Ren'Py The Headmaster [Mykock's Manor Ch.3] [Altos and Herdone]

[Soobaroo]

I don't think she has too many, this game has suffered massively from the (quite common, unfortunately) phenomena where it became really successful and the dev started going down 500 rabbit holes and running Patreon polls to decide development direction via democrazy. There are a billion and a half threads running and instead of further building upon what is already there, they just keep introducing new characters and shit.

It blew my mind when they added the bit where you start suggesting additional girls to be 'recruited' to the school, meanwhile a bunch of girls who have been in the game for fucking *years* still barely have any scenes and no real punishment mechanic (read: the core game progression mechanic) built out yet.

I had this game on my recommended list in my sig for ages, but recently removed it due to this bullshit, sadly. It was a great game once but the lack of direction and not a lot of meaningful progress in quite some time now is getting old fast.

We really need to get a lot more content for the original cast, full punishment mode for all of them, and progression through fucking each of them. That should be priority #1. Everything else is a distraction.

Damn thats a huge pity, this game seemed so damn promising but hearing that april doesn't really have that many scenes, and the next character being interesting right off the bat being nina also from what i read doesn't have much stuff. Kinda makes me hesitant to push on and play the game more

I've played it last time (and it was my first) after 0.14 release. It was really engaging from the story as well the characters' standpoint. Unfortunately the fact that it's only one developer who writes the script, renders the scenes and codes the game makes it a very prolonged task to finish all the little (and big) things like individual character storylines.
Patreon isn't the deciding factor, as Altos and Herdone has the last call of what to add (or not) despite the poll results.

If you are hungry for your favorite character's new content then I suggest keep up with the development process and check out if "X" was added in the patch notes. For instance I'm not going to play 0.15 - I'll wait more months for 0.16 (or 0.17) to experience the whole finished act 2 if the promise from the dev diaries is upheld. I hope that eventually™ everything will be finished and The Headmaster will be one of the most interesting titles to pick up on F95zone.

 

[ccxvidonaferens]

Damn thats a huge pity, this game seemed so damn promising but hearing that april doesn't really have that many scenes, and the next character being interesting right off the bat being nina also from what i read doesn't have much stuff. Kinda makes me hesitant to push on and play the game more

Regarding Nina, one of the next couple of updates is supposed to progress Faye's storyline/punishment mechanic and there is some foreshadowing within the current content that Faye and Nina's storylines may eventually intertwine.

 

[deepsauce47]

I wish the dev would just get rid of the audience polls entirely and develop the game according to his vision.

The dev is the auteur, and I'm paying for his expertise, not the opinions of coomer Patreon supporters.

 

[TonyMurray]

Regarding Nina, one of the next couple of updates is supposed to progress Faye's storyline/punishment mechanic and there is some foreshadowing within the current content that Faye and Nina's storylines may eventually intertwine.

I think that was supposed to be in one of the next updates (the Faye/Nina story), so they were definitely set to intertwine.

 

[hoshimota]

I wish the dev would just get rid of the audience polls entirely and develop the game according to his vision.

The dev is the auteur, and I'm paying for his expertise, not the opinions of coomer Patreon supporters.

I agree 100%. This poll bullshit ruins a lot of games. Often what happens is the people with the loudest voices, are those with more fringe fetishes/tastes, and they are willing to drop $$$ on a random porn game that scratches their itch.

If you look at A Struggle With Sin as an example, everyone is always voting for like the oldest, heaviest set, least 'classically attractive' type characters to get more content, or for there to be more sharing/NTR/cuck type content.

A House in the Rift is similar, the Patreon crowd wants more content for Yona (literally a giant jacked up masculine orc character) but the thin, petite feminine characters get the short end of the stick lately.

The other thing is everyone starts chiming in with this "oh wouldn't it be great if there was -----" bullshit and then more characters, features, etc. get added, and progress slows to a fuckin crawl.

 

[LegendBear]

I agree 100%. This poll bullshit ruins a lot of games. Often what happens is the people with the loudest voices, are those with more fringe fetishes/tastes, and they are willing to drop $$$ on a random porn game that scratches their itch.

