Ren'Py The DeLuca Family [Season 1] [HopesGaming]

[zerozip0]

Compared to most other games showcased on this site the theme and premise of this game is fresh and intriguing. The teaser text does a good enough job along with the images showcased to catch my attention. I have not actually played this game yet, but I will be looking forward to trying it at a later stage.

If I had to give a tiny bit of criticism it would be this: A few sentence alterations could improve my overall impression.

 

[HopesGaming]

Thank you all for the kind words! Means the world!

A little update on whats done;
A character gui with stats (Also extra info like kills, mission success, mission failed etc and more in the future)
shortcut for that is 'c'
Money visible at all times in free roaming
The bug with not receiving 300 have been fixed.
The bug in which the exp cap didn't work has been fixed.
All mission contracts have got an increase in money reward
All mission contracts now also give pity money (Small amount of failed contracts)
All missions have a threshold of which they will become a 100% success contract. (ex. Nimble finger will always be a success after 25 stealth)

An amazing guy is doing German translation for me right now, once that is ready I release the bug fix and the tweaks as a 0.01b. Mostly so new people can have a better first time experience.

 

[Elinan]

The game looks really promising
Awesome changes aswell!

 

[beyreli]

A porn game based around Italian mafia? Fuck yeah!

 

[Deleted member 3945]

A porn game based around Italian mafia? Fuck yeah!

I named my guy Michael, it seemed like the most suitable name for me.

 

[Chriss475]

This was a really awesome first release both for quality and quantity of content, well done! The story is generally really interesting. This was one of the few games where I actually read all the dialogue and played the intro. A couple of story weak points, such as the "contract" macguffin, it's always difficult to construct a plausible reason for the protagonist's strange situation though so I can forgive this. The other main weak point was Cordia's decision to have the girls share the protag's bathroom although I assume that there will be a story reason for her to want the girls and the PC to get together.

Your character design and development are superb and you get a feel for every character, except Antonio's wife. Luna is one of the best characters I've seen in these types of games and I actually started caring about her. Your humour comes across well in the game and that is quite a hard thing to convey with only text and still pictures. I actually laughed out loud at some of the lines. As a previous commenter has pointed out, the kitchen dialogue during Luna's house tour was brilliant. One criticism of your writing is your sentence structure. You often miss out connecting words such as "are", "am", "is" and "and" which reduces immersion while the player tries to make sense of the sentence. For the most part however you convey the information clearly. The very fact that I used the word "immersion" in a review of an eroge speaks volumes as to the quality of your work.

The render quality of your images is high and I only saw two of them that I didn't particularly like - the standing images of both girls after the paint explosion didn't look good and the peeking topless shot of the sister in the bath looked somehow wrong. The pacing of your erotic stuff was great. Keep the slow build going for as long as possible - too many devs spoil their game by rushing to sexytimes at the behest of some of their audience. The best way to satisfy both crowds is to put in early sex scenes to keep interest, but only with side characters and only as one-shot events. Keep the progression for the main girls a slow process to maintain that long term goal for the player.

Some suggestions:

I like the idea of changing the girl's image in the status screen as she gets more fond of the protag but the player needs more info. I would like to see a simple 0/9 next to each status image where the first number is how many "like points" the player has earned and the second number is how many points are needed to get to the next "like level". Some info on that screen about what each "like level" gets you access to would be appreciated also. Such as level 2 with Luna meaning she won't try to gut you if she finds you in her room. After you have met a girl in a location at a certain time, and know where she'll be and when, this information should be added to a girl's status page as her schedule becomes known.

Don't show the money amount on the screen at all times, simply add a page for the player in the status menu with all the rest of the characters. This player status page should also show your current skill levels.

Mission success chance feels too arbitrary and the player needs more information here also. You should show the % success chance using the player's current gear & skill on the mission screen. The player would also be able to see how the success chance changes dynamically as they change gear, take missions at different times of day and increase their skills. Information as to which stats are needed on each mission would also help. For example the player has no way of knowing if their Defense skill or Attack skill or both are taken into account for the combat mission at the tavern. Also as time of day is definitely important for missions, as some can only be taken at certain times (there's no way of knowing if the success chance of other missions is affected by the time of day), you really need to show the current time of day on the "choose a mission" screen.

