Ren'Py World's Crossing Academy [v1.4.0.3] [TeamEmberWings]

[VictorSeven]

Too many to quote and respond to, so I'll just post plainly here. I ask people what they think about plot ideas and things like that because, as a human, I am not perfect and don't think of everything, and you never know what someone will say that sparks an amazing idea that I end up rabbit-trailing and developing.

So it looks like there were some hints that I did not accurately portray. The Marbog ARE an Extinction Event-level threat. So... if they're here, why have they not overrun everything? Why HASN'T the world been sealed off from the rest of the Academies? Why does NO ONE seem to know about them being here besides Aurum and the WJC staff? Why was there just... an isolated pocket of them, and they haven't been seen anywhere else? That is very unlike an invasive species that is supposed to, as Agent Smith would put it, multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. There's SUPPOSED to be something screwy about how they haven't overrun everything, and I think I failed to show that. Perhaps if I did that, that would make things more believable, as there is NOT actually an Extinction Event going on... someone is fucking with stuff behind the scenes.

As far as Nook and the Harpy go... you're absolutely right. Now y'all got me thinking, and I KNEW I wasn't satisfied with the aftermath of those two events. I definitely have some rewriting to do.

As far as Monster Girl designs... I'm sadly limited by the Ai Shoujo engine. I've had so many requests for spider girls, centaurs, a damn kraken girl, satyrs and minotaurs, all shit I do not have parts for because I'm limited to 2-legged beings. The engine just... doesn't have animations or parts for those kinds of creatures. I would love to have some truly monstrous characters in the game, but only the ones created from human models seem to jive with the baked-in sex animations. I'm with you. I'd make an Alraune if I could. A Griffin. A straight up Dragon. One of our T5 patrons DID make a Shadow Dragon girl, but as you might have guessed, it is a humanoid model with some tweaking, some textures, some wing accessories, and... relatively normal clothing. If I was Redamz and was making Monster Girl Island in Unity like him, I'd have more freedom. But I'm kinda in Baby's First Hentai mode over here lol. Even the Marbog are just default human male models with the frog suit on and Invisible Body ticked On.

I do know that there are monsters I can place from the Items menu, but they don't use the same animation menu that the male and female characters do, so I have no idea how I'm supposed to animate them. I'm gonna ask around in the IllusionSoft Discord and see if there's just something I have to learn to link those two things together. If so, that could open up a WORLD of possibilities.

Thanks for all the feedback and the willingness to share what you think will improve the game.

 

[I_Love_Latex]

Too many to quote and respond to, so I'll just post plainly here. I ask people what they think about plot ideas and things like that because, as a human, I am not perfect and don't think of everything, and you never know what someone will say that sparks an amazing idea that I end up rabbit-trailing and developing.

Great mindset to have, not just when writing

So it looks like there were some hints that I did not accurately portray. The Marbog ARE an Extinction Event-level threat. So... if they're here, why have they not overrun everything? Why HASN'T the world been sealed off from the rest of the Academies? Why does NO ONE seem to know about them being here besides Aurum and the WJC staff? Why was there just... an isolated pocket of them, and they haven't been seen anywhere else? That is very unlike an invasive species that is supposed to, as Agent Smith would put it, multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. There's SUPPOSED to be something screwy about how they haven't overrun everything, and I think I failed to show that. Perhaps if I did that, that would make things more believable, as there is NOT actually an Extinction Event going on... someone is fucking with stuff behind the scenes.

Those hints completely missed me, may I suggest that due to the perceived threat of the Marbog you don't go down the hint route but rather spell it out plainly. Have a conversation where you implicitly state that there is something wrong, that they usually are a sign that you shouldn't be planning holidays next year if you know what I mean, and make it obvious that the world should not be worried because let's face it, unless you do then the world should be worried and anything else just won't make sense.

As far as Nook and the Harpy go... you're absolutely right. Now y'all got me thinking, and I KNEW I wasn't satisfied with the aftermath of those two events. I definitely have some rewriting to do.

Gotta be honest, if I woke up after that Harpy incident I would be straight back to those woods shouting "Here birdy birdy birdy" waving my cock about (after checking it was OK of course)

Thanks for all the feedback and the willingness to share what you think will improve the game.

