VN Ren'Py Kingdom of Deception [v0.14.2.2] [Hreinn Games]

[CourierNPC]

That's what I don't get, Noxian Nights was hammered out in just over a year, wasn't it? I remember it was a fairly quick development overall, and the game still had plenty of options and endings, even endings that allowed a postgame to be played (Slavery ending). So how come KoD is progressing at such a dead pace? Kind of really bothers me because I really like what they got going on here, but it seems to be heading towards becoming a shipwreck, checking the blog to see how long it's been since some updates was a mind-boggling experience.

This post is written with a "correct me if I'm wrong" stamp on it. Please take it with a grain of salt and do your own research! Thanks!

Spoiler: Don't get spoiled

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TL;DR:
RPGM is easier to pick up since you don't have to code and it has premade assets so you can make your own game in no time, in general... which version is the worst, well, depending on who you ask or what version you're talking about, the answers could be different

Ren'Py on the other hand, well, it's good for building VNs and trying to learn to code thru Phyton to test your skills but the more complex the game you're trying to make, it'd be too taxing for the coder to work alone and probably the artists and designers because they had to create their own assets, be it modular or otherwise in the shape of CGs and whatnot.

With the team consisting of three people? Yeah, everyone reviews what everyone does and that takes a lot of time, hence why the development is updated every once a year

 

[BigBiggieBig]

Ren'Py on the other hand, well, it's good for building VNs and trying to learn to code thru Phyton to test your skills but the more complex the game you're trying to make, it'd be too taxing for the coder to work alone and probably the artists and designers because they had to create their own assets, be it modular or otherwise in the shape of CGs and whatnot.

Assuming this is the reason that development is progressing at this pace, it's fair to say that it's the coding that's the culprit, and assuming that it does take about a year to push out a single update due to coding being a daunting task...We could say that the artist and the writer finish out their work on a patch far earlier than the coder does, right? If that were the case, we'd have the entire game mapped out with only the coding needing to be done, no?

I mean, that's how I see it, coder needs a year to push out an update, but the artist/writer only need...considering that updates don't exactly carry along dozens of CGs or hundreds-of-thousands worth of words in text, maybe about 2-3 months? So that gap between when the writer/artist finish their work and wait for the coder, is it just time spent doing nothing? Is the game progressed to V0.8 in those two aspects but coding is holding it back? Or are they also behind because of some other reason?

If we assume that the artist/writer only work on the same patch that the coder is working on, then this level of polish is abysmal, repeated CGs, weak routes, forgotten characters, these are issues you wouldn't expect from someone who had enough time and then some to work on their part of the game.

Personally? I don't buy it. But it is plausible that the coding is just so difficult that it needs a full year between updates. Yeah, this engine is harder to work on than RPGM, but does it really mean this much of a time difference? NN (According to blog dates) took about over a year to go from launch to final release, KoD has been going on for over five years in comparison and we're still at V0.13 with about the same amount of content as NN if not less. I don't think the engine being difficult to work with is an excuse here, but that's just me.

 

[CourierNPC]

But it is plausible that the coding is just so difficult that it needs a full year between updates

Phyton is written like how you and I write the walls of texts here and the coding gets bottlenecked because there's probably someone who's a feature creep, and the coder is probably fed up with the BS.

 

[CourierNPC]

If we assume that the artist/writer only work on the same patch that the coder is working on, then this level of polish is abysmal, repeated CGs, weak routes, forgotten characters, these are issues you wouldn't expect from someone who had enough time and then some to work on their part of the game.

You see, sometimes people like to relive the old times with whatever BS they gonna say about whatever they're working on and never acknowledge that the spark isn't there anymore... or better yet, the campfire extinguished a long time ago that they don't know what their goals are anymore other than producing content at a very snail-like pace. You know, like one of those Kitchen Nightmares episodes where the owner thought that they were still good but turned out the place was not successful as it was and it took a while to stay afloat with Gordon's guidance(s)?

This is what I think happened to Hreinn as a whole. Hreinn wanted good and great things to happen to them, but they don't know what to do with it once they got what they wanted. Now, the project is like trekking the Magkadigkadi Salt Flats... you don't know where to look for help and your map says nothing about it either, but keep going on to face the ultimate fate and thinking that was a good idea.

 

[BleepRose]

There's always a reason to ask whether Monsinne had previous erotica work that we could read... or at least something that solidifies the basis of them being a writer or something

Wasn't sure if you were joking or not but you can read all their work over the last decade here.

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[CourierNPC]

Wasn't sure if you were joking or not but you can read all their work over the last decade here.

You must be registered to see the links

I was being serious and thanks for the HF link.

 

[BigBiggieBig]

I think my Sabia is sick or something. Those tits don't look right.

Spoiler: Sabia

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[Serena]

Yo guys, this is going to be a bit stupid but the console commands on the main page those are meant for JD mods right or can I use them in Vanilla/ unmodded version as well because I tried to open the console but I couldn't but on an older version I was able to do it. Thanks in advance.

