VN Ren'Py Being a DIK [v0.11.1] [DrPinkCake]

[Casiope]

Since the engagement was rushed at the very end of episode 8, I think episode 9 will take some time to deal with the aftermath:

• The new behavior of the main character, more in love than ever, will have to be showcased. It is a strong expectation of the players who made the choice of a love interest.
• The new relationship with Josy and Maya was postponed, because whatever it is now, these girls will remain close.
• What about Nicole? Considering the past efforts with her, I doubt a simple phone call will suffice.
• How will Isabella's rejection be handled even though she is the new teacher?

In addition, there is the ongoing main plot through the meeting with Jade and Stephen Burke, and the revelation of the family tie with Sage. These situations provide a huge amount of dialogue and scene variation. If Dr PinkCake also includes the Halloween party, I'm afraid there will be a significant delay between the interlude and episode 9.

 

[Kellermann]

Since the engagement was rushed at the very end of episode 8, I think episode 9 will take some time to deal with the aftermath:

• The new behavior of the main character, more in love than ever, will have to be showcased. It is a strong expectation of the players who made the choice of a love interest.
• The new relationship with Josy and Maya was postponed, because whatever it is now, these girls will remain close.
• What about Nicole? Considering the past efforts with her, I doubt a simple phone call will suffice.
• How will Isabella's rejection be handled even though she is the new teacher?

In addition, there is the ongoing main plot through the meeting with Jade and Stephen Burke, and the revelation of the family tie with Sage. These situations provide a huge amount of dialogue and scene variation. If Dr PinkCake also includes the Halloween party, I'm afraid there will be a significant delay between the interlude and episode 9.

Agreed.
And even if you slice off some time for Steam and Covid, this Interlude alone is taking 2-3 months to produce. there is no way an entire ep. 9 takes just 4 months. Even 5 months seems like a stretch. I keep thinking 6 months is bare minimum. I'd be willing to agree to a September release but that's as far back as I can realistically push it given DPC's tendencey to constantly go bigger and better than the previous.

 

[mindern]

Agreed.
And even if you slice off some time for Steam and Covid, this Interlude alone is taking 2-3 months to produce. there is no way an entire ep. 9 takes just 4 months. Even 5 months seems like a stretch. I keep thinking 6 months is bare minimum. I'd be willing to agree to a September release but that's as far back as I can realistically push it given DPC's tendencey to constantly go bigger and better than the previous.

I kinda took it as a given it would be October-ish.

The Halloween party might be doing a lot of the influencing here but between the generally inflated development time and this interlude I was expecting early October…. Maybe late September. The teaser on the end of this episode with the mansion all decorated leaves me to believe it’s going to be a focal point of the episode so as close to Halloween itself seems likely…. However much that’s annoying as it’s like 9 months away.

 

[Casiope]

The interlude has an objective beyond the narrative aspect and the save system test: this short story allows the creator of the game to breath between two episodes with heavy workloads and strong emotional content.

Zoey could have joined sooner or later, it's an independent element of the storytelling. I'm betting on the fact she won't connect to any intrigue; she will leave as quickly as she arrived. Not a chance to outshine the female characters already present, while some players already hate her. And it would be mean to propose a new love interest just after asking the players to choose one, so I exclude this hypothesis.

 

[znar25]

I kinda took it as a given it would be October-ish.

The Halloween party might be doing a lot of the influencing here but between the generally inflated development time and this interlude I was expecting early October…. Maybe late September. The teaser on the end of this episode with the mansion all decorated leaves me to believe it’s going to be a focal point of the episode so as close to Halloween itself seems likely…. However much that’s annoying as it’s like 9 months away.

One has to take into account that the DIK mansion is very big.

It will take a lot of production time just to resolve the Halloween party where, in the path where you picked Bella or ignored Jill, she arranges to burn the whole mansion down killing most of the characters and pin it on MC. That is a lot of animations, render time, and quality control.

In the path where you chose Jill, she becomes an extremely controlling, possessive, pain in the ass, forcing MC to cheat (including Bianca), turn to substance abuse and MC has to plot how to get rid of her and dispose of the body. That too is a lot of animations, render time and quality control.

