RPGM Abandoned Vis Major: Awakening [2018-11-19] [Doki Ninja]

[Fenix34]

Definitely should have just kept the body and boob size from when you are trying on dresses with paul, or even slightly smaller boobs. Either way the balloons she ends up with just look silly and not really attractive.

 

[Ennoch]

Either way the balloons she ends up with just look silly and not really attractive.

I totally, fully, absolutely, wholeheartedly object! Disapprove! Disagree! Accuse of heresy!! ...and even throw a tantrum if needs be

 

[Bueno]

I'm a little concerned about this rework/restart.

I work with software implementation on a daily basis. Just about every code monkey I know under some project deadline wishes he had the time to go back and rewrite his ugly ass hack code (their own words). The problem is that their barely functioning shoestring code that nevertheless gets the job done is NEVER worth the invested time to rework. Oh sure they are probably able to squeeze out a 7% performance enhancement or some added functionality they couldn't work in earlier. However their time away from pushing something else more urgent is lost.

This allegory is very fitting for Vis Major as well. The version 0.48 and previous was certainly a bit clunky in structure and writing. It had its warts, we saw them, we acknowledged them but we were fine with it because overall VM was a heck of a game.

Now we're getting a rework with "improvements". Improved graphics, increased functionality and a tighter story with new characters. The problem is that this remake carries with it its own damning problems. The obvious one being that we're rethreading the story again with recycled graphics, many others have mentioned this. Still my personal biggest peeves is the addition of the mother character that's now bunking with you. This development is bringing with it its own clunkiness in terms of story and writing, which in large parts was the goal of the rework to address in the first place.

From what I've experienced VM:A is a good game and I have no doubt it will continue to be so. When I look back I have no problem however stating that VM 0.48 and earlier was already one of the games with the highest production values on this board. It was one of the least needed reworks I could imagine.

 

[RustyV]

Let me give you an example:
You decide to create a book trilogy and kickstart the whole thing.
You just wrote and released your first book. You didn't start the second one or the third one yet!
You read the reviews and you read the book yourself as well.
You see that you did not do justice to some characters, other people notice that as well!
If you continue writing books 2 and 3 now - people will not care about half the content of those books.
So you ask yourself, and those who read the book:
Hey guys and gals, I think I made some mistakes here, I would like to re-write the first book. If I do - I think you will get into the story more. It will help you better remember and feel for the characters going forward, making the entire journey better. What do you think?

And thus, a reasonable answer of - "Sure", came into life.

this year is the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and she did rework the novel for later publications. So reworking a text, or game in this case is not unheard of, just wish the new release was longer, with a walkthrough.

 

[lilsav]

Found this game yesterday, had no idea about the previous one. Really liked the MC and the direction until It ended so early on. Then I tried the old one, great as well, but still expected more content. I hope that there will be big updates in the future, maybe use some stuff from the old one just to catch up soon. I can see why it got remade, it's definitely more tied up, makes more sense and looks better. Anyway, I'm a fan and will check out the updates for sure.

 

[IndigoHawk]

There's certainly risk of losing steam with a reboot. After the rush of cleaning things up wears off, there's a lot of work to get back to where the game was. However, the dev posts sounds like he was losing motivation to work on VM because he wasn't happy with it. So there was a risk of burnout and slowed updates if no changes were made.

Perhaps he could have ended VM and moved on to a new project, but he seems interested in telling the story as he sees it now. Taking what he learned and rebooting can work. The story is going to have some changes, not just polish on what was there. The scenes are going to have more options consistent with the game's mechanics, another thing the dev felt was lacking and that will be new content for people.

Hopefully the dev has a better outline of where he wants this to go, especially how the mother fits in with the new story, so that this time it won't get off track and he won't end up feeling like it doesn't work.

 

[lilsav]

What I don't understand is the virgin thing. I mean it doesn't really match her personality and style and the naive/shameless narrative. And any potential sexual interaction with these creepy/villainy characters becomes more unrealistic.

 

[Fenix34]

I totally, fully, absolutely, wholeheartedly object! Disapprove! Disagree! Accuse of heresy!! ...and even hrow a tantrum if needs be

too big is definitely a thing, to each his own i suppose. great game otherwise tho, i think thats why i felt the need to comment, because i like the premise and gameplay enough to deal with the ginormously unrealistic balloon tits.

 

[RustyV]

My issue is the same as with the original game. To unlock some actions MC need X amount of a trait, but to get that amount makes it impossible to raise another trait and then that trait is needed at an amount that can't be reached because you raised a different trait, very frustrating.

 

[Albr]

Should i play the original game before this one, i know this is not same stories, but it is worth to play the first game, how maybe have the same event as this one

 

[Re-4Andrew]

Really good game, but the choices are rather confessing. Altho when I think about it when you go to the select screens to chose your option, I guess your suppose to pick in order to jack up a stat or try and keep them even with each other. THe other in-game choices are pretty obvious to watch certain scenes.

