New update is public!
Download*: https://mega.nz/file/jhUyGS5Z#X6_GiIIwV_0b0N5WTaLNKAolednWqc69zqor__lpPToMirror*: http://www.mediafire.com/file/59yk62a56vlebys/TLS+0.53.3.exe/file
RTP: https://mega.nz/file/a5dQiILS#X6PVu7Gu9D1s7-eF16nYlKcYLhtp40gY4_26eswgYhg
*Requires RPG Maker VX Ace RTP to be installed. If you don't know what that means, use the RTP link.
TLS 0.53.3 [9/6/20]
- Updating primarily to help those with the zero HP bug.
- Minor bugfixing and polishing.
Time for the update! This one should be reasonably polished, but it needs to come with a warning: the balance for the entire Gathering is not finalized. Though I did my best, it's possible that after the next update, I or someone else will realize the game would be better with a tweak to this section. If you're highly concerned with game balance, I suggest keeping a save prior to this version.
That said, this one has quite a bit of different content I hope you will enjoy. ^-^ Though I want to continue working on Once Ever After, TLS 0.54.0 will be higher priority.
NOTE: I've updated to 0.53.3 to help out those who didn't keep a certain character alive through the boss battles last time.
Posting here too.
ReplyDeleteLoading my save in the waiting room takes me straight to a Game Over.
Where else did you post? I don't see it.
DeleteIn any case, I'm fairly certain the problem is that Ginasta was dead in your last save, so when the party changed to her alone, you got a game over. There was code to heal her, but I see the problem now: it wouldn't target her if she was out of the party.
Latest update fixed it.
DeleteThank you!
Thanks for your work!
ReplyDeleteSorry to bother but the file fails to extract the game for some reason. It goes as far as giving the music folder and suddenly the message "The extraction failed" pop ups. Im not sure what seems to be the problem.
I'd suggest deleting all files and downloading a fresh copy.
DeleteThe same problem for me, even after multiple downloads. I use the RTP Version. I assume this specific downloadfile is corrupted. Maybe you could try to reupload it one of these days? Then I will try again and see if it works.
DeleteBest wishes, health and fortune to you and everybody reading this
I don't know how probable that is, but I've updated all the files to 0.53.3, so try that.
DeleteThis versoin seems to be working properly, now! Thank you!
DeleteOf course a certain no-face individual would interfere.
ReplyDeleteI love that Aka-Mestan orgy sex thing though, really well done.
Overall this is interesting so far. Can't wait for the other half!
I am eager to see what will happen next. Thats what I dont like splitting in two xD
ReplyDelete53.2 :
ReplyDelete-Staring the Anak (great)
-Xestris developpement (-She will be a part of the harem! -No you are just dreaming)
-Orcs party (yeah)
-Cool stuff (Mestan, new strange IK, Ginasta...)
-Tanurak cliffhanger (wait what ?)
-God damn it ! Just let my hype go down a little, my nerves are dying here.
Ps : More seriously a really good update.
Thanks for giving your feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it, of course, but it's always good to get people's thoughts about an update.
DeleteWell, I have a feedback if you are interested: Mestan could mention to Aka the orgy scene with her if he got it, during the straightforward approach to investigate him if it happens after the Empress' day of the second Gathering. I was really looking forward to some reaction from him. Maybe have him be all over Aka about "their" thyrst with her having no idea what is he talking about only to be stopped cold by other harem member explaining the situation and accusing Mestan of messing around again since as Incubus King he should have felt the succubus at the orgy was not a demon hybrid and thus not Aka.
DeleteI would also like to have a way to buy the Orgasmic Empire orc fighter rather than complicate it with Trin's copies though I get the party did it to punish the heartless woman. But having some option to not get him killed as a result of Orcent going for champion title would be welcome. There is plenty of harem members running around, maybe steal his corpse for Balia to be reborn? I am trying not to be an ass in my playtrough, but letting a random orc and Nalili's squad win feels like a disservice to Orcent and his exceptional orc squad members.
