malhavok

More illustrations

Just got these back today from the character artist. They, along with some others, are going to be going on the home page for the game that I will be setting up at http://www.queenoftheseasgame.com/ 

I hope people like the work as much as I do, since I intend to use this same artist to illustrate some of the scenes on board the Salty Mermaid. There's a poll still running to vote on which scenes to illustrate here:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/which-scenes-you-27324758 , so far it looks like Captain Reginald's "Sissy Training" scene will be the first cab off the rank! 

Anyway, I hope everyone has an excellent weekend and I'll be posting an update to 0.12 sometime in the next couple of days!

Cheers!

Mal

Pain, they name is ES6

When I first started writing Queen of the Seas, after deciding on Twine and Javascript mostly on a whim, I then decided to try and make the code as broadly compatible as possible with various browsers. I'm not sure why I made this decision at the time, but the major impact of that was the eschewing of ES6 classes and using JavaScripts older prototype inheritance.

This was a very bad idea, to top all bad ideas.

There's a good reason why classes were introduced, not just because of the 'syntactical sugar' as they call it, but also because the prototype inheritance sucks nasty pirate dong in ways that I can't even begin to describe.

Anyway, obviously I relented because most engine code since around mid last year has been written in classes, or rewritten to be in classes. There are only a few main components that are not and for the most part they are relatively small or self contained. Well, except for one.

The fucking 2d rogue engine!!!

Now, to explain my dilemma you need to understand how my twisted programmer mind works. Currently there are two types of 'entities' that get drawn on the screen - the player and dig spots. I want to add a 3rd entity, namely monsters. Monsters need to have some of the attributes of both types of entities since they can move around and have a little bit of AI like the player.

Basically, what I want to do is an inheritance chain that looks sensibly like this:

Player -> (inherits) Being -> (inherits) Entity. With "Being" as the class where mobs will be created from.

It makes sense because it'll save a lot of code rework and the code that is shared between different classes will operate the same way, like say the code for knowing which visual to draw on the map is identical between all three classes. Inheritance saves times and makes your code more legible and maintainable. I knew this. I KNOW this, after all I am actually a professional software developer, even if JavaScript isn't a language I had much prior experience in.

So... the point of this dear Patrons? What am I trying to say? Basically, a lesson to other people thinking about making their own game in JS - 

FUCK OLD BROWSERS, FUCK THEM IN THEIR DIRTY ASSES. USE CLASSES IN YOUR CODE!

Ahem... cough cough. Sorry for the outburst. 

So yeah, I spent most of tonight refactoring garbage code that I shouldn't have written to be garbage in the first place because I knew better. I'm annoyed at myself. Learn from my mistakes.

I still have a bit of work to do, but hopefully sometime this weekend I'll have some screens or a gif to post showing Abamond literally coming alive. 

Cheers,

Mal

Writing monster encounter tables is boring

Just thought I'd share my pain with you. 

One of the things I am improving in 0.12, aside from more quests, is a revamp of Abamond. The initial offering will be something like this:

• There will be random encounters each level
• There will be a boss encounter to pass from certain key levels
• There will be collectibles in Abamond that can be turned in for power ups at the curio shop in Port Royale.
• Some sort of mega reward for beating the boss on the 100th level.

The one thing I am struggle with right now is if I should draw the encounters on the map or not. Typically in a classic 'rogue like' the mobs and the fighting all happen on the map, but I'm somewhat against doing the latter because we have a nice combat UI that I'd like to leverage and combat skills I want to build out.

The other option is to do it like a JRPG - where you are traveling and the screen just goes 'ENCOUNTER!' and sends you to a screen. The key here would be to make the pacing not suck.

I'm still stewing this all over in my mind right now, trying to come up with something that I think will be a good compromise and overall enhance those caves. Just thought I'd share!

Mal

Which scenes would you like to see illustrated?

As many of you may know, I've been working with some artists to proof some concept characters and as part of that the intention was to start getting some unique artwork developed for the game to illustrate various passages.

In a perfect world, we'd be able to dynamically render your character in these 2D scenes, but since we can't do that we're going to use our mascot character as a fill in. I think this is a decent compromise that is both:

• Achievable (a big issue if you ask me, people over promise and under deliver)
• Can actually be budgeted reasonably out of the Patreon support the game is receiving.

