VN Ren'Py Summer's Gone [S1 Steam + DLC] [Oceanlab]

[Mr_Mister]

I respect that that, not that you need rendom internet approval from me.

In my opinion, the most poorly implemented part of the story is the mystery around Summer. Other parts of Nika's life have effectively distracted him to the point that he goes from dreaming about her every night and being a recluse to her just being his weird ex. It undermines the trauma aspect, and makes the trauma side feel like a random lightning strike, rather than a ball and chain he drags around.

Having said that, I expect there will be more therapy sessons soon, and I'm sure we'll get more of a sense of how some of the characters interact via Ayua's fight training. Ocean won't give us a clear explanation for Summer so early in the story, part of the process for NIka will be learning not to hide from it. But yeah, I think the spectre of Summer needed to be more prevalent to give greater weight. Things like, when with Bella, if he kisses her, he has a couple of frames flash back to Summer and he pulls away upset or something. Or when she tries to get something going he freaks out has a panic attack. Nika's basically gone from being conpletely non functional, to balanced and calm, with erratic moments like seizures instead of overwhelming trauma.

the VN has suffer because of the constant writes , re-writes and re-takes Ocean has made to the story and the characters .
the re-writes will continue as Ocean obsession with intertwine both SG and WIAB stories continue.

one thing that always make think about what Ocean thinks it's portraying but actually it's not , it's the Vic accident scene.
we know that MC's trauma has to do with the sense of loss but when Vic accident happens ; MC immediately reacts trying to help her , for Ocean the deep trauma in MC manifest by being very edgelordy .
for me the MC should've freeze right on the spot having a panic attack 'cause MC immediately will relate his sense of loss for Summer to the sense of loss anyone who loves Vic will feel , because Mc assumes that Vic is dead.
and MC should react to help Vic , not when miss Marla screams asking MC for help but at the moment MC looks Vic is moving ,
immediately knowing that she's not gone !

but what i know about writing VNs , i'm only good at punching guys with my mates !

 

[yossa999]

for me the MC should've freeze right on the spot having a panic attack 'cause MC immediately will relate his sense of loss for Summer to the sense of loss anyone who loves Vic will feel , because Mc assumes that Vic is dead.

Could this be because you think the MC is an emo whiner, and that's how you imagine an emo reaction to a stressful situation?

In my opinion, MC immediately tries to help Vic because he is the type of guy who takes action rather than freezes in a shocking or stressful situation. His panic attacks are certainly not a defensive reaction to shock. And his own experience only reinforces his behaviour; he could not help Summer and unconsciously sees in this situation an opportunity to replay everything and save the girl.

But what I know about writing a VN or how people react

 

[BobTheDuck]

the VN has suffer because of the constant writes , re-writes and re-takes Ocean has made to the story and the characters .
the re-writes will continue as Ocean obsession with intertwine both SG and WIAB stories continue.

one thing that always make think about what Ocean thinks it's portraying but actually it's not , it's the Vic accident scene.
we know that MC's trauma has to do with the sense of loss but when Vic accident happens ; MC immediately reacts trying to help her , for Ocean the deep trauma in MC manifest by being very edgelordy .
for me the MC should've freeze right on the spot having a panic attack 'cause MC immediately will relate his sense of loss for Summer to the sense of loss anyone who loves Vic will feel , because Mc assumes that Vic is dead.
and MC should react to help Vic , not when miss Marla screams asking MC for help but at the moment MC looks Vic is moving ,
immediately knowing that she's not gone !

but what i know about writing VNs , i'm only good at punching guys with my mates !
View attachment 3588492

I agree, the trauma is too understated. It seems like just as he's starting to get his life in order, Noji tries therapy, after years of letting him suffer through worse. Bad dreams are a thing, but we need to actually see the suffering a lot more to understand he has issues and to empathise whith who he can't give intimacy. More flashbacks/guiltrips about Summer when he's interacting with the LI's could help with that, for example hallicinations of Zara being Summer while playing basketball for a split second, and he misses a shot, with his eyes dilating etc.