Thanks for responding to the feedback, as I said in my original post, this is your story you are telling and not ours, we are just along for the ride!

 

[archdude]

If I was Redamz and was making Monster Girl Island in Unity like him, I'd have more freedom.

Dude, if you'd be Redamz, you wouldn't be developing the game at this point, you'd be milking patreon for years and years to come with occasional minor update once in 2 years to keep patreon afloat. So i'm very happy you're not him. You do seem to put a lot of effort in your game.

 

[Tavi13]

Oh ffs; first you make me realize I have a greenskin fetish, now you got me thinking about krakens.
Imma have to stop reading this comment section.....

 

[Tar77]

I do have a question. I keep seeing remarks about how the "visual quality isn't the best." I'd like to know what perspective this is coming from, 'cause I did my best to use advanced skin textures and work on my lighting and renders. Are those that say this partial to DAZ-made games rather than Ai Shoujo/Honey Select games? What games do you prefer, and what visual style do you find more attractive? What can I do to improve the visual quality of this game? Or am I kind of stuck due to the engine I chose to use? Really interested in this as it seems to be a weakness of the game despite the effort I've put into it.

Could it be the compression? To keep the file size down, I convert all images to .webp with a 90% quality retention using a Google extension, then rename them with a bulk renamer into .png files again. I still have all of the original png files; is there a better way to compress them and save space without sacrificing quality? Reconverting and replacing all the images in the game would probably only take me about a week, so if that's an option and it makes the game better, I could absolutely do that.

Or perhaps it's because I'm using GraphicsMod for the scene renders, whereas I normally use DHH lighting for my Pinups, which looks much better but can't be used on some maps because of a render path glitch. Any thoughts or insight on this would be most helpful.

I suspect that is mostly because of it being AI/HS2 however it is likely a little of all of the above too. I see similar comments in games of all types and there are plenty of people who dislike each style. DAZ seems to be by far the most popular but I personally prefer HS2 to anything else.

I have noticed the compression effecting quality a little here and there but I don't think it's enough to be a significant factor.

The graphics settings could be better using GraphicsMod. From what I have heard it has more potential than DHH but you have to really spend a lot of time on the settings and probably tweaking it more often. Just look at some of the renders put out on the Illusion discord. Some of them look amazing however I suspect they also spend way too much time on each scene to be able to make a whole game efficiently. If I was better with it myself I would offer to help with GraphicsMod but atm I don't think I could do any better.

IMO I don't think the renders are actually holding you back much. Using different engines will always have tradeoffs in who likes them or doesn't and probably most importantly what capabilities they have and how long it takes to do the same thing. From what little I know about it DAZ takes a lot more work and time to do the same thing. If improving the GraphicsMod settings were to slow down renders significantly I'm not sure that would be a worth while tradeoff. I find the current thing adequate.

 

[delacroix2]

Seriously, I have to help Chiara fall in love with Eshtel? She's the only elf and I have to "give her away?" seemed bittersweet to me, I'm not interested in love triangles .....

Cecilia is crazy but I didn't hate her ... I hate Ashley!!! .
Anyway ,this game has a great story and beautiful characters like River, Gillie, Wither , Nook, Tilai, , Druthari, Aweebin . Thanks nice game, I loved it

 

[VictorSeven]

Seriously, I have to help Chiara fall in love with Eshtel? She's the only elf and I have to "give her away?" seemed bittersweet to me, I'm not interested in love triangles .....

Cecilia is crazy but I didn't hate her ... I hate Ashley!!! .
Anyway ,this game has a great story and beautiful characters like River, Gillie, Wither , Nook, Tilai, , Druthari, Aweebin . Thanks nice game, I loved it

She's the only elf SO FAR... and thank you for your kind words. Don't worry, more on the way.

 

[I_Love_Latex]

Seriously, I have to help Chiara fall in love with Eshtel? She's the only elf and I have to "give her away?" seemed bittersweet to me, I'm not interested in love triangles .....

Cecilia is crazy but I didn't hate her ... I hate Ashley!!! .
Anyway ,this game has a great story and beautiful characters like River, Gillie, Wither , Nook, Tilai, , Druthari, Aweebin . Thanks nice game, I loved it

Agreed with Cecilia. She is a brilliantly written character.

