CREATE and FUCK your own AI GIRLFRIEND TRY FOR FREE
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Laughingfox

Well-Known Member
Apr 2, 2017
1,063
978
Thank you for taking the time to reply, especially to that large a chunk of me and mine nonsense.

First off, credit is where credit is due, you *are* doing a hell of a job when it comes to in depth writing in regards to lore, writing, and the characters. There is quality there, and it shows. I played through a few times more, and I remain super impressed at how the flow and conversation varies with the array of stats, and how even little bits of conversation sometimes ripple back for a second or third helping later on. That's some fun, and I am absolutely sure --exausting writing there. It is ambitious, and what it does, it does quite well. So you have every right to toot your own horn, I should think.

..You're waiting for the 'butt', right? This is where it typically goes, after all. So let's plug one in. Ish.

You mentioned that this is not a nukige, and more of a game about the pron, rather than being in it. Fair enough. And really, and at the end of the day, this is your project, your work, so it for darned sure should be on the path you want to write, verses being coaxed or forced to.

This is a typed exchange taking place on a forum of a bunch of literally porny pirates, yo ho ho ho, so obviously there is some, uh, expectations in terms of theme. Which is made all the more confusing when the plot is layed out with what is essentially "you are being watched, and required to have sex to build up enough points for the final goal if you want to be a dude again." (Assuming the player even wants that, due to a brilliant bit of deconstruction and analysis with the AI again, depending on the stats.)

The player is being dragged, possibly kicking and screaming (depending on the stats) into this bizarre new situation. Okay, fair enough. They are allowed one friend to confide in, have this strange AI pushing them into all manner of events, and thus the ground rules are established, and we are off to the races.

Only we aren't, because zach/zoey can't (in theory) reveal who they are due to a barrage of factors. For the record, I don't understand how the hell a genius such as zach thinks the advanced AI, which has proven they have access to all of their records and activities, can't sus out they are on a illegal or cracked version. And AI also said she's locked in the same boat, so she's going to be aiding zach/zoey in the first place. Anyway, zach can rely on their friend, but pretty much *only* them. So it's monogmous activity at best, for several reasons you listed earlier. zach has the body and attributes for a nukige protagonist, but won't actually be employing them, for the most part. So here we are. Unlike her sprites, she's kinda half-assed in this regard. It's a really weird, kinda of off putting feeling that I'm still trying to wrap my mind around.

A clever game about porn that posseses consideribly little actual porn, and a great deal of other potent, strange elements.

Dev, intentional or otherwise, you have hand crafted the finest Diet Coke of the adult tf genre.

(No, not caffiene free, nothing is that cruel or evil.)

But (there it is!) it can get close! Really, depending on how one goes about it, it's also downright depressing. Our crazy high IQ protag is trapped from the start between the school and his families demands, trapped by the game, trapped by the situation where they can't actually express themselves (for a time, I see the whole theatre bit in your plan, that aught to be some glorious fun), and if and when they choose a friend, they are trapped by the emotional blackmail they may or may not heap on them.

Britney for example, elated at first she was confided in, but now "she" is angry about being involved? She chooses horny over reason, and yet after being explained what zach is trapped in, this is something she gets to use as ammuntion against zoey moving forward? Nothing is forcing her to be involved, and zach/zoey is at a crazy precarious situation. And now the only other enticing curvy character is more of a combatant, rather than an ally of sexy times. Oi.

At least zach is used to emotional blackmail from his mother, I suppose. (Again, credit where credit is due, I actually loved the 'call her' alternate route, however brief. Absolutely found myself craving more of that, porn genre or not, so that's some lovely writing there.)

Also, I get that she's (Britney) strickley a no D, card carrying lesbian and proud, (unless her parents are involved) but like.. if zach/zoey is expected to change and grow for his/her partner, shouldn't Britney consider the same?

And then there is the not choosing "choice" of whom to call.. seriously, the only way to survive trapped in her own mind is to cry and beg to be saved (deciding to finally stand their ground against the unknown only gets them killed, of course) getting boned by their own body without a single curve on it, then losing the only emotional tether and companion they had left. To be continued!

Heroes journey is all about going low just so you can go high again, but daaaaang. Brutal.

