Player Review: First Impressions

[SpockRocket]

Hi, I know that right now you guys are focusing mostly of quick bug fixes, but I wanted to leave some general feedback, after playing through the first 5 or 6 chapters of the game.

I should note that my grading is not comparing BoneCraft to any other game, especially those done by big studios. That would be unfair. Rather, I'm judging this game as it compares to BoneTown, measuring the areas of improvement and critiquing things that could be improved on (probably in a third game). So, here goes. I'll start with the good and move to the bad and the ugly.

Good:

Cutscenes: A
Voice Acting: A
Humor: A
Story: A
Characters: A
Style: A

This bundle is your studio's greatest strength. Many players will forgive other stuff, when the game is funny as shit, offensive, and downright stupid in a very good way. These were strengths of BoneTown, and you improved and added to them with BoneCraft.

Art, Graphics, and Scenery: A-

Some really awesome work that shows that your engine is capable of much more than was done with BoneTown. Honestly, there were parts of BoneTown where I thought to myself: "Are they using the quake 3 engine? All these textured boxes!" The sets and details of BC are really nice, compared to BoneTown. It's just sad that your improvements in this area seems to have a negative effect on gameplay smoothness for folks with average comps.

Menus: B

The scorecards, stores, menus, etc. are a really nice touch, and they add complexity to the game. Some aspects are less intuitive than others, but it really is a nice improvement. I also really like that it's one world, where there aren't loading screens between each chapter.

Sex and Boning: B-

This was a hard thing to rate, because you guys have made so many additions, like girl on girl, new sex acts, new options, the first person view, etc., etc. Some of these additions are wonderful, and the sex acts look better than any other comparable adult video game (and I've played all the US releases).

However, the boning is no longer really an aspect of gameplay. Actually, it's the frustrating kind of boning, like go here, do her, go there, do her. This is a stark contrast to boning as a reward for completing a mission, as with BoneTown. For me, the most charming and fun part of playing BoneTown was being a man whore, working on the size of your junk, and gradually moving from fat chicks to hot girls. Boning the hot girl was the ultimate goal, and it kept me entertained enough that I was willing to do the missions, despite the frustration of BoneTown's melee combat.

Boning was a fun and relaxing reward for kicking ass and taking names in BT. In BC, it is a frustrating chore (so far).

So, this is unfortunate. It's like you focused on what really needed to be improved, but excluded what was already a really fun gaming mechanic that made boning a game itself. There was also a huge diversity of women to bone, which seems to be missing from BoneCraft. I think I'm halfway through the game, and I've boned my sex bot and the ugly green fatties. I'm pretty sure that I boned more women in the first ten minutes of BoneTown.

Combat and Gameplay: C-

This is another one that is hard to rate. The character movements are really improved. The long range weapons are a really nice touch. It's also really nice not to have to scroll through power attacks as much. I never got used to that aspect of BoneTown. Additionally, it's great that I don't constantly drop my weapon.

But, and its a very big but, the camera perspective, combined with the constant clipping, plus the fact that my character lunges forward when attacking makes for a frustrating mess. It's easier when I make the camera look first person, but then the melee attacks are hard to judge. I can't tell you how many times I got disoriented, lost in a corner after lunging at an enemy, or downright confused, just mashing buttons when I didn't know where the enemy or myself went to.

It's like the fighting style is made for open terrain with lots of space, but the fighting takes place in caves or cramped sets. Maybe I'll get used to it more as I play, but for the most part, its a constant battle with the camera and trying not to get stuck in corners or have plants, walls, the backs of textures, etc. covering my screen.


RPG aspects: D-

Since this was a "craft" game, I really expected some level of character building, weapons upgrades that involved more than a store, and a sense of growing more and more powerful, especially through some level of grinding. BoneTown had some of that with searching for drugs, growing the size of your balls, randomly butt-fucking hoochies for health, etc. I don't see much of any of that in BoneCraft. If anything, BoneTown had more RPG aspects than BoneCraft does.

Music: D-

The music of BT was great. I barely notice it in BC. When I do notice it, it's kind of bad.

Game length: To be determined, but I read in another thread that there are 11 levels. I've completed the first 5 after like 2 and half hours, some of which I just spent randomly exploring the sets. If I only have another 3 or 4 hours of gameplay, then I'd grade it an F.

Those are my thoughts. I hope that they are helpful and constructive. I want to do all I can to support your studio. I love adult video games, and you're the best studio out there.

But, if I could buy you out after winning the lottery, I'd probably say that you're going in the wrong direction by focusing on combat. There is a very big opportunity to make sex, multiplayer socializing, and fantasy worlds the focus of a adult MMO. The company that can make an adult video game as addictive and time consuming as WOW will make billions. A single player game with a shelf-life of a week will not.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[Bonesy]

Very well said. I found myself thinking a lot of the same things as I played. I played Bonetown as well, and I do find myself missing certain aspects of it, while still enjoying the advancements that have been made with Bonecraft. I haven't beaten BC yet, but the comments from others about how short it is worry me. One thing I liked about BT was how open and sprawling it was, and how much there was to do. Not just missions, but lots to explore, collect, etc., and different minigames to try, along with a wide variety of random chicks. The soundtrack was great as well, I agree with you on that. I actually ended up purchasing some songs from it, in fact. I rarely do that for game soundtracks.

