Ren'Py Cascade Falls [v0.1] [Stray Paranormal]

[JEER0X]

OK. This one is my fuck up. About page tells about backstory of MC. Showing breakup and his consequent spiraling is redundant. The game is not about that. The real story is how he recover from this. You will get hints about what exactly happened throughout a game. I probably have to be more clear about that in my about page.

well that's unfortunate, I played this hoping for a revenge story or i would of played as a broken dude and not interacted with anyone or been mostly negative in responses. Sounds boring now Goodluck dev.

 

[strayparanormal]

Hey strayparanormal. Can we have the option to turn off the black box round the text in the next update / chapter?

Yeah, I can do that. I have plans of customization option for quick menu and dialog text.

 

[kazeiheikaya]

OK. This one is my fuck up. About page tells about backstory of MC. Showing breakup and his consequent spiraling is redundant. The game is not about that. The real story is how he recover from this. You will get hints about what exactly happened throughout a game. I probably have to be more clear about that in my about page.

hey no problem man, just glad you recognize that its a bit misleading. Could just preface it like "In the past Steve Reed comes back from deployment, only to find his bestfriend married to his fiance, spiraling he decides to move to Cascade Falls where our story picks up with the MC having found a job as an IT manager living in Cascade Falls for the past 6 months, yadayada" you get the gist. Sounded like we were going to hop into the whole betrayal arc which granted I'm not a fan of myself, would rather not see all that because been there (kinda), but yeah. Just gotta clean up the wording a bit. Goodluck with future releases!

Also I assume by Supporters help shape the game you mostly meant "Supporters help keep the lights running to continue producing the game"

 

[Mii88]

Yeah, I can do that. I have plans of customization option for quick menu and dialog text.

Thanks

 

[ImariKurumi]

Not that into slice of life and recovery/rebuilding stories but this one kinda got me hooked. Narrative was easy to ease into. Has some soap opera vibes.

That said, surface level, most of the women are borderline a no-go. They got baggage and you don't eat where you shit. Jumping into a relationship with any one of them, right after the disaster back at home, is probably the worst thing to do.

Monica isn't my type but she's my favourite and is the best option so far, "the one that got away" kinda LI. Most emotionally compatible with the MC. But unfortunately, they're colleagues. Other safe options, maybe Ana or Fara, once we get to know more about them in future chapters.

 

[LionBear]

Thanks for sharing this.

 

[strayparanormal]

Hey there. Dev here.

most of the women are borderline a no-go

Can you elaborate? Why are they a no go? I'm not defending myself. I'm just genuinely curious.

I finally found a review section Thanks to all who took their time and reviewed. One small note though. The game launching in full screen every time is a bug. It was supposed to remember your preference. Fixed it in main brunch.

Just to remind everyone that from October 2 to October 9 I'll be live streaming. I'll be answering questions, showing off dev process, and just chatting with you guys. I'll be glad if you can join. I'll let you know exact time when I go live later.

 

[Mii88]

Hey there. Dev here.



Can you elaborate? Why are they a no go? I'm not defending myself. I'm just genuinely curious.

I finally found a review section Thanks to all who took their time and reviewed. One small note though. The game launching in full screen every time is a bug. It was supposed to remember your preference. Fixed it in main brunch.

Just to remind everyone that from October 2 to October 9 I'll be live streaming. I'll be answering questions, showing off dev process, and just chatting with you guys. I'll be glad if you can join. I'll let you know exact time when I go live later.

If it helps I felt the same that there were so many no go's here, either in looks or the way they spoke. They are very harsh in their response when speaking. They weren't fun, or acting cute, maybe teasing a little and flirty to let you know they are interested and responding to you. Maybe its the effect of a direct translation into English rather than being written in English? Here's a summary of the women so far for me:

Interested
Chloe - too aggressive but flirty and I went with it this time but I might not call her back if I had a better option.
Sofie - sweet, interesting but I want to talk to her more to find out if I'm really interested. Would be better looking without the pink hair with a natural hair colour.

No go's in order of appearance
Julia is beautiful. The only really beautiful girl so far however she came over as aggressive and not a nice person. She would probably use everyone else in the office to get a promotion and is never anyone's true friend. No interest in asking her out and being her pet dog.
Receptionist Karmen - not good looking at all
Monica - not a MILF, more of a motherly figure, okay looking but not great, kind but not sexy
Linda - weird and not good looking. Why does she hate you on first sight so much? It seems an irrational response.
Jenna - not good looking, crazy laugh - never stick your dick in crazy
Ana Red - not good looking, looks very angry, MMA fighter, lots of muscles, basically a guy - nope
Maybe - The girl you meet when you walk in the club but don't speak to is okay looking but not great
Maybe - Aurora is okay looking but she shows no interest in you
Barmaid Fara - Ugghh tattoos and metal in her face nope. Typical barmaid. Very aggressive, demands your order for drinks and payment. It seems like she has no interest in talking to customers.
Maybe - Officer Thompson is kind of cute with the braids but there's no interest from her.

