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

[John972]

There are not much information where did they live before. The only thing Nami said:
"We went to a high school way in the west."

And we know that MC has (had?) an uncle who taught him to play basketball. Who is his uncle? Does this mean that MC knew his birth parents? Where is his uncle now? How are Noji and uncle related? There are no answer

Well, there's also the question of when and why did Nojiko move and isolate the MC and Nami away from their own relatives and Nojiko's circle of friends?

Was it when they were much younger and because of the Zanes? Or was it when they were teens and because of Summer?

How many times has Nojiko moved them? Is the house they live in now the same one they lived in when Summer was around?

So many questions...

The game lays out pretty well the school histories of the main characters.

The MC, Nami, Nia, and Summer went to that high school out west. The rest of the characters attended another one or two high schools more or less together. The difference in high schools seems geographic rather than socio-economic. Well-to-do Summer attended the same high school as average Nika, Nami, and Nia. Dirt poor Mila attended the same high school as well-to-do [insert name of posh character here].

Addendum:

MC, Nami, Nia, Summer = Tropics High School "out west".

Bella, Ayua, Mila, Nadia, Kate, Jeff, Trey, Aziz = all attended same unnamed High School, different from Tropics HS.

Zara, Vic = High School not stated, although both attended same Elementary and/or Middle School as Mila.

 

[John972]

well, if that were to happen, Nika would probably get his erection back.

View attachment 3056387

In that specific scenario, only if Ocean can come out of hiding for long enough to write an erection into the game... /s

 

[John972]

Isn’t Kelly, by any chance, Daphne’s daughter? Her religious inclination, earrings like Daphne’s, eyes, but her breasts are from Willie’s mother’s side.

I can't shake this nagging feeling in the back of my head that SG could become the GOAT inbred/incest game ever ["What do you mean I just shagged by half-sister? I thought she was my cousin."]

 

[BobTheDuck]

I can't shake this nagging feeling in the back of my head that SG could become the GOAT inbred/incest game ever ["What do you mean I just shagged by half-sister? I thought she was my cousin."]

I mean, it really did all begin with Willi's pee pee

 

[goldenrhino]

I am now an Adrianna fan.

 

[Tysonator2000]

Dunno, her friends and most people in school know her and her reputation. Her friends would know this is a topic that hurt her and they wouldn't tell a completely newcomer (Nika) about it, and the others might not mention it simply cause they're scared, cause she has the reputation of being crazy and violent.

Fair point. For that outburst about the picture to not be addressed by now, isn't normal. It's a sensitive topic sure, but Bella talks to her sister about him like she's in love. I've met actual crazy, violent women in my own life, Bella mostly acts the part. She has more bark than bite. Real psychopaths don't feel guilty about hurting others. She felt bad just by mentioning Thomas' cheating ways to Brenda.

 

[Fun Shaundi]

Fair point. For that outburst about the picture to not be addressed by now, isn't normal. It's a sensitive topic sure, but Bella talks to her sister about him like she's in love. I've met actual crazy, violent women in my own life, Bella mostly acts the part. She has more bark than bite. Real psychopaths don't feel guilty about hurting others. She felt bad just by mentioning Thomas' cheating ways to Brenda.

Addressed by who, though, Nika? Her friends? Bella herself?
And true, Bella talks fondly of Nika both if she's fooling around with him or if she's in friendly terms with him (Haven't tested a playthrough where he threats her, though). Bella suffers from what I call the 'beaten dog syndrome': A dog that has been abused in the past will bark and sometimes even bite any human that approaches them after they're rescued, and it takes some time for them to heal enough to overcome the trauma and allow contact.
I don't believe she's a true psycopath, cause we can see different scenarios where she feels empathy and compassion (Like you mentioned, feeling bad about Brenda, feeling protective of her shorty rude friend, recognizing and complimenting people when she knows they're nice, caring about Nika after his fight with Sai, reassuring him that taking therapy with her mum will help him, etc).
But sadly, people know her for her outbursts and how her behavior changed (the beaten dog) after Melanie Ceril bullied her, cause there's when she started to viciously attack people like Mila in such way that people started to recognize her for that, and that's why Jeff warns us about her. Hell, she gets so mad at you over such a small thing that she ends up hurting Nika during a match, and even her own mum thought she had beaten Nika and immediately scolded her.

