m0us3r
Active Member
- Nov 28, 2020
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Of course I agree with you, every point makes sense. It's just you asked about players' opinions or impressions, so I'm talking about adding a touch here and there.

It's not like something important, just a thought, an opportunity to consider.
Maybe someone would even volunteer to do that for free.
Just I think that here he could have a thought about what to do tomorrow etc... Also, he could think something about Sarah. I mean he never thinks of her... right? No need to overdo that, but a thought or two might be natural as he's expecting his girlfriend to come.
That would correct the pace and add another bit of flavor to the story.
I'm not saying that it should be changed or improved or anything. Just if you are looking for ways to perfect it even more, I think adding a phrase or two (for instance, how pretty Sarah was with her mouth half-open, her cheeks blushing; shining with some light of innocence and passion; how overwhelmed Ziemo was with tenderness to that cute little spark of fire, that loving marvelous vivacious girl) might add a bit more immersion. Otherwise it's a bit on the side of mechanical sex description. (I'm not criticizing here, just trying to convey my thought...
even if it seems otherwise.)
Really. It was just honest that he wanted to be with her like that.
What actually was "self-serving and manipulative/sociopathic", that was his decision to harshly push the woman away without regard to her presumably good intentions and possibly good influence on Jules and the family situation.
Let me repeat it in other words: thinking "I love to be with Jules like that. I don't want anything to ruin that." is just honest. Nothing sociopathic. (IMHO.)
It was telling mom to just bugger off - that was too harsh and not considerate.
So I like how clearly it was conveyed the first time: "I don't want to lose that". And then he could think how to save that relation, and there he could be more or less self-serving (pushing the woman away completely or not).
That's where it needs to be softened for me to like it more.
Of course the new version is better though.

That would add another bit of flavor to the story, and there would be a natural opportunity for some occasional scene with the woman if you would want one some time later. I bet it could be used for the benefit of the story.
My idea was to keep it like that, maybe just a bit softer in some expressions. E.g., the event with the drawing was long ago. Now it would rather invoke a bit more of habitual despise than acute hatred. So - YMMV... - I would just soften the expression a touch, without actually changing the meanings.

