VN Ren'Py Eternum [v0.7.5 Public] [Caribdis]

[camube]

but it can be hard sometimes to suspend disbelief when I pay attention to part of the story. Like the part that always gets me is MC telling Annie "I've had a crush on you for the longest time" and then the next day he eats out Nancy, asks Dalia for a blowjob, and a week later is telling Luna's dad he wants to pursue her romantically.

this part of your post is quite similar to my own view on this. As a viewer, some of the dialogues is kinda immersion breaking yeah.

Also agree with you fully on the "you can just not choose that girl's path" counterpoint. Eternum is not about choosing between Path A and Path B, it's about whether you want to see the Main Path, or Skip it because you don't want to see that girl's path.
If a player doesn't do the harem playthrough, they are just cut off from stories, there is no adequate Path B.

So the idea that "you can just not pursuit (girl)" is not really an actual option, it's much more of a Skip Content.
Action is great though

 

[Deleted member 5730975]

I agree with the opinions above. I am a lot more forgiving of horndog tendencies for main characters in harem games but I hope the harem is established sooner rather than later and the game focuses on building these relationships within the harem properly instead of it being like once in a lifetime where everything happened at the end of the game. Also we can get more group sex and threesomes that way.

 

[Walter Victor]

this part of your post is quite similar to my own view on this. As a viewer, some of the dialogues is kinda immersion breaking yeah.

Also agree with you fully on the "you can just not choose that girl's path" counterpoint. Eternum is not about choosing between Path A and Path B, it's about whether you want to see the Main Path, or Skip it because you don't want to see that girl's path.
If a player doesn't do the harem playthrough, they are just cut off from stories, there is no adequate Path B.

So the idea that "you can just not pursuit (girl)" is not really an actual option, it's much more of a Skip Content.
Action is great though

I'm not sure what an "adequate Path B" would be. Yes, you would miss sexual content with girls if you avoided their paths. But that's the very point of giving you those choices. What else would you miss? Not story progression. That is independent of what happens sexually.

Do you mean having sex with Girl A INSTEAD OF Girl B? That IS what non-harem stories do, not this game. Try this though: make a playthrough for every girl. Concentrate on one girl for each route, ignoring all others. There - you have created a non-harem game out of this one.

But, no, you're not going to get situations where if you romance Girl A, she marries you, if you don't, she joins a convent or commits suicide or kills your puppy or some other path that completely changes the story. I say, thank goodness!

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding you, but you seem to be boiling everything down to what happens with potential LIs, which gives disservice to the actual game, which is almost worth playing without any sex.

As to whether you feel uncomfortable having the MC tell different girls that he is madly in love with them, I can empathize with that view, since I feel it myself in many games, especially when I try to make a harem game out of one that's not one. But, I haven't had that feeling thus far in this game. But, maybe that's just me not being sensitive enough.

 

[camube]

I'm not sure what an "adequate Path B" would be. Yes, you would miss sexual content with girls if you avoided their paths. But that's the very point of giving you those choices. What else would you miss? Not story progression. That is independent of what happens sexually.

Do you mean having sex with Girl A INSTEAD OF Girl B? That IS what non-harem stories do, not this game. Try this though: make a playthrough for every girl. Concentrate on one girl for each route, ignoring all others. There - you have created a non-harem game out of this one.

But, no, you're not going to get situations where if you romance Girl A, she marries you, if you don't, she joins a convent or commits suicide or kills your puppy or some other path that completely changes the story. I say, thank goodness!

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding you, but you seem to be boiling everything down to what happens with potential LIs, which gives disservice to the actual game, which is almost worth playing without any sex.

As to whether you feel uncomfortable having the MC tell different girls that he is madly in love with them, I can empathize with that view, since I feel it myself in many games, especially when I try to make a harem game out of one that's not one. But, I haven't had that feeling thus far in this game. But, maybe that's just me not being sensitive enough.

one example would be we don't go to Andromeda Space Resort with Annie if not on Annie Path.
I would want to see the MC experience Andromeda Space Resort even if the MC isn't on Annie's Path.