 

[yossa999]

[...] No sex content is a perfect example. It's a literal plot point in the VN through Nika's PTSD and impotence but people decide it can't be criticized because there is a disclaimer. When no it's literally part of the plot the decision for it to be there is absolutely open to been criticized or disliked as much as any part of a plot or theme is.

Bro, I see on your userpic Maya about to swallow a footlong?
How about me starting to criticize you for that and demanding to change the fucking userpic?
Inb4: You wouldn't dare change it just to prove me wrong.

And I will go on and on telling tales that Maya is a very inexperienced, gentle and decent person and you shouldn't degrade her like this. And don’t even try to tell me that this is absurd, I know it perfectly well. But I'm entitled to criticize your userpic, don't I? Since you never changed your userpic after my criticism, I will follow your every message, facepalm it and comment that you are a pathetic Maya hater, that you cannot stand the slightest criticism and because of this you have hidden your profile. And that it's not Maya who should be the cockgobbler on this userpic, but someone else who humiliates her.

That's pretty much what many of the "sex-when?"-ers do; they don't make points why, given the existing plot, the MC should start fucking everything that moves right now. They don't make points why the plot should be changed to naturally allow the MC to fuck anything that moves right now. They demand and make insults. But even if they give their reasons for adding sex content in the game this instant, why should those reasons be accepted by others, including the author? Why is that?

And even if the author says ten times, "sorry guys, but this is the story I want to tell, if you can't accept that, then this game probably isn't for you" - they don't just leave the 1-star rating and comment "Not my cup of tea, way too long to wait for any sex scenes to appear in the game, if they appear at all." and go away. They will constantly return to this thread, leaving offensive comments about the author, the game and those who like the game.

So, the sex content is a perfect example of what so-called criticism should not be.

 

[Nurikabe]

Yeah, I can imagine the F95 riots if Ocean had a future chapter where the MC woke up, walked to the bathroom, and opened to door to see the naked back and ass of a showering woman. The woman slowly turns around in a very Bobby Ewing-esque way. It's Summer. She looks at the MC quizzingly and asks, "Nika, what's the matter?"

Look at you name-dropping Bobby Ewing out of nowhere! I see you!

 

[John972]

Bro, I see on your userpic Maya about to swallow a footlong?
How about me starting to criticize you for that and demanding to change the fucking userpic?
Inb4: You wouldn't dare change it just to prove me wrong.

And I will go on and on telling tales that Maya is a very inexperienced, gentle and decent person and you shouldn't degrade her like this. And don’t even try to tell me that this is absurd, I know it perfectly well. But I'm entitled to criticize your userpic, don't I? Since you never changed your userpic after my criticism, I will follow your every message, facepalm it and comment that you are a pathetic Maya hater, that you cannot stand the slightest criticism and because of this you have hidden your profile. And that it's not Maya who should be the cockgobbler on this userpic, but someone else who humiliates her.

That's pretty much what many of the "sex-when?"-ers do; they don't make points why, given the existing plot, the MC should start fucking everything that moves right now. They don't make points why the plot should be changed to naturally allow the MC to fuck anything that moves right now. They demand and make insults. But even if they give their reasons for adding sex content in the game this instant, why should those reasons be accepted by others, including the author? Why is that?

And even if the author says ten times, "sorry guys, but this is the story I want to tell, if you can't accept that, then this game probably isn't for you" - they don't just leave the 1-star rating and comment "Not my cup of tea, way too long to wait for any sex scenes to appear in the game, if they appear at all." and go away. They will constantly return to this thread, leaving offensive comments about the author, the game and those who like the game.

So, the sex content is a perfect example of what so-called criticism should not be.

A common trend I see here are original fans who were attracted to/turned on by playing a psychotic, abusive, manipulative MC in the first incarnation of SG (pitted against an equally psychotic, abusive, manipulative Bella). Many haven't forgiven Ocean for taking their candy away by reworking the game and story.

I can empathize to a point, but not for those who can't move on and mask their disappointment by shitting on Ocean and the reworks in a sea of negativity whenever they can.

People can be their own judge. With a little digging, the original chapters 1 and 2 can be found, downloaded and played.

We all have our opinions and we all 'read' SG through the lens of our own personal lives and experience.

A part of me thinks Ocean had a dig at all of this (our speculation, putting SG through a microscope, divining Ocean's intentions) during the bookclub discussion in Chapter 5...

