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

[BobTheDuck]

OK, this post continues a conversation in the WIAB thread, because it no longer belongs there:

https://f95zone.to/threads/where-it-all-began-ch-3-full-oceanlab.19856/post-12751026

In reply:

Spoiler: Changelog SG Ch1 & 1a

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Spoiler: Changelog SG Ch 2B & 2F

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Spoiler: Chapter 3B & 3F Changelog

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Personally, these changelogs just show me the vast levels of insane work Ocean has actually put in, including all the computer fails. Whatever the case originally was is almost irrelevant, because those old versions exist as evolutionary dead ends. Both are now Ocean's story and both are connected.

I understand why some people feel shafted, but personally I enjoy the reworks more because it is a cohesive universe. There is more space for imagination and interpretation, trying to figure it out; it's like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

The only thing I miss about the older versions is the visceral nature of the conversation. Now everything is a monologue, even when people are arguing it often sounds measured. The early versions spoke a lot more harshly; even if the dialogue was poor (I mean the dolphin thing was a joke), it felt far more immediate, while now everything feels studied.

I don't understand the idea of how Amber could be LI either. She encourages his daughter and Nika to be together. Even though we don't go the Bella route in the story, Bella starts to like us. In this regard, what kind of emotional bond can Amber and Nika form? How can they be in a relationship together? How could the so-called "love" path develop between them? I just can't get it into my head. Because SG is more than just a simple sex game. There's a story here, the main focus is not on fucking every woman you find.

I always end up on the Bella path at the moment, but maybe if you side with Amber saying Bella needs a strict hand and so on, maybe that sets up something? I really don't know. It could also be due to Amber being repressed herself, piercings, a sister like Claire and a friend like Dani (presumably that's who it was who stared at Nika) suggests she's not as homely as she appears. I mean, she hangs out with porn stars and adult writers as well as (seemingly) finding partners for Stephanie, so I can only assume it happens as a sort of accident thing where they get to close and actions take matters into their own hands.

 

[PaxHadrian17]

I don't understand the idea of how Amber could be LI either. She encourages her daughter and Nika to be together. Even though we don't go the Bella route in the story, Bella starts to like us. In this regard, what kind of emotional bond can Amber and Nika form? How can they be in a relationship together? How could the so-called "love" path develop between them? I just can't get it into my head. Because SG is more than just a simple sex game. There's a story here, the main focus is not on fucking every woman you find.

Here are a few thoughts for you:

Spoiler: Bella First:

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Spoiler: Now to Amber:

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Spoiler: Amber's Teddy Bear

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I think this sharing, on the way to the cabin and throughout the cabin trip, will be critical to offering choices that will lead to greater emotional and physical intimacy between Amber and the MC.

Ocean is a very good storyteller and I'm curious how all of my thoughts will play out when we see the cabin trip and watch the potential evolution of the Amber/MC relationship.

Cheers!!

 

[Razrback16]

I don't understand the idea of how Amber could be LI either. She encourages her daughter and Nika to be together. Even though we don't go the Bella route in the story, Bella starts to like us. In this regard, what kind of emotional bond can Amber and Nika form? How can they be in a relationship together? How could the so-called "love" path develop between them? I just can't get it into my head. Because SG is more than just a simple sex game. There's a story here, the main focus is not on fucking every woman you find.

Bella & Amber aren't compatible on the same run, so if you're interested in Amber you basically want to stay on friendly terms with Bella, but not romantic. Amber does try to sort of encourage a relationship between the MC & Bella as she appears to believe the two can help each other heal (and she's not wrong), but for a player who wants Amber you have to avoid this.

Ultimately the Amber LI route obviously hasn't even really started yet. The door is opened up with a choice you can make in the latest update at the Bookclub where you can say that "someone here has gotten my attention" (can't remember the exact wording of that choice, sorry) but that's the extent so far. Gotta figure Amber is married, and clearly has significant name recognition in the area (I suspect her husband is a crime syndicate boss or otherwise powerful political figure that we obviously haven't met yet). This choice will make its way back to Amber and the relationship will continue developing from there. Right now it's just a doctor / patient relationship but it's clearly going to develop into a lot more depending on your choices. I would guess Amber has a lot of trauma herself with what happened to her daughter, the difficulties with raising Bella as a result, and potentially with a husband who is never there (and who probably isn't a very good person to boot)...there's likely to be some bonding taking place there once MC & Amber open up to each other a bit. It's just not something that can happen very quickly.

