While I likely won't add alternate scenarios to Manor itself, I am working on prototypes for a bit at the moment and some are more or less that (Bimbo Arena is a bit of a different game with the same interface, but the others are generally quite similar).
It's a finished poll, but the details can be seen here.
If you have any suggestions/thoughts I'd love to hear them; the game is pretty much complete (barring some possible extra features) so I'm curious about what feels missing/unfinished (other than overall art quality which I don't have the resources to improve haha).
For me, it's few things. And take this with a grain of salt since I could very well be playing the game weird. Autism and all that.
One thing I think is a fun, but completely optional idea is more things for memory or perception manipulation. Maybe I just haven't been using it well, but it feels a little shallow right now. But only a little!
I've yet to experience the traitors or secret maids in the game since once the visitors actually figure out something is wrong, it feels like they really brute force the situation. Which I tern, gets either you or them walloped right away, leaving no room for strategy or deception. So maybe giving the visitors a chance to strategize, by barricading a room off, and giving us a prison for downed people would be fun. I also just don't know how to make deals with visitors since I only seen the option once with a hero during the final section, and I know how to make a secret maid but I didn't see much use for them.
The second would be combat, it's kinda... what's the best word... Simple? I don't know, it just feels like there's no depth to it if that makes any kind of sense. I know this isn't supposed to be a fighting game, and that's ok. I just feel like combat and the prospect of it is little more than an annoyance than anything else.
Now if you have any recommendations for things to try, please tell me. It's very possible and likely I'm missing something and just not playing the game to it's fullest. Oh, and one more thing. More outfits and customization would be splendid! I know that's kinda a nitpicky thing, but I love playing dress up with my metaphorical dolls in these cases. That's all I have to say, I really enjoy your games so far, but I will say there's a lot of things especially in your other game that just go way over my head. Even when reading through the tutorials, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Memory/perception manipulation: There's a couple of tools, but likely the only thing you haven't seen is stuff traitors/secret maids can do regarding painting other characters as traitors, and secret maids seeming (badly) to be someone else. Ah, just in case, a major one is targeted forgetting of knowledge and characters to keep visitors from going hostile. If you have any ideas for what might be fun, let me know - the system might suit them.
Visitor hostile stage: It is a bit brutal; it's the 'things have gone wrong' stage and combat is meant to be messy (and possibly hard) early. It's a little tangential to your ideas, but a possible future feature during beta is an 'orange' stage, in which visitors are aware but not yet actively hostile/fighting (roughly, they know things are wrong and that the maids aren't on their side, but they're not sure if the maids are actively working against them/how dangerous it is/etc. so they'll do things you'd rather they don't but won't be openly fighting).
Combat: It's intentionally simple and messy yeah. Apart from the very late stage where you do the ritual (which you should be well prepared before attempting heh heh) it's mostly intended that it's avoided and that characters are handled in other ways (including e.g. letting visitors leave if they don't know much yet, or teleporting the manor to avoid cops/champions). Combat is things going wrong. I'm open to ideas though - I just want to keep the overall feel where it is (risky and ideally avoided).
Outfits: Have you seen the gardener/librarian/chef/nurse ones? More may be added, though it'll probably be a poll feature. Oh, and the alternate maid outfits option and just in case, the maid upgrade forms.
Fair enough, I'm just being nitpicky for the most part. I really do like these kinds of games. I will keep playing, experimenting and seeing what I can do. I really look forward to your future projects. And if any more ideas come to mind I'll mention them.
Thanks for the feedback by the way. I like to hear thoughts and impressions of the game no matter what they are; it gives me a feel for how people are experiencing the game and what I should tweak and such.
Combat against normal guests and cops has so far been extremely easy and effective. You just have such overwhelming force available, you can simply decide to ambush an enemy and they go down.
... yeah. Tested it against an early arrest squad. They didn't make it in the front door, got a single round of action. Zero resources expended, 3 (out of 10) incapacitations, +4 ex-cops.
On the one hand, I'm only in the midgame and am playing with the large manor, but it also reflects my experiences with the smaller manor. You have to be a *little* more careful but not much.
But like. After the first wave, the threats have been less 'threats' and more 'free resources'.
Update: Got a fair bit further, even fought some champions.
Higher threat forces put up a stronger fight - but that's just it, it's a *stronger* fight. I was able to defeat most threats - 12 cop squad, champion, 25 cop squad, 4 champion party. I suspect the 16 champions is way too much to deal with but anyone sane would have jumped by now.
In each case, it seems the correct answer to the problem is overwhelming force. More violence, more simply. Where I've made a tactical error it's in trying any plan other than 'get a big stack and throw it at them' (also, use tasers on the highest combat targets and then go down the list of best matchups).