So, with that in mind, out of the following scenes, which ones would you like to see illustrated (focusing only on events that happen on the Mermaid):

Please feel free to add your own suggestion in a comment below.

More doodles

Got this proof back today prior to beginning the final work. Thought you folks might get a kick out of it :) I'll try to keep posting the rough stuff while it shapes up.

Cheers,

Mal

Fan and Backer Build - 0.11g Release Candidate

If you downloaded the Backer version of 0.11f, then you're probably aware of most of the bug fixes that went into the game so far, but this is the Cheat Enabled version of the 0.11 Release Candidate with some additional balance tweaks and the addition of the 'Memory' tab in the journal.

I worked really hard to get this guy ready for June 1st as I wanted it to be there as a "thank you" for everyone who stayed subscribed throughout the end of the month. You guys rock!

So, once again, thank you everyone for your continued support! Without you, this game would not be progressing nearly as fast as it is! 

Now, it's time for me to regroup and start focusing on the 0.12 content release. I have a lot of big plans in store, including new art assets for clothing pieces on the avatar.

Cheers,

Mal

Supporter Build - 0.11g Release Candidate

Here it is everyone! The version 0.11 release candidate. Please check out the change log as there has been a lot of bug fixes and modifications to the game, hopefully to make certain aspects more fun and less of a pain in the rear :)

I worked my tail off this week to get this ready for all of my supporters at the beginning of this month, as a "Thank you!" for staying subscribed. 

Now, it's onward to 0.12 and more quest content and clothing assets :)

Cheers,

Mal

PS: Please remember to report bugs if/when you find them, as this will be the last chance for them to get addressed prior to the public release coming down the pipeline!

A Player Suggestion implemented for 0.11

People might wonder how often I implement player suggestions, and well, the answer is 'pretty much all the time'. 

Sure, I have a pretty strong vision for the game and how I would like for it to turn out, but I absolutely listen to feedback and do my best to take into consideration the opinions of people who are supporting this game.

Anyway, the aforementioned idea can be seen in the screen shot above - Now in your journal  there is a tab for 'Memory'. It will show you a listing of all of the clothes, food and drugs that you know about in your current play through an a summary of their primary attributes. 

Some future plans here are to make this information searchable to some degree, and now of course since I've implemented this interface, to extend it to some of the other table structures in the game - like for instance, a collapsible table by body part section for the Gear page would probably be pretty nice and for the Wardrobe as well!

To all my patrons - thanks again for supporting this game, you've made this first month absolutely awesome and I hope you enjoy playing the release candidate of 0.11 this weekend!

Onward to 0.12!!!

Mal

Just a doodle and a minor update

I started getting some of the character design proofs back by the end of the week. The one above is a style that I particularly like - that clean, crisp vector art in a non-anime style. 

Not that I have anything against anime/manga or japanese animation in general, ( 本語を話します), but I'm looking for something different and even if I don't go with this artists' particular style, I'm sure it will be a good guideline as things develop on this front.

As for the update - nothing earth shattering here, just be on notice that the 0.11 release canidate will be hitting by the end of the weekend for all my Patrons. After that, I'm going to start pushing out 0.12 updates for the Backers that will continue to focus on the quests leading up to the Mutiny story line (and a few other nice enhancements).

Cheers, thanks for supporting our humble game and I hope everyone has an epic weekend!

Mal

Who is this sexy lass?

Just a sneak peak at something for my Patrons and to show you guys that I'm not just rolling around naked in a pile of patron dollars.

One of my biggest struggles as a game developer is that I'm not a particularly great artist. On one hand, that's not been a huge hurdle because of the rendering technology I use being good at math is a better asset. However, I've always wanted to flesh out the game with some custom art work for various scenes that you may encounter in the game. 

To that end I've been going out and commissioning cheap character designs sketches from various artists to sort out a couple of things:

• Who's easy to work with
• Who can handle the load
• If I like their art or not
• Will they draw NSFW scenes?
• Can they draw backgrounds?

And a bunch of other concerns, including price. 

