RPGM An Alchemist's Tale [3.2 Alpha] [Captain Allegretto Games]
- Thread starter Captain_Allegretto
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- Jun 7, 2017
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Just finished all the available content. The game is good for sure, but I didn't like that I had no agency over the dialog or the choices, especially considering decisions like
Other than that though, the game was enjoyable and had some nice humor, good art, and clear effort put into it. I definitely recommend it overall. I just wish you had a bit more agency.
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- Jan 29, 2020
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So I can understand if you're used to more sandbox experiences that this would be one of those pivotal moments to create a branch of decisions. I am going for more of series of vignettes, It's entirely a matter of taste and style but I have been ACHEING to talk about this scene so I'm going to. There is going to be a bit more actual decisions with Green, Zeleshi, and Lisandre content especially.
Of all scenes so far this decision from Allen is actually one of my favorite bits of his own character development. It's a simultaneous show of force and mercy in one of the only arena's he completely excels at and it allowed me to show Allen as a character has absolutely no desire to control/harm ANYONE. The benefits you talk about loosing Allen doesn't for a moment consider as a loss. In this game if the player is presented with choices they will be between two choices that Allen would actually choose between, but holding control over someones truename? Never. It lets me inform the player what Allen's rules are and how seriously he takes them. To me scenes like this are needed so I can truly set the stakes later for more weighty actions.
Moreover think from Llus' perspective; their expectations of that interaction was shattered in two utterly completely different ways. first by being outmaneuvered and then again by the expected repercussions being casually tossed aside. To Llus Allen is suddenly the alien and strange creature that appeared out of nowhere to drastically change how they see the world.
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- Jun 7, 2017
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The thing is though, that wasn't an innocent creature that you would evilly harm. That was a creature that was malevolently trying to control you and to hold power over your name like he did before over your family. Thus, I don't think having that power in your hand would be an evil choice at all. An Eye for An Eye. If this was an innocent creature that was just minding their own business then I would agree that keeping that power would be an evil thing to do and thus a choice that a person with an established good personality wouldn't think about, but to give someone a taste of their own medicine (that they have successfully inflicted on your mother and father, let us not forget. You are not only taking revenge for their attempted actions against you, you are also taking revenge for the years and years of control they held over your family) is a completely different matter.
and that was just the most obvious example. There were multiple cases where I wanted to have a choice and wasn't given one.
Either way though, like I said the game was still good and enjoyable overall, and I hope you continue to make it
.PS: Were there more than 3 transportation circles? because there were 2 "???" that I never found. Oh, and the 3rd choice with the woodcutter that you said should be removed is still there.
- Jan 29, 2020
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That is a perfectly rational take and set of action's that you could do. It is in fact a very grey area as a moral dilemma; which is why I chose it to set the viewers sights on how Allen views that situation. Allen didn't view them as a malevolent creature for even a moment, but as an interesting addition to his world. He turned the tables out of small necessity and only for exactly as long as he needed to prove his point and secure a promise of "don't do that again". When given the option to try for peaceful, consenting, resolution Allen takes that without hesitation.The thing is though, that wasn't an innocent creature that you would evilly harm. That was a creature that was malevolently trying to control you and to hold power over your name like he did before over your family. Thus, I don't think having that power in your hand would be an evil choice at all. An Eye for An Eye. If this was an innocent creature that was just minding their own business then I would agree that keeping that power would be an evil thing to do and thus a choice that a person with an established good personality wouldn't think about, but to give someone a taste of their own medicine (that they have successfully inflicted on your mother and father, let us not forget. You are not only taking revenge for their attempted actions against you, you are also taking revenge for the years and years of control they held over your family) is a completely different matter.
and that was just the most obvious example. There were multiple cases where I wanted to have a choice and wasn't given one.
Either way though, like I said the game was still good and enjoyable overall, and I hope you continue to make it
This WOULD be an interesting question to pose the player but it's NOT a question to Allen.
