VN Ren'Py The Call of Darkness [v2.7] [Ace Games]

[Shenhan]

I kind of thought that once I actually made it onto the Demeter that things would pick up in pace, but it's just as slow. There's far too much waffling about and the characters will find just about any reason to stop for a drawn out conversation. The attempts at banter and innuendo only serve to slow things down even further and pretty much kill any kind of tension and urgency that should be there.

Fucking Jane deserved to die. She was told on two different occasions to get out and go, yet every time you turn around there she is. Then she has great big whinge (that I aggressively button mashed my way through) before deciding to get herself killed. At that point the MC should have just shrugged his shoulders and been like "Eh, there's just no helping some people."

Also things that bothered me on a continuity level: How did that first creature manage to get the drop on the MC and Bobby when Kess was meant to be scouting ahead? Why is the MC relying on a side arm when he was made aware that small arms fire does nothing and Bobby supposedly has a gun collection? These things probably wouldn't bother me so much but you've made a point to info dump these facts on us.

Overall I think you've got a game with some excellent potential, but as it stands, I have found it to be a little frustrating to play.

 

[acewinz]

I kind of thought that once I actually made it onto the Demeter that things would pick up in pace, but it's just as slow. There's far too much waffling about and the characters will find just about any reason to stop for a drawn out conversation. The attempts at banter and innuendo only serve to slow things down even further and pretty much kill any kind of tension and urgency that should be there.

Fucking Jane deserved to die. She was told on two different occasions to get out and go, yet every time you turn around there she is. Then she has great big whinge (that I aggressively button mashed my way through) before deciding to get herself killed. At that point the MC should have just shrugged his shoulders and been like "Eh, there's just no helping some people."

Also things that bothered me on a continuity level: How did that first creature manage to get the drop on the MC and Bobby when Kess was meant to be scouting ahead? Why is the MC relying on a side arm when he was made aware that small arms fire does nothing and Bobby supposedly has a gun collection? These things probably wouldn't bother me so much but you've made a point to info dump these facts on us.

Overall I think you've got a game with some excellent potential, but as it stands, I have found it to be a little frustrating to play.

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[Shenhan]

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I can't really fault any of that as you have proper intent behind everything. I may not agree with the approach to some things.

As for Kess, I did think of that but it was a long single corridor, anything coming down there, she would have had to pass and vice versa. Having a scout isn't useful if they just take off and disappear, it's like Robin in the early Young Justice series.

I don't mind banter or rambling to some degree but it contradicts the mood you're trying to achieve and undermines the serious tone you're trying to shift into.

The only reason I said he relies on the side arm is because it's the first thing he strikes with, I know it has range so it makes sense to some degree and of course it'd be a good instinct on the smaller ones, but I'd have pretty much discarded it when it took multiple rounds to take the little one down, expecting it to be useless against anything bigger. But yes, it is better than nothing.

As for Jane. I didn't care enough to make her death matter, I think a part of that is because the only times she was on screen she was either doing something stupid like not going for the clear escape route despite being told too twice, which meant when she showed up a third time, I simply wasn't interested in listening to her anymore. She was clearly a lost cause any more effort spent on her would've been a waste of the MC's time. Although to be fair I was already getting pretty frustrated with the pacing by that point and wasn't in the mood for something else slowing things down. If I'm being brutally honest I was ready to quit and deleted the game there, but I had already commented on the thread and felt like I should push through to give it a fair shot.

Again. I think you've got a good game on your hands. I like the characters, the designs and the setting. I think you've got a couple of kinks to work out with the pacing and finding the right time and place for banter would be good otherwise you risk marvelising your story, where none of the stakes feel real because the characters are just quipping through these highly tense situations.

 

[acewinz]

I can't really fault any of that as you have proper intent behind everything. I may not agree with the approach to some things.

As for Kess, I did think of that but it was a long single corridor, anything coming down there, she would have had to pass and vice versa. Having a scout isn't useful if they just take off and disappear, it's like Robin in the early Young Justice series.

I don't mind banter or rambling to some degree but it contradicts the mood you're trying to achieve and undermines the serious tone you're trying to shift into.

The only reason I said he relies on the side arm is because it's the first thing he strikes with, I know it has range so it makes sense to some degree and of course it'd be a good instinct on the smaller ones, but I'd have pretty much discarded it when it took multiple rounds to take the little one down, expecting it to be useless against anything bigger. But yes, it is better than nothing.

