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

[Holyx9]

If you look at the way SG is structured as an AVN, you will notice it allows for significant branching. That creates an inevitable cascading effect each update where more renders are needed for any given scene because of the branching variations.

I expect updates will either get bigger (i.e. render count) or will cover a reduced amount of in-game time. The latter can cause player frustration because an update may seem short if playing a single branch.

I mentioned this a year ago. It seemed obvious then that what Ocean is trying to achieve is very ambitious because of a cascading effect.

The branching so far in SG season 1 was very limited. Bella has the most content with the rest of the girls sharing the rest. We barely even gotten to know the girls really that well as well. That would make sense since time wise season 1 was only about a about a weeks time in terms of progression and not including the 2 week time skip to begin the semester.

 

[byaaahh]

The branching so far in SG season 1 was very limited. Bella has the most content with the rest of the girls sharing the rest. We barely even gotten to know the girls really that well as well. That would make sense since time wise season 1 was only about a about a weeks time in terms of progression and not including the 2 week time skip to begin the semester.

You say it's limited, but Bella, Nami, Zara, Victoria, Mila will all have expanding branchs in future chapters. Not to mention Amber (confirmed main LI), Maja (bouncing between Li/Non-LI), Nia, Robin and god knows how many more.

This game already has more main girls than other titles that are taking 14 months to pump out 7k renders, but are almost 2/3rds completed and that dev is only focused on one project. This game has already ballooned in dev time in the 6 years and numerous reworks, as you say, only a week of story has been covered.

No matter how often Ocean upgrades his hardware, as long as he increases the ever-expanding roster, adds longer animations, and increases the number of characters integrated into single renders, the dev time will continue to balloon.

 

[WastedEfforts]

Imagine following a game that has been in development for five years. The developer has made countless changes, the story has nothing that makes you go "wow," and the first season ends in a disappointing way because he ignored the fans, removed scenes, and did a half-baked rework.

Instead of actually releasing an update with new content, he comes up with excuses—tax issues, needing to replace his PC, missing a power cable, combining two updates into one, making 7,000 renders, adding a food menu, and a skill tree.

In short, he has made up everything over the last six years and delivered nothing—just promises and delays.

Oh, and I almost forgot—he now does dev logs every other week, with just a single render.

You forgot to add that dev is working on another game as well lol.
I bought it on Steam, but let's be honest, it's either gonna be in development for another 10 years or just be abandoned.

 

[Miranha157]

You forgot to add that dev is working on another game as well lol.
I bought it on Steam, but let's be honest, it's either gonna be in development for another 10 years or just be abandoned.

We're talking about SG, WiAB is another matter. He could just go back to delivering 3.5k renders every 6 months and no one would think it was bad, we're reaching 1 year without an update in both games.

 

[Bommols01]

Do we have any theories on who summer is?

 

[Orgitas]

Should play a game of "Who, in SG, of the characters who are under 30 years old aren't William's kid?" My bet is only 2 of them aren't!

 

[Miranha157]

Do we have any theories on who summer is?

Sasha

 

[Orgitas]

Sasha

Nah, Sasha is a Petrova. Her family will, likely, link WiaB to SG along with Katie's own presence. She seems to know a lot of things about Nika and Nami (Beyond what they even know). Important exposition that will, probably, come to the surface next season or the season after. She probably knows that Nika is, perhaps, one of William's -MANY- bastard children lol.

 

[Bommols01]

Nah, Sasha is a Petrova. Her family will, likely, link WiaB to SG along with Katie's own presence. She seems to know a lot of things about Nika and Nami (Beyond what they even know). Important exposition that will, probably, come to the surface next season or the season after. She probably knows that Nika is, perhaps, one of William's -MANY- bastard children lol.

Then I guess there aren't any clue/hint who she might be in the first season. I guess Vanessa's mother is Leia right? I quite curious about relationship between Nojiko and katie zane too, andriana look intriguing too.

 

[Orgitas]

Then I guess there aren't any clue/hint who she might be in the first season. I guess Vanessa's mother is Leia right? I quite curious about relationship between Nojiko and katie zane too, andriana look intriguing too.

Would explain a few things if Leia is Nick's ex wife, sure - Especially with how Vanessa acts. I always thought Nick looked suspiciously, sort of, like William and the Zane's are quite borked in the head.So she probably got with him, subconsciously, as he looks like ol' Willy.

Still trying to figure out where Nojiko fits into it all. But, I guess, wiab and further book club meets in SG will answer those questions in the future.

 

[SophiaMelinda]

I played this game a while back and liked the story. Is there any new content coming? The links here take us to 2024 version, nothing has been added since?

