Ren'Py Abandoned Making a Mark [v0.18.00] [Fasder]

[ParthMargin]

I just wanted to drop a line to Fasder about the game. You've done a great job with a very simple concept. I like how you've allowed a slow unfolding of the sister/brother relationship. The playthrough is grindy which is why the idea of going back and replaying is not very tempting. I say that because you've mentioned scenes that a player must find by exploring.

I get that concept, but when you have to do multiple weeks to get a particular stat in hopes that you then find the right time of day with the right character at the correct level... blah blah blah... You get my point... it's not likely that many will redo a playthrough simply for a non-plot related scene. This isn't a bad thing, just a personal observation.

To those that are complaining about big tits I say.... really? Dudes! The picture is on the cover. If you don't like huge tits then simply don't play. Stop bugging Fasder about a topic that clearly has no place on this board. OK, that was my one major vent.

What I truly appreciate Fasder is that you are actually articulate and capable of writing in English. After playing through so many games that are lacking in proper English to the point you can't understand what is going on, it is refeshing to play a game like yours. May not seem like a big thing, but it really is.

Every game has typos or grammar issues, but yours are few and far between. There are only a few sections that have typos, so great job.

I know it has been brought up as a glitch or future dev that is being waited upon, but I can't get past 5 of 15 for the Thesis. You stated there is a scene with the professor and I think I had the scene.

Spoiler: Thesis Special Scene

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Is this the scene you are referring to when you say there is a scene at 5 of 15 for thesis?

Either way I am unable to move forward but it seems there is nothing else to happen after that anyways. I will wait.

I've gotten through what I believe is the main content of the story so far and all Achievements have been revealed. That is as far as those that had ????. I know you mentioned there are some hidden ones.

At this point it would be nice to know all the commands for the cheat console. I could not find the actual command lines anywhere.

Keep up the great work and if there is a fix for the Thesis let me know.

 

[Fasder]

I just wanted to drop a line to Fasder about the game. You've done a great job with a very simple concept. I like how you've allowed a slow unfolding of the sister/brother relationship. The playthrough is grindy which is why the idea of going back and replaying is not very tempting. I say that because you've mentioned scenes that a player must find by exploring.

These scenes are optional, there is no need to do them. One of them is a watersports scene, which I know would be a poor decision to have everyone to partake in.
There are a total of five(if I recall correctly) scenes that are optional/random/hidden, they are there because I like easter eggs, granted some of them can barely even be counted as such.
The way I see the concept is that maybe you want to go back in a year and this time you do things a little differently and boom, you find something you never found on your first go at the game.

it's not likely that many will redo a playthrough simply for a non-plot related scene. This isn't a bad thing, just a personal observation.

I get where you're coming from, but I'm not expecting anyone to do another playthrough to get all the content. I'm just trying to add something to the replay value if someone choose to do it.
It's more of a "I feel like playing this game again because I liked the story/art/whatever" a year after their first playthrough.

The main point of the game is the plot, if people aren't playing for the plot then they are playing the wrong game. I'm not saying this to you specifically, but in general.

What I truly appreciate Fasder is that you are actually aticulate and capable of writing in English. After playing through so many games that are lacking in proper English to the point you can't understand what is going on, it is refeshing to play a game like yours. May not seem like a big thing, but it really is.

Thank you, I try my best with the writing.

I know it has been brought up as a glitch or future dev that is being waited upon, but I can't get past 5 of 15 for the Thesis. You stated there is a scene with the professor and I think I had the scene.

That's the scene I was referring to, I'm currently writing the follow-up to it, stopping at 5 is how it's supposed to be.

I know you mentioned there are some hidden ones.

I think two of them are unlisted, one is extremely rare and the other is, like I mentioned before, a watersports scene.

At this point it would be nice to know all the commands for the cheat console. I could not find the actual command lines anywhere.

Try pressing "b" ingame, or look have a look in script.rpy, all variables are declared there. Though I highly recommend not messing with a lot of the stuff in the cheat menu, you can easily screw things up if you don't know which values are the "correct" ones.

Keep up the great work and if there is a fix for the Thesis let me know.

Thank you, I'll do my best.
And no, no fix.

 

[yoyomistro]

There are a total of five(if I recall correctly) scenes that are optional/random/hidden, they are there because I like easter eggs, granted some of them can barely even be counted as such.

