Ren'Py The Null Hypothesis [v0.5b] [Ron Chon]

[RedPandaExpress]

Continuing to peek around under the hood to try to see if there are easy patches to some of the errors I've been encountering has lead to some very interesting discoveries. There are variable categories already setup in advance in version 0.2a that haven't been implemented.

Jean sending you a naughty pic, perhaps before suggesting you come over to study? Yeah, the hooks are there.
Rogue sending you a selfie in lingerie (using her nice mirror) after receiving it as a gift? Also the hooks exist there.
Threshold hooks are also already set up for Exhibitionism (which has been touched on elsewhere) and Lesbianism.
There are a few more minor ones and a whole lot of room for easier expansion. (And a little optimization, but that's a whole different discussion.)

There's even most of the framework already setup for Ororo and character profiles for a number of different men including Hank, Darwin, Logan, Piotr, and Scott.

Currently working on seeing if I can't code up the full interaction menu for Logan now. It's just going to be him replying to all attempts at flirting, inviting him to study, etc with "It ain't happening, bub.".

And then there is the kicker that I almost don't dare share because of the intensity of responses on the topic, but I feel I must because it clearly shows the Dev team has already agreed to this fact. (Just teasing here, but seriously this variable *does* exist)

"Ororo.white = False"

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

zapzero

What it missed is how static the characters feel outside of their scripted dialogue, there isn't the jealousy/npc-npc mechanic when you perform certain actions with other characters in front of them(locking door seems pretty dead without the jealousy) and the characters don't feel distinct enough, even though I know what stereotypes they are supposedly playing. Sure there is random dialogue but no consequences for fucking around.

There is a jealousy mechanic.

Girls will get possessive. Was playing the other day and when I was talking to X-23 a lot Rogue noticed and gave me an extra firm hug like she was marking her territory or something.

There also are consequences to fucking around... Admittedly only if you don't reveal to the girls you want an open relationship.

Though as to not come off as defensive or something I am informing you that we are expanding on everything you mentioned. I'm only saying that the framework that we'll be expanding and adding to already exists. We'll make it more obvious.

All of them end up banging you around the same time(at the very end), despite one being submissive, other is kinky/sisterly and last one is domineering - that makes for poor pacing. That's also not my personal experience with dating and it comes across pretty unnatural, especially all valuing their virginity despite all their different outlooks about life and sex is strange.

Jean bangs you in season 3.

As for why Rogue and Laura wait till season 4? It's an intimacy issue. Laura is very uncomfortable with the idea of ever showing vulnerability to another person. She's not protecting her virginity, she's struggling against her instincts. She gives in and realizes that you both care about each other.

Rogue is also self-conscious, not just submissive. She's worried about if she actually likes you or if it's just that you're the only person she can touch. Rogue in the comics did have it hammered in that her "first time" was very important to her.

I'm sorry if this comes off as me making excuses, but we do have narrative reasons behind the thresholds. I thought we did a good job of expressing these reasons though.

Regardless, we will have girls who are willing to put out in season 2 and maybe season 1 in future chapters.

The outright missing options for certain actions/needing to beg for permission for every minor thing also feels weird and unnatural if you are roleplaying anything but a submissive. Not sure if a sub will enjoy this over Roguelike either, because the gameplay there allows npcs to perform proactive actions on you.

Yeah, we're discussing all of these dynamics. I disagreed with some from the beginning and it seems like the community was proving my concerns true.

While Justification to dating you is reasonable, I think how the girls are so quick to agree to poly is pretty hilarious when all you did was handhold and makeout, especially for Laura since she is pretty possessive.

Yeah, I was never okay with how easy it was. I'm gonna open the conversation again.

Recommendations:
It is WAY too grindy, even for someone that loves grindy games. It's already taxing for one playthrough, and I don't think I can slog through another even if the gains are x3. That might speak to the lack of features, that make game feel so grindy tho.

Yeah, we plan on making the experience less demanding. Different jobs, bonuses, boost to gains. We're on top of it.

There's currently a lot of obvious "dead space", locking doors, useless rooms like the Pool and Grounds feel like empty spots even if they do go there once awhile, there is no purpose to interact there, Even the classroom lacks the "fun" factor(no naughty stuff) despite being a core mechanic.

