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Post by harmtouch on Apr 16, 2017 22:53:43 GMT -8
I'm not really too sure what to say. I think the overall development of Nemu's story is fine, but there's nothing to hold it up. It honestly doesn't feel like any of it is really earned. It seems like every moment is either 0% or 100%. I fully admit that I could be the only one thinking like this, but the story needs some work to support your choices in Nemu's route. NotesFeedback tldr; As fictional as these characters are, they are still human and they still have lives within this universe. I hope (the collective) you understand the implications of their actions and what they say.
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Post by harmtouch on Apr 6, 2017 16:59:49 GMT -8
Question for those who played the beta but there isn't any forced encounters, are there? Like "oops, the producer got drunk and spent the night with a girl without your input, sorry"? I mean, there has to be shenanigans, but a line should be drawn, you know? It depends on how you view the night out with Julie, but other than that, no. But, there aren't really any choices in the game yet (other than a couple that have nothing to do with the question).
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Post by harmtouch on Mar 3, 2017 23:38:26 GMT -8
(Sorry for double post, but this is in essence an answer to my previous question) Intro:So, I've been really bored over the past week or so while I've finished up midterms and papers and what-not for spring break (which I'm now on). I made a little test system for what something like "stat management" could be. It's pretty dumb and simple, but I mulled it over in my head for a long time while making it and prodded at the pros and cons of such a thing in this kind of story where too much interruption could heavily alter the pacing of the game. Also, I tried to take into account the prefaces of this "kinetic novel" and how it's meant to not really be another "Sunrider" model VN, but a little bit different. And I know that some of this stuff was intentionally left out (as per Mag's previous comment), but I'm impatient as fuck and my stupid grammar/English suggestions don't really help all that much I imagine. So, let me get into it a bit (no more covering my back!) I'm going to preface the actual explanation of the system with why I even made this to begin with (instead of something more useful). One, I've never used Renpy before besides small personal projects (so I'm absolute garbage with it), and two, there's like a million different type of mini-games you could add into this that would be relevant and fun (a.k.a, I suck and I am not sure how to approach them yet). So, I wanted to make this to show that it doesn't actually disrupt the integrity of the story itself. We're already given the precedence for a system like this to exist because the Producer is seen constantly at the studio at night, and with how I built the system (context wise), it doesn't deviate from his responsibilities either. Note: Also, keep in mind I'm no artist, so the only assets I used to make this was what was already shipped with the game. So, a lot of stuff just serves as placeholders, which I'll explain later. The System:Ok, so the actual system is built upon the basic idea of event planning and management. That's essentially what this game revolves around so far, and since we're not really going to get much more than that until future beta releases, that's what I went with (but I made it expandable so that it can fit into different themes). So, you'll probably recognize this from the part where you choose your center. I wanted to use the chibis for this system, but they're superimposed onto the CGs and don't come with their own little nifty png's, so I just settled to use these easy-to-manipulate poses. Ignoring the background, my main idea was for this entire system to exist within the realm of a computer screen. It's 2017 or whatever, and this dude doesn't strike me as someone who lives in the stone age, so it makes sense for all of this management to be modernized. You could probably use a complicated combination of frames, boxes, and imagemaps to make something that actually looks like an OS while maintaining the ability to easily use the live compositing (of the characters, less art assets you have to make) on screens (I suggest this because it makes the delineation of tasks between multiple screens cleaner). But, if this were to be a continual system that players use, you don't want it to be tedious or long-winded, so just using one-click areas is probably enough to navigate through it to one screen that is essentially a vertical list of the seven girls. Then, you could do something like show the week horizontally to setup their schedules (or just make it a one-character-per-screen type deal and make it more involved). This is essentially what I've made in my example (the one-character style thing): you just choose between the girls, setup the activities, and then click on them to go back to the selection, and hit the menu button to leave it. So, this is a pretty shitty demo of what I was talking about, but shrug. So, as you can see, the different "events" correspond to the different stats that each girl can have. I hope I don't have to further explain the waterfall-esque effect that comes from this (the different affection events that can occur statically or randomly from doing certain events, etc.) Small side-note, I did figure out a sure-fire way of calculating the correct height to place the girls' images at so they don't look like they're floating or something, but that doesn't really apply here. In my example here, the buttons (the yoga-ball images) just increase the stats because I was lazy and didn't want to make an actual story event, but that's easily changeable so that it manages different events that play out once you finish the schedule. I made it relatively compartmentalized as well so that each girl has her own character object that manages the different stats using a dictionary (so that it's easy to add/remove stats). You could probably combine these with the live compositing functions so that you can manipulate everything from individual objects (which just makes it a little bit cleaner). This is just a really simple example of how you could attach another menu type deal to the main game so you can see the girls' stats without having to go into the mess of the other setup. It's not really anything special or anything you'd actually want to put in a finished product, but hopefully it at least serves as an idea. I'm not really sure if I need to say anything else about this garbo I created, and I do realize that this is a beta for a reason, so I'm not making this out of spite or anything. I really just wanted to try and help a little bit more by giving an actual example of a type of system you could implement. This, in conjunction with actual dialogue options and what-not, can play into who becomes the center, how well the group does on their first PV, etc. It adds that little bit of difficulty/management that some people might be looking for from the Sunrider games. Minigames:Since this seems to be something that people think is a good idea to include, I figured I'd just address it in relation to my system real quick. It's pretty obvious where you can put some of these (like the game show: when you're doing the course make it like a button-reaction sequence or something to progress as a selected girl). How well you do in these games can affect how much stats or affection you get or whatever, stuff like that. Um, I think that's it. This all kinda came out of no where, so, hope you like-it-please-don't-ban-me-for-doing-this-magpie-thanks. I can include my edited files as well in case you want to look at what I made more closely.
