June 30th Update – Betsy Review and what’s next

Hello everyone.

There is new version of Betsy (version 1.1) now available for download or to play online. There are no major changes, though there were a few responses that connected to the wrong pages. I also reduced the confidence requirement by two for Betsy to get the part in the play, so anyone having trouble with that part may find it a little easier. Big thank you you Serge for putting together a very concise list of things for me to tweak.

Betsy – a review

So, let’s try and sum up my own feelings towards the finished game.

Overall, I’m extremely proud. Betsy was actually the culmination of about two years worth of work and I think it shows. Not that I was constantly working on it for two years of course, but I had a very basic idea of what I wanted the game to be in my head, and for around 18-20 months I kept adding ideas to it. When I finally got around to creating the game, I had about 1000 words worth of ideas or scenarios or lines of dialog hastily written into a notepad file.

Best parts?

I love Violet’s entrance. I thought it was a great idea just to have a main character be introduced by her running into camera shot and whacking someone of the back of the head. In fact, practically anything involving her. I started this game lusting after Betsy, but I think think I ended it in love with Violet.

Apart from that, I think my favorite parts are mostly the smaller ones. I love the way Betsy chickens out for her first fully nude photo at the school (at least for a few moments). I love the way Betsy and the player laugh at themselves running home for sex after the dance.

I also really like the animations. Playing and image sequence rather than using an animated GIF definitely looks better.

What didn’t I like?

Though I’m of course very happy with it, I think there are a few fundamental things about the game that bug me.

For instance, how on earth did Betsy end up with the shy personality that she does? She has Cass as a mother, Rachel as a sister, and Violet as her best friend! I guess the explanation is that she inherited it from her estranged father before he left, but maybe I should have made a point of it somewhere.

I also think that the confidence building doesn’t go on for quite as long as it should. There’s only one date between Betsy reading the newspaper and posing for nude photos at school.  I feel like there should be one more date in the middle there. One possibility I’ve been considering is changing the dates so that there’s four date nights instead of three. So, for the first date, you can pick meeting Violet or bowling, second date you can pick Clothes shopping or staying home, and on the third night you can pick the pool or the nightclub. I’ll have to think about it though.

What’s next?

The next thing for the site will be dsp3000’s next game, The Academy : Part 2. Expect weekly blog posts concerning it soon.

For me, there are two games I have to choose between doing.

The first is Mia. I really wanted to do a game which is set in one place, but with lots of possibilities to it. In this case, you would both be staying in a hotel, meet at the bar, and get to know each other throughout the evening. The unique part of it though is that I want it to be a mystery. Mia frequently teases you regarding what she does for work, and what her true personality is, but isn’t very forthcoming. The ultimate aim of the game would be to finish it know who she truly is.

Mia would also give me the chance to introduce a new black woman to the cast of characters. If you’re wondering why my characters are usually white, it’s simply because they’re easier to get looking good or realistic. If you look at Josie for instance, her skin looks a bit plastic and not very detailed. I know a lot more about using Poser these days though, so maybe it’s time to try again.

The other possibility is Crystal : Part 3. People who check my blog regularly will know that I started work on Crystal earlier in the year, but stopped when my interest waned. It was mainly the setup that I had no enthusiasm for (it played very similarly to Jennifer), and I wanted to do something a little different.

I think I might have finally found something that I like though. Any American Dad fans reading? I was watching one of the older episodes a while ago, “Roger ‘n’ Me”. In it two of the main characters compete in a game show where player are awarded points for getting answers right about their partner. So, you might get asked, “What is Crystal’s favorite move?”, and you would have give the correct answer to get the points and her approval. I feel like that would be a good aspiration in the game ; to win the quiz show. It can be very character orientated and to finish the game, you have to really get to know Crystal, otherwise you won’t win.

I have some others ideas in place for it too, such as Crystal being a big Sci-fi geek and meeting the cast of my sci-fi games at a convention. I’ll have to think about it.

Another possibility is Photographer Part 3, but I don’t really want to go there until I have a good story driven reason for it happening this time.

promo2

home8

As always, I’m happy to hear thoughts on my rambling ideas.

37 thoughts to “June 30th Update – Betsy Review and what’s next”

    1. I’m on board with this, too. Maybe as Chaotic’s skills have grown a new attempt at such a character would be better… not that I really have any complaints about previous attempts.

