VN Ren'Py Completed Chasing Beth [v1.0.2] [Tora Productions]

[Tlaero]

This is good feedback. Thanks!

In real life, I drive my spouse crazy. He tends to agonize over decisions, where I look at the pros and cons and decide. It's not that I'm choosing at random, it's that, when I have all the information I'm going to have, it doesn't take me long to process it. But, like I said, doing that doesn't go over well with my spouse. It seems that this potentially troublesome aspect of me leaked into Joel somewhat.

That said, it wasn't my intent. In my mind, the fact that Joel went into his head to talk to T&T was him agonizing over the decision. He not only had doubts, he brought in experts to help.

But your feedback is solid. I could have shown more inner conflict there.

As for what Serena knew about his PTSD when, she knew something happened to him in the war, but he hadn't told her the details yet. In the first scene, she says that it's been a while since he had a nightmare, and when he woke up, she knows that his nightmare was him in the desert. So, this has happened multiple times before.

Thank you for playing! It's great to have confirmation that the game is understandable without having played the earlier games. I definitely tried to write it that way, but I wasn't sure I succeeded.

If you'd like to try the other games in this universe, most of them are in this collection:
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-omnibus-vol-1-tora-productions.90315/

Between the Omnibus and Chasing Beth are two other short stories.
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsas-nightmares-ep-1-6-tora-productions.42937/
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-transitions-ep-1-7-tora-productions.66298/

Tlaero

 

[Raife]

In real life, I drive my spouse crazy. He tends to agonize over decisions, where I look at the pros and cons and decide. It's not that I'm choosing at random, it's that, when I have all the information I'm going to have, it doesn't take me long to process it. But, like I said, doing that doesn't go over well with my spouse. It seems that this potentially troublesome aspect of me leaked into Joel somewhat.

That is very, very amusing... because my opposite number and I are the same way.

I am like you, and tend to make decisions very quickly, once I feel that I have adequate information: i.e. 'we spoke about the only three available options, A, B and C... and C is simply the least bad option.' My life partner, on the other hand, will want to go around, and around and around... re-weighing every option several times before making a decision. I call it 'merry-go-rounding.' Her reasoning and decision making are exceptionally sound... it just takes her longer to get there.

I read Joel's decision-making process as signalling the strength of his character: he knew immediately and deeply what the right thing to do was... and was always going to do it, even though it was very unpleasant (like tearing off a plaster or grabbing the hot iron). He loved his partner that much, and respected his own inner compass. That's why Joel's a badass. (Like you, his creator... much as you'd like to deny it! )

 

[Sister227]

Thanks again for creating a great story. Even the bonus is very great to watch. Hope to see more of it in the future. I'll be patiently waiting! But please, give the girls a razor...

 

[jufot]

Joel's dilemma with Serena and Paul reminded me of a similar situation from Tlaero's AAA: Anastasia and Joey. In that story, Joey chose to be with Ana despite knowing that he came second - her first priority was, is, and always will be her two friends Alex and Amanda (the other "A"s of AAA). It's an interesting contrast to Chasing Beth's Joel, who is clearly unwilling to be second best.

Joey's situation has always read as meek and ...unhealthy, perhaps? It's hard to imagine willingly becoming a secondary side character in your own wife's life. Certainly much easier to identify with Joel.

 

[1337Bob]

To add my (constructive critical) two cents.

Personally I think Chasing Beth has been the weakest of the main Elsaverse games, though it is still quite good. I'll admit that this judgement might be a little biased from nostalgic memories of the earlier games, as it has been a while since I have played them. I'm not completely sure why I feel this way, but I have some ideas.

Firstly, I could be very wrong on this, but Chasing Beth might be the shortest of all the main Elsaverse. Even if it isn't, it certainly felt like the story was far too short to develop on the various themes and surprisingly large number of subplots for such a short game. The appearance of older characters and setup for future Elsaverse games, while nice (fanservice?) I think really contributed to the central narratives and themes beginning underdeveloped. I felt this was particularly noticeable after Beth gets shot. What I thought would be the highpoint or cliff hanger of Act 1 of maybe a three act story ended up really being the climax of the story. Everything gets easily and quickly resolved soon afterwards. I also get that these stories are meant to be brief and not drag on (actually impressive in an age of endlessly developed AVNs), but I feel in this case either the game and story needed to be extended or some of the other things needed to be cut back.

