Ren'Py Lab Rats 2 - Reformulate [v2025 4.0.37]

[dalzomo]

And that's one of the biggest mistakes made in the mod. "Hey, let's take THE landmark sandbox drug corruption game and make it LESS sandbox!" Vren already had blocks in place for each of the taboo breaks. There was no need to force family progress onto rails with this arbitrary "since *I* think this is more taboo than that I'mma make them go in order." Fuck anyone who has different tastes or values. Even if they aren't into oral or anal they still have to grind those taboos

Then when it's combined with the hard no on hated sex acts when AGAIN Vren already had detriments in place for doing things a girl disliked, you get shit like above: forced to break taboos in an order that becomes impossible with NO explanation why or what needs doing to progress. Do better

 

[Orieni01]

Honestly, my second biggest complaint, after the way some triggers just don't seem to fire, is locking some events behind pregnancy, I really don't want to go there.

I continue to hope that at some point we gain the ability to list flags showing events have already happened and adjust them, it would enable us to skip poorly thought out plot and broken events neatly.

 

[bridgebuilder]

Any chance someone could bring back the Lab Rats 1 background music? That shit was enchanting.

 

[dalzomo]

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You appear the helpful sort so I'm p sure you're not being patronizing out of malice. You're probably still in the shiny phase of mod fandom. Just get to know your audience and who you're whiteknighting in future. But w/e. I know the game. I know its systems inside and out. I know about trancing. But new players don't know all that and there's no effort to explain WHY they're being blocked when all they want to do is fap. That's what should be done better. I know the mod authors are entrenched in their mechanics so I'm not trying to change those, but they need to explain when they've changed something and how to progress w/i those changes. IDGAF about Starbuck's characters' "taboos", but some effort should be done to explain their blockers too especially since they differ from random NPCs

I'm glad we agree options are good

1. I'm talking purely about the sandbox of sex with characters. Not any of the stories, especially not the bolted-on ones created by mod authors. The family taboos being forced onto rails is a mistake because it makes sex with those characters less sandbox and forces players to adhere to the mod author's values, which are not universal

2. I play the vanilla game with my own personal alterations, which could barely be called modding but I know what I'm doing and I'm happy with what I've done. I don't use this mod but I monitor the discussion here because I offer support to the vanilla game in its thread, along with having written a few vanilla guides, and I like to know when a question is likely a mod issue so I can direct them here instead of wasting vanilla threadspace. Since I don't use this mod I have no interest in fixing the problems I've identified, nor does Trist need my amateur input as far as coding goes. As for "fixing" the family taboo on-rails problem. It's not on rails in the vanilla game. That's a problem CREATED by the mod authors, so it's up to them to address it - whether by rollback to the vanilla system (unlikely) or just INFORMING the player what the solution is without the players having to ask HERE every other page. But nobody's going to do that because they're all sure it's fine the way it is or it's someone else's problem; like the player's for not being an expert already lol. The mod has too many cooks eager to meddle but when it comes time to fix problems they've created they leave those to Trist because everyone should just shut up and be grateful they're "creating" for free 9_9

 

[MaxTheDark]

I get that it may very well frustrate some people. But if you're saying you don't have the patience to follow a 2min tutorial that says :
- Get AIO (or RenPy SDK version 8.1.3)
- Get Dev folder on Git using the blue button " Source Code : Download as ZIP "
- Delete all but the biggest RPA on AIO folder (Or create a LR2 folder inside RenPy SDK folder)
- Put Dev folder content on AIO folder (Or put Dev folder content onto the newly created LR2 folder that is inside the RenPy SDK Folder)

It's not always a matter of patience. I tried it, but nothing made sense, I didn't understand any of the acronyms the tutorial was throwing at me and in the end decided to just give up on it. It's not 'follow 2 min tutorial and youre good', it's 'learn how to run developer builds on Renpy' and if you're not in the mood for learning complex things like that - because youre, for instance, wanking to a porn game - you're gonna get frustrated and give up on it.

I appreciate it may sound simple to someone who does it all the time, but to me it's just an incomprehensible mess.

