KickStarter Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall

[Harthwain]

MFW when everyone claims to be drugging me but I have no drugs and am disappointingly sober.

There is only one explanation: tolerance.

 

[Tyranicon]

MFW when everyone claims to be drugging me but I have no drugs and am disappointingly sober.

There is only one explanation: tolerance.

Fun fact. One of my two weird super powers is that I have a relatively high tolerance for alcohol. I can reliably drink a fifth/750 ml of vodka and only get mildly/moderately intoxicated.

My choice of drink before it was discontinued was Bacardi 151, a 75.5% alcohol product that tastes and feels like what I imagine actual hydrochloric acid to be like.

It's a neat party trick (made some money doing drinking bets) but entirely useless and makes it really expensive for me to go out to bars. Unfortunately (?) does not apply to most drugs.

I would blame it on my slav genes, but I don't have enough of those to count.

 

[santino27]

I used to believe I had a high alcohol tolerance because I started drinking when I was 12, only to recently learn that the idea of building up alcohol tolerance is mostly a myth. So now, I accept that I have a decent natural tolerance and am otherwise just pretty boring when drunk.

 

[Zombra]

two

You didn't mention your other weird power, and you chose a career making porn. I'm not saying those two facts are necessarily related, but I guess actually I don't want to know and I'm going to stop typing now.

 

[Pyrite Pachyderm]

MFW when everyone claims to be drugging me but I have no drugs and am disappointingly sober.

There is only one explanation: tolerance.

Fun fact. One of my two weird super powers is that I have a relatively high tolerance for alcohol. I can reliably drink a fifth/750 ml of vodka and only get mildly/moderately intoxicated.

My choice of drink before it was discontinued was Bacardi 151, a 75.5% alcohol product that tastes and feels like what I imagine actual hydrochloric acid to be like.

It's a neat party trick (made some money doing drinking bets) but entirely useless and makes it really expensive for me to go out to bars. Unfortunately (?) does not apply to most drugs.

I would blame it on my slav genes, but I don't have enough of those to count.

Slav genes work off the one drop rule since they're the negroes of Europe.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

recently learn that the idea of building up alcohol tolerance is mostly a myth.

Is there some research or something on this? Because when I'm drinking regularly, 2 or 3 pints with a meal doesn't even touch me, but after a few months away from booze the same thing has me getting slurry

 

[Tyranicon]

recently learn that the idea of building up alcohol tolerance is mostly a myth.

Is there some research or something on this? Because when I'm drinking regularly, 2 or 3 pints with a meal doesn't even touch me, but after a few months away from booze the same thing has me getting slurry

Here's what wikipedia says with sources:

Consumption-induced tolerance​

Alcohol tolerance is increased by regular drinking.[1] This reduced sensitivity to the physical effects of alcohol consumption requires that higher quantities of alcohol be consumed in order to achieve the same effects as before tolerance was established. Alcohol tolerance may lead to (or be a sign of) alcohol dependence.[1]

Heavy alcohol consumption over a period of years can lead to "reverse tolerance". A liver can be damaged by chronic alcohol use, leading to a buildup of fat and scar tissue.[2] The reduced ability of such a liver to metabolize or break down alcohol means that small amounts can lead to a high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and more rapid intoxication.[citation needed] Studies have shown that 2–3 weeks of daily alcohol consumption increases tolerance.[3]

 

[santino27]

Here's the article I was referring to:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/health/heavy-drinkers-handle-liquor-wellness/index.html

As with every study, you have to take it with a grain of salt, identify what their intended goal was (science doesn't seem to be science anymore, even (or perhaps especially) in academia), and so on. I will say I drink more than I ever did as a young teen, late teen, adult, (mostly because I have money now) and yet my tolerance is significantly worse. But then, I also have a suite of age and health related issues that could be contributing to that result. Regardless, it was a recent research study that directly contradicted conventional and traditionally accepted wisdom so it stuck out to me.

That said, assuming nothing else kills me first, I suspect fatty liver/cirrhosis will get me, so while I am experienced in the subject, I am not necessarily educated in it.

