Satou Pendragon
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- Jan 24, 2018
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As you've said the Mod save you from having too many Saves while the Game isn't completed, so I guess I'm one of the few who's of your Opinion. 
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As you've said the Mod save you from having too many Saves while the Game isn't completed, so I guess I'm one of the few who's of your Opinion. 
pitao
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- May 18, 2023
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You are not the only one. But in my Tier S games like Ripples I avoid to use URM if the author mod is good enough, but if there is a good pdf walkthrough I also use it like in this one that have my favorite walkthrough author Mr Bubu.
I usually only put a tiny mod in games that don't have that option, to make the textbox clear and with the text outlined so I can read better and still have most the render in view without a stupid textbox hiding it hehe. Never tried UCD though. The gallery unlocker I only put after I play the game/update if there is any gallery entry I want to see and is locked, what is rare.
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Ebonheart (FR)
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- May 15, 2018
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I only use the URM mod in my playthroughs when there aren't better alternatives, but it’s still really useful when paired with the UCD.
I totally get you, my friend. Nothing annoys me more than those annoying text boxes and ugly fonts that make the text hard to read or just unreadable.
Check here if you want to learn more about the UCD and why it can be useful : https://f95zone.to/threads/universal-choice-descriptor-2024-01-24-zlzk.143528/
There’s a version somewhere where the URM and UCD are combined to be used together directly. Otherwise, it’s possible to do it yourself, I don’t remember having any conflicts with these two mods used together.
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Yes, this for me as well. I don't usually rely on mods when the choices are actually clear in a game, because I'm not trying to speedrun, I'm trying to experience the story. But, to each their own, far be it from me to tell others how they should play anything.
pitao
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It is not a question of speedrun, believe me I savor every part of the story, most games the LI paths won't change the story or the plot that much, it is a question of having a main playthrough with the least saves I can with the most content seen because I do save a lot, I do a save for every "meaningfull" choice. In games like Ripples that I put in my special tier of games I sometimes do a replay playthrough not using mod options to explore the game as intended by the dev but there is plenty other games I play and I don't have time to keep replaying them but I do in those special games once in a while and only using 1 save slot on those replays, Ripples for example I probably replayed it 3 or 4 times.
The story/plot paths yes I have no choice than make a split save and then I have 2 or more main playthroughs, I'm a completionist player hehe I like to see what each path have to give.
Ebonheart (FR)
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- May 15, 2018
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I don’t usually skip anything either on my first playthrough unless the game is boring, poorly written, or just not interesting. If that happens, I’ll skip to the end, close the game, and move on.
For my main runs, I like to optimize my progression, testing all the variables, possibilities, and scripts. Sometimes, I get the urge to replay games I’ve really enjoyed, diving back into the story before the next update drops for example.
When a game’s worth it, I take my time to appreciate the story and the characters with depth. And if the game has well-made sex scenes that add something to the plot or content, it’s a nice bonus.
I also explore all the possibilities, scenes, and specific routes for all the characters during different runs in the games I like.
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MAGO-DAG
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- Sep 1, 2023
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Happy Valentine's Day from Alyssa
This is fucking adorable and I can't even.
suntzu
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- Nov 26, 2017
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pitao
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I guess you meant HS2 right? But yeah I said that a lot and not knowing exactly how Jestur works it seems they are very good on polishing the renders and animations on post production with other programs, I would say that Jestur (gladly for me) is a perfectionist hehe. Puts to shame all other HS1 games (except one that is at a similar level) and like 90%++ of HS2 games.
dante4ever
Newbie
- Dec 9, 2020
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just finish this VN and for now i love Skylar and Scarlett (god bless the redhead girls). Meanwhile we wait the release of 0.8, can you suggest me an other VN with humour mistery and teenagers like eternum or once in a lifetime? thanks
quorkboy
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- Sep 26, 2020
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I never criticised the mod. I respect what modders do. I was more taking aim at the idea the mod could imply anything, when it's taking a wild guess at best (more detail on this at the end).
