itch.io

How about devs updating on their game pages?

To give signs of life here should be their onus.

You and me both - hope is never lost!

Happy one year anniversary! 🥳

First, please add some download mirrors! If you can't have the game hosted natively on Itch, Mega and Google Drive are very welcome options, at least I don't like sites that give pop-ups after clicks.

Second: please don't be discouraged! Your game is enjoyable, keep making it, and include all you want on it! I would really enjoy avoidable flavors like NTR and all the range haha - some won't, of course, but isn't that the beauty of games? Something for everyone one, and if yours offers just that, then amazing, we need more games like those in the AVN industry! Keep fighting and creating, dev!

For sure, I will make sure to play 0.4 when it's out!

Best of lucks on the development of it, you've got this!

For anyone curious, the game does feature lesbian scenes, but they can be skipped on a clearly labelled choice.

You've done more than enough to prove you're an ass man, dev.

Was enjoying it, until it became a bit on-rails with Ashley, no option to turn down spanking her, no option to remain sitting instead of following her...

I also would like to report a bug: I didn't peek on Jade, yet her shower scene still appeared unlocked on my gallery. Also, I don't know if this is a bug or not, but flatering Nicole upon meeting her doesn't net you hearts with her.

Will this game feature choices or will every event be set in stone?

I'm sorry for making this a technical comment, because there are many things in the game that I want to praise, and I hope to do so in the future. But I feel you really need to check and improve the way you are programming/coding the game.

Now, for full disclosure, the laptop I own is quite old. However, this is the first AVN I've played on it that has crashed, and multiple times at that. At first it happened during the Miss Rose scene, and I thought it may have been a combination of having music, animation, and sound effects going on at once, however then - the next day for me, so the laptop had time to "rest" and wasn't overheated or anything - it started crashing on the conversation at the Cafe scene. This to me, who knows nothing of programming, makes me think it may be a thing with the way you are making the music loop (like, the first time the track plays, it's fine, but it may start "accumulatinh" loops that make the program collapse, if that makes sense). I'm not one to obsess over graphics, but I have played many games with better ones that do not crash, and even the animations they play run smoothly, so I can only conclude it's an issue with the program. I tend to make a massive amount of save files, and I'm on page 50 for this game, however that has never given me issues on other renpy games, so if that's the issue there may be too many unnecessary information coded into each save? Of course, the game having a virus within its files is also a possibility. I would recommend you check it thoroughly and try to make it kinder on the processing to stop it crashing.

I see! That's nice to hear, that the chance to turn it down  will be implemented, I was going to suggest that myself haha.

As someone who feels a rework would do wonders for certain parts of the game, I agree that this is likely the best approach for you to take. With each chapter you are building the skeleton of the game, and before you have it complete, or very near complete, it may be hard to judge where it needs "more muscle" or where it needs "some fat trimmed". Once the skeleton of the game is complete or near complete, you will be able to make those calls easier, since you will know what was the journey each character took through the story, and the journey the story itself told; a better idea of the whole body you created. Knowing that, it'll be easier to identiy what parts need to be adjusted to be more in line to those narrative threads, what needs to be removed because it's too in conflict with them, etc.

Hey, I can confirm that does work as intended now!

I have another question though: is the scene with Yua post fight in the old battleground meant to always trigger, or only under a certain combination of choices?

Thanks for looking into it, I have hopes the issue will be resolved with that update! I will be sure to check once it's released, I'll delete all the files and persistent data and play the game from the start to be sure, so I can confirm to you if it was fixed or not.

I got the sense - due to the apology scene mainly - that he's acting polite to lull her into thinking he's actually a good guy/repentant, right? Imo that is fine, to have the MC outwardly acting and saying "vanilla" things, but, just as the apology scene goes, his internal thoughts should still be wicked. If him berating Jane to her face on each scene wouldn't be believable, and you want MC to act normal for a time with her, imo he should still totally berate her on his mind every time he sees her haha.

