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

[John972]

I'd say there's a fourth way but it kind of links into the first point and is my own crazy theory (likely full of holes) - Nika and Summer were abducted and taken to the cabin. He's suppressed or altered his own memories to some point and remembers it as walking there. Something bad happened at the cabin (Nika stabbed and left for dead/last time he saw summer/etc) and Officer Laverne headed up the rescue mission. But to Nika, he remembers it as walking there and spending time with just Summer before she 'vanishes'. To me, Nami and Noji's reactions when they refer to things like the Violent Incident or are cagey when talking about how Summer vanished.

If even a fraction of that is close to the truth, the Amber visit could be quite a brutal piece of story telling if Ocean can pull it off

Interesting theory! It's as valid as any other. I agree that Nika's memories, particularly in his dreams are not all they seem. At this point, "The Cabin Incident" (Nika/Summer at the cabin) and "The Violent Incident" (Nika requiring hospitalization for severe injury) are spoken about like they're two separate incidents.

The problem with any reveals during Amber therapy is that Nika already decided to bullshit Amber because (a) he was protecting Cheeto, and (b) he knows Bella reads Amber's clinical notes on his file and wants to mindfuck Bella. While Nika has apparently resolved to come clean on (a), we don't know if he will continue to BS because of (b). Added to that, we don't know exactly what BS Nika has told.

 

[Ray_D]

While it has true to that, I don't think of them as "prequel" or "Sequel" anymore as but two chapters of the same story. That at some point will come together.

All right, but don't complain when mad man ocean make another remake of SG because he need to fix the continuity errors...

 

[yossa999]

All right, but don't complain when mad man ocean make another remake of SG because he need to fix the continuity errors...

He doesn't need to prepare the first release on Steam, the graphics and plot in the first chapters correspond to the rest of the chapters of the first season. The money from the release has already been earned. I don't see any reason why he should change anything.

 

[Winterstale]

He doesn't need to prepare the first release on Steam, the graphics and plot in the first chapters correspond to the rest of the chapters of the first season. The money from the release has already been earned. I don't see any reason why he should change anything.

... all kidding aside, you are right

 

[NebulousShooter]

Do I even need to say it anymore?

 

[Mr_Mister]

1. Nami sent the police after them, so it was something that was unsanctioned by adults, so no cars. Nika and Summer got to the cabin on their own steam as neither could drive. Also, a 15 year old can't go faster than a car for 6 hours on a bike. Even if the "old" home (do we know they moved, or is it just the decor and room we see of the "old house" an assumption?) was closer, it was in walking distance to the lake, which Nika can currently walk to and back before breakfast. Nami and Noji's confirmation of the cabin (Nami by calling Jane, Noji by asking if AMber really means that cabin) confirms Nika's story enough.

2. Can't be, because of the lake, currently a 15 min walk or thereabouts, which if they walked from their old house, they wouldn't walk further than an hour, especially as they talk about the beach being on the bus route, and the surfing thing with Zara, saying the beach is close... so at best the lake would be between the two houses, in walking distance from either, putting the cabin at least 5hrs 45min from the lake still.

3. Yes, this would be one way, but create the exact problem you describe.

4: A sensible solution - the cabin was simply where NIka and Summer ran away to and is only known to Nami and Noji after Jane finds them. But for Nika and Summer to run away jsut to have alone time before SUmmer's family vacation, they'd choose somewhere closer. 6 hours at 60km/hr by car (conservative, based on slow roads, mountains etc), 360km, which at 5km/hr hiking, would be 72 hours. I'm sure they could find somewhere for alone time closer. Take off maybe 2 hours most for the walking distance between the potential old home and the new one, we're still at 70hrs of hiking.

Here's my nice infographic. If the old house is further from the cabin than the current one, well, it's worse.

View attachment 4432790

So 5:



This is the most likely answer, nailed it!

View attachment 4432602

Nika's Raziel. There's a chronoplast to solve pesky time issues as well as the Elder God, and there's the legacy of his predecessor to work out.

 

[TheDuke9999]

i heard a rumor that summers gone and Wiab are both coming out next week

 

[LHDLLB]

i heard a rumor that summers gone and Wiab are both coming out next week

I guess a man can always dream.

 

[NebulousShooter]

Hello,

We will continue as usual while we all wait for Steam to finish its review.
Epic Games has approved SG, and I'm also working with GoG to get the page up and running.
As soon as Steam is done reviewing, there will be one announcement log of the S1 release date.
But from now on, all Dev Logs are about Season 2.