Yes, Jestur has given occasional insight into what might be possible, and it seems clear to me that this will never be a full harem game, some choices will have to be made, but multiple girls are on the table if you make the right chocies. Time will tell if the Skylar/Jessica choice is a permanent one.
But at the time of the choice there were some people upset at having to choose, and Jestur's enigmatic response was (as I remember it) something along the lines of "if you make the right choice here you'll get another chance later".
He could have been playing with us, of course, maybe either choice is good.
The dinner still happening isn't an error. It's the two characters going out as friends. Which they'd agreed they would be no matter what he chose. The part you lose is only the romance/sex part. Skylar will continue to be an important part of both the story and the MC's life. I have female friends with whom I go out alone to dinner or drinks which to anyone observing might look like a date, but we're not interested in each other that way. We just value the experience of time to ourselves where we can focus on our own conversation in a way that's not possible in groups.
I don't agree with all of this exactly, but I would not say your reasoning is invalid. Only different to mine. I agree with your evaluation of Skylar. She was in my signature for a long time, even after I made the choice. She is a beautiful person, in every way. Jessica is very much the jealous possessive type, at least with the MC. But also a really sweet girl. Go back to when she apologises to the MC for how she's treated Darci. And Darci telling him about Jessica's apology to her. You don't have to wait until after choosing her to see that side.For me, I preferred the route with Skylar; she’s got more charm and personality compared to Jessica. Jessica feels a bit like the jealous, possessive type, a little capricious and definitely brocon girl with MC (on I patch). Overall, her character feels too much like a stereotype, IMO, so I’m curious to see if she’ll get more interesting later in the game.
I thought it was better for the MC to be a bit firmer and not be swayed by Jessica's whims. I prefer characters who make decisions and stick to them, those with real character who don’t get easily influenced.
I think it's possible, even if you follow Skylar's route at first, that Jessica might eventually accept the relationship and the tension between them will ease up a bit. Maybe she'll still be a little jealous, but if it ends up shutting down the option of a relationship with her for good, well, that just means she probably wasn't worth it for me.
Right before this choice, the MC thinks : "There's a chance Jessica might eventually come around, but am I willing to risk that to keep seeing Skylar ?" This gives the impression that there’s still hope both girls could be open to dating him together. As for the question, my answer is yes, of course ! Sky is just the best one. ^^
P.S : I think, but I’m not sure, that the best choice to get in future the Jessica+Skylar route is to choose Skylar first, but I could be wrong, of course. There might be stronger reasons to believe that choosing Jessica may end up friendzoning Skylar at the end (but not hard evidence). This is just my gut feeling and take on it (after replaying the game today).
Edit : I’d suggest rereading the MC's monologue when he's torn between making Jessica happy at Skylar's expense, or the other way around. To me, the best decision, based on his thoughts, is when he chooses Sky. He steps up, showing that his feelings are stronger than jealousy and sensitivity of another one, and believes Jessica will eventually come around to the idea of him and Skylar being together. And from there, maybe even more in the future ? I'm just assuming for now.
I agree that it's possible Jessica would get over her jealousy and join her two favourite people in their relationship.
Where I differ and why I chose as I did:
In my view the MC choosing to prioritise Jessica is making a decision and sticking to it. It's not about being easily influenced. Before then he was going with what was fun, not thinking about the effect it might have on Jessica, which in context isn't wrong: the relationship with Skylar started before he had any idea Jessica might be hurt by it, and was initially two people having fun without intent to get serious. And I felt that Jessica's problem with him dating Skylar is that she wants him, but can't admit that to anyone, maybe not even herself. Yet. I understand that feeling. Jessica is the type of person who, I think, once she's made to feel safe, will lose her jealousy and possessiveness.
