Ren'Py Abandoned Red Swallow [v0.0.035] [Nof8 Game Studio]

anne O'nymous

I'm not grumpy, I'm just coded that way.
Modder
Donor
Respected User
Jun 10, 2017
10,620
15,601
So yea, I have to agree with your point about not showing useless rooms/features. I'm all for showing upcoming features, but make it clear that they haven't been implemented yet.
This especially if you class your game as RPG. When it's a VN, well, we start to be used to empty rooms. Anyway it's clear for this kind of games, if you see no one, there's nothing to do. But in a RPG, you're supposed to have more interactions with the environment, and an empty room is not a place with nothing to do, but an opportunity to investigate and search the room.


However if you don't do that, then the players will feel disappointed rather than hyped, knowing that there's noting to do in that area.
Yep, graying is clearly better than disappointing. In the first case you show that you've anticipated the future of your game and know where you go. In the second it seem that you don't really care about your game and what players will feel.


This said :
  • I'm not a fan of the object labels being displayed at a fixed place.
    Generally when you move the mouse in search of an active object, your eyes are on the mouse, not on the place where the label will eventually be shown. So, many people will miss it most of the time. Especially since it's not something that will be contrasted compared to the rest of the screen/interface.
  • I also have a problem with character screen.
    It being closed by clicking again where you opened it, why not. But it's not intuitive, and it's not even evident since there's no change in the "opening button" leading the player to assume that he'll have to click here again.
    Also, it imply that you can also click wherever you want. Actually it doesn't break the game, but still it's weird to have this screen still displayed while you change location or start to interact with someone.
    Just declare the said screen as and add a "close" button. It will be better and guaranty that you'll never have unwanted effect.
  • In fact I have two problems with the character screen.
    There's also the problem of its background transparency. I have nothing against this, as long as the content of the screen stay fully readable whatever the scene background. And here it's fully readable only in the communal shower, the swimming pool, the dojo, the administration (when there isn't the girl with her white clothes) and the boudoir. In the seven other locations, part of it is not really readable, when not totally unreadable.
    Either make the screen background less transparent, or add to the text style.
  • The interface...
    It being split with action at the right side, moving/misc at the left one, is also not really intuitive. Why a marker to show that you are expected to move the mouse to the left side, but none for the right panel ? How many people will discover its existence by reading this (or another) comment ?
    Plus, the split is not a constant thing. By example, sleeping is an action and should be done from the action panel, not by clicking on the bed.
    This example while also add to players confusion. In the room where the game starts, there's nothing to see when you open the right panel. This while every player will assume that you can sleep here, even if they still didn't found that the bed is clickable. They'll not assume that it's an action panel and many will just forget about it.
  • The said right panel and the interaction one.
    If an action can't be performed, it should be shown in a way or another. Especially since in the interaction panel, you either state that the function is not implemented, or show a lock when the action is not available.
    Add a grayed version of the button to mark that the action exist, but can not be done right now.

There's probably others things, but if so, I already forgot about them.
 

mgtoons

Member
Jul 25, 2018
320
739
Looks interested, I'll keep an eye on it and see if some of the development concerns and game mechanic issues start clearing up as content is added.
 

MOISTNESS

Active Member
Jun 13, 2018
595
1,321
This especially if you class your game as RPG. When it's a VN, well, we start to be used to empty rooms. Anyway it's clear for this kind of games, if you see no one, there's nothing to do. But in a RPG, you're supposed to have more interactions with the environment, and an empty room is not a place with nothing to do, but an opportunity to investigate and search the room.
oooohhh! Nothing more frustrating than this... when your gaming pedigree has a heavy dose of dungeon crawling, etc., you spend HOURS clicking around "empty" rooms....it's just reflex! You simply CANNOT leave a room until every.single.pixel has been clicked...

