Ren'Py Desert Stalker [v0.17.1.2 2024-12-30] [Zetan]

[Onetogo]

I mean not forgive her completely, she did try to mess with Ain

I wanted to say one more thing. For me forgiveness is for my benefit mentally and there are consequences for unforgiveness. Don't confuse forgiveness with never forgetting. Example in my life my mother told me she loved my half-sister more then she loved me because she raised her all her life where as I was with with my father for the first 10 years of my life. This hurt me a lot and I've never forgotten it, but I love my mom and I forgive her and she regrets ever having said it.

There are many examples of rotten shit done to me. I could allow it to make me bitter, but I will not. That's why it's hard for me to not be empathetic to others. This shows in how I play my games.

 

[Argrond]

Gave this game a shot, and hotdamn, I'm impressed so far.

Can someone tell me how close to finished this game is?

Considering most of the story routes are barely started, my guess is it's some more years worth of dev with a proper approach and pace. I suppose it depends on Zetan's long-term inspiration and financial support on Patreon.

 

[Yngling]

Guys, I think that with the kidnapping scene, you are forgetting the the MC (not to mention the Queen) also has to maintain a public reputation.

If the kidnapper would have been thrown in the MC's dungeon and be allowed to become part of the MC's harem, that would have to be perceived as weak. And that would weaken the Queen's position.

Killing her in public or sending her into public prostitution are things that benefit the community and show the people who's in charge.

 

[Onetogo]

Guys, I think that with the kidnapping scene, you are forgetting the the MC (not to mention the Queen) also has to maintain a public reputation.

If the kidnapper would have been thrown in the MC's dungeon and be allowed to become part of the MC's harem, that would have to be perceived as weak. And that would weaken the Queen's position.

Killing her in public or sending her into public prostitution are things that benefit the community and show the people who's in charge.

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

 

[Canto Forte]

We all know how all the others ended up in there. Sure thing in some future update
MC can have a trial or a course of trials like the public shaming of cersi to make her atone.

Guys, I think that with the kidnapping scene, you are forgetting the the MC (not to mention the Queen) also has to maintain a public reputation.

If the kidnapper would have been thrown in the MC's dungeon and be allowed to become part of the MC's harem, that would have to be perceived as weak. And that would weaken the Queen's position.

Killing her in public or sending her into public prostitution are things that benefit the community and show the people who's in charge.

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

The better way is not dropped on anyone”s lap, but public hummiliation like in the bible,
followed by her slave status in your household, after a heartfelt plea from you wife,
or just the angry plea of your daughter so she can revenge on her more, would make sense.

 

[Machete]

Sure thing in some future update MC can have a trial or a course of trials like the public shaming of cersi to make her atone.

I believe she had a trial already and that was the sentence. It was rather common in ancient societies to be condamned to slavery. Usually after not being able to repay some important loan. And slavery never meant to be a permanent condition. While serving, if with profitable results, you could buy back your freedom, usually with your own savings or in accord with your owner as a recognition for the good service. In roman society the liberti usually passed from slaves to emploees or business partner of their former owners.

Now this wasteworld society is an hypersexualized one. It doesn't feel so strange that it contemplates officially sexual slavery. It is rather clear that common slaves in private housholds are also sexually available (as in roman society for exemple). Even the temple ladies are available to the common folks.

The main difference is the level of abuse and degradation the sex slaves go through.

 

[Cynicaladm]

minor correction on an otherwise solid argument...
the temple ladies, or Vessels, are available to select individuals who are vetted by the temple, and in their case the sex is primarily functional to reproduction.
The idea being that the prospective fathers be healthy, of sane mind and not carrying any kind of undesirable trait or illness.
Now, that might be true for most people in Zeta (after all, this is a generational thing and several illnesses and conditions have been bred out already over generations) but still, there is an actual process to things, when it comes to those in service of the Temple and the fathering of Children of Zeta.

 

[Ragnar]

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

The Queen is not the one making laws as far as we know, she is the current leader in some kind of old Zetan Dynasty. If the game shows something is how ruthless the world is out of Zeta, there is no place for bleeding hearts. Meanwhile zetans have laws, guards, temples, stalkers, yes, they have slavery and executions but they are the most civilized people around if you think about it.
On the other hand some crimes deserve extreme punishment, trying to kidnap a high ranking officer's daughterfu in plain daylight inside the walls of Zeta deserves death by BBQ.

 

[wiseold6996]

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

that's sounds like a pain lets just kill her

 

[Machete]

that's sounds like a pain lets just kill her

Well, let's not forget that spectacularize punishment is a mean to show people what happens if. Again, roman society. They performed the most insane sentences as shows in the arena. One of the less know and more sick of them was the "Reinact of the Flight of Icarius", where they took people condamned to death, they dress them up as Icarius, with prop wings, they carried them up on a high platform and they trew them down to crush on the ground. Poor Icarius, he couldn't fly this time as well... That people where nuts.

 

[Hullahopp]

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

The medieval or ancient penal system did not deal with rehabilitation. The aim was to punish the convict spectacularly. On the one hand, to deter people from committing crimes* and, on the other, to provide entertainment for the mob. (Panem et circenses, but there was no TV/Internet.)