Oh, and can I just say VictorSeven if Wither doesn't get some hugs and snuggles and headpats and love and kisses I will find out where you live, hunt you down and shit in your kettle

 

[VictorSeven]

Agreed with Cecilia. She is a brilliantly written character.

Oh, and can I just say VictorSeven if Wither doesn't get some hugs and snuggles and headpats and love and kisses I will find out where you live, hunt you down and shit in your kettle

Then my kettle is safe next content update

 

[Porthas]

Why would I be helping out the, er, "competition" for the fair elven lasses' affections? Especially for a "rival" that's been nothing but a rude ass to me? This makes no sense, I'm not interested in other people's love lives, I'm interested in the MC's.

 

[YogSothoth1982]

Seriously, I have to help Chiara fall in love with Eshtel? She's the only elf and I have to "give her away?" seemed bittersweet to me, I'm not interested in love triangles .....

I find lesbian sex boring, and having two LIs in a relationship with each other doesn't appeal to me at all. Honestly, if I can stop the MC from having a romantic or sexual relationship with them I will do it.

Cecilia is crazy but I didn't hate her ... I hate Ashley!!! .

I don't like Cecilia. I don't like Ashley either. I prefer that they are far away from the MC.

View attachment 1928249

View attachment 1928254

Why would I be helping out the, er, "competition" for the fair elven lasses' affections? Especially for a "rival" that's been nothing but a rude ass to me? This makes no sense, I'm not interested in other people's love lives, I'm interested in the MC's.

View attachment 1928256

It's okay to help others. But, in my case, the lesbian girl doesn't interest me, and neither does the lesbian girl's girlfriend. Mainly because they are lesbians: I prefer to avoid all LIs that can lead to having FF sex scenes (or FFM where the girls have a lot of action with each other).

 

[JoeTheMC84]

There's a TL,DR at the bottom.

It's been a while since I played the last update and I still have yet to play the latest update.

But people bringing up the Chiara/Eshtel thing reminded me how much I disliked that chuck of content. It makes it even worse because Eshtel was clearly excited when she thought the courting gift was from the MC; meaning that she was interested in him before he sends her to Chiara. He basically cucks himself, and for what? A chance to get a friendship (maybe with benefits later but then it's sloppy seconds) with a girl who hates him and a little information that he honestly could have found some other way with a bit more work.

delacroix2 said it was "bittersweet" in their post, but for me it is just bitter. If Chiara was a guy and the MC unilaterally decided to help him hook up with Eshtel, a girl that was clearly interested in the MC... well, we know how it would go down. Most people not into a very specific type of content wouldn't even remotely entertain the idea. But "lesbian = hot," I guess.

Two chocolate bars are better than one when I get to eat them both. Two chocolate bars aren't better than one if they are in another room eating each other. And just because the MC might get to lick the wrappers when they're done as a "thank you for hooking us up," doesn't make it any less of a shitty feeling to me. Inuendo fully intended there.

To be clear, I enjoy pretty much everything else about this game. 95% of it makes this just about one of the best games on the site. Go back and see all my other posts in this thread and you can see that, but man... Those moments really frustrated me because I've seen in real life that just because a lesbian steals someone's girl doesn't make it hurt any less. So, just because it is lesbians, and/or it gets the MC some information, or something like that doesn't make it okay. The MC becoming the third wheel in a relationship shouldn't happen in a harem game.

I mean, if the other janitor guy (not the rapist one but the other one) had the only key to the head lady's office and would only help the MC sneak in if he hooked him up with Nook, then would the MC make that choice for the player too and just be okay with maybe sharing Nook from then on? It would be the same kind of situation. Nook is into then MC not the other janitor guy. Eshtel was clearly interested in the MC, and we had no reason to think she would be into Chiara at all, but we are required to give her up because... why? We "need" Chiara's help, lesbian is hot, and we might get sloppy seconds later so it's okay, is all reason enough, or what?

