Clown Control

Credits reminder and other news!

Hey party people, a reminder that if you want your name in the credits for the next update, add it right here! You've got till Thursday night.

It's been a bit, but we're happy to announce that the next Joker's Trip update should be released at the end of the week! This update adds two new CGs and the abilities system! As well as some other stuff. Tomorrow I'll be making a dev post that'll shed some light on the new content, stay tuned!

-LG

Announcing: Promotional Art Polls! A sexy new perk!

TT here, remember last month when we had you vote on who'd be doing a footjob for the feet update? We've decided to make that a regular perk for patrons $3 and up (so--all of you)! After all, every build update needs promotional art, and anyone who came here from my other patreon knows how much I love looking at poll data...

So given this next update's main feature is the new drink mechanic, I ask you this:

Who should get a drink spilled all over her chest?

Voting will be done anonymously via google form (I hate how patreon polls spoil the results right away) and will remain open until the update is ready. We're currently aiming for mid-month, so be sure to vote before then!

-TT

Devlog #5 - in which a guy who doesn't drink alcohol designs alcoholic drinks

i'm losing cool points for this one but yes, i (taylor) don't drink. and not even for cool reasons like my health or it interferes with a medication. i just don't like the taste. icky. makes me scrunch. which made the process of designing fun cocktails not difficult per se, but meant i had no idea what particular drinks are made from or what tastes good or if there's some secret rule to what can be served in which glass.

for inspiration, we looked a bit at the drinks they serve in japanese themed cafes. you know like, it's a kamen rider cafe and the drinks are the colors of their suits and the ice cubes are shaped like guns.

normal ice cube. we wanted them to feel fun and unique and not tied down to real established drinks (and by we i mean me. the original plan had been to make regular drinks with real recipes, but where's the fun in that! i want my drinks to be BLUE and have FLOATING TOYS!!)

the first step with the visual development was figuring out the art style for the drinks. how thick should the lines be? how detailed? this was my first attempt at making a glass that looks like a glass and a drink that looks like a drink. it's not terrible! but when i placed it against a screenshot, all the little details of the bubbles were lost. it's too detailed!

thus, i refined the style into the placeholder you already saw in leo's post. thicker lines, simpler, bolder shapes, and less reliance on gradients. looks much better!

now THAT's a video game item! but it's also not very unique or distinct. it's just a placeholder!

(safety sip, lucky ducky, totally legal, risque business, babe buster)

never let anybody tell you your concept sketches need to be neat. they don't. as i mentioned above, i really know Nothing about alcohol or alcoholic drinks. my primary focus was on making each of these drinks visually distinct and, if i could, give a clue as to what they'd do or tie in with their name. lucky ducky is the most obvious one, it gives joker better luck! and also there is a cute duck! because i love a silly garnish. risque business is green because it involves money and That's Pretty Much The Whole Thought. safety sip and babe buster are both blue because they both relate to busting. why blue specifically? blue looks good.

that is the level of visual development i am on. sometimes the drink is blue because it looks good if it's blue.

and here are our finished drinks! each of these actually has four phases: full, one sip, two sips, empty (except water, which is endless). i'll let you guys see those when you play the update, but i'm very pleased with how they came out. and! some of them got tweaks in the final stage of development. risque business got a penis shaped silly straw instead of a stirrer. babe buster gets an ice sphere. basically just trying to do whatever i can to make these feel unique and like Cool Items. lucky ducky is my favorite. i think it's joker's favorite too. his special little ducky.

we also moved joker to the left to make room for the drink in the UI, which has the added benefit of not covering up the leftmost girl as much. hooray! finally you'll be able to see rosalie's pussy from anywhere at the table. and at least one of prill's boobs.

with these done and imported, leo's back to work on the dialogue studio! that's going to enable a much, much more robust system of dialogue that i can't wait to play with. these girls are going to talk to each other. fantastic. we'll finally pass the bechdel test.

-TT

(PS, if you've never seen the girl drink drunk KITH sketch, now's a great time)

Devlog #4 - Top Off Da Pint with Gameplay

Takes a sippy. Hey. So we've been hard at work! We've also been working hard. During the last update Taylor (and some players) brought up the fact that the crowd kind of disables any real player action, and that blows. And I agreed. So what could I do to change things up without adding more work so that the update can come out sooner?

The first idea was reworking the crowd into something Joker could deploy. I had this plan for a future update, where you could spend cash at a shop for upgrades and etc. The thing is, we kinda need that extra gameplay Now. So I thought, let's just give the player that ultimate form of crowd calling! It'd be a button that charges with the more losses the chicks face, and then you could press it to call them when you wanted. Couple that with reworking the way status effects work and bada-bing, gameplay!

