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 This is gonna be a wild one. What? From the Steam page: “The premiere Victorian Business Tycoon & Dating Simulator. Your family business has been stolen from you! Forge sexy partnerships in the sheets while crushing rival companies in the streets to become England’s largest monopoly and reclaim your family honor.” …What? Max Gentlemen Sexy Business (MGSB, if you’re lame) has two halves. The first is a simple, if very solid, business sim based around properly deploying your Executives – think characters in a Tactical RPG, complete with statistics and storylines. You upgrade them, recharge them, use them to make money, have them take over hostile businesses, or send them on trips to distant lands to bring back items. It’s designed so that you can’t possibly get all the content in one game, and in fact, the story is built to gradually unfold over three or four runs, each adding new mechanics and quirks. It gets really grindy at higher levels and the gameplay innovations run out before the story does, but it does the job well; we are firmly in Good Game territory here. You can also date people. Who? The other half of the game? A dating sim. You get 12 Executives to pick from, six men, six women, each with widely varying personalities and body types. This game is openly and enthusiastically sex-positive; it’s the sort of game where you pick your pronouns during character creation without them determining your romantic options. Victorian-themed it may be, but the game treats all of its characters as equal regardless of gender, appearance, or skin color, and your character can seduce any or all of them without issue. And yes, it does have a bunch of  scattered through it like any good visual novel, but it offers you a whole suite of content filters to let you control what you see. You can 100% this game and see nary a titty if you want. Even if we decide to go hardcore into the  , you won’t be seeing any content that violates SA’s forum rules. So don’t worry about that.Why? It’s a fun game with some neat mechanics and great art, but MGSB’s real appeal lies in its writing, which is sparkling. The characters are vibrant, the plot is wild, and the dialogue is smart, sharp, and genuinely funny. Like, I guarantee you’ll read something during this LP that makes you step away from your computer/phone for a moment to get yourself under control, and that’s not something you see every day. But it's also warm, sympathetic, and occasionally kinda deep; the general madcap humor makes the occasional dramatic moment hit harder. The game never gets dark and it never stops being completely absurd, but its characters are much more than just sex objects and it never lets you forget that. How? This is gonna be a mostly-conventional Screenshot LP. If you’ve read one of those, you know how this is going to go. But there are a few things we have to keep in mind:
When? I honestly couldn’t tell you how often I’ll be posting. At least once a week, almost certainly more, but probably not any more than every other day. I’ll probably allot 1-2 days for a vote every time I ask for thread participation. Where? Right here! Before we really get ourselves going, I need some advice from the thread on formatting and content.
As I’ve already said, over and over again, Sexy Business is a sexy business game. It has plenty of sexual content and three levels of built-in content filter: Safe-ish, Default, and Extra Sexy. Each level just unlocks new optional content; it’s entirely possible to take the third option and never see anything wilder than you would if you picked the first. Since SA has an understandably lower tolerance of  then Steam, we will have to make a few modifications to the provided system:
And finally, we have our preferred pronoun. Which of these would we like to be called?
 VOTING TIME! Choose one option from each of the three lists and bold them in your post. Voting for pronouns closes in 24 hours and voting for the other two closes in 48 hours! Update 1: Now Begins Your Extravagant And Sexy Adventure! Update 2: Dearest Assface Update 3: I’m Not Sure What The Lobster Represents Update 4: Rabbits, But Sexier And Richer Update 5: Nothing Tiny About My Occult Rituals Update 6: The Spiders Are So Anxious To Meet You Update 7: You Raise The Pipes To Your Lips Update 8: A Cuddle Puddle Of Sweat And Narrative Resolution Update 9: Build It, And They Will Come Update 10: Worst Case Scenario, You’ll Only Be Losing The Parts Of Your Soul You Weren’t Really Using Anyhow. Update 11: The Faint Approach Of Clip-Clops Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 18:25 on May 9, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 05:00
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level, but please be advised this is a very sexful game no matter how you slice it, even on the most 
settings.
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ASSISTANTS    EXECUTIVES                         OTHER CHARACTERS    
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 18:30 on May 12, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 05:04
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Well, let's start things off with a bang!  Sorry, couldn't resist. I vote Madam, Some Sex, Some Help.
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Apr 24, 2021 05:11
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Some Help Full Monty Boss I'd like to see if the writing is as sparkling as you say it is. And the game just looks like lighthearted fun overall. One could use more of that.
