HTML Female Agent [v1.20.1p] [Crushstation]

[Aillor Nailo]

I understand now why the game is progressing at a slow pace. 5 different agencies makes every line 5 times as time consuming to write. He hasn't made life easy for him I can say that.

I'm using this to learn Renpy and it very much immediately pushes everything to 11.
Would anyone really object if 5 agencies became MI6 only (she is Jane Bond, isn't she)?
Otherwise I might have to look at using languages or another smarter way of "localizing" texts. Writing if-sections like I do now is very time consuming. Any tips?

Could you elaborate on the "spiritual successor"? What do you want to change?
I will change the rape by Whats-His-Name because my Kate is smarter than that. But other then that I haven't really thought of other changes to the story at the moment. So if you have any, please tell.

 

[Aillor Nailo]

If your friend is going to rebuild FA in renpy, I would suggest he come up with a different avatar for his game. The current avatar looks completely wrong and misplaced for the theme. I prefer the earlier avatar, which was younger/sexier and a more credible look for someone liable to become a bargirl. The bottom line though is the art adds pretty much nothing to the FA story. Despite what the dev thinks, this isn't The Sims.

Are those images still in the images folder of the game or has he replaced them?
Currently I'm working with the images that are in the latest version.

 

[Senor Smut]

I understand now why the game is progressing at a slow pace. 5 different agencies makes every line 5 times as time consuming to write. He hasn't made life easy for him I can say that.

I'm using this to learn Renpy and it very much immediately pushes everything to 11.
Would anyone really object if 5 agencies became MI6 only (she is Jane Bond, isn't she)?
Otherwise I might have to look at using languages or another smarter way of "localizing" texts. Writing if-sections like I do now is very time consuming. Any tips?

Could you elaborate on the "spiritual successor"? What do you want to change?
I will change the rape by Whats-His-Name because my Kate is smarter than that. But other then that I haven't really thought of other changes to the story at the moment. So if you have any, please tell.

It's five times the work for certain small passages, but the great majority of the text is the same for every nationality. Since the majority of the game's players are American, there would probably be discontent if the CIA were cut -- but every time Crush engages in pointless delays or goes radio silent there's discontent. Not that he cares, because his hard core of supporters will still support him no matter what he does (or more accurately, consistently fails to do).

 

[Aillor Nailo]

Looks alright? Haven't put many minutes into GUI so far but I think Kate looks nice

 

[Senor Smut]

Before you get too far down this road, Crush is planning to license the paper doll. That means he is likely to be zealous in defending the right to use it. If you don't want problems, I'd recommend either inquire with him about licensing it, or just use something else.

 

[Prawnstar69]

Nice. You might want to check out the competition -
Blue Swallow - Lifepath and engine
Girl Spy - if / when Lobster comes back to it
Masters of Raana - completely unrelated, just showcasing what can be done in HTML

As for what is essential IMHO, it's back to your core audience: I'm going to assume mainly adults readers because it's a text based adult game. So what's absolutely essential is a hot CYOA, everything else is window dressing and remember you can always come back with DLC.

Point is, seems you are aware the impact of branching choices and adding too many of them. Learn from Crush's continued mistakes, and map this shit out right to the end. You don't need a novel yet, but you do need a skeleton to know you can feasibly reach an ending if you want a complete tag.

End of the day, I feel the best game any team can make is a complete and stable one. Good luck!

 

[Vibesy]

Are those images still in the images folder of the game or has he replaced them?
Currently I'm working with the images that are in the latest version.

At some point the paperdoll was replaced. You would have to check the previous versions, maybe 1.63. It was lower quality, but more believable to me. The problem with the current avatar is that "Kate" doesn't look remotely credible as someone who would get hired as a Bangkok bargirl. If that avatar was engaged in sex work, she would be a high-level call girl or maybe a Moulin Rouge dancer. Possibly a dominatrix. But not a $50 hooker in Bangkok.

 

[LowLevelLesser]

Nice. You might want to check out the competition -
Blue Swallow - Lifepath and engine
Girl Spy - if / when Lobster comes back to it
Masters of Raana - completely unrelated, just showcasing what can be done in HTML

As for what is essential IMHO, it's back to your core audience: I'm going to assume mainly adults readers because it's a text based adult game. So what's absolutely essential is a hot CYOA, everything else is window dressing and remember you can always come back with DLC.

