Ren'Py Abandoned Ashford Academy Redux [v0.5.3] [Dream Chaser]

[dreamchaser]

I am starting playtesting for 0.5.
Since I had the the pretty unexpected complaint of being unable to lose, this is the first thing I tried.
I managed to run out of money after the first week (that way of losing did not exist in 0.4).
Getting the school burned down due to low behavior took me until the beginning of march.

Of course I am the developer, so know precisely how to set the policies to achieve that. Still, no other cheating than knowledge involved.
So I can happily confirm that in 0.5, you will indeed be able to lose.

Now for the real playtest: Trying to win. Which in 0.5, will be possible (well, there will be a victory screen anyway).

PS: While completely tanking morale won't be a game over, you do not want to leave that at 0 in the new version.
Disregard this warning at your own risk.

 

[alkeera]

I am starting playtesting for 0.5.
Since I had the the pretty unexpected complaint of being unable to lose, this is the first thing I tried.
I managed to run out of money after the first week (that way of losing did not exist in 0.4).
Getting the school burned down due to low behavior took me until the beginning of march.

Of course I am the developer, so know precisely how to set the policies to achieve that. Still, no other cheating than knowledge involved.
So I can happily confirm that in 0.5, you will indeed be able to lose.

Now for the real playtest: Trying to win. Which in 0.5, will be possible (well, there will be a victory screen anyway).

PS: While completely tanking morale won't be a game over, you do not want to leave that at 0 in the new version.
Disregard this warning at your own risk.

Will this new version be compatible with combined event pack?

 

[dreamchaser]

Will this new version be compatible with combined event pack?

It will be. It is on my list of things to test. So yes, I'll verify that this still works.

 

[razxxx]

I'm looking forward to the next release; really enjoyed playing this game until now

 

[dreamchaser]

I managed to make my schedule and release 0.5 before the year is out.

You can find the release post containing the download link

You must be registered to see the links

.
Please be aware that 0.5.0 is sure to still contain some bugs. Too much changed for it not to. So if you want a rock solid game experience, please wait for 1 or 2 point releases.

Otherwise: enjoy!

 

[dreamchaser]

To the 29 people who already downloaded it: Please redownload it, I had to do an emergency reupload: Certain events where broken, and saving inside an event was broken.
I knew something would slip through at the last minute...

 

[dreamchaser]

0.5.1 is out.

It fixes an error in the dormitory introduction event.
If you'd rather press "Ignore" when you get the error in the dormitory introduction (the event only happens once per game), you don't have to redownload.

Release post:

You must be registered to see the links

 

[ayy]

Just out of curiosity, what does the event results screen add to gameplay? At the moment it just serves as an additional click in my playthrough, which sounds like it might be a bit of a slog. I can see theres a way to turn it off, but does it add any flavor to the events as the corruption progresses? If it does I might put up with it.

 

[dreamchaser]

Just out of curiosity, what does the event results screen add to gameplay? At the moment it just serves as an additional click in my playthrough, which sounds like it might be a bit of a slog. I can see theres a way to turn it off, but does it add any flavor to the events as the corruption progresses? If it does I might put up with it.

It doesn't, so feel free to turn it off if you don't like it.

The result screen is purely there to give you feedback about what happened due to the event. Whether you saw it the first time, whether you unlocked a new variant or image, whether you reached a new level in a stat. Whether you unlocked a new policy, rule or building.
If you aren't interested in being notified about these things, there is nothing else you lose by turning it off.
Now that I think about it, I might actually implement a setting to only show it if you reach a new level in a stat or unlock something relevant...

 

[ayy]

It doesn't, so feel free to turn it off if you don't like it.

The result screen is purely there to give you feedback about what happened due to the event. Whether you saw it the first time, whether you unlocked a new variant or image, whether you reached a new level in a stat. Whether you unlocked a new policy, rule or building.
If you aren't interested in being notified about these things, there is nothing else you lose by turning it off.
Now that I think about it, I might actually implement a setting to only show it if you reach a new level in a stat or unlock something relevant...

Its actually not a bad idea I think. I like the idea of an objective classifier of the image, like "Unperturbed" with a brief sentence elaborating on what exactly the girl is unperturbed about in the horse jump failure, for example. I think it does get needlessly repetitive if we've already seen the picture. Then it just becomes an extra click, instead of enhancing the experience. Actually as I'm typing this I realized the idea is actually good. You have the potential to add lots of flavor to it. Maybe just modify the UI so the text appears as a unique textbox on the bottom, partially transparent just as it is currently, without greying out the entire image?

e: as it stands, the event text is just a repetition of what the actual event actually had, so it becomes a unneccessarily redundant in my opinion.

