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Calm down, friendo. I think that in the context of fap games, this is pretty good, but Shakespeare it ain't and in terms of actual writing quality this barely rises to an airport thriller. The idea that it is the emotional impact that has people concerned and not the hamfisted execution of a sudden tonal shift is nonsense.
- Mar 10, 2018
- 91
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Without overdoing things, I have to say that Acting Lessons is the only game that made me go through a LOT of emotions. It is definetly one of the best VN I've played. And I thought that only Katie from Where the heart is could make me laugh but Liam gets the cake ^^
So, great Job
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- May 8, 2018
- 430
- 1,118
@DrPinkCake First, like You have said it earlier in one post, your biggest mistake was not to put a warning on a beginning of your game. That's what caused all this mess here.
Second, your story, your rights to do whatever you want to do to it. But, as a story from 3rd person pov is really good and as 1st person pov is total garbage (personal preference).
Third, don't get me wrong, I'm not asking anything from you, but your only option to please all players would be to add end on middle of 6th episode (I believe that's when they have returned from trip) as a alternate ending, but again, that's your choice.
Fourth, about your next games and projects, well, I wish you a luck and all the best, but I'm off of this train. This is my last game from you (again, personal preference).
Now, about all others who are still mad at this developer about this game, get over it, You can't change anything. Delete game and forget that you have ever played it, just like I had, there are a lot of really good games here. Move on.
This is my last comment on this thread. Bye.
Second, your story, your rights to do whatever you want to do to it. But, as a story from 3rd person pov is really good and as 1st person pov is total garbage (personal preference).
Third, don't get me wrong, I'm not asking anything from you, but your only option to please all players would be to add end on middle of 6th episode (I believe that's when they have returned from trip) as a alternate ending, but again, that's your choice.
Fourth, about your next games and projects, well, I wish you a luck and all the best, but I'm off of this train. This is my last game from you (again, personal preference).
Now, about all others who are still mad at this developer about this game, get over it, You can't change anything. Delete game and forget that you have ever played it, just like I had, there are a lot of really good games here. Move on.
This is my last comment on this thread. Bye.
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Yup. Honestly this would make me actually pay, since I started and dropped the game yesterday. Normally I support good games, and this was not only good, it was fantastic -- up until episode 6's ending, where I dropped it.
In my opinion this game is one of the best on F95 hands down. I watch a lot of tv so I love drama, I love being emotionally attached, being on the edge of my seat every something is about to happen. I love how it makes my heart pound. Now to all you downers about his story telling, it’s absolutely brilliant and he did something philly games wasn’t able to do, what’s that you ask? HUMOR, humor takes you along way by itself but his story telling is excellent, he breaks it down EP by EP with a solid back story then connect them all in the end just like real TV. Gosh u excessive fappers need to take a break from the porn and watch real television to understand drama better.
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Do you hear yourself? They wouldn’t even had started making adult games if they didn’t like to I mean honestly, what person in their right mind will work up to 12 hours a day 7 days a week doing something they don’t like. Do you think the people at rockstar games don’t play their games when they finish them? I’m sure they love GTA 5 and RDR2 just as much as I do.
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@DrPinkCake
As a huge fan of this game and your work overall and now that you're here on F95 again, I wanted to take a post to tell you my thoughts (and how much I want to support you but sadly can't at the moment).
This game was the first ever on this site that I've seen that has managed to hook me in and love characters. For most of the games on here, they compromise storytelling and character development for fap material and this is one of the very few games that does all of it very well.
I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say that heart wrenching moment you did in the last episode was extremely jarring and rightfully so. There didn't really seem to be any foreshadowing and it kinda had the RKO effect, coming out of nowhere.
