Ren'Py World's Crossing Academy [v1.3.5.1] [TeamEmberWings]

[juan palote]

I really enjoyed it up until the last couple of sentences which reminded me of the backwards plot of Mass Effects "we're going to destory you with synthetics so synthetics don't destroy you"....

If someone could kindly explain the incredibly weird logic of "you're life might be in danger by a crazed stalker of mine but i'm not going to warn you in order for you to be alert and possibly save your life until i'm sure you can handle the news a stalker of mine may kill you"....

So rather than alert her so she may be prepared he's going to not say anything which doesn't actually help anyone at all and puts everyone in more danger.

It's weird, like really weird.

Everything else, absolutely awesome. As a woman that generally prefers female MC's I even liked the male MC here. He's capable, smart and friendly but not a pushover. Nice to find a male MC I enjoy reading about.

The girls were all awesome and 99% of the plot was fantastic.

It was literally just that last sentence that made no sense and puts people in more danger that had me scratching my head.

I'll suspend disbelief though.

Yeah, that horrible logic at the end was really weird

 

[juan palote]

I love the Goblin girls, especially Nook she is just so fuckin cute and spunky.

Cecillia is sexy as hell but crazy as fuck, hope i can calm her down in later builds.

Got a of question, though i prefer choice based linear VN's, the amount of lovely ladies make's this game a bit tricky without a couple of sandbox mechanics, will that be added in someday?

Why would it be tricky without sandbox? If anything sandbox would make it tricky. Sandbox is useless in this kind of game

 

[Scotsman1989]

Why would it be tricky without sandbox? If anything sandbox would make it tricky. Sandbox is useless in this kind of game

It's the amount of girls and it's just going through the motions, the reason why i said it could be tricky without sandbox features is, the character side content, romace building and picking your choices with said girls is gonnae hard without it either slowing the story down and actually giving the MC time to go talk to whichever girl you choose, or adding some sandbox features to do the same but with more freedom to look around and possibly find some hidden scenes.

Regardless on how this game progresses, I love it, and my faves are the non humans

 

[juan palote]

It's the amount of girls and it's just going through the motions, the reason why i said it could be tricky without sandbox features is, the character side content, romace building and picking your choices with said girls is gonnae hard without it either slowing the story down and actually giving the MC time to go talk to whichever girl you choose, or adding some sandbox features to do the same but with more freedom to look around and possibly find some hidden scenes.

Regardless on how this game progresses, I love it, and my faves are the non humans

Amount of Girls have nothing to do with being tricky, all you have to do is look at my signanture to know it.

Sandbox is just a lazy way some Devs have to add gameplay time without actually having to come up with ideas for story, if choice is what you need, the Dev already has a Menu on the locker room.

Anyway, from what the Dev have said, all the Girls stories are kind of interconnected (something sandbox would not allow unless you go with a lot of flags to know which story you developed first, which would just streamline the sandbox game into a VN just with more clicking)

This kind of games are always worse with sandbox, the reason why there are so many sandbox games is so lazy developers dont need to create more story to get gameplay time

I got fed up with sandbox games, and that's why i stopped playing them, and i would stop if any game turns into one

 

[VictorSeven]

Hi VictorSeven,

you're off to a good start. The setting is interesting, the writing is great, and I absolutely adore both Nook and Princess Tilai.

On the topic of file sizes: encoding the waveform audio into ogg or opus will shave another GiB off the size. Also look into adding them to the audio name space so you won't need to fully qualify file names on

You must be registered to see the links

. The latter will be automagically done by Ren'PY for any file under the audio directory that conforms to

You must be registered to see the links

. (Incidentally the same is also true for the

You must be registered to see the links

but seeing as webp isn't listed as a supported extension and setting properties still requires corresponding images to be defined it's probably not worth the hassle to adjust the file names) You may also want to remove the unoptimized title animation under images/Game_Graphics if not done already.

Oh, and you won't need to distribute a separate linux build. The pc build package is a combined version shipping runtime files for both Windows as well as Linux.

Keep it up!

