VN Ren'Py Hillside [v0.15 First Half] [DarkBlue]

[Blake45666]

Somebody earlier in the game mentioned that they had a plan. Just saying...

was that the stalker when he was in front of the house talking about the messages he's sending to Emma?

i just replayed this game and you're still making me wonder, dammit

time to dive in again

 

[B-52reloaded]

so i haven't really seen people talking here about Zak's declaration to his friends at the party
his next conquest (or victim depending on how you look at it) would be big and everyone would be talking about it

the obvious "choice" here would be that it's Emma he's talking about, but then i got to thinking, everybody seems to bully Emma and kind of dislike her so maybe everybody's reaction would be "why would he do that", then again he would have sex with a virgin and then dumping her so everybody would be laughing at that too

but

what if, he will try to get to Charlotte through Emma (so kind of Lucy's storyline but in a different way), now that people would be impressed by and still be laughing at Emma probably. I know it's far less likely to happen but i do think it's possible

i would love to see Zak get shot down tho by Charlotte and making MC throw him out... hard

what if Zak is the mastermind behind the Suzy blackmail and is trying to get in her pants? I mean that would be a major vicotry considering how popular Suzy is through her sports ... and I can see the headlines now: "competitive daughter of Charlotte Lloyd and future Olympic-medal -winner Suzy Lloyd fucked in the ass by Zak the Charming Prince of Hillside" !

 

[Walter Victor]

I mean... the only reason she's "18" is because of Patreon. Her "college" is pretty obviously a high school.

I don't disagree with you about Emma not acting as mature as an 18-year old, or that Patreon is a big reason for her claimed age. But I believe by the plot development that the school that Emma attends would be a Junior College or Community College in the USA - a one- or two-year program which would provide access to a full University for someone who hadn't been accepted out of high school.

 

[Trapezio]

I mean... the only reason she's "18" is because of Patreon. Her "college" is pretty obviously a high school.

She's 15 and her big sis just started University.

So, Charlotte turned 40 in this last update. Suzi is 19 and Emma is 15 (she's in high school, 2nd year).

What the story told us:

1. Charlotte turned 40 in 0.8 update.
2. Suzi just started University before the story begins, so she's 19 or 20.
3. Emma is a high school girl, and she just started her 2nd year. So, she's 15 if born in the first half of the year, 14 turning 15 if she was born in the second half of the year.
4. Dad left his family immediately after Emma was born.
5. Zak is a fucking asshole.

 

[Walter Victor]

I'm going to toss out a note of caution about this developer.

First though, I am a big fan with how this game has been told. And I have always maintained that developers should tell their story in the manner they choose, and let the chips fall where they may.

But we know little about this developer, other than his competence in telling a story. We have no idea when or even if he or she will resolve any of the issues raised by the plot, or if the game will be completed or abandoned, or just strung out for as long as the Patreon payments keep coming. We do know that there are developers out there who start games, string things along for months, and even years, only to abandon the game and start a new one, to repeat the process. Of course, those developers quickly gain a reputation that turns potential players off. Slonique comes immediately to mind.

I have no information that would indicate to me that this is one of those awful developers. I'm just raising a note of caution as we praise this developer for what has been provided thus far.

 

[Trapezio]

I don't disagree with you about Emma not acting as mature as an 18-year old, or that Patreon is a big reason for her claimed age. But I believe by the plot development that the school that Emma attends would be a Junior College or Community College in the USA - a one- or two-year program which would provide access to a full University for someone who hadn't been accepted out of high school.

Remember: Charlotte is 39-40 and Suzi is 19-20 FOR SURE. Mind the gap age between Emma and Suzi. Story told us that Emma just started her 2nd year after summer. So she's 15 (14 if she was born in september-december).

 

[cckerberos]

I don't disagree with you about Emma not acting as mature as an 18-year old, or that Patreon is a big reason for her claimed age. But I believe by the plot development that the school that Emma attends would be a Junior College or Community College in the USA - a one- or two-year program which would provide access to a full University for someone who hadn't been accepted out of high school.

