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Ren'Py Seeds of Chaos [v0.4.10] [Vénus Noire]
incspector
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phupdup
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Starting a playthrough again with 2.62b, and I got to this one time only menu event in events/week_start.rpy again when meeting Cla-min and Skordrid for the first time.
This got me thinking to how much bit-rot has gotten into the Caravan part of the game. Us old timers remember being able to drop by the caravan to buy and sell personal inventory we may pick up in the wild or through a random event that may be triggered if we have the Tavern. This stuff is still piling up on us, yet locations/caravan.rpy got modded sometime back to remove the option to Trade with Cla-Min. There is still a "label shop_clamin:" in there to open up a shopping gui which is crying for a major revamp anyway because it's just about impossible for the player to see what they may be buying or selling from the thumbnails with flyspeck sized font descriptions. However there is no menu option to jump to it in there anymore. Thus this one-shot menu is all we have left in the game, and it will cause us to defer our construction of either the tavern (my choice), forge or dark sanctum during the closeout of the first week of the game cycle.
I wonder if the devs will ever get back to the inventory management at some point? Both it and the the whole player leveling mechanism were put in early on and have fallen out of use, yet we still have plot points such as bribing orc guards with a spare sword as a gift, and I think game play checks on things like stealth and locks.
Code:
Purchase something from Cla-Min
Discuss construction with SkordredI wonder if the devs will ever get back to the inventory management at some point? Both it and the the whole player leveling mechanism were put in early on and have fallen out of use, yet we still have plot points such as bribing orc guards with a spare sword as a gift, and I think game play checks on things like stealth and locks.
Dunno about the inventory, but skills are being reworked yes, it's been months they worked on it.
- Oct 17, 2017
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We have spent the past month in the mines working on it as the primary focus. We're basically reworking a large segment of the game's code.
I played this game over and over again so many times , i just want some different saves which have different routesView attachment 1036054
Seriously, go play the game first or use the mod or unren if you don't won't to.
I read some speculation of conflict between the Twins in the future, so I thought I'd consider some practical issues regarding such a split...
First, the two bring pretty different things to the table; Jezera appears to be a talented mage and peerless spymaster (when she's not distracted by toying with her prey, enjoying her role too much, or bringing strays back to the castle instead of turning them into assets, at least), while Andras is a sexy shirtless god of war and natural-born leader (when he's not busy killing more of his army for "weakness" than the enemy, at least). At first, these appear to be fairly equal contributions... Except that as time goes on and their power grows, the value of a "sexy shirtless god of war" diminishes as you rely more on a real army instead of a single strong demon. His value as a leader remains, especially since many of your allies value a strong leader who can take to the field, but that doesn't necessarily have to be him; other, more pliable, figureheads can assume that role. The value of your teleporter/enchanter/spymaster remains consistent, however; until the war is won, you're always going to want to know what your enemies are up to, and be able to quickly respond. Thus, as time goes on, Jezera's value waxes, if anything, while Andras's wanes.
The two differ in costs, as well; Jezera's antics carry frequent delays and distractions, but they generally stay in the realm of delays and distractions - she annoys important allies and demands people waste their time amusing her, but she rarely blows up your plans or kills people you need alive, Dark Elves aside. Andras, by contrast, actively wants you sacking villages, and makes a point of slaughtering for fun, no matter how much value his victims offer. As time goes on, Jezera's costs are likely to diminish in aggregate as she can only play with so much of an ever-growing staff at once; Andras's costs will impede growth, but diminish as well - except in a diplomatic context, where his love of bloodshed will galvanize resistance.
Their influence on and value to the coalition thus far appears to change based on Rowan's actions; Delane seems to get along well with Jezera based on what we've seen, while Batri gets along with Andras. Patricia is loyal to both Twins (absent Rowan's scheming), while I suspect that Jacques takes more towards Jezera; he might consider her a rival player, but people like him tend to prefer rivals to dangerous elements that will upend the board on a dime. Raeve, naturally, is exclusively loyal to his master Jezera. Of course, all of this is assuming Rowan remains completely passive, which is unlikely.