To bring back some structure, Bi-Weekly dev logs are back.
You can check out the previous S2 Logs by clicking the "Season 2" tag.
I will repeat some info about Season 2 and a few new things here.
Season 2 ports over your save from your last Season 1 playthrough. (I'm still looking for a way to port different playthroughs simultaneously from S1 to S2.)

Graphical changes from Season 1 to Season 2.
Season 2 will be in 4k. (I already render everything in 4k. It doesn't add work, and you don't need a 4k display to see the difference.)
My friend Messe, UI designer for SG, has also created the new UI, etc., for Season 2.
The main menu

View attachment 3549745

The Gallery
View attachment 3549746

Load/Save
View attachment 3549747

Options

View attachment 3549748

It has a very clean and fantastic look. The theme of the main menu can also be changed.
This one up there is the "Glacial" theme.
I've been talking about Blender Short Stories for a while now but just didn't have the time in the past. However, with Season 2, the short stories will become a reality.
Messe was so nice in creating the UI for them, too.
These are just examples of how it would look. (The short stories have their own exe.)


View attachment 3549749 View attachment 3549750

In my opinion, it's just absolutely beautiful.
I will showcase more of his work at different points. But his work elevates the game's UI tremendously.
I mentioned that I'd be signing some new music soon. Sadly one Artist jumped ship with the usual: "Upon further review of your product I am going to decline on having my music in the game."
His loss.

But I still scored some very nice ambient music.
Season 2 Previews (4k attached.)
Some Nadia.

View attachment 3549751 View attachment 3549752

Season 2 is going to be great, and no more reworks to slow me down.
Hopefully, you'll hear from me soon about the Steam release date.

Ocean

Did Ocean ever linked the guy that made him the S2 GUI? I want to see some other works, because I have to say, its probably the most impressive one I've seen in a renpy game.

Also seeing the steam wallpapers, why are the fucking tertiary characters, like the book club milfs and random background props so much better looking than the main cast?

 

[John972]

I have being defending the idea of Eldritch God beneath Wollust. Bodies changing size overnight ? Eldritch God. Time dilation lake ? Eldritch God. He feeds of sexual energy and is starving because Nika can't fuck anybody.

1. Nami sent the police after them, so it was something that was unsanctioned by adults, so no cars. Nika and Summer got to the cabin on their own steam as neither could drive. Also, a 15 year old can't go faster than a car for 6 hours on a bike. Even if the "old" home (do we know they moved, or is it just the decor and room we see of the "old house" an assumption?) was closer, it was in walking distance to the lake, which Nika can currently walk to and back before breakfast. Nami and Noji's confirmation of the cabin (Nami by calling Jane, Noji by asking if AMber really means that cabin) confirms Nika's story enough.

2. Can't be, because of the lake, currently a 15 min walk or thereabouts, which if they walked from their old house, they wouldn't walk further than an hour, especially as they talk about the beach being on the bus route, and the surfing thing with Zara, saying the beach is close... so at best the lake would be between the two houses, in walking distance from either, putting the cabin at least 5hrs 45min from the lake still.

3. Yes, this would be one way, but create the exact problem you describe.

4: A sensible solution - the cabin was simply where NIka and Summer ran away to and is only known to Nami and Noji after Jane finds them. But for Nika and Summer to run away jsut to have alone time before SUmmer's family vacation, they'd choose somewhere closer. 6 hours at 60km/hr by car (conservative, based on slow roads, mountains etc), 360km, which at 5km/hr hiking, would be 72 hours. I'm sure they could find somewhere for alone time closer. Take off maybe 2 hours most for the walking distance between the potential old home and the new one, we're still at 70hrs of hiking.

Here's my nice infographic. If the old house is further from the cabin than the current one, well, it's worse.

View attachment 4432790

So 5:



This is the most likely answer, nailed it!

View attachment 4432602

Nika's Raziel. There's a chronoplast to solve pesky time issues as well as the Elder God, and there's the legacy of his predecessor to work out.

You leave Ocean no choice but to add another forest and a lake six hours away. First the workstation, now this... Expenses, expenses...

I'm getting worried again bud... Remember to go outside yeah? And talk to real people

Anyways as much as I enjoy the discussion about driving/walking distances, time, portals and shapeshifting, what I really want is to know where I can find this:
View attachment 4433615
I have a cat. I NEED this! Completely getting rid of scratches and cuts in a few hours with no scarring? Sign me the fuck up!!!