The different positions and being able to switch between them are great, but I found myself hoping for a threesome option, especially when I saw the pairs of chicks in the fantasy room. I felt somewhat let down when they turned out to be lesbians. I'm not as into that as other guys seem to be. If I'm not in on the action, I have trouble maintaining interest.

I don't know if an MMO is the right direction to go in, though it can seem tempting, but I agree in a sense; I think that a game with more of those elements would probably last longer before being put aside and forgotten by players, though the experience in this game does flow pretty well, and is tight, for what it is. I just don't want it to be over too soon, and often it made me wish I were off on my own exploring in Bonetown, rather than saddled with a squad, constantly spawning enemies all around me, and squad mates nailing chicks before I can get to them (I'm the captain, dammit! ). More RPG elements and exploration are always a good thing. I think one of my favorite types of games is the "Massively Single-player RPG" as they call it, or it's cousin, the gta-style open world action game (Like Bonetown).

It is nice to see the platforming seems to be largely gone though, that was the worst aspect of BT for me, heh.

Sorry about any potential threadjacking, I just haven't posted my impressions yet fully, so I guess I ended up doing some of that when you got me thinking about all this. I hope I have contributed something to the discussion though, and I appreciate the good writeup. Like I said, I agree with most of the points you made, and I think we're definitely coming from the same place. Not very many studios are willing or able to make a real, legit adult video game with both gameplay and adult components that are actually worth engaging in, and D-dub has stepped up where few others have. For that, I am trying to show my support as well, and have some fun while I'm at it.
So please excuse any negativity, it is all meant to be constructive, and I enjoy both of the D-dub games overall. I have high hopes for the future as well, looking forward to seeing what's next, either in terms of expanded content or sequels, offshoots, etc.

[SpockRocket]

Sorry about any potential threadjacking,

I really appreciate the response. I think we're having similar reactions, while still being supportive of D-Dub. I want to see the studio get better and better too.

Hopefully more feedback from other players will help them understand whether our reactions are shared by others.

Thanks again for the response. If anyone else agrees or disagrees, please chime in.

btw there are some threesome positions that can be bought in the fantasy room.

[TheMadCow]

I might post my own feedback, but I do share some of the sentiments already mentioned in the previous posts; I've just been busy trying to give D-Dub all the assistance I can in trying to polish the game for its official release.

Though, I also have to disagree with any MMO or just plain multiplayer support for this type of game. I, for one, just don't think it's needed. I felt BoneTown's strength was the fact it was a single player game with an amusing (maybe even ridiculous) narrative and was filled with a variety of "mini-games" through the main quest line along with bonus missions. Currently, I do feel BoneCraft could use more "side-missions", maybe something like an orange mission console that can generate random objectives (fending off a number of orcs, escorting the Sexbot from one location to another, competing with the orcs with who can bone the most elves within a set time limit...things of that nature). To draw a comparision, I would look to the game Borderlands with its "Jobs Board", where upon completing sections of the main quest line opened up side jobs with various objectives which you didn't need to do to complete the game, but were a fun distraction.

I know my suggestions for "side-missions" might be considered a little repetitive from what's already in the game and from BoneTown, but it's just an idea from the top of my head that I think I would like to see in the game and add some gameplay longevity for those that want that. Plus, I've read from earlier posts that D-Dub might actually release an official toolset for the game. I'm not sure how easy it will be to use for relative coding-idiots like myself, but it also has the possibility of extending the game's lifespan way beyond what was originally offered.

[Bonesy]

btw there are some threesome positions that can be bought in the fantasy room.

Sweet! I'll have to investigate that in my next play session. It's a little hard to tell what some positions are intended for from the store menu, though I did explore quite a few of 'em in general.

Edit: @TheMadCow: I love the side mission idea, that could add to the gameplay if done right, for sure.

[Zarak]

Well for for what I saw of the game.
I can say, it's pretty cool but a little bit short for me.
I was expected much because Bonecraft was almost the same than Bonetown for the graphism, sex position, movement, ect.
But for the rest like music, voice acting ,character and mission. That's pretty cool.I love the voce acting of this game ^^.
The sex positions are good for one man and one woman (unless "where's the 69 position? Rolf!) but for one man and two women or only two women is to short for me.
I think more position will be good.
And what it miss to me so much was some "special chicks" like in Bonetown, who will be unlock some special positions. Or with the hard mode unlock special position than just unlock old girls from Bonetown.
The seek for the artefact was a cool idea but the special thing you unlock when you have all must be more attractive for what I think (I will not spoil what it is ^^).
All I hope is the modding tool help with easily creating new types of chicks and/or editing new sexual positions!
I can't realy judge if the game is good or not because that's the community who will decide of that and this is just the early beginning of the game.

Oh and sorry for the mistakes. I'm French ^^