Women of Xal [GxB] [GxG] [Reverse-Harem]

[ProjectTrinity]

^ And I appreciate you for it! <3

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UPDATE FOR ALL: We're going to be replacing the demo with "Demo 1.3" - it fixes a bug preventing people from reaching Ending 1.

[wyverngem]

I'm not seeing a demo posted here, can you please link one in this form for easy access?

[ProjectTrinity]

And done~

[wyverngem]

Thank you. I got a chance to play it last night. I really liked how polished it was and the story interests me, though I was confused half the time. I decided to play a sort of anti-social person with a no nonsense threshold and got the 1/3 endings, which doesn't make sense to be me by the way.

Is there a way to subtitle the flight speech? I originally had the sound off when I was playing and thought there was a bug because there would be long pauses without anything going on. I restarted with the sound and realized it was just talking without subtitles. Just so you know if you don't have any text on the screen in renpy the self-voicing won't be able to read it.

I also got a little confused at the end of the flight scene because I didn't realize you had to click on the Xula Manor to continue the game. I thought it would automatically change the scene. It is a good pause though; the view after the flight is really pretty.

I didn't talk to anyone, so didn't have an idea of what was going on or why the character was going to the mansion, by the way.

The art and the music is all stunning. I really enjoyed the subtle animations and the graphics. As I said, it's a wonderfully polish demo. I would recommend my friends to play it.

I had one pet peeve though with the choice buttons. They weren't in sentences and some of them seemed phrased kind of odd. To the point where I didn't really get how the character was delivering the line. I don't mind if it's not a sentence if it's an action or direction.

It might have been my choices in game, but the mc I was playing kind of felt like her choices were either rude or snobbish. Are the characters choices based on a presumed personality and show different options when you play through. I only had a chance to play through it once.

My favorite part of the game was the dinner scene. I really liked seeing the character's personalities and getting insight on the culture. Also when the characters would approach and talk to you instead of you seeking them out.

It was interesting overall. Good luck with the campaign. I hope this one gets finished.

[Kikaharu]

About the demo, I agree with needing subtitles during some times. Like I dont always have headphones on while playing a game like I might when I'm first playing it but usually I have to turn them off because after awhile of game I tend to get a little bit sick of the music (this is a generalized view of mine from many games I have played.) And I dont want to miss info or have odd scenes "where nothing goes on" because there is stuff just didnt hear it. And I havent finished the demo yet but one thing I can tell too like on the ship in the beginning and getting off it and seeing the view. It's laggy on my laptop like I could hear the pilot or attendance's voice but it would like cut in and out like a weird robot because it lagged. I am guessing that there will be lag throughout my play through of the demo but maybe it's something that can be fixed some? Or maybe have a setting where you can toggle like visual motion and stuff so people can like adjust it for there computer like maybe they dont need to toggle anything or maybe there is one or two things that someone wants to toggle so it isnt so laggy.

The lag at the moment to me isn't so bad that I will instantly stop playing. I will keep playing because it isn't horrible but I have a feeling it will be really annoying. I hope I don't seem annoying or a prick for saying those things. And I might give more of my thoughts on the game and characters after I play it.

[Amberbaum]

So after playing the demo, I have to agree that the soundtrack and sound-effects(???) are really great and fit. The art seems to be cohesive and the art-style is pretty, but it's very clear that the rest of the assets aren't in place. To be honest I have no clue if I should continue talking since the demo is still work in progress.......The GUI needs work and and isn't particular nice to look at. I don't mind the transparent look, but the buttons need serious rework. The LOG and ESC in combination with the etc. button (square with dots) can confuse people and it's not very intuitive. If you are still experimenting with the GUI you can create demonstration gifs of different GUI collocation and then put them in a survey to let people decide what they find more intuitive and pleasing. Then there is no quicksave or quickload. The skip button is stretched out. While the sprites are in place their facial expressions are not.

