Tainara Episode Demo (Patreon)

Update Edit: Manual explaining minigame controls, mechanics and moves added to bottom of post. 

Unfortunately, we weren't able to completely finish this episode before June, but it should be ready soon, and we DID get this demo ready for you! (It's Windows 64 bit. If you're unable to run it due to your system, let me know and I'll see about adding it to the target build platforms. )

Since the minigame could stand for a little playtesting, we're also opening this preview build to ALL patrons of all tiers. Any feedback you would be willing to give will help us make a better final product as we finish things off over the next couple weeks.

The demo is a bit rough around the edges (Notably mostly lacking audio outside of the minigame) so keep that in mind; but it should give you a pretty good idea on what to expect for the full release.

The demo contains 3 parts:
1. The introductory segment of the story, which introduces you to Tainara and the protagonist.
2. The minigame playtest. All 7 characters are playable, along with 2 stages. The interactions with Tainara during and between rounds are not implemented yet, but you can try out all the characters and the core gameplay of the minigame. (I'll come back tomorrow and post a mini guide/movelist)
3. And I couldn't very well put out a demo with at least ONE lewd scene. The included scene is the one you'll get for losing every. single. round. of Tainara's video game strip bet. So it's just a little bit femdomy. FYI even within that there will be a few dialogue options in the final release that cause a couple scene variations.  

The roadmap/to-do list for what we need to do before the final release is ready:
1.Visual polish (Prettying up the UI, graphical effects, etc.)
2.Finishing the script. Not all the scenes are written yet, though it's mostly the erotic scenes and their variations that are left now.
3. Audio: Full musical soundtrack and some additional sound effects for the UI
4.More minigame content: At this point it's mainly the stages that are left, though a few of the characters will need some improvements to their mechanics and skills.
5.Minigame Interaction system: It's about halfway done but wasn't ready for the demo. Basically, the whole thing with the minigame is that it's a simulation of a 1v1 game against Tainara (sue me, I miss the 'couch co-op' days of splitscreen gaming) so there's a 2nd layer on the minigame where you can do things like cheat (tickle attack!) or trash talk to make winning the minigame easier (or harder) and also have the AI be affected by dialogue options. (Ie: trash talk too hard and get the 'hard mode' AI opponent, or vice versa)
6. Playtesting and debugging. Because that is never NOT on the to-do list. Bugs are eternal.

And once all that's done, it'll be time to double back down on the fairy's episode, and hold the next character vote for the next one we'll start on while that is being finished up. (Like I said before, from here on out we'll be having 2 episodes worked on in tandem to prevent more year-long release delays like we've had in this first year as a dev studio. Thanks for bearing with us so far!)

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Minigame Manual:

 Okay, yeah it's like Pong, but with a bunch of fighting game mechanics that might not be inherently obvious, so here's the full explanation on what everything does since you might not figure out everything instantly. 

Universal mechanics:  

Movement/Dashing: Default controls use either WASD and/or Arrow keys. (gamepad input accepted as well) Double-tapping up or down will perform a dash, similar to most 2d fighters, but vertical. Also as in most 2d fighters, some characters may have unique dashes like teleports or jumps rather than simply running faster.     

'Normal' Hit: When the ball hits a pad, it will bounce off at an angle based on where it hits the pad. Ie: if it hits the top of the pad, it'll bounce upwards. The closer to the center the closer to a direct horizontal angle it will be. This allows you to aim the ball where you want it to go.  

Parrying: Tap forward (ie, right if you're on the left) to Parry. Parrying the ball will give it a massive speed boost and add 'chip damage' to the ball, causing it to deal damage when it hits your opponent's pad; as well as some additional damage if it hits their goal. You can parry a parry, which will prevent you from taking that chip damage, while adding MORE speed and chip damage to the ball. This stacks indefinitely. (So a parry volley that goes back and forth long enough is in fact a one-hit kill when it finally lands)) When a parried shot is hit normally or blocked it's speed/damage bonuses are reset. (Just the parry bonus speed. Additional ball speed from other mechanics remains) 

 Blocking: Hold backwards (ie: left if you're on the left) to block. You generally can't move while blocking. Blocking negates 'chip damage' from parries or special attacks; so it is the safer option if you're not confident you can parry a fast moving object. Blocking is also a 'dead bounce' which reflects the current angle of the ball perfectly regardless of where it hits on the pad, rather than the normal 'aimed' hit. 

Special moves: Default key space/enter. Usually costs 1 bar of special meter. Exceptions noted. Any characters with multiple inputs mainly do it Smash Bros. Style (Hold direction+attack button) Rather than Street Fighter style motions. 

Characters: 

(They're all monstergirls, because OF COURSE they are. and generally parodied from popular fighting game characters and archetypes )   

Kotatsu the Dragon: Complete tomboy and typical hot-blooded shounen protagonist. Meant to be the Ryu/Ken balanced archetype, with a hint of Sol Badguy, but with a slight emphasis on speed and mobility. 

