Ren'Py Mercenaries [v0.6] [WickedGoat]

[johnmnf692]

This game is okay, but it suffers from some pretty glaring flaws:

1) The only relationship with any kind of actual build-up is Alice (Rokka and Aurora kind of do as well, but not really)

2) Juno seems like she's going to have build up similar to Alice's and then, bam, straight into a threesome, despite the fact that MC hasn't done anything other than kiss either of them at that point

3) There should be flags for when events become available so that things don't happen wildly out of order. Right now it's possible to finish all of Rokka's content before even beginning Alice or Juno's, yet Rokka talks about MC having a harem already.

4) The sandbox and time mechanics are completely pointless, especially when it comes to resource gathering, literally just a waste of everyone's time, including the Dev

5) Juno starts randomly shoving her tongue down every girl's throat she can, despite no buildup, nor input from either MC or the player, and she starts full blown lezzing out on Grettel behind the scenes before the MC can even so much as kiss her

6) The MC is supposed to be a badass knight who went through 5 years of brutal training, but he's a pussy and has a room temperature IQ

7) Astrid, a random innkeeper, not only gets the drop on MC, but knocks him out cold, and then begins a mandatory, non-con, femdom bondage scene, but the option to skip BDSM shit (presumably meaning femdom), only pops up after that scene, which largely defeats the purpose of such an option

8) It's unclear whether or not the mom and sister are LIs

The H-scenes are quite well done, even if the leadup to almost all of them is bad or non-existent.

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

This game is okay, but it suffers from some pretty glaring flaws:

1) The only relationship with any kind of actual build-up is Alice (Rokka and Aurora kind of do as well, but not really)

2) Juno seems like she's going to have build up similar to Alice's and then, bam, straight into a threesome, despite the fact that MC hasn't done anything other than kiss either of them at that point

3) There should be flags for when events become available so that things don't happen wildly out of order. Right now it's possible to finish all of Rokka's content before even beginning Alice or Juno's, yet Rokka talks about MC having a harem already.

4) The sandbox and time mechanics are completely pointless, especially when it comes to resource gathering, literally just a waste of everyone's time, including the Dev

5) Juno starts randomly shoving her tongue down every girl's throat she can, despite no buildup, nor input from either MC or the player, and she starts full blown lezzing out on Grettel behind the scenes before the MC can even so much as kiss her

6) The MC is supposed to be a badass knight who went through 5 years of brutal training, but he's a pussy and has a room temperature IQ

7) Astrid, a random innkeeper, not only gets the drop on MC, but knocks him out cold, and then begins a mandatory, non-con, femdom bondage scene, but the option to skip BDSM shit (presumably meaning femdom), only pops up after that scene, which largely defeats the purpose of such an option

8) It's unclear whether or not the mom and sister are LIs

The H-scenes are quite well done, even if the leadup to almost all of them is bad or non-existent.

oy leave Juno alone. let my excessivegloy horny wife be free damnit. she can tongue who she wants.

in all seriousness though, a lot of your problems are more your personal taste to be frank.

and as far as sandbox goes....look...if you walk into a thread with a big grey box a the the top that says sandbox, and you complain about it being in the game....maybe not the game for you, just saying.

3 things I agree with you on would be consistency with flags, the Astrid thing being a tad to late with the warning and wether or not we're going to alabama or not though.

 

[johnmnf692]

oy leave Juno alone. let my excessivegloy horny wife be free damnit. she can tongue who she wants.

in all seriousness though, a lot of your problems are more your personal taste to be frank.

and as far as sandbox goes....look...if you walk into a thread with a big grey box a the the top that says sandbox, and you complain about it being in the game....maybe not the game for you, just saying.

3 things I agree with you on would be consistency with flags, the Astrid thing being a tad to late with the warning and wether or not we're going to alabama or not though.

Sandboxes can, at least theoretically, be done well, this one isn't.

