She did actually say early on in the development something about at least 20 episodes, but that was a while ago and can of course change.
I always ended up doing that mostly because of the distance between chapters
The final element I think is making the production of the game is how I try to mix the writing with the gameplay. This is a Visual Novel and I try to make it as interactive as I can manage, and often times that means that I end up biting almost more than I can chew, pushing my limits update after update.
But I’m not referring to just quantity of available paths and variables at play. I try to integrate the gameplay and the experience in a way that has substance and feels engaging. I have a good example of that: In chapter 7 Lena has to decide what are her feelings for Ian: does she sees him as a simple friend with benefits or maybe she’s starting to feel something more? When I wrote the update, this choice happened the morning after they slept together, while Lena was working at the café and reminiscing about it. The choice was presented during her inner monologue, but this felt kinda lazy and mechanical and uninteresting. While going over the chapter, I realized there was a much better way to implement that choice: during the actual sex scene with Ian, in the end, Lena could choose to snuggle up with Ian, acting on her feelings and confirming them, or just go to sleep, showing a colder, less romantic attitude. This way the choice was integrated in the scene and felt more meaningful and symbolic, rather than having a de-contextualized menu elsewhere. So I had to go and scrap what I had written and re-do that particular monologue and set of choices. Maybe these kind of details don’t seem too important, but they are to me.
Something similar happens with character interactions. The draft says these characters need to have a date or conversation in this chapter, so it leads to a sex scene. But what do they talk about? What information do I give to the player that’s new, relevant, interesting to read and that develops the characters and allows you to know more about them? That’s not always easy and sometimes struggle to come up with something worthwhile that makes the character feel like characters, and not just empty plot devices that lead to kinky scenes.
Sometimes I think I make things more complex than they have to be, but I’m trying to learn how to balance stuff. In any case, this is how I like to craft my VN’s, and I’ll keep doing it. I just wish I could do it faster!
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I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
ScriptError: could not find label 'chapter_eight'.
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "master_script.rpyc", line 716, in script
File "D:\b\OurRedString-v0.7-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 1633, in execute
rv = renpy.game.script.lookup(target)
File "D:\b\OurRedString-v0.7-pc\renpy\script.py", line 875, in lookup
raise ScriptError("could not find label '%s'." % str(original))
ScriptError: could not find label 'chapter_eight'.
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1
Ren'Py 7.1.3.1092
Our Red String v0.7
Sat May 08 20:25:38 2021
He should close his hips to his opponent to really have this armbar and his left leg should go straight as well to prevent his escape and block his right hand. Although it seems like a transitional phase and he might be playing with him. Just sayin
Actually yeah I like Ian/Alison much more than Ian/Lena right now but this makes the game so good with all the different views on it.
it seems alison is in love with ian. if you go full route on alison, there's absolutely nothing will happen between her and jeremy.
I love your romantisme and how you envision the spiritual growth of Lena !!
Okay nice thank you for the reply! But after playing many scenarios before I really feel like the first decision in the night out with alison and cherry is the most important one because if alison and jeremy spend that night together they continue this even if you as Ian start something with Alison after this (which is strange if alison is in love with ian). Well at least that's what Jeremy is saying to Ian after that.
I think that's there to appeal to those that wanna have a threesome with Jeremy down the line, because every interaction she has with him before and after shows she has a weird hang-up about Ian, compare Cherry to her and you tell me she isn't a bit obsessed.
!?!Uh, no.Loving the game, but doesn't it feel like Jeremy is the protag and not Ian