VN Ren'Py The Adventurous Couple [TACOS Part 9a] [Mircom3D]

[Retromancer]

I hope Mircom actually does a rework so about the last 5... 10... 20... pages of comments won't really matter (I include my comments with those). If it is done right then this will be a whole new game and I can yell at people for criticizing a clearly defined path they probably should not have taken, or for people criticizing a game they should probably not have played. My fear is that this task is now too large. I myself, like the cuckold and NTR parts, but I realize others don't and want a swinging (or maybe MC harem path?) and would feel cheated if this was not properly implemented, and that is valid. Hope it happens, though. But I will probably still love this game even if it stays a mess. It's great how much passion it inspires even though it is a mess, or maybe it's because the game is a mess and can be interpreted in so many ways that it inspires such strong reactions?

 

[Segnbora]

The thing is, a lot of the variations could be implemented without too much extra rendering. Anne could have sex with 90% of the same partners and just not tell the MC about it, and that's the cheating path. Or he knows and it makes him jealous, and that's the NTR path. Or she could tell him about it and lord it over him, and that's the cuckold path. Or he knows and they're both into it, and that's the hotwife/swinging path. All any of that requires is dialogue changes. Add a few specific scenes for each path, and you have a multi-path game. That said, there's tons of existing content and why not siphon it into unique paths?

I think the "passion" is largely based on how hot Anne is and the initial premise (which I'd note isn't swinging, it's hotwife + voyeurism, with the MC cheating). But it's Anne that's driving the interest...that, and the fact that it's not a badly written game at all, just a confusingly plotted game.

 

[whf]

I really don't know what to make of the last update. I started to play the game because I found fun to share your wife. But with last update pretty much all the good content is about cheating. Now the scenes that follow the initial game's premise are pretty lackluster. Scene with Dre was one that I didn't even see, my automatic reaction was to keep "my" pants on, didn't really like Anne to demand MC to take em down. Scene with "that old guy whose name I gladly forgotten" I didn't see either, not interested in that one. So what remains? Scene with that young guy Anne is teaching about sex, pretty boring as well but at least she didn't fuck him right away and then the plumber scene that wasn't really much interesting either. She just fucked or sucked him. Should be more about teasing, but it's hard to return to that when she went all the way already in a few cases before.

So interestingly I found MC's cheating scenes more fun then anything related to Anne this time. I really liked scenes with Emma, Chloe and Holly (never considered to go for that foursome scene, or voyeur scene, I just wanted Holly for myself, yet another change in my preference related to the game). Somehow I don't want MC to share Anne anymore, I want him to push her away (she can cheat as much as she wants) so he can start some serious affairs with other women. Something I never thought I would prefer in this game.

I'm interested at how that overhaul will pan out. If done right it can repair all the main problems. Mircom just shouldn't be afraid to change or even cut some content out of the game entirely.

 

[PTM666]

I don't believe it's necessary to cut out parts if the revamp can work them all in logically

 

[Segnbora]

Two things I'd do from the start:

1) Reduce the importance of the porn choice, or even eliminate it entirely. Actions should be far more important w/r/t determining what sort of relationship the MC and Anne are in. No one decides to cheat on their spouse because they watched a video. At the moment, the choices don't really track with the game anyway; the threesome choice is irrelevant and (as we've discussed quite a few times) the cheating choice as currently scored actually closes off a major opportunity to cheat. A better way to approach that scene might even offer more choices, but have only one (swinging) advance a variable, since at that stage in their "adventures" swinging represents a change in the way they've been behaving. That could mark the point that the hotwife/voyeurism path can turn into a swinging path.

2) Eliminate the interracial toggle. By the time it comes up Anne's already had sex with a bunch of black men. It wasn't an issue before, so why would it be an issue later? Including it (and making it matter) just means unnecessary branching later on.

In fact, the spa threesome scene would be more interesting if Anne and Troy are on a mild and temporary d/s route. It can still end the way it does in Chapter 10 (being vague to avoid spoilers) because Troy's more of a controlling jerk than an actual dom, but it would explain Anne's actions at Troy & Chloe's apartment, it would heat up the spa scene (especially with a few minor dialogue tweaks, since Troy already pretty effectively takes control over a scene that Drake started), and it would explain why Anne sneaks out to meet him in Chapter 10. I don't think Anne's shown any real sign of being submissive aside from preferring sexually assertive men, so I'm not suggesting an actual d/s route unless that's in the works for the future, but the brief dalliance is a way to help differentiate that particular series of encounters.

Also, a suggestion on dialogue (and this should really start very early in the game). In some games, the effect of the player's choice is immediately apparent by the NPC's expression (

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is an excellent example of this). There's no point in going back and re-rendering everything, but her current feelings about the MC and their relationship can be expressed by subtle dialogue changes. For example: if he's pushing her to do things she doesn't want to do, or if he's cheating on her and she knows it, or if she's cheating on him, or if she's developing feelings for someone else, reflect that by reducing the likelihood of her saying "I love you" before they go to sleep. It's a small change and the people speeding through the dialogue to get to the porn will miss it, but it's a clue for those who're playing more carefully.

The reason I'm suggesting this is that the branching/route problem isn't just a matter of variables doing odd or unpredictable things, it's that the game doesn't really offer feedback to suggest that something's happening (or about to happen), which is why people keep coming here and asking how to find the spa threesome vs. the spa anal vs. the beach anal vs. the cleanup, etc. The best-written and best-plotted games don't need walkthroughs to be playable (except for scene-completists like me) because the obvious consequences of choices are right there in the game.

