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

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

RNasc4444 said:
I understand Yossa's perspective on this and he's entitled to feel like relationship and ties are not that important to a story. Or to this story in particular. I just vehemently disagree. What I take offense to is his notion that anyone who cares about these things is only in it for the disgusting incest angle.

I'm saying something slightly different. I'm saying that in WiAB blood relationship between the characters is only needed for the sake of incest. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any relationship between them.

But I also say that being biologically related doesn't add anything to the bond they have now. The Zanes are the people who raised him, cared for him, and loved him, and they're the only family he's ever known, even if Helen and Dylan are his guardians, not his parents.

Bob gave a great example - Noji. Noji is not Nika and Nami's biological mother, but they view her as a maternal figure, and she cares for them as if they were her own children. No biological relationship would make their current relationship any closer.

RNasc4444 said:
I just care about what and who they are at this precise moment in the story. That's not too much to ask.

Sure, Nika and Nami are roommates and Noji is their asian landlady. I thought you knew.

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

BobTheDuck said:
Dylan is shown as a beta, who will be cucked by William most likely.

In the old WiAB, Dylan kind of fucked Miru a few days after she and WZ arrived. Not that it upset me much, the old Miru was meh...
But I mean, it's still a big question who's the cuckold there

BobTheDuck · Jan 8, 2025

Pl@y3r said:
That's the problem.

Not a problem to me, it's his perogative. He's allowed to surprise people if he wants, and that's why he now only makes ambiguous statements, such as talking about the kinds of fetishes Robin has: does that only mean she's lewdable, or a full LI? I think it's good to have red herrings - it means that the story feels more like choices matter (if all choices lead to good outcomes, choices don't matter). If it's good surprises on the whole, people will keep wanting more anyway, so I don't see the issue. Currently people want more LI's than Ocean is willing to provide if we go by the old list.

dameromexxx · Jan 8, 2025

Pl@y3r said:
That's the problem.

In fact, I'm not surprised that he started leaving it to himself, it's different when you make a game for 10 chapters and something else for over 30.
Some romances may look nice on paper but you get to the point when you create renders and write dialogues.

And suddenly it turns out that it doesn't fit and is not believable but you can't do anything because you're in the trap of making fanservice.

That's probably why Ocean is so confusing in the case of Elsa, he probably has doubts himself whether when it comes to creating it for real it will work, whether the circumstances in which Nika and Elsa start spending more time together and getting closer will look believable and there will be real chemistry between them or whether it will be artificial and unnatural done out of necessity because he once promised a romance with a model

Everything is possible as long as the game is not finished it's really the most sensible thing he can do with a project that is so long. Things he planned may turn out to be a real pain in the ass when it comes to finding a way to make them look good and on the contrary some relationships he didn't plan will just write themselves and all the renders will look fucking great, there will be natural chemistry between the characters and everything will look on point and super natural

Pl@y3r · Jan 8, 2025

yossa999 said:
In the old WiAB

BobTheDuck said:
abandoned and reworked

BobTheDuck said:
He's allowed to surprise people if he wants

Requiring the players to restart the game if the chosen girl leads to nowhere...

BobTheDuck said:
it means that the story feels more like choices matter

Except that the dev refuses to make it clear which is which.

dameromexxx said:
because he once promised a romance with a model

Then he shouldn't make such promises. I'm not asking for specific paths, but the dev should make things clear from the start.

dameromexxx said:
Everything is possible as long as the game is not finished

That's so easy to say...

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

Pl@y3r said:
Requiring the players to restart the game if the chosen girl leads to nowhere...

Next time, play better and avoid bad endings!

LHDLLB · Jan 8, 2025

dameromexxx said:
In fact, I'm not surprised that he started leaving it to himself, it's different when you make a game for 10 chapters and something else for over 30.
Some romances may look nice on paper but you get to the point when you create renders and write dialogues.

And suddenly it turns out that it doesn't fit and is not believable but you can't do anything because you're in the trap of making fanservice.

That's probably why Ocean is so confusing in the case of Elsa, he probably has doubts himself whether when it comes to creating it for real it will work, whether the circumstances in which Nika and Elsa start spending more time together and getting closer will look believable and there will be real chemistry between them or whether it will be artificial and unnatural done out of necessity because he once promised a romance with a model

Everything is possible as long as the game is not finished it's really the most sensible thing he can do with a project that is so long. Things he planned may turn out to be a real pain in the ass when it comes to finding a way to make them look good and on the contrary some relationships he didn't plan will just write themselves and all the renders will look fucking great, there will be natural chemistry between the characters and everything will look on point and super natural

While I understand your point o view I can't fully agree with you. Not all paths are gonna be equally good and he should not aim at it. He also should feel free to change his mind, but something should be canon. Take the bar opening he already changed that, in the S1. Sure is a minor thing but if he does not take nothing as set in stone then why would I care ? He can't tell a story this way. Nobody can.

