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

[Fortuna ღ]

I see both toeing the line between fiction and reality with the characters: summer's gone gets its reality from how the trauma shapes the characters, and we dig that. But to outright go on a spy mission to steal stuff out of someone's house to the point of knowing the exact location and viewing angles of the security cameras? Not realistic by any means but it's sure what keeps us amazingly dazzled. Badik: characters are much more cool and laid-back, and have some trauma and problems, but are generally all very approachable, and since quite few seem from good backgrounds, they don't seem to carry weights of their life on their shoulders like Summer's gone, which even though isn't the truth, it's accurate in a sense to make it unnoticeable. But how the protag is practically a chick magnet is not the most realistic thing yeah. But it's entertaining regardless and love them to bits. They have their differences, but I will always focus on the fact that what makes them similar is that their immersion is nearly unbeatable, by any and all media. I'd argue you'd be hard-pressed to find any at all that could get you so immersed as these do. For goodness, I've felt slightly like I'm missing life just by watching this amazing story unfold at my very eyes. But I know that isn't the case, but rather life will never be that exciting, or that I will meet a girl that has the most amazing complexion with prominent eyebrows that could make me waver. Or maybe there is and haven't found them yet. You get my point.

You're definitely right that what MC and Bella did was out of the ordinary. But the same can be said for BADIK. You can't really find a situation from either plot that would be considered normal in the real world. I mean, I'm not American so hopefully, someone corrects me if I'm wrong, but I'm 100% sure that the hazing rituals done for the DIKs were far from normal. The same can be said for the HOTs. The situations in both games are very out of the ordinary. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything in real life that emulates the situations in both games.

What I was saying, was that the female characters in Summer's Gone were more realistic and better written than BADIK. And it's true from a literary perspective. Not only that, but Summer's Gone is the first AVN where I can find myself relating to the female characters. Women are written terribly in most of the AVNs on this site. So to have come across Summer's Gone was like a breath of fresh air to me. Believe it or not, there are a lot of girls like Bella, Nami, Mila, Nia, etc. in the real world. You will not find girls like Jill, Isabella, Quinn, or Maya out in the real world. Lesbians do not magically change due to a guy being handsome and well endowed. That's not how sexuality works... unless that person was never an actual lesbian. One of my best friends behaves very similarly to Sonya(former-muslim and everything), and she's a real woman. I myself share a lot of similarities with Bella... I cannot say the same for any other female character on this site.

My point was that you'd have better chances finding real people similar to the characters in Summer's Gone, than the ones in BADIK. But we can most certainly agree on one thing... no other AVN on this site beats those two when it comes to immersion. No other AVN can even compare when it comes to that. The quality of both AVNs is nearly unmatched. That's one thing we can definitely agree on

 

[Razrback16]

I wouldn't say realistic though, this game sometimes still has vibes of being a porn game, like how everyone magically expresses interest in our protagonist, are you telling me that the hot women in his college only has one type? an edgy mysterious loner who wears all black? there's really no reason for mila and victoria to be so into our protagonist. there's only so few of those people irl. When I was in Uni; almost every other women would prefer men like jeff, amicable and generally an all around okay dude and people would normally avoid those who are like our protagonist.


one thing ocean gets right is the character interaction tho, almost all the side characters and love interests have their own lives outside of our main character's college life and that is already miles better than most porn games in this site, almost, other characters still have their lives tied to the college sports tournament thing like Zara and the dwarf dude - characters don't just exist for the sole purpose of being barbie dolls you have sex with. these same characters interact with each other and not just wait in line for someone to stop talking to our protagonist and then have their turn and pretend other people don't exist.

I certainly agree with your sentiments with regard to the girls having their interests, I think as long as the dev wrote the script in a way that made it so you could find a way to maybe pique their interest, that would do the trick. As you say, at the end of the day, it's still a game, and the dev has to create a multitude of characters to give the player 'options' since not everyone is into the same thing.