Don't let her mess anything up is a very genuine concern in this situation.
I recall my own mom and for how long I lived my life trying to please her. Eventually I came to conclusion that we both are the happiest if I just tell her to f**off quite regularly.
So I would use that as a motivation rather than to concoct ideas about the use of her remoteness for Jules' motivation.
If you would rewrite that dialogue once again, I'm confident you could do it perfectly.
Yes it says that the woman was mostly shallow in her attitude to Jules.
And my thoughts are that it's rarely possible to draw a perfect line saying "This is sincere, that is not". The woman could be a bit genuine in some feelings; at the same time her habits and being self-focused could prevent her from doing much more than words.
Likewise, when you describe Jules' feelings and motives, they are shifting back and forth. Previously she speaks like a more mature personality; she says she swims just for the sake of it etc. Now she almost sounds like she wants to prove something. When she was most sincere?
I'd say in both cases maybe? In different moods our points of view change.
Still, I personally would prefer more mature Jules, with her swimming having not much to do with resentment to her parents.
I just want games to be wonderful and enjoyable as possible. So I hope my input would rather help, and at least not impede
.
Until next time, my friend!
It's OK. It's just I got some errors, e.g. trying to navigate up from some scenes (it was day 08 I think), and locating saves was not convenient. That's why I thought about converting to Ren'Py. It's super easy to work with saves there, less errors, easy to add visuals if one day you would like to do that. Right now, no need to, of course.In general, not too interested in converting to another engine/adding visuals. Current code actually already allows for adding visuals if I desired, I just don't feel the need. Commissioning several sets of avatars that are good quality would also be quite expensive, I don't plan to include art that I don't have rights to.
Right, though adding at least some visuals like places is totally possible for free. (Just taking some free pics and maybe scaling them, then dimming parts of them with black gradient, like I've shown in my example.) It's some work, but not too much, a couple of days maybe. And that might make reading a bit more colorful.Commissioning several sets of avatars that are good quality would also be quite expensive, I don't plan to include art that I don't have rights to.
It's not like something important, just a thought, an opportunity to consider.
Maybe someone would even volunteer to do that for free.
My thought is that we already had risotto cooking described before, so now if you want some space there, add there something else. Like some Ziemo's thoughts or plans. If I recall correctly, in some other place in the game his thoughts were in a large chunk, which make them a tad bit less readable. (Nothing serious, don't worry.)I can try shortening it a little, I had it shorter at first, but the pace was wrong due that that and Sarah came too quick. But, I can take another look at it anyway to see if it can be a little shorter.
Just I think that here he could have a thought about what to do tomorrow etc... Also, he could think something about Sarah. I mean he never thinks of her... right? No need to overdo that, but a thought or two might be natural as he's expecting his girlfriend to come.
That would correct the pace and add another bit of flavor to the story.
Yep, I voted for that too. The scene is great!Thanks for the feedback on the scene with Sarah. So far in the poll reception has been decently positive, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
I'm not saying that it should be changed or improved or anything. Just if you are looking for ways to perfect it even more, I think adding a phrase or two (for instance, how pretty Sarah was with her mouth half-open, her cheeks blushing; shining with some light of innocence and passion; how overwhelmed Ziemo was with tenderness to that cute little spark of fire, that loving marvelous vivacious girl) might add a bit more immersion. Otherwise it's a bit on the side of mechanical sex description. (I'm not criticizing here, just trying to convey my thought...
No wait, here must be some misunderstanding. When Ziemo was thinking that he didn't want to lose their unique closeness, that was not "self-serving and manipulative/sociopathic". That was just honest.> However the previous version was very clear that Ziemo was afraid of loosing his position of unique closeness to Jules, and it's the part which was done right.
I still want to convey this, but a bit more subtly, because it made him seem too self-serving and manipulative/sociopathic.
Really. It was just honest that he wanted to be with her like that.
What actually was "self-serving and manipulative/sociopathic", that was his decision to harshly push the woman away without regard to her presumably good intentions and possibly good influence on Jules and the family situation.
Let me repeat it in other words: thinking "I love to be with Jules like that. I don't want anything to ruin that." is just honest. Nothing sociopathic. (IMHO.)
It was telling mom to just bugger off - that was too harsh and not considerate.
So I like how clearly it was conveyed the first time: "I don't want to lose that". And then he could think how to save that relation, and there he could be more or less self-serving (pushing the woman away completely or not).
That's where it needs to be softened for me to like it more.
Of course the new version is better though.
Of course, I understand. OK, if you are not in the mood to add complications or volume there, alright, let some urgent and important business mysteriously make the woman busy again despite all her good intentions.I probably didn't do good enough a job of it yet. Still, I'm happier with the scene as it is now than it was before, so I'm happy I rewrote it.
For plot's sake, I don't want her too involved, it really complicates the writing. There's a reason most games like this do away with them entirely or just have them be dead/mysteriously absentBut I do agree with your reasoning that it could be possible, and that her presence could be limited due to her personality, only making somewhat of an effort.
That would add another bit of flavor to the story, and there would be a natural opportunity for some occasional scene with the woman if you would want one some time later. I bet it could be used for the benefit of the story.
Yep, I agree wholeheartedly. That's what you did very well in the new version.From a character motivation point of view, his relationship with the landlady really isn't good, and while he is empathic to her situation, he isn't going to just go and forgive her right away and he is quite wary of it being just a spur of the moment thing done because she is feeling bad about her marriage falling apart.
My idea was to keep it like that, maybe just a bit softer in some expressions. E.g., the event with the drawing was long ago. Now it would rather invoke a bit more of habitual despise than acute hatred. So - YMMV... - I would just soften the expression a touch, without actually changing the meanings.
I can imagine that totally...Even ignoring all of that, he his his own reasons for not wanting her to have too much control. More about this will come in not the next update, but the update after, where another conversation with the landlady takes place.
Don't let her mess anything up is a very genuine concern in this situation.
I recall my own mom and for how long I lived my life trying to please her. Eventually I came to conclusion that we both are the happiest if I just tell her to f**off quite regularly.
So I would use that as a motivation rather than to concoct ideas about the use of her remoteness for Jules' motivation.
Yep, no argument here.Yes, her happiness is most important, but he really doesn't trust the landlady at all. In his mind, she's finally accepting the fact that she can't expect too much of the woman, and if she now comes in and suddenly acts different, it might 1. be confusing (and distract her from her training), and 2. if it's only a temporary change, she will be way more sad because she got abandoned once again. This is what he's supposed to be really afraid of because his own feelings towards her and his knowledge of her, maybe I didn't convey that well enough.
Right.The combination of those two factors make her getting too involved basically a lose-lose situation, in the way that she might miss her chance to make it to the Olympics, and she might be even worse off emotionally if things don't work out with the landlady and her after all. That's why I think him being reluctant, and wanting to observe how things go, makes sense.
Now you described it all pretty well.Another thing to consider is that, in my mind, he talked to her, but he he is not fully convinced in the depth of his heart that she's telling the entire truth, and he thinks she might just be putting on a 'tough front' to not show how sad she is about everything, and also to reassure him.
If you would rewrite that dialogue once again, I'm confident you could do it perfectly.
You mean day 8 scene 4, talk with Jules after the essay?They actually talk about this topic again on the end of day eight, the last scene of the current version.
Not sure if you got to there yet, but basically, only at that point are his doubts fully resolved and does he truly believe her. And that scene is also supposed to show that the girl herself also wasn't fully truthful/convinced of it
Yes it says that the woman was mostly shallow in her attitude to Jules.
And my thoughts are that it's rarely possible to draw a perfect line saying "This is sincere, that is not". The woman could be a bit genuine in some feelings; at the same time her habits and being self-focused could prevent her from doing much more than words.
Likewise, when you describe Jules' feelings and motives, they are shifting back and forth. Previously she speaks like a more mature personality; she says she swims just for the sake of it etc. Now she almost sounds like she wants to prove something. When she was most sincere?
I'd say in both cases maybe? In different moods our points of view change.
Still, I personally would prefer more mature Jules, with her swimming having not much to do with resentment to her parents.
Uhuh.So the main problem in regards to this seems to be the first time they talk about it, she's too convincing ^^ It should be a little more clear that she's obviously still quite young and struggling with her feelings towards the landlords, and that it's not something resolved so easily and an ongoing process.
Aw man, thank you!Next update will come out next month, will feature an exciting scene with the main character (or at least, I hope everyone will find it exciting). Thanks a lot for your feedback, I'll definitely think about it a bit longer, but above my thoughts and reasoning for writing things the way they are now. Thanks for playing my game/reading my story and for taking the time to go into such detail when giving your opinion on things.
I just want games to be wonderful and enjoyable as possible. So I hope my input would rather help, and at least not impede
Until next time, my friend!