I agree that community college would be a better fit than a four-year school like the one Suzi is attending, but it still has a lot of high school elements, like the hallway with the lockers and the fact that people like Zak and Jenny also go there (i.e., why aren't they at a four-year school?).

 

[RolandG.]

5. Zak is a fucking asshole.

you are right mister!

 

[troll822]

How much naughty content is there in this game? From the tags so far it seems pretty... tame for a game with so many updates. I am not trashing the game, mind you. I would just like to know whether it is just "heavy petting" so far or ... the tags are outdated.

 

[cxx]

How much naughty content is there in this game? From the tags so far it seems pretty... tame for a game with so many updates. I am not trashing the game, mind you. I would just like to know whether it is just "heavy petting" so far or ... the tags are outdated.

only some nudity at best.

 

[WCKD_FOX]

so i haven't really seen people talking here about Zak's declaration to his friends at the party
his next conquest (or victim depending on how you look at it) would be big and everyone would be talking about it

the obvious "choice" here would be that it's Emma he's talking about, but then i got to thinking, everybody seems to bully Emma and kind of dislike her so maybe everybody's reaction would be "why would he do that", then again he would have sex with a virgin and then dumping her so everybody would be laughing at that too

but

what if, he will try to get to Charlotte through Emma (so kind of Lucy's storyline but in a different way), now that people would be impressed by and still be laughing at Emma probably. I know it's far less likely to happen but i do think it's possible

i would love to see Zak get shot down tho by Charlotte and making MC throw him out... hard

Yeah, bang the virgin daughter of the most famous supermodel is a thing. But... she's a bullied girl, she's a nobody for everyone. And to become a legend, and not a school legend, but a Hillside legend, you have to break the bank !

The ultimate price is obviously Charlotte ! The "nobody could get her" is not about the virgin daughter but the hot mother that nobody in the industry got in years ! I think Zak, a spoiled brat with a lot of money, has hired Johno to take pics... of Emma, Charlotte, Suzi, whatever that gives him a leverage to blackmail Charlotte. It happens to be pics of Emma. By scaring the mother enough, he probably hopes to make a dark deal with her : "open your legs, or I make her live hell... maybe I'll fuck her, take pics, then throw her away like a shit and post everything on the school's wall if you resist". That kind of shit.

And Johno is just greedy. He hope to have his share of the loot. Took pics, send them to the client and now tries to blackmail the sister and confuses her enough to bang her (or make money as it was a given option), knowing she won't tell anyone. Low risks and good price ? I think that's where he's involved.


Or maybe that's total bullshit but, hey, that's a plan

 

[AL.d]

I mean... the only reason she's "18" is because of Patreon. Her "college" is pretty obviously a high school.

Even if that was the case, it still wouldn't be realistic. Unless it was set at an age before Internet, in some remote puritan town...

Which unironically, would fit better the whole famous model who got involved in a scandal and got isolated thing. Especially since female stars used to have it a lot harder back in the day.

 

[Virgile85]

Is there any sex???I checked it gallery. Each character have 20 scenes. But most of them have big black x on them.so any sex scenes??????

 

[RolandG.]

Is there any sex???I checked it gallery. Each character have 20 scenes. But most of them have big black x on them.so any sex scenes??????

not at the moment.

 

[Walter Victor]

Remember: Charlotte is 39-40 and Suzi is 19-20 FOR SURE. Mind the gap age between Emma and Suzi. Story told us that Emma just started her 2nd year after summer. So she's 15 (14 if she was born in september-december).

That is only if you assume that Emma is in high school. The ages are explicitly stated in the game: Charlotte, 39; Lucy, 34; Suzi, 20; Emma, 18. You can find those ages in the Characters section off the Main Menu. 18 doesn't make any sense for 2nd year of high school, if you accept those ages. They're the premise on which the developer is basing this game, so I accept them, despite the fact that Emma does not act like an 18-year old. That would make Charlotte 19 or perhaps 18 when Suzi was conceived, which is certainly feasible.

