VN Ren'Py Nothing Is Forever [v0.7.3] [MrSilverLust]

[Byczer]

The current state of the game already seems very good to me lol. I guess what everyone is looking for in the game is different. All I want from this game right now is more content for Bri

 

[hielo_seco]

I won't be changing the style of the game midway to the "classic" photo realistic Daz3d style, that would be crazy!

And remaking the whole thing is also crazy. It's not just loading the old scenes and render again. The lighting wasn't made for realistic skins. It's very different to light a scene with the cartoonish style I have or the trans-lucid realistic skins Daz games usually have. If I just changed the skins and render everything again, it'd look like crap. I would have to light every scene again, but I have zero experience with that kind of lighting... it'd would take a huge amount of work to probably look worse than your average Daz VN.

Just having a new GPU doesn't make renders look great automatically. It just makes it faster to render shitty renders
For better or worse, we have to stick with the original style.


Also, don't expect to see much of a difference in the next chapter... on one hand, I only had the new desktop at the last week of January. On the other, sure, it'll help to have more itenerations in some renders to make them not look noisy and shitty. And I can now easily have more characters in the same scene if I want to. So, that helps.

But I don't think that'll be very apparent - the lighting, style, render resolution and overall look will still be the same. Again: a faster GPU just means the same scenes are rendered faster. It doesn't magically make them look better.

So: the new renders will look very similar to the best renders already in the game because that's what this style, plus my ability to pose characters, light and compose scenes, allows for. Hopefully, there will just be less to none shitty renders that look bad because, in the past, it'd take too long to render for the required amount of time for them to not look noisy and grainy. And now I can do that easily.

The biggest difference is that I can now render at a good quality faster. And make animations. This is where the improvements will be seen.

I loved this so much, i've seen so many developers get a new GPU and decide for more ambitious rendering slowing the development proccess and remaking!

 

[Joop501]

I loved this so much, i've seen so many developers get a new GPU and decide for more ambitious rendering slowing the development proccess and remaking!

From my point of view, I think the story is very good and cool MrsilverLust
He has made a special game

 

[emrethesulo]

Aside from everything, am i the only one who loves chess replays and commentary? That last one with jen and grand master was so fun to watch! I am not a chess player or anything but this is such a unique feature in a VN and i dont see anyone talking about it. Thanks MrSilverLust and keep up the good work!

 

[Impurity2937]

Aside from everything, am i the only one who loves chess replays and commentary? That last one with jen and grand master was so fun to watch! I am not a chess player or anything but this is such a unique feature in a VN and i dont see anyone talking about it. Thanks MrSilverLust and keep up the good work!

It made me back to chess tbh, playing at least hour daily since I saw Jen's plays so yeah, great job with that MrSilverLust

 

[Byczer]

Aside from everything, am i the only one who loves chess replays and commentary? That last one with jen and grand master was so fun to watch! I am not a chess player or anything but this is such a unique feature in a VN and i dont see anyone talking about it. Thanks MrSilverLust and keep up the good work!

Bro I love everything about this game. Cool story, relatable MC and realistic characters, lots of fetish, CHESS, different game system and everything is optional. One of my favorite games since version 0.1

 

[bacienvu88]

CHESS

This site really need a chess tag.

 

[gregers]

This site really need a chess tag.

I can hear the arguments over what qualifies as 'real' chess already.

 

[osanaiko]

I can hear the arguments over what qualifies as 'real' chess already.

If your opponent takes your queen, is that NTR?

 

[Pr0GamerJohnny]

If your opponent takes your queen, is that NTR?

I used to share my rooks all the time in exchange for 2 minors.

 

[gregers]

If your opponent takes your queen, is that NTR?

Someone eating my chess bars sure as hell is.

 

[Vleder]

Someone eating my chess bars sure as hell is.

Can you believe I learned something new in a somewhat NTR discussion?
First time I've heard of chess bars. I'm checking the recipe...

