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

[Renetta]

Yes. The days are pretty packed. Not sure what to do here. Keep going as is or spread over more days (but if that happens, you could potentially go a whole day without speaking to one of the main NPCs, so not sure how that would go down with players??). Let me know if you have any suggestions....
As for the choices, some of them should be pretty obvious, but I do want some which are nuanced and not 100% clear to MC which is the correct choice (similar to real life). In general, Katie likes banter/jokes but when she is feeling particularly sad/emotional, she may prefer some nice comments. Jenna likes some flirting, but nothing too direct/crude and don't try to push her too much into choices (gentle persuasion is better). Monica likes compliments, but don't be too flirty/suggestive when she is sober. When she is drinking.... Push your luck!

And Elaine will feature more in future episodes and will definitely be some options for revenge....

Maybe you can add a little character bio to the game with the info you said about each character,that would be pretty useful for players to see so then can figure out what each character likes and what each character dislikes.Not sure how hard it would be to implement such a feature.

 

[CheekyGimp]

Wouldn't be difficult to implement. Just not sure where to add it. Let me have a think...

 

[CheekyGimp]

can i get a guide? also it would be nice to have a number bar telling youwhat their lust is at ect

Will be a walkthrough at some stage. Not ready yet.
And I will be bringing in a stats bar soon (hopefully next episode). Just need to decide if it's something that you can view all the time or just an end of episode summary....

 

[istlover08]

And I will be bringing in a stats bar soon (hopefully next episode). Just need to decide if it's something that you can view all the time or just an end of episode summary....

depends if you want to avoid save scumming or not but i'd suggest a togglable addition to the UI

 

[TripleZ]

I usually go for the shy girls, but i'm just hooked to Katie tbh. Also the call out on the stupid BB's spider mechanic was great XD

 

[KiGa]

Maybe I fucked up but what exactly is in 0.06?

Can you pls use a spoiler next time!!!

 

[Ignatz]

No spoilers here, just a quick comment: Great stuff. Really exciting to see this progressing so nicely.

Note: I saw a spelling error earlier (their instead of there), but I was too invested in the game to mark it down. When I go through again with different choices, I'll find it and hit you up on Patreon.

 

[CheekyGimp]

I usually go for the shy girls, but i'm just hooked to Katie tbh. Also the call out on the stupid BB's spider mechanic was great XD

Glad you liked it. Hopefully the BB joke came across as not being too dis-respectful. I don't want to come across as arrogant poking fun at a game that was one of the original classics, very well made and is a lot more popular than mine. so I consider the reference as a fan-shout out rather than a complete diss. Hopefully it came out that way

 

[CheekyGimp]

No spoilers here, just a quick comment: Great stuff. Really exciting to see this progressing so nicely.

Note: I saw a spelling error earlier (their instead of there), but I was too invested in the game to mark it down. When I go through again with different choices, I'll find it and hit you up on Patreon.

Thanks. It's one of my consistent errors when I'm typing quickly: their instead of there; form instead of from and typing "embarrass" I always fuck up with. I take my grammar and spelling seriously (as it bothers me when it's shit), so please continue to point out anything you see

 

[*Dreamer*]

@CheekyGimp Oh I loved this update:firstimekiss:... all the girls were beautiful:heartcoveredeyes:

 

[Deadlyreaper]

oh i love the game this is so well done and so sexy the girls just wow and the update is really good that has a lot of content that was really fun and i can not wait to spend the day with monica and ever like it continues afterwards but only

the day with monica I'm so curious if there is more happening between the two and then the date later I hope so that the mc / we do not end up as a failure .... in any case, the game first class and pulls a in his spell and all the sexy mimmente in the game huuu just great ..... please continue on this high nievau

 

[Le Taz]

Ok, just played this update..
Really nice and packed with content, which is a really good thing.
Concerning the long day, it didn't seem that long to me, it was just strange seeing him going to bed cause he's tired and nope, finally staying with the mom, I'd admit that she would have made me stay awake too, but it kind of bugged me a little. That said the scene is just really great.
By the way, I loved that we had a bit of every character in this update, no one is left apart and that's good. In continuity with the story so far, each one is really different to the other and has her own personnal path. I like that you don't do the same thing with every one of her.

Spoiler

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But overall, really good update, nice work, keep going forward and we'll be there next update.

 

[Le Taz]

A walkthrough is not really needed for now.
To see the progression with each girl, maybe the phone trick would work.
You have the profile and the stat of each girl in it. Maybe include a text thingy with pictures later in the game.
That said I'm not a dev and have no idea how difficult it would be to implement

 

[a1fox3]

Great game and I will be back for more.

