VN Ren'Py Summer Scent [v0.6.5a] [The Naughty Captain]

[Smarmint]

Well, thank you for your feedback.

Honestly, I never really considered that the use of a walkthrough would be necessary. I thought that most of the players would play like I do. Save, play, load, try something else. Seems like I was wrong on that.

The choices are logical, to me at least, because I know what every choice is supposed to mean and what happens when Jack isn't there. Most of the options that lead to a "successful" throuple path are "attitude" check. Jack isn't supposed to get in that throuple if he doesn't truly care for Cassie. Some other option gives Jack some arguments that will help in convincing Cassie. And so on.

We can agree that the name of those options may be undescriptive. That's kind of intended.

By the way, you don't have to pick both "This morning was very difficult to handle" and "I don't accept it.". Just one of these two options is necessary.

Eve only path doesn't require you to lie during the drinking game.
Engage with Eve, don't engage with Cassie. That's as simple as that.

Now, let's be clear about it: I won't change my choices design. I like it as it is.
However, I'm still considering integrating to the game some kind of "easy mode" that could point key choices.
I'm still unsure of what I'll do if I do anything, but I'm still thinking about it.

Sure. Like I said, I really like your game a lot, I just wanted to give one player's perspective. 95% of the choices in the game are clear or at least can be deduced by the character's responses, and like you, I always try out the different options to see what results I get with the different ones. That is part of the fun, and in your game gives it lots of replayability.

It is just in the case where there is an ambiguous (to me, maybe not to others) option where I think I made the right choice, and then when you only find out days later that there is a bad ending, it is difficult as a player to know where to begin in picking different options days before. Your game has so many choices, that it was not at all clear where I went wrong, or even what to try differently. Thus the need, at least for me, to use the walkthrough, which I prefer never to use.

I second sorco2003 opinion, I don't think an "easy mode" is needed. Obviously, it is up to you, but I don't think it detracts from the game to have lots of choices, some of them not completely clear. The only thing I might suggest, is make the resulting dialog from the character a little more clear in the examples I mentioned, that your choice isn't the right one for a particular path.

But, it is just a suggestion. Ultimately it is your game, and I don't think you, or any dev, should change your game to please a particular fan, if you prefer it your way. None of what I said should be read as a criticism, only as a suggestion from one person's perspective to make the game a better experience for the player. But ultimately, it is just a few choices out of many hundreds, and overall a minor point. I had no problem with the bad ending, as shocking and disturbing as it was. It just motivated me to do something else next time. It was just figuring out what that is that made it so difficult.

I think you should assume, which I am sure you did, that most players (80%?) will try for all the girls, so the bad ending is probably the main first experience for most players, since you have to pick quite a lot of particular choices, just right, to avoid it. I suspect this is intentional, which is an uncommon approach for a game developer (similar to DPC in Acting Lessons), but it is the uncommon games that stick in my mind the most, and have the most potential to be truly great, so I respect that a lot.

Your game has made it into my top 20, and I have played many hundreds of games here. Summer Scent definitely has a more interesting and complex story, both externally, and the character to character interactions, than 95% of the games here, which I love, and I have a feeling it will only get better and better with each update.

 

[Draakaap23]

This game needs something of a percentage check on 'all scenes viewed/encountered', considering all the possible options en routes, just to give an idea about how much more story there is left to discover after a play through.

 

[The Naughty Captain]

Sure. Like I said, I really like your game a lot, I just wanted to give one player's perspective. 95% of the choices in the game are clear or at least can be deduced by the character's responses, and like you, I always try out the different options to see what results I get with the different ones. That is part of the fun, and in your game gives it lots of replayability.

It is just in the case where there is an ambiguous (to me, maybe not to others) option where I think I made the right choice, and then when you only find out days later that there is a bad ending, it is difficult as a player to know where to begin in picking different options days before. Your game has so many choices, that it was not at all clear where I went wrong, or even what to try differently. Thus the need, at least for me, to use the walkthrough, which I prefer never to use.

I second sorco2003 opinion, I don't think an "easy mode" is needed. Obviously, it is up to you, but I don't think it detracts from the game to have lots of choices, some of them not completely clear. The only thing I might suggest, is make the resulting dialog from the character a little more clear in the examples I mentioned, that your choice isn't the right one for a particular path.

But, it is just a suggestion. Ultimately it is your game, and I don't think you, or any dev, should change your game to please a particular fan, if you prefer it your way. None of what I said should be read as a criticism, only as a suggestion from one person's perspective to make the game a better experience for the player. But ultimately, it is just a few choices out of many hundreds, and overall a minor point. I had no problem with the bad ending, as shocking and disturbing as it was. It just motivated me to do something else next time. It was just figuring out what that is that made it so difficult.

Getting rid of the ambiguity of certain choices isn't really possible. For example, there is just no way to make it obvious that a certain choice will lead to the girls discussing Jack's behaviour positively or negatively, in an event the player won't even see and that will have some consequences. Or at least I can't do that without completely breaking any kind of immersion.

