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

[shazba]

Yes, we're told many times she's the MC's BFF. But again, what we're shown falls a bit short of that: she insisted the MC do whatever she wanted and he indulged her. She didn't spend much time thinking about the MC (with the exception of one particular part of his anatomy); as I said, even at the end of the Interlude the MC came second to her previously estranged mom.

Now I'm not saying that's an unrealistic relationship, nor even that it's a "bad" one. What I'm saying is that it's difficult to treat that relationship with any importance when we've seen the MC forge much stronger friendships with the LIs (and a few side-girls) in just a couple months. Not only are those relationships much more dynamic, we got to see them *onscreen* over the course of ~3 [real world] years, whereas Zoey's lukewarm friendship was crammed into an hour long digression.

Again, this doesn't mean Zoey is a bad character by any means, but I think it's definitely setting her up to fail. The way her return was framed requires that she have a huge impact on the MC's mindset, but for most players her return will be much less weighty. That's a terrible situation to be in.


Yes, believe it or not I realize I can't unmake the Interlude by critiquing it on the internet. I'm merely noting it was a net negative for the game (IMHO, of course).



Again, I'm sure that was the intent but it's not conveyed very well. We see the MC being terse in a few texts, but we never had a baseline to compare it to so it's hard to say if he's upset or just laconic; some of his texts in the main game can be short, too. Other than that we just get Zoey's monologue about how she's started going days without talking to the MC. Moreover, the story is missing the natural capstone where Zoey realizes the MC was right and she had been wrong to run off like that. DPC left all of her introspection up to our imaginations. Meanwhile what he actually showed was Zoey distancing herself from the MC in favor of goofing off with her new friends until the money ran out.

As I mentioned before, Zoey repairing her relationship with her mom is an explicit plot point; why leave her relationship with the MC completely unexplored? It defeats the purpose of the Interlude because now we're going to have to rehash all this ground in the main game when the two finally meet. That means Zoey's return probably won't have the significance DPC needs it to, and DPC has only himself to blame for that.

Although a lot of us jump to the conclusion that Zoey is coming back for the mc, it's not explicitly stated. She talks about home blindness or whatever the fuck, but it's ambiguous as fuck.

My guess is that it leaves things open for different possibilities when she reunites with the mc. We don't know what she's expecting or intending on her return, and I'm fairly confident she'll be weaved into the plot, but whether she just looking to go back home where life was good, or whether she's got feelings for the mc, it could be either or both.

I do recall you could make the mc all sad and shit in his responses to Zoey, or make him enthusiastic for her experiences. Not sure if the responses factor in to anything.

 

[znar25]

You're still Jill's friend when not on her path so I'm guessing Bianca may be more of an "others" choice if you helped Jill with the recital

SECURITY: "Excuse me Sir, the manager has asked to see your ID. The person with your name usually has a GIF in their sig of The Hulk banging some lady super hero."

 

[znar25]

We need AchedCroissant right here as a heavy artillery support

"heavy artillery support"? On this topic, more like a nuclear weapon.

 

[Casiope]

The Official Walkthrough tells that you can't get "others" if you get "Jill" or "Josy & Maya":

"The choices you can pick between, depending on your history with the girls, are:

Josy & Maya: You have to be in their relationship to be able to choose this.
Isabella: You have to be dating her to be able to choose this.
Sage: You have to be her fuck buddy or fucked her in episode 7 to be able to choose this.
Jill: If you were invited to dinner with her friends, this will be an option. It may also be an option in other rare cases, but if you didn’t get invited to dinner, she will reject you if you choose to be with her.

Others: This option is only available if you aren’t in Josy’s and Maya’s relationship and don’t have a successful relationship with Jill. Choosing that none of the other girls are right for you will cause you to reject any main girl relationships and stay friends with them."

(pp. 119-120)

"Jill" and/or "Josy & Maya" = NO "others".

Since your doing this, you might be the one to answer a question I have: I want a playthrough/save where Jill rejects the MC at the Tybalt dinner.

[...]

What is the chain of events/affinity/status I need to keep her an option and yet reject me.

It is conceivable to have both options "Jill" + "Others", the code exists for this precise situation and these choices are obtained by tweaking some variables. In practice now, I think that they would be presented at crossroads if we activate only the first level of relationship with Jill, without any other love interest, so the main character is not invited to Bianca's house. Of course, this does not fit a successful relationship and he gets rejected eventually.



I presume DrPinkCake wanted to create a similar situation which could include a relationship with Sage only if the main character became her sex friend in episode 7 ("Sage" + "Jill" + "Others"). The code is here too, but not executed.

Finally, the official walkthrough regularly omits information, even points awarded in the conversations. Hence my interest in the game code.

