itch.io

hm. If it helps, it appears blackeye specifically is doing an unofficial droid port. Talking with him will likely give you suggestions to shrinking specifically your game, and also he might be interested in becoming the official droid version lol if you're interested in that anyway

a "better solution" you say?

heres the one i recommend to everyone around the time they hit the 2gb limit if i notice...

take /all/ of the images up to the new version and put them into an RPA file, you can include it with the standard installs easy enough and android users can manually put it into a folder to the same effect. this bypasses the android limit by reducing the contents of the APK back down to nothing but the code files for at least the one update, and only has to be done whenever it hits the APK limit.

the only catch is you do need to set up a different folder where they can drop the APKs because android some time back did the retarded thing and made it impossible to access the normal install folders without Root or external access. I have no clue how to do it, but its something that every porter on f95 im aware of does now, so you should be able to ask any of them and get the information.

though if your hitting the 2gb mark already you might also want to ask around about ways to reduce the size of the images as much as possible >.< not sure who to ask about that though since i dont know what your doing, or what the other devs are doing frankly.

My usual post which i don't think I've made here yet...

Since you are getting towards 2gb on file size, you should consider packing a bunch of the images into RPA files, archives. This will coupled with designating a secondary folder on android would let you avoid splitting the game into parts. By doing this, you (and android users) would not have to mess with the RPAs much, with apks still handling resources from updates since the last RPA.

Both of these are more or less standard practice for porters on f95 so you should be able to get the "how" from them as unfortunately i don't know myself.

Since the project is already at 2.4gb...

For Android, i would highly advise creating archives (rpa) of the images from the older content periodically to keep the apk sizes relatively small. If they get too big they stop working. 

People can then take the archives and manually add them to folders where the game is coded to find them. You will need to make a secondary folder however for that as Google is an ass and hard locked out the normal Android folders such that it now requires root access. Or accessing it externally. 

If you don't know how to do it, most of the porters on f95 do, so you can easily get the info. I don't know the code or i would put it here

My usual post on the topic .... since the file size is getting chunky (and you already have the game split into two parts) as an alternative to splitting the game up like that you could just make RPA files of the pictures used in the various sections as those take up the most space. It would allow someone to just drop the archives into a spot the game can find them, and not have to deal with save transfers and the like when it gets chunky. Also let's the players have access to the full story and all replays from start to finish

As another dev pointed out this doesn't really work if the coding is changed heavily between versions but if the concern is android locking out the install folders so it's a pain in the ass to add files... most of the porters on f95 have been adding secondary folders (in documents usually) where the game looks for files (including saves)  that puts it outside the locked area for Android.

Anyway thanks for the update

Oof, because you are already at the ²-³ gig range on the apk I'll leave my usual post. 

You probably want to cut some of the older content off as an RPA to download separately from the core apk with the newest content in it. This will allow only periodic rpa interaction from both you and from the android users, retaining the apk for the bulk of the updates.

Hm. Just picked up and started the game and it looks good so far. One thing of specific note however is repetition of lines at various points. 

I'm not that far in yet (heading to the tech institute) but I've hit three points where lines are functionally repeated. It looks like you rewrote them a few times and forgot to pick one and remove the others. 

I can only go loosely, but the first was a choice talking to Olivia about what you were most excited for coming up i believe... and you have to pick all of them to progress with MC referring to multiple as explicitly "most excited about".

The second was talking to uncle and i think a line about new beginnings and finding yourself cropped up at least three times in short order.

Last one so far is MC exclaiming how advanced auri is, and auri saying she's designed to be a really human-like smart program, if not a true AI, three times back to back right before the car stops to help someone. 

Your getting around the limit of an apk file staying functional, so I'm making my usual suggestion on the topic. 

You can effectively shrink the apk by storing older parts of the game in a RPA/archive. Then you only have to make the apk out of the other files, allowing people to still update via apk and only have to download archives every once in a while. 

Thanks for the update

 Advertise, interact and donate are all methods of support, only one requires money. And getting the game by other means (especially in a format not otherwise available) does not preclude, limit or harm any of those forms of support.

One of my favorite authors releases a bunch of his books DRM free in digital format as "reader crack" to get people into his books. He just asks that if you can afford them, consider buying them. If you can't, pass em along to more people.  Not saying that mindset should be standard, but it kind of underscores my point

I would heavily not recommend getting secondhand GPUs for at least a few years, as in pretty sure the market is still flooded with crypto miner refuse. Basically they get a new gpu, overclock it and run it into the ground then sell it secondhand. Getting a crappier gpu is better than taking that risk, and you can still get refurbs and the like through main retailers. Because if those are broken you can at least get a refund or replacement.

