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

4.30 star(s) 557 Votes
Discussion Reviews (557)
AlexFXR

AlexFXR

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Sep 24, 2023
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Fun Shaundi said:
Uff, Depraved Awakening is simply amazing. For those who don't know it, it's from the same creator of City of Broken Dreamers, both chef's kiss.
But to be completely fair, Depraved Awakening was finished ages ago, so anyone who wants to play it can do so in one sitting and without having to wait for updates. Also, this VN never went under a rework. As much as I liked it, certain models (like the blonde girl's whose name I can't remember right now) could look veeeeery veeery odd and outdated in certain scenes (Her nose looked as if it was made of smooth plastic, with no shadows on the sides of the nostrils).

Also, Depraved Awakening was very very short. Even CoBD is a shorter AVN as well (the next update will be the last one, if I'm not mistaken). While this can have de advantage of completing a game faster, it also means the story and your interactions with the LIs will be shorter.

Summer's Gone not only is going to have a longer main story, but your personal stories with each LI/friends have the potential to have more depth as well, precisely because of the length of the VN.

So far I haven't seen meaningless dialogue. Small talk can be pretty meh sometimes in any VN, but it also helps you to add friendly banter and friendly interactions with others. For example: In BaDIK, Bella shares her story as member of the sorority OMG, and then it's never mentioned again in the future. It might be consider pretty meh, meaningless and irrelevant, but her having this dialogue helps you know another side of her, and helps her build her relationship (whether is romance or friendship) with MC. Filling dialogues with only 'important' stuff or Chekhov's guns would get old pretty fast, imo.
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You are right in many ways, including that SG will be longer than DA, but a large number of dialogues will not make the game better.
The SG has been in development for almost 6 years, during which time DA was completely completed, and the SG has not even begun yet.
During these 6 years, we never found out who Nika is or who Nami is, as well as their adoptive mother, etc. We don't even know what this story is about.
Now do you see the difference? The author could have inserted a large number of useless dialogues into DA and thereby increased the game development time by 15-20 years and earned a lot of money, but he did not do this. This is what it means to be a true perfectionist. If Ocean followed the example of such people, his playing would become much better.
 
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Fun Shaundi

Fun Shaundi

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AlexFXR said:
You are right in many ways, including that SG will be longer than DA, but a large number of dialogues will not make the game better.
The SG has been in development for almost 6 years, during which time DA was completely completed, and the SG has not even begun yet.
During these 6 years, we never found out who Nika is or who Nami is, as well as their adoptive mother, etc. We don't even know what this story is about.
Now do you see the difference? The author could have inserted a large number of useless dialogues into DA and thereby increased the game development time by 15-20 years and earned a lot of money, but he did not do this. This is what it means to be a true perfectionist. If Ocean followed the example of such people, his playing would become much better.
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I get what you say, 6 years is a long ass time for any game. But again, the VN went under a rework. I'm not even taking in consideration Ocean's reworks, but the one that transformed 'Regium's SG' into 'Ocean's SG'. If we take that in account, not too much time has passed in the story, so revealing right away who Nami and Nika are right now at this point would be like, for example, revealing Harry Potter is a horrcrux during the Prisoner of Azkaban. Just because we as spectators have waited 6 years, it doesn't mean enough time has passed in the story to justify an early revelation.

One of the things I agree with you is that the waiting fucking sucks. Had I been a dev, I would focus first on finishing the whole VN and then do the rework (take Chasing Sunsets for example, the early renders look honestly veeeeeeeeeery bad in comparison to the latest updates, but the dev is focused on developing the story). However, I'm not in charge of Ocean's VN so I won't be bossing him how to do his work, and the reworks had to be done to sell on steam. The waiting is gonna be rough and I can only hope I'm still alive to see the end of it :KEK:, but if I don't I still have other VNs to focus on and follow their stories. Still love SG and the pacing, but I won't come here bashing it out of frustration when I can focus on other VNs.
 
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Den1mo

Den1mo

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Aug 26, 2023
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Fun Shaundi said:
One of the things I agree with you is that the waiting fucking sucks. Had I been a dev, I would focus first on finishing the whole VN and then do the rework (take Chasing Sunsets for example, the early renders look honestly veeeeeeeeeery bad in comparison to the latest updates, but the dev is focused on developing the story). However, I'm not in charge of Ocean's VN so I won't be bossing him how to do his work, and the reworks had to be done to sell on steam. The waiting is gonna be rough and I can only hope I'm still alive to see the end of it :KEK:, but if I don't I still have other VNs to focus on and follow their stories. Still love SG and the pacing, but I won't come here bashing it out of frustration when I can focus on other VNs.
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If someone wants to complain about slow updates they can continue to do so forever. That game has more than 20 lis and you haven't seen any branching yet. Does anyone really think that once the rework is done things will suddenly go smoothly?

