[ARCHIVE][Alpha] Dev Talk

[basim]

Hello friends of Milovana,

to be honest, I'm a bit afraid to write this text here. Because you are maybe the most accurate criticism I can get. But, that's what I'm here for. Your opinion!

It all came a long way, starting here in this forum. Or maybe even one website beforehand. Anyway.. after all this years of consuming this is my atempt of giving something back.

About 15 years ago I stumpled over the software cybermistress. I liked it a lot, played around with the routines and wrote my own. Some month later, if I do remeber this right, the author of CM brought me here to Milovana. I loved all the webtease, especially the flash one. The feel of an "real" interaction was the thing for me.

Some time later, some of you began to develope their own software. Like Tease Me, Tease AI and all the other nice pieces. And of course it was awesome to play through all of that content a lot of you created. Also did I, but never finish something noteworthy.

Looking back to that, I guess this had several reasons. Mostly because I wanted to much. On the one side i was a bit lazy or didn't stayed focused, lost my attention to something else. On the other hand i problems learning the "coding language" of these softwares. Some of them where not that intuitive to learn, hard to overlook and other to simple. And at some point i also realized that it is a huge undertaking to create something like an "ai personality".

Therefor i came up with to ideas. First, writing must be simple and overseeable. For me and for poeple with even less coding background. Because then you are more likly to create your own content. And this brings me to the second thought. A massive content is something that you maybe shall not create by your own. So what if everyone can easily write parts for the same personality / story, can share it and implement it to his own version of personality. Like a plugin..

With that in mind I learned a new coding language & software and create this game. So here it is, Archive!

It's far from done, full of bugs and the possibility of that fast content exchange isn't implemented yet (but prepared). But after nearly 3 years in the making and even more of learing you can play with it, or I shall say her..

Please have a look and maybe drop me some lines of feedback, over at the download page or here in the forum. That would be great!

Latest released Version:
https://naughty-habits.itch.io/archive

New Version in the testing (maybe more bugs atm.) :
mega.nz

Bugs:

Spoiler: show

*Known issue
- If you allowed her to download stuff, make sure to copy this files over to the new version.

Thanks for reading,
Cheers!

basim

[devotes.julchen]

It would be great if the software were equipped with language variables so that it can be translated into other languages.

[martlb]

Looks very promising!
I've downloaded and installed it.
Looks everything went well but there aren't any stories to select and after pressing the play button nothing happens....
Am I missing something?

[markus]

Hi basim!

It's always great to see people contributing any software and/or content!

Please don't take my paranoia personal, but I had some bad experiences visiting links I don't know.
So, if you don't mind that is,... it would we great if you could pack your project and upload it to mega so I could download it from there.
Of course, once I took a look, feedback will follow.

to be honest, i'm a bit afraid to write this text here.

Don't worry, every developer started once as a beginner, ... constructive feedback and criticism will bring you further.
And btw.: I never saw someone got bashed on this forum for a project which doesn't work perfectly right away, me and my projects included.

So what if everyone can easily write parts for the same personality / story, can share it and implement it to his own version of personality. Like a plugin..

I guess that was tried in Tease AI with the concept of the modules of it.
The problem with that is that in some cases you still need somewhat of a 'control-center' -> In Tease AI and it's famous personalities (Miss Blue and House of Tease) this is done in the link file which checks variables and flags and reacts appropriately.
But yeah, it also depends on how independent such a modul is written, some could be easily just be copied into any personality modules folder and work just fine.

With that in mind i learned a new coding language & software and create this game.

I am curious,.. what language and software?

Best greetings,
Markus

[basim]

It would be great if the software were equipped with language variables so that it can be translated into other languages.

That's true and i had that in mind. Everything to enable this is already on it's way!

Looks very promising!
I've downloaded and installed it.
Looks everything went well but there aren't any stories to select and after pressing the play button nothing happens....
Am I missing something?

You safed my life! Thank you so much. I left one single debug line at thw wrong place in the code, while working the other day. And this totally crashed the programm when starting on a fresh pc. That hurts.... but it is gone now. I've uploaded a new version just a moment ago. You shall now be able to "play" the game..

Hi basim!