 

[Sasanid]

I think the point about the characters being very young and immature, tends to leave people's minds very quickly even though it's right in front of our eyes. A massive credit to DPC's writing, but let's be real most of the people in this story aren't mentally adults yet.

Love crazy teenagers always tend to act and think in a wacky manner.

And I totally agree here. Beside the older LI in the game, the older students are 20-21 (like Sage, Heather, Rusty, Tommy, ambiguous for Lily, etc.), while most are between 18 and 20.

I'm -way- older than that, but I remember that I didn't know what I wanted when I was that age.

And I think that's one of the points of BaDIK, they don't know what they're doing...

Zoey was the first best friend the MC ever had, and I think it was likewise for Zoey, they discovered their puberty and sexuality together, for a span between 4 to 6 years, they were each other's LI, but they didn't know what they were doing... before she left cause she didn't know what to do with her life, she wanted the MC to come with her, because she couldn't see it otherwise. The MC didn't know how to react, but he wanted to finish school, so he stayed behind... you can see in Interlude how Zoey thought she had it all figured, going to chase her dream, while in reality she didn't know what she was doing at all, moreover, she left the one she finally figured she loved behind, and they even cut their contacts... while the MC 'got over it' and tried for something else instead.

They didn't know what they were doing, of course, they were 18 when Zoey left.

Same pattern comes back with the throuple, Josy got a crush on the MC because she didn't know how to repair the gap between her and Maya, and the MC made her feel good again. Maya developed feelings for the MC, but didn't understand why cause she thought she was lesbian (just to clarify, a real lesbian couldn't fuck a man without help, in Ep8 she doesn't need that help, beside alcool, at the dorm, my little brother is gay and before he admitted it when he was 18, he tried a couple times with girls, never worked) and went on because the MC made her feel good. And then when the MC and Maya/Josy choose to try something, they admittedly don't know what they're doing, but they try it anyway.

Sage was scared to date the MC because she doesn't know what a real relationship is and didn't want to lose him. Her family is fucked up and she doesn't know how to deal with her feelings.

Jill doesn't know what dating is at all, and never had any sexual experience. She was always imposed things, she never really decided on her own, for her own life.

Quinn (bla bla bla I hate her bla bla bla, get over it thanks) doesn't know what healthy feelings are at all, fucked up upbringing, dead father, wrecked mother who doesn't recognize her anymore... she doesn't know anything about dating, at all either.

Derek seems to have an answer to everything, but the rare occasions where he isn't goofing around, you see he doesn't have a clue about what he's supposed to do, his feelings for Ashley being the first major thing.

And so on and on and on...

They're between 18-22 for the most part, of course they don't know.

One thing though, brought that aspect a couple times already, but the MC is an introvert, the way he process information, the way he's pretty much always listening and in his head more than talking and being the center of attention. Maya is an introvert, Sage also is (yeah she's partying without problems, but most of the time, she's alone), Bella is, too. I'm an introvert, I'm sure there are introverts here, heck I'm sure DPC is an introvert himself, an extrovert can't really know how an introvert works inside (not a knock on extrovert, just to be sure).

Where I'm going with that, is what Zoey represents to the MC. When he told his backstory to Bella, while I wasn't bullied like he was nor was as dirt poor, I understood what he went through. When someone, like Zoey, comes into your life as a youngster, and manages to get you out of your bubble, that person suddenly becomes -very- meaningful.

She meant the world to him.

I wouldn't even be surprised if Zoey is a reference to one of DPCs own childhood friend/crush, that he went through something similar the MC lived. He worked way too much on her for her to just be an afterthought in the MCs life.

That's why he had an existential crisis on that bench, when she left.

That's also why he had an existential crisis when Neil called him at the end of the Interlude.

He just made a choice, but the 'love of his life', who left about 6 months ago, is coming back, a recent past which hurt him (because of a huge misunderstanding), but someone he just can't brush off, even with the choice he made.

Cause let's be honest, as its been said since the start, teens don't know what they're doing.

Zoey will be the test of his young life so far.

 

[OFT]

When Jill asks "Are you a God?", you say YES!

Who ya gonna call?

Not sure if sarcasm but will reply in the vein of you being serious.

AFAIK that is the only forced sexual situation, at least in my playthrough. I'm not too fond of the rape aspect in VNs, so having the MC be sexually assaulted by her was rather off putting for me, regardless of her intentions. I've gone the celibate route while pursuing Jill after that scene. It's funny that I'm generally fine with polyamory but in these VNs, I like the one girl for the MC routes.

Can't start Episode 8 though as I crash after the E7 overview. Really not keen on redownloading the game again, even compressed, to continue the story so I'll likely wait for the 1.0 release in a year or two. Will give me plenty of time to forget details while I play the route again.

