VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 Rev1] [CheekyGimp]

[Yurnero322]

What does the recent patreon post say?

 

[dolfe67]

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Hi folks,

Just following on from my last post...just to let you know where we're at (and will keep it shorter than last time). Payment will still be turned off as we go into August.

Cell and I have been working full-time on WTHI since the last update and progress has been slow but steady.

Episode 24 status update:

The Good (75%): Approx. 75% of the game will be completed and ready for QC testing by (approx.) Sunday.

The (Not so) Bad (15%): For the next 15% of the scenes: All artwork is complete and a first draft of ALL of the writing is complete. But as with all of my first drafts, it’s a bit of a mess, so needs some work.

The Ugly (10%): For the last 10%, approx. 95% of the artwork is complete, but I still have ALL of the writing to do.

The most difficult scenes from a branching perspective are all written, so the parts still in draft or unwritten are much easier than what I've already completed, so hopefully, it should be plain sailing from now on.

I will post another update on Sunday to let you know if things went as planned and (long overdue), I'll post some teasers from every scene.

As always, drop your questions or comments below and I'll get back to everyone.

Thanks,

CG

 

[Abhai]

from 65-20-15 a month ago to 75-15-10 now.
based on the progress ep24 hardly can be expected earlier than October, if no (unexpected) further delays happen.

 

[Savilesavile]

The winter is coming!

 

[felicemastronzo]

The winter is coming!

Calm down, I still have to go on holiday

 

[Joshy92]

I have a feeling this next episode is going to be awesome
Heck Katie makes every episode awesome

 

[JackMiejov]

What should I do ?

I'm not sure if it's the same bug, but try "Start Any Episode", drag the slide to 23, then click "Click here to start with above options", go through the screens to choose the rest of the variable settings (doesn't matter what you choose for any of them) until the episode actually starts, then go back to the main menu start the game.

 

[jjavier]

it seems to work, thank you very much Jackmiejov. Is there any other trick to know to avoid other bug?

 

[keefer43]

Thank you for your assessment of the situation. I'm sure everyone here finds it both fascinating and informative.

Exactly

 

[alex13_zen]

I hope we get more Wanda content

 

[Requuis]

I dont make posts often about any game, but for me and my life experiences there needs to trigger warnings added for for those thats actually have had a parent die and having to deal with said parent's partner.

To keep it simple, i WAS kicked out of my home at 15 years old by my father's wife when he passed from a work accident.

I have made it to chapter 12, and it physically made me ill. I will play this no further. Its is a good game, with very good dialogue compared to most vn's i have played but the truly asinine interaction between MC and Elaine is a slap in the face. I know my experiences will differ wildly than the norm, but with real trauma there is no chance for the reconciliation the dev is going for.

Sorry for this down post, but i had to get it out.

 

[Abhai]

I dont make posts often about any game, but for me and my life experiences there needs to trigger warnings added for for those thats actually have had a parent die and having to deal with said parent's partner.

To keep it simple, i WAS kicked out of my home at 15 years old by my father's wife when he passed from a work accident.

I have made it to chapter 12, and it physically made me ill. I will play this no further. Its is a good game, with very good dialogue compared to most vn's i have played but the truly asinine interaction between MC and Elaine is a slap in the face. I know my experiences will differ wildly than the norm, but with real trauma there is no chance for the reconciliation the dev is going for.

Sorry for this down post, but i had to get it out.

i would say - do keep playing...things arent exactly as it seems to you now

 

[lnppo]

I dont make posts often about any game, but for me and my life experiences there needs to trigger warnings added for for those thats actually have had a parent die and having to deal with said parent's partner.

To keep it simple, i WAS kicked out of my home at 15 years old by my father's wife when he passed from a work accident.

I have made it to chapter 12, and it physically made me ill. I will play this no further. Its is a good game, with very good dialogue compared to most vn's i have played but the truly asinine interaction between MC and Elaine is a slap in the face. I know my experiences will differ wildly than the norm, but with real trauma there is no chance for the reconciliation the dev is going for.

Sorry for this down post, but i had to get it out.

Sorry you experienced that, bro.
That is a really specific trigger though, I don't think it's realistic for media to add trigger warnings for every possible thing that could be traumatic in real life.

