VN Ren'Py Zia [v0.5] [Studio Zia]

[iodio]

Though the abrupt switches were deliberate, I get how it might come off jarring and uneven in terms of the pacing. (While I won't be throwing them away completely) I had already made up my mind to significantly tone down on those sudden shifts/transitions from the next update. And your feedback helped confirm it was the right decision

No, waaaaittttttt....
(see my previous post )

 

[Arisushi]

No, waaaaittttttt....
(see my previous post )

I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed those transitions. It's very heartening to receive support on a risky decision you made. But I do feel that using them too often will take away the novelty of the effect.

Besides, like I said in the earlier reply, I won't be throwing away those transitions completely. I'll just be using them moderately

 

[SpyderArachnid]

You will also have the flexibility to stick to "only straight" content or "only lesbian" content.

This is not true at all. The whole beginning is you forced on a date with a guy (it is your second date with him by the way), and you are making out in a bedroom. It is all forced. There is no rejecting the guy, you are forced to be with him. As well, after he leaves, Zia is hoping to find one guy that is right for her. So yeah, no lesbian only path.

Otherwise, it was pretty decent. Writing is pretty good, few minor grammar issues but nothing that stands out too much. Models are nice and normal (not crazy supermodels with over the top busts), renders are fine, all in all, the rest is just fine.

But yeah, no lesbian only path like they said. So, not for me. Either way, wish you the best of luck with your project and thanks.

 

[Deleted member 2667644]

Thank you. Really appreciate the feedback. It helps a lot

Though the abrupt switches were deliberate, I get how it might come off jarring and uneven in terms of the pacing. (While I won't be throwing them away completely) I had already made up my mind to significantly tone down on those sudden shifts/transitions from the next update. And your feedback helped confirm it was the right decision

To be clear, there are definitely uses for those types of transition, and you absolutely shouldn't just get rid of them completely. I'm no cinematographer, but the feeling I get is when I played was that it felt more like a prologue or a pilot episode rather than a full length episode, simply due to the length of scene and the use of "match cuts" (I believe that is the proper name for them, correct me if I'm wrong), which is fine if it is what it's supposed to be. But I'm more speaking to the future, where I do hope we get more "slow" moments and longer scenes.

 

[Arisushi]

This is not true at all. The whole beginning is you forced on a date with a guy (it is your second date with him by the way), and you are making out in a bedroom. It is all forced. There is no rejecting the guy, you are forced to be with him. As well, after he leaves, Zia is hoping to find one guy that is right for her. So yeah, no lesbian only path.

Otherwise, it was pretty decent. Writing is pretty good, few minor grammar issues but nothing that stands out too much. Models are nice and normal (not crazy supermodels with over the top busts), renders are fine, all in all, the rest is just fine.

But yeah, no lesbian only path like they said. So, not for me. Either way, wish you the best of luck with your project and thanks.

I'm sorry. It was not my intention to mislead anyone.

In my mind,

Spoiler

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So, it felt right to call a route where Zia would only get with a female character (after kicking the guy out) as a lesbian-only route.

Still, perhaps there is a better way to phrase it. So, I'll look into it and alter it accordingly

 

[Arisushi]

To be clear, there are definitely uses for those types of transition, and you absolutely shouldn't just get rid of them completely. I'm no cinematographer, but the feeling I get is when I played was that it felt more like a prologue or a pilot episode rather than a full length episode, simply due to the length of scene and the use of "match cuts" (I believe that is the proper name for them, correct me if I'm wrong), which is fine if it is what it's supposed to be. But I'm more speaking to the future, where I do hope we get more "slow" moments and longer scenes.

I understand I definitely agree it's all about that balance (between the fast and slow moments). I'll do my best to achieve that balance in the future updates

 

[SpyderArachnid]

I'm sorry. It was not my intention to mislead anyone.

In my mind,

Spoiler

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So, it felt right to call a route where Zia would only get with a female character (after kicking the guy out) as a lesbian-only route.