 

[dalzomo]

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I'm glad I've apparently improved your impression of me, but it feels like you're still conflating what I've said with some other stuff

Just to be clear, I'm criticizing the removal of choices and options in order to impose the mod author's values on the player. I'm not against adding content. Put all the lovey-dovey stowies and mad scientist cloning and nanomachines (son) bullshit you want in the mod. Who cares what I think of all that. Those are MORE choices and content so I'm all for their inclusion

But specifically re: family taboos; Vren gave the players the choice of when, in what order, and most importantly IF the player broke each of them. Every single one was OPTIONAL. He wrote a lot unique dialog for which sex acts had already been engaged in when you broke a new taboo. Dialog that's, what, has it been deleted now because if you want to reach vaginal breaking every taboo in order is now MANDATORY

I never said everyone's tastes should be catered to like whatever your foot fetish segue was on about. Only that taking away options is a mistake - especially if content has been deleted because of it, and it worsens the UX of the mod. That's ALL

 

[wyldmage]

2) The game dev is done on people's own free time as a passion project, they don't get paid, the game is free, and it's open source, so when you say " do better " I say feel free to pitch in and code alternate ways that don't require you to go through the Foreplay > Oral > Anal > Vaginal for those handful of special characters.
Because those people, they have a life, and can't do everything at once. They can't add more content AND reworking the game's core code AND fixing bugs AND releasing the AIO AND adding bypasses to the stories / steps all at once, priorities have to be made. Or more people need to pitch in and improve the game.

I absolutely second this.
I wish this game was faster. But it's free. Even when Vren was doing it on Patreon, it was not one of the crazy "give me $30/month to get the latest version as soon as I'm done with it, while less money gets it to you later."

If you've got an issue with the game, pick one:

• Sit down, shut up, and wait
• Chip in and contribute your time and energy to developing the project
• Throw big wads of cash at the devs to bribe them to your way of thinking
• Make your own game, and probably abandon it within 6 months like most new game devs

 

[killtheraven]

Is there a list of which routes are open to specific characters anywhere? Kind of worried about accidentally going down one that excludes me from content I'd prefer.

 

[SpikyHair]

I never said everyone's tastes should be catered to like whatever your foot fetish segue was on about. Only that taking away options is a mistake - especially if content has been deleted because of it, and it worsens the UX of the mod. That's ALL

Agree with this, not a fan of the sequential approach myself.

I actually liked the out-of-order reactions, especially if you managed to pull something more "outlandish" before. It added flavor to each playthrough and made it notably different, no matter in how small of a way.

Others mentioned it before, and I will reiterate because, for me, this is a legitimate issue with "immershun" right now - the amount of reactions to unique situations is too low and quickly becomes repetitive. So even in that light, moving things toward sequential taboo break compounds the issue.

I do understand WHY it was done - juggling all the possibilities was much more complicated and workload-heavy than doing it this way. Still don't think it was worth it, though, but as wyldmage said - it's their mod.

Can always hope someone will mod it back at some point, if you're not inclined to put in the work yourself, I suppose.

Is there a list of which routes are open to specific characters anywhere? Kind of worried about accidentally going down one that excludes me from content I'd prefer.

Unless something drastically changed in last month or two, I don't think you get "locked out" in any way. Even Ashley/Steph storyline wasn't developed enough for it to matter what choice you made.

You could always drop a save at the point of choice and replay both ways, if you're concerned about missing out.

 

[Ascher]

You may just have done all the content currently in the game for Jennifer's boss arc, and it may also be the same for Christina (although I haven't done Christina so I may be wrong). Otherwise, some stats needs to be higher to trigger some events although when it displays " Give X some new time " or " Wait .... " either you need to wait or it's end of content for now.

For Jennifer, does it say on the Story Progress that

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If so, then you have reached end of content for her, as of 2023.09 AIO. There's more planned thought, do not worry, her boss arc is far from over, but gotta be patient.

Yes,I helped mom finished this step(being promoted as personal secretary),so that's all the story of mom?

