VN Ren'Py Inner Growth [v1.8] [Morally Purple]

[Lou111]

There are scenes that are tied to light/dark route that you won't get without being on that path.

For instance, neutral path has to let Vanth have Catha which means Thalna or Atia don't save Selene which misses Selene's scene on light path and Deva's scene on dark. Only scene available is Vanth fucking Catha and Thalna joining in.

Gah! Ok ok... I struggle to see why it isn't more effective to allow the player to choose a path from the very start. Here's what I'd do:

Game Start
Choose your path: Light - Dark

During playthrough you get your chosen path choices, neutral choices, and then a fixed number of choices from the alternative path. Say the points start at three and you get an additional point per in-game day to choose something out of character so the player can get some flexibility outside of neutral choices. Of course there would be exceptions for major events like with Selene.

Anyway. Just don't like the whole no choice choices.

 

[Avaron1974]

Gah! Ok ok... I struggle to see why it isn't more effective to allow the player to choose a path from the very start. Here's what I'd do:

Game Start
Choose your path: Light - Dark

During playthrough you get your chosen path choices, neutral choices, and then a fixed number of choices from the alternative path. Say the points start at three and you get an additional point per in-game day to choose something out of character so the player can get some flexibility outside of neutral choices. Of course there would be exceptions for major events like with Selene.

Anyway. Just don't like the whole no choice choices.

Mainly because some of us pick dark choices on the light path which is why he is reducing the points needed.

Sometimes you just want to stomp a fool and there is no stomping on light path so we need dark choices for that.

 

[RC-1138 Boss]

Anyway. Just don't like the whole no choice choices.

Choice and consequence is one of the tried and true metods of bringing immersion to a game. Still it is good to have some leeway to make more different choices.

 

[Lou111]

Choice and consequence is one of the tried and true metods of bringing immersion to a game. Still it is good to have some leeway to make more different choices.

I agree entirely. According to the information I have, I have to be choose in accordance with the two paths available. I would like Morally Purple to confirm that the Darklight path (formally known as the neutral path) will be as rewarding as the other paths. While we await confirmation I'd like to point out that the Darklight path does theoretically have dedicated content and I don't see there being a Game Over as a result of choosing said path. Maybe the next fight will shed some light on this.


Yup. This is Big Brain shit guys. The big reveal is coming soon where choosing light or dark is actually hindering you. My patience will pay off later I will have the powers of both light and dark at my disposal! You'll see...

 

[RC-1138 Boss]

Your information is incorrect on that regard.
There are three paths. Either Thalna develop her light or dark powers and use them to cure Selene or she doesn't and is forced to accept the deal from Vanth.

No path leads to game over, only to some different story content and scenes.

 

[Avaron1974]

I agree entirely. According to the information I have, I have to be choose in accordance with the two paths available. I would like Morally Purple to confirm that the Darklight path (formally known as the neutral path) will be as rewarding as the other paths. While we await confirmation I'd like to point out that the Darklight path does theoretically have dedicated content and I don't see there being a Game Over as a result of choosing said path. Maybe the next fight will shed some light on this.


Yup. This is Big Brain shit guys. The big reveal is coming soon where choosing light or dark is actually hindering you. My patience will pay off later I will have the powers of both light and dark at my disposal! You'll see...

There is no game over but Thalna is practically powerless on the neutral path.

She even needs to let Vanth fuck her waifu to save her other waifu because she has no power to do it herself.

While it won't have any game overs it certainly won't be as rewarding and you'll be relying on other people to do the jobs she can't .... which will be basically everything.

Even Deva will be more powerful than neutral Thalna.

As for the next fight against Envy, both light and dark are powered up, neutral has nothing. My guess is the dedicated content for neutral Thalna is being made Envy's bitch.

 

[Lou111]

There is no game over but Thalna is practically powerless on the neutral path.

She even needs to let Vanth fuck her waifu to save her other waifu because she has no power to do it herself.

While it won't have any game overs it certainly won't be as rewarding and you'll be relying on other people to do the jobs she can't .... which will be basically everything.

Even Deva will be more powerful than neutral Thalna.

As for the next fight against Envy, both light and dark are powered up, neutral has nothing. My guess is the dedicated content for neutral Thalna is being made Envy's bitch.

