ACT [Mega Blue Ball] Pixie Panic Garden v1.2 (RJ225140)

[netherus666]

is the itch version censored?

 

[laek]

The itch.io version is uncensored (altough the demo is censored).

Imo its kind of a double standard to be outraged by link requests as soon as a dev is in the thread, it kinda implies that those who don't lurk don't deserve the sales as much.
I'm willing to buy this game though, but I'll have to ask how anonymous the purchase is. I don't want "sleazy hentai game for sick fucks" in my purchase history lol, thats a dealbreaker for me. I just need to know how the purchase shows up in my history.

When you buy a game via itch.io it appears on your card history as "ITCH.IO" and the value of the transaction. Since itch.io is mainly a game store for normal games, if someone sees that in your history, they will think you just bought a game there. Erotic games published there do not appear during normal browsing of the site. You have to either: A) Create an user account and enable the option to see NSFW games, or B) click on a direct link to a ero game store page (like it is the case in my blog). I don't know if this will help you, but it is all the information I have from my personal experience.

@laek
Heh, I wasn't even aware you already shipped it out to dlsite lol.
I was just browsing the store and saw your game there XD

Yeah, it caught me completely off guard too. So much so that I'm just now updating the blog with some posts for the japanese audience, and also in contact again with dlsite to make some small adjustments in the store page. Also, the english dlsite version only comes out 2 week from now for some reason, but they said it is standard procedure.

 

[Papanomics]

I bought Aster. I bought Pig Iron Explorer. And I'm gonna buy this. I want this dude to keep making games if he likes it.

 

[alphaikazuchi]

Are there any cheats in the full version? I'm trash lmao

 

[kiko]

@
laek

Should've set the ドット (Dot) tag on the dlsite page.

 

[super_slicer]

Are there any cheats in the full version? I'm trash lmao

Just take it a little slower. First time I played it was awful and it took me like 2 hrs to get to the plant and die. Swore I'd never play again. Picked it up a month later and it only took like 30 mins to beat the entire demo. The difference? Wasn't trying to get thru as fast as possible.

 

[Papanomics]

There are apparently secret codes.

 

[Ratman1029]

Bought it through itch and holy crap the mud bishop makes me want to bite my keyboard in frustration. It's not even that he is dangerous, he just avoids every bomb I set and runs out the timer. Still good overall though, I like the new foes in stage two (not counting the mud bishop who I would murder with fiery death eventually), but that's about as far as I've managed to get. I'll Dark Souls it some time tomorrow until I finally win.

 

[laek]

@Ratman1029

Is the game still too hard? I apologize. That right there is my amateurish game design skills showing up. Funny thing is, that I even toned down the difficulty of the whole game after I got some earlier feedback from this thread last month. I mean, I wanted to make a decently challenging game, but I'm thinking I went too far. Yeah the mud bishop is more annoying than anything, so perhaps I could reduce the frequency of his melt skill? What do you think?

@kiko

Crazy thing is, I tought I had set it up with all the basic tags for 2D act. Thanks for the heads-up, I'll try to update it.

 

[UnexpectedTwist]

Bought it and got to the 6th part of stage 3 before I needed to take a break. But so far, I'm liking it and the enemy H animations are nice. I'm only finding myself being slowed down by two things. The first is my inability of foresight because most of the time I lose a life, it's because I misplaced a bomb, either blowing myself up, or that one flower that I happened to miss. The other, which is more prevalent in the later parts of stage 3 is the timer. I know there's pickups that extend the timer for a bit, but I find myself being halfway done with the level before the 1 minute warning blares its alarm. That plus the advanced bomb placement you need to have for 3-6 make it a bit hectic. I'll give it a go again tomorrow, but I think I'm gonna cool it for the night. Once again, fun game, even with the challenge.

 

[Jason Bill]

I was stuck on 3-6 for a bit. Those flower stages really do complicate things. One attempt in particular, using stage select to start on 3-1 and going through, I made it all the way there clean. No lives lost, 5 bombs, max speed, 2 range (which is optimal IMO, more on that later), and I still lost, haha. At that point I almost just reset, continuing has you in such a bad spot as far as powerups are concerned, that it can really feel impossible. I pushed through though, and thankfully the boss after wasn't really bad. Now I'm on level 4. Only done a couple attempts so far, ran out of time on 4-3, but I think i sorta figured out a method for next time.

