VN Ren'Py Summer's Gone [S1 Steam + DLC] [Oceanlab]

[Bolero]

Did you reject Bella, Nami and Nia?

All 3 had content and rejecting one or more would definitely shorten the release's playing time.

Regardless of choices, though, we still get the book club meeting - which was great, IMO, as well as the infestation and the Zara/Mila time that followed.

What were you expecting that you did not get?

Cheers!!

Hi, no i actually went for all three of them, lol. I did not expect sex, i am playing this from the first update so i know what i can expect. What i meant is that it did not consist of many events and it was pretty short. Also it lacks any lewd scenes, if you go and look at the gallery you can see that this update had no scenes unlocked there. The book meeting was the main event and it was kind of long (probably too long), and after that the update pretty much ended.
I see someone said it is beta, i guess that is fine if he will add something more in the final ch.5 release, but i doubt he can make many renders in a short time, considering how long it took to make this update.
Nvm, i think i started liking Where it all begun more, seems the renders there are improvement over the ones in this game, even though Summers gone when it came out was the synonym for quality renders.
Also the main character here is slowly starting to get on my nerves, with his limp dick, lol.

 

[DrakaF]

So far I've been pirating but to anticipate the release of season 1;
What are the benefits (or cons) of purchasing it from

You must be registered to see the links

versus a "Summer membership" (for a month) on

You must be registered to see the links

?

 

[Mortarion]

So far I've been pirating but to anticipate the release of season 1;
What are the benefits (or cons) of purchasing it from

You must be registered to see the links

versus a "Summer membership" (for a month) on

You must be registered to see the links

?

Well, on steam or gog.com the game will be only be availible per season. That means, you are paying one time 15€/$ whatever and have access to the comeplete Season 1 (chapter 1-5) on steam - only a completed/finished season will be released on steam. If you have the desire to play Season 2 (chapter 6-10) on steam you have to wait till all chapters for the next season are finished.

On Patreon you get the game in parts chapter 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5 and so on.

 

[Tairnel]

Well, on steam or gog.com the game will be only be availible per season. That means, you are paying one time 15€/$ whatever and have access to the comeplete Season 1 (chapter 1-5) on steam - only a completed/finished season will be released on steam. If you have the desire to play Season 2 (chapter 6-10) on steam you have to wait till all chapters for the next season are finished.

On Patreon you get the game in parts chapter 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5 and so on.

Except its a 1 month subscription, not a lifetime one, so he only gets Season 1, with the difference being in the added benefits of being a patron (leaks, renders, etc.)

 

[Razrback16]

^ Ya my advice when it comes to Steam vs Patreon is this - if you're the type that gets concerned about dev time or is tight on money, etc. then just buy the game on Steam - it's obviously a better bang for your buck. Only back on Patreon if it's a game you're REALLY REALLY into and want to legitimately help finance because that's what you're doing when you join Patreon, just becoming a financier for a project.

The only game I back on Patreon is Summer's Gone, and it's not a high $ amount, but I want to contribute something because I like the game a lot and would like it to be completed. I will also buy it on Steam.

Beyond that, use F95 as a screening tool, and then the games that you want to support the dev on, buy them on Steam when they release there.

 

[SteelyDan14]

Regardless of choices, though, we still get the book club meeting - which was great, IMO

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

 

[harbinger14]

This VN is a masterpiece. This is the type of game that draws me back to this website time and again.

 

[turbojoe]

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

What we have now up to Ch5 is just the tip of the iceberg - it would be premature to talk about a "waste of an update".
We can´t know how decisions of this book clup meeting may evolve in future chapters.........

 

[Kakasan]

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

I don't think it's a waste, probably in chapter 6, the first sex scene will happen with the milf that the MC got the phone number of.

 

[PaxHadrian17]

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

I almost feel like we are playing different AVNs.

I enjoy the world-building that Ocean does including reveals, like easter eggs, that I get to find when I am immersed in SG.

If you are not a big fan of world building or the interpersonal nuances that Ocean gave us, I could see the book club as being less for you than it was for me.

So - here is some of what I saw during the book club meeting:

Noji did not want the MC to attend the book club meeting, but we don't know why (either before or after the get together).

When we arrive, various people greet us, including Amber (our therapist) who acts like she has never met us before.

It turns out, through a little digging, that Noji and Amber have known each other for more than half a year, and yet Noji treated Amber like a stranger (in front of the MC) when she met her as part of the MC's first therapy visit less than one week past -- which makes the MC rightfully wonder WHY...