Honestly it is a tag I myself like haha, but you should do what you want, I'd rather see games that reflect each author's tastes and preferences, than to have a mass of similar games all chasing after the same things that the AVN fanbase tends to like.

Super valid of you dev, having a child is a life-changing event, and it's understanble if you don't want MC to have to deal with that, or to have any of the heroines deal with that as a consequence of romancing MC either, even in an epilogue type thing. It's your game, and what type of outcomes the characters get is up to you!

Hey, just to update you a bit, I reached the part with the sky boat, and after taking the commission Layla talks about what happened in the bathouse, so it isn't just that the gallery unlocks the scene despite not seeing it, but that the game treats it as having happened though it didn't.

Hi, new player here. Currently playing and enjoying it.

However, I would like to report a bug: in the private bath, I hid behind the pillar and didn't peek, so I got no scene there. However, the scene is unlocked in the gallery regardless. I choose to enable lesbian content and did peek at the girls when the two were bathing on first arrival, in case there's an out-of-place variable hiding somewhere for you to check that makes it be unlocked.

Hell yeah lol, loved seeing that, I play that with my nephew a lot!

Would you say the rework has more content than the old version now, or are you still catching up to the amount that was there?

One in-game day was indeed too little!

Honestly loving the amount of choices, for the game with the "sister" for example, lesser avns would have had just one choice, on wheter to play or not, MC asking for something spicier automatically, but giving the player two choices, one on if to play, and the other on what to ask after winning, is the level of interaction I want and appreciate, props for it!

As to what to improve, imo you should make so (most) animations don't loop back to the start, but stop once they reach their end point. For example, it's weird to see the "mom" walk out of the bathroom, stop in front of MC, then reapper in front of the bathroom to walk the hallway again. Such animations should just play once, and freze on the last frame until the player clicks.

Loking forward to playing future releases, best of lucks with the game!

EDIT: Also, maybe you should wait until the next release so the game has more content, but consider promoting it on the AVN subreddits!

Hey, does this game feature choices or different outcomes of any kind?

If it does not (or even if it does), is it possible to avoid a girl entirely, or
is it one of those games where you need to progress A to continue with B?

The introduction of this game is an absolute masterpiece, never feel otherwise devs. The initial look of the MC makes him iconic and sells his situation so well, when he starts running and the music kicks in, chef's kiss. 

Thanks for the reply! Best of luck on your next project(s)!
Looking forward to the solo endings when you do get to them!

You should tag it as "adult" since most people browse itch adult games using that tag instead of "eroge"

Heya, interested in playing the game now that it's "complete", but I have a question: the way you titled the update "harem finale" and listed "an ending" on the update log, does that mean that the game only has one ending? Or does it feature multiple? Or will it, in a future update?

Solid first release. First time I'm seeing an AVN focus on an idol group, so I'm very interested in seeing what the future holds in store for your story, what subjects you touch on, what you explore/comment on, etc...

The tempo of the game is likely slower than most AVNs, but I think it's fine to have games with different pacings. You deserve a lot of praise for the text effects you employ, I don't think I've ever seen an AVN use so many, so much, it gives the gave its own identity, which is nice. 

I found one continuity error, which is that I didn't peek on Alice, yet MC still had a line about seeing her room full of bears and her doing stuff when finding the teddy in the garden. Other than that, my main pet-peev is that it gets tiring seeing "a few minutes later..." so many times. Consider employing other phrases: "a short drive later", "a short walk later", or simply use none and just imply the passage of time.

Best of lucks with development, looking forward to the next release!

I agree. Having options other than MEGA is always appreciated.

Quite an interesting game! Chapter 1 hooked me, and while 2 was also very good, it left me worried in a sense. My favorite part of chapter 1 is how you can act like an absolute menace towards Jane on the very conversation you have with her, so truly, I do not want to have a scene where MC is alone with her, and isn't given the option to plant more insidious seeds on her mind. She went into his room? I want him acting like a bastard. She's doing yoga? Bastard. Driving MC somewhere? Bastard, bastard, bastard! I want each Jane scene to end with her feeling more insecure on if he's right about her.

