VN Ren'Py Abandoned Elvensang [Ep. 5] [Worlaix]

[IndigoHawk]

I like that this game illustrates non erotic scenes, like Sunny working on potions and the guards drinking in the tavern.
I know it takes a lot more work but it's a nice surprise rather than just using dialogue sprites for everything.
The lighting for the elven ruins was great!

Also I understand why people don't like elves. I'm only loyal to Trenespur when there's no possible way I could betray him to get closer to a possible love interest ... which means I betray him all the time.

Although I did try a path where I'm loyal to him, and there are some small changes worth checking out.

I still feel bad for Sunny though. I feel like her story isn't really that she's ok with the MC philandering, but that she's just too beaten down to expect better. But I replayed from the beginning, and she's doing a lot better than she was, so hopefully that will continue.

 

[Hybris9]

Also, right after the MC's encounter with the mirror and agonizing on the floor while (I believe) the amulet was fighting that 'curse', he goes home and she looks absolutely fucked up.

Yeah, the old woman could be Anasteya under an illusion. She has also convinced Doriel (theMC) to keep wearing the medallion.

 

[MilfLover123456]

So why does this have incest tag?

 

[okokok]

Are elves supposed to be massive in this game? Anasteya's sprite makes Jorun look short

 

[Cool'Thulhu]

Also, right after the MC's encounter with the mirror and agonizing on the floor while (I believe) the amulet was fighting that 'curse', he goes home and she looks absolutely fucked up.

Oh yeah i though about writing that too, but I ended up forgetting
That could be since it's established here that using magic is like using a muscle and she's not used to do that kind of magic anymore, so she could be a little rusty and overstretched herself.

A thing about MC that i forgot to mention too, There's a high chance that he's a half-elf. His mother's love for a human could be the reason she joined them on the rebellion and being half human could give him a more "neutral" instance on the elf/human conflict
(The downside is, idk how it works is this universe, but half-elves tends to live WAY LESS then "pure" elfs)

Are elves supposed to be massive in this game? Anasteya's sprite makes Jorun look short

Well, she's probably a HIGH elf, that would make sense since they are taller than humans

 

[Hybris9]

Thinking back on this update one thing that I hope changes, that it seems like it is headed in that direction, is that Sunny develops some confidence/sense of control. I love the burgeoning relationship between her and MC but the MC is still too much her savior.

I feel like something needs to happen where the MC is wounded/poisoned and the mother isn't around and it forces Sunny to develop her healing tonic she's been working on to save him so that their relationship can move forward as equals rather than this kind of lingering feeling I have right now of " well of course she loves him he rescued her as an orphan and saved her life". Especially since this "its okay if you like the barmaid....and the blacksmith.... and my only other friend" is clearly coming from a lack of self confidence rather than true love/confidence in their relationship being able to persist through the MC have a few trysts.
...

That would be a little tropey and unnecessary; why would she need something like that to gain confidence? It seems to me that her arc is more about overcoming her sense of inferiority and need to validate herself in front of Anasteya and Doriel, something that is about to be resolved: she was desperately trying to learn Alchemy to be accepted by the family while not realizing that she already was

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. Her obtaining confidence through the "utility" she could bring with magic would somewhat cheapen that.
I don't know how influent in her out look this is but there is also to consider that Becky, the blacksmith lady and Thrisha are all mortal humans; I if you were seriously pursuing an elf (like Amaya, although that would be somewhat strange since she said him she see him like a kid) she may act differently.

 

[Jah-Ith-Ber]

That would be a little tropey and unnecessary; why would she need something like that to gain confidence?

Tropes are tropes for a reason - they are effective.

Everything she has right now has been given to her by MC/Mom. Even if she is already loved and accepted by them she needs to accomplish something on her own which is the moms point when she says she won't help her. And the utility of magic in the scenario I mentioned doesn't cheapen it because it shifts her goal for magic from external validation from the family (which she doesn't need) to internal validation (because what higher calling is there than to seek power to protect the ones you love - just like what MC is doing with becoming a retainer).

I guess what I'm trying to say is I 100% agree with you. Her arc of realizing she doesn't need alchemy to prove herself to MC/mom is about to end or nearly already has but she is still going to need to prove herself to herself and I think her doing that via alchemy rather than some new plot line is the easiest/ most effective way.

Hell it could be a similair scenario where a peasant knocks on the door looking for the mom and only Sunny is home and she saves them and she never tells the mom/MC but she still knows shes good enough.