All I am saying is having more guys around would add some realism in the regard that the MC wouldn't be the only male LI around, but yeah, you're not going to avoid having all the LI characters not have some degree of interest in the MC, as their entire purpose is to create variety for the many different folks playing the game.

usually the d&d sessions are used for dream scenes like in badik which isn't that bad but it doesn't add to the plot whatsoever and is just generally a waste of precious dev time for the sake of jacking off. I'm pretty sure most if not all of the audience is with me when I say we'd like some more banter between character, there's nothing more healthy to a piece of literature when characters interact with each other, even adult games benefit from it.

Yep - I am with ya. I consider the D&D sessions in BADik to be a 100% waste of development time. They add borderline nothing to the game from a relationship or narrative progression standpoint.

Having said that, Ocean may (and likely, will) do a significantly better job of incorporating conversation during the game in a productive way that actually moves things forward with the interaction between MC and the other characters.

I don't mind the girls I reject finding love with someone else but I don't want the girl I'm in love with going on dates with anybody else I don't want to see Bella being kissed by anyone else

if I'm in love with the girl and if I'm on her route I don't want to see her with anyone else

sis I hope you don't think less of me for that

I know it's probably selfish but seeing Bella with anyone else when I'm on her route would kill me

Ya, let's use Bella as an example as you and I are both on her route - right now, we are not in an exclusive relationship with Bella. Rumors are going around that we are, but we've never had a conversation with Bella about this as she basically ran and is now fortified in her bedroom in hiding.

So how would you react at this point (remember, not exclusive yet) if she comes back to school in a week or so, completely avoids the MC, but eventually you hear she's 'talking' with some other guy or is just seen around the halls with another dude who's walking her to classes, etc.? Would you have an emotional meltdown (it's okay if the answer is yes, I'm just asking, not judging or criticizing)? For me in that situation, I'd be offended but I wouldn't completely flip out just from her talking to another guy. Now if the character started getting sexual with another guy while we had something sort of going / developing (like we do with Bella now), I'd just write her off and look for another woman (would do the same thing IRL, too) - if I just saw her with another guy or heard she was talking with another dude / dating etc. I would just want a route in the game where I could have a good lane of communication to see what was up, especially after the result of the date we'd just had in an attempt to put the cards on the table so-to-speak.

To LadyFortuna's point - I see the same thing she described - in so many games if some (not all, but some) players so much as detect another male sniffing around the area their LI was in, they declare NTR and go nuts. So I do find it fascinating to see what other players are okay and not okay with. And in a story like this, where the developer is intending romantic relationship development as the main priority, having other guys involved sometimes really can help with that because when jealousy comes into play (as long as cheating doesn't occur) it can really resolve in a heartfelt way when two characters realize they really care about each other and handle things in a mature manner - Bella has already had a few instances where she gets irritated / jealous because the MC just mentions another female's name or goes and says hi to one - that can go both ways. If the LI is talking to another good looking guy and the player is a little jealous but the LI isn't really up to anything nefarious, just having an innocent chat (think Josy with Lucas in the cafeteria in Being A DIK and then expand it to be more repetitive in terms of interactions, possibly flirtatious if there is no exclusivity) that can drive additional emotional attachment in a good way.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

I certainly agree with your sentiments with regard to the girls having their interests, I think as long as the dev wrote the script in a way that made it so you could find a way to maybe pique their interest, that would do the trick. As you say, at the end of the day, it's still a game, and the dev has to create a multitude of characters to give the player 'options' since not everyone is into the same thing.

All I am saying is having more guys around would add some realism in the regard that the MC wouldn't be the only male LI around, but yeah, you're not going to avoid having all the LI characters not have some degree of interest in the MC, as their entire purpose is to create variety for the many different folks playing the game.



Yep - I am with ya. I consider the D&D sessions in BADik to be a 100% waste of development time. They add borderline nothing to the game from a relationship or narrative progression standpoint.

