Hello and welcome!

I am excited to present to you my first title in what will hopefully be a long list of games: Malise and the Machine.  The second release (V0.02) of Malise and the Machine will be on July 1, 2015.  Get your pledges in early!

We're on Tumblr and Blogspot! (NSFW)

Follow us at http://eromancergames.tumblr.com/ and be sure to reblog to help us get the word out about the project!  You can also check out the project on Blogspot: http://eromancer.blogspot.com

Preview Video! Pre First Release (NSFW)

Check out the original preview video for the first release of Malise and the Machine!

Interested in receiving a previous release of MATM right away?

Send me a message or email me at [email protected] for details!

Screenshots! 


About the game

Malise and the Machine is an adult RPG for the PC, and is being created using a heavily improved version of RPG Maker VX Ace. The project has already been in development for over a year, but now it is time to expand the project and get players involved (that's you!).

The goal for this project is to make an amazing game that can be distributed in both English and Japanese, and I need your help to do it!

Why should I care about it?

One of the major goals of the game is originality in as much as possible. Characters, enemies, artwork, the story, tilesets, and even the soundtrack are being custom made for the game. If you've been waiting for a H-game with virtually non-stop combat-oriented H content that draws on gameplay aspects from classic RPG greats such as the classic Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy series, then you should care!

Is the gameplay any good?

The gameplay is good! A key element is the custom active time battle system that features fully animated enemy sprites and unique, highly detailed character artwork for every action. Characters have access to different outfits and weapon types that will modify their stats, play-style, and most importantly how battle H-content gets carried out.

Here's a brief summary of gameplay elements that are either integrated already or are being planned/designed:

• A fast paced active time battle system featuring a party of two with real-time H-content
• Complex skills, status system, balancing, and actual challenging gameplay (gasp)!
• Quality AI
• A fleshed out story told through events with detailed character artwork
• An array of armor types for each character with their own unique visuals and play-styles
• Crafting
• Armor and weapon upgrade system
• A whole lot of loot to feed the crafting and upgrade systems
• Non-linear story/quest/progression elements
• A custom user interface designed to maximize effectiveness of the biggest feature: H-content

What's special about the H content? What will this game feature?

This is where the game really shines. The design goals of this project aim to overcome the design drawbacks of many of the H-RPGs that have come before it. Instead of H-content feeling like it has been tacked onto the gameplay, this game is being heavily designed around the H-content.

Many games demand that you lose to see H-content. While it situationally makes sense, it is completely counter-intuitive to what makes a game fun: progression and overcoming challenges. Discovering a new enemy only to have to wait for a game over screen to collect H-content simply isn't that fun.

In this game, you are rewarded with H-content by surviving. Most of the H-content occurs during battle scenes, and does so using a completely original system. The game features a struggle system not unlike many RoR titles (Shinobi Girl, Witch Girl, etc.) built within the active time battle system. This opens up a whole new realm of gameplay possibilities such as skills and stats designed to affect the outcomes of the struggle system, as well as story/event battles designed completely around this system.

While there are a ton of details I could go into (and yes, many details left to be fleshed out as well), here's a basic summary of the H-content elements that are being designed for the game:

• Real time battle H-content that is strongly influenced by characters' armor, level, and stats.
• In-battle H system that combines the best aspects of RoR titles with traditional RPG H-games.
• Unique clothing destruction system.
• Unwarranted amounts of happy jelly.
• Highly varied enemy types (humans/androids/robots, beasts, insects, tentacles, and more!)
• Beasts, tentacles, insects, vore, and more will be included.
• A ridiculous amount of highly detailed artwork
• A gallery system to view higher quality versions of the ridiculous amount of highly detailed artwork

Different armor and outfits huh? Explain!

A lot of games in the past utilize picture overlays to simulate different clothing/outfits. In Malise and the Machine every outfit truly has its own unique artwork, and every single H attack has different artwork for each character and outfit (and many times the attack changes entirely!). In addition, each outfit type has a unique progressive armor damage pattern that affects how H attacks play out! 

