- Nov 14, 2017
- 58,881
- 29,283
attaching traceback.txt is more helpful than posting error itself. try re-dl and re-extracting with latest 7zip.
Ren'Py Superheroes Suck [v1.851 Public] [Solace]
- Thread starter Crazygamer43
- Start date
- Jan 25, 2022
- 556
- 1,503
Man, this game started out so strong.... but it sucks so much now. 
Maybe it's the sandbox nonsense but damn.... there's literally nothing happening in the story. It's a year now of nothing....
Maybe it's the sandbox nonsense but damn.... there's literally nothing happening in the story. It's a year now of nothing.... game is version 1.551 mod is 1.526 is the mod even up to date ?
- Jun 8, 2020
- 2,351
- 10,941
Since they are different numbers - most likely not. The update only dropped 4 days ago. Modders are just like Devs - they have lives outside of F95zone. It takes some mods weeks to get updated.
- Nov 14, 2017
- 58,881
- 29,283
The game is very good and well written but man the pacing really sucks. It been 2 or 3 years and main character doesn't have a superhero name, superhero popularity and missions. I don't mind spending time with the main girls, some of their events are fun but I don't want to wait 4/5 years just to save Queen unbreakable and then hopefully romance her (She is actually more attractive than rest of the cast or I am just into older woman lmfao). There are so many interesting characters like chrys mother, train girl, lovestruck, merinda, reporter, shiro daughter. There are still so many characters who needs more attention. Please speed up the pace also, ai events were literally showing her around the house and her emotional state.
- Nov 14, 2017
- 58,881
- 29,283
- Mar 31, 2022
- 3,337
- 5,608
My saves still work even running the outdated mod. The mod features still function, just no new WT help.
so I've gotten to the point where events should have started after the 2nd Sunday and on days they should happen, nothing. wtf is wrong with this game?
- Nov 14, 2017
- 58,881
- 29,283
- Sep 27, 2019
- 199
- 479
Hello everyone,
Solace, the Game’s Developer, here. I wanted to address some common questions that I’ve seen pop up on the thread and explain some things about the game and myself.
The first thing I’d like to clarify, which is kind of funny to me, is that there are a growing number of people referring to me as, well, multiple people. “The developers” or “the team working on this” Oh no, friend. There is no team. It’s me. It’s always been me and just me. I do all of the work on Superheroes Suck, from rendering the images, writing the script, coding the game, and even searching for the public domain sound effects. This is a one man project, which, given how much the game has expanded over the years, does seem increasingly foolish. I carry on.
I’ll address the mechanics of this first. A very common critique Superheroes Suck receives is that the pacing can be slow, inconsistent, and that it should have been a more traditional kinetic visual novel. I understand that point. I know that my game, especially the early portions of it, can really struggle to hold your attention and can even be frustrating to play through. There are definitely changes I would make in hindsight, but these issues aren’t possible to correct right now.
In addition to being a one-man team, this is my very first… visual-novel-everything. Literally, my first ever renders are in this game, my first lines of original code that I didn’t copy and paste, along with my first ever lines of dialogue seen outside of my English classes back in the day. When I started, I knew that I did not have the necessary skill set to pace a novel whose length was dynamic. One of the reasons the version numbers for Superheroes Suck is so odd is that it was supposed to be finished in the time it took to reach Version 1.0 if I didn’t get to the minimum funding of one hundred dollars on Patreon. I did, and I kept the numbers as they are to avoid the confusion of having two “Version 0.1”s and so on floating around the internet.
The sandbox environment allows me to keep the pacing of each separate “event” very simple. I hope that, one day in the future, there will be enough sandbox content that the game doesn’t feel as frustrating to get through because there will be loads of new things to see that can pass the time. Speaking of which…
Superheroes Suck has seen a steady expansion of “Sandbox” content over the past several months. These are the small event trains like the massage and puppy play scenes you find in the game that have no walkthrough or hint guide – they’re meant to be stumbled into and give you a bit of extra content for exploring. They are also my solution to the Sandbox Overhaul that needed to be truncated. More on that later.
Ideally, the Sandbox Content is driven by user polls on my Patreon as a benefit for them and to also key in on characters who are in need of more content but who aren’t currently in story’s spotlight. In actual practice, it seems like Riley wins just about all of them. I’m not sure what that means. Either Riley’s fans tend to pay more or people who pay more tend to like redheads. There’s a psychological study there, I’m sure.