It's true we don't know how it'll play out. Maybe Eshtel will realize she isn't into Chiara and she'll end up coming to the MC and Chiara will still be happy that we at least got her the chance to be with the beautiful elf, so she'll open up more to the MC too despite it not working out... but experience tells me that isn't likely. So, unless there was something in this update about that story line that shifted things, it's still up there as a reason I have yet to play the update despite having downloaded it. The thought that there might be a scene pushing that forced couple keep me from launching the game while I have other games to play for a while still.

Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but when so much of the rest of the game is such solid storytelling and clear harem build up this whole line of the story is just such a gut punch and out of place with the rest of the feel of the game. It's like something that would happen in a third person/multiple protagonist game or a sharing/swinging themed game, and not a feel-good harem game. I'll probably play the update this weekend.

TL,DR: I think this game is one of the best on the site, but the Chiara/Eshtel thing would never fly, or have even happened, if Chiara was a guy.

 

[VictorSeven]

View attachment 1928249

View attachment 1928254

Why would I be helping out the, er, "competition" for the fair elven lasses' affections? Especially for a "rival" that's been nothing but a rude ass to me? This makes no sense, I'm not interested in other people's love lives, I'm interested in the MC's.

View attachment 1928256

In the beta version of this game, Eshtel was VERY unpopular. Which surprised me. It surprised me a lot. So I was like, "okay, screw it, no one wants her? Side story."

I'm beginning to see, about a year and a half later, that this may have been a mistake lol. The complaints about this only started surfacing recently as her popularity began eclipsing other unpopular characters, such as Ms. Clements and Kanako. I've kind of put Eshtel back onto my brainstorm board, and I've thought up a couple of things that would give the MC access to her again.

Now, fair warning, there is another character coming up that the MC will not have access to in a side story that was started by one of our T5 Patrons. But she has a sister. lol. In regards to not caring about anyone else's love life... well, this is a different kind of game. I know most MCs are total dicks who want to bang everyone and hoard all the attention to themselves, but I find that doesn't make for a good story, especially with how I've written Aurum. He's gonna have friends, and he's gonna make decisions for their benefit, sometimes at the cost of his own opportunities. A lot of people adore Chiara x Eshtel and Aurum helping that become a thing. The positive feedback far outweighs the negative. But I realize what I did was take the only Wind Elf in the game and gate her off, which... wasn't smart, I'll admit. I hear it enough to warrant considering potential solutions.

As for why you'd help someone who's been nothing but a rude ass to you? Well, in this game, you're playing a MC who is smart enough to know there's something behind that mask. And having a lesbian friend as a wingman has huge benefits. Women tend to trust women, especially women who aren't into men, so if you have someone like THAT vouching for you, it's almost guaranteed you're gonna get a chance to interact with whomever they're talking you up to. Not everyone understands the MC's brand of emotional intelligence, but he can tell that Chiara's attitude is more of a shield wall she puts up because she's anticipating everyone treating her like Jack would treat her. Once you start doing nice things for her and breaking down that shield wall, the real Chiara comes out, and she ends up actually being kind of cool. Plus she knows a lot of shit about a lot of the girls that they'd never tell you. Especially Gillie, who she's spent a lot of time with.

Chiara's role for those near the library is similar to Aoibheann's role for the those in the dormitory: information and access. Befriending them has more benefits than just getting your dick wet which, while it's part of this game and a part I take very seriously, is not ALL the game is about.

But anyways, I've heard your feedback and I thank you for giving it. I'm gonna muse on what I might do with Eshtel.

 

[VictorSeven]

There's a TL,DR at the bottom.

It's been a while since I played the last update and I still have yet to play the latest update.

But people bringing up the Chiara/Eshtel thing reminded me how much I disliked that chuck of content. It makes it even worse because Eshtel was clearly excited when she thought the courting gift was from the MC; meaning that she was interested in him before he sends her to Chiara. He basically cucks himself, and for what? A chance to get a friendship (maybe with benefits later but then it's sloppy seconds) with a girl who hates him and a little information that he honestly could have found some other way with a bit more work.

delacroix2 said it was "bittersweet" in their post, but for me it is just bitter. If Chiara was a guy and the MC unilaterally decided to help him hook up with Eshtel, a girl that was clearly interested in the MC... well, we know how it would go down. Most people not into a very specific type of content wouldn't even remotely entertain the idea. But "lesbian = hot," I guess.