That's what informed my choice, despite overall preferring Skylar up to that point. I'm sympathetic to how Jessica feels. And I think the best route to both is to first make Jessica feel safe. I have no doubt at all that any time the MC says he wants to start up with Skylar again she will be in without hesitation. So I'm playing the long game. Once Jessica knows she can have the MC and share him equally with Skylar, I think she'll be into it.
This isn't to say that choosing Skylar is ignoring or not caring how Jessica feels. It's valid to say "I'm sorry this makes you uncomfortable, but she makes me happy, and I hope you can respect that." Jessica has no romantic claim on him, and "you can't date your sister's friends unless they say so" is stupid high school logic. Jessica really does care about the MC, and I trust that even if it did not lead to a three-way relationship she would come to be happy for them.
As you say, no hard evidence for either. We both have good reasons for our choices.
Have you seen the scene without the mod?
I focus on the word "risk". And that each choice says you're on a different girl's path. Also I know that in the code a variable gets set based on your choice. Other than the ones that determine whose path(s) you're on. If that wasn't important, it wouldn't be set. The path variables would be enough to control the progression and, for instance, whether you get another scene after dinner, or the Jessica photo session.
It's level of importance may be low. But as someone who has looked at the code, the mod's statement of "doesn't close a path" directly contradicts what's in there and how the story progresses from then. At the time of the choice, whichever you choose puts you not on the other's path. Maybe this isn't permanently closed, as in there will be an option to reopen later, but for now it definitely closes the other path.
And that's what I meant about not trusting mods to make story predictions. If this was a statement based on something in the code - or confirmed by the developer - it would be different.
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quorkboy
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- Sep 26, 2020
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On the topic of whether to play with a mod and get all scenes or make choices on your own: This is personal and I wouldn't judge anyone for using a mod. I often will play a bit forward after making a choice and backtrack if I think I made the wrong one. I replayed around 2 chapters of Eternum because I thought I made a wrong choice. I prefer this to getting both paths. I've played multi-mods where it got confusing because I got scenes that couldn't both happen, and so it messed up my ability to appreciate the story because what was the story now?
I also find, as someone else mentioned, that walkthrough mods highlight as the best choice what the modder prefers, not necessarily the best choice for me. So I can't trust them, and it's better to go on my impressions of the characters and the way the story is written.
But that's me. These games are for fun, and how someone chooses to experience them is up to the individual. I don't play games that are not fun for me. The reasons can be whatever. Making choices is fun for me, not knowing for sure what I'll get but trying to choose based on what I think is most likely to happen. Replaying to get different choices is fun for me, if the game is fun enough to get through once. I've played what there is of Ripples twice already. Some of it three times (I went back to make a different choice about Riley before starting the latest chapter). No skipping, taking my time (sometimes longer on certain scenes than the first time). No matter where my Jessica/Skylar choice takes me by the end, you can bet I'm going back to get the content from the other choice. The only thing I won't be going back to see is the rest of Riley's romance path. I love that girl as a (weirdo) friend, but the helicopter thing freaked me out.
I also find, as someone else mentioned, that walkthrough mods highlight as the best choice what the modder prefers, not necessarily the best choice for me. So I can't trust them, and it's better to go on my impressions of the characters and the way the story is written.
But that's me. These games are for fun, and how someone chooses to experience them is up to the individual. I don't play games that are not fun for me. The reasons can be whatever. Making choices is fun for me, not knowing for sure what I'll get but trying to choose based on what I think is most likely to happen. Replaying to get different choices is fun for me, if the game is fun enough to get through once. I've played what there is of Ripples twice already. Some of it three times (I went back to make a different choice about Riley before starting the latest chapter). No skipping, taking my time (sometimes longer on certain scenes than the first time). No matter where my Jessica/Skylar choice takes me by the end, you can bet I'm going back to get the content from the other choice. The only thing I won't be going back to see is the rest of Riley's romance path. I love that girl as a (weirdo) friend, but the helicopter thing freaked me out.