So for the most part, I consider range upgrades actively bad for you, past 1 extra range. It becomes incredibly hard to manage things when your explosions are really big, even on just normal (non flower) stages. It's really easy to hit yourself when you're trying to dodge enemies. That's part of what makes continuing so punishing, continuing gives you 2 bombs and 3 range. I think it would go a very long way reversing those numbers. 3 bombs and 2 range would be better. Especially with the zombie enemies on level 4. Having more bombs seems to be the way to deal with those, since they can't kick them if you place 2 in a row. My 4-3 strategy for my next attempt will basically be to just do 2x2 bomb clusters to block off the pathways completely. Admittedly, having 3+ range would be pretty helpful for that stage, because of the long straightaways, but I'd probably still stay at 2 for fear of 4-6, which I suspect will be another flower stage. (If the level pattern holds.)

I really am liking the game in general. Though, it has given me a decent amount of frustration. There are a lot of neat things you've done with it. In particular the enemy variety is really impressive. Each enemy is very unique mechanically and they definitely present a good challenge. (Though, maybe a little too much challenge in some spots, haha.) I liked the beetle objective. It's an interesting little twist on the "don't hit stuff" format of the flower stages.

I really dislike the way the vore functions in the game, and for a different reason than you'd think. It's not the content itself. (Though I do have an opinion about vore below.) It's that when a vore enemy decides to do it's animation, that's the last animation you can get to see on that attempt because she's just gone afterward. It doesn't spit her out. I don't really get the appeal of vore. If it's "soft vore", like a thing swallows the girl and maybe there's some tentacles or like an "in dick" inside the creature that fucks her for a bit before spitting her out, that seems good to me. But just like, eating a girl, just don't see the appeal. Would much rather see the girl get spit out afterwards, covered in saliva.

 

[UnexpectedTwist]

I was stuck on 3-6 for a bit. Those flower stages really do complicate things. One attempt in particular, using stage select to start on 3-1 and going through, I made it all the way there clean. No lives lost, 5 bombs, max speed, 2 range (which is optimal IMO, more on that later), and I still lost, haha. At that point I almost just reset, continuing has you in such a bad spot as far as powerups are concerned, that it can really feel impossible. I pushed through though, and thankfully the boss after wasn't really bad. Now I'm on level 4. Only done a couple attempts so far, ran out of time on 4-3, but I think i sorta figured out a method for next time.

So for the most part, I consider range upgrades actively bad for you, past 1 extra range. It becomes incredibly hard to manage things when your explosions are really big, even on just normal (non flower) stages. It's really easy to hit yourself when you're trying to dodge enemies. That's part of what makes continuing so punishing, continuing gives you 2 bombs and 3 range. I think it would go a very long way reversing those numbers. 3 bombs and 2 range would be better. Especially with the zombie enemies on level 4. Having more bombs seems to be the way to deal with those, since they can't kick them if you place 2 in a row. My 4-3 strategy for my next attempt will basically be to just do 2x2 bomb clusters to block off the pathways completely. Admittedly, having 3+ range would be pretty helpful for that stage, because of the long straightaways, but I'd probably still stay at 2 for fear of 4-6, which I suspect will be another flower stage. (If the level pattern holds.)

I really am liking the game in general. Though, it has given me a decent amount of frustration. There are a lot of neat things you've done with it. In particular the enemy variety is really impressive. Each enemy is very unique mechanically and they definitely present a good challenge. (Though, maybe a little too much challenge in some spots, haha.) I liked the beetle objective. It's an interesting little twist on the "don't hit stuff" format of the flower stages.

