VN Ren'Py Cléo Torres: The Dance of Life [v1.0.8] [Static Fast Art]

[BlandChili]

I'm not one for super slow games with no sex, but even I would say that was a bit to early in this VN's life to have her lose her V card especially to two morons on a couch. I really like the skillful manipulative way the bar owner stepped in and is preparing to sell her off without her consent or knowledge. Hopefully he will be really deceitful and devious to really bring the wait home when he does manage to complete the transaction and starts to increase Cleo's debauchery.

Even her roommate would be a better choice than the two couch bros, as she seems like she has been manipulating Cleo for quite some time now. It could be fun to watch her takeover Cleo's world and also debauch and trade her to others. She obvious takes joy and satisfaction in manipulating Cleo.

This VN has a lot of Potential I hope it develops in an amazing way.

I guess, ultimately it'd be up to the player though. I just find it dull to have scenes with such good progression that ultimately fall short.

 

[HikBenAkk]

Dear dev staticfastart I am currently silver patron but I will subscribe to platinum with next release.

[...]

Tough guys like Dylan would not be simply content with fucking cleo, but to actively be possessive of her , and make her his. He would be chasing other guys away and trying to make her his girlfriend. It is the biggest ego booster for any guy to have a girl like this as girlfriend.

Guys should be more possessive of cleo and want her all for themselves. I would like to see more guys have fights over cleo.

In reality a girl like this in a rundown town like that and all the guys would be plotting to get that girl as their girlfriend, not simply to fuck her.

Hi Ceesko

In reality ?

I disagree...

You really think it is more realistic that guys, like those in this game seemingly coming from shady places, prefer all to open a love relationship with girls like Cleo they barely know rather than just fuck her one night or two ?... Please don't take it the wrong way but it's a bit naive imho. ^^!
You really think they cannot even sometimes act like the jerks shown so far in the game? ^^!

Guys that want to make a girl their girlfriend usually start by talking to her to know her a bit better : it would be a disappointment if the girl is not what they're hoping for ^^
And such guys are usually not the underground thugs we saw so far in the game...

I would agree with you if you said that Cleo may meet one of two guys the way you said... but all of them ? 100% unrealistic...
And btw, it is a good idea to make some guys have a crush on Cleo...
But in that case, I just wish to have the option to have Cleo not bound to them and happily enjoy her lust

I know some stories (not from here) in which the girl is targeted by guys wanting to marry her... Despite the girl is not dumb (she is able to lead her life), she is the target and undergoes events : in fact this does not flesh out the story any more than what we have at the moment in this game...

Anyway, the most important : As I said above all that is a decision only staticfastart can make and we have no right to question his decisions about such matter...

Best regards.

 

[LordWanze]

I guess, ultimately it'd be up to the player though. I just find it dull to have scenes with such good progression that ultimately fall short.

Reading the comments about her v-card is so refreshing, considering my playthrough kept her a virgin by choice.
Really like the extreme branching, but will it be possible to maintain such a big difference in the story forward?

I really hope so because Cléo is worth it.

 

[staticfastart]

Hi guys, thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. As I said many times it helps me making a better game.
I’m always open to talk about new ideas and suggestions.

The truth is making a decent game is really really hard. You need to be good in storytelling, 3D rendering and animations, coding and above all you need to be great in imagining how the story could evolve in the future. For each decision the player takes there should be a consequence and it shouldn’t be a pointless one or the player will end skipping all the dialogues just to see the next animation (can you relate?)

So, I’m telling you this because of what Ceesko and BlandChili said.

About Clèo being the girlfriend anybody would love to have: yes, that’s exactly how someone like Dylan or Gwen sees Clèo (even if Dylan starts the chapter acting touchy with her and Gwen meets Clèo at the Red Fox, they are (or gonna be) the romantic types).
If Clèo is gonna give them a chance they’re gonna fight to protect the treasure they got.
At the same time tho, they are not so desperate to run after someone who doesn’t show interest for them. Dylan indeed cancels their date if

Spoiler

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

.

