VN Ren'Py Seeking Closure [v0.7.1] [Captain Crystallo]

[camube]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the matter.

Truth is - the only feedback I got on this matter was on a different site with comments like:
"Another shit game that gives player 3 options that all have the same outcome so it turns out player gets one option so zero stars for this tripe"
"You are getting pushed in the direction the dev wants you to go , no choice what so ever . Options are there for the show ."

Usually, I wouldn't give such criticism too much attention because of how harshly it's worded, but since I didn't have any other responses to go by, I thought that this was the general sentiment as well.

Now that I've received positive feedback on this topic from multiple people, I'm definitely going to bring back such scenarios since I quite enjoy writing them when they're applicable. I'd even retroactively add some to the previous chapters, but that would probably be pointless since I can't attach any variables to them without messing with future checks.

I don't think it's my place to say this but, if in doubt, you might want to consider polling things with your existing patrons.

i've seen other devs do that.

I actually like the aspect of your game so much i shilled your game on this thread https://f95zone.to/threads/story-first-games.86340/

That's a thread where people that like story-first AVN talks with each other. It's great for getting recommendations about games with interesting stories, like yours. There are some devs that are active there too, maybe like, 2 or 3 of them.

 

[Captain Crystallo]

I don't think it's my place to say this but, if in doubt, you might want to consider polling things with your existing patrons.

i've seen other devs do that.

I actually like the aspect of your game so much i shilled your game on this thread https://f95zone.to/threads/story-first-games.86340/

That's a thread where people that like story-first AVN talks with each other. It's great for getting recommendations about games with interesting stories, like yours. There are some devs that are active there too, maybe like, 2 or 3 of them.

Thanks for promoting my game there. I'll be sure to check that thread out sometime soon.

And yes, it's high time I started doing some polls and getting a better idea of what people who are already supporting me want, like, and expect to see more of in the future.

 

[Ripson]

It's working now.
But I have a question why not unlocking after watching the scenes.

I have removed the condition (that's is if persistent something.. I don't remember) that was to be achieved while the playthrough, so no condition, no scenes unlocked during the playthrough.

 

[Dessolos]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the matter.

Truth is - the only feedback I got on this matter was on a different site with comments like:
"Another shit game that gives player 3 options that all have the same outcome so it turns out player gets one option so zero stars for this tripe"
"You are getting pushed in the direction the dev wants you to go , no choice what so ever . Options are there for the show ."

Usually, I wouldn't give such criticism too much attention because of how harshly it's worded, but since I didn't have any other responses to go by, I thought that this was the general sentiment as well.

Now that I've received positive feedback on this topic from multiple people, I'm definitely going to bring back such scenarios since I quite enjoy writing them when they're applicable. I'd even retroactively add some to the previous chapters, but that would probably be pointless since I can't attach any variables to them without messing with future checks.

For me I think I like a balanced approach to this. Where I like it when we get different choices that do lead to the same thing but not all the time either. Since usually it's for flavor however when it's all the time it can feel tiring at times. Which is why I think id prefer a balanced approach where sometimes it's a choice that makes something completely different and then sometimes where it just the same result but plays out or reads different. As I think doing either one of these 2 much isn't good either.

That's just my 2 cents / take on it.

 

[Captain Crystallo]

For me I think I like a balanced approach to this. Where I like it when we get different choices that do lead to the same thing but not all the time either. Since usually it's for flavor however when it's all the time it can feel tiring at times. Which is why I think id prefer a balanced approach where sometimes it's a choice that makes something completely different and then sometimes where it just the same result but plays out or reads different. As I think doing either one of these 2 much isn't good either.

That's just my 2 cents / take on it.

That's a great, level-headed take, thank you. I agree that it's best to balance them out, and I'll make it my goal to find that balance going forward. Hopefully, the community will let me know if I'm straying too far in either of those directions.