 

[CourierNPC]

Yo guys, this is going to be a bit stupid but the console commands on the main page those are meant for JD mods right or can I use them in Vanilla/ unmodded version as well because I tried to open the console but I couldn't but on an older version I was able to do it. Thanks in advance.

That's for JDMOD only.

 

[Serena]

That's for JDMOD only.

Yeah I kinda figured thanks tho letting me know. (English is only my first language and it is fun isn't it I now know that I should have taken that whole draft and check for error part more seriously in college had I done it I wouldn't have made mistakes like these)
Thanks tho for letting me know (there we go).

 

[BigBiggieBig]

Now that I'm 2 quests away from finishing my sub-tekrok playthrough, I just wanna say it's going to be painful to find another game with a protag that makes me give a shit. Something about Sabia (Not the tits, though they do help) just seems relatable, at least until near the end of the current patch.

Karryn's Prison was a great game, but honestly Karryn had little personality when compared to Sabia, there's something about this purple-haired rascal that just makes me wanna see how her story develops (Again, it's not the tits) and I doubt I'll find many games that hook me on the plot aspect more than the porn one. If I find something interesting I'll come back with a hot take or two, but until then I'm gonna consider doing a playthrough with that human-loving orc whose name I never cared enough to remember since he seemed like a massive loser.

 

[Great730]

How infuriating is the wording of the developers
We will release an update in the coming weeks after 3 weeks and 3 days is empty Fuckk just that in your understanding the coming weeks I have it 2 -3 maximum right now it will take a couple more days and a month since the last post on patreon

 

[Jinsoyun]

How infuriating is the wording of the developers
We will release an update in the coming weeks after 3 weeks and 3 days is empty Fuckk just that in your understanding the coming weeks I have it 2 -3 maximum right now it will take a couple more days and a month since the last post on patreon

It's not new for Hreinn to take an apparent break during the end of december. Unless they specify that they want the release to be on christmas or new year, it's safe to assume that the 2-3 weeks count down starts around the second week of january.

So if the last time they said that they need 2-3 weeks to finish this, then we are looking for second half of january or early february. Or if i want to be a bit cynical because of last year, then maybe june, since they expanded the patch to be bigger and more complex than anything they did before...

 

[bitchass92]

Now that I'm 2 quests away from finishing my sub-tekrok playthrough, I just wanna say it's going to be painful to find another game with a protag that makes me give a shit. Something about Sabia (Not the tits, though they do help) just seems relatable, at least until near the end of the current patch.

Karryn's Prison was a great game, but honestly Karryn had little personality when compared to Sabia, there's something about this purple-haired rascal that just makes me wanna see how her story develops (Again, it's not the tits) and I doubt I'll find many games that hook me on the plot aspect more than the porn one. If I find something interesting I'll come back with a hot take or two, but until then I'm gonna consider doing a playthrough with that human-loving orc whose name I never cared enough to remember since he seemed like a massive loser.

Yeah that's why we're all here bitching. It WAS a great game. Compelling enough to make me believe there'd be maybe even 3 whole routes with real content.

I get it, it's hard to create. But the radio silence, the drop in quality, the lack of acknowledgement of constructive criticism. If this were anything other than a sex game... shit'd be far over by now as in NO MONEY.

But it's those high, highs of the early days of the project that have managed produced this level of disappointment.

 

[BigBiggieBig]

Yeah that's why we're all here bitching. It WAS a great game. Compelling enough to make me believe there'd be maybe even 3 whole routes with real content.

I get it, it's hard to create. But the radio silence, the drop in quality, the lack of acknowledgement of constructive criticism. If this were anything other than a sex game... shit'd be far over by now as in NO MONEY.

But it's those high, highs of the early days of the project that have managed produced this level of disappointment.

I'm never not going to be surprised at how many patrons projects with bi-annual updates get, specially when the content being delivered doesn't even come close to something that's at an acceptable level of quality.

The fact that I've seen Karryn's Prison come up and get finished before KoD even made it to V0.2 would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing, KP will even get DLC before that. Saria Reclaimed is a game made by one guy and he's been dishing out massive monthly updates all by himself and that game's quality is impressive. There are a few other games that I've seen that have started and finished development in these few years, most of which delivered great products that have been quite enjoyable.

So then I look at KoD and there are 3 people working on it with Patreon bucks pouring in for over 5 years, yet it still feels like it'll be another decade before it moves on to V0.5, what exactly keeps those patrons going? I Imagine if they stop funding, the devs will either apologize and work properly, or they'll scrap the project, but I think I'll take that over having it stay as a Patreon cashcow.

This is more or less the reason I have tried to avoid getting involved with games that haven't at least made it to V0.5 or higher, it's getting invested into something with too uncertain a future, and in this case, I don't see KoD making it to V1.0 within my lifetime, though I'd love to be proven wrong.

 

[changelog police]

anybody got a full save with gallery completely unlocked for 13.2?

 

[BigBiggieBig]

I doubt they still alive until 0.5 maybe their grandsons will publish it

Sabia dies of old age ending?

 

[theotherhman]

preggo when?

 

[changelog police]

can any of you kind souls spare a save with gallery unlocked to this poor old fapper?

 

[Kira999]

Is this game abandoned?