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

[whichone]

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Yes, it should be "show, don't tell", but to me the whole story is set up with Antonio being a "doer" if not hanging around in a dark corner of the bar, just his mom will not go away anytime soon, so his time inheriting the throne is yet to come. Think "Prince Charles". Only instead of painting and going to environmental summits, Antonio does ... something, I guess?

Yes, we don't see it thus cannot know and I could be all wrong, but the way everybody treats him to me seems to indicate he can do stuff. Granted, the one mission he organized he was Straffan levels of overconfident against Straffan, and were it not for Gracie and this one elite whose name I forgot - does anybody remember? - would have maybe not failed but have had severe casualties, plus his handling of the whole situation in the office was too hot blooded (still more relateable than Wilfred taking land from Giacobbe) ...

We'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, agree, I fully expect him to be competent and capable.
Gracie & Luna are both highly talented, I see no reason to expect that Antonio is not.
Yes, he was over-confident with (& underestimated) Straffan and it would have led to a longer battle, with more casualties, but I do not believe that he displays recklessness, or foolhardiness as general character traits.
The Capos seem to respect him & it doesn't seem like the type of respect that is automatically given to the position, it seems more like it was earned by the man.

His hot-bloodedness with Straffan was perfectly justifiable, for me. It wasn't the smartest move & it displayed his lack of experience, but the reason why made sense.
He's the powerful family and this jumped up, wannabe kid walks in barking orders? Even Giacobbe's consigliere was embarrassed by Straffan's behaviour, so it's not really a surprise that Antonio gave him shit.
Granted, his Mother would've handled it differently, with the benefit of experience, but that's the type of thing that he still needs to learn from her, as well as from experience of his own.
If anything, for me, that scene really points out that he's not yet ready for the position.

I see him as, precisely as you put, a "Pince Charles", who is happy to do his duty and continue to learn from his obviously highly capable Mother.
I do not see him as being arrogant enough to think he already knows more than her, or ignorant enough to not know that his handling of Straffan could've been better.
To me, he seems happy to wait. His position is secure. I see no sign of him wishing to overthrow or usurp her. I see nothing in him which suggests that he is eager to take the seat at the head of the Family & wants to do something to progress that faster. He's shown no dissatisfaction with where he is.
Certainly not enough to give him potential of being the traitor.
Without the possibility of a rise in power, he has no visible motivation to betray his family.

It could be him. I just don't see any reason, strong enough, to suspect him, as it stands.
I definitely think that Wilfred has shown more reason for suspicion, but I do not really think it's him, either.
Of the people we've met, I think that only the Capos have displayed the competitive nature of wanting to be top of the pile, to the point where they're fighting each other. That ambition is something that could be used, perhaps.
I just do not think that we've seen that, or any real sign of ambition, from Antonio.
Wilfred has definitely displayed more.
The rival that we met seemed relatively ambitious. Although perhaps a little cliche, for it to be him.
Of course, we also still have 2 Serpents to meet. Seems unlikely, but who knows?

 

[JJJ84]

I fully expect him to be competent and capable.
Gracie & Luna are both highly talented, I see no reason to expect that Antonio is not.
Yes, he was over-confident with Straffan and it would have led to a longer battle, with more casualties, but I do not believe that he displays wrecklessness, or foolhardiness as general character traits.
The Capos seem to respect him & it doesn't seem like the type of respect that is automatically given to the position, it seems more like it was earned by the man.

His hot-bloodedness with Straffan was perfectly justifiable, for me. It wasn't the smartest move & it displayed his lack of experience, but the reason why made sense.
He's the powerful family and this jumped up, wannabe kid walks in barking orders? Even Giacobbe's consigliere was embarrassed by Straffan's behaviour, so it's not really a surprise that Antonio gave him shit.
Granted, his Mother would've handled it differently, with the benefit of experience, but that's the type of thing that he still needs to learn from her, as well as from experience of his own.
If anything, for me, that scene really points out that he's not yet ready for the position.

I see him as, precisely as you put, a "Pince Charles", who is happy to do his duty and continue to learn from his obviously highly capable Mother.
I do not see him as being arrogant enough to think he already knows more than her, or ignorant enough to not know that his handling of Straffan could've been better.
To me, he seems happy to wait. His position is secure. I see no sign of him wishing to overthrow or usurp her. I see nothing in him which suggests that he is eager to take the seat at the head of the Family & wants to do something to progress that faster. He's shown no dissatisfaction with where he is.
Certainly not enough to give him potential of being the traitor.
Without the possibility of a rise in power, he has no visible motivation to betray his family.

