Ren'Py The Null Hypothesis [v0.8c] [Ron Chon]

[ShinyBoots1993]

Loved that game

I wish it ran on Windows 11

Phoenix

I would assume not.

there's a difference though.

We haven't seen Null interact with any cosmic entities... yet.

 

[SolSpell]

I wish it ran on Windows 11

Doesn't the gog version work?

 

[Nosurrender]

It seems to me that Null is kinda op for his own universe. With his addition to the field team, lots of story arcs should be solved super easy, barely an inconvenient. Proteus, magneto, apocalypse, onslaught. Just have Null and a few persons with regular guns and it is over.

I giggle thinking about Bishop absorbing all kind of attacks, then Null doing is thing sees Bishop burn, freeze, explode, implode, electrocute disintegrate, etc at the same time.

Also making Chamber dissipate.

 

[drifter139]

We haven't seen Null interact with any cosmic entities

yes but the Phoenix force still needs a physical body and with Jean being a mutant, Null should be able to have some effect on it. maybe not a big effect but a minor one would still be possible

 

[Sexdrake]

I've been craving Midnight Suns again since I've played this game. If anyone hasn't tried it, I would recommend that. It's not an adult game, but if you have any interest in card games, turn-based games or Marvel, I think you'll enjoy it.

 

[Saiyajin2205]

In the first Homelander is asked why he can't just lift a falling plane after they discover he lasered the controls and he does make a comment about physics. Like he'd be flying in air, what is he using as leverage to push?

In Invincible Mark and Eve can't go five seconds without realizing that their understanding of the concept of "structural integrity" is non-existent.

Homelander could have definitely saved the plane crash tho if he gripped the plane from the landing gear.

The nose gear is designed to support half the plane safely. It can easily be used to bring the nose level so the airfoil of the wings could go back to working and reduce the weight on him as well as slow descent. There was a good chance of it working.But homelander ass is stupid.

 

[Epigonid]

I've been craving Midnight Suns again since I've played this game. If anyone hasn't tried it, I would recommend that. It's not an adult game, but if you have any interest in card games, turn-based games or Marvel, I think you'll enjoy it.

Love the game story and our character interaction with marvel character

 

[falafelswoop]

It seems to me that Null is kinda op for his own universe. With his addition to the field team, lots of story arcs should be solved super easy, barely an inconvenient. Proteus, magneto, apocalypse, onslaught. Just have Null and a few persons with regular guns and it is over.

And don't forget dating 3 hot girls at once! It's like he's someone's self-insert fantasy or something...

Really though, remember they'll only have the element of surprise about once. Next time their opponents will bring Kevlar. Magneto already wears a helmet...

Homelander could have definitely saved the plane crash tho if he gripped the plane from the landing gear.

The nose gear is designed to support half the plane safely. It can easily be used to bring the nose level so the airfoil of the wings could go back to working and reduce the weight on him as well as slow descent. There was a good chance of it working.But homelander ass is stupid.

Or ignorant, at least. I don't think the average person knows these facts about airplane structural integrity.

This does raise an interesting minor worldbuilding possibility - what information is useful for superheroes that isn't part of a normal person's education? How to save a falling airplane with your bare hands is material that would be found in that curriculum and pretty much nowhere else. Alongside topics like how to stall or plug a volcano without making it just erupt out the side or something, and purely fantastical ones like what metals can be used for psi defense.

 

[SolSpell]

It seems to me that Null is kinda op for his own universe. With his addition to the field team, lots of story arcs should be solved super easy, barely an inconvenient. Proteus, magneto, apocalypse, onslaught. Just have Null and a few persons with regular guns and it is over.

Nah he's not op, at least not the Null aspect by itself, the sprouting new mutations as needed might be, if it didn't put him in a coma every time. Any villain worth his salt could just keep you at bay with a long stick or something.

If Null synchronized with Nightcrawler though it would be a great combo.

 

[Dazzier31]

It seems to me that Null is kinda op for his own universe. With his addition to the field team, lots of story arcs should be solved super easy, barely an inconvenient. Proteus, magneto, apocalypse, onslaught. Just have Null and a few persons with regular guns and it is over.

I giggle thinking about Bishop absorbing all kind of attacks, then Null doing is thing sees Bishop burn, freeze, explode, implode, electrocute disintegrate, etc at the same time.

