Lovecraft Locker: Tentacle Lust
IMPORTANT!
Hi again everyone!
I'm afraid what has been worrying us for the last few weeks is now happening.
We've received a complaint through the Itch.io system regarding our project Lovecraft Locker: Tentacle Lust. Here is the exact email that we received:
Given that, we'll be pausing production, development, and all further updates to Lovecraft Locker and instead focus all our time and effort on our next game. We'll at least going to try to appeal through Itch regarding our project as we believe that our game is significantly different to be qualified for the reason "doesnt_own".
When we were notified regarding this complaint, I was still in a negotiation phase with HotPinkGames. After receiving that report and almost a week of message exchange, it's conclusive to say that our team and HotPink Games Circle are in no condition to form a mutual agreement due to a conflict of interest. I won't specify anymore as we want to respect the privacy of HotPink and the others involved.
Regardless if we managed to appeal our case with Itch, we'll still be pausing updates for Lovecraft Locker just as requested by the Tentacle Locker creators. If the worst case comes and Itch demands that our game page is removed or taken down, we'll host the game on a new website but still pause development.
We've only got 40+ days to work on Lovecraft Locker from the ground up, we still got plenty of updates planned in mind (new tentacle gods, new kinks, new gameplay, better visual novel, etc.) but it was definitely a worthwhile experience. Our team learned animation, better optimization, and programming techniques that will surely help us on our future game projects. We were all barely getting any rest, but we never felt tired because we were doing what we love.
Anyway, I hope you all will like our next game project: Tentacle Fantasy Soda!
Here's another WIP concept art:
Thank you all, and catch you soon :):):)
itch.io/get-nWwaKGBNmDe7
itch.io/get-Sxvf9ku3sRcg
itch.io/get-32jKtmSUYMRn
itch.io/get-yhd9jC626HwF
itch.io/get-kN7NWKxM9UrT
itch.io/get-JQ2TchEfGghm
itch.io/get-Rm543LrzVjte
itch.io/get-VhLZGHd6YYHe
itch.io/get-pFAABQpeVuyg
itch.io/get-Pfg55VU35vSh
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Saw this coming.
Sucks i bought the demo on itch.... Happy to support, but i was banking on future content...
well i cant say i did not see this coming when they made a second game lol
I can't help but wonder if this is because of a disagreement that got nasty. I remember when the original Breeding Farm (not the one that's on itch) went south and it was UGLY. You got inspiration from Tentacle Locker, and spun it your own way. Initially, Hotpink was OK with this, but seems to have backtracked on that. Hoping you can at least salvage things!
if you gotta scrap it then take what you got and salvage it for use in the soda game.
That is the plan!!!! We plan to go all-out on soda and recycle whatever we can ;)
i say contact them and ask if this was a legit complaint and NOT a scammer being an asshole. cuz why quit if this is a false alarm. they may not even be AWARE of this issue right now and do not know they are being impersonated.
It's more or less confirmed by now.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This whole situation is a little fishy. One the one hand, StrangeGirl is acting as though Hotpink demanded some sort of aggravating shark-like deal, while Hotpink themselves seem pretty chill in the comments below. On the other hand, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that if Hotpink truly wished only a partnership for mutual benefit, they'd resort to low blows like reporting the game just like that.
I know we're all missing a lot of context and things happening in the shadows of private messaging could lead in a lot of different directions. So making a solid judgment is beyond what we the audience can achieve. I do have my personal opinion about the report, and whether it was justified or not. I won't share said opinion on order to spare this discussion the ignition of a heated argument for both sides.
I just hope this situation can be resolved peacefully and satisfactory for both sides, but it's a matter of trust and honesty between the parties. Communication is key, since misunderstandings could lead to further distress for everyone. Y'all need to take a deep breath and think things carefully now...
Yeah.
The biggest red flag is Hotpink removing (deleted) their appreciation post.
This has been the cliff edge spark to the fire and has not been explained.
No matter how you look at it, that action is really bad.
I can not help but assume it was nefarious.
Kinda wish there were furry characters. Just some cosmetics that could be toggled since some people get so weirded out.
"we'll still be pausing updates for Lovecraft Locker just as requested by the Tentacle Locker creators."
Nah nah nah. Fuck.
hmm i am looking things over while looking away from the other things such as who reported the game and what side is doing what i am focusing on matter if one game copied the other i played all 3 games and i know what i am doing looking at here now love craft locker has had been inactive this game started Deveolpment with aim of remastering tentacle locker looking at all 3 games not only is lovecraft's art style different from 2 games it also has to be proven that game has intentionally copied another or has stolen an idea (for example crazy taxi's arrow that basically prevents a game devopler from making a certain game mechanic or cert game in that way) it is very clear both tentacle locker and love craft are going completely different directions the story mechanics down to how the girls react and everything the only reason i can think of why strange girl is so vague is because they are getting their legal teams ready to prove that this game isn't just the same game as hot pinks the only way that hotpink would win is if there was stolen code in the game which i doubt seeing as it uses it own engine (sorry for my bad english) tldr: hot pinks case is not really case without some essential componts that they have not disclosed and strange girl isn't being to open due to them getting ready for legal battle
So if Hotpink is trying to work things out who reported the game?