It could be him. I just don't see any reason, strong enough, to suspect him, as it stands.
I definitely think that Wilfred has shown more reason for suspicion, but I do not really think it's him, either.
Of the people we've met, I think that only the Capos have displayed the competitive nature of wanting to be top of the pile, to the point where they're fighting each other. That ambition is something that could be used, perhaps.
I just do not think that we've seen that, or any real sign of ambition, from Antonio.
Wilfred has definitely displayed more.
The rival that we met seemed relatively ambitious. Although perhaps a little cliche, for it to be him.
Of course, we also still have 2 Serpents to meet. Seems unlikely, but who knows?

Regarding whether Antonio is a suspect or not, who knows.
Don't know why what the following scene always makes me chuckle:

Cordia: ................
Antonio: Mother, will you ever stop treating me like a kid?
Cordia: No.

From Cordia's pov, it really shows her love for her son, but yeah still makes me laugh.



Mentioning this because I don't think I saw anyone saying it yet, but does anyone suspect Gildart?
He's the "Captain" of Wilfred's Division (regardless of how much Onorina denies it lol), and has Wilfred's confidence (enough that he accompanied Wilfred when keeping tabs on MC from early childhood, one of the few in the Family) to be in on the secret that not even Antonio found out until MC arrived at the DeLuca mansion.

So far, only ones within the Family (so this likely excludes that old man in Nimble Fingers contract who gives MC the Lock Glasses) who truly know about MC are:

- Cordia
- Wilfred
-"Serpent" (doesn't seem like Gottardo knows the full truth about MC, though he has his suspicions. Though we won't know until we get more scenes with Gottardo. Cynthia and 4th Serpent, well we have nothing until they actually come into the fold)
- Antonio
- Gildart

I could be wrong, but whoever that is gunning for MC's life I feel likely has his hands deep in knowing MC's secrets already. And all the Capos seem to be still very oblivious as to MC with their "Why is this kid so important?" reaction.

Gildart, on the other hand, I kinda feel might possibly be in a very unique position in the Family to strike at MC, should he end up being a double agent (whether it's for Mysterious 6, or others etc)

 

[whichone]

Regarding whether Antonio is a suspect or not, who knows.
Gildart, on the other hand, I kinda feel might possibly be in a very unique position in the Family to strike at MC, should he end up being a double agent (whether it's for Mysterious 6, or others etc)

Good call. He's been referenced enough to be firmly established & has a more than adequate position... Both for ambition (wants to step out from under Wilfred's shadow?) and Family knowledge.
I also like the fact that this means Wilfred's missed a beat, the mole/traitor has been right under his nose. This would dig deep into his pride.

 

[whichone]

JJJ84 Shit! Just thought, that would be Wilfred's 3rd!
Time for a new consigliere...

 

[JJJ84]

Good call. He's been referenced enough to be firmly established & has a more than adequate position...
I also like the fact that this means Wilfred's missed a beat, the mole/traitor has been right under his nose. This would dig deep into his pride.

Yeah, Wilfred always has had that perfectionist attitude that he can do no wrong (or make mistakes), that even when MC seemingly points out possible flaws in his way of thinking he gets really offended by it.

Placing his trust in the wrong person and realizing it (if Gildart indeed turns to be the traitor) may just shake him to the core and he may question his own judgment.
It's funny. I love both Wilfred and Gracie very much as characters, but there is a substantial part of me which wants to see both of them take a fall just because both of them have that "I am smarter than everyone else." mentality.
And getting back up after the fall, would be a real highlight and something to look forward to (if the fall even happens).

 

[whichone]

Yeah, Wilfred always has had that perfectionist attitude that he can do no wrong (or make mistakes), that even when MC seemingly points out possible flaws in his way of thinking he gets really offended by it.

Placing his trust in the wrong person and realizing it (if Gildart indeed turns to be the traitor) may just shake him to the core and he may question his own judgment.
It's funny. I love both Wilfred and Gracie very much as characters, but there is a substantial part of me which wants to see both of them take a fall just because both of them have that "I am smarter than everyone else." mentality.
And getting back up after the fall, would be a real highlight and something to look forward to (if the fall even happens).

lol they have a bit of a teacher/pupil relationship & overcoming failure is often a part of the pupil's arc.
Less frequently seen in the teacher's arc, so makes for a good twist.

I totally get the "want to see them take a fall". They both behave as though they're somewhat superior (Gracie perhaps unintentionally), so I think it's natural to want a "Ha! You fucked up. Not so superior, now!" moment.
With Gracie, I feel that we kind of get this, through her coming to us to teach her social skills.