As to those who want bars to show the girls and all you really don't need it because the UnRen program adds the Developer Console to look at and it has it all.

You must be registered to see the links

Unpack in your main game folder where the exe is and double click on it and chose #3 and then in game use shift D and it will open it up then chose variable viewer.

 

[groove888]

Just to make myself clear those "complaint" were only minor hiccups in a great game.

Yes. The days are pretty packed. Not sure what to do here. Keep going as is or spread over more days (but if that happens, you could potentially go a whole day without speaking to one of the main NPCs, so not sure how that would go down with players??). Let me know if you have any suggestions....

For now I don't mind so much that the day are that packed since the game and the cast is still pretty small but in the future I think it might come to a point where our supsension of disbelief is completely broken. Not sure it really need changing at all either (as long as I am thoroughly entertained I'm fine).

IMO the first person you should ask are your patron and yourself (you shouldn't make story change that don't suit you IMO since it's what drove people to your game).

One solution might be to add "padding" scene for character not appearing on the day. A structure that could work is : Morning small "scene" (possibly made with recycled CG) with Katie -1/2 big "scene" with Monica 2/1 scene furthering the story?-Evening "small" scene with Jenna. (Maybe not that formulaic but this kind of balance of content for a day and a day does not have to be an update). Let's try this "formula" to see how it could work:

"Morning workout with Katie you discuss a little bit yesterdays evenement (Different dialog depending on event and relationhsip) She tells you she's gonna go to Debbie's house."

"Breakfast with Monica She ask you to help her getting boxes of lingerie in a warehouse or something. Hijinks ensued."

"You get your shit from Elaine and vow vengeance on her and her extended family (it's an heartwrenching scene btw)"

"Monica try to cheer you up with the help of Zara and wine. Lowjinks ensues again"

"You go see Jenna furthering her training and she tells you what she did today, she tried to buy a new game physically it was so hard and she was so brave (same length and function as Katie morning scene)"

"Possibly a night scene with Monica"

Not perfect but serviceable IMO but it would have to work with the story you want to tell.

As for the choices, some of them should be pretty obvious, but I do want some which are nuanced and not 100% clear to MC which is the correct choice (similar to real life).

Yeah on this it's probably more a problem with me and uncertainty than a problem with the game.


Sorry for the Kilometric post.

 

[Le Taz]

As to those who want bars to show the girls and all you really don't need it because the UnRen program adds the Developer Console to look at and it has it all.

Yes, it's possible that way but kind of a hassle no?
If you have to open the console after each choice, it's just a pain in the ass.
I think you go one way or the other, giving an easy view on the stats for the player or you don't.
I don't imagine many player willing to unren and then open console after every click.
A way to give hints is also to work on the expressions of your characters, for a given choice, you change the reaction of the character and make more or less obvious if you made a good or bad one.
But that suppose more renders to do, so more work for the dev

 

[Le Taz]

@groove819, don't be sorry for the length of your post. If I understand correctly, @CheekyGimp is also here to get our views.
He then takes whatever he finds relevant.
And you're not wrong with structuring the day.
Maybe a short breakfast scene to set the day, then morning, then lunch ( only if it is an event, if not it's skippable), afternoon, diner ( also skippable if not special event), then evening which can go into night.
But given what we have seen so far, I don't think that Gimp is not already in this kind of structure ( yeah double negative!) even if it's not obvious while playing. And that's a good thing by the way, structuring your story and making the player oblivious about it is really good.

 

[Papy.ion6984]

TY for this update

 

[tarkasian]

missed the last scene with monica, lust was lacking anyone know the cheat codes?

 

[groove888]

@groove819, don't be sorry for the length of your post. If I understand correctly, @CheekyGimp is also here to get our views.
He then takes whatever he finds relevant.
And you're not wrong with structuring the day.
Maybe a short breakfast scene to set the day, then morning, then lunch ( only if it is an event, if not it's skippable), afternoon, diner ( also skippable if not special event), then evening which can go into night.
But given what we have seen so far, I don't think that Gimp is not already in this kind of structure ( yeah double negative!) even if it's not obvious while playing. And that's a good thing by the way, structuring your story and making the player oblivious about it is really good.

Yeah as I was writing I was thinking that there was a similar structure in his game... Just on steroids, with a lot happening in the same day. Not as much the structure that's important but the amount of content within the structure/day. Not every important character need the same exposure time within a day (within the update is another question though).