Post by RebelliousRam in Legends of ETERIA: TheChronos v0.1.5 comments

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@TioCuba I played the game for myself now and noticed a few things, is your original script in Spanish perhaps and the English one a machine translation? Some menus are still in Spanish and some of the dialogue feels a little off. Other than that the English script is mostly fine.

I actually never found any of the hidden puzzles in the renders because I'm simply too locked in with the story that I didn’t notice them and forgot about them entirely. I think optional stuff can be cool, but this approach didn’t really worked for me in a linear VN. I don’t want to scan every render/picture I come across, I mean there are hundreds of them. :D

There are a lot of references to other anime, be it Re: Zero, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Death Note, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto etc - do you plan to keep those up in the upcoming versions, including the meta commentary?

It's cool that you already can afford a great animator for this project, will he stay on this game for the time being or will you share more of the workload yourself in the future? The h-scenes are awesome but the transitions between the different animations are a bit abrupt.

I enjoyed the presentation of the game so far, a lot of effort went into it, that much is clear. The girls are quite attractive and the cast in general really big and colorful. Emilia is still my fav, didn’t expect her to be a milf but I'm not complaining.

I didn’t expect to see Carmine from Scarlet/Violet or Juliet from Lollipop Chainsaw. Aldric reminds me a bit of a young DCVDNS, a German rapper (I'm sure that one wasn’t intentional though lol) Even enemy types from Doom and Resident Evil, I believe?

I noticed that some of the renders and scenes didn’t make it into the game yet, I assume those are for 0.2 and beyond?

TioCuba3 days ago(+2)

Hey, sobrino! First of all, I’m sorry about the issues in the English version. Unfortunately, I’m not fluent enough to handle the language entirely by myself, even though I can understand English at a fairly high level.

The errors you mentioned should have been fixed in version 0.1.5. Oh God, while writing this, I just realized how stupid I am. I accidentally replaced some files in the Android port that I wasn’t supposed to replace, so I’ll have to rebuild it again. The PC version should be completely fine, though!

The hidden puzzles are entirely optional. They don’t add anything canonical to the story and are simply bonus content. They were intentionally designed to encourage players to replay the game, search for them, and share the answers with one another.

And yes, there are A LOT of references. I’ll tone them down in future versions, so there won’t be quite as many. However, I can’t promise that I’ll stop including them completely because I genuinely love references and that style of humor. I mean, my logo is literally Deadpool. That alone should tell you a lot about my sense of humor, hahaha.

I hope to continue working with my animator and possibly hire additional animators in the future if necessary. I’m willing to do whatever I can to achieve an incredible level of quality.

However, if you noticed abrupt transitions between the animations, that part is my fault. I found it difficult and frustrating to connect everything smoothly. I could write an entire story in two hours, but then completely freeze when dealing with things like this. I’ll keep improving, though. This is only version 0.1... well, 0.1.5 now.

I’m glad you liked Emilia. She really is an excellent girl!

Many characters may look like intentional references, but some of them were simply characters already available in the program that I used without realizing they were based on something else. Aldric wasn’t a reference, though, hahaha. I have no idea who that rapper is, sorry!

The enemies from *Doom* were also unintentional. Once again, I simply used the first tough-looking enemy I found. Someone later pointed out that it came from *Doom*, and that’s when I intentionally added the Doom sword as another reference.

I don’t remember including any enemies from *Resident Evil*, but I did include some references to *Resident Evil 4*, which is my favorite, hahaha.

As for the renders and scenes that don’t appear in the game, many of them are simply wallpapers or promotional renders I created separately. I haven’t made the first render for version 0.2 yet, although its script is already quite advanced.

Thank you for taking the time to leave such an interesting and detailed comment!

RebelliousRam3 days ago (2 edits)

Your English is pretty good. I'm not a native speaker myself but I always play these games in English, assuming it’s the original script or at least a decent translation. That's why I never touch the German version of AVN's since they're mostly relying on machine translations and can feel a little stiff. But I know that for a lot of people it's a huge blessing.

That’s weird because I played on PC xD Have you updated the build already? I remember I downloaded your game only a few hours after the paige was up.

I thought at first I would be missing out on a few scenes if I don’t find/solve the puzzles. If the rewards are just a few extra renders, I'm totally fine with it.

That might be for the best, I can enjoy a few insider and meta jokes, as you can tell I'm a huge fan of all those anime and games myself but I think you might hurt the identity of your own game and your characters in the long run. I like a good hommage but I feel like you overdid it a little with the references. It makes it harder to resonate with your story on a emotional level, it doesn’t have to be always serious, of course not but I had the feeling you want to tell a earnest story as well. The hamster dropped a lot of lore on Nexura which sounded interesting and I see the potential there.

I hope my feedback doesn't come across as harsh, it's all in good faith because I genuinely want this game to succeed. There are things I can and will criticize about my absolute favourite games as well, I think that's how a measured review should be, praise the good and point out potential flaws.

I mean if you have the funds go for it! You found an excellent animator and they're hard to come by.