In Bloodmeen itself, they have markedly different bases of support; Jezera commands the loyalty of the castle staff and Shaya; Andras, the Orcs, and Draith. The others might have their preferences, but I don't believe any of others would likely intervene in a struggle between them without a significant reason. Andras, if he acted quickly, could likely win a direct conflict; Jezera would almost certainly hear of any prolonged plot, however, and could likely have them all poisoned and/or killed in their sleep with a bit of preparation. Whoever strikes first would likely win, so long as both remain in the castle.
Setting aside such things as "It's neat to see two evil overlords actually cooperating for once instead of pointlessly betraying each other and losing everything", there would appear to be good reason to let Andras go as time goes on unless he shapes up, and Rowan can readily shape the situation to ease that transition. Cutting out Jezera does not appear as viable unless you enjoy the idea of walking everywhere should the portal malfunction (or start collapsing reality or somesuch) and learning to brainwash people yourself; it could be done, but the costs are notably higher, the apparent benefits slimmer, and she's more likely to catch wind of the plot.
$ change_actor_num_flag('Jane', 'Jezera_Influence', 3)
First, the two bring pretty different things to the table; Jezera appears to be a talented mage and peerless spymaster (when she's not distracted by toying with her prey, enjoying her role too much, or bringing strays back to the castle instead of turning them into assets, at least), while Andras is a sexy shirtless god of war and natural-born leader (when he's not busy killing more of his army for "weakness" than the enemy, at least). At first, these appear to be fairly equal contributions... Except that as time goes on and their power grows, the value of a "sexy shirtless god of war" diminishes as you rely more on a real army instead of a single strong demon. His value as a leader remains, especially since many of your allies value a strong leader who can take to the field, but that doesn't necessarily have to be him; other, more pliable, figureheads can assume that role. The value of your teleporter/enchanter/spymaster remains consistent, however; until the war is won, you're always going to want to know what your enemies are up to, and be able to quickly respond. Thus, as time goes on, Jezera's value waxes, if anything, while Andras's wanes.
The two differ in costs, as well; Jezera's antics carry frequent delays and distractions, but they generally stay in the realm of delays and distractions - she annoys important allies and demands people waste their time amusing her, but she rarely blows up your plans or kills people you need alive, Dark Elves aside. Andras, by contrast, actively wants you sacking villages, and makes a point of slaughtering for fun, no matter how much value his victims offer. As time goes on, Jezera's costs are likely to diminish in aggregate as she can only play with so much of an ever-growing staff at once; Andras's costs will impede growth, but diminish as well - except in a diplomatic context, where his love of bloodshed will galvanize resistance.
Their influence on and value to the coalition thus far appears to change based on Rowan's actions; Delane seems to get along well with Jezera based on what we've seen, while Batri gets along with Andras. Patricia is loyal to both Twins (absent Rowan's scheming), while I suspect that Jacques takes more towards Jezera; he might consider her a rival player, but people like him tend to prefer rivals to dangerous elements that will upend the board on a dime. Raeve, naturally, is exclusively loyal to his master Jezera. Of course, all of this is assuming Rowan remains completely passive, which is unlikely.
In Bloodmeen itself, they have markedly different bases of support; Jezera commands the loyalty of the castle staff and Shaya; Andras, the Orcs, and Draith. The others might have their preferences, but I don't believe any of others would likely intervene in a struggle between them without a significant reason. Andras, if he acted quickly, could likely win a direct conflict; Jezera would almost certainly hear of any prolonged plot, however, and could likely have them all poisoned and/or killed in their sleep with a bit of preparation. Whoever strikes first would likely win, so long as both remain in the castle.