I prefer linear narrative with choices and free-roams segments!

Played Chapter 1 on Steam! It was a bit shorter than I expected, but the quality was very high! The fight choreography was superb, very well done! I'm looking forward to more!

Returning player here! I played from the start again, and liked all the changes I could identify were made to 0.1 content, imo they all improve the game - and the script is in perfect English now, congratulations on the improvements!

0.2 keeps the story going in an interesting direction, I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop! Now, I played 2.1 rather than 2.2, but I had no problem with the minigames, though I have a suggestion on something that I see 2.2 didn't affect: if at all possible, on the spot the difference stages there should be a counter, displaying how many differences you have left to find.

Also, was the dance even winneable in the first place? I see you lowered the winning conditions "from 60 to 50", yet a perfect run seems to give you a max of 56. And I did get a To Be Continued screen, if you win the game continues?

Also, I didn't see any of the scenes in the gallery on my playthrough, yet only Elysia showed up as "Not on Route" in the stat tracker (after deciding to talk rather than attack), is the rest working as intended? (I'm talking about the route tracker status for the heroines still showing "on route" despite already having missed scenes) EDIT: Thinking about it, the choices are a point you should be congratulated on - most AVNs have extremely obvious choices, of the type "be kind/be rude", yet here "the right choice" to stay on a girl's path or see all her content isn't that obvious, and at least to me it is refreshing to see. 

For sure, I saw the public release for 0.2 is soon, so I'll be playing it and hopefully will have some thoughts to share with you!

Interesting first release, looking forward to how the story continues!

This doesn't have to do with the game itself as much as to how you release it, but I think it would be really helpful if you could have it be nativelly downloadable from Itch, and also added a Google Drive mirror. The reason for this is that past a certain file size - your game is not there yet, but will be if you keep updating it - MEGA has a quota that makes you wait 6 hours to continue downloading, so this can lead to interested players having to wait up to a full day before being able to play your game, and Mediafire tends to have bothersome pop-up windows when clicking, that's why I always prefer games to have an option to natively download on Itch, or at least have a Google Drive download mirror.

Does this game feature choices or are all scenes pre-determined?

Brother! One day we will have NTR as just another flavor in our AVN games! Never stop believing! Though, maybe don't be pushy about it - don't be as pushy as those who demand no NTR, the true scurge of the community! We are better than that! What to include, in the end, should be fully the developer's choice! So, support devs who include it, and don't inconvenience devs who do not! Have a great day!

I found that only "beer" and "wine" lead to her reacting, next version should likely make it so "whiskey", "vodka", and any liquors ("gin", "rum", "tequila", "mojito", etc) also earn the same reaction. Surprised there was a reaction for "sea water" but not for "holy water". "Aphrodisiac" I also wanted a reaction for, I think it may be for the best to have it cause the same effects (I'm assuming) "sex" does. Same for "lava" and "heat". I also wanted a reaction for "laxative".

Was reading chapter 3 of J. N. Reynolds "Voyage of the United States frigate Potomac" and couldn't but think of this, hope you find the motivation to continue one day!

Nice first release, I quite liked all the girls and their personalities.

The setting/premise seems mainly inspired by Fate/Grand Order. That said... "there are issues being caused in the past that cause issues in the present, and we fix the former to stop the latter" is a workable plot, if you treat it as no more than an excuse/frame for the events. But for those who enjoy worldbuilding - such as myself - I would like this to be much more fleshed out. What do the villains gain by causing such issues? How do they cause them, exactly? What is the nature of a time rift? How is one resolved? I'd like to see all those things explored/explained, alongside some more general ones involving time travel: what if you kill someone while on the past? What if you have sex with someone? And such.