Honestly, it sounds like Strange Girl were tired of making a tentacle locker style game and used this complaint opportunity to drop it and run towards a more fun project they have planned... not that I'm complaining, because I'd love to see more entries into the tentacle fantasy style games.
Though the way Strange Girl are dealing with this is weird... just straight up ignoring HotPink who are still trying to get a word in with them. It's just worrying as somebody that has financially supported Strange Girl that they'd be willing to just drop and run from a project so many people loved, regardless of complaints. What happens then if they get tired of the tentacle soda fantasy? Do we, the fans and investors, just sit around and say "Oh, I guess that's it then. Shucks" and move on from another abandoned project? I've seen too many devs in the NSFW scene just drop a game and move on because they don't feel motivated anymore and can't deal with bugfixing, adding new assets, etc... I hope that I'm wrong in this case.
To clarify, we've already done negotiations for the past week. But it's apparent that HotpinkGames is interested more in "acquiring" our team than just the matter of Lovecraft Locker itself. At that point, our negotiation was not getting anywhere until they just decided to file a complaint on Itch.io behind our backs while the negotiation haven't still concluded yet.
We told you privately that we didn't want to acquire yall :P We wanted to work together as a partnership more than anything. Being able to lift up all lewd games together! kangboy123 is right that it's all been very weird, and we want to make sure you're able to keep making updates for the long run without burning out or abandoning projects like this
You say this, but you also want them to die if they don't partner with you immediately it seems, so the holier than thou attitude feels sorely misplaced.
Want them to die? lol where you getting that from? We want them to get better! Not sure any one in the lewd space can claim holier than thou haha
I'm not sure about the full story here, but i hope yall figure things out
Oh great, conflicting opinions...
Don't be afraid! We still want to make things work! But it's put a pretty bad taste that you had to make a post like this and try to put us in a bad light :(
How about a Merge? both come together Hotpink they did take the idea your team created but they also did gamify the experience let them bring that aspect over to your new game and speed up the production of anything in the works. everyone will win in the end this way (: best of luck to both parties
Something we had proposed, but they shot us down pretty hard :/
Also wanted to see if we could work along side and help each other out, but they also denied that. Never even got to talk to their team about it.
Hi! A "merge" feels like a commitment for us. Lovecraft Locker is only our first game and the last of its kind given this controversy. A "merge" ultimately means that for our future games, HotpinkGames will have a say about it, a share of profits, etc despite our liking and interests since there's going to be a legally binding contract to it.
I don't want to sound rude, but we'd like to make games ourselves. We made Lovecraft Locker to its current state with only ourselves as you can see. We only want to focus on making games, without any other process like who will approve what, or who will approve this. We like to experiment, and like to do things quickly. Overall, we believe our creative potential is at its highest when we are alone.
As we've said privately, we love your work effort and ideas that you bring to the table. You know we wouldn't be holding you back, so why say there here? Plus you say you made it only yourselves, yet you've clearly used others ideas! Not only from our game, but the many comments and suggestions our community has made! I think you can see from our catalogue we love experiments too and only wish to further the lewd games industry with better standards.
Without knowing the full story and only going by what was posted here and what you said in other posts. There is one thing that you are skimming over...
The take down request.
You say making this post puts you in a bad light, but the flip side to that coin is Strange Girl not saying anything and suddenly going dark because Itch took the game down. Thus putting them in an even worse light (and potentially ruining all future good will as I've seen other creators lose all will with their fans for going dark on a project thanks to similar issues)
Honestly making this post was the best option as it tells us why the game might disappear.
However your group putting in the request is quite poor form. At the start yes the game was very much a copy of your original, but it very quickly gained more features than your game had (levels, unlocking new positions, and recently gaining different types of lockers) and by this point is different enough that it is an homage more than a copy.
With you recently making Tentacle Locker 2 it actually comes off more as you or a member of your team panicking about competition and aiming to shut down the competition instead of learning from each other.
Competition in games can only improve the end product while blind copying (most phone games) or destroying your competition (AAA publisher that will go un-named to not burn future bridges) will only cause stagnation and a worse end product.
Look, I've played your original, loved it, played your recent sequel and I can see how it could grow. But I could also see the route this game was taking. There exists room for both, and while both teams merging could be cool, its not the only route.
Being competitors would help improve both games as you aim to cover weaknesses and flaws in the other ones game. Similarly collaborating would also improve both games as those flaws would start to get ironed out quicker in both.
Ultimately I hope that all of this works out and both games can build and grow along side each other.
Thanks for the update to inform us!
I'll be supporting as much as I can!
Don't give up ☺️🤞
Thank you!
Check Strange girls discord, hotpink Has been very clear about the whole thing while SG is vaugeposting, i believe this post is made to cause anger more than to inform