 

[Dark Prince 19]

Captain Crystallo Had played your game right from the point it was released a while ago and certainly throughout every chapter release there have been improvements in both plot and other aspects of the game consistently which is pleasing to experience as a player, also till the recent release the plot is also headed in a logical and interesting direction and with the foundation of the initial content it has along with this type of consistent growth in the quality think it can definitely become a game to consider more strongly and watch out for. And also expect you have a nice year ahead with success, that is if it is already the 1st in the location you are in, or warm greetings in prior advance!

Thanks for reading dev, best wishes for ahead

 

[Aurelius Ambrosius]

1. I haven't read this VN yet
2. I really like the preview pics
3. I really like the dev reacting here in the forum
4. Regarding choices... I only want to read a VN once. So, I always go for the harem route. I dislike choices except in these cases: A) It's only for flavour differences
B) It is so you can skip a certain fetish you don't like (e.g., feet)
The bottom line is, I don't want to miss anything.
It always baffles me that devs spend hours/weeks working on two scenes where only half of the players see the one side (e.g., 'good' path) and the other half of the players only get to see the other side (e.g., 'corruption' path).

 

[BurgRoyce]

1. I haven't read this VN yet
2. I really like the preview pics
3. I really like the dev reacting here in the forum
4. Regarding choices... I only want to read a VN once. So, I always go for the harem route. I dislike choices except in these cases: A) It's only for flavour differences
B) It is so you can skip a certain fetish you don't like (e.g., feet)
The bottom line is, I don't want to miss anything.
It always baffles me that devs spend hours/weeks working on two scenes where only half of the players see the one side (e.g., 'good' path) and the other half of the players only get to see the other side (e.g., 'corruption' path).

That's fine, but there are other players (like me, btw), who like choices and replaying to see differences. It gives a game a lot of "extra life".
At the end, everything is just a personal preference

 

[BigMal235]

Since the dev is in the room, I will share my thoughts too. Please note these are my opinions and take whatever you think that is applicable from it and just ignore the rest. I'll start with few business tips (you may already know all of this, but maybe you may need to hear it again to put your thoughts together):

• be careful with changing the general rules of the game too much based on few comments or even on a single poll. I wouldn't recommend changing your style just because your patrons say so. Remember, they decided to support you, because you are doing something right in their eyes and when you change these things they may leave, because quite often people don't understand what they really want. The famous quote from Henry Ford applies: " If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. "
• polls are a great tool to observe trends, but make few spaced properly in time, before you draw any conclusions out of them
• Since you are at the beginning of your developer road, use every channel you can to communicate with audience. For example, you are present here, but you didn't reach out asking for people's opinion and let's be honest: no one becomes your patron straight away, so every person in this thread is your potential future supporter and their opinions should be added to the patrons mix before you make any changes (this will naturally change once you get the number of patrons that you will be more determined to keep, but for now you are looking for new people.
• This is your first project so learn from it, get to know your audience and maybe - just maybe wait with introducing any major changes till the second AVN

Now, let's talk about the game (or rather - how I see it):

• I'll start with saying that after reading the synopsis I didn't have high expectations towards the game, but I was quickly surprised about how naturally the story flows. I am not sure about others but imo the game description should be more catchy and less wordy
• I love the unique characters and story telling. It's enjoyable and really draws player's attention
• LIs are great, different and each of them have the qualities that doesn't make the player question their presence in your VN
• Dialogues are smooth and the talks length is adequate - they are not too lengthy, but at the same time - I didn't feel like you try to rush the change of scenes, which is a normal occurrence in new AVNs
• I really dislike the repetitive events in AVNs. For example every second AVN has either yoga class or changing room scene and they mostly end up in the MC getting a boner. Please don't go that way. I mean, if you can tell the story properly, you can still make these scenes unique, but most of the devs don't - and it applies even to the decent storytellers. So far, I only saw one scene like this in Seeking Closure - training in the park with Kathy ( I hope I remember her name correctly)
• now, my opinion on the decision making. I agree with Dessolos that the balanced approach is probably the best solution. I would like to see some decisions which matter (and change the story significantly) and start routing as this is the key reason why I like reading AVNs, but there is no reason to overcomplicate your game too soon and it can wait until you find it necessary

I hope this helps and let me just add that I really enjoy your game and I look forward to seeing your further productions. Good luck!