Thank you so much! I'll have to study more because I have no idea how to "add them to the audio name space" as you say. I know precious little Ren'Py and Python; all of my coding experience was in Visual Basic 6 (if that doesn't show my age, nothing does) so I do understand syntax and basic coding structure. Most of the framework up through the numbered scenes (7a/7b/8a/8b) were written by my coder before he left the team, and even he didn't know how to reference audio files the same way we're referencing the image file for the Scene command.

And yes, I did remove the Title Animation that's in the old format before I converted it to webm after I saw the unofficial compressed post. I also need to learn how to convert the wav files to a more lightweight file type.

I love the Goblin girls, especially Nook she is just so fuckin cute and spunky.

Cecillia is sexy as hell but crazy as fuck, hope i can calm her down in later builds.

Got a of question, though i prefer choice based linear VN's, the amount of lovely ladies make's this game a bit tricky without a couple of sandbox mechanics, will that be added in someday?

Funny you should mention that. This game was originally going to be a sandbox game. I even made maps and dossier screens for the girls.



It was gonna be amazing. There were gonna be unlock notifications, ways to track what quest steps you were on with each girl, stats, even combat.

But then... my coder left. And my community manager couldn't dedicate the time to the project. So I, with zero knowledge of Ren'Py, became the entirety of Team Emberwings. I basically looked through all the stuff my coder had made, and copied what I could to use in other parts of the game. By myself, I converted it from a sandbox game to a linear VN because I have no fuggin clue how to code a sandbox game, and also because I'm hearing that a lot of people absolutely hate sandbox games.

As I said in a previous response, there are four planned arcs in this game. Right now, in the Janitor Arc, I'm kind of following the Ecchi Sensei school of thought: you'll get to the girls when you get to them, and community feedback tells me which girls to give more attention to. In the Security Arc, Counselor Arc, and Ambassador Arc, I may know more Ren'Py and be able to implement cooler, choice-driven features. But that depends on how much I can learn while also running a Twitch channel that pays my bills, working a side job to finance this and my book series, and working on the many projects that are going on with said book series (hardback releases in July for both novels, audiobook in production, hopeful release of Book 3 in December, etc). Lot on my plate. But WCA is fast becoming a top priority.

As for what Juan is saying about sandbox games... I kind of have to agree. Having to grind something like money or stats or affection in a game like this can get pretty frustrating, especially because it distracts from the emotional connection you have with the characters and the physical interaction you get from the lewd scenes, which are the two main things people seek from games like this. I think a good middle ground COULD be to have a button panel each day so you choose who you spend your free time with that day. But that will also take away from the story itself, and as someone who is used to writing fantasy novels, the linear approach is probably healthiest for the quality of the story. And while I think some sandbox mechanics could indeed make the game more "fun," I'm painfully aware of how much story quality I would have to sacrifice by making each conversation and event independent of the others to do so. As it is now, with me writing the game the same way I would plan and write a novel, the characters can talk about scenes that have already happened. They can have quest steps that interact with one another, such as being a wingman for Chiara and trying to both get the books back from River and get Eshtel's attention.

What I WILL be adding is more opportunities and choices for Aurum during dialogue to make the conversations feel more organic and interactive. That way, not only does the player get more chances to press a button, but it drives it closer to that Mass Effect/Dragon Age feeling of BEING the character and directing your own conversation, which I believe to be healthy for the experience.

Thank you all so much for the feedback. Again, I'm still very new to this, so all feedback, questions, and suggestions are SUPREMELY helpful.

 

[Scotsman1989]

Thank you so much! I'll have to study more because I have no idea how to "add them to the audio name space" as you say. I know precious little Ren'Py and Python; all of my coding experience was in Visual Basic 6 (if that doesn't show my age, nothing does) so I do understand syntax and basic coding structure. Most of the framework up through the numbered scenes (7a/7b/8a/8b) were written by my coder before he left the team, and even he didn't know how to reference audio files the same way we're referencing the image file for the Scene command.

And yes, I did remove the Title Animation that's in the old format before I converted it to webm after I saw the unofficial compressed post. I also need to learn how to convert the wav files to a more lightweight file type.



Funny you should mention that. This game was originally going to be a sandbox game. I even made maps and dossier screens for the girls.

View attachment 1269570
View attachment 1269571
It was gonna be amazing. There were gonna be unlock notifications, ways to track what quest steps you were on with each girl, stats, even combat.

