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

[Jaike]

The latter, either as a reincarnation of someone from Anima's story (either the Eldari or - according to some theorists on Cari's Discord - the King who chained Anima); or a mix of both subverted and inverted isekai origins (Orion is a normie who died at some point in his childhood, came into contact with Idriel and the Founder while he was dead, then managed to find his way back into the world of the living, which is why he has his spooky powers and his 100% compatibility and why Luna couldn't get a read on him.

Would also mean that the girls who've slept with him have been committing necrophilia all this time. Technically, anyway. ).

Right, not sure if I like it if he's a reincarnation from Anima's backstory, but the MC of OIAL was something similar and someone with an evil inclination too.

But I definitely think he has an Eternum background. Maybe taken from it as a baby, or maybe his mother was born in Eternum, or one of her parents was.

Not exactly into the theory myself, but just to explain it, the arguments in favor of the "Orion is the King and not the Eldari" theory are that:

-Caly's recollection of events is sus due to being trapped in a box that Linus presumably modeled his implant scramblers on (what makes it extra sus is that the implant scramblers used to have a different model in 0.4 until Cari changed it in 0.5 to resemble Caly's prison box, meaning there could be something more to Caly's prison than just being a mere box)

-Since Caly's recollections are sus, it's possible that the Anima story is a fabrication or there is more to the story. The theory goes with the latter, arguing that at some point the Eldari started fearing death, and so devised a means to trap Anima and Caly's realm in a state of immortality. This method also resulted in the Gates of Acheron closing and the dead not being able to move on into the afterlife

-Anima, now Idriel, decides that the only way to defeat her corrupted lover is by reviving the one person that could potentially defeat him: the old king. This comes with the caveat that even as a new incarnation, he still retains his arrogant streak - something that Orion has been slowly exhibiting as time goes on. But since he's the only one capable of defeating the Eldari, he will have to undergo a humbling process that would ultimately make him go against his nature, going from former villain to hero instead. This also goes with Idriel telling Orion to "choose tails" and "break the cycle," as it is in reference to him going against his former nature to become someone better.

What's the theory you prefer?

Theory:

Orion will be found dead by the cop in the first sneak peek batches and his body gets sent to the morgue. Meanwhile, he either goes through some sort of trial in Limbo that makes him aware of his growing arrogance and humbles him, or he jumps into Eternum thanks to the bleeding effect and due to plot convenience (i.e. Nova logged into Eternum earlier because she got contacted by Nan and now they're waiting for Orion and the latter has short term memory loss so he doesn't remember that he got shot) he continues on with the New World event. Regardless of what happens in between being found and being sent to the morgue, he revives there after the event in either Limbo or the New World (possibly before he gets autopsied).

Of course, there's likely a consequence for reviving in such a manner. Maybe he loses his powers as a result, or maybe he realizes something is "off" with his body and discovers that it goes back to being dead if he logs in Eternum or whenever he sleeps. Regardless, he's not going to resurrect from the dead unscathed, and will make him mindful of his actions moving forward.

Or: Because he's native to Eternum, he keeps all his Eternum stuff, but can't log in to the real world for 24 hours and loses all his gear (most possessions, enrollment in Kredon College). It's why he doesn't become like Thanatos.

 

[Dorfnutter]

What's the theory you prefer?

That Caly's recollections are incomplete and Anima indeed got trapped in Limbo by the Eldari...but the Eldari failed to make himself immortal along with Anima and ironically ceased to be after pulling off the ritual that trapped her; that the Founder is on a quest to prevent his own death and in the course of it he discovers Limbo and Anima and learns of the gems; he then chains Anima to his service instead of freeing her and transforms her into Idriel, then hatches the VRMMO plot as a ploy to gain the gems to cheat death without being beholden to its shortcomings (i.e. being trapped only in Eternum, ceasing to be once one passes into the "afterlife"); Orion then dies during childhood and encounters Idriel in Eternum, who gets a bright idea from the encounter and sends him back to the world of the living after she designates him as her "ace in the hole," then starts prepping for his journey to free her and the dead by peering into all possible futures and charting Orion's course; She then creates Caly and the Weapons of Atlas (under the guise of being instruments to help in the gem hunt), with Caly being a bit more special as she is intended to replace her as overseer of Eternum (in order to prevent the rise of another Founder in the future) once all is said and done.