Anyway, great update. I had a lot of fun and played trough it almost a dozen times already trying different decisions.
PS: That third child browsing in the shop was mean, I spent three hours scouring the palace for her on my first playtrough only to find her right after giving up.
Feedback is always appreciated! To be clear, Mestan wasn't fooled by the illusioned succubus... however, I think him bringing it up to Aka is a very fun idea, so you could well see this in the next version. ^-^
DeleteFYI, you don't need to let Nalili's squad win to help the orc, just the solo fight.
Do you mean by balance for Gathering only gameplay things like fights and rewards or the plot too?
ReplyDeleteNo major plot changes. It will be stuff like previous events giving slightly different point rewards, or past events giving new RP for characters.
DeleteI swear.... the end of this game after the credits is just gonna be Fuani sweeping the floor with the legendary broom or something.
ReplyDeleteThat request board in the Orgasmic Empire had me in stitchs
...now I wanna see Fuani with legendary broom.
DeleteT H I S
DeleteQuick question, does handing out the divine shards affect anything yet?
ReplyDeleteNo, and it won't be a time-sensitive decision.
DeleteBug found:
ReplyDeleteIf Orcent & friends lose the fight to Nalili's orcs, Balia's dialogue fires as if they won all 5 fights and got the 2500 Sx. I'm not sure what the stats and flags are doing.
Well, that shouldn't happen. =/ I'm not sure I have a theory about why it might be happening, but please check in the new version I just uploaded.
DeleteOK, it's still happening in the new version. I checked and my Sx total did increase. OTOH, Nalili's orc (in the city fighting ring) does mention us letting them win.
DeleteLooks like it's because the branch for losing to Nalili sets the "3920:Orcent Lost" switch instead of the "3918:Team Lost" switch.
DeleteSo it is! Fixed, thanks.
DeleteSpeaking of the Divine shards it was interesting that the Anak seemily could not tell that Riala had a divine shard though he might be playing dumb. if you gave her one in your save of course
ReplyDeleteIn case, the link to the mod "Altina rescue" don't have the file anymore.
ReplyDeleteOne of the quite hard part (online hosting duration) so far.
I didn't create that mod, so I'd advise you mention that the file went down on the wiki.
DeleteI recently played another RPG Maker VX game called "Bleeding Moons". One thing that caught my attention was the commentary mode (you play the game with author commentary popping up at various points talking about the development, the plot etc.) I was wondering if this feature could be implemented in the final product in the Yarra thanks DLC at least.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's possible! I have some interest in doing a playthrough with commentary and a decent number of people have made requests similar to yours. Most likely it would be a series of posts, not in-game commentary, but that could happen too if people like the idea.
DeleteHowever, I think it would be a time-consuming process, so it would definitely need to wait until after the last content update.
I would definitely enjoy that!
Delete0.53.3
ReplyDeleteGetting a game over right after the small group orc competition ends, after a scene transition and save prompt.
My latest save loads into an instant game over lol
Several of my party members were "dead" at the Gathering start
Thanks so much for this game. Only singleplayer one I've played more than a few hours of in years. Loving the conversations this round. The party member ones with Ginasta are always great. Really like the Incubus king investigation setup too
Also Mestan "I'm the troubled lost prince of Atlantis" LOL are you now
After healing everyone up beforehand it worked. Vhala was dead
DeleteThis has been an issue on several occasions, as the split party doesn't get a full heal after the series of bosses. I'll put one in artificially to try to avoid these problems once and for all.
DeleteI'm glad to hear you're enjoying the game. ^-^
One thing I wish this had is a way to trade sx for pron since you can trade pron to get sx. I personally think it would still go with the trade off style of the game since sx is not infinite and even an extra five or ten k pron early on would help granted not sure if that would be even possible to add into early game. Still love the game though. IMO this game has better story quality and replay value than many current games that we pay 60 bucks for.
