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

[SolSpell]

I keep thinking about the broken phone and how it may be an analogy or foreshadowing of something else. I mean, yeah it is humorous since every phone has adds that indicate how indestructible they are, yet they break easily, but something about the broken phone scene feels like it is trying to send a message. It keeps being brought up several times by different characters and seems like more time was spent putting that part about the broken phone, screen image of cracks included, into the game (Chekhov's Gun: if you introduce an element into a story, it should have a later scene where it shows up as relevant). Could it indicate that reality is actually not what it is (cracked/fractured/broken)?

Broken phones are often used in analogies of human nature to indicate that life is not always perfect and is often painful and that the holder of a broken phone is mysterious and hard to read (much like a broken phone is hard to read).

A broken phone is also an analogy of a lack of self-care if the holder of a broken phone fails to get it fixed and keeps using that faulty phone. It indicates unresolved mental stress or physical illnesses hidden under the surface.

Null has all of the above since his power is mysterious and hard to read, his introduction to his power is painful and he has stresses that drive him to adapt. In addition, his contact with the Shadow King (Farouk) at the beginning is certainly an indicator that reality may be "cracked" due to the powers wielded by the the Shadow King and potentially by Null himself. I look forward to seeing if that cracked phone makes a reappearance in some form or another later in the game.

What?

 

[Elodrass]

I keep thinking about the broken phone and how it may be an analogy or foreshadowing of something else. I mean, yeah it is humorous since every phone has adds that indicate how indestructible they are, yet they break easily, but something about the broken phone scene feels like it is trying to send a message. It keeps being brought up several times by different characters and seems like more time was spent putting that part about the broken phone, screen image of cracks included, into the game (Chekhov's Gun: if you introduce an element into a story, it should have a later scene where it shows up as relevant). Could it indicate that reality is actually not what it is (cracked/fractured/broken)?

Broken phones are often used in analogies of human nature to indicate that life is not always perfect and is often painful and that the holder of a broken phone is mysterious and hard to read (much like a broken phone is hard to read).

A broken phone is also an analogy of a lack of self-care if the holder of a broken phone fails to get it fixed and keeps using that faulty phone. It indicates unresolved mental stress or physical illnesses hidden under the surface.

Null has all of the above since his power is mysterious and hard to read, his introduction to his power is painful and he has stresses that drive him to adapt. In addition, his contact with the Shadow King (Farouk) at the beginning is certainly an indicator that reality may be "cracked" due to the powers wielded by the the Shadow King and potentially by Null himself. I look forward to seeing if that cracked phone makes a reappearance in some form or another later in the game.

As having my own pet theory of Null being Earth's 69 version of David Haller aka Legion this take is really interesting and tempting, but... I had a way more simple tought when seeing the event by the first time, and since Occam's Razor i'm kinda of convince it's the actual explanaition to the cellphone cracking until more hints are added to the contrary:

The Cellphones are implied to be Forge's creation, it being indestructible a bi-product of his power not a inherit property of the materials used, so when Null touched it Forge's powers were nullified, making it as fragile as it normally would be. Kinda like Jean's projectiles being slowed down and dropping to the ground when she and Null are training together.

 

[drifter139]

I have another question.
Started fresh yesterday and for the first time I payed attention to the blackboard at the Farouk lecture. I thought he was teaching psychology, not discrete maths. Something changed during development or he is just too lazy to wipe the board?