One thing I didn't really like was how the Serena-Paul meet up was handled. I feel this was very much a case of "ends justifies the means" writing. Specifically, the ending between them all was always going to be good, so the process in getting there was never in question. Realistically, the meeting between Serena and Paul could have gone very badly in a whole number of ways. It seems strange to me that the arranging the meeting was never really in question, that neither Joel nor Serena ever said "hang on, are you sure this is a good idea? Or the best way to handle this?", especially after the mental consultation with the advice duo.

The other major issue is Joel himself. While Elsaverse (and some non Elsaverse) male protagonists have always been a bit of blank state generic-nice-guy (to varying degrees), I feel it doesn't really work with Joel given the major narrative focus on him and his PTSD. Other Elsaverse male protagonists basically just served as supports to the actual primary protagonists, the female (powered up) protagonists. That was perfectly fine because the narratives heavily focused on the female leads and their powers (and related issues). But the increased focus on Joel really needed and justified more character development. By the end of the game, I still hadn't developed a sense of who Joel really was, his personality or how his PTSD related to him. He just comes across as a generic everyman to me (well, I guess he does have two other people living in his head). He's just a little bit nice, a little bit tough, a little bit pragmatic, a little bit idealist. I think it probably would have been better just to pick a single clearer and stronger character direction (e.g. naive idealist war reporter, or macho thrill seeking war reporter before the trauma?). I know his character likes the 'human side' of things but that's not enough. Part of it is hard to articulate. The elements that form his character are certainly there (bravery reporting the war, anecdote of high school films etc) but it didn't land for me. Maybe it would have been nice to see who Joel was before the PTSD to see how it changed him, highlighting his character development. As much as it pains me to say it, perhaps its just Tlaero's strength is writing female protagonists and not male ones.

Edit: In regard to the checkpoint system, I think the reason people didn't like it is because you're presenting a false choice to the player. You're dangling alternative outcomes/stories in front of the player only to have the rug pulled out from under them and telling them "no, here's how you're meant to play the game", to which many player presumably think "then what was the point of giving me a choice?". With other games there was at least some choice and agency in how the story plays out (e.g. CtgwC you could do Christine, Laura, or middle).

Anyway, a "bad" Elsaverse game is still a good game.

 

[Princess Groundhog]

If you'd like to try the other games in this universe, most of them are in this collection:
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-omnibus-vol-1-tora-productions.90315/

Between the Omnibus and Chasing Beth are two other short stories.
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsas-nightmares-ep-1-6-tora-productions.42937/
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-transitions-ep-1-7-tora-productions.66298/

I take it there's not yet enough material for a second Omnibus? I'm sure there must be plans for more stories still.

 

[Tlaero]

Thank you for the feedback, 1337Bob. It's certainly not a problem that you liked some of my other games better than this one. I'm happy you enjoyed the ones you did. If you're not quite sure why you liked the other games more, I suspect it's a result of this story being significantly different from them.

The majority of games I've written have told the story of meeting and falling in love with someone. That's an exciting time in any relationship, and it tends to be a good plot/setting for an erotic game, since the "win" situation in these games is often getting to have sex with the character.

The trouble is, I've told that story so many times that I wanted to do something different.

But, like I said, I don't mind you liking the other ones better. I knew this was risky when I sat down to write it. I appreciate you playing it and giving so much feedback.

I'll comment on a few of the things you said.

Putting in previous characters wasn't intended as fan service. I explicitly wrote the story I wanted to write, the way I wanted to write it. If fans like it, awesome, but the only fan I was actually servicing was myself.

In my mind, the arranging of the Serena and Paul meeting was very much in question. Serena explicitly said she wasn't going to do that. When Joel got Paul's letter, he was torn on what to do and had to ask the experts. The experts weren't in agreement on what to do. And when he brought the letter to Serena, she also wasn't sure what to do and had to ask his advice. I personally don't find characters agonizing over decisions to be appealing, but I recognize that not everyone feels the same way I do. That's totally fine. I'll keep this data point in mind with future stories.

Regarding Joel, although you're considerably more thoughtful and polite than most people who give this feedback, this feedback about my male characters is pretty common. I suspect that I'm guilty of doing the same thing that male writers do, only in reverse. Many men write female characters that are kind of their ideal fantasies. I write male characters that are kind of my ideal fantasy. The fact that a common male fantasy female is quite different than a common female fantasy male is immaterial. I'm writing the kind of men that I like, even though it sometimes gets me into hot water with men who aren't like that. I should remember this and cut some slack to the male writers of games where all of the women are beautiful and easy to get into bed. I'm just as guilty.

