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

[ExoticManticore]

What happens if your government finds out about this hobby of yours
A death sentence or missing limbs like the Zetan way

thankfully I live in the west hehe

 

[26thOfJuly]

playing this game as a Middle Eastern is a wild experience ngl

Haha. The only similarities are in the names, the arid environment and how women are treated as simply childbearers.

What happens if your government finds out about this hobby of yours
A death sentence or missing limbs like the Zetan way

At least here in Iran, there's no laws against it. But since when the law has been an issue to get in the way of some human rights violation in Iran?

 

[Vigeous]

Any thoughts on Ain's follow up story, in the last update the wife asks the MC what options can she go for.

 

[Cynicaladm]

thankfully I live in the west hehe

Haha. The only similarities are in the names, the arid environment and how women are treated as simply childbearers.


At least here in Iran, there's no laws against it. But since when the law has been an issue to get in the way of some human rights violation in Iran?

We have no illusion that we could ever replicate the culture or traditions from the region, especially since none of us are from the region or share a background or ties to it.
luckily, the post-apocalyptic/alternate universe/future setting dispenses us from delving into it beyond the occasional nod or superficial acknowledgement.

to be fair, we've tried to weave an original cultural tapestry and setting that I suppose hardly at all resembles the middle east or any specific setting... and there's of course a callback to ancient Egypt which is remote enough and unexplored enough for us to get away with most things...(but yes, some thought went into certain things that are yet to come and can explain how, for instance, there's such ethnic variety in the region)

that said, I am curious as to what the gaming experience is like for somebody from the area (or at least with cultural ties to it/understanding of it). Is there anything that resonates at all, is it the opposite where everything is so out of tune it's funny? do you just take it as a wholly separate thing that just happens to have the occasional pyramid in the background?

do tell, if you'd like to, what is it that makes it such a wild experience (other than the gore and the sexy parts)

 

[26thOfJuly]

We have no illusion that we could never replicate the culture or traditions from the region, especially since none of us are from the region or share a background or ties to it.
luckily, the post-apocalyptic/alternate universe/future setting dispenses us from delving into it beyond the occasional nod or superficial acknowledgement.

to be fair, we've tried to weave an original cultural tapestry and setting that I suppose hardly at all resembles the middle east or any specific setting... and there's of course a callback to ancient Egypt which is remote enough and unexplored enough for us to get away with most things...(but yes, some thought went into certain things that are yet to come and can explain how, for instance, there's such ethnic variety in the region)

that said, I am curious as to what the gaming experience is like for somebody from the area (or at least with cultural ties to it/understanding of it). Is there anything that resonates at all, is it the opposite where everything is so out of tune it's funny? do you just take it as a wholly separate thing that just happens to have the occasional pyramid in the background?

do tell, if you'd like to, what is it that makes it such a wild experience (other than the gore and the sexy parts)

OK this is going to be long.
I've played two games here with a Middle Eastern theme: this game and Life in the Middle East.
Honestly none of them are even close to the reality but I think that's the point. These are fantasy games, especially DS. If you were to make an authentic ME game, MC and her LIs would've been lashed or worse, stoned for adultery. I don't play this game because the location is where I live.
But if you're interested in making your game feel more authentic then you have to make the game a sausage fest. Put all the women in the harem, trying to outdo eachother to get the attention of their man and to become the lady of the house.
Up until 100 years ago in Iran, that was the most prestigious achievement a woman could have.
And then you have all the men, socialising together, smoking opium, drinking coffee/tea and playing backgammon and kissing their man's (could be a lord/sheikh) ass.
All the marriages would've been prearranged and anything sexual outside marriage would've been severely punished.
As for conflicts, most of the middle east is consisted of different tribes and races who live together but can't stand eachother. If you're looking for a historical soldier who rose to the top I recommend reading about Nadir Shah. If you want a mythical hero (Iran's hercules), read about Rostam Dastan. These might give you an idea as to what a middle eastern story should look like.
All and all as a middle eastern myself I enjoy this game the way it is. You've done a great job with creating that eastern feel.