It's always great to see people contributing any software and/or content!

Please don't take my paranoia personal, but...

Hey Markus,

thanks for your kind words. But it's everytime nervwrecking when your "baby" goes out into public the first time.

You are right, some of "my" features are already in other softwares. And the problem with merging content, especially variables, is a thing! But maybe i can bring in some fresh ideas to make life easier.

I used unity and c#. So far i enjoy my pick.

For the download, i do understand your considers. Although itch.io is a trustworthy plattform for games. Around half a million by now. And it's working together with websites like patreon. But i can upload the latest version do mega. I'll do that by tomorrow. It's late and im done after that emergency update...

Have a good night,
basim

[basim]

Please don't take my paranoia personal, but I had some bad experiences visiting links I don't know.
So, if you don't mind that is,... it would we great if you could pack your project and upload it to mega so I could download it from there.
Of course, once I took a look, feedback will follow.

Hello again,

here is the download link to mega.io. As i'm only a free user, this is valid for 30 days..

[Android71]

Just had a first look at Archive - looks very promising

Thank you your effort to create this and for sharing it with us.

[basim]

Just had a first look at Archive - looks very promising

Thank you your effort to create this and for sharing it with us.

Hello Android71,

i'm glad you enjoyed Archive so far. And i deeply thank you for your help!

[martlb]

I'm afraid it's not working the way it should be.
I started the play with Archive until she asks me for pictures on my hard drive.
I've no blog somewhere so I choose harddrive. Whatever I try, I can't properly select and continue to point her the right map.
After a restart, continue doesn't do anything and replay gives always the same problem as described above.
Is it just me having this problem?
I'm very curious about Archive and really want to give it a serious try!

[basim]

I'm afraid it's not working the way it should be.
I started the play with Archive until she ...

Hey, hi,

thanks again for pointing this out. I send you a PM, as this might be a longer troubleshooting thing..

But it's a good question, anybody else who has a problem at this point in story?

[markus]

Hi again basim!

Now I had the time to take a look at it.
The first and most impression is WOW!
What is really impressive is the look and feel of it, it is obvious that this thing is done with love to design and story telling.
Also how 'she' looks is great, the face impressions, the angles ...
It feels just 'right', ... great work so far!
And the moveable textbox is a great idea, too.

The idea of the intro story is also just perfect, I really do looking forward to play more with it, ... and to find out what archive has in store for me later on.

Now some feedback on what isn't perfect (yet), ... but please don't misunderstand, even if it sounds like criticism, it's meant as constructive criticism and hints for what could be improved in my humble opinion.

- The english isn't the best, some sentences are phrased a bit clumsy, this can happen and is OK for a non-native english developer. But some single words should at least be correct, it's "feet" and not "feeds".
For single word translation you could try dict.cc which is what I use if I am unsure about the spelling of a word (I am also not-native english).
Maybe you can find a native english speaking person who read and correct some text?!

I'm afraid it's not working the way it should be.
I started the play with Archive until she ...

But it's a good question, anybody else who has a problem at this point in story?

I didn't entered any url also and choosed a folder on my HDD, that worked.
But after some (let's say 15-20) pictures it was the same as for martlb, it didn't continue, a restart didn't helped.

And now some hints and ideas you may or may not consider to implement, just things and ideas which popped up in my mind while playing:

- The text speed is set per default to a great value! But sometimes it would be good to just click somewhere on the screen so that the next text shows up.
- A pause-function would be great, sometimes the phone rings or such, then I would maybe miss some text.
- While looking pictures with her it started to get a bit annoying. She doesn't seem to know much words to describe the pictures.
If this is only a thing for the intro part with maybe 20-30 pictures, then there should be at least a list of all possible describing words (when typing help), ... but if that picture looking with her happens more often, then there should be a panel with buttons to simply click on a describing word instead of typing it all the time.
- Maybe the 'Visit me on patreon' must not be there all the time.

A technical hint:
The parsing of the selected picture folder is quite slow, I don't know what exactly the program does while parsing, but if it just searches picture paths, then it's way too slow.