I don't think it really matters either way. it could just be a random asset they grabbed and put there and didn't really bother looking at it to see what was on it

 

[Sweetluvd]

Potential game. Keep goin' dev.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

This is the first game in quite a while that I'm really interested in, and don't just skip through. Basically what I wish Rogue Like would have been with more focus on the story and characters and a more natural feel to the dating part. Really look forward to more!
Of course there are a couple kinks still, like not being able to read the phone chat until the conversation is over, and gifts being gifted to the wrong person, if you don't exit out of the menu again, but I for one am hooked.
Love the roleplay feeling of actually being in the institute and seeing where everything goes and what aspects get expanded upon.
Definitely would love things like more focus on the relationships between the girls romantic/sexual or just in general, now that you are all involved with each other, more possibilities on the unique relationships, like a switch route for Laura, sibling dynamic without the light femdom for Jean, and more noticable ways to dom Rogue, and just more possibilities to form and customize your own character, and if I'm really lucky some foot fetish stuff (without any humiliation please). But those are just personal wants, of course, nothing that needs to be in the game to make it enjoyable.
Just generally excited about this game, that hasn't happened in a while, so excuse the long posts, just wanted to give the dev his flowers.

 

[Epigonid]

i hate how my laptop always destroy save when any game update. thank god this game have console command

 

[Mutation8888]

As having my own pet theory of Null being Earth's 69 version of David Haller aka Legion this take is really interesting and tempting, but... I had a way more simple tought when seeing the event by the first time, and since Occam's Razor i'm kinda of convince it's the actual explanaition to the cellphone cracking until more hints are added to the contrary:

The Cellphones are implied to be Forge's creation, it being indestructible a bi-product of his power not a inherit property of the materials used, so when Null touched it Forge's powers were nullified, making it as fragile as it normally would be. Kinda like Jean's projectiles being slowed down and dropping to the ground when she and Null are training together.

I did think of that at first, but they spent a lot of time on the fractured cell phone and continued to mention it several times instead of explaining it and moving on. Being a bunch of professors at a school, I would think at least Xavier, Beast, and Forge would have concluded that and it would have been talked about instead of continuously mentioned and then conveniently forgotten. Sure, the simple explanation stands, but you never know. It is a story element that has not been actually concluded yet.

 

[john_1865]

i hate how my laptop always destroy save when any game update. thank god this game have console command

my dude has a laptop made by Boeing.

 

[CptValor]

I keep thinking about the broken phone and how it may be an analogy or foreshadowing of something else. I mean, yeah it is humorous since every phone has adds that indicate how indestructible they are, yet they break easily, but something about the broken phone scene feels like it is trying to send a message. It keeps being brought up several times by different characters and seems like more time was spent putting that part about the broken phone, screen image of cracks included, into the game (Chekhov's Gun: if you introduce an element into a story, it should have a later scene where it shows up as relevant). Could it indicate that reality is actually not what it is (cracked/fractured/broken)?

Broken phones are often used in analogies of human nature to indicate that life is not always perfect and is often painful and that the holder of a broken phone is mysterious and hard to read (much like a broken phone is hard to read).

A broken phone is also an analogy of a lack of self-care if the holder of a broken phone fails to get it fixed and keeps using that faulty phone. It indicates unresolved mental stress or physical illnesses hidden under the surface.

Null has all of the above since his power is mysterious and hard to read, his introduction to his power is painful and he has stresses that drive him to adapt. In addition, his contact with the Shadow King (Farouk) at the beginning is certainly an indicator that reality may be "cracked" due to the powers wielded by the the Shadow King and potentially by Null himself. I look forward to seeing if that cracked phone makes a reappearance in some form or another later in the game.

i hadnt actually sat and thought about it in depth until reading your theory but when you think about it Null is the phone (philosophically speaking)! hes created to be broken and evolves through being broken and even draws closer and gets romantically involved with broken females! its this brokenness that defines who Null is! his power to disable other powers doesnt work like other powers and thus can be seen as a "broken" power! it seems to me that the concept of being broken is illustrated in the scene with the phone and it coincides with everything that occurs in the course of the story!

the fact that Null interacting with the "broken" females to be their link to becoming somewhat normal again leads me to think that either we're looking at the possibility of the story going two ways! the first is the happy sunshine and rainbows path where Null fixes the girls social anxieties and they all become lovey dovey and we all live a nice sexy harem life of superpowered debauchery in the Xavier Institute. Or we see the story take a darker turn and embrace the whole "broken" theme and Null meets with more disastrous scenarios leading to even further suffering but eventually bringing a disastrous end to our hero and "breaking" the females even more once Null is gone!

this is just speculation on my part, but it would fit with the theme of everyone and everything in the game being "broken"! however its probably the least likely scenario as a bleak route like that would be hard to keep sexy time going when your dealing with dark themes and existential crisis content! who knows though, it was just my thoughts on the matter after i read your comment!