I don't care about the adult scenes. Not for this game at least. Not for most games for that matter.
But I want to see the story.

Dropping off someone's path means not seeing their story events.
"Path B" as in, still go, but as a friend.

Anyway, it's minor.
I can live with it.

 

[Deleted member 5730975]

one example would be we don't go to Andromeda Space Resort with Annie if not on Annie Path.
I would want to see the MC experience Andromeda Space Resort even if the MC isn't on Annie's Path.
I don't care about the adult scenes. Not for this game at least. Not for most games for that matter.
But I want to see the story.

Dropping off someone's path means not seeing their story events.
Anyway, it's minor.
I can live with it.

You cannot have multiple paths with 7 possibly 8 love interests. It would be far too much in terms of development time resulting in long updates with tiny amounts of content which would only make people unhappy.

I like this approach. The game is clearly a harem game and it stays true to that vision. With every update you feel like the story is advancing in contrast to many other games where it feels like the story is stuck and progress is extremely slow.

The only thing I want from this game is for the harem to be established sooner rather than later. As others pointed out the MC can come off as a bit insensitive if he keeps doing stuff behind the girls backs.

 

[Walter Victor]

one example would be we don't go to Andromeda Space Resort with Annie if not on Annie Path.
I would want to see the MC experience Andromeda Space Resort even if the MC isn't on Annie's Path.
I don't care about the adult scenes. Not for this game at least. Not for most games for that matter.
But I want to see the story.

Dropping off someone's path means not seeing their story events.
Anyway, it's minor.
I can live with it.

Ahh! You want to be able to remove a girl completely from the MC's experience if he's not on a romantic path with her.

I don't really know of games that do that. They may become friends or enemies, but not ghosts, unless they actually do die.

I'm afraid I'm not interested in what you're looking for. But that's on me. Carry on.

 

[camube]

Ahh! You want to be able to remove a girl completely from the MC's experience if he's not on a romantic path with her.

i think you misunderstood my post. I meant it the other way around.
I want to still be able to see Andromeda Space Resort even if the MC is not on Annie's Path.

In this game, if you are not on Annie's Path, you skip the entire Andromeda Space Resort event completely.
So "Path B" as in, still go, but as a friend.

 

[camube]

You cannot have multiple paths with 7 possibly 8 love interests. It would be far too much in terms of development time resulting in long updates with tiny amounts of content which would only make people unhappy.

I like this approach. The game is clearly a harem game and it stays true to that vision. With every update you feel like the story is advancing in contrast to many other games where it feels like the story is stuck and progress is extremely slow.

The only thing I want from this game is for the harem to be established sooner rather than later. As others pointed out the MC can come off as a bit insensitive if he keeps doing stuff behind the girls backs.

Some games change around the dialogue while having largely the same renders.

Like if you're on a girl's path, you get the adult scenes, and if you're not, you skip the adult scenes but you could still get the events.

Mostly I agree with Jocoyo's post, particulary this part:

> but it can be hard sometimes to suspend disbelief when I pay attention to part of the story. Like the part that always gets me is MC telling......

as a reader, I'm confused how I should view the MC.
It's really all about how the dialogues is written in Eternum.

I agree with their take that MC says A to Annie one day, and then the next also says A to Luna.
So how should I view the MC as a reader?
Should I view him as duplicitous?

Or should I just ignore what MC said to Annie on Annie's day, while Luna's day is happening, and view those 2 days and the dialogue as "2 separate events unrelated to one another" because this is a harem game?

I don't know.
It breaks my suspension of disbelief a bit, but again, eh, it's minor.

I do still think we should be able to go to Space Resort even without being on Annie's Path though.
just change around the scripts a bit.

 

[Dylan741]

Some games change around the dialogue while having largely the same renders.

Like if you're on a girl's path, you get the adult scenes, and if you're not, you skip the adult scenes but you could still get the events.

