So, this past week I've been hard at work making all of my romances be good. So far we've got Angel, Iris, Jillian and Melanie all primed up with their first dates, and Josie is on the way after them. In writing these dates, I've spent a lot of time writing stuff that isn't sex. It's been fun, but I always worry I'm going too long with them, with the average scene taking about 4 entries to get to the sex. But then I reason it's romance and it needs to be different from normal sex, so of course it's going to take a bit of time exploring the characters and maybe a bit of the world while I'm at it. I know no one cares but I put some effort into this backstory and damnit I'm going to slip my clues in.
But then tonight I played some Corruption of Champions again. The game that first inspired me to start Shield High, in no small part because, in my opinion, everything Fenoxo does is obsessed with dicks and I just want some good lesbian stuff damnit. And in playing, I started to notice a trend that happens to me a lot when playing Fenoxo's games. I ended up skimming. Like, a lot. It always feels as if the text is kind of...in the way, rather than being an engaging part of the game. And upon reflection, I think the issue I take with it is how long it spends describing things.
I'm aware of the hypocrisy in this, I often stop to describe things in Shield High, at least when going home or to other girls houses. But it feels a bit over the top in CoC. For me at least, I'm sure other people really enjoy it. Which gives me two questions really, am I the odd one out in feeling this way? Do most other people enjoy the big descriptions? Or do you prefer a more minimalist approach with your porn? That was three questions, but they're really just like, lots of ways to ask the first one. The second question is how much description is enough? How much is too much?
I don't have an answer to that question. I'm just pondering it here. I have a theory that the amount of description that's acceptable is dependent entirely on the access to the porn. If the description is slowing people down from getting to the porn they want, it's probably too much. Though, perhaps that's the answer. Weave your sex content into your descriptions with enough regularity that you can ride the good will to the end. Someone remind me I made this post for my next game, I need to remember to test that theory.
Anyway, that's it for today, release SOON(tm)
Pudding Earl
Sunday 29 January 2017
Saturday 21 January 2017
Patreon News
So, as is customary at this stage, I'm throwing a post here simply to let everyone know that the new version is up on Patreon today. I do this in no small part to suggest that those of you who wish to begin a patronage but haven't yet done so should do so now, but also, and this is the main reason, to continue to highlight that I'm staying on time with these things. Main reason for that is to keep holding me accountable to a wider audience, and thus motivate me harder to keep being on time.
And now a brief word about the next version. This one is, as I've said a lot, the making trouble update. You can chase three plots which I'll give more info on when I release. Next update however will be the Love and Slaves update. It'll be about 1. Adding romance options. I plan to make Melanie, Iris, and Angel all functional romance partners, as well as possibly Josie and Jillian if time allows. And 2. Being a slave. I plan to add in BASIC functionality for being enslaved by Karen and maybe Samantha? Exactly how much of this gets done is really down to how much time the framework takes to make, and how much time the romance writing takes and so on. I have a solid week home alone in which to try(and likely fail) to power out extra content, so we'll see how this all goes.
So yes, that is update. More musings to come later in the week when I feel like it. Probably on the future of porn games according to me.
Pudding Earl
And now a brief word about the next version. This one is, as I've said a lot, the making trouble update. You can chase three plots which I'll give more info on when I release. Next update however will be the Love and Slaves update. It'll be about 1. Adding romance options. I plan to make Melanie, Iris, and Angel all functional romance partners, as well as possibly Josie and Jillian if time allows. And 2. Being a slave. I plan to add in BASIC functionality for being enslaved by Karen and maybe Samantha? Exactly how much of this gets done is really down to how much time the framework takes to make, and how much time the romance writing takes and so on. I have a solid week home alone in which to try(and likely fail) to power out extra content, so we'll see how this all goes.
So yes, that is update. More musings to come later in the week when I feel like it. Probably on the future of porn games according to me.
Pudding Earl
Sunday 15 January 2017
Earl's Musings: Questionable Fetishes in Porn Games
I should preface this musing with two things. First is I literally only just thought of this topic after a week of not knowing what to muse about. That's why it's a little later than normal. Second, I should really qualify what I mean by "Questionable Fetishes" before I get too deep into this.
