Ren'Py Kaedama [v0.0.7] [Kaeru]

[KaeruVN]

I like the VN mechanics and experience, but so i read that some specific responses unlock more content, then i gotta ask if you will make a guide to help not missing those key words while playing.

There are a few secrets you can unlock, not through specific responses, but through hidden objects in the background that will change brightness when you hover over them.
Easiest advice/tip I can give in terms of what other responses to try out is to remember this is an AVN, so respond like a degenerate would react, be overly flirtatious or be extremely mean.

On the one hand, it looks good and I like the character designs. On the other hand, there seems to be no explanation or background, you are just plopped in the middle of things and that leaves everything afterwards with a huge disconnect. I was just lost the entire time.

And, unfortunately, while the input system you have made is interesting, it just really does not work. Both for the issues of the player not knowing what to type, breaking the flow of the scene, having to actually type and spell check, and the actual responses. Every response a character has to what is typed feels disconnected, it is very distracting.

Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it.
If you could be so kind, could you tell me what types of responses you tried? The input system is still very much at its infancy, so as updates come out, I'll try to fix and adjust where needed.
I'll definitely rework the entire tutorial in the next update, so there's no more confusion about what responses to give, because you really only have to respond to whatever question is being asked, usually with a yes or no.

 

[PioTinX]

There are a few secrets you can unlock, not through specific responses, but through hidden objects in the background that will change brightness when you hover over them.
Easiest advice/tip I can give in terms of what other responses to try out is to remember this is an AVN, so respond like a degenerate would react, be overly flirtatious or be extremely mean.


Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it.
If you could be so kind, could you tell me what types of responses you tried? The input system is still very much at its infancy, so as updates come out, I'll try to fix and adjust where needed.
I'll definitely rework the entire tutorial in the next update, so there's no more confusion about what responses to give, because you really only have to respond to whatever question is being asked, usually with a yes or no.

Thanks for the nice answer and tips, they helped me to type various responses, then just saying it would be nice to have a in-game system that could help to get hints on what actions or attitude you take while answering the girls to get all the possible content from them, it could be done based on the feedback or the routes to get the better results with the girl you are tryna go for the most at the time.

 

[Silentdeath8]

There are no real right responses, but the rule of thumb is to be nice and answer yes to everything. If you're at the first introduction scene, you can say whatever you want to find out some information about the girl you're talking to.

Your game look interesting at first sight, however he isn't non-english players friendly... all i can write is yes/ok or no... so your game mechanic is just wasted in my case, even more if you put some specific words with easter eggs... it's already good i'm able to read & understand the story, but playing this kind of mechanic is beyond my capacity... & if i have to keep the traductor open near the game to translate every sentences i have to write your game will quickly become a burden to play & lost his appeal.

Anyways good luck with your game.

 

[KaeruVN]

Thanks for the nice answer and tips, they helped me to type various responses, then just saying it would be nice to have a in-game system that could help to get hints on what actions or attitude you take while answering the girls to get all the possible content from them, it could be done based on the feedback or the routes to get the better results with the girl you are tryna go for the most at the time.

I'm sadly not planning on adding a real guide or hint mechanic, I mostly want to player to fully immersive themselves and respond as they'd really respond to a question. I try to keep the questions as easy as possible and you mostly just need to look at their expression or general personality to figure out what answer they might like.
You won't really lose out on any content so far with your responses, at most you'll miss 3 or 4 lines of dialogue. And if there are any places you're stuck at, I'm always open for dms.

Your game look interesting at first sight, however he isn't non-english players friendly... all i can write is yes/ok or no... so your game mechanic is just wasted in my case, even more if you put some specific words with easter eggs... it's already good i'm able to read & understand the story, but playing this kind of mechanic is beyond my capacity... & if i have to keep the traductor open near the game to translate every sentences i have to write your game will quickly become a burden to play & lost his appeal.

Anyways good luck with your game.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It might not be very non-English player friendly in that regard, the more "easter-egg" type responses might be hidden, but I've designed it with simplicity in my mind, if you understand English at a basic level, you should be able to unlock/advance any route you choose, fancy words won't really give you anything special besides some other dialogue.

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Thank you for trying it out.

 

[Unpiloted Zeppelin]

Interesting setup! I like the idea of conversation presented as a text blank instead of a menu - tradeoffs there between having ideas and being able to phrase them in a recognized way.

I did notice one thing that surprised me so far -

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[KaeruVN]

Interesting setup! I like the idea of conversation presented as a text blank instead of a menu - tradeoffs there between having ideas and being able to phrase them in a recognized way.

I did notice one thing that surprised me so far -

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I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank for you for the feedback. With each update I hope to expand the list of recognized words, but there will always be some things I miss, so by all means, dm me whatever input you tried and didn't work.