Anyway, end wall of text. It kind of goes without saying, but anybody dumping walls of nonsense the dev's direction such as this is at the very least, intrigued at the concept and story.. if a little confused by the conflicting tonal shifts. Haha. So well done!
 

grahegri

drunk off sake
Donor
Feb 23, 2023
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ReDreamer-0.13.2
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UnfinishedSentenc

Active Member
Jan 5, 2023
666
964
Just like text-based "stories," which aren't virtual novels/games, should have their own specific section on this website, shouldn't there be a specific section just for "censored" games, so as not to be confused with games that don't have the mosaic nonsense for people who live in countries, whose people aren't controlled by their government as to what they can see and can't see, and are allowed to look at natural parts and functions of our bodies like penises and vaginas and the natural meeting of the two for procreation?
 

DreamTeamStudio

Member
Game Developer
May 29, 2022
120
163
Just like text-based "stories," which aren't virtual novels/games, should have their own specific section on this website, shouldn't there be a specific section just for "censored" games, so as not to be confused with games that don't have the mosaic nonsense for people who live in countries, whose people aren't controlled by their government as to what they can see and can't see, and are allowed to look at natural parts and functions of our bodies like penises and vaginas and the natural meeting of the two for procreation?
The art is being replaced with commissioned uncensored remakes. No need to get all fake intellectual about an issue that isn't even there.
 
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UnfinishedSentenc

Active Member
Jan 5, 2023
666
964
The art is being replaced with commissioned uncensored remakes. No need to get all fake intellectual about an issue that isn't even there.
Okay, I will try it before I criticize it anymore, but "text-based" is pretty darn clear in what it means, isn't it? Like, no pictures? No animations? Just like reading an article in Penthouse? That's what I get from those two words. I'll check out the game and get back to you. It's only fair right, before I become critical of your game. So my apology.
 

JackyHF

Member
Jan 11, 2019
106
143
Okay, I will try it before I criticize it anymore, but "text-based" is pretty darn clear in what it means, isn't it? Like, no pictures? No animations? Just like reading an article in Penthouse? That's what I get from those two words. I'll check out the game and get back to you. It's only fair right, before I become critical of your game. So my apology.
It appears that you are not familiar with the format that is a Visual Novel (VN for short). This is not a game, it's that: a visual novel. A very majorly written story that may (but not necessarily does) have choices, is typically very linear or at least has a system of routes that are very linear, and there is seldomly any gameplay at all. And on that, it is correctly tagged as "VN" and as being made in "Ren'Py".
 

DreamTeamStudio

Member
Game Developer
May 29, 2022
120
163
Okay, I will try it before I criticize it anymore, but "text-based" is pretty darn clear in what it means, isn't it? Like, no pictures? No animations? Just like reading an article in Penthouse? That's what I get from those two words. I'll check out the game and get back to you. It's only fair right, before I become critical of your game. So my apology.
text-based
The primary content is textual, as it the tag states, but that text is heavily complimented by the character sprites, other images, and sound.
No pictures?
As stated, there are a ton of pictures, such as custom sprites, backgrounds, CGs, etc.
No animations?
Those images move around on screen all the time with animations, almost always with SFX and music, and characters' facial expressions change nearly every line as they take part in and react to conversations; furthermore, Zoey's face (the protagonist) changes her face a lot as she thinks and narrates the story and is far more expressive than any other visual novel character I've seen.
Just like reading an article in Penthouse?
I'm legitimately surprised that magazine still exists, let alone got worked into a comparison.
No, this visual novel is not like a Penthouse article. Even if you were to print a screenshot of every line of dialogue, the experience would not be anywhere close to the same due the use of audio and animations that you could not do in a print medium. There is also a high degree of "micro-branching" in this visual novel based on a personality matrix you can set for the character which influences how they act and react to things, and larger branches from choices you make during the story.
There's also an arcade date in one route with playable arcade games. They're not fantastic games, but they do exist, function well enough, and story events moderately change based on the games played and the results in them.

I'd implore you to read the OP of a thread before commenting in that thread. Beyond the tags and engine used, the OP clearly states:
Censored: Mosaic on certain placeholder HCGs, though everything is planned to be uncensored
As well as shows screenshots of the visual novel differentiating it from purely being a wall of text.
 
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cheezed

Newbie
Sep 28, 2019
23
19
It appears that you are not familiar with the format that is a Visual Novel (VN for short). This is not a game, it's that: a visual novel.
Anyone that says that a visual novel is inherently not a game, or inherently a game, is wrong. Frustratingly wrong. It's the sort of narrowing of genres that prevents good works from getting the recognition and enjoyment they deserve and encourage purists to denigrate anything straying from their personal window of taste. I have absolutely played VNs that felt more like a game than a CYOA book in computer form, even if that isn't always the case. A VN being more on the game end of the spectrum isn't inherently bad or wrong if someone wants to take it in that direction.
 
