Damn what an ending, rarely I have seen such a good first release. And the fact that this game has build in walkthrough is enough for me to give it a 5/5. Keep doing what you did dev
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This was a bust for me. Not the kind of choices and character dynamics I like to be presented with.
Too many of the choices were about rewarding you for going along. Basically a reward system for being a pushover. Other characters get to be pushy, or impatient with you, or demand an explanation for what's going on but you get punished for choosing those kind of choices. You have to show infinite patience and understanding and not assert your boundaries or push back on others bullshit.
Who wants to play a game where your restraint is the ideal path? It feels like I'm playing a game where the writer didn't want to put in choices but was forced to, so he uses those choices to punish people for pushing back on the narrative being offered. You want to know what's going on? Be patient until we get there. You want to start using your powers to do badass stuff? Be patient until we get there. You want to push back on how some of the characters are treating you? I know they are annoying but I have a whole redemption arc planned for them later so just put up with them for now and be patient until we get there.
You can't make me go along so stop hogging all the control and let me have some!
Too many of the choices were about rewarding you for going along. Basically a reward system for being a pushover. Other characters get to be pushy, or impatient with you, or demand an explanation for what's going on but you get punished for choosing those kind of choices. You have to show infinite patience and understanding and not assert your boundaries or push back on others bullshit.
Who wants to play a game where your restraint is the ideal path? It feels like I'm playing a game where the writer didn't want to put in choices but was forced to, so he uses those choices to punish people for pushing back on the narrative being offered. You want to know what's going on? Be patient until we get there. You want to start using your powers to do badass stuff? Be patient until we get there. You want to push back on how some of the characters are treating you? I know they are annoying but I have a whole redemption arc planned for them later so just put up with them for now and be patient until we get there.
You can't make me go along so stop hogging all the control and let me have some!
I appreciate the thorough feedback! You have a valid perspective, however, I would like to touch on a few points here.
Chapter 1 is more to set the stage. None of the choices have much weight aside from points and some variations in dialogue because you are meant to be learning the world and the characters in it. I did it this way so that you weren't having choices thrown at you that you didn't understand enough about yet to appropriately respond to.
I would also like to argue that none of them are meant to feel punishing. They are meant to shape the way you as the player interact with the world through the character. If you want to be Malevolent, characters who don't like that will respond accordingly. Same for characters who do like it. None of the characters are completely bad or good and have their own ideals that will be represented by their responses.
All of that being said, Chapter 2 will handle the choices a lot better than Chapter 1, as they'll start having real weight and impact behind them. Keep in mind though, reactions will be proportionate to your alignment still. As for rewarding choices (good or bad); having people hate, fear, or respect you as a malevolent MC IS the reward there. Same for being benevolent, or ambivalent.
Editing to add: I'm not trying to change how you feel btw. I just wanted to address why they were done like this for Chapter 1. If you still don't like the system, that's fine. I don't expect to please everyone.
slick97
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- Dec 2, 2021
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Seems I'm 2 for 2 when it comes to early adopting stellar modern magic stories written with passion. Keep up the good work Seraph!
very beefy and solid first version dev. i really enjoyed it. good start to an interesting story and fun characters. looking forward to what you cook up next.
Lucid Lancer
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- May 29, 2018
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Strongly agree with what LinkBox88 said. MC is just taking shots of all kinds like a sick puppy waiting to be put down and i really abhor that, no choice whatsoever.
Which breaks everything else in turn for me. Having dignity, especially for the protagonist goes a long way.
On another note, appreciate the dev clarifying the tags and not force feeding lesbian/bi content, this was right up my alley. Which is more of a shame because now i don't know if i want to continue playing this, on account of this much of a pushover main character.
But in any case, good luck dev.
Which breaks everything else in turn for me. Having dignity, especially for the protagonist goes a long way.
On another note, appreciate the dev clarifying the tags and not force feeding lesbian/bi content, this was right up my alley. Which is more of a shame because now i don't know if i want to continue playing this, on account of this much of a pushover main character.
But in any case, good luck dev.
Okay, maybe this is because of the way other devs usually do their MC, idk, but this game will have real character developments. MC has been through a lot and really hates his situation in life. I think I made that pretty obvious, but maybe not.
