- Nov 27, 2017
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It's release time for Left Hand Magic!
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, so it's time for Build 2 to go public! Build 2 suffered slightly in size on account of being built in February, but was still pretty significant. 9 new scenes were added in total, with 7 of those being animated scenes. For comparison, the recently released Build 3 has 14 new scenes, with 6 of those being animated. So a measurable difference, but not a massive one. Anyway! Links! And Release notes!
Links!
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Mac
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Android APK:
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- Feb 27, 2018
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- Nov 27, 2017
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Hmmm, I'm reported the updated links post multiple times at this point. Anyone know why the main post hasn't been updated with them? Usually the mods/uploaders are fairly prompt...
- Jan 10, 2022
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sounds awesome, i will give it a try
i can't read your tutorial if you use an image in the background where the text is in the same location
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- Nov 27, 2017
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Odd. I could have sworn I fixed that. I certainly remember spotting that problem when I was testing Build 1. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll make sure it gets on my 'to fix' list!sounds awesome, i will give it a try
i can't read your tutorial if you use an image in the background where the text is in the same location
View attachment 1802756
Also, I hope you enjoy!
- Jan 10, 2022
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maybe you can guess because of my signature why i sadly could not like it. i was trying to play on my first run the Trix path but it already ended in a forced BJ threesome scene with Talia.
you said "it will have 7 routes the playthrough. One for each girl, two threesome routes, and a harem route" but why is than already in my first path other LI's involved? sry but it's not my cup of tea.
- Nov 27, 2017
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It doesn't force you to do anything. The way I have the routes structured you don't actually need to play 'Only/Exclusively' one girl's content. I made it that way intentionally so you can skip a few events you don't like in favor of other girls without getting shut out of a route entirely. So long as you don't do it too often.
That said, you also got a little unlucky with your route choice. Trix and Arianna are the two that have threesome content in their first event. And even between those two, only Trix's event is a direct threesome (In Arianna's someone, a non-love interest, is present but not engaged with the MC specifically).
Other than that, the only thing I'll say is that I can't perfectly make everyone happy with every route. Each of the four girls is themed differently. Trix's route is themed to contain chastity play and a dominant MC, for example. Arianna's solo route, conversely, is themed to focus on exhibitionism (hence the presence of someone else) and has a Submissive MC. Likewise, each of the other routes has its own thing going. Or will if it doesn't already, some take longer to build up than others. About the only thing that each route is going to have fully in common is bondage content of some type and flavor. Otherwise, I focused hard on making it a diverse game, so that there's 'something for everyone.' At least to the extent that such is possible for a single game made by a solo developer.
- Jan 10, 2022
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understood, thx i thought they all have exclusiv paths
that was avoidable i could just start an Trix event after 5 work days without Arianna (or is the first event later?)
it's fine, i don't wanna make you change anything only cause something isn't my taste
wish you all the best and no matter what others say just keep doing your thing
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- Nov 27, 2017
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They have exclusive paths in the sense that they each have exclusive options to solve each event with, and will each have an exclusive ending. But I hate getting shut out of routes just because I disagree with one choice during a visual novel, so I decided not to make mine that limiting. Choosing to ignore them too often will still close down any one girl's route and it's impossible (for now) to keep up with more than 2 of them. But skipping single events won't shut you out of a route.understood, thx i thought they all have exclusiv paths
that was avoidable i could just start an Trix event after 5 work days without Arianna (or is the first event later?)
it's fine, i don't wanna make you change anything only cause something isn't my taste
The Arianna thing, I meant for the first weekend event in Arianna's route
. I was using her route as a comparison to Trix's.
- Apr 8, 2020
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Just finished the prologue, really interesting game so far, love the sci-fy + fantasy combo, and the theme as a whole seems very interesting, my only thing is, there is a lot of narration, I can understand that it is a writing style so I got past it but I do have to say that it feels akward when the narration substites the character thinking or thier "voice", like, it makes sense to narrate the physical stuff the main character is feeling or how the NPC's are behaving but it felt akward to read how the MC was supposed to be thinking or feeling, and even more so the parts where it was something like "MC thinking this, and says it" that could have just been MC: "ok".