  1. Loved that episode in American Dad 😀 Quiz is good.
    I know it’s obvious, maybe, but everytime there’s a thought that the main character (the player) in every game is the same photographer. Even in Betsy

    1. I’ve certainly tried to insinuate it before (hence the player in Betsy has the professional camera), but I also want to stop short of fully confirming it’s the same character.

  2. Crystal, she’s always had a bit more personality than some of the other girls. You could do a quiz show with the winning prize being a trip to the Sci-fi convention, or just do the game show at the Sci-fi convention itself! Plus I’d assume you’re at least partially done with some of the artwork for Crystal Part 3.

    I’d love to see more variety in your games and Mia sounds like fun, so take your time don’t rush it. The idea sounds very interesting but sounds like it could take some serious planning time.

  3. I like the idea of both Mia AND Crystal Part 3. It’s difficult to choose, but I’d prefer to see Mia first, mostly because it would be good to get add some more variety to your list of girls. I’m also intrigued by the mystery aspect of the game – it makes things sound much more interesting.

    As for Crystal, I do like the idea of integrating some of your sci-fi characters into the games a little more!

  4. Regarding Betsy’s Shy persona…. actually, from a purely psychological standpoint, it could be naturally occurring…. a product of her environment if you will. Some astrological signs, for example, might be gregarious on their own, but you get them around more outgoing people and they’re content to sit back and let them take center stage.

    Betsy is also the YOUNGER sister (If memory serves?) of Rachel. Younger siblings usually go one of two ways…. they act out to get attention (often becoming comedians or criminals! LOL) Or they simply retreat into themselves. Given Rachel and Betsy’s Mom is outgoing as well, Betsy may subconciously feel like she doesn’t fit in….

    My sister and I couldn’t be more different if we tried. She was the studious one, but grew up to become a bit more outgoing… not “loose” but definitely outgoing…. I was the gregarious one that has somewhat mellowed with age. (I’m also younger)

    So, personally, I enjoyed the dichotomy. I enjoyed the mystery of why Betsy is shy. Heck, it could belie some hidden abuse in her past, which is why Cass is no longer with the dad. Maybe explain rachel acting out too….

    I know I’m over-analyzing a GAME, but it was an intriguing question and I thought you’d want a woman’s opinion.

  5. While the idea of Mia is interestin, I think that you should finish things with Crystal, first. Give the trilogy an epilogue, and while doing so, try to place Mia somewhere in the game. You’ll hit two birds with one stone: giving a preview about Mia, and having feedbacks on her, or finding things to change, ADN releasing a game.

    1. I like this idea alot. Introducing Mia in some fashion through a 3rd Crystal game. Then go for the Mia game. Especially if the protagonist for both is still the photographer.

  6. Hmm…I like the idea of Betsy being spread out over 4 nights, but I was also disappointed because there’s no way to get a threesome with Betsy, Cass, and Rachel (believe me, I’ve tried every which way possible known to man). Call me nuts, but I don’t feel like the connection between the Rachel and Photographer game series are both quite complete without it.
    Also, I did like The Academy: Part 1, but I was kind of disappointed that it only contained one viable ending, particularly the one where Maria and the player fuck and don’t get caught by Bridget and Ms. Valentine. It was a nice spin-off from Tara, though, and I would love to see what happens in the second part!

  7. I like the idea of doing Crystal Part 3 and then Mia. You did a similar thing with Rachel, and I agree with what nazim10 said.

  8. I wanna see part 2 of the academy; I’ve been holding on to that code for a reason XD

    1. me tooo…
      I cant wait to see what happen with the Principal and the other’s… Maria and the class you gonna help

  9. Betsy was pretty good. Good job, Chaotic!

    This is going to sound like heresy around here, but I’m pretty tired of the threesomes and I wish there were more scenes with individual girls. I was hoping to get some non-orgy action with April. The secret blowjob ending with Nelena in Rachel 2 was really hot, but you haven’t done anything like that since.

  10. I had a big request: Miranda in a game, I can not figure out how to impress Faye to me then also appeared in the game. can someone help me?