Edit: cirrhosis is a bitch to spell.

 

[EvilWolf]

Here's the article I was referring to:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/health/heavy-drinkers-handle-liquor-wellness/index.html

As with every study, you have to take it with a grain of salt, identify what their intended goal was (science doesn't seem to be science anymore, even (or perhaps especially) in academia), and so on. I will say I drink more than I ever did as a young teen, late teen, adult, (mostly because I have money now) and yet my tolerance is significantly worse. But then, I also have a suite of age and health related issues that could be contributing to that result. Regardless, it was a recent research study that directly contradicted conventional and traditionally accepted wisdom so it stuck out to me.

That said, assuming nothing else kills me first, I suspect fatty liver/cirrhosis will get me, so while I am experienced in the subject, I am not necessarily educated in it.

Edit: cirrhosis is a bitch to spell.

I think the part about "heavy use over years can result in reverse tolerance" is what you're experiencing.

 

[santino27]

Here's the article I was referring to:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/health/heavy-drinkers-handle-liquor-wellness/index.html

As with every study, you have to take it with a grain of salt, identify what their intended goal was (science doesn't seem to be science anymore, even (or perhaps especially) in academia), and so on. I will say I drink more than I ever did as a young teen, late teen, adult, (mostly because I have money now) and yet my tolerance is significantly worse. But then, I also have a suite of age and health related issues that could be contributing to that result. Regardless, it was a recent research study that directly contradicted conventional and traditionally accepted wisdom so it stuck out to me.

That said, assuming nothing else kills me first, I suspect fatty liver/cirrhosis will get me, so while I am experienced in the subject, I am not necessarily educated in it.

Edit: cirrhosis is a bitch to spell.

I think the part about "heavy use over years can result in reverse tolerance" is what you're experiencing.

Entirely possible, yeah, which is why I didn't hold up my individual experience as proof of anything. The study can stand (or not stand) on its own, I think.

 

[santino27]

So, I played through the combat and sex demos. I don't have a ton of feedback about either, but...

Combat:
-Basic mechanics of combat seem reasonable to me... separate movement points and action point pools.
-Combat looks fine.. animations are nothing to write home about but serviceable for what they need to be.
-Level of feedback on most things needs to be improved... if you use the mouse, there's a lot of double clicking, but it feels like trial and error, because the cursor never changesto give you feedback on what you're doing.
-The blinking cursor also doesn't fit the environment art so well... and it clashes with the square grid, while feeling like it's on a completely different z-plane.
-The demo tried to explain what RPs were, but I didn't get it... seemed like a resource that is finite per encounter (vs. AP which come back each round). Since I didn't know what most of the abilities did, and just killing the enemy seemed more useful, I mostly just used charge and the primary sword attack.
-It would be good to get more feedback for things like why your attacks are suddenly doing 0 dmg (against one of the robots in the 3rd fight) and how to overcome whatever ability it used.
-Basically, just more feedback in general. I'm sure that'll come later and you're just trying to dial in the basics of the combat now.
-Scan doesn't seem useful atm. Presumably, it will give data that can be acted upon later? And it'd be nice to be able to see the target's stats at some time other than when attacking. (Maybe that's possible and I just didn't realize it).
-Was there a visual indication/representation of initiative/order of combat, because I didn't see it. Is there planned to be?
-It doesn't seem possible to attack over/around a target right now. i.e. If my character is directly between the enemy and an ally, that ally cannot use their ranged attack to shoot the enemy. Is that intended? Also, are all ranged attacks only on the up/down/left/right, or can people shoot diagonally? There was no feedback here other than the inability to target the enemy.
-Basically, mechanics seem fine, UI seems rudimentary but workable, information and feedback need to be boosted, and some elements likely need polish, as I'm sure you're aware.
-Oh, and being able to choose facing is nice, but some indication of whether it matters (I'm assuming it will eventually) or even that you're in the 'choose facing mode' and that's why the next turn hasn't started would be good.

