Canto Forte

Post Pro
Jul 10, 2017
21,115
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This topic is about the repetitive missions that do not seem to get MC anything in the direction of furthering his relationship with any of the gals, the courtain staying down, his wine is never the right one and all those missions seem to go on forever wihout any substantial correspondence in the plot.

Now, let us reminisce of the quirky nonsensical idea that MC wants a written contract with a mob underboss family where all the talk seems to be about how they joke of their own operatives ending up dead and their seemingly unquestionable lack of memory as to who put them in the ground.

With this kind of setup, all MC can do now is rape and pillage everyone in the household for fear of retaliation from uncomprehensible bosses and then just set himself and everyone on fire to signal
the antichrist descent upon the Earth.

How is that for your next update ?!?
 

Mr. Darke

Newbie
Jan 17, 2020
34
35
This topic is about the repetitive missions that do not seem to get MC anything in the direction of furthering his relationship with any of the gals, the courtain staying down, his wine is never the right one and all those missions seem to go on forever wihout any substantial correspondence in the plot.
I enjoy this game overall, but one of the disappointing things for me is that your stats don't seem to matter to the story or scenes at all even though it says they will. Whether I have the starting stats or the max stats I can have, the character is always kind of a chump. Whether I've done as few missions as possible to advance or whether I'm an elite soldato, he's still scared and or incompetent at times I don't feel he would be.

Also, from what I can tell, my dialogue choices don't change either. I could be wrong, but I don't think I've seen any special colored choices.
 

HopesGaming

The Godfather
Game Developer
Dec 21, 2017
1,705
15,350
I enjoy this game overall, but one of the disappointing things for me is that your stats don't seem to matter to the story or scenes at all even though it says they will. Whether I have the starting stats or the max stats I can have, the character is always kind of a chump. Whether I've done as few missions as possible to advance or whether I'm an elite soldato, he's still scared and or incompetent at times I don't feel he would be.

Also, from what I can tell, my dialogue choices don't change either. I could be wrong, but I don't think I've seen any special colored choices.
No one likes a scared and cowardice main character and there are times where I just want to write him as a total badass as well. But a writer can't write how he wants his characters to act. He has to write how the character will act based on how he was created.
Right now he is a soldato (not elite that is a bug in the rank name), and if you actually go through all the contract information he has only done small contracts such as stopping bar fights, stealing a bit, accompanying guests.
Those the mc can handle and also get used to. He's not a coward in that sense of the word. He is not afraid of a fistfight either.
The situations that he is however scared by is life and death situations, especially those involving guns.
And it takes a bit more than doing contracts about bar fights to be able to get used to that.
(Example, he wasn't scared when he was alone against the two Bonans in which one of them had a bat. (The park scene with Luna). He, however, did get scared for THEIR sake when Luna came, heh.

About the stats. The special colored dialogues for now are the red ones. The one that requires you to have good 'heart' stats with the girls. The second is the morality stat (which is hidden and now shown compared to the heart stat)
Right now it is in effect and many choices impact the morality stat. But there is no scene that has gotten impacted by it yet. Simply because the MC is not far enough in the story for me to want to make use of the stats as I want.
Soon tho.

Lastly, remember this is a game in devolvement. What you are playing is not the complete work and just alpha of a game.
The whole mission system will be revamped as an example.
 

UnoriginalUserName

Engaged Member
Sep 3, 2017
3,674
13,671
(Example, he wasn't scared when he was alone against the two Bonans in which one of them had a bat. (The park scene with Luna). He, however, did get scared for THEIR sake when Luna came, heh.
MC internal monologue : "Huh, Bonans, this might get ugly. Oh terrific, one has a bat, just fucking great."

*Luna shows up*

MC internal monologue : "Oh shit! Luna! This is going to get ugly and...oh, wait! She has ice cream! Ok, maybe this won't be so bad, just as long as...FUCK!! It's hot out! The ice cream is going to melt! Dammit!"

