As of yesterday evening a trial version of Tech Arts 3D‘s maiden release 3D Custom Shoujo is now available for download. I put it through its paces a bit this evening and came away pleased with the result; it’s no polished piece of Illusion software, but it’s got some nice ideas that if incorporated into a broader framework could make future releases from the brand into serious contenders in the (admittedly thin) ranks of interactive 3D erogaming. Initial impressions and screenshots below:
From playing the trial it seems 3D Custom Shoujo has even less of a plot than Jinkou Shoujo 3; it’s basically an advanced 3D kisekae doll system that you can have sex with, as far as I can tell. Unlike the most recent Jinkou Shoujo game, Custom Shoujo relies less on player input of a variety of complicated parameters and instead provides a simple user interface from which hundreds of clothing options and physical features can be chosen, in a preset range of colors.
Compared to the competition the system here is much more limited, but it also enables the player to craft a suitably unique girl that looks decent in a short amount of time, unlike the JS3 system which has been accused (by me, among others) of being too cumbersome and time intensive.
If there’s not much more to the final game than what we see in the demo I think this game will be a disappointment, but if there’s at least a rudimentary way to interact with the girl you’ve created and chart a change in her reactions to you over time, I think they’ll have a good springboard for future development.
Here’s hoping it’s not just a big collection of clothing options, sex positions and backgrounds all thrown into a blender…
Fiddling with the available character options I ended up with a catgirl maid vaguely reminiscent of a character from UFO Princess Valkyrie. Other than the static clothing and feature adjustments the one slider in the game allows for the adjustment of the bust measurement, though not to such ridiculous extremes as Jinkou Shoujo 3.
As of posting no release date for the game has been disclosed.
I don’t mind AG3’s complexity. What I do mind is that you have to have a mouse wheel to play it, which basically precludes me ever playing it on my laptop. There’s no reason why the game has to be that way, but there’s no alternative keys to do the same thing as rolling the mousewheel up and down either. Very irritating. :(
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of putting control of as much character generation as possible in the hands of the end user. I felt the JS3 interface had a learning curve steeper than was probably warranted, though, and while I’m planning to eventually return to it and sit down to give it the attention it deserves my criticism of the unintuitive nature of the GUI still stands (especially for character creation, but also in the game as I played it pre-patch).
I don’t mind the need for a mouse wheel, but then I’ve never tried seriously playing games on a laptop without a mouse (other than maybe Angband). My trackpad-fu is rather weak. :(
Sooo… What are the odds of the full version of this game including customization options that will appeal to those who are into certain somewhat-out-there fetishes? My guess is close to zero, but I’d love to be proven wrong.
>>Wantcheese
If it’s not on this list it’s not going to be in the final game (though there may be expansions). Given that there aren’t even options to change the body shape or the face structure I’m guessing we’re not going to see more “exotic” features any time soon, alas. The futanari option is School Mate is the most niche thing I’ve seen in a 3D game (that, and some of the scenarios in Oppai Slider…) but I’m guessing it’ll be a while before Tech Arts 3D catches up to the Illusion standard.
the customization almost like PL2 (poligon love 2) where you only need to choose ‘the parts’
Tried the demo out for myself, not bad, not bad. Hope there’s more to the game than that though. I hope the final version is not just more of the same.
On another note, how come the frame rate is so low. I know it’s a demo and all, but is that why or is there some other reason, maybe my comp. I noticed in your screenshots your highest was 16fps, well, my highest was only 14fps.
>>Gojiro88
I was running the demo on a laptop without much in the way of 3D video capability, which explains the paltry frame rate (at least in my case). I’m hoping I’ll get something a bet better on my desktop at home, though that’s swiftly becoming a dinosaur as well… With all these new 3D eroge coming out I’m really feeling the pressure to build a new PC. :(