 

[Djsjcs]

Netorase is when the mc encourages his girl to have sex with other men and likes it (kind of sharing). Netorare is when it's done against the mc will and he hates it/ get jealous/whatever. There won't be netorare in the game so nothing happens behind the mc back.

None of the sharing will ever happen in your playthough unless you make specific choices that encourage a LI to explore those kinks. The choices will be obvious and you might even not see them because you won't be in the paths that can lead to those kinks.

no offense but i dont like ntr or any thin has somethin to do with see girl get fk soo can you add plz to turn it off from the intro of the game thx

 

[Djsjcs]

can we play the game and be the only one how fuck in fem or sub

 

[osanaiko]

no offense but i dont like ntr or any thin has somethin to do with see girl get fk soo can you add plz to turn it off from the intro of the game thx

Just read the post you quoted from the Dev again - it literally says that such content only is shown by your explicit choices. If you make player choices and kink selections (and they are quite obvious) that keep you away from any sort of sharing path, you simply will not encounter that sort of content.

 

[osanaiko]

Someone eating my chess bars sure as hell is.

Can you believe I learned something new in a somewhat NTR discussion?
First time I've heard of chess bars. I'm checking the recipe...

Exactly the same, I had to search for it too. Some sort of regional US dessert food it seems.

Ugh, now I'm hungry

 

[EndlessNights]

It was my pleasure, there's a lot here worth discussing.

Definitely! I always meant to try to keep this worthy conversation going with a reply, but time got away from me a bit. At least now that a month has gone by we've hopefully both had a chance to recharge our rhetorical batteries and I'll be able to rehash the same tired, old arguments all over again without anyone noticing their staleness. Uh oh, I may have just revealed too much...

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[bacienvu88]

Definitely! I always meant to try to keep this worthy conversation going with a reply, but time got away from me a bit. At least now that a month has gone by we've hopefully both had a chance to recharge our rhetorical batteries and I'll be able to rehash the same tired, old arguments all over again without anyone noticing their staleness. Uh oh, I may have just revealed too much...

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[ename144]

Is there an RPG or any other type of game you can think of that has socially oriented skills and completely avoids this pitfall? I racked my brain trying to think of one, and I couldn't really come up with a good example. For instance, my favorite RPG, Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines, has an attribute and feat system that allows the player to build characters who are intimidating, persuasive, and/or seductive, but the game is very selective in terms of how much it allows these character aspects to change the way the overall plot develops. There are always NPCs you can't intimidate, persuade, or seduce and simply have to fight or perform quests for. Even if you envision your vampire as more of a lover than a fighter or as someone who would never take orders from anyone, the plot absolutely requires you to play a certain way at certain moments even if that conflicts with the personality of the character you've built.

Much like VTMB's attribute and feat system, Nothing Is Forever's skill system greatest value to me is that it can empower my roleplaying in a way that disconnected choices might not. One thing I really like about NIF is that it acknowledges potential connections between our character's personality and his kinks but doesn't force them. For instance, you can absolutely play a dominant guy who tends to be quite sensitive in conversation. Sure, perhaps you can't pick sensitive choices every single time they crop up and still have enough points for your dom skills, but the system gives you lots of leeway to both pick the best choice in the moment and establish your character's preferred kinks. In practice, it can work out really well because a sensitive dom is probably going to pick sensitive choices in order to be caring or supportive while not picking them when they're too submissive and there's plenty of both types of sensitive choices in the game.

To my mind the mark of a good RPG is that the options you can pick have applications in numerous different situations. Sure, some locks might be unpickable and some encounters might not permit negotiation, but that's a far cry from, say, only having a single NPC you could seduce or a single computer to hack. To me, NIF feels a lot more like the latter because most of the skills seem to map pretty tightly to specific girls. Yes, there's some overlap on the baseline skills but those are extremely simple skills and there's still only a limited application for them.