About Clèo losing her virginity: that’s something I spent a lot of time overthinking about. It’s a very important topic for a girl, even more for a girl of her age. The more the time passes by the more this topic may become an obsession for someone like Clèo. Losing her virginity it’s something that deserves the right importance and I didn’t wanna burn that card, as wildride69 said, so early and in that way.
It’s awesome to see how some of you complained about “too much happened in just one day!” and some others about the contrary
if you take a closer look, all they’ve done was just jerking off…. Wildly ok, but still that was it.

About telling me how things should go: guys, would you watch a movie after telling the producer how every single thing should look like and the way each actor should perform and such? I mean… are you really into hardcore spoilering or what? Idk maybe it’s a new kind of fetish eheh
Jokes apart, I love hearing your suggestions but I like them more when you give me the freedom to surprise you. Tell me where you’d like to see the MC or in which context but avoid telling me what should happen and what each character should do and things like that. I think it would kill everything together with my will to share ideas with you. I don’t wanna be a ghost who shows up once a month talking about little updates or on release day. Talking with you and reading your feedbacks is what really motivates me on keep going.

Regards,
SFA

 

[LordWanze]

Awesome, can't wait to see where Cléo and Gwen go from here.
I really liked her character, both in the bar, and later in private.

Regarding Cloés virginity: it will be interesting to see where that goes with a female LI. A stark contrast to the more carnal event she would have with most of the male characters would be awesome. Maybe still in a dominated way, exhibition comes to mind.
Showing her off to others while taking her for the first time. Selling the used toy to the highest bidder. Maybe leading to the discovery that they like to show off and start stripping.

Just food for thought of course.

 

[Joe Steel]

Speaking of story ideas, I think that it be interesting to see you write about a boyfriend (one of the existing candidates or a new one) that starts out wanting to protect Cleo (with her V card) and make her fall in love with him, but take a heel turn when (Robert?) the bartender tells them how much money can be made by selling her off.

 

[wildride69]

I guess, ultimately it'd be up to the player though. I just find it dull to have scenes with such good progression that ultimately fall short.

Trust me I get it and I do understand where your coming from, there is also a part of me that was really looking forward to them having there way with Cleo. I think the pay off was the forced orgasms and the trust she has now placed with the bar owner. The setup alone was such a great pay off, it leaves you really anticipating the next couple of updates.

I get it though because even I was on the edge of my chair saying "HOLY SHIT! there going to do it!" It's not something I want to see repeated 3 times over the next 3 years but this was an amazing bit of anticipation.

 

[wildride69]

Awesome, can't wait to see where Cléo and Gwen go from here.
I really liked her character, both in the bar, and later in private.

Regarding Cloés virginity: it will be interesting to see where that goes with a female LI. A stark contrast to the more carnal event she would have with most of the male characters would be awesome. Maybe still in a dominated way, exhibition comes to mind.
Showing her off to others while taking her for the first time. Selling the used toy to the highest bidder. Maybe leading to the discovery that they like to show off and start stripping.

Just food for thought of course.

I would like to see both paths explored, Vanessa seems like she could be an evil queen that would love to have some fun with Cleo.

Robert successfully selling Cleo would also be hot.

Possibly since Vanessa setup Cleo with the job with Robert it would make some sense for those two to conspire and succeed in getting Cleo Blackmailed and corrupted.

 

[wildride69]

Speaking of story ideas, I think that it be interesting to see you write about a boyfriend (one of the existing candidates or a new one) that starts out wanting to protect Cleo (with her V card) and make her fall in love with him, but take a heel turn when (Robert?) the bartender tells them how much money can be made by selling her off.

Damn another great Idea, I love it!

 

[BlandChili]

So, I’m telling you this because of what Ceesko and BlandChili said.

About Clèo losing her virginity: that’s something I spent a lot of time overthinking about. It’s a very important topic for a girl, even more for a girl of her age. The more the time passes by the more this topic may become an obsession for someone like Clèo. Losing her virginity it’s something that deserves the right importance and I didn’t wanna burn that card, as wildride69 said, so early and in that way.

