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

[Wizard_Shiryuu]

In my previous playthroughs I've always seen the following as Bella starting to lose it.

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Now after my latest playthrough I've paid more attention to the final few scenes...

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It almost seems like she felt nothing but guilt when it was just carnal...
Now she almost feels relieved once she realized it was something more.

Makes me wonder (like someone else said) if there isn't something to the D&G game and "saving" the Ice Queen.

Maybe DnG is a premonition of future events and Josy dies? Literally or figuratively. Sage and Bella being the hardest to romance and needing a very specific outcome to be able to "save". Quinn attacking Sage and the MC after being safe...

If you consider this a premonition there is A LOT of foreshadowing to unpack.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Maybe DnG is a premonition of future events and Josy dies? Literally or figuratively. Sage and Bella being the hardest to romance and needing a very specific outcome to be able to "save". Quinn attacking Sage and the MC after being safe...

If you consider this a premonition there is A LOT of foreshadowing to unpack.

I'd say too many for them to come true ...

in the premonition about Josy, it is DPC who plays with his fame

I feel like what will happen to Bella is less severe than what most people are thinking would happen. People play Acting Lessons and automatically think DPC will recycle storylines. If he does, that would be very poor writing on his part

DPC is fully aware of his fame, and plays a lot with it.

in the game he draws many situations that could have "dark" and dramatic developments, knowing that players fear and expect that.

 

[Hurensohn Heigl]

Impressive and interesting analysis. I'm still working my way through it and trying to compare it to fakitap's work. I think my big question is whether "efficiency" is the right metric to evaluate plans (rather than net XP generated). [...]

An interesting perspective. Shamefully, I have to admit that I have not considered this approach.
I fully agree that striving for maximum XP generation will indeed provide with benefits in the long run while not necessarily hindering the process in the short-run. As already mentioned, the findings revealed that a low inefficiency score is not going hand-in-hand with mansion completion time. The more heroes we have after mansion completion, the more reliably we can plan the cash work.
Let me try the following analysis: Hero leveling, groups of 3 DIKs for the first 4 FRs and then see which investment opportunities arise (spoiler: none)

and with the following stats after mansion completion

So when artificially limiting towards high end-of-turn XP generation, we, indeed, have high leveled DIKs.
However,
- We only have 3 strong heroes (sum of stats > 200) while 2b had 4 ones -> Interpretation is subjective
- Amount of XP freely available will certainly be higher than 58 due to score bonuses exceeding my highest calculation of ~100 with no doubt.
- The variance among the skill categories (except work) is indeed, higher than in other scenarios.
- Mansion will be completed in 7th FR and windows can be purchased in 12th FR -> Inferior to scenario 2b with the same underlying assumptions regarding cash work!

I am completely with you that higher leveled DIKs are more preferable for the cash work, but due to the random nature, one could simply just reload infinitely until you get suitable $3 jobs. But your approach will certainly reduce this number of realoads xD.
Since you have pointed it out, I really place a high value on mansion completion, right? Hmm... Only because I don't understand the cash work and because it is unreliable down't necessarily mean we should degrade its importance....


I wouldn't say that room priorization will completely mess up with the whole strategy, only if the windows need to be purchased early due to the unreliability of cash work (yes, I like that phrase, haha). Effectively, the mansion will get completed in the 6th FR (so two more FRs in Ep.7) and the windows won't exceed the 11th FR given that we make nice money in the story, but also depending on your game-play.

Furthermore, I also think that no content is going to be skipped based on mansion progress, probably only delayed as Jacobs offer. Otherwise, DPC would expect every player to make such deep considerations like we do right now. I am sure he plans some extra time for "slack" before the mansion will become relevant again.

Would it be possible to link Fakitaps approach? I couldn't find it and would be very interested in getting to see it. Maybe with all this insights and the release of Ep.7, we might come up with a much better framework together?

I am also very excited about the official walk-through. Let's see what DPC has to say in regards to this topic.

Thanks for the nice discussion, always a pleasure!!