If you consider consistent characterization, character development, and relationship development to be preferences, I don't know what to tell you. I suppose a preference for good writing is technically a preference, but its just silly to think that way. Only 2 out of my 8 points were actually to do with preferences anyway.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with expressing one's preferences, that doesn't invalidate a qualm.

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

-snip-

I mean, yes, considering Nukige and Moege exist as genres. character development in general is very much a preference. they exist as an antithesis of the whole "plot is required for porn" and are released, and sell in droves.

you don't have to LIKE the fact that plot is irrelvent to a large number of the adult games community, but one look at Miel and the amount of "MC Uses his dick the solve his problems" releases they've sold kind puts a damper on the thought that it's "silly" to not care about writing in a porn game. that's honestly niave considerig the existing size of that market.

 

[Crevanille]

I mean, yes, considering Nukige and Moege exist as genres. character development in general is very much a preference. they exist as an antithesis of the whole "plot is required for porn" and are released, and sell in droves.

you don't have to LIKE the fact that plot is irrelvent to a large number of the adult games community, but one look at Miel and the amount of "MC Uses his dick the solve his problems" releases they've sold kind puts a damper on the thought that it's "silly" to not care about writing in a porn game. that's honestly niave considerig the existing size of that market.

Well, to use another 'non lewd' example... take older SMT games prior to 4 where the writing, plot, and overall characterization were secondary to the journey and experience framed around a basic game loop of dungeon crawling, demon capturing/raising/replacing with more powerful demons, deciding which alignment you want, and kicking the crap out of some God...rinse, repeat. It's simple, light on plot and heavily dependent on the player to 'fill in the blanks' (which I love) and is all about generating fan discussion on the underlying themes each game tries to tackle... Nocturne being a great example specifically. In that vein, Miel knows exactly what works and what they want their products to achieve and what audiences they are targeting. Same with any soulsborne game too. Very minimalist storytelling with hardly any real writing or direct plot focus but can generate whole theses and essays on them.

LIkewise, in a porn game where you just wanna enjoy the ride and shut your brain off and/or fap... plot isn't always necessary, or preferred. That isn't to say that plot doesn't matter at all. It just depends on what you're aiming for with your game in particular. Like, Champion of Realms is VERY story and plot focused, with its lewd factor being secondary. Or Evalia: The Lust Kingdom, which is a very traditional sanbox game where the plot is very much secondary to the lewd and player freedom it's aiming to deliver chock full of options and shorter bite sized bits of player interaction and questing. Then there's Lucky Paradox which has a pretty middle of the road approach that has a stronger emphasis on story while trying to be as open as possible.... Personally, I feel this is the hardest path to take since the end result could be real hit or miss if handled poorly.
On the other hand, you have a game like Harem Residence that puts the sandbox elements secondary, has a stronger emphasis on plot, but probably has some of the most lewd content I've seen in awhile, indie or commercial project.

Again, it just depends on what kind of game/experience you want to deliver as a dev. For me personally, sandbox style games shouldn't put story as the core of the experience since that either puts the cart before the horse, or makes the job potentially unnecessarily harder for the dev unless they have a VERY clear picture/plan to implement that story with the level of detail they want.

If nothing else, those are the sorts of things I think about when designing something. I love sandbox style games, but I like telling stories too, which makes thinking about how to make the two work in a way I think is detailed enough, fun and personally satisfactory as a dev... Way harder to do than you'd think, especially if you consider what potential audiences may want/think/say... Shit's a headache and a half...

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

Well, to use another 'non lewd' example... take older SMT games prior to 4 where the writing, plot, and overall characterization were secondary to the journey and experience framed around a basic game loop of dungeon crawling, demon capturing/raising/replacing with more powerful demons, deciding which alignment you want, and kicking the crap out of some God...rinse, repeat. It's simple, light on plot and heavily dependent on the player to 'fill in the blanks' (which I love) and is all about generating fan discussion on the underlying themes each game tries to tackle... Nocturne being a great example specifically. In that vein, Miel knows exactly what works and what they want their products to achieve and what audiences they are targeting. Same with any soulsborne game too. Very minimalist storytelling with hardly any real writing or direct plot focus but can generate whole theses and essays on them.