Props for the choice of voice actors (No squeakers! Yay!). Some of the VO samples are clearly better in quality then others. This should to be fixed since it can irritate people while reading. Subtitles for only spoken lines like the ones from the pilot would be great. Not everyone is a native english speaker and can have therefore trouble understanding it. Or a deaf person wants to play your game.

Pink haired woman's introduction VO line got mixed up with one of the male lines.......Wait Valimer is a man? Okay.......Looks and dresses like a woman to me, but okay. That reminds me that all the other uh..."whores" look all girlish or like some little princes and not in a good way. (*points at the two males that we meet in the corridor "Bowl hair cut???"). Is this style preferred by Xuleian woman? Do they like boyish or girlish looking men?

Some other things I noticed:

- Axay and Merixa note on Clanice attending her first meeting with the matriarch in her every day clothes at the first dinner scene. The problem I have with it is that all of them except the Matriarch and the MC (and maybe Velvet) wore comfy everyday clothes in my eyes. They looked like they would take a leisure stroll trough the city or lounging at home. They don't look like some business woman attending an important business meeting
-The dinner talk was strange. Basically everyone in the room is sort of a competitor to each other? Why are they talking to each others like they are some college acquaintances having a nice and comfy chat ("don't be an ass")? Shouldn't they be more guarded and not talk so much unnecessary things about Twilight, books and how earth looks like? They are supposed to be the next Matriarch, but all I can see are some young woman who don't give off the feeling of any sort of political power or any strength. Apparently those few things said about earth are too much information to process.......huh?
- You need to be able to fight to be the next Matriarch, but how do they fight? Are they using their weird biotics...er magical space powers? What about their bodies? Each of them including the Matriarch looks very weak with those thin and frail arms.
- From what I gathered the humans are Xal's enemies? That brings me to my previous point: How comes they have such a poor understanding and knowledge about different species, especially if you consider them as your enemies? The saying goes: "Know your enemy". And again those are the chosen ones that have the right to become the next Matriarch?
- Do god and dhaj exist or is that some religion talking when they say that Dhaj will destroy the earthling deity - God?
- Why is Dhaj male? Wouldn't it makes sense for him to be a her, considering how Xalian's social structure is?
- My brain cannot compute the technological differences after knowing that they have air planes, apparently PCs (what's that standing on the Matriarch's office desk) and some nice medical tech (doctors lab). So when they are asking what movies are my mind goes blank...... How do they make clothes? Do they have modern clothing factories? The clothes look very earth-like to me.
Edit:
- So in the future the people of earth pray only for one deity called God - as the God all book-religions have?

And I havent finished the demo yet but one thing I can tell too like on the ship in the beginning and getting off it and seeing the view. It's laggy on my laptop like I could hear the pilot or attendance's voice but it would like cut in and out like a weird robot because it lagged. I am guessing that there will be lag throughout my play through of the demo but maybe it's something that can be fixed some? Or maybe have a setting where you can toggle like visual motion and stuff so people can like adjust it for there computer like maybe they dont need to toggle anything or maybe there is one or two things that someone wants to toggle so it isnt so laggy.

The lag at the moment to me isn't so bad that I will instantly stop playing. I will keep playing because it isn't horrible but I have a feeling it will be really annoying. I hope I don't seem annoying or a prick for saying those things. And I might give more of my thoughts on the game and characters after I play it.

About that, I think it would be good to post the minimum requirements on the Itch.io page and put a readme file in the download folder. Call me a nitpicking asshole but readmes are essential and shouldn't be missing. I'm also not fond of the demo folder structure. It would be nice if the zip had A Woman of Xal folder with the necessary files inside. This is just a matter of comfort. It makes it easier to designate your target location and then just unpack it there. (And no, I don't want to unpack it in my download folder for VNs just to manually cut & paste it into my Games\VN folder.)

@Kikaharu Can you post your OS and your specs (hardware)? If it's not hardware related then it could be some old or missing software. (Java etc.) This is immensely helpful for devs so that they can adjust their games and optimize them.