Mostly I agree with Jocoyo's post, particulary this part:

> but it can be hard sometimes to suspend disbelief when I pay attention to part of the story. Like the part that always gets me is MC telling......

as a reader, I'm confused how I should view the MC.
It's really all about how the dialogues is written in Eternum.

I agree with their take that MC says A to Annie one day, and then the next also says A to Luna.
So how should I view the MC as a reader?
Should I view him as duplicitous?

Or should I just ignore what MC said to Annie on Annie's day, while Luna's day is happening, and view those 2 days and the dialogue as "2 separate events unrelated to one another" because this is a harem game?

I don't know.
It breaks my suspension of disbelief a bit, but again, eh, it's minor.

I do still think we should be able to go to Space Resort even without being on Annie's Path though.
just change around the scripts a bit.

Something that both of you seems to not grasp completely ( and it's understandable if you don't have that mindset in real life) is that the MC can say to Annie he had a crush on her for the long time and, at the same time, he can romance Nancy, Dalia and the other girls without finding it strange, because the romantic feelings coexist in his mind without causing him doubt or restraining his actions.
When he's with Annie in that moment only her is important to him, but the moment he's with Nancy or the other girls the same thing happen.
This doesn't mean he's faking love for Annie, or he's compartmentalizing, he just truly love all of them at the same time, and that's what clash with your own ability to read the situation, because you didn't experienced that irl, you can't really accept that completely that's why at a certain point you have issues with it.
We aren't educated to polyamorous relationships, our society is constantly focused on prioritizing the monogamy instead ( I don't want to list all the various influences that concur to create this mindset, religions, families, etc etc, this is not the right place to talk exhaustively of this), so as much as we try to evade it with these games, we always find the MC somewhat of a cheater consciously or not.
Especially when in the story he's not being honest and upfront saying to the girls that he want an open relationship, but to his partial justification Orion at this point of the story is still living in the moment not really thinking to settle it, as a figure of speech the soil is being prepared ( see the jealousy between Dalia and Penelope where Orion is present, Penelope saying to Nova he likes Orion and her realizing she have a crush on him, Dalia and Alex talking about guys they like, I think Nancy already suspect something like it happened with Carla in OIAL and the other hints about it), for when the times of confrontation will happen, but it's still early to see that.
This time Caribdis is writing the story way better than in OIAL imho, he's slowly building the moment where everything will be in day broad daylights and things will be settled ( and also where he need to have the girls in love with him and open to accept sharing him).
About the possibility to visit different servers even without being on a girls path, well that's a bit of a slippery rope, because that would mean to have a more open world where the MC can roam Eternum freely, and honestly I think that would subtract time to the development of both the main story and also romancing the girls ( especially considering already how much big is the game as is), since he don't need to get there to farm money or other objects like it happen on other games to advance the story ( like in NLT games for example).
Of course this is only my point of view, but I think this is what happening to you, it's not simple to really believe in real love when you have it with more that one girl, but this is the paradox with polyamorus/harem games you either accept it as true or else you will have problems accepting it completely.

 

[Lewyn Collins]

https://f95zone.to/threads/lancaster-boarding-house-final-daniels-k.10672/
This is the thread of Lancaster Boarding House. It's still up icymi.

Alright, now I see the problem. I was writing Lancester, not Lancaster. My thanks to you, too.

 

[Takkatakka]

This doesn't mean he's faking love for Annie, or he's compartmentalizing, he just truly love all of them at the same time,

Yeah, the "problem" is, that in the real world, most women probably wouldn't be too okay with a guy that comes on to them and pretty much moves into a position to start a committed relationship while doing the same with 5 or so other women as well.

Just as in OiaLT were everybody somehow was just okay with it and when you have characters that are otherwise written believable and well than it is a bit harsh to swallow the "oh, they are all just okay with it" pill if indeed that is the part we are going.

So, we have to see what happens when the "bomb goes off" and how the different characters react. I hope it will not simply be an "I'm okay with it" kinda reaction.

And about visiting the servers without the girl: That is just not possible. It would mean writing a parallel story (why would the MC even be in there without one of the girls asking to meet him there) and all of the pictures would have to be changed and rendered again...that would just be tons of additional work for little benefit.

