VN Ren'Py Straight!? [Revamp v0.17] [Aaryn]

[Kashenkon]

ooooh. hell. lmao. i was waaaaay off. holy crap. ok. let's start over.

hi. so that fan signature down there was made aaaages ago by somebody. like probably 5 or 6 years ago. very early on. i see you're rockin the spacecorps one and i wanna say that somebody associated with spacecorps or something ended up making that for my project as well but i actually didn't even remember where the link was. if there's a braden one, i have no idea where it is and i dont think i've ever seen one but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. people have made fan art before and may not have tagged me so i may have missed it.

I found two for now, and will add in this post here:

For everybody who dont know how to add pictures in your signature:
1. To get the image-link, just right click on the image and choose "copy image-link"
2. Left click on your profile at the right corner above and choose "signature"
3. Click "Insert image" button and add the link in that window
4. Press "Save"

So Aaryn, you may add them in the first post of this thread, for the fans.
And yes, you can see, i'm more the "Braden"-Fan.

 

[gizzy77]

Where are we now in the game? Are we at the beach yet or a bit further along?

Great story, I feel connected to Zac.
I've played the previous episodes many times and the original at least four times from start to finish.

Now that I know the story, I don't feel like waiting months for 20 minutes of fun.
Hence the question: is it worth jumping in now?

 

[Aaryn]

Where are we now in the game? Are we at the beach yet or a bit further along?

Great story, I feel connected to Zac.
I've played the previous episodes many times and the original at least four times from start to finish.

Now that I know the story, I don't feel like waiting months for 20 minutes of fun.
Hence the question: is it worth jumping in now?

first off, thanks for the long-time follow of the project and multiple reads. the revamp is just now starting chapter 8 so no beach yet (i'm not gonna include spoilers here because there's a whole new group that's just playing the revamp). i'm finishing up the next update now and it'll get us just before the beach. that being said, it probably depends a lot on reading speed but the updates are still long as hell. i think the average playthrough time per update is usually around 60-90 minutes on average and there's 16 of them so far so you've got a good. this last update just took waaaay longer than i wanted because i expanded a few of the new sets (and i tend to stay motivated by constantly trying to learn new things so sometimes that learning process can delay things a bit but at least it's never been abandoned)

 

[jdm2089]

first off, thanks for the long-time follow of the project and multiple reads. the revamp is just now starting chapter 8 so no beach yet (i'm not gonna include spoilers here because there's a whole new group that's just playing the revamp). i'm finishing up the next update now and it'll get us just before the beach. that being said, it probably depends a lot on reading speed but the updates are still long as hell. i think the average playthrough time per update is usually around 60-90 minutes on average and there's 16 of them so far so you've got a good. this last update just took waaaay longer than i wanted because i expanded a few of the new sets (and i tend to stay motivated by constantly trying to learn new things so sometimes that learning process can delay things a bit but at least it's never been abandoned)

Very excited for the next update - its a beautiful game you have created - do you have an approx on when the next update will be? No rush of course! You are doing a great job!

 

[Aaryn]

Very excited for the next update - its a beautiful game you have created - do you have an approx on when the next update will be? No rush of course! You are doing a great job!

heya, appreciate the love for the project and i appreciate the patience although, it very much seems like it's taken forever this time. legit bit off too much and didn't anticipate how much work this one was gonna be. I'm finishing it up now. everything is coded in and boots, i've been through it probably a dozen times now and i'm gonna go back through it again today so hoping it'll be out on patreon in just a day or two then free here 3 weeks later.

 

[Aaryn]

just as a follow-up from yesterday's post. the Revamp v17 is now live on Patreon and SubscribeStar. so it'll drop for free here in 3 weeks on January 7.

You must be registered to see the links

or

You must be registered to see the links

I know that itch.io had some issues with bots posting fake dev/download links recently so these are the only two official posts-- just for yall's safety

this is the first 1/3 ish of Chapter 8 (no spoilers)

 

[Saylapimp]

New update is out! What all changes were actually made? You said some scenes were extended. Would that mean new scenes (compared to the originals) or some previous revamp scenes?

 

[Aaryn]

New update is out! What all changes were actually made? You said some scenes were extended. Would that mean new scenes (compared to the originals) or some previous revamp scenes?

heya soooo it gets confusing to some people to explain because people just seem to define "new" or "extended" differently. i've tried to play with the wording to attempt to take that ambiguity out but it seems like it's always there so I sorta just roll with it now.

But, the longer answer is that the Revamp has extra dialogue sometimes and certainly has thousands of more images. The added CGs are more detailed and environments in the game (like the cafeteria, pool, gym, etc) have more students there (which ironically did require that i eliminate the joke in the original game when they talked some sometimes feeling like they were the only students at the school ). in my own opinion, i'd describe it like taking some old film and reshooting it as a 4k director's cut. The writing is much smoother which required some lines to be eliminated or combined. some events may take place in a slightly different location or different backdrop (like a scene in the newest update takes place in the park whereas it took place just generally outside at night in the original because that outside backdrop was terrible). however, the story doesn't change. the story is not perfect but i was adamant about keeping things there-- even the flaws-- because i don't want to just go back and retcon shit because that's really annoying to me as a reader. but the story should feel more polished. There's frequently extra dialogue or jokes or maybe a tad of backstory on something (although backstory is always limited on purpose). There's also very frequently new poses/expressions for the characters which should translate into giving them more personality and just generally adds a lot of life to the characters that was missing before. some readers have reported more humor in the revamp although I didn't actually include that much more-- but maybe I'm just in a different headspace

The revamp also has a fully licensed soundtrack and sound effects as well as more animations. i do the animations by hand and i'm still learning so they're certainly not perfect but i'm getting better and refuse to use AI for anything

I think the last major change to the revamp from the original takes place within the first 3 chapters where the frequently frustrating "loops" were removed and the story is more linear now. you no longer have to try and figure out what you haven't picked to move the story forward.

lemme know if that helps or if you have more follow-up questions, that's perfectly fine too

 

[Saylapimp]

heya soooo it gets confusing to some people to explain because people just seem to define "new" or "extended" differently. i've tried to play with the wording to attempt to take that ambiguity out but it seems like it's always there so I sorta just roll with it now.

