Ren'Py Three and One: The Cursed Mansion [v0.26 Public] [Man from icecream van]

[FollowBobb]

The game feels bad because it lacks agency.

I'm ok for a fairly linear story. I'm ok for a couple of scenes of "you don't own every girl you meet, so they will sleep with others", but I'm NOT ok with the NTR side being determined at times by a literal dice roll. Even if the roll was fixed, and we picked heads or tails for each flip, so without walk though or rollback it seemed "random" but you could choose to win/loose with a guide.

And don't even get me started on how the second a game uses generative "AI" it instantly disrespects players time in all other ways. The bar "mini-game" does nothing for the story, just ruins your ability to hold "ctrl" to skip content you've already seen when trying to explore the choices in a supposed to be branching story. As does the sheer amount of "walking simulator" clicks farmed by things like needing to shower then return to the bar, even though there are ZERO player choices to be made. Literally the shower could just be deleted from the clicks, its never optional.

I really like the "dome" setting, I really like the twisted magic and "you need to be thrifty to survive"... and yet it hasn't made good on ANY of that. You physically can't spend too much money, you basically never get a choice on earning money ect. We're not juggling characters time, we're not juggling girls corruption, we're not making any tradeoff. So it doesn't feel like the setting is a struggle, it feels like the girls "cheat" on us for zero reason, with ugly bastards they don't even like.

The game has 95% of what it needs to offer a couple of amazing "routes", and instead treats everybody to "NTR lite (tm)" because having the choices matter so little rules out BOTH emotional bonds AND more hardcore content that it even seems to do the full setup for, women you have a reason to hold a grudge combined with a magic sex drug? But no, its introduced and then just completely forgotten later.. NTR lite can't let you do anything drastic. But likewise girls with lowest possible corruption do dirtier things randomly than they would at highest corruption and under the influence? No matter what you choose, you kinda have a bad time, and the justification of "nobody cares about the MC unless he has leverage" doesn't excuse it, because he literally has options for leverage, and just don't deploy them, we don't even get to choose if we're a peeping tom most of the time, the game has just given up on player input and forces it. Its frustraiting because its SO CLOSE to nailing one of the best stories on here, and is left mediorce by cowarding out of the very few imporant choices, and having a full stats/inventory system it doesn't use... in favor of more time wasting walking in a linear story.

 

[man from icecream van]

The game feels bad because it lacks agency.

I'm ok for a fairly linear story. I'm ok for a couple of scenes of "you don't own every girl you meet, so they will sleep with others", but I'm NOT ok with the NTR side being determined at times by a literal dice roll. Even if the roll was fixed, and we picked heads or tails for each flip, so without walk though or rollback it seemed "random" but you could choose to win/loose with a guide.

And don't even get me started on how the second a game uses generative "AI" it instantly disrespects players time in all other ways. The bar "mini-game" does nothing for the story, just ruins your ability to hold "ctrl" to skip content you've already seen when trying to explore the choices in a supposed to be branching story. As does the sheer amount of "walking simulator" clicks farmed by things like needing to shower then return to the bar, even though there are ZERO player choices to be made.

I really like the "dome" setting, I really like the twisted magic and "you need to be thrifty to survive"... and yet it hasn't made good on ANY of that. You physically can't spend too much money, you basically never get a choice on earning money ect. We're not juggling characters time, we're not juggling girls corruption, we're not making any tradeoff. So it doesn't feel like the setting is a struggle, it feels like the girls "cheat" on us for zero reason, with ugly bastards they don't even like.

