VN Ren'Py Race of Life [Ep. 3.1 Extra Fix v3] [Underground Studio]

[Ray_D]

Everyone expecting more about the girls meanwhile i'm waiting what will happen next to the "monkey", the evolution of the car, the lose of MC's technology by the spy, the risk of his life in the next race and if there will be more chances for real drifting...

PS: and of course, if the next tracks will be inspire by eurobeat music to hear during the race

yes sir, I want to improve the car and put more power into it.

 

[WhamBamKam]

Just finished my main play through of chapter two(Veronica) and it was pretty much perfect. Way longer than I expected. I loved the racing cutscenes. One nitpick if the wonderful dev team ever reads this would be the scene where Maggie is telling us her backstory. The exposition itself is fine but I think something like a short flashback, an insert or even a close up would have really helped in that scene, just anything visual really. This game does a great job of show don't tell usually but in that scene I feel like it could've been better. This isn't really anything major but when a game is this close to perfection I can't help but think of ways it could be improved. 5/5 update.

 

[Teal80]

My heart sank when I saw the ice cube in the glass... Oh DAMN and he called it Whiskey...

 

[HauntedHill]

You know i really like the concept of this game, In fact i liked it when it was still just an idea posted onto this thread. I'm really into the concept of the MC doing illegal street races to save his daughter's life but unfortunately for me the game is ruined by unlikable characters. The MC is an asshole and a creep and no matter how hard i try to play him as a decent guy it's just not happening. Even when he's being a "good guy" it doesn't feel sincere at all.
Especially because of the fact that if you choose to tell V you're in love with her and he gives her that whole fake ass speech about it, not long after that we see him creepily watching his neighbor through a cracked door while she get dressed. Like i just don't get what the Dev is going for with this MC but asshole creep seems to be it i guess. Very disappointing
The best friend Cooper is a 40 something year old perv who acts like a child and makes horrible jokes(I can totally see why he and the MC are best friends)
Then there's the Li's, most of whom are just trashy and or annoying. With the exception of Ally and V. Jasmine and her sister/friend in particular are irritating beyond me like God dammit are they just annoying. There's also the neighbor who i don't care for at all cause I'm just done with the damsel in distress crap at this point. The exchange student albiet smart, is cheap ass, nothing more to say.
Another thing is even if you reject the Li's which I've been doing since the beginning of this game, aside from V cause she's already dating the MC prior to the events of the game, the MC still acts like he's intrested in em, hell he practically kissed Jasmine and the neighbor even tho I rejected both of em multiple times and it just makes me think like why the fuck give an option then if the MCs just gonna do and say whatever anyways? Again very disappointing.

It's just so unfortunate that a potentially really good story that I'm actually intrested in had to have unlikable characters who are completely taking me out of this game. Cause for me i don't care about the sex scenes i usually skip it anyways, my interest in these VNs is the story and the characters only so whether I'll continue to play this one or not i don't know yet. But honestly between work and my personal life i don't get that much time in my day to play any games really so it's probably highly unlikely and when i do get the time to play games i prefer to play something I'm not rolling my eyes at every other minute lol. I do wanna see how the main story unfold tho so I'll maybe check in after the game is completed. If it'll ever be completed that is.

But for now good luck with the game devs. I know others are enjoying it for what it is, It's just not doing it for me unfortunately because of the characters but i still hope baby Lilly gets the treatment she needs.

 

[WhamBamKam]

Spoiler

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

Good point. Those scenes that you were talking about didn't take me out of the game completely but were sort of annoying when I did a Veronica exclusive playthrough, Miller is not being a good guy when he tries to mess with all these girls at once! I do think things will get better as the story progresses and Miller becomes really exclusive with someone. But I also think the scenes with Alison and Lily does allow him to more likable and felt sincere enough for me(if you choose the right dialogue, that is). Ultimately I think you just have to chuck it to AVNs being AVNs, those type of scenes are kind of a staple in the genre after all, along with the whole playboy main character trope.