Admittedly some of that is placeholders but I'm in the dev room and a lot of it is being worked on as we speak.

Overall, it's pretty flashy and there's far more story but I think it lacks the "sort of soul", the characters act kinda "samey" and the ability to do naughty stuff, interactive factor that makes the Rogue-like have replayability.

I still don't agree on the characters being samey but we are expanding things.

Also kinda a waste allowing multiple characters on screen, but I can only bring one person around. Kinda defeats the purpose of overhauling the engine in the first place.

That's a placeholder. We're expanding it, don't worry.

I think though the hard part is done, and most of these can be fixed with alittle retooling and balancing. Wish the team good luck!

We thank you for your feedback!

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

"Ororo.white = False"

Oh my god that's so cheeky! I don't think the non-code members of the team even knew about this!

 

[abada25]

I think the intention (going top left to bottom right) is

Normal Wear | Undressed | Gym | Swimsuit | Date Night | Spicy Time | Sleep Wear | Cold Weather

The situation you're describing may just be a small bug.

I wonder how exactly Spicy Time works, I (kinda) get how normal/undressed works but it is still a mystery.

 

[Testerguy19]

I'm figuring everything out pretty well this is really well done

 

[RedPandaExpress]

Oh my god that's so cheeky! I don't think the non-code members of the team even knew about this!

Speaking of the code though. (Keeping things mostly simple so non-coders can appreciate what it means)

1) Its remarkably readable, once it is unpacked. (If perhaps lacking in documentation)

This is really great because it means that if/when they want to expand their team, there isn't going to be nearly as much headache with getting somebody up to speed. I'm only average with python and I could already actually code up Logan as a phone contact just by filling in my lack of knowledge of RonChon's coding by referencing the girl's templates. Hell, if I had the assets, I could add Lockheed as a Love Interest just as easily.

2) It is far more nuanced than I expected in places. There are more random variables and specific conditions than I've been able to track down via gameplay.

Beyond the quirks (which are neat and do have their own unique dialogue if discouraged albeit dialogue I haven't been able to consistently trigger), there are multiple variations for a lot of conversations. Some of it is a little simplistic just now (50% this, 25% that, otherwise the other) but this is another framework that allows easy expansion of conditions.

Ex. Right now it would be easy to have a variable forgiveness loop so that instead of just having it be "Kitty stays mad at you until the next day or you buy her a gift", it scales. So instead she starts mad, but the history check shows 'you apologized', 'you bought her a gift', and 'high enough love/trust'...so the cooldown adjusts accordingly. Harder for the player? Slightly. Makes things feel much more dynamic with the relationships? Absolutely! Harder to code in? Only just barely.

3) Most of the bugs I've encountered so far? Fixed with less than a whole line of code.

Absolutely not bashing the existence of day 1 bugs or RonChon's work. Honestly there are no shortage of even AAA games with full coding dev teams that can't get it right. Instead, this is about how easy it will be to get this polished up. A menu hook name isn't typed properly here, or the current variable (in the case of modesty) isn't balanced just right. Nothing to it to fix it once you know the bug is there.

Also, on that note...if you know what you are doing and manually remove the modesty factor on the garments the clothing system works like a dream...at least until you have the piercings + sex issue which I am still puzzling over.

 

[Mtgwo]

So... I managed to get a threesome with Anna and Laura by ''accident'', asked Rogue for a kiss and she started the sex encounter, but i can't seem to ask them for it when we are alone, are they supposed to take the iniciative? i'm 1k in each status with them btw.

Once again, played some more and honestly, this is probably the best frist release i've seen aroud here.

 

[RedPandaExpress]

If you or anyone reading this is on your first playthrough, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you do not use these cheats. Just making that clear....

Rogue.love=1000
Rogue.trust=1000
Laura.love=1000
Laura.trust=1000
Jean.love=1000
Jean.trust=1000
Player.cash=100000
Player.XP=9999

....

The love and trust commands you'll probably have to use multiple times since they are capped by the main story event and unlock in increments of 250. You can still use those commands though, only when there is an action that affects a character's love or trust, if they are above the allowed cap for that moment they will lose love and trust to keep them in the current max cap.

