VN Ren'Py Tides of Succession [Ch.2 v0.2] [TakMycket]

[Vleder]

I can only respect authors who have a clear vision for their story and are honest and upfront about their work. And I admire those who have the hability to create a good story and have the necessary talent to tell it.
TakMycket , you have my respect ad admiration. The story is engaging and super interesting and I'd like to point out a few things.

On the plus side, the type of choices presented make players choose their actions and own them. These are really logic and meaningful choices that solidify immersion and can be very rewarding (or taxing) later on. A very strong point.
There's more than a little something to each of the girls that make them interesting and appealing. Few girls, but great girls. Good for the story.

From what has been revealed so far, the setting appears to have more than enough depth and complexity to hold the epic story which I feel the author wants to tell. Intriguing.

Now, a major plus of this game is Kasula. That's of course my opinion, but you just can't beat a nice pale red headed girl with pointy ears and a dreamy face. Sorry princess, you're nice but...

The errors I found have already been pointed out, so there's no need to go into that. I could refer the low res renders but that's meaningless to me in face of a good story and they are nice and detailed, portraying the authors vision. So, no minuses.
This game is different, the very good kind of different.

 

[LionBear]

Thanks for sharing this

 

[Filipis]

You do have a good point...

In a perfect world, I would have the player able to choose which ending they wanted to "keep" for the sequels. Alas, Tides of Succession will have 10 different endings (1 solo, and then 3 different endings for each LI) and allowing players to choose their ending is much more work than it's worth.

I also want to point out that the sequels will be 'separate' AVNs. While they'll be set in the same world, and feature some of the same characters, the sequels will have a different MC, different Love Interests, different antagonists and an entirely different narrative. If you wanted, you will be able to play the sequels without playing Tides of Succession. Hence, I wouldn't necessarily look at as a dead end so to speak, but rather an end to the current story and the start of another.

Thing is, those "separate" VNs serving as a sequel will directly reference the True Ending from Tides of Succession, and one of them will even feature a MC who is only born in the True Ending of ToS - so, just by that fact alone, all the other endings will be "dead ends", as they will hold no influence on the sequels whatsoever. Having a family with Glade is irrelevant when the (future) MC is canonically the son of MC and Lorelei. See what I mean?

 

[aWasTooShort]

Thing is, those "separate" VNs serving as a sequel will directly reference the True Ending from Tides of Succession, and one of them will even feature a MC who is only born in the True Ending of ToS - so, just by that fact alone, all the other endings will be "dead ends", as they will hold no influence on the sequels whatsoever. Having a family with Glade is irrelevant when the (future) MC is canonically the son of MC and Lorelei. See what I mean?

Just wanted to jump in here and agree with this point. I don't mind if there's a true canon route that is meant to be applied in the future but I don't understand why that has to mean the LI is canon too. My understanding from reading through this thread so far is that your choices and branching throughout the game won't inherently prevent you from being romantically involved with any of the three LIs. So maybe I'm just not seeing the dev's vision here but I feel like just having the mother of MC's child be different with some marginal distinctions wouldn't be as big a deal. As an example, SWTA: The Author and SWTA: The Unbroken do a very similar thing where the player in the Unbroken can choose who the MC in the Author ended up with. Since they don't play a big role in the plot, it only affects a few scenes. Again, I don't know what exactly dev's plans with their future sequels are, but if the intention is to have a romantic branch and plot branch, I feel like they should kept separate.

At the very least for me, knowing there are huge plans for a trilogy in the series (even with different MCs, which is fine) but those games won't actually care about any of the choices I make in those future titles if they aren't considered canon, makes me less interested in pursuing other characters now. Especially when I want to get invested in this world, it would feel like I'm wasting my time in a what-if universe that doesn't impact the long-running narrative. Which is a massive shame for anyone who wants to get invested in Glade (like myself) or Kasula.

What I'm trying to get at is that I am very interested in seeing this game and I feel like myself and others would be willing to accept a canon plot route as long as it still felt like the time we spent before amounted to anything. The best compromise, and what I imagine most players would want, is that their LI from previous games is at least acknowledged and consistent. This could, hopefully, reduce the amount of branching to worry about while still feeling like this game's choices mattered for the future ones. It's fine to want to make it so that anyone jump in on the sequels and still get a good experience, but there should be at least some reward for the players who have been here to experience the whole thing.

I know that this idea would almost certainly add to the already huge load that such a massive project you envision in the future. But I wanted to convey that I am deeply interested in this game, as a monogamous AVN in a fantasy world with an interesting story to boot is something that is right up my alley. Regardless of whether my words impact anything, I hope that you keep up the good work here. I'll be watching this with much interest.