Still, perhaps there is a better way to phrase it. So, I'll look into it and alter it accordingly

For me personally, a lesbian only path wouldn't have you go on a date with a guy in the first place. Much less, a second date with that same guy. And even much less, make out with him in your bedroom (you don't make out with some guy in your bedroom after a date if it isn't going to lead to sex). And then to top it off, she is hoping one day to find the right guy afterwards. Not something a lesbian would be thinking about.

So I guess this is more about becoming a lesbian later on, instead of being a lesbian and having a lesbian only path from the start. Either way, not trying to tell you how to do your game or anything, just mentioning how it's not an actual lesbian only path.

 

[The Celtic fan]

This is not true at all. The whole beginning is you forced on a date with a guy (it is your second date with him by the way), and you are making out in a bedroom. It is all forced. There is no rejecting the guy, you are forced to be with him. As well, after he leaves, Zia is hoping to find one guy that is right for her. So yeah, no lesbian only path.

Otherwise, it was pretty decent. Writing is pretty good, few minor grammar issues but nothing that stands out too much. Models are nice and normal (not crazy supermodels with over the top busts), renders are fine, all in all, the rest is just fine.

But yeah, no lesbian only path like they said. So, not for me. Either way, wish you the best of luck with your project and thanks.

uff thanks for the warning, a single straight scene no matter if it's the beginning makes the lesbian route no longer exists.
good luck to the dev

 

[Arisushi]

For me personally, a lesbian only path wouldn't have you go on a date with a guy in the first place. Much less, a second date with that same guy. And even much less, make out with him in your bedroom (you don't make out with some guy in your bedroom after a date if it isn't going to lead to sex). And then to top it off, she is hoping one day to find the right guy afterwards. Not something a lesbian would be thinking about.

So I guess this is more about becoming a lesbian later on, instead of being a lesbian and having a lesbian only path from the start. Either way, not trying to tell you how to do your game or anything, just mentioning how it's not an actual lesbian only path.

[Please feel free to ignore this reply. At this point I'm just explaining myself to any future readers who may share a similar concern regarding what I had mentioned earlier and why I did that]

I understand Semantically, you're absolutely right. The moment a male sexual partner enters the picture it is not a "lesbian" route, but a bisexual one.

Sadly, (within the confines of the tags available) it's hard to convey same-sex content without the words "lesbian" or "gay" on mainstream sites.

To quote f95's own tag definition : "Lesbian - Sex act between two or more females."

So, I either had to focus on the semantics (and risk missing out on a section of audience who would be interested in female-female romance), or just use the tags as listed (and hope the audience would be able to understand where I'm coming from).

Anyways, I totally understand if the presence of that scene broke the enjoyment for you. I'm sorry I couldn't offer what you wanted. Thank you for engaging with my ramblings till now

 

[JohnF95zone]

[Please feel free to ignore this reply. At this point I'm just explaining myself to any future readers who may share a similar concern regarding what I had mentioned earlier and why I did that]

I understand Semantically, you're absolutely right. The moment a male sexual partner enters the picture it is not a "lesbian" route, but a bisexual one.

Sadly, (within the confines of the tags available) it's hard to convey same-sex content without the words "lesbian" or "gay" on mainstream sites.

To quote f95's own tag definition : "Lesbian - Sex act between two or more females."

So, I either had to focus on the semantics (and risk missing out on a section of audience who would be interested in female-female romance), or just use the tags as listed (and hope the audience would be able to understand where I'm coming from).

Anyways, I totally understand if the presence of that scene broke the enjoyment for you. I'm sorry I couldn't offer what you wanted. Thank you for engaging with my ramblings till now

For me personally, a path or route starts off when the player actively controls the MC i.e. the moment he/she starts making decisions on behalf or for the MC. It appears to me (I have not played the game yet, so it is purely speculation) the date with the guy feels a lot like a backstory or prologue, where everything just plays out 'automatically' (or 'forcefully' as some would phrase it). But yeah, it seems to be a semantic or language issue, incorrectly phrasing it as "lesbian only" route. Perhaps just call it lesbian route or remove the backstory altogether (still possible considering it is only the first release).