If you look at it like the maslows hierarchy of needs - MC saved her taking care of physiologic and safety needs, She is now struggling with love and belongingness and is trying to prove she belongs via alchemy (but she already belongs), and once she realizes she already belongs alchemy will instead help her to solve the next ladder self-esteem (via one of the scenarios mentioned) and then finally put her onto her path to self-actualization.

 

[Hybris9]

I understand what you are saying; learning magic on her own could help her with self-validation. I'm just dubious If she can achieve that in a short time span without making it feel contrive.

And come on, tropes have their own place but if she manages to make a potion in the spur of the moment to save the mc it would be just too corny !

PS: Re-reading the scene before reporting to the eldoman I notice that she is already more confident.

 

[Legogredo]

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[3D Reaver]

I still feel bad for Sunny though. I feel like her story isn't really that she's ok with the MC philandering, but that she's just too beaten down to expect better. But I replayed from the beginning, and she's doing a lot better than she was, so hopefully that will continue.

I actually quite like this aspect. Its a source of conflict and drama that they have to overcome. Her allowing cheating out of a fear of abandonment is in line with her character and its usually how it works irl.

I dont think the dev should change her character too drastically. A bit more confident, more competent sure but shes the type of person that does what shes told and leaves the difficult decisions to others.

 

[Worlaix]

Are elves supposed to be massive in this game? Anasteya's sprite makes Jorun look short

Wouldn't say it's the case for elves in general, but Anasteya herself is just meant to be very tall. As the drawing noob that I am, my efforts to show this in the art have been all over the place in the past, and so in the end it showed mostly by making the protagonist look small. But the protagonist should be something between 175-180 cm tall, with Anasteya around 190. The difference in height is particularly jarring since Anasteya is thicc while the MC is a skinny bitch - but he will gradually start picking up muscle in a few episodes from now. But back to Jorun - I think Anasteya would make everyone except the Ealdorman look short tbh.

Anyway, the heights have been all over the place but I'll be looking into correcting that in the future and keeping it consistent.

Also, love seeing you guys theorize!

 

[kartolas]

Hey. I don't know if this was mentioned already but I won't read what's above cause the few I read had spoilers so I stopped. So, I decided NOT to teach Becky how to read but he still teaches her.

Thank you.

 

[Worlaix]

Hey. I don't know if this was mentioned already but I won't read what's above cause the few I read had spoilers so I stopped. So, I decided NOT to teach Becky how to read but he still teaches her.

Thank you.

Sorry about that! Looking at the code, it's a pretty careless mistake. I'll fix it, but it won't affect your playthrough in any way in the future - the variable for "teaching Becky" still knows that you decided not to, I just didn't divert the path accordingly.

Thanks for reporting that!

 

[Perfect S]

Thinking back on this update one thing that I hope changes, that it seems like it is headed in that direction, is that Sunny develops some confidence/sense of control. I love the burgeoning relationship between her and MC but the MC is still too much her savior.

I feel like something needs to happen where the MC is wounded/poisoned and the mother isn't around and it forces Sunny to develop her healing tonic she's been working on to save him so that their relationship can move forward as equals rather than this kind of lingering feeling I have right now of " well of course she loves him he rescued her as an orphan and saved her life". Especially since this "its okay if you like the barmaid....and the blacksmith.... and my only other friend" is clearly coming from a lack of self confidence rather than true love/confidence in their relationship being able to persist through the MC have a few trysts.

The story clearly has a lot of room to grow so I have no doubt therre is still a lot of character growth left for Sunny/MC but I would prefer it happen before they fully consummate their relationship.

The game does a lot of things really well especially capturing the excitement of exploring ones first relationship that is often absent in other stories because almost all male MC's on this site are huge whores

If anything I would say that the MC himself is in need of some power-level boost. 4 episodes in and he still fails to kill a lowly bandit in an ambush. He can't even save himself. Don't know how he can be anyone's "savior" for now. Sunny is developing at a good pace. Like the blacksmith said, she's gonna fail many times before succeeding, which makes it more impactful. Or would you rather she be a Mary Sue, instantly succeeding at everything?

 

[Worlaix]

If anything I would say that the MC himself is in need of some power-level boost. 4 episodes in and he still fails to kill a lowly bandit in an ambush. He can't even save himself. Don't know how he can be anyone's "savior" for now. Sunny is developing at a good pace. Like the blacksmith said, she's gonna fail many times before succeeding, which makes it more impactful. Or would you rather she be a Mary Sue, instantly succeeding at everything?

