VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 v2024-07-10 BETA] [CheekyGimp]

[ename144]

Well I am also guilty of that, in my first playthrough I went along with the plan cause I wanted those sweet sweet Katie points. But I didn't expect it to turn out that way, I figured the plan was to distract Natasha while Katie 'deals' with Roger. But then the MC picked up the camera and went all in, in every sense of that term.

I have never chosen that option again in my countless successive playthroughs. And I lost respect for Katie because of that. Though I don't think even she expected it to go that far and actually felt bad about it afterwards. And the MC being the high functioning sociopath that he is, was also able to replicate some emotions resembling guilt.

I guess I had it easy because I wasn't all that fond of Katie in the first place and the over-the-top scheme just reinforced that belief. So I stormed out of the basement rather than stay with Natasha. Katie was initially pissed, but too bad for her. Still, Katie had been treated badly by them so I didn't want to twist the knife. I told Lily and Debbie the plan lacked class and called it a night, figuring the chaos the evening would generate between Natasha and Roger was good enough.

Surprisingly, by the time we left the party even Katie was admitting it was better not to go through with the plan, so it seemed like I had blundered into the sneaky best move. When I went back and saw the how the full revenge plan went down I was certain I'd made the right choice, and I've never really looked back since. In subsequent playthroughs I always call it off early, even when courting Katie. At some point I'll probably do an 'asshole' run where I take all the choices I normally skip, but I'm in no hurry thanks to the quick-start option.

This did lead to a little confusion, though, when everyone was talking about the blackmailer at the end of Episode 21 and I had no clue what they were on about.

 

[Harlaw]

At some point I'll probably do an 'asshole' run where I take all the choices I normally skip, but I'm in no hurry thanks to the quick-start option.

It definitely warrants a playthrough of its own, just for the inner monologue of the MC. If you pick every 'evil' choice, then the MC is basically hell walking on earth.

Some of the most memorable things the MC can do :

Spoiler: Spoiler

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[Geralt_R]

It definitely warrants a playthrough of its own, just for the inner monologue of the MC.

As someone who never managed even one renegade playthrough of Mass Effect (I always had near infinite paragon points eventually ) I can safely say I will never choose the asshole options here after reading the spoilers... although I have to admit it sounds kind of over the top hilarious in a certain way... but it's nothing I could ever enjoy. It's amazing though how different playthroughs can be.

 

[acewinz]

It definitely warrants a playthrough of its own, just for the inner monologue of the MC. If you pick every 'evil' choice, then the MC is basically hell walking on earth.

Some of the most memorable things the MC can do :

Spoiler: Spoiler

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Haha, you touched on an interesting point where Cheeky and I diverge slightly in our MC writing style. While Cheeky will heavily imply the MC's moral ambiguity when the player makes such choices, I have a tendency to verbalize them more in the inner monologue.

Cheeky prefers to avoid inner monologue as much as possible because he wants to leave those interpretations up to the player, but I feel it is necessary to do it a little so the MC doesn't come across as a total sociopath with more evil/selfish choices (although I guess some people prefer to play him like that? lol). I also will do it a bit more for comedy purposes. :d

 

[Skeltom]

Haha, you touched on an interesting point where Cheeky and I diverge slightly in our MC writing style. While Cheeky will heavily imply the MC's moral ambiguity when the player makes such choices, I have a tendency to verbalize them more in the inner monologue.

Cheeky prefers to avoid inner monologue as much as possible because he wants to leave those interpretations up to the player, but I feel it is necessary to do it a little so the MC doesn't come across as a total sociopath with more evil/selfish choices (although I guess some people prefer to play him like that? lol). I also will do it a bit more for comedy purposes. :d

Lol, the two styles are pretty obvious to me. It's also obvious that in that case I prefer Cheeky's writing. No offence of course but those edits I mentioned before are removing the MC inner monologue a lot of the time.

 

[acewinz]

Lol, the two styles are pretty obvious to me. It's also obvious that in that case I prefer Cheeky's writing. No offence of course but those edits I mentioned before are removing the MC inner monologue a lot of the time.

None taken. Although I bet more of the instances than you think were Cheeky, he tries to avoid it, but doesn't always succeed. In fact 2 of the 3 Harlaw mentioned were Cheeky.

 

[Geralt_R]

Cheeky prefers to avoid inner monologue as much as possible because he wants to leave those interpretations up to the player

My personal preference is to have some inner monologue, but I can understand why people would prefer no inner monologue so they can better self insert.
But I consider VNs novels with pretty pictures and a kind of omniscient narrator who at least sometimes reveals what characters (or at least the MC) think helps with the actual story part of the game. Maybe somewhat less so when like in WTHI you have so much agency, more so in games that veer more onto the kinetic side of things. But I do appreciate the inner monologue even in WTHI, even though you have so many choices. I want my MCs to be less of an empty shell.

Maybe in an ideal world there would be a menu setting for inner monologue, so people who want it will get it, people who hate it won't ever read a single thought by the MC or other characters.

 

[acewinz]

My personal preference is to have some inner monologue, but I can understand why people would prefer no inner monologue so they can better self insert.
But I consider VNs novels with pretty pictures and a kind of omniscient narrator who at least sometimes reveals what characters (or at least the MC) think helps with the actual story part of the game. Maybe somewhat less so when like in WTHI you have so much agency, more so in games that veer more onto the kinetic side of things. But I do appreciate the inner monologue even in WTHI, even though you have so many choices. I want my MCs to be less of an empty shell.

Maybe in an ideal world there would be a menu setting for inner monologue, so people who want it will get it, people who hate it won't ever read a single thought by the MC or other characters.

I'm just glad someone reads! While they aren't many, some of the complainers we do have tend to say they lean on the ctrl key. lol
I think there is some correlation there myself.