But then... my coder left. And my community manager couldn't dedicate the time to the project. So I, with zero knowledge of Ren'Py, became the entirety of Team Emberwings. I basically looked through all the stuff my coder had made, and copied what I could to use in other parts of the game. By myself, I converted it from a sandbox game to a linear VN because I have no fuggin clue how to code a sandbox game, and also because I'm hearing that a lot of people absolutely hate sandbox games.

As I said in a previous response, there are four planned arcs in this game. Right now, in the Janitor Arc, I'm kind of following the Ecchi Sensei school of thought: you'll get to the girls when you get to them, and community feedback tells me which girls to give more attention to. In the Security Arc, Counselor Arc, and Ambassador Arc, I may know more Ren'Py and be able to implement cooler, choice-driven features. But that depends on how much I can learn while also running a Twitch channel that pays my bills, working a side job to finance this and my book series, and working on the many projects that are going on with said book series (hardback releases in July for both novels, audiobook in production, hopeful release of Book 3 in December, etc). Lot on my plate. But WCA is fast becoming a top priority.

As for what Juan is saying about sandbox games... I kind of have to agree. Having to grind something like money or stats or affection in a game like this can get pretty frustrating, especially because it distracts from the emotional connection you have with the characters and the physical interaction you get from the lewd scenes, which are the two main things people seek from games like this. I think a good middle ground COULD be to have a button panel each day so you choose who you spend your free time with that day. But that will also take away from the story itself, and as someone who is used to writing fantasy novels, the linear approach is probably healthiest for the quality of the story. And while I think some sandbox mechanics could indeed make the game more "fun," I'm painfully aware of how much story quality I would have to sacrifice by making each conversation and event independent of the others to do so. As it is now, with me writing the game the same way I would plan and write a novel, the characters can talk about scenes that have already happened. They can have quest steps that interact with one another, such as being a wingman for Chiara and trying to both get the books back from River and get Eshtel's attention.

What I WILL be adding is more opportunities and choices for Aurum during dialogue to make the conversations feel more organic and interactive. That way, not only does the player get more chances to press a button, but it drives it closer to that Mass Effect/Dragon Age feeling of BEING the character and directing your own conversation, which I believe to be healthy for the experience.

Thank you all so much for the feedback. Again, I'm still very new to this, so all feedback, questions, and suggestions are SUPREMELY helpful.

Thanks for the answer, the only question i have left is, when you reach the full end of all the arc's will the player get a choice of picking who he wants to be with or go for the harem path, or will the ending be a set in stone linear ending?

Just asking because choice is better than a straight shot to the end with small choices that barely matter, i'm not saying that's what your doing, it's just a worry of mine with amazing games like this.

 

[VictorSeven]

I really enjoyed it up until the last couple of sentences which reminded me of the backwards plot of Mass Effects "we're going to destory you with synthetics so synthetics don't destroy you"....

If someone could kindly explain the incredibly weird logic of "you're life might be in danger by a crazed stalker of mine but i'm not going to warn you in order for you to be alert and possibly save your life until i'm sure you can handle the news a stalker of mine may kill you"....

So rather than alert her so she may be prepared he's going to not say anything which doesn't actually help anyone at all and puts everyone in more danger.

It's weird, like really weird.

Everything else, absolutely awesome. As a woman that generally prefers female MC's I even liked the male MC here. He's capable, smart and friendly but not a pushover. Nice to find a male MC I enjoy reading about.

The girls were all awesome and 99% of the plot was fantastic.

It was literally just that last sentence that made no sense and puts people in more danger that had me scratching my head.

I'll suspend disbelief though.

Thanks to your feedback and the feedback of others in this area, that passage has been completely rewritten. I must have been really tired when I wrote that, because on reading it back, even I had no clue what I was thinking. Here's the new passage:

Spoiler: Newly Written Passage (Potential Spoiler if you haven't played all the way through)

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[VictorSeven]

Thanks for the answer, the only question i have left is, when you reach the full end of all the arc's will the player get a choice of picking who he wants to be with or go for the harem path, or will the ending be a set in stone linear ending?

Just asking because choice is better than a straight shot to the end with small choices that barely matter, i'm not saying that's what your doing, it's just a worry of mine with amazing games like this.

