VN Ren'Py Glowing Stones : Heroes' Awakening [Ch.4] [MoonLightDevCorp]

[Tremonia]

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Hello there!

Here's this week's report (or a little longer than a week haha).

I've made good progress on the game's graphical interface. As you can see from the screenshot, all the menus have been redesigned to take on a more "neon punk" look.

This is more the visual I want for the whole game, as you can see from the outdoor scenes. It takes longer to render, of course, but it's definitely a lighting style I like. And now the GUI is closer to that too.

As for the progress of the game, the last two weeks have been a little more erratic. This is due to my wife's hand surgery (which went well ), which means that I have to take care of Kiddo a bit more, and his first day of school as well.

Things are calming down a bit on those fronts now.

More good news: my boss has authorized me to work only two and a half days a week from November! I'll finally be able to restore some semblance of balance between my job, GS and my family! Obviously, finances will take a hit, but it's for a good cause. And with the first release on Steam, that should give me some breathing space to get on with it!

As for the game itself, here are the statistics:
- 185 renders
- 330 frames of animation for the first animation of the chapter and 15 seconds of animation for the GUI and for another scene
- 787 lines of script
- 15 lines of story waiting to be scripted

As you can see, it's time for me to get back to writing (dialogue only, as the whole storyline of the chapter has already been written).

Thank you all, and see you soon!

 

[Blueray]

Nope, the game is not bugged, I can only invite you to get it on Patreon or Steam for the last version of it

The question mark on the left corner? What is it?

why can.t u invite me for this Version on Steam?

 

[Mister Player]

Download your compressed game but error when starting game
View attachment 2835173

Unlike someone who only pinpoints problem I got a solution for this problem (I did not make this someone more knowledgeable did it). It seem to work for me, see if it works for you.

 

[Blueray]

i broke up with Aurora in the game it won.t even let me keep going in the game idon.t no wats going on who do i need to date so i can keep on playing the game ?

 

[Chrisdarock19]

i broke up with Aurora in the game it won.t even let me keep going in the game idon.t no wats going on who do i need to date so i can keep on playing the game ?

You seem to have answered your own question.

 

[Blueray]

I bet some other People not just me has the same Problem on the game

 

[Blueray]

You seem to have answered your own question.

in the game rember he was talking to his friend on he cell while walking to his car . when Aurora left my room in Chapter 3 it keeps repeating it self at the same spot at the car part. it feels like i am in a time loop i don.t no how to get out of it thats why i can,t keep going in the game . i am not sure if i did something wrong or not

 

[Chrisdarock19]

in the game rember he was talking to his friend on he cell while walking to his car . when Aurora left my room in Chapter 3 it keeps repeating it self at the same spot at the car part. it feels like i am in a time loop i don.t no how to get out of it thats why i can,t keep going in the game . i am not sure if i did something wrong or not

Have you tried re-starting the game and NOT break up with Aurora?

 

[7empest5teele]

I LOVE the cameos in this from other games I really enjoy!
Like a certain blonde Cafe Owner from a game featuring the MC fighting for his inheritance.
And a certain Cerea playing a journalist...for ATAE News, who is one of my favorite characters in one of my top favorite games here, Ataegina (I see what you did there)!
I caught 2, I am sure there are more!

 

[ninjasamuri]

So Aurora is

Spoiler: Chapter 2-3

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right? That's what the clues are about? Could be a red hearing but the motives do match

 

[e6mill]

So Aurora is

Spoiler: Chapter 2-3

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right? That's what the clues are about? Could be a red hearing but the motives do match

More than that.

Spoiler

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Extremely sus IMO. But I'd be delighted to be wrong.

 

[Vasy]

in the game rember he was talking to his friend on he cell while walking to his car . when Aurora left my room in Chapter 3 it keeps repeating it self at the same spot at the car part. it feels like i am in a time loop i don.t no how to get out of it thats why i can,t keep going in the game . i am not sure if i did something wrong or not

It's a problem with the script. If you're familiar with using the dev console, you can enter "jump ch3_rue3" (no quotation marks) right after that scene, and it should act as a workaround for that issue.

 

[Tremonia]

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Hello there!

As you can see, we've added a new environment to GS: a sublime forest!

It's a bit heavy to render, but that's okay.

Otherwise, I'm looking forward to my 50% to be honest! I'm making pretty good progress on the game at the moment, so I'm happy On the other hand, this chapter is bound to be bigger than the others so far.
I'll keep you posted on progress, of course!