If you look at A Struggle With Sin as an example, everyone is always voting for like the oldest, heaviest set, least 'classically attractive' type characters to get more content, or for there to be more sharing/NTR/cuck type content.

A House in the Rift is similar, the Patreon crowd wants more content for Yona (literally a giant jacked up masculine orc character) but the thin, petite feminine characters get the short end of the stick lately.

The other thing is everyone starts chiming in with this "oh wouldn't it be great if there was -----" bullshit and then more characters, features, etc. get added, and progress slows to a fuckin crawl.

Are the fringe crowds getting more than one vote somehow? I'm failing to see how that's relevant unless they're buying more than one vote in polls like this.

 

[ccxvidonaferens]

This may be splitting hairs but my impression on this title was that the dev has an idea of the key tent pole story beats for each girls story, including their individual endgame and polls his patreons to determine in which order to add/further each of those story beats. Especially as the content does not get added in a necessarily linear fashion which can be seen if one replays the game. As an example of what I mean, the content of three of the last four updates at least (those covering the continuation of Priti's, Rachels and the Staff Training storylines) can be progressed simultaneously. The update that added Maxines charity event is the exception but as far as I am aware there have been and will continue to be some changes made as to how to trigger that event as other content gets added in order to properly pace and place it around other story events over the course of the next few updates as I think it is now intended that it will be a key part of the transition to chapter 3 of the main story.

 

[hoshimota]

Are the fringe crowds getting more than one vote somehow? I'm failing to see how that's relevant unless they're buying more than one vote in polls like this.

There are more of them who are paying for games in Patreon (at least there sure as hell seems to be.) If you like more typical/common stuff, you don't really need to pay extra to get it created. But if you're into like, dudes being tied up while a girl sings the Barney song and farts in their face, you're not gonna find a hell of a lot of pre-existing content out there. So if some indie project does crop up that scratches your itch, you're way more likely to pony up the $$$ to keep it going.

 

[Cartageno]

I agree 100%. This poll bullshit ruins a lot of games. Often what happens is the people with the loudest voices, are those with more fringe fetishes/tastes, and they are willing to drop $$$ on a random porn game that scratches their itch.

If you look at A Struggle With Sin as an example, everyone is always voting for like the oldest, heaviest set, least 'classically attractive' type characters to get more content, or for there to be more sharing/NTR/cuck type content.

A House in the Rift is similar, the Patreon crowd wants more content for Yona (literally a giant jacked up masculine orc character) but the thin, petite feminine characters get the short end of the stick lately.

The other thing is everyone starts chiming in with this "oh wouldn't it be great if there was -----" bullshit and then more characters, features, etc. get added, and progress slows to a fuckin crawl.

While I agree with a lot of your post, getting more Yona content in my eyes makes a lot of sense. This game has quite a few characters, and the "petite ones" are heavily ahead in development. Surely, partly justified by the story - they just arrived earlier and had more time - but still, if these characters are in, they need their dev time, too, and there should be some balance.

Especially since this is a sandbox-ish game, also we get a pretty distorted view when we watch such a game in progress because development (not of the game but of the relationships) speeds will be quite different in the finished game than we experience during any time in development, unlike a VN which is presented during development more or less as in the final game (some changes notwithstanding).

Also, while I do prefer the Lyriels and Caits to the Yonas myself, I wouldn't call inclusion of a more diverse cast "fringe", and I think, since we're drawing heavily from fantasy tropes here, the basic characters were the dev's idea from the beginning, and not some Patreon poll result "We want an Orc".

But as I said, dev idea should always trump Patreon votes, at least when major elements are concerned. A "which haircut do you prefer for the character that's coming next update" should be okay, a "Do you want futa in the game or not" however I wouldn't put down to the audience.

 

[ccxvidonaferens]

But as I said, dev idea should always trump Patreon votes, at least when major elements are concerned. A "which haircut do you prefer for the character that's coming next update" should be okay, a "Do you want futa in the game or not" however I wouldn't put down to the audience.