 

[starkj]

OK this is going to be long.
I've played two games here with a Middle Eastern theme: this game and Life in the Middle East.
Honestly none of them are even close to the reality but I think that's the point. These are fantasy games, especially DS. If you were to make an authentic ME game, MC and her LIs would've been lashed or worse, stoned for adultery. I don't play this game because the location is where I live.
But if you're interested in making your game feel more authentic then you have to make the game a sausage fest. Put all the women in the harem, trying to outdo eachother to get the attention of their man and to become the lady of the house.
Up until 100 years ago in Iran, that was the most prestigious achievement a woman could have.
And then you have all the men, socialising together, smoking opium, drinking coffee/tea and playing backgammon and kissing their man's (could be a lord/sheikh) ass.
All the marriages would've been prearranged and anything sexual outside marriage would've been severely punished.
As for conflicts, most of the middle east is consisted of different tribes and races who live together but can't stand eachother. If you're looking for a historical soldier who rose to the top I recommend reading about Nadir Shah. If you want a mythical hero (Iran's hercules), read about Rostam Dastan. These might give you an idea as to what a middle eastern story should look like.
All and all as a middle eastern myself I enjoy this game the way it is. You've done a great job with creating that eastern feel.

Tbh when i look at Egypt in this game, i think of it more of the Egypt from back the Roman Empire times with the likes of Cleopatra rather than the Egypt from the rise of Islam and i think that's what the dev went for.

 

[EVIL555]

I wonder what line he will choose next with Lyra?

 

[26thOfJuly]

Tbh when i look at Egypt in this game, i think of it more of the Egypt from back the Roman Empire times with the likes of Cleopatra rather than the Egypt from the rise of Islam and i think that's what the dev went for.

True, but the discussion was about Middle East. In that era there was no "Middle East". The Middle East refers to the region where Islam rose and created a certain similar look to the entire region. Back in the ancient times these were very different sub-regions. Egypt, Mesopotamia (current Iraq), Asia minor (current Turkey) and Persia (current Iran) had almost no unifying factor between them, whilst today they're all bundled as the Middle East (Land of terrorists )

 

[Ummmh]

Tbh when i look at Egypt in this game, i think of it more of the Egypt from back the Roman Empire times with the likes of Cleopatra rather than the Egypt from the rise of Islam and i think that's what the dev went for.

It's pop-culture ancient Egypt. No real resemblance outside of superficial visual and name elements to the original.

It is worth noting that if you're looking at Egypt in Cleopatra's/Ptolemaic Dynasty times, you're actually looking at very northern Greeks, because her entire lineage was Macedonian (tho there's apparently some argument on the Greek side as to whether or not Macedonians should be considered Greeks, despite the Greeks I knew reflexively claiming Alexander as their own: this was a major point of contention for some Greek friends of mine, in the past).

For a certainty, unless you want to see everyone, men and women both, shaved of head and wearing wigs, you definitely don't want to go authentic ancient Egyptian.

 

[Rehwyn]

It's pop-culture ancient Egypt. No real resemblance outside of superficial visual and name elements to the original.

It is worth noting that if you're looking at Egypt in Cleopatra's/Ptolemaic Dynasty times, you're actually looking at very northern Greeks, because her entire lineage was Macedonian (tho there's apparently some argument on the Greek side as to whether or not Macedonians should be considered Greeks, despite the Greeks I knew reflexively claiming Alexander as their own: this was a major point of contention for some Greek friends of mine, in the past).

For a certainty, unless you want to see everyone, men and women both, shaved of head and wearing wigs, you definitely don't want to go authentic ancient Egyptian.

It's actually kind of fitting that a post-apocalyptic society might base their society on a Pop Culture version of something without knowing any better.

