VN Ren'Py Abandoned Excluded [Ep. 2] [RevisedStrategy]

[Darth Sidious]

First thing I do when I fire up a new VN is go to Preferences and mute all sound.

 

[nitkonikic]

that my friend is solid thinking

Or not take it, so he can leave them both behind, like they did to him.

Needless to say, I'm in "fuck them both" camp. There are, after episode 2, new girls who seem to be nice enough to go after. Hope dev will allow for an option to not chase them any further. So far MC seems desperate to get in touch with them again. I'm not buying whole "it's all mommy's fault" angle.

 

[Before I Forget]

You're sorta right. Music isn't that pivotal in a VN, but a good score can elevate a game experience by far, like Badik or LoF, even some other less notable ones. It depends on the right music for the right situation though, less than having music or not in the first place.

First thing I do when I fire up a new VN is go to Preferences and mute all sound.

I'm torn on this because, good music CAN elevate a game especially at the right moment. But at the same time there's a lot of the same bland elevator music being used in some of this games, however, if this Dev he passionate about it then I support it.

 

[werag17897]

I attached a file (images.zip) to disable the film noise (film grain ; whatever it's called).

Extract it and put the images folder inside the game folder.

 

[Maevos]

2 chapters in and we still don't have any idea what's going on with this family. Perhaps what Teddy says might be a hint but even then it feels like a stretch. This is going to take a while.

Still a good game though. Will be interesting to see where the story goes from here. As long as MC ends up with Ellie all is good.

 

[pyr0w]

...but ofc sound effects will make any game better...

Disagree. Who unmutes these games? Seriously?

Every moment of audio dev is a moment not spent on drawing T&A or compelling writing. Any audio is literally negative important.
Wasted time.

 

[TreebeardTheEnt]

The lack of choices during the conversations with the new roommates and regarding contacting Olivia were telling. I went from interested in figuring out what's going on, to dubious as it seems likely I'll get railroaded.

 

[zoislk]

Disagree. Who unmutes these games? Seriously?

Every moment of audio dev is a moment not spent on drawing T&A or compelling writing. Any audio is literally negative important.
Wasted time.

Mostly agree. Audio is FAR less important than other aspects of AVN game development, but I do think it can add something if done right. I voted a '2' because it's certainly not one of the most crucial aspects of a game, but can enhance it if everything else is already taken care of. Audio in an AVN is a luxury, and should only be of concern once everything else that is core to the product (namely writing, visuals and coding) is already as good as they are going to get - and ideally, if it is included it should be done so by an additional member of the developer's team so it doesn't take time away from others who are doing the writing/coding/illustrating.

 

[HentaiKami]

Have to say, that kind of backstabbing MC gets from his supposed family in this game so far is quite a lot. Don't know how willing i would be in patching things up after all that if it happened to me. I'm hoping next update will open up the situation bit more and we'll find out why MC's foster mom and Melissa seem to hate him so much. But so far quite interesting story.

Also i pretty much always mute all VNs i play, since i either listen to what i want on the background or enjoy the quiet read that some VNs are. So in my opinion devs should focus more on graphical assets or writing, instead of music.

 

[blastwave2k]

Mostly agree. Audio is FAR less important than other aspects of AVN game development, but I do think it can add something if done right. I voted a '2' because it's certainly not one of the most crucial aspects of a game, but can enhance it if everything else is already taken care of. Audio in an AVN is a luxury, and should only be of concern once everything else that is core to the product (namely writing, visuals and coding) is already as good as they are going to get - and ideally, if it is included it should be done so by an additional member of the developer's team so it doesn't take time away from others who are doing the writing/coding/illustrating.

This is where i mostly am at. i'll vote a 2. if the dev is good at it, likes music and sound, wants to put it in. ok cool. that's fine. but seriously its the least important thing as far as i'm concerned. story, rendering, interface, even spell and grammar checking/editing, bugtesting; ALL more important.

really certainly don't go running out and spending money like some devs, on voice or music. if you want SOME music look for royalty free or copyright free stuff, then try not to pick the stuff that sounds too familiar. i almost always drop the volume or mute it. i used to just leave volume low, but some devs find it funny to sex sound ambush. so. ya. finding myself just muting these days.

 

[ZagorTeNay]

Curious to see where this goes. How it is set up currently, I can't see MC reconciling with his "family". And we have no idea what "he did" to deserve being thrown out and completely cut from them. Even parents of hardcore junkies stick by their children, almost until there really is no point helping them. As it is, most players won't have even slightest interest in them.
I could see this used as a plot twist later on: MC makes it on his own, becomes really succesfull, while his family ends up on the street and loses everything. So you'd have forgiveness route, or fuck them ( not literally lol).

 

[08Hanbo]

I found a lot of good music in porn games. Whether music are important or not depends on how the developer matches the game. I like porn games with music, but it depends on whether they are suitable for the game content.

 

[Midnight Ghost]

Played this the first time today, what a setup, I like it a lot.

Melissa: "Like Mom said we're better off without him"
Oh no no no no baby you don't get to think like that after the secret shit you all pulled. We still don't know the entire family history and dynamic here yet, or the previous problems if any, but she also turned around and dumped her roommate and best friend at the drop of a dime, that was some double cold ass shit there.