Point is, seems you are aware the impact of branching choices and adding too many of them. Learn from Crush's continued mistakes, and map this shit out right to the end. You don't need a novel yet, but you do need a skeleton to know you can feasibly reach an ending if you want a complete tag.

End of the day, I feel the best game any team can make is a complete and stable one. Good luck!

Blue Swallow is STILL messing around with the prologue... but it's quite good.

 

[Rover55]

So I downloaded it to avoid long waiting for these location announcement images in the onlinve version. Even in offline it still takes some time to load them

 

[IjjKpoe]

I understand now why the game is progressing at a slow pace. 5 different agencies makes every line 5 times as time consuming to write. He hasn't made life easy for him I can say that.

I'm using this to learn Renpy and it very much immediately pushes everything to 11.
Would anyone really object if 5 agencies became MI6 only (she is Jane Bond, isn't she)?
Otherwise I might have to look at using languages or another smarter way of "localizing" texts. Writing if-sections like I do now is very time consuming. Any tips?

Could you elaborate on the "spiritual successor"? What do you want to change?
I will change the rape by Whats-His-Name because my Kate is smarter than that. But other then that I haven't really thought of other changes to the story at the moment. So if you have any, please tell.

That's not true imo; The only difference i remember between the 5 agencies is 1 reference of Kiwis during the White Russian "side" mission and your accent if you are Australian when you go to the Mi6 or whatever it was.

As i answered to you last time, anything you can custom only changes 1 dialog at most. That's not the reason this game development is sooooooo slow since everything is copy + paste and only changes 1 line of code for each nationality/agency.

 

[asdfasdf12341234ACSACA]

Before you get too far down this road, Crush is planning to license the paper doll. That means he is likely to be zealous in defending the right to use it. If you don't want problems, I'd recommend either inquire with him about licensing it, or just use something else.

I don't think you can license the idea of building an image by layers. Well, if you're Adobe, you probably can, but definitely not Crush.

Using the actual assets as is? Yeah, even without proper licensing, you're in trouble if you use it; you're basically using something that is not yours.

 

[CreativeCritic2]

So in conclusion, if you want to know if clothing options are deal breakers, then I guess we must assume we know the main demographic for this porn game - are they mostly girls aged 3-12 who love Barbie, or adult males? If the latter, then I would be confident saying we are here for dress up, just the undressing parts.

I don't think that's true... I think there's a reason why a lot of male gamers tend to play regular games with female avatars and that's because they're pretty and if you're going to be looking at them for however long you are playing the game then avatars matter.

The problem with the existing system is that it is too granular and there are no consequences...

A dude will go 'I guess my chick is a beach/surfer type' and will go for tousled blonde hair and a shell necklace or 'I guess my chick is a goth' and go for boots and heavy make-up, black hair etc. THOSE kinds of choices are fun and easy to implement but 'galaxy blush vs peach perfection blush'? What does that even mean?

I've watched a lot of project runway and even fashion designers go 'I dunno... smoky eyes?' a lot because unless you are a make-up artist, those choices don't make sense to you because you lack the basic aesthetic vocabulary. You might be able to go 'Nope... looks wrong' but you won't be able to say that the wrongness is down to having a slightly-wrong colour of lip-gloss.

 

[Aillor Nailo]

I was not going to monetize it, just to be very clear. Just a slightly altered Renpy version just for the fun of it. So hopefully I wouldn't run afoul of Crush but if he dislikes the idea I either never publish it or changes all images. As someone previously said, he owns those and that I respect.

Regarding branching:
This almost must be a linear VN but certain events may be skippable. Otherwise the number of branches would explode.

Here is the current code just for a couple of "html-pages". The number of very small text alterations in the code is staggering...
And the below is a simple one. But you might understand why I might want to limit the number of agancies....

"You enter a bland government office and sit down; the blandly handsome Jim McKenzie pushes a document over to your side of the desk.   
    Everything about him radiates confident authority, the kind shaped from a life of privilege and success."
    "Jim" "I need you read into something. Sign and name here, please..."
    "Being 'read into' a programme means you're about to receive classified information about it."