This is not me saying that he changes everything or it all for the bad. But as a mindset is a really dangerous one.

Pl@y3r · Jan 8, 2025

yossa999 said:
Next time, play better and avoid bad endings!

Who said I got such an ending? I was pointing out that in this VN you could pick a girl and hope for her path to open, because the dev refuses to say while other paths already opened.

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

Pl@y3r said:
Who said I got such an ending? I was pointing out that in this VN you could pick a girl and hope for her path to open, because the dev refuses to say while other paths already opened.

Who said I mean you, it's a rule of thumb.

The developer has provided a world to explore. Since the game is unfinished, some content is missing. But that doesn't mean the developer has to immediately reveal all the secrets, plot twists, and explain what happened to Summer in advance. The player will eventually find out.

Like many other story-based AVNs, characters are introduced into the game timely, based on the story purpose. As opposed to the other approach, where you are given a list of possible LIs with their stats from the start. Personally, I can't stand that.

Pl@y3r · Jan 8, 2025

yossa999 said:
that doesn't mean the developer has to immediately reveal all the secrets, plot twists, and explain what happened to Summer in advance. The player will eventually find out.

I didn't ask for any of that.

yossa999 said:
Like many other story-based AVNs, characters are introduced into the game timely, based on the story purpose. As opposed to the other approach, where you are given a list of possible LIs with their stats from the start. Personally, I can't stand that.

Then I guess cheating and break-ups will be a part of the story.

dameromexxx · Jan 8, 2025

LHDLLB said:
While I understand your point o view I can't fully agree with you. Not all paths are gonna be equally good and he should not aim at it. He also should feel free to change his mind, but something should be canon. Take the bar opening he already changed that, in the S1. Sure is a minor thing but if he does not take nothing as set in stone then why would I care ? He can't tell a story this way. Nobody can.

This is not me saying that he changes everything or it all for the bad. But as a mindset is a really dangerous one.

Of course, balance is indeed necessary, but let's not exaggerate in the other direction either. Ocean does not create a new fantasy universe, it does not need 5 thousand years of history including the old middle and new era and an atlas with maps presenting geopolitics and geography.

And finally, it is a visual erotic novel, it will not receive the Nobel Prize in Literature for the plot to WIAB and SG. Of course, when you write a story, you have to have a general plan and emphasized main points of the plot line that you want to tell. You cannot be as loose and blindly following inspiration as, for example, musicians like Jagger waking up in the morning after a few days of acid trip with ready lyrics for an album.

I just do not want him to bang his head against the wall dully, having to realize every smallest point like in a mathematical equation. For me the best parts of this game are the countless short moments we experience with other characters like Cheeto's silly sense of humor, Bella's banter, Sasha's rescue mission, and so on. Give me more of that along with the great atmosphere built by the music and the beautiful visuals and I'll be happy

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

Pl@y3r said:
I didn't ask for any of that.

Pl@y3r said:
Except that the dev refuses to make it clear which is which.

Maybe I misread you then.

Pl@y3r said:
Then I guess cheating and break-ups will be a part of the story.

Most likely, they will be.

yossa999 · Jan 8, 2025

Season 2 - Chapter 1 Dev Log Link Archive

See also: WiAB Chapter 4 Dev Log Link Archive

So here you can find links to the devlog and preview images from Chapter 1 of Season 2. Note that its not me who posted these logs here, but the authors of the corresponding posts, and we are very grateful to them for this! I just collected all these links on one page. I will try to update it as new logs are posted here.

Warning! The links to the preview images may be outdated or disappear, depending on where the image is hosted. If you find such links, you can try to ask the user who posted the corresponding devlog to reupload these images, maybe they can help with this. I do not keep all these images, so I can't help with that.

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2025-04-23 | Dev Log #30 | Previews: Special Choices, Sasha Blender vs DAZ, Sasha, Sunday Afternoon Blues (MC, Zara, Vanessa, Nami)

Progress update: 2/3 of the postwork is done (5100 renders)
Left to do: 2000-2500 renders, animations, images for gallery.

2025-04-10 | Dev Log #29 | Previews: S2CH1 Cover, Blender Zara, Blender Sasha 1, Blender Sasha 2, Vic and MC

Progress updates: 5160 renders. (2900 renders were postworked)

2025-03-27 | Dev Log #28 | Previews: Save porting & continue screen, Chapter cover, Kate

Progress update: 5100 renders.
What remains to be done: 2000-2500 renders, 25+12 animations, coding new UI & Aurora App, postwork 7000 renders, some other stuff.