At the moment he's very much a go with the flow kind of guy, which yes, means he is a bit of a pushover. That's especially the case if you're only making Benevolent choices though. If you play as the goody-two-shoes, that's what you should expect, a character that avoids conflict and confrontation. Try mixing in some of the malevolent choices and see the difference. It's up to you and the choices you make to change the way the MC responds to things, and if you pay attention you can already see the start of his character developments leading to him being more confident overall, regardless of choices made, by comparing his mindset from the start of Chapter 1 to the end.
If you want a game with mid writing where there is no real character depth and you're just a badass that pulls all the bitches for no logical reason right from the start, this one probably isn't for you.
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So the plan is going for a first chapter where your character is a yes man and you dont do anything so when the capter 2 starts people are gonna be angry and dont want to play it .
you know that the first impressions are very important to sell us the game im not saying this to be a ass i played a lot of games because the game was in the introductory fase make me dislike the character so much that my interest is gone i really hope you let us decide for us in the next updates if not well .....
MC is really only a "yes man" if you make ONLY good choices. Obviously some of the story outside of choices makes him agree to things for story reasons. Without that, how do you expect the story to progress? Did you make any Malevolent choices at all? Because it sounds like you didn't. A prime example of MC not being a pushover is
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Also, I really don't get the whole "let us make the choices" argument. You know I'm the dev right? Meaning, if I wanted to give you a linear plot with no choices, I would've just made it kinetic. I didn't though, because I want you all to have agency with the MC, and I gave you exactly that. The choices have little weight in Chapter 1, but they are there, and they do change things a fair bit. Also, gradually adding more impact to them in coming chapters isn't me doing a rug-pull either.
Btw I'm also not trying to sound like an ass. Just trying to have a thorough discussion about this, because it really seems like the ones complaining either A. don't know what proper character development looks like, or B. Are making choices towards a specific alignment and then whining when the character acts according to that alignment.
Looks like an issue with text shaders. I've never gotten this error before, and so far, you're the only one who's reported it. So, fixing it is going to be tricky. When the traceback comes up there is usually a button to "ignore" it at the bottom. Does choosing that allow you to progress with the game?
The reason I ask is that I've gone over the code and I think I have a fix, but further examination is required. However, if it's a game-breaking issue that won't let you progress, I'll post what I have so you can see if it fixes the issue for you.
Lucid Lancer
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- May 29, 2018
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MC got pushed around by Astara from the first meeting, before the very first malevolent choice even showed up, not only that but the first interaction with Rayne was quite antagonistic. that's 2 LIs with very bad first impressions right there before even making any choices. And then there's Veronica who just wants to use MC for his powers, ok i guess.
After that i picked every malevolent choices and it got worse because the "choices" not only did Not let me do Anything even close to the meaning of the word malevolent but i actually got punished for picking them as MC got knocked on his ass by astara, a supposed LI.
I suppose my definition of the real character depth is way different than yours, but that's fine. your game your rules, go ham i always say.
Also yes, being a badass is much more preferable than.....this, bitches and all. Not on this site to read fine literature to be honest, that's just me though.
That is just not true, as i already mentioned. Not only picking malevolent choice makes no actual difference, except maybe yelling harsh language as you yourself put it in a spoiler but it actively punishes the player. That's a major negative to me.
Let me make one thing absolutely clear, i'm in no way trying to shit on the game in anyway whatsoever, this is just how i perceived the game after playing it. And i'm writing all this precisely because as i mentioned in my aforementioned post this game tag-wise is right there on my preferred list and i really wanted to like this. But as you said yourself, maybe this is not for me afterall, which i'm good with.
Well, it is what it is and i understand whatever direction you as a dev want to take this in.
having said all that, good luck on your game.
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Astara and Rayne (who's not a main LI) are both tough and independent. Some people like that, some don't. Every LI is optional, so you can pick and choose which ones you want to actively romance based on your own preferences. And yes, Veronica seems to only want to use you, for now. Every character is going to be unique and have their own personalities and motivations.