ReplyDeleteThis is an intentional decision for the purposes of game balance - being able to invest more during the early game would remove the requirement for the player to make tradeoffs and decide where to spend their limited resources, especially as the game progresses and the extra early gains pile up.
DeleteIn-world, the justification is that the supply of ProN is intentionally restricted to protect the vested interests of merchants and nobles - specifically, to try to keep people like Simon out of their wealthy little club. Sadly, this is actually pretty realistic.
In addition, I wanted people to feel some freedom to spend their Sx on equipment. If it could convert to ProN, then ideal outcomes would require saving every Sx.
DeleteAnyway, thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying it. ^-^
So I don't know if anyone else has this happen but I restarted to make a couple different big choices. I know I got the incubus armor from the optional dungeon but it is not in my key items. There helm and Sheild are though and I just entered chapter four. I opened the chest and got the dialogue for it back when I did the dungeon for sure. I checked my other save that it at current end point and all four are there. That file was started prior to the current release.
ReplyDeleteDid you cheat or did you not get the armor immediately?
DeleteForgive me, but I am going to rant a bit. I will be severely critical here, but it is just so I can get my opinion out as accurately as I can, this issue is not a deal-breaker.
ReplyDeleteSo I want to talk about the lack of interesting male characters in TLS, or more specifically, the lack of interest by anyone in the harem for any male characters that aren't Simon. I don't know if this is part of the ethos of TLS, or more of a conscious practical decision to avoid displeasing some of TLS's target audience, but I am fine with either of those motives. The issue to me is more that, the strategy being employed is to write the lack of interest as coming entirely from the women themselves and not from some kind of binding element from their relationship with Simon, I assume this is because it wouldn't feel fitting to Simon's character to make him strongly prohibitive against the involvement with other men, given the double standard that would incur.
I can suspend my disbelief when you manage to just write around the issue, but there are two scenes that I didn't like how it was done and they bothered me: Alluon's introduction and the first conversation with Elleani that introduced Etuanun and Uneanun.
For the first, Yarra says Alluon is a very beautiful man, but then adds that Simon shouldn't worry because he's not the type of anyone in the harem. In isolation I don't think I would have any issue with that line, but given the context, it starts to feel like that line was just added to hold Yarra's tongue, to rectify confidence issues that wouldn't be befitting of the characters but rather being adressed to any concerned players. I would prefer if that second line was either omitted or changed to express Yarra wasn't gonna chase after him for other reasons, not just "He is very attractive, but don't worry I don't feel attracted to him".
The second scene bothers me a bit more, so Elleani is helping the harem catch up to speed with the political situation in New Givini, she mentions that 2 of the factions are led by rival siblings, this picks the interest of Nalili and Yarra, and Elleani proceeds to egg them on saying the siblings are twins and that they are pretty attractive, Yarra catches on that there is something suspicious and then Elleani reveals that the twins are actually men! Which means that everything she had just said isn't sexy to the succubi anymore for...reasons? I admit the scene includes some lines going the other direction, with Elleani saying some succubi were still just as excited about male twins, and with Yarra saying "attractive is attractive", but it feels like mixed signals and rings hollow when Elleani adds that she felt this would work on them because of how close the harem was, and Nalili explains her lack of interest due to the fact Simon already provides "infinite cock". I could buy into this narrative if not for the fact that the entire harem are accepting, if not eager, about Simon adding more women to the harem as long as they are interesting enough. The "closeness" of the harem wouldn't have stopped Nalili from being interested in the twins if they had been women.
My fear is that, even if unintentionally, scenes like those build a toxic perception of male sensuality, it is like if you are a man, then sexually you can only be the alpha-male, or an "accessory" (which the harem doesn't need because Simon clones and "infinite cock"), or irrelevant. This all feels really antithetical to the much more positive perceptions of female sensuality that the harem propagates in the game, about valuing diversity, or that none of them are less appreciated or less loved for who they are both physically and quirk-wise, or that spreading love to another does not mean to love your other partners less.