And last but not least I have 2 questions:
1. Where is the data (progress) of it stored? (I wanted to start completly anew, deleted the folder, unzipped it again, but it remembered my name and such, ... when I want to start it like the very first time, what I have to do/delete?
2. When choosing a picture folder, what amout of pictures you would recommend? I mean I have picture folder with 100 pictures, the folder I have selected for the first play had 23000 pictures, and I have one with 400000 pic in it.

So, even if I wrote more about what isn't perfect yet than what is great so far, ... the overall impression is still amazing!
Archive seems to me like a rough diamond with a huge potential to become a brilliant.

Once that picture-problem martlb and me had is sorted out, I would recommend to everybody to give it a try, amazing job so far, dude, amazing job!

Best greetings,
Markus

[basim]

Hi again basim!

Now I had the time to take a look at it.
The first and most impression is WOW!
What is really impressive is the look ...

Wow, thanks a lot for your effort in feedback! This is not only like honey after years of silient work, it's also very interessting to read. As the programmer i'm so to say blind for some parts. I tested Archive a million times, but do it always my way. The same way and therefor miss a lot problems.

Language:
Sadly the language is a huge problem for me. Not only is english not my native one, i've same probs in my native.
As i do know about that, i already use dict.cc for translation. Nevertheless i do miss this mistakes. That's not good, as this "small" mistakes do a lot of damage to the overall impression. A person who checks the text is i think a must have. But yet i do not know some who speaks / writes it well and is into this kind of game / topic..

Images
For the parsing, i must have a look into the code. She is not only generating a list of image path's. Instead generates an object where she can store infos into. That's necessary for e.g. the topic you tell her an image is about. The other thing is, she stores some additional file info to recognize that image. It's not fully done yet, but i want her to recognize duplicates or the same image when you rename it. But maybe i can postpone it to the point where this is really necessary.
By now i have tested her most with around 2000 - 3000 images.

You said after 15-20 images you got stuck, Why is this? Because the game crashed or because she did not know your word?

Words
To recognize your word she must of course know it. And she only understand english words. I've feed her dictionary with around 500+ words. For now only the most common i had in mind. Seems like you have something new. As martlb and you bringing up this "problem" the first time, maybe i must rethink this. Maybe i should program her to learn new words while interacting with someone.. i'll put that on my list of ideas to implement.

For now i just can offer to tell me a word / theme she does not know and i will implement it. The kinks we all have are sometimes so unique that it is hard to guess them all. But id love to train archive a lot more than the common ones.

Picture Game
So, yes, you are right. The "Name the theme / kink" game will be a huger part. More often in the begining and than slowly decrease. Soem time ago i had it like you suggested it now. There where buttons to choose the theme from. But when the themes became a growing number it begann to look stupid. And not only that i was confusing.. AND.. it revealed a lot.
So, i don't want to go back to this. Strongly because by now she only knows a handfull themes / kinks and it already started to be to much when all of them are showm.

But another idea just came up my mind. What if you only have to write it the first time. After that a button for this theme is shown?! * Edit, i tested this and it feels good.

Data
The progress you can delete via the menu. Select the story and instead of hit play, hit the "edit" button in the navigation bar to the left. After that the "Delete progress" button will become available.
Other than that, the gamefiles are stored in:
C:\Users\username\AppData\LocalLow\Naughty Habits

Textspeed
A skip button is something i have to think about.. of course i can implement that, but i guess i have to add an unskippable option, too!
A pause button already exists - SPACE
I guess i should name the hotkeys somewhere ..


So, thanks for your awesome criticism. And please keep it coming. You do write in a healthy way, that's something every developer needs and can't be thankful enough for it!

And i do wonder, did you look backstage? Hit the edit button and opened a chapter in edit mode?

Have a good day sir,
basim

[markus]

Hey!

Great to have you here, I hope some more people get interested in your project and post feedback, ... this forum got quite silent for a while now, and such a great project like yours hopefully wake up some users to participate more and bring back more life into this forum again!

after years of silient work

That's also something I like about archive, ... it "breathes" the dedication of it's creator, ... it's jumping in my eyes that there is someone who worked hard and dedicated for his creation/baby, ... and that you believe in what you are doing.
Not many people have the perseverance to walk such a long way to achieve what they have in mind, ... respect for that!

as this "small" mistakes do a lot of damage to the overall impression.