When I say questionable fetishes, I don't mean they're questionable in that "Why would anyone like that?" I'm well aware people are into some pretty weird shit, and since I write about lesbians fighting to rape each other on the internet, I'm in NO position to judge. I more mean fetishes that are hit or miss with people. Specifically ones that have a broad spectrum. So, things like Pedophilia or Scat aren't considered questionable in this case, one is morally reprehensible to act on(I'll concede you can't help what you like, and if you're masturbating to lolis and leaving it at that, you get a pass) and the other is just disgusting to the people not into it. I'm more referring to the fetishes that get a big yes from some, an "Eh, it's kinda hot I guess" from others, and a "This upsets me greatly" to others. For instance, fetishised misogyny, raceplay, maybe pregnancy and breeding, cuckold stuff etc.
These basically fall into two categories. "I'm not comfortable with this fetish, it's an active turn off for me." (Pregnancy and Cuckold in my case), and "I'm kind of concerned the guy who wrote this might actually believe this stuff" (misogyny and raceplay, from the above examples). It's the second category I'm particularly interested in today, but I'll share some thoughts on both while I'm at it. Right now the question hanging on my mind is something along the lines of "Do I have any responsibility when including such fetishes?" Or rather, does anyone making a porn game have any responsibility in doing it. Should some be avoided out of tact?
I'll start with the tamer choice, category one. Category one is overall less of an issue in my books. Cuckold and pregnancy stuff quite often are fairly niche interests, either they're clearly labelled as existing in the game, because they're a core component, or they're not. And if that's the case, no issues. But what if they're not a core element? What if I just include one cuckold scene as a consequence for some shitty decisions you make? Should I warn about that? I'm really conflicted on this front. On the one hand, a warning would be useful, you know what you're getting into. On the other hand, I feel like spoiling the kind of content that might appear in the course of a game isn't as exciting. And in the case of a well made porn game, either the scenes I'm seeing are because I have willingly chosen for this outcome, or I have made some mistakes along the way, and the outcome is the consequence of my choices, a thing that I hold as (at least kind of) sacred in porn games. There's also the simple fact the player could close it. If they're saving regularly they can reload back and do it again. Or if they haven't they could just, not read the text, skip through it to the next event as I often do in Shield High.
In conclusion for point one: I don't have an answer, but I'd probably lean on the side of include it without warning. Or maybe a small warning tucked away somewhere you can find it if you want it, or avoid it if you don't.
Next up is category two. Now this one is interesting because it also has a degree of extremism. It could be a simple playful joke between lovers, it could be a full on hate-filled moment. Sexism and racism are also much bigger issues of late than they were when I first started Shield High. The majority of the previous discussion remains in place, but with one new element, in that the inclusion, if handled poorly, might ostracize elements of your audience. For instance, if I included a girl named Laquisha who Jessica openly calls a nigger, I'm almost certain at least one person would be upset by this. And with good reason, it'd be such an over the top use of stereotypes, that even if the scene was hot, and ended harmlessly, I think it'd be a bit too much. But, since I am including raceplay as a thing in at least one scene, do I need to use some stereotype? I mean, without it, does the raceplay lose it's appeal? Can I justify using stereotypes in that case? I think I kind of am, so long as it's not totally hollow. If there's something behind the stereotypes, or something going on beyond just "Here's your stereotypical black girl to do the sex with" then I think it'd be okay.
But I'm not 100% sure, so this is a point where I put it to you, my dear audience. What do you think about the whole raceplay thing? Opinions might influence this update.
And as a quick aside about the update, holy shit, it's taken SO MUCH work, but Melanie is done. The reason she took so long is I had to program in a way to remove old events that can be safely removed when you issue a challenge. Then I had to program a bet manager. Then I had to add in relationship bonuses for conversations to make Angel charmable. And then I had to write out the 3 possible sex endings to the plot, 2 of which involved multiple choice ending just about doubling their length. But now it's done, so Iris is coming up next.
Pudding Earl.
