VN Ren'Py Where the Heart Is [S1 v2024-09-06 BETA] [CheekyGimp]

[Conklingc]

Honestly, even though this game was never intended to be a harem game or even one where you could "have 'em all" with little fallout but not end with all of them, I think it's really quite difficult to do any adult game and not have people wanting to end up with every single female character they fuck along the way.

The escapism of these games is so often predicated on the notion that infidelity and womanising will be rewarded and that even if it causes some friction/break-ups, it will always be salvageable, and it's hard to dispell that once it's ingrained in people's heads. You could make a game with just 2 LIs, have them say in absolutely clear English that they will not tolerate a guy who sleeps around and/or leads them on, and people will still hope for an ending with both of them.

Perhaps more games, including this one, should be including more consequential choices earlier on or perhaps even lean more into branching whereby you have to choose one girl over the other at certain points and this will determine your relationships, because one thing this game suffers from, which others do too, is that the MC can do pretty much everything with everyone in every episode one after the other, and because they can do that, it makes people feel like that can have everyone because no-one has to be left out or avoided and they're able to maintain all these relationships simultaneously. But if they couldn't do that and had to choose between one or the other throughout the game, then that could maybe go some ways to making it clear you can't have them all because your time is being split between them.

I agree with your thoughts to a degree, but I'm one of those that doesn't want a multi-save game so if there's branching where you miss some of the material I just drop the game. In the long run there are too many fans that want different results, so no matter what the developers choose people will complain.

The harem/no harem argument goes around a lot and that's actually something I don't care about either way (the final explosive confrontation/harem group occurs at the very end of the game and then it's all over anyhow). I like there being a story beyond the porn but don't want to have to choose to see one side of the story over the other (or one of 3 or more possible branches). On the other hand I know there are people who want to play the game over and over and see just one of a possible set of stories each time and accept there's no way for a developer to make both of us happy.

 

[acewinz]

Downloaded Where the Heart Is [Ep.20] but at the end of EP-19 that was all.What happen to EP-20? This game was going well until now and hated to replay the 19th EP again. I am giving this game a 8 out of 10 stars but maybe more when it's fixed.

If the pirate links for the game are giving you trouble you could always try the legitimate ones on our patreon... Also we have a quick start on the menu... No need to replay any eps anymore.

 

[micojive]

I agree with your thoughts to a degree, but I'm one of those that doesn't want a multi-save game so if there's branching where you miss some of the material I just drop the game. In the long run there are too many fans that want different results, so no matter what the developers choose people will complain.

The harem/no harem argument goes around a lot and that's actually something I don't care about either way (the final explosive confrontation/harem group occurs at the very end of the game and then it's all over anyhow). I like there being a story beyond the porn but don't want to have to choose to see one side of the story over the other (or one of 3 or more possible branches). On the other hand I know there are people who want to play the game over and over and see just one of a possible set of stories each time and accept there's no way for a developer to make both of us happy.

Eh, this has turned into the exact kind of a game that a decently done mod can make 10000x better. Not locking you out of paths and letting you see all the scenes in one playthrough.

I get it from a devs perspective, multiple routes and all that...but I just don't want to replay the same 95% of a game 5 times just to get all the individual scenes.

 

[Gold613]

Jolina and Bella are both gold diggers. Whether one of them is the 3rd woman (I would suspect Bella) is not known. However, one doesn't have to be the 3rd woman to be a gold digger.

Jolina if she was a GD would have jumped at every opportunity that she got presented from the MC to back her up financially so I doubt that she is a GD. Also her business is failing and she is having an Epic meltdown with everything going on. Last thing I think is her wanting to actually close shop but seemingly is in a desperate situation yet declined a second offering to receive financial help. Not sure how that would make her a GD specially that she had to degrade herself to the point of maybe working at some place where her body will be providing the income for her. And you are right the third person does not have to be a gold digger perse however from the game and so far everything that has been given and pointed out it is made clear that Elaine is not a GD either. So that means the GD is the third person. And no one knows who the third person is and if I was in MC his situation I would be frustrated as hell because as far as I know I myself and Elaine are 2 and we both know about each other but neither know anything about who and what the third person is but would clearly upset both the MC and Elaine. So I am trying to see if there is anything that gives something about Bella's background and or up bringing. Some are pointing out at Theresa but I doubt Elaine knows Theresa and MC only learned and got to know her because of Dog boys action and Jo introducing her. So she falls off for me too.

