VN Ren'Py ToxiCity [v0.03] [ILSProductions]

5.00 star(s) 6 Votes

PaxHadrian17

Engaged Member
Sep 8, 2020
2,373
11,551
This game is beginning to look a lot like a spin-off of the movie, The Mist. I sure hope it doesn't end like that one did.

So far, this is a lot of fun to play. I'm looking forward to future releases. (y)
I loved The Mist and Really did not like its ending.

I'm sure our small band of office workers will somehow survive but at this point in time, I have no idea what that looks like... (which I'm fine with!)

Cheers!! :coffee:
 

EvolutionKills

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2021
1,220
4,105
Now & Then is great but has such a weak last 1/3 of the story. The Interim Domain is not bad in the story and narration department but is so unsatisfactory given how the story dynamic works and how all the progress you make is thrown out of the window.
Okay. I'll bite. How would you have ended The Interim Domain in such as way that 'all the progress you make is thrown out the window' doesn't happen?
 

lorkdubo

Active Member
Aug 19, 2022
645
1,239
Okay. I'll bite. How would you have ended The Interim Domain in such as way that 'all the progress you make is thrown out the window' doesn't happen?
It's not about how, as it's not a bad story per se. In my opinion, it is flawed for this type of media
 

kazeiheikaya

Newbie
Apr 1, 2024
58
164
ILS Back again already, man I already feel another heartbreaker coming

Will follow this till its end, another banger on its way for sure.
 

lorkdubo

Active Member
Aug 19, 2022
645
1,239
Okay. I'll bite again. What type of media would this not be flawed in?
If I have to choose without thinking to much, then it would be a single book so you can read it from start to finish in one go. While there are shows with similar concepts, I don't think they are that enticing given that you tend to like certain characters that are developed to then vanish. This is diminished in a show format given that people are not positioning themselves as the protagonist, so it can be given a bit of leeway.
You can see this concept in animated series with Death Parade, which was good, but it left a bad taste after Chiyuki also reincarnated. Mind you, it was basically at the end so it was done well, but still...
 
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pitao

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May 18, 2023
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If I have to choose without thinking to much, then it would be a single book so you can read it from start to finish in one go. While there are shows with similar concepts, I don't think they are that enticing given that you tend to like certain characters that are developed to then vanish. This is diminished in a show format given that people are not positioning themselves as the protagonist, so it can be given a bit of leeway.
You can see this concept in animated series with Death Parade, which was good, but it left a bad taste after Chiyuki also reincarnated. Mind you, it was basically at the end so it was done well, but still...
That is why there is adaptations, well rarely or never from a visual media to a book but very often or almost always from books to a visual media because they work very differently and the perception and expectations that the reader get from a book can give a big shock and disappointment on how it is represented visually, besides that plenty of dialogues and narrations won't work so well in a game and/or a movie/tv show.

Sometimes can work a certain character just being a side character and/or a funny and cute character for a smaller target viewers, I can remember from the top of my head Tom Bombadil from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings that is a side character mostly aimed for a younger/children target just like his first book The Hobbit, it wouldn't work so well in the context of the movie/tv show unless there was a movie just based on it.

About TID being flawed for this kind of media, my perception is different. For me it worked very well even if the progress on most of the main story LI's was thrown out the window (even though I would prefer that it didn't had the pseudo-sandbox thingy, not too fond of sandbox AVNs but I made it work, wish that the final release/director's cut that will come later have an option of full VN mode with the devs giving their view on how all the events work in their mind chronologically), in the few there wasn't it was with whom it made sense, it made the narration and events of the epilogues/endings more enticing for me that the MC had to pursue again the love of their life and making them falling in love again for him, with the edge from already have general info about them and that the LI's already would have a subliminal predisposition to fall in love with the MC again from the gift he got before, I really enjoyed that part of the epilogues.
 
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EvolutionKills

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Jan 3, 2021
1,220
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If I have to choose without thinking to much, then it would be a single book so you can read it from start to finish in one go. While there are shows with similar concepts, I don't think they are that enticing given that you tend to like certain characters that are developed to then vanish. This is diminished in a show format given that people are not positioning themselves as the protagonist, so it can be given a bit of leeway.
You can see this concept in animated series with Death Parade, which was good, but it left a bad taste after Chiyuki also reincarnated. Mind you, it was basically at the end so it was done well, but still...
This feels very much like you are grasping at straws. Maybe you should think about it more.