Admittedly, I've got lucky and haven't had to fight a 20+ combat champion. Admittedly, I struggle to think of a way to deal with a hostile champion other than violence. Investigator, sure, but hostile out the door?
And if you're not actively trying to take the hardest fights, you can just... not. Champion detection resets on jump, I don't know if their 'aggro' also does, but it seems most likely. In this case, you can avoid taking any fights you don't need to, and in *that* case...
Yeah, sudden violence is just easier than doing anything else. There are other options, but they seem best used mainly to set up for the sudden violence.
I'm not sure how to... solve... this? On one level it makes sense. The simplicity of the combat system isn't a problem, necessarily, but it does get a bit frustrating that complexity is counterproductive.
Personally, I'd like to see vampires in the game (I know, it'd probably require a direct overhaul of most maps, an entire new set of sprites for EVERY character sheet, among other things, but you cant have an evil manor filled with sexy maids without vampires. That'd just be silly.)
This game is really fun. It seems like a lot, but it comes slow enough that it's easy to understand. Though I wish it was clearer how to increase your power gain per turn.
Installing room upgrades is done by viewing a maid carrying upgrade materials and selecting "Upgrade Room" or by having a maid interact with upgrade materials (maid -> materials drag+drop; should show as "Upgrade Room" as well).
A pdf manual is a good idea; I probably won't get to it until the game is nearing full release however as the manual is still a work in progress (there's some sections that need updates currently actually).
A very fun game, a bit too ha’d for my ADHD (like as I focus on one visitor all the other have created a rebellion) but thank to the personalized setting the difficulty can be reduced.
I don’t know how much it would be but this game would be perfect on tablet, it feel like it was made to be played on a tactile screen.
If someone's interested in trying out and letting me know any issues with an Android version I can build one, but it's something I'd like to coordinate on Discord if anyone's keen (there will be issues and I'd like to iron them out before sharing it here).
Otherwise, it is something I'll try once I'm a few more alphas in (it should work) but I can't make guarantees (it might not quite work) and when I'll get to it is still very uncertain.
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I enjoyed my time with the game although, a couple of things that I think would be nice to see would be:
1. different scenarios with different victory conditions.
2. A few more transformation types some that are scenario locked.
While I likely won't add alternate scenarios to Manor itself, I am working on prototypes for a bit at the moment and some are more or less that (Bimbo Arena is a bit of a different game with the same interface, but the others are generally quite similar).
It's a finished poll, but the details can be seen here.
Been playing this game recently, and I have to say it's enjoyable! But still has a long ways to go for sure.
If you have any suggestions/thoughts I'd love to hear them; the game is pretty much complete (barring some possible extra features) so I'm curious about what feels missing/unfinished (other than overall art quality which I don't have the resources to improve haha).
For me, it's few things. And take this with a grain of salt since I could very well be playing the game weird. Autism and all that.
One thing I think is a fun, but completely optional idea is more things for memory or perception manipulation. Maybe I just haven't been using it well, but it feels a little shallow right now. But only a little!
I've yet to experience the traitors or secret maids in the game since once the visitors actually figure out something is wrong, it feels like they really brute force the situation. Which I tern, gets either you or them walloped right away, leaving no room for strategy or deception. So maybe giving the visitors a chance to strategize, by barricading a room off, and giving us a prison for downed people would be fun. I also just don't know how to make deals with visitors since I only seen the option once with a hero during the final section, and I know how to make a secret maid but I didn't see much use for them.
The second would be combat, it's kinda... what's the best word... Simple? I don't know, it just feels like there's no depth to it if that makes any kind of sense. I know this isn't supposed to be a fighting game, and that's ok. I just feel like combat and the prospect of it is little more than an annoyance than anything else.
Now if you have any recommendations for things to try, please tell me. It's very possible and likely I'm missing something and just not playing the game to it's fullest. Oh, and one more thing. More outfits and customization would be splendid! I know that's kinda a nitpicky thing, but I love playing dress up with my metaphorical dolls in these cases. That's all I have to say, I really enjoy your games so far, but I will say there's a lot of things especially in your other game that just go way over my head. Even when reading through the tutorials, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Memory/perception manipulation: There's a couple of tools, but likely the only thing you haven't seen is stuff traitors/secret maids can do regarding painting other characters as traitors, and secret maids seeming (badly) to be someone else. Ah, just in case, a major one is targeted forgetting of knowledge and characters to keep visitors from going hostile. If you have any ideas for what might be fun, let me know - the system might suit them.
Visitor hostile stage: It is a bit brutal; it's the 'things have gone wrong' stage and combat is meant to be messy (and possibly hard) early. It's a little tangential to your ideas, but a possible future feature during beta is an 'orange' stage, in which visitors are aware but not yet actively hostile/fighting (roughly, they know things are wrong and that the maids aren't on their side, but they're not sure if the maids are actively working against them/how dangerous it is/etc. so they'll do things you'd rather they don't but won't be openly fighting).