Imagine that now the average update has something like 1500 renders. When you start creating stuff for each li the whole thing will multiply. The support that BaDIK has is 10 times higher and despite this you wait 9 months for an update. Imagine how it will probably be in the case of SG. If someone believes that this is a disaster they cannot even imagine what awaits them

That update cycle is a never-ending well of trouble. Don't expect anything to change. If rework is no longer a reason other things will start to be
 
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AlexFXR

AlexFXR

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Sep 24, 2023
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Fun Shaundi said:
I get what you say, 6 years is a long ass time for any game. But again, the VN went under a rework. I'm not even taking in consideration Ocean's reworks, but the one that transformed 'Regium's SG' into 'Ocean's SG'. If we take that in account, not too much time has passed in the story, so revealing right away who Nami and Nika are right now at this point would be like, for example, revealing Harry Potter is a horrcrux during the Prisoner of Azkaban. Just because we as spectators have waited 6 years, it doesn't mean enough time has passed in the story to justify an early revelation.

One of the things I agree with you is that the waiting fucking sucks. Had I been a dev, I would focus first on finishing the whole VN and then do the rework (take Chasing Sunsets for example, the early renders look honestly veeeeeeeeeery bad in comparison to the latest updates, but the dev is focused on developing the story). However, I'm not in charge of Ocean's VN so I won't be bossing him how to do his work, and the reworks had to be done to sell on steam. The waiting is gonna be rough and I can only hope I'm still alive to see the end of it :KEK:, but if I don't I still have other VNs to focus on and follow their stories. Still love SG and the pacing, but I won't come here bashing it out of frustration when I can focus on other VNs.
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It's not even a matter of reworking old chapters. In most cases, people complain that Ocean is wasting his time.

Do you know what is the most popular and discussed question right now? .... Where is the update and why does Ocean not do anything, since 4 months have already passed?

From my point of view, Ocean is wasting his time and doesn’t give any explanations. After all, there are a lot of dissatisfied patreons and their number is growing every day. On the one hand, it’s not good to rush, but on the other hand, they gave money to Ocean for his promise to release games faster. I'm afraid if they get angry and leave, then 2 games will remain abandoned.
 
H

Hahn1900

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Jan 3, 2021
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AlexFXR said:
It's not even a matter of reworking old chapters. In most cases, people complain that Ocean is wasting his time.

Do you know what is the most popular and discussed question right now? .... Where is the update and why does Ocean not do anything, since 4 months have already passed?

From my point of view, Ocean is wasting his time and doesn’t give any explanations. After all, there are a lot of dissatisfied patreons and their number is growing every day. On the one hand, it’s not good to rush, but on the other hand, they gave money to Ocean for his promise to release games faster. I'm afraid if they get angry and leave, then 2 games will remain abandoned.
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Doesnt look like patrons are running away does it?

And i dont know, you dont get the picture that he is polishing season 1 so it can be released in a proper way on steam, those things take time, and still he was delivering bigger updates in a decent time than most DEVs do. You are kinda obsessed to tell everybody that ocean is a bad DEV, but numbers and the support tell a different story, and the overall quality and INCREASING quality of both his games too.

But i admit... iam a little concerned too that we never see both games finished. Ocean is kind of a overachiever. Even more than DPC. And if he sticks to the plan to make at least 3 seasons for each game this is a HUGE project for more than a decade to come... that of course is something that makes in more likely to see a abandoned tag than a complete tag at this point... but for sure not in the next 2 or 3 years, and something tell me... you will not be around anymore still complaining.

Oh and for the most popular question... you know... that is pretty much for every game around here the case, especially on F95, not so much on the discord and actual patreon site though, supporters just stop surpporting if they get impatient, but those are not around F95 to cry about it.

*edit* ah and i forgot... Summers Gone is not 6 years in the making, its 3 years. This post here started as a whole different game 5 years ago. The actual SG was started from scratch about 3 years ago and than got a rework... still, 3 years is a long time for this... but all in all, compared to moste other games Ocean achived something really decent in those 3 years and working on 2 games at the same time too. Combined he releases a huge amount of content per year so far... maybe only topped by DPC and certainly NOT by philly. I like phillys games a lot... that dude can write. But he limits himself too... not a lot of branches, both of his games are more or less for 2 different routes playable and you pretty much saw everything. And Broken Dreamers slowed down a lot in development too and the last updates werent that big...
 
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BobTheDuck

BobTheDuck

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Hahn81 said:
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Doesnt look like patrons are running away does it?

And i dont know, you dont get the picture that he is polishing season 1 so it can be released in a proper way on steam, those things take time, and still he was delivering bigger updates in a decent time than most DEVs do. You are kinda obsessed to tell everybody that ocean is a bad DEV, but numbers and the support tell a different story, and the overall quality and INCREASING quality of both his games too.