Conceptually, I understand why that's the case; it makes perfect sense that each girl will have their own tastes no matter how much *we* might be into something else. But in the end it still leaves me with the feeling that the skill system is effectively a form we fill out to unlock the girl(s) of our choice - in which case why not skip the form and interact with the girls as we see fit? The skill tree's only mechanical function, I think, is to restrict access to some content based on our available points. That's a potentially important role, but it's a really hard one to 'play balance' because there's such a wide variety of possible point scores.

Admittedly, it's possible the system will feel less idiosyncratic as time goes on and we get to explore a wider array of kinks with each girl. If that's the plan then I'm willing to wait and see how it works before passing judgement, though it will almost certainly be a massive undertaking for the dev. I suppose you could also argue the system helps train us to associate certain dialog options with the various skill groups; that can be a useful thing (but it depends heavily on the player conceptualizing the groups in a similar manner to the dev). And the skill tree does give us a handy roadmap of the sort of content likely to be encountered in the game. So I can see some appeal to the system, even if only as a security blanker. But to me the skills distract from the true strength of the game, which lies in the way we can explore relationships with interesting characters.

I would be a bit surprised to see an AVN actually spark a completely new interest in a particular kink, but I suppose it does happen from time to time particularly with more unusual fetishes. I wonder if museums have had to beef up security just a little bit following the release of A Silent Statue.

One thing I love about NIF is the way MrSilverLust develops his characters as multi-dimensional people first regardless of their kinks. So, while there are characters with sexually dominant tendencies who are also often dominant in conversation as well like Emma and Kim, there's also Deb who isn't quite as easy to immediately fit into the domme box...and Emma is actually a switch who can enjoy being dominated though she hates to admit it. Jen can both destroy men across the chess board and submit to the MC in the bedroom. Carl is nothing like the stereotypical cuck in NTR/netorase games. Responsible Bri seems like the perfect girl to bring home to mom and dad and someday marry...but she fantasizes about one night stands.

Interesting. I can't really agree; to me a lot of the girls seem pretty one-note in their desires, made all the more so thanks to the skill system emphasizing the way to their nethers. Emma, for example, feels very much like a game mechanic the way she oscillates between dom or sub with no option to just talk to her about our feelings in a neutral manner. And Deb is a pretty textbook domme in my book (all the more so since we never get to see her trying to accommodate Carl).

I'm not saying the characters themselves are flat; I think they're quite well written. But I do think the way the MC is allowed to interact with feels restrictive. Maybe that would ultimately be inevitable - there's only so much freedom a player can have in a computer game. But I still feel like the characters would benefit if they themselves had to explain to the MC (and us) why they weren't interested in doing something rather than leaning on the button notes to fill in the gaps.

I think there's real social value in portraying people with kinks that may define their sexuality but don't define or predict everything else about them. Even as a rather vanilla guy, I don't find the kinky characters in NIF to be weird or off-putting...they're just into different stuff in the bedroom than I am, and that's totally OK. It helps that really only Kim is potentially hurting anyone with her fetish. If rapey stuff or something like feeding was portrayed, I admittedly might feel a lot differently.

There's also a big contrast in how NIF treats kinks and how other adult games tend to. If you were to delve further into, say, femdom games, you'll likely come across a lot of rather dark fantasy and rather less well-rounded and realistic characters. For instance, it's not unusual to see evil domme characters who enslave, torture, and even sometimes murder the hapless fellows who fall into their grasp. I have a feeling those games would also often make vanilla players disinterested in the kink but in a more visceral, less nuanced, and potentially even upsetting way. (I personally sometimes try to play these games with a classic good vs evil mindset. It blows my mind a little that some femdom games actually let you play this way and eventually get some measure of revenge on the dommes after a whole lot of pain and suffering! It can be quite cathartic.)

