Guardians of the Crown Jewels [HTML5 Arena - Patch 2016-09-18]

[logan.scodini]

Guardians of the Crown Jewels (Brendania.com)



Click this link to play the game. No Download Required - Compatible For All Devices


(Pairings to expect: M/F, F/F, M/M, Feminization/TG, BDSM - all scenes can be skipped)



Synopsis


Swirls of a burning amber shade shine upon the black metal panels of the opulent limousine; they illuminate the interior of the car despite its heavily tinted windows. Still, the mysterious and poetic atmosphere created by this dimming light does not put you at ease, far from it.


You rub your fingers over the cream-colored letter in a nervous manner; its smooth cotton structure and intricate watermarks underline the seriousness of the organization that sent it to you. The missive, quite short and right to the point, was more akin to a summon than an invitation.


It is now time for you to claim your birthright. You must face the Guardians.

Features

• A Sexy Arena/Adventure game entirely created in HTML5/Javascript; it is compatible with all browsers, and no download is required.
  
• Reactive and customizable interface designed for mobile phones and tablets, so you can play anywhere.
  
• Real-time combat engine with strategic choices, in which you attempt to defend yourself from erotic assaults of a variety of opponents.
  
• You play as a man or a woman, and all the scenes are fully written to be fluid and arousing (no awkward unspecific blocks of text).
  
• A rich story set in the same universe as Hummingbirds, which features a full cast of original characters.
  

- - - 



Hello, some of you may know that I recently released the first chapter of Hummingbirds, my first real game novel. Since it is a somehow serious game, it limits the number of adult encounters available. Thus, I always intended to continue the development of my arena, which is now ready for beta testing. It also has a nice story, but the focus of the game is clearly given to the sexual mischiefs.



It mainly uses the same melee engine as Hummingbirds (online play and adapted for mobile phones, for those who want to play in the bus), with a few modifications that will probably make it a bit more difficult to win, but also much more arousing to play. Evidently, losing in this game will lead you to assume a submissive role in the ensuing lovemaking; still, all the scenes can be skipped if you want to, and the atmosphere of the game is not violent at all, quite the contrary (slight spoilers: the guardians are there to help you get stronger, not to hurt you).

 

[TheDarkMaster]

Somewhat different, but I didn't really feel like I had any real control over the combat.  I have not played your other game, but the mechanics are fairly familiar to some other games.  I don't actually think that the time element really adds much to the game right now, as there isn't really any dexterity aspect to the game, more like an active turn based game.  With only three actions and being so heavily limited by how or when I can use them, it doesn't feel like my performance or skill maters, only what my character's stats/level is.  If possible, I think you should try to make it at least feel like you have real control over the combat and that your choices or strategies are what lead to victory or defeat, and not just the stats or blind luck.

 

[logan.scodini]

[SIZE=150%]Latest Public Patch 2016-08-20[/SIZE]
Switched the game to a new, more permanent server (Brendania.com – sorry for the inconvenience).
A new Guardian has arrived: Themba Mitchell.
A new scene has been added following victory against Mina (for women/tg only for now, though).


http://brendania.com/

Somewhat different, but I didn't really feel like I had any real control over the combat.  I have not played your other game, but the mechanics are fairly familiar to some other games.  I don't actually think that the time element really adds much to the game right now, as there isn't really any dexterity aspect to the game, more like an active turn based game.  With only three actions and being so heavily limited by how or when I can use them, it doesn't feel like my performance or skill maters, only what my character's stats/level is.  If possible, I think you should try to make it at least feel like you have real control over the combat and that your choices or strategies are what lead to victory or defeat, and not just the stats or blind luck.

Yeah the current content is basically the early level, which is kept as simple as possible for now. The engine supports healing, weapons, armors, grenades (with timer), desperation, and a few others things.


However, this iteration is even more special, since it's not symmetric as in Hummingbirds (you have lust, the enemy has HP), making the whole thing even more complex and harder to balance.


AKA: I'm going to have to think where I'm going with this (lust attacks/remove enemy clothes?), but for now my focus is set upon writing content.

 

[jk103]

Is there a particular reason why you wanted the combat to be asymmetrical? It seems kind of weird that you win via punching and your opponent wins via sexing, and it also seems like your opponent would win 100% of the time if they didn't bother attacking your stamina and just went for only lust attacks. I also think the stun attack is kind of frustrating from an RNG standpoint. From a gameplay perspective, a 60-80%~ success rate is kind of an RNG dead zone, where it's high enough that the player expects the attack to succeed but low enough that they'll still end up being disappointed pretty regularly.