 

[Requuis]

i would say - do keep playing...things arent exactly as it seems to you now

I understand that this is a game to be played, but perhaps you would be better thinking of the other real people playing and take into consideration that this could have a negative impact on other's mental health. Two suicide attempts and 9 years of therapy later i can 100% say i am not ready to play something like this, and maybe by putting in trigger warnings it can help others that have been through similar life experiences avoid feeling like i have since last night.

 

[Abhai]

I understand that this is a game to be played, but perhaps you would be better thinking of the other real people playing and take into consideration that this could have a negative impact on other's mental health. Two suicide attempts and 9 years of therapy later i can 100% say i am not ready to play something like this, and maybe by putting in trigger warnings it can help others that have been through similar life experiences avoid feeling like i have since last night.

you, as anyone else in that matter, have your own experience and based on that you judge everything else.
this game might have somewhat similar setup to your experience at the start, i agree, yet a bit later a few things are revealed that change that experience/setup almost completely.
in short - the things arent as they might look like in the first 10-15 chapters or so.

and regarding warning, the user above has explained it well.
at the end it is up to you -if you feel uncomfortable playing it, moreover if the game dameages your already fragile mind, by all means, do stop playing and never turn back to it.

 

[J.R.]

Not so good info in between: now already the second one of the former three developers of WTHI struggles
(first ace, now cell ):

Found that on cell's game page "The Cabin":

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I just wanted to jump on real quick and let you guys know about something that's occurred. I've basically spent the last 6 years of my life sitting at the computer all day working on games. I worked on a couple of games before starting my own, which I won't mention by title since I was just the artist on other projects that have since been cancelled.

I went from working on a couple small projects to working on WTHI to starting my own games, and I've loved every minute of it, well, somewhat. Over the last year or so, I've been feeling a little trapped. Since my daily schedule has been to wake up at 10 a.m., go to bed at 11 p.m., and spend my entire day on the computer, I feel like I'm ready for a change.

Please note, though, that this does not mean I'm walking away; I'm not done just yet. I want to spend less time doing this and a little more time having a life, seeing friends, and seeing the world. I know you might be thinking, Why would working on any game stop me from doing those things? and the answer is simply my own mindset. I put the game and working first, and I always have.

That being said, I was at the doctor on Monday as I've been having some pains in my chest, and after having an ECG and getting some blood tests done, it seems I have something going on with my heart and some sort of blood infection. It's nothing to worry about, but it was a little scary and made me step back a little and think about what I want from life.

I'm currently 32, and I have no life—no wife, girlfriend, or kids, and the few friends I have left I barely see anymore. I know people don't like hearing about other people's issues, but that's just the way things are.

I've had a word with Wiz and we've agreed to part ways, maybe we'll join forces again in the future, who knows. For now, I'm going to slowly move forward solo and see what comes of it. I've been working on Adverse Effects solo and loving it.

So what does this mean for the games? Well, I'm going to be taking a month off to just chill and hang out with friends. I tend to get bored a lot, so I'll probably do some writing too, but let me give you a quick breakdown for each project I'm working on:

Where The Heart Is - I'll still be working on the game as I am now, just working fewer hours. My plan was to step back from it a little, but since it's so close to the end, I figure I can ride it out.

The Cabin - I'll be taking at least a month off from working on the cabin; however, I will more than likely do some writing for it since I get bored very easily and I like to write. When working on the cabin, I've always worked episode by episode, whereas now, I want to at least plot the entire game out before I continue on episode 5, so I know where it's going. I think to plot the whole game out, it'll probably take me about 2 weeks. I also plan to make it a lot sexier and scarier sooner.

Nordstrums Treasure - The plot for the game is 100% written out, and around 1,000 lines of script have been made, along with around 90 renders. For now, though, this game is on hold for the foreseeable future.

Adverse Effects - This one is a tricky one for me to talk about. I've got the plot 100% written out, and around 2,800 lines of script have been made, along with around 230 renders. This was going to be my first finished solo project, and I've really enjoyed making it. I'm very tempted to continue working on it at weekends since I don't want to see it fall and have me forget about it. I have another two stories written out that I really liked, but they never made it to the script phase, which still bums me out, and then I went and got a new SSD and lost the stories for those two ¬.¬

I really hope resting, getting out, and seeing the world will help me recharge my batteries. But something I can say for sure is that every game above will one day be finished, even if it kills me. We've all seen far too many games get abandoned, and I won't go down that route; my pride won't allow it.

