VN Ren'Py Being a DIK [v0.10.1] [Dr PinkCake]

[RonWeasleyJr]

So how many characters do we know the actual last names of?

MC: Tremolo? (Not sure if it's simply a social media nickname in reference to his guitar playing, or if Tremolo is his actual legal last name.)

Jill: Royce

Rusty: Burgmeister

Cathy: Grant

Jade: Stevens

 

[ename144]

BaDIK is not perfect but compared with other games it really sets standards and is the best game of this type I know. I would rather see it go on as it is than have it shut down soon just to give choices in the game more consequences.

It's a common mantra that games are about choices but this usually applies more to games like chess, which have limited content (chessboard, 2 colors, 6 different pieces, ruleset) and where the player creates his own story, and less to VNs with unique prescribed stories and prescribed decisions.

Major decisions with consequences split a story into exclusive paths and so spread the content over more and more different paths, making the story for each path shorter than it would be without decisions (if we assume the same amount of overall content). BaDIK is published in episodes. If all episodes have about the same size (amount of content) and some major decisions, then the later episodes will only feature an exponential number of progressively shorter stories and players will be disappointed and frustrated.

The affinity system (DIK, neutral, CHICK) is probably the best we can get since it is more like a two-/three-lane highway which simply follows the main story and where the player can decide if he drives left, middle or right to see some special landmarks on his journey. The main part of the content (the highway) remains the same for all players. And unless one does an extreme DIK or CHIK playthrough, most will probably end somewhere in the middle (neutral).

If someone has a working concept for a game with 10-20 episodes of fixed size (100%) and at least one major decision per episode I would be interested to see how the (limited) content can be spread over the increasing number of different story arcs in later episodes without stalling the game.

We say games are about choices because that is what makes them games, rather than novels, movies or the like. The question is how a computer game, which can only output pre-programmed material, handles the potentially staggering amount of variety choice implies.

For the most part, I think BaDIK handles it well. We get lots of small choices that result in small variations (different dialog or renders in the same overall scene), and a few larger choices that add up over time. The real problem is in the presentation.

Episode 4 starts with the Secret Backstory of Josy and Maya(tm), then underscores what a big deal this is by having the MC storm out and move in with Derek/Sage/Bella because he just can't handle the revelation. We spend the rest of Episode 4 watching the MC studiously avoid Maya (who had been his near constant companion) and stew in his sense of betrayal. Finally he agrees to talk to them and (after a very unsatisfying wrap-up I won't rehash here) decides to either keep them as friends or start a three-way relationship with both of them. Crisis resolved.

Enter Episode 5. Here we learn that MCs who chose to be friends are still viewed as lovers by the girls, and MCs who tried for something more will treat the two just like all the other girls he's dating. So glad we finally resolved this!

It gets even more hilarious in some playthroughs where the only other woman the MC is dating is Jill, who will even admit to Bella the MC just isn't that into her. Yet somehow that same MC will choose to spend the night chatting with Bella and Jill rather than head home to his two half-naked girlfriends he wants to have a long talk with. Go figure.

None of this is to say the this isn't a good game, or even that Episode 5 is a bad episode. It's a great game and I enjoyed Episode 5. It just means the pacing of the story is off.

We shouldn't be at this point in the relationship with Maya and Josy if we are not also at a point in the story where the MC can't stop seeing other girls (or deliberately cheat on M&J and face the obvious consequences). It undermines the significance of their relationship to treat them with such disinterest, to say nothing of gutting the drama from the last episode.

So the problem isn't that we have too many choices. The problem is that the game is trying to give us a huge choice before it can acknowledge meaningful consequences to it. That's an acceptable flaw in an otherwise excellent game. My concern is that it is the sort of flaw that grow over time and become something much more harmful.

 

[Cndyrvr4lf]

Well I finished it but feeling like a lot of missing parts. is there still not Episode 5 Official Walkthrough?

Probably another week plus. There is an unofficial walkthrough that is actually pretty good somewhere in this forum

 

[Cooling Prob]

For a complete twist I would like to see Isabella get so lonely that she breaks down... leaves where ever she is and seacks out the MC instead of him always going to her and maybe crack a little smile when she finds him. This would have to happen way down the road of course lol

 

[ename144]

Probably another week plus. There is an unofficial walkthrough that is actually pretty good somewhere in this forum

There's a link to the unofficial walkthrough in the OP, and the walkthrough itself is here.

