VN Ren'Py Hillside [v0.15.1] [DarkBlue]

[rev_01]

Ok,
So I am a fresh set of eyes here. I am a proof reader on a few AVN, and I have to say that the story here is engaging. What I am not seeing is much in the way of a path forward. Charlotte is TOO shut down. Lucy is TOO ready, and Emma is not an issue. I have zero sexual attraction to Emma, because of the story, I bought into the protector role and I likely will never breech that. Charlotte and Lucy on the other hand, I am attracted to. Both are age appropriate, but the path forward is very murky. If I want to be with Lucy, I can see that, but so far I have found nothing to suggest ADULT in the content. I prefer the elusive prey of Charlotte, and as a former security specialist, turned engineer, turned government drone, now retired, I think the qualms of the MC are well written. What I do not like is the absolute lack of something to pull me forward. I appreciate a good story, but for commercial success there needs to be some actual porn quality renders, and I have seen zero in every attempt to play. This is an unforgiving environment, and while I like the MC, there needs to be a pull to invest, to spend money to support the dev. It is not here. I offer my own writing as I spent 16 years in technical writing and editing for the US department of Homeland security so I have skill, my talent I am willing to audition. You guys need help... Just saying. Otherwise I wish you the best of luck

At the end of the day, Hillside is a Visual Novel with Adult elements, not an adult game with story elements. It is putting story first and the adult elements will come but not now. It's very simple really, if people are looking for a game with things like handjobs, blowjobs, fingering, sex, etc. instantly or near the start of the game, this is not the place to find it. There are some scenes with Lucy masturbating and her tits are also shown on display sometimes, but the two main characters, Charlotte and Emma, it doesn't fit their story at all. There are plenty of other games that are sex sims that people can play. It was known from the start this would be a slow burn.

Also DB doesn't really need help with writing actually. He's open to ideas but he's already got a lot of the story fleshed out and knows which direction he wants to take the game and all so I think he's all set on that. Trust me, the story will get very interesting and will contain the adult elements people so desperately want, but as they say, patience is a virtue.

 

[michael1984]

This game is pretty gud storywise ... has its heartbreaking moments with charlotte ... and the bully who is targetting Emma

Do hope we can actually fight those dirt bags and kick the shit outta them anytime soon

 

[Naxos]

It didn't happen to me. I replayed the game from scratch.

Happened to me and I replayed from scratch too. I didn't touch it on the last update, when some of the stuff was reworked. Skipped that update and just waited for this one. But started this from scratch.

No mods or walkthroughs.

the problem with how slow it is isn't just the sex everything is slow hes been there for 2 weeks now and still knows as much as when he arrived, Charlotte still cant stand to look at him let alone ask him for his help to protect her even tho she letting him protect her 18yo daughter

Do you really expect someone with the kind of scaring and trauma that Charlie has to change in two weeks? Especially when she's hardly spent any time with him in that two weeks? It would be different if he was spending as much time with her as he is with Emma, but he's hardly ever alone with her and every time she comes close to opening up in the slightest when they are alone someone comes and interrupts them.

There is nothing unrealistic there. Also Charlie is slowly seeing that she can trust him a little, or at least that's the vibe I'm getting. She's seeing he's doing well with Emma and Emma is opening up and become a little less shy with him around, also she's not saying she hates him and wants him out every second now.

 

[SSJGOD]

Finally found a new game that I enjoyed.. It is interesting and new. I have to start putting together a list of my favorite games.

 

[Naxos]

Like many others I get frustrated by the I can't tell X lines, but I can understand it in the sense of the story. Charlie is someone who covers things up and pretends things are normal when they are not, as is evidenced by her assault and cover-up. Her daughters and even her sister would have learnt that from her either subconsciously or consciously.

You can even see it in some of Emma's internal dialogue, she knows her mom is not telling her everything and is lying about something but is not willing to confront her and is instead attempting to seduce, even if she's unaware of that, the MC to telling her.

What annoys and frustrates me more in games though is when someone starts revealing something important then changes their mind halfway through or is interrupted.

Yeah I am with you 100%. Emma is cute and all but I really only see her as a 'daughter' figure. am not really interested in Charlotte at all other than trying to gain her trust and hopefully get her to see that not all men are bad. Lucy is kinda my main girl right now. Especially after her opening up to the MC and showing her vulnerabilities. It was a sweet and maybe even a romantic moment in my eyes.

Off topic... I love your profile picture

Same, I've already taken on the role of Emma's adoptive Father in my mind, and this won't be one of those incestuous stories. What concerns me with the way games often work is you go through making the right choices to build up her confidence and character and favour etc, which is all fine and then somewhere down the line you're locked into a sex scene because of those choices. Telling your daughter she's beautiful and attractive etc is fine and healthy (depending on how you do it) and even essential in some ways, but that doesn't mean you need to shag her. I hope when it comes to it, there is chance to close that door on anything sexual with Emma, while still being able to increase her favour and love etc.