 

[BlueBurn]

I'm really blown away by the production quality of the game in terms of the HTML/CSS/Javascript. Do you use any frameworks/libraries or is it just all custom?

 

[logan.scodini]

[SIZE=small]Patch 2016-08-23[/SIZE]

• [SIZE=medium]A new Guardian has arrived; it will be unlocked once you defeat the first two.[/SIZE]
  
• [SIZE=medium]The archives are now available. Only one text for now, but I will update it to offer exclusive materials to my valued patrons.[/SIZE]
  

Not a super big patch but some content in the meantime of engine upgrades and Hummingbirds stories to update. In other news I started to make some artworks for the game. I'm still a beginner but I feel I'll have to think about adding pictures. Anyway check it and tell me what you think.

GOTCJ is a sex game, unlike Hummingbirds in which the same engine is not assymetric (and thus much easier to balance). However, the goal of the guardians (lore defense) is not to hurt you, but rather to challenge you in order to bring you under the influence of the transforming waves (readers of Hummingbirds - hummingbirdsgame.com -  know what this is about).


Still, I'm planning on updating the engine, first by giving abilities to the player (passive + heal) once the fourth guardian arrive, then maybe by giving special sex moves to your opponent. I'm on the fence about sex attacks by the player, since not everyone would like having to blow a guy/girl when it's so much easier in the mind of everyone to just to kick them.


Also, I always intended for the game to be based upon percentages for counters, since I want it to ressemble poker (in which you have to deal with bad hands, but playing well will make you win 99% of the time) rather than most other rpgs. In any case, the next engine will be firefight in Hummingbirds, so I'll see what ideas I can come up until then.


Thanks, it is a lot of work. I started with the Sugarcube framework for twine, which I heavily modified to transform it into an App Shell (imho twine is fantastic for high level abstraction, but sucks for performance). Then I simply call my libraries (jquery, GSAP and sound engine mostly) and scripts whenever I need them. All of this is done with asynchronous calls, so the game should load in less than 2 seconds on first load, then <500ms after (the main html is 4 kb large, before calls to libraries, but still, that's quite small).


I also wanted to fully implement the Progressive Web App parameters of Google, but I got stuck at the need for everything to be https. I mean, I'm not going to start messing around with ssl and cdns just for an unsupported format which gives me nothing better for now. In any way, I already have the script ready whenever I want to fully implement Service Workers.


PS: this is how they should design Twine (imho), which is so shitty right now that I can't believe how people manage to make big games with it (except for the Sugarcube guy, who is fantastic). It's not like they haven't had 3-5 years to do it.

 

[Miscellaneous Forum Viewer]

I'm on the fence about sex attacks by the player, since not everyone would like having to blow a guy/girl when it's so much easier in the mind of everyone to just to kick them.

It's good that you take in to consideration that there'd be folks who wouldn't be fond of having to perform sex acts on undesirable partners. However, the enemy ALSO performing sexual acts on the player that they might not be game for nearly or already does cross that line, such as the toying with the player's butt when they've taken your underwear off. Especially when it's a fight that's mandatory to progress and the opponent's a man. I figure such things might be unpleasant for gay dudes or some straight women that have to fight Mina as well.


Perhaps an option to have NO ONE doing that in the fight could be better, an option anyway. I don't mind fighting Themba, I do quite mind being groped and fondled by him during the mandatory fight though. I can let slide shemales or traps, they have a certain appeal to me, but I am repulsed by actual manly man on manly man content. Don't get me wrong, glad it's there for the folks that DO like it, I simply don't want to HAVE to participate in it. An option to skip or reject a guardian could be neat.

 

[ThatOneJester]

So I played both of your games, and they are rather similar.


But they are still enjoyable.


I have a question though.


Why did you start a second game, when your first game is still hardly completed?


I got as far as being able to talk to the French maid girl, then that was all I could figure out how to do from there.


Does that mean that this is where it ends?


If so....why..?

 

[logan.scodini]

Stealth Update 2016-08-25


- Reverted the game to the same melee engine as Hummingbirds. Fights will be melee combat only; no sex elements during the fights. I decided this after many people complained about the combat, which wasn't as much fun as it should be (I must admit it too), and how it wasn't fun to be fondled by some of the opponents (which I thought about too).


- I'm starting to experiement with pictures in the game... more to come as I get better with arts.


