VN Ren'Py It's Just a Game [v0.4.1] [DigiDec]

[Buletti]

But do you actually want to...

or would you rather teach her a lesson?

Is this even a question?

 

[yoyomistro]

But do you actually want to...

or would you rather teach her a lesson?

Aren't those the same thing though ?

 

[Dr. Mick]

Aren't those the same thing though ?

They certainly could be, or you could just want to punish her. Depends on how magnanimous you're feeling.

 

[Canto Forte]

Those scenes need to be designed as tools that should get put to good use by players, because this is not a rom-com where we simply eat popcorn and watch, this is a game and the only satisfaction outside of the scenes in game are the choices we get to make based on the info we are shown. Perspectives are good if they lead to a close call we as players can make for MC - we are in agreement that this game spices the life MC would have gone living had we not been given what little impact we have on it, so that extened scenes showing the meaning of some of the thoughts or remarks other characters give MC are only feel good if they result in us making a more spiced up/better choices for MC, as opposed to letting him be in the dark and drone on like he did the first time we saw him - you do remmember the constant Errors and brain wipes MC was subjectted to every couple a minutes.

I struggled a lot with how much stuff I wanted to show that was outside the MC's perspective. The more of it I show the more it influences the player's idea of how the MC should react or what they would do.

Good games show unexpected ways out of situations MC would flunk otherwise, or give the players enough outside perspectives for them tomake the informed choice of bailing MC out of his dead end sim and his dead end job and his dead end relationships. That is the spice of gaming and trying new things - to explore other avenues outside of what realistically any of us would do otherwise with the opportunities MC is afforded in this game.

Maybe I just have a lower opinion of people than most players.

The thing is, when you give options for us to choose to be confrontational or noncompliant, you allow for us to jump the shark on choices a pure linear book or movie would put in front of MC maybe some scenes later than when we get the choice.
Therefore, we do get the possibility to break the mold and seemingly fly off script in the unknowns of this game.

I also don't think the players who expect the MC to be quicker to confront people/things actually behave that way in real life. If the "realistic" or "expected" response was to default toward challenging everyone who does something questionable or directly and openly addressing all of our concerns I'm pretty sure the world would look a lot different than it does.

Maybe it's the AI that the company uses and not Qai, I don't know, but it manipulates the behaviour and perception of the whole MC's family.

Qai is now built in the company AI, pretty sure the tech wizz sister already has her nimble fingers coding her into a pliant interface that eases players better into their sims. MC is a coder in there, he knows the ins and outs and we have expectations on him to use such info when he talks to Qai or to the sister coder, but we get him hopeless at times and not ready to swiftly and directly help Qai adjust - he could just give her machine coding hints or nudges to work around the bugs or squash them, but her is just as hopeless as anybody else in the sims he enters. Neo when?

 

[yoyomistro]

View attachment 4032266
Those scenes need to be designed as tools that should get put to good use by players, because this is not a rom-com where we simply eat popcorn and watch, this is a game and the only satisfaction outside of the scenes in game are the choices we get to make based on the info we are shown. Perspectives are good if they lead to a close call we as players can make for MC - we are in agreement that this game spices the life MC would have gone living had we not been given what little impact we have on it, so that extened scenes showing the meaning of some of the thoughts or remarks other characters give MC are only feel good if they result in us making a more spiced up/better choices for MC, as opposed to letting him be in the dark and drone on like he did the first time we saw him - you do remmember the constant Errors and brain wipes MC was subjectted to every couple a minutes.


Good games show unexpected ways out of situations MC would flunk otherwise, or give the players enough outside perspectives for them tomake the informed choice of bailing MC out of his dead end sim and his dead end job and his dead end relationships. That is the spice of gaming and trying new things - to explore other avenues outside of what realistically any of us would do otherwise with the opportunities MC is afforded in this game.



The thing is, when you give options for us to choose to be confrontational or noncompliant, you allow for us to jump the shark on choices a pure linear book or movie would put in front of MC maybe some scenes later than when we get the choice.
Therefore, we do get the possibility to break the mold and seemingly fly off script in the unknowns of this game.