 

[Dylan741]

Yeah, the "problem" is, that in the real world, most women probably wouldn't be too okay with a guy that comes on to them and pretty much moves into a position to start a committed relationship while doing the same with 5 or so other women as well.

Just as in OiaLT were everybody somehow was just okay with it and when you have characters that are otherwise written believable and well than it is a bit harsh to swallow the "oh, they are all just okay with it" pill if indeed that is the part we are going.

So, we have to see what happens when the "bomb goes off" and how the different characters react. I hope it will not simply be an "I'm okay with it" kinda reaction.

And about visiting the servers without the girl: That is just not possible. It would mean writing a parallel story (why would the MC even be in there without one of the girls asking to meet him there) and all of the pictures would have to be changed and rendered again...that would just be tons of additional work for little benefit.

Agreed, but as I said, imho, it's a cultural issue first and foremost in real life and it can reflect on how you perceive a fictional work that goes against it.
If you are accustomed by everything around you to see polyamorous relations as wrong, and be frowned upon and considering all the other psychological pressure to get your mindset on the monogamy as the only positive value, you will get that issue ( and girls and women are especially forced to undergo that from young age).
I'm not saying I'm a pro polyamorous at all costs, but I think that a big role in making these themes popular is that we are conditioned to see them as taboo, and it's in human nature to be curious about it, and these games can offer at least a taste of it without having to do that in real life, only one thing is never made clear enough for me in these works ( or it's rarely done).
Being in a polyamorous relation doesn't mean you're granted to have sex with as many women as you want without having nothing to fear, instead is committing yourself to an even more engaging role, because you need to love ( and when I write love I mean love, respect, treat them good and make all the women you are in a relations with feel really loved and respected) women like you will do in a monogamous relation.
Talothral with his works made a very good work on that in my opinion.
And yes, that was one of the weak parts of OIAL for me as well ( but I think it was due to it being Caribdis first work so he payed a little bit of inexperience) I agree, something that I'm seeing treated way better in Eternum, he's more careful and is planning everything with a good balance as of right now, at least to me.
We need to see when the time comes what he planned, but I think it would be good, I don't think there would be too unnecessary drama, but the right amount of it and a good ending to everything.

And yeah I agree and I said the same, freely roam in a story like Eternum with all the amount of things that are already in the plate would be an overkill, and I don't think it would add anything to the game, since it's heavily store focused and like you said the benefits would be minimal if non existent.

 

[Yvier the Duck]

Yeah, the "problem" is, that in the real world, most women probably wouldn't be too okay with a guy that comes on to them and pretty much moves into a position to start a committed relationship while doing the same with 5 or so other women as well.

Just as in OiaLT were everybody somehow was just okay with it and when you have characters that are otherwise written believable and well than it is a bit harsh to swallow the "oh, they are all just okay with it" pill if indeed that is the part we are going.

So, we have to see what happens when the "bomb goes off" and how the different characters react. I hope it will not simply be an "I'm okay with it" kinda reaction.

And about visiting the servers without the girl: That is just not possible. It would mean writing a parallel story (why would the MC even be in there without one of the girls asking to meet him there) and all of the pictures would have to be changed and rendered again...that would just be tons of additional work for little benefit.

Realistically, yeah, an harem in a modern era is absurd. But you are ignoring two facts, being the first that this is not a realistic story and second that, even rare and absurd, harem relationships have been existing and exist in the real world. How is gonna do it Caribdis is a good question, but is not something impossible, only extremely rare.