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Apr 24, 2021 05:27
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Some Help Some Sex Boss Will there be any consequences to shagging more than one person at a time?
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Apr 24, 2021 06:02
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Some Help Full Monty Madam
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Apr 24, 2021 06:26
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Some Help Full Monty Boss
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Apr 24, 2021 06:33
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StolenTeeth posted:Some Help I am ready for some sexy business.
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Apr 24, 2021 06:38
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LJN92 posted:Will there be any consequences to shagging more than one person at a time? Not a one! The game actually assumes you’ll pursue more than one executive and mechanically rewards you for it. Any more would be spoilers, but polyamory is the name of the game here.
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Apr 24, 2021 06:41
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rbakervv posted:Some Help Let's go for some real Sexy Business.
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Apr 24, 2021 08:02
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jesus christ
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Apr 24, 2021 08:44
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Some Help Yes Sex Boss some plague rats posted:jesus christ
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Apr 24, 2021 09:05
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Some Help Yes Sex Boss I like how this game, aside from its baseline fruitiness level, treats the sex content as a side dish, so to speak - it's right there for anyone to take as much or as little of as they want, and you're not required to take /any/ of it if it's not to your taste. As you say, it's a very positive approach I'd like to see done more often.
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Apr 24, 2021 13:28
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StolenTeeth posted:Some Help This. Because I miss the coffee cart guy by my work calling me "Boss" every morning.
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Apr 24, 2021 13:36
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Apr 24, 2021 16:09
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Some Help Full Monty Boss
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Apr 24, 2021 17:23
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Mega64 posted:Some Help Another vote for these, please.
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Apr 24, 2021 19:40
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Please do let me know if I end up bumping up against the line. This is my first time LPing an NSFW game, though, so please be gentle. Update 1: Now Begins Your Extravagant And Sexy Adventure!  I could spend this time rambling about the game’s background and context, but I think the OP covered it well enough. None of those options in the menu down there are relevant to us yet; some of them will come up in the game itself, some of them I’ll cover later, and some of them don’t matter to the LP. The only thing we care about right now is starting our first company!  The very first thing that shows up on creating a new game. So, uh, pretty sure this is okay to post here, but I spoilered it just to be safe. These setting descriptions are mostly accurate, aside from the fact that the game doesn’t bother pixellating MAX SEXY content much. I’ll be moderating it for the thread, however, and this will probably be one of the most titillating images I post. E: Nope, not even close. While the game is miles away from being fully voice acted, almost every character has at least a couple lines they can break out for various situations – vocal cues when you talk to them, confirmations when you deploy them somewhere, and most importantly, reading the game’s name out loud occasionally during loading screens. Hearing a random character break out “MAKS GENTLEMAN, SEXY BUSINESS” in the hammiest way possible never gets old  In accordance with the thread’s wishes, we’re going with EXTRA SEXY.  God of Business: Let’s start by making your Gentsona!  This is our “Gentsona”, effectively our avatar. IN THEORY you could use this page to craft an intricate vision of your ideal Victorian businessperson, but why would you do that when you just hit the randomize button and get something completely ridiculous? I’ll be periodically changing it up over the course of the LP, so if you think this looks lame, let me know and I’ll roll the dice again. God of Business: Looking very rich… uh, erm… You’ll have to excuse me… Mortal gender is a bit beyond me. What is your preferred business tycoon pronoun? You know, I guessed that “boss” was going to win the poll, but I didn’t expect this rapid runaway victory. God of Business: Excellent, boss. You can change your look any time, so I hope you didn’t stress it too much. This game doesn’t have any direct trans representation as far as I’m aware of, but “your character has no set gender and everyone seamlessly switches to your preferred pronoun if you decide to change it” is probably pretty solid. God of Business: Now then, any Victorian Aristocrat worth their weight in gold has a rival. What was your rival’s name again?  