Qai is now built in the company AI, pretty sure the tech wizz sister already has her nimble fingers coding her into a pliant interface that eases players better into their sims. MC is a coder in there, he knows the ins and outs and we have expectations on him to use such info when he talks to Qai or to the sister coder, but we get him hopeless at times and not ready to swiftly and directly help Qai adjust - he could just give her machine coding hints or nudges to work around the bugs or squash them, but her is just as hopeless as anybody else in the sims he enters. Neo when?

This isn't some Marty Stu power fantasy... there are plenty enough of those on this site. The story has rhetorical/narrative goals it's trying to achieve, and those adhere more closely to realistic standards outside of the more philosophical inquisitions. The liminal aspects are where you have the opportunity to break from realism in service of exploration of the characters' minds and probing the unreliability of human perception.

Even at those points though, while there is wiggle room to explore more crazy situations, I believe we're still going to end up adhering to a coherent narrative track where the stakes are based in reality, with characters assessing their capabilities against one another and dealing with fog-of-war situations like you would in adversarial situations in real life.

I'm not the writer though, so maybe you'll get your Neo-shark-jumping moment =P.

 

[DigiDec]

I've mentioned this on my SubStar but I'm a little bit behind were I wanted to be with finishing up this update, although it is starting to look like it might be a little bigger than originally planned. This past week, and for a few more days, I've had some stuff going on (nothing bad) that cuts into my work time. I'm still hoping to finish up around the end of the month but for now here are some random renders.

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[Buletti]

I've mentioned this on my SubStar but I'm a little bit behind were I wanted to be with finishing up this update, although it is starting to look like it might be a little bigger than originally planned. This past week, and for a few more days, I've had some stuff going on (nothing bad) that cuts into my work time. I'm still hoping to finish up around the end of the month but for now here are some random renders.

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Random renders rock!

Cheers to you Mate.

 

[Dr. Mick]

I've mentioned this on my SubStar but I'm a little bit behind were I wanted to be with finishing up this update, although it is starting to look like it might be a little bigger than originally planned. This past week, and for a few more days, I've had some stuff going on (nothing bad) that cuts into my work time. I'm still hoping to finish up around the end of the month but for now here are some random renders.

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Still love that Ness' little weights are pastel pink. The duality of her tough vs cutsie sides to her persona are adorable.

 

[jI11jaCksjAkk]

DLed the current update when it came out because the game looks interesting, but waiting on an updated WTmod to play. Unfortunately, despite conversation having now moved on to the next update the WT mod hasn't even been updated to the current version yet after a month-and-a-half, and that modder seems to be yet another one who has disappeared off of f95 (not here since 08/13). Anyone know if any other modders have indicated that they are working on updating/replacing the WTmod anytime soon?

 

[Dr. Mick]

DLed the current update when it came out because the game looks interesting, but waiting on an updated WTmod to play. Unfortunately, despite conversation having now moved on to the next update the WT mod hasn't even been updated to the current version yet after a month-and-a-half, and that modder seems to be yet another one who has disappeared off of f95 (not here since 08/13). Anyone know if any other modders have indicated that they are working on updating/replacing the WTmod anytime soon?

Sorry to say that a few of the modders have gone absent from F95.
A couple new ones have sprung up to take their place in a number of cases, but not nearly all.

If you don't mind doing a bit of learning, you can look at the Universal Ren'Py Mod (URM).
It will give you some extra features, without telling you which choices to make. For this type of game, it's probably one of the better options.

 

[jI11jaCksjAkk]

If you don't mind doing a bit of learning, you can look at the Universal Ren'Py Mod (URM).
It will give you some extra features, without telling you which choices to make. For this type of game, it's probably one of the better options.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I came hear for lewd AVNs to pull blood down and out of my brain, NOT to think or learn and push more blood up and into it, FFS.

I've had the UM for a bit and used it a couple times for specific things, but I'm shamefully lazy in my old age, so I was hoping somebody else was working on it for me. I don't mind waiting if there is any hope someone will make a mod I can just paste in without all that thinking that just makes me sleepy.