Even once the relationship itself begins, I'd bet it's going to be pretty private for a while given Amber's situation. Imagine how Bella is going to react when she finds out...and all the other people in the town that apparently know who Amber is (likely because of her husband, whoever he is)...got the potential for a ton of drama on the way, there.

I always end up on the Bella path at the moment, but maybe if you side with Amber saying Bella needs a strict hand and so on, maybe that sets up something? I really don't know. It could also be due to Amber being repressed herself, piercings, a sister like Claire and a friend like Dani (presumably that's who it was who stared at Nika) suggests she's not as homely as she appears. I mean, she hangs out with porn stars and adult writers as well as (seemingly) finding partners for Stephanie, so I can only assume it happens as a sort of accident thing where they get to close and actions take matters into their own hands.

Ya it's honestly difficult not to end up on the Bella path on an initial playthrough - she's obviously very attractive and the game practically steers you onto her route.

The choice with Amber and Bella in the living room - Amber actually reacts more favorably (saw it in one of the walkthroughs) if you stand up for Bella there. She loves her daughter and wants to protect her so if she feels like you also have Bella's back she finds that endearing, just as it boosts her love score if you tell her about finding Marla crying - she clearly values empathetic character traits and people with solid morals.

Amber is a tough one to figure out like you noted - sexy fucking nipple studs (hope those are never leaving, hah), wearing sexy dresses here and there, easily the most attractive woman in the game (at least to me), described by her sister as a prude, and described by Marla as being a very caring person. Probably has some issues herself that she has to deal with privately due to having to be outwardly strong for Bella and her other daughter. I could be wrong, but I think her route is going to be pretty fun. I imagine the MC & her will do quite a bit of sharing on their trip to the cabin within the next few chapters. The choice in the bookclub I think opens the Amber route (and likely the route to other older women there as well that the player might be interested in), but I believe if you avoid the other women trying to flirt with you at the book club (Amber will no doubt notice these things, she's very observant as part of her job), it will make the cabin trip the potential early first steps into an intimate route with her.

 

[Gold613]

@John972

So yeah, I have no downloaded, SG 1a - 1b - 2b - 2 - 3Full and 5B ( never played 4 was not actually planning on doing 5B either but for sake of our discussion I decided to do download and do it. )

Now given this is a lot to go through, I won't be able to do it in one day, However I did play from Each of those the first parts all the way till you speak to Nami in your room ( where you have the choice in the latest to make. insensitive joke, joke or nothing )

I can see exactly where ocean's works was put in during that small period. I also downloaded WiAB 0.6 older one that is on there but I also managed to find a older 0.5 compressed release. so I will be having a go at those. Unfortunately coming across ChangeLogs or Devlogs itself is not easy within the games itself as most patreon related stuff are gone. BUT thanks to F95 itself. People have posted quite a few of them. So what I did was compile it all including my opinions what I found etc etc all in to a Notepad Doc ( which I had written in Notepad++ ) I suggest you use that to open the file or it will be an absolute mess. But yeah. Ill link it here for you. However I will give you a headsup right now... There is a LOT written and by a lot I mean you will have a lot to read but also a bit more from the center all the way to the end is ALL the Patreon logs etc etc that I could find and links too. So you can check and read them yourself Also with my opinion on each of them.

It is a lot but hey, I am pretty much sick as fk health wise right now so I got nothing but time.. or at least I would love to believe.. till the headache and shit starts kicking in.

So what ill do is Ill link it her. Feel free to download. And feel free to write me your own version in Notepad++ or whatever and link it to me, or even DM me if you want to continue, because I do not think it would be right to hijack and make a whole debate on whether I am right or wrong and going off topic here. As I think we both agree that I am not talking about his games being the issue but merely the fact people say it was connected from the day one of their conception.

