Love at the Laundromat [GxB][Romance, Comedy, Drama] DEMO UP

[netravelr]

Hello all, for those still trying to download the game, please use the links that I have posted above, and not in the first post. I'd fix it, but I'm not ehcs. Just as a reminder the links are:
Windows: http://bit.ly/1ewNYaj
Mac: http://bit.ly/16mxTe9
Linux: http://bit.ly/15dXw1q

[ehcs]

Hey everyone!
Thanks for your input on the game so far.

I'd just like to note that the scenes for each bachelor HAVE NOT been coded in yet. Rest assured that raising your skills will DEFINITELY result in cut scenes and dialogue later on in the game. For now, it's just the intro and the gameplay that's up - as well as one of Eli's scenes.

I'm so glad people are liking Lynnette so far. I was worried for a while that people would find her personality more annoying than entertaining. I'm glad that it isn't a miss. :')

As we mentioned before - LATL will be going on a bit of a hiatus while I try to earn some fund to keep me going. I haven't been working on commissions ever since I started working on this project and my wallet really took a toll for it. netravelr and I have been talking about the possibility of kickstarting the project sometime in the future so I can start working on it again as still have money to eat. I'd really like to know if anyone would be interested in helping us out if it comes to that. Rest assured that whether we're funded or not, LatL will come - but it might take much longer than I'd like.

Till then, I'll be working on commissions and games for other people until I'm not so financially bereft.

The story released so far is pretty much set in stone but some re-planning is being done for the continuation of the story. LatL was supposed to be an episodic release with each season being an episode - but that plan didn't really hit off very well when mentioned to a small group of players. Now I'm thinking of making it one big release instead. To do that - some work will need to be done with the storyboard.

Thanks for all your support so far! Reading all your comments really puts a smile on my face. I'm honored to have you all play this little teaser game.

Comments and suggestions would be very much appreciated.

(Sorry for the late reply. For some reason I didn't get an email notification like I normally do.)

[Dazed]

The synopsis sounds great. =3 Looks like a very enjoyable game. Loving Miles' character design!

[Ophelia]

I haven't read the whole thread, so excuse me if I repeat something others have already mentioned:

There is something going off with the sprites in the scene where they talk about the Rosalind thing or what's it called.
See here: http://imgur.com/fomR0DM, http://imgur.com/xRoqIBc, http://imgur.com/VClAzQG

Then I have another pretty weird issue. When I load a save that's not from the first few ingame days it resets me to the 10th of Spring and I lose all progress I made after the 10th.
But yeah, I think it would be better to end the game when there are no more scenes to be seen. I played a while even after I lost my progress twice to see what would come out of the Valentine's Day, but nothing really happened and I didn't know what to do.

Apart from that: That's a really amazing game! I love Lynnette's character, I love the whole beginning - the interactions with Mrs Fletcher, those guys she asks if they have a job, Miles, Sol, Eli, Nicholas - I laughed so much while playing, I don't even remember the last time I laughed that much when playing a game. The art is really lovely and I'm really looking forward to this.
(The day time transitions may be a bit too long for me though, you can click through the animations of the actions which is nice but not through the transitions which could get a bit weary when replaying the finished game.)

[Junko Mihari]

Heyo! It's been a while since I came to check up on this game. It's really come along since the last time I saw it, and I'm super impressed. Though I definitely forgot a few details in my absence.

I downloaded the demo and I'm up to Spring 32, though I'm not sure how far the demo lets you go. So far, I really enjoy it. It's light-hearted, its fun, the dialogue is witty and/or entertaining (Since I never learned this word/phrase, whenever I see Lynette say "Sod you!" I'm terribly amused.) The bachelors are definitely interesting, though I couldn't really do much with anyone but Eli in the demo; i'd keep getting the slightly glitched out message about being unable to progress any further. But overall, it's a real blast to play.

Meeting Miles was certainly interesting. Goodness he's practically a freaking messiah, being so kind to Lynette. It was a little strange at first, and I felt horrible when it was revealed that Lynette didn't know what she was doing. He's almost like a father-figure, and it's incredibly strange but very endearing. I'm really not sure how to put it into words. Miles is strange, but it's good. I really like him as a character, though I'm terribly confused as to where he got all his money. (And oh god, the store's name. Oh god.)