I've had a similar conversation about Rain opening up her store; where a player expressed that they would have loved the option to potentially stop her from doing that. While I understand that impulse it wouldn't make sense, at least in the story state as it is now, for Allen to want that. His position for most of that story is "fuck I do NOT want to be between these two in their family dispute". BUT Rain also sets a baseline "this is how allen reacts to a friend becoming very publicly sex forward". so when say, Lisandre could potentially go down a similar path, THAT is when i can present it as a branching consequential choice with a full weight behind it. This example WILL directly apply to the example set by Llus very soon, when a MORE egregious offender could be held accountable via MORE extreme but comparable methods. On that note i'll be very curious about your opinion of V2.0 when I have it ready.
Edit: the circle locations are Northwood. Lake. Southwood. Westwood. And center. Lake one is tricky to spot amongst other foliage, they also aren't all mushroom.
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- Jun 7, 2017
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I think I understand your point more now. You are building towards a future, stronger, situation where you have a choice by first featuring a lighter situation where you don't have one. You also don't just treat Allen as a normal "good guy you can further customize", you have envisioned a set and detailed personality for him. I presume that is why you also don't allow him to be renamed, to further make it clear that he isn't the player's self insert.That is a perfectly rational take and set of action's that you could do. It is in fact a very grey area as a moral dilemma; which is why I chose it to set the viewers sights on how Allen views that situation. Allen didn't view them as a malevolent creature for even a moment, but as an interesting addition to his world. He turned the tables out of small necessity and only for exactly as long as he needed to prove his point and secure a promise of "don't do that again". When given the option to try for peaceful, consenting, resolution Allen takes that without hesitation.
This WOULD be an interesting question to pose the player but it's NOT a question to Allen.
I've had a similar conversation about Rain opening up her store; where a player expressed that they would have loved the option to potentially stop her from doing that. While I understand that impulse it wouldn't make sense, at least in the story state as it is now, for Allen to want that. His position for most of that story is "fuck I do NOT want to be between these two in their family dispute". BUT Rain also sets a baseline "this is how allen reacts to a friend becoming very publicly sex forward". so when say, Lisandre could potentially go down a similar path, THAT is when i can present it as a branching consequential choice with a full weight behind it. This example WILL directly apply to the example set by Llus very soon, when a MORE egregious offender could be held accountable via MORE extreme but comparable methods. On that note i'll be very curious about your opinion of V2.0 when I have it ready.
Edit: the circle locations are Northwood. Lake. Southwood. Westwood. And center. Lake one is tricky to spot amongst other foliage, they also aren't all mushroom.
I still think that the "this person controlled your family for decades and was trying to do the same for you" situation wasn't light and should have been handled differently (for example, maybe always forget the last name that can harm them but then give us the choice to keep the first and second name for a bit and then release them after they learned their lesson vs releasing them immediately, same for the first name alone), but I get your intentions/plan now. Thanks for the explanation
.PS: I had actually found the Lake one lol. The two I was missing were Northwood and Southwood. I think you should make them all mushrooms, that way people will notice them much easier since they will be looking for a mushroom circle specifically. And I think their locations should be mentioned in the walkthrough.
I also think you should change the banner image of the game in the OP, as it doesn't really represent the game and what the game is about well.
2nd PS: Just gave you a nice review
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- Aug 21, 2016
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Gave up on this after playing for a few hours.
It says all kinds of content is avoidable, but there's a clear direction the game wants you to take.
As an example, early in the game you have relatively few sources of income, if you speed through the day maybe you earn 20g in about 2 minutes. In order to avoid sucking dick, you have to cough up 200g, after already having to spend ~60g on things to get to that point.
Sure, it's avoidable if you want to grind for 20 minutes.
That's kind of where I put it down, if it's half an hour of grinding to avoid an early game scene, what is it going to be later? 2 hours of grinding to skip a love interest having half the town run a train on them? Obviously in the case of a money gated avoidance cheating is an option, but it's a weird vibe.
