RPG [Azurezero] Lustlock Labyrinth AKA Dickdown Dungeon (RE289751) (RJ289751)

[azurezero]

saw that no one had downloaded the new demo, found that i never set it as a demo

 

[super_slicer]

Thread moved to H-games as the game has been released.

@azurezero please add a controls section to the OP. Also gonna need a bit more in the way of a description for gameplay.

 

[Renestrae]

The demo feels a bit unfinished and "clunky" to be honest...
I really didn't want to be overly harsh, so I gathered some examples of what I mean during my run of the demo up to the second boss, which turned into a big list of (hopefully constructive) criticism:

- technical:

• All the movement buttons have input repeat, except the strafes (Q/E) are inconsistent in this, you have to press them repeatedly to keep doing them, which seems unusual?
• The menu is a little unintuitive, you have to press on a save file, then either save/load
  • The save/load buttons don't update their status (grayed out or not) in the menu dynamically, "save" only grays out when you explicitly load from the main menu.
  • The save selection is also not carried over in some cases (after loading a save for example), sometimes the selection is visually carried over, but not internally/logically. I ended up clicking load/save on the wrong save-games, which led to me overwriting one of my earlier saves on accident; or without a save selected, which just feels like it takes unnecessary clicks and led to some frustration.
  • Right click doesn't open the menu, ESC does. ESC doesn't close the menu, right click does. (?)
• The in-battle Inventory and Skills popup screens can overlap, even though they open into the same space. Opening one should close the other.
• Sometimes the game seems like it freezes for no apparent reason, like it just stops taking movement input? You can fix it by opening and closing to the escape menu, if that helps...
• I also got this fatal error very frequently during fights, sending me back to my last save:

Spoiler: error log

___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object o_battle_hud:

Variable battle_entity.<unknown variable>(100199, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_o_battle_hud_Step_0
############################################################################################

- maybe subjective:

• Clothing damage and accumulated Lust is only reversible through losing to a normal enemy, I have not found a different way of doing so yet. So the logical course of action for me was to induce a soft loss state (to a normal mob) to replenish myself before a bossfight, which seems like cheating the system / breaking the fourth wall?
• I wasn't able to find any skills apart from a countermove to lewd attacks and some one-use scrolls, so battle got a bit boring after I had seen all the animations. The Lewd Punish doesn't have an obvious use to me since the attacks are not telegraphed as far as I could tell (I'm thinking of UnkoMorimoriMaru games as an example for good counterable lewd attacks).

- personal / theoretical:

• I dislike the struggle system. Battle is turn-based and you have some some stats which seem underused (AP), so I think a turn-based RPG-style struggle system would have fit the game better than the QTE/mashing-based one
• I originally thought the boss loss punishments would also fall under the "max one hour" rule of the dungeon punishments, and that the name would then stay with you (after all, her name is always displayed in the top right window), so I was a little disappointed when the boss scene was a hard failure point and I couldn't continue with my new name.
• Same applies for the floor punishments, I wish they stayed applied to the subsequent run after the soft reset, but I get that making the blindfold or something be a permanent cosmetic change in all your battle state art is a ton of work, so treat this one as just a silly fantasy rather than a serious suggestion.

All in all: I don't think this is a lost cause, it just has a wonky technical implementation at the moment, a lot of which I hope are just relatively simple bugfixes. Some things did make me question design decisions, but those are more minor and/or can be argued to be subjective / matter of taste anyway. The art is cute in any case, and I thought the start to the second stage was a creative mechanic, even though I'm not personally into that kink. The demo just didn't convince me over the $10 price point.

 

[azurezero]

the esc menu has been fixed in the full version.
there are items that recover clothing but if youre not hunting for hidden doors, you might miss them
i have to wonder if loot drops after battles have broken though...

everything else is legitimate criticism though.


i still havent found the source of the crash in battles but its still not happened to me... but maybe its another related to the memory leak i fixed earlier today.
i did try and blanket fix any possibility of the crash, but it froze the battles after any action... so i'll have to take another pass at it another day.

choosing a price for this game was actually pretty tough, but since it has like 15 base cg and sex animations i felt i had to charge at least the 8usd.
i wish id been able to have more of the animated lewds, but with 3 x clothing states, the game started to get very bulky, jigoro only had 4 girls in it for the same reason. which is why in future... i'm gonna prioritise sex animations and use portraits for everything else to keep filesizes down.


i've tried so hard to stop the movement freeze thing, but it's so random that i cant actually find a cause, the best ive managed was to fix it in the save menu
the only thing i can tell is it seems to happen right after moving post text box

 

[azurezero]

for those that care, the game is out on dlsite eng and jp now

You must be registered to see the links

but i still reccomend the uncensored steam and itch versions, both of which are drm free

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

 

[azurezero]

admittedly the memory leak is still in that one, but it's like 4am... so maybe when i wake up

 

[DarkfallDC]

It's very Raidy-ish, without the most tedious part of that game (the grinding). The design makes sense and it's simplicity at least thus far is a pleasant change. The points above made by Ren I agree with, but a suggestion that may give the game some -oomph- would be a multi-level boss-scene before the game over / floor punishments.

