VN Ren'Py Price of Power [Ch.25] [Pandaman Games]

[JenMistress]

Just finished Chapter 5 of this game, so caught up with the Dev again.

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Anyways, thank you for the game thus far, and now be awaiting Chapter 6.

 

[save8lot]

Just completed the latest update. It was shorter than I was expecting. It's also completely story driven. I wish there had been some sort of Romantic scene with Maria. Not even a kissing scene this time. I did enjoy the advancement in the story though.

I also noticed that none of my previous saves, near the end of chapter 4, work. When I try loading them with this update I get some type of error screen. I assume thats because that final bathing scene was modified in this update. So I simply loaded a slightly earlier save instead.

All in all, nice update. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[John242]

Pandaman Games, this is some awesome work and I'll keep a close eye on it.
Loving the story buildup and very well thought out releases.

Edit: Also this is the first thread I've commented and followed! So, I really am impressed.

 

[Sportsmad]

I wanted to give this a try a while back but decided to wait until now, I have to say I am glad I did. Just as I was getting a little frustrated with what I felt was unnecessary narrative interference, the twist happened and it all made sense. I loved every second of my playthrough with the exception of the narrative, but once the twist happened, I realised how essential the narrative was, from that point on the playthrough became even more enjoyable. I have to agree with others this is unique and awesome, I am loving the story and the pace so far. This has gone straight to one of the top spots in my list....Thank you Pandaman Games for this gem.

 

[visagedirect]

Valid general concerns that I can't address without spoiling the whole plot. For what it's worth, Chapter 5 is supposed to feel like there are a ton of unanswered, burning questions left. All I can say for sure is that I definitely didn't take inspiration from CP2077 - I wrote out the idea for this plot a long while ago.

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May I start off by saying what an amazing game, the renders are beautiful, the story is good and very well written. I do find in some of the scenes the text is difficult to read. (ive attached and example image) . Not a big issue but i just thought would point it out.

This the making a master piece ! keep up the good work

 

[visagedirect]

Ignore my above, a friend just pointed out ! ya change text back ground styles sorry for my stupidity

 

[Pandaman Games]

Just finished Chapter 5 of this game, so caught up with the Dev again.

Spoiler

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Anyways, thank you for the game thus far, and now be awaiting Chapter 6.

Good! That's the goal of the ending. A big chunk of Act 2 is dealing with the ramifications of what's happened in Chapter 5. But for now...I wanted a big cliffhanger, so mission accomplished!

 

[visagedirect]

Good! That's the goal of the ending. A big chunk of Act 2 is dealing with the ramifications of what's happened in Chapter 5. But for now...I wanted a big cliffhanger, so mission accomplished!

Its great work, i love the cliff hangers ! well Done !

 

[galibx23]

Harem with sharing seems fair, only harem is bland it also makes the mc a douche and harem+swining is fair to the other characters. That's my take on it.

 

[Boehmi]

Well thats what i call i big Plott Twist. Wow didnt expect that!

 

[Raife]

For what it's worth, Chapter 5 is supposed to feel like there are a ton of unanswered, burning questions left.

You opened up exciting new avenues for the story, which -- as you say -- raise all sorts of questions. Three observations and one plea:

1. Clarke's Third Law. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Apply this observation to a culture that sees magic as essentially demonic... and that overreacts superstitiously at the slightest hint that something might be magical (as in Emilia's case)... and you have a menu for conflict given the MC's new 'passenger'.
2. Singularity risk? There is a school of thought that believes the surfer and the technology he represents are extremely dangerous (for reasons I won't get in to here). Could it be that the Prophet's culture deliberately became hyper-Luddite in order to protect themselves?
3. Price of Power? I love the idea, which you sketched in this chapter, that utilizing certain kinds of power carries a price: moral, physical... perhaps even loss of agency by the MC. It's far from an original idea... LOTR and the sagas it is based on delved deeply into that territory. But it's a brilliant gameplay device.

My one plea is this: remember that it's crucially important to give the player a sense of agency within the confines of your narrative. In other words, if and when the surfer 'takes control' it should be a consequence of the player's own deliberate choices... which can have real, alternative good/bad outcomes. Players shouldn't feel captive unless they have placed themselves in that position.

Exciting stuff, Panda!

 

[underoath27]

Wow! Just WOW! That was a great update, damn!!! Excellent as always! Too bad about Jacob, though, I really liked him, but thank Prophet Maria and Emilia are safe! I really don't know what to do if something happens to them, even Maria is by far my favorite one, Emilia seems a good character too.

 

[jufot]

My one plea is this: remember that it's crucially important to give the player a sense of agency within the confines of your narrative. [...] Players shouldn't feel captive unless they have placed themselves in that position.

I agree with most of this comment, except this bit. It's really difficult to write a coherent, self-consistent and interesting narrative. Against all odds, Price of Power has managed that so far. But in most cases, player/reader agency is a huge threat to that. Pandaman, I think you should only consider choices if you are absolutely certain it won't weaken the story. Most developers can't do it, and not for lack of trying.

 

[Raife]

I agree with most of this comment, except this bit. It's really difficult to write a coherent, self-consistent and interesting narrative. Against all odds, Price of Power has managed that so far. But in most cases, player/reader agency is a huge threat to that. Pandaman, I think you should only consider choices if you are absolutely certain it won't weaken the story. Most developers can't do it, and not for lack of trying.

I suspect that we actually agree. It _is_ extremely hard to write an internally-consistent and interesting narrative. But player agency should have little to no impact on the narrative... if it's done the right way.

The mistake that many Devs make is that they assume that player agency = branching plot. Those branches can absolutely kill the integrity of the story, exhaust the writer(s), and create hopeless complexity. They can kill a game.

But there are plenty of ways to grant a player agency without spawning a hopelessly complicated series of plot branches. _Planescape: Torment_, which for my money is still the best-written game of all time, gave the player a massive feeling of agency with almost no real plot branches. Instead, a player's decisions -- including things as simple as asking certain questions -- changed the way the PC saw himself, the NPCs, and the world. These changes were profound... but they hardly affected the plot at all. The player goes on the same journey, and has the same confrontations in the same order... but the meaning of those confrontations for the PC changed profoundly... because of the player's decisions.

 

[jufot]

I suspect that we actually agree. [...] Does that make sense?

We do indeed, especially on the consequences of branches! And yes, P:T is a brilliant example of non-branching agency.

Soo many games on this site that have started good have succumbed to the tyranny of "paths" and are now getting crashed under that weight. Every path has its fans and when you have 20 of them, it's hard to release an update that progresses more than one or two and the entire narrative becomes a shitshow ("A Wife and Mother" is a prime example). I wonder what's going to happen with Price of Power. Time will tell

 

[OGSage]

well i didn't see that coming but now i cant wait for the next update

 

[lordfridge9]

Damn, I can't wait for the harem to develop! Given how absolutely jealous and possessive Maria is, this gonna be real interesting!

 

[memonto_mori]

hahahaah hahahaahahahaahah good nonsense

 

[Rayadito]

your game is fucking great pandaman, best wishes and happy honeymoon!

 

[JB08]

Fantastic update.