  11. Hi. I like the idea of doing Crystal Part 3 and then Mia or academy Part 2.

  12. Chaotic, I wasn’t sure if anyone covered this, so sorry if I have kept this info from you for a good 1-2 weeks now. I figured out myself how you setup the online version of the game files, and would go back multiple scenes once I had done all the love increases and confidence builders in a scene. I would go into my url bar, and memorize the file name e.g. house_20 (that’s the first scene before you can start doing any love increases/confidence builders with betsy in the house files). I would then play out the scene, get all the boosts, then go into my url bar and delete the file I was on, for example, house_30 (I forgot if it was 25 or something else for that scene, it’s been a while). I would keep repeating until I felt comfy with it. I ended up getting about 204 happiness for betsy, 114 happiness for violet, 214 confidence for betsy, and 110 happiness for april. I did this with different scenes, and used the same guidelines to go to different places in one game during the same date night.
    This style might only be available on the online version, and I hope you keep incorporating this availability in future games. It isn’t really cheating when it’s all virtual. [See what I did there]

    Now, to get on to the info. The reason why no one can get to the foursome ending, is that on the online version, the option isn’t available for dance_28, or whatever it is. The only way you can do it, is to keep trying different numbers for the dance. I did this: dance_24, error: not found, dance_25: 404, dance_26: not the right file for foursome ending, dance_27: same thing, but just the next frame after dance_27, dance-28: SUCCESS!

    Now, the reason why it is not there depends on whether you wanted that option to be a hitbox option, or a textbox choice option. I pressed tab making sure there were no other options for me to click on the screen after noticing this, and I did that multiple times. I didn’t see any hitbox appear over a hidden option, and I made sure I was looking correctly by looking where the tab was each time I pressed it before it went to the textbox choice options.

    Please keep this changing of the scene available for future games, and maybe incorporate it into some of the old games that are broken, like the mansion one you made a long time ago. That way if you have the wrong engine, you can just change the file names to make it work.

    1. I’m afraid I’m not too sure what you’re talking about.

      Page dance28 can be reached via page dance27.

      1. I said I wasn’t sure which pages they were. But it was for the Internet Explorer online version.

        1. addendum: I just checked, and the option “Oh will you two just kiss already” is now available on dance20. That was what I meant by 27 and 28. I guess the update you just did 2 days ago or something fixed this, or the online version for internet explorer for dance20 was incorrectly coded or something.
          There is always the off chance I could have been just not seeing it

  13. As much as I want Crystal 3 don’t rush it, go through it with confidence so that the story and gameplay is as befitting the character of your first game. If it’s going to be last dedicated Crystal game make it intimate, grand and awesome.

  14. In My Opinion I’m Really Looking Forward to The Academy : Part 2

    I Think Maria Is A Little Underrated , She’s Persoanally one of my favorites … But I’m mostly bias due to my past experience.

    1. i agree with you for maria,she’s one of my favourites too
      i would also love to see erica agian,she’s my number one

  15. wanna know if you had chances with others chars like principal, secretary, didi or bridgette… maybe know why maria and holly break….

  16. dps3000, please play “Academy part 2 ‘Develop a relationship with Bridgette and school director. These relationships would be much more complex than relationships with girls but it would be interesting. But at the same time does not exclude relations with some girls. it’s just kind of my idea.I so looking forward to the next installment. Your work is amazing.

  17. I think Betsy is already a great game but shifting the dating possibilities to several days and maybe extend them a bit would benifit the game greatly and make real use of all date sequences.
    I personally find the shopping date a great idea but it’s barely used for anything fun. You could add some flashing in the change room or something even more naugthier(of course, this would need to go into the end of the dates than.
    The bowling date is also a bit boring. Even though I understand it’s the conservative choice, maybe you can add a peek under Betsys skirt when tying her shoes or something accidental nudity style for it.
    It’s just you setup such cool scenes and they are used so little in comparison to the others.

    Anyhow, I really like the game and also find the progress of your skills stunning. Both in terms of graphics and stories compared to your first games, this one is pure gold.

    Cheers
    cliphead

    Cheers

  18. I like the Betsy too much. After the converted to the naughty girl, she may do more things such swallowing, anal even dp.

  19. I loved Betsy’s game! I’m waiting already for a second part for this game! I loved April and Violet, Violet is a funny girl and April isn’t an easy girl, has a great body (not super big boobs and that stuff) but with a great personality. Hope you become April part of the cast of characters.

  20. a small patch, good to know. its always good when a game get improved , even if its a little 😀
    thanks !

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