Combat: It's intentionally simple and messy yeah. Apart from the very late stage where you do the ritual (which you should be well prepared before attempting heh heh) it's mostly intended that it's avoided and that characters are handled in other ways (including e.g. letting visitors leave if they don't know much yet, or teleporting the manor to avoid cops/champions). Combat is things going wrong. I'm open to ideas though - I just want to keep the overall feel where it is (risky and ideally avoided).
Outfits: Have you seen the gardener/librarian/chef/nurse ones? More may be added, though it'll probably be a poll feature. Oh, and the alternate maid outfits option and just in case, the maid upgrade forms.
Fair enough, I'm just being nitpicky for the most part. I really do like these kinds of games. I will keep playing, experimenting and seeing what I can do. I really look forward to your future projects. And if any more ideas come to mind I'll mention them.
^^
Thanks for the feedback by the way. I like to hear thoughts and impressions of the game no matter what they are; it gives me a feel for how people are experiencing the game and what I should tweak and such.
Combat against normal guests and cops has so far been extremely easy and effective. You just have such overwhelming force available, you can simply decide to ambush an enemy and they go down.
... yeah. Tested it against an early arrest squad. They didn't make it in the front door, got a single round of action. Zero resources expended, 3 (out of 10) incapacitations, +4 ex-cops.
On the one hand, I'm only in the midgame and am playing with the large manor, but it also reflects my experiences with the smaller manor. You have to be a *little* more careful but not much.
But like. After the first wave, the threats have been less 'threats' and more 'free resources'.
I'll see how far I can go.
Update: Got a fair bit further, even fought some champions.
Higher threat forces put up a stronger fight - but that's just it, it's a *stronger* fight. I was able to defeat most threats - 12 cop squad, champion, 25 cop squad, 4 champion party. I suspect the 16 champions is way too much to deal with but anyone sane would have jumped by now.
In each case, it seems the correct answer to the problem is overwhelming force. More violence, more simply. Where I've made a tactical error it's in trying any plan other than 'get a big stack and throw it at them' (also, use tasers on the highest combat targets and then go down the list of best matchups).
Admittedly, I've got lucky and haven't had to fight a 20+ combat champion. Admittedly, I struggle to think of a way to deal with a hostile champion other than violence. Investigator, sure, but hostile out the door?
And if you're not actively trying to take the hardest fights, you can just... not. Champion detection resets on jump, I don't know if their 'aggro' also does, but it seems most likely. In this case, you can avoid taking any fights you don't need to, and in *that* case...
Yeah, sudden violence is just easier than doing anything else. There are other options, but they seem best used mainly to set up for the sudden violence.
I'm not sure how to... solve... this? On one level it makes sense. The simplicity of the combat system isn't a problem, necessarily, but it does get a bit frustrating that complexity is counterproductive.
Personally, I'd like to see vampires in the game (I know, it'd probably require a direct overhaul of most maps, an entire new set of sprites for EVERY character sheet, among other things, but you cant have an evil manor filled with sexy maids without vampires. That'd just be silly.)
This game is really fun. It seems like a lot, but it comes slow enough that it's easy to understand. Though I wish it was clearer how to increase your power gain per turn.
Really enjoyable game. It looks good and the gameplay loop is extremely engaging.
I wanted to ask, how do you install upgrades? I never quite figured out, nor I was able to find information on the manual.
Also, could you put the manual as a .pdf as well? I'd like to read it and take notes, but it's kind of annoying to do it through the game.
I'm glad you like it :D
Installing room upgrades is done by viewing a maid carrying upgrade materials and selecting "Upgrade Room" or by having a maid interact with upgrade materials (maid -> materials drag+drop; should show as "Upgrade Room" as well).
A pdf manual is a good idea; I probably won't get to it until the game is nearing full release however as the manual is still a work in progress (there's some sections that need updates currently actually).
A very fun game, a bit too ha’d for my ADHD (like as I focus on one visitor all the other have created a rebellion) but thank to the personalized setting the difficulty can be reduced.
I don’t know how much it would be but this game would be perfect on tablet, it feel like it was made to be played on a tactile screen.
in the end it’s a really good game ˆˆ
Will there be an android version?
If someone's interested in trying out and letting me know any issues with an Android version I can build one, but it's something I'd like to coordinate on Discord if anyone's keen (there will be issues and I'd like to iron them out before sharing it here).
Otherwise, it is something I'll try once I'm a few more alphas in (it should work) but I can't make guarantees (it might not quite work) and when I'll get to it is still very uncertain.
Game doesn't save. After closing the game, the saves disappear.
There is no saving in game at present.