- New Anal Scene on Mina Win (Men Only - 1st fight) - With a picture! Tell me how you feel about it please, it takes time to make art so I'm wondering if it's worth it.

Good point; you confirm what I was thinking about. No more fondling by your opponent. I thus give up on sex during the fights, and will invest my time on the new engine for Hummingbirds (gunfights!). However, upgrades to abilities and more complex fight will happen soon.


Both games use the same UI (which I created), but Hummingbirds wasn't well received because I didn't have enough sex scenes. This is why I planned to have two games: one for the brain (Hummingbirds - story will always have sex but it become much more hardcore, akin to a spy/adventure novel), and the other to jerkoff (Guardians - short sex scenes).


Also, where did you mean the game ended (I think it's explained that this is only the first chapter and the game will continue later - you should read the canon epilogue).

 

[Miscellaneous Forum Viewer]

The fact we don't get groped in battle now is a great improvement. As to the picture, I don't have any strong feelings one way or another. Good work though, I look forward to future updates. 

 

[ThatOneJester]

Also, where did you mean the game ended (I think it's explained that this is only the first chapter and the game will continue later - you should read the canon epilogue).

This was what I meant actually.


Just from personal opinion, I was stating that you shouldn't have started a second game just yet.


Since it would increase your workload, and lower game updates by quite a lot.


I'm not stating anything in the sense that the games are bad.


I enjoyed them a lot, but I'm just worried about 2 things.


1. As a fan of now 2 games of yours, I would love constant fast updates (as fast as you could that is).


2. Ones mental, and physical well being will decrease for a few reasons in this case like stress, if I had to list one off.


Please don't take on more work than you can handle..?


I see your games as a bit of a gem, that I don't see often in a lot of games coming out these days.

 

[logan.scodini]

Introducing the Momentum Bar!
A colored bar now helps you time your actions. Strikes made at the right moment will have lower cooldown, raise the chance of critical damage and offer a success bonus to interrupts.


Introducing Guard!
Guard is a defensive ability which lasts a few seconds and has its own cooldown. While active, you only receive half damage, and will regenerate up to 20% of your maximum stamina.


A new Guardian (4th) has arrived!
Other Changes:
Players gain a passive ability after defeating the third guardian (1st fight).
Pictures of the Guardians have been integrated


Author's notes:
Well, lots of improvements all around for the gameplay of the game. However, I am still busy working on adding more stuff, which is still in the backlog (healing and jewelry, notably).
There’s one or two more premium scenes (one already on patreon but not integrated), and a list of fights coming (because it's time to add more complex fights). Still, I felt it was better to release this first, in the meantime.


PS: Hummingbirds will be updated soon (small update - train ride mostly) after I'm finished with the next few fights of GOTCJ. In the meantime enjoy the momentum bar, which is straight from the gunfight engine I'm working on for chapter 2. Yes, Hummingbirds goes a lot more hardcore in the next few chapters.


Thanks for the kind words. Still, I feel both games work well together, since one can be updated quickly (GOTCJ) while the other requires me to think about storylines and characters. Also, a lot more people prefer arena game, rather than long novels, so it's a lot better to get Hummingbirds popular with the help of another game.


Sorry about formatting: my background is white.

 

[TheDarkMaster]

Don't forget to clear the formatting from your post, you've got a lot of ugly white background in there right now.

 

[TheDarkMaster]

Poked the new version.  I think the bar is a good addition to the game, but I'm not happy about guard as it is.  I really think that guard should be fully independent of the regular cooldowns, using it shouldn't interfere with your ability to attack and there should be more to using it effectively than just waiting for a special attack that you fail to stun on and using it when that move would connect.  As is, guard is something I wouldn't ever want to use unless I absolutely had to, while if it could be freely used then I think it would add a huge amount of depth to the game's combat about timing when you use that ability.  Especially if there's some kind of warning system about incoming attacks for critical guards or something like that.


On the sexual content side, I think you're focusing a bit too much on the feminization fetish (at least as a male PC, I haven't looked at a female PC).  It feels like there's way too much of it relative to the other kinds of content in the game, at least if the game is intended for a broad audience.  I'd actually recommend either committing more heavily to that fetish and forgetting about broad appeal, or taking a step back from it and making sure you have plenty of other content in the game first before expanding on M2F TG further.  It really sucks wanting to see more content with a character, but having the only option be for something that is a big turn off.


Last thing is a minor tagging issue, the male loss scene for the third guardian should probably be tagged as a bondage scene.