The game is a visual novel. Removing the player's agency to pursue certain story paths wouldn't fundamentally change anything about the characters, their interactions, alter the baseline premise, or change that fact that the whole point is to help these people along their character arcs so that they can let go and move on successfully. Taking out the choices and making it a kinetic novel wouldn't change anything more than set in stone a 'canonical' order of events, not alter the events themselves (outside of Mina, Natalie, and the epilogues).

Also, people absolutely position themselves as the protagonist of the show all the time. It's so common we have titles and tropes to describe, things like 'Protagonist Centered-Morality' where an audience is inclined it ignore or overlook the problematic aspects of a character just because they are the protagonist. Look at Breaking Bad. Walter White is a monster, but people still love him as a character, despite that from any other perspective he should be by all rights an antagonist. Audiences very frequently give a pass to protagonists and their actions that they wouldn't other characters, that's why it's a trope. They have fun following along on his adventures and want to see what he does next, but rarely do they critically examine what self-inserting themselves into such characters potentially says about themselves; because that would be uncomfortable, and most people have zero interest in engaging with their media that critically.

If, judging by your first aside, your problem was that the love interests are transient, then your problems is with the very premise of the story. Changing the format isn't going to fix that. A novel would still have the cast exiting the stage after they completed their individual character arcs, because that's sorta the whole point of the premise. If you didn't like it because you actually just wanted to keep everyone around for a big harem ending, then just be honest that you don't like the premise, rather than trying to play it off as it being a flawed format or whatever. It's fine to not like a story for personal reasons, but that doesn't make it a bad story just because it wasn't offering what you wanted. There are legit criticisms you can level at The Interim Domain, it not being a novel or animated series isn't one of them.
 
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jadepaladin

Active Member
Mar 9, 2020
965
1,907
That is why there is adaptations, well rarely or never from a visual media to a book but very often or almost always from books to a visual media because they work very differently and the perception and expectations that the reader get from a book can give a big shock and disappointment on how it is represented visually, besides that plenty of dialogues and narrations won't work so well in a game and/or a movie/tv show.

Sometimes can work a certain character just being a side character and/or a funny and cute character for a smaller target viewers, I can remember from the top of my head Tom Bombadil from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings that is a side character mostly aimed for a younger/children target just like his first book The Hobbit, it wouldn't work so well in the context of the movie/tv show unless there was a movie just based on it.

About TID being flawed for this kind of media, my perception is different. For me it worked very well even if the progress on most of the main story LI's was thrown out the window (even though I would prefer that it didn't had the pseudo-sandbox thingy, not too fond of sandbox AVNs but I made it work, wish that the final release/director's cut that will come later have an option of full VN mode with the devs giving their view on how all the events work in their mind chronologically), in the few there wasn't it was with whom it made sense, it made the narration and events of the epilogues/endings more enticing for me that the MC had to pursue again the love of their life and making them falling in love again for him, with the edge from already have general info about them and that the LI's already would have a subliminal predisposition to fall in love with the MC again from the gift he got before, I really enjoyed that part of the epilogues.
If there was anything about TID I didn't like, it was the limitation on the amount of stories you could read before the chapter automatically progressed. When you hit the end and do the infinite day loop to get the rest of the stories done, it makes the earlier "time" limitation feel unnecessary. I don't think the "sandbox" element was needed.

Just have us read a chapter per girl and move to the next story chapter, rinse/repeat until done. I get that the sandbox was there so we could skip LIs we didn't care for but the story felt designed with all LIs playing a role.

That said, this is the TOXICity thread so I might as well say I'm liking the premise more than I liked the concept in TID. It gives me The Mist vibes and as long as we don't have that same ending, I'll probably be satisfied.
 

lorkdubo

Active Member
Aug 19, 2022
645
1,239
Well let's hope this does not end the same way as the mist movie in blowing are friend's brains out.
I really liked the ending of the movie as it was more bleak, and it really fit the movie format. The book ending also fitted well with the ambiguity and the tiny ray of hope.
 
Jun 25, 2021
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I like the corossive mist as the "disaster", but adding more complications like the monsters that were teased might make it too much. The mist was just the right amount of tension and I hope the dev doesn't ruin it adding too many complications.
 

Walter Victor

Conversation Conqueror
Dec 27, 2017
6,182
20,753
I like the corossive mist as the "disaster", but adding more complications like the monsters that were teased might make it too much. The mist was just the right amount of tension and I hope the dev doesn't ruin it adding too many complications.
I suspect that at least one more complication will be added: rogue human survivors.
 

lorkdubo

Active Member
Aug 19, 2022
645
1,239
I like the corossive mist as the "disaster", but adding more complications like the monsters that were teased might make it too much. The mist was just the right amount of tension and I hope the dev doesn't ruin it adding too many complications.
I think an external factor who is plain evil and an enemy is needed, given that the mist, albeit corrosive, was quite a tame device for an apocalypse.
 

