Ren'Py Simple Beginnings [Ep. 5 v1.5.0 BETA] [Barbiecued]

4.00 star(s) 5 Votes

jufot

Well-Known Member
May 15, 2021
1,477
3,239
This is very promising Barbiecued! It's always a nice surprise to see an AVN focus heavily on the story, and not sex. I like how none of the characters so far are monsters, despite first impressions. They are complex characters with human motivations, not cartoon villains. That kitchen scene did a lot to humanize Carl and Amanda. Her shame and guilt causing her to explode at Jenny felt very realistic.

Anyway, I love what you're doing here. You got yourself another Patreon sub and I also recommended the game on the story-first games thread :)

Oh, and thank you for having a lesbian path!
 

Barbiecued

Member
Game Developer
Mar 12, 2019
147
556
This is very promising Barbiecued! It's always a nice surprise to see an AVN focus heavily on the story, and not sex. I like how none of the characters so far are monsters, despite first impressions. They are complex characters with human motivations, not cartoon villains. That kitchen scene did a lot to humanize Carl and Amanda. Her shame and guilt causing her to explode at Jenny felt very realistic.

Anyway, I love what you're doing here. You got yourself another Patreon sub and I also recommended the game on the story-first games thread :)

Oh, and thank you for having a lesbian path!
Thank you! It means a lot. I'm the type that second guess everything and go through it a hundred times. So its gratifying when people enjoy what I do :giggle:
 

Nikephouros

Member
Aug 15, 2018
176
256
I just downloaded the game, Is there anyway to add a textbox opacity slider cause the constant white parts of the background and having to read white text is giving such a headache, and I'm not smart enough to go poking around in the config files to try an add it manually.
 

menatv

Active Member
Dec 6, 2019
765
719
Really nice story going on here. You're a very talented writer. Also like there are other paths to take (I'm taking the bisexual one). I guess if there is any criticism is that it is a bit light on sex at present. But I don't want to make you rush into it just to have sex in the game. I like slow burns.

Just basically nitpicking. Otherwise, the story and the renders are very good. Look forward to more!
 
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kodial79

Member
Aug 5, 2016
214
43
You're going to have to give me a bit more information so I can help you. But the one thing that comes to mind is; Did you use an old save from episode 2? In the latest release you have to start a new game because of some changes made to the previous episode. If you start an old save some variables will be missing for the new gameplay to work properly.
I don't know what was the problem, but after having started a new game, I did not encounter it again. I guess it's because old save was not compatible.
 
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Barbiecued

Member
Game Developer
Mar 12, 2019
147
556
I don't know what was the problem, but after having started a new game, I did not encounter it again. I guess it's because old save was not compatible.
Great that it works now! I added a warning on the page to make sure people see it now. (y)
 

Olivia_V

Active Member
Jun 5, 2017
821
1,398
My suggestion to prevent old saves from becoming incompatible, or multiple "variable not defined" errors on old saves after every update, is to plan out where you are going to make new variables and intorduce them in the update script instead of the starting script. It'll be frustrating to have to start anew after every update.
 
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Marcypawn

Newbie
Mar 16, 2021
72
100
Got a virus warning when i tried to download through the Mega link. A false positive maybe? 1696791200761.png
Edit: Tried scanning with some other virus programs and none of them reacted. Also read online that windows defender can give random false positives with compressed files.
 
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Nikephouros

Member
Aug 15, 2018
176
256
I just finished EP 1-3. So far I've liked what I have read up until this point, I love that you can pick a lesbian, bi or striaght path (more on that later), and I like that the characters themselves are complex. Over all I think this is a good start.

I do have some nitpicks. With the orientation path choice I would've prefered it done in a less traditional way like
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as I see it MC is a blank slate and I would love to see more of the choices me for her. While all the characters are complex it feels like it's just scratching the surface, like Emma for example comes across as she only exists to balence out MC's plainess. Their whole dynamic is a field mine of character development waiting to be tapped into. Like how does MC truly feel about Emma having all this money while she doesn't, and in extention Emma doesn't try at all in school while MC is busting her ass these things can be taken acount for. There was a line that was said in the lesbian route where Emma said "If you're a lesbian, you would be all over me", and MC responce was to brush it under the rug, you could totally exapnd on that and let us see how the seeds of MC finding out she likes girls will affect her most solid relationship. As I read this the game feels like it doesn't quite know that it wants to be. Is it a drama with elements of psych thriller intrigue, is it a mean girls type plot where MC is overly involving herself in the lives of her friends, is it a coming of age story where MC comes to terms with her sexuality? The game tries to answer all these questions while not really leading up to anything substantial. For example the whole swiming section in I think episode 2 felt really out of place, in terms of flow it didn't make sense as it focused on characters we know nothing about wayy too long. I found myself wanting to skip it cause I don't care (and neither does MC) about Mr Mcdreamy and how many girls wanna fuck him. But overall I like what I have seen so far <3
 
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Barbiecued

Member
Game Developer
Mar 12, 2019
147
556
ep4 thecalm.png

Heya peops!


Episode 4 - The Calm is now up on Patreon. And will be up here some time tomorrow or in the following days. It depends on how much work the mods have here. :giggle:

I introduced some of the motives of the people arround our MC in the last episode, and Jenny herself made some important decisions that will have direct consequences in the long run.