Now while I am a little triggered at that (cause good god did I want that polygamous relationship to continue because it would be awesome to see that specific idea portrayed well in a game), I understand why you did it. This is your story, not anyone else's and for that, I have to give you a tremendous amount of respect. You did it despite knowing how the community would've reacted and for the most part, people have not taken it well. I'll admit, I threw a bit of a temper tantrum and I was upset for a while but I then understood that this is your story. You're the writer, not any of us. As much as we would enjoy our own canon endings, at the end of the day it's your vision. Sure we can throw tomatoes and/or roses at you depending on our opinions, but you don't have to change anything to suit anyone.
Now that being said, I wouldn't have minded the jarring change if it was foreshadowed properly or at least, we had a hint of it coming, so we could prepare ourselves. Some people just don't take that kind of decision sitting down and when it's just thrown at them, they lose their minds. Me on the other hand, as an aspiring writer, I understood given some time to process it all.
I love your game. I love your characters. And I'm a fan of your work now. But holy jebus please give us a little foreshadowing next time haha.
This game evoked more emotions out of me than a tremendous amount of other games I've played in my life and I've never eagerly awaited updates as much as this game because I'm dying to see what happens next. I don't expect the perfect ending because based on what's happened, I'll never get my definition of one. However, I'm very interested to see how this all ends and I'm crossing my fingers that it's a fitting end because good lord, did this game take me for a ride.
Also, I have to give you props for making Melissa. She is easily one of the most attractive female characters I've ever laid eyes upon.
Ahh I'm rambling at this point. But I just have to express how much I appreciated this game and know that I'm one of the people that understands why you did what you did. It wasn't pulled off in the best way possible, but this is your first dip in the water is it not? You'll only get better from here.
Thanks again Doc.
As a huge fan of this game and your work overall and now that you're here on F95 again, I wanted to take a post to tell you my thoughts (and how much I want to support you but sadly can't at the moment).
This game was the first ever on this site that I've seen that has managed to hook me in and love characters. For most of the games on here, they compromise storytelling and character development for fap material and this is one of the very few games that does all of it very well.
I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say that heart wrenching moment you did in the last episode was extremely jarring and rightfully so. There didn't really seem to be any foreshadowing and it kinda had the RKO effect, coming out of nowhere.
Now while I am a little triggered at that (cause good god did I want that polygamous relationship to continue because it would be awesome to see that specific idea portrayed well in a game), I understand why you did it. This is your story, not anyone else's and for that, I have to give you a tremendous amount of respect. You did it despite knowing how the community would've reacted and for the most part, people have not taken it well. I'll admit, I threw a bit of a temper tantrum and I was upset for a while but I then understood that this is your story. You're the writer, not any of us. As much as we would enjoy our own canon endings, at the end of the day it's your vision. Sure we can throw tomatoes and/or roses at you depending on our opinions, but you don't have to change anything to suit anyone.
Now that being said, I wouldn't have minded the jarring change if it was foreshadowed properly or at least, we had a hint of it coming, so we could prepare ourselves. Some people just don't take that kind of decision sitting down and when it's just thrown at them, they lose their minds. Me on the other hand, as an aspiring writer, I understood given some time to process it all.
I love your game. I love your characters. And I'm a fan of your work now. But holy jebus please give us a little foreshadowing next time haha.
This game evoked more emotions out of me than a tremendous amount of other games I've played in my life and I've never eagerly awaited updates as much as this game because I'm dying to see what happens next. I don't expect the perfect ending because based on what's happened, I'll never get my definition of one. However, I'm very interested to see how this all ends and I'm crossing my fingers that it's a fitting end because good lord, did this game take me for a ride.
Also, I have to give you props for making Melissa. She is easily one of the most attractive female characters I've ever laid eyes upon.
Ahh I'm rambling at this point. But I just have to express how much I appreciated this game and know that I'm one of the people that understands why you did what you did. It wasn't pulled off in the best way possible, but this is your first dip in the water is it not? You'll only get better from here.
Thanks again Doc.