 

[ChasingPops65]

5000+ pages reached

 

[Nobro]

Great fucking update

 

[DavDR]

Whilst there are issues with certain parts of the way the story is written, like the situation with Maya and her tuition, I sometimes feel like a big issue with the writing is how the events will often play out the same way or in inexplicable ways in spite of or because of the branching decisions.

Take the library scene in Ep 4, for example, the point where I feel things really start to fall off. For a player who largely avoided going far with M&J, it might make sense that they get back together so easily because they haven't done enough with the MC to really be conflicted, and yet, mere moments later, they seemingly reveal they have feelings for him and are practically begging to be in a relationship with him. Now, for a player who did everything with them, the latter part might make sense since they've done a lot to develop those feelings, but then it doesn't make sense that they'd so easily kiss and make up moments earlier considering what they've done with the MC and the confused feelings they have. Then you add in the whole affinity thing and it leads to even more issues with plausibility.

This is, I feel, indicative of the larger issue which is that DPC isn't necessarily allowing players to fully chart their own course because they seem to be trying to tell one underlying story with a few options along the way and as such, things will largely play out the same rather than being more varied to accurately reflect the choices of the player and the relationships they're building. Much of the story is following a linear track with just a few sidings along the way that take you off it for a moment, but then it goes right back to the main track and it somewhat distorts events in such a way that they often don't make much sense given what else has transpired. Certain things happen purely for plot reasons or because they're locked to a specific path, but it doesn't always make sense from a narrative perspective.

Obvously, as a solo dev, they can't code and render every possible eventuality for scenes like the one in Ep 4, but perhaps there might have been ways to solve some of these issues by making certain events more universal, to give them a bit more ambiguity such that they work out in a way that better accounts for the various eventualities.

I feel like he's bitten off mare than he can chew. BADIK is a much more ambitious project than AL. I hope that once the last episode is done that he will take the time to go back and edit the entire game.

 

[Muevsirk]

How come there is no android port?

 

[CountDracula]

Episode 6 Full Save and Persistent.Replace your files at Appdata/Roaming/Renpy

God bless you man!

 

[felicemastronzo]

I feel like he's bitten off mare than he can chew. BADIK is a much more ambitious project than AL. I hope that once the last episode is done that he will take the time to go back and edit the entire game.

the fourth chapter is too central for later developments and too tangled to be fixed.


in reality the choice of the fourth chapter would also be easy to correct itself. it had to lead to 4 different paths (friends, Maya, Josy or Maya + Josy) but in fact the path is only one.

but that crossroads then became central to whether or not to involve Jade, Cathy, and after Quinn.
they are secondary characters from the point of view of the ending, but quite important in the story

too much should be questioned in a rewrite

 

[ChipLecsap]

You must be registered to see the links

$30
god i hope someone will post it

 

[Gladheim]

Totally friendly. I think Acting Lessons is one of the most contrived, ignorant stories out there. Even if you choose the athletic trait you can't drag two very petite girls out of the house? That is totally needless drama that ruined the story for a VAST number of people. People like me who have said that if DPC does the same thing with BADIK it would be the last purchase they ever made...
So I was simply illustrating that I think for a sophomore effort BADIK is far superior to his first crap novel.
that's all. No more, No less.

And this shows that you have not been in or near a fire in your life and you can be as athletic as you want. And damn it is a choice that makes sense of everything, what's wrong? I've played hundreds of games with fucking similar choices and others with even more catastrophic decisions. I still remember having to choose between Chloe or Arcadia Bay.

 

[Falcao09]

Josy Preview post pleaseeee

 

[ename144]

An interesting perspective. Shamefully, I have to admit that I have not considered this approach.
I fully agree that striving for maximum XP generation will indeed provide with benefits in the long run while not necessarily hindering the process in the short-run. As already mentioned, the findings revealed that a low inefficiency score is not going hand-in-hand with mansion completion time. The more heroes we have after mansion completion, the more reliably we can plan the cash work.
Let me try the following analysis: Hero leveling, groups of 3 DIKs for the first 4 FRs and then see which investment opportunities arise (spoiler: none)
View attachment 932172
and with the following stats after mansion completion
View attachment 932175
So when artificially limiting towards high end-of-turn XP generation, we, indeed, have high leveled DIKs.
However,
- We only have 3 strong heroes (sum of stats > 200) while 2b had 4 ones -> Interpretation is subjective
- Amount of XP freely available will certainly be higher than 58 due to score bonuses exceeding my highest calculation of ~100 with no doubt.
- The variance among the skill categories (except work) is indeed, higher than in other scenarios.
- Mansion will be completed in 7th FR and windows can be purchased in 12th FR -> Inferior to scenario 2b with the same underlying assumptions regarding cash work!