Bandits aren't a category of level 1 mobs that you farm for XP in Elvensang. Some of them might be peasants with no fighting experience, sure - but many of them are former soldiers or "professional" raiders. And it's supposed to be a grounded setting, not Skyrim where you walk out of the first village and casually kill 5 people. Killing someone will leave a dent - and while it will get easier after the first time, the ease of taking someone else's life should not come without some adverse effects IMO.

That said, the MC is a severe underdog in just about every fight, but that's a part of the progress on the journey to earning power - not losing heart even against overwhelming odds (and there's already variations in how he performs in combat situations depending on previous choices). Besides, he's gonna fail many times before succeeding, which makes it more impactful. Or would you rather he be a Gary Stu, instantly succeeding at everything?

In all seriousness, it does make me sad at times how often people overlook the small steps he takes on the path to becoming stronger!

 

[Perfect S]

Bandits aren't a category of level 1 mobs that you farm for XP in Elvensang. Some of them might be peasants with no fighting experience, sure - but many of them are former soldiers or "professional" raiders. And it's supposed to be a grounded setting, not Skyrim where you walk out of the first village and casually kill 5 people. Killing someone will leave a dent - and while it will get easier after the first time, the ease of taking someone else's life should not come without some adverse effects IMO.

That said, the MC is a severe underdog in just about every fight, but that's a part of the progress on the journey to earning power - not losing heart even against overwhelming odds (and there's already variations in how he performs in combat situations depending on previous choices). Besides, he's gonna fail many times before succeeding, which makes it more impactful. Or would you rather he be a Gary Stu, instantly succeeding at everything?

In all seriousness, it does make me sad at times how often people overlook the small steps he takes on the path to becoming stronger!

Of course, making MC the underdog (specially in the beginning) is a great decision. No one likes a power trip fantasy. I was just pointing out it would feel out of place for Sunny to suddenly become god-tier.
I love me some classic hero's journey. Becoming slowly stronger etc. If the writing quality keeps this high, I'm curious to see how powerful the characters can get by the end.

 

[Spywareau]

Jesus the writing in this game goes absolutely way too hard for a hgame. It's better than a majority of the most recent triple A rpgs lol.


Great job, really enjoying it.

 

[desmosome]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but there seems to be a bug towards the end of the update.

S "Alright, then... and Trisha..."
"Sunny stopped in her tracks - the black-haired girl turned to her, head curiously tilted."
$ ep4_trenespurletter = False
if ep4_trenespurletter == True:
    show sunny frown
    "Sunny lowered her head, her conscience ridden with guilt for a reason the black-haired girl was oblivious to."
    Sx "\"I really enjoyed spending the day with you. I just wanted you to know that... - that I will always do anything I can to help you, and... y-yeah. Thank you for... for everything.\""
else:
    S "I really enjoyed spending the day with you. Thank you for... for everything..."
"Trisha smiled fondly before leaning in to embrace Sunny. The red-haired girl blinked in surprise at first - but then happily returned the gesture."
scene 45_ep4_tshug

The game forcibly sets trenespurletter to false at this point.

 

[Worlaix]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but there seems to be a bug towards the end of the update.

S "Alright, then... and Trisha..."
"Sunny stopped in her tracks - the black-haired girl turned to her, head curiously tilted."
$ ep4_trenespurletter = False
if ep4_trenespurletter == True:
    show sunny frown
    "Sunny lowered her head, her conscience ridden with guilt for a reason the black-haired girl was oblivious to."
    Sx "\"I really enjoyed spending the day with you. I just wanted you to know that... - that I will always do anything I can to help you, and... y-yeah. Thank you for... for everything.\""
else:
    S "I really enjoyed spending the day with you. Thank you for... for everything..."
"Trisha smiled fondly before leaning in to embrace Sunny. The red-haired girl blinked in surprise at first - but then happily returned the gesture."
scene 45_ep4_tshug

The game forcibly sets trenespurletter to false at this point.

Uhh, that's really bad. Thanks for the report

 

[Worlaix]

Actually, I guess it's not that bad - it changes nothing except dialogue in this episode, so I'll just add a menu at the start of the next episode asking if you gave the letter to Trenespur or Trisha and it's sorted