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Wanderan basically said everything I wanted to...This...is an EXTREME love/hate story for me now...I love it overall, but wow...It killed me at the same time. Massive props for moving me to tears, literally, more than I'm happy admitting...Don't know if I should tell you to keep it up, or...
- Dec 16, 2017
- 245
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I understand it's your story, and its all good. Cant say more than allrdy been said.
But a fan is a fan, And nothing wrong in caring for their needs.
You would not be the first to care for people needs, but your standing your ground as faar as i can see.
Can I suggest a bonus episode for all us soft hearten people, where there might be an alternative ending, like a happy one, so I at least can smile in my crappy fucking life
But a fan is a fan, And nothing wrong in caring for their needs.
You would not be the first to care for people needs, but your standing your ground as faar as i can see.
Can I suggest a bonus episode for all us soft hearten people, where there might be an alternative ending, like a happy one, so I at least can smile in my crappy fucking life
@DrPinkCake
A lot of people are gonna suggest a bonus episode or a what if scenario.
Personally, I can see why it's worth doing and why it's not. It's entirely up to you honestly, but I think a bonus episode would really set things right, especially for the people who jumped ship at the jarring moment.
It's not required at all, cause I know it's an absolutely insane amount of work that goes into this project but like I said before, it wouldn't have been such a backlash if it was properly foreshadowed or at least, if some of them saw it coming.
I'm happy with the way things are right now. What I'd be far more interested in seeing is perhaps a prequel, where we get to either play as Liam or as the MC during their college days. Could be like a two episode spin off where we see just how they became such good friends.
Apart from that, I'd love an alternate ending as would everyone but it's not required in the slightest. Your story, your rules.
But good lord Doc, you really grabbed onto everyone's heartstrings and yanked them off a cliff. It just wouldn't feel as fulfilling if you didn't give us a nice ribbon topped ending after painting such an incredible first 5 episodes. The first 4 episodes REALLY hooked me, 5 cemented it and then the choice happened and it's like WHAT THE HECK MAN. After painting such a beautiful life for the forseeable future, it's like someone busted into your room with a flamethrower and burned it all to ash, leaving exactly half of the painting.
.... I'm rambling again >_>
My apologies. I just can't get over how much that moment jarred me. It hurt me physically to make that choice and if certain things didn't happen in the story, I'd have picked one over the other without thinking about it. But because you did both of them so well, it was nearly as bad as that choice I had to make in The Witcher 3. I made a post detailing that choice earlier in the thread but yeah...
Rough shit man. Rough shit.
A lot of people are gonna suggest a bonus episode or a what if scenario.
Personally, I can see why it's worth doing and why it's not. It's entirely up to you honestly, but I think a bonus episode would really set things right, especially for the people who jumped ship at the jarring moment.
It's not required at all, cause I know it's an absolutely insane amount of work that goes into this project but like I said before, it wouldn't have been such a backlash if it was properly foreshadowed or at least, if some of them saw it coming.
I'm happy with the way things are right now. What I'd be far more interested in seeing is perhaps a prequel, where we get to either play as Liam or as the MC during their college days. Could be like a two episode spin off where we see just how they became such good friends.
Apart from that, I'd love an alternate ending as would everyone but it's not required in the slightest. Your story, your rules.
But good lord Doc, you really grabbed onto everyone's heartstrings and yanked them off a cliff. It just wouldn't feel as fulfilling if you didn't give us a nice ribbon topped ending after painting such an incredible first 5 episodes. The first 4 episodes REALLY hooked me, 5 cemented it and then the choice happened and it's like WHAT THE HECK MAN. After painting such a beautiful life for the forseeable future, it's like someone busted into your room with a flamethrower and burned it all to ash, leaving exactly half of the painting.
.... I'm rambling again >_>
My apologies. I just can't get over how much that moment jarred me. It hurt me physically to make that choice and if certain things didn't happen in the story, I'd have picked one over the other without thinking about it. But because you did both of them so well, it was nearly as bad as that choice I had to make in The Witcher 3. I made a post detailing that choice earlier in the thread but yeah...
