VN Ren'Py My Dorm [v0.24.0 S3 Ch.4] [Tropecita Games]

[Trope95]

I'm not worried about it. Just forgot how things were being done in this one - as you're probably aware, it's a pretty complex set of boards versus most and doesn't really do things the same way most others do. That may be RiamMar's signature style, the way others Modders have their way and their look. I get it - pride of product. But, as a user, I'd rather be able to open any VN done with RenPy and find the same kinds of toggles the same places, same screens, etc. That way if something is there, it's easy to find and I don't have to look for a small button on the corner of a save file slot rather than clicking the save itself and having a dialogue box open at the upper right of the page, like in most of the VNs I play with naming, though few of them seem to have perfected the concept of the "persistent name". Sancho did, but he's gone; I think Lightman has persistent names as well (will have to recheck Et***** to confirm), but few others have that, which is something I have trouble understanding. It would seem to be relatively simple "object naming" code: the save box is the object, you write the name, and the name stays the same until you edit it directly or delete the save file, effectively inactivating the box/object. With the modular concept of RenPy, you'd think that would be an easy, pluggable module that doesn't take a whole lot of customization.

Anyway, I'm getting close to a rant, so I'll stop. I'm a pirate, after all - no standing to make demands and bitching should be kept to a minimum.

One of the things I asked Riam when we were discussing the interface was for it to look less Ren'py-ish. My reasons for it? All the criticism in Season 1 about the game being "low effort" because I kept the standard Ren'py interface.
I was happy about the standard Ren'py interface, it did what it should do, but if keeping it would chalk My Dorm as low effort, keeping it wasn't an option. The game can be good or bad, funny or boring, but what it isn't is "low effort".
So getting a different interface, where things looked different, made the game look different too.
Is it perfect? Nope. It was Riam's first time doing a whole new interface in Ren'py (I don't envy him, having to deal with all Ren'py's shenanigans), but it's closer to what my vision of the game was when I decided I wanted a new interface.
Are there players who would prefer the standard Ren'py interface? Obviously. (Just a note: The standard Ren'py interface doesn't include savegame naming). When doing a game, choices should be made, and every choice will have people happy and unhappy with it.
Persistent savegame naming slots? You will be happy with it and other people won't.
You (not YOU specifically) can apply that to any change. Even something as simple as the main interface color.

Oh, and you aren't a pirate when it comes to My Dorm. You are playing the version provided by the dev, so it's not pirating.

 

[DaFinker]

I have the impression that you would like every car of each brand to have the same clocks in the same places. That all the levers and the cockpit layout would be identical. This would make it much easier to change from one car to another. The same in Rolls-Royce and little Fiat.

The major elements of most vehicles are in the same places - I've driven many rental cars and worked at a car wash in high school - even got to do a US market Rolls, though there weren't many Fiats in the US in the 80s, at least not where I lived, and it had it's major controls in the same places as the Chevy's, Fords, Dodges, Toyotas, Hondas and even the Yugo that occasionally came through. You can get in pretty much any passenger vehicle in the US and know that all the pedals are all in the same place, know where to look for the shift, know that the turn signal (for those of use that have the decency to use it) and most of the other light controls are on the left of the steering column and the wipers and certain other controls are on the right side of the column, radio in the center of the console, A/C also in the center of the console, gauges in the same right to left order, etc.

Cockpit layout for aircraft is also very similar from one plane to the next - you don't want someone with the lives of potentially hundreds of people getting confused about where something important is when they are moving from one aircraft to another (yes, I'm aware most commercial pilots fly the same model every day of their lives, but good pilots know multiple aircraft). If having consistency and organization in semi-complex and complex environments is seen as odd, it's only seen as odd by those that have poor organization and for some reason live to be chaotic.

I don't think I'm the outlier here, but you may be.

 

[e6mill]

I was happy about the standard Ren'py interface, it did what it should do, but if keeping it would chalk My Dorm as low effort, keeping it wasn't an option. The game can be good or bad, funny or boring, but what it isn't is "low effort".

Good UX is rare. And the best UIs are the ones you notice the least - because they only exist between the time you decide what you want to do and it happening.
I say this as a general philosophy and not as any sort of criticism of either version of the UI.
That said, I'd rather you spend time on the story rather than redoing basic functionality that comes for free with renpy...
:shrug:

 

[Trope95]

Good UX is rare. And the best UIs are the ones you notice the least - because they only exist between the time you decide what you want to do and it happening.
I say this as a general philosophy and not as any sort of criticism of either version of the UI.
That said, I'd rather you spend time on the story rather than redoing basic functionality that comes for free with renpy...
:shrug:

That's why I didn't do it. Doing what Riam did myself would have meant months of work that wouldn't be advancing the story. Finishing the story always was (and is) my priority. If I had spent months doing a new interface, I would have lost the momentum of writing and perhaps abandoned the game due to frustration.