Leave it connected to the tv to see if it dies there too. If it does when it's no signal, try and make sure the computer is still running (by sound, or by switching displays without turning it off) 

It could in theory be a cable failing or the power supply not being strong enough to run the new processor, rather than the gpu itself failing

ahh requires scrolling down,  couldn't tell there was more to the list, thanks! 

Finally got the game working acceptably on android so started messing around. Doing a hunter background, and I'm accumulating a fair bit of pelts, but i don't see a way to process them or sell them. Haven't gotten terribly far into the game but i would assume what's locked out is mostly high tech gear via emerald city. 

Hence my question. Can pelts be used for anything right now? Can they be sold? Thanks

I might be missing the obvious, but what am i supposed to do with pelts? Skins refine to leather which i have options for, but what can i do with pelts? Went with a hunter character so I'm getting plenty of them. Still figuring out the game since i just got it working reasonably on android.

Towards which note to the dev specifically - the fix i applied is to alter the meta viewport portion of the code to

content="width=device width, initial-scale=.9, maximum-scale=1" which gets it to stop cropping buttons on my tablet. I don't know if it will work for smaller screens but i don't think you would want to play this anyway on a phone screen lol i don't know if it's a combination of both or just one that fixed it, but it works and i don't want to tinker more (for now) and potentially break it again

If possible could you add those to the official code? If it does actually fix it for more Android users than just me, it could expand the player base at least some. 

So far good game, haven't messed with one that's actually interesting to me since strive for power (conquest just annoyed me) 

Anyway some relatively offhand traits -

an analog for the "daddy issues" trait, specifically a "cougar" type aimed at young characters

sadist(dealing damage or potentially seeing other people in pain increases arousal)

masochist (taking damage or increasing pain increases arousal),

 an npc version of sex addict (nerfs npcs while aroused, Increases happiness etc more per orgasm, becomes useful to quickly break and train a characterwhile also requiring more upkeep. Maybe using sex toys to do it passively to a degree? )

The launcher portion is very interesting and looks like it will be great but as to the base version (as the alternative i suppose) you probably want to split the files. Specifically i would suggest leaving in a bit of the game at the front (as a demo)  and then cut off roughly 1.5gb chunks from the game. By cut off i mean pack the files into RPA (archive)  files for independent download. This would let people use the standard apk to keep up on the newest content, the game to stay in one piece and everyone easy access to the old content with minimum fuss. 

I don't know exactly how to create the rpa files, but most of the porters on f95 do at this point so that's a possible direct source for how. 

Sweet and thanks

Not working for me either, you uploaded a crdownloader extension which is chrome specific download data file instead of the actual apk. I would assume that's why it's not working for some but it works for you

Wonderful counterpoint from "all the chicks look ugly" to "where's the android version? "

With that stated (and being 4 months out) there are a number of people who regularly port games on f95. If you like the game support the developer,  but the porters i know of specifically are... darkassassin, the66, wills747, blackeye, ghost, 0011, estrada777.... likely a few more on my personal track list but that's an offhand. So i also can't guarantee the accuracy of the usernames, but it gets it close enough that you can find them with a little work.

Hopefully this helps anyone who is looking for such (or gives the dev options for outsourcing an "official" android version of he wants) 

not really, the only catch on my end has been getting access to the folder sometimes, but most of the droid versions have a secondary folder to get around the permission problem. 

With that admitted, doing it that way would require the user to put another archive in every blue moon and thats about it. Well that and the initial install. The rest of the time it would just be apks as normal

Note on the part ² content, a better method than splitting it is to archive the old content into an rpa file that has to be downloaded separately and added to the game folder. This keeps the game to a single program, no real divergence on your end between the versions, and the apk system can remain the method of updating for users. 

Patreon is arbitrary with their rules, so getting alternatives is a good idea.  That arbitrary nature is why they just linked you to the f95 page, which is in itself stupid. 

"You violated our tos somewhere that isn't us" is up there with "you trespassed on us by entering a competitors property. "

With that stated, the potential violations are patreon are puritans (except maybe very specific things), and as such they will count it as a violation if they think (they do not have to be correct)  incest or loli. The rules are internally and externally incredibly vague, meaning totally subjective interpretation and enforcement.  Any such infraction is non reviewable, you cannot change their mind even if you can get them to admit that's what it is. Keep in mind the definitions they go by for loli include such things as overall height of the character in relation to others,  head/eye ratio,  general build, character aesthetic,  whether they are in school etc etc.

