VN - Ren'Py - Formula Zero [v0.02d] [Celeritas.VN]

An excellent start with a good story but it may be a hard read for some where the racing action is much more interesting than the bedroom action. There's an excellent recreation of parts of the Hockenheim Circuit with some lovely animations. There's also some pretty decent off track ones in a Supra early on too, so I'm looking forward to seeing the Nordschleife, racing for fun in real cars, in the next update. Will the dev go for a typical Nordschleife, quick rain storm and a crash, drama? a death? Or just stick with a fun time. Hopefully the friendship between the three drivers develops too, as they spend more time off track having fun, as they are a nice mix of characters that could be good friends who support each other on and off the track. The racing side is a nice blend of fantasy and reality that stays on the right side of realistic, with the cars, testing, times, data and track conditions, which is great to see.

A big downside is the confusing relationships in general; but particularly with Emma. The big non-reveal being that they are basically brother and sister - Emma's Mom is the MC's legal guardian. This should have been explained much earlier but the dev clearly wanted to make a thing out of their relationship which was a complete waste of time, when we could have been focused on other characters.

Relationships and scenes with women is what this is really lacking so far. There was the perfect opportunity for a scene with Yuki, the chef in the kitchen, when she stayed over that was missed. Even if the dev wanted a slow burn with the LI's for a long term relationship goal, it would have been nice to be offered at least one scene with a side girl at the track, the hotel or the bar but it's all too moody, tentative and centred on Emma. If the dev wanted to AVN up it a little bit, the MC could have asked for help from new sponsors in his YouTube interview for anyone to help him fill up his overalls with new logos. They are desperate for money and 50k per sponsor to pay off the £750k they need to finish the season and stay away from shark agents. He could do some basic adverts with some hot models and have some side girl one off 'opportunities' after the advert. Some controversial advertisers could come in such a porn sponsor with a couple of pornstars attached or a lingerie/bikini company or an Only Fans girl looking for some fun. Motorsports, sex and hot women have always gone hand in hand but there aren't many groupies/hangers-on around yet.

Finally, why is an a supposed star singer, Grace wasting time in Germany? Surely she has a schedule. Where's her manager? This isn't really explained either. Manual montages - Thank you dev!

Looking forward to the next one and (finally) having the option of some fun one night stands please, not more wasted time in bed with Emma and the bad dreams - this is moody and atmospheric yes but not hot and AVN fun.

love the Game so far...
The story really Good...
character's all have there own Content To add to the game....
the music is very well placed with perfected songs for the mood ....
thank you for making the Game so far ...
Hope to play more...

1. Very high effort game
2. Great Writing
3. High quality renders
4. Amazing music -- the dev has great taste in music, song choice, and placement
5. Immersive

An overall very premium experience with a lot of work put into it.

It's a slow burn game so don't expect sex scenes right away. I think it's very commendable for a western dev to try and deliver story first over littering their game with random sex scenes, they're just laying out the common route right now.

A very promising game, a commendable part of the new generation of AVNs.

Pros:
1) An interesting and different story.
2) Good writing.
3) Very good visuals.
4) Mostly likeable girls. Everyone loves Emma already .
5) Roleplay options promise the ability to customize our MC further down the line.

Cons:
1) No true sex scenes so far.
2) The whole story and the main intrigue are still unclear to me. We're introduced to a number of major players in the sport, but I cannot quite grasp how exactly (and if) they're all connected to each other and whether they play a part in the MC's past.
3) The MC is a bit too perfect. Everyone not from Apex Team is a huge fan of his, and he succeeds at whatever he does. I think the dev should introduce something the MC is actually bad at and play it for laughs (as playing it for drama would be lame).

So, 4 stars for now. While what's here is really good, how the dev manages the sex scenes and the plot in its entirety remains to be seen.

So far, this is great. Interesting story with a good setup and a wide range of characters. I don't find most of the LIs wildly attractive (emma and Leah excepted), but everyone's written well enough to be compelling imo. (Yuki, for example, is not particularly attractive to me, at least in her uniform, but she's enough of a sweetheart I could still see romancing her.)

I like the dev's idea of some choices defining your character's personality and separate from major choices that are LI path specific, and the racing backdrop gives a good structure for what will hopefully be a long and eventful game.

Some of the renders near the end are a bit grainy, but the level o f detail in general is great. And I really like the ability to set montages to auto vs. manual too; there's nothing more annoying than having a forced montage that you have to wait to progress at its speed rather than yourown. I might suggest making that a one-time toggle in the options though.

Finally, a few issues with the text, where there are two different placeholders that never got replaced with the actual places or names, but for the most part, these first two releases are very, very clean.