 

[Krytax123]

I didnt even knew it was possible to sacrifice Henrikus, i had two different outcomes with him in my playthroughs but never betrayed him. And seeing the outcomes i dont feel like its justified.

How do you guys who took the decision feel about it?

Even if his goal would bei to become the almighty big boss, why would i stop him considering the mc is his heir and got brought up by him? Even more considering were a pirate and not mr. honest humble (white)knight

 

[John972]

Thank you for catching this . I've already fixed the issue


It's always interesting to see how others interpret my writing... and there have been a few instances thus far in which I haven't emphasised a fact enough, which is poor writing on my part.

In this case...

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[John972]

I didnt even knew it was possible to sacrifice Henrikus, i had two different outcomes with him in my playthroughs but never betrayed him. And seeing the outcomes i dont feel like its justified.

How do you guys who took the decision feel about it?

Even if his goal would bei to become the almighty big boss, why would i stop him considering the mc is his heir and got brought up by him? Even more considering were a pirate and not mr. honest humble (white)knight

I think the Henricus situation illustrates perfectly the problem with branching storylines in AVNs.

With a certain series of player choices, it's revealed early that Henricus does not lust after absolute power, but rather is trying to save and extend his own life - which is entirely contradictory to how the Adristanians (including the MC) perceive Spice Weavers. If, on a virgin playthrough, this revelation isn't apparent, then it's easier to betray Henricus. As to justification for the betrayal - Henricus betrayed the MC first by never revealing his secret. I can understand the MC's betrayal given the mortal threat Spice Weavers supposedly pose. This threat was made apparent to the MC during the Kracken attack. Right after surviving that trauma, the MC learns what his "father" really is.

However, the moment Henricus reveals his motivations (which are not a lie because he will Spice Pledge or confess his identity to the MC under certain conditions), that betrayal doesn't seem justified.

I betrayed Henricus on one saved playthrough and now I feel like shit because there are things I know now from different playthroughs that I didn't know then.

 

[Krytax123]

I think the Henricus situation illustrates perfectly the problem with branching storylines in AVNs.

With a certain series of player choices, it's revealed early that Henricus does not lust after absolute power, but rather is trying to save and extend his own life - which is entirely contradictory to how the Adristanians (including the MC) perceive Spice Weavers. If, on a virgin playthrough, this revelation isn't apparent, then it's easier to betray Henricus. As to justification for the betrayal - Henricus betrayed the MC first by never revealing his secret. I can understand the MC's betrayal given the mortal threat Spice Weavers supposedly pose. This threat was made apparent to the MC during the Kracken attack. Right after surviving that trauma, the MC learns what his "father" really is.

However, the moment Henricus reveals his motivations (which are not a lie because he will Spice Pledge or confess his identity to the MC under certain conditions), that betrayal doesn't seem justified.

I betrayed Henricus on one saved playthrough and now I feel like shit because there are things I know now from different playthroughs that I didn't know then.

Hmmm dunno, i could never see it as justified just because Henrikus didnt told the MC everything about himself. He raised a 5 year old young boy and made him into his heir, this deserves loyality no matter what tales and storys exist in the world about spice weavers.

This mc (unlike us) knows Henrikus since what? 13-15 years? He was nothing and got everything from Henrikus, to turn him over to the officials (while being a pirate yourself lol) because of that without giving him a chance to explain himself seems entirely over the top and ungrateful.

I would even go so far and say that even if Henrikus goal would have been to become the most powerful spice weaver ever, it wouldnt be justified from the MC's pov.

Its a different thing when somehow our MC is special (a spice weaver too?) and henrikus saw that early on and thats the reason why he raised him but as it stands now ... Henrikus owes the mc nothing and the Mc owes Henrikus everything.

 

[John972]

Hmmm dunno, i could never see it as justified just because Henrikus didnt told the MC everything about himself. He raised a 5 year old young boy and made him into his heir, this deserves loyality no matter what tales and storys exist in the world about spice weavers.

This mc (unlike us) knows Henrikus since what? 13-15 years? He was nothing and got everything from Henrikus, to turn him over to the officials (while being a pirate yourself lol) because of that without giving him a chance to explain himself seems entirely over the top and ungrateful.

I would even go so far and say that even if Henrikus goal would have been to become the most powerful spice weaver ever, it wouldnt be justified from the MC's pov.

Its a different thing when somehow our MC is special (a spice weaver too?) and henrikus saw that early on and thats the reason why he raised him but as it stands now ... Henrikus owes the mc nothing and the Mc owes Henrikus everything.

