Is the first version/demo(and subsequent versions) of Spiral Clicker 2 only going to be available on Patreon or will it come to itch.io with a price tag? Liked the first game,but it would be a shame if it was Patreon-only as not all people want or can afford to sign up for Patreon.
InfiniteDreamer
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Carnal Voyages - Public Release Version comments · Posted in Carnal Voyages - Public Release Version comments
Gonna have to say,i respect your opinion,but I strongly disagree.
For your "complaint" about the story being unoriginal. Hate to break to you,but pretty much every story in human existence is in essence,unoriginal.Even the most iconic pieces of modern media(Like Lord of the Rings) had their inspiration from somewhere. I don't understand how that can be a point against the game in itself. Yes,the idea of virtual world is not new,but execution of an idea is what's more important. And I would say that Cari does a good job of that.
Not just how the base premise allows for a variety of story genres to to be in one VN,without it feeling jarring,he also does enough to expand on the consequences, good and bad of Eternum existing. Like how because of the in game currency having RL monetary value, some people actually made their living in the game. Which helps in worldbuilding and making it feel lived in. Or how like in any social game,there are assholes doing screwed up shit.
For gameplay...really? Saying that there's little to no gameplay in an adult visual NOVEL. The whole point of a VN is to experience it for the story and dialogue. I don't know if you're just trying to note it for the review(even then it still feels kind of pointless to mention that) or if you really expected to go in having this be gameplay-heavy. If it's the latter then that's on you for expecting the game to be something it's not when Cari clearly labels the game. Cari knows what his focus should be on and any tiny bit of mechanics are there to serve the story and atmosphere,which works out great especially in the horror focused sections. Any fleshed out mechanics would not serve the story Cari's telling and just take away time and attention. And the choices to me have the right amount of agency. Not too cryptic that you have to depend on a guide to get through(although that first Alex choice is an exception),but inuitive enough that if you pay attention to the character's personalities it's pretty easy to pick the right choices. And wanting the girls to be harder to woo..can't say anything against that,but I also don't agree with that.
And for the characters being "copy-paste" and "sex-crazed". I really can't agree with you here. Out of all of the sections,this is the one that felt the most disingenuous and overblown. Putting aside the fact that this is at the end of the day a porn game,one with way more plot than porn,but still a porn game,so dinging it for having some "porn logic" is really?
Having "unoriginal" characters is not,IMO a valid criticism.I can just put my same thoughts about that from the story section. Yeah, the basic archetypes are nothing new for AVN or general stories,but Cari's writing does a good job of fleshing them out beyond that,especially in the emotional scenes to make them feel believable. And speaking of that,I also think Cari for the most part does a good job of not only properly pacing the sexy scenes to their relationship growth with Orion,but having good in-character reasons for why they chose to do it. Nancy goes faster than the other girls,but that makes sense because of her bolder personality and how repressed she is than either Alex or Luna who took longer to get their first sexy scene. And the times they don't are more the execption than the rule like you seem to think it is.
And feel like the only one that maybe fits that description is Dalia as I'm not a fan of how you start her path and later on with the bet,but that's more due to the timing,but other than those,her path is fine. I don't know how,when you talked about the different dialogue,animations,and the focus scenes for each girl,you still came to the conclusion that,nah, they're just copy-pasted sex dolls of each other,which made me roll my eyes. Apparently I didn't play the same game you did.
So yeah,I think this is overblown.As for Orion while his basic personality traits are typical of the AVN MC,Cari's writing makes Orion feel a lot more genuine and fleshed out. Orion may not be Cam (TFTUV) in terms of a defined personality with flaws and arc,but he still has enough character that I want to root for him.
You review starts off alright,but towards the end in the character section,it's goes straight into pure nitpicking for stuff you personally dislike and not objectively rating the game for the stuff it's trying to do. If you want to convince people your review is constructive criticism,maybe next time don't word it in a passive-aggressive way and blame others for not liking that.