In your particular game, incest... well.  And as to loli, i guarantee you some of the mods would consider a full half of your game consisting of lolis. Not just Alice and Sun, but Lucy, maddie, celeste, or hell yvonne. Seen people in this position refer to Uzaki as a loli.

Seriously get some backups and alternates. Even if you manage to fight past it this time i have not heard of it stopping with basically anyone once it starts. 

Android install isn't working, says package is invalid. I tried doing a straight update first and it said there was a conflict.

Same recommendation i give usually though is kind of amusing in this context

Have a patreon edition to the game and patch the kids in.  Or else have the patreon disassociate officially from the game; is to support you or your studio but not the game. 

It might work, though patreon has a history of punishing people for off site behavior  sadly so who knows. Might be worth a try, but still need to get people away from patreon

I'm not familiar with godot but if it's possible to create an archive, you can bypass apk limits by.... when you get around the 2gb apk limit, pull old content out into an archive that has to be installed seperate. That way the apk is still used as a simple update mechanic and you don't have to mess with the archives constantly. 

Good luck with the legal end

in context of merging versions,  in theory you could do it for the android version as well. Convert the first half into an rpa archive that needs to be manually installed into the folder. Makes things slightly more complicated on the user end but everything becomes accessible from a single program

Any chance for the android version that you could package the completed prologue (and other chapters when relevant)  as an rpa to drop into the up to date game?  Then people in theory have access to both instead of the old content just getting overwritten

On the android front you can cheat the downloads by making each chapter its own archive (rpa). I don't know explicitly how it works since i haven't made a ren'py game, but i know it can be done. Then they just have to download the core android launcher, and the RPA file for each section you do.  If it's going to be around ⁷ gb total without compression that would be up to 3 rpa and a one gig core file. Or since there's no reason to limit the rpa to 2gb (as it's not an apk) then a 6 gig rpa for the full game and a 1 gig "demo" launcher/core.

Most of the Android porters on f95 use RPA for really big games now, so it should be easier to find out how than before. 

But for consistent update purposes I would suggest keeping the currently coded content as the core apk file and finished chapters as rpa. Makes it simple (and small)  to update on android still, and both you and us would only have to deal with a RPA after each chapter so should be simpler too.

I don't know how to do it so i can't be specific, there are a few porters on f95 that are starting to do this regularly ("wills747" and "blackeye." Offhand)

It's possible to use an rpa file to archive and dump content into the Android version post install. With it being a single file it's fairly easy to do as well. 

Towards which end, you should be able to create an rpa of the entire prologue (not the shell or new chapter) and have it as a once off download for people if they need to start from scratch. That way the part that's updated by the apk file is always the newest content and it should remain simple on your end too, so you only have to make another archive after each chapter. 

Just a suggestion, game looks good so far, enjoying it. Good luck

Another alternative is breaking it into multiple components, bundle so much content in and have people manually put them back together afterwards

account integration is not drm, the most common drm used tend to include stuff like keyloggers, root access or constantly sending your data to a server (hence the internet connection) also I was being general not specific to this circumstance or to any single DRM, just the common ones. 

It's cancerous to almost every game that includes it, not "those that try to bypass" because the common bypass methods are either to spoof it so it is sending the data nowhere, collecting false data or just straight remove it. And most drm gets cracked within the first week. much difficulty "only for those who try to bypass it" when the only one that actually end up dealing with it are those that paid for it. 

As to your comment on cd keys either that or an algorithmic verification system which can be cracked easy too.  Didn't say it was "good" I said it's about as useful as the rest and far less invasive. Right now we don't have a solution to idiots doing bad things,  the best we can hope for is balancing "make it harder to do bad things" and "don't punish people doing right things"

DRM by and large is a cancerous technology. There's other forms of protection that work as well with less penalties for the consumer. The primary and oldest one being cd keys, or some other version of encrypted verification. Having people dedicated to hunting down locations where the piracy occurs and trying to stop it there is also effective. 

For reference the penalties on drm are...

 increased game size 

increased resource use during operation

Potential conflicts with game code

Requires an internet connection or it literally does not work

And depending on which you go for,  some are literal Spyware, the only distinction being how invasive is it?