In my opinion something is gonna happen to the MC just after the bomb drop up, maybe being kidnaped or seriously injured, the girls are gonna ignore the harem problem and they will focus on MC's problem, and then with more time just accept that the harem is not a bad situation, just strange, and maybe even hot (Caribdis is giving clues about threesomes and more, maybe my dreaming threesome MC-Dalia-Penny is impossible, but MC-Penny-Nova is gonna happen 100% sure).
But even with that I really expect Alex kicking the MC in the balls for that, and maybe Dalia chasing him for the house when she finds he's been with Penny and with her at the same time. I want drama, but the funny one.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

Agreed, but as I said, imho, it's a cultural issue first and foremost in real life and it can reflect on how you perceive a fictional work that goes against it.
If you are accustomed by everything around you to see polyamorous relations as wrong, and be frowned upon and considering all the other psychological pressure to get your mindset on the monogamy as the only positive value, you will get that issue ( and girls and women are especially forced to undergo that from young age).
I'm not saying I'm a pro polyamorous at all costs, but I think that a big role in making these themes popular is that we are conditioned to see them as taboo, and it's in human nature to be curious about it, and these games can offer at least a taste of it without having to do that in real life, only one thing is never made clear enough for me in these works ( or it's rarely done).
Being in a polyamorous relation doesn't mean you're granted to have sex with as many women as you want without having nothing to fear, instead is committing yourself to an even more engaging role, because you need to love ( and when I write love I mean love, respect, treat them good and make all the women you are in a relations with feel really loved and respected) women like you will do in a monogamous relation.
Talothral with his works made a very good work on that in my opinion.
And yes, that was one of the weak parts of OIAL for me as well ( but I think it was due to it being Caribdis first work so he payed a little bit of inexperience) I agree, something that I'm seeing treated way better in Eternum, he's more careful and is planning everything with a good balance as of right now, at least to me.
We need to see when the time comes what he planned, but I think it would be good, I don't think there would be too unnecessary drama, but the right amount of it and a good ending to everything.

And yeah I agree and I said the same, freely roam in a story like Eternum with all the amount of things that are already in the plate would be an overkill, and I don't think it would add anything to the game, since it's heavily store focused and like you said the benefits would be minimal if non existent.

I cant comment on the relationships part because I'm biased monogamy is in my blood

but it's always weird in these games that all the girls react to it the same way

girls are supposed to have different personalities but they're all okay with him being with other women

you expect me to believe that out of all these women, none of them feel jealousy

or anger

but again I'm biased because monogamy is in my blood and it's the only way I play

monogamy for life

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

Realistically, yeah, an harem in a modern era is absurd. But you are ignoring two facts, being the first that this is not a realistic story and second that, even rare and absurd, harem relationships have been existing and exist in the real world. How is gonna do it Caribdis is a good question, but is not something impossible, only extremely rare.

In my opinion something is gonna happen to the MC just after the bomb drop up, maybe being kidnaped or seriously injured, the girls are gonna ignore the harem problem and they will focus on MC's problem, and then with more time just accept that the harem is not a bad situation, just strange, and maybe even hot (Caribdis is giving clues about threesomes and more, maybe my dreaming threesome MC-Dalia-Penny is impossible, but MC-Penny-Nova is gonna happen 100% sure).
But even with that I really expect Alex kicking the MC in the balls for that, and maybe Dalia chasing him for the house when she finds he's been with Penny and with her at the same time. I want drama, but the funny one.

well my brother I'm just happy that the game has monogamy as an option

I just hope the solo route are well written and thought was put into them

and for the record, I reject every girl except Alex

 

[Yvier the Duck]

well my brother I'm just happy that the game has monogamy as an option

I just hope the solo route are well written and thought was put into them

and for the record, I reject every girl except Alex

That's cool, I'm with you in real life, polyamorous relationship is not for me, the cons are bigger than the pros, but in this type of games the idea of making every girl happy is always a plus for me.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

That's cool, I'm with you in real life, polyamorous relationship is not for me, the cons are bigger than the pros, but in this type of games the idea of making every girl happy is always a plus for me.

it's funny I've never had a problem rejecting any girl in any game because once I find one girl I get attached to

that one girl and I don't care about anyone else besides I rather reject them and have them find love somewhere else

with someone that will treat them like they're one and only

 

[Takkatakka]

Realistically, yeah, an harem in a modern era is absurd. But you are ignoring two facts, being the first that this is not a realistic story and second that, even rare and absurd, harem relationships have been existing and exist in the real world. How is gonna do it Caribdis is a good question, but is not something impossible, only extremely rare.