 

[vogelbeest]

Good luck lecturing a lower court judge about how you can ignore his/her ruling because it sets no precedent. And feel free to provide any evidence for your position; you've had a year, after all.

Been like that with most of his arguments, he usually doesn't win but he keeps spamming his views and knowledge of friends who have access to the truth of all wisdom in the universe until he throws a tantrum of narcissistic rage when he runs out of logical retorts and he recycles his arguments in any later discussion he can find.... It's the sound of a broken record and a bad one at that, wish i could say something different but there's no convincing him, it's just about attention...

 

[felicemastronzo]

Well, I agree with you about Madame; no saving her. And I'm not keen on the time spent on the D&G animations, even though the game itself was fun.

But I can't agree about the others. Lynette's diary is good character work for the MC and Neil, and feels like a natural way to work a future revelation into the narrative. The mini-games are a nice change of pace and can be turned off if you don't like them. Similarly, if you don't enjoy hunting for special renders, the only loss is missing some special renders; it's not like they're a significant drain on development resources.

in fact I put it lower on the list what is skippable

if in the development of the story the mystery about Lynette's family will be interesting this of course will re-evaluate the diary (the premise about a crossroads with other rich families is not that it is particularly greedy), which for now for me remains very boring.

what would we have learned about Lynette and therefore about MC? a stereotyped portrait of a spoiled young girl without any particularity. practically Neil had told us all the important things, despite her neurodegenerative disease in the first chapters.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Since the engagement was rushed at the very end of episode 8, I think episode 9 will take some time to deal with the aftermath:

• The new behavior of the main character, more in love than ever, will have to be showcased. It is a strong expectation of the players who made the choice of a love interest.
• The new relationship with Josy and Maya was postponed, because whatever it is now, these girls will remain close.
• What about Nicole? Considering the past efforts with her, I doubt a simple phone call will suffice.
• How will Isabella's rejection be handled even though she is the new teacher?

In addition, there is the ongoing main plot through the meeting with Jade and Stephen Burke, and the revelation of the family tie with Sage. These situations provide a huge amount of dialogue and scene variation. If Dr PinkCake also includes the Halloween party, I'm afraid there will be a significant delay between the interlude and episode 9.

the engagement will probably reduce the game time, with content that can only be reached in certain runs, but I don't think it will lengthen the realization time

at the end Mc will surely see all the LIs, only with that choice he will have a longer scene

the segment with Maya and Josy would have been longer anyway, because they still have to be told about Mc's decision in one sense or another.

Nicole, despite being put back into the game, I think she is anchored to her role as a secondary girl, we might not even see her at all in the ninth chapter as happened in the seventh for example.

 

[PashafromRussia]

Agreed.
And even if you slice off some time for Steam and Covid, this Interlude alone is taking 2-3 months to produce. there is no way an entire ep. 9 takes just 4 months. Even 5 months seems like a stretch. I keep thinking 6 months is bare minimum. I'd be willing to agree to a September release but that's as far back as I can realistically push it given DPC's tendencey to constantly go bigger and better than the previous.

Episode 9 doesn't have to be long. This is the introductory episode for season 3. He should introduce the player to new mechanics and the plot as it was with episode 5. Considering that Zoey's story was probably originally planned as part of episode 9, then developing the remaining parts in 4-5 months seems plausible and reasonable.

 

[mindern]

Been like that with most of his arguments, he usually doesn't win but he keeps spamming his views and knowledge of friends who have access to the truth of all wisdom in the universe until he throws a tantrum of narcissistic rage when he runs out of logical retorts and he recycles his arguments in any later discussion he can find.... It's the sound of a broken record and a bad one at that, wish i could say something different but there's no convincing him, it's just about attention...

As obnoxious as that introduction to “Logic 101” was its hard to hold a grudge because I just know, somewhere, there’s a lawyer who died a little inside after being forced into a boorish discussion about the legal realities of a porn game. Arguing with him seems silly when there’s people out there dealing with that from him.