I do regret mentioning this in the game, which is why I eventually took the disclaimer out. There has been a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the purpose of the Sandbox Overhaul. The idea was to take a break from developing the main story so that I could focus on fixing the pacing issues mentioned earlier in the game by expanding and refining the sandbox. In reality, I spent most of the last nine months catching up the characters for the main story.
The only Sandbox Overhaul content that was part of the actual “Overhaul” that made it into the game were the cuddling events.
I spent the first two development cycles of the overhaul working on catching up Chrys and Valentina, who were so far behind in the story that they were still talking about fighting Lovestruck at the same time the story had reached the protagonist’s power reveal. Once I realized how much time it would take to catch everyone up, and also set the foundation for the next segment of main story content, I scaled back on the Sandbox Overhaul and turned the process into Patreon Polls. For me, this was an elegant solution. I could focus on getting back to the story of Superheroes Suck, and my patrons could pick out events for their favorite waifus.
Chrys’ Video Game Arc, Riley’s Move In Arc, Valentina’s Troubled Arc, and so on were all necessary for the main story to proceed. I know how strange it sounds that playing video games with Chrys was necessary for the main story, but it will make sense. Eventually. Months from now.
The content of the game is not coming out at a pace I like or that anyone likes. This year has been very difficult for me. I was out of the country for a spell there, my computer died, and I have been injured rather seriously twice. Once two months ago, and again just three weeks ago. I do also have a day job, and at this point in Superheroes Suck, I have been working roughly seventy hours a week between the game and my day job for over three years. I would be lying if I said this wasn’t affecting my ability to make content. Even when I have the time, some days are very hard.
The biggest problem with production, however, is just the game itself. The characters are more complex. The plot is more complex. The number of characters is increasing and so are the expectations for the game. It’s hard to keep it all together. Superheroes Suck was originally conceived in a composition book. Now, I need Microsoft OneNote with over fifty tabs just to figure out whose major story beat is coming out in two updates. On top of that, I do try and be adaptive and take in feedback. I did notice many of the Artemisia fans on F95zone wishing for her content. So… There. I put it in! She wasn’t scheduled for another version or three, but I do read the comments.
I’m quite proud, you know?
The protagonist’s power reveal event was exactly how I envisioned it would be three years ago. I just didn’t think it would take three years to get here.
I do not know when Superheroes Suck will finish development. I can’t answer that question for you. I honestly try not to think about it too much. That number provokes a very visceral feeling of anxiety in me that’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t been in this situation. I just try to keep consistent: a release every six weeks with everything I have done to show people I haven’t given up.
Anyway, that’s it from me with this update. I’m going to set up an animation to run over night and head to sleep.
~Solace
Solace, the Game’s Developer, here. I wanted to address some common questions that I’ve seen pop up on the thread and explain some things about the game and myself.
The first thing I’d like to clarify, which is kind of funny to me, is that there are a growing number of people referring to me as, well, multiple people. “The developers” or “the team working on this” Oh no, friend. There is no team. It’s me. It’s always been me and just me. I do all of the work on Superheroes Suck, from rendering the images, writing the script, coding the game, and even searching for the public domain sound effects. This is a one man project, which, given how much the game has expanded over the years, does seem increasingly foolish. I carry on.
The Sandbox and Story’s Pacing
I’ll address the mechanics of this first. A very common critique Superheroes Suck receives is that the pacing can be slow, inconsistent, and that it should have been a more traditional kinetic visual novel. I understand that point. I know that my game, especially the early portions of it, can really struggle to hold your attention and can even be frustrating to play through. There are definitely changes I would make in hindsight, but these issues aren’t possible to correct right now.
In addition to being a one-man team, this is my very first… visual-novel-everything. Literally, my first ever renders are in this game, my first lines of original code that I didn’t copy and paste, along with my first ever lines of dialogue seen outside of my English classes back in the day. When I started, I knew that I did not have the necessary skill set to pace a novel whose length was dynamic. One of the reasons the version numbers for Superheroes Suck is so odd is that it was supposed to be finished in the time it took to reach Version 1.0 if I didn’t get to the minimum funding of one hundred dollars on Patreon. I did, and I kept the numbers as they are to avoid the confusion of having two “Version 0.1”s and so on floating around the internet.