I made my observations after TakMycket made his intent clear.

https://f95zone.to/goto/post?id=15500256

I now see two reasonable/believable circumstances where the MC would betray Henricus:

1. Because the MC is ultimately a selfish-prick who will walk over and use anybody for his own advancement, or
2. Because he absolutely fears and hates Spice Weavers like all other Adristanians.

With the second circumstance, it's like suddenly finding out your father is, for example, Keith Jesperson (the "Happy Face Killer"). What would you do? Keep quiet because blood is thicker than water, or alert the authorities because your father is a monstrous threat? I believe the Dev intends the Adristanians to believe that Spice Weavers pose such a mortal threat.

 

[Krytax123]

I made my observations after TakMycket made his intent clear.

https://f95zone.to/goto/post?id=15500256

I now see two reasonable/believable circumstances where the MC would betray Henricus:

1. Because the MC is ultimately a selfish-prick who will walk over and use anybody for his own advancement, or
2. Because he absolutely fears and hates Spice Weavers like all other Adristanians.

With the second circumstance, it's like suddenly finding out your father is, for example, Keith Jesperson (the "Happy Face Killer"). What would you do? Keep quiet because blood is thicker than water, or alert the authorities because your father is a monstrous threat? I believe the Dev intends the Adristanians to believe that Spice Weavers pose such a mortal threat.

But thats different, it would be something else if we would have found out that he is a legendary killer/evil whatever (and even than ... were pirates after all...). But we simply have no indication that specifically Henrikus was involved in super evil shit and have examples of "good natured" spice weavers on the other hand.

And i cant stop to stress this, our MC is not some noble, honest, honorable Lord, hes a pirate since he's five

1) is more reasonable for me if someone really really really wants to play the absolute worst asshole lol

I mean this guy took as son of a prostitue and made him into his heir only to than go on to make the MC the future king of the continent ... and in return he gets utterly betrayed and torturted

 

[TakMycket]

Thing is, those "separate" VNs serving as a sequel will directly reference the True Ending from Tides of Succession, and one of them will even feature a MC who is only born in the True Ending of ToS - so, just by that fact alone, all the other endings will be "dead ends", as they will hold no influence on the sequels whatsoever. Having a family with Glade is irrelevant when the (future) MC is canonically the son of MC and Lorelei. See what I mean?

Just wanted to jump in here and agree with this point. I don't mind if there's a true canon route that is meant to be applied in the future but I don't understand why that has to mean the LI is canon too. My understanding from reading through this thread so far is that your choices and branching throughout the game won't inherently prevent you from being romantically involved with any of the three LIs. So maybe I'm just not seeing the dev's vision here but I feel like just having the mother of MC's child be different with some marginal distinctions wouldn't be as big a deal. As an example, SWTA: The Author and SWTA: The Unbroken do a very similar thing where the player in the Unbroken can choose who the MC in the Author ended up with. Since they don't play a big role in the plot, it only affects a few scenes. Again, I don't know what exactly dev's plans with their future sequels are, but if the intention is to have a romantic branch and plot branch, I feel like they should kept separate.

At the very least for me, knowing there are huge plans for a trilogy in the series (even with different MCs, which is fine) but those games won't actually care about any of the choices I make in those future titles if they aren't considered canon, makes me less interested in pursuing other characters now. Especially when I want to get invested in this world, it would feel like I'm wasting my time in a what-if universe that doesn't impact the long-running narrative. Which is a massive shame for anyone who wants to get invested in Glade (like myself) or Kasula.

What I'm trying to get at is that I am very interested in seeing this game and I feel like myself and others would be willing to accept a canon plot route as long as it still felt like the time we spent before amounted to anything. The best compromise, and what I imagine most players would want, is that their LI from previous games is at least acknowledged and consistent. This could, hopefully, reduce the amount of branching to worry about while still feeling like this game's choices mattered for the future ones. It's fine to want to make it so that anyone jump in on the sequels and still get a good experience, but there should be at least some reward for the players who have been here to experience the whole thing.

I know that this idea would almost certainly add to the already huge load that such a massive project you envision in the future. But I wanted to convey that I am deeply interested in this game, as a monogamous AVN in a fantasy world with an interesting story to boot is something that is right up my alley. Regardless of whether my words impact anything, I hope that you keep up the good work here. I'll be watching this with much interest.

I see your points. I understand. But... I don't share your concerns... Perhaps it's because I know what I've planned for the endings? Or maybe it's just a difference in preferences?