Rough shit man. Rough shit.
- Jul 29, 2018
- 169
- 254
All I can do is hope for a happy ending...
Anyone else having trouble uploading pictures in the comments?
Anyone else having trouble uploading pictures in the comments?
- Mar 29, 2018
- 889
- 6,350
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- Nov 9, 2017
- 632
- 902
... Please tell me you were joking with that line.
In truth, history is likely that Mona Lisa was painted of the wife of man who commissioned it, so person knew what he was paying. Leonardo DaVinci paintings were many times paid by the family of person in painting, or the person itself. Patrons in renaissance very much involve themselves in the art. Better analogy being if DaVinci is hired by Duka Sforza to do last supper, and said will do last supper, starts to making last supper. But in finish, turns painting into copy of Heironymous Bosch hell painting. Then act surprised when Sforza not happy with the change.
Funny story DaVinci much like Gumdrop Games. Pissed off many patrons because took for ever and many times did not finish his work.
So Pink is very reliable instead and very hard worker, no matter what said about later story by ones who do not like it.
Good posting in the middle. Fair on both side.
- Mar 29, 2018
- 889
- 6,350
Something just came to mind about a scene from episode 7, when going down the Rena path. At first I thought it was lazy rendering (or being a cheap ass on assets), but it just came to me that it was a very small detail pertaining to the situation that M (or M) was in at that time.
It was just a minor nuance that makes total sense in retrospect (and after playing all 3 love paths), but at the initial time of viewing (caught up in emotion) I totally missed it, or thought it was lazy work. I noticed when starting from the beginning, there are a lot of these little easter eggs which almost everyone will miss on the first reading. Well Done!
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There's nothing wrong with having a vision. However, the sense I get from the dev is they are too prideful and stubborn and not reflective enough. Sticking to a vision no matter what doesn't validate that vision. Part of the creative process is realizing which ideas are good, which are bad, and reflecting on what worked and what didn't. Throw out bad ideas, even bad work, no matter how much effort went into it. If the dev wants to stick so strongly to the original concept, then spend more time working on the original concept.
Maybe join a writer's club and bounce ideas off people and change things that don't work. People would have discouraged a story from throwing so many twists on top of each other unless the goal is to get people to emotionally disconnect from the experience. Because if the writer doesn't revise the story until it's good before bringing it to the audience, the audience will be able to tell and they'll lose faith in the writer. It will be harder to get people to trust the next project. Acting Lessons has some good stuff (like Liam characterization) but really would have benefited from some tough love feedback about the second half.
Look at the range of reviews for this game; it's either 2 stars from people who think the writing went downhill, or 5 stars from people who like crazy stuff happening. There's nothing wrong with writing for only the people who think it's a 5 star game, but don't condescend to everyone else by telling them "don't play my upcoming game BADIK if you want to avoid feeling things besides from hard-ons. ". Yeah ... just because I think AL's story and emotional resonance fell off a cliff doesn't mean I have a problem with games that earn emotional responses. What an ego to say that.
Anyway, people are still around, but this went from one of the best games on the site to a divisive game. At least there's still a group that think it's great, but previously almost everyone did. And people wouldn't bother critiquing if they didn't see the potential for the game to have been better or recognize the dev's talent and work ethic.
Maybe join a writer's club and bounce ideas off people and change things that don't work. People would have discouraged a story from throwing so many twists on top of each other unless the goal is to get people to emotionally disconnect from the experience. Because if the writer doesn't revise the story until it's good before bringing it to the audience, the audience will be able to tell and they'll lose faith in the writer. It will be harder to get people to trust the next project. Acting Lessons has some good stuff (like Liam characterization) but really would have benefited from some tough love feedback about the second half.