For the numbers :
- 260 renders
- 330 frames of animations
- 1500 scripted lines

As you can see, the writing gave good results, and it remain a lot of work!

Thank to your support!

 

[Aninass]

I really love the game and the concept and story. Keep it up. However I feel like some of the girls (Sarah, Celeste and especially Aurora) have a bit of manly faces. You know, lacks a bit of feminine charm. I get Sarah, she was in the army and stuff, but Aurora's jawline is comparable to Mr. Chad McThundercock. It's a bit off-putting for me, but it's nothing major. Anyways, I really like this game, keep at it.

 

[MoonlightDevCorp]

Thanks for your kind words

 

[Hungover00]

Finished first playthrough, obviously Aurora is the sonic anti-corporate jewel thief (and she ain't wrong). Pretty natural match for a country girl with a French lineage. We learned the power of wigs with Celeste/Amethyst (as well as the Shadow/Whisper, who we see as both a redhead and blonde, when her hair is visible).

Now if only Amy could remember her mask one of these times(and maybe it covers her hair? Or has an attached wig?)...It really isn't going to be hard to ID any of the heroes if they hop back from recording to recording. Though, if they can go far enough back (like the Detective may about to be doing) the MC is outed easily as well.

I'm curious about how the clue system is supposed/going to work. Is it just for us to notice plot points beforehand, or is there going to be a moment where it will have a gameplay mechanic connecting to a choice? Like both The Shadow and Surveillance seem to point to Whisper but there could be 3rd party, potentially. And it's pretty clear what the other three are, even with only 1-2 clues.

I do hope the MC starts to get a bit more proactive, rather than reactive. The first obvious steps are to formalise the team more, and start training, get those power levels up. Can't keep losing 5 days of time for a few minutes of power use. Sarah should be hired for MC & Greg's gym, and to train the hero MC and other supes in combat disciplines. Not sure if she spent enough time close to the stone to pick anything up, though obviously Amy, Aurora, and Samantha did. Possibly Greg and Sheila with their afternoon delight in MC's bedroom, but then Celeste may also have managed to slide under the wire for that too.

That leaves Cassandra as a potential candidate for Whisper, if it is a known character. But other than potential knowledge and access to the suit her skillset doesn't appear to be a match, though everyone can have their secrets. And from a Meta perspective, the last Unknown box might suggest it is held for Whisper.

From a purely subjective personal preference, I'd rather some of the redheads hair look less bottle red, and more one of the natural hues.

Not sure if/how/when the Survival or Heroic stats are going to come into play mechanically, or if they are just a log for the player to get a sense of their historical decisions. I leant Survival, as Endurance/Durability/Regeneration don't seem in the MCs wheelhouse, so a more intellectual/tactical/Batman approach made more sense to me.

Really engaging though, looking forward to the next release.

 

[Hungover00]

Click on what she's giving to Amy.

Peace

Yeah, that was extremely sus. Still not sure why we have the clues if we can't act on them or mention them. Maybe in chapter 4.

 

[MoonlightDevCorp]

Finished first playthrough, obviously Aurora is the sonic anti-corporate jewel thief (and she ain't wrong). Pretty natural match for a country girl with a French lineage. We learned the power of wigs with Celeste/Amethyst (as well as the Shadow/Whisper, who we see as both a redhead and blonde, when her hair is visible).

Now if only Amy could remember her mask one of these times(and maybe it covers her hair? Or has an attached wig?)...It really isn't going to be hard to ID any of the heroes if they hop back from recording to recording. Though, if they can go far enough back (like the Detective may about to be doing) the MC is outed easily as well.

I'm curious about how the clue system is supposed/going to work. Is it just for us to notice plot points beforehand, or is there going to be a moment where it will have a gameplay mechanic connecting to a choice? Like both The Shadow and Surveillance seem to point to Whisper but there could be 3rd party, potentially. And it's pretty clear what the other three are, even with only 1-2 clues.

I do hope the MC starts to get a bit more proactive, rather than reactive. The first obvious steps are to formalise the team more, and start training, get those power levels up. Can't keep losing 5 days of time for a few minutes of power use. Sarah should be hired for MC & Greg's gym, and to train the hero MC and other supes in combat disciplines. Not sure if she spent enough time close to the stone to pick anything up, though obviously Amy, Aurora, and Samantha did. Possibly Greg and Sheila with their afternoon delight in MC's bedroom, but then Celeste may also have managed to slide under the wire for that too.