 

[Mutation8888]

i hadnt actually sat and thought about it in depth until reading your theory but when you think about it Null is the phone (philosophically speaking)! hes created to be broken and evolves through being broken and even draws closer and gets romantically involved with broken females! its this brokenness that defines who Null is! his power to disable other powers doesnt work like other powers and thus can be seen as a "broken" power! it seems to me that the concept of being broken is illustrated in the scene with the phone and it coincides with everything that occurs in the course of the story!

the fact that Null interacting with the "broken" females to be their link to becoming somewhat normal again leads me to think that either we're looking at the possibility of the story going two ways! the first is the happy sunshine and rainbows path where Null fixes the girls social anxieties and they all become lovey dovey and we all live a nice sexy harem life of superpowered debauchery in the Xavier Institute. Or we see the story take a darker turn and embrace the whole "broken" theme and Null meets with more disastrous scenarios leading to even further suffering but eventually bringing a disastrous end to our hero and "breaking" the females even more once Null is gone!

this is just speculation on my part, but it would fit with the theme of everyone and everything in the game being "broken"! however its probably the least likely scenario as a bleak route like that would be hard to keep sexy time going when your dealing with dark themes and existential crisis content! who knows though, it was just my thoughts on the matter after i read your comment!

I hadn't really gone down the route of potential endings with the broken females, but I was more thinking about the Shadow King reappearing in a scene that mirrors the breaking of the phone or Nulls powers appearing (him being in stress and feeling internal pain as his body changes to accommodate a new power) being an element later on since it may be that the broken phone foreshadows something later in the story. The phone could actually indicate a fractured identity or even a delusional world where reality is trying to break through the cracks since the phone may well indicate Null's only connection with the real world. While it is fun to overthink things, we also have to see the simpler explanation.

It just seemed interesting to me that the creators chose a broken phone and spent so much time and effort on that phone scene for it to all be just to show that Null's power broke a phone. Much like Chekhov's Gun, if you show a gun/phone early on, that element should reappear later on to tell part of the story (the gun used to shoot someone/the phone used to provide connection with something else). The entire title of the game is Null Hypothesis which lends itself to interpretation since Null's power is not just Nullification, but something bigger. It was a hypothesis in which the evidence has not been provided that Nulls main power is nullification. The evidence points to something different, therefore, voiding the hypothesis. For such forethought to be provided just in the title indicates we are dealing with some thinkers in the creative group... so why stop being creative just in the title?

 

[Sweetluvd]

Someone please tell me how could MC make girls satisfy when they make out. In my case, MC can touch girl's body and kiss girls, but the textline popped up and showed that girls checked time and disinteresting. Please help.

 

[junior366]

I hadn't really gone down the route of potential endings with the broken females, but I was more thinking about the Shadow King reappearing in a scene that mirrors the breaking of the phone or Nulls powers appearing (him being in stress and feeling internal pain as his body changes to accommodate a new power) being an element later on since it may be that the broken phone foreshadows something later in the story. The phone could actually indicate a fractured identity or even a delusional world where reality is trying to break through the cracks since the phone may well indicate Null's only connection with the real world. While it is fun to overthink things, we also have to see the simpler explanation.