This is precisely my position. Story progress/events should be the sole purview of the dev. Cosmetic changes such as outfits/hairstyles/personal grooming etc, if the dev wants their audiences input then they can ask.

 

[Cartageno]

I only just noted that I was maybe transgressing a bit by such a lengthy post about a different game, somehow while replying I got into the wrong mode. My apologies to headmasters who don't know AHITR and cannot understand what is said here at all.

 

[ccxvidonaferens]

I only just noted that I was maybe transgressing a bit by such a lengthy post about a different game, somehow while replying I got into the wrong mode. My apologies to headmasters who don't know AHITR and cannot understand what is said here at all.

You should have a very stern word with yourself and discipline some students as penance.

 

[Cartageno]

You should have a very stern word with yourself and discipline some students as penance.

Samantha, will you please call the twins to my office? And Maxine, and Lucy, and Priti, and April, and Miss Potts, and yourself?

 

[Perniciousducks]

None of the polls have pulled away from the “authors vision”. Especially the last few. New outfits will be part of the story, he has ideas for how those could go, he built the options and lets the fans pick. As far as what girls get content, when voted on, it’s all from characters he created and we are simply choosing which one he wants to focus on. Are they all carbon fucking copies of the ideal attractive character? No. That would be boring. He has more opportunities to write different characters and most of the girls are very conventionally attractive.

TLDR. The polls don’t remove vision, and not everyone agrees with you on which characters are the most interesting.

 

[Boblet]

Regarding Nina, one of the next couple of updates is supposed to progress Faye's storyline/punishment mechanic and there is some foreshadowing within the current content that Faye and Nina's storylines may eventually intertwine.

I think the developer is aware of the need to get back to progressing the characters' storylines and the various plots. For example, Faye/Nina as I recall was originally supposed to drop Fall 2022. Then the Mole Rats tar baby came along and the Faye/Nina update has been bumped repeatedly since. That's frustrating, but hopefully the train is back on the track now, because there is lots and lots left to do! The developer has spoken at length on these issues recently (right here in this forum).

 

[rgrtbrtbrtbr]

It worth noting literally both previous updates progressed student stories. Two updates ago progressed the twins' story with Potts, and the last update progressed the stories of the people involved in the staff training.

I agree there's not a level of "baseline" content for each character, and I understand the frustration if one of your favorite characters doesn't even have punishment implemented yet.

And the same time, I personally prefer more in-depth story content, over a bare-bones "here's the public punishment, here's some spanking". Like I like the punishment system but it does feel a bit samey at times.

 

[ccxvidonaferens]

And the same time, I personally prefer more in-depth story content, over a bare-bones "here's the public punishment, here's some spanking". Like I like the punishment system but it does feel a bit samey at times.

I can see this being one of the biggest headaches going forward for the dev. Trying to come up with a unique 'wrinkle' for each girls punishment mechanic to personalise it for each girl and make it relevant to their individual personality quirks and desires. Like Amy having a higher tolerance to pain, Priti's need to both rebel against and conform to the rules and Cassandra's ego and publicly humiliating her to name three examples that currently exist.

 

[vicaddict]

I guess the amount of characters makes it look like progress is being made slowly, because the majority of characters won't receive new scenes whereas only a few do. If your favourites don't happen to be among them, it is a bit frustrating. Since the dev cycle is rather slow, with only one or two updates a year, it makes it look like the game doesn't move in any direction.

I am not sure how once could adress this, since the dev is clearly transparent about his work and his progress. Maybe it will take a few years to finish everything, but I have been following this game for years and will continue to do so. If there is anything to complain about it is that the pacing of the game has been rather slow in the beginning and went from zero to a hundred in one single update. It felt a bit rushed, IMHO, but other than that the game is one of the better ones out there.

 

[HeathenCrow]

Does someone have a full save up to the latest update?

 

[Soobaroo]

I am not sure how once could adress this, since the dev is clearly transparent about his work and his progress. Maybe it will take a few years to finish everything, but I have been following this game for years and will continue to do so.

My prediction is 4-5 more years, but it's like divination from Priti's tea leaves at this point.