LIkewise, in a porn game where you just wanna enjoy the ride and shut your brain off and/or fap... plot isn't always necessary, or preferred. That isn't to say that plot doesn't matter at all. It just depends on what you're aiming for with your game in particular. Like, Champion of Realms is VERY story and plot focused, with its lewd factor being secondary. Or Evalia: The Lust Kingdom, which is a very traditional sanbox game where the plot is very much secondary to the lewd and player freedom it's aiming to deliver chock full of options and shorter bite sized bits of player interaction and questing. Then there's Lucky Paradox which has a pretty middle of the road approach that has a stronger emphasis on story while trying to be as open as possible.... Personally, I feel this is the hardest path to take since the end result could be real hit or miss if handled poorly.
On the other hand, you have a game like Harem Residence that puts the sandbox elements secondary, has a stronger emphasis on plot, but probably has some of the most lewd content I've seen in awhile, indie or commercial project.

Again, it just depends on what kind of game/experience you want to deliver as a dev. For me personally, sandbox style games shouldn't put story as the core of the experience since that either puts the cart before the horse, or makes the job potentially unnecessarily harder for the dev unless they have a VERY clear picture/plan to implement that story with the level of detail they want.

If nothing else, those are the sorts of things I think about when designing something. I love sandbox style games, but I like telling stories too, which makes thinking about how to make the two work in a way I think is detailed enough, fun and personally satisfactory as a dev... Way harder to do than you'd think, especially if you consider what potential audiences may want/think/say... Shit's a headache and a half...

Thank you for mentioning Harem Residence! such a good sandbox.

 

[Crevanille]

Thank you for mentioning Harem Residence! such a good sandbox.

It really is. And a very good example of a solid, functional harem. Sure it's not 'realistic, but realism isn't (and shouldn't be) the point here.

 

[johnmnf692]

I mean, yes, considering Nukige and Moege exist as genres. character development in general is very much a preference. they exist as an antithesis of the whole "plot is required for porn" and are released, and sell in droves.

you don't have to LIKE the fact that plot is irrelvent to a large number of the adult games community, but one look at Miel and the amount of "MC Uses his dick the solve his problems" releases they've sold kind puts a damper on the thought that it's "silly" to not care about writing in a porn game. that's honestly niave considerig the existing size of that market.

It's a good thing I literally never mentioned plot, isn't it. "Good writing" does not equal "plot". I'm talking about characterization and development. Saying that because all these poorly written Japanese games are popular, therefore people don't care about plot or writing is a complete non-argument. You're literally just saying "It's bad, but I don't care", which you're more than welcome to do, but it doesn't mean that it's suddenly not poorly written just because you don't care.

Miel has a tendency to insert internal urination into a lot of his games, does that mean that that fetish is popular just because Miel shoves it into his games, which themselves are somewhat popular?

Furthermore, just because the focus isn't writing doesn't necessarily make something poorly written, you can still at the very least be consistent in your characterization, which this game fails to do.

 

[Lerd0]

It's a good thing I literally never mentioned plot, isn't it. "Good writing" does not equal "plot". I'm talking about characterization and development. Saying that because all these poorly written Japanese games are popular, therefore people don't care about plot or writing is a complete non-argument. You're literally just saying "It's bad, but I don't care", which you're more than welcome to do, but it doesn't mean that it's suddenly not poorly written just because you don't care.

Miel has a tendency to insert internal urination into a lot of his games, does that mean that that fetish is popular just because Miel shoves it into his games, which themselves are somewhat popular?