While this isn't directly related to fleshed out AVN MCs,I think Harem Hotel gets a pass for me.Even though the MC in that game is bland like many others, the narrative is self-aware about that and doesn't try make him be more important than he actually is. He's only the driving force for the real stars of the show, the LIs. All of them are fleshed out and are central to the worldbuilding and story of HH. For me,HH is how you should handle an AVN MC if you're going to make them a boring self-insert.
I definitely agree that Cari's games do have well written MC that feel like characters with their own personalities. And I get why most AVN make the MC bland,At the end of the day people play these for the porn and it's easier for self insert. But, if you're going to have the MC play an important role in the plot at the very least you could give them a personality that isn't cardboard.
No. I don't think I like the sound of that either. Whether or not a person is into soft or hardcore BDSM,it often has nothing to do with any trauma. I'm not sure I want to try Nothing Is Forever because from the way it's worded it treats the BDSM kink like its tied to being mentally ill or being a villain. Not a fan of the trope that tries to explain a character's kink by going oh' x has this trauma or mental issues, so they have this kink!' That's kind of lazy,not to mention very rarely true IRL. Another reason why I don't care for Fifty Shades.I think you have a point that maybe the public needs to be exposed to softer BDSM for a bit to get them to understand. Thanks for trying,but I don't think I'll be checking that out. I'll sticking with reading Sunstone.
Personally, I don't think you get Fifty Shades of Shit. It's romanticized abuse. Sure,there's people who practice more hardcore BDSM,but it ALWAYS with the permission of the sub. They have their consent to do the more hardcore things because the trust is there between them. Even if it doesn't look like to you,that doesn't mean that love or trust is not there, nor does it mean the woman doesn't respect herself. The love in this case is the Dom and Sub trust each other enough to let that happen,without going too far. Even if pain is involved, the Dom has to work within the limits the Sub sets up.Safe words are there as part of that. But Fifty Shades of Shit doesn't do that. Christian never respects the boundaries and limits that Ana sets and Ana is never firm with the limits and lets Christian walk all over her. There's no trust there. That's not how BDSM works.
Anyway,this is my last reply.
Okay,I want to clarify that Lust Age does have urination,but it's entirely optional. it's not forced on you.And the Lust Age dev makes it clear what kinks are or aren't in the game and lets you know if it's optional or not on the game page. But not liking Lust Age's style,that's fair. Not all people are into the anime style.
So,not liking bondage and more kinky stuff is less about not being into it and more about the trauma associated with it .I'm sorry all of that stuff happened to you. But, even if you don't believe it, BDSM is NOT meant to be like that. BDSM is all about respecting the subs boundaries,limits, and not breaking that trust. That's part of why its so irritating to me that BDSM is misrepresented and underrepresented like it is. In a way, I would say BDSM is greater act of love and trust than regular sex.because you have to trust the person to let you tie them up and maybe even more depending on how hardcore it is. But Fifty Shades of Shit does not get that and it's clear that the author didn't take the time to research actual BDSM.
But as for humiliation,I can't say I'm into that,but it's not a turn off either. But I'm sure the people who are into that and their partners who are willing to satisfy them,know not not to go too far and it's acting for them,not an indication that they really see each other like that. And if they really saw each other like that,then that's abuse plain and simple.I get why you don't like scat,urine,guro,vore and other shit like that. Those are pretty common turn offs for most people.
I think that you need to just trust Cari more. Cari is a person and he has his sexual preferences and judging by the only game he's completed,Cari doesn't seem like he'll push things that far and the kinky stuff in the game will be tame. but my standards and yours are very different so. Maybe try to frame the skip button to him in a different way.Instead of having a skip buttton for stuff you don't want,frame it like something for people playing the game more than once to use to quickly go through the sex scenes to the newer stuff they didn't see before if they're going for different ending. If that's not an option,just ask Cari what fetishes/kinks he's willing to put in his game and what he's not. It should be a decent measure for what to expect in this game and if it's too much you know to drop it. Or just ask Cari to put a warning before sex scenes to let people know what it consists of and then skip ahead during sex scenes using fast forward . That's all the advice I can give you,it's hard to do this for someone who doesn't even like a little bit of kink because while most people don't like hardcore stuff,most people are okay with the former. And none of these options address that Cari wants the scenes to be tied into the characters development,it'd be easier if they were more sandbox,but this isn't a sandbox like HH. Honestly, I think you just stick to regular VN's because the AVN crowd doesn't have what you're looking for for the most part right now. Like I said,that can change.
