0.50 Reflection and 0.51 Preview

Hi, perverts! Happy Halloween! I'm happy that I managed to get this release out before the holiday. I've actually had some pretty busy weekends lately, so I'm feeling more confident that I've found ways to work on Ruin Me at a steady, sustainable cadence.

I do have a request to make of y'all! I feel like the game would appeal to a bunch of people who might not frequent mainstream erotic game sites/communities. Can you tell me if you know of a place where folks would want to find out about this queer, creepy game? I'm especially interested in places you like to go to find out about this sort of stuff, even if it's just a hashtag or subreddit. I'm also looking for bloggers/streamers/journalists who are able to write about adult games and would be a good fit. I'm doing my own research, of course, but would love some suggestions.

Reflecting on All Hallow's Revenge

I like the idea of special holiday outfits, and it had been a while since I'd added any new outfits to the game at all. I had trouble deciding how revealing to make the Halloween costume, so in the end I made four different ones! Really, they're based on the same simple core (a sort of leotard), which made them a good opportunity to focus on my drawing skills. I'm also a huge geek and enjoyed picking outfits that made sense to come out of the pop culture of the era, even if I took some liberties with the fashion design and materials.

I also think the abandoned bedroom exploration came out real well. It was fun writing a bit of a room escape story. It probably wasn't very challenging, but this is some of the most puzzle-y stuff I've put in the game, so I hope it was a good change of pace. It's accessible from Act I, which means for new players it may be the first hint at what's been going on with the Radcliffes over the centuries.

Most of the non-art work on the release was a huge list of fixes and enhancements! The nice, round "0.50.0" number felt like a good place to revise a bunch of stuff. The Preferences menu now looks better and is hopefully easier to use, and I did some quality-of-life enhancements that I think will make the game easier to use. Even the long list of stuff in the changelog doesn't encompass everything, as I don't tend to include little tweaks to writing or adjustments to character blocking.

One final unusual change to discuss is the Ken adjustment. A partner of mine gave some detailed feedback on their replay of the game, and one thing that came up is that, as a player who didn't do many play scenes, they didn't have enough Ken just from doing training, story, and expeditions to unlock everything. 

Ken is supposed to be a pacing mechanism, not a chore. I don't want people to feel compelled to grind Hiram's gallery to feel like they've seen all the major features, so I added a Ken reward for each expedition. I'm fine with folks who want every outfit to have to do a bit extra, but I still dropped the price of outfits from the Tailor a bit since it felt like a lot to ask for ten day's worth of passive Ken for one costume.

Next Release

Speaking of quality of life, my recent poll to the $5+ patrons is suggesting that, while most folks can use the menus in Theresa's chambers easily enough, a decent number of players find them awkward, and I'm inclined to agree. I'm going to try and organize them a bit more clearly, with top-level options that are easier to skim. My current idea is that you'll be presented with six main options: Chat, Train, Investigate, Play, Customize, and Depart.  If I can manage it, I'd like to have these indicate if there's something new in each section, so you don't feel the need to click through everything each time you visit.

The big chunk of work is probably going to be a training scene in semen play, with a simple little side system revolving around collecting used condoms in various ways to use for play. I'm going to take a bit of a shortcut and have training unlock a play scene that uses the same structure but different dialogue, to get double use out of the writing and coding I'll need to do.

Beyond that, there's some more art additions/enhancements that are on my to-do list, and I may have some requests/commissions for additions to the game that could end up in this release or the following one, depending on scale. As a reminder, Center of Attention patrons can ask for smaller requests as reward for their support, so if there are things you want to see in the game, consider supporting at that level and taking advantage of it!

I'm eager to hear your thoughts about the release: anything you found hot, anything you found awkward, or anything you'd love to see more of.