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

4.80 star(s) 908 Votes
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quorkboy

Active Member
Sep 26, 2020
733
1,442
Takkatakka said:
Apparently the backlash was so bad, that Caribdis never wants to do anything like that anymore.

I mean...it was an obvious idiotic choice to begin with so in a way people that took it had it coming...on the other hand I'm not sure, why you would build in such an obvious bad and wrong choice at all?

That is probably the biggest downside of Eternum: Most choices are kinda..."meh". They are either obviously bad or meaningless or so cryptic that you can't even make an informed decision without a guide.
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Why have the choice to betray Penny at the college party? It's not on the same level, but it's the same kind of thing: deliberately choosing to hurt someone who is sweet and loving. Are they really much different from choices which could lead to bad endings for the MC (and presumably that means something bad for everyone else even if we don't see or read about it)? We either have meaningful choices or we don't. Meaningful choices, when you don't want a branching story that gets complicated to hold together, must necessarily be about either choosing certain characters over others, or be the difference between something good and something bad as a consequence.

Admittedly the Lauren choice seems like it was misjudged, given how people often react to that kind of content, optional or not, but I'll be forgiving, as I am of some other choices I've had to make in OiaL to proceed with certain characters (I'm not finished yet, only up to the end of the costume party) which make the MC into a not so good guy. I see OiaL as Caribdis learning from how other AVNs are made and choosing some aspects (like manipulating LIs into sex or taking advantage of them when they are not aware it is you) because they're very popular, even though they don't fit with the type of MC Eternum has (and mostly, apart from those things, so does OiaL) or the atmosphere of the story. If I was to pick one thing where Eternum wins easily over OiaL, ignoring the art and general improvement in writing, I'd rate that as the most significant. So far there have been only a couple of scenes where the MC had an option to do something not in keeping with the good guy I see him as, once of which could be written off as "immature horny teenage male" (Dalia in the bathroom), and both were easily avoidable and not necessary for future content.

As for "most choices in Eternum are obviously bad or meaningless or cryptic": I like the cryptic choices. They give me a feeling that there are stakes. I'm not going to automatically win. And I don't want to follow a guide because I like that feeling. For the rest of the choices, some people might want to be only friends with some characters, so the character selection choices are for them. The rest aren't much (e.g. which way you go on Andromeda doesn't really matter), but allow for some slight variation of experience, so I wouldn't call them meaningless.

I hope that choices like the amulet and similar are always in Caribdis' AVNs. Otherwise all you're left with is obvious choices. In that case you may as well eliminate every choice except "which characters do you want as LIs?"
 
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Don_Ubba

Don_Ubba

Newbie
Feb 12, 2018
62
43
quorkboy said:
Why have the choice to betray Penny at the college party? It's not on the same level, but it's the same kind of thing: deliberately choosing to hurt someone who is sweet and loving. Are they really much different from choices which could lead to bad endings for the MC (and presumably that means something bad for everyone else even if we don't see or read about it)? We either have meaningful choices or we don't. Meaningful choices, when you don't want a branching story that gets complicated to hold together, must necessarily be about either choosing certain characters over others, or be the difference between something good and something bad as a consequence.

Admittedly the Lauren choice seems like it was misjudged, given how people often react to that kind of content, optional or not, but I'll be forgiving, as I am of some other choices I've had to make in OiaL to proceed with certain characters (I'm not finished yet, only up to the end of the costume party) which make the MC into a not so good guy. I see OiaL as Caribdis learning from how other AVNs are made and choosing some aspects (like manipulating LIs into sex or taking advantage of them when they are not aware it is you) because they're very popular, even though they don't fit with the type of MC Eternum has (and mostly, apart from those things, so does OiaL) or the atmosphere of the story. If I was to pick one thing where Eternum wins easily over OiaL, ignoring the art and general improvement in writing, I'd rate that as the most significant. So far there have been only a couple of scenes where the MC had an option to do something not in keeping with the good guy I see him as, once of which could be written off as "immature horny teenage male" (Dalia in the bathroom), and both were easily avoidable and not necessary for future content.

As for "most choices in Eternum are obviously bad or meaningless or cryptic": I like the cryptic choices. They give me a feeling that there are stakes. I'm not going to automatically win. And I don't want to follow a guide because I like that feeling. For the rest of the choices, some people might want to be only friends with some characters, so the character selection choices are for them. The rest aren't much (e.g. which way you go on Andromeda doesn't really matter), but allow for some slight variation of experience, so I wouldn't call them meaningless.

I hope that choices like the amulet and similar are always in Caribdis' AVNs. Otherwise all you're left with is obvious choices. In that case you may as well eliminate every choice except "which characters do you want as LIs?"
Click to expand...
TLDR pls
 
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Takkatakka

Takkatakka

Engaged Member
Nov 11, 2022
2,544
7,050
quorkboy said:
Why have the choice to betray Penny at the college party?
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That was just an obvious "leave her path" choice. Basically an obvious choice for the people that don't like her, I guess. Not a decision I need to have in the game, because it is pointless in my opinion. It probably was more of a joke in the end.

quorkboy said:
As for "most choices in Eternum are obviously bad or meaningless or cryptic": I like the cryptic choices.
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Cryptic choices aren't really choices. If you can't have any idea what a choice does it might as well not exist or make it a coin toss instead or something. A good choice shouldn't be absolutely obvious but a mindful player should be able to make an informed decision and should be able to ascertain most of the outcome.
 
Phase_01

Phase_01

Well-Known Member
Nov 27, 2021
1,198
1,930
Takkatakka said:
I mean...I could afford it, but as much as I like the game that would be a bit much for just one game. :ROFLMAO:

My plan is to sub to the 50 bucks tier close to release of 1.0 for one month to essentially pay a normal price for a game these days. That is probably not the best way for the developer, but at least that way he would get a decent amount of money.
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You might be aware and I might be assuming things, but I am assuming you're planning on subbing for the "full final game release", which Caribdis has apparently said 1.0 won't be the final version. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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4.80 star(s) 908 Votes