I'll try Nothing is Forever if the BDSM aspect is going to be a real focus.So thanks for that! It was interesting talking with you though.
Ok. I can understand wanting a kink to fit the character,but realistically?Kinks often don't make sense for a person's personality. Not going to sit here and say it's completely unrelated,but you know that saying 'it's the quieter ones that are often the most kinkiest?" Well, there's truth to that. A person who you think wouldn't like it might turn out to like shit you wouldn't expect them to. As someone into BDSM,I can tell you that the Dom can be the quiestest,straight laced person and the Sub could be the most confident,independent,and pushy person. People can have different sides to them,that'swhat makes a person complex.And in the case of characters,as long it's foreshadowed or the context makes sense,it doesn't bother me. Like with Penny,this is still early in the story,we didn;t know much about her,and it's implied she has had not experience dating aside from that one boyfriend in high school.=,so she might've not have time to experiment with her boyfriend.
And you just want an explanation on why they have that kink,that's fair.But in an ADV that frankly isn't as important of a detail and i don't think it'll be important to Cari and the story he wants to tell.Would it be neat if he did that.Sure,but is he likely to do it? Probably not. Unless it's a new kink they discover in their relationship with Orion or maybe with the other girls(since it's implied there's going to threesomes when the relationships develop enough.)
And yeah I know some of the girls aren't teenagers(Nancy being the only exception), they're in they're 20's,but they're in their early 20's. That's still pretty early in life. You might've gotten shit figured out by that time,but that's NOT going to be true for everybody. In my experience, college age was a time where lots of people still experimented with sexuality and were still unsure of themselves. And your comment about 18 years reasonably figuring everything they like and don't sexually is even more weird to me. No. 18 is still teenager age,even if it's late teens and it's believable to me that they wouldn't have that figured out everything. Maybe they had a one-time stand where the focus was on rough or tender fucking and there wasn't time to experiment. Maybe they had a boyfriend before who wasn't into their kinks, wasn't willing to experiment,or broke up before they could discover that kink. Maybe they experimented a bit on their own,but not enough to know what they truly like or don't. Maybe they experimented a lot,but for different reasons, weren't brave enough to try out a kink before Orion came. The point is there are plenty of believable reasons a character or a person IRL might have a kink that goes against their personality or discover new ones. Hell,even fully grown adults,depending on their situation and willingness to experiment can still find new kinks they might not have known they had.And I don't necessarily need the game to point that out when I can make inferences like this on my own.Although i do think that it's unlikely that Cari will add extreme stuff like gangbanging,considering his last game didn;t have stuff like that.
I can get being frustrated that there's not a game that caters to your sexual preferences and also not liking certain kinks or fetishes. Hell, if Lust Age's urination stuff wasn't skippable,I wouldn't have played it. I like BDSM,but finding an ADV that that caters to that at least somewhat is like finding water in a desert. BDSM is one of the most misrepresented kinks in media and it sucks that all you have for it is Fifty Shades of Shit,which portrays BDSM like its abuse, which is NOT the point of it.
