RogueKnightUK

Co-Writer: Retrieving The Past
Game Developer
Jul 10, 2018
925
2,450
... And also, many of the events and characters are based on the dev's personal experiences, and people he knew and their experiences, so he's not just pulling random things out of the hat and see if it works.
Yeah, but we all know what "based on a true story" usually really means. It means that yes, the person did once walk into a shop he never had before. There just wasn't a Megan or a robbery in it. Oh, but he did have a friend once who had a car... :D
 

Ignatz

What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow
Donor
Feb 17, 2018
3,579
10,111
Since you've added 60 pages of commentary simply discussing the pros and cons of Chapter 7, the penultimate chapter, perhaps you could add a few dozen more ruminating over the information following.
Whether you see it as good or ill, Acting Lessons has been a roller coaster ride. Pink has attempted something different and, while some here judge it by personal expectations, almost everyone agrees it was surprising.
If you liked the surprise (but not always the result), consider supporting Pink's efforts to extend past common tropes and stereotypical games. Pink and all of us can learn and grow together!


Status update Episode 8
First off, having a second PC is a dream for me as a dev. You have no idea how much it is helping me. It makes me feel less stressed and boy does it pump out renders. I started rendering Episode 8 a couple of days ago. So far the result is:
119 renders completed
1 animation completed (in 4 hours from now)

Some info regarding Episode 8:

This is it. It is time to create the grand finale. The episode will be a big one, in terms of script and renders. I haven't got the feeling of how a single playthrough will feel yet, but that is the curse of branching; which I'm sure you experienced with Episode 7. Slicing a story into 3 parallel parts makes it feel shorter, but the workload behind it is the same as for a non-branching episode. I knew this going in and that's why I chose to stay close to the main branch for Episodes 1-6.

Thus far, I have written almost 3000 lines of code, which is mostly dialogue and I have a so much left to write that I struggle to even estimate the total length of the script. As you know, there will be 22 endings, but depending on your choices from Ep1-Ep7 the entire Episode can be seen as a giant ending, from start to finish you will see the consequences of your choices.

Some info regarding the new game:

When the script for Episode 8 has been written and while I wait for renders to complete, I will have development time to spend on other things than Acting Lessons.

As I plan to continue to create adult games, I will spend some time planning changes for the different Patreon tiers and for the Discord server. Before any major changes are made to the tiers or to the Discord, I will notify you all well in advance. Changes to the Patron tiers will not happen before Episode 8 release.

The majority of time, however, will be spent on writing the script for the first release of my upcoming game. The title reveal will come sometime before Episode 8 is released.

I want to release a BIG first episode of the next game, not just a short demo.

As I did with AL, I have started planning the main story from start to finish, but this time I am allowing myself a little more leeway, as I noticed how a story can evolve throughout development.

The details that I am willing to share with you for the moment being are the following:

- The MC (main character) will be a straight, Caucasian male, late teen/early 20s.

- The theme of the game is...*drumroll*... College. The source of inspiration comes from every single college movie I've watched for ages, slightly fused with a game that I would love to see a sequel of (Bully by Rockstar). I could talk about this for a long time, but I will settle with saying that this is the game of my dreams and I'm glad I got some experience in game development and writing before attempting to create it.

- The camera perspective will mainly be POV (point of view) but I will show the MCs head more this time around as it allows for way better camera angles in animations and overall.

- I aim for immersion, again. The biggest focus, as in any college movie, will be humor, but the main story will stray slightly from that at times. It won't turn into a thriller this time, if you are worried about that, but I still wouldn't recommend the game to anyone going through a tough period of their life. Some topics might hit close to home.

- The game will have a permeating story. It is NOT a sandbox game. That said, there will be choices and branches.

- Some events will be forced for the sake of the story.



Let's look forward to the ending of one adventure and to the beginning of another.

Cheers and have a nice weekend!