When I say questionable fetishes, I don't mean they're questionable in that "Why would anyone like that?" I'm well aware people are into some pretty weird shit, and since I write about lesbians fighting to rape each other on the internet, I'm in NO position to judge. I more mean fetishes that are hit or miss with people. Specifically ones that have a broad spectrum. So, things like Pedophilia or Scat aren't considered questionable in this case, one is morally reprehensible to act on(I'll concede you can't help what you like, and if you're masturbating to lolis and leaving it at that, you get a pass) and the other is just disgusting to the people not into it. I'm more referring to the fetishes that get a big yes from some, an "Eh, it's kinda hot I guess" from others, and a "This upsets me greatly" to others. For instance, fetishised misogyny, raceplay, maybe pregnancy and breeding, cuckold stuff etc.
These basically fall into two categories. "I'm not comfortable with this fetish, it's an active turn off for me." (Pregnancy and Cuckold in my case), and "I'm kind of concerned the guy who wrote this might actually believe this stuff" (misogyny and raceplay, from the above examples). It's the second category I'm particularly interested in today, but I'll share some thoughts on both while I'm at it. Right now the question hanging on my mind is something along the lines of "Do I have any responsibility when including such fetishes?" Or rather, does anyone making a porn game have any responsibility in doing it. Should some be avoided out of tact?
I'll start with the tamer choice, category one. Category one is overall less of an issue in my books. Cuckold and pregnancy stuff quite often are fairly niche interests, either they're clearly labelled as existing in the game, because they're a core component, or they're not. And if that's the case, no issues. But what if they're not a core element? What if I just include one cuckold scene as a consequence for some shitty decisions you make? Should I warn about that? I'm really conflicted on this front. On the one hand, a warning would be useful, you know what you're getting into. On the other hand, I feel like spoiling the kind of content that might appear in the course of a game isn't as exciting. And in the case of a well made porn game, either the scenes I'm seeing are because I have willingly chosen for this outcome, or I have made some mistakes along the way, and the outcome is the consequence of my choices, a thing that I hold as (at least kind of) sacred in porn games. There's also the simple fact the player could close it. If they're saving regularly they can reload back and do it again. Or if they haven't they could just, not read the text, skip through it to the next event as I often do in Shield High.
In conclusion for point one: I don't have an answer, but I'd probably lean on the side of include it without warning. Or maybe a small warning tucked away somewhere you can find it if you want it, or avoid it if you don't.
Next up is category two. Now this one is interesting because it also has a degree of extremism. It could be a simple playful joke between lovers, it could be a full on hate-filled moment. Sexism and racism are also much bigger issues of late than they were when I first started Shield High. The majority of the previous discussion remains in place, but with one new element, in that the inclusion, if handled poorly, might ostracize elements of your audience. For instance, if I included a girl named Laquisha who Jessica openly calls a nigger, I'm almost certain at least one person would be upset by this. And with good reason, it'd be such an over the top use of stereotypes, that even if the scene was hot, and ended harmlessly, I think it'd be a bit too much. But, since I am including raceplay as a thing in at least one scene, do I need to use some stereotype? I mean, without it, does the raceplay lose it's appeal? Can I justify using stereotypes in that case? I think I kind of am, so long as it's not totally hollow. If there's something behind the stereotypes, or something going on beyond just "Here's your stereotypical black girl to do the sex with" then I think it'd be okay.
But I'm not 100% sure, so this is a point where I put it to you, my dear audience. What do you think about the whole raceplay thing? Opinions might influence this update.
And as a quick aside about the update, holy shit, it's taken SO MUCH work, but Melanie is done. The reason she took so long is I had to program in a way to remove old events that can be safely removed when you issue a challenge. Then I had to program a bet manager. Then I had to add in relationship bonuses for conversations to make Angel charmable. And then I had to write out the 3 possible sex endings to the plot, 2 of which involved multiple choice ending just about doubling their length. But now it's done, so Iris is coming up next.
Pudding Earl.
Saturday 7 January 2017
A mixed bag of things
Having done a bunch of advertising last week, I've noticed my traffic running MUCH higher than usual, as is to be expected when one does advertising, so I figured now that the initial burst has died down and everyone has probably downloaded the game, it won't be a huge issue if I make a new post and bump the actual update down a bit.
So, first off, for the new people, in case you feel like supporting me, I have a Patreon. It's advertised on the sidebar but it's small, and quite easy to miss so I figured I'd just bring it to everyone's attention now. It charges monthly, and gives you early access to every game update, coming on the 21st of the month. The public release varies on when it comes out based entirely on my whims, so if you want a regular time to get it, it's just $5 a month for that. Or if you want a guaranteed say in how the game develops you can pay $10 or $20 to get a vote on what the next month's update will contain. Currently I have no patrons for that much, so I'm just doing whatever I feel needs doing next.
The patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/PuddingGames
If you feel like supporting me but for some reason hate Patreon, I'm also putting out a series of books on Amazon. They aren't smutty, so I appreciate that the vast majority of my fans won't be interested, but if mechs are a thing you like, consider checking them out.
I put out the fourth book today, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAQD8BK
And to save anyone the effort of digging if they're interested, first book is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQ5W5G4
And finally, an update on how the next version is coming along. The post-fight Melanie scene was...long and painful to write. Mostly because I did 5 text entries, and THEN had to split it into three chains. So the chains were shafted a bit to be shorter, otherwise the whole thing would be too long. I've also got a template set up for socialising, and will in later updates be handing out chatting with most characters. Probably a spring cleaning update honestly. I'd have liked to be further forward on development, but the previous update has spawned so many problems I'm going to need to chase down every bug and fix them all. I'm making progress, but there's more.
Anyway, that's it for this week. Earl's Musing again next week.
Pudding Earl
So, first off, for the new people, in case you feel like supporting me, I have a Patreon. It's advertised on the sidebar but it's small, and quite easy to miss so I figured I'd just bring it to everyone's attention now. It charges monthly, and gives you early access to every game update, coming on the 21st of the month. The public release varies on when it comes out based entirely on my whims, so if you want a regular time to get it, it's just $5 a month for that. Or if you want a guaranteed say in how the game develops you can pay $10 or $20 to get a vote on what the next month's update will contain. Currently I have no patrons for that much, so I'm just doing whatever I feel needs doing next.
The patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/PuddingGames
If you feel like supporting me but for some reason hate Patreon, I'm also putting out a series of books on Amazon. They aren't smutty, so I appreciate that the vast majority of my fans won't be interested, but if mechs are a thing you like, consider checking them out.
I put out the fourth book today, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAQD8BK
And to save anyone the effort of digging if they're interested, first book is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQ5W5G4
And finally, an update on how the next version is coming along. The post-fight Melanie scene was...long and painful to write. Mostly because I did 5 text entries, and THEN had to split it into three chains. So the chains were shafted a bit to be shorter, otherwise the whole thing would be too long. I've also got a template set up for socialising, and will in later updates be handing out chatting with most characters. Probably a spring cleaning update honestly. I'd have liked to be further forward on development, but the previous update has spawned so many problems I'm going to need to chase down every bug and fix them all. I'm making progress, but there's more.
Anyway, that's it for this week. Earl's Musing again next week.
Pudding Earl
Monday 2 January 2017
Shield High 0.682b releases
The spring cleaning update is finally here for non-patrons. In doing up the next update I found a small bug in the code, and so what I'm uploading here is the current work, complete with bug fixes. So far the new content for the next update is all locked behind an event that doesn't have a start flag, so all you get is a Melanie and a poorly prepared Andriana.
So anyway, what's new to 0.682b? Mostly polish. Here's a quick list of things I remember:
-Buttons are now more clear in what they do, if you hover your mouse over a button for about a second, a small popup comes up describing the button for you.
-Attending class is a little easier, but also a bit more difficult. There's an extra click involved to attend class, however when you hover over the interact button it now tells you where your next class is.
-There's a new event! It's a rather small event, it's located in the changing rooms, under the interact button.
-Weekends work. They don't have any content to them, but they will sooner or later. Probably in a social update I'll add all these things.
-Room descriptions. Every room in the school has a much more thorough description for it. This includes listing characters who will(eventually) be present in the game, so outside of the schoolyard, you'll always know who's around without having to check the character list.
I feel like there's more, but I'm not entirely sure of that. I know some features I programmed haven't been implemented yet, and will be appearing in next update. In fact, I literally commented out the use of one just before updating today since I was mid-work when I remembered to post this.
So anyway, download is here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/zkapsyqzkmu9gp8/Shield_High_JS_0.682b%282%29.7z
I hope you all enjoy, and as I've mentioned before, next update is the making trouble update. I've already got Melanie's event programmed, and I'll be writing it up over the next few days and then doing some testing.