I am completely with you that higher leveled DIKs are more preferable for the cash work, but due to the random nature, one could simply just reload infinitely until you get suitable $3 jobs. But your approach will certainly reduce this number of realoads xD.
Since you have pointed it out, I really place a high value on mansion completion, right? Hmm... Only because I don't understand the cash work and because it is unreliable down't necessarily mean we should degrade its importance....


I wouldn't say that room priorization will completely mess up with the whole strategy, only if the windows need to be purchased early due to the unreliability of cash work (yes, I like that phrase, haha). Effectively, the mansion will get completed in the 6th FR (so two more FRs in Ep.7) and the windows won't exceed the 11th FR given that we make nice money in the story, but also depending on your game-play.

Furthermore, I also think that no content is going to be skipped based on mansion progress, probably only delayed as Jacobs offer. Otherwise, DPC would expect every player to make such deep considerations like we do right now. I am sure he plans some extra time for "slack" before the mansion will become relevant again.

Would it be possible to link Fakitaps approach? I couldn't find it and would be very interested in getting to see it. Maybe with all this insights and the release of Ep.7, we might come up with a much better framework together?

I am also very excited about the official walk-through. Let's see what DPC has to say in regards to this topic.

Thanks for the nice discussion, always a pleasure!!

This was fakitap's initial analysis. This was the followup with a spreadsheet.

 

[shazba]

does anyone have a guide for the books bella asks you to find in ep 6?

I believe there's a random element to it, so basically you need to move your mouse along every single bookshelf until you see a flash. I did it in small circular motions fairly slowly. Sorry I cant be much help on this one. There probably are few typical locations to check but this part of the game is too mundane for me to experiment with.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

It’s a visual novel, not a sandbox game. You’re reading about the mc’s exploits. I’ve said it before, you’re like the devil or angel on his shoulder influencing him, but you are not him. You don’t get full control. It’s his story and it’s a lot of fun; I attribute that to the nostalgic setting (even if you never went to college, most people can identify with the teen sex college comedy genre), and good characterisations with a very engaging writing style. Sure there are some questionable plot devices, but I’m not reading it as an academic, I’m reading it as a horny male who wants to be entertained. Mission accomplished!

But even in visual novels, different choices can lead to more varied outcomes that more accurately reflect choices. The issue with this game can be that it feels like it's on rails most of the time and doesn't offer much of a variation at times.

Again to use the example of M&J in Ep 4, there are some games where a scene like this would have there be a handful of alternate renders and a slightly alternate script depending on whether the player/MC has done everything with the 2 female characters or very little. In doing so it makes your choices feel somewhat more impactful because rather than simply affecting the outcome of the choice later on, it also affects how that scene unfolds and makes it feel more immersive because you're seeing something different on each path.

The game could be a bit better if it didn't rely as much on dialogue differences and locking out content to differentiate the paths. Putting a bit more variation into how certain scenes play out depending on choices could help to alleviate many of the inconsistencies and forced moments because then it would feel more like you're on a slightly different path depending on what you've chosen.

I feel like he's bitten off more than he can chew. BADIK is a much more ambitious project than AL. I hope that once the last episode is done that he will take the time to go back and edit the entire game.