MC : "Hey uh, Bonans, maybe you should..."

Luna : "I have a gun and ice cream!"

*BLAM!*

Bonan Dumbass #1 : "Ah! My leg! My fucking leg!"

MC internal monologue : "Yep, there it is. Saw that coming... Well at least she didn't drop her cone, maybe they'll actually survive."
 

Mr. Darke

Newbie
Jan 17, 2020
34
35
Lastly, remember this is a game in devolvement. What you are playing is not the complete work and just alpha of a game.
The whole mission system will be revamped as an example.
First off, I appreciate your response and like that you actively talk to the community here. I also appreciate your efforts. In my opinion, it is clear (whether one agrees with your choices in development or not) that you put tremendous effort and care in what you do so this is much appreciated.

Moving on...
.....

I'm not saying your wrong. How can I? This is your vision after all, I just disagree on some things.

No one likes a scared and cowardice main character and there are times where I just want to write him as a total badass as well.
I'd agree if this was only a novel but it isn't; it's also a game. I'm not saying the character has to be a bad ass. I'm saying that I feel the player should get more of a say/influence on what kind of character the MC will be. This is especially true in my opinion when there's grinding. The grind should be partially optional, meaning you should have to put in some work but have the option to max out as much as you can if you want... BUT part of the reward for that should be narrative, imho. I took the time to max out my stats as much as I could, then he should be better than incompetent and or a coward, even if he is still going to lose.

Say that with the minimum stats you can have to advance, you get to a fight scene. The scene plays out with him being totally dominated... but with better stats, the character is still beaten, but maybe he manages to land a hit or disarm the attacker (maybe that requires more stats) or maybe if the player is at an even higher threshold, they beat the attacker but then help gets involved. I know this only changes things narratively, but I think in such a story driven game, this would make grinding more worth it/fulfilling.

The situations that he is however scared by is life and death situations, especially those involving guns.
And it takes a bit more than doing contracts about bar fights to be able to get used to that.
This is entirely true for some people. I can even see the justification for him being this way (another reason I can't just say you're wrong (because you aren't)) but I can also seem him being able to adjust rather quickly and or not as hesitant. I am just of the mindset that the player should get to shape his personality in that way. Since there are hidden stats, it makes it hard to know what matters and what doesn't. If his morality is low enough, maybe he isn't hesitant or nearly as hesitant?

About the stats. The special colored dialogues for now are the red ones. The one that requires you to have good 'heart' stats with the girls. The second is the morality stat (which is hidden and now shown compared to the heart stat)
Right now it is in effect and many choices impact the morality stat.
I know dialogue affects the stats, but for some reason, I thought it was going to be stats also affecting the dialogue. Like dialogue and or choices that are only available based on your stats. I have not noticed any dialogue that only appears if you have high enough stats for them to appear.

Lastly, remember this is a game in devolvement. What you are playing is not the complete work and just alpha of a game.
The whole mission system will be revamped as an example.
I definitely understand that, but this is why I think providing constructive criticism and opinions are important. For instance, whereas you believe it's too early to have stats affect scenes, I think there were a number of times where this could have happened. Whether you agree with me or not, I understand and respect your point of view, but I'd like to at least try to offer a different perspective because there's a chance it may prove helpful in some way.

--------

This game is quite incredible in my opinion and the writing is pretty good. It's one of the few games (maybe the only) where I don't simply skip through the dialogue so I hope you don't misunderstand my remarks as being negative.
 

Numa_Cway

Member
Jul 9, 2019
291
614
Played the entire game again in "preparation" for the next release and I have to say...
The soundtrack and music, especially in the story missions, is just fucking awesome!
Not only the tracks themselves but the usage, as in "how and when" they're used.

HopesGaming Seriously, keep it up!
Your choice and usage of music is second to none! (Well... maybe BaDIK comes close...).
You really can tell a lot of attention is given to the music.