 

[ChipLecsap]

Agreed, the game needs to commit to what it is. On the one hand, it spends inordinate effort in Episode 4 to play up how momentous the decision between the MC, Maya and Josy is. But on the other hand, Episode 5 insists nothing was really decided and the MC is still free to bang anything that moves (except non-Bella teachers, for some reason) because Maya and Josy want to take it slow.

As I said before, I sort of get the logic behind Maya's string theory and I think it is likely the game will be watching our actions behind the scenes to figure out if the poly route works. But it would be so much more reasonable if trio agreed to a certain amount of exclusivity and the MC would thus be deliberately cheating should he continue pursuing other girls.

I suspect the problem is that then the game would need to develop a whole new set of non-sexual interactions with the other girls (lest episodes become even shorter for lack of content on each path), and DPC wants to avoid that workload as long as possible. You see a few signs of that kind of interaction in Episode 5, in the Maya/Josy scenes when you reject them, or Sage explaining that guys don't turn her down often. But those scenes were repurposed from the sex scene lead ins, right down to a lot of the dialog. It would take a lot more work to, for example, replace our second date with Jill with a platonic interaction with her.

So I get that there are real world concerns here. But it's just so frustrating how much the game bends over backwards to prevent us from experiencing the logical consequences of the actions the game not only demands we take, but demands we take in such dramatic fashion.

This is why I'm sincerely hoping that, as good as this game is, it will end sooner rather than later. The longer it goes on the worse the strain will get.

This is where, the Relationship Points comes in. The system is already exist, you just don't see this static ( unless you cheat ) which is good. Just like in real life. You don't have manual to peoples.
the Relationship Points goes hand to hand with the Chick/Dick scored, your current mood. based on your mood you can gain or lose relationship points with characters.

up until this point you have more freedom, which is good , more freedom more possibility, more flexibility. right now everyone is aware you are dating others, and they don't care. Jill, dont care, Sage, dont give a Fuck, neither Bella .
up until this point until ep 5 everything was linear, but I'm sure there will be moments when you Have to Choose, where to go, like you go to Josy or Maya, or Jill, and based on the decision you gain or lose Relationship points. and your Relationship points will determined.. Well... Your Relationships with the characters, with the girls. This will be the deciding factor.
This is a way more comfortable, system, without locking you out from most of the game, not forcing you in a certain path to as much. Gives you flexibility.

This is a logical System, way more logic than most of the complaint based on emotional reaction . without knowing how to create an immersive experience where you decisions could matter.

oh and bonus about Jill and Bella, emotional reaction from me . if you think chasing both will not have negative effect, well good luck .
Bella, literally pushing you to date Jill, and pushing Jill, to while she also have lust for you, and despite how close She and Jill are,

she does not talk her about it, their relationship is more fragile, and toxic, way more than anything with Josy and Maya LOL .
and I like Jill btw, 4. favorite girl. .

 

[Cndyrvr4lf]

We say games are about choices because that is what makes them games, rather than novels, movies or the like. The question is how a computer game, which can only output pre-programmed material, handles the potentially staggering amount of variety choice implies.

For the most part, I think BaDIK handles it well. We get lots of small choices that result in small variations (different dialog or renders in the same overall scene), and a few larger choices that add up over time. The real problem is in the presentation.

Episode 4 starts with the Secret Backstory of Josy and Maya(tm), then underscores what a big deal this is by having the MC storm out and move in with Derek/Sage/Bella because he just can't handle the revelation. We spend the rest of Episode 4 watching the MC studiously avoid Maya (who had been his near constant companion) and stew in his sense of betrayal. Finally he agrees to talk to them and (after a very unsatisfying wrap-up I won't rehash here) decides to either keep them as friends or start a three-way relationship with both of them. Crisis resolved.

Enter Episode 5. Here we learn that MCs who chose to be friends are still viewed as lovers by the girls, and MCs who tried for something more will treat the two just like all the other girls he's dating. So glad we finally resolved this!

It gets even more hilarious in some playthroughs where the only other woman the MC is dating is Jill, who will even admit to Bella the MC just isn't that into her. Yet somehow that same MC will choose to spend the night chatting with Bella and Jill rather than head home to his two half-naked girlfriends he wants to have a long talk with. Go figure.