 

[Hengat]

Especially because of the fact that if you choose to tell V you're in love with her and he gives her that whole fake ass speech about it, not long after that we see him creepily watching his neighbor through a cracked door while she get dressed. Like i just don't get what the Dev is going for with this MC but asshole creep seems to be it i guess. Very disappointing

I was so disappointed in that scene especially because before that there's a scene where Maggie can be changing in MC's apartment and you can choose to try peek or not, but the one you're describing is still inevitable so no matter how hard you try, MC is still a creep.

 

[UndergroundStudio]

I was so disappointed in that scene especially because before that there's a scene where Maggie can be changing in MC's apartment and you can choose to try peek or not, but the one you're describing is still inevitable so no matter how hard you try, MC is still a creep.

Ops, that was unintentional. I was actually sure there was a choice to peek or not. I'll fix it for ep3 part 1.

 

[Regularus]

I guess that's my problem too, the MC is too often behaving like a creep in many situations and his talk about trying to redeem himself in regards to all the grief he caused to his wife and daughter (by cheating like an asshole) sounds completely fake when you see how he continues to act like a creep all the time like that.

The last situation that made me facepalm in regards to that was during the Maggie "damsel in distress" plot, after the MC wanted to help her calm down by invinting her to a restaurant, there's this unavoidable (as there's no "peek" or "dont peek" choice) scene in which Maggie that is still shaken is bending a bit to take some clothes from a dresser and all the time you see the MC is checking her butt ...
Who the hell "i'm trying to be a better man" does that ? a creep that's who does that.

So it's difficult to me to keep engaged with a story when the MC is trying so hard to be unlikable with all those little scenes in which he obviously acts like a creep (without a choice from the player i mean).
And it's sad because Race of Life had an interesting story and the writing is overall well done, like the banters interactions between Cooper and the MC, i see so many potential for it to be one of the best AVN around .
But the MC reactions ...

 

[HauntedHill]

his talk about trying to redeem himself in regards to all the grief he caused to his wife and daughter (by cheating like an asshole) sounds completely fake when you see how he continues to act like a creep all the time like that.

This right here is my biggest issue. There's literally no option to actually redeem him cause regardless of what u choose the MC is just not a good person or even decent at that. On V's route i chose to have the MC take Jasmin to the party and have sex with her just to see if he'd have any regrets or feel guilty and guess what? None whatsoever. Not during nor after he had sex with her. He doesn't even acknowledge that he batrayed V even after he promised her that he wouldn't hurt her more or less. He just continued like he did nothing wrong and when she called the next morning to ask him to go on a hike with her he seemed irritated. There's many more instances throughout the game where u see this scumbag behavior without the player having any choice.
It's like I said regardless of how u play it the Dev wrote him as a creep and an asshole and there's really nothing we can do about it as the player cause even if we choose the good guy options it feels fake and not sincere at all because of how the Dev wrote his character.

It really is sad and unfortunate that a good game with a good story had to be ruined by a horrible MC and for me characters in general cause most of em are horribly written imo. If they're not annoying they're creepy assholes or skanks. it's pretty much just V and Ally who aren't in those categories and perhaps Maggie but I skip through all that DID crap so i wouldn't know really.

 

[Maviarab]

On V's route i chose to have the MC take Jasmin to the party and have sex with her just to see if he'd have any regrets or feel guilty and guess what? None whatsoever. He doesn't even acknowledge that he batrayed V even after he promised her that he wouldn't hurt her more or less. He just continued like he did nothing wrong and when she called the next morning he seemed irritated by her.

That was entirely your choice though....yours. So you want to do dumb shit...but then have the MC feel bad about it?

it's pretty much just V and Ally who aren't in those categories and perhaps Maggie but I skip through all that DID crap so i wouldn't know really.

 

[HauntedHill]

That was entirely your choice though....yours. So you want to do dumb shit...but then have the MC feel bad about it?

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

 

[Abhai]

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

Let me ask you just one thing - do you know any complex game (multiple characters/LIs with multiple paths) that is "perfect" (aka to your particular liking)?
I do know a few, though those arent that complex, or are tad shorter/less ambitious (regarding its content). Ironically those are also quite on margins and unsupported (non-recognized nor well-known).