 

[Blake45666]

Is there any sex???I checked it gallery. Each character have 20 scenes. But most of them have big black x on them.so any sex scenes??????

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BigDaddyDom]

Dev, please ignore the few people complaining about Emma acting "too young." She's adorable and perfect exactly the way she is! Only thing I wish for is her to be lewded a bit quicker

 

[Holy Bacchus]

Most gripes I have seen are not because lack of sexual content... More so about the pace of the story progression.

I think the pacing is fine so far. Remember, we're talking about characters who are dealing with serious issues; Charlotte's suffering from severe trauma from years of sexual abuse and a near-death assault, Emma's suffering from systematic bullying that's affecting her self-confidence and self-worth as well as being very sheltered and too naively innocent for her own good, and Suzi is dealing with a blackmailer who's threatening to release scandalous pictures that could ruin her career and she's also a stuck-up brat. Even Lucy's not without her problems, because aside from taking on some of the burden of both Charlotte and Emma's problems, she's also dealing with her own insecurity of always being in Charlotte's shadow and with having guys get close to her only so they can get close to Charlotte. The MC's also not the most stable person either what with his apparent failure to keep a previous charge safe and it's deeply scarred him.

None of these issues are going to be resolved quickly, therefore progression with these characters and relationships is going to take time, and I think it's progressing well and at a fair pace because having the MC or any of these characters get into all sorts of raunchy, sexy shenanigans so early on just doesn't fit the tone of the story being told and would ruined things if it were to go down this route. This is a story about character building emotional connections with each other, not being vapid vessels of pure lust, and so the story is driving the eventual sex scenes and not the sex driving the story.

I'm going to toss out a note of caution about this developer.

First though, I am a big fan with how this game has been told. And I have always maintained that developers should tell their story in the manner they choose, and let the chips fall where they may.

But we know little about this developer, other than his competence in telling a story. We have no idea when or even if he or she will resolve any of the issues raised by the plot, or if the game will be completed or abandoned, or just strung out for as long as the Patreon payments keep coming. We do know that there are developers out there who start games, string things along for months, and even years, only to abandon the game and start a new one, to repeat the process. Of course, those developers quickly gain a reputation that turns potential players off. Slonique comes immediately to mind.

I have no information that would indicate to me that this is one of those awful developers. I'm just raising a note of caution as we praise this developer for what has been provided thus far.

I think this developer, so far, is very deserving of the praise they're receiving and I don't see any indication that this is a "milking" game.

For starters, the dev only has 3 subscription tiers; $1, $5, and $10. They currently have 597 patrons, so that means they're earning anything from $597 a month, to close to $6000 a month, and that's before Patreon takes their 30% cut. At the most, it's a decent amount of money, but it's not exactly "f*** you" money or even retirement money, not to mention that they won't have been earning this the whole time.

Secondly, I feel you can tell the difference between a milking game and a serious game. For me, milking games have no story. It's just all about sexual teasing and characters dancing around each other but with no actual plot beyond that. Also, they often feature standards character models, standard set pieces, and stuck-on clothes with no morphs, and even when the renders do look good, it's still just a ploy to draw people in. With serious games, you can tell that a lot more effort has gone into them, particularly when it comes to building the world around the characters and with how much depth the characters have. There's also an underlying story, whether that be something that arcs over all the characters, or it's individual character stories dealing with their own issues and problems to be resolved. So given all that, I'd class this as a serious game.

And finally, this game first released last year and in less than 10 months it's had 7 updates after its initial release. The updates haven't been particularly large in size, ranging from 138 renders in the first release to 359 in the recent update, but there's a lot of quality in each update in terms of the story and the development of these characters and their relationships to each other, so much so that we will likely see the biggest leap forward in the next update with regards to Charlotte and the MC. So, for a new developer, I think they're doing alright so far and setting a good pace. It might be another 2 or even 3 years to reach the end, but if it maintains and even improves on the quality seen so far, it will be one of the best games that's been made.