But, the longer answer is that the Revamp has extra dialogue sometimes and certainly has thousands of more images. The added CGs are more detailed and environments in the game (like the cafeteria, pool, gym, etc) have more students there (which ironically did require that i eliminate the joke in the original game when they talked some sometimes feeling like they were the only students at the school ). in my own opinion, i'd describe it like taking some old film and reshooting it as a 4k director's cut. The writing is much smoother which required some lines to be eliminated or combined. some events may take place in a slightly different location or different backdrop (like a scene in the newest update takes place in the park whereas it took place just generally outside at night in the original because that outside backdrop was terrible). however, the story doesn't change. the story is not perfect but i was adamant about keeping things there-- even the flaws-- because i don't want to just go back and retcon shit because that's really annoying to me as a reader. but the story should feel more polished. There's frequently extra dialogue or jokes or maybe a tad of backstory on something (although backstory is always limited on purpose). There's also very frequently new poses/expressions for the characters which should translate into giving them more personality and just generally adds a lot of life to the characters that was missing before. some readers have reported more humor in the revamp although I didn't actually include that much more-- but maybe I'm just in a different headspace

The revamp also has a fully licensed soundtrack and sound effects as well as more animations. i do the animations by hand and i'm still learning so they're certainly not perfect but i'm getting better and refuse to use AI for anything

I think the last major change to the revamp from the original takes place within the first 3 chapters where the frequently frustrating "loops" were removed and the story is more linear now. you no longer have to try and figure out what you haven't picked to move the story forward.

lemme know if that helps or if you have more follow-up questions, that's perfectly fine too

That explains it thanks!

 

[Aaryn]

OP updated to reflect v0.17 of the Revamp. Completely forgot to post it over here this time so I'm a bit late

 

[Takkertje]

compressed anyone?

 

[Jeishii]

Is there a way to change the MC's name?

 

[Aaryn]

Is there a way to change the MC's name?

no. i've never dropped anything like that in. for one thing, it can be hard for readers to debate or discuss events or reactions to the story when there's multiple names used-- and just using MC as a generic name for debate always felt inauthentic to me. while i wanted readers to be able to relate to Zack in this story, i still wanted Zack to be his own person and give the reader minimal control over that. a large theme throughout the story is for people to accept and find themselves and not bend to fit the molds of others-- allowing a reader to rename him just always felt counterproductive to that theme.

 

[Magiriano]

I'm already mentally prepared to hear the question of whether it's possible to change the MC's pronounces...

However, I can imagine a dire need for a name change. If the player has memories of something very painful, bordering on PTSD, specifically related to the name Zack, then the difficulties could be justified. But that, of course, is the most exceptional case.

 

[Kolarded]

Straight???? Blergh...

 

[Kashenkon]

Straight???? Blergh...

May i ask, what is "Blergh" here for you?

 

[Aaryn]

I'm already mentally prepared to hear the question of whether it's possible to change the MC's pronounces...

However, I can imagine a dire need for a name change. If the player has memories of something very painful, bordering on PTSD, specifically related to the name Zack, then the difficulties could be justified. But that, of course, is the most exceptional case.

sure, which is completely understandable. however, even that's not the norm. we don't have that option in books or movies or other fictional media. author's can't control things like that, and if they could, then I feel like the majority of people would want them reducing the atrocities of the world rather than write bullshit stories. i also realize that what people want or don't want in a game is always going to be subjective. i think that's one of the things i enjoyed the most about this project-- for the first time, i got to experience a story that checked all my boxes because i made it. it's a cool experience to have and honestly the only way to really have it yourself is to just make your own. lot of games allow you to remain MCs, i just never liked it because I end up sitting on that screen for too long trying to think of a name rather than just jump into the story so it was never important to me

 

[Aaryn]

Straight???? Blergh...

hi. masters in clinical psych here.

if you were looking for a sign that maybe it's time to make some lifestyle changes to better regulate your emotional balance, maybe this is a good time to start.

as an adult, you should have the restraint to see something you may not be interested in or disagree with and simply move on in silent avoidance. in this particular instance, you saw the project here, read about it, perhaps disagreed with it or maybe even became secretly angry at your own unconscious desires, scrolled to the last page, clicked and then maturely tried to figure out how to spell the sound vomiting makes. that's a lot of time spent doing something when you could be having a busy or productive life. and you did all of that while giving the same project more traffic and thus making it more popular than it was before casting your stone. probably something you should have thought about before releasing your untethered thoughts into the wild.

but i guess with the state of the world: public, infantile tantrums by grown adults seems to be more normalized than they used to.

however, people that are happy and regulated in life don't have reactions like this and it's even worse when you take the time to actually type and try to spell them out.

really hoping you find the happiness in life that helps reduce your desire to make others feel bad-- especially, because you don't seem like you're very good at it. if you need help finding resources in your area, feel free to DM and I can send you some professional links or strategies. don't worry, i wont tell anybody but you lowkey just put yourself on blast to the world already.

all the best