VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch.13.3.4] [Eva Kiss]

[Lovely Dani]

Please, I lost a lot of discussions, someone with a good heart can write a quick recap of what is happening with this game ? Are we losing it ?

 

[Solomon Grundy]

Please, I lost a lot of discussions, someone with a good heart can write a quick recap of what is happening with this game ? Are we losing it ?

Eva announced she is going to go back and revamp Stan and redo some other elements from chapters 1 through 9 before moving on with the story, and a handful of people are losing their damn minds over it. That's the short recap.

 

[Osodrac13]

OMG, what kind of loser cares about Stan?

 

[TheUnforeseenMessenger]

Eh, I think there are plenty of reasons be worried about the tendencies we are seeing from Eva. She is by no means a milker, but it is not exactly a good sign when developers need to go back an re-work large parts of the game because they didn't turn out as they had hoped. This is also not the first time she has done this for ORS, although it is the first re-work which is rather significant.

I think it indicates poor planning on her part. While there certainly is value in keeping the development of the game flexible, not having any idea of what is going to be included in what episode, or not knowing what the role of each character is going to be, and how they are going to develop, are quite large oversights. Having a clear timeline for the entire game and a somewhat established structure for each episode is probably advisable, as you can work more goal-oriented and avoid situations where you don't know what to do, situations which it seems Eva has sometimes faced.

It also synergizes really poorly with all the decisions she is making for ORS. She includes two main characters, which in itself ought to double the work you need to do if keeping the amount of content the same. Additionally, given the branching nature of Eva's games, having two main characters likely increase the complexity a lot, as you not only have to navigate how the characters that belong on primarily one side of the story relate to each other, but also how these characters in turn relate to the ones on mainly the other side of it.

Before the last update, we also saw another worrying sign - giving a loose approximation of when the update might be finished, and then missing that by an entire month. The update times are already 2-3x longer, so it is not exactly promising when time has to be spent on re-working large portions of the story and Eva is talking about feeling burnt out (especially when she recently took a break).

I am not worried about the game's continuation in general, as I believe Eva is far too professional to abandon it or fall into never-ending development cycles, but there is certainly reason to be worried about the frequency in which updates are going to get released. And unlike a 3D game where five months of development time can equate to 4000 new images, a 2D cannot. Eva should probably consider taking a step back and seriously consider the scope of, and what she is doing, with this game, as there are indications that things may be getting out of hand very quickly.

"Poor planning" is probably the laziest way of describing setbacks in a professional world, whether that be gaming or something else.

Planning involves planning for failure too. Planning is not simply seeing something go from A to Z. There are so many intricacies to how you do something that failure is an inevitable process. The fact that she's wanting to go back and re-do her stuff is her prerogative. Ideas come and go, after all. She is not a machine. And because of that, in order to make something go a certain direction, certain rewrites might happen, which in turn lead to a satisfactory ending. Satisfactory is subjective - to whom are the changes satisfying?

No matter how good you plan something, you can never plan everything out to a tee. I think your post was a pretty poor take.

 

[bauman]

Please, I lost a lot of discussions, someone with a good heart can write a quick recap of what is happening with this game ? Are we losing it ?

Eva Kiss shared that the game's development has been slow because of burnout and personal issues.

 

[MadMooseMan]

Still kinda stuck on this scene. Could really use some help so I can finish playing.





I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
Exception: Switch could not choose a displayable.

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
File "scripts/story/chapter9_axel.rpyc", line 134, in script
File "renpy/ast.py", line 1397, in execute
renpy.exports.with_statement(trans, paired)
File "renpy/exports.py", line 1646, in with_statement
return renpy.game.interface.do_with(trans, paired, clear=clear)
File "renpy/display/core.py", line 2610, in do_with
clear=clear)
File "renpy/display/core.py", line 3101, in interact
repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, pause=pause, pause_start=pause_start, **kwargs)
File "renpy/display/core.py", line 3611, in interact_core
self.draw_screen(root_widget, fullscreen_video, (not fullscreen_video) or video_frame_drawn)
File "renpy/display/core.py", line 2441, in draw_screen
renpy.config.screen_height,
File "render.pyx", line 492, in renpy.display.render.render_screen
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 777, in render
surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/transition.py", line 368, in render
top = render(self.new_widget, width, height, st, at)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 777, in render
surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 777, in render
surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/transform.py", line 933, in render
return transform_render(self, width, height, st, at)
File "accelerator.pyx", line 116, in renpy.display.accelerator.transform_render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/image.py", line 501, in render
return wrap_render(self.target, width, height, st, at)
File "renpy/display/image.py", line 307, in wrap_render
rend = render(child, w, h, st, at)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 777, in render
surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 339, in render
surf = render(self.child, width, height, st, at)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 339, in render
surf = render(self.child, width, height, st, at)
File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render
File "render.pyx", line 263, in renpy.display.render.render
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1358, in render
self.update(st, at)
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1336, in update
child, redraw = self.function(st, at, *self.args, **self.kwargs)
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1416, in condition_switch_show
return condition_switch_pick(switch), None
File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 1412, in condition_switch_pick
raise Exception("Switch could not choose a displayable.")
Exception: Switch could not choose a displayable.