Now seems like the perfect moment to drop in a quote: "Consistency is key. That's all there is"

There are some things in SG I wish Ocean had the writing experience to deftly "hang a lantern on it" (i.e. a method of acknowledging minor implausibilities in-game to allow a player to move on), since several implausibilities are devices to move a particular scene along - nothing more, nothing less. For example, this would work with the magic wound spray scene.

Other things, such as the character/boob/body type shape-shifting between scenes cannot be fixed outside of reworking ALL of the remaining legacy parts of Season 1 (which is bittersweet for me because I adore the version of Mila that debuts in-game at ZPR).

There is one area that Ocean needs to be absolutely sharp as a tack on - the mysteries surrounding Summer's disappearance and Nika's past. There is simply no room for error and/or inconsistency there because Ocean chooses to make the slow unraveling of these mysteries a central tenet of the SG plot (at least in the first couple of seasons). Players will pick up on inconsistencies and the longer they remain in the game, the harder they are to fix retroactively. Wollust logic will not be good enough.

I really enjoy SG for the character development, feels, and atmospherics, so I am happy to put up with a certain amount of Wollust logic. However, if the mysteries of the past story arcs turn out to be badly riddled with plot holes, SG will lose credibility with me. At this stage, I continue to trust that Ocean is on top of it...

 

[LHDLLB]

There are some things in SG I wish Ocean had the writing experience to deftly "hang a lantern on it" (i.e. a method of acknowledging minor implausibilities in-game to allow a player to move on), since several implausibilities are devices to move a particular scene along - nothing more, nothing less. For example, this would work with the magic wound spray scene.

Other things, such as the character/boob/body type shape-shifting between scenes cannot be fixed outside of reworking ALL of the remaining legacy parts of Season 1 (which is bittersweet for me because I adore the version of Mila that debuts in-game at ZPR).

There is one area that Ocean needs to be absolutely sharp as a tack on - the mysteries surrounding Summer's disappearance and Nika's past. There is simply no room for error and/or inconsistency there because Ocean chooses to make the slow unraveling of these mysteries a central tenet of the SG plot (at least in the first couple of seasons). Players will pick up on inconsistencies and the longer they remain in the game, the harder they are to fix retroactively. Wollust logic will not be good enough.

I really enjoy SG for the character development, feels, and atmospherics, so I am happy to put up with a certain amount of Wollust logic. However, if the mysteries of the past story arcs turn out to be badly riddled with plot holes, SG will lose credibility with me. At this stage, I continue to trust that Ocean is on top of it...

I fully agree. Summers plot can absolutely ruin this story and I hope Ocean cooked something good. He also has a real talent to write characters, that is not a easy thing.

 

[Winterstale]

View attachment 4437742


I guess a man can always dream.

 

[Winterstale]

I fully agree. Summers plot can absolutely ruin this story and I hope Ocean cooked something good. He also has a real talent to write characters, that is not a easy thing.

I know this horse has probably been beaten to death, so pardon me for trotting out an old topic, but I’m honestly stumped as to why Ocean chose to juggle two games at once. Sure, maybe he’s got the script all wrapped up, but handling the rendering, music, programming, and everything else for two separate projects sounds beyond exhausting. Here’s hoping he doesn’t suddenly throw a third title into the mix before finishing the first two
... then again, I’m no stranger to kicking off new projects before finishing the old ones myself

 

[Maviarab]

I know this horse has probably been beaten to death, so pardon me for trotting out an old topic, but I’m honestly stumped as to why Ocean chose to juggle two games at once. Sure, maybe he’s got the script all wrapped up, but handling the rendering, music, programming, and everything else for two separate projects sounds beyond exhausting. Here’s hoping he doesn’t suddenly throw a third title into the mix before finishing the first two
... then again, I’m no stranger to kicking off new projects before finishing the old ones myself

tldr:

The guy he got to do SG for him (regium) was basically not up to task. Ocean did more and more and effectively by the end of Ch2...regium had left and Ocean took it over himself completely (it's his story). Blah, not stopping...WIAB my baby....but SG making three times the money...wahh taxes...workstations...boobs...

Here we are.