    # TODO: <<emote-nose-wrinkle>>
    # TODO: <<emote-mouth-smile>>
    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Official Secrets Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access, and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Espionage Act, punishable by a 20-year prison term or the death penalty."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of Section 79 of the Crimes Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 7 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Security of Information Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Official Information Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass

    "You sign and print [k.personal_name_firstname] [k.personal_name_surname] with your [k.job_agency] ID number, and slide the document back to him to check."
    "Jim" "Alright. I've had a personnel request from an interagency task force. Its codename is {b}NEPTUNE...{/b}. Have you heard of it?"
    # TODO: <<emote-mouth-talking>>
    k "No, sir"
    "You shake your head."

    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "Jim" "Technically it's a FIVE EYES combined task force. We and the Cousins the CIA do the heavy lifting, of course."
        "He smiles wryly."
        "Jim" "It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "Jim" "Technically it's a FIVE EYES combined task force. Directed and funded by the Agency, of course. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass

    "You of course already know that The FIVE EYES is an intelligence agency alliance comprising the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand."
    k "Neutralise as in...?"
    "Jim" "Capture, interrogate or... terminate. Donors, couriers, organisers;anyone they can get a fix on."
    "His words hang in the air while he produces a thin dossier marked TS//QO5//OC/REL TO USA, FVEY."
    "The markings means Top Secret; only for individuals read into compartment QO5; originator controls all access; never share beyond FIVE EYES. And with US security markings."
    "He sets it down on the desk and looks at you."
    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been eager for a foreign assignment..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been pushing for an overseas mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you're keen for your first foreign mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been pushing for an overseas mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you're keen for your first foreign mission..."
        pass
    "Your senses jolt suddenly alert. Is this real? You'd expected to be ordered to write a report, or organise a committee, or something – are you actually about to get your first field posting?"
    "{b}Don't blow it.{/b} You work hard to keep a poker face while he talks."

 

[Vibesy]

I was not going to monetize it, just to be very clear. Just a slightly altered Renpy version just for the fun of it. So hopefully I wouldn't run afoul of Crush but if he dislikes the idea I either never publish it or changes all images. As someone previously said, he owns those and that I respect.

Regarding branching:
This almost must be a linear VN but certain events may be skippable. Otherwise the number of branches would explode.

Here is the current code just for a couple of "html-pages". The number of very small text alterations in the code is staggering...
And the below is a simple one. But you might understand why I might want to limit the number of agancies....

"You enter a bland government office and sit down; the blandly handsome Jim McKenzie pushes a document over to your side of the desk.  
    Everything about him radiates confident authority, the kind shaped from a life of privilege and success."
    "Jim" "I need you read into something. Sign and name here, please..."
    "Being 'read into' a programme means you're about to receive classified information about it."

    # TODO: <<emote-nose-wrinkle>>
    # TODO: <<emote-mouth-smile>>
    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Official Secrets Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access, and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Espionage Act, punishable by a 20-year prison term or the death penalty."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of Section 79 of the Crimes Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 7 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Security of Information Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "You always have to sign a form first, acknowledging your access – and reminding you that unauthorised disclosure of any part is a breach of the Official Information Act, punishable by discharge from the service and imprisonment for 14 years."
        pass

    "You sign and print [k.personal_name_firstname] [k.personal_name_surname] with your [k.job_agency] ID number, and slide the document back to him to check."
    "Jim" "Alright. I've had a personnel request from an interagency task force. Its codename is {b}NEPTUNE...{/b}. Have you heard of it?"
    # TODO: <<emote-mouth-talking>>
    k "No, sir"
    "You shake your head."

    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "Jim" "Technically it's a FIVE EYES combined task force. We and the Cousins the CIA do the heavy lifting, of course."
        "He smiles wryly."
        "Jim" "It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "Jim" "Technically it's a FIVE EYES combined task force. Directed and funded by the Agency, of course. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "Jim" "It's a FIVE EYES combined task force. CIA led, we share intel and loan them officers from time to time. It neutralises funders of cross-border terrorism."
        pass

