Spankers, Spankees, and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
Yup. A new version, not even 24 hours after the last one. This one fixes a crash
in the new event I added yesterday to highlight your job as a waiter/waitress
(yeah, so I didn’t actually *test* that event before I released it). Thanks
42idiot for being patient enough to report the crash, complete with logs!
Also, while I was in the neighborhood, I saw all that lovely space on the right
side of the screen, and decided to *also* display your character’s bum status.
I’ve been tracking it, I just haven’t displayed it anywhere, because the
character creation screen (where it was displayed in the previous version) was
crowded enough already.
So now you’ll see your bum status update in real time as you get your naughty
heinie swatted good!
Or it’ll just be boring, static text if you’re one of those *lame* people who
insist on being a goody two shoes superhero who never ever gets swatted.
Get it in the Downloads section!
Spankers, Spankees, and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
Got a new build up. This is mostly a cleanup release. It adds a few tweaks to
the UI that should hopefully make it suck slightly less. In particular, it
hopefully provides some options to help people get the combat UI to fit
reasonably well, even if their resolution isn’t particularly close to mine.
Yeah, the player shouldn’t have to fiddle with setti:engs to get the UI to look
nice.
PASSION PROJECT I’M DOING FOR FREE!
There. You’re no longer allowed to criticize anything about the UI ever again.
Ever. Again.
Actually, that’s a lie. I welcome any and all constructive criticism. For one
thing, it helps me decide what to prioritize (would people rather have a slick
UI, or more content?).
Anyway, the changes in this new build:
1. Your statistics and outfit are now displayed on the story screen. We had all
that wonderful space on the right side of the screen, so I figured I’d use it.
You can’t currently change your outfit on the story screen (you still need to
go into the (C)haracter screen). That’s on my roadmap, it’s just a bit more
work than flinging it up there to see. I figure the statistics in particular
will help when you have statistic-incrementing choices, or for checking your
energy before you make the choice that *obviously* sends you into battle.
2. The combat screen is now more compact. I’ve increased the maximum length of
each line for combat status (right side of the screen), and reduced the space
between the combat log and the status. This should hopefully make the status
more compact. Note: You *may* not see less wrapping even with the longer maximum
line. The game calculates how many characters you can fit on your screen, and
uses that for wrapping. The maximum is only used if your screen is huge, and
would result in painfully long lines.
3. Two new commands are added to the combat UI. The first, `(+/-) Status Font`,
allows you to increase or decrease the font size of the combat status right
there in combat. Before, you could only change the combat font from the Options
menu, which is only accessible in the story mode. You can’t access the Options
in the combat mode because of an architectural snarl that I need to sit down
and figure out.
The second is `(Tab) Concise`. This toggles the combat status between a
verbose mode (what you see now) and a concise mode. The concise mode uses only
a few characters for each character (typically the first few characters of their
name), and only a few characters for each status. This should help when you
want to investigate powers in a battle with lots of characters.
4. A new command was added to the Story UI. `(+/-) Story Font` that allows
you to increase the size of the story text. This also affects the combat log
(left side of the screen), since they both use the same font.
5. F5 now saves, while F9 loads. This is apparently the same as is used by
Skyrim (and various other games I believe, including the Spiderweb games). Since
the keys are farther apart, this should also hopefully protect against pressing
(L)oad when you intended (S)ave.
6. For some reason, sometimes the player’s combat name wasn’t getting set
correctly. I haven’t been able to duplicate it, but I have seen it in some of
my older saves, and other people’s saves. I’ve thrown in a hack to update the
player’s combat name when loading a game if you’re on episode 2 and your combat
name isn’t “ScarletMoon.” Hopefully that should fix any bugged saves out there,
and we’ll have to see if anybody finds their combat name not being set (or
saved) properly when they play episode 1.
7. Did a bit of cleanup that should hopefully improve performance in combat
and on the character modification screen.
8. Fixed a bug in combat undo. The player was able to undo from one round to
the previous, and you’re not supposed to be able to do that (since at that
point you know what the enemy is going to do).
9. Fixes a crash pointed out by an Anonymous fan when starting the final battle
with Succubus for episode 2.
10. The title screen commands are now *above* the image. There were some
problems where some users had the buttons pushed right off the screen by the
image. Yeah, I know this is the ultimate copout. The GUI toolkit I’m using
doesn’t provide very much for working with images, so I haven’t found a way
to dynamically scale the image to fit on a screen, and creating multiple
resolution versions sounds like a headache in arbitrary “let’s see if this
works!” At least this way if the title doesn’t fit, you should still be able
to see the commands.
11. Fixes a bug where if you defeat Succubus in the restaurant, the game acted
like you’d lost. You should now see the correct content when you defeat her.
