VN Ren'Py Abandoned The Manifest: Shadows Over Manston [v2.2] [White Phantom Games]

4.20 star(s) 37 Votes
Discussion Reviews (37)
P

p22

Active Member
Jun 21, 2017
815
472
What I like about this game: Reactivity. It has a lot. Really great stuff/


What I don't like:
Doing monthly updates with game like this makes it impossible to enjoy it. That is way to little time to add significant content. It's either too little new content for single path, or you are replaying way to much old content monthly, making you quickly bored.

I would suggest to those that can wait to replay it after 6 months of updates, from scratch, doing multiple paths, and then the same replay another 6 moths later.
 
K

Karabonga

Member
Dec 11, 2018
264
123
in an earlier version I remember getting into Hannah's house and Mckenna was there shooting someone and then that version ended by her noticing that I was there. Dies anyone know how to get to that scene?
 
jamdan

jamdan

Forum Fanatic
Sep 28, 2018
4,290
22,948
werewolfking65 said:
Is there any pregnancy in this game? I heard there was, but the tags don't mention anything related.
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Your wife can get pregnant. I also believe your sister (i think she is sister) is pregnant and one of the students from school can get pregnant.
 
Agrik

Agrik

Member
Sep 15, 2018
483
2,165
The sad news:
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Hello,
Potential spoilers.
So the few weeks have been my final exams for this year at University, and a short week holiday with my family, hence why there hasn't been any news or update progress so far.
I have several new things that are going to happen going forward with my video game/novel making.
Firstly this game is going on hold, but a new one drawing on everything I've learnt so far will be launching.
It's too big, with too many paths, and it makes no sense for me to continue it in its current form, even with nearly a thousand renders made over the last half a year I've seen Patreonage decline nearly every month. This suggests to me the appeal for this game is very low and maybe its time to redirect my efforts. I tried to make something based on reality with lots of different characters and arcs, and I don't have the budget or resources to work on something of this scale to the level where it works.
Secondly, and more positively, I'm going to be working on a new game, and I'll release some images of the characters and the plan for this in the next few days.
I've learnt a lot from my time making The Manifest/Shadows over Manston and I intend on putting all of that into my next creation.
Here's some of the changes I'll be making for the new game:
1) It is going to be based in Europe. I'm British, I write in British English, I know a lot about Britain and British people, therefore the cast will be predominantly British.
2) It is going to have a much smaller cast. Currently I'm planning on having about 12 characters, half of which will be just people you interact with in the story, one is the MC, and 5 will be potential romancables, not all introduced at once. This will enable me to offer branching choices whilst not making the game so big an update may not have any content for you.
3) The plot is going to have a much smaller focus, rather than being a villian, a cop and a school teacher, you're going to be a lawyer, again drawing from my actual knowledge as a law student rather than TV/movie tropes.
4) The game is going to be 720p rather than 1080p. To a lot of people especially laptops there won't be any real change, but the difference in speed for me creating content is remarkable. This will enable me to create good quality renders at a consistent pace.
5) I'll actually build the characters knowing how to render them. There are several huge problems I had with characters from the previous game because I made them before knowing their limits (ie Amira's body texture does not work on genitalia, therefore it's impossible to show her fully nude, Mercedes, Emily, Jessica and Isabella all use a different model base to most of the assets I purchased, meaning 90% of the clothing and expressions do not work on them, and they are compatible with 0% of the animations I own, the asset I used for Miss Miller's house never renders at a good quality in under 6 hours regardless of lighting, meaning a scene there takes nearly a week to make etc) this time all will be made and tested in advance.
6) The game's just going to be from the MC's perspective, no more jumps in the storyline.
The only thing I haven't really decided yet is whether the MC is going to be a guy or a girl, the story could have them be either. Girl means lots of lesbian content with some straight, guy means lots of straight content as the supporting characters are primarily women. It doesn't really affect the story I've planned at all, it'll just be different scenes.
I'll put a poll up to decide, one for $5, one for $10 Patreons, I'll add the votes together at the end of the week (so if you're a $10 Patreon vote in each) and then create the MC depending on who wins at the weekend.
If you wish to end being a Patreon now, thanks for all the support, if you continue to support then I can promise a much better second game.
WP
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B

B-52reloaded

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2018
1,182
1,129
Agrik said:
The sad news:
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I really likes your game in terms of renders and characters, but as you yourself observed it was just too much on the brink of getting confusing ... so if you could fix that I am certain your next project will be awesome and sweep us off our feet. Oh and just a special wish if I may be so bold: let Jessica the "coma girl" re-appear in your next game ... she was just too cute! Of course this also implies that I would like the MC being a male ... :love::)
 
P

p22

Active Member
Jun 21, 2017
815
472
I really like the amount of story flexibility in this game, but that is what makes is very unsuitable for Patron model.

You just can't create enough content in month or even two to keep people engaged. It's the kind of game you would want to play after every six months (with couple of playthroughs at once), not after every update.

For generally replayable games, it is best if they are shorter and released in bigger chunks (episodes/chapters).
 
snakeplisskin

snakeplisskin

Well-Known Member
Mar 19, 2018
1,022
1,713
Shame this game was in my top 3, loved all the branching and the characters but i understand your decision. I will definitely check out your new game when it releases, all the best
 
K

K18

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2018
1,010
7,033
Unfortunate this game is going on-hold (maybe abandoned later). It had introduced a different story and drama and it have some interesting characters and designs (Penelope, Mercedes, The Teachers, Taya, etc.). All the branching and locked-out scenes did get confusing even with the given walkthrough. Maybe go back and revamp the game into more of a linear visual novel, something like "Sisterly Lust". Removing the all branching, making it a long single playthrough with optional scenes/routes that might make minor additional changes to the main story. Well that's what i would want :whistle:.
 
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Eerie Entity

Eerie Entity

❤︎ Victoria Shields' One True Love ❤︎
Donor
Game Developer
May 28, 2018
4,334
15,166
Sad to see this game being put on hold, and potentially abandoned in favor of a new game, would rather the dev keep working on this one and finishing it first before starting something new. But we shall see, I hope he'll keep developing this game too if at all possible :)
 
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GrimCreeper3

GrimCreeper3

Active Member
Oct 21, 2017
935
1,526
Eerie Entity said:
Sad to see this game being put on hold, and potentially abandoned in favor of a new game, would rather the dev keep working on this one and finishing it first before starting something new. But we shall see, I hope he'll keep developing this game too if at all possible :)
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He better hope people like this new game otherwise he wont get no support which will lead him to possibly not making games
 
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4.20 star(s) 37 Votes