Luna needs better nightwear. Those black and white bottoms are ancient and ugly. Give the poor girl some more up-to-date underwear.

TLDR
I loved your game.
Luna is awesome.
Your grammar could use some work.
Luna is awesome.
The player needs more information to base their decision-making on.
Luna is awesome.
I will become one of your patrons in the near future.
Oh, and Luna is awesome. Did I mention that?

 

[Axer Hell]

Hey all!
HopesGaming here. Thank you for trying out my game! Feel free to ask any questions you have about the game!




Which game ? I have been making this game for a long while before release so I really hope I wasn't too late to the party, hehe!

Edit* Oh, Alexandra. Great game! But I can say with confidence that The Deluca family and Alexandra are very different games.

LOVE this. Them feels. Just... Love them both. To bits. Can't wait for more. Lots of love. <3

Edit: Do check out my short and sweet review. <3

 

[HopesGaming]

This was a really awesome first release both for quality and quantity of content, well done! The story is generally really interesting. This was one of the few games where I actually read all the dialogue and played the intro. A couple of story weak points, such as the "contract" macguffin, it's always difficult to construct a plausible reason for the protagonist's strange situation though so I can forgive this. The other main weak point was Cordia's decision to have the girls share the protag's bathroom although I assume that there will be a story reason for her to want the girls and the PC to get together.

Your character design and development are superb and you get a feel for every character, except Antonio's wife. Luna is one of the best characters I've seen in these types of games and I actually started caring about her. Your humour comes across well in the game and that is quite a hard thing to convey with only text and still pictures. I actually laughed out loud at some of the lines. As a previous commenter has pointed out, the kitchen dialogue during Luna's house tour was brilliant. One criticism of your writing is your sentence structure. You often miss out connecting words such as "are", "am", "is" and "and" which reduces immersion while the player tries to make sense of the sentence. For the most part however you convey the information clearly. The very fact that I used the word "immersion" in a review of an eroge speaks volumes as to the quality of your work.

The render quality of your images is high and I only saw two of them that I didn't particularly like - the standing images of both girls after the paint explosion didn't look good and the peeking topless shot of the sister in the bath looked somehow wrong. The pacing of your erotic stuff was great. Keep the slow build going for as long as possible - too many devs spoil their game by rushing to sexytimes at the behest of some of their audience. The best way to satisfy both crowds is to put in early sex scenes to keep interest, but only with side characters and only as one-shot events. Keep the progression for the main girls a slow process to maintain that long term goal for the player.

Some suggestions:

I like the idea of changing the girl's image in the status screen as she gets more fond of the protag but the player needs more info. I would like to see a simple 0/9 next to each status image where the first number is how many "like points" the player has earned and the second number is how many points are needed to get to the next "like level". Some info on that screen about what each "like level" gets you access to would be appreciated also. Such as level 2 with Luna meaning she won't try to gut you if she finds you in her room. After you have met a girl in a location at a certain time, and know where she'll be and when, this information should be added to a girl's status page as her schedule becomes known.

Don't show the money amount on the screen at all times, simply add a page for the player in the status menu with all the rest of the characters. This player status page should also show your current skill levels.

Mission success chance feels too arbitrary and the player needs more information here also. You should show the % success chance using the player's current gear & skill on the mission screen. The player would also be able to see how the success chance changes dynamically as they change gear, take missions at different times of day and increase their skills. Information as to which stats are needed on each mission would also help. For example the player has no way of knowing if their Defense skill or Attack skill or both are taken into account for the combat mission at the tavern. Also as time of day is definitely important for missions, as some can only be taken at certain times (there's no way of knowing if the success chance of other missions is affected by the time of day), you really need to show the current time of day on the "choose a mission" screen.