Not every girl mind you, I didn't care about my virginity very much.

Anyway, I think it's fine that you want Cleo to put importance in hers, I have no issue with that, but you have made several mechanics for resisting sexual temptation or not and all I ask would be that gameplay should be respected.

If you want to preserve her virginity for a while, that's fine, for my personal enjoyment though it has already become annoying to have two independent sex scenes interrupted by external forces. It takes away my agency as a player in the story when developments get hijacked.

In that way the story and the gameplay can feel like they are contradicting each other, at least in those cases. Just something to keep in mind.

It’s awesome to see how some of you complained about “too much happened in just one day!” and some others about the contrary.

I think you managed to put a lot of material into the first chapter. Despite my personal irritation of the scenes falling short, it's pretty clear that a lot of work went into the scenes themselves. I think what you have made is quite impressive.

Jokes apart, I love hearing your suggestions but I like them more when you give me the freedom to surprise you. Tell me where you’d like to see the MC or in which context but avoid telling me what should happen and what each character should do and things like that. I think it would kill everything together with my will to share ideas with you. I don’t wanna be a ghost who shows up once a month talking about little updates or on release day. Talking with you and reading your feedbacks is what really motivates me on keep going.

Here is my take: I think the player should be in charge when you give them certain choices, this is a game after all and not a movie.

Taking the bar-scene with the two guys as an example again:

• First there is a resist mini-game when you deliver their beers. You can win or lose, either Cleo gets groped or not.
• Then if she does get groped there is a choice to accept Eric and Sebastian's offer or refuse them.
• Then if you do not refuse, you are given the option to either admit to the sexual pleasure or try to resist which prompts another mini-game you can win or fail.

Yet even after the game asking me "do you want a sex scene?" and I responded "yes" three times in a row, the scene still ends with an interruption. That is really frustrating to me.

That doesn't mean you have to abandon your own ideas or implement everything people comment about on the forum, just consider that when you have a sexual scene the player should be the deciding factor towards if Cleo loses her virginity or not. I'm not telling you what to do or not to do, just how it feels to play the game.

 

[HikBenAkk]

Speaking of story ideas, I think that it be interesting to see you write about a boyfriend (one of the existing candidates or a new one) that starts out wanting to protect Cleo (with her V card) and make her fall in love with him, but take a heel turn when (Robert?) the bartender tells them how much money can be made by selling her off.

Yes I agree it is a good idea... A guy/girl able to save Cleo's ass (literally ) before it is "too late".
In the other hand, Cleo's stats must also continue to have a meaning....

 

[wildride69]

Dear dev staticfastart I am currently silver patron but I will subscribe to platinum with next release.

I like your game but I believe the writing could be more fleshed out. First of all, Cleo is being presented as someone who is extremely desirable and all the guys (and lesbians) want to get with her. In that case she should not be present in the thoughts of guys just as a simple lay, but as desirable girlfriend.

Tough guys like Dylan would not be simply content with fucking cleo, but to actively be possessive of her , and make her his. He would be chasing other guys away and trying to make her his girlfriend. It is the biggest ego booster for any guy to have a girl like this as girlfriend.

Guys should be more possessive of cleo and want her all for themselves. I would like to see more guys have fights over cleo.

In reality a girl like this in a rundown town like that and all the guys would be plotting to get that girl as their girlfriend, not simply to fuck her.

I disagree. I know guys like this in real life and guys who are in shape have money and girls fall all over do not get super possessive of a girl like Cleo. To a loser who gets lucky enough to get a girl like Cleo they become possessive and don't want to lose her because they will probably never get another girl like her again.

Guys who easily pick up chicks like this usually have 3 or 4 more girls already lined up if not already in bed with them. Hell I have been lucky enough to get with a couple of girls like this just on my buddies say so and the girls agreed (miss those guys). Even when the guys treat them like shit they still come back.

So you have it wrong psychotic losers that are luck to find a girl like Cleo become possessive not strong guys that can pick her up and 6 more like her whenever they feel like it.

