Ren'Py Campus Bonds [v0.3.1] [MCVisualNovels]

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

No, Sadie can be pursued regardless of the affinity, the only thing you should be worried about with her is what choices you make that directly affect her.

Thank you, brother, because I don't like sleeping around or drinking until I'm blacked out drunk

I mean, I don't mind drinking if it's just me and her, but I'm not like the wild partying type

 

[MiltonPowers]

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Excellent choice. She's my fav too.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

Excellent choice. She's my fav too.

Of course, Sadie is. She can be frustrating and sometimes hurtful, but she's still the best girl in the game

especially if you earn her love

And to be fair, every time Sadie has been hurtful, it's always been unintentional

Sadie always apologizes and owns up to her mistakes

 

[Thur1in]

Just played true this game, and loved it. can't wait what future updates brings. Also it is almost criminal Olivia is not a LI!

Keep up the great work.

 

[Kappa123456789]

First of all, I really appreciate your detailed explanation. It makes me happy to see that you're this invested in the game.

You brought up some very fair points, especially about how arbitrary some systems can feel when personality traits lock you out of a path. That's something I've noticed in other games too, and it's definitely something I've tried to avoid as much as possible.

That said, the system in Campus Bonds is a bit more complex than it might seem. Affinity (extrovert vs introvert) does come into play sometimes, but it’s not always the deciding factor, and definitely not a universal gatekeeper. If you ever check the code, you'll see that there are times where it matters, and others where it doesn't at all (Like with Cleo, you can hang out with her and get a kiss even though you are on the extroverted path and she is available on the introverted path).

In Francesca's case, you're not locked out of her path entirely, just from a specific lewd scene, and I felt like that was a fair reflection of her character in that moment. You can still romance her, and if you want to swing your affinity back toward introvert, that's definitely possible through your future choices. Her perception of the MC is shaped by how you behave, not just what a hidden stat says.

She also picks up on how you talk about others, like Evelyn. People often form impressions based on tone, attitude, and those small, seemingly insignificant signals. I like to think those moments add up, not in a calculated, checklist kind of way, but in the form of a subtle, subconscious impression. It’s not that Francesca consciously decides you're not right for her, more like something just feels "off" in the moment, a hunch that pulls her away without her even realizing why. That's often what causes love interests to pull back, more than the affinity system itself. It’s really about how the MC behaves, both around the girl and others. Even if the MC doesn't say anything blatantly wrong, those little things can still shape perception. That's why missing the lewd scene with her doesn't mean you're locked out of her path entirely. There's no hard variable that says you're either with her or not, at least not yet.

Trust points also play a huge role in how a relationship develops. And not all of them are about how a character feels about you, sometimes it's about how the MC feels about her, which in turn influences the narrative. For example, in the first episode, you can raise Francesca's trust points by telling Jon that the conversation with her meant something. That choice doesn't affect her directly, but it helps shape how the MC sees her, and that matters too.

I get that personality isn't just 1s and 0s. People wear masks, they adapt to different situations, and not every choice has to define a person (that's why there are sometimes variables which check if a person got sad, angry, etc). That's actually something I try to reflect with flexibility in how paths can evolve, so long as you're consistent enough or make an effort to change direction, it's usually not too late.

Now, about the MC's change of heart, yes, it is possible. As of now, the impact is minimal because the story is still in its early stages and building up. But in the grand scheme of things, it will absolutely matter. Ever since the 0.3.1 update, I made it clear that your affinity only gets locked once you enter a relationship, and it becomes unlocked once that relationship ends (since pursuing multiple relationships over time will be possible).

Later on, in future episodes, I'll start using the introvert/extrovert variables more because they reflect the core of the player's choices. You can't make 50 extroverted choices and 0 introverted ones, then suddenly pivot hard toward the introverted path just to chase a love interest without any consequences. That love interest will notice, and how they respond depends on their personality. Some might be understanding, others might call you out on the shift. If you're not in a relationship and your "change of heart" doesn't align with the girl you're pursuing, she might even say so and tell you that you've changed.

That said, we're still early in the story. The characters haven't had enough time to fully form their opinions about the MC yet, and that's intentional. This game is meant to be a slow burn, relationships evolve over time, and the weight of your choices will grow along with them. That's the vision I'm building toward, and it's obviously going to take time and effort, but that's the beauty of it, I can take it gradually.