The only thing that kinda bugs me is that sometimes rather long tracks are used for only a couple of frames or short animations.
That way, you can't appreciate the whole track as the next one starts already and skips it.
I'm mainly refering to Caterina's "Dance of Death" that has such an awesome Track.
But it's a looped animation counting as one frame that can be skipped with one click...
 
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HopesGaming

The Godfather
Game Developer
Dec 21, 2017
1,705
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I hope you don't misunderstand my remarks as being negative.
Just want to address this as the first thing;
Of course not and hopefully you just see my views and reasonings as simply me trying to answer as in-depth as I can.

I'd agree if this was only a novel but it isn't; it's also a game. I'm not saying the character has to be a bad ass. I'm saying that I feel the player should get more of a say/influence on what kind of character the MC will be. This is especially true in my opinion when there's grinding. The grind should be partially optional, meaning you should have to put in some work but have the option to max out as much as you can if you want... BUT part of the reward for that should be narrative, imho. I took the time to max out my stats as much as I could, then he should be better than incompetent and or a coward, even if he is still going to lose.
There are several factors why it is a bit difficult to do those things.
One would be the fact that I am just one guy doing this in my free time which means I have to prioritize on the content. By adding different scenes depending on the stat in such an early stage of the story (the MC story) would mean to create a lot of different renders and very different scripts.

That is why I have implemented four stats for the mc (which are covered in the in-game stats explanation section).
Morality - which should be easy enough figuring out which dialogue options give it and decrease it. (Example, to kill or spare the mercenary, to look at trinos dead body or look away, to say they deserved to get shot or not (bonans) and so on.
The morality stat is hard to use now as MC do not have any big say in the DeLuca Family and simply not far enough in the storyline to have situation that would require his morality to be challanged.
But in the future an example of the morality stat would be - Kill him quickly (the normal option) and if MC morality have fallen enough - Kill him slowly, or maybe if the morality is even lower than that- cut his throat slowly.
Just an example but hopefully you can get a feeling of how I intend to use the stat. Ofc, some events will change slightly depending on morality.
Right now there is no way to see the morality but planing to have it like the heart stat (where the girls portrait change depending on their love level)

Then there are three other stats. Anger, calm and crazy.
Many times the MC has three dialogue options (example when the bonans or Straffan ask who the MC is)
The options are very different and should be very obvious which one is the calm (My name is ___), anger (None of your business!) and, crazy (The tooth fairy).

After a few more events of these and MC having a bit more 'say' in the DeLuca Family those will actually be the stat that will change the script and scenes of the narration. Not in a crazy way that would make it too hard for me to do but in a smart fashion that makes it feel like the player have an impact on the personality of the MC.

But all of those are simply 'building up' and adding any events at this stage would feel out of place (for me personally).

Say that with the minimum stats you can have to advance, you get to a fight scene. The scene plays out with him being totally dominated... but with better stats, the character is still beaten, but maybe he manages to land a hit or disarm the attacker (maybe that requires more stats) or maybe if the player is at an even higher threshold, they beat the attacker but then help gets involved. I know this only changes things narratively, but I think in such a story driven game, this would make grinding more worth it/fulfilling.
Now the thing is, those were actually how I envision the stats to be used. (Especially for the planned tournament sections). BUT a couple of things to address here.
One, it is (I know I am going a bit of a repeat here, heh) early for that. MC first *real* mission and he goes on a badass fight scene is not how I want it.
Think of all the current events and story sections.
They all have a purpose to them. Most of them have several purposes. Adding an early fight scene for the MC in such a way as described would be a huge workload. It require several renders, script change and has to cut out a lot of other scenes.
But most of all, the essence of the originally planned reasoning for the story section would have been lost.

And the final reason is that I am planning to revamp the whole mission system tbh. I am not that happy with it. Can't say anything for sure yet however.
Also why I can understand your concern for the mission stat not following the main narrative. I want it to change.