In this episode we will be introduced to Emma's family, potential love interests, and some of the more mysterious elements occurring in Pennybridge in the shadows. I have been slow-dripping information about these kind of events to focus more on the realism, and character depths, but these kind of events will be more prominent in the future.

Some of them will be revisited in the future in other projects from a different point of view by another character, and some of them will of course be experienced in Simple Beginnings. So what I'm trying to say is that, some of the plots I introduce might not be in full focus in Simple Beginnings, but more of a foreshadowing for the next project. I think most of you have noticed that I like to play the long game by now.

There are two more episodes of this season, Episode 5 - The Storm and the last one, Episode 6 - TBA. I've mentioned this before, but once I've finished this season, I will work on adding voice acting for Jenny (her inner voice). I have no plans for the other characters for now, but that might change as we continue next year. It would be a lot of extra work, and I'd rather work on the story itself for now.

Other than that I want to improve on the graphics (splash screen for example is atrocious) and hire someone to create a custom UI and trailer for season 1 release on steam. The interface we're using now was made by me, but I'd rather it was done by a professional, or at least semi-professional. If you have any ideas about this, or know someone that is skilled with this kind of work (with merits of previous work and/or a portfolio), send me a notice.

That's all for now. I hope you like it! I'll take a few days break before I start working on Episode 5.
 
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yilkin

dl.rpdl.net
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Feb 23, 2023
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SimpleBeginnings-EP3v1.3
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Hungover00

Well-Known Member
Apr 29, 2023
1,055
1,025
So, really good antagonists. I want to murder at least three of them. I do really feel the lack of autonomy in those moments though. I understand it's for the story, but one I went back and chose a different path because it wasn't interesting or a turn on, but infuriating. YMMV, but I wanted to give that class president a Glasgow Kiss and spread her nose across her face. And scream bloody murder before and afterwards. I get the plot wants certain things to happen, and that kind of reaction would maybe get her booted from school, but still. Fucking creep. (and I'd probably have been down to have a clam bake if it was consensual)

Needs some proofreading for some minor errors, I saw one "North Caroline," though it was correct elsewhere.

My constructive criticisms would be focused on the text and the text. Text 1 is just a little brush up on the grammar, as there are some tense slip-ups ('is' instead of 'are' or 'was,' that sort of easy thing to miss coming from a different language[I'm working under the assumption that the dev is a highly fluent multi-linguist, so some of the weirder nonsensical English rules get over-rid{over-rided? over-rode?} by more logical grammatical rules from a different language]). Text 2 is the actual font and the indicators of intonation, thoughts, or speaking. The white font is not doing any favours, it mildly hurts my eyes switching over to it. The lack of bold, italics, quotation marks, etc. to denote whether the text is descriptive of how the words are being said, words being said, or thoughts being had, is utterly lacking and unhelpful. But it's a simple fix, if probably a time consuming one. I think I've figured it out mostly correctly from context, but it's usually not something a writer should put on the audience to have to do the heavy lifting on. You want them comfortable and engaged with the story and characters, not rereading the same sentence 2-4 times to make sure they've correctly deduced who is saying or thinking what.

A very subjective criticism is, I get that we, the audience, are supposed to care about Jenny's sister's disappearance, but I don't think it has quite landed like intended. Maybe more flashbacks are needed earlier, but I care about her in an intellectual sense, but it should be an emotional one. That could be a me issue though, poor sleep likely didn't help.

Solid game so far. Will be interesting to see more of it as it gets more complex and branches more, though I'll stick to the lesbian path as my canon one (if I even get around to the bi or straight paths). LIs/SIs that are men are usually the opposite of compelling, rather being walking hard-ons that represent a basket of fetishes.
 
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Hungover00

Well-Known Member
Apr 29, 2023
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Some of the sound cues need a bit of tweaking. The shower noise was looping and going on when both Jenny and Emma were fully dressed and walking to the door.
 

Hungover00

Well-Known Member
Apr 29, 2023
1,055
1,025
This is very promising Barbiecued! It's always a nice surprise to see an AVN focus heavily on the story, and not sex. I like how none of the characters so far are monsters, despite first impressions. They are complex characters with human motivations, not cartoon villains. That kitchen scene did a lot to humanize Carl and Amanda. Her shame and guilt causing her to explode at Jenny felt very realistic.

Anyway, I love what you're doing here. You got yourself another Patreon sub and I also recommended the game on the story-first games thread :)

Oh, and thank you for having a lesbian path!
I missed how that scene humanised Carl. I really don't care if it is an act on his side, threatening to beat a woman half your size means you're scum, especially just for a 'respect my authority' reason. And iirc, he doubled down on it with Amanda, so it didn't really seem like an act. Really, the only time that is acceptable is if both people are actors and they are working from a script. I immediately pictured stabbing him in the neck while he slept. From that moment on, Jenny was in constant and pervasive potential danger. Seriously, fuck that guy. And if Amanda loves him, kinda fuck her too. Though, her situation is at least interestingly dramatic. I'm curious how she ended up roped into this situation, but her hands seem plenty dirty and she should feel bad. Her actions have been horrible.

Emma's family seem super sus. I'm betting they might be the sponsor of the little project Jenny and her sister are from. Mom's 'studio' seemed a lot like a wizard's laboratory, and herbalism and alchemy are not that far apart, historically. They are savvy though, so respect for likely being competent antagonists/threats. I hope Emma isn't knowingly in on it.
 
4.00 star(s) 5 Votes