I look forward to see where the story goes.

Lastly, I never have sound on for any of these games, too many times start up a game and it has sound blasting, even worse those games were you turn off the sounds in the menu but somehow it still comes through in some parts.... sound doesn't matter to me at all for these games.

 

[whatisthisidk]

For me the best case scenario with sound in these games are like Being A DIK. Unique songs that fit the mood. That does however take time, money and resources. And while I do really enjoy having music it is like others said I wouldn't prioritize it over writing and renders.

But I still like even something akin to copyright free music. People who want music can just have it on and people who mute games or want silence can just mute and have the same exact experience. Meanwhile it's not really possible to create a music-filled experience in a game without music unless I would create a playlist with different moods in it and tab out and switch songs depending on the scene. That's a whole lot more work for people who want music, rather than just muting sounds for people who don't want music.

 

[pyr0w]

I was being pretty sarcastic as a direct retort to the quote.

But I do feel that it is the least important part. I'm honestly not there for the music...

If it's unobtrusive then I'm fine with it. I might mute it anyway. It can even be a benefit to the story sections.
But I shouldn't ever find myself stopping to listen to it. That means it's being distracting.

whatisthisidk brings up Being A DIK and I can't disagree any more strongly.

Is the music good? Yes.​

Are the production values unexpectedly good? Absolutely.​

Is it good music for a game? Sure.​

Is it good music for a porn game? Heeeeeeeeeeell no. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.​

This is especially true for the musically inclined. I don't want to hear a few notes somewhere and start thinking of a melody that's now hard-coded with fucking [character]. Now not only am I a distracted driver, but I have an awkward and unavoidable hardon.

nope.

I actually decompressed and REMOVED the DIK music.
(Again. Music was fine. I just really REALLY didn't want it in the game...)

 

[AnyName'llDo]

Disagree. Who unmutes these games? Seriously?

Every moment of audio dev is a moment not spent on drawing T&A or compelling writing. Any audio is literally negative important.
Wasted time.

There are a few games where the music elevates the game, and I even listen to some of the music outside of the game because I've enjoyed it so much. Summer's Gone, Sunshine Love, and Being a DIK are three games that immediately come to mind. It's a bonus when the music is good.

 

[Roninsoul7]

In response to the music question, I already voted a hard 1, I mute music from every game I play, and if it's not absolutely required I also mute every sound. I play DDO weekly with a friend, and he's the one who had to tell me to turn some volume on for a quest because the Dev's pulled a crap move and made it impossible to beat the quest without it on. We stopped running that quest.

The story is sort of interesting, but I keep getting this very consistent mushroom vibe from it, meaning we're going to be kept in the dark and fed crap to force a "twist", which wouldn't really be a twist for the MC, but only for the player, consequently I am only going to give the game a couple more updates to stop it, or I am going to drop it.

There needs to be a bit more decision making on dealing with the other characters too, or just take out choices altogether and make it a kinetic, because honestly I wanted to just drop Olivia and Melissa as soon as they started talking, the whole chasing after them when being betrayed, that's not really my scene and I hate being forced to follow that. I live my life as do no harm, until you harm me, then I repay with twofold, and I RL dropped my only full-blood sibling for pulling something similar, so I'm not talking out of my butt on that (20 years since I talked to her).

 

[AL.d]

Or not take it, so he can leave them both behind, like they did to him.

Needless to say, I'm in "fuck them both" camp. There are, after episode 2, new girls who seem to be nice enough to go after. Hope dev will allow for an option to not chase them any further. So far MC seems desperate to get in touch with them again. I'm not buying whole "it's all mommy's fault" angle.

Ι enjoy the drama, makes the game interesting. Without the "excluded" angle, this becomes yet another clone in this genre. But you gotta have the option to actually react angrily like any human would. And let them stew, while MC gets his life situation sorted out and is in a stronger position. Then you can deal with them from a vantage point (a good job at a young age trumps college experience) and not as a homeless and jobless wimp.

edit: I didn't take it either

 

[ZagorTeNay]

The story is sort of interesting, but I keep getting this very consistent mushroom vibe from it, meaning we're going to be kept in the dark and fed crap to force a "twist", which wouldn't really be a twist for the MC, but only for the player, consequently I am only going to give the game a couple more updates to stop it, or I am going to drop it.

I could see a couple of options:
1. MC did something that caused real harm to someone in close family: but in that case, this is bad storytelling, as nothing in his dialogue indicates he knows more about this than the reader
2. MC fooled around with one of his siblings and got caught - similar, and there is no incest tags ( even if he is adopted)
3. MC's step/mother is a standard bitch and doing this for her own reasons ( inheritance money or something).
And Teddy is a bro, I like him more than MC. Man, that scene with him telling you how he's never in one of family photos was brutal. I'm leaning more toward third option, after this. ( girls being Kate's daughters who was married to MC's father that passed away recently. So after that, she decided to completely cut ties from him)

 

[TiffanyMonroe]

First thing I do when I fire up a new VN is go to Preferences and mute all sound.

Some games ignore that setting and still ear rape you so I go to system volume sounds and mute the game.