 

[Captain Crystallo]

Since the dev is in the room, I will share my thoughts too. Please note these are my opinions and take whatever you think that is applicable from it and just ignore the rest. I'll start with few business tips (you may already know all of this, but maybe you may need to hear it again to put your thoughts together):

• be careful with changing the general rules of the game too much based on few comments or even on a single poll. I wouldn't recommend changing your style just because your patrons say so. Remember, they decided to support you, because you are doing something right in their eyes and when you change these things they may leave, because quite often people don't understand what they really want. The famous quote from Henry Ford applies: " If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. "
• polls are a great tool to observe trends, but make few spaced properly in time, before you draw any conclusions out of them
• Since you are at the beginning of your developer road, use every channel you can to communicate with audience. For example, you are present here, but you didn't reach out asking for people's opinion and let's be honest: no one becomes your patron straight away, so every person in this thread is your potential future supporter and their opinions should be added to the patrons mix before you make any changes (this will naturally change once you get the number of patrons that you will be more determined to keep, but for now you are looking for new people.
• This is your first project so learn from it, get to know your audience and maybe - just maybe wait with introducing any major changes till the second AVN

Now, let's talk about the game (or rather - how I see it):

• I'll start with saying that after reading the synopsis I didn't have high expectations towards the game, but I was quickly surprised about how naturally the story flows. I am not sure about others but imo the game description should be more catchy and less wordy
• I love the unique characters and story telling. It's enjoyable and really draws player's attention
• LIs are great, different and each of them have the qualities that doesn't make the player question their presence in your VN
• Dialogues are smooth and the talks length is adequate - they are not too lengthy, but at the same time - I didn't feel like you try to rush the change of scenes, which is a normal occurrence in new AVNs
• I really dislike the repetitive events in AVNs. For example every second AVN has either yoga class or changing room scene and they mostly end up in the MC getting a boner. Please don't go that way. I mean, if you can tell the story properly, you can still make these scenes unique, but most of the devs don't - and it applies even to the decent storytellers. So far, I only saw one scene like this in Seeking Closure - training in the park with Kathy ( I hope I remember her name correctly)
• now, my opinion on the decision making. I agree with Dessolos that the balanced approach is probably the best solution. I would like to see some decisions which matter (and change the story significantly) and start routing as this is the key reason why I like reading AVNs, but there is no reason to overcomplicate your game too soon and it can wait until you find it necessary

I hope this helps and let me just add that I really enjoy your game and I look forward to seeing your further productions. Good luck!

That's a lot of great, well-laid-out advice, thank you.

• I agree that while polls can definitely be useful as an auxiliary tool, it should still be up to the developer to decide how their game should flow. There are way too many projects out there focusing on appeasing the wants and kinks of the patrons, which becomes a problem when the creators start sacrificing story progression and pacing in the process.
• I should definitely utilize this platform to interact with the local community more, so a good shout on that point as well.
• I've been tempted to pause development to rework some parts of my game a couple of times already, but I decided to wait at least until Part 1 is done and even then I think it's a better idea to settle on smaller tweaks while taking everything I learn along the way into my second project when the time comes for it.

As for your other comments:

• I'll try to come up with a more engaging synopsis. I've written it almost a year ago, so it would be nice to give it a touch-up.
• Thank you for the kind words regarding my characters and writing.
• Having events become too repetitive is a fear of mine and I feel like some of the scenes I've already written are a bit too bland for my taste. I'm still learning to better find a balance between giving the player an immersive slice-of-life experience and getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes characters tick and important plot moments.
• Once again, I'll try my best to balance out flavor choices and important decisions while also ensuring that I don't create so many branches that I won't be able to support and keep track of as the story continues to develop.

I'll be sure to properly mull all of your suggestions over and keep them in mind as much as I can going forward.
Appreciate the detailed write-up!