…But I wasn't satisfied with that. So I thought more on it. Joker's Trip doesnt have stats outside of an invisible luck stat. I can't do the RPG thing of "+4.5% damage to centaurs, immunity to ice damage," incremental rewards. The player has a very deliberate action economy. Eventually I want you to unlock abilities that affect those actions. Originally the solution was the status effects. As they work right now, they're flawed. Hot always hitting and Shy always standing means that the player has zero say in what happens, even if it's beneficial for them. Now, things will work a bit differently. Hot will always listen to a hit taunt, and Shy will always listen to a stand taunt. At first, it sounds like there's no real difference, but as the player, it means that the buff is essentially in your court to dish out. You still have to make the choices. Choice is the biggest tool at my disposal for giving the player more agency.

That alone would’ve helped a lot, but I was still thinking about player abilities. We knew we were eventually going to add a drink mixing mini-game, and Taylor had the idea to tie the two together. So I sat down and made a a list of possible buffs and boosts that the player could unlock in the final game, thinking I’d pick the 3 simplest, and add them to the build.

As you can see here I ended up doing five (there's six but that first one's supposed to be None ability) because I was drastically overestimating the work required, and was on a roll last weekend. Lmao.

For now, you’ll get 5 choices for abilities. 3 will buff Joker, and 2 target a gambler in some way. Designing the abilities is really fun, because it has to be balanced. A restriction, an amount of charges, an unexpected side effect—these can all be used to help justify a powerful effect. For example, the Joker buff Totally Legal guarantees a 21! That's pretty good, at worst you're tying. With 2 charges, that's 2 rounds you know you'll win. But to balance it I also added the restriction that nobody can be betting clothes at that point. So it becomes a "get to the stripping faster" power rather than an instant win. 

Another "get to the stripping faster" ability is Risque Business, a gambler targeter. When you use it they will bet all their money. And you get 3 charges! That's pretty busted.

Until you realize Rosalie just went from $150 to $600 cause she did a lucky draw two rounds in a row.

Doing these abilities actually forced me to add a lot of systems that the game needed eventually anyway, like a flag system for when the player sees something for the first time, and a way to select a gambler during play.

When you start up Joker's Trip after this update comes out, you'll be asked to select an ability. Once you do, you can change it from the start menu whenever. And if you don't feel like messing with that, you can just take a glass of water :) On the game floor you'll have a button you can click to activate the ability.

So with all that said, abilities, crowd, and status reworks are done, and will be tested soon! Once Taylor finishes drawing up the icons and I replace the placeholder, it's back to the dialog studio! And after THAT'S done, some new Sexy Content will be coming ya'lls way >:) 

-Leo G

Devlog #3 - Mimosa Mom Monday's at Joker's Trip

Buenos dias~ It’s been a week since 0.1.2. It’s also been a week since I’ve actually touched Joker’s Trip. That is the longest I haven’t worked on Joker’s Trip since I was laid off six months ago. I’ve been studying intensely for a job interview the other day and got the news that I passed…that phase! I still have more steps in the interview process cause job hunting is hell, but it’s back to the Joker’s Trip mines for me. And the first thing I’m working on is the dialog handling. 

The dialog in Joker’s Trip is limited. Characters can react to others but can’t have a conversation. This rework will enable that, clean up code, and make it easier to write dialog. This is also the first step in mod support, because I’m making a dialog studio to write and export lines instead of writing them in a shared google doc where we can accidentally misspell tags that end up in the game. 

Something funny about public game development is you’ll get comments along the lines of “I wish X gameplay feature was in,” or “I feel like Y should happen.” And meanwhile your internal game roadmap already has X and Y as planned gameplay features. I love it tbh, because it means we’re all on the same page about what the game should be. That being said, what’s next? 

We’ve mentioned plans for adding a bar and visual novel-like gameplay, with a drink mixing mini-game. The next update would lay the groundwork for this, starting with the drinks and their gameplay effects at the table. These would form the basis of your special abilities. AKA: cheating.

You will be able to select from an assortment of cocktails at the start of the game, each with a unique helpful ability. Does a gambler have too much money? Take a sip, and it’s halved! Think you’re about to bust? Down the hatch! Need a 21 to barely beat Rosalie? Bottom’s up! Each drink will have a limited amount of uses per game, but they can make all the difference if your luck’s just not enough!

The ideal version of this mechanic would involve mixing the drinks yourself while chatting up the ladies at the bar, unlocking new cocktails and conversations as you go. But that’s a lot to code, and a lot to make you wait for, so for now, it’ll just be something you can pick from a list before you enter the casino.