You can also cut down the grind if you want to get molested, but if you want to participate in scenes where everyone is giving consent, I don't think this one is for you.
To be clear I don't have any problem with games having the same sexual themes as this, but it leaves a sour taste when you play expecting a pretty free experience and find the choices are judged and guided to tell a specific story.
I don't have a problem with guided stories either, I've enjoyed entirely kinetic VNs, I want to be clear it's just the dissonance that's strange.
It says all kinds of content is avoidable, but there's a clear direction the game wants you to take.
As an example, early in the game you have relatively few sources of income, if you speed through the day maybe you earn 20g in about 2 minutes. In order to avoid sucking dick, you have to cough up 200g, after already having to spend ~60g on things to get to that point.
Sure, it's avoidable if you want to grind for 20 minutes.
That's kind of where I put it down, if it's half an hour of grinding to avoid an early game scene, what is it going to be later? 2 hours of grinding to skip a love interest having half the town run a train on them? Obviously in the case of a money gated avoidance cheating is an option, but it's a weird vibe.
You can also cut down the grind if you want to get molested, but if you want to participate in scenes where everyone is giving consent, I don't think this one is for you.
To be clear I don't have any problem with games having the same sexual themes as this, but it leaves a sour taste when you play expecting a pretty free experience and find the choices are judged and guided to tell a specific story.
I don't have a problem with guided stories either, I've enjoyed entirely kinetic VNs, I want to be clear it's just the dissonance that's strange.
- Oct 27, 2018
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underwhelming. very underwhelming. don't know how much I missed that were under those flags of content but there was only like 6 scenes. 3 of which were over in a second. mc does not get his share, and seeming how its going to become a ntr game in the later half thats probably only going to get worse for him. so if anyone is playing for the mc this really isnt it unless something really changes.
- Jan 29, 2020
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Ok cool, this is the first money based grind comment i've heard since the last time I rebalanced that. People use old saves a lot so it's hard to get that early game feedback. Were you selling the excess ingredients and working more than one job in a day? there's the axe woodchop, the bar, and the farm, and the library. you can also sell a chokon nut to Roth (the other town guard), all carrots are just for selling as well. I'm just curious what path you took to gain money so i can see either how i can improve that path or more clearly point to the other ones.
At some point this feels like trolling, I've attached a visual for people's reference. If you actually played the game and are so violently vanilla that you axe down a list of 22 scenes only 3 you feel suits you then that's fine, it's your taste. I will rebut if you're going to basically lie about the content though. 22 scenes, 2 lean into lighter NTR themes (third wheel/voyeurism), 1 definitely NTR. the other 19 are all MC peeking on a solo girl or MC directly involved.
Addressing the 'make the circles all mushroom' thing, I thought about this and decided that's probably right. Going to put the extra effort to make a few recolors though, just for that visual interest. As for the banner I do have a solid new version I'll be swapping to for the next update, the scene it references isn't in game yet though so I couldn't use it sooner without feeling like a liar lol.I think I understand your point more now. You are building towards a future, stronger, situation where you have a choice by first featuring a lighter situation where you don't have one. You also don't just treat Allen as a normal "good guy you can further customize", you have envisioned a set and detailed personality for him. I presume that is why you also don't allow him to be renamed, to further make it clear that he isn't the player's self insert.
I still think that the "this person controlled your family for decades and was trying to do the same for you" situation wasn't light and should have been handled differently (for example, maybe always forget the last name that can harm them but then give us the choice to keep the first and second name for a bit and then release them after they learned their lesson vs releasing them immediately, same for the first name alone), but I get your intentions/plan now. Thanks for the explanation
PS: I had actually found the Lake one lol. The two I was missing were Northwood and Southwood. I think you should make them all mushrooms, that way people will notice them much easier since they will be looking for a mushroom circle specifically. And I think their locations should be mentioned in the walkthrough.
I also think you should change the banner image of the game in the OP, as it doesn't really represent the game and what the game is about well.