 

[dolfe67]

It is worth noting that if you're looking at Egypt in Cleopatra's/Ptolemaic Dynasty times, you're actually looking at very northern Greeks, because her entire lineage was Macedonian (tho there's apparently some argument on the Greek side as to whether or not Macedonians should be considered Greeks, despite the Greeks I knew reflexively claiming Alexander as their own: this was a major point of contention for some Greek friends of mine, in the past).

I don't care what we learn in school, Cleopatra was black

 

[Ummmh]

I wonder what line he will choose next with Lyra?

At this point, it's her choice, either way, though a lot more so with the scavenger route than the guard route

Scav Lirah has a lot of (MOSTLY REALLY BAD) choices still ahead of her, any number of which could end up with her gone from the game, brutalized into mind-break, or deciding that she wants to take the MC up on his offer to live with him.

Guard Lirah is basically reduced to just an embarrassed, but fully willing sex toy, now, with no real choices unless she makes some sort of move to break out of that tailspin: the Queen's not going to give her too many options in THAT regard.

 

[Ummmh]

I don't care what we learn in school, Cleopatra was black

The really sad thing is that Jada Pinkett Smith special actually dragged a friend of mine who's an egyptologist in there, but I don't think she realized what the overall special was about or she probably would have kept the hell away from it. She rabidly hates disinformation and would have avoided it like the plague had she known it was afrocentrist.

A number of times I've heard her say (in fact, insist) on pointing out that the Egyptian language seems more SEMITIC than anything else. It's quite notable.

BTW, tho not infallible, egyptologists are severely well-educated in their profession and around it. Egyptology's a profession that doesn't fuck around: there are no bachelor's degrees in Egyptology, no Masters degrees in Egyptology; you go hard or you just go home; PhD all the way or nothing. Until you've busted your ass and solidly learned what there is to be learned in your subfield and got your doctorate, you ain't nothing but a scrub.

 

[Maviarab]

BTW, tho not infallible, egyptologists are severely well-educated in their profession and around it. Egyptology's a profession that doesn't fuck around: there are no bachelor's degrees in Egyptology, no Masters degrees in Egyptology; you go hard or you just go home; PhD all the way or nothing. Until you've busted your ass and solidly learned what there is to be learned in your subfield and got your doctorate, you ain't nothing but a scrub.

Yet many of them are happy to push a narrative they know to be untrue because it would severley discredit the region and everything they want you to believe.

Zahi Hawess anyone?

 

[starkj]

It's pop-culture ancient Egypt. No real resemblance outside of superficial visual and name elements to the original.

It is worth noting that if you're looking at Egypt in Cleopatra's/Ptolemaic Dynasty times, you're actually looking at very northern Greeks, because her entire lineage was Macedonian (tho there's apparently some argument on the Greek side as to whether or not Macedonians should be considered Greeks, despite the Greeks I knew reflexively claiming Alexander as their own: this was a major point of contention for some Greek friends of mine, in the past).

For a certainty, unless you want to see everyone, men and women both, shaved of head and wearing wigs, you definitely don't want to go authentic ancient Egyptian.

Yeah i know, i love history and watch a lot of videos on youtube from like Kings and Generals, History Marche etc.

 

[Ummmh]

Yet many of them are happy to push a narrative they know to be untrue because it would severley discredit the region and everything they want you to believe.

Zahi Hawess anyone?

That guy just can't keep his hands out of the pie, from what I've heard. He also seems to like blocking potentially useful research projects that are not particularly invasive and could forward really cool ideas.

Mind you, I've never been told anything directly, and I hadn't actually asked: I didn't want my friend to potentially get herself in trouble for ticking off the guy with all the leverage.

There's already enough flack, from what I understand, for her being female in a male-heavy field. Last I heard she already retired.

 

[Pr0GamerJohnny]

TIL the rosetta stone isn't actually held in Egypt.

 

[Suslik575151]

 

[Leinad_Sevla]

I was just thinking to myself: this is probably one of the very few AVN´s that has a DP scene, right?

 

[AniWorld_NSFW]