 

[Laport Deminis]

Since the conversation of when episode 9 is going to came is quite depressing, I just want to remind you guys that Pink Rose girls has been confirmed. That means every sweet piece of ass is going to be there, first time we throw the HOTs and the pink staff into a house full of bear and we go around like a peacock choosing who we wanna fuck. And since it's a one time oportunity to have sex with them wearing silly costume, it's kinda logical that everyone should get their chance. So we are talking of a truly fuckfest:
Something like: 3 for the LI, 4-6 for HOT's, 2-3 for pink girls, 1-2 for other students. That's like 10-14 scenes, less threesomes and group sex. That's how i imagine at least.

 

[Casiope]

I don't like to answer different topics in the same post, but so it be.

If in the development of the story the mystery about Lynette's family will be interesting this of course will re-evaluate the diary (the premise about a crossroads with other rich families is not that it is particularly greedy), which for now for me remains very boring.

Were the flashbacks about the romance between the main character's parents only meant to make him reflect on his own life, or is this likely to lead to a big twist? I don't have enough evidence to consider it (and the cottage in the background won't change my mind).

Nicole, despite being put back into the game, I think she is anchored to her role as a secondary girl, we might not even see her at all in the ninth chapter as happened in the seventh for example.

Our hero's honesty would want him to warn the other partners he has a liaison with before the news are on Rooster. Nicole was not sleeping with him for money, perhaps for the thrill, but I always sensed she was looking for more. Or am I just kidding myself about how much serious can be an affair between a 19-year-old college student and a single mother on her own? In contrast to how Jade and Cathy have always been presented as cougars in their interactions.

 

[Ottoeight]

Episode 9 doesn't have to be long. This is the introductory episode for season 3. He should introduce the player to new mechanics and the plot as it was with episode 5. Considering that Zoey's story was probably originally planned as part of episode 9, then developing the remaining parts in 4-5 months seems plausible and reasonable.

My 2 cents on future updates' content:

Interlude update - Zoey's story (mostly flashback);

Ep. 9 - road to Halloween (end of ep. 8 aftermath, MC dealing with Zoey);

Ep. 10 - Halloween Party.

 

[PashafromRussia]

My 2 cents on future updates' content:

Interlude update - Zoey's story (mostly flashback);

Ep. 9 - road to Halloween (end of ep. 8 aftermath, MC dealing with Zoey);

Ep. 10 - Halloween Party.

I think so too. Moreover, I have been actively arguing with everyone since the release of episode 8 that Halloween will only be in episode 10. Moreover, I still tend to think that the 10th episode will be this year.

 

[TuffyTenToes]

The Halloween party will happen on Episode 9, the DIK mansion was shown decorated as a tease at the end of Episode 8.

Doesn't make sense to spend an entire episode setting up the party when the episodes are getting bigger in terms of content and you can easily fit the planning and the party on it.

 

[felicemastronzo]

I don't like to answer different topics in the same post, but so it be.

Were the flashbacks about the romance between the main character's parents only meant to make him reflect on his own life, or is this likely to lead to a big twist? I don't have enough evidence to consider it (and the cottage in the background won't change my mind).

I simply don't find it interesting, and it seems to me to add little to Neil's story from the beginning of the game. a man and a girl much younger and from very different walks of life who fall in love and decide to go against the wishes of her family.

Lynette complaining about the constant moving doesn't make her more interesting to me, I already knew she was very young and therefore immature and dreamy.
But I honestly have no interest in getting to know her, maybe MC can have it but I'm not MC.

if something is related to MC's history it is not necessarily interesting, if they would show us every sad birthday of MC and his father they would surely be important memories for him but not for me as a player, the concept has already been explained to me, I don't need any proof.

comparing it to the flashbacks of the beginning of the chapter, in those however I am shown something that I did not know, the first steps of the history of Maya and Josy, the dynamics at the birth of the fraternities, that was useful information to decipher what the game was showing me or would show me.

from Lynette's diary to this day I have not gotten anything useful out of it. there is not a single aspect of the game that after the diary is clearer to me.

now everything is leading up to the group photo, we'll see...