Maccabbee
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- Mar 26, 2024
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Do we ever find out definitively who Jessica's father is? It's not the MC's dad, because this was before they met (whether it's MC or not), it's not the MC, because she was already pregnant when he went back in time, and she didn't recognize him.
I chose Skylar over Jessica for two reasons: I totally vibed with her and they already had some sexual connection, and Jessica is the (half-)sister. Even having fantasies/relations with the MC's mother is less weird to me.
I chose Skylar over Jessica for two reasons: I totally vibed with her and they already had some sexual connection, and Jessica is the (half-)sister. Even having fantasies/relations with the MC's mother is less weird to me.
Ebonheart (FR)
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- May 15, 2018
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I totally agree with you, those two are by far the best girls in the cast when it comes to beauty, character development, and personality. I find the other girls cute or nice in their own way too, but overall, they're just less interesting or special. I’m curious to see if they'll get a glow-up in terms of personality.
Like pitao, I think it's based on HS 1 or 2, or any other game with the same engine from Illusion (the dev studio that made these games but has since shut down).
I’m curious about which game you’re talking about. If it’s this "um" game with a Latin ending in the title (blink discreetly if it’s that game
), then yeah, it definitely deserves all the praise. That said, I’d say, without taking away from the great work done here, it’s still a step up from Ripples in terms of production value (graphics, animations, writing quality, overall vibe, music, etc.). Still, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I still like both games for different reasons, and I don’t really think they’re comparable.quorkboy : I’m going to take another look at this part of the game using the URM/UCD combo to see if I can find anything more about it, and I’ll let you know if I come across something relevant. The fact that there are specific variables doesn’t really prove much though—devs often add variables for pretty much everything, even for stuff that doesn’t really matter in Ren’py games, so it doesn’t mean much for now. Each dev approaches things differently, and not all of them have the same level of skill in the field either.
I don’t really agree with the idea that the dinner is just something two regular friends would do, whether they promised each other or not. The whole part where the MC goes to Sky’s place and talks with Liz while Sky changes, the teasing comment Liz makes about the MC’s reaction to Skylar’s stunning dress reveal, the vibe at the restaurant, the fact that they both dressed up for the occasion, and even Skylar’s flirty compliment when she calls the MC sexy for stepping up to help Alice and proving he’s a strong guy by winning the fight with that dude—all of that says something different.
Only these two scenes don’t happen in this route (the stargazing under the moon and the return to Skylar’s bedroom after that), and the fact that they call each other "friends" in the car on the way back from dinner as small difference. It could be a kind of continuity error, or maybe the dev didn’t want to deal with adding more scenes and variations for these two routes for some reason. Still, for me, it creates a bit of inconsistency.
When it comes to the choice between Skylar and Jessica, it’s really all about personal preference and feeling. We don’t see eye to eye on it, but I still respect your opinion. You’re totally entitled to think that about Jessica, it’s just not how I feel, though I get where you’re coming from—it makes sense. That said, I still think picking Skylar is the best option for a Jessica+Skylar duo. I feel there’s a higher chance that the other choice would completely rule out Skylar, but that’s just my guess.
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Ebonheart (FR)
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Hmm, it’s possible (though not certain) that Jessica’s dad is Tiffany’s ex, the blond guy who was about to hit her before the MC stepped in to stop him. However, the guy seemed to be unaware that Tiffany was pregnant, unless he knew but then that would be even worse. I do think it’s a "secret" (for Tiffany’s circle) at that point in 99, since Tiffany and Scarlett seem to be discreet and whispering about it.
I also thought that with Sky, their connection felt more genuine and natural, in my opinion.
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That's how I've understood it. Tiffany isn't visibly pregnant when we see her in 1999, so she hasn't been pregnant for long. So either she hadn't been with her ex for long (which isn't entirely consistent with the violence of his reaction* when she leaves him), or she cheated on him. And I'd prefer not to think the latter of her.
* Yes, he was obviously violent anyway. But presumably if they've only been together for a week, he's not going to care nearly as much about her leaving him as if they've been together for a year.