All that said, I felt that I put more narrative time and effort into making Joel an interesting character than any of my other male protagonists. I'll keep working on this.

Tlaero

 

[Tlaero]

I take it there's not yet enough material for a second Omnibus? I'm sure there must be plans for more stories still.

Yeah. I'm torn on the right way to go with Elsaverse Omnibus Vol 2. Volume 1 had five games, five visual short stories, 4 text short stories, and a novella. Currently Volume 2 would have two longer visual short stories and a game. Clearly not enough for a full Omnibus. But, do I join them together into an Omnibus now and then add to it in the future, or do I wait until there's enough content for a full omnibus and repackage it then?

I truly don't know which is the better path and am open to feedback/suggestions on the matter.

Tlaero

 

[Brocho]

Immensely enjoyable as always. I love it when you play around with the format of these games and mix it up, and I think this one worked well. Then again, I haven't really been that bothered about the gameplay for a while now, as I play them almost entirely for the story and characters, and of course the wonderful visuals.

Speaking of visuals, I feel like Mortze is outdoing even the great work he has done before. This game looks stunning. I particularly love the way Michelle and Chloe look these days.

I knew you were planning to reuse the Jessica and Keisha models from LCfK, but I didn't expect them to appear this quickly, or be used for such prevalent characters. I can see why you'd want to make the most of them though, as they're both beautiful.

As for the gameplay, I just made all the choices which made sense to me at the time and I didn't see a single one of these 'T&T Help Scenes' I see people referring to. I notice they're in the gallery, so I wonder whether it's worth going through the game again to trigger them where they fit in the story or whether I should just watch them there.

Anyway, exemplary work as always and I greatly anticipate the next installment.

 

[1337Bob]

Thank you for the feedback, 1337Bob. It's certainly not a problem that you liked some of my other games better than this one. I'm happy you enjoyed the ones you did. If you're not quite sure why you liked the other games more, I suspect it's a result of this story being significantly different from them.

The majority of games I've written have told the story of meeting and falling in love with someone. That's an exciting time in any relationship, and it tends to be a good plot/setting for an erotic game, since the "win" situation in these games is often getting to have sex with the character.

The trouble is, I've told that story so many times that I wanted to do something different.

But, like I said, I don't mind you liking the other ones better. I knew this was risky when I sat down to write it. I appreciate you playing it and giving so much feedback.

I'll comment on a few of the things you said.

Putting in previous characters wasn't intended as fan service. I explicitly wrote the story I wanted to write, the way I wanted to write it. If fans like it, awesome, but the only fan I was actually servicing was myself.

In my mind, the arranging of the Serena and Paul meeting was very much in question. Serena explicitly said she wasn't going to do that. When Joel got Paul's letter, he was torn on what to do and had to ask the experts. The experts weren't in agreement on what to do. And when he brought the letter to Serena, she also wasn't sure what to do and had to ask his advice. I personally don't find characters agonizing over decisions to be appealing, but I recognize that not everyone feels the same way I do. That's totally fine. I'll keep this data point in mind with future stories.

Regarding Joel, although you're considerably more thoughtful and polite than most people who give this feedback, this feedback about my male characters is pretty common. I suspect that I'm guilty of doing the same thing that male writers do, only in reverse. Many men write female characters that are kind of their ideal fantasies. I write male characters that are kind of my ideal fantasy. The fact that a common male fantasy female is quite different than a common female fantasy male is immaterial. I'm writing the kind of men that I like, even though it sometimes gets me into hot water with men who aren't like that. I should remember this and cut some slack to the male writers of games where all of the women are beautiful and easy to get into bed. I'm just as guilty.

All that said, I felt that I put more narrative time and effort into making Joel an interesting character than any of my other male protagonists. I'll keep working on this.

Tlaero

Hi Tlaero,

I just wanted to clarify some of my criticisms, I feel maybe I wasn't as clear as I could be.