As for your predicament: Have you tried terminating unneeded processes to save ram and GPU capacities? Things like your browser or other software that isn't required being active for your OS to work that loves to boot with the system-start (Steam, Spotify etc.) Sometimes it is worthwhile to take a look at your active process tab to find out how much stuff is active without you noticing it and then check what is allowed to boot with the system-start.

[Kikaharu]

@Kikaharu Can you post your OS and your specs (hardware)? If it's not hardware related then it could be some old or missing software. (Java etc.) This is immensely helpful for devs so that they can adjust their games and optimize them.

As for your predicament: Have you tried terminating unneeded processes to save ram and GPU capacities? Things like your browser or other software that isn't required being active for your OS to work that loves to boot with the system-start (Steam, Spotify etc.) Sometimes it is worthwhile to take a look at your active process tab to find out how much stuff is active without you noticing it and then check what is allowed to boot with the system-start.

I have Windows 8.1. I kind of know where to look for specs but I don't know what specifics. Like I know the processor. That I know of any java that is on my laptop is up to date. I have terminated unneeded processes I didn't have anything else like a browser or other software. Except my anti-virus and whatever main things run on my laptop. Like I terminated any that I know was caused by something that can be terminated and still have the laptop work. I have checked what is allowed to boot with system-start a long time ago and I have checked it recent and it still okay nothing is booting that shouldn't. And active process tab half the stuff on there I am pretty sure are on there for the laptop to run and I stop whatever I know can be stopped without killing the laptop.

So I know some things to help with lag and stuff but I still feel like it might be a good thing to have a toggle button so it can help people out.

[Amberbaum]

Hm, is this your first time playing a VN made with TyranoBuilder? Most VN on the LSF are made with Ren'py. Are Ren'py games running fluent on your laptop?

[Kikaharu]

Hm, is this your first time playing a VN made with TyranoBuilder? Most VN on the LSF are made with Ren'py. Are Ren'py games running fluent on your laptop?

Ren'py games run just fine. I don't think I have ever had lag from Ren'py engine. And I am not completely positive if it is the first time playing with TyranoBuilder because I have played a lot of VNs but it could be the first time using it.

[ProjectTrinity]

Campaign is over, so I figured now was a good time to finally answer the new wave of posts. Generally, because we have a lot to do now that the funds are coming. (Successful Kickstarter, ya'll.)

-We are abandoning the engine Tyranobuilder for the full game. The tech issues that have no reason being there are unforgivable.
-Subtitles for voiced lines will be added in for Demo 2.0
-I hope no one minds if I don't answer lore or character-related questions since the full game will either answer everything properly or be going by the official canon and not the demo's.
-Squeaky voice acting would have gotten someone's audition thrown out for this project, so we're glad that paid off.
-Not personally satisfied with the music, so I'll have the full version with the absolute best I can offer as a musician and not this placeholder stuff. The artists really did do a great job for a concept demo, though. Thanks! <3

FOR EVERYONE READING:
The demo had its moments, but after 2.0 is released (Last use of Tyranobuilder), we're taking this demo and its timeline out the back and introducing what the staff can and will do with an actual budget. Expect an increase in artistic and narrative quality. And programming quality because we have 3x the programmers on board with the Tyranobuilder programmer (me) sticking to what he knows: Music, and Storytelling. Stay Tuned!

[Amberbaum]

........
-We are abandoning the engine Tyranobuilder for the full game. The tech issues that have no reason being there are unforgivable.
.......

Yes, yes and yes again. That's some really good news. I am glad that you decided to abandon Tyranobuilder for Ren'py

[ProjectTrinity]

If I wasn't so darned busy with Women of Xal setup work, I'd most certainly be writing a giant essay on that Tyranobuilder thread on my experiences and the bugs I'm still dealing with that shouldn't be existing.

Like, guys. The engine can't even clear all of its variables when you tell it to clear all the variables.

[Amberbaum]

For real? Looks like Tyranobuilder still has some major teething problems. Better stay on the safe side with something stable.