Windows-10-10.0.19041
Ren'Py 7.4.4.1439
Our Red String v0.9
Tue Dec 7 12:14:41 2021

 

[jamiroq]

IIRC Eva described herself as a gardener-type writer, so problems like her with the Stan character wasn't that unlikely to happen. If you let something you don't feel is right grow on it's own without molding it's path, trimming it occasionally and weaving it with other plants/structures to provide support for both (like an architect would - to stick with the writer type dychotomy) you sometimes find yourself in a pickle like this. GRRM got himself an extreme case of this problem, where his characters became more important than the story itself (which in turn, was taken to ridiculuos ends by Game of Thrones show-writers).
Not to worry though, Eva's case of this issue is a rather mild one. It will reoccur in one way or another as a consequence of her writing process, so just keep that in mind for your own sake.

PS. Although I personally would like to see more memes about this. Have some fun guys, instead of sombre camplaining.

 

[goldenface]

I feel like Ian should be more jazzed about getting a girl like Lena

 

[Homemade]

Hi, first time posting here and after playing so many adult games, I have found this masterpiece of a game. I have played GGGB and I don't like playing as a female MC, because these games tend to focus on the corruption of female lead which I don't like but when I tried different routes, I must say this is the kinkiest game and the writing is great you can play your character as you like. I am that type of a person if I start a game I like to play all the routes and see all the contents that are in the game. I was lucky when I found GGGB the first time it was completed. I still like to play this game often and end up finding new content.

When I find this game I was happy that I can play Male MC So I did not mind that much and started playing this game.
Ian, Male Mc Scarred Hero, which I immediately connected with not the Scarred part but his personality traits as a musician who also draws and wanted to be a writer. A sensitive guy who had been cheated on and now it is up to us to guide him out of his past trauma, and looks-wise I am more like Ian in real life except black hair, and in my teenage years, I was a nerd who drew a lot, I wanted to become an artist but it did not happen due to my dad not liking this thing. I end up abandoning my passion and graduated in business commerce which was not my passion, hey but I got a good job, and sometimes in my spare time I draw. But let us get back to Ian he is not abandoning his passion to become a writer, even if it meant going against his father wishes that alone is the one quality I admire him for even he has not found any success in it, but he has not given up and I will make my damn sure he succeeds. I have read this forum and a lot of people say Ian is a beta male character but if he was a beta male he would not break up with Gillian after finding she was cheating on him that's not a beta male. I know u can mold Ian as how u want so that's fun also. He also reminds me of Dave Harris from GGGB so that's a plus for me. I got my wish to play a Male protagonist with Eva Kiss's brilliant writing, but U have to play with Female MC Lena you can not only play with one of them, you have to play both of them which is a unique thing, a Dual protagonist game.

I did play a lot of AVN but always there is one protagonist, if you are a male u can have sex with all-female characters, and yea you have a Mega cock to rule them all. If you are playing as a female, there will be corruption and you will turn into a slut. In ORS that's not the case, Ian has not the biggest dick in the game at least that's the part I like, it makes him a more believable character, but he can be a Dik to others. All-female NPC will not wait for U in this game to conquer them, they have their own life which does not revolve around the male lead.

In Lena's point of view, it's basically a corruption story but it also has a different feel to it. Personality-wise Lena is not a blank slate character but she has some emotional baggage as well. It's a tale about these two and their choices impact each other both and the characters around them.

All other NPC characters are believable and have different personalities. Except for the male NPC on Lena's side, oh "Goddess" Eva" have mercy on Lena's soul.

But the character I personally don't like is Axel. The dude has some serious issues as well, and this chapter with Lena confirms it. He is a guy that thinks he owns Lena, that she is only his while it may be true in just body, but it may not be true emotionally. He is the type of guy who always puts his satisfaction above their partner. I bet he fucked Lena many times and in-process mold Lena according to his desires, and during all their relationship he fucked her body many many times he owns her in his mind, but he did not make love to Lena once. Axels type are all girls like to fuck for only his appearance alone, but if they get close to his type of crazy well it's on them not on Axel, Even in my friend path with Lena, he was annoyed that Lena made new friends, well in my opinion if Lena kept Ivy as her only friend, she needs new friends like Ian's friend group and cute holly as well.