 

[johnpouljones]

The major elements of most vehicles are in the same places - I've driven many rental cars and worked at a car wash in high school - even got to do a US market Rolls, though there weren't many Fiats in the US in the 80s, at least not where I lived, and it had it's major controls in the same places as the Chevy's, Fords, Dodges, Toyotas, Hondas and even the Yugo that occasionally came through. You can get in pretty much any passenger vehicle in the US and know that all the pedals are all in the same place, know where to look for the shift, know that the turn signal (for those of use that have the decency to use it) and most of the other light controls are on the left of the steering column and the wipers and certain other controls are on the right side of the column, radio in the center of the console, A/C also in the center of the console, gauges in the same right to left order, etc.

Cockpit layout for aircraft is also very similar from one plane to the next - you don't want someone with the lives of potentially hundreds of people getting confused about where something important is when they are moving from one aircraft to another (yes, I'm aware most commercial pilots fly the same model every day of their lives, but good pilots know multiple aircraft). If having consistency and organization in semi-complex and complex environments is seen as odd, it's only seen as odd by those that have poor organization and for some reason live to be chaotic.

I don't think I'm the outlier here, but you may be.

I will not agree with you. There are cars that have a gear lever at the steering wheel and others in the floor. The gear system is also different. To turn on reverse in some cars, you need to press the rod down into others press a special button under the shifty. The speedometer can be in front of the driver or in the middle of dashboard. It can be digital, clue or linear. And many other differences.
The planes are also different. For example, an artificial horizon. In some, the horizon line moves and in others the silhouette of the aircraft. The engine control lever, flap and ailets are also different. Different companies have their traditional solutions. For piloting aircraft you need to have separate training for each type. And separate admission.

 

[DaFinker]

I will not agree with you. There are cars that have a gear lever at the steering wheel and others in the floor. The gear system is also different. To turn on reverse in some cars, you need to press the rod down into others press a special button under the shifty. The speedometer can be in front of the driver or in the middle of dashboard. It can be digital, clue or linear.
The planes are also different. For example, an artificial horizon. In some, the horizon line moves and in others the silhouette of the aircraft. The engine control lever, flap and ailets are also different. Different companies have their traditional solutions. For piloting aircraft you need to have separate training for each type. And separate admission.

Most shifters have moved to the center - the 70s era vehicles I drove had them on the column while pretty much everything since the 80s has been over the transmission well. As for reverse, now you're talking about the difference, primarily, between standard and automatic transmissions - and even with standard, you'll see a difference between daily drivers and high performance (shift lever versus paddles) but any vehicle built since the 60s probably doesn't have the manual shift on the column and the push-buttons didn't have much of a life, as I recall. For a given era, and given type, things will be pretty consistent.

As for the aircraft example you gave, the gauge uses a different style, but you'll be looking in approximately the same place - maybe not precisely the same (thus the reason to qualify on individual aircraft), but for the same basic style of aircraft, you'll be looking to the same area for the gauge you need. A modern single engine from one manufacturer will probably lay out almost identical to the equivalent level aircraft from another, though a Cessna single and a Citation X will be very different as to the complexity and number of gauges, switches, etc., you probably look at about the same spot for the altimeter, the pedals are in the same spots, yoke in the same spot, etc.

I'm not saying there aren't variations, I'm saying major component groups will be in the same approximate places for the same echelon of aircraft, at least for commercial aircraft. Military will probably not be too different, but they won't necessarily follow the same patterns. In a VN, having the major visual/interface/volume controls on the same page (as in standard RenPy) is a good thing; having a separate page/tab for "game play decision" is also good design, as well as having maybe another for "Modder" toggles. The design RiamMar came up with for this one looks and feels like it took a lot of inspiration from My Pleasure, though this one does much better at keeping things grouped and allowing you to get from one screen to another - My Pleasure had some real head scratchers for some of its navigation.

Not everything should be cookie cutter the same, but having the major groupings be the same, even if the GUI is a little different looking, and employing "best practices" is a good idea. Changing form or function without a great reason tends to be an ego thing rather than something that gets you appreciation points from users. Color schemes, button sizes and shapes, etc., are no big deal - customize away - but don't make them difficult to find: the control panel shouldn't be a sandbox free roam that you have to solve before you can play a VN.

And, for me, the best customization after an informative WT mod is persistent save names.

 

[HornyyPussy]

Oh, and you aren't a pirate when it comes to My Dorm. You are playing the version provided by the dev, so it's not pirating.

Come on Trope, let him have his fantasy about being a Pirate, don't kink shame!

 

[johnpouljones]

And, for me, the best customization after an informative WT mod is persistent save names.

I haven't looked into seasons 1 and 2 for a long time. The game retained my records to the very end. Now playing in season 3 I am downloading further updates. Each time the game automatically loads all my settings and registration names of saves.