Having said that, Ocean may (and likely, will) do a significantly better job of incorporating conversation during the game in a productive way that actually moves things forward with the interaction between MC and the other characters.



Ya, let's use Bella as an example as you and I are both on her route - right now, we are not in an exclusive relationship with Bella. Rumors are going around that we are, but we've never had a conversation with Bella about this as she basically ran and is now fortified in her bedroom in hiding.

So how would you react at this point (remember, not exclusive yet) if she comes back to school in a week or so, completely avoids the MC, but eventually you hear she's 'talking' with some other guy or is just seen around the halls with another dude who's walking her to classes, etc.? Would you have an emotional meltdown (it's okay if the answer is yes, I'm just asking, not judging or criticizing)? For me in that situation, I'd be offended but I wouldn't completely flip out just from her talking to another guy. Now if the character started getting sexual with another guy while we had something sort of going / developing (like we do with Bella now), I'd just write her off and look for another woman (would do the same thing IRL, too) - if I just saw her with another guy or heard she was talking with another dude / dating etc. I would just want a route in the game where I could have a good lane of communication to see what was up, especially after the result of the date we'd just had in an attempt to put the cards on the table so-to-speak.

To LadyFortuna's point - I see the same thing she described - in so many games if some (not all, but some) players so much as detect another male sniffing around the area their LI was in, they declare NTR and go nuts. So I do find it fascinating to see what other players are okay and not okay with. And in a story like this, where the developer is intending romantic relationship development as the main priority, having other guys involved sometimes really can help with that because when jealousy comes into play (as long as cheating doesn't occur) it can really resolve in a heartfelt way when two characters realize they really care about each other and handle things in a mature manner - Bella has already had a few instances where she gets irritated / jealous because the MC just mentions another female's name or goes and says hi to one - that can go both ways. If the LI is talking to another good looking guy and the player is a little jealous but the LI isn't really up to anything nefarious, just having an innocent chat (think Josy with Lucas in the cafeteria in Being A DIK and then expand it to be more repetitive in terms of interactions, possibly flirtatious if there is no exclusivity) that can drive additional emotional attachment in a good way.

please don't think badly of me but my answer to your question is yes

don't get me wrong

Bella is free to talk to whoever she wants


but if they started flirting with each other

and being physical with each other that would just be too much

I don't want Bella kissing anyone or anyone put their hands all over her

I love her with all my heart

and that would be kind of unfair considering since the start of this game I've been rejecting every girl that likes me

 

[Razrback16]

please don't think badly of me but my answer to your question is yes

don't get me wrong

Bella is free to talk to whoever she wants


but if they started flirting with each other

and being physical with each other that would just be too much

I don't want Bella kissing anyone or anyone put their hands all over her

I love her with all my heart

and that would be kind of unfair considering since the start of this game I've been rejecting every girl that likes me

I gotcha, no worries, no judgment from me, was just curious how others looked at those situations.
I certainly am hopeful that eventually there will be exclusive relationships, as that's generally what I look for, but it's good that this dev is clearly making it so they have to be earned, etc. which adds value to them.

 

[D3xzalias]

I certainly agree with your sentiments with regard to the girls having their interests, I think as long as the dev wrote the script in a way that made it so you could find a way to maybe pique their interest, that would do the trick. As you say, at the end of the day, it's still a game, and the dev has to create a multitude of characters to give the player 'options' since not everyone is into the same thing.

All I am saying is having more guys around would add some realism in the regard that the MC wouldn't be the only male LI around, but yeah, you're not going to avoid having all the LI characters not have some degree of interest in the MC, as their entire purpose is to create variety for the many different folks playing the game.



Yep - I am with ya. I consider the D&D sessions in BADik to be a 100% waste of development time. They add borderline nothing to the game from a relationship or narrative progression standpoint.

Having said that, Ocean may (and likely, will) do a significantly better job of incorporating conversation during the game in a productive way that actually moves things forward with the interaction between MC and the other characters.