Sorry, I'm bad at expressing myself, I hope that what I said can be understood, now back to playing.
Sorry, I'm bad at expressing myself, I hope that what I said can be understood, now back to playing.
- Nov 2, 2017
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Yup.
Writing in a story what the main character does is okay.
Writing in a story what the main character thinks is not.
It can be used but should be done so sparingly for special occasions and situations only.
The reason is the reader does not get fully immersed if someone or something tells them how they feel and what they think. Which is mostly the purpose of a story.
It is an issue many aspiring writers trip over. Not just in visual novels, but also in books. In fact, it is the #1 reason why publishers reject manuscripts from hobby authors.
When writing a fictional story, it is worth it to imagine you are not writing the MC but another NPC that happens to be the centerpiece of the story.
As my old teacher said:
You can look at the head of a person but rarely inside the head of a person.
Writing in a story what the main character does is okay.
Writing in a story what the main character thinks is not.
It can be used but should be done so sparingly for special occasions and situations only.
The reason is the reader does not get fully immersed if someone or something tells them how they feel and what they think. Which is mostly the purpose of a story.
It is an issue many aspiring writers trip over. Not just in visual novels, but also in books. In fact, it is the #1 reason why publishers reject manuscripts from hobby authors.
When writing a fictional story, it is worth it to imagine you are not writing the MC but another NPC that happens to be the centerpiece of the story.
As my old teacher said:
You can look at the head of a person but rarely inside the head of a person.
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- Oct 24, 2019
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So if you end up playing the cast equally you can only get everyone's score to 2 and then have a game over at this point where all of the logic is looking for >2 before these menu options enable? I had to jump into the debug console to set everyone to 3 instead (TrixScore, AriannaScore, RevinaScore).
Dev...
Some lawyers at the Equal Opportunity Commission want to have a little chat with you.
Code:
t "\"But us...I don't know, [mc]. Talia is always so behind. How the hell are we going to get this done by the new deadline? It'll be impossible to get her to focus on it long enough. Not that she won't try, but...\""
mc "You grimace, already having a good idea exactly how bad your boss is at keeping on top of paperwork. Your mind begins to spin with options for how you could help..."
menu:
"You have an idea Trix could help with..." if TrixScore > 2:
jump Event1TrixRoute
"You have an idea Arianna could help with..." if AriannaScore >2:
jump Event1AriannaRoute
"You have an idea that Revina could help with..." if RevinaScore >2:
jump Event1Revina
"You think you might be able to work with Talia directly..." if TaliaScore >2:
jump Event1Talia
"You've got nothing...(Game Over)":Some lawyers at the Equal Opportunity Commission want to have a little chat with you.
- Nov 27, 2017
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I'm not entirely sure what you were saying. But I think it's basically the same general idea as Brannon, so I'll reply there.
First. Your old teacher is an idiot. Since that only applies to non-current-POV characters. And even non-POV characters give off body language, which can be and usually is interpreted in written form as phrases like "X character is clearly embarrassed." Though, obviously, that's a very basic/poor example.
You're also really all over the place and confused about which media you're in, I think. This is a visual NOVEL. In a game where you can move around and take actions with a character more freely. Something like, say, Skyrim or Half-Life. You are completely correct in your assertion that you shouldn't ever say what a character thinks. However, in that case it's actually even more inexcusable to tell what a character is DOING, as the player ought to be doing it. This very strange contradiction of your thought process is making my head hurt the longer I look at it, so I'll move on.
Since this is a story-form media (the novel part of visual novel), telling what the character thinks is completely normal. Load up virtually any popular VN (I highly recommend Eternum myself, if you're looking for a good example. It's a current favorite of mine) and you'll see some form of it. I think what might me throwing you for a loop is the fact that most Renpy games use something like () or ** to separate thoughts from spoke word. The reason for that is stupid, as it's because quotation marks are code in Renpy. Which is one of my many frustrations with the engine. If you want to use quotation marks the way they are supposed to be used, you actually have to use an escape character before every single use of a quotation mark. Very annoying. Most developers don't want to deal with that, hence using brackets or similar as a way to differentiate thought. But, as I started out as a novelist and moved into games, it annoys me not to use proper quotation for dialogue and non-quotation for actions/internal thoughts. So I put in the super annoying effort to do it properly.