The artwork looks unique!  How is it being made?

As I mentioned, the game has been in the early development stages for about a year. A big chunk of that time was devoted to experimenting with art styles, programs, and processes.

The art style I've settled on uses pre-rendered graphics made from 3D models. I'm using a highly customized set of shaders and post processing combined with hand painting in Photoshop to achieve this style, and the result is that I can create highly detailed artwork relatively quickly without being a master 2D artist.  This route also allows me to pay to license models/parts from artists and customize them to my liking for use in the game. This isn't a magic button that does the work for me by any means as a lot of customization goes into everything, but it is the next best thing to having a team of artists working with me.  

Who are you?  Have you made any games previously?  How many people are working this? 

I'm a professional programmer, but this is my first game.  I also have a background in various mediums of graphic design and music, and have pushed my creative abilities to new levels to lay the groundwork for this project.  

I did much of the early work by myself, but the development team now consists of myself and a second artist.  Due to the nature of the game content and the specific skill sets required for making the artwork (and coding my ambitious ideas) the pool of candidates is very small.  Naturally I can't expect such talented people to work for free, nor would I want them to. 

Why Patreon?

I chose Patreon because it allows for adult themed projects and doesn't destroy the creator with fees, but in doing so I've had to come up with a model that will benefit everyone involved. I'm still getting the hang of and learning about this platform, so I still need to confirm all of what is and what isn't possible. I would like to reward donors that continually pledge or go above and beyond with additional rewards, and I will post more about that later on.

How does the donation process work?  What do I get in return for helping out?

Patreon works a little differently than traditional crowdfunding platforms.  When you make a pledge to this project, you are charged for your pledge amount every time there is a new prototype version of the game released.  Pledging $1 per release will give you access to the project activity feed, allowing you to see and comment on updates (including visuals!) that I post for donors.  If you pledge the $10 amount per release (or above), you will be able to download and play these prototype versions before the game is completed!  The first release was on April 1, 2015, and the second release is planned for July 1.  I'm hoping to eventually get it down to two months per release cycle once all of the game mechanics, engine add-ons, and interfaces are coded.  I refuse to make a content update without there being a solid chunk of progress made on the game however, so don't worry that you won't get what you pledge for!  If you are anxious about versions being released too quickly for your budget you can always set a limit on how much you can be charged per month!

That's not all though!  Pledging $15 for an update will also net you a high resolution artwork PDF that gets expanded with each release!  It's not skimpy either.  The first release's PDF was 107 pages!  Beyond that, a pledge of $40 (continental U.S.) or $50 (international outside the U.S.) will get you a high quality metallic ink artwork print delivered to your door.  Check out the current print designs below (more are being added all the time)!  Once you pledge $1 or more you can check out higher quality, uncensored versions of these designs on the Activity Feed.

Lastly, pledging $45 will enter you into the "Inner Circle".  At this tier you will receive test builds of the game *between releases*. Basically, every time I reach a point where I have a semi-stable build I'll share it with those who have pledged at this tier via my Google Drive. This will give you the first opportunity to offer feedback and also help me firsthand with testing. Beyond that, I'll be sharing artwork as I finish it, along with concepts and drafts of works in progress that you won't see anywhere else.  If you want to tack on a print, you can do that at the $70 (continental U.S.) and $80 (international outside the U.S.) tiers!

One more thing!  If you pledge a total of $20 at any time over the course of the project you will receive an uncensored completed copy of the game at the end of the project!

                         
What will you do with my pledge?

There are three major areas that your pledge will help out with.  The first is paying to license art and code assets.  I've already put out a solid chunk of change for assets, and that chunk will only get bigger as development goes on!   The second is to pay team members.  The more monetary help the project receives, the more help I can get to work on the project!  The third is to help me work on this project as closely to full time as possible.  My main source of income is based around short term programming jobs, and the fewer of those I have to commit to the better!


Here's a big thanks to everyone for taking the time to check out my project.  An even bigger thanks to those of you that choose to participate and help me out as the project progresses!  Let's make a game!

- EROMANCER