Sorry for the long essay. I will write my review about this game after I will buy this game on steam as soon as it is released, and pay Eva at least something for her effort. And I am not going to complain about how much time it will take. I don't mind even if it will take 4-6 months, I am not paying her even if I was her Patreon, I will not complain about the next update or revamp for v0.9 because the quality of this game is above others.

ORS and summers gone are my top two favorite games, and I hope Evas Patreon grows more and more and I would like to thank Pilot Lara, BloodyMares for his walkthrough and being a part of this community, and helping this game to become more amazing and bug-free even I don't use the walkthrough, but man I appreciate your efforts as well Evas. At the end of the day, I am a pirate leecher so I don't have to complain about it while playing this amazing game freely from leeching.

 

[Solomon Grundy]

Okay, so, I saw the profile pic of the above post, immediately assumed the post was from BloodyMares, read the first sentence and went, "wait... hol up, what?!" True Story.

 

[BloodyMares]

snip

Oh no, a doppelganger. I guess it's time for me to change my profile pic...

Seriously though, welcome aboard, appreciate the kind words One thing though, you might want to separate your text into more sentences. It was challenging to read so many words in a row with very few stops in between

 

[Homemade]

NO don't I will change my profile pic and I don't like to write in English because it's the 4th language I spoke and it's hard for me to convey my thoughts in English writing. I find speaking English easy than writing so that's the main reason I don't like to write in English but I love writing in my mother tongue. U guys will not See my reply to anyone anymore but I will give reactions because I genuinely love this game.

 

[Lovely Dani]

Eva Kiss shared that the game's development has been slow because of burnout and personal issues.

Ah. So sad.

 

[Roderick2]

I am lost between 999 saves without a clue of what I did in each step.

Just sharing.

 

[Hongfire Survivor]

Man, I hope Jeremy will be a wingman for once.

I let him have Allison, help him get Emma, doesn't stop Lena (kinda, it is up to you*)

Like damn bro, give ME a lay up! Ok cool, you'll keep Cindy a secret, but don't get sanctimonious with me

Just gives me a high five and plows them off screen.


Smh.

 

[Wallsfalldown]

It's because Stan gets absolutely ripped this chapter. I'm talking full workout program poster boy style ripped.

Holy shit with Eva rewriting Stan, this has potential of being true

 

[doctor13]

Stan joining Ian's gym isn't the worst idea in the world and gets him more involved.

 

[Rickster82]

If you read all of this here, the players / fans are often more creative and imaginative than the actual game developers. I also think that in many games of this genre a lot of potential is wasted or not used.

 

[Deleted member 3064965]

I have to say I really like the new sneak peek of Lena from the latest Patreon update. Having some more non-sexual illustrations will only add to the story and the characters, and underscore the importance of the scenes, even when no-one's having sex. I assume this one is linked to a Stan scene. Considering that Lena and Stan are likely to hang out several times before they end up having sex, it seems like a good idea to add some more visual content to those scenes, besides the standard facial expression and clothing variations of the sprites.

As we've all noticed, the quality of the illustrations has improved a lot in the last few chapters, and I like that Eva's doing some experimenting to develop their use further. I think we saw some of that in chapter 9 as well, during the shoot with Ian/Axel/Cindy and the "shoot" with Lena/Seymour, where it seemed like she'd worked more on the perspective to show all aspects of the setting. (Like the Cindy shoot where Ian's perspective was underscored by having his head in the side of the picture, Ian fittingly being placed behind Axel, so that Ian also "adopts" Axel's viewpoint when Axel stands up, and Ian having the full overview of whether Cindy's gaze lands on himself or on Axel.)

Edit: Looking at the new illustration again, I realize it might just be Lena simply sitting in the living room contemplating about stuff, but I guess that doesn't rule out Stan being present in Lena's thoughts, at least.

 

[lipe2410]

Um... when is the walkthrough going to be updated to the latest chapter? Is the walkthrough even being updated? This game can get quite intimidating to play without some sort of walkthrough or guide each chapter. I somehow ended up with Lena cheating on Ian with Seymour in the latest chapter... now I'm scared to play without a walkthrough.

Bloody Mare finished the Ian scenes and now is working on Lena scenes in walkthrough. There is no date yet but yes, the walkthrough will be updated. I hope until the end of the month