As I said, the choices that lead to the throuple path make sense to me because I simply know what's going on outside of Jack's scope. And there are a lot of things happening outside of Jack's scope.
Simply put, the girls will react to Jack's behaviour but he doesn't control them.

I honestly understand that it can be confusing. But the confusion is intended, to a certain depth at least.

I think you should assume, which I am sure you did, that most players (80%?) will try for all the girls, so the bad ending is probably the main first experience for most players, since you have to pick quite a lot of particular choices, just right, to avoid it. I suspect this is intentional, which is an uncommon approach for a game developer (similar to DPC in Acting Lessons), but it is the uncommon games that stick in my mind the most, and have the most potential to be truly great, so I respect that a lot.

Your game has made it into my top 20, and I have played many hundreds of games here. Summer Scent definitely has a more interesting and complex story, both externally, and the character to character interactions, than 95% of the games here, which I love, and I have a feeling it will only get better and better with each update.

Yes, it is, indeed intended.

Thank you !

This game needs something of a percentage check on 'all scenes viewed/encountered', considering all the possible options en routes, just to give an idea about how much more story there is left to discover after a play through.

I'm not sure how difficult to implement that kind of feature could be. I'll have to look into that.

 

[Deleted member 3006697]

I'm not sure how difficult to implement that kind of feature could be. I'll have to look into that.

Spoiler

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Something like this.

    $ newDia = renpy.count_newly_seen_dialogue_blocks()
    $ seenDia = renpy.count_seen_dialogue_blocks()
    $ totalDia = renpy.count_dialogue_blocks()

Leap of faith has this feature. I "borrowed" it from there.

 

[The Naughty Captain]

Spoiler

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Something like this.

    $ newDia = renpy.count_newly_seen_dialogue_blocks()
    $ seenDia = renpy.count_seen_dialogue_blocks()
    $ totalDia = renpy.count_dialogue_blocks()

Leap of faith has this feature. I "borrowed" it from there.

Nice!
Thank you!

I'll look into that!

 

[Volcanoid]

Love pegging scenes. We really need pegging tag in this site.

 

[MyUserName1234]

The Naughty Captain, do you have any plans to go to

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?

 

[MyUserName1234]

Refreshing to finally see someone who doesn't get mad when getting the bad ending, though brutal it's a very important ending to hammer home the idea that our actions have consequences.

It also is an excellent view into Kelly's character.

 

[UncleFredo]

Refreshing to finally see someone who doesn't get mad when getting the bad ending, though brutal it's a very important ending to hammer home the idea that our actions have consequences.

No it is not. Unless you think that a decision like failing to call a cab justifies the rape and murder of an innocent girl and destroying the life of another innocent girl. Such consequences because of which girl you talk to in the clothing store are absurd. At a minimum you should be able to keep her in your home until her father can come and pick her up. The fact that such an option is unavailable demonstrates that the author is committed to exposing as many players/readers as possible to the shock. It's a cheap plot device that is really unworthy of a writer of the Captain's demonstrated ability.

 

[emigrate2230]

No it is not. Unless you think that a decision like failing to call a cab justifies the rape and murder of an innocent girl and destroying the life of another innocent girl. Such consequences because of which girl you talk to in the clothing store are absurd. At a minimum you should be able to keep her in your home until her father can come and pick her up. The fact that such an option is unavailable demonstrates that the author is committed to exposing as many players/readers as possible to the shock. It's a cheap plot device that is really unworthy of a writer of the Captain's demonstrated ability.

i agree with the part with keeping her in home till her dad comes especially knowing/suspecting that the twins are after both but, no offense to girls, many react in goddamn weird ways. and it expresses a realistic way of reaction. and you cannot force somebody to stay in your home if he or she wants to leave. So the MC should have had his conscience clean because he did what he could to keep her in the house. he tried to explain to her. the fact that she left was her choice.but a young girl who feels cheated takes decisions like that on the moment.

btw the cop is definitely romanian. because only in Romania pedophiles and rapists are left alone because the old ladies who sell flowers or vegetables are way more "dangerous"

 

[The Naughty Captain]

The Naughty Captain, do you have any plans to go to

You must be registered to see the links

?

I am already there.

At a minimum you should be able to keep her in your home until her father can come and pick her up.

Why?
On that path, at that moment, you don't know that the two psychos are still after the girls, and you don't know what they're specifically targeting Cassie, and you also don't know that they're considerably more dangerous than the common drug rapist coward. So why and how ?

 

[sorco2003]

Why?
On that path, at that moment, you don't know that the two psychos are still after the girls, and you don't know what they're specifically targeting Cassie, and you also don't know that they're considerably more dangerous than the common drug rapist coward. So why and how ?