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[tmu500]

while the story is interesting, the typing conversion is bit awkward. I rather see my options and hopefully a WT mod.

 

[KaeruVN]

while the story is interesting, the typing conversion is bit awkward. I rather see my options and hopefully a WT mod.

I'm glad you like the story so far, next few updates I'll let the player talk and become familiar with the rest of the cast.
As for the options, I can definitely understand wanting those, it would of course make it easier, however in Kaedama, there are times where there are 50+ possible answers you can give and around 8-12 normally to allow you to be more yourself.
For a Walkthrough, I am not really planning on releasing on, the way the game works, there are no routes you'll be locked out of for saying the wrong thing once and a lot of questions have multiple different "right" answers. Just respond how you'd respond to a question like that in real life and don't worry about appeasing a certain character, they're very forgiving girls.

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[Zenko狐]

I didn't like it. This would work better as a normal visual novel, the custom input system is pretty bad. The game would be better if you could just choose from several different pre-made answer options (kind, rude, flirt etc.) because now the game mostly recognizes yes or no commands and I don't see how this could be extended without AI. So that there would be an AI that would identify the answer choice and then trigger the scene that best matches the answer given by the player.

I don't know about randomization, I guess it's a good thing if you get enough content in the game. Also, the storytelling feels kind of empty when your character doesn't say anything. But it's nice that someone is trying something new.

 

[KaeruVN]

I didn't like it. This would work better as a normal visual novel, the custom input system is pretty bad. The game would be better if you could just choose from several different pre-made answer options (kind, rude, flirt etc.) because now the game mostly recognizes yes or no commands and I don't see how this could be extended without AI. So that there would be an AI that would identify the answer choice and then trigger the scene that best matches the answer given by the player.

I don't know about randomization, I guess it's a good thing if you get enough content in the game. Also, the storytelling feels kind of empty when your character doesn't say anything. But it's nice that someone is trying something new.

Thank you for trying it out and for your feedback.
A game with pre-made answers would take away too much interactivity and would give too much personality to an MC I want to have no personality whatsoever.
As for the available choices, there are about 8-10 different responses for every basic question and the ones where a character asks a specific question, there are usually 20+. Still definitely a work in progress, so I'll focus on reworking the entire response system to capture more inputs.

Hope you'll try out the next update when it comes out.

 

[Zenko狐]

Thank you for trying it out and for your feedback.
A game with pre-made answers would take away too much interactivity and would give too much personality to an MC I want to have no personality whatsoever.
As for the available choices, there are about 8-10 different responses for every basic question and the ones where a character asks a specific question, there are usually 20+. Still definitely a work in progress, so I'll focus on reworking the entire response system to capture more inputs.

Hope you'll try out the next update when it comes out.

Isn't this terribly complicated and time-consuming to code when there are so many possible answers to each question? But anyway, I'll definitely test the next version. Custom input or not, this game still has potential and it would be great to see it succeed.

 

[KaeruVN]

Isn't this terribly complicated and time-consuming to code when there are so many possible answers to each question? But anyway, I'll definitely test the next version. Custom input or not, this game still has potential and it would be great to see it succeed.

It depends, certain inputs will cause a similar reaction. Telling a girl she's an idiot versus telling her to shut up will cause the same reaction even if it has a completely different meaning.
And I'm having fun writing all the different dialogue to each possible answer, it's a passion project after all. And it gives the characters a lot of flavour as well, because not everyone is going to respond the same to a similar answer.

Thank you again and hope I can do you proud.

 

[zweistein]

Maybe it would be a good game if it also expected non-English speaking people

otherwise it's a waste for the rest of the world... you can give the option for selections to a non-English audience....

 

[KaeruVN]

Maybe it would be a good game if it also expected non-English speaking people

otherwise it's a waste for the rest of the world... you can give the option for selections to a non-English audience....

Sorry to hear you having difficulties. However, the input system is very basic, so it should be doable if you posses basic English skills.

Who knows, maybe some day I'd do different languages, but that would be very far into the future. Thanks for trying it out though.

 

[KaeruVN]

I'd like to give a small update based on all the feedback I've gotten from here and on some other sites. I do take it all in and I appreciate every comment I've gotten so far, so thank you so far. I have noticed a theme when it comes to criticism and it can be boiled down to three very common complaints.

• The input system is confusing.
  This is the complaint I've heard the most. I've already started remaking the tutorial to elaborate on how the system works, how your responses will impact a Love Interest's affection and I'll make it more clear what types of inputs will work in any situation.
  