DeleteLike I said at the start, none of this is a deal-breaker, I'm fine with either this issue of the harem's organization being eventually adressed or just being swept under the rug, but I wanted to share my perspective to explain why those two scenes, in the larger context of the game, bothered me a bit.
The point expressed here is one that bothers me since a while, yes. Orcent, the assasine-guy whose name just escaped me (which I hope will be the story justified gay-scene for Simon) or others should be sexual options for the Harem Members, I believe.
DeleteI know that Sexual Magic is unfair and could easily lead to a lack of desire for more conventional partners, but I don't think that this all of the Harem fall under the same categories is unrealistic. Maybe one of them finds a solemate, and this person gets integrated into the sexual practises, for example. Like maybe the new Orcmage and Robin! I would really dig that concept!
The rest Thiago expressed it better than I could. I just second that.
>I don't know if this is part of the ethos of TLS, or more of a conscious practical decision to avoid displeasing some of TLS's target audience, but I am fine with either of those motives.
DeleteIt's the latter, which I believe covers the majority of my response. I'll articulate my thinking on the subject because you might be interested, but it will probably be about what you expect.
>The issue to me is more that, the strategy being employed is to write the lack of interest as coming entirely from the women themselves and not from some kind of binding element from their relationship with Simon, I assume this is because it wouldn't feel fitting to Simon's character to make him strongly prohibitive against the involvement with other men, given the double standard that would incur.
Correct, as well as the women being slave-bonded being onerous to me. That isn't the fundamental fantasy that TLS is offering.
>My fear is that, even if unintentionally, scenes like those build a toxic perception of male sensuality, it is like if you are a man, then sexually you can only be the alpha-male, or an "accessory" (which the harem doesn't need because Simon clones and "infinite cock"), or irrelevant.
I don't want to be misunderstood as saying that male sexuality really is toxic, but I believe you're describing the stance of a sizable percentage of both my audience and the audience that supports adult games. I'd like to believe that TLS acts in the other direction, if anything, but it's easy to argue that the game still reinforces that view, and to that I can only say that this is my career, not an ideological statement.
I do get comments like yours from time to time, but I get far more from the other direction. There are those who are still pissed that Simon can't have sex with Tyna (or any other female character with an attractive face). I semi-regularly see comments about how the game is worse because most of the women have previous sexual experience, unironically using phrases like "used goods". When I started I thought people might get angry about Orcent's existence, and though I've been pleasantly surprised by how many have embraced him, there are still those who hate his scenes or anything else that isn't Simon as player insert. When characters like Megail or Ginasta express serious disagreement with Simon, there's a predictable chorus of anger.
Could I hypothetically create a game that appeals to those who want more diverse relationships? Absolutely. But that's an audience that has historically not supported TLS and a very hard market to reach in general with adult games.
With TLS I wanted to build a big loving group that skirts around a lot of tropes I don't like, many reflected in the end of your reply. It's all unrealistic, but I try to walk a line of verisimilitude for the world I've created. I judged that would be better served with acknowledgements of other men combined with ego salves, which is a decision everyone is free to criticize. That could be the wrong balance, and obviously it's always possible to have done it more artfully. It's not an ill-considered decision, anyway.
I suppose I'm part of the other side of the TLS audience, since I don't have a problem with it. But the in-game reasoning that makes the most sense to me is just that the harem is being changed subconsciously by Simon. its clear that the conscious part of Simon would never use his power to do anything, but well, he IS an incubus king, a symbol of lustful domination, so it doesn't seem unreasonable that Simon's powers would be a bit controlling if unnoticed, especially after he absorbs the Arclent IKs Shard. Despite that, Simon or the powers within him don't seem all that controlling, considering the number of scenes between harem members with non harem members (Ina, Galvia, Stenai Alchemist, and lots of unnamed succubi from the army). Although most of those characters are women, Simon never shows interest in a threeesome with them or anything like that.