Isometric:
-Isometric stuff is great. I like the art style. Navigating felt seamless.
-POIs were kind of lost in the scene at first... you see them but don't realize what they are... might need some sort of greater feedback like having them change from blue to gold on mouseover or something to clearly separate them from the background.
-Only other issue I had with the POIs (once I realized what they were) was that I assumed in that apartment map that the front door was up at the top of the map (which was the bathroom, apparently), not the bottom,. so I hit the door scene earlier than I expected/wanted to
-Dialogue and choices were fine, although the 'person's pic pops up from the group of pics' method to identify who was speaking in the isometric dialogue mode felt a little bit klunky. I know you want to show all of the people involved in the conversation, and the present approach does that, but it just feels a bit silly to essentially have their portraits collectively doing the wave as the convo continues.

Sex scene:
-I was fine with the models and the scenes themselves. Obviously, the placeholder image for the protagonist was a bit distracting, but I know that's temporary
-I'd suggest making the 'live camera' choice just a toggle on the side instead of something that stops the scene and has to be selected yes/no every time.
-I think I remember a handful of skill/stat checks (like when you emerged from the bathroom), which was a nice way of bringing more of the RPG into the porn part
-Minor, personal ask: there are a lot of choices during the sex scenes, but as far as I can tell, none of them matter, really... aka they're all closed loops that give you a different bit of scenery or action and lead back to the main sex scene. That's pretty common for the sex parts of porn games, but it'd be nice to have choices in those scenes be more involved/weighty, and for them to be integrated in with the narrative. (i.e. choices you make in the sex scenes have consequences both for those scenes and for the narrative as a whole.) Example: when it comes to oral, you get one choice (vs. sequential choices to do each of them one after the other), and that one choice has consequences for the rest of the scene and also outside of that scene. Choosing to focus on Lore triggers Faustina who responds either positively or negatively within the scene itself, but also once the scene is done. That sort of thing. Sexual C&C. I haven't seen it really done much in this sort of game, and it might be a bad idea for the same reason some devs think C&C is a bad idea in general (cost, loicking content away, etc.), but it'd be interesting.

 

[santino27]

MFW when everyone claims to be drugging me but I have no drugs and am disappointingly sober.

A true Codexian, when you're more concerned about sobriety than the reported cocaine-centered anal plugging.

 

[Tyranicon]

So, I played through the combat and sex demos. I don't have a ton of feedback about either, but...

Thanks, good food for thought. Yeah everything is very basic right now and even a month of dev time drastically changes things (such as the dialogue full-body portraits, which have been replaced with animated face plates in the story demo).

But I'm moving forward. Next step is crowdfunding, which I'll need to lock down before the summer's over.

 

[Tyranicon]

Since we were talking about the spider-witch vampires a bit ago, what do you think about this?

Was going for a more fear boner thing. You're supposed to get a "these vampires are clearly the creepy ones, don't put your dick in crazy" feel.

Too much fear, not enough boner?

Probably don't need a NSFW tag for this, no bits showing.

 

[Harthwain]

Since we were talking about the spider-witch vampires a bit ago, what do you think about this?

Make her all black (not just bits of hands and legs) and name her the Black Widow.

Too much fear clothes, not enough boner?

Fixed.

 

[Zombra]

Arachnophobe here!

Make her all black (not just bits of hands and legs) and name her the Black Widow.

If you mean make her a black person instead of Caucasian, I could see that being not unsexy. The name is way too obvious though.
If you mean make every inch of her RGB #000000 ..... absolutely not going to make her sexier.

Too much fear clothes, not enough boner?

Fixed.

Boobs are not going to make this un-terrifying.

Since we were talking about the spider-witch vampires a bit ago, what do you think about this?

Not tempted to get within 1000 feet of this monster. In fact I am never leaving my house or opening my door again. She doesn't look like "crazy chick she'll keep you up until 6 am with dumb questions and try to stab you with a fork" crazy. She looks like "giant fucking spider using an illusion to make you think its mouth is a woman, and let's not forget it has to eat about 150 pounds of meat a day to survive". When you see this thing (and especially when she sees you) you are already so fucking dead.

