Just done story with season 2. After free roaming i still see some places being said "u cant go here right now". One looks like apartments on top right, one looks like plaza tower and the other one is by the right side from my home. I cant remember clicking them once. Did i miss something?
IIRC, that's normal. You can't go everywhere anytime. There's a time when you can go to one place, and there's a time when you can go to another place.
It's not like once you unlock a place you can go there forever.
In other words, Lust Theory is not a real sandbox, just the illusion of a sandbox.
Nemo56
Forum Fanatic
- Jan 7, 2018
- 5,898
- 4,873
- 457
Lust Theory plays mostly like an adventure game, not sandbox.
You walk around, complete tasks, sometimes even pick up items which you need. And that's what you do in adventure games.
(and yes, the time of the day can be part of the gameplay of a classic adventure game)
Tbh, I can't think of a real sandbox game right now that has no guidance whatsoever. for the player. The moment you bring a story to a game, the player in one way or another is forced to follow it.
You walk around, complete tasks, sometimes even pick up items which you need. And that's what you do in adventure games.
(and yes, the time of the day can be part of the gameplay of a classic adventure game)
Tbh, I can't think of a real sandbox game right now that has no guidance whatsoever. for the player. The moment you bring a story to a game, the player in one way or another is forced to follow it.
Well, there are some AVN in which, yes, you do have to follow a story to progress the game, but once you unlock a place you can go there forever (at least during some days of the week and/or times of the day), for instance Bright Past - but it's quite buggy, so I prefer a "fake sandbox" like Lust Theory, at least it's
The point is: if we are not free to click on any map item we want but we are forced to click on whatever the hint box tell us to click... then, what's the point of the map? If it all boils dow to a sequence of forced clicks like for instance:
- First click on the ospital - the first scene at the ospital is played
- Then click on the park - the scene at the park is played
- Then click on the ospital again - the second scene at the ospital is played
...then the engine should just play sequentially:
- the first scene at the ospital
- the scene at the park
- the second scene at the ospital
FFS: if that is the only scene that can be played right now... just play it!
Unfortunately, I think it's likely that Ellie's strory will be kept on hold al least for a few episodes more...
...maybe her development will be kept as a grand finale (or anyway almost near the ending).
IfuckKayane&Vania
Member
- Jul 31, 2022
- 479
- 756
- 169
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what's this 221-byte "Lust Theory S2" txt file
Is it some sort of code to unlock something? (What?)
You must be registered to see the links
for 26€ ?Is it some sort of code to unlock something? (What?)
for the v0.8.0 i really want a update for my favorite girl: Zoe
I only care about Megan and the teacher, do they have a lot of content in part 3 yet or should I keep waiting?
If i'm not mistaken Nicole content is over in S3.
Megan has barely content for now.
Hi, just wanted to check in, as I'm seeing quite a few questions and comments coming up. I've mentioned some of these things before, but I just want to reiterate a few points regarding how I've been writing Lust Theory.
My plan all along has been to bring out each girl's story as one solid chapter. While Lust Theory is predominantly played through choices, mix and matching which girls you spend your time with on any particular day, I didn't feel it would be a good idea to spread the story too thin during Patreon releases.
As I have mentioned before, one of my biggest focuses in writing season 3 has been increasing the depth of the story and the emotional relationships MC has with the girls in his life. (As an aside, I feel this has been well received and there have been quite a few encouraging comments around the character stories released so far - Amy, Nicole, Jessica.)
My absolute favorite AVNS of all time all have one thing in common - moments that I return to over and over, not for the thrill of seeing a hot girl getting fucked, but moments of genuine connection and heart. It's seen when the MC kneels on the floor to hug Sage after she confides in him about her upbringing in Being a DIK. It's when Malory becomes (in her own words) an emotional basket case, after MC does something incredibly poignant to help heal a wound from her past in Chasing Sunsets. It's helping Mora find her voice to get the last copy of Pathfinder in Bare Witness. And it's that haunting rendition of Auld Lang Syne that plays in that one scene from Leap of Faith. (You know the one... And if you don't stop reading this message, download Leap of Faith now!)