2nd PS: Just gave you a nice review
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- Oct 27, 2018
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most of those arent even sex. when you take away the gay, futa, and chracters that have or had ntr specfically green then yes. i had like 6 sex scenes. i dont feel thats violenlty vanilla, pretty standard. maybe i should have put sex in front of my six in the op to clarify? but no, my point remains. as far as vanilla is concerned feels weak
- Aug 21, 2016
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I gave up on the game before finishing the grind. I never found a chokon nut, but harvested both blue and red mushrooms, as well as blue herbs— I did not sell ingredients because of my assumptions about the game; namely the fact that alchemist is in the title, so I assumed selling ingredients would be stupid, considering they sold for $1-3.
I worked the woodcutter job (sometimes library) and as a bar waiter.
The blue herb method I used was the middle one ("cut some stems" I think), which I later thought may have been the wrong choice.
It's not that the grind is completely untenable, it's the impression that it gives off which is, "this content is technically avoidable but if you don't want to see it, I'm going to make things annoying for you"
It's a relatively petty complaint, but it was enough that I didn't want to get invested and be disappointed— if it starts to drizzle outside, you get back inside before it rains hard.
- Jan 29, 2020
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Thanks for the feedback, the sentiment you're expressing with "this content is technically avoidable but if you don't want to see it, I'm going to make things annoying for you" is something I am trying to actively avoid. It hadn't come up that this scene could be seen as and is in fact right in the way of early forward progress. There are three solution routes I can see I need to explore on my own time: more clearly indicating paths of existing cashflow (putting a bubble above roth's head, clearly indicating job/quest givers, marking cash crops, ect), lowering that first pricepoint and initial vials needed amount,and additional cash options (probably a nighttime job of some sort to round out times you can work).
Yes, if you say that a if character has A ntr scene you CAN trigger and so you declare ALL of their OTHER scenes no longer OK as if they are now tainted, and then also declare looking at a woman masturbating or shower "not vanila", and then also say blowjobs and titjobs aren't sex enough to count as sex. Then yea man 6 scenes or whatever. Sure. Pretty standard.
Captain_Allegretto
Just to ease the stream of criticism, I loved the game and look forward to new content whether it be vanila, ntr(netori, netorare or netorase) or gay. Although I prefer anything but vanilla, not that I dislike it, it's just that I find the non-normal more interesting.
Just to ease the stream of criticism, I loved the game and look forward to new content whether it be vanila, ntr(netori, netorare or netorase) or gay. Although I prefer anything but vanilla, not that I dislike it, it's just that I find the non-normal more interesting.
- Jan 29, 2020
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Variety is in fact the spice of life. However 99% of the criticism I receive is useful data and I openly welcome it. Even if in the end my decision is "I am ok with the decision I've already made" that's fine, sometimes I just overlook things, and sometimes I'm making a conscious content choice. There's also a lot of value in me exploring and interacting with people who will probably never like the project at all because the conversation gets to be read by others who can draw their own conclusions from it.
- Oct 27, 2018
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i was counting the titjobs and blowjobs? i must have missed a character somehow if theres more then 6 counting those. so i guess ill run through it again. but yes, greens ntr scene isnt preventable, and happens no matter what from whatif you stumble upon it as ive read, so yes she is tainted. and nothing related to her is vanilla. you cant just have a scene where a love intrest is fucked by a orc with a bigger dick then you are as a whole person and just write that off and pretend its vanilla. if it was preventable then i would agree that im making out to be more then it isnt, but its not from what ive seenYes, if you say that a if character has A ntr scene you CAN trigger and so you declare ALL of their OTHER scenes no longer OK as if they are now tainted, and then also declare looking at a woman masturbating or shower "not vanila", and then also say blowjobs and titjobs aren't sex enough to count as sex. Then yea man 6 scenes or whatever. Sure. Pretty standard.
- Aug 21, 2016
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I respect this reply more than, "I'll be sure to change things so more people enjoy the content"
Based on what I've seen, a project needs strong direction or it turns to ash.
- Oct 6, 2018
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