Setting aside such things as "It's neat to see two evil overlords actually cooperating for once instead of pointlessly betraying each other and losing everything", there would appear to be good reason to let Andras go as time goes on unless he shapes up, and Rowan can readily shape the situation to ease that transition. Cutting out Jezera does not appear as viable unless you enjoy the idea of walking everywhere should the portal malfunction (or start collapsing reality or somesuch) and learning to brainwash people yourself; it could be done, but the costs are notably higher, the apparent benefits slimmer, and she's more likely to catch wind of the plot.
$ change_actor_num_flag('Jane', 'Jezera_Influence', 3)
Okay Rein, I was trying to keep things easy-going by just talking about Winter's moral dilemmas, but it is time we start having a deep discussion about the critical aspects of the most important part of SoC's lore: What decides the size of the futanari cock?
I think the answer can be reduced to three possibilities: 1. It is an unchangeable and inherent part of the magic itself 2. It follows the will of the enchanter 3. It is based on the characteristics of the enchanted.
For the first, most magic is normally not so "rigid", a spellcaster can normally alter elements of their spells. If all magical futa cocks are strictly monster-sized, this would indicate the large size must be part of the will of a deity, who would also be the source of all futanari magic. Do you already have plans for the futanari deity? Will we eventually get to meet them and potentially cast aside both Solansia and Kairos in favor of such a deity?
For the second, if the size is in Xzaratl's discretion, why did she give Alexia such a large cock? Is it because she fantasizes about Rowan as the sub in a "yaoi-style" scenario and having Alexia have an impressive dick was the only way of getting that to happen while still shipping the two of them? Or maybe she has a fetish for marital role-reversal? Or even perhaps she just wanted to give Alexia a cock similar to her own, so that she can feel a part of her can always be in them even if she's not around?
More importantly though, would she make use of this power during "NTR detox"? Just as Andras is about to try his bullshit with Alexia, Xzaratl sneakily casts a spell on Alexia giving her a gigantic cock, Andras' gets confused as his masculinity is challenged, saboutaging the entire scene.
For the third, what about Alexia as a person would give her such an impressive dick? Is it a reflection of her large magical potential? Or perhaps it is just a matter that if the genders were reversed and Alexia had been born a man, she would have been naturally incredibly hung? Poor Rowana wouldn't be able to walk straight. Or maybe the size is a reflection of Alexia's own desires? She does have to be a bit of a size queen considering the crush she has for Grayhide...
Has anyone ever tried to make a list of the scenes as to make it easyer to know what to trigger with the debug menu? Since a full gallery isn't implemented.
phupdup
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- Oct 24, 2019
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Taking Raeve Keep with a spy is made substantially harder in these later versions, and I'm thinking it is impossible to pull it off in time.
Under the old mechanic, the Brothel unlocked after researching opulence and dark subterfuge if I'm remembering correctly. So the combined cost was 40 + 60 research points and then purchasing the Brothel. That allowed the player to easily unlock spies around week 16 or so and have plenty of time to infiltrate them into the keep before the deadline the twins give us to capture it.
Under the new system, the devs made opulence dependent on fiendish diplomacy which throws another 120 points of research that needs to be done in front of all that. That level of effort was an escalation in the old game where it was assumed that the library had been upgraded for faster research and that we have maybe gotten to the point where we can have Alexia working in it to help things along. The research point bumps requirement levels like 40, 60, 80, 120 and 160 so now we have to get past something that is just about endgame level requirement for research before we can even think of having a basic business that is just about as common as a burger joint in places like the Netherlands or the state of Nevada.
Speaking of highly profitable business franchises, it's a bit bizarre that the "house" doesn't make income off of the silly thing. The Tavern pulls in 30 a week at level 1 (60 at level 2), yet our Brothel fetches a big fat zero as defined for its data structure in core/buildings.rpy. It's also not quite thought through as a concept in that we have the Tavern a bit away from the castle where its infernal connections can be kept on the down low while the brothel is stowed away down in the dungeon. One would think that the brothel would instead be put in the same business park so to speak as the Tavern where our spies and Cubi can also be doing their thing without a big fat "chaos R us" sign hanging over their heads.