Ya, let's use Bella as an example as you and I are both on her route - right now, we are not in an exclusive relationship with Bella. Rumors are going around that we are, but we've never had a conversation with Bella about this as she basically ran and is now fortified in her bedroom in hiding.

So how would you react at this point (remember, not exclusive yet) if she comes back to school in a week or so, completely avoids the MC, but eventually you hear she's 'talking' with some other guy or is just seen around the halls with another dude who's walking her to classes, etc.? Would you have an emotional meltdown (it's okay if the answer is yes, I'm just asking, not judging or criticizing)? For me in that situation, I'd be offended but I wouldn't completely flip out just from her talking to another guy. Now if the character started getting sexual with another guy while we had something sort of going / developing (like we do with Bella now), I'd just write her off and look for another woman (would do the same thing IRL, too) - if I just saw her with another guy or heard she was talking with another dude / dating etc. I would just want a route in the game where I could have a good lane of communication to see what was up, especially after the result of the date we'd just had in an attempt to put the cards on the table so-to-speak.

Like you said nothing with Bella is confirmed. That she is in a relationship with us. Do i want to date her yes, But clearly she moved on with another guy. Does that make me upset yes, But sometimes it's ok to let go and find another person to share your new moments with.

 

[John Ness]

I don't want Bella kissing anyone or anyone put their hands all over her I love her with all my heart

I hate to break it to you, but Bella is cheating on you, with almost all the participants in this topic and I'm sure there are many others.

 

[Vidal the king of Pervert]

Like you said nothing with Bella is confirmed. That she is in a relationship with us. Do i want to date her yes, But clearly she moved on with another guy. Does that make me upset yes, But sometimes it's ok to let go and find another person to share your new moments with.

I disagree all I would have to do is find her

new boyfriend kill him and I dumped the body and no one would ever find it

move on and let go find someone else

you keep saying all these different words but all I hear is one word coming out of your mouth weakness


date Bella this is Team Bella

 

[LuckyLara]

Leia, Nami, and Sasha. What's their connection?
View attachment 1408689 View attachment 1408690 View attachment 1408691 View attachment 1408692

 

[Coldmatter]

You're definitely right that what MC and Bella did was out of the ordinary. But the same can be said for BADIK. You can't really find a situation from either plot that would be considered normal in the real world. I mean, I'm not American so hopefully, someone corrects me if I'm wrong, but I'm 100% sure that the hazing rituals done for the DIKs were far from normal. The same can be said for the HOTs. The situations in both games are very out of the ordinary. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything in real life that emulates the situations in both games.

What I was saying, was that the female characters in Summer's Gone were more realistic and better written than BADIK. And it's true from a literary perspective. Not only that, but Summer's Gone is the first AVN where I can find myself relating to the female characters. Women are written terribly in most of the AVNs on this site. So to have come across Summer's Gone was like a breath of fresh air to me. Believe it or not, there are a lot of girls like Bella, Nami, Mila, Nia, etc. in the real world. You will not find girls like Jill, Isabella, Quinn, or Maya out in the real world. Lesbians do not magically change due to a guy being handsome and well endowed. That's not how sexuality works... unless that person was never an actual lesbian. One of my best friends behaves very similarly to Sonya(former-muslim and everything), and she's a real woman. I myself share a lot of similarities with Bella... I cannot say the same for any other female character on this site.