Gah! If I don't give Envy a good pounding next patch then that's Game Over. Might have to re-roll

 

[ggvnn]

Thank you guys for the feedback.
As a huge fan of Mass Effect and Kotor I understand that the decision you are speaking of is too punishing regarding the point requirements. I will lower it to 13 of 19 possible points. The current requirements for either the light or dark path are 17 points.
I understand that you don't want to be forced all the time to make the "correct" decisions based on your current path.

I like this game and am very interested in supporting you guys. However it is currently not possible for me to do so on Patreon due to the limited currencies accepted on the platform. Is there a way to support you with crypto?

 

[ggvnn]

I like this game and am very interested in supporting you guys. However it is currently not possible for me to do so on Patreon due to the limited currencies accepted on the platform. Is there a way to support you with crypto?

 

[Morally Purple]

I like this game and am very interested in supporting you guys. However it is currently not possible for me to do so on Patreon due to the limited currencies accepted on the platform. Is there a way to support you with crypto?

Unfortunately you can only support the game via Patreon at the moment.

 

[acusrola]

The story's a bit all over the place, a few typo's here and there but I'm definitely looking forward for more

 

[Apostate]

I've been playing the game off and on since before 0.3. Skipped the last couple updates. I've virtually always chosen the "Light" path, and the avatar has those glowing blue crystal wing thingies, yet when Selene is hurt I'm still forced to "Give her Catha." to Vanth. People say that the light requirements have been lowered but I'm pretty sure that I'm glowing bright blue light and yet I'm still stuck. Is this due to using old saves? Something else?

 

[Coaxmetal]

I've been playing the game off and on since before 0.3. Skipped the last couple updates. I've virtually always chosen the "Light" path, and the avatar has those glowing blue crystal wing thingies, yet when Selene is hurt I'm still forced to "Give her Catha." to Vanth. People say that the light requirements have been lowered but I'm pretty sure that I'm glowing bright blue light and yet I'm still stuck. Is this due to using old saves? Something else?

They haven’t yet been lowered. Couple of the biggest options require near max points.

The visual does not matter. Even if you’re just slightly on the light path Thalna will look like that.

So it’s impossible to say if you’re bugged.

 

[Coaxmetal]

The story's a bit all over the place, a few typo's here and there but I'm definitely looking forward for more

How did you feel it was all over the place? What stood out?

I feel that the story is just beginning to open up, so it’s necessarily cryptic still.

I’m usually pretty sensitive to stuff like that and didn’t feel anything of the sort here. So color me intrigued.

 

[acusrola]

How did you feel it was all over the place? What stood out?

I feel that the story is just beginning to open up, so it’s necessarily cryptic still.

I’m usually pretty sensitive to stuff like that and didn’t feel anything of the sort here. So color me intrigued.

tl;dr: it's a porn game, my points are null

What I meant is that the story moves at a really rapid pace. I guess I'm projecting my expectation of a "regular" fiction story to this: character and story establishment, little world building, etc. Personally I don't play a lot of VNs, period. Played more in the past, but devs abandoning projects etc. have burned my interest. Seeing that this has had consistent updates made me feel confident enough to try - and as I said I'm definitively looking forward for more.

The problem is probably my expectation vs. what VNs usually are. As an example in the beginning, I honestly disliked how fast the MC and Selene (pimp girl?) became friends. In a porn game it's not realistic to have three chapters just on building a relationship between characters - because it's not the point, but that's kinda what I would like to see. Spoilers for later: how the MC & co. just move in to the mansion after trying to kill the antagonist is quite bizarre. Sure, MC & co. are quite powerful but the organization they are fighting against is supposed to pretty much run the city - that's what I gathered anyway. It can all be handwaved, of course, and as I was reading I didn't pay much attention to it, but after "post nut clarity" I started to consider these kinds of things. It's just best to turn off your brains and enjoy the hot chicks (+ chicks with dicks) going at it. But I can't really help myself to not think about these story beats.

As an aside, I really enjoy Thalna and Catha's relationship - both casual talking and the actual sex scenes *cough* preg-fetish and I am rooting for them, hoping they get a good ending (depending on players choices - of course).

Everything I typed above can be ignored as I'm probably fighting against 99 % of the audience in regards to having more story. It's a porn VN, obviously there's a focus to certain aspects - but is it wrong to hope for more?