My theory about the whole research tree charlie fox for obtaining spies resulted from a rework the team started a few versions back when they started working on buildings as well and then dropped everything to chase after a squirrel. Considering that spies as things stand now are only useful as a strategy for taking Raeve and then later in recruiting the Orc Army, not having them easily available earlier in the game cuts off half of their usefulness.
Under the old mechanic, the Brothel unlocked after researching opulence and dark subterfuge if I'm remembering correctly. So the combined cost was 40 + 60 research points and then purchasing the Brothel. That allowed the player to easily unlock spies around week 16 or so and have plenty of time to infiltrate them into the keep before the deadline the twins give us to capture it.
Under the new system, the devs made opulence dependent on fiendish diplomacy which throws another 120 points of research that needs to be done in front of all that. That level of effort was an escalation in the old game where it was assumed that the library had been upgraded for faster research and that we have maybe gotten to the point where we can have Alexia working in it to help things along. The research point bumps requirement levels like 40, 60, 80, 120 and 160 so now we have to get past something that is just about endgame level requirement for research before we can even think of having a basic business that is just about as common as a burger joint in places like the Netherlands or the state of Nevada.
Speaking of highly profitable business franchises, it's a bit bizarre that the "house" doesn't make income off of the silly thing. The Tavern pulls in 30 a week at level 1 (60 at level 2), yet our Brothel fetches a big fat zero as defined for its data structure in core/buildings.rpy. It's also not quite thought through as a concept in that we have the Tavern a bit away from the castle where its infernal connections can be kept on the down low while the brothel is stowed away down in the dungeon. One would think that the brothel would instead be put in the same business park so to speak as the Tavern where our spies and Cubi can also be doing their thing without a big fat "chaos R us" sign hanging over their heads.
My theory about the whole research tree charlie fox for obtaining spies resulted from a rework the team started a few versions back when they started working on buildings as well and then dropped everything to chase after a squirrel. Considering that spies as things stand now are only useful as a strategy for taking Raeve and then later in recruiting the Orc Army, not having them easily available earlier in the game cuts off half of their usefulness.
phupdup
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- Oct 24, 2019
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Another thought about a brothel rework is maybe making it a two building thing. One goes out next to the Tavern for consumption by the great unwashed masses while we clean out their pockets. Maybe throw in a casino type concept there while we are at it. The other stays back in the dungeon level under the "chaos R us" sign where it can function as the morale boosting employee and VIP lounge that it appears to function as currently. The two can be joined via a service/escape tunnel or portal.
It's been a few days, so I don't recall the research tree exactly, but I believe that in the current version, you can start immediately researching Fiendish Diplomacy to unlock the brothel; I made it my second research option regardless (I started with the one that improved your research speed), but still had it ready with several weeks to spare.
That said, I do wish I could do something with spies if I'm not going to be occupying villages with them...
phupdup
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That outside brothel could be a whole spinoff VN. It could be run by another set of twins named Sydney and Sidney who Jezera ran into much earlier in life and has now recruited. It could be a series of vignettes of their trials and tribulations working under a really dark corporate overlord. Working title: Sids of Chaos.....
On the advantages, I guess the portal network does give their army a pretty great tactical advantage, assuming they have competent enough people to take advantage of it, which they don't outside of Rowan. Hell, I think Cla Min is the one making the most use of them and mainly for her own benefit, and there hasn't been a single battle yet where teleporting was a turning point. The element of surprise was there with or without Rowan, and they would've blown their cover much earlier if Rowan wasn't there, Andras is flashy enough to make sure of that. Yeah, sure, they aren't murdering each other... yet.
If they didn't need Rowan, they wouldn't have bothered to kidnap Alexia and force him into service, they would just kill one of the Six Heroes and count it as a major victory. Jezera at least could see the sorry state they were in at the beginning of the game, while Andras somehow managed to get injured while taking Raeve's keep if you take the direct assault route.