Furthermore, just because the focus isn't writing doesn't necessarily make something poorly written, you can still at the very least be consistent in your characterization, which this game fails to do.

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

It's a good thing I literally never mentioned plot, isn't it. "Good writing" does not equal "plot". I'm talking about characterization and development. Saying that because all these poorly written Japanese games are popular, therefore people don't care about plot or writing is a complete non-argument. You're literally just saying "It's bad, but I don't care", which you're more than welcome to do, but it doesn't mean that it's suddenly not poorly written just because you don't care.

Miel has a tendency to insert internal urination into a lot of his games, does that mean that that fetish is popular just because Miel shoves it into his games, which themselves are somewhat popular?

Furthermore, just because the focus isn't writing doesn't necessarily make something poorly written, you can still at the very least be consistent in your characterization, which this game fails to do.

mate you know damn well splitting hairs about terms in the English language is a bad argument when we have 50 different words for the same general concepts. round about generalizations are common. "plot" or "good writing" are damn well similar enough, and if that's your mustering for an opener it's terribly sad. as far as expecting good writing...the game opens shaking Juno's tits at you..if that led you to expect shakespear you have far greater expectations that what you're going into. you're looking for something then wasn't there to begin with.

in regards to a few of your actual critiques though. you're assumption that 5 years of what is essentially boot camp somehow implies you should be smart is off even by todays standards. you are booted from the knights before you even see the field.no practical experience, no combat outside of your initial training.just 5 years of breaking your will to have individual thought after hearing daddies war stories as a kid. you're discharged having barely graduated after being pretend to the Queen. your character is a greenhorn.the Captain and the Queen were also shown to be the type to feed "don't ask questions, follow orders" to their entire military with Cap himself being Meat Head Prime...real quality training. just the best.

as for your critique of Astrid's character, content warning aside: yes. she's a innkeeper. in the only inn in a town already weary of strangers from previous trouble. any problem that comes to that place is apt to stay at her inn. it's a bold assumption given what has been shown of the setting and the town residents that she's not gonna know how to deal with people like us. pretty much the entire village is expecting shit to go to hell before we even arrive.it's the entire reason Astrid even moves to fuck with you in the first place. and honestly anyone who plays D & D knows you never under estimate the people providing your lodging or the ones serving your drinks. that's the easiest way to down something nasty slipped into a glass of Ale. Roll for Constitution

to summarize you're using stereotypical tropes and paper thin character labels as a foundation for an argument for character development and writing in a game that within the first TWO MINUTES has one of your harem shaking her breasts at you saying "Welcome to Mercenaries Honey". but sure, okay let's pretend we're about to sit and read Beowulf with afternoon tea. cause that's OBVIOUSLY what we've been primed to expect here.

 

[johnmnf692]

mate you know damn well splitting hairs about terms in the English language is a bad argument when we have 50 different words for the same general concepts. round about generalizations are common. "plot" or "good writing" are damn well similar enough, and if that's your mustering for an opener it's terribly sad. as far as expecting good writing...the game opens shaking Juno's tits at you..if that led you to expect shakespear you have far greater expectations that what you're going into. you're looking for something then wasn't there to begin with.

in regards to a few of your actual critiques though. you're assumption that 5 years of what is essentially boot camp somehow implies you should be smart is off even by todays standards. you are booted from the knights before you even see the field.no practical experience, no combat outside of your initial training.just 5 years of breaking your will to have individual thought after hearing daddies war stories as a kid. you're discharged having barely graduated after being pretend to the Queen. your character is a greenhorn.the Captain and the Queen were also shown to be the type to feed "don't ask questions, follow orders" to their entire military with Cap himself being Meat Head Prime...real quality training. just the best.