 

[Avaron1974]

So a quick question to you, Avaron1974 we both agree about Elaine, but can you tell me maybe where everyone is getting this whole Jo and Bella working together deal from ? And point me in the right direction on that ? And also do you by chance remember which Ep it is where the MC sits in his room to hear about his conditions and terms of his will ? I want to have a full check on that. Thanks in advance.

I will go through it and check which episode it is but there is a moment where you check Jenna's PC and it has several pictures on it, 2 of which are taken in the same kitchen with 1 picture showing Bella and the other showing Jolina and both also had the same laptop in frame.

There are also little coincidences like Bella finding the USB stick and not long after Jolina finds out she was hacked.

I am not sure that I would trust those pics after they have been doctored by two computer oriented women.

I didn't think about that, that's a really good point.

If Jo is working with Bella it would be in both their interests to make Elaine out to be the bad guy again.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

but thats not the devs fault they only gave the option its up to the player to choose to try and catch them all or not and if they try and it all comes crashing down then its the players fault, because they have been told over and over again both on here and in game that it is not an harem, most of the girls in game have told the MC they will not share him so what do players expect to happen if they try and fuck around on a girl who has said that, i have 5 saves where i have only slept with the girl im chasing there is no need for every game to be an harem if people cant make a choice in LI then thats on them

It's not the player's fault if they don't know that. Not everybody who plays this game follows this thread or knows what the dev has said on this matter, and you can't expect people to know it from simply playing this game either because it does play like a harem game, or at least every game with multiple female characters that the MC can bed without consequence, even when there are characters who say they will not share the MC.

Again, an issue here is the general, somewhat conventional notion that games like this will allow for such seemingly limitless womanising and that everything will work out fine because about 90% or more of the adult games that exist are that. So when that's your mindset and frame of reference and you start playing a game like this with a huge cast of female characters that you're able to have simultanteously, most people will naturally assume that can work out well in the end. Characters like Katie are also not enough to deter people from that view because female characters in adult games so often their views on relationships and sexuality that there will be an expectation of it happening here too.

So it's not the player's fault and not entirely the game's fault either, it's what these games generally are that can make people expect the same here.

 

[Gold613]

I will go through it and check which episode it is but there is a moment where you check Jenna's PC and it has several pictures on it, 2 of which are taken in the same kitchen with 1 picture showing Bella and the other showing Jolina and both also had the same laptop in frame.

There are also little coincidences like Bella finding the USB stick and not long after Jolina finds out she was hacked.

I didn't think about that, that's a really good point.

If Jo is working with Bella it would be in both their interests to make Elaine out to be the bad guy again.

Oof, Either I did not get those scenes or I do not remember them, Seems I will have to figure out what choices have been made to get those scenes and what ep's they are on, thanks. And yeah if that is indeed the case they are working together it is indeed in best interest to have Elaine look bad but it does seem off that Jo's business is failing and she refuses any monetary help from MC. So knowing exactly when and where to look would def help me out, much appreciated.

 

[BeingADikDik]

Excellent update - looking forward to plot resolutions. Here are some of my own predictions and hopes for endings:

1. Spoiler: Who are the gold diggers?

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2. Spoiler: What other characters have secrets?

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3. Spoiler: How will the plot threads resolve?

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4. Spoiler: Will there be any more twists/turns?

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Thanks to the devs for an engaging game and well wishes for continued success. Cheers!

 

[acewinz]

Eh, this has turned into the exact kind of a game that a decently done mod can make 10000x better. Not locking you out of paths and letting you see all the scenes in one playthrough.

I get it from a devs perspective, multiple routes and all that...but I just don't want to replay the same 95% of a game 5 times just to get all the individual scenes.

Maybe if someone put a quick start into the game you could avoid most of the redundant scenes. Especially since path exclusivity only really started this Ep.

 

[Gold613]

1. Spoiler: What other characters have secrets?

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I need your help on something and for the blonde/sister comment from the fortune teller you are correct on that one if it is about Jo seeing as people have pointed out about Bella and Jo knowing one another and while I wait for Avaron's help on that I did manage to find the pictures that was being referred too and that does make sense as I was confused at first about the blonde part with the sister but no mention of lily in that mix while she is much important as the rest.
What I need your help is, can you point me out about where exactly

Spoiler

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As I want to experience everything surrounding that conversation for myself. Thanks.