My point was that you'd have better chances finding real people similar to the characters in Summer's Gone, than the ones in BADIK. But we can most definitely agree on one thing... no other AVN on this site beats those two when it comes to immersion. No other AVN can even compare when it comes to that. The quality of both AVNs is nearly unmatched. That's one thing we can definitely agree on

If life would be even fractionally as interesting as these games, they wouldn't be made in the first place XD. Gotta say, all the girls within the game really do have soul; not one female actor in this VN has not given me an impression of life. A to Z, I could go through each girl and tell you exactly what makes them, well them. The standard is so god damn high it puts Damian to shame, bless him. As an example, Ocean could've had Amber be just a generic psychiatrist, and yet she exudes this motherly feeling through every single action she partakes. No matter how reassuring she is when she listens to protag, or is a strong actor for Nojiko or Marla, she still has her openings when it comes to Bella. Also as a sidenote, not tryna have a jab but I believe in characters such as Jill and Maya to be quite realistic, Isabella or Quinn are like on the ends of the spectrum for their sort of personalities to pop in reality. The sexuality thing as far as my mind takes me is that she simply wasn't interested but she and Josy went a long time back, so it was kinda like alright lets try? I'm not too sure, but her demeanor is good.

I think I might be able to expand the list of immersive games, but if I had to split the cake for the groom and bride its them two, no questions asked. I'm slightly ashamed how quickly I've taken to liking Summer's Gone, over literally everything else, and I've had the pleasure to read lots of these VNs. Even before being aware of Adult VNs, I played Katawa Shoujo which left an impression, but in the end, maybe it was because its medium as an actual text based VN and focus made it less immersive than either of these two, no matter how influential and cultural it is as a piece.

And about the chances? I think its bittersweet. Simply bittersweet that, the reality is we are often more broken than not, and yet, it can be our defining traits, and our worst demons. I god damn love Bella for being the epitome of boss bitch, like a tomboy and a girl with a sexy look she knows she has. Is it objectively annoying that she feels like antagonizing everyone over small things? Absolutely! Do we love her for it? Absolutely! You can't have the confidence and feisty attitude without actually clashing with it. It pains me to say, but at the beginning I *begrudgingly* accepted to do stuff with her in a nice manner, since she was so hard to approach with the stinking attitude, but never would I have thought I would have done a larger than humanly possible spin on that opinion in the opposite direction. Just this has left me so jawdropped, that I will genuinely recall it next time I actually encounter this in real life and do a double take before I plunge in a decision. Still gave her shit tho for smack talking Mila, who bless her is as sweet as Victoria. If you love someone steer them in the right direction even if it means being harsh!

 

[Coldmatter]

I disagree all I would have to do is find her

new boyfriend kill him and I dumped the body and no one would ever find it

move on and let go find someone else

you keep saying all these different words but all I hear is one word coming out of your mouth weakness
View attachment 1409591

date Bella this is Team Bella

View attachment 1409605

Vidal, my man, I totally get you. Bella is love, Bella is life.

 

[Coldmatter]

Also can someone confirm me a suspicion I've got? The matter of fact is, going into gallery shows me the 5 girls, which in current circumstances, gives me the hint that they are the 5 main love interests of Protag. I accept it, of course, but I'm actually surprised not to see Victoria on there, for I expected her and Maja to be quite the package for protag to handle and love.

 

[Soundgfx]

I don't mind the girls I reject finding love with someone else but I don't want the girl I'm in love with going on dates with anybody else I don't want to see Bella being kissed by anyone else

if I'm in love with the girl and if I'm on her route I don't want to see her with anyone else

sis I hope you don't think less of me for that

I know it's probably selfish but seeing Bella with anyone else when I'm on her route would kill me

Ya, let's use Bella as an example as you and I are both on her route - right now, we are not in an exclusive relationship with Bella. Rumors are going around that we are, but we've never had a conversation with Bella about this as she basically ran and is now fortified in her bedroom in hiding.

So how would you react at this point (remember, not exclusive yet) if she comes back to school in a week or so, completely avoids the MC, but eventually you hear she's 'talking' with some other guy or is just seen around the halls with another dude who's walking her to classes, etc.? Would you have an emotional meltdown (it's okay if the answer is yes, I'm just asking, not judging or criticizing)? For me in that situation, I'd be offended but I wouldn't completely flip out just from her talking to another guy. Now if the character started getting sexual with another guy while we had something sort of going / developing (like we do with Bella now), I'd just write her off and look for another woman (would do the same thing IRL, too) - if I just saw her with another guy or heard she was talking with another dude / dating etc. I would just want a route in the game where I could have a good lane of communication to see what was up, especially after the result of the date we'd just had in an attempt to put the cards on the table so-to-speak.