Also making Chamber dissipate.

While the ideas you propose are hilarious and I wanna add Apocalypse suddenly crumbling to dust the second he is touched to that list, remember that for that Null needs to actually get close enough to them, hard to nullify Magneto when you can't get close without a manhole cover hitting you from the sides at 40 mph.

Also we have seen what happens if you suddenly take away Chambers power, it was not pretty.

 

[Mutation8888]

I wish it ran on Windows 11




We haven't seen Null interact with any cosmic entities... yet.

That's the thing, we do not know the full extent of Null's power since he has so far been limiting himself to mutant powers. Who knows (other than the developers) what would have happened if Null (after being hit by Juggernaut) stated to himself, "I wish I was less squishy and weak, I sure think a power like Juggernaut's would be cool to have."

 

[fake.name.again]

We have a bit of conversation about TNH in RLE thread with sleepingkirby, hope you don't mind if I double post it here, just to give a little more feedback

If the game was more communicative about how far you can get in things, like relationships, sex, etc. I would have less a problem with tying relationship progress with story progress. A lot of the limits, etc. are not intuitive for me.

Yes! It is a work in progress, but I would say establishing a design language that players can understand how to interact with seems quite foundational. Especially about how they set and communicate boundaries: setting up players for goals they cannot achieve will understandably lead to frustration. They give you a list of goals but put you in the sandbox, forgetting, a little bit, that you will start to generate your own goals in this situation, some of which are easy to anticipate (especially in porn game). I think this is what RLE is doing so well: Oni seems to anticipate your goals, and put enough of a journey on the micro-plots, that you to a degree feel like you are making your own story. Magic of sandbox. Well, you can of course postpone gratification, make it adventure, encourage experimentation and discovery, but it needs a decent feedback loop (information).

I do agree with you in your review in that there are certain aspects of it that fills what RLE lacks. But it does feel unfocused.

The GUI being unintuitive, the story choices giving only an illusion of choice.

Hmm, focus. Tell me what you think about this: story itself, with the help of quest-log, that to a degree gives focus and even built-in walkthrough for sandbox itself. It is even in a sense in conflict with it (pure sandbox), limiting your free-play and self-expression.

Buuuut... Should we focus on the story? Can we? Is there enough of it? The real meat and potatoes of the game, the main gameplay loop, is still purely relationship/sex focused. So it is an interesting question what exactly is/are the functions of the story here? Is it only here to give a little bit of background and flavour? Let you use power in very limited circumstances? One thing it was doing so far is measuring/progressing passage of time and by extension advancing you to new stages of your relationships. So contextualization and framing? Interestingly enough, none of the girls so far was introduced in story events. There were no big changes in circumstances, major changing of status quo so far either. Mostly bridging iterative, progressively more open sandbox sections.

I'm wondering if the reverse relation should have been better. Rather than requiring chapter 3 to increase relationship, requiring a certain relationship level before being able to continue the storyline.

To a degree, it is like that already. One of the conditions (quests) to progress from one season to another is a total number of relationship points, IIRC.

I feel like The Null Hypothesis is what happens when no one tells the creator that this idea is number 1, 2 and 3. And, as much as I hate to say it, solutions that look for a problem, if it doesn't learn to pivot (correctly) or have a HUGE backing (i.e. too big to fail), often slowly get bloated and fail.

What I have seen in TNH thread so far looks like they are really open to feedback. I think they have some good ideas. I'm hopeful, they will be able to build something compelling. Games on this forum have unusual development, by mostly inexperienced but passionate people. If Bioware, Blizzard or Arcane can really go completely off the rails... As we've seen... It is a small miracle we have so many interesting games in this genre.

A lot of learning to become a programmer isn't just learning to write code, but to understand and find the essence abstract human concepts.

Not a programmer myself, but understanding of stories - of narrative arts - is kinda passion of mine. I can do a lot of philosophizing and psychologizing about it given opportunity, and conversation with you so far put me in very analytical mood

Which brings me back to why I'm so lenient on Oni's code. [...] I know people keep complaining "He's making so much money, the code should be better." But I can tell you, first hand, what he's done is pretty impressive. Because, again, how many google products have died during RLE's existence? And they had more money AND people behind it.