Luna needs better nightwear. Those black and white bottoms are ancient and ugly. Give the poor girl some more up-to-date underwear.

TLDR
I loved your game.
Luna is awesome.
Your grammar could use some work.
Luna is awesome.
The player needs more information to base their decision-making on.
Luna is awesome.
I will become one of your patrons in the near future.
Oh, and Luna is awesome. Did I mention that?

Thanks for those nice words! And awesome feedbacks.
Now to answer some;

1. The story should not be seen as 'our world'. The mafia in this fictional world is a lot more powerful and have way more leeway than the average mafia themed movie which usually stays close to what our world of logic is.
That is why I wanted so badly to have story act 3 in the first release (four serpents, serpent eliminating several mercs by himself, luna easily takes down a couple etc) to show people what kind of game this is going to be instead of them being confused about the story direction later on.
The contracts will actually play a major role later on too and our unfortunate mc is not the only one in a contract. Later there will be an introduction to a powerful organization that controls and overlooks all the contracts (again nothing that would ever be possible in our world or known mafia films.)
Ofc, all of this will be more in-depth the more we get into the story.

You 100% right on my grammar! It's work in progress and something I'm trying to improve on a daily basis.

I like the idea of only showing the affection via picture change. But it's something I will have a poll on in the near future and see what people prefer. I'm always open to change.

Looking at the mission situation to see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestion with the success rate.

About Luna, this is done on purpose due to story and personality. This will change once affection and story progress.
Same reason why Gracie wears pajamas and Isabel is reveling. None of em is done without reason.

Hope you find the answers to your liking

 

[Floga]

I like the idea of only showing the affection via picture change. But it's something I will have a poll on in the near future and see what people prefer. I'm always open to change

I totally loved this. It actually make us think analyse their opinion about us rather than usual points system which make things too easy.
On another note, I think this game needs a graphic violence tag. Since it's elements are already there in v0.01 and it seems that you're going to include it in the future updates. I just can't seem to tag @N7
Edit: Okay I did. The name wasn't dropping down.

 

[HopesGaming]

I totally loved this. It actually make us think analyse their opinion about us rather than usual points system which make things too easy.
On another note, I think this game needs a graphic violence tag. Since it's elements are already there in v0.01 and it seems that you're going to include it in the future updates. I just can't seem to tag @N7
Edit: Okay I did. The name wasn't dropping down.

Yeah, that's why I'm careful of major changes before I hear what most have to say.
I was thinking of that but when I think of the genre here I only think what kind of sexual stuff it's about. And the eroge is never going to have violence in it.

 

[Guardra]

not a fan of the money system or inventory system but thats just my personal preference other than that looks like it can be a good game

 

[Aresss]

I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to uptades!

 

[Floga]

Yeah, that's why I'm careful of major changes before I hear what most have to say.
I was thinking of that but when I think of the genre here I only think what kind of sexual stuff it's about. And the eroge is never going to have violence in it.

Yeah but I thought that for some people who come here just for sexual scenes, well they might not like the violence theme. Also, the sight of blood could be a turn-off for some people. So maybe a little heads up for them would be nice. If not a tag, you could also put up a disclaimer at the beginning of the game :coldsweat:

 

[Andarilho]

Your favorite Crazy Femme Fatale :heartcoveredeyes:
(Fan art)


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Hey @HopesGaming !
Thanks for developing this really good game! I wish you all the luck with this Project!!
IMHO if you stay true to this nice, fun and crazy world you are creating and don't let people give you too many "suggestions", this game has all the potential to become one of the most popular around here.

Meanwhile, hope you don't mind some fan art

 

[tomcire]

When I saw this thread I was sure that this game was an hash. 100% sure. Most of the mafia stories that haven't a well renown author tend to be some sort of cringe fest and I've read/played ton of this stuff.
Gosh, I'm so happy to be wrong. It was a really pleasant discovery, you resolved the mafia thing in the best way: you did some sort of comic world with all the characters that are over the top but in a really credible way in the context of this suspension of disbelief due a good storytelling and with characters that are not simple 2d stereotypes, and with the good dose of humor too. For a moment I was almost sure to be there chatting with Luna and Gracie.
The game engine seems good, I hope it will not become too much grindy.
Good job.