The screen shot above is a rough sketch from one of those artists to do a concept of a mascot character for the game. I've asked for this because I've also spent some of the Patron funds on getting a domain name (http://www.queenoftheseasgame.com) that currently only points to this Patreon page.

The immediate goal while I suss out these guys is to leverage them to create art assets for what will be a permanent home page for the game, ultimately including our own message boards for QoS  and any other games I may write and probably also hosted versions of the game that people can play online.

Once I figure out what's going on, what stuff costs, who can do what, etc, then I'm going to broaden my horizons and start bringing these art assets into the game including a modding system that will allow you to share your own content packs - an idea that came about because I've seen people already starting to try and do this and I'd like to support my players in this endeavor if I can.

Point being here - I'm an industrious sort of seadog and if you shove doubloons in my hand I'm going to make stuff happen!

Cheers,

Mal

Version 0.11 Progress Update

Hi everyone!

First off, thank you everyone who has been reporting bugs. As you all know, the jump from version 0.9 to 0.10 was a huge technological jump in features and as such there were more than the usual share of bugs to stomp out. As you can see from the screenshot above, I've been diligently working on every issue that has been reported to me, so keep 'em coming!

Sometime before the end of this weekend I expect to have the Release Candidate of 0.11 ready to go for Patron testing and then I'll start shifting gears into 0.12

If people have been paying attention, we're already 30% to the goal of having a guaranteed release of the game every month. That's really impressive guys and gals! This Patreon has only been around for about 3 weeks and to have come so far so quickly means that there is a lot of groundswell out there for this game! That's great!

Once we reach that goal, I'll be able to dedicate more time working on Queen as a real job instead of just a past time. That means we'll see more of...

• More quest and job content
• More encounters
• New areas
• Finishing off the alternate endings (mutiny the ship, go find your girlfriend!)
• More graphics
• Better and improved avatar and clothing options!

All of this stuff is amazing and we've made a huge leap towards it in just three weeks. Wow!

Anyway, just again, a huge thank you to everyone making this possible and Patrons look forward to getting your hand on a 0.11 release candidate sometime around June 1st or 2nd.

Cheers!

Mal

Queen 0.11e Play Test Release

Hype!

This release isn't complete yet, there is still some content that will make it into the proper 0.11 Release Candidate that all my Patrons will get to access before the public release goes out. However, it's still pretty comprehensive and if you've been a $2 supporter who hasn't had access to the regular dev builds, here's your chance to see what's been happening in the last couple of weeks.

Please check out the change log in the game to see all of the fixes / additions and if you happen to find bugs or run across issues, please post them here or on the subreddit. You can get to the latter through the link in the game (it opens in a new window).

Cheers, and once again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Mal

EDIT: Added a hotfix (A) version that will allow converting games from 0.10 save files to version 0.11

EDIT: Another hotfix  (B) version for issues with combat. Please keep reporting bugs.

EDIT: Hotfix (C) version for more issues with combat.  Holy crap what did I do?

Queen - PlayTest 0.11e Cheat Build

Here it is everyone - the play test build of 0.11! It's not entirely complete as there are still a couple of small things I want to add, but please enjoy and remember to report any bugs you find either here or on Reddit (you can use the link to reddit in the game, it will open a new window). 

Once again, thank you everyone for your support and we're still on track for a proper Release Candidate to be available to my Patreons within the next week or two.

Cheers!

Mal

EDIT: Added hotfix  (A) file for people to convert 0.10 save games to 0.11

EDIT: Added hotfix (B) file for people having issues with combat crashing. Please keep reporting bugs! :)

EDIT: Added hotfix (C) for more issues relating to combat. Keep those bug reports coming :)

Hats? Yes, Hats.

As part of my ongoing effort to improve the quality of the graphics in the game, I've started working on creating some hat assets. You can see a rather complicated one, at least from a construction perspective (if not art) in the screenshot above which is the 8 star 'Naughty Nun' outfit. 

I'm not sure if I'll get it in this release or not, but it's pretty obvious to me that the next (and more ambitious) design has just got to be a Pirate Hat, right???

Cheers,

Mal

Meet the Crew

Just another sneak peak at some of the new graphics that are coming in the next version.