That's totally understandable considering you're still fairly new to this, it's an entirely different skill set than writing a story after all. You just have to find your groove. :)

Oh, haha that's funny that there are even unintentional references! You might have a chuckle if you look DCVDNS up. :D

Some of the mutated/zombie enemies look like variants of the tyrant, even if they're not 1 to 1 copies.

What about the lovely footjob scene with Natasha then? I didn’t miss it, did I? Seemed a little early considering we just befriended/helped her.

Anyway, I hope you're happy with the reception of Legends of Eteria so far. I feel like there's a lot of traffic already. :)

TioCuba3 days ago(+1)

Hey, welcome back hahaha! Sobrino, I genuinely love comments like this. When you see so many empty comments written only to throw shit at something, with absolutely no empathy, even harsh but honest criticism can feel refreshing.

But your comment wasn’t either of those things. It was genuinely great **constructive criticism**. You even showed interest and connected not only with the game itself, but also more directly with the developer, which in this case is me. That’s incredible and extremely motivating!

Let’s go through everything one part at a time!

In the end, no. I didn’t replace any of the files like I originally thought I would. Version **0.1.5** is available for both Android and PC, and many of the English mistakes should already be fixed or improved. However, if you speak German, I would recommend checking out that translation. It wasn’t made with Google Translate, although I can’t guarantee that it’s perfect.

And yes, I understand that oversaturating the game with jokes and references could eventually cause it to lose its own identity, and we definitely don’t want that. The jokes naturally become less frequent as the story progresses. However, deep down, I have always viewed my game primarily as a comedy.

I do want to create serious and emotional moments, as well as explore many areas that I haven’t touched before. But ultimately, I want to create something I can return to years from now and still have a great time with. Still, your concern is completely understandable, and I agree with you!

As I said at the beginning, don’t worry. I thought your comment was excellent!

There will probably always be accidental references that people point out, making me say, “Oh, I had no idea!” hahaha. That happens because HS2, which is what we use to create the game, has a massive number of assets, and many of them come from different franchises.

Every bonus scene is OPTIONAL AND NON-CANON, just as I previously mentioned. Natasha’s footjob scene is simply that: a non-canon bonus scene. That hasn’t actually happened in the story, and honestly, it wouldn’t make sense for it to happen yet. I’m planning to give Natasha a strong backstory, so I’m not going to ruin everything by making her relationship progress that quickly!

Honestly, I could have used almost any other girl for that scene. I only chose Natasha because her personality makes her seem more likely to do something like that. I definitely can’t imagine Eris or Lin doing it hahaha.

And yes, I’m very happy and deeply grateful to God that so many of you found my game and everything surrounding it interesting. I’m already cleaning up old files and assets so I can organize everything and begin working on 0.2, even though I promised myself I would take several days off.

On top of that, I’ve been dealing with a horrible flu for the past two weeks. But I’m motivated! Everyone’s support has given me an incredible boost.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has commented in good faith. Even when it comes in the form of constructive criticism, the feedback and genuine interest are deeply appreciated!

RebelliousRam2 days ago

I'm also reading all of the other comments you're receiving and I totally see that it can be frustrating and even hurtful to read some of the more mean spirited ones. It's scary to put yourself out there with something you worked hard on for so long. It can become and feel quite personal. Especially as someone who also loves to write and wants to release a game at some point. I'm not sure if I will ever feel prepared for the criticism. I just know that it will get to me at first, justified or not. I try to be fair in my reviews and always share my honest thoughts.

I just checked, I'm still on version 0.1 - so my bad, at the time I wasn't aware that you put out a fix already. :) That's a surprise, did you get help with the German translation?

One of my favourite AVN's - Realm Invader (which is also quite similar to Eternum) tends to be really jokey as well and faces a similar problem, the humor is great for the most part but it can be hard at times to feel the stakes if most of it is treated as a joke. The character writing really helps in that regard, since they feel charismatic, distinct and charming, things that make me care for them.

I feel like I'm also missing some context from your already existing Spanish speaking community, insider jokes and the like, (the Deadpool sequences come to mind) they probably came to expect a lot of the stuff. I'm glad that we see eye to eye here, most of the great (Shonen) anime that we all know and love have a emotional core too after all, friendships and bonds are a important factor, humor can be something that brings people together too, It's a beautiful thing even, but it's only one part that makes up the human experience. :)

There will be stuff even I will not pick up on, Bleach would be another example. (The one title I didn't read or watch from the original big three) I think I saw you quoting the man (Tite Kubo) before.

I know about Honey Select (didn't create anything with it yet though) and there are a lot of fan games out there, I assumed most of them were using mods or (re)created the characters from scratch.

I have a softspot for bratty tsunderes who warm up to the MC over time haha so I can see Natasha become one of my favourites. :D I feel bad for not actually picking up on any clues for the puzzles though, I don't even know what I need to watch out for. Can you give me a few pointers?

Yeah, scenes like that are often femdom coded, but can also be quite playful and teasing

Of course, take it easy, tio ;) It's nice that you showed a little of the roadmap even though you don't promise a date or a schedule for upcoming updates.

