VN Ren'Py Bitch Squad [v0.4.7] [IcarusLabs]

[Shenhan]

Kind of a weird game, can see it's potential but also feels like a simulation in losing all the time.

The MC is kind of a push over. Getting mad after the fact, and then failing to get payback does not make for a satisfying play experience, not that I was expecting total victory in such an early release, but it would've been good to at least get a couple of licks in. He basically lost every confrontation.

As for the step sister, I have no real compassion for her. She diminishes the MC's suffering to a single incident and turns a blind eye to the the cruelty that happened around her everyday, she'll only cared about being accepted and elevated, regardless of the fact the people she defends were standing on the heads of everyone else. I enjoyed being able to tell her to fuck off, can't wait for a walkthrough to come along and tell me it was the wrong decision.

This game is good in creating a longing for revenge within the player, hopefully we get to see some small victories in the next ep, otherwise it's going to start feeling like test in futility.

 

[drifter139]

Kind of a weird game, can see it's potential but also feels like a simulation in losing all the time.

The MC is kind of a push over. Getting mad after the fact, and then failing to get payback does not make for a satisfying play experience, not that I was expecting total victory in such an early release, but it would've been good to at least get a couple of licks in. He basically lost every confrontation.

As for the step sister, I have no real compassion for her. She diminishes the MC's suffering to a single incident and turns a blind eye to the the cruelty that happened around her everyday, she'll only cared about being accepted and elevated, regardless of the fact the people she defends were standing on the heads of everyone else. I enjoyed being able to tell her to fuck off, can't wait for a walkthrough to come along and tell me it was the wrong decision.

This game is good in creating a longing for revenge within the player, hopefully we get to see some small victories in the next ep, otherwise it's going to start feeling like test in futility.

as you said, it's only the first episode of the game. we can only assume prior to the events of the game, MC was likely non-confrontational so it makes sense he doesn't have a huge grasp of getting revenge. that being said, MC is also undeveloped and will likely grow as the game itself continues. and with the limited choices in Ep. 1 and Ep. 2 on the horizon, a walkthrough isn't quite needed yet. all that being said, the developer/maker is pretty engaging with the people in the thread and tends to answer when they can

 

[IcarusLabs]

Hi everyone! Time for an update!

Episode 2 was released today for the top tier on my Patreon! I've been spending all of my time trying to finish this before the end of the month as planned. After two and a half months of dedication and hard work, I was finally able to complete it!

With over 1600 new HD renders/animations, EP2 is substantially larger than EP1. Other additions include choice-based story branching, which will require you to play it more than once to get all of the scenes. There is also a morality meter and stats for each relationship. This means that choices made in this episode will have lasting consequences.

The release schedule looks like this:

• 8/31 (today) - Top tier Patreon release
• 9/14 - Next tier Patreon release
• 9/21 - General public release

I've attached a few (spoiler free!) never-before-seen images from the episode.

 

[Canto Forte]

This is all a game of show and tell: you show what you can tell is there.
MC is shown around the same girls, this is a very easy comedy fate mocking dynamic
in many series or movies, where MC who would not face his fears but rather run from them,
like in here, is forced by circumstance to bump into hurdles of the people he is trying to run from: he wants nothing to do with the step sister, he ends up time and time and again
in her neck of the woods no matter who he meets or where he goes.

it lessens her guilt

I don't know who the bad guys are at the college

to reliably point any fingers at anyone else

it is 2 years

Then, it is her who is coming to him, but not comiong on to him,
not showering him with kisses, no hugs, no giggles, no happy feels,
she is at his door with no actual peace offering,
she is not proposint anything fresh to do, but actually
asking him to forget and ... nothing, literally nothing, she puts zilch
in the place where all the hurt is supposed to have evaporated from.
How is that ever going to work, if not to mock him?
The fact MC acts neively time and time and again is getting old already,
even in this only second chapter.
The whole plot is MC doing his chores as Sisif and running up that friendship
steep slippery sloapes riddled hill of his adventures.

 

[ben_sylar]

Hi everyone! Time for an update!

Episode 2 was released today for the top tier on my Patreon! I've been spending all of my time trying to finish this before the end of the month as planned. After two and a half months of dedication and hard work, I was finally able to complete it!