Two chocolate bars are better than one when I get to eat them both. Two chocolate bars aren't better than one if they are in another room eating each other. And just because the MC might get to lick the wrappers when they're done as a "thank you for hooking us up," doesn't make it any less of a shitty feeling to me. Inuendo fully intended there.

To be clear, I enjoy pretty much everything else about this game. 95% of it makes this just about one of the best games on the site. Go back and see all my other posts in this thread and you can see that, but man... Those moments really frustrated me because I've seen in real life that just because a lesbian steals someone's girl doesn't make it hurt any less. So, just because it is lesbians, and/or it gets the MC some information, or something like that doesn't make it okay. The MC becoming the third wheel in a relationship shouldn't happen in a harem game.

I mean, if the other janitor guy (not the rapist one but the other one) had the only key to the head lady's office and would only help the MC sneak in if he hooked him up with Nook, then would the MC make that choice for the player too and just be okay with maybe sharing Nook from then on? It would be the same kind of situation. Nook is into then MC not the other janitor guy. Eshtel was clearly interested in the MC, and we had no reason to think she would be into Chiara at all, but we are required to give her up because... why? We "need" Chiara's help, lesbian is hot, and we might get sloppy seconds later so it's okay, is all reason enough, or what?

It's true we don't know how it'll play out. Maybe Eshtel will realize she isn't into Chiara and she'll end up coming to the MC and Chiara will still be happy that we at least got her the chance to be with the beautiful elf, so she'll open up more to the MC too despite it not working out... but experience tells me that isn't likely. So, unless there was something in this update about that story line that shifted things, it's still up there as a reason I have yet to play the update despite having downloaded it. The thought that there might be a scene pushing that forced couple keep me from launching the game while I have other games to play for a while still.

Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but when so much of the rest of the game is such solid storytelling and clear harem build up this whole line of the story is just such a gut punch and out of place with the rest of the feel of the game. It's like something that would happen in a third person/multiple protagonist game or a sharing/swinging themed game, and not a feel-good harem game. I'll probably play the update this weekend.

TL,DR: I think this game is one of the best on the site, but the Chiara/Eshtel thing would never fly, or have even happened, if Chiara was a guy.

You posted while I was typing my response to the other user, so I didn't get to see it. I'm starting to hear this feedback more and more, and it's definitely making me consider some alternate options for the future. It's so weird how Eshtel started out so unpopular (like, bottom 3-4) and only recently shot up to 6th out of 22 currently introduced girls. This was a sharp turn I was not expecting, and it's totally understandable that people are beginning to be upset by this. I had no idea her stats were gonna turn out this way lol. So now my burden is to think of a solution that's both good for the story AND good for the playerbase, especially those who were interested in pursuing her. I've got my work cut out for me. I'm sorry that it ended up being such a gut punch. When I did it a year and a half ago, nobody cared lol. Nobody liked her. That has changed.

 

[sk1122]

As far as Nook and the Harpy go... you're absolutely right. Now y'all got me thinking, and I KNEW I wasn't satisfied with the aftermath of those two events. I definitely have some rewriting to do.

As a personal take: dismissing the harpy stuff was more forgivable as some embarrassing "Umm, yeah. Lets not talk about that again. Ever!" event for MC.
With Nook, I am somewhat surprised Aurum wasn't banging his head on the portal in the staff room 2 minutes after waking in the infirmary.
Even discounting their whole magic link and Tilai probably having resources to look for her, she is simply a next of kin equivalent that would deserve to know asap.

Regarding the Marbog not feeling as a major threat that is getting suspiciously memory-holed:
In-game it hasn't been all that long since the beach happened. And interdimensional redtape is sure to move pretty slow. So in the future we could always get grilled by some WCA Girls-in-Black-equivalent who are first chasing that sighting, but then get pulled off the case to their own surprise.
Bonus points if you already have your late-game characters sorted out: the one girl acting the most harsh and dismissive of Aurum now could end up being Ms.Very-Insecure who gets put on his security detail one day.
That and maybe sneaking in some descriptive library entries for the Toads could make them feel a more noticeable threat without too much rewriting of existing material.