That leaves Cassandra as a potential candidate for Whisper, if it is a known character. But other than potential knowledge and access to the suit her skillset doesn't appear to be a match, though everyone can have their secrets. And from a Meta perspective, the last Unknown box might suggest it is held for Whisper.

From a purely subjective personal preference, I'd rather some of the redheads hair look less bottle red, and more one of the natural hues.

Not sure if/how/when the Survival or Heroic stats are going to come into play mechanically, or if they are just a log for the player to get a sense of their historical decisions. I leant Survival, as Endurance/Durability/Regeneration don't seem in the MCs wheelhouse, so a more intellectual/tactical/Batman approach made more sense to me.

Really engaging though, looking forward to the next release.

Hello, and thank you for this nice feedback and all this analysis ^^ It means a lot for me, as my objective is exactly this kind of things with this game
Of course, I can't agree or deny anything you've supposed here.

But, for the last part, the Survival and Heroism stats mecanic will be, mainly, to decide some things during action and not action scene, regarding your previous style. To make those scene more "automatic", but also more personalized. The objective it to define your character in the first chapters. That way the story will adapt to this style after some time, and will ask you less and less to decide between Heroic and Survival

The clue system is to involve the player, and also to check if the MC have understand some things by himself, or if the story will have to "explain" it to him ^^

 

[Hungover00]

Hello, and thank you for this nice feedback and all this analysis ^^ It means a lot for me, as my objective is exactly this kind of things with this game
Of course, I can't agree or deny anything you've supposed here.

But, for the last part, the Survival and Heroism stats mecanic will be, mainly, to decide some things during action and not action scene, regarding your previous style. To make those scene more "automatic", but also more personalized. The objective it to define your character in the first chapters. That way the story will adapt to this style after some time, and will ask you less and less to decide between Heroic and Survival

The clue system is to involve the player, and also to check if the MC have understand some things by himself, or if the story will have to "explain" it to him ^^

Cool!

Just some feedback re: Survival/Heroism, the way I was playing my MC was mostly Survival in action moments, and Hero in more moral decisions (conversations). I don't know if there will be thresholds for any of those triggers where combinations might be possible, or if it is a better player decision to commit fully to one side or the other. Personally, since they aren't on a spectrum, but appear to be two different (though competing) stats it'd be interesting to see how they mesh. My first instinct was if going full Heroic it could easily lead to actions that may fall under 'foolhardy,' and pure survival might be interpreted as cowardice (though so far the MC is always a hero, it seems like it may be more Heroic=Brave/Bold Survival=Savvy/Thoughtful. But after playing Disco Elysium, I never can be sure if too much of something may end up as a bad thing.

The clue system sounds fun. My instant thought is if it isn't passive (3/8 clues MC almost has it, 5/8 clues gets the reveal, 8/8 clues MC can be extra prepared/smug about knowing the secret), it could be the chance for a simple mini-game/special screen or something. Like we could drag and drop the clues onto a conspiracy board and slowly more information about the secret is revealed. Probably not worth the effort coding, but popped into my brain, so I thought I'd share.

 

[Tremonia]

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Hello there!

For 5 days I was on a company seminar, first in Paris, then in Malta for 3 days.

It was great: boat, sea, pool, jacuzzi and restaurant, all paid for by my boss (I'd never have put that much money into it myself!).
On the downside, of course, I didn't have full access to my computer (although I have remote control software so I could still run it).

The upside (there are two, actually) is that :
- I was able to run the PC to render two large animations (300 frames each), there is a sample of that in the image of this news
- I had plenty of travel time to concentrate on writing. As a result, I've written 90% of the chapter, leaving just one romantic scene with... You'll find out by yourself.
Without further ado, here are the updated figures:
- 290 renders (not a huge leap forward)
- 1250 animated frames (three big animations done)
- 1650 scripted lines (but I've got 1200 lines of story written and waiting to be scripted, and that's a lot!) Which could mean over 4000 lines once scripted, or at least as many as chapter 3. And to tell the truth, I think I'll be more like 120% of chapter 3 by the end.

In short, I'm not going to say that this is the home stretch of course, but the long road to finishing this chapter is now all mapped out.

See you soon!

MoonLight