  
• I'd like a guide/walkthrough or a way to see which answers increase affection.
  I am sorry to announce there is not going to be an easy walkthrough to rush through Kaedama. The game is heavily dependent on a player being able to interpret body language, read between the lines and guess what a character might like to hear, just like in real life. So there is not going to be a clear "Character's affection increased by 1 point" screen. It's worth noting that you are not going to be locked out of a route for saying the wrong thing once either, they're very forgiving characters, so respond as you'd respond in real life.
  
  
• Inputs I put in give the wrong response or are not recognized.
  I'm going to redo the entire system and recognized prompts to expand the list and make sure characters aren't reacting wrong.

I will focus on these three points and try my best to get a hotfix out there as soon as I can possible can.
If you have any other feedback/tips, you can DM me on here or on Discord(I also share screenshots of new scenes and minor spoilers for things I'm working on)

Thank you all again for the extremely helpful feedback and giving Kaedama a chance.

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[Woodstock_1983]

OK, I found out, really don't know what I am doing on this game. Typing answers, I really don't know what the right response would be, and universal mods are not helping. Maybe if someone somehow makes an official mod, I might give this another go, because it does at least look nice, but otherwise, think I will back burner this for the time being. Thank you though.

i agree. When i seen sandbox, I thought they had choices to choose from not type in. I don't like games that you have to type in the response.

 

[wastedbrainpower]

I really like the game so far. The characters are likable, the story is off to a good start, and I've found some pretty amusing interactions.

The text input system clearly has a ways to go, I'll try to actually take notes on my next playthrough, but it sure grabbed my attention and sets this apart from other VNs I've seen. I kind of expected you were going to use an LLM from the description but it's cool you intend to keep the responses hand crafted. Hell of a lot of work you've set yourself but interactive fiction like Zork proves this sort of natural language mechanic has great potential.

At the moment I can remember just a few observations from my first playthrough:

• There are lots of affirmations that are not recognised currently e.g. "always" or "anytime".
• The existing relationship with Kumi is a bit ambiguous at first. They turn up at the player's home and explain they're worried about their mother, but it initially sounds like something that had happened that same day and it only becomes clear later that their mother's hospitalisation is tied to your character's new job. The fact they turn up at your home makes it clear you're already somewhat close but then you don't know until later on that they're also one of the students at your new job.
• Also, later when you're asked what your relationship is with Kumi, the word like is not recognised. I understood them to be childhood fiends by this point (neighbours, parents are friends, or other circumstance still unknown), and decided to play the oblivious protagonist with a critical damage "like a little sister to me", but Tatsuo responds as though I'd claimed they were a literal relative. On the other hand saying they've slept in my bed doesn't get more than a raised eyebrow.
• One suggestion I have to make the protagonist less passive is to add actions. e.g. when Kumi asks for a hug, instead of simply responding "okay" and letting her hug you, if you could then initiate that hug by clicking on her or adding action keywords into the system like *hug* (or *sit on bed*, *pick up bra*, ect., if you wanted to act like an arse).

I look forward to your next release as this was an impressive first.

 

[KaeruVN]

Thank you very much for both trying it out and the feedback.
Yeah, I'm not nearly talented enough to create an LLM that can recognise inputs and convey the exact emotion I want a character to have when you say certain phrases.

There are lots of affirmations that are not recognised currently e.g. "always" or "anytime".

I had been working and fixing a lot of the inputs and keywords to make characters react to a wider list of answers you might try. Instead of simple keywords, you should be able to type in sentences with different conjunctions and get characters to respond accordingly.

and decided to play the oblivious protagonist with a critical damage "like a little sister to me", but Tatsuo responds as though I'd claimed they were a literal relative. On the other hand saying they've slept in my bed doesn't get more than a raised eyebrow.

That's a very good point and I'll add that to the responses straight away.

One suggestion I have to make the protagonist less passive is to add actions.

There are a couple of inputs you can try to initiate an action, they are pretty rare and I might expand on this in future updates. Only issue is, is that it might be quite complicated to add, plus some actions would probably cause a character to avoid the MC.

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If you don't mind me asking, which girl did you like the most?

 

[wastedbrainpower]

I've played a bit more and the mechanic is feeling more intuitive now.

If you don't mind me asking, which girl did you like the most?

I think some have an advantage just due to their relative amount of dialogue at the moment.
Kumi feels like the priority because the existing friendship with the MC is sweet and I feel compelled to protect that.
Mana makes a strong impression and is quite amusing, though I feel she most needs you to act like a teacher rather than a friend.
As a love interest, probably Kirika, since I'm always drawn to the tomboys.

 

[Strong1]

Interesting concept. Reminds me of some of the old flash games where you could type in your own commands/responses to trigger actions. I'll give it a try.