 

[JoeTheMC84]

You posted while I was typing my response to the other user, so I didn't get to see it. I'm starting to hear this feedback more and more, and it's definitely making me consider some alternate options for the future. It's so weird how Eshtel started out so unpopular (like, bottom 3-4) and only recently shot up to 6th out of 22 currently introduced girls. This was a sharp turn I was not expecting, and it's totally understandable that people are beginning to be upset by this. I had no idea her stats were gonna turn out this way lol. So now my burden is to think of a solution that's both good for the story AND good for the playerbase, especially those who were interested in pursuing her. I've got my work cut out for me. I'm sorry that it ended up being such a gut punch. When I did it a year and a half ago, nobody cared lol. Nobody liked her. That has changed.

Yeah, I saw your Wall o' Text right after I posted mine and figured you must have been typing it while I did mine.

Since you are more familiar with writing novels and liner stories it's important to keep in mind that one of the many differences a game has is the skinner box effect of getting the goal. This is especially true for a self-insert game. As much as we all want the girls to be fleshed out and feel like independent characters in their own right, they are, at the end of the day, the goal. And it was very clear that at the beginning Eshtel was 100% a love interest and she seemed like one up until the moment the MC (not the player) told her to hook up with a third party, one that she might not have even been interested in at the time.

Nearly every girl you introduce will initially be viewed as a love interest because we, the players, don't know yet and will assume she is unless some drastic things make it clear she is not. See Grandma's House or Eternum and how they handle Petunia (love interest of the "best friend" Omar) and Micaela (love interest of the "best friend" Chang).

It would be unsatisfying to get to the end of, say, Mass Effect and see that a random Citadel Security officer had gunned down Saren, or even to see that Wrex had done it. Or to be playing Uncharted and get to the treasure and find it all gone without the final fight over the treasure with the game's big bad. At times, Nathan Drake doesn't get the treasure in those game (sometimes they are lost by the end) but we for sure don't want the rival to get it.

One problem with many games over novels is that every character is either on the MC's team or a rival. It can be very difficult to move a character from rival to team member. Especially if players have lots of time to stew over the other character as a rival. In AVN's you have a little more wiggle room because it is a combination of the two, but it is still something to consider when writing the script.

There are also some inherent flaws in episodic releases that must be taken into account as well:

Spoiler: Some Flaws in the Episodic System

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I want to be clear again that 95% of this game is awesome. And I want more of that. Anything I've said is just me getting thoughts out of my head and hopefully a bit of constructive criticism and advice along the way. I'll leave this here for now. If you are interested in a bit of my fuller views on friends/wingmen in AVN's you can feel free to read below, but I won't blame anyone for passing it up,

Spoiler: My Issue with the Friend Trope

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Spoiler: A few final thoughts on this topic before I drop the topic.

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I hope you all enjoyed another JoeTheMC84 essay...

 

[VictorSeven]

Yeah, I saw your Wall o' Text right after I posted mine and figured you must have been typing it while I did mine.

Since you are more familiar with writing novels and liner stories it's important to keep in mind that one of the many differences a game has is the skinner box effect of getting the goal. This is especially true for a self-insert game. As much as we all want the girls to be fleshed out and feel like independent characters in their own right, they are, at the end of the day, the goal. And it was very clear that at the beginning Eshtel was 100% a love interest and she seemed like one up until the moment the MC (not the player) told her to hook up with a third party, one that she might not have even been interested in at the time.

Nearly every girl you introduce will initially be viewed as a love interest because we, the players, don't know yet and will assume she is unless some drastic things make it clear she is not. See Grandma's House or Eternum and how they handle Petunia (love interest of the "best friend" Omar) and Micaela (love interest of the "best friend" Chang).

It would be unsatisfying to get to the end of, say, Mass Effect and see that a random Citadel Security officer had gunned down Saren, or even to see that Wrex had done it. Or to be playing Uncharted and get to the treasure and find it all gone without the final fight over the treasure with the game's big bad. At times, Nathan Drake doesn't get the treasure in those game (sometimes they are lost by the end) but we for sure don't want the rival to get it.