Look at the range of reviews for this game; it's either 2 stars from people who think the writing went downhill, or 5 stars from people who like crazy stuff happening. There's nothing wrong with writing for only the people who think it's a 5 star game, but don't condescend to everyone else by telling them "don't play my upcoming game BADIK if you want to avoid feeling things besides from hard-ons. ". Yeah ... just because I think AL's story and emotional resonance fell off a cliff doesn't mean I have a problem with games that earn emotional responses. What an ego to say that.
Anyway, people are still around, but this went from one of the best games on the site to a divisive game. At least there's still a group that think it's great, but previously almost everyone did. And people wouldn't bother critiquing if they didn't see the potential for the game to have been better or recognize the dev's talent and work ethic.
It's games like this that really make me want to try my hand at writing a story for an adult game.
I've been writing stories since I was 7 years old and I'm a total sucker for romance (which is why I fell in love with this game so hard most likely).
I don't know the first thing about coding and I'm a god awful artist, but I'd like to think I'm competent in writing. The Doc's work here really makes me want to try and get some people together for a passion project, just to test the waters to see if I'd be any good at writing stories like these.
I've read an absolutely ridiculous number of books, romance stories and I've written an insane amount of love scenes and I'm told I'm pretty good at describing relationships and character emotions with my writing, so this just spurs me on to try and make an effort to do it.
After replaying the entire game over again, there were golden moments I saw that could've been used to foreshadow the inevitable jarring choice that got everyone riled up but that's upon reflecting. When I first saw the choice, it pissed me off. But I eventually came to terms with it and I guess my writer's mind decided to run wild and wish for a different ending.
Putting the tragedy tag or something would've completely changed the outlook on the story, and I'm glad the Doc didn't put it in initially because it would've caused everyone playing to be on the look out for the tragic moment, which would've killed the suspense completely. Some people say that he should have the tag, I say hell no to that. If it were that obvious, I guarantee the thread wouldn't have blown up as much as it has right now.
As @IndigoHawk said, this game went from 5/5 to divisive because of that moment. But I'm gonna be understanding because this is the Doc's first attempt at writing a story like this. To be honest, I'm not even sure how I'd introduce a tragedy like that if I were in his shoes without having a lot of people jump ship regardless of which. But that's what mistakes are meant to do: let you learn from them.
I'm not saying the story decision is a mistake. I'm saying it was a mistake to not foreshadow it or at least hint at it, instead of coming in like Randy Orton with that RKO to the feels.
I liken it a little bit to anime. For example, the popular Goblin Slayer anime is just a completely dark and depressing show. When you see Goblin Slayer, you can already tell that it's gonna be violent and it's gonna focus around a protagonist who of course, is obsessed with killing Goblins. Then we think of an example like Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon. From the art style, we can already tell there's gonna be a lot of fan service and the title tells us a lot about what the anime will be about. Yes there are dark moments in there, but the show maintains a pretty light hearted tone and focuses a lot on romance instead of the battles like Goblin Slayer does.
So long story short, with a name like Acting Lessons, no one's gonna forsee some kind of massive RKO in tone shift, especially when you paint such a beautiful first 5 episodes. They're gonna expect that picture to be finished right to the end, not stop 4/5s of the way and then have the painting be taken over by someone else who has another plan. I'm not saying that you should adhere to expectations, I'm just saying that it's not just the fact that we aren't getting the perfect ending that we want that's upsetting people. It's just how random it is. If the transition was smooth, I guarantee that the ratings would remain as 5 stars all the way through.
After such an amazing night and we're ready to move into paradise, it's like someone slashed the bus's tires and threw a molotov in it.
Bah. More rambling. I'm just passionate I guess haha xD
This game really inspired me to write again, so I'mma do just that. If anyone knows any devs looking for a writer to help out with stuff, let me know. I'd love to have a talk with them.
I left my full on review for the game if you guys are interested in seeing my thoughts on it overall specifically.
I've been writing stories since I was 7 years old and I'm a total sucker for romance (which is why I fell in love with this game so hard most likely).