Or: Because he's native to Eternum, he keeps all his Eternum stuff, but can't log in to the real world for 24 hours and loses all his gear (most possessions, enrollment in Kredon College). It's why he doesn't become like Thanatos.

...Why would he lose his enrollment in Kredon? It wouldn't make sense as it would terminate the reason for him staying there and he'll be forced to return to the UK as a result.

 

[JustJerkin]

I just started so I might as well ask now before I blow my playthrough lol I know from Once In A Lifetime the dev hates darker dick-ish content, but is there any point to playing the game rooting for the shitheads like the Bardot brat or will it just lock me out of content? Example: first day literally first harassment scene the perv in me says ignore Annie and the Bardot kid because in most dark games that would lead to scenes with them but the logical part of me says this dev stays away from anything remotely ntr/corruption/aggro character shit so I shouldn't waste time and instead just take the easy romance points for butting in lol

 

[jvbatman]

You can just use the multimod and it'll tell you what choices do what and you don't have to try and play mind games with a video game.

 

[-R1ck-]

All the worlds in Eternum are real worlds, like the wizard world was stolen by JKR, or there is an Alien world. All of them are real for their inhibitants(NPC's)

Orion is a bit odd-ball. The most important thing I can grasp is that he is actually lived atleast 1 life that is not this one. His future cannot be predicted(Luna touch doesn't work), his future is set, and if he do a mistake, shit hits the bed.(episode 7 ending).

He is in some sort of loop, but doesn't have the memory or some shit.

" like the wizard world was stolen by JKR "

didn't the guy mentioned he 'bought the server'? Cuz you're implying the wizard guy is an NPC when he isn't

 

[bolenart]

I just started so I might as well ask now before I blow my playthrough lol I know from Once In A Lifetime the dev hates darker dick-ish content, but is there any point to playing the game rooting for the shitheads like the Bardot brat or will it just lock me out of content? Example: first day literally first harassment scene the perv in me says ignore Annie and the Bardot kid because in most dark games that would lead to scenes with them but the logical part of me says this dev stays away from anything remotely ntr/corruption/aggro character shit so I shouldn't waste time and instead just take the easy romance points for butting in lol

There won't be any real NTR content, no. In OIALT there was a scene where you could "sell" Judie and that resulted in a lot of fan backlash so I recall him promising there won't be any of that in Eternum. The closest to NTR we've gotten in Eternum is convincing Penny to show her tits to the sleezy photographer. I guess it's possible that if you do a run where you've lost say Dalia's path, that she ends up going out with Jerry (or Nancy with the yoga instructor) but there won't be any scenes portraying that.

I usually play through the bad choices just to see where it leads, but there is very little alternate content outside the harem path. If you don't go to Alex's place in 0.6 you come home and see Dalia in her bra, but that's it pretty much.

 

[Dorfnutter]

"sell" Judie

Lauren, not Judie. You got the wrong sister there, buster.

 

[bolenart]

Lauren, not Judie. You got the wrong sister there, buster.

View attachment 4015585

Exposed as a fake Caribdis fan.

No but really, I think I had barely played OIALT before I got hooked on Eternum, so I never got that into it and can barely remember the names. OIALT will go down in history as where Caribdis first honed his skills, like the childhood paintings of Picasso; the prelude to a masterpiece.

 

[Rehwyn]

I just started so I might as well ask now before I blow my playthrough lol I know from Once In A Lifetime the dev hates darker dick-ish content, but is there any point to playing the game rooting for the shitheads like the Bardot brat or will it just lock me out of content? Example: first day literally first harassment scene the perv in me says ignore Annie and the Bardot kid because in most dark games that would lead to scenes with them but the logical part of me says this dev stays away from anything remotely ntr/corruption/aggro character shit so I shouldn't waste time and instead just take the easy romance points for butting in lol

Enough dick-ish choices will just lock you out of relationships, and then you'll just be missing future content for that LI from future updates. Akin to OiaLT there might be a darker ending path depending on main story choices, but I'd be incredibly surprised if there was significant dark or corruption relationship content. It's just really not that type of game.

Pretty much, if you want the most content you're best off pursuing a full happy harem, though it could be interesting to have saves for alternate major story choices.

Edit: Things of course could change in the future, but I'd be surprised if we suddenly had such a huge tone shift.

 

[PerfectPacman666]

Exposed as a fake Caribdis fan.