Special moves:
Dragon Flare: Shameless Hadouken imitator. Costs 1 meter, press special attack while still. The most standard fighting game fireball. Literally a fireball. Goes straight forward quite fast, will do chip damage if not blocked, and heavy damage if it hits the goal. 

Wall kick: Press attack while 'pushing' against a wall. (ie: Holding up while already touching the top wall) Pushes off the wall into the center of the stage. Covers more distance faster than a dash.      

Cali the Demon: Obligatory SECOND Ryu/Ken to be the eternal rival of the other one. Or Akuma/Sakura/Morrigan in this case. Star student of a rival dojo kinda thing. Also balanced but slightly more defensive.  

 Special Moves:
Soul Flare: Like the other one but way slower and can be aimed diagonally by holding up/down when attack is pressed. Will bounce off walls. 

Counter Stance: Basically, can hold parries indefinitely at the cost of meter. 

Chi the Nekomata: Obligatory kung-fu girl in a Chinese dress. Also obligatory Ninja. No, she doesn't care that she's getting her Asian influences mixed up.    

 Special Moves:  
Shadow Step: Dashing leaves behind a 'shadow clone' that is capable of blocking projectiles. This is in lieu of an 'actual' block, so the only way for her to prevent chip damage attacks is to leave a clone in the path of said attack while dashing away. 

Bullet Barrage: ( Sp attack button, costs 1 meter )  Fires a burst of extra balls from her pad, and her clones. They all bounce and interact as 'normal' ones would. They do significantly less damage than a normal ball but generally don't cause self damage when bounced back into your own goal.

M.O.L.A. The Android. Next on the mandatory archetype list. The Military experiment. Heavily inspired by the robot girls in Blazblue. The slowest and fastest character at the same time. 

Special moves:
Jet Dash: Worth noting that her dash drains meter, but doesn't require it. (So you want to be as conservative as possible with the speeding around if you want to do her specials sooner, but she's painfully slow without it so good luck with that.) 

Autocharge: Meter fills on it's own while idle.   

Hardlight Barrier:   ( Sp attack button, costs 1 meter ) Makes a giant shield wall that vanishes after blocking one ball or projectile. (it can block multiple if they hit within the same half second)  It is either destroyed or reflected back at high speed at a perfect horizontal angle. 

Laser Drone:  ( Sp attack button, costs 1 meter ) If you can fully recharge the meter a 2nd time without losing your barrier, the shield gets eaten to fuel a highly damaging laser beam instead of giving you a double shield.     

Ginny The Centaur  Farm-girl. She's designed as the 'grappler' archetype based on throw attacks.

 Special moves:  
Catch and Release: Can catch the ball with the center of the pad, Holds onto it for a moment and then throws it at high speed. 

Grappling hook:  (Sp attack button, costs 1 meter) If it latches unto the opponents pad it prevents them from moving at all for about 5 seconds. Just enough time for a completely free shot at their goal; possibly two if timed just right. Note that this is the one 'attack' you want to aim at the pad rather than the goal.

Syrhild The Valkyrie  The slow/heavy hard-hitter character with high defense. 

 Special moves:
Battering Ram: Her dash builds up more speed the farther the distance. If you slam into a wall from far enough away it causes a 'quake' and stuns the opponent if they are currently moving. 

Super Armor: Suffers less hit-stun when her pad is hit by projectiles. 

Meteor Smash: ( Sp attack button, costs 1 meter )The next ball you hit will be bounced back really hard. It will do extreme damage and cannot be blocked. The only defense against it is to parry the shot, which causes the ball to shatter instead of getting bounced back. 

Galenta the Harpy  Dark witch whom may or may not be a recurring villain of the week ripped straight from an 80's/90's magical girl anime. Intentionally designed to be a gimmick character that is a pain in the butt to play, but could possibly be OP in the right hands.

 Special moves:
Dark Curse: Curse the ball so that it deals direct lifebar damage when hitting the oponent's pad. It's a tiny amount of damage but there's no defense against it as the damage pierces block/parry. (So she has a huge advantage in long battles of attrition when no goals are scored) but the curse dissipates on the first object hit, so it only applies if the ball goes directly from pad to pad without hitting a wall. 

Mirror Shield: Rather than a normal block, she generates a barrier that lasts for a second. Be careful as you cannot move during this or cancel it like a normal block. However it can reflect special projectiles back at your opponent.

Teleport: Rather than dashing can instantly teleport to one of two set positions a certain distance from the starting position.

Gravity Well: (Sp attack button, drains meter while active) A toggle-able utility move that causes the ball to move at double or half speed depending on it's direction (ie towards or away from you) giving you more time to aim/react and your opponent less time to block.