For instance: if you use the love=1000 command right at the start of the game, when you interact with a character it will say that that character lost 750 love in an interaction. That's because at that point in the game, the cap is 250.

Also adding to this list

Player.stamina
Rogue.stamina
Laura.stamina
Jean.stamina

You can set these via console as well if you really want to have the time to run through all the different sex positions without it exhausting you. These to reset to cap if you go through any actions which would recharge. (Leave makeout and go about the day).

 

[red1988]

what not our hero his story with beginn 4 skill fighter art here with mutant begin like logan art or fire or like yang in rwby you got hit you get stronger or

 

[Floorboards]

So its Saturday, a couple weeks past when I was first prompted to progress seasons but I chose to do so later (Hadn't finished getting X-23 to date me yet). I have the requirements and the fall chapter reads completed but where do i choose to continue the seasons after initially postponing them?

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

So... I managed to get a threesome with Anna and Laura by ''accident'', asked Rogue for a kiss and she started the sex encounter, but i can't seem to ask them for it when we are alone, are they supposed to take the iniciative? i'm 1k in each status with them btw.

Once again, played some more and honestly, this is probably the best frist release i've seen aroud here.

Yeah, that sounds like a bug. I'll pass it on.

what not our hero his story with beginn 4 skill fighter art here with mutant begin like logan art or fire or like yang in rwby you got hit you get stronger or

I have no idea what you're trying to convey here.

So its Saturday, a couple weeks past when I was first prompted to progress seasons but I chose to do so later (Hadn't finished getting X-23 to date me yet). I have the requirements and the fall chapter reads completed but where do i choose to continue the seasons after initially postponing them?

Go to sleep on Friday, alone. We're adding an option to continue to the next season manually in the next update.

 

[Crel]

Also, on that note...if you know what you are doing and manually remove the modesty factor on the garments the clothing system works like a dream...at least until you have the piercings + sex issue which I am still puzzling over.

instead of editing each individual garment, you can modify the threshold checks from a 1 and 0.4 multiplier (public/private threshold) to something else. I did 0.1/0.1. I'm sure this won't be necessary later in the game as exhibitionism and permissiveness levels increase, but it works for now in these early releases and chapters.

I'm curious why you're puzzling over the piercings issue, is it not just missing graphics files for the garment/piercing/position combo? I imagine if you start sex with the girl already nude, there wouldn't be an issue, but I've not checked. That's assuming all the nude with piercing renders exist for each position.

In a related matter, hopefully they can figure out a redesign for how they're handling piercings. Just the few already in the game require multiple renders for each additional clothing piece, and adding new piercings later would require a lot of renders for most existing clothing items to fully implement the new piercing. Intercompatibility between mods that add piercings and clothing will also be all but impossible without compatibility patches. Scalability of the current system seems questionable, but fuck if I know of a better way to handle it. Wonder if any other games/devs have implemented a less labor intensive system of partially visible/protruding under clothing accessories?

 

[RedPandaExpress]

instead of editing each individual garment, you can modify the threshold checks from a 1 and 0.4 multiplier (public/private threshold) to something else. I did 0.1/0.1. I'm sure this won't be necessary later in the game as exhibitionism and permissiveness levels increase, but it works for now in these early releases and chapters.

I'm curious why you're puzzling over the piercings issue, is it not just missing graphics files for the garment/piercing/position combo? I imagine if you start sex with the girl already nude, there wouldn't be an issue, but I've not checked. That's assuming all the nude with piercing renders exist for each position.

In a related matter, hopefully they can figure out a redesign for how they're handling piercings. Just the few already in the game require multiple renders for each additional clothing piece, and adding new piercings later would require a lot of renders for most existing clothing items to fully implement the new piercing. Intercompatibility between mods that add piercings and clothing will also be all but impossible without compatibility patches. Scalability of the current systems seems questionable, but fuck if I know of a better way to handle it. Wonder if any other games/devs have implemented a less labor intensive system of partially visible/protruding under clothing accessories?

I'm puzzling over it because of the way that the game reacts in some cases. It doesn't just give an error sometimes. Instead, it causes the girl's genitals to disappear and drops the action menu. The same thing has happened during sex scenes where initiating a sex act starts the animation and then drops the menus so no further action can be done.