The game has 95% of what it needs to offer a couple of amazing "routes", and instead treats everybody to "NTR lite (tm)" because having the choices matter so little rules out BOTH emotional bonds AND more hardcore content that it even seems to do the full setup for, women you have a reason to hold a grudge combined with a magic sex drug? But no, its introduced and then just completely forgotten later.. NTR lite can't let you do anything drastic. But likewise girls with lowest possible corruption do dirtier things randomly than they would at highest corruption and under the influence? No matter what you choose, you kinda have a bad time, and the justification of "nobody cares about the MC unless he has leverage" doesn't excuse it, because he literally has options for leverage, and just don't deploy them, we don't even get to choose if we're a peeping tom most of the time, the game has just given up on player input and forces it. Its frustraiting because its SO CLOSE to nailing one of the best stories on here, and is left mediorce by cowarding out of the very few imporant choices, and having a full stats/inventory system it doesn't use... in favor of more time wasting walking in a linear story.

The advanced free-walking mode with adventure searching, a shop, inventory, and all that other stuff was postponed due to the need to develop the story to a certain point, so there’s something to properly tie random events and other activities into. I’ve put it on hold, but I haven’t forgotten about it.


Voyeurism will arrive together with the renaissance of free roaming. There will be a fair amount of voyeurism. But... everything comes at a price. Hopefully, when the MC is peeping, his self-esteem won't drop.


The crate mini-game was probably overkill... I got a ton of bad feedback for it and a bad mood along with it. Now I can't just leave it as it is, so I'll definitely rework those crates and add an option to skip the warehouse job. But... maybe there’ll be some kind of catch waiting there... who knows


The lack of choices and different combinations is a real problem - and yes, this game has a lot of problems. Problems with graphics, problems with animation, no sound, too much text, those fucking crates, the MC is a loser, Bianca, an overly young MILF, those fucking crates again (the ones on day two), left-hand traffic, and probably a few more things I’m forgetting. All of that criticism is justified. But (I actually checked this just now) - if you select the aicg tag on this site (let’s pretend it's a separate league) and sort everything by rating, Three and One ends up at rank 346.


It feels like you're asking a bit too much from a game that doesn't even make it into the top 300 of its own league.

 

[FollowBobb]

The advanced free-walking mode with adventure searching, a shop, inventory, and all that other stuff was postponed due to the need to develop the story to a certain point, so there’s something to properly tie random events and other activities into. I’ve put it on hold, but I haven’t forgotten about it.

It feels like you're asking a bit too much from a game that doesn't even make it into the top 300 of its own league.

See here is the funny thing... your once again talking about ADDING a bunch MORE mechanics that will cost almost exponentual dev time as you add them to increasing concurrent complexity and make a state machine so wide you can't test every branch before shipping an update, instead of payoff of what you have.

I get to choose a second drink for example.. but nobody ever drinks it. Its not stored, its not used, its completely forgotten despite already being IN the game. A make yet another pusher, an exucse for a scene with a table... but it has no impact on any path. There is a coffee machine related to an entire subplot that does.. nothing. We don't need a more walking, economics, or replacing old CG's, people only nit pick those to post rationalize how the game already made them FEEL, whats needed is to finish a thought, to be able to compromise reach goals the player (not character) has, and not to just get another 10 first introductions.

Its >300 rank not because of "production value", there are many cheaply made games in the top 10 (and expensive ones far below you). Nor a lack of content. Its ranking reflects soley the unwillingness to cut the half ideas to finish the best ones. Or to give players the CHOICE to commit to an idea (or not) that isn't seen to everybody on every play-through. And I feel the poll voting for future content ect drastically worsen that lack of internal direction.

 

[Eye-switcher]

I need some help I think, You are all talking about "Picking girls" for certain jobs, how do you do that? I don't get that option? They are just going when its their turn or decide by themselves? Also I don't get much H-scenes some groping only but not any sex (except with Helena the mimic). I see people in this thread refer to NTR but I haven't seen any or had sex with any of the girls my MC came to the Bar with?

 

[FollowBobb]

I need some help I think, You are all talking about "Picking girls" for certain jobs, how do you do that? I don't get that option? They are just going when its their turn or decide by themselves? Also I don't get much H-scenes some groping only but not any sex (except with Helena the mimic). I see people in this thread refer to NTR but I haven't seen any or had sex with any of the girls my MC came to the Bar with?