The sandbox environment allows me to keep the pacing of each separate “event” very simple. I hope that, one day in the future, there will be enough sandbox content that the game doesn’t feel as frustrating to get through because there will be loads of new things to see that can pass the time. Speaking of which…
Sandbox Content
Superheroes Suck has seen a steady expansion of “Sandbox” content over the past several months. These are the small event trains like the massage and puppy play scenes you find in the game that have no walkthrough or hint guide – they’re meant to be stumbled into and give you a bit of extra content for exploring. They are also my solution to the Sandbox Overhaul that needed to be truncated. More on that later.
Ideally, the Sandbox Content is driven by user polls on my Patreon as a benefit for them and to also key in on characters who are in need of more content but who aren’t currently in story’s spotlight. In actual practice, it seems like Riley wins just about all of them. I’m not sure what that means. Either Riley’s fans tend to pay more or people who pay more tend to like redheads. There’s a psychological study there, I’m sure.
The Sandbox Overhaul
I do regret mentioning this in the game, which is why I eventually took the disclaimer out. There has been a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the purpose of the Sandbox Overhaul. The idea was to take a break from developing the main story so that I could focus on fixing the pacing issues mentioned earlier in the game by expanding and refining the sandbox. In reality, I spent most of the last nine months catching up the characters for the main story.
The only Sandbox Overhaul content that was part of the actual “Overhaul” that made it into the game were the cuddling events.
I spent the first two development cycles of the overhaul working on catching up Chrys and Valentina, who were so far behind in the story that they were still talking about fighting Lovestruck at the same time the story had reached the protagonist’s power reveal. Once I realized how much time it would take to catch everyone up, and also set the foundation for the next segment of main story content, I scaled back on the Sandbox Overhaul and turned the process into Patreon Polls. For me, this was an elegant solution. I could focus on getting back to the story of Superheroes Suck, and my patrons could pick out events for their favorite waifus.
Chrys’ Video Game Arc, Riley’s Move In Arc, Valentina’s Troubled Arc, and so on were all necessary for the main story to proceed. I know how strange it sounds that playing video games with Chrys was necessary for the main story, but it will make sense. Eventually. Months from now.
The Pace of Development
The content of the game is not coming out at a pace I like or that anyone likes. This year has been very difficult for me. I was out of the country for a spell there, my computer died, and I have been injured rather seriously twice. Once two months ago, and again just three weeks ago. I do also have a day job, and at this point in Superheroes Suck, I have been working roughly seventy hours a week between the game and my day job for over three years. I would be lying if I said this wasn’t affecting my ability to make content. Even when I have the time, some days are very hard.
The biggest problem with production, however, is just the game itself. The characters are more complex. The plot is more complex. The number of characters is increasing and so are the expectations for the game. It’s hard to keep it all together. Superheroes Suck was originally conceived in a composition book. Now, I need Microsoft OneNote with over fifty tabs just to figure out whose major story beat is coming out in two updates. On top of that, I do try and be adaptive and take in feedback. I did notice many of the Artemisia fans on F95zone wishing for her content. So… There. I put it in! She wasn’t scheduled for another version or three, but I do read the comments.
I’m quite proud, you know?
The protagonist’s power reveal event was exactly how I envisioned it would be three years ago. I just didn’t think it would take three years to get here.
I do not know when Superheroes Suck will finish development. I can’t answer that question for you. I honestly try not to think about it too much. That number provokes a very visceral feeling of anxiety in me that’s difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t been in this situation. I just try to keep consistent: a release every six weeks with everything I have done to show people I haven’t given up.
Anyway, that’s it from me with this update. I’m going to set up an animation to run over night and head to sleep.
~Solace
I see. Well, he was very correct imo. As I've said in my review, the pov works great for the game.
I guess the face reveal was a bit of wimsy, like a little memento of his work on the MC which he had to waste.
Still would've been better to remove it, or atleast make it hard to access like an easter egg, so as to preserve the pov perfection (Even 1 reveal changes the 1st person pov only immersion)
I kinda get the devs thought process now tho. Now with the history behind it, it kinda feels like it'd be a shame to remove it. It'd only be harder for the creator.
Would've liked a "Don't see" choice, but I'd end up looking anyway
Thanks for the info. For a good game, this kind of peek into development decisions is pretty nice
This was my problem with the sandbox, lol. Sandbox just ends up being harder(for you) since you have to break the story into pieces & then keep up with all the combinations of events the players can play in sequence & then have to apply the soft blocks so a player doesn't just play events in a sequence that make no sense.