 

[Ascher]

I think the "new duties" refers to hiring mom instead of progressing her boss storyline. However, the branching plotline of hiring her is currently has only 1 stage. I recall there are other none-plotline crisis for her if she's MC's personal assistant, but that's associated with the role, and not the character.
As for christina, currently the only story events implemented for her are only for when you checks on the player and her daughter during the tutoring, you dining with her (and corrupting her in the process), and at one point she apologises to the MC for having kissed sometime before. It only triggers after the first time she kissed the MC during the diner (so no kissing her out-of-sequence) and also only happens in the evening while she's at her home.
Anyways, has LadyStarbucks settled in her new job yet? It still doesn't seem like there's gonna be signifcant progress on the stories anytime soon.

Uh...It's the step after helping more being promoted as a personal secretary,so I have no idea how to do.It just notice me:wait .

 

[deviantfiend999]

Uh...It's the step after helping more being promoted as a personal secretary,so I have no idea how to do.It just notice me:wait .

So that's after her first interview or the second? I'm pretty sure about one week after the first interview when you talk to her in the evening she'd just tell you how it went; if she advanced to the sceond interview, she'd ask you to help her prepare and you have to find her alone in the house in after the afternoon to train her.
After she got hired (which is when she went to the 1-to-1 interview with her boss, and he offered her the personal secretary position), she'd have a trigger for the next crisis, and fires when you talk to her while meeting the following conditions:
7 days after she told you she had been hired and it's not a weekend;
she has the secretary job;
you are speaking to her in a room with only 1 person (who is mom);
her effective sluttiness is greater than or equal to 40.

Spoiler: code

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There might be bug on the dev branch that prevents the from firing, however. I haven't tested it out yet.

On another new, LadyStarbucks pushed new development on Kaya's storyline so there's that.

 

[Ssato243]

will this update on the game or itis still beta version

 

[AnHorse]

I'm playing the last full release of this and it's fun but unless I've missed a tricks it's such a big grind until you can start really playing around with serums that have meaningful long term impacts.
Like outside of the workplace this mostly feels like a normal sandbox dating sim.

 

[forgotp]

I'm playing the last full release of this and it's fun but unless I've missed a tricks it's such a big grind until you can start really playing around with serums that have meaningful long term impacts.
Like outside of the workplace this mostly feels like a normal sandbox dating sim.

Seconded.

If there were custom start options this would be easily solved... like start with level 3 research unlocked or something like that.

You can do this manually via the cheats too but it take a looooong time to get every research mastered.

 

[allahuakbar4123]

What am I missing when it comes to the HR meeting goal? I have the Monday meeting with Sarah but she always says there's no one on her counselling list and nothing happens.

 

[pinktoiletpaper]

What am I missing when it comes to the HR meeting goal? I have the Monday meeting with Sarah but she always says there's no one on her counselling list and nothing happens.

She should mention some sort of suggestion serum (if you did make one) and suggests using it during the meetings. Then you must talk to her and pay like 500 bucks to use it. She'll also suggests using a stronger serum after some time (and/or some research).

If you did do all of this, then maybe there's simply no girl on her counselling list

 

[killtheraven]

What am I missing when it comes to the HR meeting goal? I have the Monday meeting with Sarah but she always says there's no one on her counselling list and nothing happens.

There needs to be someone in need of counselling. Try implementing some policies some folk won't like. Uniforms are a nice and easy one.

 

[Ascher]

So that's after her first interview or the second? I'm pretty sure about one week after the first interview when you talk to her in the evening she'd just tell you how it went; if she advanced to the sceond interview, she'd ask you to help her prepare and you have to find her alone in the house in after the afternoon to train her.
After she got hired (which is when she went to the 1-to-1 interview with her boss, and he offered her the personal secretary position), she'd have a trigger for the next crisis, and fires when you talk to her while meeting the following conditions:
7 days after she told you she had been hired and it's not a weekend;
she has the secretary job;
you are speaking to her in a room with only 1 person (who is mom);
her effective sluttiness is greater than or equal to 40.

Spoiler: code

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There might be bug on the dev branch that prevents the from firing, however. I haven't tested it out yet.

On another new, LadyStarbucks pushed new development on Kaya's storyline so there's that.

thanks bro，I’ll try later！

 

[Pyroskillz]

The modify entire wardrobe never works, I max both their love, obedience and sluttiness and I can see that they have a lot of different things they can change in their wardrobe, yet they never want to, or it says that "I've taken it as far as I can", yet that's just a complete lie.
Any way to fix this?