I didn't really have much content before and it already felt like a "complex" menu. Walking from place to place felt just like pressing buttons and not really doing anything. It was a problem of my implementation, since I've played games that do it well, but I didn't.
About the inventory, I always thought about having one, mostly for gifts for the girls, but since I wanted to have some customization, letting the player place things in some spots came naturally. I'm avoiding the whole farming thing since it would feel out of place, but yeah, some plants and other decoration will be nice I think!
We will see how this turns out, but I'm really enjoying it hehe. Thanks a lot for the nice comment! Always a pleasure to read your thoughts. I'm a bit less focused on media atm, so sorry if I take a bit to answer back!
¡Y si, soy español! Prototipo mejor en español, por fin empecé a usar las herramientas para localizar fácilmente y tenerlo en los dos idiomas jajaja. Cualquier cosa me dices, tengo curiosidad por tus proyectos. Un placer :)
Safer to go the dlc route tbh
Yeah, I've been thinking a lot and the least optimal one is to go full ero on the Steam release... ayayay
That's amazing dude! The outline on the pixel art looks incredible man. You are really doing a great job defining and evolving your style. The choice to study more pixel art with Metal Slug was a wonderful choice. And those Metal Slug sprites look amazing dude. They feel real and almost official. The new Menu overhaul looks wonderful. Lastly, the new logo looks really nice and easy on the eyes. You are doing such a beautiful job with your game, I look forward to the moment I can wishlist this thing on Steam or buy it outright here on itch. Doing great things dude, I am happy to see it as I am sure others who are following this game. Keep up the wonderful work you've put into studying, redefining, and planning out the game. I hope you are well.
Thanks a lot for the kind words Scott!! You are always so thoughtful! I'm glad you are enjoying the changes. A lot of times when I'm re-doing something I ask myself if people will like it better than the old stuff, so it's good to hear.
And everything is going good friend, the only thing that bothers me nowadays is the sun here in Spain haha Getting close to temperatures that make me not want to go outside until night time. Hope you are doing great too!!
We've had a lot of fog in June so far. It's alright. Trying to sort out some stuff in my life. Thank you, I hope your AC stays strong in the coming heat waves.
I hope everything turns out well for you Scott 🙏