I'll also be pausing Patreon again, but just for August. I'll come back some time in the month and let you guys know where I'm at and where we're moving next.

 

[Requuis]

you, as anyone else in that matter, have your own experience and based on that you judge everything else.
this game might have somewhat similar setup to your experience at the start, i agree, yet a bit later a few things are revealed that change that experience/setup almost completely.
in short - the things arent as they might look like in the first 10-15 chapters or so.

and regarding warning, the user above has explained it well.
at the end it is up to you -if you feel uncomfortable playing it, moreover if the game dameages your already fragile mind, by all means, do stop playing and never turn back to it.

Thank you for the effort you have put into your reply, and thank you again for considering my point of view. I would consider playing, especially since you can skip chapters in this game. I have already played up until 12, do you think it would be worth just skipping that chapter and going from there? I do like this game and the characters in it, so im kinda asking for spoilers if you wouldnt mind letting my know where i should skip to.

 

[DaimonFey]

Thank you for the effort you have put into your reply, and thank you again for considering my point of view. I would consider playing, especially since you can skip chapters in this game. I have already played up until 12, do you think it would be worth just skipping that chapter and going from there? I do like this game and the characters in it, so im kinda asking for spoilers if you wouldnt mind letting my know where i should skip to.

You will need to skip a lot since all the answers are in ep 23(there are some clues before).

 

[ename144]

I dont make posts often about any game, but for me and my life experiences there needs to trigger warnings added for for those thats actually have had a parent die and having to deal with said parent's partner.

To keep it simple, i WAS kicked out of my home at 15 years old by my father's wife when he passed from a work accident.

I have made it to chapter 12, and it physically made me ill. I will play this no further. Its is a good game, with very good dialogue compared to most vn's i have played but the truly asinine interaction between MC and Elaine is a slap in the face. I know my experiences will differ wildly than the norm, but with real trauma there is no chance for the reconciliation the dev is going for.

Sorry for this down post, but i had to get it out.

I don't know if trigger warnings for the game would be practical. You can't put a trigger warning for everything, so they are normally used on topics that society as a whole sees as unusually significant - especially when the subject matter can crop up suddenly or unexpectedly. To use the obvious example, rape is widely considered to be extremely traumatic, and it can crop up quickly in story that didn't have anything to do with rape previously. So it's a good candidate for a trigger warning if a seemingly innocuous tale is going to take a dark turn.

In this case, I don't think adding a trigger warning to WtHI would be warranted. While society as a whole is well aware that family (and inheritance in particular) can cause all manner of problems, in my experience it seems to be regarded as more of a big picture issue. Family issues lack the acute, pinpoint trauma of something like rape or PTSD that would normally garner a trigger warning (though I'm certainly not trying to dismiss your own history).

Meanwhile I think WtHI already does a decent job of gradually signaling that family issues will play a big role in the game all on its own. We don't start with the MC being kicked onto the street, we start with him arriving at an old friend's home and being warmly welcomed. We learn that Elaine intends to kick the MC out of his family house by text and Bella winds up rescuing his belongings before that actually happens. We're then told more and more about Elaine before we meet her in person and kick off her story arc. To me it feels like the game gives us plenty of warning that this sort of material could be coming, though I'll admit I have no experience with this sort of trauma so perhaps I'm not a good barometer.

Now as to the MC's interactions with Elaine, I think the reason you find them alarming is a combination of two factors. First is simply the limitation on choices in a video game. Elaine has a a role in story and if the MC could 100% dismiss her in a profanity-fueled tirade it would make that role very hard maintain. The MC *is* allowed to insult and belittle Elaine (practically to the point of gaslighting her if we want to push it that far), but he needs to maintain a token level of civility while doing so to keep the branching under control. You don't need to return her alleged affection (at least thus far), but you do need to be somewhat sociable with her. You'll have to judge for yourself if that's a bridge too far.

The second issue is that, as others have mentioned, there's more going on with Elaine than the MC knows about at first. The game isn't going to ask you to turn a blind eye to her callousness, though it might ultimately portray her actions (and/or those of other characters) in a more nuanced light. Again, whether that would be offensive to you isn't really something I can answer without knowing more about your specific experiences and concerns. My best advice is to take it slow and don't force yourself to keep playing if something starts to alarm you.

 

[KingBea]

Anyone have the most recent patreon post from like 8 hours ago?