Spoiler: Heed Sasha & Co's Words...

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[John972]

Look at you name-dropping Bobby Ewing out of nowhere! I see you!

I kinda had to otherwise those unaware of the Mother of All Baits-and-Switch/Retconns in television history, wouldn't be able to Google the reference...

 

[yossa999]

A common trend I see here are original fans who were attracted to/turned on by playing a psychotic, abusive, manipulative MC in the first incarnation of SG (pitted against an equally psychotic, abusive, manipulative Bella). Many haven't forgiven Ocean for taking their candy away by reworking the game and story.

I can empathize to a point, but not for those who can't move on and mask their disappointment by shitting on Ocean and the reworks in a sea of negativity whenever they can. [...]

Ah, man, this topic should also be banned from discussion at the dinner table, like religion and politics
Because it is really difficult to find a constructive point on this topic that would satisfy both sides.

Psycho MC initially attracted a lot of people to the game. To deny this would be simply hypocritical. The MC remained like this until the middle of the current season, and then the author changed him drastically. I understand perfectly well that many considered this a cheating, so it turns out that the author lied to them for the half the game? (To be fair, some decisions previously limited or lowered the MC's insanity level and made him more similar to the current default MC.)

And the author has repeatedly explained the reasons for such changes, and has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the game is a work in progress, it is not finished, some things may change in the future, and this must be taken into account before starting a game.

Both sides have valid arguments, and both have their reasons for being disappointed in each other. People asked: "Well, Ocean, you want to make the MC softer and saner, okay, but you have already prepared everything for this, these infamous dark and light paths. Let us have our psycho chad we like on the dark path and play with your wuss emo on the light path as much as you want."

But the author answered this too, and with the last chapters we ourselves see that the story is branching out more and more. There are many new storylines unfolding. And adding a dark path on top of all of this would require not only doubling the amount of content, but also exponentially increasing the number of story branches. He just can't handle it. Therefore, he had to make a choice in favor of one of the options, and those who disagreed with his choice became the biggest critics of the game. But again, these are religious wars rather than constructive criticism.

 

[Mortarion]

Yeah, I can imagine the F95 riots if Ocean had a future chapter where the MC woke up, walked to the bathroom, and opened the door to see the naked back and ass of a showering woman. The woman slowly turns around in a very Bobby Ewing-esque way. It's Summer. She looks at the MC quizzingly and asks, "Nika, what's the matter?"

Watching Dallas has done some bad things with your mind dude

 

[Killerkaz88]

I was in my 20s when I saw this game online. I am well into my 30s and this game has turned into more of a novel than an adult game. The author will be dead before he gets half done with this project. Good luck to everyone waiting for season that will be 6 years maybe more. Good luck on the steam release though.

 

[John972]

Ah, man, this topic should also be banned from discussion at the dinner table, like religion and politics
Because it is really difficult to find a constructive point on this topic that would satisfy both sides.

Psycho MC initially attracted a lot of people to the game. To deny this would be simply hypocritical. The MC remained like this until the middle of the current season, and then the author changed him drastically. I understand perfectly well that many considered this a cheating, so it turns out that the author lied to them for the half the game? (To be fair, some decisions previously limited or lowered the MC's insanity level and made him more similar to the current default MC.)

And the author has repeatedly explained the reasons for such changes, and has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the game is a work in progress, it is not finished, some things may change in the future, and this must be taken into account before starting a game.

Both sides have valid arguments, and both have their reasons for being disappointed in each other. People asked: "Well, Ocean, you want to make the MC softer and saner, okay, but you have already prepared everything for this, these infamous dark and light paths. Let us have our psycho chad we like on the dark path and play with your wuss emo on the light path as much as you want."

But the author answered this too, and with the last chapters we ourselves see that the story is branching out more and more. There are many new storylines unfolding. And adding a dark path on top of all of this would require not only doubling the amount of content, but also exponentially increasing the number of story branches. He just can't handle it. Therefore, he had to make a choice in favor of one of the options, and those who disagreed with his choice became the biggest critics of the game. But again, these are religious wars rather than constructive criticism.

Well, at least Ocean was upfront about it. Yes, people have a very valid reason to be disappointed and/or angry with the change in tone, and they might well argue that Ocean did a bait-and-switch on them with SG. But, like I said, there comes a time to move on ...and that time passed a while ago.