I disagree!
The text is written with dedication, that is much more important than some grammer or spelling mistakes, ... it's absolutly enjoyable as it is, ... don't worry too much about it, ... can happen, ... but hey, ... maybe everyone who is playing can contribute with suggetions when someone finds something to be rephrased or corrected, ... I will keep an eye on it when I play next time.

Instead generates an object where she can store infos into. That's necessary for e.g. the topic you tell her an image is about. The other thing is, she stores some additional file info to recognize that image. It's not fully done yet, but i want her to recognize duplicates or the same image when you rename it. But maybe i can postpone it to the point where this is really necessary.

Funny coincidence.
The last 3 days I worked on something similar, I read picture paths, additional infos (image tags), store them to the HDD and such, ... just tested it with the 23000 pictures I mentioned in my last post, it takes around 44 seconds while the parsing in archive took at least 5 minutes.
If you would like to, you could send me your parsing method-code via PM, maybe we can find something to improve the loops/the code to make it more performant.

You said after 15-20 images you got stuck, Why is this? Because the game crashed or because she did not know your word?

It didn't crashed or freezed, it just didn't continued, like a dead end.
It was after a word that she didn't know, but she didn't know other words before, so I guess that this wasn't the problem.

I've feed her dictionary with around 500+ words.

*Lol*,... then forget about the button idea of mine,... 500 buttons wouldn't be a good idea!

For now i just can offer to tell me a word / theme she does not know and i will implement it. The kinks we all have are sometimes so unique that it is hard to guess them all.

Mmmm,... you mention kinks,... maybe I misunderstood that describe-the-picture thing, ... one picture was a close-up of a vagina, and I decribed it as 'pussy' and she didn't knew it.

But another idea just came up my mind. What if you only have to write it the first time. After that a button for this theme is shown?! * Edit, i tested this and it feels good.

Sounds like a good idea!

And i do wonder, did you look backstage? Hit the edit button and opened a chapter in edit mode?

No.
Looking behind the curtains could spoil too much, I love to be surprised and don't want to spoil me all those things which archive has in store.

Best greetings,
Markus

[avatarbr]

I just played a little, looks promising. I would like to see a bigger project there to have a better idea.

The nodes structure looks similar with something I already see around here, or I am crazy?

[basim]

I just played a little, looks promising. I would like to see a bigger project there to have a better idea.

The nodes structure looks similar with something I already see around here, or I am crazy?

Hello, Thanks!

Yes, that would and will be great! I do work on that, but with fixing bugs and implement new features this will take some time. Meanwhile i'd love to see some one else doing it..

But what's this other thing that uses nodes you are mentioning? I'm curious ..

Hey!

Great to have you here, I hope some more people get interested in your project and post feedback, ... this forum got quite silent for a while now, and such a ...

Thanks again for you kind words.

That's a bit pity to read. I love this forum and the content. And looking at the latest posts and also how much people are online it isn't that dead, or is it? As both of you avatarbr and markus are creators, how is it going the last month? Are there only a few who produce and also a few how talk about it?

I glad to hear that you did not perceive the grammar probs for to bad. Anyhow, i have to find some to correct it..

Thanks for you offer to overlook my parsing code. I'll come back to this. But first i like to try it myself. I reckon that al lot of time ist wasted by a poorish timed update cycle.

Ok, not recognize usually known words sounds like a bug. I'll examine that!

The 500+ words are synonyms for around 30 kinks and commands. But i imagine this can easly grow to a hundred and more.. So, the all buttons shown option will not work, yeah.

And i think you don't got it wrong. She want's you to discribe what you like an image for, assuming that it shows e.g. a body part or action. Like pussy, boobs, spanking, bondage or also collar or latex. As you are someone who don't want to know what she is capable of i will not go more into that..

Stupidly i haven't hooked up a lot of words she already knows about, like pussy. That's my top prio to change that right now. I didn't saw that coming, but it's a huge problem. I guess most of the silient user of archive have the same problem at the moment.

So, if you don't want to spoil you but also have a look backstage have a look into the "settings" chapter. There is nothing special to spoil..

Have a good day both of you,
basim