No but really, I think I had barely played OIALT before I got hooked on Eternum, so I never got that into it and can barely remember the names. OIALT will go down in history as where Caribdis first honed his skills, like the childhood paintings of Picasso; the prelude to a masterpiece.

Once in a Lifetime is still one of the best adult VNs you will find. Eternum is just that much better, but when you've played as much drek as I have then you come to appreciate a rare talent like Caribdis.

 

[Dorfnutter]

Once in a Lifetime is still one of the best adult VNs you will find. Eternum is just that much better, but when you've played as much drek as I have then you come to appreciate a rare talent like Caribdis.

I would argue that it's more of a diamond in the rough than one of the best, but it did help Cari learn to make Eternum into a better experience, so mad props to it I suppose.

Not to mention Cari made that using a potato laptop, a slightly modded copy of HS1, and no master script or outline. Madlad really went Tony Stark with that one.

 

[Pitrik]

ETERNUM FAN ART CONTEST We're excited to announce the second official Eternum Fan Art Contest! For the next few weeks, we will be taking submissions of fan art relating to Eternum and at the end, giving out prizes to the top 3 artists! PRIZES: 1st place: Demon Lord tier access to 0.8 (including Discord role and Patreon benefits) or $100 Steam Gift Card 2nd place: God tier access to 0.8 (including Discord role and Patreon benefits) or $50 Steam Gift Card 3rd place: Eternumite tier access to 0.8 (including Discord role and Patreon benefits) or $25 Steam Gift Card RULES AND INFO:

1. No character creator renders (Honey Select, Daz, Blender, etc.) or usage of AI. Art must be hand-drawn through physical (painting, pencil, etc.) or digital (Adobe Illustrator, Paint.NET, etc.) means.
2. This time we're having a theme! Of course, the art must be Eternum-related, but the theme is Autumn/Halloween. Please try to incorporate the theme into your art. It's up to you to choose the character(s) and setting! Art may be SFW or NSFW.
3. Post your art submission in
   
   ⁠Caribdis Games⁠〉fan-art (or DM it to me if you wish to remain anonymous).
4. If you have posted fan art on this server before, you may not use previously posted fan art as your submission. The art must be new and never-before-seen! Additionally, one artist may submit multiple art pieces, but only one of their pieces can win.
5. We will be taking submissions until October 10th. After that, the Gods, Demon Lords, Founders, mods, and I will vote on our favorites.

And of course, remember that the ultimate goal is to have fun! Thank you to everyone who decides to join

 

[Cherubin25]

There won't be any real NTR content, no. In OIALT there was a scene where you could "sell" Judie and that resulted in a lot of fan backlash so I recall him promising there won't be any of that in Eternum. The closest to NTR we've gotten in Eternum is convincing Penny to show her tits to the sleezy photographer. I guess it's possible that if you do a run where you've lost say Dalia's path, that she ends up going out with Jerry (or Nancy with the yoga instructor) but there won't be any scenes portraying that.

I usually play through the bad choices just to see where it leads, but there is very little alternate content outside the harem path. If you don't go to Alex's place in 0.6 you come home and see Dalia in her bra, but that's it pretty much.

I still think that the backlash was stupid back then. Basicallly - choose a stupid choice and get a outcome you dont like. And I think this is fair.

And I am honest, the choices in Eternum (and OIALT) are super easy to pick. I mean, nobody would be stupid enough to sell Lauren to the Yakuza and thinks that this will be a good choice. And if someone does this choice, they should not complain about the outcome.

Same goes for Eternum. I think people who decide to abandon Penny and go with Regina deserve to get a bad outcome, because a) it is super-obvious and b) you are basically trading a 10/10 and Main-LI against the possibility of some fun with a 5/10 (even tho nothing happens anyway between MC and Regina).

(Also I think that the crying is funny if someone does a stupid choice and complaints about the outcome which was basically their decision...)

 

[Takkatakka]

I still think that the backlash was stupid back then. Basicallly - choose a stupid choice and get a outcome you dont like. And I think this is fair.

And I am honest, the choices in Eternum (and OIALT) are super easy to pick. I mean, nobody would be stupid enough to sell Lauren to the Yakuza and thinks that this will be a good choice. And if someone does this choice, they should not complain about the outcome.