 

[BigMal235]

Just to add here: there is a significant difference between playing a repetitive event that is unconventional and playing an event which pans out exactly the same way in every AVN. For example if you decide to create a cinema date, you wouldn't like to make it end with a bj scene, because that's the cheap porn ending. Instead you could make the date being ruined somehow and end completely different way. There are games which take the boring drinking games and make them really interesting, like Acting Lessons and No More Secrets, while the rest of the games make the player click through these events to see something original or at least funny.

Also, I like your idea of changing small things instead reworking the past episodes as this usually takes a lot of time you could have invested in creating new content: DPC vs. Ocean approach

 

[goulet1995]

That's a lot of great, well-laid-out advice, thank you.

• I agree that while polls can definitely be useful as an auxiliary tool, it should still be up to the developer to decide how their game should flow. There are way too many projects out there focusing on appeasing the wants and kinks of the patrons, which becomes a problem when the creators start sacrificing story progression and pacing in the process.
• I should definitely utilize this platform to interact with the local community more, so a good shout on that point as well.
• I've been tempted to pause development to rework some parts of my game a couple of times already, but I decided to wait at least until Part 1 is done and even then I think it's a better idea to settle on smaller tweaks while taking everything I learn along the way into my second project when the time comes for it.

As for your other comments:

• I'll try to come up with a more engaging synopsis. I've written it almost a year ago, so it would be nice to give it a touch-up.
• Thank you for the kind words regarding my characters and writing.
• Having events become too repetitive is a fear of mine and I feel like some of the scenes I've already written are a bit too bland for my taste. I'm still learning to better find a balance between giving the player an immersive slice-of-life experience and getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes characters tick and important plot moments.
• Once again, I'll try my best to balance out flavor choices and important decisions while also ensuring that I don't create so many branches that I won't be able to support and keep track of as the story continues to develop.

I'll be sure to properly mull all of your suggestions over and keep them in mind as much as I can going forward.
Appreciate the detailed write-up!

with threesomes being planned how will they work will there be options on what happens in them example if its only focused on mc orif the girls will fool around with eachother as well id like to know because if they will fool aroundwith eachother no matter what id prefer to avoid any threesome.

 

[Captain Crystallo]

with threesomes being planned how will they work will there be options on what happens in them example if its only focused on mc orif the girls will fool around with eachother as well id like to know because if they will fool aroundwith eachother no matter what id prefer to avoid any threesome.

Hey! You'll get to choose if you want the girls to get dirty with each other or only dedicate their attention to the MC.

 

[Impurity2937]

I just wanted to say that I had wall of text for each chapter with my thoughts for dev and somehow... I lost it. For fuck sake... I'm devastated, sorry Captain Crystallo I really put heart to write it and help you but it's lost... Eh.

 

[Captain Crystallo]

I just wanted to say that I had wall of text for each chapter with my thoughts for dev and somehow... I lost it. For fuck sake... I'm devastated, sorry Captain Crystallo I really put heart to write it and help you but it's lost... Eh.

Heck, that is a damn shame. I appreciate the effort and time you spent on it nonetheless.

 

[ahxjosu]

is harem ending in plan?

 

[Vualen]

Nice looking renders and animations, but man I would love to hear some sounds and moans. Devs should think abou it.

 

[Dessolos]

yet to play the update. But came across a reddit thread talking about games that came out last year. Had no idea this game is only about a year old I for sure assumed it was like 2 since I recall it felt like there was alot of content the first time I played. So good job and keep up the good work. This will be one of my first games I replay once my mini break of replaying games with updates is over.

 

[BurgRoyce]

Voted here and on patreon. Usually I'd prefer smaller updates if waiting time for long ones means 9+ months, but in that case it's only like 3 months, so keep the current rate.

 

[AlexMpog]

yet to play the update. But came across a reddit thread talking about games that came out last year. Had no idea this game is only about a year old I for sure assumed it was like 2 since I recall it felt like there was alot of content the first time I played. So good job and keep up the good work. This will be one of my first games I replay once my mini break of replaying games with updates is over.

yeah, i proposed this game in that reddit thread, and not only me actually, this game definitely deserves to be more popular than it already is