 

[HopesGaming]

Yeah but I thought that for some people who come here just for sexual scenes, well they might not like the violence theme. Also, the sight of blood could be a turn-off for some people. So maybe a little heads up for them would be nice. If not a tag, you could also put up a disclaimer at the beginning of the game :coldsweat:

I totally get what you mean, Floga. Especially when Luna go a bit crazy at the last part of the story, haha.
But I do have a warning scene at the beginning. Warning about both gore and sex.

Your favorite Crazy Femme Fatale :heartcoveredeyes:
(Fan art)
View attachment 131060

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Hey @HopesGaming !
Thanks for developing this really good game! I wish you all the luck with this Project!!
IMHO if you stay true to this nice, fun and crazy world you are creating and don't let people give you too many "suggestions", this game has all the potential to become one of the most popular around here.

Meanwhile, hope you don't mind some fan art

The first DeLuca fan art. LOVE IT!

*Fun little fact; Luna has not learned to wear heels yet. Spoiler for some upcoming future quests hehe*

Don't worry. I have some clear vision on how I want for the game. Stuff like lewd pace, main story, character personality and background story etc are locked. Unchangeable

When I saw this thread I was sure that this game was an hash. 100% sure. Most of the mafia stories that haven't a well renown author tend to be some sort of cringe fest and I've read/played ton of this stuff.
Gosh, I'm so happy to be wrong. It was a really pleasant discovery, you resolved the mafia thing in the best way: you did some sort of comic world with all the characters that are over the top but in a really credible way in the context of this suspension of disbelief due a good storytelling and with characters that are not simple 2d stereotypes, and with the good dose of humor too. For a moment I was almost sure to be there chatting with Luna and Gracie.
The game engine seems good, I hope it will not become too much grindy.
Good job.

Thanks for those kind words!
Don't give too much thought about the grind. Already fixed

 

[Chriss475]

Congratulations on hitting your first goal milestone. I was your 20th patron. I look forward to seeing more of your work!

 

[HopesGaming]

Congratulations on hitting your first goal milestone. I was your 20th patron. I look forward to seeing more of your work!

I am grateful to you and all the other patrons!
You keeping my dream alive!

 

[HorizonD]

At first, I played the game because I was bored, but now it's one of my favorite games.
Fascinating story, funny dialogs, and seriousness as well.
Good job, keep it up.

The other stuff was already said. ^^
I'm curious about the relationships. Is there in the future jealousy involved?
For now, it seems that Luna is falling for you and when she sees that you make out with other women, it could be really dangerous for you, I think. :coldsweat:

Hm, with the bathroom-scenes some things are not correct. The first playthrough I got each two scenes.
Second playthrough, a new game with getting full relationship points, I got the third bathroom-scene but not the other two.
I guess normally this is not supposed to be.

Thanks for sharing your great game with us.

 

[HopesGaming]

At first, I played the game because I was bored, but now it's one of my favorite games.
Fascinating story, funny dialogs, and seriousness as well.
Good job, keep it up.

The other stuff was already said. ^^
I'm curious about the relationships. Is there in the future jealousy involved?
For now, it seems that Luna is falling for you and when she sees that you make out with other women, it could be really dangerous for you, I think. :coldsweat:

Hm, with the bathroom-scenes some things are not correct. The first playthrough I got each two scenes.
Second playthrough, a new game with getting full relationship points, I got the third bathroom-scene but not the other two.
I guess normally this is not supposed to be.

Thanks for sharing your great game with us.

Thanks for those nice words Horizon!
For now, there are no consequences going out with any girls. Maybe in the future, but won't be severe and minor things.
The bathroom scene is only depending on what your stealth stats are. Later on, it also is affection.