 

[Joey the mangaka]

Wilfred killed straffan Fazio for the land and Possible obstacle in the future.

 

[JJJ84]

lol they have a bit of a teacher/pupil relationship & overcoming failure is often a part of the pupil's arc.
Less frequently seen in the teacher's arc, so makes for a good twist.

I totally get the "want to see them take a fall". They both behave as though they're somewhat superior (Gracie perhaps unintentionally), so I think it's natural to want a "Ha! You fucked up. Not so superior, now!" moment.

With Gracie, I guess I want to see her grow more as a character by having a rival of her own.

So far:

MC has Dominico (with his addition in the introduction).
Luna has Apce (from Straffan mission. And Hopes has already confirmed he'll return somewhere down the line).

Gracie though so far has noone. She only has the Straffan mission as part of her mission experience, but everytime we see her outplay the enemies (like Straffan mission), she'll go into it more and more thinking all the enemies are idiots and her strategy will always go according to her plan.
And I've mentioned this already before couple of times, but I'd love to see maybe a son or a daughter of a rival family actually neutralize Gracie's plan and seeing the DeLucas taking some losses (whether it's the actual battle or soldiers etc), and Gracie is shaken by the whole ordeal.
Her getting out of that pit of despair (with MC and Luna's help) and getting back at her rival would be something very worthwhile to see, and further develop Gracie more as a character who can make mistakes.


In Wilfred's case, if Gildart turns out to be the traitor, I guess his redemption may depend on whether he actually survives or not.
I mean, should the shit really hit the fan and the DeLucas get in serious trouble, it could possibly be some important characters might possibly be killed.
Not saying Wilfred will be, but I actually wouldn't totally dismiss the possibility either (although it will give me great sadness).

But if Wilfred survives to fight another day, then yeah. Let him come back with a vengeance lol.

 

[Joey the mangaka]

Mc has potential to kill the trio easy. They are under his nivel

 

[whichone]

With Gracie, I guess I want to see her grow more as a character by having a rival of her own.

So far:

MC has Dominico (with his addition in the introduction).
Luna has Apce (from Straffan mission. And Hopes has already confirmed he'll return somewhere down the line).

Gracie though so far has noone. She only has the Straffan mission as part of her mission experience, but everytime we see her outplay the enemies (like Straffan mission), she'll go into it more and more thinking all the enemies are idiots and her strategy will always go according to her plan.
And I've mentioned this already before couple of times, but I'd love to see maybe a son or a daughter of a rival family actually neutralize Gracie's plan and seeing the DeLucas taking some losses (whether it's the actual battle or soldiers etc), and Gracie is shaken by the whole ordeal.
Her getting out of that pit of despair (with MC and Luna's help) and getting back at her rival would be something very worthwhile to see, and further develop Gracie more as a character who can make mistakes.


In Wilfred's case, if Gildart turns out to be the traitor, I guess his redemption may depend on whether he actually survives or not.
I mean, should the shit really hit the fan and the DeLucas get in serious trouble, it could possibly be some important characters might possibly be killed.
Not saying Wilfred will be, but I actually wouldn't totally dismiss the possibility either (although it will give me great sadness).

But if Wilfred survives to fight another day, then yeah. Let him come back with a vengeance lol.

Yeah, I remember, we definitely spoke about Gracie needing a rival and her having a bit of a Hero's Journey arc, with a failure that makes her double down and come back stronger!
Maybe she needs a couple more missions, before she encounters this.

Re. Gildart, I mean, it could shake Wilfred deep and really cause him to question his own worth. How did he not spot this? How good is he really, if he didn't? That type of thing. Crisis of confidence.
Or, as you describe, it could lead to serious issues and fatalities, if not caught soon enough. That would put Wilfred in a very precarious position, given he's already on 2nd forgive.
I'd like to see him get a redemption, because it's not really his fault. Gildart was just better. Now Wilfred has to up his game because, like Gracie, he now has a rival.
Now we get to see him go to work! lol Shows the skills that earned him the position he has.

 

[whichone]

JJJ84 I've just realised, our conversation is kind of all about mafia aspects, character arcs and Family business.
I can already see the complaints of "Wah, too much story, not enough sex!"

 

[JJJ84]

Yeah, I remember, we definitely spoke about Gracie needing a rival and her having a bit of a Hero's Journey arc, with a failure that makes her double down and come back stronger!
Maybe she needs a couple more missions, before she encounters this.