Considering that AL still has issues that cause frequent crashing, I doubt DPC would go back to make any changes to BaDIK when it's done.

the fourth chapter is too central for later developments and too tangled to be fixed.

in reality the choice of the fourth chapter would also be easy to correct itself. it had to lead to 4 different paths (friends, Maya, Josy or Maya + Josy) but in fact the path is only one.

but that crossroads then became central to whether or not to involve Jade, Cathy, and after Quinn.
they are secondary characters from the point of view of the ending, but quite important in the story

too much should be questioned in a rewrite

That scene in Ep 4 is easy to fix, or at least would have been before we had 2 more episodes released. It actually only needed 2 paths; friendship or relationship. On the DIK path, the MC chooses friendship automatically, much like how he rejects Cathy automatically in Ep 5 because of his affinity and relationship status with M&J, and on the Neutral/CHICK path he can choose between friendship or relationship.

The rejection path has proved somewhat controversial and confusing, so this would remove that, and it would seem to fit a DIK MC better if, when these 2 girls are asking for another chance at a possible relationship, that he rejects them. Also, as a Neutral/CHICK MC it makes sense as it could be viewed as him simply not being ready for it on not that path and needs time to think about everything that just happened.

Furthermore, a slight variation in the scene would also help. For example, players who did everything with M&J would see them not kiss and make up because they both have confused feelings for the MC and aren't sure where they stand, but players who only did what the game forced on them and not the scenes with each that were based on choices would get the scene we have now because in this scenario, the player/MC hasn't done enough with them to make them feel so conflicted. Therefore, when they're asking for another chance in the "did everything" scenario, they are wanting to be in a relationship with him, whilst in the "did very little" scenario, they're not sure what they want but at least want to explore it.

 

[felicemastronzo]

That scene in Ep 4 is easy to fix, or at least would have been before we had 2 more episodes released. It actually only needed 2 paths; friendship or relationship. On the DIK path, the MC chooses friendship automatically, much like how he rejects Cathy automatically in Ep 5 because of his affinity and relationship status with M&J, and on the Neutral/CHICK path he can choose between friendship or relationship.

The rejection path has proved somewhat controversial and confusing, so this would remove that, and it would seem to fit a DIK MC better if, when these 2 girls are asking for another chance at a possible relationship, that he rejects them. Also, as a Neutral/CHICK MC it makes sense as it could be viewed as him simply not being ready for it on not that path and needs time to think about everything that just happened.

Furthermore, a slight variation in the scene would also help. For example, players who did everything with M&J would see them not kiss and make up because they both have confused feelings for the MC and aren't sure where they stand, but players who only did what the game forced on them and not the scenes with each that were based on choices would get the scene we have now because in this scenario, the player/MC hasn't done enough with them to make them feel so conflicted. Therefore, when they're asking for another chance in the "did everything" scenario, they are wanting to be in a relationship with him, whilst in the "did very little" scenario, they're not sure what they want but at least want to explore it.

what a mess that scene was

that the girls reject the proposal creates only drama, but to date it has no importance, no consequence.
the individual routes remain practically non-existent, small traces in the fifth episode, nothing in the sixth
the route of pure friendship that was chosen by the players who had no interest in either of the two girls proves to be only frustrating

 

[niceshuaib]

Spoiler

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Joking aside, I hope you enjoy the game. I worked my ass off to create this and boy this is expensive.

I need funding to complete this project.

If you can't afford to donate on Patreon, you can still show support by liking or reviewing the game.

Cheers

Respect and Love Doc..
You Are Awesome

 

[shazba]

what a mess that scene was

that the girls reject the proposal creates only drama, but to date it has no importance, no consequence.
the individual routes remain practically non-existent, small traces in the fifth episode, nothing in the sixth
the route of pure friendship that was chosen by the players who had no interest in either of the two girls proves to be only frustrating

I'm sure you've dated a girl from your class. Did it end while you were still in the same classes? When it ended did you avoid her or hang out in a different capacity? People get divorced and still have an amicable relationship - they just know they aren't meant to be together. Same has happened here. After a bit of drama (mostly due to the mc's reaction) they decided what path to take, the mc handled it maturely and they are all still friends. It's great, unless that's not the way you'd like things to be handled in which case it'd feel weird.

 

[shazba]

This is nothing new, but I saw these posts separately in this thread and had to share them side-by-side:

 

[sakuya1996]

Anyone of you know how could I translate the telephone text? For example Bios, Tasks, ecc... I cannot find the right files