12. Fixes some typos.
13. Added a new (meaningless) choice where the Vanessa asks them if they’re
nervous about their new job at the start of episode 2. This was done to make
sure people don’t miss the fact that they got a job at some point between
episodes 1 and 2, so that they’re not caught off-guard. Vanessa was already
making an off-hand comment about it, but it was easily missed.
14. Juliana is now referred to only as Juliana. The name Generalissima isn’t
established the end of episode 2, and only if she’s getting spanked by
Clemency. Before, the game was just referring to her as ‘Generalissima’
without any establishment at all. The third episode will introduce her as
well, for those of you who don’t go sneaking into rich people’s houses.
Many thanks to Anonymous for the crash report, and 42idiot for some very
good criticism of the UI that inspired many of these tweaks. Also for pointing
out some typos, and the bug with the game not recognizing that you’ve defeated
Succubus, and finally for pointing out the flaws in how the story is presented
that inspired the last two changes.
Get it at the Downloads section!
AKA
Spankers, Spankees, and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
A new version has been posted with some bug fixes:
1. Fixed a crash when fighting Succubus with the average AI (thanks Aymer!)
2. Fixed a crash when falling down the elevator shaft in Silver Tower, and shooting the rifles (thanks Gojira01!).
3. Fixed a few places where I erroneously referred to “Silver Tower” as “Scarlet Tower.” (thanks Gojira01!)
Get the new version over at the Downloads section!
AKA
Spankers, Spankees and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
Spiderx over on animeotk kindly pointed out a crash that happens when you agree to be spanked by the spies in Megawater on the third day of episode 2. A new version has been uploaded with that fix. Thanks Spiderx!
As far as my progress this month…it’s been largely nonexistent. I’m not particularly surprised, I was working pretty furiously to get out the new engine, so I apparently decided that I needed a break.
I’ve also been struggling a bit with the third episode. Been having a bit of difficulty finding the right story and villain (my original plan fell apart as soon as fingers touch keyboard, as per usual), so I’ve had a few false starts. I think things are finally starting to take shape though, so hopefully I’ll be much more productive this week.
As a little teaser, Tempestas will be making her first appearance in the game this episode, and for the first time, you’ll get to control two superheroes in combat. Tempestas’ power set isn’t 100% locked down yet, but I’m mostly thinking she’ll be fast, and focus on inhibiting enemy attacks (i.e. she’ll love the Away status). She’ll also have a healthy mix of offensive powers as well.
Here are a few powers she might have:
Wind Tunnel – Select 2 targets. Redirect the next power/10 attacks against the first target to the second target. Each redirection costs Tempestas (2*target2.power – power) energy.
Wind Gust – Select a target. Do that target power – target.speed damage, and inflict Away for 2 turns.
Wind Throw – Select 2 targets. Do (strength + power) – target.speed damage to both targets. If target 1 is Away, cure Away and do an additional target1damage to both targets.
Hurricane’s Soul – Increase Tempestas’ Power count by 1, but decrease her speed by 25%.
Hurricane’s Eye – Increase Tempestas’ power statistic by 25%, but reduce her Attack count by 1.
Uploaded a new version with an additional bug fix. Basically, if you lost to Succubus the first time you fought her, and you put on underwear that isn’t baring (i.e. not a thong) when you change out of your costume, the game crashes when you have the option to tell Juliana that Succubus scares you. People playing a woman probably didn’t see this crash, because when the player changes out of her costume, she defaults to putting on a thong (because I like thongs. They be sexy). However, people playing men did, because I default the man to putting on boxers. Because I don’t want to think about a man in a thong. So much hair…
I really should add some logic at some point to remember what clothing you were wearing before changing you into your costume, so that I can change you back into it. After all, some of you might be playing a woman who refuses to wear thongs, and some of you might be playing men who like wearing thongs.
AKA
Uploaded a new version, 3.0.4 with some additional bug fixes.
In particular fixed two crashes: one during your conversation with Sam at the end of episode 1, if you claim you lost track of time while dancing, and then are rather rude to her. Two if you decide to spank Keiko at the beginning of episode 2.
Spankers, Spankees, and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
I’ve just uploaded a new version with a few bug fixes pointed by some kind folks
on animeotk.com. In particular, I’ve fixed a crash where a slender PC tried to
spit on Buzzsaw after being defeated by her the first time.
Also, something that I forgot to point out: The Page Up/Page Down, Home/End keys
all work like you would expect for both the story pages, and combat log. You
don’t have to scroll through the content line by line if you don’t want to. I
should make those more discoverable, I just don’t want to do anything fancy.
I could include additional buttons, but that’s *four* additional buttons. I want
to have as little as possible on the UI, because that makes it easier for the
UI to scale up and down on different sized monitors and it means more of the
screen can be taken up by text.
I suppose I could include a story page that points those out before the game
begins? I don’t know.
Anyway, get the bug-fixed version over at the Downloads section, especially if
you like playing slender, defiant characters!