It's like an acquired form of OCD... Obsessive Clicking Disorder I guess...:FeelsBadMan:
 

Gary Bertrand

Active Member
Sep 30, 2017
734
367
game freezes every time i try to save and have to use ctrl+alt+del to close game and the empty rooms is driving me crazy if there not implimented yet should not be able to go there it becomes a waste of time and we need a clock advance buton so we can eat. cafatieria should be open all day
 

Bagger288

Active Member
Jul 11, 2017
944
612
So, first impressions: I initially thought the right-side menu is for exiting your room, and in your room you can only sleep. Then I noticed that if I pixel-hunt, there's also a hidden TV, computer, drawer, diary and cupboard - but none have highlights or actions. That's frustrating, and sets a precedent for things being missable.
The left-side menu can be used to move, but first you have to unroll the categories for some reason. Then when you move, there's some lag, especially when switching rooms rapidly. When you find several people to talk, they theoretically have different dialogue, but you don't know which one you're talking to. If you pick the right person, you can unlock the smalltalk menu - but it will work on everyone. Very confusing.
Many rooms have activities that don't work and don't say they don't work. Some buttons will print error messages to the command line. The buttons that do work take 1 hour and 40 stamina, so effectively 5 hours - so you can only do two per day. You get points for doing them, but you can't see your progress anywhere. That means the game is super grindy, with nothing to grind towards.

The gameplay is hostile. The writing has recognizable references, but nothing endearing. The renders are crisp, but don't have longevity. I think the game has a workable foundation, but it's so far from being fun that there's a real danger the author will burn out eventually.
 
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RaduStefan

Member
Aug 9, 2017
487
221
I'm sorry but the buttons Train and Shower do not work and neither does the help button. Is it the same for you or is it just a computer error for me?
 

Dole

Well-Known Karen
Apr 28, 2017
3,045
2,528
Code:
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
  File "renpy/common/00action_file.rpy", line 372, in __call__
    renpy.save(fn, extra_info=save_name)
MemoryError: 

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

Full traceback:
  File "renpy/common/_layout/screen_load_save.rpym", line 35, in script
    $ ui.interact()
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 882, in execute
    renpy.python.py_exec_bytecode(self.code.bytecode, self.hide, store=self.store)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1913, in py_exec_bytecode
    exec bytecode in globals, locals
  File "renpy/common/_layout/screen_load_save.rpym", line 35, in <module>
    $ ui.interact()
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\ui.py", line 289, in interact
    rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2662, in interact
    repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, **kwargs)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 3467, in interact_core
    rv = root_widget.event(ev, x, y, 0)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\transition.py", line 47, in event
    return self.new_widget.event(ev, x, y, st)  # E1101
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\screen.py", line 697, in event
    rv = self.child.event(ev, x, y, st)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 241, in event
    rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 241, in event
    rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 995, in event
    rv = i.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, cst)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 241, in event
    rv = d.event(ev, x - xo, y - yo, st)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\behavior.py", line 907, in event
    return handle_click(self.clicked)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\behavior.py", line 842, in handle_click
    rv = run(action)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\display\behavior.py", line 315, in run
    return action(*args, **kwargs)
  File "renpy/common/00action_file.rpy", line 372, in __call__
    renpy.save(fn, extra_info=save_name)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\loadsave.py", line 404, in save
    dump((roots, renpy.game.log), logf)
  File "D:\Downloads\RedSwallow-0 0 035-pc\RedSwallow-0.0.035-pc\renpy\loadsave.py", line 50, in dump
    pickle.dump(o, f, pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 1370, in dump
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 224, in dump
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 548, in save_tuple
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 419, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 649, in save_dict
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 681, in _batch_setitems
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 600, in save_list
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 633, in _batch_appends
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 419, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 649, in save_dict
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 681, in _batch_setitems
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 419, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 649, in save_dict
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 681, in _batch_setitems
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 419, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 649, in save_dict
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 681, in _batch_setitems
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 419, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 649, in save_dict
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 681, in _batch_setitems
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 331, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 401, in save_reduce
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 286, in save
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 555, in save_tuple
  File "/home/tom/ab/x64lucid-deps/install/lib/python2.7/pickle.py", line 247, in memoize
MemoryError: 

Windows-8-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 7.1.1.929
Red Swallow 0.0.035
Wed Feb 20 13:24:26 2019
 

ThunderRob

Devoted Member
May 10, 2018
9,497
26,556
dang..forgot..as usual..to unwatch a thread and get a notification after 3 months and a week :O LOL figured this game was mentally abandoned(by the gamers )
 

Matt_NGS

Newbie
Sep 6, 2018
16
107
We're still working on Red Swallow but it is not our top priority at the moment as we're working hard on Bone of Ancients and the BETA of Thundorn's Game.