Anyway, mini-rant diversion about Renpy aside. If you compare my writing style to that of most typical VNs, you'll find my usage of thought vs speaking is fairly typical. Usually, MC speech is minimized by good VN authors in order to allow more agency to a player (not sticking them with the reply and phrasing the author would use). Since it's the protagonist and you are inside their head, as it were, that's completely okay. You won't find me writing one of the other character's internal thoughts, unless I've switched to their POV. Which, currently, I've only done once (with Trix). Again, internal thoughts from whoever you're using as a POV character are completely normal in any novel-based storytelling structure. Crack open virtually any random novel, you'll see a lot of it. Crack open most VNs, you'll see similar amounts to mine. Crack open other styles of game, and you won't. The reason being that those games have deeper world-interaction options, which aren't limited to dialogue. Look at the scripts of most movies, and you'll see even less. Not zero, since Narration is a thing. But less.
(Note: You may be able to find a few random screw ups where I made mistakes and used internal thoughts for a non-pov character. I doubt it, since it's ingrained habit by now not to. But it's possible, given that I'm self-editing everything.)
What is and isn't appropriate for writing changes based on the media in question. Mine is a pretty typical mix for a visual novel. Perhaps slightly tilted towards POV thoughts simply because that's my writing style. But well within the normal variance for a VN.
I've stated this before in various places, but I'm honestly not sure I've done so in detail here in the F95zone thread. I post so many differnt places that everything sort of blurs together after a while. So, for perfect clarity:
There are 7 routes planned for the game. Six of them are being made available during ongoing development. Four of those are the solo-route options. Two of them are a pair of Threesome routes (Arianna/Talia and Trix/Revina). The final route will be a Harem route that will allow you to pursue everyone. However, this was always intended as a New Game+ route. Hence why it won't be available until the game is near completion.
- Apr 8, 2020
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Not really what I meant so I'll try to clarify by making it 3 different points.
1. Kinda agree with them on not writing what the character is thinking but it isn't a big deal to me.
2. Agree with you that expressing body language through writing is important, even more so because for me at least it would be way to dificult to make every little change and render all that, or just too tedious, or it would just take too long.
3. My last thing was, instead of writing "[character] though so and so, and though of saying such" "They said such", it would be best in my opinion if it was, in this case if you really want to write the character thoughs, "[character] though so and so" and then Character: "[imput what ever answear here]", the though should explain what they want to answear and the character should speak and not the narrator tell us that they spoke.
- Nov 27, 2017
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1) Already pretty much said my piece on this one. Stylistic differences are a thing, and mine works for me. So I'll just chalk it up to that.
2) It is tedious. I know some developers manage to make the micro-reaction thing work for them. But those are also usually the developers that take forever between updates. Since I hate that and don't want to go that route, the body-language being represented in text in useful.
3) Hmmm. I'm not sure I get what you're getting at with this one? My MC is written in first person, so it's always "You thought" or "You think on that" or such. What you're talking about seems to be a complete switch to 3rd person narration. Which, while a valid option, isn't what I went with for this VN. I felt (and still feel) that third person was/is a lot less natural and more immersion breaking than first person.
- Apr 8, 2020
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That was just the way I wrote it, it had nothing to do with what I actually wanted to say, sorry, what I tried to say was many times what we read is (na is for narrator and MC for the MC):
na "You though this and this, and want to say this" or "You agree with this persons point of view and is willing to help, and wants to says so"
na "you said this" or "you said that you'll help"
and for me it would be more natural if it was
na "you though this and this" or "You agree with this persons point of view and is willing to help, and wants to says so"
mc "says the thing in line with thoughs" or "Yeah, of course I'll help."