I spent a lot of time the last couple of days messing around with the 2D graphics engine and in the process built a few tools that make it easier for me to create new assets and of course, rendered avatars from the engine like the ones in the screenshots above.

One of the things that people have probably noticed since the implementation of the graphics is that a lot of the clothing and items that your avatar could wear were either missing unique graphics, or were, frankly, rather underwhelming.  That's something that I'm going to continue to fix in the next, and future, releases by refining systems, adding new 2D assets (Clothing, accessories, etc) and adding more textures. For instance, let's look at the starting avatar between version 0,9 and the new version 0.11

Yeah, I know, it's almost laughable how bad my first crack at this was. Still, I'm not an artist, but I'm doing my best to skill up so that I can provide a better game for my Patrons. I'm serious about that - the support you guys are showing me is directly responsible for this and other improvements that have been happening recently. 

Next up on my agenda is refining a couple of existing assets (Boots for instance need some more work), and then creating a few missing pieces of clothing and finally finishing off the content additions that are heading towards the Mutiny storyline. I'm hoping to be able to wrap it all up and have a test release for all my Patrons ready by the end of this month.

Cheers,

Mal

Who's this ugly bastard?

I'm still messing around (that's an understatement) with this new feature for 0.11 - but you'll notice a couple of things here  - NPC now render and the starting avatar is slightly less of a homely bastard than before. 

Both of these things are due to a lot of enhancements I've been making under the hood in 0.11 and the 2D drawing engine it relies on. The first outcome of this is that the Exclusive version of Queen of the Seas now comes with a huge array of sliders to manipulate how your face looks, the second and equally as interesting one will be the addition of some of preset faces for the normal game and a general improvement in how they look overall.

Anyway, now that 0.10f is out (check it out, it has a lot of bug fixes over 0.10e), the next update for Supporters and above will probably be a 0.11 Play Test version. Keep an eye out for it by checking back here to see how it's progressing!

Cheers,

Mal

Exclusive Fan and Backer 0.10f Release

Here it is guys, the Exclusive, cheat enabled, version of the 0.10f public release. Thank you to everyone who provided support and bug reports during the development of version 0.10. Your assistance was invaluable. 

Let's all look forward to 0.11 and the expansion of content that you voted for in the Focus Poll! 

Boob sliders ahoy!

Mal

Queen of the Seas Public Release 0.10f

Here it is, the long awaited version 0.10 update. We've got a lot of stuff in store this time around, but first a huge shout out to all my backers who gave me feedback on this beast while it was still under development. 

First of all, Introducing... MURDER!

Jokes aside, the big game changer in this release is the addition of a functional combat system. There are now a small variety of random encounters and places where you can engage in combat. Usually, this isn't fatal if you lose, however that's not always true. Pick your fights wisely and flee if you have to.

In addition to that, a new dice game was added.

You can play on either the Salty Mermaid, or at the Casino in Port Royale. While the Casino only deals in cold hard cash, when playing against the crew of the Mermaid, you can bet your ass... literally. Losing a game this way and having to pay up has similar effects to satisfying a customer through the normal whoring slots game interface, so consider it a different way to the same ends.

There is also Music added in this release (turn it on, off or adjust it from settings), several new encounters, a couple of new quests, various bug fixes and tweaks to jobs, quests, shops, you name it and to top it all off, Patreon subscribes at the Fan level or higher now get access to a special build that includes a spiffy looking interactive cheat menu.

It lets you control all the important aspect of your character with touch device sensitive sliders. Future enhancement plans are to also build out the ability for you to alter your avatars face with the tool for an ever great degree of customization!

Anyway, that's all for this update. Again, a huge thank you to all my Patrons for making the initial kick off of this site a big success and motivating me to keep working on this game.

Cheers and happy gaming,

Mal

Total Makeover

One of the things that I've been wanting to do since I implemented the 2D graphics was to build pictures of the NPC's that you encounter in the game. To that end I've been working on an in-game tool that helps me design them. I'll then save that data and render it during dialogs or when you examine them.  This feature will probably make it into the 0.11b release, which is why it's taking so long for me to get it out to my faithful Backers. 

Anyway, it's pretty obvious what I'll do with this new piece of tech, right? If you guessed, "Add it to the cheat engine" then you're 100% correct. 