 

[logan.scodini]

Poked the new version.  I think the bar is a good addition to the game, but I'm not happy about guard as it is.  I really think that guard should be fully independent of the regular cooldowns, using it shouldn't interfere with your ability to attack and there should be more to using it effectively than just waiting for a special attack that you fail to stun on and using it when that move would connect.  As is, guard is something I wouldn't ever want to use unless I absolutely had to, while if it could be freely used then I think it would add a huge amount of depth to the game's combat about timing when you use that ability.  Especially if there's some kind of warning system about incoming attacks for critical guards or something like that.


On the sexual content side, I think you're focusing a bit too much on the feminization fetish (at least as a male PC, I haven't looked at a female PC).  It feels like there's way too much of it relative to the other kinds of content in the game, at least if the game is intended for a broad audience.  I'd actually recommend either committing more heavily to that fetish and forgetting about broad appeal, or taking a step back from it and making sure you have plenty of other content in the game first before expanding on M2F TG further.  It really sucks wanting to see more content with a character, but having the only option be for something that is a big turn off.


Last thing is a minor tagging issue, the male loss scene for the third guardian should probably be tagged as a bondage scene.

Thanks for the feedback.


(1) Abilities of the player will evolve over the course of the game; the guard in the form you speak of is called [Uncanny Blocks], which is the ability the PC gets at the end of Hummingbirds chapter 1. However, I like how some special enemies ability would require you to Guard, with a strong warning about it (Guard: no damage, vs full damage). I'll have to look into it once the gauntlet is finished.


(2) Trying to write as fast as I can to provide content. In the ideal world each battle would have 3-4 scenes each, but there's only so much I can do for now until I get budget for helpers (20k words in 12 days + programming/arts/testing + patches + promo).


(3) Thanks I'll add the tag.

 

[logan.scodini]

GOTCJ Patch 2016-08-31

• 4 new advanced fights and 4 new bonus scenes for patrons, which wraps up the first phase of content.
  
• Players can select an healing item after the fourth fight.
  

– – –


Author’s notes: I wish I’d have this content ready a few days ago, but it takes longer than expected to write the scenes/combat and test everything. Still, I think it provides a nice little wrap for this early phase of the game. In the meantime I’ll probably be working on Hummingbirds, especially to finish the gunfight engine.

 

[logan.scodini]

Patch 2016-09-05

• A bunch of new scenes (at least 5k more words)! The gameplay content remains the same for now, until the arrival of the new Guardians.
  
• End-fight scenes are now pooled for each Guardian (vs exclusive win and lose).
  
• New scenes are now unlocked as you complete story objectives.
  
• Updated the game engine; passages transition is now much faster.
  

Author’s comments:

• The sex is moving away from the bedroom! I am rather happy about the new scenes, which I find arousing while they slowly reveal a bit more about the game world and the Guardians. Still, I think the scenes for female characters are better defined as of now (or is it just me); I incorporate into them a bit more romance and humor, which probably makes them more fun to read.
  
• No more exclusive scenes: I think the game will be a lot more fun this way, following the elimination of exclusive win and lose scenes which didn’t really add to the lore anymore, and were a bitch to code properly. This way people get to choose what they want to see, while winning the fights still unlock new scenes.
  
• Coming next: Still working on Hummingbirds Chapter 2. GOTCJ will see a new guardian arrive (Rashona, already featured in a scene for 5$+ patrons). I might want to include more backstories for the Guardians, too.
  

All right, that’s it for now! You take care,
– Logan

 

[logan.scodini]

GOTCJ Patch 2016-09-18
• Updated Game Engine: Faster transitions time and reduced the amount of calls to the server.
• You may now equip jewels once you receive the Viridian Diamond, which will grant you special abilities (two jewels included for now).
• A new Guardian has arrived! She only has 4 scenes for now, but they include M/F, M/M and F/F. More to come soon.

Author’s Notes:
I thought I could push this update a bit sooner, but modifications to the game engine have slowed things a wee bit. Furthermore, I spent some time on a new projects (Codename: Wonderbirds, you can test it here (http://wonderbirds.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com), which delayed my writings. Things is: programming is very time-intensive compared to writing scenes. On that subject, I believe I will add more diversified actions from now on; scenes for one guardian won’t mean they only included him or her (Rashona and Themba scenes is a good exemple of where I’m going with this).

 

[vyyr]

i enjoy the game a lot, but was to short . Maybe can i have a ballbusting guardian, like she kick in the groin very often? ^^. anyway i like the game and the figth mode.