In addition to this, I’ll be reworking the crowd mechanic. The current implementation locks the girls into certain moods and behaviors, which can be frustrating to play against. Now, the status change will be a chance, rather than a guarantee, and have a slightly different effect. A girl affected by Hot, instead of always hitting, will now always listen to a Hit taunt. Shy always listens when told to Stand. Focused remains unchanged—that one’s supposed to be a disadvantage. Can’t make it too easy for you!

So to recap, our primary goals for 0.1.3:

• Create a dialog studio for internal, and eventual modder, use

• Add drinks and special abilities

• Rework crowd and status effects

Please look forward to it!

-Leo G (and TT)

Joker's Trip Patreon Release - v0.1.2: The Feet Update

Hey, hey party people! New release! Highlights include being able to see the full body of all the gals between rounds, 140 new dialog events (over 400 new lines!), a few balancing tweaks, and a bunch of QoL improvements listed below.

The initial release of Joker's Trip has had incredible feedback, and I'm really hoping y'all enjoy this build and future ones. Up next, we'll be reworking the gallery mode, how CGs are displayed, and adding a feature [or...reward?] that some of you have been clamoring for. Stay tuned for more on that on a later date :) If you find anything funky, here's a link to the bug report form.

Oh, and speaking of funky, some of you have submitted a bug that seems to only occur on Windows 11. I'll try and see what I can do about it, but for full transparency...I don't have Windows 11, so debugging that will be tough. Regardless, I'll try my best!

-Leo G

(TT's disclaimer: there are no foot related CGs in the game itself. Yet? also if you were confused by the posts from earlier today, i accidentally announced an upcoming book of mine while logged in here, rather than on my own patreon account. oops.)

(unless you're into that.)

0.1.2 - Changelog

Additions

• You can now view the girls' full bodies at the start of a phase.

• Nearly 400 new lines of dialogue (140 events).

• Status effect indicator shows what emotional state the gamblers are in, with tooltip and explanation in manual.

• Noriko has a chance to appear in the background if she’s not at the table.

• Patron credits page.

• Unity and SFX credits added.

Changes

• Game over animation fully plays, no longer stuck on screen.

• The round countdown is much clearer with “Turn X of Y” formatting.

• Reduced starting turn count from 25 to 21.

• Stats refresh at the end of the round instead of at the start of the next one.

• The game asks if you want to play again after losing instead of booting you out.

• Disabled the gamblers’ boxes when a Showtime is selected. 

• Crowd logic and effect on the gamblers were adjusted.

• Adjusted gambler playing logic.

Fixes

• Dealer hand text would drift due to animation bug.

• Removed post-processing anti-aliasing from camera, so 2D art looks less crusty.

• Fixed some dialog that went outside the dialog box.

• Fixed how aces were calculated.

• Fixed phone texture material in Noriko Jack CG.

• Special game over image works better in the scene.

• Fixed a null error with Joker's FX expression handling.

• Fixed the Bluesky link.

• Fixed some sprite art issues.

• Various CG tweaks.

poll: who should i draw giving a foot job for the feet update

#real #notajoke #feet

you have until friday morning to decide, because i'll need time to finish it for the update coming out that evening. foot freaks it's your moment.

also don't forget to add your name to the form  tonight if you want to be in the credits! leo is finalizing them tomorrow!

-TT

0.1.2 - The Feet Update, This Friday and/or Weekend!

That's right, this friday and/or weekend, the Feet Update is coming to Joker's Trip. And so will you.

Jesus Christ, anyway, this update's change log is a Lot longer than the last one, and includes the full body viewer mode! Hence, the title of the update. We hope you enjoy that, and the 400+ dialog lines (180 dialog events) that we added.

And as a reminder, tomorrow's the last day to get your name in the credits for this build! Else, it'll come up in the one after.

-Leo G

Joker's Trip Credits cutoff for v0.1.2!

Wednesday April 2nd will be the cutoff for getting your name in the credits for the upcoming build! You can find the form here. You can still add your name to the form, it'll just appear in the version after :)

Development on this build is wrapping up, and soon after the cutoff we'll be dropping 0.1.2! Our goal is next Friday, the 4th. It'll have quite the bit of fixes (thanks everyone that submitted bugs!) and some new features. And a lot of new dialog.

-Leo G

Patron Credits Form!

Hey there party people, the next build is coming up soon, and I realized you all should get some proper credit :)

SO if you don't mind, please fill out the form! Or don't!

If you fill out the form and notice your name's not there as of the next build, that means I finished before your submission, and your name will be in the build after.