God of Business: I’m just loving with you. You don’t get to name your rival. But you do get to decide what they look like! While most important characters have preset appearances, your rival, who will show up periodically to screw with you and make your life miserable, is not one of them. They have a Gentsona that you can put together through the same interface, meaning you get to determine just how stupid your sworn enemy looks. You can also change what they look like at any time. God of Business: Wonderful. I can’t wait to see what hijinks you two get up to. Now begins your extravagant and sexy adventure!  Goodbye, business horse. We will never see you again.   …We rise slowly from behind our desk.  This whole section is fully voice acted, by the way. =>I was just trying out the new dramatic entrance we built. Ah, yes. After all that hassle we went through to build those secret tunnels, it would be a waste not to use them. Especially since we had to desecrate that ancient burial ground and then fight all those ghosts while you were gone.  => At least they died doing what they loved. Boss…  >He hides the sword behind his back. I was not aware you had returned from your grand adventure. Some staff informed me they heard rustling coming from your office, so I ran to fetch the home-invasion sword. Perhaps a bit overkill for the situation? =>Aw, I could never be mad at someone who is prepared to kill for me. Of course. You know it’s my sworn duty to recklessly throw my life a way to protect your estate. Enough about us. You simply must tell us about your grand adventure. Boss, as you know, it is customary for the rich to share their tales of glory to[sic] the common folk.=>To establish how much better and deserving statues I am. This game is mostly devoid of -isms. Classism, though? Well… It’s always treated for laughs, but it’s also never presented as a good thing or a rational one. So take that as you will. Indeed. I’ll take dutiful notes and send our town priors out once we’ve decided how best to frame your exploits. Now remind me. What was the initial purpose of this expedition?=>To single-handedly overthrow a semi-corrupt government for a gang of likable rebels.  Mhm. Of course. And while we got some big reports on the death toll, now’s your chance to set the record straight.=>That volcano wasn’t going to explode itself.   Come to think of it, I ought to briefly bring the narrative to a screeching halt to poll the threat on something. So far, I’ve been showing off various responses based on what I think is funny. But I promised I would ask for Some Help, didn’t I? Before we continue, let me know how our dear protagonist shall approach their dialog:
None of these options will significantly impact characters’ opinions of you, though, so don’t worry too much about what path you go down. This vote will just determine what dialogue I show off, though if there’s anything important that comes up, I reserve the right to make choices so we don’t end up screwing ourselves. Since I’m still getting the hang of how everything should work, please let me know if there’s any way I can make this easier to read – resize the images, change how I format dialog, whatever. Additionally, the previous two polls are still open! I went ahead and wrote this update based on how unanimous vote seems, but none of these options are set in stone and I’ll periodically ask the thread if you want me to change things around. Remember, bold all your votes! Polls close in… I dunno, whenever. Probably the end of the weekend. Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Apr 26, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 20:01
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poo poo you regularly bust out.
. You can hit on every character you meet pretty outrageously and all of them will either blush and smile or proposition you right back. This will slow down updates as long as it’s active, since I have to surreptitiously read all the lines off the screen to get them into a word document and that will be an awkward endeavor if there ever was one.
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I'm really sad we can't be rivals with Dr Bitch, to be honest. But that fez more than makes up for it. For dialogue, I'd say #1, deadpan, but vary to the other two if you feel its funny.
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Apr 24, 2021 20:18
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I can't decide yet for the dialogue vote, but as for making things easier to read, those dialogue choices are really hard to read on mobile. Cropping right in around only the dialogue choice menu might do the trick. Or maybe just listing out the options in the text, after one of those screenshots.
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Apr 24, 2021 20:30
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3. Speak and gently caress
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Apr 24, 2021 23:35
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Another thing I like about this game is that from right from the intro screen it makes it abundantly clear how seriously it's not going to take itself.