It just seemed interesting to me that the creators chose a broken phone and spent so much time and effort on that phone scene for it to all be just to show that Null's power broke a phone. Much like Chekhov's Gun, if you show a gun/phone early on, that element should reappear later on to tell part of the story (the gun used to shoot someone/the phone used to provide connection with something else). The entire title of the game is Null Hypothesis which lends itself to interpretation since Null's power is not just Nullification, but something bigger. It was a hypothesis in which the evidence has not been provided that Nulls main power is nullification. The evidence points to something different, therefore, voiding the hypothesis. For such forethought to be provided just in the title indicates we are dealing with some thinkers in the creative group... so why stop being creative just in the title?

Long term storytelling, I like it!!!

 

[Mutation8888]

I have another question.
Started fresh yesterday and for the first time I payed attention to the blackboard at the Farouk lecture. I thought he was teaching psychology, not discrete maths. Something changed during development or he is just too lazy to wipe the board?

Psychology also delves into measuring, describing, and analyzing data (Statistics) so math does play a part in psychology. Just obtaining scores on an intelligence test or psychological assessment is not the end.. the numbers have to be analyzed and shown to mean something. The stuff on the board may look random (difficult to tell since it is tiny and blurry), but it could still fit.

 

[Evil13]

Someone please tell me how could MC make girls satisfy when they make out. In my case, MC can touch girl's body and kiss girls, but the textline popped up and showed that girls checked time and disinteresting. Please help.

The point of the game is that you are building love and trust with the girls throughout the game year. So early on, you can make out with them, maybe rub their leg. But that's it. As you progress through their stories, earning their trust and how you aren't a bastard, they'll let you do more.

 

[Mutation8888]

Someone please tell me how could MC make girls satisfy when they make out. In my case, MC can touch girl's body and kiss girls, but the textline popped up and showed that girls checked time and disinteresting. Please help.

The game has a help menu in the Database for Cerebro. One of the help items deals with intimacy. You can't just do one thing over and over, you have to change things up and try different things. Early on it is difficult to please the ladies when there are limited actions, but it is possible. The further you get and more actions you activate with time (love/trust) the easier it gets.

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

Public nudity, one of the best parts of Rogue Like.

We're not Rogue Like.

Just didn't notice any reactions when I made all the heroines walk around with their tops open.

If there was nipple showing than it's an exploit we didn't account for.

Though we do have plans for some reaction to skimpy clothes. Just hasn't been the highest on our to do list.

Started fresh yesterday and for the first time I payed attention to the blackboard at the Farouk lecture. I thought he was teaching psychology, not discrete maths. Something changed during development or he is just too lazy to wipe the board?

I don't think it really matters either way. it could just be a random asset they grabbed and put there and didn't really bother looking at it to see what was on it

An easteregg. That's all I'm allowed to say.

like a switch route for Laura, sibling dynamic without the light femdom for Jean, and more noticable ways to dom Rogue

These are things we've discussed for when we go back and make the situation less binary.

if I'm really lucky some foot fetish stuff (without any humiliation please).

It's on the list. We had to cut it for time.

There's already code and dialogue hidden in the game for cumming on their feet, shoes, and socks/stockings.



Side note. Daily reminder that we're in EARLY Beta. Expect bugs and other issues.

Also, I'm not allowed to remark on fan theories but I do like the direction you guys are going on!

 

[Mutation8888]

Also, I'm not allowed to remark on fan theories but I do like the direction you guys are going on!

We know.. we just like to overthink and see what happens.

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

It's not often I respond to reviews directly but this one in particular made me happy with how constructive it was and I want to break it down. Thank you gpsywolf

So after a thorough playthrough, I feel like i compiled enough info to make a fair review of this game. First of all I would like to put in here that if you are looking for a quick fap, this is not the game for you. However, if you are looking for quality, beautiful graphics with intriguing story, then I recommend you check this out, you will not be dissapointed. On to the review.

First off I appreciate that you acknowledge that this is not a quick fap game and are civil in stating the fact that this game is not for those who aren't invested in the story.

First of all, the graphics are stunning. The attention to detail is impressive and I love it, 10/10.