What I will say is the endings are... endings. They're going to extend well beyond the time-frame of the sequels. As the player you're going to get to see 60 year-old MC with his chosen wife, cuddling by a fire-place whilst watching their grand-children. An ending isn't going to be one lewd scene and then the continuation of the story via a sequel. Whichever path you choose, I'm sure you'll have a very satisfying ending, regardless of whether it's cannon or not.

As for why I'm not going to add branching to accommodate endings... the opportunity cost isn't worth it. Tides of Succession will have 10 unique endings (3 for each Love Interest, 1 solo ending), and in 1 of them, the MC for A Prince's Compass (AVN #3) is born. I would have to develop 10 different AVNs for the 3rd AVN, or make all the endings very similar in order to allow branching in the sequels... both options which I believe are much worse than having a canon path.

Feel free to ask any more questions if you would like further clarification

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[John972]

But thats different, it would be something else if we would have found out that he is a legendary killer/evil whatever (and even than ... were pirates after all...). But we simply have no indication that specifically Henrikus was involved in super evil shit and have examples of "good natured" spice weavers on the other hand.

And i cant stop to stress this, our MC is not some noble, honest, honorable Lord, hes a pirate since he's five

1) is more reasonable for me if someone really really really wants to play the absolute worst asshole lol

I mean this guy took as son of a prostitue and made him into his heir only to than go on to make the MC the future king of the continent ... and in return he gets utterly betrayed and torturted

As I said, it's based on what the Dev said was his intent re: Spice Weavers. Perhaps that intent (the absolute mortal threat Spice Weavers pose to humans and people's utter fear of them) isn't communicated adequately to date.

In that scenario, it doesn't matter if the MC is a bad ass pirate. Even the most battle-hardened humans in the know in Westeros feared the Night King.

 

[sigvar]

My mamma said pick Glade!

 

[Krytax123]

As I said, it's based on what the Dev said was his intent re: Spice Weavers. Perhaps that intent (the absolute mortal threat Spice Weavers pose to humans and people's utter fear of them) isn't communicated adequately to date.

In that scenario, it doesn't matter if the MC is a bad ass pirate. Even the most battle-hardened humans in the know in Westeros feared the Night King.

Well maybe they wouldnt if the night king picked them up as 5 year olds and raised them as his own

 

[TakMycket]

Captain's Log 2:0​

Dev-Log Structure:

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Weekly Commitment:

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What to expect in Chapter 2:

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Holidays:

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[TakMycket]

I also run a best LI poll after every update. The

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is free to the public, do you don't need to be a member to vote in it

 

[Mellt]

I like the Story of the Game so far. But sadly i don´t like the MC. He seems rather weak and skinny for a Pirat.
He lost to a female minion of an OP Villain. The Spice Power shouldn´t make a random minion stronger than the mc.
But that is just my opinion.
I am missing here a few lewd scenes. Like in summers gone. there dont have to be porn scenes but especialy in the Pirat genre should be a little more skinship.
Is is to well behaved on the first look.
But the visuals are just awesome and nearly everytime u have movement on the screen.
It seems very lively.
Good work. And thx for your hard work.

 

[bulbor]

Thanks to the Dev for sharing his game, very nice cut-scenes and close-ups.

#A couple of tips/suggestions.
A drop-shadow to the text would be appreciated, the text is sometimes hard to see, you can use for example who_outlines & what_outlines for that.
Try avoiding "breaking the fourth wall", like with the Glade choice. "Crucial choice" suffices and put everything else at the start of the game.

 

[JenMistress]

Finally managed to get caught up with the Dev again. Seems like this game likes to make the last choice something where I wonder if I am making the right choice or not. Was even when I started looking deeper for an Official Text Walkthrough, see what both entail, when I found out, this update has none. Sounds like the next one will though.

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All and all, I am enjoying this, thank you for this, and looking forward for more!!!

 

[yossa999]

Great update and a good story, well done, Tak! The only downside, in my opinion, is that this game, like many others, has too much "sensitivity". Compliment a girl, be nice to her - and you're already one step away from sleeping with her. For example, Kasula asks Tobias what she looks like before meeting the king. And he has a choice, either tell her she looks beautiful or let the moment pass. In the second case, he mumbles something, like, everything is fine, let's go.

But man, he's a courtier now, entertaining the ladies, being polite and giving compliments is his job. Telling a girl you look absolutely charming is just common courtesy, which in itself does not imply any romantic interest.

Moreover, even if he is not romantically interested in Kasula, they still became friends and to cheer her up before an important meeting by telling her that she looks stunning seems completely natural to me.

So this choice seemed quite strange.