Once you've made it to the end of content the first time, go to the main menu and press "gallery". It shows all scenes possible, but if you click the locked ones, it will tell you how to unlock them. Scene5 can be a bit bugged, but all the rest work as the description says.

 

[Eye-switcher]

Once you've made it to the end of content the first time, go to the main menu and press "gallery". It shows all scenes possible, but if you click the locked ones, it will tell you how to unlock them. Scene5 can be a bit bugged, but all the rest work as the description says.

Lol This is strange, I had only 4 pictures unlocked , I wonder how I could have messed up so much. Its not even that many choices and a lot of pictures it say unlocked through story progression and doesn't even have requirements? weird. Thanks though

 

[Idontplay]

I see people in this thread refer to NTR but I haven't seen any or had sex with any of the girls my MC came to the Bar with?

This is because (unfortunately) everyone has his own definition of ntr. Anyway for now there isn't any actual ntr scene, since no girl is a love interest for the mc, but because any girl is a possible future love interest, in future we will have various ntr-paths.

 

[Eye-switcher]

This is because (unfortunately) everyone has his own definition of ntr. Anyway for now there isn't any actual ntr scene, since no girl is a love interest for the mc, but because any girl is a possible future love interest, in future we will have various ntr-paths.

Sounds awesome, I hope we can form a closer bond to Bianca and see NTR scenes with her in the future.

 

[man from icecream van]

See here is the funny thing... your once again talking about ADDING a bunch MORE mechanics that will cost almost exponentual dev time as you add them to increasing concurrent complexity and make a state machine so wide you can't test every branch before shipping an update, instead of payoff of what you have.

I get to choose a second drink for example.. but nobody ever drinks it. Its not stored, its not used, its completely forgotten despite already being IN the game. A make yet another pusher, an exucse for a scene with a table... but it has no impact on any path. There is a coffee machine related to an entire subplot that does.. nothing. We don't need a more walking, economics, or replacing old CG's, people only nit pick those to post rationalize how the game already made them FEEL, whats needed is to finish a thought, to be able to compromise reach goals the player (not character) has, and not to just get another 10 first introductions.

Its >300 rank not because of "production value", there are many cheaply made games in the top 10 (and expensive ones far below you). Nor a lack of content. Its ranking reflects soley the unwillingness to cut the half ideas to finish the best ones. Or to give players the CHOICE to commit to an idea (or not) that isn't seen to everybody on every play-through. And I feel the poll voting for future content ect drastically worsen that lack of internal direction.

I may even agree with some of the points, but I’m not going to change the overall direction - at least not for now.


As for the pusher (as I already wrote about a dozen pages ago) - the option to have him push drugs onto the girls will be removed. I made that decision a long time ago, which is why this feature hasn’t been developed in recent updates. The table with the coffee machine will be thrown in the trash. I'll make Ian cut a door to the kitchen in that spot instead.


Free movement, as I currently envision it, should make both story assembly and actual progression easier.
For me, it means I won't need to weave side quests into the main storyline anymore. Instead, a trigger will simply be placed in a location, and for example, visiting it at a certain time will start an event.
For players, it should make progression cleaner by keeping optional parts of the story from constantly getting in the way.


I already had a partially working prototype of this system, but I never fully finished it. Right now, I'm building a fully functional version for Duchess of the Underdeeps. After that, I'll build the same system for the main title based on it.


As for the "top 300" thing - that was just for fun. I'm not that concerned about ratings

 

[man from icecream van]

I need some help I think, You are all talking about "Picking girls" for certain jobs, how do you do that? I don't get that option? They are just going when its their turn or decide by themselves? Also I don't get much H-scenes some groping only but not any sex (except with Helena the mimic). I see people in this thread refer to NTR but I haven't seen any or had sex with any of the girls my MC came to the Bar with?

Well… they flip a coin. That is, who goes to the bar with the two bald guys - Tori or Zoe - is decided by chance (if Bianca isn't going).

