Werewolves: Haven Rising -- BETA TESTERS NEEDED

About thirty years into the future, a pack of werewolves have been confined to the ruins of New Haven, CT, as a balance between utter extermination, gestures towards justice, and calls for scientific inquiry. Most of the city has been destroyed, and it is now surrounded by a massive wall, staffed by the US Army.

You were born within these walls and have never left. You are part of the first generation born here, and you have been raised on the stories of what happened “before” and “beyond the walls.”

But as you come of age, you and your friends are no longer content to be kept in a cage…and the Army has plans of its own.

Email me, jason AT choiceofgames for access. DO NOT SEND ME A MESSAGE THROUGH THE FORUM MAIL SYSTEM. When you send your EMAIL, include your forumname, your real name, and the game you want to test.

(You cannot be testing two games at once. Send feedback on one and you can apply to another.)

I will send you a link, a username, and a password.

Return feedback TO ME. Preferably part of the same thread, rather than a new email.

I’m looking for “high level” and “low level” feedback. Not mid-level feedback.

Low-level = typos and continuity errors. A continuity error is when a character’s gender flips, or someone comes back from the dead, or you run into a plotline that just doesn’t make sense (because it’s probably a coding error).

For these low-level issues, SCREENSHOTS are VERY HELPFUL. If you see a problem, take a screenshot, or copy and paste the text that is in error, and email that. Also, the “BUG” button is great; but if you use BUG, make sure to say in your email who you are, so I can give you credit for the report.

“High level” feedback has to do with things like plot, pacing, and characters. “Scene A didn’t work for me because x, y, and z,” is useful feedback. “B character was entirely unsympathetic, because u, w, and v,” is also useful feedback.

“Mid-level” feedback describes things like grammar, style, or the use of commas. As I said above, I do not want mid-level feedback. In particular, DO NOT WRITE TO ME ABOUT COMMAS.

“I had a great time and saw only a few spelling errors,” is not useful feedback. In fact, it’s the sort of thing that results in you not being given access to future betas.

Some examples of useful feedback:

In Choice of the Dragon, you get to choose what type of wings you have: leather or scaled. Someone wrote in and asked about having feathered wings. Great suggestion! Done!

In “The Eagle’s Heir,” someone asked about Eugenie. They said that the romance moved too quickly–because she only appeared in the last third of the game–and wished they could have had an opportunity to meet her earlier. So the authors added an opportunity to meet her and start the romance earlier in the game (in a scene that already existed).

In “Demon Mark: A Russian Saga” several people commented on how the PC’s parents were unsympathetic, so the authors added a choice or two to deepen the relationship with the parents in the first chapter, to help better establish their characters.

Similarly, pointing out a specific choice and saying, “this is who I imagined my character was at this particular moment, and none of these options seemed right for me. I would have liked an option to do X instead,” is really helpful feedback.

Another useful piece of feedback: if you choose an #option and then the results of that #option don’t make sense. Like, if you thought an #option might test one stat, but it seems to have tested a different one.

15 Likes

Ok, I’m going to hold on accepting new people into this beta until I get a new draft from the author; we’ve had a lot of interest and I want to stagger this out.

ALSO! There is a closed beta thread for this game. Once you’ve submitted feedback, I can grant you access to have a discussion with the author.

If I forget to add you to that Forum Group, feel free to ping me.

1 Like

There’s a new draft posted, so if you’ve just started playing, you might want to refresh your browser.

New draft posted!

  • Misc spelling / punctuation / grammar issues fixed.
  • A few nasty bugs squashed.
  • Stat distribution and several tests have been modified. A reader should now have little problem passing late-game tests if they’ve purposefully trained a skill as often as they can throughout the game.
  • Opening paragraph re-written as it was overly enigmatic. It now details your environment, why you’re there, who you’re with, and is a bit more action-oriented.
  • Added a few early descriptions of what werewolves look like since their appearance was never explicitly stated.
  • Some early relationship options have been tweaked with some new ones added. (Jolon can now be flirted with in chapter 2 without training with him.) Work in progress.
  • Suggested PC names added in chapter 1, rather than simply a blank box.
  • Separated transgendered and non-binary into different selectable options.
  • Jolon’s initial description has been given more detail.
3 Likes

A post was merged into an existing topic: Werewolves: Haven Rising – beta thread

New draft posted! I’ll be adding two or three more testers.

  • More choices added at suggested points to allow a wider variety of player responses.
  • Some story changes to make early events more impactful and explain background info.
  • Alt text for characters of different backgrounds added at points so as not to break immersion.
  • Jolon is now easier to romance and Bly is a little less forward before the player chooses to engage with her first romantic encounter.
  • Many spelling and grammar fixes.
  • Two bug fixes.
2 Likes

New draft posted!

  • Added a choice which determines character attractions in Chapter 1.
  • Dena’s gender will flip if the player is interested in guys.
  • Dena’s more stereotypical feminine traits have been ironed out, making him/her a bit more androgynous.
  • Dena’s Chapter 9 sex scene has gotten a new male-Dena version with a few choices. Yowza!
  • A few more descriptions of the main characters in early chapters. Work in progress.
  • Many suggested changes and alt-text bits have been added. Still more in the queue.
  • Misc spelling fixes.

Changes in the works:

  • Adding ways to initiate the beginnings of a romance with Justin. This will be expanded in the second game when/if a sequel is green-lit.
  • Adding more descriptions to the main characters in the prologue and chapter 1.
  • Implementing more misc suggestions.

Things for testers to watch for:

  • Please give a whack to Dena being male and make sure all pronouns are turning up correctly. I’ve scanned things multiple times, but it’s so easy for one of these to slip through.
  • Is the attraction selector decent? Whatcha think?
3 Likes

New draft posted!

Change log:

  • By popular request, I’ve added the ability to choose some of your character’s appearance traits at the beginning of chapter 2.
  • Added a few more interactions with romanced characters in some ending branches, and a ‘flustered’ option to the more explicit male-Dena romance scene in chapter 9.
  • Bug squashed: In rare instances, chapter 13 would refer to a character named “nil” (a default unset variable) being hurt or dead. This should no longer happen.
  • Edited some lines during the chapter 2 play scene.
  • Added the ability to choose male and female pronouns to the nonbinary gender branch by request.
  • Various spelling, punctuation, and grammar fixes.
  • Continuity error fixes.
1 Like

i think a nice touch at the ending depending on your gender would be a pregnancy. Like VIVA LE REVOLUCIONE! also shit im gonna be a parent!

New draft posted!!

The last beta testers will now be admitted. Anyone who hasn’t already sent in a request: I won’t be taking any more. Thank you.

1 Like

New draft posted!

Last chance to submit beta feedback!

If you’ve submitted feedback but don’t have access to the beta thread, please let me know!

I’ve already submitted my feedback by email weeks ago (on May 30th to be exact) and still haven’t been admitted to the beta thread.

I submitted my feedback via email on 7 June but have yet to be admitted to the beta thread too.

I submitted feedback not long ago, I’d like to be added to the thread though!

Submitted feedback last week.