The MC gets into an argument with Charlie, who seems to be a/the book club lead - and Charlie turns out to be Robin's mom.

The various MILFs there include some that quietly (or Anna - not so quietly) hit on the MC, who can decide to play them for information and influence or not.

We get to see Amber and her sister Claire get into it a bit (which I enjoyed - some sibling disagreement also happens in my family, so I thought this was a realistic touch).

We find out that Sasha seems to attract the romantic/intimate attention of older men, and several have been forced to leave the book club due to their interactions with Sasha.

Katie Zane shows up after missing the regular meetings for months - and she pays extra attention to the MC and Nami - which Noji does not like At All.

We also find out that Sasha's Aunt, Inessa Petrova, is present, but as her bodyguard - which begs the question, who/what has prompted Sasha's family to assign her a bodyguard for something as innocuous as a book club get together (and does Sasha have a bodyguard while in school, like her redheaded friend).

You already alluded to Sasha's unanticipated knowledge of what the MC is going through on that balcony, and that she has medicine to help.

So -- I saw the book club as a very rich part of the story revealing new mysteries, advancing the story with Amber, Noji, Robin, Sasha, Katie Zane, and several of the MILFs as well as hinting at other mysteries.

As you said - your only take away was the MC/Sasha interaction at the end - while I noted and enjoyed that scene for all the reasons above and more.

This is why I almost feel like we played different AVNs.

Cheers!!

 

[John972]

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

...didn't move the story forward?

What do you classify as moving the story forward? Banging all the chicks?

The bookclub meeting revealed quite a bit of story (Katie Zane (and her interest in Nami/the MC), Sasha and Adrianna looking at each other at the mention of William Zane banging basketball chicks, Nojiko's double life that's she's purposely hidden from the MC/Nami, Sasha's man problem, a few new insights into Sasha's character, Robin's mother, and the introduction of MILFs, lots of MILFs).

 

[RNasc4444]

Interesting... I thought the book club meeting was a waste of an update. Just kind of indulgent and didn't move the story forward, other than the scene with Sasha and the MC at the end of the gathering, but that could have happened elsewhere.

I almost feel like your describing the tabletop sequence. That is, for me, the worst part of the game. Boring, uninspired and felt like a waste of time. Also does nothing to move the story along. Just a pointless sidetrack. The possibilities for future tabletop scenes are endless and could be interesting for those that like Nadia, Sonya and Nancy (if she's ever lewdable) but the one we got was aggressively mediocre.

I was expecting to dislike the book club scene just as much but was very pleasantly surprised. It ended up adding quite a bit to the existing lore.

 

[Maviarab]

I almost feel like your describing the tabletop sequence. That is, for me, the worst part of the game. Boring, uninspired and felt like a waste of time. Also does nothing to move the story along. Just a pointless sidetrack. The possibilities for future tabletop scenes are endless and could be interesting for those that like Nadia, Sonya and Nancy (if she's ever lewdable) but the one we got was aggressively mediocre.

I was expecting to dislike the book club scene just as much but was very pleasantly surprised. It ended up adding quite a bit to the existing lore.

Doesn't move the story along yet...to your knowledge.

I think we can all pretty much agree that Ocean doesn't tend to show or do stuff that has little no point to it.

 

[RNasc4444]

Doesn't move the story along yet...to your knowledge.

I think we can all pretty much agree that Ocean doesn't tend to show or do stuff that has little no point to it.

The tabletop game sequence? It's pretty clear that is the path for Nadia and possibly Sonya romance, no? Doubt that there is or ever will be more to it than that.

But since those routes are not yet developed, as of right now, it is a pointless detour that adds nothing to the story. Unlike the book club one that adds quite a bit, imo.

 

[SteelyDan14]

I almost feel like we are playing different AVNs.

I enjoy the world-building that Ocean does including reveals, like easter eggs, that I get to find when I am immersed in SG.

If you are not a big fan of world building or the interpersonal nuances that Ocean gave us, I could see the book club as being less for you than it was for me.

So - here is some of what I saw during the book club meeting:

Noji did not want the MC to attend the book club meeting, but we don't know why (either before or after the get together).

When we arrive, various people greet us, including Amber (our therapist) who acts like she has never met us before.

It turns out, through a little digging, that Noji and Amer have known each other for more than half a year, and yet Noji treated Amber like a stranger (in front of the MC) when she met her as part of the MC's first therapy visit less than one week past -- which makes the MC rightfully wonder WHY...

The MC gets into an argument with Charlie, who seems to be a/the book club lead - and Charlie turns out to be Robin's mom.