I accept this is all subjective and I'm just trying to answer you question of why most of the women are borderline a no-go. Overall I liked the story enough to carry on to the next update but it felt like it would probably be a no sex VN but that doesn't put me off if the story's good.

 

[nhnf85]

The renders look good, and for once, I do like how the MC looks (can't say the same for all of the girls shown in the OP).

Without future tags and this line in the Dev Notes

This game features 18+ themes such as depression, alcohol, violence, and mild sexual content.

I don't think the game is for me because life is already depressing enough, so I don't want it in the games I play, or it's going to be boring with the low sexual content.

 

[strayparanormal]

If it helps I felt the same that there were so many no go's here, either in looks or the way they spoke. They are very harsh in their response when speaking. They weren't fun, or acting cute, maybe teasing a little and flirty to let you know they are interested and responding to you. Maybe its the effect of a direct translation into English rather than being written in English? Here's a summary of the women so far for me:

Interested
Chloe - too aggressive but flirty and I went with it this time but I might not call her back if I had a better option.
Sofie - sweet, interesting but I want to talk to her more to find out if I'm really interested. Would be better looking without the pink hair with a natural hair colour.

No go's in order of appearance
Julia is beautiful. The only really beautiful girl so far however she came over as aggressive and not a nice person. She would probably use everyone else in the office to get a promotion and is never anyone's true friend. No interest in asking her out and being her pet dog.
Receptionist Karmen - not good looking at all
Monica - not a MILF, more of a motherly figure, okay looking but not great, kind but not sexy
Linda - weird and not good looking. Why does she hate you on first sight so much? It seems an irrational response.
Jenna - not good looking, crazy laugh - never stick your dick in crazy
Ana Red - not good looking, looks very angry, MMA fighter, lots of muscles, basically a guy - nope
Maybe - The girl you meet when you walk in the club but don't speak to is okay looking but not great
Maybe - Aurora is okay looking but she shows no interest in you
Barmaid Fara - Ugghh tattoos and metal in her face nope. Typical barmaid. Very aggressive, demands your order for drinks and payment. It seems like she has no interest in talking to customers.
Maybe - Officer Thompson is kind of cute with the braids but there's no interest from her.

I accept this is all subjective and I'm just trying to answer you question of why most of the women are borderline a no-go. Overall I liked the story enough to carry on to the next update but it felt like it would probably be a no sex VN but that doesn't put me off if the story's good.

OK. I see your point.

You absolutely right about girls. Every girl comes with her own baggage. That's how real life is. This is not the translation issue. This is deliberate choice. The girls are not main character in the game like in most VN's. MC is. He is the focus of this story. That said, there is going to be sex scenes. Not as many, and not as detailed as other's do. But there will be.

The renders look good, and for once, I do like how the MC looks (can't say the same for all of the girls shown in the OP).

Without future tags and this line in the Dev Notes

I don't think the game is for me because life is already depressing enough, so I don't want it in the games I play, or it's going to be boring with the low sexual content.

Fair enough brother! Thanks for checking it out anyway. I don't know what's going on in your life, but I hope you overcome it and get better. Depression is a bitch! I know it too well.

 

[nhnf85]

I don't know what's going on in your life, but I hope you overcome it and get better. Depression is a bitch! I know it too well.

That was a figure of speech.

Am I super happy with everything in my life? Certainly not, but I'm far from being depressed.

 

[ClockworkGnome]

Yes. First name only.

Time to name the main character Reid Reed.

That said, surface level, most of the women are borderline a no-go. They got baggage and you don't eat where you shit. Jumping into a relationship with any one of them, right after the disaster back at home, is probably the worst thing to do.

Sadly, that sort of thing tends to be true to life. There's a reason why rebound relationships tend to be disasters - someone who is still mentally and emotionally screwed up from their last relationship failing hard aren't likely to be making sensible decisions about their next one. So they wind up jumping from one mess into another.

Worse, there's always the possibility that the guy has a type (even if he doesn't realize it). If you hook up with someone who is apt to not respect you, to use you, and ultimately to betray you, then there's always the risk that you're going to fall into exactly the same sort of relationship with exactly the same sort of person next time around. It takes effort and self-awareness to try and break that cycle and wind up with someone who isn't just going to having you making all the same mistakes all over again.

