VN Ren'Py Eternum [v0.8.6 Public] [Caribdis]

4.80 star(s) 1,146 Votes
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Krytax123

Engaged Member
Dec 29, 2022
3,105
6,630
bitofaperv said:
Okay - I'm gonna be the downer in this thread.

This is the first time I have ever had mixed feelings about an Eternum update.

We'll clear the good stuff first. The VN has never looked better. I'm astonished at how good the vast majority of renders are in this update. The image quality is unbelievable, and I don't know what Caribdis is using, but I am pretty sure he is not running the stock lighting in HS2, because his outdoor scenes just look incredible. I also believe he's rendering 16k images and downscaling, because so much information is preserved, and all the lines are so clean with a complete lack of jaggies. It's not just an AA implementation.

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As usual, the humour is wonderful... With the caveat that there is one miss, and it is an absolutely MASSIVE miss for me.

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And now the biggest downer of the update.

A lack of respect for the reader's time.

No, this isn't a complaint about the length of the episode in general. More Eternum is always good, right? Well, in this case, no. No it isn't.

There are two major-MAJOR parts of the update that kill the pace and the flow of the narrative to such a degree that they actually made me angry. One in particular is a very sizeable clanger that has the potential to spoil the episode entirely for those sensitive to it.

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The "lesser-major" pace killer is the opening scene. Two characters we have never met before, and will probably never meet again, having a full on conversation about political inclinations and accusations of laziness that completely outstays its welcome as we ponder the answer to "what happened to Orion?"

There were so many more interesting opening scenes that could have been used that involved characters we know and grant good character development. Nova biting her nails, wondering where Orion has gone? Nancy on the server, concerned about them being late, Luna passing by the blood stain and getting a bad feeling about it...

And then there is a resolution to the cliffhanger:

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In summary, Eternum remains one-of, if not the best AVN out there. This episode, was overall, pretty awesome. However I do think Caribdis made some pretty major writing missteps in this update, enough that I have mixed feelings about it and for the first time, and feel a little deflated about some aspects of the AVN, where previously I had been unanimously positive for every update. Inflated, you could say.
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Hmm are you even this much of a downer or are you merely putting things a bit out of proportion (from my perspective at least)?

The opening scene with the two police officers is obviously meant to make the reader feel anxious, you want to know what happened to Orion and not what these random cops talk about, it is meant to create some irritation imo so i would argue it was intended by the dev for you to feel like that.

I agree 100% about the stanley parable, i didnt like it either and it wasnt great for the pacing, furthermore i think it was not serious enough if it really was about Orions fears, dumb stuff like Dalia marrying Jerry or Luna being a drug addict, if we need something like that show us the girls dying or whatever. And yeah it took quite a bit of time, but in the devs defense: the renders repeated quite a lot so it probably didnt cost thiiis much development time.

I dont think its needed to show us more of Alex monologue and motives which did lead to this point, we already know the backstory about granny and the prince and everything that happened in ep6, showing even more of her motivations would even spoil the romance a bit imo.

Quite a few people seem to have expected Orion undergoing a huge daredevil-like self-reflection or "having to work to overcome his arrogance" as you stated it, giving up his bravado and hubris entirely after the experience of getting shot. And i would have HATED!!! it :LOL: Overly humble goody two shoes protagonist are so fucking boring. Gimme bravado, gimme pathos, he is special for a reason after all, lean into it! :LOL::LOL: And after all, the cocky, easygoing version of Orion is the one the girls did fall in love with.

Ambition and bravado are a core part of Orion and his purpose, he just had to understood whats at stake and mature a little bit.

And while it was obvious (imo) that he would be saved by Calypso, imo it was the best and most reasonable outcome. And i think its not fair to call Calypso a "deus ex elfina", shes the "third weapon of the atlas" (whatever that means) after all. Nova and even Thanatos arguably got way more out of their weapons yet, Orion has barely "used" :devilish: Calypso so far and we had the buildup for it, its not like it happened out of the blue.

And i think despite the short screentime, it was great for the relationship development between orion and calypso.

10/10 episode for me despite minor flaws like the stanley parable for me.
 