The main point of the game is the plot, if people aren't playing for the plot then they are playing the wrong game. I'm not saying this to you specifically, but in general.

Crap did you add any new hidden scenes after .4? Don't have to tell me what they are if you did, just let me know so I can look for them =P. I found the one where Sarah randomly walks through the living room naked while you're watching TV and the watersports one (I posted here when I did). Haven't spotted any new ones since then though.

Also, if the main point of the game is the story, then why the sandbox grind? It really kills a lot of the immersion into the story aspect for me since a lot of the scenes are repeated and you have to grind a bunch between each significant story element. If that's truly the case, could you at least change the dialogue for like the sunbathing scenes or the massage where it's like the MC is encountering that situation for the first time every single time? Just have something different after he's done it once.

 

[Fasder]

Crap did you add any new hidden scenes after .4? Don't have to tell me what they are if you did, just let me know so I can look for them =P. I found the one where Sarah randomly walks through the living room naked while you're watching TV and the watersports one (I posted here when I did). Haven't spotted any new ones since then though.

Nothing new yet.

Also, if the main point of the game is the story, then why the sandbox grind?

Because I'm not a huge fan of VN's, having a game to play and something to work toward(the story) is what I came up with. Writing a non-linear story is also really difficult and is something I've never done before, and if you want a good VN there needs to be something to engage the player with, not just clicking for the next image.
So I've tried to make something with engaging gameplay and a good story, where forwarding the story should be the main goal for the player. Right now the focus of the story is on Sarah and Mark's relationship, when that finally reaches it's climax(no pun intended) there will be other things to progress toward. So while their relationship is a big part of the story it's not the full story.

Maybe it's a bad idea, maybe it's not, but it's what I've been working toward for the past year or so.

If that's truly the case, could you at least change the dialogue for like the sunbathing scenes or the massage where it's like the MC is encountering that situation for the first time every single time? Just have something different after he's done it once.

Because while it might seem like an easy thing to do it's pretty difficult to write variations to the same scene. There are a lot of things to take into account, for instance I can't write about certain things because I know that they are out of sync with the story. I also try to make each scene have a purpose, most scenes have relevance to one degree or another which is why I made them in the first place.
The dinner with Sarah and the lunch with Helen took me a relatively long time to write in relation to how long they are, making things that have no purpose is just not very fun to do, and as a player I wouldn't want that type of content either.
There might be better solutions to the problem, but the only one I see is to either let it be or to make new scenes for every scene there is, which would take way too much time.

I think someone else commented something similar on the new pool scene with Sarah and I think I gave a similar answer to that too.

I'll think about it and if I can come up with something I'll implement it, but I doubt that would be doable for all the affected scenes. Right now though, I want to focus on moving the story along.

 

[HeavyEavy]

Depends which side of the pond you are from penedeyewink:

You would be surprised... I play ARK and tend to run into lots of folks from Australia/New Zealand/England. I'll notice someone type "I just need to get things sorted", So I would ask what part of the UK are they from? and 4/5 people will jump in to tell "the village idiot"(Me) that "He's from Australia, not England"....

 

[kiteares]

You would be surprised... I play ARK and tend to run into lots of folks from Australia/New Zealand/England. I'll notice someone type "I just need to get things sorted", So I would ask what part of the UK are they from? and 4/5 people will jump in to tell "the village idiot"(Me) that "He's from Australia, not England"....

Shit! 2 idiots in one thread? Oh well, at least I have company

Spoiler: Off topic digression

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[HeavyEavy]

Shit! 2 idiots in one thread? Oh well, at least I have company

Spoiler: Off topic digression

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LOL, I'm from the US. but
"Me best mate growing up(grade school through high school) was from Swindon and his cousin was from Queenstown"

 

[HeavyEavy]

@Fasder
Energy isn't replenished with you have a meal with someone (Helen for lunch or Sarah for dinner).

 

[Fasder]

@Fasder
Energy isn't replenished with you have a meal with someone (Helen for lunch or Sarah for dinner).

Care to elaborate? It should be virtually impossible for that to happen.

 

[ParthMargin]

These scenes are optional, there is no need to do them. One of them is a watersports scene, which I know would be a poor decision to have everyone to partake in.
There are a total of five(if I recall correctly) scenes that are optional/random/hidden, they are there because I like easter eggs, granted some of them can barely even be counted as such.
The way I see the concept is that maybe you want to go back in a year and this time you do things a little differently and boom, you find something you never found on your first go at the game.


