Ren'Py Shattered Minds [v0.21 Beta] [eXtasy Games]

[Insomnimaniac Games]

No, a gallery is in no way equivalent to a sandbox when it comes to picking and choosing which girls and story-lines you pursue and which you pass on. Any game that gives you actual real choices will automatically become a sandbox, there are many sandboxes with a VN's GUI, but they are still sandboxes.

A good sandbox allows you to pick and choose which characters to pursue
(it is a lot easier to exclude characters in a sandbox) and to also focus on a specific character.
likewise for optional side quests and routes.
Sandbox also handles reworks of old content better in terms of ability to import saves (assuming dev is not completely clueless and incompetent)
It is also easier to playtest individual routes in a larger game.
As dev or testers can start a new game and focus on a specific character while ignoring others to rapidly explore new content.

I have seen VNs where there were too many waifus where I just couldn't remember who is who because the game went round robin. meaning after a scene with waifu 1, i had to go through a scene with waifus 2 through 50, in order, before I saw waifu 1 again.
Although that is an extreme example and most games do not have 50 waifus.

The easiest thing to do though is just make a kinetic novel. or a visual novel with so few choices it might as well be a kinetic novel.

Bad VNs I have seen come in 3 forms:
1. kinetic novels
2. actually a sandbox with a VN's graphical interface (often but not always happens when you can choose between VN and sandbox and the VN is literally just an overlay over the sandbox. like in the game "simple days")
3. despite how vastly simpler it is to make a VN, dev still manages to fuck up variable tracking severely. (ex: the fate of Irnia)

Whether sandbox or VN is better really depends on the game's production quality
Atrociously bad?
VN is better and there is less opportunities for the dev to fuckup. (ex: much harder for dev to implement pointless grinding in a VN)

mid quality game?
Sandbox is better in my opinion. as it gives more choices and controls.

Good game?
it does not matter. they will both be good.

I see a lot of times where people compare the highest quality VNs to the worst quality sandboxes or vice versa.
To backup their notion that one is better than the other.

I mean, if you think about it, most of the "greats" are sandboxes. Summertime Saga, Desert Stalker, Being a Dik, What a Legend, etc.

 

[AkaQ]

It's not the first time I see weird people whining because they want a wholesome experience on a game with tags like mind control, corruption, slave, male dom etc
It's another thing if the gamedev was trying to lie about the content, but that's not the case here, it's quite explicit from the tags, the description of the game, the early conversations with Ava...
I know the site is planning to add new tags to the system, Do we really need something like "evil protagonist" tag now to make it more obvious for these people?

 

[lipe2410]

That was a reply to the other poster.
The girl was already into MC and there really was no reason to break her mind, maybe a little push to have sex is all that was needed. But no you are forced to break her mind when just a little push would have been enough.
You may like fake romance and fake pregnancy but I do not.

You don't have to worry about it, its already in the trashcan anyway.



Calling them LI's is just wrong, they are mindless servants and nothing more, yes you can program to "ACT" like they are but there not. You control every aspect of there lives after you break there minds.

Next time pay more attention when go play a game. This one not even have "romance" tag in the first place so your complaint about fake romance is pure nonsense.

 

[a1fox3]

It's not the first time I see weird people whining because they want a wholesome experience on a game with tags like mind control, corruption, slave, male dom etc
It's another thing if the gamedev was trying to lie about the content, but that's not the case here, it's quite explicit from the tags, the description of the game, the early conversations with Ava...
I know the site is planning to add new tags to the system, Do we really need something like "evil protagonist" tag now to make it more obvious for these people?

Yes we do need better tag system, corruption can mean many things and so does mind control.
We also need tags for "Fake Pregnancy" and so on.

It should have been listed in the "Overview" that every girl will be mind control/mind broken to completely be controlled by MC.

That one girl started out being a nice way to go but you do not see the total mind break you do on her when she was already into MC anyway and just a little nudging would have them having sex but no you are forced to mind break her.