Again, thanks for the feedback, and I'd be more than happy to hear more of your thoughts and questions about the game.

Thanks for going more in depth and explaining your point of view more. I'm content with your explanation that affinity won't lock you out of a path, just shape how it unflods. Minding that, I'm still not convinced about the affinity system. You give an example of Francesca picking up small things when you talk to Evelyn around her. I'm more than happy about that, sounds damn perfect. But how does she pick up anything about how MC talks to Jon when he's on his PC?
The very first choice, just at the start of the game, 2 picks, either extrovert or introvert point. About MC being excited, or not, to stay at Jon's place. And let's say, every other choice for the rest of the game was 50/50. All of them. Then we get to the lewd scene in episode 3 that you mentioned. The deciding factor of it happening this way or another is a conversation that took place X time ago that had 0 effect on LI. Null. Non-factor becoming a factor.
I'd understand if the way you shape MC with player's choices changed the way he talks for example, like subtle differences in dialogue or maybe a smile instead of a frown etc. (idk if it maybe works this way since I haven't played introvert way to compare). Then a character that interacts with MC can pick up on that; what person MC was shaped into by a player. But if it's always the same then there's no way for another character to ever pick up on how extroverted or introverted MC was through his life up until this point (unless they actually witness or feel the effects of a choice that player makes).

Anyway, even if we see this differently I wanted to thank you for taking your time to actively interact with this communit since, well, it's a site that let's people pirate your work. Looking forward to what you'll cook next.

 

[CodyOn]

And how can I earn introvert points?

Edit: It was a stupid question. I'll answer myself: behaving in an introverted way. I'm sorry to have bothered you with my stupidity.

 

[jadepaladin]

And how can I earn introvert points?

Edit: It was a stupid question. I'll answer myself: behaving in an introverted way. I'm sorry to have bothered you with my stupidity.

Don't worry about it. There have been and will be much stupider questions asked here.

 

[jadepaladin]

What's the rationale behind awarding extrovert/introvert points to kissing LIs? Is it because there's a point cushion so 1-2 of the "other" points won't matter? Or is it more of the "extroverts seize the moment" kind of thought?

Refusing to kiss Francesca doesn't make me an introvert or extrovert, it makes me stupid but I'm trying the thing like Vidal where I focus on one girl to see how it goes.

 

[MCVisualNovels]

What's the rationale behind awarding extrovert/introvert points to kissing LIs? Is it because there's a point cushion so 1-2 of the "other" points won't matter? Or is it more of the "extroverts seize the moment" kind of thought?

Refusing to kiss Francesca doesn't make me an introvert or extrovert, it makes me stupid but I'm trying the thing like Vidal where I focus on one girl to see how it goes.

The thought behind that action is that, normally, an introvert wouldn't make the first step into kissing someone on the first night they met (at least not in my point of view). That's why you gain introvert/extrovert points based on that action, if he has the balls to make a move on her right away that means he's on the extroverted side, he can get out of his comfort zone easier than the introverted MC.

 

[Bad Wolf]

The thought behind that action is that, normally, an introvert wouldn't make the first step into kissing someone on the first night they met

I'm sure you're right. But I knew an introverted girl in high school who did that to me out of the blue once and then immediately went into panic mode and It was a week before I saw her again and even then, when she'd see me, she'd go into panic mode. At the time, I didn't know she was introverted, Hell, I didn't even know about that stuff. I just thought she was weird and squirrely.

 

[MiltonPowers]

I'm sure you're right. But I knew an introverted girl in high school who did that to me out of the blue once and then immediately went into panic mode and It was a week before I saw her again and even then, when she'd see me, she'd go into panic mode. At the time, I didn't know she was introverted, Hell, I didn't even know about that stuff. I just thought she was weird and squirrely.

Maybe she wasn't introverted, maybe it was just a bad kiss.

 

[Eonor]

Made a compressed Android port of Campus Bonds v0.3.1 with Zemax 's multi-mod.

This has my regular gestures: swipe up for save menu, swipe down to hide UI, swipe left for history/rollback and swipe right to skip. Save files are now stored in the Documents folder. This sometimes means that you may need to close and re-open the port after installing so the save folder is properly created.

Please let me know if you encounter any issues with the port and I'll see what I can do to get them sorted.

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