Pudding Earl.
P.S. As I've mentioned previously, I plan to advertise with this update, so if you're an older fan, I'd appreciate suggestions of places to post about Shield High in comments. I'll be posting there in the morning after I've done the advertising listing where I have already posted. Thanks guys.
EDIT: Uploaded a broken version. This is now fixed and the broken version has been deleted. Also messed up my numbers, so they're now fixed too.
EDIT 2: The fixed version was also broken. This new version should be fixed, but no promises. Saving has been reported broken and will remain broken because I don't know what the problem is and I don't have time right this moment to fix it. It will be fixed for 0.683 and probably fixed up a bit more.
So anyway, what's new to 0.682b? Mostly polish. Here's a quick list of things I remember:
-Buttons are now more clear in what they do, if you hover your mouse over a button for about a second, a small popup comes up describing the button for you.
-Attending class is a little easier, but also a bit more difficult. There's an extra click involved to attend class, however when you hover over the interact button it now tells you where your next class is.
-There's a new event! It's a rather small event, it's located in the changing rooms, under the interact button.
-Weekends work. They don't have any content to them, but they will sooner or later. Probably in a social update I'll add all these things.
-Room descriptions. Every room in the school has a much more thorough description for it. This includes listing characters who will(eventually) be present in the game, so outside of the schoolyard, you'll always know who's around without having to check the character list.
I feel like there's more, but I'm not entirely sure of that. I know some features I programmed haven't been implemented yet, and will be appearing in next update. In fact, I literally commented out the use of one just before updating today since I was mid-work when I remembered to post this.
So anyway, download is here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/zkapsyqzkmu9gp8/Shield_High_JS_0.682b%282%29.7z
I hope you all enjoy, and as I've mentioned before, next update is the making trouble update. I've already got Melanie's event programmed, and I'll be writing it up over the next few days and then doing some testing.
Pudding Earl.
P.S. As I've mentioned previously, I plan to advertise with this update, so if you're an older fan, I'd appreciate suggestions of places to post about Shield High in comments. I'll be posting there in the morning after I've done the advertising listing where I have already posted. Thanks guys.
EDIT: Uploaded a broken version. This is now fixed and the broken version has been deleted. Also messed up my numbers, so they're now fixed too.
EDIT 2: The fixed version was also broken. This new version should be fixed, but no promises. Saving has been reported broken and will remain broken because I don't know what the problem is and I don't have time right this moment to fix it. It will be fixed for 0.683 and probably fixed up a bit more.
Sunday 1 January 2017
A quick note regarding old paid content
So I just got done playing the old version of Shield High to remember how some things played out. Also I wanted to experience the canon romance again. And in doing so I ended up running across the Biker. I didn't talk to her, but she reminded me that she's a thing, and so I was wondering how I'd fit her into the new, more detailed Shield High. I worked it out pretty quickly, but unfortunately she has to tie into currently unrevealed elements of the game, so I can't add her until I have played all my cards in the plot. But, she was something someone paid me to add to the game, so I figured I should make a proper statement on the old paid content and their place in the new game.
All old content will be added at some point.
There, that's the statement. Unless I've forgotten about it, it's going in. If people would be so kind as to remind me what was paid for I'd appreciate it, since I only remember Iris(coming in 0.683), the Biker, and the Angel-Melanie romance combo that came out so awkwardly.(I promise a much smoother inclusion this time) So yeah, all reminders appreciated.
And as a small bonus thought, it's quite amusing when you're writing an old scene that had no sex in it, and somehow end up adding more sex. I don't think that's a feeling you'll find in any other profession.
Pudding Earl
P.S. Public release tomorrow.
All old content will be added at some point.
There, that's the statement. Unless I've forgotten about it, it's going in. If people would be so kind as to remind me what was paid for I'd appreciate it, since I only remember Iris(coming in 0.683), the Biker, and the Angel-Melanie romance combo that came out so awkwardly.(I promise a much smoother inclusion this time) So yeah, all reminders appreciated.
And as a small bonus thought, it's quite amusing when you're writing an old scene that had no sex in it, and somehow end up adding more sex. I don't think that's a feeling you'll find in any other profession.
Pudding Earl
P.S. Public release tomorrow.
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