To LadyFortuna's point - I see the same thing she described - in so many games if some (not all, but some) players so much as detect another male sniffing around the area their LI was in, they declare NTR and go nuts. So I do find it fascinating to see what other players are okay and not okay with. And in a story like this, where the developer is intending romantic relationship development as the main priority, having other guys involved sometimes really can help with that because when jealousy comes into play (as long as cheating doesn't occur) it can really resolve in a heartfelt way when two characters realize they really care about each other and handle things in a mature manner - Bella has already had a few instances where she gets irritated / jealous because the MC just mentions another female's name or goes and says hi to one - that can go both ways. If the LI is talking to another good looking guy and the player is a little jealous but the LI isn't really up to anything nefarious, just having an innocent chat (think Josy with Lucas in the cafeteria in Being A DIK and then expand it to be more repetitive in terms of interactions, possibly flirtatious if there is no exclusivity) that can drive additional emotional attachment in a good way.

the anti-NTR cult would swoop in and burn ocean at the stake just for the thought of other love interest going so much as touching another dude's skin or something.


but that is an interesting point, like, it'd be cool if mila, victoria and others get together with someone other than the protagonist if we're not on their route; it makes the world alive and dynamic and removes any feeling of the world revolving around one single guy like how most AVNs usually end up feeling.

but I don't think this is totally necessary though nor is it going to happen, there are other ways to make the world feel more alive and dynamic, characterization is one thing and this already has plenty, we just have to give it time - probably a long time - to cook and we'll have our selves something better than what's perceived as the best in this site.

 

[jaw1986baby]

Ocean wants triangles and not full harems
Well this is the mutha fukkn BEST triangle:

I honestly don't need to romance ANY one else and I don't care if Summer is Gone forever

I need that 3some right there.

Spoiler: Nojiko is on board

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PEACE

 

[Cabin Fever]

I'm not building up a slow burn connection to ruin it with something as cheap as a "Dream scene" or "Fantasy scene."

Maybe it's just me, but I read that as shades at a certain hugely popular AVN game...

 

[The_Hybrid]

Ocean wants triangles and not full harems
Well this is the mutha fukkn BEST triangle:
View attachment 1409756
I honestly don't need to romance ANY one else and I don't care if Summer is Gone forever

I need that 3some right there.

Spoiler: Nojiko is on board

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PEACE

Noooo. The best triangle is/will always be Bella and Sasha

 

[Razrback16]

Ocean wants triangles and not full harems

Ya, no offense intended toward the folks who are into harems, but I was so happy when he said that. I'm more of a monogamous guy and generally dig and go after romance / exclusive relationships so very encouraging to hear that's basically what we're looking at long-term, here, with some love triangle drama injected in.

 

[Dragon59]

Leia, Nami, and Sasha. What's their connection?
View attachment 1408689 View attachment 1408690 View attachment 1408691 View attachment 1408692

Perhaps Ocean didn't budget for more than one earring asset?

 

[Violet Lee]

Noooo. The best triangle is/will always be Bella and Sasha

What about Nadia and Zara, huh??

 

[Soundgfx]

What about Nadia and Zara, huh??
View attachment 1409883

I love zara's looks tbh



But so far we've only seen so few of her, we'll have to wait and see

Perhaps Ocean didn't budget for more than one earring asset?

Nami did tried to ask Sasha about it before stopping because plot demands they postpone talking about it because they were running out of screentime.

 

[Terminator_26F]

What about Nadia and Zara, huh??
View attachment 1409883

I am damned !! I have never been undressed by two females like these, whether in a college bathroom or anywhere else. Not in real life, however ...