Thanks for the review labiwo5470!
labiwo5470 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:23 pm
2. The lack of playback controls can be annoying, especially if I need to pause for any reason
2) I agree. I probably need to implement either a pause button or way to continue interrupted session. But first, I really need to think about how to best do this so it's not abused and perhaps even gamify it.
labiwo5470 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:23 pm
3. There's a certain lack of round-to-round pacing which can be jarring. Some rounds are very slow then followed by extremely fast and challenging rounds
3) I agree. I've noticed it sometimes too during my test playthroughts. The way it works now is – the game chooses random rounds and then simply sorts them from easiest to hardest based on difficulty score which is calculated using round spm (strokes per minute) + content (non-nude/SC/lesbians/HC). I might do some tweaking to the scoring function values and see if it feels better, but there is probably a limit to what can be achieved with this system.
The problem is striking the right balance between variety vs. progression. The other problem is that what is or isn't difficult and what good progression should look like, varies among people. It's an issue even when it comes to hand made CHs with pre-planned rounds, beats and progression. And the last thing is, that I want each round to have an equal chance to spawn.
Because of this and because my main focus is replayability, so far I've been favoring the less constrained variety, even if it sometimes generates something jarring, instead of trying to constrain the session generator with tons of rules that could produce something that feels too predictable and still possibly fall short of the subjective "correct progression".
But yeah, I completely agree that it doesn't feel quite right at this moment, and it's something I would like to improve upon. I'm thinking that one thing that might help a little, would be creating more taunts where the hosts would "justify" using this or that round or different speeds and difficulties. That way it would feel less like there is something wrong with the game, and more like it is their deliberate decision to shake things up.
We will see...
labiwo5470 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:23 pm
4. The 20-minute length on the free tier can sometimes feel a bit rushed
4) I mean, there is a simple solution for this...
But yeah, there will be 40 minutes option once there is enough rounds to support it. And if the game will do well financially, I plan to move more stuff to the free version. In an ideal world, the whole thing would be completely free and supported by only voluntary donations.
labiwo5470 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:23 pm
5. The actual content is pretty high quality and feels satisfying, although the single-girl early rounds can sometimes feel like filler
5) Aw man! These are my favorite rounds to create and play!
It probably explains why there are so many of them now that I'm thinking about it.
Yes, it is something I've noticed recently – there are too many of these solo SC rounds and not enough variety and HC content in the free version of the game. My next updates will improve this by moving some of the premium rounds to the free version.
Btw, you can list through the rounds in credits when you finish your session and you can like/dislike them. It will make them appear more/less often. ;)
But yeah, I think I've wrote too much already. I'm just too excited about developing this thing.
So thanks again for your feedback!
labiwo5470 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:23 pm
Overall, the take-aways are: high quality rounds, great replayability aspects, and relatively minor downsides. I can definitely see myself spending a few months running playthroughs without getting bored. 7.5/10
If I will manage to make it to 8+/10 on your scale with my upcoming updates in the future, I would consider it a success.