I need to do some tweaking to how the avatar data is currently stored, but by the time 0.11 is ready for play testing, not only will that functionality be in place (design your own face), there will be some presets available for normal players so they can have a little variety between different play-throughs. 

Once again, thanks to everyone who is supporting this game. Your investment is the reason why so much code is getting written these days. 

Cheers!

Mal

0.11 - DAD Bug fixes

My implementation of the dynamic avatar drawer always left a little bit to be desired due to the fact that 'DAD' was never really intended for the particular use case of my game - namely, a trans avatar. There were numerous problems with this, but I'm starting to fix them now. The recent changes I made will solve the long standard problem of your male genitals clipping through your dresses when you aren't wearing panties. Now, instead, if your dress is short enough, your cock will discretely peek out from under it, which is of course how it should be.

In addition to that I've fixed fitness and the muscle outlines so that as your fitness score increases, your character gets noticeably muscular. Now, if you perform a lot of physical labor or exercise, you will pack on the muscle and get bulky like the avatar in the screenshot  - she's a literal amazon. Fitness of course decreases over time (being lazy makes you less fit), so it's another meta stat to manage.

Finally, I also fixed the NPC's posture a bit - this one was all my own fault for not implementing this correctly, but now as your Femininity score increases, you'll be holding yourself more ladylike.

There will be other fixes like the above coming in the next release, along with a slew of new content to try out. I'm going to try getting a Dev Build out (0.11b) for Backers sometime within the next couple of days, but it will be pushing it on my end because I need to move house, but there will definitely be something delivered for testing and playing.

Cheers!

Mal

Version 0.11 Project Board - Courtesan Edition

The results of the recent focus poll from the Fan and Backer tier supporters were pretty clear, they want me to focus on building out the alternate mutiny ending of the game, which means that I need to focus on Black Bertie and her associated quest line. 

This release is going to be heading in that direction - one of the requirements for getting in good with Bertie is that she won't "associate" with just anyone, only high class ladies are fit for her company. So in order for the player to progress, you will need to join the Courtesan's Guild in Port Royale.

This will unlock a new skill (Courtesan) and a new currency (tokens). Tokens will be granted based on your current Courtesan skill for completing various jobs. These tokens can be turned in for training and special loot, of particular note will be the Gift Exchange, where tokens can be traded in for loot boxes of various ranks and styles to help you pad out your collection of items that cannot normally be found in shops.

As with all things that require a new system implemented, this release will take a little time (no where in the same neighborhood as 0.10), so Backer tier and higher supporters can expect to see the first development build drop in a few days.

Cheers,

Mal

What do you do with a drunken sailor?

Even though all my Patreons are currently playing the Version 0.10 Release Candidate, I decided that barring reported bugs I need to fix, I'd sneak a little treat into the game - a sound track!

This is still pretty experimental and basic at this point, but there is an option to turn it off in the settings menu and to control the volume. I'm not entirely positive it will work on all browsers, particularly the android version of chrome due to browser security settings, so I'll keep working on it until I get it right.

All that aside, if anyone out there has some nautical sea shanties or little pirate diddies in midi format to send me, please do so. I've got about 6 songs right now that I grabbed, but I could use a few more good selections!

Cheers,

Mal

General Opinion Poll - File Size vs. Media

Right now I am looking at adding a soundtrack to the game of sea shanties, to really give it that pirate feel. Typically I would want to use something like MIDI, but it appears that browser support for it is very poor and my compiler will not bundle MIDI files anyway, so I'll be stuck using something like .MP3 instead which comparatively is a huge file format and will baloon the game size to about 32mb from 8mb.

I've been trying to stay away from adding too much media to this game, or when I do, using it sparingly and with small / compressed files, so I can keep the file size of the game down to the minimum. I also try to keep it one file, so I've been bundling the media which technically makes them bigger because they get base64 encoded.

Anyway, I have a survey that I would like people to respond to here if they have the time. It'll help me decide how to format the project going forward.

Please select any that apply!

Supporter Build - Version 0.10e Release Candidate

This is, hopefully, the last version of 0.10. I'm going to start planning 0.11 tomorrow, prioritizing my work based on the current results of the Focus Poll I put up the other day. 