 

[dreamchaser]

Its actually not a bad idea I think. I like the idea of an objective classifier of the image, like "Unperturbed" with a brief sentence elaborating on what exactly the girl is unperturbed about in the horse jump failure, for example. I think it does get needlessly repetitive if we've already seen the picture. Then it just becomes an extra click, instead of enhancing the experience. Actually as I'm typing this I realized the idea is actually good. You have the potential to add lots of flavor to it. Maybe just modify the UI so the text appears as a unique textbox on the bottom, partially transparent just as it is currently, without greying out the entire image?

e: as it stands, the event text is just a repetition of what the actual event actually had, so it becomes a unneccessarily redundant in my opinion.

Well, I haven't implemented your suggestion, but I think I have reduced the unneeded repetition:
In 0.5.2, the result screen will only be shown for a new event or event variant (golden star), or if something noteworthy changed.
(Option "More Numbers" will always show it, disable option "Event Result Screen" to never see it.)

I think that should be enough to make it much less of a pain point.

 

[dreamchaser]

Thought a bit more about the result screen, and have overhauled the preference for it:
There are now 4 options for showing the result screen: Never/Relevant/Any new/Always
If you had the result screen option enabled so far (the default), you'll be set to "Relevant", otherwise to "Never"

"Never" will never show the result screen
"Relevant" (the new default) will show the result screen if:
- You have never encountered this event before (in any save game)
- You have never encountered this event variant before (in any save game)
- You have made progress on a game goal
- An object state changes (e.g. you unlocked a new policy option)
- A stat level changes (that is, the stat description text changes)
"Any new" will additionally show the result screen if:
- You have not yet encountered the event, event variant or image in this save game
"Always" will always show the result screen.

I think that "Relevant" is a very sensible default going forward, and anybody can pick how often they want to see this screen.
(Image attached showing the new preference menu)

 

[dreamchaser]

Triple post, but with good reason:

0.5.2 is out.

Release post:

You must be registered to see the links

2 more crashes in events fixed, and the promised overhaul of when the event screen is shown is in.

 

[dreamchaser]

0.5.3 is out.
Release post:

You must be registered to see the links

I think 0.5 should now be pretty stable. All the obvious bugs seem to have surfaced.

 

[Destriss]

do 5 game , lost before see an H event , i pust all my visit for behavior i have Bath , and i can do all for up behavior ,i i lost more than i gain. Really great

Game lack of indication for policies / club and unloling , if they help to gain or lose some stats

 

[Quintillian]

0.5.3 is out.
Release post:

You must be registered to see the links

I think 0.5 should now be pretty stable. All the obvious bugs seem to have surfaced.

Nice. I've been thinking about making a mod for this game about consensual pet-play, so maybe this update is the wakeup call I needed, thanks.

 

[Fhrozen]

I loved the original Ashford Academy, so I was super happy seeing that someone is still working on it. Thank you.

That being said, I feel like the Behaviour and Morale stats are broken (Or I'm just dumb, probably) and always seem to go down more than I can lift them. No matter what policies I enact, one or the other gets like -2 at the end of the week.
Can someone explain to me how to manage Behaviour/Morale while still getting some progress?

 

[Venchi]

Can someone explain to me how to manage Behaviour/Morale while still getting some progress?

Check out the policies. It'll slow you down in the money department, but paying your teachers the more (I generally just skip to max payment) makes the teachers influence on the weekly stats better, usually I just set it to behavior, but there's nothing stopping you from juggling it between multiple stats, if you can. I think smaller classrooms may also improve morale (definitely academic progress), but will also cost you a pretty penny.

I generally just max all the positive policies I really care about right from the get go, and recover from it before running out of money. You might go negative for a while, but once your positive stats swing up, your reputation will more than make up for the costs.

If you're still struggling, I think watching Club activities with cheerleading active will generally give morale.

 

[Fhrozen]

Check out the policies. It'll slow you down in the money department, but paying your teachers the more (I generally just skip to max payment) makes the teachers influence on the weekly stats better, usually I just set it to behavior, but there's nothing stopping you from juggling it between multiple stats, if you can. I think smaller classrooms may also improve morale (definitely academic progress), but will also cost you a pretty penny.

I generally just max all the positive policies I really care about right from the get go, and recover from it before running out of money. You might go negative for a while, but once your positive stats swing up, your reputation will more than make up for the costs.

If you're still struggling, I think watching Club activities with cheerleading active will generally give morale.

Cheers mate, that worked for me. Seems that after you pull out of the first struggle with morale/behaviour the game gets A LOT easier and your school kinda spirals into the lewd content.

 

[Bennyh24]

Anybody got the achievements completeed? I got 4 completed and dont know where or how to finish the rest. Any ideas?
I did the teacher, uniforms, massage and policy, but cant find the rest