"Fan service" was a poor choice of words. What I meant was addition of multiple subplots, particularly those that were part of tying the story to the broader Elsaverse. I felt this detracted from the main plot of Joel and his PTSD, Beth and her vigilantism, and their intersection. The Serena-Paul subplot is the most prominent example, where it is only tangentially related to the main plot and really does feel like you just wanted to include Serena in another story has you have described. The only thing that the Serena-Paul subplot does for the main narrative is to highlight out how much of a trusting, caring guy/partner is to Serena. But really I think this is a major detour from the main plot (it's really about Serena, not Joel) and I don't think it was particularly important for establishing Joel's character. Additionally, it does nothing to further the story of Joel and Beth. But you can extend this to some of the other subplots/references too.

I want to be really clear about Joel/male protagonists because it's what you've been (unfairly) blasted for the most. My issue is not with the male protagonists themselves, but rather the context and role they have been put into the story and whether it works. With your other stories, the generic-nice-guy protagonists was perfectly fine (was good, even) because of their role in the story. Those male protagonists aren't even really protagonists, but really supporting characters to the female protagonists who we just happen to be viewing from the perspective of their male love interest. In contrast, Joel is a full-fledged protagonist who the story focuses on more than Beth, even. While Joel is certainly more fleshed out than the other male characters, I still think it was not enough.

I personally find it funny how you describe your male characters as fantasy fulfilment. Perhaps that's true (your stories generally do have an undertone of female fantasy fulfilment), but I would have thought that's something you could equally say about your female protagonists! After all, many of them align strongly with fantasy archetypes that appeal to men too. Christine is the manic nymphomaniac girlfriend, Laura is the nerdy romantic girlfriend (she's pretty close to my personal ideal fantasy girl tbh!), Jessika is the rock/punk dream girl, Elsa is the shy girl-next-door and so on. But really, these are just character archetypes that people happen to find attractive. I think the distinction between your female and male characters is really just a case of the female characters having stronger and more clearly defined character and personality ( I realize this is dangerously close to unhelpfully just saying 'they're better written'). At risk of sounding condescending, you need to write Joel (or any other focused male protagonist) to have a clear motivations/goals and personality to match. I can't figure out what exactly Joel wants. Well, other than the fact he wants to be a loving partner to Serena, which would be perfectly fine (in any other one of your stories) except that's not enough to motivate him through how he responds to his PTSD, why he wants to be a journalist or why he is "chasing Beth", and so on. He sort of just does whatever the plot needs him to do.

Just to highlight one situation where I feel the characterisation of Joel was particularly lacking (and interacts with the choice system) was when Joel attends therapy. When I was presented with the option to either talk about the war, or essentially make small talk, I picked small talk. I picked that because I felt it fit in better with the story and who I thought Joel was. Opening up to a stranger on a first session about your trauma is incredibly difficult (especially for men, I might add), and I felt it would make more sense for Joel to avoid talking about it. But the checkpoint system had other ideas, and Joel instead became an open book. I felt this severely undermined his character arc about overcoming his trauma, while also adding to my sense that Joel lack any clear character himself. Though understandably, writing about a topic like PTSD is extremely difficult and you have certainly fared better than some.

Re: Omnibus 2, I would suggest you just release as is without waiting for more stories to package in. You can always update it and add more stories in as they are created. AVN readers are used to update! Plus, it would help you gain visibility if you're interested in getting that, as each update will bump you up to the top.

Anyway I know how draining and demoralising critical feedback can been even if it's well-intended and constructive (as I hope I've been!) so I just want to clearly say I very much enjoyed Chasing Beth and all of yours and Mortze's work and it's some of the best out there, even if I'm being an overly critical nitpicking jerk!

 

[Tlaero]

So, I called the game "Chasing Beth" because I wanted to do the "Two asynchronous stories that collide" literary effect. But the reason I wrote the game in the first place was because I didn't like where I left Serena after Saving Chloe. In my opinion, the scene with Serena and Paul is the most important one in the game. When I was plotting the game out, that was the scene I thought up first.

Tlaero

 

[demidemon]

Well, it was definitely not so obvious to me. Where I come from, couples don't live together just after several months of acquaintance....

While I really like all your effort and passion showed in your comments, you need to take a step back and actually try to understand the characters. It is unrealistic to think that people around the world shares the same value and behave similarly to the small group of people we have met in our lives.

You have been repeatedly rejecting explanations from the dev based on your experience in life but you never tried to understand WHY the characters perform those actions. Why do couples live together in a few months to a year? (some my friends even get married in less than 2 years) Why does she share her traumas with someone she dated for umm less than a few years? Why are people okay with morning sex or being waken up by their partners through sexual activities? Why cant rich women be broken inside?