Meeting Eli for the first time was amazing. I mean, yes yes I'm super biased and everything, but I just found it utterly hilarious. He's such a little jerk - but in a good way. He's terribly amusing and the banter between him and Lynette is just so entertaining. I almost felt bad for having her ignore him at first, it would have been so much fun to see them argue more. They've got a really great dynamic, and you can kind of feel it go from the off-put stranger-banter to the more friendly sort. Especially in the event where she's essentially "adopting a pet." I really liked it because Lynette acknowledged his annoyance at her prying and toned it down a little. It's like she knew him a lot better than she did at first and she's using her knowledge to her advantage - to help him, that is. I dunno, I may be completely off base, but I really appreciate their dynamics. Eli's a little shit and I love it. (And he's an artist, a point I completely forgot at first and then once I saw his room - I squealed happily. That sort of "kindred spirit!" squeal.)

Nicholas and Sol I didn't see too much of. Sol's a real diva though, and I like his dynamic with Eli. They can be a little rough on each other though, haha. I very much appreciate Lynn's comment on Sol's lion crotch. As for Nicholas, I didn't get to do much with him at all b/c after Eli's nose bleed, his affection was maxed out for some reason, and talking to him was more a bother than anything. I am curious about his reaction to rosalind(e?)'s day, however. I'd like to get to know the both of them more, actually, and that's a good thing.

As for Lynette... I was a little off-put by her at first, but found that I could really identify with her. I'm just as spoiled as she is, haha. Plus, once you get past it all, she's a lot like Eli - and by that I mean she can be a bit of a little jerk, but she's got her sweet side. It's a lovely thing to see, and she's actually quite funny. I like her as a main character. <3

Aside from that...

A few things I noticed, though most have been said already:

There's definitely an issue with the extra's images not being displayed after an activity. It also happens, as mentioned before me, during the Rosaline's Shop Event with Eli's concentrated sprite, and the sprites in general during that event are all over the place.

The one that I don't /think/ has been mentioned yet involves the arcade games at the mall. If I'm right, then they should be raising your skills. However, for certain games like the Romance Game and the Multiplayer Game, I get the work dialogue, and Lynette earns money instead of raising her skill. I'm not entirely sure if the money's /usable/ but it does display in stats.

I also had an issue with the save slots, though it wasn't as severe and I eventually fixed it by just saving all over the first page. I was on the 25th day, and I'm one of those perfectionists who save/reload for success. So I load a save that's mid-day spring 25th, and am instead transported back a day, losing my progress. Again, it's not severe, and it went away once I saved in a bunch of places, but the knowledge may be helpful.

A few things I'm not sure about:

I can't seem to talk to anyone more than once a day, even if they're in different places. Is this just a measure put in to prevent people from gaining affection too quickly?

I'm also unable, for some bizarre reason, to buy any food from the restaurant. The option is there, but it's faded out, so I can't click it. It's not a money issue, and I don't believe it'd show if it wasn't the right time, so I'm not sure why that's happening. Is it just not available in the demo?

For most (all?) of the extra's with sprites, when you talk to them it's a little activity and everything. It's not like that for Mrs. Fletcher, is that on purpose? And if so, why? I'll talk to her and it'll say "I talked to Mrs.Fletcher" and skip me forward a time slot. It's sort of like resting.

... I... think that's all I have to say? I'm terribly sorry for the length, I'm rather scatter-brained. I just hope that everything's in order and that you can understand it. I'd also like to thank you for reading all of it, and especially thank you for making this game. It's truly wonderful, and I can't wait to see the finished version.

[Aurélie]

I think you should open up commissions rather than doing a Kickstarter. In my view Kickstarters for VNs are more about paying for art, programming, etc. not just helping the creators to buy lunch. If you open up commissions, I know there'll be tons of people clambering for your art - it's gorgeous! (I am one of those people, I totally have a commission in mind already, heee)

I can't seem to talk to anyone more than once a day, even if they're in different places. Is this just a measure put in to prevent people from gaining affection too quickly?

Yeah, the creator said a while back that you can only talk to people once per day. You don't want to smother them or anything!