Im really curious because imo no game is perfect and has its own flaws - here are those minor things that probably 99.5% players dont mind that much - because, you know, this is just small project. And what are you doing here seems as polluting this thread with unreasonable demands (almost at the same level with "omg, no futas here...dev, please add some futas, they fit the story perfectly..behold, the lordi have spoken!".

Just my 6 cents on this "topic".

 

[Garvelt]

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

It's a visual novel, not real life. There are obviously limitations to the number of choices you can have and so on. The more choices you have the more variables there are and that could be a big problem going forward with all the branching and so on. It's a visual novel/game so you should treat it as one. If you want to go for V then you should make the right choices for her path. It's that easy.

Also the MC and Jasmine didn't have sex so I have no idea where you got that from.

 

[Krytax123]

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

Dude youre such a drama-queen, i can get stuff like the peeking which was really unnessecary and a choice would be great (and the dev stated already hes gonna change it) but youre blowing things waaaaaaaaaay out of proportion.

His redemption is only about allison and lily not about V and even than, the talk about redeming yourself is a choice you did take too. If you take this choice and manwhore and cheat around afterwards, thats on you.

Do you really want to play a MC who's whiny and depressed about your decisions all the time? Like you just decide to keep cheating with everyone and he's whining and sad after every encounter? Do you realise how dumb this sounds? Its like youre angry about this avn not being a kinetic novel with a saint-like mc.

Your judgement about girls like Jasmine (annoying, creepy or skank) exposes your own mindset, youre surely not the good guy you demand the mc to be yourself.

I like that were playing a flawed guy in this avn. Its obvious from the very beginning, Jake isnt a Saint and fucked up BIG TIME in his past and depending on how youre playing him still is.

 

[crabsinthekitchen]

On V's route i chose to have the MC take Jasmin to the party and have sex with her just to see if he'd have any regrets or feel guilty and guess what? None whatsoever

Ignoring the fact that V breaks up with MC if he chooses Jasmine so there's no reason to feel guilty, where can I get that version you played where MC gets to have sex with Jasmine?

 

[Maviarab]

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

Oh I got it...and understood perfectly that you're an idiot. Then to prove it...you double down on your point.

Impressive beyond belief.

 

[SamualHand]

Jake isnt a Saint and fucked up BIG TIME

Who is Jake? Can we fuck him?

 

[Regularus]

By player choices, if you set the MC onto a path to be a creep, i find it normal and perfectly logical he acts like one and in my opinion there is no problem with that as it's the reader decisions.
It's similar to how you forge the MC in Friends in Need, you can have him being a creep , an absolute piece of shit or a really good and kind man depending on your choices.

Now in Race of Life when the player set the MC into a good guy path, especially the "i want to be a better man" as the MC said when you're on Allison route that i followed on my playthrough, it feels really character-breaking (or make you feel the MC is only faking his will to redeem himself) when the MC continue to act like a creep around (without the reader inputs i mean, as if you had the choice to have the MC act like that it wouldn't be a problem as it would be your decision) .
Though the MC behaving like a creep without player choice seems mostly centered around the MC various scenes that involve Maggie (when not on her route)

On what i feel is a lesser AVN i wouldn't care that much, but i found the level of quality of the writing and dialogue of Race of Life so good (the Veronica route is so well made i am now all Team Veronica) and the story having such good potential after only 2 chapters that it make me probably more critical than i should.

 

[Sinsear001]

You clearly don't get the point i was trying to make by doing so. I did that just to see if the character of the MC would feel guilty which he didn't. That has nothing to do with me but everything to do with how the Dev wrote his character. The MC is able to cheat without feeling guilty whatsoever yet he speaks about redeeming himself. If there was an option to feel guilty or not and I chose to not feel guilty then you'd have every right to say it's my choice but by default he does not feel guilty. I hope you get the point now

You played him as a scumbag, so he's acting like a scumbag. He cheated in the past and has the opportunity to learn and improve, but you played him in a way that he did neither, so he stays a lying, self-absorbed scumbag. Why wouldn't he, he's doing the same stuff he's always done?

I think it'd be weird if I kept making choices for the MC to cheat and he turned into a 'woe is me' type of MC and then kept doing it.

Plus... consequences aren't always immediate.

 

[jprotieg75]

This is such a fun game so far; sure hope for some more Kris content in the next chapter.