I think the Story so far is really good... the Dev definitely knows the Formula Circus and terms... Hockenheim Ring looked good and they are implying to go to the legendary Nürburg Ring next, can't wait how that'll look.
Also the Story about the MC and all the so far known Women is good. I like that the Girls got there own problems and struggle. Be it his long Time Friend (Almost like a Step-Sister / Adoptive-Sister - but thankfully not, so no "incest" in that part) who now starts to see that she got real "feelings" to the MC.
Or the troubled Female Team Mate, that is in a Family Fight with her corrupt Father and can't keep connected with her little Sister thanks to him. Or we have the "Singer / Star" that also seems to have build feelings toward the MC, having trouble finding inspiration to write her new Album or Songs in general.
There are more Girls that are quite mysterious for now, like the "Princess" (or what she is called) that also seem to know the MC from her Past... or the Mechanic that feels insecure around People but feels save and secure around the MC, not having her typical problems talking to People with him.
The "Reporter" Couple of Girls, the PR Manager Woman... so many good Characters that got at least some background Story already.
And then there is the last Girl that works for this A-Head Promoter or what he was, who treated that Girl like shit from the beginning we seen him and her. (I smell an ally in her later on.)
Well, that's how much I remember right now and I really liked the Game - can't wait for the next Update, definitely something different then the usual AVNs I have seen lately.

The potential to become one the best game on the site. High effort renders and scenes. Its been a while since i did found a game that does not make me skip all the dialogues. We still not sure of what the sex scenes will look like but i'm sure it will follow the same quality

Where to begin with. My rating 1/5 - dissapointment.

After downloading 5+ gigabytes, expected many things but not a complete lack of a single H action. We are on the hentai/adult games forum. It is normal to expect from demo/alpha game version, at least 1-2-3 H-scenes. Only based on that it is possible to make a review and grade the game. How could you put 4/5 stars to a game that has shown none of it? There are plenty of examples, of authors who cucked followers and players, without showing a single H-scene for years, or when they did one it was terrible bland and lacking any appeal.

H-Scenes - score zero

As a VN it fails as well - it gives a lot of confusing and meaningless choices, ideally you want to have few choices but make them actually matter. (twist the story, select plot line, select heroine, refuse heroine, chose another heroine, anything that matters). Here, the player is given a choice to talk confidently, or talk meekly, to be flirty, or be arrogant. Like no real choice at all. Meaningless variation of few lines of texts. These break immersion, character jumping from confident to meakly to flirty to cowardly to arrogant is just not the way the stories should be written.

Seems good so far, will have to wait for further content to really see how well the story comes together though. No scenes yet as of 0.02c, but that's fine by me, the more real the story feels the better.

VER 0.02c
Overall: 2/5

Reason: As a player I didn't feel involved in the story

This was a tough one to get through. I believe that this has the ideas and theme to be a captivating AVN about F1 and racing, but sadly it misses the mark in being both a AVN and a Visual Novel. Why? I don't feel involved in the story. I am a spectator. The reason has a lot to do with the introduction of the game. I am introduced to the couple's relationship I have no connection nor prior knowledge about. The game opens with a couple already deep in conflict. The tension at the start feels very shallow, since I have no prior knowledge, I just don't care about their situation. I am just inserted into this relationship. I don't feel like I'm the MC... it just feels like a separate character that I get to name and supposedly it becomes the MC.

Sure, there are choices... but they don't feel like choices that I feel have weight or impact because I don't feel like the MC.

Adding to the poor writing, the renders feel flat and unfinished. The Daz models look like plastic dolls that have little to no facial expressions which made it harder to be invested in this "game". Further, the lack of sexual content will only push away newer players from playing this game. Even other slow burners drop "subtle hints" to make players feel like there is a spark with any of the LI's. This game nada.

With the state of the game right now it doesn't feel like there would be any content either. If they were to be added it would just be wrong. There's no emotional investment, no buildup, no real feelings. Safe to say the game will have no real development since the formula was zero from the start.

The only reason this game isn't 5 stars is that as of yet (version 0.02c) it doesn't have as much content as I'd like.

It's very good. High quality renders, I like what we've seen from all of the major characters so far. I will definitely be keeping up with this game, the dev has me hooked pretty good.

V.0.02c

best part of a year since the first release and i gave it a go. there is much here to point out. some good some not even clo9se to good. you decide which is which. i will try not to spoil it.

the plot is obviously up and coming racing driver. no suspense as it is laid out right from the start in a 'back then' way. this is the hook. you either want to see the journey or quit now as the adult side of things is so far back row as to be in the vehicle behind.
the writing is grumble aplenty about our own alleged top motorsport to be, at times, almost like reading someone's soapboxing, yet adult enough to be an easy read and naturally flowing without thinking the writer needs to actually read a real book, like many other VN's here.
Visually this is all pretty looks, which is what most of us want from our break in reality. why some want realism in their escapism is anyone's guess but when i fantasise i visualise the pretty people, not the ones who look like sand is a moisturiser.
but there are also faults here and there...
one very obvious one is the devs love of the montage. overkill is a word that not only pops to mind but practically jumps up and down in lead boots on my thought processors.
another would be the use of video game footage for animations. here is a giant opening for the dev to get boned by some very big legal teams, not only by the video game developer but moreso by those big legal teams at some very well known firms whose names don those sponsorship boards IN those animations. not sure repercussions were thought out but here no one wants to see that orange tag.
way less an issue if no funding has ever been sought but...

all in all it is just starting and is essentially just warming up the tyres before it really starts (see what i did there?) but the downside, at least for me, is that it is still warming up the tyres before it really starts. i am not hooked at all.
i may have gotten through this current content but i read/see nothing to excite me to return. nudity is not new and not a fan of the sport any more than i am any other.
my best one word summary? it's "nice"
sorry dev

v0.02c

As a story about racing and relationships, I could see this as 5 star game.
As a AVN with main goal to get our dicks hard, 2 stars.