With over 1600 new HD renders/animations, EP2 is substantially larger than EP1. Other additions include choice-based story branching, which will require you to play it more than once to get all of the scenes. There is also a morality meter and stats for each relationship. This means that choices made in this episode will have lasting consequences.

The release schedule looks like this:

• 8/31 (today) - Top tier Patreon release
• 9/14 - Next tier Patreon release
• 9/21 - General public release

I've attached a few (spoiler free!) never-before-seen images from the episode.

View attachment 2017644 View attachment 2017646 View attachment 2017647 View attachment 2017651

I was gonna subscribe today. Then I saw your prices and now I have questions. Like who would pay € 17.50 for your highest tier. WTF man. How many of those do you have? To put that monthly price into perspective: My rather generous cellphone plan costs 15€ a month. I pay 25€ a month for sky x for access to the premier league and german bundesliga and house of the dragon. A xbox game pass costs 10€ a month and so does disney+ for all things marvel and starwars.

I'm not gonna tell you how to run your business, but your pricing seems way off to me. Do people actually pay that much? How many do?

This isn't me shitting on you, I think your VN has promise, I just don't understand the thought process behind pricing your game that high.

 

[IcarusLabs]

I was gonna subscribe today. Then I saw your prices and now I have questions. Like who would pay € 17.50 for your highest tier. WTF man. How many of those do you have? To put that monthly price into perspective: My rather generous cellphone plan costs 15€ a month. I pay 25€ a month for sky x for access to the premier league and german bundesliga and house of the dragon. A xbox game pass costs 10€ a month and so does disney+ for all things marvel and starwars.

I'm not gonna tell you how to run your business, but your pricing seems way off to me. Do people actually pay that much? How many do?

This isn't me shitting on you, I think your VN has promise, I just don't understand the thought process behind pricing your game that high.

That is a reasonable response, I take no offense at your comment.

Nearly half of my few Patreon supporters are at the top tier. A couple have opted to upgrade based on the new release. They have been very generous and helpful since I started out. So, nobody would be surprised that they get the first look at the new content. There is a mid-tier as well that gets it a week before the general release. I don't think that my member tier levels are outside the norm for this kind of game.

I would like everyone who wants to play my game have the chance to play it. That is why it is a free game after all, you just have to wait a little longer! Xbox and the rest are never free.

 

[ben_sylar]

That is a reasonable response, I take no offense at your comment.

Nearly half of my few Patreon supporters are at the top tier. A couple have opted to upgrade based on the new release. They have been very generous and helpful since I started out. So, nobody would be surprised that they get the first look at the new content. There is a mid-tier as well that gets it a week before the general release. I don't think that my member tier levels are outside the norm for this kind of game.

I would like everyone who wants to play my game have the chance to play it. That is why it is a free game after all, you just have to wait a little longer! Xbox and the rest are never free.

Thx for the polite response. Maybe I'm just too stingy for something like this at the moment, the job search isn't going well after all (do you need a programmer btw ). If it's working for you I'm happy for you. Your game has promise and I want you to succeed, I'm just curious in general how you decided on your pricing.

 

[drifter139]

Thx for the polite response. Maybe I'm just too stingy for something like this at the moment, the job search isn't going well after all (do you need a programmer btw ). If it's working for you I'm happy for you. Your game has promise and I want you to succeed, I'm just curious in general how you decided on your pricing.

I've seen prices for other patreon tiers on other games that go above that. sometimes people will price their tiers and try to gauge how interested people are in paying for certain benefits like exclusive content or maybe an earlier release. it's also normal to maybe pay for the lowest tier or just wait for release for the general public. either way, it depends on whether someone is willing to pay and I don't see dev making crazy demands like saying people have to pay for it

 

[RaduStefan]

Is episode 2 released on Patreon? Nice I look forward to general public release, I am just happy the episode is finished!!

 

[IcarusLabs]

Today I have released Episode 2 to the mid-tier patrons. That means that next week on 9/21, I will do the general public release.

I've taken a bit of a breather over the last week or so, but I'm just about ready to get into EP3 development. I have been writing and laying out the scenes since I completed work on EP2. Looking forward to getting back to it!