I'm not going to pretend that I count myself among the greats of our industry as a writer. But these moments and scenes have informed my love of AVNs and how I write. I love the characters of Lust Theory, and through S1 and 2 (For those not in the know, I took over writing for S3) I saw so much under the surface with all the characters that I desperately wanted to explore and which, it's my fondest hope, will let players explore MC's relationships in new lights.
Of course, I don't want to lose the humor of the game, the ridiculous moments MC gets into, or the sexy hijinks he gets up to. But I wanted to add THIS to the story.
When looking to deepen the story, stakes, and emotional connections at play in Lust Theory, I quickly realised that trying to give time to all the girls in each update was not going to work. There was too much I wanted to explore and do with each character, and I feared how diluting stage time during updates would lessen the impact of each girl's story.
More than this, because of how I am writing the story, there are quite a few scenes that don't have any immediate physical payoff (in terms of scenes to unlock).
Between 8 main girls (9 if you add in Alice, and 10 if you count Carol on top of that) it became quickly apparent to me that writing little bits of each character's story just wasn't going to work. Even doing bits of 2/3 girls per update would have been a challenge and left some updates without any NSFW scenes or left stories pausing in awkward places.
I decided that focusing on EACH girl's story as a chapter that would be released in its entirety was the right play during the Patreon release cycle. When the game eventually releases in full, everyone can mix and match stories as they see fit, but for this point, I felt doing each girl's story one at a time was the best way of giving full focus and attention to each girl's story, and really let players go deeper with them and their stories. And yes, I also knew that the trade-off to this would be that players might end up drawing the short straw for when their favorites finally got their time in the spotlight.
Even with that one issue in mind, however, I felt this was the best course to take. My hope is that players would enjoy the chapters with their favorite girls all the more for being able to experience their story in one uninterrupted go, rather than being drip-fed bits and pieces that could be forgotten over a long dev cycle. I also hoped that players would be encouraged to give attention to girls who might not have been their favorites or even on their radar, perhaps finding something new in those stories and gaining a new connection or appreciation for the other LI's.
At the end of the day, I am a dreamer and passionate about telling stories that stick with the reader and mean something. Stories that are sexy and hot, but which can also go deeper and stay with you after reading. Heck, without wishing to get on my soapbox, in this new age we live in, where payment processors and lobby groups feel they can dictate what games we can and can't enjoy, I feel more conviction than ever to follow this guiding star.
It's so easy for those on the outside to judge the book by its cover or the AVN by its store page. Not every AVN needs to be a work of literary genius, nor do I have enough ego to assume anything I write might achieve this. There will always be space for games and stories that are just thrilling and sexy, or comedic and humorous.
Still, when Mastercard or a small group in Australia wants to tar an entire industry under one brush and cast all this community is by one uninformed stereotype, I want to point to that scene in Leap of Faith and say how much it helped me fight through my own issues with depression. When someone says our games need to thrown off Itch and Steam, I want to show them Being a DIK and the struggles Maya faces in dealing with the oppression of a parent whose moral compass is skewed by what the church thinks and say. I want to tell them how that storyline made me feel seen and understood from wounds and judgments I endured growing up in a religious community. And maybe, just maybe, I'd like to think a few of my stories, and a few of the scenes I write might be counted among those deep moments, even if they are just footnotes compared to the giants of our community.
This message has become a bit of a ramble, but more than anything, I wanted to explain WHY I have been writing LT3 the way I have. No one has to agree with it, but I hope at the least, it shows how important this project (and Lust Bound is to me).
I know there are those waiting for Ellie's story and feel they are being robbed and underserved. I know some of you are only here for one, maybe two characters. But I want to give my best and all to every LI and let them shine. I want every fan to come away from their LI's playthrough thinking 'that was good' and feeling a deeper connection to the characters and world.
Anyway, that's enough stream of consciousness for one night. I hope, if nothing else, it's given a little insight into some of my choices and focuses.