That completely depends on how much Ren'Py I can learn, and whether or not I can get someone to help me. I'm honestly more of a fan of the full, non-committed, Harem approach to things as it feels like more of the "fun" style of game that people are looking for, rather than choosing a single love interest and pursuing them all game. I don't want people to have to start a new game to experience a different character's story. I want you to be able to see everything in a single playthrough.

 

[juan palote]

Thanks to your feedback and the feedback of others in this area, that passage has been completely rewritten. I must have been really tired when I wrote that, because on reading it back, even I had no clue what I was thinking. Here's the new passage:

Spoiler: Newly Written Passage (Potential Spoiler if you haven't played all the way through)

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Much better

 

[VictorSeven]

Thanks for the answer, the only question i have left is, when you reach the full end of all the arc's will the player get a choice of picking who he wants to be with or go for the harem path, or will the ending be a set in stone linear ending?

Just asking because choice is better than a straight shot to the end with small choices that barely matter, i'm not saying that's what your doing, it's just a worry of mine with amazing games like this.

Sorry, it seems I misread it. You're asking about a Mass Effect style End of the Story choice to have an ending with a single character, yes? For me to write endings for all the characters so you can choose who you end the story with?

I must admit, it's a really interesting idea, and I'll have to consider it. Currently, I have no plans to "finish" the game. I could write years and years worth of content for this world and still feel like we've barely scratched the surface of what we can do here. So I plan to keep writing more and more for the game in perpetuity. If I ever cave and decide to make an ending, I may consider your idea. Good stuff.

 

[Weyrd]

I have just played through the game. It is fun and well-paced. Great animations.
As I wrote on the form, I think the story would benefit from getting some kind of mark, when it is who/when the characters think and when they are speaking. But it is a good story and I really am amazed you could make goblins look cute.
Thanks for letting us play this.
- Weyrd

 

[Violation2020]

I was skeptical at first when I first saw this game listed, people complaining about compression, which doesn't matter much to me personally, if something is good, I'll download it and try it.

Firstly I have to saw wow just wow the prologue alone blew my mind, like seriously it gave me a few thoughts and flashbacks of my ex wife lolz total psycho, she was almost Michael Meyers type but yours wow just wow watch out Michael there is a new terror on campus now.

I can very easily see this going the routes you have described in your previous posts (Janitor Arc going into the Security Arc (Martial Arts background, desire of wanting to help people, also the previous knowledge and dealing with the stalker (personally I think she needs locked up for good to protect the girls and the campus)). Which could potentially lead him into a counselling position to help the victimized or traumatized students opening like your Counselor Arc,but his making relations with the non human girls (meeting the princess) could see that leading later on down the line into your Ambassador Arc then once Ambassador who knows maybe the maybe start getting relations with new races or even getting consideration to get previously lost contact or closed off gates back (cough cough Dwarves cough cough).

Overall I love what has been put out and will watch this thread for future updates.

Edit: Something I forgot "All Hail the Future Potential Goblin King" haha

 

[Scotsman1989]

I was skeptical at first when I first saw this game listed, people complaining about compression, which doesn't matter much to me personally, if something is good, I'll download it and try it.

Firstly I have to saw wow just wow the prologue alone blew my mind, like seriously it gave me a few thoughts and flashbacks of my ex wife lolz total psycho, she was almost Michael Meyers type but yours wow just wow watch out Michael there is a new terror on campus now.

I can very easily see this going the routes you have described in your previous posts (Janitor Arc going into the Security Arc (Martial Arts background, desire of wanting to help people, also the previous knowledge and dealing with the stalker (personally I think she needs locked up for good to protect the girls and the campus)). Which could potentially lead him into a counselling position to help the victimized or traumatized students opening like your Counselor Arc,but his making relations with the non human girls (meeting the princess) could see that leading later on down the line into your Ambassador Arc then once Ambassador who knows maybe the maybe start getting relations with new races or even getting consideration to get previously lost contact or closed off gates back (cough cough Dwarves cough cough).

Overall I love what has been put out and will watch this thread for future updates.

Edit: Something I forgot "All Hail the Future Potential Goblin King" haha

Hmmmmm a chance to meet and fall for a short, stocky and busty dwarven babe? SOUNDS MAGIC!!!!