I guess part of the process is it is still essentially a college story, so even though it has quirkier character backstories, where all the characters have 1 degree of separation but don't know it - essentially it is a non challenging starting point, where all sorts of change can be thrown at the MC. Hopefully there will be more awareness of the mental health issues moving forward, because he's pretty normal, just with the odd panic attack, but mostly as functional as average.

Could this be because you think the MC is an emo whiner, and that's how you imagine an emo reaction to a stressful situation?

In my opinion, MC immediately tries to help Vic because he is the type of guy who takes action rather than freezes in a shocking or stressful situation. His panic attacks are certainly not a defensive reaction to shock. And his own experience only reinforces his behaviour; he could not help Summer and unconsciously sees in this situation an opportunity to replay everything and save the girl.

But what I know about writing a VN or how people react

I'm outta reactions, but further on what I just wrote above, of course everyone is different and capable of complexities so I agree. But as far as perception goes, things to some extent need to be made a little more obvious to heighten the impact of the scenes, especially in an episodic narrative.

Nika has been raised to be responsible, but his level of external competence at relative normality would mask 90% of his problems to an observer. We're also observing even his internal dialogue, and there's very little evidence of trauma interrupting him. He rationalises his decisions more than anything. I think the flashbacks (like in the hospital) with dialted eyes could be more regular to show there is an antagonist inside his mental structures.

As you know already I enjoy this story immensely, so it's more a critique from me rather than a problem.

 

[hermit_tr]

Let's hope Steam speeds up the SG publishing process after seeing this.
From epic.

 

[Don Sucio]

Death To The Team Bella
View attachment 3587372

All of those warriors are in Bella team, look at them:

 

[minibaer12]

All of those warriors are in Bella team, look at them:
View attachment 3588711

 

[Tairnel]

I understood that Ocean was doing the entire 2nd season in 4k, but the conversation was about something else. If you didn’t know, downscale takes no more than 5 seconds, this is all the time that Ocean will save from 1 render.

No, he was doing the entire game in 4k from season one, that's why I keep mentioning downscaling. And while I'm aware downscaling is not a huge time sink (hence the wording in my previous post), it all adds up, especially when you factor in the minutes long cinematics.

 

[Mortarion]

It's not steam, it's ocean. He wanted to keep nudity minimum so that it's will be available in Germany and skipped a few steam survey questions which held up Steam review process for this long. If I'm wrong someone please correct me.

The release for the German market was just a bonus.

The most important thing for Ocean was to avoid the "Adult 18+" tag.
Because of the simple fact, that at the Moment the game is labeled so, Ocean would lose a huge bunch of licenses für his music in the game.
The license holder of the music has denied all use of his music in any content that is adult only.

Epic game store has SG for today's release date but you can't buy it. I hope steam get it review done so that it can be released soon.

You must be registered to see the links

Let's hope Steam speeds up the SG publishing process after seeing this.
From epic.
View attachment 3588600

 

[Abhai]

The release for the German market was just a bonus.

The most important thing for Ocean was to avoid the "Adult 18+" tag.
Because of the simple fact, that at the Moment the game is labeled so, Ocean would lose a huge bunch of licenses für his music in the game.
The license holder of the music has denied all use of his music in any content that is adult only.






View attachment 3589464

Did he really sacrifice adult content for music licences? In AVN? I mean, damn!
He might be a "businessman", yet Im out of here

 

[Mortarion]

Did he really sacrifice adult content for music licences? In AVN? I mean, damn!
He might be a "businessman", yet Im out of here

Yes he did, and this was justified.

I'm to lazy to search for the numbers, but losing a license that is without any problems in the 10k$ range for one(!) music title would hurt.
Money gone and license gone, so I can understand his totally.

 

[Abhai]

Yes he did, and this was justified.

I'm to lazy to search for the numbers, but losing a license that is without any problems in the 10k$ range for one(!) music title would hurt.
Money gone and license gone, so I can understand his totally.

well, one more reason to not bother with music in adult games i suppose.
an old retro/80s adult movie has more than enough "scenic" music for my taste

 

[Don Sucio]

Did he really sacrifice adult content for music licences? In AVN? I mean, damn!
He might be a "businessman", yet Im out of here

You would be surprised how many people here love SG music, I dare to say even is one of the favorites things for most people here.