In a story, the important question is generally are these characters going to grow, change, and evolve over time? It's okay to have a character start out somewhat abrasive or carrying around their own baggage as long as part of the story involves them getting over it and become a much better person in the end. If the story mostly just has them remain the same broken, selfish, or spiteful people at the end that they were in the beginning, then nothing has been gained and the story is mostly pointless.

Is the char in the first pic railroaded on you? I have exactly no use for metal infested faces.

For me the problem is never the face full of metal (as long as it's not too extreme) as much as it is the body covered in tattoos. I'm not a fan of that sort of look in real life, and it doesn't really appeal to me in games either. I always sort of think of it like going to the museum and finding someone's grafitti'd all over the Mona Lisa.

I don't mind if those sorts of models are used in games (I'm fully aware there are people who are absolutely into that sort of thing), and it certainly adds realism if a dev is trying to portray characters as being more fully fleshed out people than just archetypes or cardboard cut-outs, but I definitely like having the option to hard-pass on potential love interests with tattoos rather than being forced into relationships with them.

I find the ability to reject LIs (even in a harem game) to be a good idea for most games though. There are always going to be players who hate any given LI for any given reason (tattoos, piercings, personality, their role in the story, etc), and it always feels nice when you as the player can say no (preferably without torpedoing other routes or losing access to "golden" endings in the process).

 

[Mii88]

OK. I see your point.

You absolutely right about girls. Every girl comes with her own baggage. That's how real life is. This is not the translation issue. This is deliberate choice. The girls are not main character in the game like in most VN's. MC is. He is the focus of this story. That said, there is going to be sex scenes. Not as many, and not as detailed as other's do. But there will be.

Ok, that's a risky strategy, as most come for the fantasy not real life but I'm looking forward to the ride and will give it a go. I love a good story.

 

[strayparanormal]

That was a figure of speech.

Am I super happy with everything in my life? Certainly not, but I'm far from being depressed.

I'm glad to hear that!

Time to name the main character Reid Reed.

Second name is not used too often throughout a game. Is this important for you to change it?

In a story, the important question is generally are these characters going to grow, change, and evolve over time?

I agree with that. Never liked sterile good guy type right from the start. It's incredibly boring.

I find the ability to reject LIs (even in a harem game) to be a good idea for most games though.

Absolutely. Nothing is forced on you. All relationships are optional. There is even a solo path.

Ok, that's a risky strategy, as most come for the fantasy not real life but I'm looking forward to the ride and will give it a go. I love a good story.

I know this is risky. And even though you hear often critique that game looks like a fantasy, and that girls throw themselves on to MC, many players come for that sort of experience. Now in all fairness, I'm not going for full realism. I just want player to work for it.

 

[fishbrain]

adsf

Get yourself that developer tag!

If you don't enable free roam do you miss a ton of content? I don't think I've ever seen that option before. Curious.

 

[MiltonPowers]

 

[strayparanormal]

Get yourself that developer tag!

If you don't enable free roam do you miss a ton of content? I don't think I've ever seen that option before. Curious.

Sorry for late answer. It's better to answer questions in discord or Patreon page. There is free membership tier. I'm mainly active there.

Besides main story content free roams will have some exploration content. Some unlockables like special renders in gallery and little world building bits, like for example characters backstory. You going to miss those if you skip free roam. But you're not going to skip main content.

Do I need developer tag? What will it give me?

 

[MiltonPowers]

Sorry for late answer. It's better to answer questions in discord or Patreon page. There is free membership tier. I'm mainly active there.

Besides main story content free roams will have some exploration content. Some unlockables like special renders in gallery and little world building bits, like for example characters backstory. You going to miss those if you skip free roam. But you're not going to skip main content.

Do I need developer tag? What will it give me?

Hey strayparanormal, You can get a Developers badge and take ownership of this thread by opening a ticket:

Spoiler: Click Me

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[fishbrain]

Sorry for late answer. It's better to answer questions in discord or Patreon page. There is free membership tier. I'm mainly active there.

Besides main story content free roams will have some exploration content. Some unlockables like special renders in gallery and little world building bits, like for example characters backstory. You going to miss those if you skip free roam. But you're not going to skip main content.

Do I need developer tag? What will it give me?

Nah you don't need it, but it looks cool! lol

 

[strayparanormal]

Hey strayparanormal, You can get a Developers badge and take ownership of this thread by opening a ticket:

Spoiler: Click Me

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Nah, I'm good. Lol I have a hard time maintaining Patreon and Itch as it is.