Re. Gildart, I mean, it could shake Wilfred deep and really cause him to question his own worth. How did he not spot this? How good is he really, if he didn't? That type of thing. Crisis of confidence.
Or, as you describe, it could lead to serious issues and fatalities, if not caught soon enough. That would put Wilfred in a very precarious position, given he's already on 2nd forgive.
I'd like to see him get a redemption, because it's not really his fault. Gildart was just better. Now Wilfred has to up his game because, like Gracie, he now has a rival.
Now we get to see him go to work! lol Shows the skills that earned him the position he has.

With Gracie, I think I'm curious as to what might happen when Gracie actually gets mad at her mom for forbidding her to go on the missions.
Perhaps something like this?

Cordia: Gracie, you are forbidden to go on the missions from now on.
Gracie: !!!!! Why mom!!
Cordia: You know why. It's not safe...
Gracie: I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself! You are being overprotective!
Cordia: No.
Gracie: But why!! Hope and Luna get to go on the missions!!
Cordia: No.
Gracie: But-

Wilfred: My lady, perhaps we should-
Cordia: Stay out of this Wilfred.

Cordia: Gracie, my word is final, don't make me ground you.

Gracie leaves Cordia's office with her face red with fury.
Hours later,

Wilfred: My lady, Antonio has just sent a message. It seems lady Gracie has snuck on another mission.
Cordia: (sighs) Why won't she listen to me..



And who knows. Cordia might confide in her troubles with the MC. Would certainly be good way to get into convos with Cordia. Cordia sharing her stories with MC, and in exchange, perhaps MC sharing a bit about his childhood to Cordia.

Looking at Luna and Gracie, it seems each of them has one thing that is missing in terms of their relationship with their mother.
Luna, has that anger & conflict with Cordia, and is lacking in that love between mother and daughter aspect due to the whole kidnapping crisis.
Gracie on the other hand, while having that loving relationship with her mom, seems to lack that emotional anger/conflict that Families can sometimes have (does make me question a bit whether Gracie has ever been truly mad at Cordia at all, in her whole life till now).

Would be pretty great character dynamic with conflicts and reconciliation, with our MC in the middle trying to fix it all, heh.

 

[Joey the mangaka]

Mc kill Antonio and made antonio hero, when he was fighting with other family.

 

[vmaks]

Can anyone share the latest recording from Patreon?

 

[whichone]

Looking at Luna and Gracie, it seems each of them has one thing that is missing in terms of their relationship with their mother.
Luna, has that anger & conflict with Cordia, and is lacking in that love between mother and daughter aspect due to the whole kidnapping crisis.

I think Luna might be one of those cases where she is now scared to allow herself to love.
Her Father and her closest friend from My Name Is Luna, both died. Plus the one she looked to for protection turned and tried to kill her.
Maybe she doesn't want to allow herself to be loved by/love her Mother, because experience has taught her that then her Mother will die.
Or maybe she's unable to fully trust her Mother, because of the older girl who stabbed her.
Gonna be tough to get through either of those psychological barriers, but MC can do it!!

 

[johnelros]

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Hello DeLucas!

So, given enough time for everyone to hopefully played the latest update by now.
Lot to take in!
The gameplay feedback has been very interesting. Many people enjoys it while others not so much.
For those that did not the usual feedback was-
Difficulty and understanding, lack of visual, and fear of missing out if not doing the gameplay part.

- Difficulty and understanding - there will be a tutorial contract that will make it a bit easier to ease into.
- lack of visual - already in 0.07.2 did we add in more visual in the form of equipment renders. But will also expand upon the contracts with more renders (like it is with the bikini girl)
- Missing out - Will add something where non-gameplay players will be able to see all gameplay events and stuff.

Overall, I think it's a good replacement for the old one. I will still check for feedback and stuff to see how much it is actually liked once we get a bit more.
About the time with the new gameplay - minimal. Now the framework is done and start contracts has been written. Focus is on all the other things and contracts will mainly be done by others and checked by me.

Release schedule.
Like mentioned in previous post. The 0.0.8 will be a bit different in that it will be released faster but with lower amount of content than the big ones. Of course, still aiming for a satisfactorily content amount but not 'My Name Is Luna' kind of length. Those will happen, but will be rare.