All I see is how you try to deny and reject the story because you wouldn't do something or you THINK people wouldn't do that. But you are not willing to find out the reasons behind their behavior. Tbh this isn't just about games or novels, it is actually important in life to understand people with different values/characteristics instead of rejecting or forcing people into behaving in the way you want.

If I were from a country which marriages are mostly still being assigned by their parents (yes this still exists) and I judge everything based on my experience, all the romantic games in this forum are unreal and I can spend years writing comments rejecting them. Do you see how unreasonable this mindset is?

 

[UncleFredo]

First thank you very much for this VN. It's very well written and technically excellent. Characters are engaging and the story does a good job of drawing the reader in. This is the first of your VNs/games I've encountered but I plan on trying many more.


That said, I'm tremendously disappointed in the structure of the game and the utter lack of agency. Serena is hot and has a lovely personality, but I really would have preferred the opportunity to end up with the "Tainted Arrow". I'm fascinated by Beth, and would very much have liked to explore a relationship with her. Sadly no matter my choices or desires she was never available.

This is a kinetic novel masquerading as a VN. It's a great story and would make a great KN. I have no problem with a well written KN, and this would be an extremely well written one. I have a major problem when I'm instead offered endless meaningless choices only to be shunted back to the immovable storyline. Such a great tale you tell here. Really excellent, sadly diminished by the appearance of choice.

I always fully support a developer's absolute right to pursue their product as they see fit, and I'm more than impressed enough to seek out more of your work. Despite my criticism, I wish you the best in your pursuit of your craft.

 

[Tlaero]

Thank you for playing the game, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. If you're looking for more, I suggest the Omnibus.
https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-omnibus-vol-1-tora-productions.90315/

Even though I'm replying to you, the following isn't really directed at you. It's a general lament on the state of things here on F95.

It's unfortunate that we're so fixated on categorizing these things. Is it "game" or a "visual novel" or a "kinetic novel" or something else? I've been writing these games since before F95 existed, and back in the day, we just called them "games." I still do.

I didn't set out to write a "visual novel" and I certainly didn't try to write a "kinetic novel masquerading as a visual novel." I set out to write a story with light gameplay elements.

In my mind, "Agency" is not what makes something a game. The vast, vast, vast majority of games out there have little to no agency. Halo, Call of Duty, Back 4 Blood, Borderlands, etc. And, even in incredible games that seem to have Agency, like Knights of the Old Republic, that agency is an illusion. Play through Light side and revel is how much your choices matter. Then play through again Dark side and realize that the exact same things happen...

When I was a kid, we used to have "Choose your own adventure" books. They were written on paper, and you'd read them like a normal book, but you'd get to a point where it said, "If you want to go left, turn to page 93. If you want to go right, turn to page 117. There was "agency" in those books, but they certainly weren't games.

I believe that what makes something a "game" is the ability to fail. In all the games I listed above, as well as the vast, vast majority of other ones, if you play incorrectly, you fail. Many of them give you a checkpoint to go back to and try again. Some make you start over from the beginning. Some really clever ones, like "12 Minutes" build the failure condition into the telling of the story. But it's the ability to fail, not agency, that makes them games.

I write a lot of things. The Omnibus I listed above has 5 games, 5 visual short stories, 4 text short stories, and a text novella. One of the 5 games is a "Choose your own adventure" style branching game that I guess you'd say has Agency. One of the games has 4 paths through it where you have to play multiple times to see them all. A few of them give you the chance to fail, but spread it out over the course of the game so that, when you fail, you pretty much need to start over at the beginning. As a developer, I'd like to have the ... well, the Agency, to experiment with gameplay and storytelling techniques. I assure you that, just because F95 only has the classifications "VN" and "KN" doesn't mean that those are the only possible ways to write games or tell stories. And, I'll selfishly claim that, if we continue to require that all games fit into one or two rigid molds, it won't result in better games being developed. It'll much more likely lead to stagnation.

Tlaero

 

[UncleFredo]

So it is my sincere hope that this exchange of views will be taken in a constructive fashion. I am not in any way trashing your creation(s). ChasingBeth is an admiral addition to this site, and well among the best to be found here.

Speaking from a player's/reader's perspective. Any offered choice that doesn't influence the path of a VN is a waste of my time. Now there are exceptions. For example a choice that is meaningless in the flow of the story might avail me of an otherwise missed entertaining scene. But I think my meaning is clear, apparent choices that regardlessly funnel me to the same point in the storyline waste my time. If you, as the writer, feel it's important that I experience some aspect of your story it's your obligation to do so in the most efficient fashion.