My plan all along has been to bring out each girl's story as one solid chapter. While Lust Theory is predominantly played through choices, mix and matching which girls you spend your time with on any particular day, I didn't feel it would be a good idea to spread the story too thin during Patreon releases.
As I have mentioned before, one of my biggest focuses in writing season 3 has been increasing the depth of the story and the emotional relationships MC has with the girls in his life. (As an aside, I feel this has been well received and there have been quite a few encouraging comments around the character stories released so far - Amy, Nicole, Jessica.)
My absolute favorite AVNS of all time all have one thing in common - moments that I return to over and over, not for the thrill of seeing a hot girl getting fucked, but moments of genuine connection and heart. It's seen when the MC kneels on the floor to hug Sage after she confides in him about her upbringing in Being a DIK. It's when Malory becomes (in her own words) an emotional basket case, after MC does something incredibly poignant to help heal a wound from her past in Chasing Sunsets. It's helping Mora find her voice to get the last copy of Pathfinder in Bare Witness. And it's that haunting rendition of Auld Lang Syne that plays in that one scene from Leap of Faith. (You know the one... And if you don't stop reading this message, download Leap of Faith now!)
I'm not going to pretend that I count myself among the greats of our industry as a writer. But these moments and scenes have informed my love of AVNs and how I write. I love the characters of Lust Theory, and through S1 and 2 (For those not in the know, I took over writing for S3) I saw so much under the surface with all the characters that I desperately wanted to explore and which, it's my fondest hope, will let players explore MC's relationships in new lights.
Of course, I don't want to lose the humor of the game, the ridiculous moments MC gets into, or the sexy hijinks he gets up to. But I wanted to add THIS to the story.
When looking to deepen the story, stakes, and emotional connections at play in Lust Theory, I quickly realised that trying to give time to all the girls in each update was not going to work. There was too much I wanted to explore and do with each character, and I feared how diluting stage time during updates would lessen the impact of each girl's story.
More than this, because of how I am writing the story, there are quite a few scenes that don't have any immediate physical payoff (in terms of scenes to unlock).
Between 8 main girls (9 if you add in Alice, and 10 if you count Carol on top of that) it became quickly apparent to me that writing little bits of each character's story just wasn't going to work. Even doing bits of 2/3 girls per update would have been a challenge and left some updates without any NSFW scenes or left stories pausing in awkward places.
I decided that focusing on EACH girl's story as a chapter that would be released in its entirety was the right play during the Patreon release cycle. When the game eventually releases in full, everyone can mix and match stories as they see fit, but for this point, I felt doing each girl's story one at a time was the best way of giving full focus and attention to each girl's story, and really let players go deeper with them and their stories. And yes, I also knew that the trade-off to this would be that players might end up drawing the short straw for when their favorites finally got their time in the spotlight.
Even with that one issue in mind, however, I felt this was the best course to take. My hope is that players would enjoy the chapters with their favorite girls all the more for being able to experience their story in one uninterrupted go, rather than being drip-fed bits and pieces that could be forgotten over a long dev cycle. I also hoped that players would be encouraged to give attention to girls who might not have been their favorites or even on their radar, perhaps finding something new in those stories and gaining a new connection or appreciation for the other LI's.
At the end of the day, I am a dreamer and passionate about telling stories that stick with the reader and mean something. Stories that are sexy and hot, but which can also go deeper and stay with you after reading. Heck, without wishing to get on my soapbox, in this new age we live in, where payment processors and lobby groups feel they can dictate what games we can and can't enjoy, I feel more conviction than ever to follow this guiding star.
It's so easy for those on the outside to judge the book by its cover or the AVN by its store page. Not every AVN needs to be a work of literary genius, nor do I have enough ego to assume anything I write might achieve this. There will always be space for games and stories that are just thrilling and sexy, or comedic and humorous.