That is more of a wish of mine, but when it comes to the most pressing need of the game, or it's main issue really... it's that it's pretty evident that you are not a native English speaker. Now, the text isn't broken, per se, but a trained eye can see you using turn of phrases that just aren't employed in English (to me it resembles the way Japanese works). I would try and get a native English speaker to do an editing pass of the text for you, if at all possible, while you keep improving your English proficiency. That said, I much prefer the text as it currently is, than for it to be edited by a machine program, as I've seen other devs do. This is not a criticial issue that makes the game unplayable, so please don't resort to that.

Again, this was a good first release. Keep doing what you are doing, keep improving, and hopefully the next release comes soon, I am looking forward to it ^^ 

Soon as I finished reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, I felt the need to play the latest update haha. Personally, I really really liked it.

I've felt this about other AVNs, but the ones I stick with I do because at the start I feel they have potential, and avoid making "unforgivable" mistakes. Then comes a point, somewhere along the way, where they don't just offer the promise of greatness in the future, but actually start delivering. For Love by the Water, I feel that point was reached in chapter 3: it truly delivered.

As to where... for me it was Celia getting her comeuppanuce. The scenes with her and Emma are so uncomfortable, they feel so out of place in what's otherwise a mostly warm game - but man, the payoff for them is so good once the tonal shift comes: it was such a great way to drive home the shift, making it felt through that scene. No notes, simply amazing. Best depiction of **** on an AVN I've experienced. Again, no notes, you did a fantastic job with her and that moment. Currently, that's what makes the game worth playing: Celia getting her just deserts, selling the tonal shift of the game, and what "other MC" brings to the table. The promise of more stuff like that in the future is enough to keep one playing, by itself!

Related, but Emma is such a well, well achieved character! Perhaps the gem of the game - alongside Byrus, whom I'll talk about later. But Emma is so disguting at such a visceral level to me - her sheer weakness, helplesness, asking someone stronger to deliver the punishment she can't - it even had me wishing for the choice to punish her instead, at times. She's so unsightly, I couldn't stand to perceive her! And then, boom, she said just the right thing. Can't appeal to his sense of morality? Then just offer whatever worth she has, in the eyes of an objective-driven being: the information she possesses. And then she asks to be taken along - after cheering the horrible thing done to Celia throught! - by lowering herself to saying she's ok with sleeping on a closet, just so she's taking along! Again, she's so, so disgustingly weak and wretched - and I love her for it. The character I most want to see more of.

I would like to talk about my wishes and concerns for the game, starting with the concerns: Mallard (alongside Risa) works great as a threatening antagonistic force, and I really hope he is not sidelined from the role after one confrontation. I quite enjoy the "slice of life" setting of school, and I wish you don't do away with it or have it take a backseat - though I have no idea how you'll keep it going now. Byrus is a great character, that I think is written with so much nuance, that I really hope he is given his proper respect by the story - not in terms that "good things happen to him" or that  "he gets his redemption" neccessarily, but that he's given enough screentime to shine and showcase what he's about. All the things about his absent father, and the way it's affecting him - this longing he has - I hope it's all building up to something. Bit of a suggestion, if you are taking Risa away from Mallard, I would have Byrus be his new assistant, so he serves as "POV character" whose eyes we experience that side of the narrative through. As for Emma, I really hope we are given diverging paths to develop her: a kind one (maybe keeping her interactions exclusive to normal MC) where we see who she is/what she likes outside of her time as a maid, and a darker one (maybe having her just interact with supernatural MC) where we see the person Celia made her explored - in many ways, it's Emma more than Byrus who is Celia's child, the one raised into who she is by her. Similar, but I hope we have an option to forgive Lana, and one to punish her as badly as Celia was punished - please leave it up to player discretion. I also hope we have a similar choice of "forgive Byrus/destroy him" - near the game's climax, perhaps. Mrs Behr and her colleague killed a lot of people - I hope the moral implications of this aren't handwaved. Same for the fact Lili is killing sentient creatures. I would love options to have nothing to do with either faction, on the grounds of them taking life.

TL;DR: Emma and Byrus are the gems of the game for me, the characters I want to see more of and those that I hope future updates do justice to the most.