My praise of ChasingBeth was completely sincere. But had you not presented so many meaningless choices, I'd have completed at least a hour sooner, probably more.

So it's not about categorizations. It's about the mutual respect between the producer and consumer. While various branches may provide insight, if they have no impact on the stories progression, they are just lazy constructs. Every aspect of the three views (T&T and me) could have been illuminated without the requirement I travers three or four steps down a branch to see what could be learned.

I said before that I have absolute respect for your right to create your VN/game in the fashion you choose. I'm merely offering you a consumer viewpoint that perhaps you might consider the time required to work though ultimately meaningless branches. As just now occurred to me, you might also consider the level of work required to produce those meaningless branches.

I am well aware of the challenges to create a VN/game like ChasingBeth. I respect both your effort and the quality of your achievement. This of course is just my opinion. I offer it to you for whatever worth you may find in it.

I will be experiencing more of your work.

 

[Tlaero]

So it is my sincere hope that this exchange of views will be taken in a constructive fashion.

Absolutely! I like the discussion.

Something I didn't make clear in the game is that there are two types of choices in CB. I stand by one of them, but the other may have been more detrimental than beneficial.

The one I stand by is the choices that, if made incorrectly, lead to a failure (which, in this game, results in a short explanation of what you should do differently, and a return to the start of the part where you failed).

The other, though, I think you're going to be angry with me about. I had good intentions, but they seem to have weakened your enjoyment of the game, which I definitely didn't want.

I'm talking about the "answer how Tanya/Tony/You would" choices. Those have zero effect on the gameplay. You can't fail by making them. The intent for those choices was to give the player the ability to tune Joel a little bit to their liking. I didn't let you deviate from Joel's character much, but I know from past feedback that people want to have at least some say in how the MC behaves. So, my thought was to give players the choice of responding to people as the inner Joel persona that they enjoy/associate with the most.

I call these, "roleplaying choices" and I did this a little bit in Saving Chloe, and much more in Darkness Falls. They were generally liked in those games, but it kind of horrifies me to hear that you were making a roleplaying choice, going a few steps forward, backing up, and making another one. That means the roleplaying choices were pulling you out of the story, and THAT means they were an abject failure for at least you (but probably other people too).

This feedback is very helpful. I'll think carefully about it as I work on the next game.

Thanks!
Tlaero

 

[NBS]

Hello Tlaero and Mortze,

I really want to thank you for your games. I discovered them with "Chasing Beth", and in a few days I just played et read the whole Elsaverse (I hope so anyway, there's a lot of stuff).
Sorry for the probably poor English of this message. I am French and as it is universally known, French people are bad for foreign languages

Anyway, I loved these games. They are above most I have played in recent years because they touched my heart. It's rare to see decent characters here, real relationships based on respect and trust. You proved that we could combine that with sex games.

I understood that Tlaero was a woman, and I think that explains a lot the quality, the accuracy and the sensitivity of the characters of these games. Going through this thread, I saw that it woke up the fragility of some male egos, and I think that's a good indicator that your games are needed and above the rest.

I hope you will continue to work together for a long time to expand the Elsaverse and create other universes, and I will dive into it with pleasure.

I also hope that Elsa and Jason get through their crisis together. I'm desperately romantic and need so bad a happy ending for their story based on love and communication (and as I write this I realize that I'm far too involved in this fiction).

So once again thank you, and keep doing what you're doing, it's working very well.

 

[Tlaero]

Thank you for playing our games, NBS. I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Tlaero

 

[Grosconnard]

Going through this thread, I saw that it woke up the fragility of some male egos, and I think that's a good indicator that your games are needed and above the rest.

I couldn't agree more to that.

 

[Tlaero]

Hey jrwizzard, thank you for your review. Yes, I remember our conversation about Walkthroughs vividly. It influenced my take on them and impacted my design of this game in a way that unquestionably made the story better.

I've started work on a new game, and in that one I've got a scheme where you can choose to set "Walkthrough Mode" on the Preferences scene and, if you do, it'll mark the choices that give you points. So, if you don't like the gameplay elements, you can turn on WT and pretty much avoid them. But if you DO like the gameplay elements, you can leave it off and not be affected by it.

Tlaero