 

[BobTheDuck]

I played this game a while back and liked the story. Is there any new content coming? The links here take us to 2024 version, nothing has been added since?

THere should be a devlog today. Ocean's gone a bit ambitious and is doing aound 7000 renders plus animations for the update, he's roughly just over two thirds through doing those renders. WiaB (his other game will be updated sooner, then he'll focus on getting this behemoth out ...then he'll hopefully stick to 2500K updates so we don't have to wait as long.

The devlog coming sometime soon will be helpful.

 

[Miranha157]

Is there any new content coming?

I recommend coming back in August, maybe you'll be lucky

 

[Miranha157]

Sasha is a Petrova

That's exactly why she could be Summer, her mother didn't like the Zanes in the old WiAB, of course Ocean changed the story but everything fits when Elsa says that Summer's parents didn't like Nika because he was a bad influence, if Nika is William's bastard it makes total sense.

 

[Bommols01]

That's exactly why she could be Summer, her mother didn't like the Zanes in the old WiAB, of course Ocean changed the story but everything fits when Elsa says that Summer's parents didn't like Nika because he was a bad influence, if Nika is William's bastard it makes total sense.

I didn't play old content but it sound pretty convincing, but if so, sasha act quite distance to nika, and she asked nami's ear piercing piece. I think maybe she somehow forget about them(amnesia?) if it arcording to your guess.

 

[AlexFXR]

If you look at the way SG is structured as an AVN, you will notice it allows for significant branching. That creates an inevitable cascading effect each update where more renders are needed for any given scene because of the branching variations.

I expect updates will either get bigger (i.e. render count) or will cover a reduced amount of in-game time. The latter can cause player frustration because an update may seem short if playing a single branch.

I mentioned this a year ago. It seemed obvious then that what Ocean is trying to achieve is very ambitious because of a cascading effect.

I hope you're wrong and Ocean is smart enough not to branch characters. Most games with branching were abandoned due to development complexity and loss of subscribers. DPC decided to go this route and it's already starting to have these problems.

 

[KrusherKev]

Sasha is NOT Summer.....the absolute second that MC heard Sasha speak during their interaction(s), if she was Summer, would have put him into some weird psycho state based on his inability to get past "losing" her.

 

[Orgitas]

Yeah, naw, Sasha can't be Summer. Maybe a cousin or something though - That would be more plausible. There are too many people who knew Summer. Having her pretend to be some one else would just be odd.

 

[BobTheDuck]

Yeah, naw, Sasha can't be Summer. Maybe a cousin or something though - That would be more plausible. There are too many people who knew Summer. Having her pretend to be some one else would just be odd.

Elsa's Summer's cousin though, and her family name is more French (Elsa D'Uclaux de La Valette) than Slavic. It's more likely Sasha's something completely different, given the importance of the Petrovas to the college, and the connections with the wealthy. I think being related would be way too obvious a connection. My guess is it'll be something more along the lines of Nia, where Summer was a friend of Sasha's through their rich snobby parents (can't be through school I assume, because I think Sasha went to the same one as Ayua, Bella and Mila), and that's why Sasha knows about Nika, just like Nia did.

Sasha might have a thing against Nika, because of her romance books and opinions - if SUmmer was her friend too, she might consider in some way that NIka betrayed her for something, and that's why she appears reserved. But really, we kno so little about Sasha currently, I'd say we have more details about SUmmer than about Sasha.

I was just thinking, the scar might actually be something Melanie caused if all these rich kids went to the same school as Vic and Bella - and Sasha learned to fight to prevent things like that happening to her again.

Anyway, it's interesting to think what other possibilities there are while we wait.

 

[Mamaragan]

I hope you're wrong and Ocean is smart enough not to branch characters. Most games with branching were abandoned due to development complexity and loss of subscribers. DPC decided to go this route and it's already starting to have these problems.

There will be branching. Between the amount of LIs, the subgenre each Lis will have (sub/dom), sharing, deciding if you want to pimp Nia and Mila or not, the side girls, the possible MMF throuple, the various variable depending on your choice with each LIs, some of them connecting to other characters (Bella with Amber and Kate) etc..
You'll have a ridicule amount of branching. And to keep up the same amount of content for each choice people make, he'll have to pump out a lot of render.

Just look at BAdik. 7000 renders just so that you can have a good amount of gameplay regardless of what choice you made.

This is my only grip with ocean. The fact that he might bite off more than he can chew in the future.
Add insult to injury, he already has another game who have the same high quality as SG, that will have branching too.
And he's stuck because if he put one of those game on hiatus to focus on one game, he risks to piss off the community of one of those game