PS Edit: One last thing I forgot to mention, is that all the way to O.5 of WiAB release ( this is from my testing of the 0.5 release vs the 0.6 old we currently have on their main page, MC never had a name. He received the default William name ONLY on update 6. )

 

[StingerWolf]

Does someone know an estimated release date? I saw WIAB was released recently, so it should be SG s turn, or am I mistaken?

 

[BobTheDuck]

Does someone know an estimated release date? I saw WIAB was released recently, so it should be SG s turn, or am I mistaken?

In one of the recent dev logs, Ocean's said the plan is to get the steam release out by the end of Jan. My interpretation is he wants to get the candidate for the steam release completed and submitted by the end of Jan, and it'll be available on steam after they approve it I guess. Chances are we'll see it in 2-3 weeks when it inevitably leaks.

@John972

So yeah, I have no downloaded, SG 1a - 1b - 2b - 2 - 3Full and 5B ( never played 4 was not actually planning on doing 5B either but for sake of our discussion I decided to do download and do it. )

Now given this is a lot to go through, I won't be able to do it in one day, However I did play from Each of those the first parts all the way till you speak to Nami in your room ( where you have the choice in the latest to make. insensitive joke, joke or nothing )

I can see exactly where ocean's works was put in during that small period. I also downloaded WiAB 0.6 older one that is on there but I also managed to find a older 0.5 compressed release. so I will be having a go at those. Unfortunately coming across ChangeLogs or Devlogs itself is not easy within the games itself as most patreon related stuff are gone. BUT thanks to F95 itself. People have posted quite a few of them. So what I did was compile it all including my opinions what I found etc etc all in to a Notepad Doc ( which I had written in Notepad++ ) I suggest you use that to open the file or it will be an absolute mess. But yeah. Ill link it here for you. However I will give you a headsup right now... There is a LOT written and by a lot I mean you will have a lot to read but also a bit more from the center all the way to the end is ALL the Patreon logs etc etc that I could find and links too. So you can check and read them yourself Also with my opinion on each of them.

It is a lot but hey, I am pretty much sick as fk health wise right now so I got nothing but time.. or at least I would love to believe.. till the headache and shit starts kicking in.

So what ill do is Ill link it her. Feel free to download. And feel free to write me your own version in Notepad++ or whatever and link it to me, or even DM me if you want to continue, because I do not think it would be right to hijack and make a whole debate on whether I am right or wrong and going off topic here. As I think we both agree that I am not talking about his games being the issue but merely the fact people say it was connected from the day one of their conception.

Haven't read the full document, good effort. My quick thoughts (after this reply I'll DM):
- Not sure whether Ocean and Regium was the same person, but I wouldn't be surprised; I always wondered if Ocean was Regium. I would have to compare the style of writing in forum posts, but from a pragmatic view, having a separate patreon for each project with no visible ties meant he could focus on the one that was more popular. Or if one got taken down for content, it'd be easy enough to keep going with the other. AFAIK the reason that the two patreon exist separately is that the headache of closing down the WiaB one would mean the patrons would need to subscribe to SG, which is not a guarantee. I actually think this is a positive - each group of patrons forces continued development specifically for the individual games, not just support for Ocean generally. But also, Regium could've just gotten sick of the demands of patrons and gotten completely out.
- If each game was started as a 'fishing expedition' they have separate stories to see which would gain the most traction. Hence the polls. Once both games got past the critical mass to survive without fan content steering the ship, the games both became more consistent.
- The change in style in WiaB 6 and SG 3.5 would be due to maybe learning new software approaches which weren't possible on more limited hardware, implementing them and then realising everything else looked worse, triggering the redos. I don't think it's a result of wanting to change the direction at that point, but simply having greater capacity to do something and wondering how it'd work. We start seeing hair style fluctuate around this time as Ocean discovers the joys of floating hair in SG and Wiab's MC goes through three different models in CH6 I think.
- My gut feeling is that the games were both written by Ocean, but the 'connection from the start' is a retcon. Both games were to some extent developed to please the patrons, and then once reaching sufficient size, Ocean decided it's easier to work on both when they're consistent to each other.

If I think of more to say, I'll DM.