I really dislike the way the vore functions in the game, and for a different reason than you'd think. It's not the content itself. (Though I do have an opinion about vore below.) It's that when a vore enemy decides to do it's animation, that's the last animation you can get to see on that attempt because she's just gone afterward. It doesn't spit her out. I don't really get the appeal of vore. If it's "soft vore", like a thing swallows the girl and maybe there's some tentacles or like an "in dick" inside the creature that fucks her for a bit before spitting her out, that seems good to me. But just like, eating a girl, just don't see the appeal. Would much rather see the girl get spit out afterwards, covered in saliva.

I'll have to keep your power up strat in mind when I try again. As for your opinion on vore, like always I respect people's opinions for that, but I actually like how it's done here. Granted that's kind of obvious since that's my main fetish. Honestly, one of my pet peeves for vore is when someone is spat out. I'm sure there's just supposed to be something for everyone here, and I don't think having every fetish here for each and every separate enemy would be a good idea. I mean yeah some people would like it, but there'd be others that only want to see one fetish and not another. You just can't please everyone's tastes at the same time.

 

[Jason Bill]

I'll have to keep your power up strat in mind when I try again. As for your opinion on vore, like always I respect people's opinions for that, but I actually like how it's done here. Granted that's kind of obvious since that's my main fetish. Honestly, one of my pet peeves for vore is when someone is spat out. I'm sure there's just supposed to be something for everyone here, and I don't think having every fetish here for each and every separate enemy would be a good idea. I mean yeah some people would like it, but there'd be others that only want to see one fetish and not another. You just can't please everyone's tastes at the same time.

So, funnily enough. I wasn't even really mentioning 3-6 in response to your post. I had started typing it before it seems. I'm guessing 3-6 will be a decent hurdle for people. It's probably the stage I've had the most failures on so far. But yah, that's basically what I've been doing to make the flower stages easier. Never go past 2 range if you can avoid it.

Yah, to each their own with the vore stuff. I really just don't see the appeal. I do stand by my thoughts about the swallowing being bad from a logistics perspective though. In level 2 for example, I wanna see the fly animation a couple more times when I lose. But if a worm grabs her, that's it, no more erotic content at that point.

 

[neutral]

and i thought stage 3 was bad, jeez. stage 4 i keep running out of time. its not bad enough the guys take 3 hits to kill but they kick my bomb too? i have to double stack them so they dont get kicked away, but if i dont have 4 bombs and .5 speed or higher thats impossible. i just bomb myself. on top of that wooden barriers that need 3 bombs to break and a seeking projectile in narrow corridors forcing me to go back instead of forward? the games design is flipped on its head here. take it slow is the philosophy, the timer in general spits in its face and stage 4 wipes its ass with it. i made it up to 4-4, not really dying from enemies but the timer at that point. the enemies are bad enough, i thought 4-1 was just a boss fight, witness the horror when i realize witch bitch and zombie are common enemies. boooooooi hook me up with a save, i aint dealing with that.

 

[netherus666]

I hate to have to ask but can anyone share their save (for the EN version, ty).... i am shit at game lol

 

[Ratman1029]

@Ratman1029

Is the game still too hard? I apologize. That right there is my amateurish game design skills showing up. Funny thing is, that I even toned down the difficulty of the whole game after I got some earlier feedback from this thread last month. I mean, I wanted to make a decently challenging game, but I'm thinking I went too far. Yeah the mud bishop is more annoying than anything, so perhaps I could reduce the frequency of his melt skill? What do you think?

I don't think the difficulty really needs to be turned down. Don't get me wrong, I do love this game. It's difficult and sometimes incredibly frustrating, but I love it all the same. You have nothing to apologize for. I mentioned Dark Soulsing it in my post for a reason. I will throw myself at this wall until I either break through it or I injure myself, specifically because of how much I actually enjoy playing the game. No matter how amateurish you believe your design to be, you deserve the credit for making an H-game that is fun for its gameplay prospective as well as its H-content.

 

[laek]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I might not reply to all, but I read them all and they mean a lot to me, thanks!

Either today or tomorrow I'll be releasing an updated version of the game with a new Easy Mode. This will be a new toggle on the options screen for those who want to see the ero content at their leisure. More details on the blog.

@Jason Bill
Your observation on the vore preventing other animations is valid. This is something I'll keep in mind going foward.