Mostly, I'm trying to get a better feel for how all the different aspects of the code work together because I have features I'd like to try to implement in a test bed. That and it is an excuse to start brushing back up on my python skills which I haven't really used in years.

I agree with the piercings, but I don't know there is a much better way. They've minimized the art that is needed for them by having the layered artwork, which is probably the best they can do. part of the undressing before laying down into missionary serves as a workaround for this since it drastically reduces the potential artwork needed. As far as compatibility between mods, that's a whole other kettle of fish. With the current selection of positions and varying stages of undress, even without accounting for piercings an additional 'dress up mod' would require a pretty beefy amount of artwork to work properly.

 

[itsfickfuckthings]

Two other things:
If you have a girl with you, go to the mall and let her try something on, they change very quickly so that you dont really get a good look at the clothes. Also: if you let them try on panties, they pull their pants up over them quickly so that you dont really see how the panties look.

Also: If you delay to cum you get thrown out of the sex menu and go back to the room, but the sex menu stays on top of the normal room menu. Did anybody else experience this?

Oh and how do i get them to swim and tan in a bikini? sometimes when they are at the pool they already wear bikini, but when i ask them to change from one-suit to bikini they are "really?"

 

[bigjay720]

Now that I've played 0.2a a little(I'm delaying moving on from Winter at the moment to build stronger relationships with the ladies), I'm going to post my thoughts thus far.
Obviously, Rogue-Like(RL) by Oni is a major influence. But I went in trying to see what's different rather than looking for similarities.
So, there's an actual story here, and thus far it's not bad. The ladies have slightly different personalities than in RL and they seems to be more development here as well.
The art is certainly different, I not going to say it's better or worse than RL, because art is subjective, but it is different.
The map could use a little more information, putting labels on the bedrooms for example.
I would also, maybe, increase LOVE and TRUST gains. But that could be me being impatient.
I haven't noticed any humongous typos or bugs except in text messages, and I can chalk those up to modern text messaging.
Overall, Null Hypothesis is a little grindy, but quite fun so far. And I think there's a lot of potential for it to truly become it's own game, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

 

[Crel]

I'm puzzling over it because of the way that the game reacts in some cases. It doesn't just give an error sometimes. Instead, it causes the girl's genitals to disappear and drops the action menu. The same thing has happened during sex scenes where initiating a sex act starts the animation and then drops the menus so no further action can be done.

No idea about the first issue, but the second sentence might be related to a separate issue entirely. I am completely spitballing here and might be way off. I haven't encountered your specific example, but the game has issues with responsiveness and skipping steps (like applying or removing menus) if you're clicking too fast. IDK what causes it, but certainly noticeable on the 10 year old laptop I have it installed on. Sometimes I have to roll back and click through slower to get stuff to appear. I'm no programmer and know very little of python, so I might be completely off base here, but it makes me wonder if the processing order can be preempted by newer player commands/interactions, causing some unfinished things to not happen, like a new menu overlay being applied.

 

[Floorboards]

Yeah, that sounds like a bug. I'll pass it on.


I have no idea what you're trying to convey here.


Go to sleep on Friday, alone. We're adding an option to continue to the next season manually in the next update.

Thanks for the help, im enjoying all the extra hand holding i can get up to now

 

[red1988]

you creation a hero with you start like rpg you race you simple you a humanoid dragon like skyrim here dann you choase a fighting sytle like use karate art like ryu or ken fighting style or swordmaster like ryu hayabusa or dante dmc like and you can creation story befor start the game ist just mein idea but this you game ron i just a help here you see this hope you like this idea

 

[red1988]

and i not good english subscribed here but i can good english and i understand here

 

[neroxeon]

Issues I've noticed: Laura has errors on first time having sex if nipples pierced. Rogue has error if trying to get nipple pierced, had an error during sex in doggy position if wearing a bra.
error at the pool if swimming with all the girls. Might have to do with the girls(Laura in this case) having cum down their legs
Ui disappears randomly(Corner and interaction bar. Also the sex one, both Jean and Laura had it disappear )