One problem with many games over novels is that every character is either on the MC's team or a rival. It can be very difficult to move a character from rival to team member. Especially if players have lots of time to stew over the other character as a rival. In AVN's you have a little more wiggle room because it is a combination of the two, but it is still something to consider when writing the script.

There are also some inherent flaws in episodic releases that must be taken into account as well:

Spoiler: Some Flaws in the Episodic System

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

I want to be clear again that 95% of this game is awesome. And I want more of that. Anything I've said is just me getting thoughts out of my head and hopefully a bit of constructive criticism and advice along the way. I'll leave this here for now. If you are interested in a bit of my fuller views on friends/wingmen in AVN's you can feel free to read below, but I won't blame anyone for passing it up,

Spoiler: My Issue with the Friend Trope

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Spoiler: A few final thoughts on this topic before I drop the topic.

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I hope you all enjoyed another JoeTheMC84 essay...

Don't be sorry for any of this. This is fantastic perspective, and I enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. The D&D analogy is interesting, and I think that's perhaps where my experience differs. I've been a professional DM at a social lounge, and the two large campaigns that I've run (the first of which lasting 3 years and the second of which lasting 10 months), I have both seen through from start to finish. The one campaign I've played in, which lasted a few months, was seen through from start to finish. And I'll be starting yet another campaign on Monday on my Twitch channel. So I have been extremely fortunate when it comes to tabletop roleplaying and thus I suppose I've settled into the complacent habit of saving my moments for the right time.

You're right when you say that the player doesn't know the version of Chiara that I know. They don't know the scenes I have in my head, the story developments, the push and pull I have set up. But you make a great point about Aoibheann already doing what Chiara is doing, only better and fulfilling two functions.

Also one of the huge design flaws I made in the game was not making all of the girls' stories Optional Sidequests. I should have had Aurum meet them and become friends with them in the main story, and had the main story feature 0 sexual content. I should have built a quest file for each girl and allowed the player to choose with whom they would spend their time each evening, and I think that would have been a far, FAR smoother game experience for a lot of people. Hooking Eshtel up with Chiara or choosing to go after her would have been a choice rather than a written-in-stone event. Being much more experienced with coding in Ren'py now that I am, even though I'm still woefully amateur compared to most, I now know how I would organize and code the optional sidequests and time spent with each girl.

As it is, I could rework the game to work in that fashion without disrupting TOO much of the story. But again, that takes time and would require yet another restart. It's something I am very heavily considering. It would make for a much better "game" experience while still allowing me to tell my main story. Would love some thoughts on this. Perhaps after I finish the Janitor Arc, hm?

Either that or I will keep this in mind when the full version of Summer Sacrifice (Summer Heat/Summer In Heat) comes out and the BetterRepack adds a Studio program, because I am ABSOLUTELY making a VN with that game as a base if it's possible.

 

[archdude]

I'll let you know that I'm ok with giving up on Eshtel, it didn't even occur to me that someone can be jealous of a girl in a game where almost every female is your bitch or is on a way to became one. Especially since it is heavily hinted that both Eshtel and Chiara are willing to share. But then again she didn't interest me that much from the get go, being elf, one of the most boring archetypes imo. May be if i'd really like that from the start i'd be bitter about this development, who knows.

 

[KeepOnLiving]

I'll let you know that I'm ok with giving up on Eshtel, it didn't even occur to me that someone can be jealous of a girl in a game where almost every female is your bitch or is on a way to became one. Especially since it is heavily hinted that both Eshtel and Chiara are willing to share. But then again she didn't interest me that much from the get go, being elf, one of the most boring archetypes imo. May be if i'd really like that from the start i'd be bitter about this development, who knows.

I mostly agree, altho i have to say Eshtel grew on me pretty early on, being really helpful, hardworking and decisive, starting with her saving Gillie.
The relationship between her and Chiara i can see fitting into this game, mostly due to MC with his incredibly understanding and tolerant attitude.
Altho i am still unsure if there isn't another development for their relationship coming somewhere along the way. Will we see them being both okay with occasional sharing? threesomes? Might their relationship even have a troublesome period, where we will have to influence them one way or another?

 

[pantherismytat]

i've never seen SFW MODE in any visual novel before what's it for