 

[Thomas Neoh]

This is not a reasonable discussion, you make random predictions, assume things based on nothing substantial and attempt to speak for others, when you should only speak for yourself.

If it helps you feel better, fine, think of it as milking Patrons. Your concern was heard.

Well said,Ninja. Can't satisfy all of them. Don't crack your nuts over just one grain in a whole field of wheat

 

[a55555]

Barely any content.

 

[xenos87]

This was done to save space, I will check other characters later as well. Here is a fix for George:

You must be registered to see the links

Hey, no objections to saving space It's a neat solution. Just a quick question. Are all those files in the fix really just to fix Georges face? Because I certainly didn't expect updated data files and plugins.js to be necessary. I notice that several of the new plugins listed in plugins.js are not even present in my plugins folder. Won't that crash my game if I overwrite all the old files with the ones in this fix?

 

[Ennoch]

Please someone tell me i can put an axe into momy dearest's head at some point? Lie if you must

 

[xenos87]

Definitely should have just kept the body and boob size from when you are trying on dresses with paul, or even slightly smaller boobs. Either way the balloons she ends up with just look silly and not really attractive.

I wouldn't mind if they were somewhere inbetween, but it doesn't bother me enough to pester the dev about changing it and redoing the renders.

 

[Olivia_V]

I played the previous version of this game (though admittedly only til the 0.3 release), and I'm thinking this new one will blow the old version away. Excellent start. Love the character model for the mother, and the cute and tender moment in the second scene of the prologue.

 

[Reaverrew]

Is there any type of guide? I really like to see where the choices can lead.

Never mind. I see there isn't a lot of game here yet. I like where it is going.

 

[Doki Ninja]

Spoiler

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I usually cut parts and respond to them, but I really didn't want to butcher your write-up, so I'll just hide it under a spoiler.

I do not think that your allegory really works here, and here is why.
The old code was a base which I had to re-use over and over again. So the further it got, the messier it would get. One of the base premises of this game for me was - if you want, you can choose a single Boss/Location and finish it without going anywhere else (besides the Studio). The problem was I didn't start planning early enough, so I entangled events with one another in a way that made it no longer possible.
So there were two types of "warts" that you mentioned - ones that You and I saw + ones that I had to deal with every time I wanted to continue.
Also, I remember when I made the transition from 720p to 1080p. It barely made a difference. That sucked. There was no way to fix that without a remake. Why did it matter at all? Well, see the answer below.
The game looked very generic on a first glance! It may not seem like a big problem to you, and I get it. But from my point of view - if I want to start doing this as my main source of income - I need to get people to notice it from the get-go. Sure, I guess many immediately assume greed and whatnot, and for a good reason, it often is. But greed is only a part of the equation, life is never that simple.

Now about rehashed scenes - I'm not so sure about that. Some are close to original, sure, but others are quite a bit different. And all offer additional paths, so there is expansion into new territory right from the start.

But don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your feedback and I am thankful for it. I will try my best to steering off from common pitfalls you described.

What I don't understand is the virgin thing. I mean it doesn't really match her personality and style and the naive/shameless narrative. And any potential sexual interaction with these creepy/villainy characters becomes more unrealistic.

Exactly my point about the original VM!

My issue is the same as with the original game. To unlock some actions MC need X amount of a trait, but to get that amount makes it impossible to raise another trait and then that trait is needed at an amount that can't be reached because you raised a different trait, very frustrating.

Ahh, the original had that, but only a couple of scenes. You usually had a surplus of points.
Awakening is even more lax in this regard. Side content has highest requirements. Main story/events require bare minimum. But even with those, you won't have problems as long as you don't go full "one path" only.

Really good game, but the choices are rather confessing. I guess your suppose to pick in order to jack up a stat or try and keep them even with each other.

Exactly, and it is completely up to you. In the end - each path leads to a different ending in one way or another.

Are all those files in the fix really just to fix Georges face?

Nope, that fix included all fixes posted previously.

Is there any type of guide? I really like to see where the choices can lead.

Public version is in <10 days. It includes a walkthough.
P.S. You can always check the images folder, all images are named in a convenient manner for you to know what you missed.

 

[Ennoch]

In a different game's thread and review i've stated this before and i feel this needs to be mentioned here as well. Meaningful decisions, those that truely have consquences, come with sacrifices. If you chose option A then you can't unlock option B, putting this in a nutshell here really.

You can say that there are so many games where you can do this! But i guarantee you are wrong Its a common oversight. This is possible in Visual Novels But when we are talking about a game, where choices do matter, where you can alter the course of the story, you simply cannot unlock all the paths. Its common sense. If you choose to kill someone for example you cannot possibly have him or her alive in the same playthrough. All very simple.

So yes, choices are confining and certain scenes cannot be unlocked on certain paths. This is how every game should be and is. Without exception. Its the aboundance of visual novels mingling with games around here that confuses people. And i don't see this to have the Visual Novel tag so i expect the choices to be confining and certain scenes will require a restart or reload.