Edit: I was actually annoyed that there wasn't the option to get out of her dorm ASAP or to not remain friends with her after you finally confront her and Josy together, at least on the Chick path. Having been a male victim of sexual assault at a young age, I really hated how laid back MC's attitude with her was. Maybe I needed to be an asshole to her more after that.

Uhhh....

I think you're a bit mixed up there, Jon.






Unless you're a Dalli protégé...

 

[felicemastronzo]

Although a lot of us jump to the conclusion that Zoey is coming back for the mc, it's not explicitly stated. She talks about home blindness or whatever the fuck, but it's ambiguous as fuck.

My guess is that it leaves things open for different possibilities when she reunites with the mc. We don't know what she's expecting or intending on her return, and I'm fairly confident she'll be weaved into the plot, but whether she just looking to go back home where life was good, or whether she's got feelings for the mc, it could be either or both.

I do recall you could make the mc all sad and shit in his responses to Zoey, or make him enthusiastic for her experiences. Not sure if the responses factor in to anything.

It's a porn game!!! Why else would she come back?

Then surely when we get the chance to have mc declared, if not they will remain best friends forever, but only afterwards, eventually

 

[Darkdevil66]

It's a porn game!!! Why else would she come back?

To announce she's related/acquainted with someone we know ?

 

[znar25]

Sure, go get spotted by Jill as you fuck her best friend on the kitchen table and try to claim again she doesn't have any problem with the MC sleeping with someone else.

As pointed by others, the only main girl who might not mind you sleeping with others is Sage, and even that is debatable considering how she exploded over Chad cheating on her. Every other girl will reject you, either if she learns about your sleeping around, or won't even want to form a relationship with such MC to begin with. It's a joke to claim this somehow doesn't prevent the game from just allowing DIK MC to sleep with everyone and not a single of the affected girls minding such development.

Sorry, I stopped reading after, "go get spotted by Jill as you fuck her best friend on the kitchen table".

 

[Jonboy80]

Uhhh....

I think you're a bit mixed up there, Jon.

I don't quite understand what you mean.

I dropped Josy after she confessed she was with someone else before MC left. I don't remember there being anything else I did with her after that. Not cool, imo. Upon arriving at B&R, was nice to Maya and Jill and Sage. I liked them all til Maya did her BS, especially after warning her about the HOTs. But MC gets stuck with her as a roommate, no options for that. After Josy reappears, MC gets butthurt over something he should have no longer cared about. And then ends up accepting them both as friends, regardless. If there's an alternative, I can only assume I have to be a complete asshole to them to get it.

 

[felicemastronzo]

To announce she's related/acquainted with someone we know ?

It wouldn't surprise me that much actually....

Darth Vader was a rookie of the surprise announcements

 

[Geralt From Rivia]

It's already Friday evening, and there is still no report on the week's work, and Patreon has been silent since last Friday.

 

[AchedCroissant]

Nobody hates a retard.

This is not entirely correct because many people for some reason hate Jill

 

[Sasanid]

This is not entirely correct because many people for some reason hate Jill

 

[Ottoeight]

It is conceivable to have both options "Jill" + "Others",

Finally, the official walkthrough regularly omits information, even points awarded in the conversations. Hence my interest in the game code.

BUT It is NOT an omitted information. It cleary states that you can't have "others" if you get Jill and/or Josy&Maya.

And NO, it's not conceivable to have both Jill and Others, because "Others" makes sense in the DIK route only.

It's already Friday evening, and there is still no report on the week's work, and Patreon has been silent since last Friday.

Do you think he ran off with the money?

 

[Vixen ♀]

It's already Friday evening, and there is still no report on the week's work, and Patreon has been silent since last Friday.

Do you think he ran off with the money?

Totally not going to panic

 

[NebulousShooter]

It's a porn game!!! Why else would she come back?

You never know, went into Hillside thinking I will fuck everything that moves, indiscriminately. Ended up discovering father instincts I never knew I had

Maybe she just needs hugs, or her feet get cold during the night, since she has a rare condition that doesn't allow her to wear socks, or it cuts her circulation

 

[Ottoeight]

View attachment 2020469

She's my second favourite after Maya, but I have to admit that this scene is embarassing.

 

[felicemastronzo]

You never know, went into Hillside thinking I will fuck everything that moves, indiscriminately. Ended up discovering father instincts I never knew I had

Maybe she just needs hugs, or her feet get cold during the night, since she has a rare condition that doesn't allow her to wear socks, or it cuts her circulation

Maybe....

 

[Ottoeight]

You never know, went into Hillside thinking I will fuck everything that moves, indiscriminately. Ended up discovering father instincts I never knew I had

'Cause you like being a sugar daddy, admit it. And you want her to call you daddy.