"Hey MC, I was physically and sexually assaulted and now I am in constant fear that something like that could happen to my daughter. Let's go fuck"

Wait, you mean that's not how it works? Damn porn has lied to me !

 

[preskerd]

, I've already taken on the role of Emma's adoptive Father in my mind, and this won't be one of those incestuous stories. What concerns me with the way games often work is you go through making the right choices to build up her confidence and character and favour etc, which is all fine and then somewhere down the line you're locked into a sex scene because of those choices. Telling your daughter she's beautiful and attractive etc is fine and healthy (depending on how you do it) and even essential in some ways, but that doesn't mean you need to shag her. I hope when it comes to it, there is chance to close that door on anything sexual with Emma, while still being able to increase her favour and love etc.

I mean it's okay if you don't want to but many of us wants to romance with her for sure. Also it's not even close incest lol we know her for like 2 weeks and they don't share any blood whatsoever. If you see as your daughter... oh well that's your choice. For me my mc wants to romance her, protect her and ends up with her when the story is finished. But I'm pretty sure there will be option to opt out her romance same as other characters. You won't have to make love with her or even be in an intimate relationship with her. So you will be good. But I don't think expecting the same amount of content is logical. There will be a different content if you just want to be a father figure for her or becoming her special one which she loves you and wants to spend her rest of life with you. Ofc the later choice will have more content about her it's only natural. It would be the same exact thing if you choose Charlie or Lucy or Suzy as well.

 

[Arigon]

I can definitely say I will not be sexual with Emma. Lucy.. she is the path that worries me. Part of me ( hopefully the better part) would like/love her for her and never touch her sister. On the other hand Charlotte also has heart strings to tug. Being a decent guy would mean having a relationship with her and no one else.
it will be interesting to see how this rolls out. I don’t see a sharing path happening, but I could be wrong. The characters don’t feel right for that. I could be wrong and this could become ridiculous like WVM and all may throw themselves on my godly cock, but that’s not the vibe I’m getting.
which is good. WVM is quite literally IQ dropping.
I like this because it is different. My favorite adult novel is Heavy Five and it is a story that is relatively lower on sex but high in greatness. This hints at some of that. No creepy young MC fucking every relative in sight, no rising star fucking everything in sight as easily as changing underwear, good times so far!

 

[Ragnar]

The one thing I'll say that about this update is that's made me look forward to the next one because hopefully Charlotte will finally see that the MC is a good guy and stop being so cold and dismissive towards him. I get that she's been traumatised but bad men in her past, and I know we're still very early on in the game, but how she treats and thinks about the MC is starting to get really old really fast. The 0.7 update needs to have something happen to make her drop her guard and start to finally trust him.

0.6 already has some hints about Charlotte liking the MC like something more than a bodyguard. Read her thoughs the morning after. She's still cofused because she hates men in general but if the MC does something, like btfo of some dude to protect her in the next update that can change things faster.

If you're looking for a fapfest type of game then you're in the wrong place. This "slow burn" is part of telling a good story, there's a plethora of games with more fucking than an actual story, this isn't one of them obviously and I'm cool with that. I've reached my quota on those type of games but I look to games like Hillside to hopefully find an engaging story and I've found that. From a logic standpoint you can't expect a woman with practically PTSD in Charlotte to just fall in MC's arms in 6 updates, and Emma doesn't even know how to interact with boys yet, the only boy she's ever cared about or crushed on was a douchy movie star. So now she's supposed to be just forget about all of that now that MC in there? Let's be real people.

If the pace isn't your thing or is frustrating then take a break from it, skip a couple of updates if you need to, but please don't go bitching the Dev out about pace because the last thing I want is rushed low quality content.

Just no, BaDIK has a great story and it's one of the most popular games around. You can't fuck everyone in BaDIK but you can have sex with many of the girls.
Having a strong plot doesn't mean no sex until the end.
Talking about Hillside Emma and Charlotte should take more time to bang because how they are, but Lucy, Suzi and others don't have to be that hard to crack.

 

[Chris_Prat]

Narrative's good, very good indeed. With time you can enjoy the story so far. Eventually the MC will take revenge (will be a bloody revenge, I hope) about all that Hillside' scum shown till' then..
On the other hand, about that showed on the lewd side, it's a bit frustrating that it's too little in fact. Don't like that thing where the MC fuck every girl in no time (I feel always that it's rushed and predictable), but some middle term would be good in this case.. To say that whoever wants to try this game should be a bit patient yet..

 

[Arigon]

I’m both a fan of a huge critic of BaDIK. I think that stories like that cater to a different mindset than Hillside. Undeniably BaDIK has a large following, but it is, at the end of the day, good bro writing, shitty other writing with fantastic renders and plenty of sex. Bella is my all time fav girl. But in Hillside we have a story building. I love that. Heavy Five does that, Leap of Faith does it though you can get sex quickly, that won’t necessarily end well.
I think Hillside’s dev needs a boost, but overall is doing a great job. The story got me instantly with the more mature MC, the option to be a Good Guy. Not creeping. Charlotte clearly Does have PTSD and rightfully so. That portrayal is spot on.
this isn’t light hearted. It has a dark concept, and yet there is a dark hero who could save the day, beat the shit out of or execute the bad folks, and some very attractive ladies to romance. I have bought and played incest games, both the moronic walking dick kid and the ultra shit dad. I have bought and played college fuck fest games. In my mind those are all far behind games or novels that actually tell a good (light or dark) story.
Hillside, City of Broken Dreamers, Heavy Five, Sorcerer, Time for You, Life Happened, Timestamps, Leap of Faith are all in my opinion, far and away superior. I look forward to how this will progress.