 

[YepperCause]

I've seen prices for other patreon tiers on other games that go above that.

I've seen top tiers at above $250/month (usually limited number of them, though).

 

[drifter139]

Today I have released Episode 2 to the mid-tier patrons. That means that next week on 9/21, I will do the general public release.

I've taken a bit of a breather over the last week or so, but I'm just about ready to get into EP3 development. I have been writing and laying out the scenes since I completed work on EP2. Looking forward to getting back to it!

you have made me as giddy as a school boy, my friend. just kidding about that. but I am really looking forward to general release and can't wait. also just a heads up as some may compare it to the game, Being A DIK. don't worry and develop the game at your own pace as BAD has slowed down to 1 release per year. god speed you beautiful man

 

[Tanurak]

Couple of things I need to address here:

In my opinion, you really need to tone down on the closeups on the characters' faces... maybe stick with one or two angles then do a closeup whenever a character has a meaningful reaction to something.

MC is a wimp. For him to actually have a chance against those girls, he needed to have a thicker skin right from the start, but it seems he didn't actually change at all from High School. Those girls are smarter, more powerful, more charismatic and apparently more emotionally stable than him. What does he have in his favor? 2 tampered phones? Either he needs a miraculous change of heart in a short time span, another character with skills or power to help him, or the biggest plot armor than a protagonist has ever seen.

Is this game truly about revenge? I spent some minutes reading the thread and even some people posting here regularly don't exactly know where this game is going. Because if this is a game where the MC goes for "justice", he needs grow up as a character a lot. If he goes for "revenge", MC can become more ruthless and go for a villain route, in this case he only needs to be smarter, since he's willing to do morally questionable things, he needs way less to get an upper hand on the girls. (Waifu Academy MC comes to mind, before you know, the dev decided to jump into the dairy business.) Also it may be something like Crimson High or My Bully is My Lover where the plot develop into something way different than the initial description of the game was, if that's the case, it's a dangerous territory: if people don't like the direction it goes, it'll be easy for them to straight up drop the game.

 

[IcarusLabs]

Couple of things I need to address here:

In my opinion, you really need to tone down on the closeups on the characters' faces... maybe stick with one or two angles then do a closeup whenever a character has a meaningful reaction to something.

MC is a wimp. For him to actually have a chance against those girls, he needed to have a thicker skin right from the start, but it seems he didn't actually change at all from High School. Those girls are smarter, more powerful, more charismatic and apparently more emotionally stable than him. What does he have in his favor? 2 tampered phones? Either he needs a miraculous change of heart in a short time span, another character with skills or power to help him, or the biggest plot armor than a protagonist has ever seen.

Is this game truly about revenge? I spent some minutes reading the thread and even some people posting here regularly don't exactly know where this game is going. Because if this is a game where the MC goes for "justice", he needs grow up as a character a lot. If he goes for "revenge", MC can become more ruthless and go for a villain route, in this case he only needs to be smarter, since he's willing to do morally questionable things, he needs way less to get an upper hand on the girls. (Waifu Academy MC comes to mind, before you know, the dev decided to jump into the dairy business.) Also it may be something like Crimson High or My Bully is My Lover where the plot develop into something way different than the initial description of the game was, if that's the case, it's a dangerous territory: if people don't like the direction it goes, it'll be easy for them to straight up drop the game.

I appreciate the feedback!

I hope you get a chance to play episode 2 when it is fully released next week and then share your thoughts afterwards.

 

[IcarusLabs]

Episode 2 is now available!

I have updated the download links. Enjoy!

 

[DeliteDouche]

I enjoyed it. Nice balance of story progression and ummm… animations!

 

[Mareeta]

Episode 2 is now available!

I have updated the download links. Enjoy!

Is it normal if I don't see it on "Lastest Games & Updates" ?
I think it's very important for visibility.

 

[IcarusLabs]

Is it normal if I don't see it on "Lastest Games & Updates" ?
I think it's very important for visibility.

For sure. The game request is submitted. Waiting for the admin to accept it.

 

[Akainu456]

NTR game? Getting the vibes that it is. No future tags in dev notes also makes me sad.

 

[bigbobby0940]

No incest?

lol, lmao even