Our artists work hard. I'll pass on the love.

Story is around a 7/10 simply because through all the available content, it seems as if there is not really any character growth with your heroines. They all have the same problems they started with, and regardless of your help, they dont seem to get any closer to solving them. They just keep repeating their frustration at not being able to figure out how they tick and that's pretty much the running theme. (except for Laura who knows exactly who she is and has a 100% grasp on her own powers).

I will state that we decided to take the bullet on this one. the game is planned to be 5 chapters long and will contain a sixth chapter that is purely sandbox which will have add-on stories we can't fit within the main timeline.

The girls will be gaining character development throughout the entire game.

For those worried about the girls introduced in chapter 5 not being as well fleshed out as girls who had 5 chapters, we plan to follow up on their plots in chapter 6's add-on stories.

You can blame me. I haven't mentioned it in a while because I don't like to take away from the writers' hard work but I outlined the general story. Basically, it was my decision to have chapters 2-5 follow the comic timeline and chapter 1 be an introduction to our version of the Marvel Universe. Beyond that, I have very little involvement in the writing so all praise should go to Maddening and Holder.

The only drawback that i can see at all is the BALANCE of the mechanics system. For every interaction or choice that you make you recieve "love" and/or "trust" points. These points are required to "level up" your relationship with the heroines, and while the game does not punish you for dating more than one at a time, (in fact you can establish a polyamorous relationship in the beggining), The grind gets exponentially larger as the game goes on. For example, part 1 is fairly quick to max gir's stats, part 2 is double that, and part 3 is just... painful. This definitely needs to be addressed by the developers to make it a more comfortable and playable game.

The current caps and their gains have been streamlined to the point where we're happy with and they will not be streamlined further. However, we will be adding content such as interactions, events, gifts, and other things to give higher boosts in love and trust.

We want people to play how they want, to an extent as we're not allowing any abuse to the characters, so we're putting in fun side content to not force a "perfect strategy" as the girls and other characters will be responding to certain dialogue choices down the line. One option they may not like now may have a pay-off in later chapters.

The other Complaint i had off the bat is that if the stat grind wasnt tedious enough, the actual "sexy time" interaction mechanics are clunky and also unbalanced. Also confusing. As you progess your relationships with the girls, they will open up more sexual options to you, but the positions and actions combinations as well as the tedius "next" click... It might be better if it was simplified quite a lot. Also, you if you are wondering when you actually get any serious action its not gonna be until around the 2nd half of the current content so expect maybe 4-5 hours before anything really interesting.

We're actively working on this. We've held off on streamlining the sex beyond being playable as we'll be adding brand-new sex art and more positions with the introduction of live2D.

My advice would be to use the console to edit the stats to minimize the current grind.

I don't advise this as it can sequence break things.

Overall i would definitely recommend this game, I absolutely love it and hope the dev comes out with frequent updates. Its rare to find a game this good, especially on this site.

We're glad you enjoyed it and we'll push out updates as frequently as manageable.

 

[CptValor]

Also, I'm not allowed to remark on fan theories but I do like the direction you guys are going on!

i could have elaborated more on my theory and really got into detail if it wasnt as early as it is! also didnt wanna post a book as a comment! lol
but yeah just overthinking and over analyzing things on my end as well...

 

[Sweetluvd]

The point of the game is that you are building love and trust with the girls throughout the game year. So early on, you can make out with them, maybe rub their leg. But that's it. As you progress through their stories, earning their trust and how you aren't a bastard, they'll let you do more.

Thanks for your help. I followed your instructions, but I haven't been able to max out the lust bar. At the beginning when the MC was just caressing the girls, I saw a heart-shaped icon appear that suggested to me what the girl wanted, but when the lust bar was almost at max, next to the actions only dots were displayed. (.) or space, and I really don't know what to do next, the bar doesn't increase, it even decreases, can you please show me the details.