In 0.0.8 the focus will be on Gracie. We need to expand on her a bit so be prepared for some previews with her in the coming weeks.
But, we will also add a few Luna events. One is about Luna talking a bit about her past sisters and what she knows. Because she knows.
Then a bit of lewd with her. That is the plan with her.
No Isabel plans as of yet.
Cordia. Cordia-Cordia-Cordia. I've gotten so much requests, questions, demands, about Cordia. I must say the amount of people who love her even surprises me.
Well, due to all that I've decided to talk a little on what the plan is with her;

She will have her own freeroam and content like the rest of the girls.
Her requirement to open up her free-roam is Luna and Gracie quest-line.
Luna once we get to the part about the trouble about her and Cordia while Gracie is when we need to get Gracie a bit more involved with the Family. We are getting close to both of those quest-line so in the near future we will play around with her

Hope you all had a good weekend.

-HG

 

[AmbientAspects]

Grace content!!!!! Hella hyped for this AND HE TALKED ABOUT ABOUT CORDIA CONTENT YESSSSSSS EVEN MORE HYPE(I know it's still in the future but hyped nonetheless)

 

[JJJ84]

View attachment 1177544

You must be registered to see the links

Hello DeLucas!

So, given enough time for everyone to hopefully played the latest update by now.
Lot to take in!
The gameplay feedback has been very interesting. Many people enjoys it while others not so much.
For those that did not the usual feedback was-
Difficulty and understanding, lack of visual, and fear of missing out if not doing the gameplay part.

- Difficulty and understanding - there will be a tutorial contract that will make it a bit easier to ease into.
- lack of visual - already in 0.07.2 did we add in more visual in the form of equipment renders. But will also expand upon the contracts with more renders (like it is with the bikini girl)
- Missing out - Will add something where non-gameplay players will be able to see all gameplay events and stuff.

Overall, I think it's a good replacement for the old one. I will still check for feedback and stuff to see how much it is actually liked once we get a bit more.
About the time with the new gameplay - minimal. Now the framework is done and start contracts has been written. Focus is on all the other things and contracts will mainly be done by others and checked by me.

Release schedule.
Like mentioned in previous post. The 0.0.8 will be a bit different in that it will be released faster but with lower amount of content than the big ones. Of course, still aiming for a satisfactorily content amount but not 'My Name Is Luna' kind of length. Those will happen, but will be rare.

In 0.0.8 the focus will be on Gracie. We need to expand on her a bit so be prepared for some previews with her in the coming weeks.
But, we will also add a few Luna events. One is about Luna talking a bit about her past sisters and what she knows. Because she knows.
Then a bit of lewd with her. That is the plan with her.
No Isabel plans as of yet.
Cordia. Cordia-Cordia-Cordia. I've gotten so much requests, questions, demands, about Cordia. I must say the amount of people who love her even surprises me.
Well, due to all that I've decided to talk a little on what the plan is with her;

She will have her own freeroam and content like the rest of the girls.
Her requirement to open up her free-roam is Luna and Gracie quest-line.
Luna once we get to the part about the trouble about her and Cordia while Gracie is when we need to get Gracie a bit more involved with the Family. We are getting close to both of those quest-line so in the near future we will play around with her

Hope you all had a good weekend.

-HG

Thank for this!!

Guess we need to wait a bit more for Cordia content. While I was kinda hoping we're gonna get to her content on next update, I understand Hopes will know when is the right time to introduce Cordia's content to us, so I'm okay with waiting for us to get to unlocking Cordia's content requirement.

And besides, I have a lot of love for Gracie and Luna as well.

Recent update was great, and I'm looking forward to what's to come for the future of DeLucas, whether it's the girls their stories and MC's adventures.

 

[Drakan47]

In 0.0.8 the focus will be on Gracie. We need to expand on her a bit so be prepared for some previews with her in the coming weeks.

oh yes

But, we will also add a few Luna events. One is about Luna talking a bit about her past sisters and what she knows. Because she knows.

Oh Yes (also, called it, I knew those girls would come up eventually)

Then a bit of lewd with her. That is the plan with her.

OH YES

Cordia. Cordia-Cordia-Cordia. I've gotten so much requests, questions, demands, about Cordia. I must say the amount of people who love her even surprises me.
Well, due to all that I've decided to talk a little on what the plan is with her;

so demands do work on you huh? I demand more floaty!

 

[JJJ84]

Hey HopesGaming

Just a question.
Will the tutorial contract have the retired Capo Vincent in it?

Just my thought, but it would be pretty great if the tutorial contract instructions were given through Vincent and our MC has to go to Gina's Tavern for it.

MC says in Blizzard Princess event that he knows Vincent through his contracts, and also mentions to Gracie in Town Time event that he went there for his contract, so might be pretty neat to kill 2 birds with one stone by having both of them in a single contract.