I have followed F1, played racing games with my wheel etc, but I am not a racing fanatic. With that, the story does focus way too much on the racing. There is some regular human interactions, but the girls I was interested had very little content. Whole atmosphere is very... normal. Little too slow and boring for me. Conversation options were rare and not that fun.

I did not counter any sexual content. There was few naked pictures of showering women. But those were about women with young/slim/toned bodies, not my thing. Visual quality is good and artistic style is great, so I have high hopes that future content will have more for us regular wankers. For now, it was not worth playing.

+ Emma
+ renders
+ music
+ MC is ok, a bit dull but not a total loser or soyboy
+ interesting story if you are into F1/racing stuff..

-..but if you are not then it could be very boring
- no lewd scenes
- no relationship development. MC doesn't show any interest in girls or even want to pursue them

Overrated avn, after almost year I expected more. In the current state 3 stars

Great game!
Being F1 fan its really fun to play AVN related to that.

Story premise is very good and cast of characters is just 10/10
Renders quality + animations (not lewds yet) are also top-notch.

I highly recommend to give this one a go.

Phenomenal game.

It's one of those specialist AVNs, in which the devs knows the topic very well and uses it to their huge advantage.
The openwheel racing knowledge is very thorough, terms are correct and nothing is misused. It's also not just dumped on the player, paced well and with intent.
AVN-specific bits are great as well. Emma is amazing, relationship-building is realistic and exciting, and all the mysteries 0.2 presented in terms of the new characters are very exciting indeed.
This is gonna be an all-timer AVN.

First off, I am a sucker for this genre. Any sort of sport game I will usually give a chance because while having similar tropes across them, they are tropes that I enjoy.

Celeritas has started off with a very strong first chapter despite it currently being kinetic. Under most circumstances I would say that my enjoyment felt diminished because of the fact I didn't get to make any choices. However, taking into consideration the strong world building and introduction of a decent amount of characters, I was left wanting more despite the lack of choices. The renders were wonderfully done, While character animations can sometimes feel out-of-place or just not well done, I personally didn't feel that here.

My only personal con for the first chapter was some scripting issues. If you opt to rename the character there are points where other characters will still refer to him by the default name. Also, I'm assuming that the uniform has hard coded letters, but by default the player character has the initials M.C. so it really depends on how you feel about that discrepancy.

My last part in this review is more of a selfish request. Celeritas if you do read this, don't worry about making it a harem game. It's your game and you have an incredibly solid foundation. I know you've stated in the comments that you're torn between not liking to funnel players into a single relationship (Shouldn't have done such a good job with Emma ) and approaching a somewhat realistic story.

With that being said, I would like it to be a harem game, but that's because I like trying to make all the characters happy and do all potential routes at the same time. When a game limits how many LI's I can pursue, I end up being a parasocial freak who feels like they can't do any other route. I think with strong enough writing you can alleviate the awkwardness that comes with having a harem cast.

However, to contradict what I just wrote, I'm going back to what I originally said. It's your game and you have a solid foundation. I'm excited to see what you have coming out.

5/5 Since the creator is Brazilian, I’ll start the message in Portuguese.

Portuguese:

O jogo está incrível até o momento. O criador conseguiu apresentar os personagens de um jeito que, mesmo com pouco tempo, você acaba se conectando com eles de alguma forma. Tem um potencial enorme, e espero de verdade que o criador consiga muito sucesso com esse jogo.

Minha sugestão é: mesmo que ainda não tenha tanto conteúdo, vale a pena considerar colocar essa obra-prima à venda com uma página na Steam ou GOG. Isso já ajudaria a atrair atenção e começar a formar uma base antes de um lançamento mais completo.

A sacada de gravar os trechos dos carros foi genial. Parabéns pelo lançamento

English:

The game has been amazing so far. The developer managed to introduce the characters in a way that, even with limited screen time, you still feel a connection to them. It has huge potential, and I genuinely hope the creator finds great success with this game.

My suggestion is: even if there isn’t much content yet, it’s definitely worth putting this masterpiece up for sale with a Steam or GOG page. That would already help attract attention and start building a base before a fuller release.

The idea of recording the car segments was genius. Congratulations for the release

Fantastic first release.

It combines some things I really enjoy into a beautiful blend in the final result.
Racing, cohesive family drama, distinct characters (both in personality and appearance), nice looking renders, and insane car animations.

Please, keep going. Even if it takes a while, I’d really love to see how this ends.

It's rare that a game on its first release and not a hugely long one at that is worth 5* but this one definitely is. You can tell a lot of work has gone into this.

Solid story premise, doesn't take itself overly seriously, nice pacing, interesting characters.

Animations (currently not sexual) are absolutely awesome.

Renders and girls are solid. Small room for improvement.

Keep up the great work.