 

[Bailz]

I need your help on something and for the blonde/sister comment from the fortune teller you are correct on that one if it is about Jo seeing as people have pointed out about Bella and Jo knowing one another and while I wait for Avaron's help on that I did manage to find the pictures that was being referred too and that does make sense as I was confused at first about the blonde part with the sister but no mention of lily in that mix while she is much important as the rest.
What I need your help is, can you point me out about where exactly

Spoiler

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As I want to experience everything surrounding that conversation for myself. Thanks.

im not sure but i think its in this update after the threesome as the MC and Jenna are getting ready to go but Jenna interrupts her

 

[Gold613]

im not sure but i think its in this update after the threesome as the MC and Jenna are getting ready to go but Jenna interrupts her

Thanks, yeah I gone and checked that out as soon as I read your post and it is indeed a bit after and so far only gets a mention if the threesome happens. So if you skip that part you wont even know about it.

 

[hisstoryman]

Jolina if she was a GD would have jumped at every opportunity that she got presented from the MC to back her up financially so I doubt that she is a GD. Also her business is failing and she is having an Epic meltdown with everything going on. Last thing I think is her wanting to actually close shop but seemingly is in a desperate situation yet declined a second offering to receive financial help.

Spoiler

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I see your point on Jolina, and agree with most of you logic. I am more inclined to think Bella, she just came on to the MC like a drunken prom date. Too fast and too strong. Other candidates are hard to pick because of the carnival woman saying Dizzy in name but not in nature. Outside of an old humorous nickname for a girl named Isabella was Dizzy (taken from the nickname Izzy) I have looked up each names definition and none imply dizzy or dumb.

Yes I have no life.

Debbie (Deborah):from the Hebrew, Davorah meaning "bee"
Lilly (Lillian): Latin from the flower
Bella (Isabella): from Hebrew "God is my oath" and in Modern Italian meaning beautiful
Wanda: From Polish, Wends, and is associated with the Vandal tribes.
Monica: possibly Berber or Punic(Carthage) in origin. Greek from monos meaning alone and Latin monere meaning to advise.
Jenna (Jennifer): celtic meaning "the fair one"/ "white shadow"
Katie (Katherine): from the Greek katharos, meaning "pure",
Elaine: probably of Greek origin "sun ray"
Zarah: Hebrew/Arabic , shining
Jolina: Hebrew origin, God is genrous/ God will add another son
Teresa: Greek origin: harvest/ late summer

 

[Ratata918]

mac version?

same question, anyone got a link?

 

[Ariostebaldo]

So yeah like I said the main issue is she clearly wants the house and nothing else and from what she has told before she would willingly give up everything and give it all to the MC so long as she gets the house.

I think it's easy to figure why Elaine asks MC to let her keep the house.

The will condition for Elaine says that she have to cut relations with MC. She wants the MC to promise that she will keep the house so that she do not end up homeless if she continue seeing him.

 

[DenverTrucker]

Maybe if someone put a quick start into the game you could avoid most of the redundant scenes. Especially since path exclusivity only really started this Ep.

Nahh that would mean that people would have to use there brain to read some thing. lol

 

[DenverTrucker]

Well i don't have anything bad to say about this AT ALL, multiple paths, story line is good, models are great, Cliff hangers are that make you wanna come back, as it should be ( although i saw Elaine being in those vids coming from a mile away ), i have played this multiple times going on different paths and i don't get bored with it, so far only 2 games have done that for me and that is this one and City of broken dreamers.

 

[felicemastronzo]

I think it's easy to figure why Elaine asks MC to let her keep the house.

The will condition for Elaine says that she have to cut relations with MC. She wants the MC to promise that she will keep the house so that she do not end up homeless if she continue seeing him.

Elaine's request seemed quite sudden and unjustified.

What's the point of Mc promising to leave her something that isn't necessarily his?

we don't know exactly Elaine's conditions, we know that they concern the house and MC, and Elaine told us that to carry them out would mean to ruin the relationship with MC, to make him hate her.

but if she were to do something negative or cut off relations with mc, how could she expect him to leave her the house? it's a promise made at dinner, it has no value, not even moral.

It's such an absurd request that it could really be a genuine desire expressed in confidence.