I want to say thank you once again to all my Supporters! Overall the messages of support and encouragement I have gotten from you all has really motivated me to finish off what was a huge, and often grindy, technical release. 

The next release will be more content focused, so expect more quests and more random events to make your game feel more dynamic and alive.

Cheers,

Mal

Fan and Backer Build - Version 0.10e Release Candidate

This is, hopefully, the last version of 0.10. I'm going to start planning 0.11 tomorrow, so there is still time to vote on the Focus Poll if you haven't done so yet.

This version includes the Patreon Cheat menu for Backers and Fans. If you want to play without cheating, just grab the other version that  I am posting for Supporters.

Once again, I'm thankful for all of your support and I'll get working on the next release as soon as I can!

Cheers,

Mal

New Cheat Menu for Fans and Backers

This feature will probably make it into the next version 0.10 release candidate. I'll also be posting a link for Fans and Backers that includes a download to a special version of the game that has an embedded cheat menu in it as a special reward for people who have supported at the 5 dollar tier or higher. 

When it's ready, I'll be updating the tier descriptions on this Patreon page.

Cheers,

Mal

Next 0.10 PRE RELEASE version date

Hi all, just dropping a note here to say that the next (and hopefully final) PRE RELEASE version will be out by the end of the weekend. After that, there will be a gap of about a week while I squash any remaining bugs and push the candidate live.

I'm currently putting my project board together for version 0.11 - If you are a Fan level supporter or higher, then please vote on the content focus poll here.

During these fast development cycles, Backer level supporters can expect to get development builds pretty much almost every day. I recommend making a physical copy of your save game, unless of course you're especially brave!

As always, thanks to all my Patreons of all levels - your continued support is the fuel in this code engine and the excitement people have for this project is helping it build a full head of steam.

Smooth sailing,

Mal

Focus Poll - New Features!

I have a lot of ideas, too many sometimes, which is probably why the game has such a varied amount of content and mini games in it. Sometimes deciding which one to do first is HARD. That's where you guys come in - help me decide which of the following features should be prioritized for future releases:

Abamond Caves Expansion

Those caves are looking pretty sparse. This feature will add wandering monster encounters to each level that get progressively more difficult and reward more and more loot. To counter balance this, treasure (dig) spots will be made more worth while the lower you go.

Jungle Ruins Expansion

This has always been a stub of a future area, however I could build it out as an ever shifting maze that you explore much like an old Zork style adventure game, but including of course other mini-game mechanics. It's layout and rewards at the end would change every time you entered.

Pirate Queen Expansion

This has been called the 'mutiny' story line for as long as I can remember. It's an alternate ending for the game, one where you guide the player character through the steps necessary to become a Pirate Queen and win the game.

Casino Expansion

Add some more casino games to the actual casino. I'm thinking of aiming for the following: Black Jack, Roulette and Grand Hazard. In addition to this there will be the creation of a new skill called 'Cheating' under the Piracy heading, it will basically let you cheat at games and there may be a quest required to unlock it. Gamble your way to freedom!

Arena Expansion

A new planned area on one of the existing Isles. Here you will get to engage in lethal combat with a variety of mystical beasts for special token rewards. These rewards can be turned in for either upgrade versions of specific equipment, hard to find rare items, or unique consumables with powerful effects. Becoming the Arena Grand Champion will also unlock a new combat style.

So what does everyone think? Please vote in the poll below.

Please report bugs in 0.10 PRE RELEASE

Hi everyone!

Please, if you run across any bugs in the pre-release, report them.  You can do so either here on Patreon, or through the GitHub Issue Tracker, if you have a GitHub account, or on Reddit in the Official Pre-Release Thread.

There are definitely going to be errors in this release since so much changed and was added. Expect at least a couple of development builds for Backers in the next week and another Play Test Pre Release for all patreon supporters after that.

Official Subreddit

I know of at least four internet forums where this game is currently being discussed, so in order to try and get all the fans talking to each other I've decided to try a Subreddit on Reddit .com

Queen of the Seas Official Subreddit 

If you are a Fan or a Backer level supporter, feel free to message a moderator using your Patreon user name to receive your subreddit flair for being a supporter.