Same goes for Eternum. I think people who decide to abandon Penny and go with Regina deserve to get a bad outcome, because a) it is super-obvious and b) you are basically trading a 10/10 and Main-LI against the possibility of some fun with a 5/10 (even tho nothing happens anyway between MC and Regina).

(Also I think that the crying is funny if someone does a stupid choice and complaints about the outcome which was basically their decision...)

If there is one criticism I would level at Eternum that it would be that a lot of the decisions are kinda pointless to begin with.



You can either thank Nancy for bringing you a coffee or not. Guess which choice will increase her heart rating with Orion...

 

[Kraxen]

I still think that the backlash was stupid back then. Basicallly - choose a stupid choice and get a outcome you dont like. And I think this is fair.

And I am honest, the choices in Eternum (and OIALT) are super easy to pick. I mean, nobody would be stupid enough to sell Lauren to the Yakuza and thinks that this will be a good choice. And if someone does this choice, they should not complain about the outcome.

Same goes for Eternum. I think people who decide to abandon Penny and go with Regina deserve to get a bad outcome, because a) it is super-obvious and b) you are basically trading a 10/10 and Main-LI against the possibility of some fun with a 5/10 (even tho nothing happens anyway between MC and Regina).

(Also I think that the crying is funny if someone does a stupid choice and complaints about the outcome which was basically their decision...)

I second this, the bad choices are very obviously the wrong ones, especially when it comes to choices like selling Lauren. Anyone who picks such a choice should get a bad ending/lose a path and not cry about it as it was very obvious in hindsight (and they can just rollback), however not all people get that, it seems.

In my opinion, the choices should still exist, more content never hurt anybody and the outcomes would still be there for the fraction of players that would appreciate them, but a loud minority (I assume it's a minority as I can't see any reasonable person reacting in any way more significant than "it's not my cup of tea, and I didn't pick it, but let people like what they like, I guess") complained and here we are.

Besides people complaining, I assume the reason as to why there's not gonna be any NTR in Eternum is because, generally most people don't enjoy NTR or get too attached to the characters (the things that come with excellent writing, I guess ) and therefore don't want to see the girls get boned by anyone but Orion. Also, not having to develop any NTR scenes or dialogue probably shortens the development time, so that's a bonus.

 

[Cherubin25]

If there is one criticism I would level at Eternum that it would be that a lot of the decisions are kinda pointless to begin with.

View attachment 4016536

You can either thank Nancy for bringing you a coffee or not. Guess which choice will increase her heart rating with Orion...

True, but this is the case for most games. Most games basically ask "Do you want to have Sex?" or "Do you want to have an imaginary point for your LI?".

And I think this is fine for Eternum, because all of the rest is top notch. And if we would include some actual branching, this would just increase the Development Time by a lot, simply because Caribdis would have to make variations of scenes.
There are some games here with really a lot of branching. I wont name it, but there is one where you can basically choose a Romantic Route, a Submissive Route or a Slave Route for the LIs. And on top of having 3 routes for each LI, there are also combinations of different routes possible, e.g when you have a LI on the Romance Route and another one on the Slave Route that they interact different with each other (or exclude specific routes, e.g. if you have LI A on the Slave-Route, you will not be able to have LI B on the Romance-Route).

But this is really ambitious and I am fine with Eternum mainly having flavor choices, because it would probably be a lot of extra work. And I also dont think that the Dev himself would really like branching, e.g. I cannot really see that there is the option for a more dominate approach to the LIs, e.g. more Sexfriend/fuck buddy than potential Boyfriend/Girlfriend.

But yeah, choices like the one you mentioned are a bit silly, but I guess you have to have some way to earn points... ^^

 

[Cherubin25]

I second this, the bad choices are very obviously the wrong ones, especially when it comes to choices like selling Lauren. Anyone who picks such a choice should get a bad ending/lose a path and not cry about it as it was very obvious in hindsight (and they can just rollback), however not all people get that, it seems.

In my opinion, the choices should still exist, more content never hurt anybody and the outcomes would still be there for the fraction of players that would appreciate them, but a loud minority (I assume it's a minority as I can't see any reasonable person reacting in any way more significant than "it's not my cup of tea, and I didn't pick it, but let people like what they like, I guess") complained and here we are.

Besides people complaining, I assume the reason as to why there's not gonna be any NTR in Eternum is because, generally most people don't enjoy NTR or get too attached to the characters (the things that come with excellent writing, I guess ) and therefore don't want to see the girls get boned by anyone but Orion. Also, not having to develop any NTR scenes or dialogue probably shortens the development time, so that's a bonus.