*Yes, deterrence doesn't work. People who steal do it because they think it's okay. And it never even occurs to them that they might get caught.

Kidnapping the stalker's daughter is a double crime.
Against public safety: it reflects badly on the queen when someone's daughter is kidnapped in broad daylight in her city.
Private: Ain belongs to the stalker.
The Queen will be able to say: OK, your punishment for your crime against me is done. From here I'll hand you over to the stalker to do with as he pleases.
I don't know the laws of the game world. The developer will decide.

 

[Hildegardt]

The medieval or ancient penal system did not deal with rehabilitation.

But what about imaginary penal systems of the future?

I think the crux of the scene with the kidnapper (if I remember it correctly) is that she chose the free use punishment as a form of repentance. I can't remember the alternative and it might not have been much of an alternative, so the implication is still that she's forced to be of the streets. But the idea is that the queen can get creative with punishments, because she has the moral authority and she can decide things like that humiliation can shorten your sentence.
Idk if this has or needs a real life analogue, since we never had a post-apocalyptic society. We pretty much always stopped at the apocalyptic, but never got to the post-.

 

[dolfe67]

But what about imaginary penal systems of the future?

I think the crux of the scene with the kidnapper (if I remember it correctly) is that she chose the free use punishment as a form of repentance. I can't remember the alternative and it might not have been much of an alternative, so the implication is still that she's forced to be of the streets. But the idea is that the queen can get creative with punishments, because she has the moral authority and she can decide things like that humiliation can shorten your sentence.
Idk if this has or needs a real life analogue, since we never had a post-apocalyptic society. We pretty much always stopped at the apocalyptic, but never got to the post-.

Life is a cycle, in post-apocalypse it would go back to what we have known in a previous era. Furthermore even nowadays, in countries not far from Egypt, we can see some form of those punishments...

 

[Machete]

she chose the free use punishment as a form of repentance.

Also, if i got the scene right, she's supposed to be freed after she, uhm... served her duty.

 

[atreeisme]

Been enjoying this one, looking forward to more updates.

 

[Hildegardt]

Life is a cycle, in post-apocalypse it would go back to what we have known in a previous era.

Even if life is a cycle, whatever that may mean, how does it follow that knowledge is also a cycle? To me it seems more tree-shaped with many different branches and forkings, but all of them growing roughly in the direction of the sun.
I think you were more so talking about the saying that history repeats itself, but the idea behind a post-apocalypse is that the past got wiped out completely. To bring it back on topic, that's also why Stalkers raid old tombs and derelicts to bring back artefacts. Maybe one of them will dig out a legal code eventually.

Also, if i got the scene right, she's supposed to be freed after she, uhm... served her duty.

That's also how I got it and I think it's supposed to imply the queens moral authority. Like she can decide to humiliate you or blast you with napalm like she did the other kidnapper.

 

[Yngling]

The mistake your making(as is the queen) is the belief that ruling with a iron fist(aka fear and not respect) is the only way. Queens can also rule where the people love her. Some criminals can be reformed and some are rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. The kidnapper if she repents of her ways can be a productive citizen of Zeta if given the chance. As of now she has yet to be self-aware that she has done anything wrong(I believe in discipline however to correct this wrong kind of thinking) and if you treat her like shit it's all she will know. Show her the better way.

This way of thinking may apply in a functional ROFLMAO modern democracy.

However Zeta is the only thing resembling some kind civilization for hundreds / thousand km's in any direction.

It has to deal with people who are absolutely desparate and willing and able to do anything. Therefore suitably harsh punishment is needed.

And while Zeta is somewhat organised and civilized, you cannot compare it with the level of organisation in any modern society. Indeed, Zeta functions like a medieval / ancient kingdom. And it seems fitting that punishments are also comparable.

P.S. also remember what happened with Roman emperors who, at some point, appeared weak...

 

[dolfe67]

I think you were more so talking about the saying that history repeats itself, but the idea behind a post-apocalypse is that the past got wiped out completely.

If you don't know your History, you're bound to repeat it

 

[Hullahopp]

But what about imaginary penal systems of the future?

I think the crux of the scene with the kidnapper (if I remember it correctly) is that she chose the free use punishment as a form of repentance. I can't remember the alternative and it might not have been much of an alternative, so the implication is still that she's forced to be of the streets. But the idea is that the queen can get creative with punishments, because she has the moral authority and she can decide things like that humiliation can shorten your sentence.
Idk if this has or needs a real life analogue, since we never had a post-apocalyptic society. We pretty much always stopped at the apocalyptic, but never got to the post-.

Post-apocalyptic world = lower technical development, fewer resources, worse crime detection statistics. The laws will definitely be strict, because during the apocalypse there is anarchy. People will settle for survival.
In antiquity, they tried to impose proportionate punishments. (An eye for an eye.) Minor crimes could be redeemed for money, in which case the victim was compensated. In the less civilised Middle Ages, punishments were harsher to act as a deterrent.
So, you might be right.

 

[goldenface]

This is the first game I haven't turned the music off