This is entirely true for some people. I can even see the justification for him being this way (another reason I can't just say you're wrong (because you aren't)) but I can also seem him being able to adjust rather quickly and or not as hesitant. I am just of the mindset that the player should get to shape his personality in that way. Since there are hidden stats, it makes it hard to know what matters and what doesn't. If his morality is low enough, maybe he isn't hesitant or nearly as hesitant?
Remember, this MC has a background, own story and his own personality.
I want the player to have some degree in the direction the MC grows and how his personality changes but compared to a silent mc- this one is a bit harder to crack.
Also has to say that there has not been enough instances of morality changes for the mc to get an automatic morality scene change. In the future that will be the case tho.

I know dialogue affects the stats, but for some reason, I thought it was going to be stats also affecting the dialogue. Like dialogue and or choices that are only available based on your stats. I have not noticed any dialogue that only appears if you have high enough stats for them to appear.
You are right on this. I planned to have other stats such as strength, charisma, intelligence and also the mission stats to have an effect on dialogue and narration.
Buuuut, a lot of dev mumbo jumpo on planning (training arc with the girl) and stuff I had to take that on hold for a bit.
It is still planned, but not in a concrete way yet.

I definitely understand that, but this is why I think providing constructive criticism and opinions are important. For instance, whereas you believe it's too early to have stats affect scenes, I think there were a number of times where this could have happened. Whether you agree with me or not, I understand and respect your point of view, but I'd like to at least try to offer a different perspective because there's a chance it may prove helpful in some way.
Absolutely, and many times the reader/player has a view that can be for the better but there are also times where the author simply can't comply because of what is planned (but cannot be said), heh.

This game is quite incredible in my opinion and the writing is pretty good. It's one of the few games (maybe the only) where I don't simply skip through the dialogue so I hope you don't misunderstand my remarks as being negative.
Thank you for the kind words and hope I answered some of your thoughts you had!
 

HopesGaming

The Godfather
Game Developer
Dec 21, 2017
1,705
15,350
Played the entire game again in "preparation" for the next release and I have to say...
The soundtrack and music, especially in the story missions, is just fucking awesome!
Not only the tracks themselves but the usage, as in "how and when" they're used.

HopesGaming Seriously, keep it up!
Your choice and usage of music is second to none! (Well... maybe BaDIK comes close...).
You really can tell a lot of attention is given to the music.

The only thing that kinda bugs me is that sometimes rather long tracks are used for only a couple of frames or short animations.
That way, you can't appreciate the whole track as the next one starts already and skips it.
I'm mainly refering to Caterina's "Dance of Death" that has such an awesome Track.
But it's a looped animation counting as one frame that can be skipped with one click...
Thank you for the kind words!

Yeah, I know what you mean. When starting out this project I was actually surprised how difficult it was to handle music, sound, etc. Actually had to go and rewatch series and movies and be like "Oh, never noticed that."

Still, lots to learn which is why there are some places I feel like the music is going on for a bit too long and in other (Caterina's case) a bit too short. I have to add, the music used for Caterina and that scene is actually cut off and looped. I didn't want to give the good part away just yet, heh. (Someone is going to unren the music and listen to it now.)
 

Numa_Cway

Member
Jul 9, 2019
291
614
Thank you for the kind words!

Yeah, I know what you mean. When starting out this project I was actually surprised how difficult it was to handle music, sound, etc. Actually had to go and rewatch series and movies and be like "Oh, never noticed that."

Still, lots to learn which is why there are some places I feel like the music is going on for a bit too long and in other (Caterina's case) a bit too short. I have to add, the music used for Caterina and that scene is actually cut off and looped. I didn't want to give the good part away just yet, heh. (Someone is going to unren the music and listen to it now.)
Hey, thanks for your reply. :)

The Caterina scene was just an example and I wasn't exactly annoyed because of it.
It was just a scene that came to my mind as I didn't really pay that much attention to it at first,
but in my replay i didn't hit space that fast but let it play for a bit and realized, the tracks really kicks in only after close to a minute.