 

[BobTheDuck]

Bella & Amber aren't compatible on the same run, so if you're interested in Amber you basically want to stay on friendly terms with Bella, but not romantic. Amber does try to sort of encourage a relationship between the MC & Bella as she appears to believe the two can help each other heal (and she's not wrong), but for a player who wants Amber you have to avoid this.

Ultimately the Amber LI route obviously hasn't even really started yet. The door is opened up with a choice you can make in the latest update at the Bookclub where you can say that "someone here has gotten my attention" (can't remember the exact wording of that choice, sorry) but that's the extent so far. Gotta figure Amber is married, and clearly has significant name recognition in the area (I suspect her husband is a crime syndicate boss or otherwise powerful political figure that we obviously haven't met yet). This choice will make its way back to Amber and the relationship will continue developing from there. Right now it's just a doctor / patient relationship but it's clearly going to develop into a lot more depending on your choices. I would guess Amber has a lot of trauma herself with what happened to her daughter, the difficulties with raising Bella as a result, and potentially with a husband who is never there (and who probably isn't a very good person to boot)...there's likely to be some bonding taking place there once MC & Amber open up to each other a bit. It's just not something that can happen very quickly.

Even once the relationship itself begins, I'd bet it's going to be pretty private for a while given Amber's situation. Imagine how Bella is going to react when she finds out...and all the other people in the town that apparently know who Amber is (likely because of her husband, whoever he is)...got the potential for a ton of drama on the way, there.



Ya it's honestly difficult not to end up on the Bella path on an initial playthrough - she's obviously very attractive and the game practically steers you onto her route.

The choice with Amber and Bella in the living room - Amber actually reacts more favorably (saw it in one of the walkthroughs) if you stand up for Bella there. She loves her daughter and wants to protect her so if she feels like you also have Bella's back she finds that endearing, just as it boosts her love score if you tell her about finding Marla crying - she clearly values empathetic character traits and people with solid morals.

Amber is a tough one to figure out like you noted - sexy fucking nipple studs (hope those are never leaving, hah), wearing sexy dresses here and there, easily the most attractive woman in the game (at least to me), described by her sister as a prude, and described by Marla as being a very caring person. Probably has some issues herself that she has to deal with privately due to having to be outwardly strong for Bella and her other daughter. I could be wrong, but I think her route is going to be pretty fun. I imagine the MC & her will do quite a bit of sharing on their trip to the cabin within the next few chapters. The choice in the bookclub I think opens the Amber route (and likely the route to other older women there as well that the player might be interested in), but I believe if you avoid the other women trying to flirt with you at the book club (Amber will no doubt notice these things, she's very observant as part of her job), it will make the cabin trip the potential early first steps into an intimate route with her.

I thought the husband was long gone - whether divorced or long term separated, and that's why Stefan is creeping on Amber. My guess is whatever happened to Bella's sister involved the dad being negligent or violent, and he's no longer part of their life. We don't know if Von Halen is Amber's family name or her absent/ex-husband's.

 

[StingerWolf]

In one of the recent dev logs, Ocean's said the plan is to get the steam release out by the end of Jan. My interpretation is he wants to get the candidate for the steam release completed and submitted by the end of Jan, and it'll be available on steam after they approve it I guess. Chances are we'll see it in 2-3 weeks when it inevitably leaks.



Haven't read the full document, good effort. My quick thoughts (after this reply I'll DM):
- Not sure whether Ocean and Regium was the same person, but I wouldn't be surprised; I always wondered if Ocean was Regium. I would have to compare the style of writing in forum posts, but from a pragmatic view, having a separate patreon for each project with no visible ties meant he could focus on the one that was more popular. Or if one got taken down for content, it'd be easy enough to keep going with the other. AFAIK the reason that the two patreon exist separately is that the headache of closing down the WiaB one would mean the patrons would need to subscribe to SG, which is not a guarantee. I actually think this is a positive - each group of patrons forces continued development specifically for the individual games, not just support for Ocean generally. But also, Regium could've just gotten sick of the demands of patrons and gotten completely out.
- If each game was started as a 'fishing expedition' they have separate stories to see which would gain the most traction. Hence the polls. Once both games got past the critical mass to survive without fan content steering the ship, the games both became more consistent.
- The change in style in WiaB 6 and SG 3.5 would be due to maybe learning new software approaches which weren't possible on more limited hardware, implementing them and then realising everything else looked worse, triggering the redos. I don't think it's a result of wanting to change the direction at that point, but simply having greater capacity to do something and wondering how it'd work. We start seeing hair style fluctuate around this time as Ocean discovers the joys of floating hair in SG and Wiab's MC goes through three different models in CH6 I think.
- My gut feeling is that the games were both written by Ocean, but the 'connection from the start' is a retcon. Both games were to some extent developed to please the patrons, and then once reaching sufficient size, Ocean decided it's easier to work on both when they're consistent to each other.