Our hero's honesty would want him to warn the other partners he has a liaison with before they found out the news on Rooster. Nicole was not sleeping with him for money, perhaps for the thril, but I always sensed she was looking for more. Or am I just kidding myself about how much serious can be an affair between a 19-year-old college student and a cougar with a kid? In contrats to how Jade and Cathy have always been presented as MILFs in their interactions.

if i understood correctly according to you then in the case MC will have to communicate his decision to every non-Lis that he dated? in theories all the girls that would have appeared choosing "OTHER" or only Nicole?

I don't think so, in my opinion Jade was an exception to set up the "fuck fuck fuck" twist so we know she is mad at us.
probably Quinn will have her closing scene, but Nicole the way she was treated i don't think so

 

[vogelbeest]

Were the flashbacks about the romance between the main character's parents only meant to make him reflect on his own life, or is this likely to lead to a big twist? I don't have enough evidence to consider it (and the cottage in the background won't change my mind).

The flashbacks and Lynette's diary probably will lead you to the children of Lynette's friends, and with that it's very likely the plot will lead to MC's grandfather... Afterall, he might not want to have anything to do with MC but family of Jill or her friend might still be in contact with him. Seems to be too important to let it lead nowhere...

 

[mightybored]

Anything but another damn English spelling contest. I just cannot endure that class anymore. Same with gender studies. glad that one is over. Let's get a couple of new courses in the autumn term curriculum.

I just finished a no-minigames run (my first) and Bella's sorority it was a night-and-day difference not having to deal with all those stupid ass tests.

Also Quinn is never not trolling, and that's why she's one of the best.



Grabbing Josy's titty right in front of Tommy the DIKs.

 

[sorco2003]

You must be registered to see the links

It was a productive week. I have finished posing all art and completed most coding tasks as well.

What remains now is waiting for animations to render, polishing, and playtesting.

After that, I can send the game to my team of testers and proofreader.

Render times shouldn't be too bad, I hope, but time will tell.

Testing is hopefully smooth this time, too, since it's a smaller episode than usual.

The biggest task will be testing that the save transfer system is robust for Steam/GOG/Patreon versions so that any player with Season 2 can continue playing without issues.

Next week I will work on those remaining tasks while waiting on animations to render.

I can't promise a February release yet, so wait until the release date is set if you're pledging to get the update. It's either February or March, though.

View attachment 1633659

View attachment 1633660

Patreon milestone celebration
Today, I'll give you the final renders of the Quinn and Sally order.

Three parts remain in the custom render series.

Have a nice weekend

Dr PinkCake

Without numbers again, I feel I could just copy or bring the same thing I posted last week.
Maybe last Friday DPC woke up too optimistic. Anyway, it's still something undefined between the last week of February and the first week of March, at least that doesn't seem to have changed.
Even so, I am looking forward to this interlude, although for us who follow it episode by episode it breaks the times, in the total of the game I think it makes a lot of sense that the middle of the game has a hinge that gives a break from what came to what is to come.
As for episode 9, I see it very unlikely that it will go under 6 months of production, if as we all think, it will include the party, that is going to be a huge free roam, or at least it should be, much bigger than the HOT party and the dorm party. Besides, it should advance the main plot and the branch of the LI's, maybe it would even advance something about Zoey in the new life of the MC... Too much for one episode? yes, but if there isn't some of that the impact of episode 8 is lost.

Curious fact, in the original patreon post the images are not included in the body of the message, they are as downloadable... Something has changed in patreon or is it another protection measure?

 

[Killerwhale5678]

One has to take into account that the DIK mansion is very big.

It will take a lot of production time just to resolve the Halloween party where, in the path where you picked Bella or ignored Jill, she arranges to burn the whole mansion down killing most of the characters and pin it on MC. That is a lot of animations, render time, and quality control.

In the path where you chose Jill, she becomes an extremely controlling, possessive, pain in the ass, forcing MC to cheat (including Bianca), turn to substance abuse and MC has to plot how to get rid of her and dispose of the body. That too is a lot of animations, render time and quality control.

You just remind me of this