 

[Jason Bill]

@laek Cool, thanks for the update.

Had a couple questions about how secrets work. So I found the one on stage 1, but haven't found the ones for 2/3 yet. Still haven't even beaten stage 4, so no clue where to start looking for that one. (Haven't seen the hint yet.) Took a break from progression attempts to see if I could hunt down the secrets I missed. I really thought I had level 2 figured out from the hint, but it doesn't seem to be what I though it was. It suddenly dawned on me that it might not be available for the reasons below...

Just wanna make sure I'm not wasting my time.
-Can you find secrets via stage selecting a specific stage? Or do you have to start from the beginning of a stage (2-1,3-1,etc...). Or even worse, do you have to start from the very beginning of the game?
-Do you have to beat the boss for the secret to count if you find one?

 

[CrazyPerson]

In terms of game design, my usual go-to questions for frustrating gameplay are
- How satisfying does it feel to lose? Does it feel like it was my fault, or did the game break / cheat / not do what I intended?
- How much time do I spend re-doing content I now know already, to get back to where I was?

Sources of frustration:
- Impossible-to-win situations ("the game cheats"):
* in the first flower level, I ran over a leveldown pickup which reset my bomb range to 1, there were some flower/hedge combos that REQUIRED at least 2 range to hit, the rest of the level never dropped a range bonus, making the level impossible without dying
* some enemies have invincibility moves (flies flying, for example) which seem to continue randomly - if you're unlucky, and don't have the punch ability, a fly might fly unbroken for quite some time, "running down the timer" and forcing you to lose with nothing you can do about it

- wonky mechanics ("that's not what I meant!")
* the player being a small circle hitbox feels weird for this game. I might be misremembering, but I think in the original bomberman, the player hitbox is the size of a square, and always in exactly one square at a time - the game may display an animation for moving from one square to another, but mechanically the player teleports. With the circle hitbox, if you're between two squares you're hit by bombs crossing both, which adds "oh, really? That still hit? BS!" moments.
(Generally, rule in advantage of the player - enemies should be hit if grazed by bombs, the player should be allowed more near-misses)
* Bombs would often land in a square I didn't intend - I feel like bombs should go in front of the player a bit more, particularly if you're using kick - nothing more awkward than dropping a bomb behind you and kicking thin air in front.

- too much re-doing (it's not 1995 anymore, we don't need one game to last an entire summer)
* A player death feels too harsh for some oopsies, particularly in the early levels - if bombing a flower resulted in losing powerups rather than dying instantly, the level would feel a lot more forgiving.
* Limited continues feel weird. You already have limited lives, using a continue already resets your powers. The only outcome of limited continues is that you need to restart from x-1 sometimes, making losses feel even more frustrating. You also feel like you can't use a continue before halfway through, because you're going to need one or two on the boss anyway.
* Overall instadeath on everything feels weird - the game would be less frustrating if getting hit by most damage removes "HP" (say, removing some clothes) and you die only if you get hit too much. This would also create tension as "okay, NOW I need to be really careful" rather than having the same risk all the time. Some enemies/attacks could still do more damage/instakill, but that could be rare. More enemies that inflict statuses to make you screw up later might also be nice.


That all said: I think this is a good game, if a bit frustrating at times.
It's doing something new, the art is great, and it feels like an actually coherent game
(so much these days is just generic minigames with a CG gallery tacked on...)
Definitely a game author to watch to see what they come up with next time.

 

[laek]

1) Can you find secrets via stage selecting a specific stage?
2) Do you have to beat the boss for the secret to count if you find one?

1) Yes, you can obtain a secret even if you start directly on the specifc level where it's hidden.
2) No, you don't need to beat the boss to be able to obtain the secret. For instance, if you manage to solve the secret of stage 2, you could immediately leave to the main menu and the secret will count as found. The secret is registered as soon as you solve the enigma and fulfill the conditions (you will hear the secret sound play).

Hope that helps! Good job on finding the stage 1 secret!

EDIT: @CrazyPerson lol your post appeared after I had finish this one. Just from a cursory read those are some great critiques, I'll read them in detail later.