None of this is to say the this isn't a good game, or even that Episode 5 is a bad episode. It's a great game and I enjoyed Episode 5. It just means the pacing of the story is off.

We shouldn't be at this point in the relationship with Maya and Josy if we are not also at a point in the story where the MC can't stop seeing other girls (or deliberately cheat on M&J and face the obvious consequences). It undermines the significance of their relationship to treat them with such disinterest, to say nothing of gutting the drama from the last episode.

So the problem isn't that we have too many choices. The problem is that the game is trying to give us a huge choice before it can acknowledge meaningful consequences to it. That's an acceptable flaw in an otherwise excellent game. My concern is that it is the sort of flaw that grow over time and become something much more harmful.

I think that is one of the bigger negatives associated with this game. So far your choices don't really affect anything and there are no real consequences to any of your actions. It's still early though so maybe DPC will start to start giving us the negatives soon. I actually thought EP4 was great because it made it seem like our actions had consequences, concerning the Maya/Josy just friends ending. However, that all got turned around at the free roam in the ANU house.

 

[anagyliker]

hey everyone! I downloaded the Mac version of the new update and when I tried to start the game, I got this problem:
----
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

Before loading the script.
Exception: Couldn't find file '._sound_season2.rpi'.
----
What should I do? I really wanna play the game.

 

[Cndyrvr4lf]

This is where, the Relationship Points comes in. The system is already exist, you just don't see this static ( unless you cheat ) which is good. Just like in real life. You don't have manual to peoples.
the Relationship Points goes hand to hand with the Chick/Dick scored, your current mood. based on your mood you can gain or lose relationship points with characters.

up until this point you have more freedom, which is good , more freedom more possibility, more flexibility. right now everyone is aware you are dating others, and they don't care. Jill, dont care, Sage, dont give a Fuck, neither Bella .
up until this point until ep 5 everything was linear, but I'm sure there will be moments when you Have to Choose, where to go, like you go to Josy or Maya, or Jill, and based on the decision you gain or lose Relationship points. and your Relationship points will determined.. Well... Your Relationships with the characters, with the girls. This will be the deciding factor.
This is a way more comfortable, system, without locking you out from most of the game, not forcing you in a certain path to as much. Gives you flexibility.

This is a logical System, way more logic than most of the complaint based on emotional reaction . without knowing how to create an immersive experience where you decisions could matter.

oh and bonus about Jill and Bella, emotional reaction from me . if you think chasing both will not have negative effect, well good luck .
Bella, literally pushing you to date Jill, and pushing Jill, to while she also have lust for you, and despite how close She and Jill are,

she does not talk her about it, their relationship is more fragile, and toxic, way more than anything with Josy and Maya LOL .
and I like Jill btw, 4. favorite girl. .

Do the RP points affect anything at this point? I have noticed that even with low RP points on both sides of the affinity/choice slide that it doesn't seem to matter. Low RP with Sage and she still sleeps with you. Most of the rest of the in game decisions by characters all seem to rely on affinity and prior/current actions. RP as far as I can tell doesn't affect anything at this point, granted I haven't dug into the code......

 

[LostPersonFound]

Do the RP points affect anything at this point? I have noticed that even with low RP points on both sides of the affinity/choice slide that it doesn't seem to matter. Low RP with Sage and she still sleeps with you. Most of the rest of the in game decisions by characters all seem to rely on affinity and prior/current actions. RP as far as I can tell doesn't affect anything at this point, granted I haven't dug into the code......

When I was replaying yesterday I was thinking about the same thing its possible RP like you said at this point might play a very minor role Ill pay close attention and will try to let you know if I see anything different.

 

[ChipLecsap]

I think that is one of the bigger negatives associated with this game. So far your choices don't really affect anything and there are no real consequences to any of your actions. It's still early though so maybe DPC will start to start giving us the negatives soon. I actually thought EP4 was great because it made it seem like our actions had consequences, concerning the Maya/Josy just friends ending. However, that all got turned around at the free roam in the ANU house.

Not at all. I see it as like a las warning of " are you sure you want this " moment.
if you are friend with them, you dont have to go with Josy, to her father, or you can deny it. I don't know if you still get the scene anyway.

but what i know is the conversation with Derek. and that is the KEY. You can choose right there. and I honestly believe based on your choice there, you can lock down yourself on a path, and if you choose you moved on. that will may or not may, but i assume, lock you out for Gaining Relationship Points with the girls. and this is what will comes into play how the game will end, maybe even certain scenes.