I think I can understand why the backstory is there, basically Zia (MC) realized that she is not into men and actually is a lesbian, i.e. she was not born lesbian, but found out she is a lesbian later in life. That date probably has significant role to play plotwise later in the game. Not sure if it is realistic or not since I am not an expert on this subject and I haven't played a lot lesbian adult games too. But that is how I see it. So, I guess you need to listen to lesbian fans feedbacks and reactions about this backstory before taking any drastic corrective measure(s).

Anyway, back to the original intention of my post.

This is another game from ONS and it is fresh, nothing like ONS previous titles. Renders looks nice. I think this time you are taking it slower to build up the characters and progressing the story. I hope the 'promotion' of this game is more 'aggressive' than your previous titles so that it will gain more exposure and reach far larger number of audiences. I hope this game will really take off and gets proper ending(s) roughly 2 years from now.

Thank you for the share. All the best Arisushi and Studio ONS. Cheers.

 

[CrimsoNRiasDxD]

Hi dev will you be doing animated sex scenes for this game just wondering because I didn't see the tag so I thought I should ask.

 

[ashitanojoe]

Anyways, I totally understand if the presence of that scene broke the enjoyment for you. I'm sorry I couldn't offer what you wanted. Thank you for engaging with my ramblings till now

For many players, unavoidable lewd scenes make them stop playing a game, not only the ones who want a lesbian path, also those who don't like a certain character. Some devs have taken the decision to make those situations optional in another release, like the one from Love, Honor, Betray. He decided to set the scene with the boyfriend optional, after complaints. I haven't played this game, I don't know if that scene needs to be unavoidable for story purposes, at the end is your decision.

 

[adsl2009]

Looks Goooood

 

[Hmm...]

I'm intrigued by what is here, short as it is.

 

[xmilteach]

thx

 

[Nikko_]

I was also somewhat intrigued by this prologue, but I probably would have left if you didn't get rid of "Nick". I don't care about races and stuff, but please don't put a character that looks like an underage-boy as a romantic-interest. I cringed so hard when he went with the lil-bro speech... I know that was that point. But the MC almost did the deed with him even after that so I felt I had to write this.

 

[Ghost'']

Zia [v0.1] Compressed PC

Orginal Size: 615Mb
Compressed Size: 37Mb

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[Ghost'']

Zia [v0.1] Unofficial Android Port

Spoiler: Features

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- 41mb


My Android Ports have a 2nd Persistent save location. So, even if you uninstall the game, the saves will remain Intact.

Saves location: Storage/0011/Game-name


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[PJWhoopie]

Really enjoyed it.
The style is unique and refreshing from most of the other games that drop here (and I said as much in my review). The almost grainy/under rendered look compliments the fantasy story very well.

Just a few typos/grammar mistakes that look to be already pointed out, but very enjoyable start.

I liked the transitions, so +1 for keeping them...

The one thing I would recommend that you revisit is the background music. While it is nice, it is used to set the mood and carry a theme. If possible, you need to switch tracks when the scenes change, or at least when the mood changes. The first background track carries the viewer through multiple scenes/moods. I think it changes when Zia goes to sleep and there is a more dramatic track that comes on... but after she wakes up and if you decide to align yourself, the darker music lingers, though she is centering herself and talking about light/calming things

Lastly
Please keep to your vision... Like clockwork, the folks who "won't play the game unless it has xyz" are usually the first to post. Your game, your way.

I think your explanation of the Lesbian tags is sufficient and has merit. I don't think the Lesbian Game Mafia is as devout or demanding as the anti-NTR Mafia, but still...

Best of luck!

 

[Brannon]

(After the one, non-skippable hetero scene in 0.1) You will also have the flexibility to stick to "only straight" or "only lesbian" content in all future updates.

Don't really know whether or not I should count the partial lifting of her shirt with her belly button visible as hetero scene ...
As possible intention without player choice yes.
As hetero scene ... not really.

If the goblin would not have interrupted it would have developed into one, no doubt.
But seeing Zias later action I'd doubt he would have ... enjoyed it much.


I tend to like my games with female protagonists as NDI aka. No Dick Involved so it is good to see I'll have that option here.