MC is written to be quite timid overall. So it wouldn't make sense to have him randomly not be when a Malevolent option is selected. For now, those will be quite tame, but from the perspective of the MC being the way he is, it is Malevolent to him. I don't think you really get punished for being Malevolent either. The Astara choice that I spoilered even gives you points with her rather than taking away. Being an asshole gets that response in kind 90% of the time. That's the same way it works IRL and characters are meant to feel meaningful in that regard. As said in a previous post, the reward is having people hate and eventually fear you, as that's assumedly what you'd want from choosing Malevolent options.
I get that, and I agree that it can be nice sometimes or even most of the time. In this game you have to build up to that, though, since it focuses more on connections than constant romps. I completely understand that most people are here for sex and big tiddies and you'll get plenty of that with my game as it progresses. It's just not the only thing that inspired me to make it.
I didn't think you were. Seems like you have a genuine interest like you say, but this doesn't quite check all of your boxes, so you wanted to give constructive criticism and decide if this would be worth your time. That being said, and with my response to your quote above, I don't think it is. You'll have to build your character and the relationships up as you go, it is mostly a slow burn with a decent amount of quick romps from side-characters. Sounds more to me like you want a quick story about a powerful badass that pulls all the women, and I'm sorry, but this isn't that. You will see more of what you want in future chapters, but it isn't there yet, and if you don't want to put the effort into getting there, that's completely up to you.
I appreciate the discussion. More people should really check out the other pages where I can put more information out on the game, like itch or the many public patreon posts. A lot of your gripes have already been addressed there. (Mostly slow burn, characters with depth and many different personalities that require investment, etc.) But, I digress. I'm sorry this turned out to be a waste of time for you. If I could refund personal time I would.
slick97
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This is where the theme of the story comes into play. In a universe like the Witcher it makes sense for a character like Geralt to be deadly, confident, and have morally grey beliefs (that you can somewhat shape positively or negatively). However, the premise of this story lends itself to an indecisive MC given his backstory and not really having any strong morality, good or bad.
Taking your example of Astara, she's a scion who has 5 months of training over the MC, for her to lose against him wouldn't make sense narratively given that raw power hasn't been shown to overcome talent. We saw something similar play out with Soul, a mage who managed to defeat a full blown god. Both Astara and Soul set the plot up for our MC to grow as a character in future chapters by incentivizing training regardless of what power you wield (Rayne also enforces that idea to an extent).
The discussion on morality is harder as the choices we've had so far haven't impacted the story in any meaningful way. I imagine this mechanic will become prevalent later, especially when taking into context the personality types of the LI's we've come across (i.e. Astara leaning a bit towards the malevolent, Leon severely malevolent, Soul and Leyla leaning more towards benevolent). As with any story the only thing you can gauge from the first chapter is how well an author sets up the plot, characters, and setting.
Somewhat related to the above discussion, this project appears to be following box standard guidelines for writing a 3-act story. We have teo definitive drivers for the plot split between the internal dispute between the gods and an early setup for a dispute with corporations and the king. Those kinds of projects are primarily what I enjoy rather than quick harem fests or dragged out slow burns.
ZeroTrace
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- Sep 12, 2024
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Yes, when I click ignore a few times, it lets me progress, but it mostly happens when there is a video cutscene, like with that alien. Maybe it is something on my part; it is possible that I am missing some kind of net library or something similar?
There is no actual videos that play there. However, there are some particle effects and text shaders. I don't think Ren'Py has any specific requirements to run other than directx or opengl. My only thought is to check your graphics drivers and see if they have an update available and if not try directx next.
You mentioned videos though, so have you had any issues with the actual videos playing? (if you've made it that far)
If so, that might help me narrow down the cause.
LoccoGangsta
Newbie
- Dec 30, 2022
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Good story, can't wait for more. Maybe more time with the other girls, I really don't like Astara's personality. The only bug I found was when Primordial was talking english, 2 sentences went backwards, maybe it was my comp. Keep up the good work
Thanks! I'll be evening out screentime for the LIs, so no worries there. Can't say I've ever seen a bug like that in any game before. You wouldn't happen to have gotten a screenshot of that would you? Was it word sequencing backwards or like a flipped/mirrored kind of way?
LoccoGangsta
Newbie
- Dec 30, 2022
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He speaks,then this sentence goes back to the beginning after he tell next sentence. Maybe it's my computer, the sound is a little lost for a moment.