The various MILFs there include some that quietly (or Anna - not so quietly) hit on the MC, who can decide to play them for information and influence or not.

We get to see Amber and her sister Claire get into it a bit (which I enjoyed - some sibling disagreement also happens in my family, so I thought this was a realistic touch).

We find out that Sasha seems to attract the romantic/intimate attention of older men, and several have been forced to leave the book club due to their interactions with Sasha.

Katie Zane shows up after missing the regular meetings for months - and she pays extra attention to the MC and Nami - which Noji does not like At All.

We also find out that Sasha's Aunt, Inessa Petrova, is present, but as her bodyguard - which begs the question, who/what has prompted Sasha's family to assign her a bodyguard for something as innocuous as a book club get together (and does Sasha have a bodyguard while in school, like her redheaded friend).

You already alluded to Sasha's unanticipated knowledge of what the MC is going through on that balcony, and that she has medicine to help.

So -- I saw the book club as a very rich part of the story revealing new mysteries, advancing the story with Amber, Noji, Robin, Sasha, Katie Zane, and several of the MILFs as well as hinting at other mysteries.

As you said - your only take away was the MC/Sasha interaction at the end - while I noted and enjoyed that scene for all the reasons above and more.

This is why I almost feel like we played different AVNs.

Cheers!!

I appreciate the detailed comments, and I will have to think about them a bit. Please do not misunderstand, Summer's Gone has been my favorite game on this site since it first dropped and still is. The detailed storytelling, renders and multi-dimensional character are really well done.

I guess I didn't read into things like you did. For example, for me Noji just didn't want the MC to go because of all the cougars and the worry he might no be in the right mental state to deal with all the attention... and he did have a serious panic attack at the end of it. For Amber, she's a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist so perhaps Noji saw Amber professionally for a while. Amber was just being respectful of her clients privacy. I had a dermatologist who I ran into socially and she politely acted like she did not know me to respect my privacy. And the discussion with Charlie, IMO, was a little self-indulgent; just the MC trying to challenge the pecking order of the group and while he may have been right, was not necessary.

Regardless, you brought up some valid points so I will have to go back through it and read it from a fresh perspective to see if I view it differently. Part of my challenge, I think, is I felt we were already pretty well into the story and suddenly, we were introduced to a bunch of new characters, which just adds additional delays with character development. For example, with Victoria, she was kind of a big part of the story initially, but even f the MC agrees to go on a date with her, you barely see her. So now we are adding a bunch of characters all at once when I though more time could have been spent with some of the other characters. Sonya is another example... hardly spent any significant time with her. It could even be argued Mila has been neglected as well. For that matter, what about Jeff? He has had almost zero interactions with any of the dudes.

I would probably not be complaining about screen time if it wasn't for the book club. Again... this is my favorite VN on this site, but the book club kind of came out of no where and I question it's significance. Regardless, several people here have made some good points so I will go back and look at it again with a fresh pair of eyes.

Thanks for the discussion.

 

[OleJackRipper]

Wow
Everyone still is here with their higher purpose in a porn game with no sex yet but good plot, teasing and bodies.

 

[den_tiger]

Okay, let's assume that Ch 5 beta isn't the end of Chapter 5, then you're right

Huh?
When Ch5 Beta was released people were saying that a more complete version would be out around December.
Did I get that wrong?

 

[yossa999]

Huh?
When Ch5 Beta was released people were saying that a more complete version would be out around December.
Did I get that wrong?

Ocean estimated the release date of the full version of CH5 as December/January, he wrote about this in one of the previous WiaB devlogs. But no new content was announced in the fifth chapter, it is unclear where did this statement suddenly come from. The author wrote that the version CH5 Full will contain bug fixes and the completely reworked chapter 2. From the last devlog it became known that small changes were also made in chapter 3, the scene with Mila in the cafeteria.

 

[Nurikabe]

The tabletop game and book club scenes, like the training scenes with the coaches or any other scene, are not simply exposition and are certainly not pointless. Just because we don't know where the story goes does not mean that it is aimlessly wandering. Do you read a book and stop in the first chapter because you don't have all the answers? Or because you don't know where it is going? Of course, not.

The tabletop game does seem to be the way to Nadia and Sonya. And it gave us a view of the women that is different and out of character. We were able to see their personalities from different perspectives as they played different characters. The book club is full of content that points to so many things coming up as well as some fun easter eggs. It has been discussed thoroughly and beautifully above.