 

[staticfastart]

Heheh I'm loving reading your comments, it keeps me company while waiting for renders to finish

 

[robin312]

Taking the bar-scene with the two guys as an example again:

• First there is a resist mini-game when you deliver their beers. You can win or lose, either Cleo gets groped or not.
• Then if she does get groped there is a choice to accept Eric and Sebastian's offer or refuse them.
• Then if you do not refuse, you are given the option to either admit to the sexual pleasure or try to resist which prompts another mini-game you can win or fail.

There is only 1 problem with your approach:

For each decision the player takes there should be a consequence and it shouldn’t be a pointless one

Too much decisions are bad as well as too little

In your small example we already have 6 different branches. It's just too much


I supporst the dev with his approach
First chapter is pretty good and we always need to have a healthy balance between amount of decisions you can made and speed of story progression

 

[BlandChili]

There is only 1 problem with your approach:

Too much decisions are bad as well as too little

That is too dependable to be stated with such broad statements. The game already accounts for several states, keeping track of Cleo's virginity is not that difficult to implement.

 

[wildride69]

That is too dependable to be stated with such broad statements. The game already accounts for several states, keeping track of Cleo's virginity is not that difficult to implement.

I think your placing to much emphasis on keeping track of it as if we want that to be part of the VN. I think most people would agree having her go from Virgin in the morning to screwing two guys before dinner would be considered to fast for the VN in general. If the dev was making this a short story demo it would work but if this is going to be a more expansive story day one felt great.

 

[BlandChili]

I think your placing to much emphasis on keeping track of it as if we want that to be part of the VN. I think most people would agree having her go from Virgin in the morning to screwing two guys before dinner would be considered to fast for the VN in general.

I'd have agreed if the story itself didn't show the direct opposite. Cleo can be *very* sexual throughout her first day. If the developer wanted to do the slow approach they should have started the game out slowly.

If the dev was making this a short story demo it would work but if this is going to be a more expansive story day one felt great.

Again, my argument is that it would be up to the player anyway, those that think it'd be too quick could choose to protest or resist. I would most likely be among them anyway without my replays, the first playtrough I resisted them and went with the purple-haired girl (who Cleo then goes on to have sex with, I would remind you).

 

[wildride69]

I'd have agreed if the story itself didn't show the direct opposite. Cleo can be *very* sexual throughout her first day. If the developer wanted to do the slow approach they should have started the game out slowly.

Again, my argument is that it would be up to the player anyway, those that think it'd be too quick could choose to protest or resist. I would most likely be among them anyway without my replays, the first playtrough I resisted them and went with the purple-haired girl (who Cleo then goes on to have sex with, I would remind you).

I agree with wanting to have more choices and it would be nice if we could have every option we want. However development time would slow to a crawl as the dev would have to balance hugely differing story arcs. In my opinion (as someone who started a VN and gave up) most people don't realize how difficult it is to balance the story to give us most of what we want.

I'm not arguing that your idea is bad and hell I was right there with you cheering those guys on for a minute, but personally I feel at this time it was the best thing for the VN in general. If you think about it in most, of our cases we were happily blue balled but if the story is told properly hopefully our patience now will be rewarded with a spectacular downfall scene later.

 

[BlandChili]

I agree with wanting to have more choices and it would be nice if we could have every option we want. However development time would slow to a crawl as the dev would have to balance hugely differing story arcs. In my opinion (as someone who started a VN and gave up) most people don't realize how difficult it is to balance the story to give us most of what we want.

I'm not arguing that your idea is bad and hell I was right there with you cheering those guys on for a minute, but personally I feel at this time it was the best thing for the VN in general. If you think about it in most, of our cases we were happily blue balled but if the story is told properly hopefully our patience now will be rewarded with a spectacular downfall scene later.

Yes, not much use in arguing in regards to completed scenes anyway, I just personally hope this virginity thing won't stand on ceremony too long.

 

[wildride69]

Yes, not much use in arguing in regards to completed scenes anyway, I just personally hope this virginity thing won't stand on ceremony too long.

Amen sister Amen, on that we can both agree.