SG lost something after Ch 2 when Ocean took the game back over, but it arguably also gained so much more.

 

[John972]

Watching Dallas has done some bad things with your mind dude

Second-hand smoke or collateral damage, I'm afraid. I wouldn't be caught dead watching Dallas, even more so when I was young. However, it was almost impossible to turn on a TV, read a magazine or newspaper back then and not hear about the infamous shower scene ...and I know, it's sacrilege to mention that scene and Summer in the same breath.

 

[John972]

I was in my 20s when I saw this game online. I am well into my 30s and this game has turned into more of a novel than an adult game. The author will be dead before he gets half done with this project. Good luck to everyone waiting for season that will be 6 years maybe more. Good luck on the steam release though.

Considering how relatively young Ocean is (around 26), is that a threat? Asking for a friend...

 

[yossa999]

I was in my 20s when I saw this game online. I am well into my 30s and this game has turned into more of a novel than an adult game. The author will be dead before he gets half done with this project. Good luck to everyone waiting for season that will be 6 years maybe more. Good luck on the steam release though.

 

[PaxHadrian17]

So, didn't play this awesomness for a year and a half. I was about to play that update, but just read that Chapter 5 Full will also feature the rework of Chapter 2's renders, and that saves from the beta won't be portable. Should I wait for full version? Do we know about a timeline for it?

I would wait even longer:
- Chapter 2 still is very unfinished and has many dead paths (variables for them were removed in the Chapter 1 remake) + there's practically no audio
- Chapter 3 is also unfinished and has lengthy sections with no audio
- Chapter 5 is still "Beta"

I think it's best to wait for the full Episode 1 (chapters 1-5).
At the current pace, finishing chapters 2/3/5 will still take a year or so.

Here is what Ocean said:

(Ocean Dev Log on Oct 12, 2023)

So the release timetable looks as follows:

1. SG Chapter 5 Beta - October
2. WiAB Chapter 3 Beta - November
3. WiAB Chapter 3 Full - November/December (2 weeks after the Beta.)
4. SG Chapter 5 Full & Steam release- December/January (It completes the last part of the rework.)

So, your timetable of 1 year is only off by 9 months...

Chapter 2 is the only part of the rework that is left to finish.

Per prior dev logs, Ocean said that he was already more than 50% complete with it prior to the CH 5 B release.

As to missing music - yes, some music has been removed due to licensing issues.

Did you try to use the music mod which restores this music (and thanks to Azk66 for creating this mod)?

This mod is on page 1, and it has been updated for CH 5 B.

It's okay to not have the answer to someone's question.

You can ask about the status of SG on this thread, and if you do, you will find that there are many helpful members in this community who will respond.

Let's keep the misinformation out of this thread.

Cheers!!

 

[Tysonator2000]

Addressed by who, though, Nika? Her friends? Bella herself?
And true, Bella talks fondly of Nika both if she's fooling around with him or if she's in friendly terms with him (Haven't tested a playthrough where he threats her, though). Bella suffers from what I call the 'beaten dog syndrome': A dog that has been abused in the past will bark and sometimes even bite any human that approaches them after they're rescued, and it takes some time for them to heal enough to overcome the trauma and allow contact.
I don't believe she's a true psycopath, cause we can see different scenarios where she feels empathy and compassion (Like you mentioned, feeling bad about Brenda, feeling protective of her shorty rude friend, recognizing and complimenting people when she knows they're nice, caring about Nika after his fight with Sai, reassuring him that taking therapy with her mum will help him, etc).
But sadly, people know her for her outbursts and how her behavior changed (the beaten dog) after Melanie Ceril bullied her, cause there's when she started to viciously attack people like Mila in such way that people started to recognize her for that, and that's why Jeff warns us about her. Hell, she gets so mad at you over such a small thing that she ends up hurting Nika during a match, and even her own mum thought she had beaten Nika and immediately scolded her.

"Remember that time I made you impotent? Well, here's my comatose sister." Is that how Bella is going to finally break the news? Just open the door and have them meet that way? I get the reveal was a plot twist, but her scenario makes zero sense. You couldn't even be friends with someone if you had to worry about outbursts, triggered from a picture inquiry. Yet I'm supposed to believe they'd make out like horny teenagers before talking about that? That's one of the biggest reasons why I denied her in most of my playthroughs. It's a recipe for disaster going after her.