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Apr 24, 2021 23:56
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Mega64 posted:3. Speak and gently caress
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Apr 24, 2021 23:59
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I didn't spend six years in Bitch Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much
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Apr 25, 2021 01:36
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Mega64 posted:3. Speak and gently caress
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Apr 25, 2021 01:47
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Mega64 posted:3. Speak and gently caress
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Apr 25, 2021 02:13
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Mega64 posted:3. Speak and gently caress
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Apr 25, 2021 03:48
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Mega64 posted:3. Speak and gently caress The only correct answer
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Apr 25, 2021 04:22
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I know these updates have been coming hard and fast, but I’m feeling inspired right now and I never like waiting when I’ve got something to present. Update 2: Dearest Assface Well, even though we’ve only gotten a few votes in, it looks like talkin’ about fuckin’ is currently in the lead and I may as well show a bit of that off. Also, the game’s been running on my computer for like 14 hours now and I don’t like that. Sidenote: some choices only have one or zero interesting answers. If I skip over the screenshot, assume you aren’t missing anything revolutionary. =>They all hosed me. All of them, boss?=>All of them. (We also get the option to pick “all the men” or “all the women” but I’m gonna go ahead and assume our sexuality cannot be constrained in such a paltry manner.)  Very good, boss.  =>I drank too much, lost a few days and woke up in London.  (I swear, newspapers are not this common in the rest of the game.) Ah, yes! The preferred English method of travel. Wonderful. I’ll compile these notes and send word immediately. I’ve taken the liberty of arranging a knighting for your service to the crown. It should make for a good ending to your tale. Since you’ve returned on such short notice, we could only find a Duchess. I hope that’s acceptable. She’s downstairs.=>That’s all right, myself and “Her Majesty” are going through some poo poo right now. She has sooo many corgis. Surely she’ll get over the loss of that one soon enough. Let us make haste. Since you have already received the maximum number of knightings a person is allowed to receive, we’ve arranged for the family business to be knighted. Duchess: And, through a loop-hole granting businesses the same rights as people, I hereby grant your family business the great honor of knight-hood. You may present your company paperwork now. Oh! Silly me! I’ve forgotten the paperwork. Let me just go get that.  What?! Impossible! Who would dare do such a thing!?Duchess: I’m afraid I cannot knight something you are no longer in possession of. Lock down all the doors and windows! No one leaves or enters. Lock the duchess in the dungeon until we sort this out. There’s a mystery afoot! Everyone grab a magnifying glass from the barracks! That’s not all, boss. There was a letter. The bastard is gloating?! The nerve of it!>You open the letter.   “While you were off cavorting and being a jerk, I have acquired your family business. If you’re wondering how I did it, consider asking your servants about the vault cleaners who came by while you were gone.” Curses! I knew the vault cleaner wasn’t normally scheduled for a Tuesday! “Consider this letter a challenge. I double-dog dare you to take back your company. Also, I stole all your money. Now your finances match your taste: poor. Best wishes, Your Rival.”>At the bottom of the page is a poorly drawn stick figure cartoon of your rival dropping a megaphone. Boss, another letter has just arrived. Your good name has been dragged through the mud, and everyone related to you as exiled themselves in disgrace! But worst of all…  =>Sounds like we’re hosed. >Just then, a shadowy figure emerges from one of your various large and ornate curtains.  Who is this now?! How did you avoid my curtain traps?! =>Why would you help? I’m penniless. Let’s just say I have an interest in seeing you succeed. And more importantly, I have investment capital.  =>I’ll be honest, I didn’t know you could stop being a rich person… I assume your maid and butler are trained in the art of business tycoonery? I’m sure they could walk you through it. Well… yes. I do know everything there is to know about business, but… And I am well trained in the deadly arts of the hostile takeover. (The business world’s most glorious way to die.) Well then. It sounds like the path ahead is clear. And don’t confuse my intentions for charity… I will merely be able to provide a loan. You’ll still be needing to pay me back in a timely fashion. It sounds like we don’t have a choice!  They swing their hips around to the music, it’s hypnotic.  And now we finally begin gameplay. The game gives you a tutorial, of course, but let’s go ahead and adapt it to match the LP format.  Yes, that’s who the name comes from. Your executives are your most important asset. They are also, of course, the people you can date, and you can only access their routes if you’ve hired them on. Normally I’d offer the thread a choice of which executive to start with, but Penny Farthing is by far the better starting character for reasons we’ll soon get into. Boss, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Penny Farthing.  I’m here to join my metalwork company with yours. We mostly make decorative architecture, but sometimes we make weaponry, and even more rarely I like to dabble in metalwork clothing. The latter of which hasn’t panned out yet. Too much pinching. Either way… I’m sure you will find my company to be a valuable asset going forward.  You use your executives by deploying them to specific places on the map – in this case, the bank (top right). MGSB runs off a simple calendar system; 24 hours a day, seven days a week, four weeks a month/season, and four month/seasons a year. As long as we have a character working here, we’ll be pulling in a little cash once an in-game hour (which works out to once every real-time second) without us needing to intervene.  (This is what happens after we rake in our first payment.) But 100 a second is kind of a pittance and won’t support us for very long, you didn’t say?  