But i admit... iam a little concerned too that we never see both games finished. Ocean is kind of a overachiever. Even more than DPC. And if he sticks to the plan to make at least 3 seasons for each game this is a HUGE project for more than a decade to come... that of course is something that makes in more likely to see a abandoned tag than a complete tag at this point... but for sure not in the next 2 or 3 years, and something tell me... you will not be around anymore still complaining.

Oh and for the most popular question... you know... that is pretty much for every game around here the case, especially on F95, not so much on the discord and actual patreon site though, supporters just stop surpporting if they get impatient, but those are not around F95 to cry about it.

*edit* ah and i forgot... Summers Gone is not 6 years in the making, its 3 years. This post here started as a whole different game 5 years ago. The actual SG was started from scratch about 3 years ago and than got a rework... still, 3 years is a long time for this... but all in all, compared to moste other games Ocean achived something really decent in those 3 years and working on 2 games at the same time too. Combined he releases a huge amount of content per year so far... maybe only topped by DPC and certainly NOT by philly. I like phillys games a lot... that dude can write. But he limits himself too... not a lot of branches, both of his games are more or less for 2 different routes playable and you pretty much saw everything. And Broken Dreamers slowed down a lot in development too and the last updates werent that big...
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This is the thing as you're pointing out. People are on the whole happy because something exists instead of it not existing. For it to continue is a positive. For development to increase in speed, well that'd be amazing.

But a troll crying doom or gloom because there are too many words in something called a *novel* can't be taken seriously and won't take your post seriously. If a troll doesn't like the words in a *novel*, then they don't like the plot, the *N* of a VN. If the troll then ignores the words to say the plot hasn't developed, they can't read. If the troll don't like the visuals and thinks basic AI does better, then the troll doesn't like the *V* part of a VN. When the dev has stated it won't be an AVN for the first season and the troll cries that there are no lewds, they're trying to get the dev to make something other than what is in front of them. When a troll cries about the dev cycle, blames the dev of being a milker, then they don't like the dev. When the troll accusses everyone of twisting their words or being simps/fanbois etc they're saying they don't like other people's opinions (you'd think trolls have thick skins, but there's only one thing thick about them) and they especially don't like the idea that anyone could support the dev (I'm not a patron btw), to the extent that they attack the patrons, who after all are the source of the dev logs and the leaks. On one hand the troll calls all patrons blinded, but avidly laps up all the info they leak from the patreon.

Most people in the thread are either hopeful or like the game, but cynical. The troll you're replying to is simply a liar: they claim to like the game while dissing every aspect. I bet they can't even name a single positive they like in honest detail, or write a post about all the aspects of SG or WiaB that draw them back to this thread time after time.

I mean, what remains for the troll to like? The only thing the troll likes is being talked about, because maybe it's lonely living under a bridge? I really don't get how they find any enjoyment in their interaction here.

Most of the cynic in this thread do actually make some logical points, even if I disagree with them. To be clear, I don't think cynicism or criticism is unwarranted, but it's not actually going to achieve anything here either. It's much easier to just enjoy whatever updates come out, when they come out, and get on with our day, rather than peer into the crystal ball at Ocean's future. Most predictions will be as solid as the theories we come up with about the plot while waiting :sneaky: The troll's only goal is to undermine Ocean, and attempt to damage the game that even the cynics here would enjoy seeing updated.

Regarding your actual post, rather than the reason you post, yes to all of it. Keep being logical and sensible against the crawling chaos. Only thing I can really comment on your post is that there won't always be something new slowing Ocean down. Quality has improved, but the learning slowed him down, the rework slowed him down. He's working on renders that are in future chapters of both games, chances are that he's doing that to keep himslef from getting bored with the polishing for steam. Once that polishing is done, there will be a massive task/workload taken off of his schedule, and that new free time will go to both games. We'll see if that helps when the next chapters come out.
 
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hermit_tr

hermit_tr

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Jan 20, 2022
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AlexFXR said:
From my point of view, Ocean is wasting his time and doesn’t give any explanations. After all, there are a lot of dissatisfied patreons and their number is growing every day. On the one hand, it’s not good to rush, but on the other hand, they gave money to Ocean for his promise to release games faster. I'm afraid if they get angry and leave, then 2 games will remain abandoned.
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Typical people who don't care.:cautious:
Did you read Ocean's "almost weekly" Devlog?:cautious:
 
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Doomyk

Doomyk

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Jun 7, 2019
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By the way, Nami from SG and Scarlet from Wiab have a slight similarity in the plot. As we know, Nami played a certain role in the events of the past, has changed quite a lot and is now overprotective towards Nika, to some extent due to guilt. This is where some similarities can be seen in both old Wiab and the new. After the incident with Helen, Scarlet greatly changed her mind about children, and also became very protective of Helen. Which leads to the question, what role did Scarlet play in Helen's event?
 
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4.30 star(s) 557 Votes