as for your critique of Astrid's character, content warning aside: yes. she's a innkeeper. in the only inn in a town already weary of strangers from previous trouble. any problem that comes to that place is apt to stay at her inn. it's a bold assumption given what has been shown of the setting and the town residents that she's not gonna know how to deal with people like us. pretty much the entire village is expecting shit to go to hell before we even arrive.it's the entire reason Astrid even moves to fuck with you in the first place. and honestly anyone who plays D & D knows you never under estimate the people providing your lodging or the ones serving your drinks. that's the easiest way to down something nasty slipped into a glass of Ale. Roll for Constitution

to summarize you're using stereotypical tropes and paper thin character labels as a foundation for an argument for character development and writing in a game that within the first TWO MINUTES has one of your harem shaking her breasts at you saying "Welcome to Mercenaries Honey". but sure, okay let's pretend we're about to sit and read Beowulf with afternoon tea. cause that's OBVIOUSLY what we've been primed to expect here.

Literally look up what the terms character development and characterization mean. Nothing about that has anything to do with plot whatsoever. That is most certainly not a mere semantic argument.

As for this appeal to DnD, that has no bearing on anything. The reason certain types of NPCs in RPGs have unexpected strength is simply to mitigate exploits, that's it. It certainly isn't because barkeeps and merchants are secretly badasses, there's a reason why bouncers and security guards exist.

The fact that a character has her tits out in the intro also has nothing to do with anything. Your argument is that because a character has her tits out in a non-canonical, 4th wall breaking intro, that the game must be a brainless fuck fest. I'm saying that the game can be a fuck fest whilst also being better written and designed. Why this is such a ridiculous notion to you is a mystery to me.

Then we go to an appeal to absurdity by saying "It's just a porn game, of course it's not Shakespeare or Beowulf", implying that I in any way expect this game to be some kind of literary masterpiece. Which I of course do not, nor did I ever even imply that I did.

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

Literally look up what the terms character development and characterization mean. Nothing about that has anything to do with plot whatsoever. That is most certainly not a mere semantic argument.

As for this appeal to DnD, that has no bearing on anything. The reason certain types of NPCs in RPGs have unexpected strength is simply to mitigate exploits, that's it. It certainly isn't because barkeeps and merchants are secretly badasses, there's a reason why bouncers and security guards exist.

The fact that a character has her tits out in the intro also has nothing to do with anything. Your argument is that because a character has her tits out in a non-canonical, 4th wall breaking intro, that the game must be a brainless fuck fest. I'm saying that the game can be a fuck fest whilst also being better written and designed. Why this is such a ridiculous notion to you is a mystery to me.

Then we go to an appeal to absurdity by saying "It's just a porn game, of course it's not Shakespeare or Beowulf", implying that I in any way expect this game to be some kind of literary masterpiece. Which I of course do not, nor did I ever even imply that I did.

setting aside D & D, and just going off of solely the game itself, with spoilers.

Spoiler

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generic character roles can be great for 1 line merchants or sprite less background character, but if you apply those ideas to a character just because they have a mundane job it's honestly just poor character design. someone's job doesn't define them. not here, not in life, and when media chose to do that regularly it constantly gets criticized for being generic and bland, unimaginative and tedious.

 

[KhajiitHasWares]

as far as character development goes, I can keep it much shorter though. we are learning and improving, but are still dealing with more and more as we go. we didn't have a strong baseline, so it being slow and haphazard is pretty standard considering we don't even have that much content on a per character story basis an likely still have a ways to go. this last patch is where we finally got our shit pushed hard in so it's setting up for the growth you seem to be after for several characters. we have hit our low and should see the bounceback and progress

 

[BRYAN20003]

Does anyone know the code for 0.6?

 

[LCFBI]

HOW DO I GET IRON

 

[single_guy_from_au]

Any news about this game?

 

[Lucas Robert da silva]

is the game abandoned?

 

[Lucas Robert da silva]

the dev was very active last year, but hasn't posted anything since December

 

[Sylas12]

Could you please let me know where I can find this material?

 

[Tzcp78]

I play form begin several times but still can't buy the Axe. Maybe there was a bug.