-Leo G

Devlog #2 - this time taylor's making one

hi. i'll be doing these too, because even though leo does the vast majority of the work around here, i also find things to do. even if it's mostly correcting mistakes my own ass made because most of my art in the game is 1-2 years old by now and That's Life.

today we will be talking about the clothing system, and foresight. specifically using syd, who i think was the second sprite i ever made back in 2022 (rosalie was the first)

we love you syd. you're so hot. how about you take off your shirt, but leave the jacket on. that's hot. that's something i would expect a character like you to do, and would be hot.

 ah shit.

 ahhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiit.

honestly i don't know how this got past me. we even had code in the game specifically For syd taking everything off but the jacket. it was an intended feature. somehow i did not think 'hey i should make sure the jacket looks good if she's not wearing her shirt with it. instead of drawing it with a perfectly shirt shaped cut out'

anyway great news! this will be fixed in the upcoming update. we solved the problem by separating the jacket into its sleeves. left sleeve stays on top, right sleeve goes behind. i even adjusted it so her boobs can pop out overtop it (not yet tested in game but Should be possible).

nice.

i cleaned up a few other things that only i would notice or care about, which i'm not going to list because then you'd notice and maybe care about them. well. and i redrew her pubes. they're better now. you aren't really able to see them in the current build of the game (something we've already solved for the next build) so you'll just have to trust me. pubes improved. impubed.

also, because leo wants to shame me. in an early test build syd referred to her shorts as 'jorts', and i asked leo twice to change it to shorts. because they aren't jorts. but today as i was working in syd's file...

 ; ; 'twas me. i was jorts.

-TT

Devlog #1 - The next update

Hey hey there, party people! First devlog, let’s go. 

First off: wow. This first week has been insane! Y'all shared some insanely kind words and it's been really motivating, I can't wait to put out some more of Joker's Trip for YOU, the player.

Today we’re gonna talk about the latest feature I worked on for Joker’s Trip--being able to see the full bodies of the gals unobstructed! This will probably be the last notable feature I’m adding to the public demo as well. It’s something I wanted to have at launch but was left at the wayside. 

Initially, I wanted to do something significantly more complicated. You tap on any given girl and it shifts the camera, hides the table and UI, moves the girl to a higher sorting order so they render above everything else, and then make UI in physical space swooce in to block the background and provide her current stats, along with info about the character themself. 

Then Taylor showed up and asked why I was doing any of that if you can just see all of them at once. 

You can see how many pieces of clothing they have left by Looking at them. The stats box is a click away. All information is present. And the point of the game is to get a feel for these chicks’ patterns so just Telling you their deal felt a little counterproductive. And it's clean!

So I made it easier for myself by making it just a button that hides some objects and pans out. And by doing so the update can happen sooner! Devving is funny like that.

The update will have some more to it: a bunch of bug fixes (say good bye weird artifacting crust!), more dialog, it'll be easier to see a secret Joker image, some things will be more clear, and Noriko will be there...

...Watching. 

-Leo G

Welcome to Clown Control!

Thank you for visiting our little patreon page, we hope you enjoy your stay.

Latest Patreon Build: Version 0.2.3

Latest Character Poll: Meredith v. Kim (Closed! Congrats Meredith!)

Roadmap: List of features

Bug Reports: Find the form here

Patron Tip Jar and Da Bank Credits form: Find the form here

Hotfix 0.1.1 [Patreon Build] is out!

​Hey, hey, hey! First of all: Thank you all so much on the positive feedback! Really does mean a lot to me.

Second, here's the first hot fix to Joker's Trip! I felt the need to put this one out ASAP since Syd's breasts are pretty rockin'. Also have a fun bug that appeared because I forgot to turn off a Noriko sprite that I was posing for a promo image.

-Leo G

Changelog: 0.1.1

• Fixed Syd’s boobs not appearing on strip

• Enabled space bar to advance dialog

• Disabled space bar from activating the crowd debug

• Added facial expression to a Syd dialog node

Introductions and the Future

Howdy, howdy! Today's the day we release the demo of our first game, Joker's Trip! We're excited to work on it some more, and make it the best strip blackjack game you could play.

The plan is for builds to come out as they're ready, but you're guaranteed a monthly devlog so nobody's kept in the dark about progress. The first update will focus on future proofing for accessible modding and faster overall development speed. It'll also add more unique dialogue to get to know the girls even better, and various visual improvements.

Thank you again, we hope you enjoy! 

-Leo G

Welcome to Joker's Trip! + Patreon Build

Hey hey party people, thanks for subscribing to the Joker's Trip Patreon! This game's been a few years in the making, and we're excited to finally share it with you! New builds will be Patreon exclusive and uploaded as they're ready, so you guys will be the first to get your hands on all future improvements.

Let us know what you think!

-Leo G, TT