Fair, but I consider most of those games dreck. Admittedly, I'm a strict egalitarian when it comes to sex so I almost never play that sort of game in the first place, but IMHO the 'evil domme who must enslave everyone' is more a cardboard cutout than a proper character. I'm all for NIF trying to view kinks through a more nuanced lens, I just don't think you need a skill tree to clear that rather low bar.

I will concede that Lea could have had more scenes where she shows she has her own will and isn't completely defenseless to the power of suggestion and the MC should have been less aggressive in his kink recruiting. It's not that I didn't have reservations as well, but the way the relationship developed reassured me that they were good for each other. There is one scene on her route that I liked a lot that might make you feel a little better about the relationship:

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Having played through her path at least once, Lea is easily my favorite girl. So I understand her appeal and I agree she's intended to be willing partner rather than a pliable victim (unless you're the sort of monster who'd deliberately cheat on her ). But I really do have to close my eyes and hum loudly to get through some of the early interactions because they're so one sided - especially if you factor in the MC's history of abusing his role as a psychologist in the past.

I prefer to think of the MC quitting not because he's cowering in fear of Kim but rather because he wants to take full control of his life back and, perhaps, do the honorable thing for his friend and finally tell Pete the truth about the cheating. In that case, it wouldn't be a snap judgment made in a moment of weakness, but rather something he's carefully considered after weighing all the pros and cons. As long as he keeps practicing, Kim or anyone else who puts two and two together could theoretically threaten his career and reputation...it's a Damocles sword that will forever hover over his head even if it is also quite possible he could continue to get away with it indefinitely. Even Mel or Jen themselves could ruin him if they so chose.

Also, it's not as if he doesn't feel at least a measure of guilt for his past or current indiscretions. He knows he absolutely violated the ethical code of his profession. He knows how people like Professor Cunningham and Emma would likely react if they heard the truth. By quitting, he wouldn't just be escaping Kim's blackmail but also at least some of his own mental self-flagellation.

Then again, maybe the MC just wanted to do something different. That motivation might not be as satisfying, but it would work on every route. I agree with you that him changing fields entirely would make a lot of sense and be preferable all things considered. I liked the bartender idea he discussed with Olivia.

I can understand the MC wanting to leave psychology. That makes sense given the risk he's putting everyone else through, and if he'd gone for a job as a bartender I probably wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. But the game clearly shows he's trying to get back into sexology, and that's were it loses me. Even if he isn't going to be working with patients one on one anymore, the MC has less business in that field than he does in psychology. That's my hang-up and the game gives me very little to work with as an explanation.

Kim seems to love games, struggling for dominance, and risk-taking above all else. A lot of her behavior is extremely imprudent from my point of view, but it's all consistent with her personality. I have a feeling she'll find a way to land on her feet no matter where the plot takes her and that she'll be just fine without either the MC or Pete if things end up going that way.

It may be consistent with her personality, but it's hard to square with her being a successful attorney. Sure, we all have blind spots when it comes to assessing our own actions, but this is pushing it. If she'd been unwilling to try dominating the MC previously I don't see why she'd fling herself off the ledge so zealously just because he'd be in a slightly better position to harm her if the attempt fails. And frankly, the quality of her argument comparing blackmail to practicing law would give me pause me if I were her client.

 

[bacienvu88]

Having played through her path at least once, Lea is easily my favorite girl. So I understand her appeal and I agree she's intended to be willing partner rather than a pliable victim (unless you're the sort of monster who'd deliberately cheat on her ). But I really do have to close my eyes and hum loudly to get through some of the early interactions because they're so one sided - especially if you factor in the MC's history of abusing his role as a psychologist in the past.

Part of the problem here, at least to me, is what happens when you don't go on Lea's path. Because then MC won't help Lea at all. So MC basically says that the only way he'll help her is for her to do this so called "exposure therapy".

EDIT: Also, the setup reeks too much of the old porn game trope of "whatever an LI's problem is, it will be solved by having sex with her".