 

[Trope95]

And, for me, the best customization after an informative WT mod is persistent save names.

Well, this game doesn't have, and never had, a WT mod. It has (and had since day one) a native WT.

Come on Trope, let him have his fantasy about being a Pirate, don't kink shame!

Well, people can have fantasies about being people with low hygiene, low life expectancy, scurvy, and whatever they want. I won't fantasy-shame them if they say "My fantasy is being a pirate". I will tell them they are wrong if they say "I'm pirating your game" if they aren't playing the latest leak (before the public release date).

 

[johnpouljones]

Well, people can have fantasies about being people with low hygiene, low life expectancy, scurvy, and whatever they want. I won't fantasy-shame them if they say "My fantasy is being a pirate". I will tell them they are wrong if they say "I'm pirating your game" if they aren't playing the latest leak (before the public release date).

Fuck! Most of us played the last leak. What are we actually now?

 

[Trope95]

Fuck! Most of us played the last leak. What are we actually now?

If you played it during the first 40 minutes after the leak, a pirate if you bragged about it .
After that time, I freed it up on Discord, Patreon, and SS, so you played normally.

 

[DaFinker]

Come on Trope, let him have his fantasy about being a Pirate, don't kink shame!

I'm a pirate every September 19th anyway (and sometimes on Halloween). If I want to engage in kink...

Spoiler: Well...

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I haven't looked into seasons 1 and 2 for a long time. The game retained my records to the very end. Now playing in season 3 I am downloading further updates. Each time the game automatically loads all my settings and registration names of saves.

The save names are there when I open the file initially - they just aren't retained on most of the save cells and have to be reentered when re-saving. A "persistent" savename wouldn't require reentering upon each re-save. I'm playing a VN - I don't want to have to think any more than necessary!

l, this game doesn't have, and never had, a WT mod. It has (and had since day one) a native WT.

That's one of the things I love about it - when it's integrated, it always works and doesn't screw things up. I've only run across a couple that are integrated like this and I enjoy it. I know some people would rather be surprised by outcomes "Oh, gee - I'm bleeding out - that must have been a bad decision!", but I enjoy knowing where the "canon" path is, as well as where the truly important branches might be. It actually keeps my saves from getting too out of hand when the WT shows me something that may seem otherwise innocuous, but that actually has the potential to be very impactful. Instead of having to guess whether choosing the bagel or the brownie is important - because it was that one time in another VN - I'll know that it is or isn't and will act accordingly.

On a separate note, will this day have a Spanish them, or does the slide just not translate?

And, yes, my language setting is "English".

 

[JJ1960]

Well, people can have fantasies about being people with low hygiene, low life expectancy, scurvy, and whatever they want.

Hopefully this isn't the back story of a new LI girl and you just dare players to have MC romance her.

 

[MarsUltor]

Well, this game doesn't have, and never had, a WT mod. It has (and had since day one) a native WT.


Well, people can have fantasies about being people with low hygiene, low life expectancy, scurvy, and whatever they want. I won't fantasy-shame them if they say "My fantasy is being a pirate". I will tell them they are wrong if they say "I'm pirating your game" if they aren't playing the latest leak (before the public release date).

This is basically why I waited until this past Friday (April 25th) to download (from Mega) and start playing the v0.24 S03Ch04 update, even though you were essentially forced to open it up for public release here about a week and a half ago... it's a 'principles' thing. Oh, and I don't consider myself a 'pirate' so much, but rather a 'privateer' instead...

 

[johnpouljones]

Oh, and I don't consider myself a 'pirate' so much, but rather a 'privateer' instead...

Do you have the right kaper letters for this?

 

[MarsUltor]

Do you have the right kaper letters for this?

I could show you the Letters of Marque in my possession, but then I'd have to kill you...

 

[johnny0183]

Lets steal his letters and become privateers

 

[snakeplisskin]

This is basically why I waited until this past Friday (April 25th) to download (from Mega) and start playing the v0.24 S03Ch04 update, even though you were essentially forced to open it up for public release here about a week and a half ago... it's a 'principles' thing. Oh, and I don't consider myself a 'pirate' so much, but rather a 'privateer' instead...

I play an unofficial android port, so I played it a week ago. Still feel bad even though Trope aaid we could.

 

[MarsUltor]

Lets steal his letters and become privateers

You should've done it before telegraphing your intentions... now I'm on my guard!


Hmmm... I smell a PotC-esque AVN brewing...
FWIW, it smells like rum.

 

[blkcrow20]

You should've done it before telegraphing your intentions... now I'm on my guard!
View attachment 4784105

Hmmm... I smell a PotC-esque AVN brewing...
FWIW, it smells like rum.


View attachment 4784115

I currently play 2 pirate themed AVNs.