If you already mostly dislike the direction the game is going in kink and fetish wise,even at an early stage like Eternum is in now,you might want to stop playing. Because I'm sure what happens early on isn't going to change.Is it worth staying if in your own words, you might have to suffer through fetishes or kinks that you dislike so much that it turns your stomach apparently? I don't think so. If it was just stuff you were neutral on or only slightly disliked that would be one thing,but it seems like even the slightest bit of kinky stuff turns you off.I was going to say maybe you should bring it up with Cari and have him put in a skip scene button,but he already said no. At least he gave you answer on that and wasn't vague. I respect that Cari has a story he wants to tell and an audience he wants to appeal to that like at least a little bit of kinky stuff,it's just unlucky you're one of the very rare people that don't fall into that. I guess you like the game in spite of that,but....
I recommended Lust Age since you don't like any other stuff but vanilla.It may not have Cari's mystery or even comedy elements,but it's still a charming story in its own right that's pretty sweet throughout.It's worth giving a shot at least. I always think that people should finds stuff that appeals to them and this dev at least seems to want to make stuff for the pure vanilla crowd. So if you don't want to play LA,at least this is a dev that you could watch.Maybe one of the next games they do will be something you like.Who knows.The AVN crowd is growing more everyday and there are more people trying to make them. There might be a new dev who does vanilla stuff like LA too. it's the mindset I use when I'm looking for BDSM stuff.
While I understand better where you're coming from,I still don't agree with a lot of what you're saying.We have two drastically different views on things and that's fine.I just wanted to know why you felt the way you did about that.
I'm going to be blunt here. If you're playing an ADULT visual novel and not expecting the girls to be in sexy situation(even random ones with no context),then you're playing the wrong kind of VN.I do wind up liking the characters and plot a lot more than the sexy bits,but at the end of day the goal is to wind up in sexy situations.
To me, it wasn't Penny being OOC,more so than her revealing a side of herself she obviously wouldn't share with just anybody. if you had an issue with how it was done,i would get that. but it just seems like you have issues with the whole thing entirely and her having a kink at all is a betrayal of her character. I also don't get how you would see it as OOC considering that up to that point,we didn't know much about Penny at all,much like all of the other girls.
The story is still just starting and it's reasonable we wouldn't know everything about the girls and that's not even getting into how they could develop later on, both in ways that are sex-related and not.Most of these girls are still teenagers who are discovering their sexuality after all. Cari is a good writer who I trust can pull that off and have sexy scenes that make sense with the characters,even if the context might not be there.
So some of the girls might turn out to have kinky sides, which is fine by me,since I find vanilla sex on its own to be boring. But,on the flipside, I doubt that all of the girls would be that way and some might be vanilla. Having them be all one way or the others would make all of them samey, which for an AVN with multiple LIs isn't something you want.
PS. It seems to me like you like mostly vanilla stuff,so if you haven't heard of it already, Lust Age is probably the perfect AVN for you as it's vanilla as it comes and the weirder kinks can be avoided.
Alright. I do like the game, and I wouldn't want BDSM stuff for characters where it isn't their kink or doesn't make sense for them to try. I would still want it make sense for the story. Maybe I'll find something on itch.io that has more of my less vanilla tastes. I doubt it though because like I said, anything that isn't soft BDSM is pretty much rare. But hey, maybe I'll get lucky. Itch.io is becoming more popular,more AVN novels are being made every day. Good luck with the project!.
I get that maybe at first the girls wouldn't be comfortable with hard or soft BDSM,but you could just make it so you have reach a really high level in specific girls stats(min this case probably trust)before they're willing to try it. IMO,just because if BDSM might be in the game,doesn't necessarily mean that the romantic feeling has to go away,in fact it could enhance it because despite the fact the girls have been through shit, the fact that they trust the MC enough to let him do it is romantic in itself. Could be shown as a significant step in overcoming their past and not letting it rule them. But I understand why you might not want to go hard on that because all the harem girls are traumatized and that can get dicey story-wise when you're adding in something like BDSM.
Like I said, proper BDSM no matter how hard or soft it is as a concept is based around love,trust,consent. That's why subs having limits and safe words is one the core driving factors. And honestly, given your own tastes,you'd probably be able to actually portray BDSM unlike a lot of mainstream shit cough*Fifty Shades of grey*cough.
