Powerless [Apr. 28/17], Pet

[Mashugana]

Oh shit Dunmer, it's happening.

And it looks... pretty good honestly. Controls were a little bit wonky when I fiddled around with it at first til I realized you're supposed to fight or talk by clicking within the circles, which is alright. The art is nice and soft looking without being (admittedly) a little too... elastic like with Pet. Not bad for a 0.1 man.

[scolexxx]

Oh shit Dunmer, it's happening.

And it looks... pretty good honestly. Controls were a little bit wonky when I fiddled around with it at first til I realized you're supposed to fight or talk by clicking within the circles, which is alright. The art is nice and soft looking without being (admittedly) a little too... elastic like with Pet. Not bad for a 0.1 man.

Thanks! I feel that my artwork is where I want it to be, but my gameplay can't seem to improve enough!

[Gizmo1206]

damn really early build but so far so good and it controls alot better than pet

[Mashugana]

Yeah, it does kind of seem like you're struggling with changing your current gameplay style. Maybe some button keys instead of having everything be mouse controlled would be more fluid? Like, have a button for attacking, which would allow you to move and strike at the same time. It'd probably be good for fighting large numbers of enemies like how in the current build it's easy to get swarmed by the minotaurs and logically you'd get "killed" (I'm guessing your character won't actually die though if they run out of health) pretty quick.

[sketcher]

... For some reason I'm not seeing a character on screen - trees waving and some menus, but nothing that looks like the ability to move.

[scolexxx]

Yeah, it does kind of seem like you're struggling with changing your current gameplay style. Maybe some button keys instead of having everything be mouse controlled would be more fluid? Like, have a button for attacking, which would allow you to move and strike at the same time. It'd probably be good for fighting large numbers of enemies like how in the current build it's easy to get swarmed by the minotaurs and logically you'd get "killed" (I'm guessing your character won't actually die though if they run out of health) pretty quick.

Thanks. I'm considering removing combat altogether, or going with a turn-based format because I just can't seem to make it any smoother the way it is. And as for dying, I think I will go more with a 'faint then wake up at a brothel/slave market/farm' or something like that.

Overall, prioritizing the resource management, skills and sex side of the game. The story won't have much of a need for fighting anyway.

... For some reason I'm not seeing a character on screen - trees waving and some menus, but nothing that looks like the ability to move.

The character currently spawns under a tree. Not my intention but I forgot to set it elsewhere before I released it. I had been testing it so many times that I forgot that nobody else would know what to do as soon as the game starts!

[verny]

Im in a sex scene, i just cant seem to find out how to complete it, he will just stand with his cock hanging between her legs, anyone who can help? am i doing something wrong?

[Mashugana]

Yeah, it does kind of seem like you're struggling with changing your current gameplay style. Maybe some button keys instead of having everything be mouse controlled would be more fluid? Like, have a button for attacking, which would allow you to move and strike at the same time. It'd probably be good for fighting large numbers of enemies like how in the current build it's easy to get swarmed by the minotaurs and logically you'd get "killed" (I'm guessing your character won't actually die though if they run out of health) pretty quick.

Thanks. I'm considering removing combat altogether, or going with a turn-based format because I just can't seem to make it any smoother the way it is. And as for dying, I think I will go more with a 'faint then wake up at a brothel/slave market/farm' or something like that.

Overall, prioritizing the resource management, skills and sex side of the game. The story won't have much of a need for fighting anyway.

... For some reason I'm not seeing a character on screen - trees waving and some menus, but nothing that looks like the ability to move.

The character currently spawns under a tree. Not my intention but I forgot to set it elsewhere before I released it. I had been testing it so many times that I forgot that nobody else would know what to do as soon as the game starts!

Could maybe do something like from Fallout 1 or 2, with AP and such, but that might break the flow of the game. It does make a certain kind of sense for Powerless to be more of a social or skill based game rather than a combat one though, particularly if most of the races the elven heroine is dealing with are much more physically powerful than her even if she were a trained fighter ( Orcs and Minotaurs especially).

Personally, if it were to have combat still I'd suggest it be much more emphasized on picking your fights carefully, only going into combat when other paths are blocked or you're certain you can win, maybe using your feminine wiles to lure targets away or letting them underestimate your character as just a soft princess not even half their size/ Though that could take a while to implement properly.

No matter what, I'd personally still play it though. The art is really cute and appealing and the concept may be a little cliche but hey, I'm a sucker for cliches.