In my opinion something is gonna happen to the MC just after the bomb drop up, maybe being kidnaped or seriously injured, the girls are gonna ignore the harem problem and they will focus on MC's problem, and then with more time just accept that the harem is not a bad situation, just strange, and maybe even hot (Caribdis is giving clues about threesomes and more, maybe my dreaming threesome MC-Dalia-Penny is impossible, but MC-Penny-Nova is gonna happen 100% sure).
But even with that I really expect Alex kicking the MC in the balls for that, and maybe Dalia chasing him for the house when she finds he's been with Penny and with her at the same time. I want drama, but the funny one.

There is a difference between having a realistic story and having realistic characters. You absolutely don't need the former (and the game doesn't have a realistic story), but you absolutely need the latter for the audience/players/readers (depending on the medium) to be able to connect to your story. And so far the game delivered on realistic feeling characters, that is why it works so well.

So when all of those characters would somehow and without any conflict just be okay with being part of a harem, that would be weird, because that isn't how most real people would react. Also - so far - it very much seems like relationships in the world of Eternum (the VN, not the in-game...game) seem to follow pretty much the same rules and conventions as they do in our real world, meaning people have monogamous relationships, everything else would be viewed as cheating or having an affair.

So ending up with a harem option that is somewhat convincing and that makes sense without contradicting a lot of what we know about the characters and the world so far, will be very difficult.

 

[Deleted member 5730975]

I cant comment on the relationships part because I'm biased monogamy is in my blood

but it's always weird in these games that all the girls react to it the same way

girls are supposed to have different personalities but they're all okay with him being with other women

you expect me to believe that out of all these women, none of them feel jealousy

or anger

but again I'm biased because monogamy is in my blood and it's the only way I play

monogamy for life

It is a harem game - it is not meant to be realistic. With almost any harem game I play wish fulfillment and suspension of disbelief is a given so no jealousy etc is exactly the kind of reaction I expect from the girls. And there is nothing wrong with that. You have both realistic games and harem games like this. They are just two different types of games that take different approaches. One type is not better than the other type and all games being the exact same and having the same approach would be boring as fuck so as far as I am concerned diversity and having different types of games is good for AVNs as a whole.

I also think that this game is written to be a harem game and both the game and the dev are pretty upfront about it so having incorrect expectations might just disappoint you. Rejecting a subset of girls or even all of them is an option but if you are going into the game with the expectation that there will be fully fleshed out paths with vastly different content from the harem option I think you will only end up disappointing yourself. Personally I think the not selecting certain girls routes is just going to be a 'skip content' option and there might be a separate solo girl ending similar to once in a lifetime. But that's about it. I dont think you will get anything more.

 

[PervyParadox]

Oh boy there's too much to answer but talking about monogamy in Eternum is going to give me eczema so I'll be brief on that one, just a little quote and back to waiting for that storm to pass.

So ending up with a harem option that is somewhat convincing and that makes sense without contradicting a lot of what we know about the characters and the world so far, will be very difficult.

For everyone who don't know yet : we've already established that the harem path is 300% the canon path in Eternum. We know that because first OiAL is a harem, and second there's a clear build up to that (thinking about threesomes, Penny and Nova, the fun banter between Dalia and Penny, Nancy being suspicious of Annie who almost spill the beans, or just straight up the fact that we just miss some scenes by ignoring a girl...). So far, Caribdis seems to build up to it pretty nicely. This is not some "forced harem" like some devs try to do, Eternum is meant to go this way. Honestly I think this is one of the reason it's so good : not only all the girls are great and unique, but also you know you don't have to choose because Caribdis is going to make them accept it slowly and still keep the character's reactions realistic and not contradictory.

As for it being realistic, it is in the context of the story and the characters so far (it's called consistancy).

So yeah you can keep talking about your monogamous playthroughs, but just don't go and think that the harem path is not the canon path now.

If you want monogamy, this is the wrong game for it. Harem will always find a way in Eternum.