 

[linlin3az]

unlocked gallery

gallery.rpy

label gallery_entry:
# 强制解锁 1 到 20 号所有场景
python:
for i in range(1, 21):
setattr(persistent, f"gallery_scene{i}_unlocked", True)

# 检查是否是第一次进入画廊，设置 NTR 模式
if not persistent.gallery_intro_seen:
$ persistent.gallery_intro_seen = True

"Before you enter the gallery, let’s set it up."

menu:
"Enable full-ntr gallery mode?"
"Yes Full NTR":
$ persistent.gallery_mode = "full"
"No Safe NTR":
$ persistent.gallery_mode = "safe"

"Got it. Entering the gallery..."

call screen gallery_screen

 

[plucha]

I may even agree with some of the points, but I’m not going to change the overall direction - at least not for now.


As for the pusher (as I already wrote about a dozen pages ago) - the option to have him push drugs onto the girls will be removed. I made that decision a long time ago, which is why this feature hasn’t been developed in recent updates. The table with the coffee machine will be thrown in the trash. I'll make Ian cut a door to the kitchen in that spot instead.


Free movement, as I currently envision it, should make both story assembly and actual progression easier.
For me, it means I won't need to weave side quests into the main storyline anymore. Instead, a trigger will simply be placed in a location, and for example, visiting it at a certain time will start an event.
For players, it should make progression cleaner by keeping optional parts of the story from constantly getting in the way.


I already had a partially working prototype of this system, but I never fully finished it. Right now, I'm building a fully functional version for Duchess of the Underdeeps. After that, I'll build the same system for the main title based on it.


As for the "top 300" thing - that was just for fun. I'm not that concerned about ratings

i think what you are doing now is fine. people cant expect a 'in progress' game to be polished, this is just how project works, you need to add, remove, tweak stuff, its normal. and some aspect when you mention, you want the story to progress to a certain degree before tweaking other system. its also normal stuff. thats just how in progress project works. good luck with your endeavor.

 

[Dyhart]

based

Why? because he said he hates the game without actually saying he hates the game? lol

Are we getting Bianca content in v0.27? I am asking because relationship with Tori and Zoe has progressed further but not Bianca's.

You might want to confirm this, but I could swear I heard that this is the game where if one of them finds out about the other, you're single forever. I just don't want you to be disappointed....like in the witcher 3.

 

[Dyhart]

The advanced free-walking mode with adventure searching, a shop, inventory, and all that other stuff was postponed due to the need to develop the story to a certain point, so there’s something to properly tie random events and other activities into. I’ve put it on hold, but I haven’t forgotten about it.


Voyeurism will arrive together with the renaissance of free roaming. There will be a fair amount of voyeurism. But... everything comes at a price. Hopefully, when the MC is peeping, his self-esteem won't drop.


The crate mini-game was probably overkill... I got a ton of bad feedback for it and a bad mood along with it. Now I can't just leave it as it is, so I'll definitely rework those crates and add an option to skip the warehouse job. But... maybe there’ll be some kind of catch waiting there... who knows


The lack of choices and different combinations is a real problem - and yes, this game has a lot of problems. Problems with graphics, problems with animation, no sound, too much text, those fucking crates, the MC is a loser, Bianca, an overly young MILF, those fucking crates again (the ones on day two), left-hand traffic, and probably a few more things I’m forgetting. All of that criticism is justified. But (I actually checked this just now) - if you select the aicg tag on this site (let’s pretend it's a separate league) and sort everything by rating, Three and One ends up at rank 346.


It feels like you're asking a bit too much from a game that doesn't even make it into the top 300 of its own league.

Eh...Bianca is Bianca. I kinda had a problem with her demanding every coin from Tori when in that...moment of time, she failed in her job and brought home NOTHING but she WAS called out for it so that's cool.

If we have to hurl labels, I'd even say she has a bit of Tsundere in her.

The animations are crazy good, so I don't know what problems you mean, unless they are hell to get right.

I do have to say that the crates thing is a bit....tragic as i can't really endeavor exploring other choices, knowing I will have to do all of that all over again. I seem to be on the Tori path for now, which works