The Andere Realm: A Flicker of Lust

Note: I don't know who bought that first copy today, but thank you for believing in my work. You have no idea how important that was to me. (4/8/24)

THE ANDERE REALM: A FLICKER OF LUST (NSFW, 18+ ONLY)
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THE "TUNING" RELEASE FOR ITCH.IO (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY):

This project is finished, but prior to being released on Steam, it is being tested for bugs and having some features tuned to be more enjoyable and efficient. The price is a bit lower than it'll be on Steam, at least for now.  Obviously if the price is set too high, I'll re-evaluate. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours have gone into making this a full, end-to-end experience, and I'd like to work on becoming well-funded enough to make new games in even better engines.

Some updates may come to the game, and any needed bugfixes will. You may have to restart your save after some of these fixes.

Just please understand you are technically purchasing a "beta" even though the game is fully completed. Some date moves ("Spells") need tuned to be a bit snappier and more appealing, for instance, but all moves have been configured.

When the game is tuned, it will be uploaded to Itchio. As such, anyone who purchases this beta version will automatically get the updated version at their discounted price.

--BFO

PS - A pretty long demo was just made available for anyone who just wants to try the game out. I'd say the full game is roughly 10-15 hours and there's 1-2 in the demo depending on how you play. Thank you again to the supporters who purchased the full version!

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I don't want to waste your time, so here's a quick rundown of the game:

Selling Points

- "Strip 'em up" turn-based bullet hell gameplay for many of the characters. Meet the right people, do a good job, knock off their clothes. Simple as that.

- 6+ fully romanceable characters (maybe there are some secret ones -- you'll have to find out).

- Several other "partially romanceable" characters.

- Interactive adult (NSFW) scenes and art. (Thanks to the amazing, gifted Hatdog Guhitera and Calx for the art!)

- Adult (NSFW) sound clips accompany many of the NSFW interactions in the game. (Thanks to the lovely, talented Cynth for voice work!)

- Potentially funny and/or deep writing at times. Some people might not think so.

- No censorship, full nudity.

- You can sniff (almost) every bed. It's a long story.

- A fully-unique, custom "battle dating" system that helps liven up RPG Maker by not using the traditional native battle system.

- Fully-fleshed out fantasy story narrative where you play a new mage at a prestigious academy, destined to save the Andere Realm.

- Many secrets, if you know where to look.

- A handful of minigames, some of which parody other games that are much better than mine, such as "Parchment, Please" and "Like a Phoenix: Mage Attorney."

- A warning system for letting people consent only to the content they want to see.

- Many (but not all) books in the game are fully readable. There are likely a couple hours of content just in the reading.

- Many random events for the female main character to be the target of NPC desire.

- Some innocence/corruption gameplay elements, generally revolving around the six main stats.

- A hidden character that will give you NSFW instructions to follow in real life, if desired and if playing as the male main character.

- A panty collection system, with general pairs collected in high numbers, and specific pairs from specific romantic interests collected as trophies.

- A spell that lets you summon a wolf you can pet whenever you want (yes, I do think this is a selling point).

- The ability to get an X-Ray helm that lets you run around peeking under clothes.

- A full postgame that still allows you to do some of the minigames and romance some of the characters even after you've completed the plot. The postgame also includes bonus art and a bonus village to visit.

Drawbacks

- Resolution. It's a limitation of RPG Maker VX Ace. You CAN get full screen with F1 while playing, if you want. (Note: It has been found in testing that this can cause some text to get cut off; limitation of the engine)

- Scenes aren't animated. It just wasn't in the budget. I focused on commissioning versatile, quality art instead.

- Hit boxes can be finicky, another RPG Maker VX Ace limitation. Best to avoid bullets or stand still well ahead of time. About half the time, the finicky nature works out in the player's favor, however. The mechanic of not moving when bullets are close is key to combat, and trying to "outsmart" the engine often results in damage. I recommend moving one square at a time very carefully when you're in a tight spot.

- While this game was already playtested extensively, I developed it entirely on my own. Bugs are still possible. I will try to get fixes out, but you might have to make a new save.

- The game could have benefited from full voice acting and more poses/facial expressions, to be honest. I'm happy with what's here, but I wanted you to be aware.

- A warning system for letting people consent only to the content they want to see. Yes, this is also under Selling Points. I feel many people won't want to have to click past a warning to see NSFW content, but it was important to me for this game. Hopefully it's not too obtrusive.

- The "go everywhere, get everything, do everything" play time is probably only about 10-15 hours max. You could speed run this game in 3-5. I did try to add replayability, but be aware it's not a 50-hour game.

Obligatory NSFW (Sexual) Content Warning:

This game contains sexual, adult content not suited for minors. It also touches on elements of mental, emotional, physical, and psychological health. It also contains scenes with kinks that may not be for everyone. Please be thorough when reviewing the warning/tagging system at the start of the game. This game AIMS to be a set piece capable of being played entirely SFW and asking for your consent each and every time before delving into adult content. However, please assume you will encounter NSFW, sexual, adult-only content, probably on the pretty kinky side. Basically, assume you will see some crazy shit if you play this game.

Tried to set an appropriate price. I hope everyone has fun. I made this game at a difficult time in my life, and I realize I should probably make it sound more marketable, but I'm not interested in selling you a dumpster fire, just honest work for an honest fee that hopefully delivers you a higher quality experience than the short shovelware games typical of the Adult Content genre. I hope the graphics and engine are the ONLY thing about this game you have to excuse.

Made with love,

--BasementFullofOwls

PS - A special thanks to my friends, family, and most of all, my loving partner, for keeping me going through crisis after crisis, and for giving me the support and stability to achieve my dream of finishing a full game.

REVIEWS

"I have no son."
--My dad

"Meh."
--A guy on Discord

"A great example of the Sunk Cost Fallacy."
--What IGN would probably say, if they did remark on it

"Even free would be too high of a price, I want my time back as well."
--The first person that will review this game, I'd guess

Persistent Bugs (Resolution Pending):
- Using F1 full screen can cause some text to get cut off (this is an unfortunately a limitation of VX Ace, a workaround will be looked for but the engine doesn't natively handle text spacing so all the newlines in the game were done by hand)