PS. to the dev: If you did read the above, just ignore it. Your direction with this game is brilliant and dead on, the renders look fucking great, the UI looks great - I'm always glad to see effort put to it instead of the default renpy UI, the characters are attractive - especially the protagonist, the deuteragonist(s) and the antagonists. Don't burnout yourself, I really want to see how this ends.

 

[Coaxmetal]

^ Great points all around. It’s easy to get into the “AVN mindset” and just let things happen (too) quickly and easily.

By giving a pass all the time to these tropes we’d never get truly genre defining stories. Thanks for writing it up.

 

[acusrola]

It's a double edged sword. On the one hand I appreciate the visuals (in any visual novel), they are after all the meat of a visual novel. Moving to the sex scenes in a rapid fashion is only a positive then. Yet it is also a visual novel, there should be some writing in it.

That makes adult visual novels a bit conflicting: you don't want to spend 30 minutes with a dick in your hand waiting to crank one out, reading through bullshit you don't care whilst horny. And yet by having characters with actual personalities (when not a faceless player-insert) and interesting interactions that the player can see or is a part of, they become so much more memorable. Of course, it's up to the devs and writers to decide the direction they want to take - porn or writing, or whatever else.

Some of the most memorable characters in adult games for me have been those with a lot of "non-adult" writing - writing that isn't purely sexual. Someone like Ember in CoC or Bess in TiTS are those that I always think of when playing those games. Well, Ember is more a tsundere dragon and I just can't help myself. Bess has great sex scenes and an intriguing story that the player is directly a part of. Of course, both the games are an acquired taste as they are purely text with very few images - comparing them to a VN is hardly fair. The point is, that the writing of those characters - whether that be their personality that extends into how they act in bed, or their story in and outside the bed - is what makes them, to me, memorable.

In the end, as I said earlier, I'm probably in the minority when considering AVNs. It's easier, more popular, and more profitable to make simple stories with plenty of hot scenes. And when I say simple stories, I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence by saying they can't read or write detailed stories. My point being that if a player is looking to the game to jerk off, they won't care about the protagonists grocery list, they want to see the porn.

If I continue I'm just going to run (type?) in circles, retreading the same points. I'm just one of those freaks who appreciates porn with a plot.

/rant over: this is a porn/piracy forum, any kind of literary analysis can fuck off

 

[hakarlman]

Do you guys think most people who play the game want her to be dominant or submissive? Has there been any polls or anything?

Is anyone else having trouble getting over the uncanny valley effect with seeing 3D rendered futas; like real actual futas with dick & vagina, but no balls?

 

[acusrola]

Do you guys think most people who play the game want her to be dominant or submissive? Has there been any polls or anything?

Is anyone else having trouble getting over the uncanny valley effect with seeing 3D rendered futas; like real actual futas with dick & vagina, but no balls?

"Her to be dominant or submissive?" Who? Protagonist, deuteragonist, antagonist? If you're speaking about this game then I don't really see Thalna the protagonist as being all that dominant. Sure she is in a dominant position and usually on top but I don't really see her dialogue being dominant or at least it isn't to my mind.

"Uncanny valley effect?" Personally there's no uncanny valley for me in any of the characters - it's a fantasy so I can kind turn my mind off and the graphics aren't hyper real. But I will say that futa without balls is always inferior and it looks weird.

 

[Aioto]

"Her to be dominant or submissive?" Who? Protagonist, deuteragonist, antagonist? If you're speaking about this game then I don't really see Thalna the protagonist as being all that dominant. Sure she is in a dominant position and usually on top but I don't really see her dialogue being dominant or at least it isn't to my mind.

Well, to me she seems mostly dominant. The only thing that make her look less dominant would be her inexperience, you know, the fact she is out on the world for the first time and that she is just learning magic.

"Uncanny valley effect?" Personally there's no uncanny valley for me in any of the characters - it's a fantasy so I can kind turn my mind off and the graphics aren't hyper real. But I will say that futa without balls is always inferior and it looks weird.

To me it doesn't make a difference if the futa has balls or not. For a good while I only saw futas without balls, to the point that when I first saw a futa with balls I thought it was weird and they shouldn't be there.