Dr PinkCake
 

RogueKnightUK

Co-Writer: Retrieving The Past
Game Developer
Jul 10, 2018
925
2,450
Dr Pink Cake said:
The biggest focus, as in any college movie, will be humor, but the main story will stray slightly from that at times. It won't turn into a thriller this time, if you are worried about that, but I still wouldn't recommend the game to anyone going through a tough period of their life. Some topics might hit close to home.
Looks like one of the central points of criticism was heard and taken on board. It certainly doesn't spoil anything to warn people that a game might not be the most lighthearted escape all the way through. Much better, I think.
 

Zer0Z0neR

Newbie
Jan 18, 2018
29
119
Looks like one of the central points of criticism was heard and taken on board. It certainly doesn't spoil anything to warn people that a game might not be the most lighthearted escape all the way through. Much better, I think.
For me personally though damage is already done, from this point on this authors works are in my wait till it's finished and make judgment then list (somehow support the author or not, speak with your wallet as they say).
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p.s. Just IMHO PhillyGames with "Depraved Awakening" pulled these things off much better (but the story there's also still ongoing, will see).
 

ThunderRob

Devoted Member
May 10, 2018
9,497
26,609
60+ pages since the update dropped...shows alot of people are heavily invested in this game..i think the number of people walking away compared to those staying and hanging on the edge of their seats is tiny...1-2% tops..you cant play 6-7 episodes of something and just walk away for the conclusion...thats silly..
 

stanley tucci

Newbie
Apr 2, 2018
45
65
I can't say I'm loving the new girls as much as the Acting Lessons trio and the premise sounds awfully generic but I'll reserve judgement until the new game comes out. I can't imagine Dr PinkCake rode a fluke this far so I'm anticipating what's next and will support the new project (but will definitely nix my pledge if there's a gap between projects).
 

ThunderRob

Devoted Member
May 10, 2018
9,497
26,609
have a feeling his "college game" will not be a dating sim stat grind harem gathering hunt and click..i expect another novel that we can immerse into....you do not just create one of the best novels around and lay back and crank out generic rpgs afterwards o_O
unless he is stephen king...HAHAAA!!!!!
 

Zer0Z0neR

Newbie
Jan 18, 2018
29
119
you cant play 6-7 episodes of something and just walk away for the conclusion...thats silly..
Yes you can, if the contents of the medium (game/book/movie) is not for you (or detrimental to your state of mind), you always can walk away that's the beauty of the medium compared to real life!
It's not my fault that the author decides to make hard left turn ~75% into the story.
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David Carr

Newbie
Jun 28, 2018
54
45
Since you've added 60 pages of commentary simply discussing the pros and cons of Chapter 7, the penultimate chapter, perhaps you could add a few dozen more ruminating over the information following.
Whether you see it as good or ill, Acting Lessons has been a roller coaster ride. Pink has attempted something different and, while some here judge it by personal expectations, almost everyone agrees it was surprising.
If you liked the surprise (but not always the result), consider supporting Pink's efforts to extend past common tropes and stereotypical games. Pink and all of us can learn and grow together!


Status update Episode 8
First off, having a second PC is a dream for me as a dev. You have no idea how much it is helping me. It makes me feel less stressed and boy does it pump out renders. I started rendering Episode 8 a couple of days ago. So far the result is:
119 renders completed
1 animation completed (in 4 hours from now)

Some info regarding Episode 8:

This is it. It is time to create the grand finale. The episode will be a big one, in terms of script and renders. I haven't got the feeling of how a single playthrough will feel yet, but that is the curse of branching; which I'm sure you experienced with Episode 7. Slicing a story into 3 parallel parts makes it feel shorter, but the workload behind it is the same as for a non-branching episode. I knew this going in and that's why I chose to stay close to the main branch for Episodes 1-6.

Thus far, I have written almost 3000 lines of code, which is mostly dialogue and I have a so much left to write that I struggle to even estimate the total length of the script. As you know, there will be 22 endings, but depending on your choices from Ep1-Ep7 the entire Episode can be seen as a giant ending, from start to finish you will see the consequences of your choices.

Some info regarding the new game:

When the script for Episode 8 has been written and while I wait for renders to complete, I will have development time to spend on other things than Acting Lessons.