Its not my type of game and I know there are others out there that feel the same way I do.
More info would have been nice and if the info was there I would never have tried this game.

To me mind control/mind break is rape because the girl no longer has the choice.
The rape tag is needed in games like this.

 

[AkaQ]

Yes we do need better tag system, corruption can mean many things and so does mind control.
We also need tags for "Fake Pregnancy" and so on.

It should have been listed in the "Overview" that every girl will be mind control/mind broken to completely be controlled by MC.

That one girl started out being a nice way to go but you do not see the total mind break you do on her when she was already into MC anyway and just a little nudging would have them having sex but no you are forced to mind break her.

Its not my type of game and I know there are others out there that feel the same way I do.
More info would have been nice and if the info was there I would never have tried this game.

To me mind control/mind break is rape because the girl no longer has the choice.
The rape tag is needed in games like this.

corruption

Corrupting someone's mind or morals, and robbing them of their purity/innocence

mind-control

Forcing someone to do something on their own against their will, either with powers or drugs

I really don't know how you read these descriptions and expect something wholesome.
You should really move on from this game dude, you are clearly easily triggered.
Your whining here won't change the content.
For me it's like you are criticizing a car racing game for having fast cars in it.
You should also pay better attention to the tags and/or reviews when choosing your next game.

 

[a1fox3]

corruption

Corrupting someone's mind or morals, and robbing them of their purity/innocence

mind-control

Forcing someone to do something on their own against their will, either with powers or drugs

I really don't know how you read these descriptions and expect something wholesome.
You should really move on from this game dude, you are clearly easily triggered.
Your whining here won't change the content.
For me it's like you are criticizing a car racing game for having fast cars in it.
You should also pay better attention to the tags and/or reviews when choosing your next game.

Normally not every fucking girl is mind broken like this is and a warning would have been nice.

Well this is my last post here so you can just get on with what ever now, have a good day.

 

[AkaQ]

good day to you too

 

[ClockworkGnome]

Every excuse ya'll give for sandbox can be answered with a gallery. Idk what the point of sandbox AVNs is when galleries are available

Except a gallery alone is the literal antithesis of narrative. If all you want is immediate access to every available sex scene, why are you playing visual novel-style games at all? Just watch porn.

The point is more to choose the order in which you're experiencing the plot. A gallery just lets you bypass everything in favor of individual scenes (especially if you're using an unlocker).

 

[harem.king]

The girl was already into MC and there really was no reason to break her mind

If you wanted a route of "discard the core premise of the game to ignore your super powers and form a monogamous relationship with one single girl without using your power". Then sure. Hypothetically that could maybe work. (although in that case you run into the fact that vast majority of "first crush" type relationships do not work and will end up in an ugly breakup or divorce)

But, having a crush on the MC does not mean she is ok with marrying a guy who is a mind controller with a harem of sex slaves.
So he absolutely needed to mind control her.

Also, you have 3 tiers of total control:
1. lover = original personality. only in love with you and absolutely loyal to you.
2. servant = sex slave
3. puppet = mindless

That all being said... it is a bit clunky and immersion breaking for the process to always be:
step 1. break them into a servant
step 2. change them into a lover or puppet.

it should let you pick between lover, servant, and puppet at the moment of breaking.

Calling them LI's is just wrong, they are mindless servants and nothing more, yes you can program to "ACT" like they are but there not. You control every aspect of there lives after you break there minds.

They are not mindless servants. Only puppet mode makes them mindless.
The other two methods fully retain their mind. They are sapient people with desires (that are lower valued then your own orders), emotions, and rational thought. Capable of learning, deducing, solving problems, and so on.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

That all being said... it is a bit clunky and immersion breaking for the process to always be:
step 1. break them into a servant
step 2. change them into a lover or puppet.

it should let you pick between lover, servant, and puppet at the moment of breaking.