On the other hand, the tabletop game could've just allowed Ocean to use assets that were vastly different and allow the characters to wear costumes that were hot and revealing. What do you think? Pointless but sexy wandering around a new set or intentional content that shows direction and purpose? Doesn't seem tough to answer.

 

[BobTheDuck]

The tabletop game sequence? It's pretty clear that is the path for Nadia and possibly Sonya romance, no? Doubt that there is or ever will be more to it than that.

But since those routes are not yet developed, as of right now, it is a pointless detour that adds nothing to the story. Unlike the book club one that adds quite a bit, imo.

Despite how much I enjoy Ocean's world building, I have to agree with you. The tabletop sequence is a bit of Ocean's fan service for table top games, and goes on way longer than necessary to introduce Nadia, Nancy and Sonya's characters, well mainly Nadia's. The only way I can see it being value for the time spent is Ocean setting up the world that they game in, leading to lewd encounters with the devil cards, that spill over into real life. I'm guessing it'll progress much the same as the movie night, but going further, as we can already tell Nadia and Nancy are 100% okay with being perverted But it doesn't need as much of a setup as it got.

I appreciate the detailed comments, and I will have to think about them a bit. Please do not misunderstand, Summer's Gone has been my favorite game on this site since it first dropped and still is. The detailed storytelling, renders and multi-dimensional character are really well done.

I guess I didn't read into things like you did. For example, for me Noji just didn't want the MC to go because of all the cougars and the worry he might no be in the right mental state to deal with all the attention... and he did have a serious panic attack at the end of it. For Amber, she's a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist so perhaps Noji saw Amber professionally for a while. Amber was just being respectful of her clients privacy. I had a dermatologist who I ran into socially and she politely acted like she did not know me to respect my privacy. And the discussion with Charlie, IMO, was a little self-indulgent; just the MC trying to challenge the pecking order of the group and while he may have been right, was not necessary.

Regardless, you brought up some valid points so I will have to go back through it and read it from a fresh perspective to see if I view it differently. Part of my challenge, I think, is I felt we were already pretty well into the story and suddenly, we were introduced to a bunch of new characters, which just adds additional delays with character development. For example, with Victoria, she was kind of a big part of the story initially, but even f the MC agrees to go on a date with her, you barely see her. So now we are adding a bunch of characters all at once when I though more time could have been spent with some of the other characters. Sonya is another example... hardly spent any significant time with her. It could even be argued Mila has been neglected as well. For that matter, what about Jeff? He has had almost zero interactions with any of the dudes.

I would probably not be complaining about screen time if it wasn't for the book club. Again... this is my favorite VN on this site, but the book club kind of came out of no where and I question it's significance. Regardless, several people here have made some good points so I will go back and look at it again with a fresh pair of eyes.

Thanks for the discussion.

As people have already pointed out, there is a requirement to read between the lines, and looking in the out of focus areas, noticing what Ocean zooms in on - in the pizza shop there's a moment when Nami says something and the scene focuses on a background character who pays attention. Or noticing Katie's car driving past the university, noticing Sasha's bodyguard hovering around, Sasha's friends dying their hair white, the teddy bear, all sorts of things.

I think a lot of players see it on this site and assume it's a porn game, despite the disclaimer that it is a visual novel with adult elements, not a porn game. That implies that the method of story telling will not follow the usual porn logic that exists in 95% of games here. I think one of the reasons that people find the slow burn hard to deal with is they are not used to actually being resisted in a porn game - everything is served pretty quickly following porn logic. Love interests can't resist sex is a rule that doesn't apply here. I'm suspecting people will be angry when playing out their harem logic leads to getting slapped down by ALL the LI's.

In the meantime, I've done many replys just finding out the supposedly unimportant details in each render. The story is being told in many different ways. One of the anti porn game logics used is that you can miss information by making different choices, so there are actual consequences for actions, not just getting slapped down, but also being kept in the dark and missing connections. People who don't enjoy plots won't enjoy the level of detail, but there's more for us to dig into I guess.

Whether or not the digging is worthwhile is of course a personal choice.

Wow
Everyone still is here with their higher purpose in a porn game with no sex yet but good plot, teasing and bodies.

Dev notes on first page -
"This isn't a porn game! This is a story-focused game with adult elements.
If you just want to fap, this is certainly the wrong game for you."

Keep insisting it's a porn novel though, keep doing it and maybe Ocean will change his mind about what kind of story he's telling. It's like you're ordering a vegan patty in your burger and complaining that it's not meat. The fact this game is here with a thread doesn't mean that it is a porn game, only that it is popular on a pirate site.