As for Jane. I didn't care enough to make her death matter, I think a part of that is because the only times she was on screen she was either doing something stupid like not going for the clear escape route despite being told too twice, which meant when she showed up a third time, I simply wasn't interested in listening to her anymore. She was clearly a lost cause any more effort spent on her would've been a waste of the MC's time. Although to be fair I was already getting pretty frustrated with the pacing by that point and wasn't in the mood for something else slowing things down. If I'm being brutally honest I was ready to quit and deleted the game there, but I had already commented on the thread and felt like I should push through to give it a fair shot.

Again. I think you've got a good game on your hands. I like the characters, the designs and the setting. I think you've got a couple of kinks to work out with the pacing and finding the right time and place for banter would be good otherwise you risk marvelising your story, where none of the stakes feel real because the characters are just quipping through these highly tense situations.

Marvelising LOL, i like that term. I get what your saying though, you don't want it trivialized by ignoring the gravity of the situation, which I totally wouldn't want, but what I was aiming for was maybe a harder target to hit, but a worthy one that hopefully just needs some streamlining for pacing and the full picture to set it right.

What today has been Marvellized, or trivializing of a story or atmosphere, is modern standards not properly following a tried and true narrative approach to storytelling imho. The "correct" old school method would see you introduce a bit of outlandish responses/banter to outlandish situations to add contrast and lightheartedness to what otherwise could be a very bleak world. Something I felt would fit well with the type of ANV i would write. The trick is paying proper respect to the world you are trying to create by having the actual "reality" of the situations and outcomes run true in spite of the lighthearted interjections in a balanced manner. This is actually true in reality as our emotions and mind war with continuing on in the face of grave threat or loss by attempting to rationalize or downplay the seriousness with humor.

You are righ about Marvel and others messing up the approach, far too often there are either no real repercussions to the manufactured tension (trivializing) or they go overboard and manufacture so much residual repercussions it just seems non-sensical (over-dramatizing). The reverse though may be worse yet as it seems have given grounds to the "dark realism" at the opposite end of the spectrum with works of people like George R.R. Martin for example, where despite the obvious skill of the writing and character development, the overall storytelling and arcs still leave something of a bad taste in your mouth (at least for me).

The trick is finding the right balance and I'd like to think I'm closer to that than not, but I decided to release what parts of Episode 3 that was ready given my circumstances, rather than wait for the whole thing to be completed, and it is shining a bit more light on the current imbalance without the heavier action scenes and finale to come. We'll see though when things are finished I suppose.

 

[VaerShyr]

Marvelising LOL, i like that term. I get what your saying though, you don't want it trivialized by ignoring the gravity of the situation, which I totally wouldn't want, but what I was aiming for was maybe a harder target to hit, but a worthy one that hopefully just needs some streamlining for pacing and the full picture to set it right.

What today has been Marvellized, or trivializing of a story or atmosphere, is modern standards not properly following a tried and true narrative approach to storytelling imho. The "correct" old school method would see you introduce a bit of outlandish responses/banter to outlandish situations to add contrast and lightheartedness to what otherwise could be a very bleak world. Something I felt would fit well with the type of ANV i would write. The trick is paying proper respect to the world you are trying to create by having the actual "reality" of the situations and outcomes run true in spite of the lighthearted interjections in a balanced manner. This is actually true in reality as our emotions and mind war with continuing on in the face of grave threat or loss by attempting to rationalize or downplay the seriousness with humor.

You are righ about Marvel and others messing up the approach, far too often there are either no real repercussions to the manufactured tension (trivializing) or they go overboard and manufacture so much residual repercussions it just seems non-sensical (over-dramatizing). The reverse though may be worse yet as it seems have given grounds to the "dark realism" at the opposite end of the spectrum with works of people like George R.R. Martin for example, where despite the obvious skill of the writing and character development, the overall storytelling and arcs still leave something of a bad taste in your mouth (at least for me).

The trick is finding the right balance and I'd like to think I'm closer to that than not, but I decided to release what parts of Episode 3 that was ready given my circumstances, rather than wait for the whole thing to be completed, and it is shining a bit more light on the current imbalance without the heavier action scenes and finale to come. We'll see though when things are finished I suppose.

I think you hit the mark.

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All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and am eagerly awaiting future updates.

 

[iamthejuggler]

Genuinely enjoyed this. Was sort of put off by the dream start part, without context it just kinda bored me, but once it got all sci-fi I was sold. I do agree the rescue part was a bit odd with the massive danger of the spider monstrosity, but when they got in the actual ship all urgency seemed to evaporate, I think if that creature was outside the ship I was in i might be in a bit of a hurry to get a move on! Looking forward to the continuation though. Keep it up!