I don't know the first thing about coding and I'm a god awful artist, but I'd like to think I'm competent in writing. The Doc's work here really makes me want to try and get some people together for a passion project, just to test the waters to see if I'd be any good at writing stories like these.
I've read an absolutely ridiculous number of books, romance stories and I've written an insane amount of love scenes and I'm told I'm pretty good at describing relationships and character emotions with my writing, so this just spurs me on to try and make an effort to do it.
After replaying the entire game over again, there were golden moments I saw that could've been used to foreshadow the inevitable jarring choice that got everyone riled up but that's upon reflecting. When I first saw the choice, it pissed me off. But I eventually came to terms with it and I guess my writer's mind decided to run wild and wish for a different ending.
Putting the tragedy tag or something would've completely changed the outlook on the story, and I'm glad the Doc didn't put it in initially because it would've caused everyone playing to be on the look out for the tragic moment, which would've killed the suspense completely. Some people say that he should have the tag, I say hell no to that. If it were that obvious, I guarantee the thread wouldn't have blown up as much as it has right now.
As @IndigoHawk said, this game went from 5/5 to divisive because of that moment. But I'm gonna be understanding because this is the Doc's first attempt at writing a story like this. To be honest, I'm not even sure how I'd introduce a tragedy like that if I were in his shoes without having a lot of people jump ship regardless of which. But that's what mistakes are meant to do: let you learn from them.
I'm not saying the story decision is a mistake. I'm saying it was a mistake to not foreshadow it or at least hint at it, instead of coming in like Randy Orton with that RKO to the feels.
I liken it a little bit to anime. For example, the popular Goblin Slayer anime is just a completely dark and depressing show. When you see Goblin Slayer, you can already tell that it's gonna be violent and it's gonna focus around a protagonist who of course, is obsessed with killing Goblins. Then we think of an example like Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon. From the art style, we can already tell there's gonna be a lot of fan service and the title tells us a lot about what the anime will be about. Yes there are dark moments in there, but the show maintains a pretty light hearted tone and focuses a lot on romance instead of the battles like Goblin Slayer does.
So long story short, with a name like Acting Lessons, no one's gonna forsee some kind of massive RKO in tone shift, especially when you paint such a beautiful first 5 episodes. They're gonna expect that picture to be finished right to the end, not stop 4/5s of the way and then have the painting be taken over by someone else who has another plan. I'm not saying that you should adhere to expectations, I'm just saying that it's not just the fact that we aren't getting the perfect ending that we want that's upsetting people. It's just how random it is. If the transition was smooth, I guarantee that the ratings would remain as 5 stars all the way through.
After such an amazing night and we're ready to move into paradise, it's like someone slashed the bus's tires and threw a molotov in it.
Bah. More rambling. I'm just passionate I guess haha xD
This game really inspired me to write again, so I'mma do just that. If anyone knows any devs looking for a writer to help out with stuff, let me know. I'd love to have a talk with them.
I left my full on review for the game if you guys are interested in seeing my thoughts on it overall specifically.
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- Jan 15, 2018
- 789
- 5,681
This is how I feel after playing all the episodes so far...
Don't see/read if you haven't played it yet.
I don't know what to expect for the last Episode, it went from being a funny game, with a good story and decent sex scenes to a depressing game, I still like it a lot and want to see how it ends, GREAT WORK @DrPinkCake .
P.S. FULL MEME
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I don't know what to expect for the last Episode, it went from being a funny game, with a good story and decent sex scenes to a depressing game, I still like it a lot and want to see how it ends, GREAT WORK @DrPinkCake .
P.S. FULL MEME
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To all the people complaining about tonal shift and drama, if both girls were able to survive in the fire, would you still feel the same way about the game? If the answer is no, you are simply angry that a character you got attached to died. Sure, a death is very significant, but the exact same tonal shift and drama would be there if, for example, one of the girls went into a deep coma instead of dying.