This would actually be a pretty big QOL improvement. I can't remember the name right now, but there was another mind control game that did this.

 

[Bronzescorpion]

This would actually be a pretty big QOL improvement. I can't remember the name right now, but there was another mind control game that did this.

RealPower. Unfortunately it is abandoned, but when you controlled somebody you could just instill an idea in their mind, make them you servant, but with their mind intact or make them mindless. It was really promising, but alas it got dropped.

 

[harem.king]

This would actually be a pretty big QOL improvement. I can't remember the name right now, but there was another mind control game that did this.

RealPower.

Yep. it was real power
https://f95zone.to/threads/real-power-v0-2-2-exerbastion.132697/

 

[Fulminato]

RealPower. Unfortunately it is abandoned, but when you controlled somebody you could just instill an idea in their mind, make them you servant, but with their mind intact or make them mindless. It was really promising, but alas it got dropped.

so much potential, so much wasted.

 

[Blossop]

Corrupted Kingdoms also has 2 different types of mind control, Shatter and Awaken.

At some point will we be able to have sex with 3rd-trimester servants in this game?

 

[eXtasy Games]

That all being said... it is a bit clunky and immersion breaking for the process to always be:
step 1. break them into a servant
step 2. change them into a lover or puppet.

it should let you pick between lover, servant, and puppet at the moment of breaking.

This would actually be a pretty big QOL improvement. I can't remember the name right now, but there was another mind control game that did this.

That's actually a very good idea.
Thank you for the valuable feedback, guys!
I'm going to implement this in V0.09. From now on it will be possible to choose between the 3 preset personalities while you subdue someone! I'll also modify the existing quests to include this feature.

V0.09 brings a lot of QOL improvements and this one fits right in.
Let me know if you have some other suggestions!

 

[eXtasy Games]

V0.09 of Shattered Minds will introduce some QOL (Quality Of Life) improvements to the game.

Tooltips
With V0.09, tooltips have been added to the game.
There is now a small hint window for clickable objects. You should be able to navigate Shattered Minds more easily now.
You can see what it looks like in the game here:

Study
You can now use the college library to get some XP. This should be particularly helpful in the early game.

Open World interactions for Sarah and Eleanor + new lip symbole
By popular demand, each of your subdued women will now receive at least one sexual open world interaction.

The conversations menu will now display a lip symbol to indicate whether a conversation option contains a sexual act.

Moaning sounds
Moaning sounds in sex scenes have now been added.


Moans and tooltips can be turned off or on in the options

Tooltips can be deactivated completly in the options menu.
It is also possible to adjust the volume of the "moaning sounds" or turn them off completely.

This gives you the opportunity to continue playing the game the way you want!


Let me know if you have some more ideas what should be added!

 

[shavone1]

Did I mention I love this game.

 

[AkaQ]

Let me know if you have some other suggestions!

Please, change the mirror's scene so we don's see the villain looking at us.
also please don't just abandon previously introduced ladies like Angelina, Sharon and Stacy

 

[eXtasy Games]

Please, change the mirror's scene so we don's see the villain looking at us.
also please don't just abandon previously introduced ladies like Angelina, Sharon and Stacy

View attachment 3264409

Thanks for feedback!
Removing him from the scene would actually mean removing/replacing the whole picture from the room.
Which would lead into me redoing ALL the pictures and animations currently made in this room.
This is something I don't want to do.

Angelina, Sharon and Stacy will return later in the game. I want to focus on the already implemented characters first and finish their quests.

At some point will we be able to have sex with 3rd-trimester servants in this game?

That's not planned. I have to keep the amount of animations and the workload in check.

 

[harem.king]

Please, change the mirror's scene so we don's see the villain looking at us.
also please don't just abandon previously introduced ladies like Angelina, Sharon and Stacy

View attachment 3264409

what villain? you are seeing the MC in the mirror in that picture... aren't you?