Speaking of, is there a point to conversing with the extra people? They don't have affection bars, and it doesn't seem to change Lynnette's traits/mood or anything..

[ehcs]

Thank you so much for your feedback!
You guys won't believe how relieved I am that no one has come in and said "Your writings sucks!" so far.
I'm extremely glad that you guys like the characters so far. I love how you described them, Junko. xD


I'm actually thinking of making the "talk" action more of a dialogue tree instead of just a chance button. I'd really like as much of the characters' personality to shown. But, yeah. The talk once a day is set so that you can't raise your relationship with them too much. Besides, wouldn't you be pretty annoyed if some strange girl insistently wanted to talk to you all day long?

On to the extras - yes, they're very important in the actual game. Not just for giving stat raising items or matchmaker capabilities - they can actually help you out in the main story. They can pretty much stop you from getting "Game Over" after Summer. In the demo though, there is no point. The demo is just the intro, one or two of Eli's scenes, and the gameplay.

For the kickstarter, the "paying for my lunch" is pretty much paying for me to write and draw. I do art for a living and it's the only way I make money - however meager it is. If I'm going to be using up my time drawing and writing for LatL, I won'd have time to do commissions. I was going to kickstarter the amount it would costs me to draw all the CGs and write the remaining scenes. If that's a bad thing though, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to think of ways I can still work on LatL without having to go completely broke.

My commissions are open though and have been since the start of September. I'm going to post on the recruitment forum with netravelr soon and hopefully we can help someone else finish a project while ours is on hold. Shameless self promotion here: http://ehcs.deviantart.com/

Anyway, thank you so much again for your feedback! :'D
They always manage to bring a smile to my face. The fact that you cared enough about the game to leave a comment is really touching. :')

[Roxie]

I think Kickstarter is a good way to gauge the interest of the current audience, as well as another form of marketing for a new group as well. Also I would think as an artist you'd rather spend time on your own projects instead of doing someone else's projects (at their whims, edits, re-dos, etc).

[DestinyFailsUs]

I just wanted to let you know that if you happened to start a kickstarter campaign, I would do everything in my power to make sure I personally had the money to help back it! And, honestly, the hard work that has been put into your game shows that it wouldn't just be "paying for your lunch" but for the time and quality of the work you're producing.

I just have to say again that I absolutely love your game so far, I've played through what was in the demo several times and loved all of your writing, art, and characters. I actually was feeling really inspired to work on my game after the first time I played through your demo, unfortunately, I've been too sick to fully concentrate on getting much work done the past few days...I just love everything about your game.

As always, looking forward to seeing more! ^_^

[Kikaharu]

I found a glitch with loading a saved day. I have Spring Day 13 saved and above it is Day 6 and I clicked Day 13 once and it went to the night of day 5 and I tried again and made sure i clicked Day 13 and it still went to night of day 5

[netravelr]

Thanks everyone so far with all of your feedback. I'm really happy to hear it, and use it to make the game better.

I found a glitch with loading a saved day. I have Spring Day 13 saved and above it is Day 6 and I clicked Day 13 once and it went to the night of day 5 and I tried again and made sure i clicked Day 13 and it still went to night of day 5

Hmmm... interesting. If you can remember knowing what you did before you saved and where you were in the game when you saved would be helpful in debugging this. Also, just to confirm were you using the early demo or the second demo (which link did you use to download)?

If anyone else finds any errors, please let me know!

[Littleblackcat]

Wow it looks really cool!
Must hv taken so long to make

[dubunny]

I just played the demo and I am so in love. It took about 1 minute for me to realise I need the full game in my life asap. I adore Lynette. She should probably be annoying but I can't help but like her. She's so snarky compared to so many other otome heroines, it's refreshing. I also love every guy, I would definitely pursue every route. But surprisingly, I am most interested in Eli, which is totally not what I expected because based on his art, he was the least attractive to me. Anyway, I just wanted to gush and let you know I would definitely throw some money your way if you did a kickstarter. All the best with the game!! <3

[DeletedUser160413]

omg this looks so freaking good

[ktalkimist]

Whoa, fellow Pinoy dev? Where are you at?