If I think of more to say, I'll DM.

Thanks, great info!

 

[Razrback16]

I thought the husband was long gone - whether divorced or long term separated, and that's why Stefan is creeping on Amber. My guess is whatever happened to Bella's sister involved the dad being negligent or violent, and he's no longer part of their life. We don't know if Von Halen is Amber's family name or her absent/ex-husband's.

You know, I don't remember if that is ever explicitly stated - I remember Bella saying she hopes he's dead; so what I took from that is that he's been away, but likely alive. Amber says that Bella has "seen some cruel things"...again, it's just kind of up to us to speculate there. I think if Amber was divorced / separated it would probably have been stated at some point, but your guess is as good as mine on that one. If you by chance find a render showing more definitive details that I may have forgotten I'd love to see it for confirmation so we'll all know for sure.

Either way I think that one will be a relationship where, due to the age difference and circumstances (her daughter going to school with the MC, and her having such name recognition in the area, as well as the MC likely making a name for himself on the sports teams and potentially with his lineage if Ocean goes that route), it'll be an entertaining relationship due to all the potential drama there as Amber will want to keep things private for a while to make sure things are in order before something like that could ever become public. And if her husband / ex husband ever shows up he could be another potential antagonist, hah. Good stuff.

 

[BobTheDuck]

You know, I don't remember if that is ever explicitly stated - I remember Bella saying she hopes he's dead; so what I took from that is that he's been away, but likely alive. Amber says that Bella has "seen some cruel things"...again, it's just kind of up to us to speculate there. I think if Amber was divorced / separated it would probably have been stated at some point, but your guess is as good as mine on that one. If you by chance find a render showing more definitive details that I may have forgotten I'd love to see it for confirmation so we'll all know for sure.

Either way I think that one will be a relationship where, due to the age difference and circumstances (her daughter going to school with the MC, and her having such name recognition in the area, as well as the MC likely making a name for himself on the sports teams and potentially with his lineage if Ocean goes that route), it'll be an entertaining relationship due to all the potential drama there as Amber will want to keep things private for a while to make sure things are in order before something like that could ever become public. And if her husband / ex husband ever shows up he could be another potential antagonist, hah. Good stuff.

I don't think it was explicitly stated, but the creepy neighbour wouldn't happen as easily with a husband living in the house. Bella wishes the Holgersons would die and hopes her dad's dead, so the father gets no love from her. Hoping he's dead implies she doesn't know how he is and hasn't seen him in a long time - that's the inference that they're at least separated. She then says that's all Nika needs to know - it's the second time he's over their house, so I don't think open discussion of Amber's relationships is on the cards yet, he barely asks for a drink.

Definitely the husband could come back, but that's really the same kind of trope as Summer reappearing. I kinda feel a lot of the dramas are based around the characters dealing with unresolved events in their past though, so there's plenty of chance for it to happen, I guess we'll see.

 

[alanrock]

Leechers are demanding debauchery at zero costs, which means anything goes according to them. Developers, be aware.

 

[HornyyPussy]

I never imagined that I would deeply wound the delicate emotional organization of the local masturbators. It's scary to even think about how you'll survive without your 'good emojis' (after all, aren't they your criteria for the right path in life?). Did you cry a lot in childhood when someone took away your cookies? But that's beside the point. What's more important is that this game is a tease, leading to sex and interrupting the process. The principle is very simple - the longer the author teases the player, giving hope for upcoming sexual scenes, the longer he receives money from the local droolers. But the fact that impotence is the obstacle to the main sexual act (while all the girls, each a supermodel, throw themselves at the protagonist) looks amusing.