That's a looong time for having the flue, in most cases they only last a few days - I hope you checked in with your doctor. I hope it isn't as severe anymore. Maybe you should have waited a little longer with your release, I imagine it's quite overwhemling to deal with all the feedback and even working on bugfixes and the like while dealing with the flu.

You're welcome! Great job on the introduction of your game, I already mentioned it in my very first comment but I imagine that this site (and your website) played a big part in it's success. The presentation really stands out and gives the impression of an quality game with big ambitions. Possibly even to its own fault since a lot of people already come in with their own big expectations that are hard or even impossible to met. Maybe they even expected something else entirely. You can't please everyone anyway. My impression is that this project will grow over time, you will refine your skills and carve out your own niche. :) I hope you will get better soon, bless you!

TioCuba1 day ago

Hey, hello once again! First of all, I’m sorry for the late reply. Sometimes itch.io only tells me that I have new comments and sends me directly to the most recent one. At least, I still haven’t figured out how to tell when someone has replied directly to one of my older messages. Sorry about that!

I tried to fix the game as quickly as possible. Version 0.1.5 has been available for a while now, and I didn’t want to leave the game broken.

This also answers another question you mentioned about when 0.2 will be released. I’ve made it clear that I don’t want anyone to support me while expecting 0.2 to arrive soon. I don’t want to create that expectation because it will probably take me quite a while. I doubt it’ll take another two years hahaha, but it will most likely take several months.

And yes, I’m still dealing with that damn flu. My family keeps telling me to go to the hospital and get checked out, but I’ve been putting it off because I really can’t bring myself to go. I also wanted to take a proper vacation. I didn’t just spend two years working hard on the game. I was also working on several other projects at the same time so that I could eventually support myself while staying at home. I’m exhausted, and I also have a personal life that needs my attention.

That’s why I can’t say when 0.2 will be released. But honestly, I’m already dying to start working on it. Although just thinking about handling all the sound effects again is giving me a panic attack hahaha. That part alone took me about three months, mostly because of how exhausting it became. Many of the sounds weren’t simply downloaded and dropped into the game. I had to edit them, create some from scratch, mix them, adjust them, and do all kinds of other work.

I’ve gone off topic again, damn it. Why does this always happen to me? Hahaha.

Realm Invader is already on my list of games to play. I’ve heard a lot about it within my Hispanic community. I think I may have even tried it before. If it’s the game where the developer appears as a chad version of himself, then yes, I know which one it is hahaha. That’s exactly my kind of humor. I love stuff like that!

Although I think I only played the introduction. If I remember correctly, money suddenly started raining from the sky or something like that, and that was where I stopped.

And yes, my game is obviously built around who I am and what I’m like. In many ways, it’s also a gift to the Hispanic community that has already known me for more than three years.

There are naturally many references that not everyone will recognize. Unfortunately, some of them may also be lost in other languages because I originally created them in Spanish.

I quoted Kubo mainly because his response to critics felt absolutely devastating, and I agree with the core of what he said. I’ve never read or watched Bleach. I know it’s one of the original Big Three, and it’s still on my list, but when I first heard what Kubo said, I thought, “Damn, what an absolute chad.”

It’s unusual to see a Japanese creator respond so directly because they often appear very reserved, careful, considerate, and respectful. I think his message was valid, although you can definitely feel some anger behind it. It probably hurt a lot of people. It even hurt me, and I’ve never criticized the man hahaha.

I’ve gone off topic again!

Regarding Honey Select 2, many LIs are personally modeled and customized by their developers. However, many other characters are shared creations or recreations from existing franchises. Most of us use many of the same publicly available assets, although private commissions also exist. At least, that’s how it works in my case.

I completely understand what you mean about tsunderes. Nino from The Quintessential Quintuplets is one of my favorite characters. I thought she had excellent character development, although Miku still should have won hahaha.

Here’s a hint for the puzzles: hidden among roughly 2,000 renders, there are around six containing mathematical puzzles. Solving the equations gives you two digits from each one. Then you arrange the results correctly to create a four-digit code.

I think I just confused myself while explaining it hahaha. The system was designed so that whoever discovers the codes can share them with others if they want. I won’t give away any codes that unlock non-canon animations, but I’ll give you this one for free: 4444

Honestly, I never expected people to like the itch.io page or my other website this much. I created them that way simply because I enjoyed doing it and thought the presentation added something special. I never imagined I would receive so many positive comments about them.

I understand that the presentation may create extremely high expectations and that some people might react with “WTF?” once they actually play the game and discover how chaotic it is. But it is what it is hahaha.

I didn’t receive direct help with the German translation, but its quality should be around the same level as the English translation, or perhaps slightly below it. For example, someone told me that the Portuguese version contained a few errors but was generally very good, so I believe the German version should also be decent.

I also believe I’ll continue refining my skills and improving the things that need work over time. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment, and once again, I’m sorry for taking so long to reply.

Thank you for your kind words and for giving me some of your time. Have a wonderful day