VN Ren'Py Mastering the Pink Box [v0.08] [Studio 68 Games!]

Pr0GamerJohnny · Dec 25, 2023

GetOutOfMyLab said:
This is absolutely true. There really are no meaningful choices.

I've talked to cookiekiss (studio68) about exactly this, and if he envisions future path forks or story junctions.

My impression from him is it will play out more or less like a kinetic novel with the player opting in or out of certain side events. I don't mean this like "skip scene/watch scene" stuff, but the Kyuw story throughout these chapters is a good example.

To me, that's not neccesarily a bad thing; some of the most popular games on this site like 'Chasing Sunsets' follow this route. There are choices, sure, but they aren't really choices as so much as 'Stay on the canon path' vs 'say the wrong thing and risk falling beneath the score threshold with a character to get a scene'.

I don't speak for everyone, but I think players here would be much less concerned about choices or the lack thereof if the main LIs had more progress; and I've definitely communicated this to the dev. It can feel like a cruel exercise to introduce a cute girl who clearly wants you, then forcefully pull the player away from her several times.

Admittedly I've a soft spot for this game mostly because it fills the rare genre of not being hyperfocused on ntr or sharing, but building a relaxed world where things like voyeurism and group sex are common. That's hard to find in games. 'Rovering to Sussex' is starting to have that feel. I can't think of many others. I guess games like 'Solvalley School' or "Max's life' also do it, but then go way over the top, and I'm not into cartoon graphics.

GetOutOfMyLab said:
And then on top of that, we just have all these other sluts who want to fuck around with MC... and for no real good reason. It's just fucking filler content to extend the Devon content. It's not like we're building relationships with any of these other characters. Everything is so obviously built around MC and Devon getting together, but not for a really fucking long time.

I do know his approximate roadmap and end vision storywise, and in the grand scheme of things, all of this eventually comes to make sense; it's not random fucking even though it feels this way now; down the road these things coalesce into a central narrative.

Having said that, I totally understand where you or other players are coming from - and I've said just that to him; you can have a grand story but will it really matter when only 10 people read it years from now? You don't want to design by committee, but at the same time you gotta keep the crowd happy.

Devon actually isnt the central.. welll I'll put the whole thing inside:

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GetOutOfMyLab · Dec 25, 2023

Pr0GamerJohnny said:
My impression from him is it will play out more or less like a kinetic novel with the player opting in or out of certain side events. I don't mean this like "skip scene/watch scene" stuff, but the Kyuw story throughout these chapters is a good example.

Yeah, this is very apparent at this point.

Pr0GamerJohnny said:
To me, that's not neccesarily a bad thing; some of the most popular games on this site like 'Chasing Sunsets' follow this route. There are choices, sure, but they aren't really choices as so much as 'Stay on the canon path' vs 'say the wrong thing and risk falling beneath the score threshold with a character to get a scene'.

I do prefer more choice influencing how things play out, but agree, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Pr0GamerJohnny said:
I don't speak for everyone, but I think players here would be much less concerned about choices or the lack thereof if the main LIs had more progress; and I've definitely communicated this to the dev. It can feel like a cruel exercise to introduce a cute girl who clearly wants you, then forcefully pull the player away from her several times.

Totally agree with is... but at the same time... who is a main LI other than Devon? And that's probably part of what you're saying. There's no progress (or maybe even we don't know if there will be progress). No one else feels like an LI to me... just someone to burn time with.

Pr0GamerJohnny said:
Admittedly I've a soft spot for this game mostly because it fills the rare genre of not being hyperfocused on ntr or sharing, but building a relaxed world where things like voyeurism and group sex are common. That's hard to find in games. 'Rovering to Sussex' is starting to have that feel. I can't think of many others. I guess games like 'Solvalley School' or "Max's life' also do it, but then go way over the top, and I'm not into cartoon graphics.

I like many of the same things you do and in this game, too. There's all sorts of potential here... but the execution is just so poor, IMO. Honestly, just a few dialogues could drastically change my view. Instead of having Devon rushing out, just a quick few lines, "I'd really like that, MC. I gotta run, but let's talk later ok?".

But instead, the scenes just all feel rushed and like they run into each other.

RTS...yes, they are doing a great job building that atmosphere. Everyone has their own unique personalities and honestly, they just all feel like real people living their lives. I've never played Solvalley, but quickly got sick of the nonsense that is Max's Life.

Joshy92 · Dec 25, 2023

Honestly, I'll probably stop playing If I have no real say in how things play out
And if the mc bangs all the girls without any input from me well that just pisses me off when games do that.

Either that or I just skip everything and only focus on the sext stuff
I don't know I'll wait for a couple more updates and make up my mind.

GetOutOfMyLab · Dec 25, 2023

Joshy92 said:
Honestly, I'll probably stop playing If I have no real say in how things play out
And if the mc bangs all the girls without any input from me well that just pisses me off when games do that.

Either that or I just skip everything and only focus on the sext stuff
I don't know I'll wait for a couple more updates and make up my mind.

Yeah, I remember telling someone else who talks closely with dev that forced sex scenes are never a good thing. People want to be able to choose who they fuck. I'm not giving up just yet... but right now, my outlook on this game isn't good. Which is a shame, because it does have the potential to be a fun one.

Kinky Bully · Jan 1, 2024

Here is another release!

I've got a couple versions for release this time. Normal, Mac, and Android.

Below are the links. Enjoy this release. I always enjoy making them.