 

[Violation2020]

Hmmmmm a chance to meet and fall for a short, stocky and busty dwarven babe? SOUNDS MAGIC!!!!

lolz depends does she come with a flattop to hold the beer lolz I am so bad.

although I was thinking for the girl desiring to meet the dwarves originally.

 

[Deleted member 324329]

The little tomboyish girl in the overalls is pretty cute. I'll keep an eye on this game. Any chance you might add other types of girls like slimes, oni, vampires or centaurs?

 

[VictorSeven]

The little tomboyish girl in the overalls is pretty cute. I'll keep an eye on this game. Any chance you might add other types of girls like slimes, oni, vampires or centaurs?

I unfortunately can't do centaurs because I'm limited to two-legged beings by Ai Shoujo's character creator. However, the other things you mentioned... one of them is already made and waiting, and the other two are fantastic ideas.

And yes, Jade is quite the cutie. You'll be seeing more of her in the next update.

Hmmmmm a chance to meet and fall for a short, stocky and busty dwarven babe? SOUNDS MAGIC!!!!

Oh you're gonna love when we get to the secret characters, then.

I was skeptical at first when I first saw this game listed, people complaining about compression, which doesn't matter much to me personally, if something is good, I'll download it and try it.

Firstly I have to saw wow just wow the prologue alone blew my mind, like seriously it gave me a few thoughts and flashbacks of my ex wife lolz total psycho, she was almost Michael Meyers type but yours wow just wow watch out Michael there is a new terror on campus now.

I can very easily see this going the routes you have described in your previous posts (Janitor Arc going into the Security Arc (Martial Arts background, desire of wanting to help people, also the previous knowledge and dealing with the stalker (personally I think she needs locked up for good to protect the girls and the campus)). Which could potentially lead him into a counselling position to help the victimized or traumatized students opening like your Counselor Arc,but his making relations with the non human girls (meeting the princess) could see that leading later on down the line into your Ambassador Arc then once Ambassador who knows maybe the maybe start getting relations with new races or even getting consideration to get previously lost contact or closed off gates back (cough cough Dwarves cough cough).

Overall I love what has been put out and will watch this thread for future updates.

Edit: Something I forgot "All Hail the Future Potential Goblin King" haha

You are FAR too astute for your own good, my friend. Am I that predictable? I may have to work EXTRA hard to hide the bread crumbs from you lol. But thank you so much for the kind words. I was really just dabbling in making a game to see how people received it, but it's becoming apparent people want me to take this seriously. I'm in.

I have just played through the game. It is fun and well-paced. Great animations.
As I wrote on the form, I think the story would benefit from getting some kind of mark, when it is who/when the characters think and when they are speaking. But it is a good story and I really am amazed you could make goblins look cute.
Thanks for letting us play this.
- Weyrd

I'll be honest. The Goblins were an experiment. An experiment I quickly fell in love with and even became obsessed with. I created a problem for myself lol. I'm glad everyone seems to like them as much as I do.

 

[juan palote]

Goblins are the best IMHO

 

[Violation2020]

You are FAR too astute for your own good, my friend. Am I that predictable? I may have to work EXTRA hard to hide the bread crumbs from you lol. But thank you so much for the kind words. I was really just dabbling in making a game to see how people received it, but it's becoming apparent people want me to take this seriously. I'm in.

Well could be like minds maybe think alike but that and with your other comment here :

I unfortunately can't do centaurs because I'm limited to two-legged beings by Ai Shoujo's character creator. However, the other things you mentioned... one of them is already made and waiting, and the other two are fantastic ideas.

I am suddenly getting a Monster Masume vibe, crazy knife wielding psycho, above average in strength, hmm let's think what could the MC hang with to possibly counter her especially if she is going for the girls now hmm perhaps something like this.

Spoiler: Possible Plot Concept Reveal

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[Succubus Hunter]

I wish we could play as the yandere. Playing as a yandere highschool girl putting all the other monster girls into the infirmary would be a lot of fun.

Btw, what creature is the yandere in this game?

 

[Violation2020]

Btw, what creature is the yandere in this game?

I believe she is just an average human girl because those don't just get plain crazy sometimes right?