PaxHadrian17

Engaged Member
Sep 8, 2020
2,373
11,551
Dev Log: TOXICity 0.03.0 update #1 Jan 28, 2025

So, how about that ending to 0.02.0? It's always fun to drop a little drama right at the end before moving on to the next episode. We're always trying to take cues from cinema, like old movie serials that throw cliffhangers out to keep the viewer coming back.

Also, as promised, the first two releases were going to do some heavy lifting getting you to understand the initial group dynamic. However, there are definitely some secrets to be unearthed. A few clues may have already been sprinkled into the mix, but you'll have some unpleasant truths being dropped in the future.

One of the nice things about returning to this structure is that with TID, we always had to write a setup for a scene, establish how the player got there, and then lead the player back to the main story arc. With TOXICity, there's little need for this. You're already deeply entrenched in the main arc and all scenes are either a part of that or exist along the same timeline.

As mentioned in the release of 0.02.0, we are aware of the issue with the Achievements and already have a fix built into 0.03.0 to remedy this. Apparently testing for the feature didn't create a problem on our end until we started putting the skeleton for 0.03.0 in place and we figure another item not working right hid that fact. Tech guys'll be able to confirm that sometimes one problem stands to the forefront, hiding others in an moment.

Thanks for your interest and patronage,
-Kinderfeld



TOXICity Sample Pics 1 012825.jpg

TOXICity Sample Pics 2 012825.jpg

TOXICity Sample Pics 3 012825.jpg


Cheers!! :coffee:
 
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mordred93

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2017
1,643
2,497
Does anyone know if it's good to increase the anxiety stat or no?
Having read the code .. I haven't seen much that is a "negative" ATM from it. You honestly miss out on stuff if the stat is too low. My latest playthrough of 0.2, I didn't care about anxiety, and tried to max the other stats (so if anxiety was added, but also like/desire, etc.) I picked it. I got all the interactions, and max other points. We shall see later on if that is a good strategy. Who knows what happens in v3 and beyond.
 

Walter Victor

Conversation Conqueror
Dec 27, 2017
6,182
20,753
Does anyone know if it's good to increase the anxiety stat or no?
From the context of the choices and responses, it would seem that increasing anxiety is not a good thing. Sometimes anxiety increases irrespective of any choices, if a dangerous situation occurs. Freaking out by one of the LIs wouldn't seem to be a good thing.

But, since there is no test as yet for that variable, it is really impossible to say for sure. I could envision a situation where increased anxiety increases the tendency of one of the LIs toward sex with the MC... to relieve tension?

Regardless, I'm trying to keep that variable as low as possible, until/unless I am shown to be wrong. I'm trying to max all other variables, and if I find that I can increase one of those others but have to also increase anxiety, I won't hesitate to do that.

EDIT: So there you have it, opposing views on the same topic. Take your pick! :ROFLMAO:
 
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PaxHadrian17

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Sep 8, 2020
2,373
11,551
From the context of the choices and responses, it would seem that increasing anxiety is not a good thing. Sometimes anxiety increases irrespective of any choices, if a dangerous situation occurs. Freaking out by one of the LIs wouldn't seem to be a good thing.

But, since there is no test as yet for that variable, it is really impossible to say for sure. I could envision a situation where increased anxiety increases the tendency of one of the LIs toward sex with the MC... to relieve tension?

Regardless, I'm trying to keep that variable as low as possible, until/unless I am shown to be wrong. I'm trying to max all other variables, and if I find that I can increase one of those others but have to also increase anxiety, I won't hesitate to do that.

EDIT: So there you have it, opposing views on the same topic. Take your pick! :ROFLMAO:
I agree - I feel like anxiety is bad, But I'lll accept a bump up in anxiety to get a positive trait bump.

I also recognize that this could bite me in the ass later on... :oops:

One other thing I chose to do was balance the level of anxiety, trying to keep anxiety lower for both women versus allowing it to balloon for Kallie while keeping Laura's anxiety as low as possible.

I'm curious to see how this will play out in future chapters as I feel like making sure that I don't lose either woman to a panic attack at the wrong time, for example, is important to the survival of the entire small group.

I know N&T had some bad endings and I expect to see the same here - making Anxiety management feel very important.

Cheers!! :coffee:
 
5.00 star(s) 6 Votes