 

[John972]

I know this horse has probably been beaten to death, so pardon me for trotting out an old topic, but I’m honestly stumped as to why Ocean chose to juggle two games at once. Sure, maybe he’s got the script all wrapped up, but handling the rendering, music, programming, and everything else for two separate projects sounds beyond exhausting. Here’s hoping he doesn’t suddenly throw a third title into the mix before finishing the first two
... then again, I’m no stranger to kicking off new projects before finishing the old ones myself

Ocean explained it several times. The short answer is that Ocean finds working on two games (i.e. alternating between them) stops him from burning out and going stale, which he believes could happen if he worked on one game alone. In other words, it's like the old addage, "a change is as good as a holiday". There are other considerations as well that Ocean has mentioned [EDIT: Maviatab mentions them in the post above mine], but the burnout issue was one of the main reasons he gave.

 

[Winterstale]

tldr:

The guy he got to do SG for him (regium) was basically not up to task. Ocean did more and more and effectively by the end of Ch2...regium had left and Ocean took it over himself completely (it's his story). Blah, not stopping...WIAB my baby....but SG making three times the money...wahh taxes...workstations...boobs...

Here we are.

Ocean explained it several times. The short answer is that Ocean finds working on two games (i.e. alternating between them) stops him from burning out and going stale, which he believes could happen if he worked on one game alone. In other words, it's like the old addage, "a change is as good as a holiday". There are other considerations as well that Ocean has mentioned [EDIT: Maviatab mentions them in the post above mine], but the burnout issue was one of the main reasons he gave.

I definitely see the logic in not keeping one's nose to the same grindstone day in and day out - sometimes you need to switch gears so you can come back with fresh eyes. That really clicks for me. Still, diving into such colossal projects all at once is a whole different ballgame - ambitious to the hilt...

 

[BeingADikDik]

I definitely see the logic in not keeping one's nose to the same grindstone day in and day out - sometimes you need to switch gears so you can come back with fresh eyes. That really clicks for me. Still, diving into such colossal projects all at once is a whole different ballgame - ambitious to the hilt...

Yup. Finish a game first before trying to do multiple at the same time. All games exponentially increase time between updates as branching grows, even if it works today it likely won't in the future.

 

[jadepaladin]

I think working on two projects simultaneously is fine as long as one is more of a testing ground/side piece. WiaB and SG are not the way to do it but that ship has sailed and it wasn't all Ocean's fault. The fact SG makes more money is unfortunate for WiaB fans.

It's nice to have smaller scope projects to flex on when you're feeling the burn on your main ambitious project.

 

[BobTheDuck]

I'm going to offer a different perspective - WiaB is proof Ocean's not doing it for the money. If he was solely inspired by making a buck, he'd do SG first

BUt further than that, it has amazing story implications that only we get to play. Someone playing the finished games will get a different experience for a number of reasons. RIght now:

- Nika doesn't know who Katie is to him or what she's done in the past. Neither do we. If Wiab was finished, we wouldn't have this mystery. This goes for all of the WiaB characters that will appear in SG or have a legacy. We don't know how Stefan got to be how he is, where Emilio got his tatts, we're looking for easter eggs to give us clues.
- We don't know who the parents are for certain of anyone in SG, so we don't presume their background or affiliations to the social order. If we know character X is character Y from WIaB's daughter definitely, we don't take them 100% on face value.

Currently we're playing both games blind to the past, at the same time. If we played a finished WiaB first, some of the easter eggs would feel lame. If we played a finished SG first, we'd already know who survives and what the outcome is.

Because both games were started, finishing them both prevents them from spoiling the enjoyment of whichever game comes second. If Ocean had focused on WiaB and finished that first, he's have to work harder to keep mysteries in SG and SG would be different from the outset. Buth there is no real way of having SG play out with more and more cameos from WiaB era characters without giving too much of Ocean's WiaB canon away.

 

[mruggeri2]

I think this next update will be when we finally have a lewd scene. There has been a lot of progress in Nika's relationships in Chapter 5, specially in regards to the sexual nature of them. Bella is very aggressive about wanting it and Nika also states that he wants to be able to give it to her, Mila also becomes more aggressive and even Nika touches her a lot when they are making out and Nami almost managed to give him an erection in the jacuzzi and by the end of the chapter, Nika can choose to start a relationship with her.

Not to mention that in this next update, Nika and Amber will go to the cabin, the place where Nika and Summer had the most intimate time, which could also be a place where he can finally overcome his trauma. It feels like Ocean is preparing a lot of terrain for Nika to overcome his "problem" and finally be able to have a sexual relationship with his LI. I don't know if there will be a scene for each of the current LI's, but imo it feels like the story is going to a place where this will finally happen.