Jul 11, 2019
217
193
A visual novel is as much of a game as the developer makes it. Personally I'm of the opinion that they should be a little bit more gamey in a CYOA manner or so or it's kind of a wasted opportunity and don't make me invested in it, but that's 100% subjective for one and because I come to sites like this with an expectation to get a game for another, so it'd cause a disconnect if the visual novel is just doing its own thing without my input.

Y'know, because my opinion on the internet is important and must be stated. If my preferences aren't appealed to, it's on me to step away and find something that does. Simple as.
 

JackyHF

Member
Jan 11, 2019
106
143
Anyone that says that a visual novel is inherently not a game, or inherently a game, is wrong. Frustratingly wrong. It's the sort of narrowing of genres that prevents good works from getting the recognition and enjoyment they deserve and encourage purists to denigrate anything straying from their personal window of taste. I have absolutely played VNs that felt more like a game than a CYOA book in computer form, even if that isn't always the case. A VN being more on the game end of the spectrum isn't inherently bad or wrong if someone wants to take it in that direction.
You can disagree as you wish, but the fact that Visual Novels are their own thing in Japanese media, as well as high-impact sites like TV Tropes and the existence of VNDB showing that they aren't games, means that you are in the minority opinion. I don't care about purists, I care about facts. Visual Novels are not games, they are game-adjacent. There are plenty VNs with gameplay (like the original Monster Girl Quest trilogy) and plenty games with Visual Novel-style conversations and/or movement, say Riviea: The Promised Land, Persona 3 Portable, and Princess Sacrifice for an eroge example. But they are NOT games in themselves, they are a related but distinct medium in the same way that that an anime may have gameplay mechanics and a game may have anime-style sequences - adjacent but still distinct.

A visual novel is as much of a game as the developer makes it. Personally I'm of the opinion that they should be a little bit more gamey in a CYOA manner or so or it's kind of a wasted opportunity and don't make me invested in it, but that's 100% subjective for one and because I come to sites like this with an expectation to get a game for another, so it'd cause a disconnect if the visual novel is just doing its own thing without my input.

Y'know, because my opinion on the internet is important and must be stated. If my preferences aren't appealed to, it's on me to step away and find something that does. Simple as.
Well, Kinetic Novels are a subset of Visual Novels, their defining feature is that they don't have any choices at all. The When they Cry series follows this format, and they are immensely popular. So a visual novel in the truest sense can work and have mass-appeal. It's really just a question of quality.
 
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cheezed

Newbie
Sep 28, 2019
23
19
I care about facts
If you want to be '''objective''' about this, you would have to provide a metric by which something is or isn't a game. Simply appealing to popular opinion is subject to any change in opinion that might occur and of course, ignores that as big as those websites might be, they are simply that; websites. VNDB is chock full of games for one, lmfao.

If the people that buy your product do so on a digital platform for videogames, or on a shelf for videogames in a videogame shop, then whatever social construct unique to a foreign country fades away. All that is left is the way it is presented and consumed. By the same standards you claim a videogame is or isn't a game, I can point to those consuming it as a game and make the opposite claim based on the 'popular opinion' of the end user, the player.

If I were to gradually add game elements to a VN, at what point does it stop being a VN? You would be forced eventually to atomize an arbitrary line in the sand to preserve the assertion that a VN cannot be a game.

The When they Cry series follows this format, and they are immensely popular
The most popular episode of Higarushi on steam has half the ownership base as Hanako Games' Long Live The Queen. If it is a big fish, it is in a very small global pond. It seems more reasonable to simply state it exists on one end of a spectrum of VNs of which some are functionally games. CYOA games are even less gamelike than many Visual Novels, but you don't see people referring to things like Zork or Alter Ego as non-games. Society has moved past needing to compartmentalise works based on their origin rather than their qualities.

This is all pretty silly, ngl. Much like your posting.
 
Jul 11, 2019
217
193
No, I'm now gonna argue about the merits of using the right hand. Agree with me and you're right.

So a visual novel in the truest sense can work and have mass-appeal. It's really just a question of quality.
But yeah. Quality and personal preferences. I won't tell anyone making a pure novel with no options or mechanics to it that they're doing it wrong, only that it's an uphill battle to catch this particular fish.
 
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