Even thinking about making my own game makes me often appreciate people that make these games a lot. In my opinion, there is a lot of quite unfair criticism and accusations. In large part because money is involved.

 

[Poker_king70]

yes but the Phoenix force still needs a physical body and with Jean being a mutant, Null should be able to have some effect on it. maybe not a big effect but a minor one would still be possible

I'm not sure mildly inconveniencing a cosmic force is an ideal plan of attack.

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

I've been craving Midnight Suns again since I've played this game.

Love the game story and our character interaction with marvel character

This has been one of our most requested post game stories to adapt as either part of the sequel or one of the stories added to chapter 6.

But homelander ass is stupid.

I mean... yeah.

Magneto already wears a helmet...

But can it block a 50cal round?

It is a work in progress, but I would say establishing a design language that players can understand how to interact with seems quite foundational.

We kinda just assumed people would put two and two together as the systems are not THAT complex or hard to understand. The characters give explicit instructions and Nightcrawler breaks the 4th wall more than once. I genuinely attribute half of the complaints to a complete lack of patience and willingness to read. This is indeed a game, not a skinner box where you press a button and get the sex.

However, that isn't me telling everyone to shut up. We are and will continue to add feedback such as more tool tips and more UI notifications but eventually we're gonna cross the line from being intuitive into stupid proofing territory.

Edit: We do have over a dozen beta testers so if they don't have problems with the instruction then we don't know there's a problem until you guys tell us. This is part of why I attribute it to lack of patience for a lot of people. Note that I'm not accusing you of this. Just stating in general.

There were no big changes in circumstances, major changing of status quo so far either. Mostly bridging iterative, progressively more open sandbox sections.

I haven't said it in awhile so it's on me for not mentioning it recently but chapter 1 is more just to establish the setting.

As I've said before, to you, future chapters will have more noticeable changes than just characters commenting on your behavior.

What I have seen in TNH thread so far looks like they are really open to feedback.

I mean they got a community manager, that'd be me, to ensure they're in the know.

I know I can be sassy and a little overly direct. Though I do read EVERY comment in this thread. All of them, and pass along the general consensus to the dev team regularly.

 

[Poker_king70]

Recent discussions around here have included Skinner boxes and Kinsey Scales. Something tells my we have a psych major in our midst. Or worse, a Neo-Freudian.

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

Recent discussions around here have included Skinner boxes and Kinsey Scales. Something tells my we have a psych major in our midst. Or worse, a Neo-Freudian.

I'm a psyche major. I had direct input over Jean's non-kink anxiety as I very much understand her senioritus

 

[Poker_king70]

I'm a psyche major. I had direct input over Jean's non-kink anxiety as I very much understand her senioritus

It makes sense - Null is serving as a cognitive behavioral therapist for Jean.

 

[JustCallMeSteve]

I got to thinking, because of what Cyclop's blasts are, would null's nullification really work against them? Though i suppose this depends on whether the source of the blasts is a result of Scott's mutant ability or if his real ability is just having his eyes connected to the source or something, my understanding of his abilities is limited and probably skewed though.

I'm a psyche major. I had direct input over Jean's non-kink anxiety as I very much understand her senioritus

Anytime I see/hear someone end a word with itis(or something that looks/sounds like it), my mind automatically goes "Inflammation of the (Insert word here), makes absolutely no sense."

 

[ShinyBoots1993]

It makes sense - Null is serving as a cognitive behavioral therapist for Jean.

I'm actually not responsible for that. I just helped the depiction of her anxiety. I left everything else to the writers because I specifically didn't want it to seem like Null was genuinely her behavioral therapist.

Anytime I see/hear someone end a word with itis(or something that looks/sounds like it), my mind automatically goes "Inflammation of the (Insert word here), makes absolutely no sense."

Yeah I'm with you on that one. Senioritus isn't a real thing. It's just a joke name a bunch of seniors came up with to describe their increased stress as they get closer to graduating... and man am I chronic.

 

[Poker_king70]

I'm actually not responsible for that. I just helped the depiction of her anxiety. I left everything else to the writers because I specifically didn't want it to seem like Null was genuinely her behavioral therapist.

It would be interest to see (i.e., I ain't volunteering) how many of these games feature, deliberately or not, legitimate psychological techniques to get laid.