 

[BigDaddyDom]

I know DarkBlue said there wouldn't be an incest in this game, but that sleeping naked scene between Charlotte and Lucy? And that tickling and spanking of Emma from Charlotte?? Maybe there's hope? Even just a dream sequence would be nice!

 

[Naxos]

I mean it's okay if you don't want to but many of us wants to romance with her for sure. Also it's not even close incest lol we know her for like 2 weeks and they don't share any blood whatsoever. If you see as your daughter... oh well that's your choice. For me my mc wants to romance her, protect her and ends up with her when the story is finished. But I'm pretty sure there will be option to opt out her romance same as other characters. You won't have to make love with her or even be in an intimate relationship with her. So you will be good. But I don't think expecting the same amount of content is logical. There will be a different content if you just want to be a father figure for her or becoming her special one which she loves you and wants to spend her rest of life with you. Ofc the later choice will have more content about her it's only natural. It would be the same exact thing if you choose Charlie or Lucy or Suzy as well.

Yeah and nothing wrong with wanting to go the Emma route. My incest comment is aimed those who would say "oh it's fine, be her father and fuck her" like some of these games. I don't expect the same amount of content either. My point was about choosing an option on like day x that locks you into a sex scene 5 days later. So if you want to avoid it, you have go back, change that choice and replay the last 5 days worth of content.

I don’t see a sharing path happening, but I could be wrong. The characters don’t feel right for that. I could be wrong and this could become ridiculous like WVM and all may throw themselves on my godly cock, but that’s not the vibe I’m getting.
which is good. WVM is quite literally IQ dropping.

I agree with you on the not feeling right about them sharing. But comparing this to WVM and slating it is disingenuous and unfair to the dev of either game. They are two totally different types of games. No reason to insult one to try make the other seem better. Comments like that are quite literally IQ dropping.

Rather compare it to another story rich game in the same tone like Leap of Faith or even Lexi, though I'd dare say Lexi is no where near as serious as this.

 

[Arigon]

I am not being unkind so much as expressing a preference. True I did refer to WVM in a non complimentary fashion, but that is more for the utter ridiculous nature of the MC collecting pussy like it is a trading card. This game and the others I mentioned are setting things up in a more believable fashion, even if still fictional. Hillside has a real strength going for it with laying out the story. WVM and similar novel/games do not in my opinion have that strength.

 

[Ragnar]

Hillside, City of Broken Dreamers, Heavy Five, Sorcerer, Time for You, Life Happened, Timestamps, Leap of Faith are all in my opinion, far and away superior. I look forward to how this will progress.

Well, Phillygames Depraved Awakening and CoBD are good examples of heavy story driven VNs with tons of sex.
My point was that having a good story doesn't mean No sex until marriage

 

[Arigon]

Well, Phillygames Depraved Awakening and CoBD are good examples of heavy story driven VNs with tons of sex.
My point was that having a good story doesn't mean No sex until marriage

Absolutely agree!!
We have good reasons for the lack of sex in Hillside so far though. I’m sure it will cum lol

 

[BigDaddyDom]

My point was that having a good story doesn't mean No sex until marriage

Totally agree, a good story and sex content aren't mutually exclusive. Hillside is still developing the story, but I hope it won't be one of those games that stretches out the sex until the very end of the game. Hopefully we can at least get a bit more lewds in the meantime

 

[J.R.]

I compare Hillside a bit with the game Rebirth in this point: Very good story and characters, good graphics, actually sexy woman/girls, but the lewd content comes much later than in the usual games here on F95zone (in Rebirth after more than a year of development!). And I still - or maybe just because they don't rush things - really love these two games so far.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

0.6 already has some hints about Charlotte liking the MC like something more than a bodyguard. Read her thoughs the morning after. She's still cofused because she hates men in general but if the MC does something, like btfo of some dude to protect her in the next update that can change things faster.

I was wondering that myself because I was thinking maybe the reason that she's resistant is because she's started to like having him around but is still scared to open up to him and let him in.

 

[Irgendwie Irgendwo]

Forgot two points yesterday concerning missing scenes and it would be nice if they could be filled in a future rewrite:

- After Charlotte's screw up with the open door MC says that they really have to amp up outdoor security and he will have to carry his pistol. Even though Charlotte shot that down previously. That incident was the first time any of these things were mentioned. So it would be nice that we could get an earlier dialogue in which MC suggests that and Char actually refuses both.

 

[JeremyCole300]

If I wasn't before, the pierced nipples have in love with Lucy!