Would've been much easier to just control the sequence of events yourself.
As the story progresses & as more options(girls) are added it will only become more complex with more possible permutations.
Sandbox works best with dating sims type games where it doesn't matter if you focus on 1 or a few characters since sandbox is meant to allow players to have that freedom on how to proceed with the multiple events in the multiple routes.
The story's too linear to allow the players to play in their own way, hence requiring multiple soft blocks where you have to force the players back to the story's required routes.
So you'd definitely be having an easier time right now developing a single linear plot where you decide the sequence of events as compared to having to code a sandbox & having to think how to make the players play the events in a sequence that makes sense plotwise
This is what I said before, especially as the game doesn't seem like it benefits much from the sanbox (not enough possibilities since you need to advance the plot through the main characters & there aren't side characters to fill the void. I once had no events for 2 weeks as the next 2 events triggered on Sunday or Monday)
With only 4-5 interlinked plot relevant LI characters, a sandbox just isn't as efficient as a VN.
This would definitely be better and easier as a VN (nothing against sandbox in general but it needs to have more possible permutations of paths) but I see your reason now.
Tbh as a 1st novel I'd always advise to go for a linear VN instead of taking the challenge of coding a sandbox. So add that to the list of achievements.
This is really awesome how this game turned out as a single person's 1st game.
Take your time & keep developing while taking care of yourself. This is a very well presented story & makes you quite invested in the plot.
Tl;Dr - Writting a linear story plot is much simpler/easier than coding a sandbox.
Last edited:
- Sep 27, 2019
- 199
- 479
First off, thank you for all of the nice things you had to say about my story and its characters. I have done my best to keep them consistent and engaging throughout the game's very lengthy development, but I have to disagree with this statement.
Linear stories are easier to make, but only if you know relatively what is going to be in it from beginning to end. This is not how Superheroes Suck is written.
Riley, Chrys, Valentina, and Harper have all had very strong characters arcs that helped define and give depth to their personalities, but none of these were planned in a linear fashion. None of them resemble the original cast I put into the game, and this is because I adapted my work based on the feedback of players and input from my community. And yes, that includes people here on this forum. It wasn't direct. No one told me what to do. I just listened to what people were saying, compared it to my original notes, and went forward with the best combination of the two.
Artemisia is a good example of this. She was never supposed to be a love interest, but I looked at all the car memes popping up here and the good natured discussion of people over AI in distress tropes and their hopes for her future, and it made me realize there was a powerful character there with a unique story that could be told. So, I made her a character.
I can't do things like that with a linear story. Where would it go? It doesn't fit neatly into a three act structure. There are too many characters to juggle for this to be a linear love story, especially once we get to the villains.
Superheroes Suck will have optional romance paths. Josie and Detective Keegan will be side stories, for example. Technically Artemisia's romance is also a side story, even if her "emergence" is part of the main story.
I acknowledge that the state of Superheroes Suck's sandbox is not as good as it could be, but redesigning it as a kinetic visual novel is not possible at this stage. It would take me half a year to do something like that without any releases, probably longer as my rendering engine has improved and I would need to replace the first year of work. More than that, it is antithetical to how the game is written. A lot of the joy I get from creating Superheroes Suck is that I have people who are just as enthusiastic as I am that want to see cool things happen. The sandbox gives me the flexibility I need to make that kind of storytelling, so I would much rather invest time into making the sandbox better than abandoning it and making development much more tedious.
Ultimately, the main story of Superheroes Suck has always served one purpose: to expand on the love interest's stories. Riley leaving her loveless marriage, Chrys overcoming her trauma of abandonment, Valentina rediscovering her ability to put her heart into something, and Harper taking back control in her life are all the real achievements in the game for me. It's not a fast paced action story, it's not a thrilling mystery. It's a slow-paced love story game about spending time with people you (hopefully) care about.
Please tell me Chrys' mother and Missus Powell will eventually be love interests as well.
- Sep 27, 2019
- 199
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Missus Powell is the confirmed last love interest of the game. She will be the final romance, so I wouldn't expect her content any time soon. The main story would need to conclude, after which she will enjoy a lengthy development period during the game's "epilogue" development phase.
Sumire is also a confirmed love interest, but falls into the same side character tier as Detective Keegan, Josie, and Artemisia.