I get where you're coming from, but I'm not expecting anyone to do another playthrough to get all the content. I'm just trying to add something to the replay value if someone choose to do it.
It's more of a "I feel like playing this game again because I liked the story/art/whatever" a year after their first playthrough.

The main point of the game is the plot, if people aren't playing for the plot then they are playing the wrong game. I'm not saying this to you specifically, but in general.


Thank you, I try my best with the writing.


That's the scene I was referring to, I'm currently writing the follow-up to it, stopping at 5 is how it's supposed to be.


I think two of them are unlisted, one is extremely rare and the other is, like I mentioned before, a watersports scene.


Try pressing "b" ingame, or look have a look in script.rpy, all variables are declared there. Though I highly recommend not messing with a lot of the stuff in the cheat menu, you can easily screw things up if you don't know which values are the "correct" ones.


Thank you, I'll do my best.
And no, no fix.

I appreciate you taking the time to reply, and for the record I like Easter Eggs too. =)

 

[HeavyEavy]

Care to elaborate? It should be virtually impossible for that to happen.

If I eat food from my inventory (pizza(36), sandwich(3), burger(30)) I have energy replenished. However eating a meal with someone there is no replenishment of energy for said meal. I hope that make more sense.

 

[Fasder]

If I eat food from my inventory (pizza(36), sandwich(3), burger(30)) I have energy replenished. However eating a meal with someone there is no replenishment of energy for said meal. I hope that make more sense.

Could you attach a save so I can take a look at it? What you are saying makes no sense at all.

 

[HeavyEavy]

Here's a save, I think it's more with the lunch as I just re-re checked a dinner and that worked. I may have just remembered the numbers wrong, my meds do that sometimes (morphine for pain), brain gets mushy. Sorry.
Lunch with Helen (smoked salmon)
Mark found he enjoyed it very much...annoyance form...
Mark found he enjoyed it very much...annoyance from...

 

[Fasder]

Here's a save, I think it's more with the lunch as I just re-re checked a dinner and that worked. I may have just remembered the numbers wrong, my meds do that sometimes (morphine for pain), brain gets mushy. Sorry.

All good, I'll take a look anyway. It's just not really possible with how the game is programmed, which is why I'm a little confused.

Edit: Both are working fine on my end, thanks for letting me know either way.

 

[papasmurf]

This games is just all over the place Wtf is the point of a hammer if u cant break the lock

 

[HeavyEavy]

This games is just all over the place Wtf is the point of a hammer if u cant break the lock

you need a strength of 10 and then you have an option to "smash the shit out of that lock".

 

[calisurfer]

So, my computer crashed just after Jenny (or Jenna?) came over to the house to watch the lifeguard movie. I was an idiot and didn't save once. Replaying the game all that way is not ideal. Does anyone happen to have a save that is close to this point in the game?

I have an idea as to where my relationships and stats were, so I can fix the rest in the console. Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[Lorric17]

So, my computer crashed just after Jenny (or Jenna?) came over to the house to watch the lifeguard movie. I was an idiot and didn't save once. Replaying the game all that way is not ideal. Does anyone happen to have a save that is close to this point in the game?

I have an idea as to where my relationships and stats were, so I can fix the rest in the console. Thank you in advance for any help!

Ren'py games make autosaves. On the loading screen, you should be able to select a page named 'A'. Load the newest on there. (I'm not actually playing this game now, so I am not certain it's there, but go and have a look)

 

[kiteares]

you need a strength of 10 and then you have an option to "smash the shit out of that lock".

Being the pedant that I am...I think you have the option to smash the shit out of the lock before strength 10, but you fail until then. I leveled up my agility in line with my strength...

So, my computer crashed just after Jenny (or Jenna?) came over to the house to watch the lifeguard movie. I was an idiot and didn't save once. Replaying the game all that way is not ideal. Does anyone happen to have a save that is close to this point in the game?

I have an idea as to where my relationships and stats were, so I can fix the rest in the console. Thank you in advance for any help!

Does yours have autosaves? look under A

 

[calisurfer]

Ren'py games make autosaves. On the loading screen, you should be able to select a page named 'A'. Load the newest on there. (I'm not actually playing this game now, so I am not certain it's there, but go and have a look)

Thank you, both! I totally forgot Renpy does auto saves!