 

[Harlaw]

Haha, you touched on an interesting point where Cheeky and I diverge slightly in our MC writing style. While Cheeky will heavily imply the MC's moral ambiguity when the player makes such choices, I have a tendency to verbalize them more in the inner monologue.

Cheeky prefers to avoid inner monologue as much as possible because he wants to leave those interpretations up to the player, but I feel it is necessary to do it a little so the MC doesn't come across as a total sociopath with more evil/selfish choices (although I guess some people prefer to play him like that? lol). I also will do it a bit more for comedy purposes. :d

I love the monologues, especially the ones that are more 'out there'. Because imo, there is nothing gray about an MC that does those things, he's just straight up a bad person.

And if you give the players the option to play a morally negative character like that, than I think you really only have 3 options:

Either MC acts like a soulless automaton, totally detached from his actions
Or he acts all angsty and guilty who tries to self justify his bad behavior
Or he just embraces the fact that he is a piece of shit, and just enjoys the ride for however long it goes on.

I'll always prefer the third option.

 

[Skeltom]

None taken. Although I bet more of the instances than you think were Cheeky, he tries to avoid it, but doesn't always succeed. In fact 2 of the 3 Harlaw mentioned were Cheeky.

Huh, I keep a lot of it it if it's important to the story and whatnot. I just don't like the inner monologue that's not. The little one word place holders for images and stuff. (Shit!), (Wow!) (Fuck!) that I don't like to keep seeing. And the action text like *Sitting up* and *Walking over*, stuff that I can see happening that I don't think needs explaining. It just bugs me personally. That stuff almost always increases at the latter half of the episodes when I think you two switch in the writing at some point. I don't know who is doing what writing and I could be wrong but that's how it looks to me, one of you uses it a lot more.

 

[acewinz]

Huh, I keep a lot of it it if it's important to the story and whatnot. I just don't like the inner monologue that's not. The little one word place holders for images and stuff. (Shit!), (Wow!) (Fuck!) that I don't like to keep seeing. And the action text like *Sitting up* and *Walking over*, stuff that I can see happening that I don't think needs explaining. It just bugs me personally. That stuff almost always increases at the latter half of the episodes when I think you two switch in the writing at some point. I don't know who is doing what writing and I could be wrong but that's how it looks to me, one of you uses it a lot more.

Haha, you are hitting us both. We don't switch off halfway through an Ep or anything. We usually write whole scenes and in some cases the same one if it is big enough. But I can tell you most of the actions described in dialog are probably me, I tend to use that when I don't feel the transition was smooth for one reason or another or to emphasis an action (Cheeky isn't a fan of that same as you). But the "(Shit!), "(Wow!), etc stuff is usually Cheeky.

 

[Skeltom]

Haha, you are hitting us both. We don't switch off halfway through an Ep or anything. We usually write whole scenes and in some cases the same one if it is big enough. But I can tell you most of the actions described in dialog are probably me, I tend to use that when I don't feel the transition was smooth for one reason or another or to emphasis an action (Cheeky isn't a fan of that same as you). But the "(Shit!), "(Wow!), etc stuff is usually Cheeky.

Well, there're gone in my game now anyway . The actions are gone outright and the one words are replaced by pauses of various lengths.

 

[Geralt_R]

While they aren't many, some of the complainers we do have tend to say they lean on the ctrl key. lol

This is something I just can't understand. If you are that thirsty for adult scenes... there are way better options than watching animations in a VN that cannot even remotely compete with the actual thing you can easily find elsewhere. Also, in a good game the scenes only unfold their full impact because of the build-up, the story and the way characters are portrayed, watched in isolation the scenes are just meaningless acrobatics.

 

[Ghostload]

 

[DaimonFey]

The act was consented

View attachment 1995340

Roger consented sex with Katie not Sammy. If this case would end in court then most likely Sammy and perhaps Katie would end up in jail

 

[felicemastronzo]

Haha, you touched on an interesting point where Cheeky and I diverge slightly in our MC writing style. While Cheeky will heavily imply the MC's moral ambiguity when the player makes such choices, I have a tendency to verbalize them more in the inner monologue.

Cheeky prefers to avoid inner monologue as much as possible because he wants to leave those interpretations up to the player, but I feel it is necessary to do it a little so the MC doesn't come across as a total sociopath with more evil/selfish choices (although I guess some people prefer to play him like that? lol). I also will do it a bit more for comedy purposes. :d

In my opinion it depends quite a bit on the situation.

an escapade can also be left to the player's interpretation (e.g. Theresa, Wanda, Zara..), whereas there are 'big' betrayals that leave one a little bewildered if they do not generate any reaction (the perfect example is the scene of the TV evening with Jenna and Katie)

 

[Deicidium]

How is Roger going to be related to MC in the incest patch? Something something inquiring minds ...

Not Roger, but Dog Boy.

 

[Deicidium]

Do characters meet in a church in the afterlife for the big reveal? Are there mysterious hatches involved? Time travel? No? Then I think you will be mostly fine
Unless Katie, Jenna or Monica are the the gold diggers, then you should all assume new identities and maybe find a lone hut in Antarctica without internet access, but I really don't think it will be like that.

The Gold Digger is Nutty for Jesus

 

[Geralt_R]

The Gold Digger is Nutty for Jesus

That's one of my theories... yes. But we'll see!

 

[lordofhirunds]

The Gold Digger is Nutty for Jesus

It would be counterintuitive, Donald with the power he had would never allow Therese to be the golddigger. He was able to create problems for Mc's mother as he could not create problems for a weak one like Therese?
I may also be wrong, but I do not consider it real, even if sometimes reality surpasses fantasy