But if you don't want to do it for LA,then that's fine, but it's a bit disappointing as good BDSM portrayals are already hard to come by in other media, but it's especially true in the AVN space. And in LA's story it could've fit as a somewhat core thing,instead something that's half-assed just for obligation like other AVN.I do still like game though,don't get me wrong.My taste lean less towards vanilla,but it's nice once in a while to play something vanilla.
So it won't be in LA,but is that sort of thing is off the table for future projects?
I know about the off limits fetish list for what the dev doesn't want,but I'm wondering if there'll ever be hard or soft BDSM elements. It's not in the off limits category,but it's not mentioned either. I think that given the tone the game is going for,having a kink that's literally based around trust and consent could work well for the story and characters.I also just like it. And if not for this game,would it be something you would consider adding in future projects?
Tales From The Unending Void comments · Replied to loyal4ever in Tales From The Unending Void comments
I think that's fair.For you,it's a fundamental disagreement with the character archetype that used for Cam,while for me I don't see that way. I think that comes from the fact that Perverteer is clearly using old pulpy sci fi movies as his inspiration for the tone of the game. you know,like Flash Gordon. While there are serious and emotional moments,TFTUV overall is meant to be a light hearted and fun adventure across the galaxy with lots of action and heroes that are daring or reckless as you call it.
From what you told me, it seems like you less have a problem with Cam as a character and more with how it's treated in the narrative.I think you're looking at the wrong game if you want the narrative to acknowledge the reckless part of his personality in dangerous situations realistically. I feel like for what TFTUV is going for,it does the right amount of calling out Cam for his reckless attitude,without compromising the tone.This isn't a regular Sci-fi where you expect the tone to be fairly serious or a Cyberpunk where for the most part it is.That's just how I feel though. I do appreciate you explaining yourself.
Tales From The Unending Void comments · Replied to loyal4ever in Tales From The Unending Void comments
Really? I think he does grow as both as a leader and as person. I'm curious to know why you think the MC's still an ass?I personally think that Perverter's done a good job of Cam growing out of his earlier attitude, without making look like he's done 180 in personality,having it be too fast,or the narrative forgetting his actions and not being called out.
And because of the last one happening,he does start to question his actions and show remorse for it and tries to take responsibility for it. Does he always succeed in that? No,but he does try.If he hadn't done that,maybe I would agree with you. I don't know, I think I have more tolerance for characters who start out as assholes,but grow to be better.But it's your opinion. I do agree that the plot and characters are great and do a good job of hooking you!I think the only other AVNs that match the level of the immersivness are Caribdis works.
Tales From The Unending Void comments · Replied to Ghost2656 in Tales From The Unending Void comments
He does get better and grows as a character.But, I actually like that Cam(the MC) has clear flaws and doesn't always make the best decisions in the plot.It makes him feel like an actual character,rather than a just a bland vehicle for porn. I get why that is,at the end of the day the main goal is to fuck the girls,no matter how good plot is.but that doesn't mean there can't be more effort towards making the MC interesting in his own right.
And I think this one does suceed,because despite Cam making unlikable choices,there's enough there that you can empathize with him.Cam's sister(along with many others) basically got kidnapped,he has no clue where she is and by all indications the Sovereiginity was going to ignore it and not do anything to try and search for them.In that situation,I would be frustrated angry,maybe desperate enough to do something crazy. But the same time despite that,he did make choices without considering the consequences and the people who got dragged along have every right to be mad at him and the game acknowledges this.He has to earn their trust back.And you can,by picking the correct options and even then the options don't make them forget everything.
Pretty much every AVN I've played,even the ones I like,have this issue of bland MCs, whose only personality comes with dialogue choices that feel disconnected from the main plot, with the exception being Caribdis' AVNs MCs. So I appreciate another AVN for trying to be different in this area and IMO, doing it well.
Heavenly Peaks Cultivation comments · Replied to My Big Little Brother in Heavenly Peaks Cultivation comments