As for the loops:
I realized that myself already.^^
I know, that the "Caterina Dance" basically has three tracks:
"The Intro" when she starts talking to the Fazio Guy.
The "Main Track" during her "Dance of Death". That's the one I meant when I said it counts as one frame.
And "the Outro" after she finished her dance.
I did realize that those are more ore less one track, but that didn't really bother me.
What I mentioned was only "Caterina's Dance", as a looped animation was skippable with one click, and the whole "main track" was tied to it.

Of course I also realized in general, that you cut tracks in several parts and looped them.
First time I realized that, was "Cordia's Theme". (Is it called that? I want to call it that...)
The first time it was played (if I'm not mistaken...) was during Cordia's talk with Giacobbe on that Bench.
You basically looped the "Intro" until Giacobbe called Cordia by her Nickname "Blizzard Queen" including that epic Render...
Yeah... something like that made it pretty obvious... unfortunately.

But like I said in my previous post.
I like your choice and usage of music!
So, (again as I said before...) please keep it up!!! :)

BR
 
Last edited:

Lord_Raven

Newbie
Jun 3, 2017
85
102
Got to say, I absolutely love this game. I'll finish the current version, move on to a different game and then be like "man, I want to keep playing The Deluca Family" which is a major problem because of the time in between updates. I know you are doing all you can and we just have to sit patiently. But man, I need more of my Luna!!! Especially after learning her history.
 

JeefZ

Well-Known Member
Feb 21, 2018
1,875
6,068
MC internal monologue : "Huh, Bonans, this might get ugly. Oh terrific, one has a bat, just fucking great."

*Luna shows up*

MC internal monologue : "Oh shit! Luna! This is going to get ugly and...oh, wait! She has ice cream! Ok, maybe this won't be so bad, just as long as...FUCK!! It's hot out! The ice cream is going to melt! Dammit!"

MC : "Hey uh, Bonans, maybe you should..."

Luna : "I have a gun and ice cream!"

*BLAM!*

Bonan Dumbass #1 : "Ah! My leg! My fucking leg!"

MC internal monologue : "Yep, there it is. Saw that coming... Well at least she didn't drop her cone, maybe they'll actually survive."
To me this was one of the best and funniest scenes. I replay it over and over. I may be weird but that was great!!!!
 

uhmusure2

New Member
Jan 24, 2020
5
21
Of course there are infos.
That's what I got my patreon page for.
was previously subbed as soldato level up until the end of November, in all honesty as no posts have gone up since 4th January i didn't see the need to resub yet as no release date mentioned. if your telling me other messages have gone out via the patreon message system then i'll reconsider that.

this wasnt intended with any hostility towards yourself, just a case of so many games at the moment where development times are quoted and they go well over that regularly....... yes i know thats an issue that i have to deal with and do try, full disclosure my medical condition makes that difficult.
 
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HopesGaming

The Godfather
Game Developer
Dec 21, 2017
1,705
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was previously subbed as soldato level up until the end of November, in all honesty as no posts have gone up since 4th January i didn't see the need to resub yet as no release date mentioned. if your telling me other messages have gone out via the patreon message system then i'll reconsider that.

this wasnt intended with any hostility towards yourself, just a case of so many games at the moment where development times are quoted and they go well over that regularly....... yes i know thats an issue that i have to deal with and do try, full disclosure my medical condition makes that difficult.
The two last posts made a clear point on what I have planned for and that's why there has been no other posts.
If anything news worthy or anything important happens - it will be shared of course.

Also, yes, there has not been given out any eta but that is not because the release date is far off.
Just due to me learning what it means to give out eta's. So the eta will probably be 1 or 2 days of release. Or maybe even release day, heh.


Who high flying low fall ;)
I have absolutely no idea what you are saying but I am afraid of planes. Those things are too high up.
 
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