The only thing which speaks against having such choices and scenes is simply that it would be additional Dev-Time. E.g. when the Regina-choice came first out, there was no scene for MC doing stuff with her. And I think it was totally fine that there was nothing, because it leads to a lost path with Penny and nearly nobody would actually choose the scene with Regina when it resolves into losing Penny. Later Caribdis added a reaction of a sobbing and VERY disappointed Penny.

Which is also something most people dont want, but will cause less drama than Penny leaving the party with another Dude after seeing MC with Regina. Even tho I personally would like such a scene, not because I think that NTR has a place in this game (it is very clearly a Harem-Game), but because it would be a good "Punishment"-scene and also I would enjoy the Drama.

But I can also see people unsubscribing from Patreon if that happens, lol. But in general, I would like to have bad scenes/outcomes for obviously wrong choices, but again... They need to be created and in the end, most people will not pick them and those who pick them will just rollback. (And I also think that the Lauren-scene was just genius in OIALT. It was one of the most obvious wrong choices possible and even leads to a Bad End. Something like that can be impactful)

 

[MAGO-DAG]

Which is also something most people dont want, but will cause less drama than Penny leaving the party with another Dude after seeing MC with Regina. Even tho I personally would like such a scene, not because I think that NTR has a place in this game (it is very clearly a Harem-Game), but because it would be a good "Punishment"-scene and also I would enjoy the Drama.

If we throw the whole discussion back and dwell on it, there is a reason why we shouldn't continue such a scene, besides the length of work for an update. If Cari decided to continue such a scene separately and promote it, it would become two/three separate routes such as the harem and the non-MC relationship, not only would this interfere with the development plan, it would also ruin the balance of the plot and interest in many LI!

Drama? It won't work, if Cari suddenly decides to continue this path as you want, then after a few updates other people want and will insist that Dev continue the bad ending, you can't escape from it.
If you continue the route where Mc broke someone's heart, do it as a "Bad ending" or just close "The Heart and path" and never hear about it again unless you are on their routes.

So it's better to close this discussion ntr and move on. We have enough cliffhangers from Cari

 

[khumak]

I still think that the backlash was stupid back then. Basicallly - choose a stupid choice and get a outcome you dont like. And I think this is fair.

And I am honest, the choices in Eternum (and OIALT) are super easy to pick. I mean, nobody would be stupid enough to sell Lauren to the Yakuza and thinks that this will be a good choice. And if someone does this choice, they should not complain about the outcome.

Same goes for Eternum. I think people who decide to abandon Penny and go with Regina deserve to get a bad outcome, because a) it is super-obvious and b) you are basically trading a 10/10 and Main-LI against the possibility of some fun with a 5/10 (even tho nothing happens anyway between MC and Regina).

(Also I think that the crying is funny if someone does a stupid choice and complaints about the outcome which was basically their decision...)

Some of the bad choices are obvious but not all of them. There are some cases where pushing your luck is the good option and other times where it's the bad option. Also in an adult game you never know when a dev is going to reward you for being unreasonable.

I don't care if a game has NTR stuff in it though if it's avoidable. If there's a heavy focus on it then that means the game probably isn't for me because I'll end up never seeing it but as kind of a "bad ending" kind of option for screwing up I have no problem with it.

The photo shoot option with Penny where you can convince her to get naked for that other scumbag is a good example. That's not an option that anyone should think would be a good choice but there's some interesting renders worth seeing if you pick it despite the obvious bad outcome.

 

[khumak]

If there is one criticism I would level at Eternum that it would be that a lot of the decisions are kinda pointless to begin with.

View attachment 4016536

You can either thank Nancy for bringing you a coffee or not. Guess which choice will increase her heart rating with Orion...

I have more of an issue with the choices where there's not enough context to make the correct decision without a walk through, a restart, or save scumming. For instance the dialog with Alex where you can compliment her on her pen. If there was a previous conversation where there were clues like the choice with Penny where you have to decide between donuts vs coffee and how many sugars in the coffee then that's fine (she mentions liking her coffee with 3 sugars in a previous conversation so if you paid attention you know the answer later).

For a game like this it's usually pretty obvious, and if I make the wrong choice I can just click back and redo until I get it right. So not a big deal either way.