DeleteHonestly I'm glad there aren't any other guys introduced to the harem, as, from what I see theres no real way for a dynamic like that to not become an alpha male/accessory situation. one way or another the full dedication of the harem is on Simon, if another guy comes in, then it'd be difficult to introduce him in a way thats not just a side-plaything for the harem.
As a side note: although its only one scene and I briefly mentioned it already, there is the scene between Nalili and the Stenai Alchemist, which shows that the party still has interest in other males. though I suppose it still doesn't satisfy the "interesting male character" part, considering how small of a role he has, but there is still interest in guys that aren't Simon.
@Sierra Lee
DeleteThank you so much for your response! I absolutely love hearing the thoughts of the artist behind their craft, and TLS is one of my favourite games so this is all very interesting!
I can't fault you for approaching this pragmatically, not being pragmatic would probably be even more contradicting to the themes of TLS ;P
The two scenes that I mentioned earlier still bother me, the acknowledgement feels hollow when it doesn't manifest any desire despite there being no perceived obstacles. For whatever it is worth, those are the only two scenes that stuck out from memory, so maybe in general the method is working, but I think I still prefer how it was handled by scenes like the conversation between Orcent and Iris during the Erosian War.
A conversation about the types of the people that play adult games is definitely out of my scope, and I won't pretend I have more data than someone that actually works with it like you do, but I do wonder if there isn't a "tolerance bias" around the issue. What I mean is that I believe one side of this dispute is, on average, more tolerant than the other, and so they end up complaining less when the other side gets appealed to, leading to disproportionate feedback.
Either way, thanks again for the response, it is nice to know you went through such considerations, looking forward to more of your work!
@DragonWarrior45
Not to detract from the rest of your point, but if you are talking about the Stenai Herbologist, her portrait might be a bit deceiving but you should know she's a halfling granny (halflings age really well though).
I mean, on a basic level other male characters could just be for flings or ocasional threesomes, I don't think this necessarily makes them accessories, as long as the woman has an appreciation for them as individuals rather than just an extra dick. For more permanent male characters though, I think a dynamic that could work would be for some harem members to have "boyfriends", as in male partners with who they have some particular affinity, TLS already has sex scenes without Simon in it told from other PoVs, so they could just have some scenes just about the woman and her boyfriend and some threesomes without boiling it down to some macho competition, also at most he could be an ocasional minor guest in some of the orgies. That way Simon still stands out as the big incubus king since he still is the only one that is really involved with the entire harem, but the women can have relationships with men that aren't Simon. Theoretically, this wouldn't have to detract anything from the current experience TLS provides, but I can understand some people wouldn't like it.
Also, I have had this theory for a while that this might be where the entire "destiny" plotline is headed. I don't know if it will go as far as explaining why the women in the harem don't have any interest on men that aren't Simon, since it might just be better to avoid the issue, but I think it might play a part in explaining the circumnstances that led to Simon having all these exceptional women to take in his path. Just a theory though.
Eventually I'll review those scenes, and if I feel the issue was handled clumsily I'll consider revising them, as I would for any part of the game. But otherwise, yes, that's my overall position and reasoning.
DeleteIf you're interested in more open relationships, I explored that some in Desecration of Wings, though not much on the male side. Look forward to seeing more of that in Once Ever After, though.
As for destiny, I'll confirm now that it will never imply the women are forced with Simon, but revelations yet to come will shed some light on some of the coincidences of the game.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI was partially wrong about what I said in this comment, but I'm missing the art for Janine's Wedding scene.
DeleteSorry for the confusion on the others: most of the new artwork is the character's first scene from their base menu. As for Janine's scene, that's a SFW image of the actual wedding, not her wedding nigth.
DeleteThank you so much for your hard work! I really enjoyed this update. Can't wait to see how the Second Gathering ends.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're enjoying the game!
Delete