 

[Gold613]

I see your point on Jolina, and agree with most of you logic. I am more inclined to think Bella, she just came on to the MC like a drunken prom date. Too fast and too strong. Other candidates are hard to pick because of the carnival woman saying Dizzy in name but not in nature. Outside of an old humorous nickname for a girl named Isabella was Dizzy (taken from the nickname Izzy) I have looked up each names definition and none imply dizzy or dumb.

Yes I have no life.

Debbie (Deborah):from the Hebrew, Davorah meaning "bee"
Lilly (Lillian): Latin from the flower
Bella (Isabella): from Hebrew "God is my oath" and in Modern Italian meaning beautiful
Wanda: From Polish, Wends, and is associated with the Vandal tribes.
Monica: possibly Berber or Punic(Carthage) in origin. Greek from monos meaning alone and Latin monere meaning to advise.
Jenna (Jennifer): celtic meaning "the fair one"/ "white shadow"
Katie (Katherine): from the Greek katharos, meaning "pure",
Elaine: probably of Greek origin "sun ray"
Zarah: Hebrew/Arabic , shining
Jolina: Hebrew origin, God is genrous/ God will add another son
Teresa: Greek origin: harvest/ late summer

Just like you I have looked up many of the names and came up with same, The thing with Bella/Isabella is there is so many variations and some of them have a different meaning etc. So I even went a step further and decided to look in to the word Dizzy itself for example finding its meaning or different names for it for example like Giddy and Vertigo, nothing so far still thinking of other ways on that one. Bella so far is all that I can match as highest suspect, Jolina might know the family, at the least from the look of things Bella. From all the info I got from people here and double checking them out it seems that Jo does have a secret that she is seemingly hiding from the MC but she is willing to spill it but stuff got in the way so we will see how that turns out or what her role is. Still trying to find out the chapter where the MC is listening to his conditions and can't find it and it is tilting me.

I think it's easy to figure why Elaine asks MC to let her keep the house.

The will condition for Elaine says that she have to cut relations with MC. She wants the MC to promise that she will keep the house so that she do not end up homeless if she continue seeing him.

That is true indeed, they both have shitty conditions. For Elaine to receive anything she indeed must break any and all contact with MC at the least that we know off, For MC he must break contact for at the least 10 years with the girls. However we know of zero conditions for the GD. Her getting anything is all tied to what actions the MC takes or has to take.
See the thing is MC never as far as I know asked directly if Elaine ever send an email ( at least as far as I remember I think I will do a full replay to brush up on the knowledge from the get go to be sure ) so she never had to confirm or deny it, only thing has to do with Elaine going to Cup of Jo for whatever reason.
My guess is she wanted the house so much that after all the shit with Don dying and not receiving the house as she asked made her lose her shit and seeing as she wanted the house and let a bunch of shit cloud her judgement, someone might have put it in her head that now that Don being dead no one is there to stop him from interacting with the girls which in turn might have made her get the idea of hey... what If I send that email and get him to have contact with them and other friends maybe he that will make him leave and have people around him and he might give up on the house, only for her to get the will and conditions slapped in the face and figuring out she actually played right in the hands of her dead hubby while she technically did not even hate the MC but merely just wants the house. So yeah while it is not about her being homeless as she has the means of not being homeless even if she lost the house, it is the fear of losing THAT house. That is all she wants while also trying to make it up to the MC

The problem is if MC stays in contact with the girls he forfeits his deal and if Elaine stays in contact with the MC she forfeits hers, the condition for the GD to receive anything is mostly based on the MC's actions rather then what she has to or does not have to do. The dad is a real piece of shit and I would legit after everything have made it my mission to piss on that fuckers grave trice a year, one on his bday , one on fathers day and one on his dead day... every...single....year. No point in having all that money if it requires you to cut out the most precious people in your life.

 

[sotorojo]

I am pretty far into this last update, and no matter what choices I make, the game says,

"Debbie's lust attribute is now locked in. Her stats will be combined into one Relationship stat from now on"
"Lilly's lust attribute is now locked in. Her stats will be combined into one Relationship stat from now on"
"Jolina's lust attribute is now locked in. Her stats will be combined into one Relationship stat from now on"
"Elaine's lust attribute is now locked in. Her stats will be combined into one Relationship stat from now on"

Does that mean that these women are now off the table, as far as lewd interests go? I got the same message whether I totally supported them, or totally rejected them. I was hoping for a Jolina primary love interest ending. I can't stand Katie and wish she would just go away.