I feel like you'd get the effect you're going for if you just removed the spider body altogether and wouldn't have to change anything else. But you'll have to be VERY reassuring to me that she's just a weird woman now and there are no giant spiders in the game before I play it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Nah it's not scary.

 

[Harthwain]

If you mean make her a black person instead of Caucasian, I could see that being not unsexy. The name is way too obvious though.

That was the whole point - to make a joke/pun based on her being from the spider clan.

Boobs are not going to make this un-terrifying.

It will make the woman-part more sexy though (even when missing some fun gear). If you can ignore the arachnid-part behind it that is. She has nice enough build.

In fact, I like the "gets sexy to lure prey in to eat it" angle as an idea. That's exactly what a proper vampress would do. Hunting down and overpowering the prey before feeding is another way of doing it, but considering we're talking about a spider (illusion or not) this is much more fitting. There is also a third way. The vampire playing the switch game.

 

[EvilWolf]

Since we were talking about the spider-witch vampires a bit ago, what do you think about this?

Was going for a more fear boner thing. You're supposed to get a "these vampires are clearly the creepy ones, don't put your dick in crazy" feel.

Too much fear, not enough boner?

Probably don't need a NSFW tag for this, no bits showing.

Arachnophobe here; much like the Spider Daedra in Oblivion: this activates my pp.

Although for my more afflicted brethren maybe just make a human woman with creepy gothic clothing made of spider webs or something with chitin armors thrown in. Just spider themed instead of actual spiders.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

In fact, I like the "gets sexy to lure prey in to eat it" angle as an idea.

Lmao spidersquito hides the spider body under the table.

Arachnophobe here; much like the Spider Daedra in Oblivion: this activates my pp.

Guys we finally found the arachnophobe who (not so) secretly wants to fuck spiders.

 

[EvilWolf]

In fact, I like the "gets sexy to lure prey in to eat it" angle as an idea.

Lmao spidersquito hides the spider body under the table.

Arachnophobe here; much like the Spider Daedra in Oblivion: this activates my pp.

Guys we finally found the arachnophobe who (not so) secretly wants to fuck spiders.

Honestly I'm more attracted to goth chicks than scared of spiders so the torso did it for me in my early adulthood. I now expect "Acknowledge This User's Agenda" ratings on my previous post.

 

[Peachcurl]

I'm not entirely sold on the Human-Spider hybrid. I'd probably prefer some sort of Werespider, so only one form at any time.

She also looks a bit like a nun with that headgear.

 

[Zombra]

Boobs are not going to make this un-terrifying.

It will make the woman-part more sexy though (even when missing some fun gear). If you can ignore the arachnid-part behind it that is. She has nice enough build.
In fact, I like the "gets sexy to lure prey in to eat it" angle as an idea. That's exactly what a proper vampress would do. Hunting down and overpowering the prey before feeding is another way of doing it, but considering we're talking about a spider (illusion or not) this is much more fitting.

I think the woman is sexy as is - not everyone needs a microkini to be alluring. But that's beside the point. The problem is why would a 2000 pound spider that can jump 100 yards and smash reinforced concrete with its legs bother luring anyone?

The classic femme fatale is physically weak but lures men to a place where she can murder them while their pants are down. There's no reason for this monstrous killing machine to do any of that, except to be spooky because spooky.

 

[Nortar]

I'm not entirely sold on the Human-Spider hybrid. I'd probably prefer some sort of Werespider, so only one form at any time.

Or at least make the spider-ass less pronounced.
Wenduag could be a decent starting point for human-spider hybrid that is not very difficult to sexify.
The spider lesgs are there, and you can make them as hairy-barbed scare-ugly as you want, but the rest could be preffty fuckable.

 

[NecroLord]

The spider lesgs are there, and you can make them as hairy-barbed scare-ugly as you want, but the rest could be preffty fuckable.