 

[B-52reloaded]

I think the pacing is fine so far. Remember, we're talking about characters who are dealing with serious issues; Charlotte's suffering from severe trauma from years of sexual abuse and a near-death assault, Emma's suffering from systematic bullying that's affecting her self-confidence and self-worth as well as being very sheltered and too naively innocent for her own good, and Suzi is dealing with a blackmailer who's threatening to release scandalous pictures that could ruin her career and she's also a stuck-up brat. Even Lucy's not without her problems, because aside from taking on some of the burden of both Charlotte and Emma's problems, she's also dealing with her own insecurity of always being in Charlotte's shadow and with having guys get close to her only so they can get close to Charlotte. The MC's also not the most stable person either what with his apparent failure to keep a previous charge safe and it's deeply scarred him.

None of these issues are going to be resolved quickly, therefore progression with these characters and relationships is going to take time, and I think it's progressing well and at a fair pace because having the MC or any of these characters get into all sorts of raunchy, sexy shenanigans so early on just doesn't fit the tone of the story being told and would ruined things if it were to go down this route. This is a story about character building emotional connections with each other, not being vapid vessels of pure lust, and so the story is driving the eventual sex scenes and not the sex driving the story.



I think this developer, so far, is very deserving of the praise they're receiving and I don't see any indication that this is a "milking" game.

For starters, the dev only has 3 subscription tiers; $1, $5, and $10. They currently have 597 patrons, so that means they're earning anything from $597 a month, to close to $6000 a month, and that's before Patreon takes their 30% cut. At the most, it's a decent amount of money, but it's not exactly "f*** you" money or even retirement money, not to mention that they won't have been earning this the whole time.

Secondly, I feel you can tell the difference between a milking game and a serious game. For me, milking games have no story. It's just all about sexual teasing and characters dancing around each other but with no actual plot beyond that. Also, they often feature standards character models, standard set pieces, and stuck-on clothes with no morphs, and even when the renders do look good, it's still just a ploy to draw people in. With serious games, you can tell that a lot more effort has gone into them, particularly when it comes to building the world around the characters and with how much depth the characters have. There's also an underlying story, whether that be something that arcs over all the characters, or it's individual character stories dealing with their own issues and problems to be resolved. So given all that, I'd class this as a serious game.

And finally, this game first released last year and in less than 10 months it's had 7 updates after its initial release. The updates haven't been particularly large in size, ranging from 138 renders in the first release to 359 in the recent update, but there's a lot of quality in each update in terms of the story and the development of these characters and their relationships to each other, so much so that we will likely see the biggest leap forward in the next update with regards to Charlotte and the MC. So, for a new developer, I think they're doing alright so far and setting a good pace. It might be another 2 or even 3 years to reach the end, but if it maintains and even improves on the quality seen so far, it will be one of the best games that's been made.

Thanks Holy Bacchus for stating it so clearly and eloquently. Sometimes I wonder why people doing amazing work both in writing & art must almost defend themselves of their brilliant work. Lets hope the dev will not be discouraged and will continue his wonderful VN for our benefits!

 

[Trapezio]

That is only if you assume that Emma is in high school. The ages are explicitly stated in the game: Charlotte, 39; Lucy, 34; Suzi, 20; Emma, 18. You can find those ages in the Characters section off the Main Menu. 18 doesn't make any sense for 2nd year of high school, if you accept those ages. They're the premise on which the developer is basing this game, so I accept them, despite the fact that Emma does not act like an 18-year old. That would make Charlotte 19 or perhaps 18 when Suzi was conceived, which is certainly feasible.

Man, Patreon explicitly prohibits depictions of minors performing sexual acts. What adjustments the Author had to do in order to follow their mandatory guidelines are crystal clear to me.

Aren't they crystal clear to you? well, I can't do anything about it.