I´m not one of those, i´m attracted more to other things but i understand perfectly why people love SG music, the list is good.

 

[Maviarab]

You would be surprised how many people here love SG music, I dare to say even is one of the favorites things for most people here.

I´m not one of those, i´m attracted more to other things but i understand perfectly why people love SG music, the list is good.

A lot of it (just like with WIAB) is that it perfectly fits the scene. So it's not just the music itself, but it how lends itself and increases the emotion of a scene. Something imo, Ocean is quite unparalleled at.

Unlike most VN's with crappy, pointless and incredibly non-relevant background music (akin to 70's porn in a department store elevator), Ocean isn't just making a VN, he's making an experience. Why so many of us stick with it. Ocean's VN's are the only ones (along with KG) where I actually leave it on...every other BN I turn all sounds off as they are godamn awful.

 

[mostwanted8]

A lot of it (just like with WIAB) is that it perfectly fits the scene. So it's not just the music itself, but it how lends itself and increases the emotion of a scene. Something imo, Ocean is quite unparalleled at.

Unlike most VN's with crappy, pointless and incredibly non-relevant background music (akin to 70's porn in a department store elevator), Ocean isn't just making a VN, he's making an experience. Why so many of us stick with it.

Only game I keep the music on all the time

 

[Don Sucio]

A lot of it (just like with WIAB) is that it perfectly fits the scene. So it's not just the music itself, but it how lends itself and increases the emotion of a scene. Something imo, Ocean is quite unparalleled at.

Unlike most VN's with crappy, pointless and incredibly non-relevant background music (akin to 70's porn in a department store elevator), Ocean isn't just making a VN, he's making an experience. Why so many of us stick with it.

Of course, a scene without the music wouldn´t be the same, just as if music had no scenes.

Like all machinery, it is necessary all the gears work, that include music, artistic scenes, renders quality...

Sometimes an AVN doesn´t need good quality renders, but with good plot, characters and music it can be saved.

For the excellence it usually required all of those things, and i think SG is accomplishing that.

Only game I keep the music on all the time

View attachment 3589588

Oh! I always play with the music on, no matter what game

 

[Dessolos]

A lot of it (just like with WIAB) is that it perfectly fits the scene. So it's not just the music itself, but it how lends itself and increases the emotion of a scene. Something imo, Ocean is quite unparalleled at.

Unlike most VN's with crappy, pointless and incredibly non-relevant background music (akin to 70's porn in a department store elevator), Ocean isn't just making a VN, he's making an experience. Why so many of us stick with it. Ocean's VN's are the only ones (along with KG) where I actually leave it on...every other BN I turn all sounds off as they are godamn awful.

yeah I would look up SG music when I played a game without any. tho I haven't done that in awhile and just use ambient music as I did get tired of hearing the same music after awhile ( im not a music person rarely listen to any on purpose). But to me this will always be one of the best game when it comes to it's music. I even found alot of the time putting the music on auto play had a good chance of matching a scene in other AVN's

 

[alanrock]

I hear angels singing whenever I see Bella on screen.

 

[mostwanted8]

Oh! I always play with the music on, no matter what game

Music pulls me out of AVNs often so I tend to play in silence. Or it gets annoying after a while if same track on repeat.
The music in SG fits the vibe and is soothing with a good number of tracks so it doesn’t distract or bother me.

 

[yossa999]

Did he really sacrifice adult content for music licences? In AVN? I mean, damn!
He might be a "businessman", yet Im out of here

It's okay, you don't have to stay here.

This game is what it is because all of its parts work together, including the music, to create a unique atmosphere and experience. Otherwise it would have been another WolLust Theory or Dating My Tenant.

 

[Don Sucio]

I hear angels singing whenever I see Bella on screen.

Let me tell you something bro: You are in love.

And is normal... What a fragile beauty!