Well, and yes, this website is not pornographic. Because sex is not its theme. And there are no pornographic games here. Breasts, vaginas, buttocks, incest, zoophilia, and sperm are just your imagination running wild.

P.S. Please don't put me on the ignore list; it will cause me emotional trauma.
P.P.S. This post wouldn't exist if the local sectarians hadn't gotten so worked up over my rather innocent remark.

God I truly hope you realize how idiotic your post is. Oh, also, your "sarcasm" really need a upgrade.........

 

[White cat6]

Definitely the husband could come back, but that's really the same kind of trope as Summer reappearing. I kinda feel a lot of the dramas are based around the characters dealing with unresolved events in their past though, so there's plenty of chance for it to happen, I guess we'll see.
You might be surprised but Summer is in the game from the very beginning. She is one of the girls in college. Her role in the novel is one of the key ones and is perhaps equal to the role of Nika. She is so important that Ocean used her name in the title of the novel.

 

[yossa999]

You might be surprised but Summer is in the game from the very beginning. She is one of the girls in college.

Please, don’t tell me that you are a follower of the “Sasha is Summer” cult?

 

[Deleted member 6923157]

Please, don’t tell me that you are a follower of the “Sasha is Summer” cult?

Was she killed, or did she just disappeared? So in the last case, why not. At least if we get to see an update...

I never understood why devs make 2 games at the same time...

 

[White cat6]

Please, don’t tell me that you are a follower of the “Sasha is Summer” cult?

Ocean blew out some smoke. This game has a double bottom. If you look at it from a different angle, many questions will disappear. And everything will fall into place. You will understand who Sasha is and who Summer is, you will understand who Vanessa is. You will understand what is happening with Bella and what women do in a boring book club.

 

[yossa999]

Was she killed, or did she just disappeared? So in the last case, why not. At least if we get to see an update...

It’s like watching the first episode of Twin Peaks and demanding from the authors a clear answer to the question: who killed Laura Palmer?
Man, I'm not sure we'll even get an answer at the end of the game.

I never understood why devs make 2 games at the same time...

Perhaps then it’s worth reading what the developer says about this and trying to understand his point?
https://f95zone.to/threads/summers-gone-ch-5-beta-oceanlab.29981/post-7881238

 

[yossa999]

Ocean blew out some smoke. This game has a double bottom. If you look at it from a different angle, many questions will disappear. And everything will fall into place. You will understand who Sasha is and who Summer is, you will understand who Vanessa is. You will understand what is happening with Bella and what women do in a boring book club.

Ocean, stop spoiling the plot, when you sober up, you'll regret it.

 

[White cat6]

Was she killed, or did she just disappeared? So in the last case, why not. At least if we get to see an update...

I never understood why devs make 2 games at the same time...

Everything is very simple. This is Ocean's style of work. The plot of the game is hidden. But at some point he will have to remove the veil of mystery. And you will have to do this with both games at the same time. I think because of this he not only makes two games at the same time but also synchronizes them.

 

[hermit_tr]

Was she killed, or did she just disappeared? So in the last case, why not. At least if we get to see an update...

I never understood why devs make 2 games at the same time...

My understanding: Ocean dreams of 5 games in 1 universe, why so many?, because there's no harm in dreaming big .
In the process, one of the games was done by Ocean (WiAB), while the other one was handed over to Regium (SG (Osean provided the outline and Regium did the writing)).
After the process had passed, there was inconsistency in Regium's work, therefore since Ch 2 Ocean had been helping Regium's work. But at the end of Ch 2 Regium surrendered SG completely to Ocean.

the rest is as Ocean wrote below
https://f95zone.to/threads/summers-gone-ch-5-beta-oceanlab.29981/post-7881238

--------

And again, the work done by 2 different people is what makes 2 games have to be reworked (apart from the new rules from Patreon and Steam (especially Steam Germany for SG)).