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Krytax123

Engaged Member
Dec 29, 2022
3,105
6,630
Dorfnutter said:
To be fair, Nova's situation was an accident while Dalia's case is more due to being pressed for time and Orion suggesting it out of the blue and Dalia biting at the opportunity. No one basically goaded the latter into going so...that one's on her. :HideThePain:
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To be fair to be fair all of this was just a excuse for us to be able to deflower dalia in eternum without it being a cheap projection or "second chances". Some things are worth the risk :WeSmart:
 
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The Jiggler

The Jiggler

Newbie
Mar 27, 2021
37
73
e6mill said:
They actually mention that they don't know which danger is more serious. The risk of permadeath or letting the Founder and/or Alex's dad free to do whatever it is they're trying to do via the implants.
View attachment 4355626
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You can argue the sudden concern was more an excuse to end up with them porting. It wasn't really taken too seriously so far...but I guess they didn't have much of a choice? Still.

I'm usually the negative nancy and obviously my opinion is irrelevant since feedback is useless if Caribdis won't see it. But hey.
 
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Krytax123

Engaged Member
Dec 29, 2022
3,105
6,630
By the way i somehow really enjoyed the Jerry redemption, i dont know when and why but apparently i started to pity this guy at some point despite his flaws :LOL:

But imagine he was really op the first time we did met him (like close to annies level or something) and just keeps dying in the most unlucky way afterwards again and again :LOL: and nobody ever saves him until Orion comes along while all the other accomplish so much as a team.

It was a nice mix of being firm and putting him in his place yet building him up too.

And him and Dalia looking at each other saying "Jerry." ... "Dalia." was hilarious and the perfect finish.

Morty and Ed were awesome too, somehow im always a sucker for these funny skeletons in avns :LOL: :LOL:
 
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bitofaperv

Member
Dec 20, 2022
106
482
Corvus G. said:
Nothing is broken, at least not on the normal pc version. Start a new game and skip to the point where you see Annie and Chang for the first time. After that you can go back to your normal save and view the gallery as normal
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The gallery was broken for me. I think it is the
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as the error was due to a variable and only occurs when viewing it unfiltered, or
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I only caught one typo in the whole update (There's an incomplete parentheses in the scene with Annie and Luna at Luna's place), but I only skimmed through half the
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to get back to the present narrative.
 
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Lathe29

Member
Jan 20, 2023
119
369
LexMaple said:
I loved everything about this update except for the "nightmare" scenario, what the fuck was that supposed to be? The narrator was kinda cool, but I will press skip so hard in future playthroughs that my finger is gonna hurt. Such a great story and disrupted by such a dumb thing, only for a videogame reference? This should be optional in the public version, like a "wake up" option at the start of the dream sequence.
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Weird thing to get all annoyed about but you do you.
 
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Takkatakka

Takkatakka

Engaged Member
Nov 11, 2022
3,361
11,840
LexMaple said:
I loved everything about this update except for the "nightmare" scenario, what the fuck was that supposed to be? The narrator was kinda cool, but I will press skip so hard in future playthroughs that my finger is gonna hurt. Such a great story and disrupted by such a dumb thing, only for a videogame reference? This should be optional in the public version, like a "wake up" option at the start of the dream sequence.
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It's a reference to the game "The Stanley Parable" which dealt with player choices and narrations in games.
 
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Redd23

Redd23

Member
Mar 11, 2018
361
2,025
Krytax123 said:
And while it was obvious (imo) that he would be saved by Calypso, imo it was the best and most reasonable outcome. And i think its not fair to call Calypso a "deus ex elfina", shes the "third weapon of the atlas" (whatever that means) after all. Nova and even Thanatos arguably got way more out of their weapons yet, Orion has barely "used" :devilish: Calypso so far and we had the buildup for it, its not like it happened out of the blue.

And i think despite the short screentime, it was great for the relationship development between orion and calypso.
Click to expand...
Krytax123 said:
By the way i somehow really enjoyed the Jerry redemption, i dont know when and why but apparently i started to pity this guy at some point despite his flaws :LOL:

But imagine he was really op the first time we did met him (like close to annies level or something) and just keeps dying in the most unlucky way afterwards again and again :LOL: and nobody ever saves him until Orion comes along while all the other accomplish so much as a team.

It was a nice mix of being firm and putting him in his place yet building him up too.

And him and Dalia looking at each other saying "Jerry." ... "Dalia." was hilarious and the perfect finish.
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A few brief moment with Calypso in the begining was for such a major step in their relation, especialy when they declare that they will be in this together till the end. Extra points for Caly looking absolutely smoking :D

And as for Jerry I agree - he's clown arc was getting stale, so it's nice he got some development, especially since this change didn't felt forced.
 
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4.80 star(s) 1,146 Votes