I'm going to cheat a little Capi, don't get mad, but it's not to answer you, it's to help everyone to think how to play this game if we don't play always thinking that everything is harem and easy.
Before the event we know that the twins are monitoring someone, we heard it in the store, the words in the first game only say that these guys are a bunch of fourth rate and capable of anything, but until that moment we don't know what exactly they are referring to. Now, if as you always say, you have to play all the ways to know the whole story, if we played more consciously and not chasing a sex scene with everything that moves, we would have chosen one of the girls (Eve or Cassie) or we would have waited for Kelly.... Just by doing that we would have found out everything without endangering anyone.... And I understood it later, I understood that the only way to advance safely was to pay attention to each decision and what could happen... and with only naming this is that I must thank you enormously for making such a good, complex, deep game that makes things different from the beginning and that has the most interesting female protagonists that I found in any game.
Thank you very much for your game Capitan, anxious to see how it continues.

 

[MyUserName1234]

I am already there.

Apologies, there is no link in the OP so I didn't know. I will look you up there.

 

[The Naughty Captain]

Apologies, there is no link in the OP so I didn't know. I will look you up there.

No need to apologize.
Here it is :

You must be registered to see the links

And thank you for the support!

 

[NeimadFR]

No need to apologize.
Here it is :

You must be registered to see the links

And thank you for the support!

Maybe you can ask someone to add it in the OP

 

[MyUserName1234]

No need to apologize.
Here it is :

You must be registered to see the links

And thank you for the support!

No no, thank you!

 

[UncleFredo]

I am already there.




Why?
On that path, at that moment, you don't know that the two psychos are still after the girls, and you don't know what they're specifically targeting Cassie, and you also don't know that they're considerably more dangerous than the common drug rapist coward. So why and how ?

If you've talked to Kelly you know she's at risk. As I mentioned in my very first comment about your game, if the MC has interacted with Kelly he has all the necessary information to know that she requires protection. I didn't call that distinction out in my most recent comment, but allow me to amend it. If the MC has spoken to Kelly and knows the risk he should be allowed the choice to prevent her from leaving. Which is an illegal act on his part for which he may suffer consequences, but none the less he should be allowed to accept that risk to protect her.

I respect your talent and commitment. You're an excellent writer and you're producing an absolutely top level game. It's one of my favorites. We could engage in useless debate, but you're highly skilled and clearly have a vision for this game. I simply fail to understand why you've arranged to funnel a naive player into such an ugly undeserved experience.

 

[The Naughty Captain]

If you've talked to Kelly you know she's at risk. As I mentioned in my very first comment about your game, if the MC has interacted with Kelly he has all the necessary information to know that she requires protection. I didn't call that distinction out in my most recent comment, but allow me to amend it. If the MC has spoken to Kelly and knows the risk he should be allowed the choice to prevent her from leaving. Which is an illegal act on his part for which he may suffer consequences, but none the less he should be allowed to accept that risk to protect her.

I respect your talent and commitment. You're an excellent writer and you're producing an absolutely top level game. It's one of my favorites. We could engage in useless debate, but you're highly skilled and clearly have a vision for this game. I simply fail to understand why you've arranged to funnel a naive player into such an ugly undeserved experience.

A Light shines brighter in the dark.
And if there was no dark, there will be no light. The story would be flat, inconsequential, boring. I want the player to feel something. I want him to cry. In pain, in hate, in love, in happiness.
We can agree that it's a bit presumptuous.

I knew that the dual love path would be kind of a priority for most players. So that was the ideal spot for a bad ending. It's like making a statement. You need attention if you want to be heard.
I think it worked great. It made clear for everyone that Summer Scent isn't just another lamda game in the best way possible.

 

[GTBALL_BALLY]

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Dev update #89

I'm still posing Scene 3. I had a couple of minor setbacks that made me lose some time. Nothing important but enough to be frustrating.
My first problem is with asset quality. Kelly is getting a work out outfit on Day 6. The problem is that it's way better than the ones I used for Cassie and Eve. So I had to improvise something. I'm not 100% satisfied but I had to move forward. There's simply not enough quality assets. I can reuse the same assets with different textures but the result is weird as it's obvious that the girls are wearing the same thing. Maybe I'll have to rerender that scene before the release if I find something more satisfying.
I had a couple more ideas for that scene while working on the posing. I ended up rewriting some parts and reposing a few shots for something more interesting than what was originally planned. The dual love version of that scene is especially spicy.
I also had to correct a couple dozen shots in scene 1. Something wasn't fitting, I had to construct a new prop and replace an old one before re-rendering everything.
I still have about twenty shots to pose in order to finish scene 3. All the interaction heavy shots are already done so I have good hopes to finish it this weekend.
The quick sum up :

• Day 6 Part 1 will contain 13 scenes.
• Scenes 1 to 3 are written.
• Scene 1 and 2 are posed and rendered. Scene 3 is partially posed and rendered.
• Scene 1 and 2 are coded.
• 12 091 words, 1801 lines of code, 198 shots are posed, 175 are rendered.
• 10 environments have been reworked.
• I'm currently posing scene 3.

You can follow my progress with this

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Thank you very much for your support!
The Naughty Captain

 

[Illumi123]

Isn't there android version?