They need someone with Rowan's skillsets, but they don't really need Rowan, per se. Jezera could have kidnapped another effective tactician, a steward, a scout, and a representative, and kept going through candidates until one finally agreed. They wouldn't be as effective, and she'd need multiple people instead of having a convenient all-in-one, but she'd get someone to cover the holes eventually.
Or Andras would have got frustrated with the whole thing and insisted they start their plans regardless. One of the two.
(Andras gets himself injured on the infiltration route as well, actually. Or does he get more injured on the direct assault path? I don't think I've ever actually done it that way since, well, I share Jezera's love of unnecessary spycraft.)
phupdup
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- Oct 24, 2019
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I've nerfed the required research points necessary for Fiendish Diplomacy from 120 to 40 since it appears that the dev team meant to move it to so early in the game, but didn't carry through with a proper rebalancing. This should make it much easier to accomplish the early game objective of taking Raeve Keep with a spy instead of using the brute force option. Drop it into game/core. You may need to create the core subfolder if you haven't bothered to un-archive the game's archive.rpa file.
40 is way too low. Without capturing a single abbey or recruiting a single Cubi, you could capture Raeve Keep by week 11 that way, half the time limit. I think 80 would be pretty generous, lenient enough that a newbie who didn't know the abbey locations or that infiltration takes time could still research another tech first without ruining their chance of an infiltration.
I mean, being able to stage an infiltration is meant to take a fair amount of work still. If there's a balance problem here, it's that the military option seems too easy.
Yes, they could try and get some other random tactcian/diplomat/scout/whatever (damn looking from this angle Rowan is a freaking swiss knife huh), but as you said, it would take a lot of kidnapping and village burning for a lesser result, consuming more time and probably attracting more attention than what they could handle at that point. My bet would be on Andras getting impatient though hahaha.
Kinda unrelated, but I actually count the endings where you fail a deadline from the twins as a "normal end", where Rowan and Alexia die but the twins and their subjects soon follow after their plans are foiled by the kingdom army and possibly some of the other remaining heroes.
Good question, as I haven't played the infiltration route yet because I had other priorities while researching (Cubi and map to get a better army to clear as many capture events as soon as possible) so I couldn't compare. Has been a long while since I last played but IIRC he takes an arrow to the
Well, let's also remember that Rowan at the start is a squeaky-clean exceedingly pure Hero, with no real ambition or inclination towards personal gain. He didn't have much for Jezera to work with but kidnapping his wife.
Other tacticians/diplomats/scouts/darkelfbribes? Are a lot more readily corruptable. She could bribe them, she could seduce them, or, yes, just snatch-and-bag them. It wouldn't need to be nearly as much of a spectacle as the had with Rowan; among other things, they wouldn't need to wait months for Rowan to show up when they could take their target immediately.
And while any given person might not be as competent as Rowan necessarily... There'd probably be a lot of gain from not multitasking all the time. How many headaches would be solved by their Seneschal actually being in the castle all day instead of just weekends? A full-time diplomat handling the Orciad situation? Their tactician working more closely with the troops instead of traipsing about the countryside all day? I don't think the difference in performance would necessarily be inferior - just more of a pain to find the right people. But one thing Jezera is certainly good at is finding people.
But considering how much of an effort Andras made to kill Rowan rather than admit that they could maybe benefit from outside help... Yeah, he probably wouldn't agree to try this with anyone else.
That sounds pretty similar, and glancing at the event text, I don't really notice any significant difference.
I'm not certain whether to crack a joke about Andras here, or a joke about how incompetent the army at Rastadel must have been that they couldn't match the results of a tiny little garrison betrayed by half their members, but... Hey, I get it, bad luck happens. Anyone can catch an unlucky arrow, it's not as though you can see everywhere.
(But avoiding arrows is probably easier if you wear some actual armor. And if you're in an opposing army, you should probably aim for the big red shirtless guy who's killing everyone; you won't all miss.)