AKA
Spankers, Spankees, and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
So, Scarlet Moon has been released with a brand spanking new engine
written in Lua. I did this primarily because distributing the Java
version has been a huge pain in the ass, especially for users who
aren’t technically savvy. The distribution was also *very* bloated.
The Lua version should be much simpler and much easier to run. Unlike
the Java version, you don’t need to download anything extra. Just
download the game and play it. Directions can be found under the Downloads
page.
I’m using the *wonderful* LOVE game engine, and it lets you build a Windows
executable and Mac App without actually owning a Windows or Mac machine. Which
means that we now have a Mac App for you Mac users! I have no idea if it works
obviously, but fingers crossed.
There isn’t any new content (except for a few tweaks and edits here or
there). However, the combat is *very* different. First, I’ve removed the
positioning system. It wasn’t adding much to combat, and it made the
AI more complicated than necessary to implement.
For the new combat, the key conceit is that you get to use *every* action
avalable each round. This is different from most RPG’s, where you pick one
action from several. You start with just the ability to attack a single
target, and use one power. Additional powers may give you additional
actions, or stop enemies from using actions.
I’m *super* excited about this combat engine. When I play-tested it, it
felt very dynamic to me. I think it does the best job yet of capturing
the fast paced, dynamic combat that makes superheroes so much fun to
watch.
Combat itself is also deterministic now. Each supervillain has their own unique
pattern. A lot of combat will be figuring what each supervillain does when.
AI also has a *much* bigger impact than in the previous game:
1. With the dumb AI, enemies will only attack, and they will attack the target
with the most energy. Use this AI if you don’t care about all this RPG crap
and just want to warm some supervillain bums.
2. With the average AI, enemies will attack just like with the dumb AI, and
use *only* powers that deal damage.
3. With the smart AI, each supervillain has their own strategy, and will use
their powers to their fullest.
Needless to say, the game is balanced for the smart AI. You *will* get your
bum roasted a few times, and even the fights you do win will be near things.
However, none of the battles will be luck based, since as I said above, enemies
are deterministic. So once you find a winning strategy, it will win every time
(in that particular battle).
Get it over at the Downloads section! As always, don’t hesitate to let me know
if you run into any problems.
Because the combat is so very different, I decided not to make the saves from
the old engine compatible with this engine. You’re gonna want to learn the
new combat engine, and the best way to do that is from the beginning.
Spankers, Spankees and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
Sorry about my delay in posting. Been trying to beat Etrian Odyssey 2: Fafnir Knight. Because Etrian Odyssey X is coming out soon, and that’s like a cross over of all the other Etrian Odyssey games so obviously I need to beat the ones I haven’t beat before that comes out!
Anyway, I’m working my way through the bugs in the new engine. I’ve got the first episode translated over, and am about to balance the final boss fight of the first episode. I’m really liking the changes I’ve made to the combat engine. Combat feels much more dynamic to me, and Scarlet Moon herself seems to be shaping up to have a lot of flexibility.
I’ve also been doing some writing for episode 3, so that’s moving forward.
I also participated in a Game Jam over on animeotk.com (basically a week where you sit down and try to create a small game). Mostly I used it as an excuse to write a mini-CYOA in Twine. The game introduces a brand new superheroine several episodes (so several years most likely) before I’d originally planned. You can find it under the new tab: Twine Mini Games. Keep in mind that I banged it out in a week, so it’ll probably only take like half an hour to play, if that. It is a complete game though.
AKA
Spankers, Spankees and Switches of All Ages (18 and above),
Sorry about the delay in posting a progress report It wasn’t my fault!
Actually, yes, yes it was totally my fault.
This hasn’t been the most productive of months, mostly because I keep
discovering awesome RPGs that insist I spend all my free time playing them
instead of working on my game.
Like Star Crawlers. A fun dungeon crawly game with *very* interesting classes
and skills.
Or Radiant Historia. Probably the best JRPG I’ve ever played. A compelling,
very *human* plot, simple yet deep combat mechanics, and fast-paced,
challenging combat that’s almost like a puzzle.
Or Legend of Legacy. A fun romp with very organic leveling mechanics that
I most favor (as anyone whose played Potion Wars will know). Also fun character
designs, a very cool atmosphere, and a very unique, compelling combat system.
And don’t even get me started on Romancing SaGa 2. I love the SaGa series so
much (turns out Legend of Legacy is made by a lot of the same people).
That being said, I’ve managed to make some progress. I’ve started writing
the next episode. It’s been a bit slow going, mostly because the first 500 lines
are always the hardest for me (starting is hard).
I’ve also ported the first episode of content into the new engine, nd I’m
working on debugging it now. I hope to have all the current content released
under the new engine by the end of the month. The transition’s been a much
smoother process than I expected.
You will have to start over though. I considered making the save files
compatible, but then decided that the gameplay will be different enough that
you really should start from the beginning. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I’m chugging along, I promise.
AKA