I don't speak for everyone, but one of my favorite parts of the Ouka series of games was the gradual progression as you lost to the bosses. First time she hates it, second time she's starting to enjoy it, and by the third she's completely broken in. It would certainly take quite a bit of writing, and quite a bit of effort, but I think the framework is already there. The titles are unique and you could tailor the scenes to match the floor's theme, and write alternative events for losing to normal enemies while under the new name. This would add quite a bit of content; at least text wise, and would help justify the price point, as it is a bit steep.

Again, just my 2c; I'm barely making it through the first floor so far. But so far looks very promising!

 

[azurezero]

so far the people struggling seem to not be finding the hidden treasures, even though i put one in the path of people getting the key to the first boss room, like you get the key, walk out, and youre facing a hidden door with the examine text up

 

[super_slicer]

Huh, played the demo and I found all the secrets, really didn't have any trouble as I ended up with two fireball scrolls and they melt the first boss pretty quickly.

Second time, because I accidentally over-wrote my save, I ended up not getting any fireball scrolls and I was still able to beat her, just took a couple of anti-H moves once I noticed her pattern to turn the fight in my favor.

Honestly like the first person dungeon crawler with random battles, didn't think I would.

 

[DarkfallDC]

As I progress to the third floor, I'm having a bit of difficulty; even with massive level jumps, level 1 enemies don't seem to be dying any quicker, and doesn't seem to afford me any protection of statistical benefit. At level 10, 1st level enemies can still take 2-3 swings with bad luck.

The combat also feels kind of wonky; if you roll badly, I feel as though it's almost impossible to win the race before you run out of HP or climax.

And about the grindyness; I had thought you were going to cap experience out to keep the levels coming quickly to overcome the slow scaling; instead you're having to fight 15 monsters (which again, can take 2-3 turns, with associated texts as well), to get a level which seems to do minimal. I would adjust this; it is very jarring pace-wise to hit a wall.

 

[DarkfallDC]

New Update: These fatal errors NEED to be patched out. These are horrendous.


___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object o_battle_hud:

Variable battle_entity.<unknown variable>(100199, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_o_battle_hud_Step_0
############################################################################################

Finished the game just now; why did you completely abandon the idea of "renaming" Marisa during the last 2 bosses? It was a very odd tonal shift.

Pros: Has a couple of good Animations / Bosses (Level 1 was the best by far unfortunately)

Cons: Too Grindy; too RNG with combat, no special abilities to make combats quicker/easy, Enemies/Bosses do too much damage, and can outstrip potion-spamming. Potion spamming is almost necessary for certain fights. Sex as a mechanic feels like something you slid in as an afterthought. The only real standout animation was the grappler on F1; everything else felt very cookie cutter. Too many dead ends; secrets you find feel worthless because they're just another potion or scroll.

Game needs a lot of work, but it has potential?

 

[azurezero]

New Update: These fatal errors NEED to be patched out. These are horrendous.


___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Step Event0
for object o_battle_hud:

Variable battle_entity.<unknown variable>(100199, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_o_battle_hud_Step_0
############################################################################################

I was sure I got that bug already, but since it hasnt actually happened to me i dont know which variable its saying doesnt exist.

as for the naming, there's supposed to be a thematic thing where the deeper she goes the closer to her actual desires the dungeon is...
to be fair, KING still renames her, just in a way to ensure her happiness

 

[DarkfallDC]

I was sure I got that bug already, but since it hasnt actually happened to me i dont know which variable its saying doesnt exist.

as for the naming, there's supposed to be a thematic thing where the deeper she goes the closer to her actual desires the dungeon is...
to be fair, KING still renames her, just in a way to ensure her happiness

If that's the ending you were going to go for, sure. It feels like you drop the entirety of the naming theme, and that was kind of the appeal of the dungeon. Also, lots of women stuck in walls, but no way to get stuck yourself? Wasted opportunity.

 

[azurezero]

If that's the ending you were going to go for, sure. It feels like you drop the entirety of the naming theme, and that was kind of the appeal of the dungeon. Also, lots of women stuck in walls, but no way to get stuck yourself? Wasted opportunity.

touche! If i get any energy to draw this week I'll consider adding that to the game over on the 2nd floor

 

[azurezero]

did a lot of bugfixing this week