 

[numanumani]

@Mircom3D Forgive me if you already know this.

I'd like to suggest looking at what types of variables you have available to you in Ren'py. For example I noticed you do not appear to be using boolean variables (True/False).

They make it easier to check if something specific has happened when evaluating what the player sees in their personal playthrough.

If for example you had a variable called "NicoleSex" that starts off as False and then later set it as follows if the player makes appropriate choices:

NicoleSex = True

You could then test if that's the case in a future player decision:

menu:
      "Stay at home working on the project":
          jump Day99BoringWork
      "Go visit Nicole for a good time" if NicoleSex:
          jump Day99VisitNicole

You currently exclusively use numerical variables like "nicole" which are useful for progression but offer you no way to discern how the player actually reached that point value. On their own they can, if you keep tight control over when you dish them out, be used for simple "The player is on step X in seducing person Y" but when there are multiple sources that let you reach that same point value you just don't know how to player got there.

To elevate some of that you can combine the two.

menu:
      "Stay at home working on the project":
          jump Day99BoringWork
      "Go visit Nicole for a good time again" if NicoleSex and nicole >= 4:
          jump Day99ReturnVisitToNicole

or

t "Oh welcome back home darling, how was your day?"
if AnneLove >= 0 and MCCuck:
     show smilinganne
     a "Hi love, why don't you see for yourself - go on, take a closer look!"
     show anneliftingskirt
elif AnneLove < 0 and CheatingAnne:
     show evasiveanne
     a "Sorry dear, long dull day at work and I need to shower, talk to you later..."
     show closedshowerdoor
else:
     #generic catch-all for cases not matched, etc

I also highly recommend sneaking a peek at how other devs handle it, it can teach you some nifty tricks that make your job a whole lot easier when you try to keep track of many parallel paths.

 

[Rattata_rock]

Yep, like why ? nobody asked for this.

i liked these paths, a and i like mircom to develop what he enjoy.

 

[tecoteco]

I was put off right from the start, when MC isn't given the option to be honest with Anne about his flings. So to be honest the MC the developer has written probably deserves all he gets. But I won't be playing.

 

[Deleted member 24136]

Someone post the poll please

 

[MayJames]

thx

 

[freedom.call]

Well I've played through and I thought 'man, I'm good. Plenty sex for Anne, and after a slow start plenty sex for MC.'

Then I come in here and read and I realise I've missed LOADS of wifey sex and loads of MC sex.
Great game, but when Anne told MC she'd rather be MC's friend's (Ryan I presume) slut than his...I wish he'd reacted to that.

Not sure why she doesn't tell him about all the random fucks she has, unless she's thinking about leaving him.

 

[AJ840]

hi friends is NTR avoidable or not?

 

[Petro28]

hi friends is NTR avoidable or not?

no

 

[Segnbora]

FWIW, there's almost no NTR and what exists is almost entirely ephemeral, but there is most definitely unavoidable cheating from both Anne and the MC. (For those who understand the distinction, that is. For those who don't, Petro28's right: the thing you don't like is unavoidable at the moment.)

Not sure why she doesn't tell him about all the random fucks she has, unless she's thinking about leaving him.

It's hard to authoritatively intuit Anne's mindset, which is part of why I think the game is being reworked, but based on what we've seen it's not necessarily that she's thinking of leaving him, but more that his behavior doesn't demand her respect, her honesty, or her devotion to their relationship. Ideally, the rework will either reward the MC for ethical behavior or give her an independent reason for her extracurricular activities. Or both. At the moment, I think the only thing that can be supported by the narrative is that things are out of control.

 

[Dependable_223]

Is this part going to be fixed, where the wife is angry because the husband cheated even though she cheated first too ?? This part makes no sense right ? She should be happy no angry like it is now.

I think anne should be jealous because mc is actually fucking hotter girls then she is, even though anne is fucking even ugly guys i dont think mc can be jealous of that right ?

 

[Hollowpain]

mc is actually fucking hotter girls then she is...

I don't see who you talking about pal, . Maybe it's a matter of tastes

 

[freedom.call]

I think the only thing that can be supported by the narrative is that things are out of control.

Yes that seems a reasonable opinion. I don't really mind that Anne is cheating but her behavior towards her hubby has changed. It's not an unreasonable development but not what the game set out to be, now the marriage is almost platonic...I hope the rework can smooth things out.

Still a great story.

 

[Segnbora]

Is this part going to be fixed, where the wife is angry because the husband cheated even though she cheated first too ???

I'm pretty sure the first opportunity to cheat is given to the MC. It's a while before Anne returns the favor. And I'm not sure why she should be "happy"; her husband pushed, nagged, and cajoled her to bang pretty much everyone while he watched or monitored, but only occasionally participated, while he took on all the side pieces he could manage and didn't once tell her about any of them. Frankly, were I her, I'd be pissed off.

 

[UncleVT]

Is this part going to be fixed, where the wife is angry because the husband cheated even though she cheated first too ??

You don't know much about women behaviour aren't you?

 

[Ennoch]

You don't know much about women behaviour aren't you?

What i find it funny is that he wants it fixed Maybe i should ask the "Dev" of my love if she can be fixed in her "next update"