    "You of course already know that The FIVE EYES is an intelligence agency alliance comprising the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand."
    k "Neutralise as in...?"
    "Jim" "Capture, interrogate or... terminate. Donors, couriers, organisers;anyone they can get a fix on."
    "His words hang in the air while he produces a thin dossier marked TS//QO5//OC/REL TO USA, FVEY."
    "The markings means Top Secret; only for individuals read into compartment QO5; originator controls all access; never share beyond FIVE EYES. And with US security markings."
    "He sets it down on the desk and looks at you."
    if k.job_agency == 'MI6':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been eager for a foreign assignment..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CIA':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been pushing for an overseas mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'ASIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you're keen for your first foreign mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'CSIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you've been pushing for an overseas mission..."
        pass
    elif k.job_agency == 'NZSIS':
        "Jim" "[k.personal_name_firstname], I know you're keen for your first foreign mission..."
        pass
    "Your senses jolt suddenly alert. Is this real? You'd expected to be ordered to write a report, or organise a committee, or something – are you actually about to get your first field posting?"
    "{b}Don't blow it.{/b} You work hard to keep a poker face while he talks."

You are making an unofficial port and mod of the underlying game. There are a ton of those on the site. If Crush complained about that or tried to get it pulled he would be a total douchebag. But I hope you keep going because there are huge advantages to further modding if you can release a working version with most of the text in renpy.

My advice:
1) try to come up with your own avatar(s) using AI;
2) start the game at mission recruitment, ie skipping the lifepath, which is mostly irrelevant filler. If you need scenes from the lifepath, you can use them as flashbacks later in the story;
3) include some version of the mission training that was cut from recent iterations;
4) remove the pathetic blowjob reaction scene;
5) think about beats where the story should be branching, like the Connor sexual assault scene

Have fun & good luck!

 

[CassieBare]

Blue Swallow is STILL messing around with the prologue... but it's quite good.

More like trying to improve, take critique and criticism, expand and enhance.

None of it is coming at a detriment to moving the story along. Each dev cycle is accomplishing both in measured bits.

 

[LowLevelLesser]

More like trying to improve, take critique and criticism, expand and enhance.

None of it is coming at a detriment to moving the story along. Each dev cycle is accomplishing both in measured bits.

Alright, fair enough. I guess it's better than moving forward and then suddenly changing/redoing everything after the game is half done or more... like several devs have done. (Or doing multiple full remakes of their game without ever actually finishing them.)

 

[Aillor Nailo]

3) include some version of the mission training that was cut from recent iterations;

What is that? I must have missed that part?
After recruitment she goes to Malaysia for a while (potential Max Secondary Mission), is that what you refer to?
That also seems to be a slight diversion so I do not know if I'll do that part initially. I might focus on Primary Mission only.

 

[ffive]

What is that? I must have missed that part?
After recruitment she goes to Malaysia for a while (potential Max Secondary Mission), is that what you refer to?
That also seems to be a slight diversion so I do not know if I'll do that part initially. I might focus on Primary Mission only.

In the earlier build of the game (the one before gfx got overhaul) the training included a fake "spy mission" you had to carry out as your final test. You can check it out if you play the

You must be registered to see the links

. I think it was part of v 1.6.3 if you successfully passed all checks in the field agent training course.

 

[yewfella]

A question to all of you that have played this:
Are all the make-up choices, clothing choices etc essential?
Or would it have been just fine (like other VNs) that the "author" decides what she wears before each activity (or limited user based choices)?

What I would like to know is if it is a deal breaker or not.

It would be fine without the character customisation, but I wouldn't enjoy it as much. It should obviously be a lower priority than writing.

 

[Vibesy]

What is that? I must have missed that part?
After recruitment she goes to Malaysia for a while (potential Max Secondary Mission), is that what you refer to?
That also seems to be a slight diversion so I do not know if I'll do that part initially. I might focus on Primary Mission only.

Previous versions of the game featured extensive mission training/briefing in Scotland including behavioural hypnotherapy (controversial), development of fake social media profiles for cover and local seduction missions, all geared to preparing Kate for the Bangkok field mission. This was all cut and replaced with essentially nothing. In my opinion, the mission prep in Scotland should have been expanded. It is far more important in the context of a spy story than the extended lifepath drivel that Crush obsesses over.

I agree the Max mission is essentially filler, but it does have some spy elements so you might want to leave it in. The Bangkok parts though are full of irrelevant diversions (abandoned tower, Russian date, food descriptions, sightseeing etc) that could and should be cut.