Josy, and Maya won't be removed from the game, you will still have scenes with them, no matter what, but based on this decision, this will determine how much. and how far you can go with them.
and there is evidence of this because if you are not on their path you already missing the finale scene with them.
but you can't expect DPC to create, different scenes for every single shit. there has to be a linear story that happens no matter what

JILL is literally forced on us no matter what, because for story, it must happen. so even if i'm not into her, i still have go through the whole dating, thing, or i still have to had the scenes with bella in episode 2. I can't even chose wheter to kiss her or not.

but I'm not complaining, this story is not about me, it's about MC, his pov, his feelings his story

 

[Cndyrvr4lf]

When I was replaying yesterday I was thinking about the same thing its possible RP at this point might play a very minor role Ill pay close attention and will try to let you know if I see anything different.

Yeah I am in the process of redoing all my runs because I finally looked at my points with the scrappy mod and boy am I missing a ton of RP points but I get the same thing as everyone else. Holy Bacchus and I were talking about this yesterday. RP doesn't seem to have an effect on anything at this point. Weird

 

[crugh2112]

The only person i missed in this update was Chad.. Where the hell was he ? i would have figured he still be near the jocks fraternity mansion.

Probably still licking his wounds after the confrontation with mc.. Caleb made Chad looking like a pussy.

He did receive a call from the jocks but did not attend the party to stay out of trouble.

 

[Minion_of_Luna]

Never in my life have i ever been so disgusted and quite frankly insulted the fucking audacity this man has to even contemplate such trash. This is "Tier" list is a sin against God himself and represents everything that is wrong with the world. Maya and Josy belong to the streets.

So what I'm hearing is that if you had the chance you would turn down a threesome type of relationship with real life versions of Maya and Josy?
Am I interpreting that correctly?

 

[f96zonetrooper]

Certain lewd scenes require high RP to show 100% content, e.g. some scenes with Maya.

 

[ChipLecsap]

Do the RP points affect anything at this point? I have noticed that even with low RP points on both sides of the affinity/choice slide that it doesn't seem to matter. Low RP with Sage and she still sleeps with you. Most of the rest of the in game decisions by characters all seem to rely on affinity and prior/current actions. RP as far as I can tell doesn't affect anything at this point, granted I haven't dug into the code......

Just because you don't notice now, does not means it not have effect, otherwise they would not exist. this is a secret system, yeah we saw it in the walkthrough, but we can't see it.
I know that in episode 3, there was this scene with Maya, where you can finger her pussy again if she likes you, i had a save where i did not have enough relationship point with her, do to not staying with her, and i was not able to finger her

also in episode 5 Josy, sex scene has a percentage meter, may be if you don't have enough point with her you can't get the full scene. I cant no for fact, I loved by everyone in the game

 

[cryhwks]

That's in order for me. I think Heather has a chance to rise? Her boyfriend is an asshole, she flicked the bean after an encounter with the MC, and she was doing it again in the Tub. Another one I'd love to see more of is Rose, her character model is fire.

 

[ninetofive]

Yeah I am in the process of redoing all my runs because I finally looked at my points with the scrappy mod and boy am I missing a ton of RP points but I get the same thing as everyone else. Holy Bacchus and I were talking about this yesterday. RP doesn't seem to have an effect on anything at this point. Weird

There are certain things you need RP for but very minor at this point. For example Ep 3 Maya scene you only get to play with her pussy if you have enough RP.

The system of having RP with each girl plus DIK points plus affinity is way too convoluted IMO but there ya go.

 

[anagyliker]

please help me! https://f95zone.to/threads/being-a-dik-v0-5-0-dr-pinkcake.25332/post-3600556

 

[mindern]

So how many characters do we know the actual last names of?

MC: Tremolo? (Not sure if it's simply a social media nickname in reference to his guitar playing, or if Tremolo is his actual legal last name.)

Jill: Royce

Rusty: Burgmeister

Cathy: Grant

Jade: Stevens

Tremolo is a musical term. It’s where you make a note tremble. A sorta wavering noise. I’m guessing it’s from his love of guitars (they can do it) over it being his surname.