 

[yoyomistro]

Sorry to say that a few of the modders have gone absent from F95.
A couple new ones have sprung up to take their place in a number of cases, but not nearly all.

If you don't mind doing a bit of learning, you can look at the Universal Ren'Py Mod (URM).
It will give you some extra features, without telling you which choices to make. For this type of game, it's probably one of the better options.

I've mentioned this before I think, but this is why I don't get try for the modder tag even though I have a few of them under my belt... nothing dampens an update coming out for a game more than knowing a bunch of people are expecting me to make my modifications available to them. It's so much more work, too, since you have to make sure it's workable for people who aren't in your head. You have to make sure the graphics convey all the changes you made, indicate things you wouldn't bother to if you just made it for yourself, or make buttons for things you'd normally just do in the console.

The worst is when you make a mod for a game you think is decent at first, but then grow to dislike it, and still feel obligated to interact with it since people are expecting you to make it playable for them lol...

 

[Buletti]

I've mentioned this before I think, but this is why I don't get try for the modder tag even though I have a few of them under my belt... nothing dampens an update coming out for a game more than knowing a bunch of people are expecting me to make my modifications available to them. It's so much more work, too, since you have to make sure it's workable for people who aren't in your head. You have to make sure the graphics convey all the changes you made, indicate things you wouldn't bother to if you just made it for yourself, or make buttons for things you'd normally just do in the console.

The worst is when you make a mod for a game you think is decent at first, but then grow to dislike it, and still feel obligated to interact with it since people are expecting you to make it playable for them lol...

Soo, we can DM you now, If we want to get a mod working?



Sorry mate, just kidding. I never play with mods and would not just annoy anyone via DM except the gamedev if I feel it necessary.

 

[Ciaran8023]

You can fix her...

maybe.

The real question is; can I make her worse?

 

[PickerLewd]

I didn't understand anything, . I think it ends inside the simulation, but the truth is you can't trust anyone, it's all very strange.

 

[DigiDec]

The real question is; can I make her worse?

Define worse...

I didn't understand anything, . I think it ends inside the simulation, but the truth is you can't trust anyone, it's all very strange.

I certainly can't guarantee that everything will make sense any time soon (or ever) but yes, the current content ends with the MC logged into a simulation. I hope you're enjoying it even if you feel a bit lost and if it makes you feel better, you're sort of supposed to feel a little lost.

In other news, I got hit by that storm. Lost power for a few days, internet for a few more. I've only just got back up and running so as you might have guessed, I did not get a release ready by the end of September.
I'll give you all a better update when I get a more clear timetable. Hopefully the rest of you made it through safe and dry!

 

[RandomGuy99]

Define worse...


I certainly can't guarantee that everything will make sense any time soon (or ever) but yes, the current content ends with the MC logged into a simulation. I hope you're enjoying it even if you feel a bit lost and if it makes you feel better, you're sort of supposed to feel a little lost.

In other news, I got hit by that storm. Lost power for a few days, internet for a few more. I've only just got back up and running so as you might have guessed, I did not get a release ready by the end of September.
I'll give you all a better update when I get a more clear timetable. Hopefully the rest of you made it through safe and dry!

That must be one hell of a storm to be that bad

 

[PickerLewd]

I don't know what kind of storm they're talking about, but it must have been something very strong to send them back to the Middle Ages for several days .

I'm glad it was nothing serious (I think).

 

[Dr. Mick]

That must be one hell of a storm to be that bad

I don't know what kind of storm they're talking about, but it must have been something very strong to send them back to the Middle Ages for several days .

I'm glad it was nothing serious (I think).

It was Hurricane Helene, and the tropical storms that surrounded her, causing damage, death, and power outages across the southeastern United States.

 

[Buletti]

It was Hurricane Helene, and the tropical storms that surrounded her, causing damage, death, and power outages across the southeastern United States.

Sounds pretty horrible. Glad Digi is okay and can get back at it.

Cheers to all the emergency teams!