[musical74]

I'm guessing outside of a teaser there isn't much to show? I can club everyone fighting (that seemed weird, an elfmaid is able to defeat several much-more-powerful orcs?) and get the very beginning of sex but that seems to be it...

[kvier]

... For some reason I'm not seeing a character on screen - trees waving and some menus, but nothing that looks like the ability to move.

The character currently spawns under a tree. Not my intention but I forgot to set it elsewhere before I released it. I had been testing it so many times that I forgot that nobody else would know what to do as soon as the game starts! :lol:

There's a bug in the linux flash projector that means that the player just doesn't move at all, regardless of where you click.

The windows projector in wine works fine, however.

[scolexxx]

Could maybe do something like from Fallout 1 or 2, with AP and such, but that might break the flow of the game. It does make a certain kind of sense for Powerless to be more of a social or skill based game rather than a combat one though, particularly if most of the races the elven heroine is dealing with are much more physically powerful than her even if she were a trained fighter ( Orcs and Minotaurs especially).

Personally, if it were to have combat still I'd suggest it be much more emphasized on picking your fights carefully, only going into combat when other paths are blocked or you're certain you can win, maybe using your feminine wiles to lure targets away or letting them underestimate your character as just a soft princess not even half their size/ Though that could take a while to implement properly.

No matter what, I'd personally still play it though. The art is really cute and appealing and the concept may be a little cliche but hey, I'm a sucker for cliches.

That is an excellent point. I think now I will remove combat altogether and focus on interactions and conversations. The current conversations seem very strange because I had them set to randomize and the text was basically placeholders. I like the idea of the girl as a soft princess much more than having a half-assed combat system that doesn't accomplish much besides confuse people!

There's a bug in the linux flash projector that means that the player just doesn't move at all, regardless of where you click.

The windows projector in wine works fine, however.

Interesting. Maybe it has something to do with how this game is written in the archaic actionscript 2 instead of 3. Either way it should not make a difference because the coding is so simple. I don't know.

[kvier]

Interesting. Maybe it has something to do with how this game is written in the archaic actionscript 2 instead of 3. Either way it should not make a difference because the coding is so simple. I don't know.

I don't think it's worth accommodating, it's just nice to have a warning about it.

I think I remember there was some similar bug in Flash that meant that VVVVVV had to be completely rewritten for its subsequent release for not-windows.

[Mashugana]

That is an excellent point. I think now I will remove combat altogether and focus on interactions and conversations. The current conversations seem very strange because I had them set to randomize and the text was basically placeholders. I like the idea of the girl as a soft princess much more than having a half-assed combat system that doesn't accomplish much besides confuse people!

Well if you're gonna go that route it might be pretty cool, plus depending on how you're doing the backstory it'd make a touch more sense for the PC to rely on subterfuge and seduction over brute force. Actually, I remember seeing something you put up on your tumblr a few months ago around the election, something about a concept where you play as a politician doing "favors" for political influence or something? Maybe that could be a thing if you're going to replace the combat with something more interaction based.

Sorry if I ever seem rude, by the by, just in case. Your combat system's good, it's just a touch clunky s'all.

[Dongman]

I think a turn based combat system would be great!

[Mashugana]

So out of curiosity, did you take any inspiration for your art shift from anyone or anything in particular or was this just kind of a normal progression of style change?

[scolexxx]

So out of curiosity, did you take any inspiration for your art shift from anyone or anything in particular or was this just kind of a normal progression of style change?

The biggest inspirations for my artwork have recently been witchking00, kogeikun and madscientist, and you can really see the last one in these shots of a project I experimented with last winter:

[Mashugana]

So I was playing Fallout 1 and popped onto Lok, then remembered you were having trouble with combat and considering dumping it entirely, and someone else suggested a turn based combat system a while back, and you know, I think the AP system in Fallout and the basic mechanics of it in general could work well for something like Powerless! It'd let you work around the issues with combat, you could keep a relatively simple animation cycle for combat (just basic swings, flinches and dodges, maybe knockdowns or whatever) and it'd allow for specialization and development of skills! You could grow your princess from a pampered maiden to a great Boudicca like warrior, a skillful social butterfly, maybe a mage or sneak thief, whatever.

[mrkooliscool]

Is this game dead too?

[MiscChaos]

Alright, so this game hasn't been updated in a year and the last post in about that long ago as well, so to prevent further necro, I'll be locking this topic down. scolexxx, PM a mod if it turns out that the project is still under development.