As I plan to continue to create adult games, I will spend some time planning changes for the different Patreon tiers and for the Discord server. Before any major changes are made to the tiers or to the Discord, I will notify you all well in advance. Changes to the Patron tiers will not happen before Episode 8 release.

The majority of time, however, will be spent on writing the script for the first release of my upcoming game. The title reveal will come sometime before Episode 8 is released.

I want to release a BIG first episode of the next game, not just a short demo.

As I did with AL, I have started planning the main story from start to finish, but this time I am allowing myself a little more leeway, as I noticed how a story can evolve throughout development.

The details that I am willing to share with you for the moment being are the following:

- The MC (main character) will be a straight, Caucasian male, late teen/early 20s.

- The theme of the game is...*drumroll*... College. The source of inspiration comes from every single college movie I've watched for ages, slightly fused with a game that I would love to see a sequel of (Bully by Rockstar). I could talk about this for a long time, but I will settle with saying that this is the game of my dreams and I'm glad I got some experience in game development and writing before attempting to create it.

- The camera perspective will mainly be POV (point of view) but I will show the MCs head more this time around as it allows for way better camera angles in animations and overall.

- I aim for immersion, again. The biggest focus, as in any college movie, will be humor, but the main story will stray slightly from that at times. It won't turn into a thriller this time, if you are worried about that, but I still wouldn't recommend the game to anyone going through a tough period of their life. Some topics might hit close to home.

- The game will have a permeating story. It is NOT a sandbox game. That said, there will be choices and branches.

- Some events will be forced for the sake of the story.



Let's look forward to the ending of one adventure and to the beginning of another.

Cheers and have a nice weekend!

Dr PinkCake
First and foremost, I would like to thank you for your great game. Must say I really enjoyed it up to episode 6. Was a little disappointed when Melissa died in episode 7. Hope that we can at least get a happy ending. It would have been great if somehow Liam had followed the MC in and saved her.
 

ijako3

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2017
1,016
2,514
From this Patreon post i would guess that the next game will contain - Rape, overall graphic violence, maybe heavy blackmail, ntr(?), bullying. Humor being main focus, not being a thriller but having some hard to watch scenarios would indicate that. :p
Of course maybe some characters dying by accidents this time and this line '' Some events will be forced for the sake of the story.'' would probably mean the same way it happened in Acting Lessons, where after some episodes with big number of choices, big events are written, forced upon you making previous choices meainingful for the sake of the story. (hope it won't be like that tho and it will be done in a better way, not rushed and everything being thrown at player every sec at some point.) my few cents.
 
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RogueKnightUK

Co-Writer: Retrieving The Past
Game Developer
Jul 10, 2018
925
2,450
p.s. Just IMHO PhillyGames with "Depraved Awakening" pulled these things off much better (but the story there's also still ongoing, will see).
I don't think many would really argue with that. If you want a darker plot game with crime, murder and suspense then, let's be real, you'd have downloaded and played Depraved Awakenings and skipped past Acting Lessons based on how each was originally portrayed. And that's what I was getting at way back when I said that genre-switching pretty much always sucks.

You see, the author of Depraved Awakening had the entire game to build up the necessary suspense and drama, to tell the real story, and to start foreshadowing the major plot right from the start. It creates a smoother and better 'narrative arc' that way. It also means you have, from the very start, an audience that has self-selected the genre, and appreciates it.

What Acting Lessons did, while creating shock, was create 'cognitive dissonance' and that in turn seriously affects the necessary suspension of disbelief that a story needs. The shock was more along the lines of "WTF?!" than "Wow! I didn't see that coming!".

As several others have noted, this is an early game from a new developer. He's still testing things and experimenting, and there will be things that could have been done better - which is what will give him the first hand experience from which to learn and to do better. But he also pulled off a few things so brilliantly that others can already learn lessons from this first game. Most particularly the way he portrayed some of the central characters with familiar traits the audience could both identify with, and feel a bond over. Not bad for someone just out of the gate.
 
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