The “world map” is laid out in districts, each of which has you on one end, a target on the other, and a bunch of lesser companies between you; to get to your target, you have to fight your way through. Each hostile company has a specialty, as indicated by the symbol marking their building; each executive also specializes in a field, and if you mount a hostile takeover of a company that shares a field with one of your current executives, they get some shares and start earning more money at the bank.  Here, “hostile takeover” means “beat the poo poo out of them in a street fight”. We are far too posh to dirty our noble hands wiping the floor with the hoi polloi, though, so we have to send executives over to the slums (top left) and have them recruit some locals to serve as our  But before we put them to use, we need to give Penny a break. Executives have 100 Moxie (stamina) that they use automatically to take actions. When they run out (or when you decide to let them have a kip), they head back to the rec room (bottom center) down there and recharge themselves pretty rapidly. Every executive spends 10 Moxie on every action as a rule, but each of them can cut that cost down if you deploy them in the right way; some executives spend less energy at different times of day, some at different times of year, and some while performing different tasks. Penny Farthing, for instance, spends less Moxie while working at the bank, making her the single most efficient moneymaker in the game if you’re willing to invest in her.  Combat (center screen) is simple: your mans punch the other mans and whoever falls down last wins. If that’s your opponent, they kick your executive out of the fight and force them to gather up some more recruits; if it’s your executive, you take over their company. While the system has more than a few quirks around how combat and recruitment function, we won’t be able to exploit them until later, so I’ll leave it here for now.  As it is in so many other gaming classics, your driving goal in MGSB is paying off your debts. Fortunately, Angel cuts you a break; not only does she give you an affordable installment plan, but every time you pay off a quarter of each installment you get a nice bonus, usually something that unlocks a new executive slot or function on the map. If you can’t pay for everything in time, you lose and have to start over, though you can take certain bonuses with you from run to run.  Anyway, after taking out that first company, we have now doubled Penny Farthing’s earning potential. Between that boost and her Moxie discount at the bank, she can pull together enough money together to meet half those goals above in a couple in-game days, leaving us plenty of time to save up and develop our enterprise. And that’s the primary gameplay loop in a nutshell. Like I mentioned before, there’s plenty left to cover, but all of it comes along at a later date to expand and add complexity to mechanics that are already there. When it comes to the management side, there is. We’ll spend some time exploring the dating Sim side of the game in the next update. As far as voting goes, because that’s going to become a substantial part of this LP: since it’s been roughly 24 hours since the OP went up, voting on our pronoun is now closed. We can change it up later if the thread wants, but that’s in the future. However, all other polls are currently still open . I’m pretty sure most of the people in this thread have already voted, but just in case, here’s what’s left on the docket:Falconier111 posted:Right here! Before we really get ourselves going, I need some advice from the thread on formatting and content. Falconier111 posted:Come to think of it, I ought to briefly bring the narrative to a screeching halt to poll the threat on something. So far, I’ve been showing off various responses based on what I think is funny. But I promised I would ask for Some Help, didn’t I? Before we continue, let me know how our dear protagonist shall approach their dialog: If you haven’t voted already, bold your answers in your post. As before, I’m still getting my feet under me as far as formatting goes, so let me know if my current approach’s working, and if not, what I can do better. God I miss having access to a script 
Falconier111 fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Apr 26, 2021 |
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Apr 25, 2021 04:33
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I’ve added a full list of executives to the second post. Hopefully I can get a formal poll added to the thread to help us prioritize who to pick up, but for now take a look at our cast to see who we’re dealing with.
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Apr 25, 2021 18:43
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Falconier111 posted:I’ve added a full list of executives to the second post. Man they sure didn't like the idea of making any of those characters too old. Even the ones that blatantly look like old men are just in their 40s.
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Apr 25, 2021 22:59
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LJN92 posted:Man they sure didn't like the idea of making any of those characters too old. Even the ones that blatantly look like old men are just in their 40s. Tell me about it, Sinterklaas should have an age of ??? like Totally-Not-Dracula. Also I can't be the only one getting a Maya Fey vibe off Vicki. Like the hair, the necklace, and the arms-down exasperated pose are all saying to me that someone used Maya's arms-down exasperated sprite as a reference. Fake e: Just looked up the sprite in question, it's not as strong a resemblance as I remembered, but it's still pretty strong.
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Apr 25, 2021 23:17
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I’ve hit a point where I cannot continue writing the next update without hiring another executive. Lightning round! Would you like to meet Antoine Hardmeat, Max Gentlemen, or Vicki Lestrange first?
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Apr 26, 2021 02:47
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Bring on the Lestrange
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Apr 26, 2021 02:49
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Vicki Lestrange
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Apr 26, 2021 04:57
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Apr 26, 2021 05:37
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Antoine Hardmeat.
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Apr 26, 2021 05:53
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Antoine Hardmeat.
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Apr 26, 2021 06:05
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Max Gentlemen. Their name is in the title.
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Apr 26, 2021 06:21
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Vicki Lestrange
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Apr 26, 2021 06:37
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