Still, when Mastercard or a small group in Australia wants to tar an entire industry under one brush and cast all this community is by one uninformed stereotype, I want to point to that scene in Leap of Faith and say how much it helped me fight through my own issues with depression. When someone says our games need to thrown off Itch and Steam, I want to show them Being a DIK and the struggles Maya faces in dealing with the oppression of a parent whose moral compass is skewed by what the church thinks and say. I want to tell them how that storyline made me feel seen and understood from wounds and judgments I endured growing up in a religious community. And maybe, just maybe, I'd like to think a few of my stories, and a few of the scenes I write might be counted among those deep moments, even if they are just footnotes compared to the giants of our community.
This message has become a bit of a ramble, but more than anything, I wanted to explain WHY I have been writing LT3 the way I have. No one has to agree with it, but I hope at the least, it shows how important this project (and Lust Bound is to me).
I know there are those waiting for Ellie's story and feel they are being robbed and underserved. I know some of you are only here for one, maybe two characters. But I want to give my best and all to every LI and let them shine. I want every fan to come away from their LI's playthrough thinking 'that was good' and feeling a deeper connection to the characters and world.
Anyway, that's enough stream of consciousness for one night. I hope, if nothing else, it's given a little insight into some of my choices and focuses.
Surfup64
Newbie
- Jul 18, 2024
- 23
- 64
- 91
Indeed Nicole has quite a few scenes and story progression while nothing for Megan. Being my fav, I sure hope that the next update brings something for her (and not shared with her bestie)
MrMax
Active Member
- Sep 30, 2017
- 915
- 1,426
- 388
Never aspire to mediocrity, always aspire to greatness. That's a good selection of games you have there for inspiration but I do hope you keep it more on the lighthearted side. There's a lot of "tragic=more deep" attitude in those
Also 10 main LIs ?
Megan Jen Elizabeth Ellie Zoe Nicole Amy
+ Carol and Alice
Who's the last? Sophie? MCs left hand?
And which one is your favorite/least favorite so we know when you're phoning it in
The main LIs are all the ones that have dedicated stories I believe, so:
Megan, Jessica, Elizabeth, Zoe, Ellie, Nicole, Sophie, Amy, and Alice.
All my favourites are coming up update wise, so I’m excited for that!
I hope they give us something about Alice soon. Would love to see the romance between her and the MC flourish, and the shenanigans that would ensue with her grandpa.
I have a feeling Alice is being saved as the final story to be worked on. I have a feeling her plot line is gonna move towards bringing the story to its end.
Thanks for that. And yes, aspiring to mediocrity is never a good thing. I hate to see it in all its forms. Going a little off topic from AVNs, but it feels like it is everywhere these days. Authors are increasingly being encouraged to write trope-driven, cookie-cutter books at a rapid pace, with a focus on earning notice through the volume of work rather than originality. In cinema and TV series, samey sequels and paint-by-numbers TV shows are all that a nervy and profits-focused Hollywood will put out. Across the board, it feels like 'OKAY' has become the default and the bar creatives are encouraged to aspire to in the creative world.
And yes, I am trying to be mindful of keeping Lust Theory's humor intact. While I want to deepen the series and the emotional stakes at play in the story it has never been my intention to abandon the humor and absurdity that was one of the key joys of S1 and 2.
As for 'favorite/least favorite characters' would it be too cheesy to profess I don't have one?
And that is a personal and professional choice I have tried to cultivate in my writing, not just in Lust Theory, but also in writing L Bound, and in my other works that came before joining the Inceton team.
This is a bit of a deep dive into my writing process and philosophy, but as the writer, having favorites is counterproductive to a good story, especially in a game that thrives on having multiple, unique LIs with their own fan bases.
As a writer, I feel it's my responsibility to love and find the joy and connection to all the characters I write. It's often said that one of the major strengths of a good writer is the ability to get into another person's head and see the world through their eyes. I like to think that doesn't just mean being able to inhabit the minds of the characters I write, but also trying to put myself in the shoes of the readers themselves, too, to appreciate and see the story and what pulls them in through their eyes.
Of course, there are limits to this. The adage, 'You can't please everyone,' rings true here, and even among individual fan bases, there will be differences of opinion on where a character's story should go next and what is wanted.
But in the main, I try to cultivate a mindset that avoids favoritism, seeking to see and show the best of each character and their story.