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Post by harmtouch on Feb 26, 2017 19:57:49 GMT -8
Another bug to be aware of (at least for the beta since I imagine this probably won't come up too much in the release) is that if you turn on fast skip, since the game doesn't really have any "important" moments, it shoots itself into an infinite loop trying to skip through the game.
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/common.rpy", line 7164, in script
hide mik with dissolve
Exception: Possible infinite loop.
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\bootstrap.py", line 295, in bootstrap
renpy.main.main()
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\main.py", line 487, in main
run(restart)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\main.py", line 147, in run
renpy.execution.run_context(True)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\execution.py", line 761, in run_context
context.run()
File "game/common.rpy", line 7164, in script
hide mik with dissolve
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\execution.py", line 56, in check_infinite_loop
raise Exception("Possible infinite loop.")
Exception: Possible infinite loop.
Windows-8-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.99.12.3.2114
ShiningSongStarnova 0.2
Edit: What would people think of a "stat" system that the Producer manages through his computer at night? It would fill the time gaps well I think, and similar to Sunrider Academy, there would be more time to develop character and plot through the management of what events you do for each character: singing, dancing, etc. I've been thinking for the past couple of days about what kind of system would fit in the best, but also be weighty enough to be worth it. Would like other people's opinions on if that'd seem like a good idea. (Note: I'm not saying I'm going to be adding this to the game, just contemplating on what might be fun = p.)
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Post by harmtouch on Feb 26, 2017 4:05:42 GMT -8
Found some technical error while messing around with calibrating an xbox 360 controller. Specs: - Windows 10 - Beginning of the game when we're fading into the Quasar live. - I think the problem happens when I open up the save menu (using the start button) and then go out of it. The game seems to freeze once I get out of the menu. - Traceback 1:
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/common.rpy", line 36, in script
window show dissolvemedium
File "renpy/common/000window.rpy", line 143, in execute_window_show
_window_show(trans)
File "renpy/common/000window.rpy", line 60, in _window_show
renpy.with_statement(trans)
TypeError: 'unicode' object is not callable
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\bootstrap.py", line 295, in bootstrap
renpy.main.main()
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\main.py", line 487, in main
run(restart)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\main.py", line 147, in run
renpy.execution.run_context(True)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\execution.py", line 761, in run_context
context.run()
File "game/common.rpy", line 36, in script
window show dissolvemedium
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 1706, in execute
self.call("execute")
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 1724, in call
return renpy.statements.call(method, parsed, *args, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\statements.py", line 145, in call
return method(parsed, *args, **kwargs)
File "renpy/common/000window.rpy", line 143, in execute_window_show
_window_show(trans)
File "renpy/common/000window.rpy", line 60, in _window_show
renpy.with_statement(trans)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\exports.py", line 1381, in with_statement
return renpy.game.interface.do_with(trans, paired, clear=clear)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2077, in do_with
clear=clear)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2507, in interact
repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2727, in interact_core
new_widget=layers_root)
TypeError: 'unicode' object is not callable
Windows-8-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.99.12.3.2114
ShiningSongStarnova 0.2
Traceback 2:
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/common.rpy", line 46, in script
"A vast sea of neon glow sticks continued on to infinity."
TypeError: 'unicode' object is not callable
-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------
Full traceback:
File "game/common.rpy", line 46, in script
"A vast sea of neon glow sticks continued on to infinity."
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 613, in execute
renpy.exports.say(who, what, interact=self.interact)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\exports.py", line 1147, in say
who(what, interact=interact)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\character.py", line 877, in __call__
self.do_display(who, what, cb_args=self.cb_args, **display_args)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\character.py", line 716, in do_display
**display_args)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\character.py", line 508, in display_say
rv = renpy.ui.interact(mouse='say', type=type, roll_forward=roll_forward)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\ui.py", line 285, in interact
rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2507, in interact
repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\Fintan\Desktop\Everything\ShiningSongStarnova-2.0-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 2727, in interact_core
new_widget=layers_root)
TypeError: 'unicode' object is not callable
Windows-8-6.2.9200
Ren'Py 6.99.12.3.2114
ShiningSongStarnova 0.2
- I tried redoing it and the same problem happened a couple of times.
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Post by harmtouch on Feb 25, 2017 19:16:00 GMT -8
Ok, I finally finished my first run-through of the game. There's a lot in there, so give it a read and reply back with any comments or questions you have regarding what I put in there! Overall, I enjoyed the changes made to the first chapter and the addition of the second chapter, but I think the ending of the second chapter was rushed a bit. First Playthrough Feedback
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Post by harmtouch on Feb 24, 2017 23:32:38 GMT -8
I really don't know how to break it to you guys, but it seems that Natsuki lost her legs in a horrible accident. My prayers are with you Nat... (Full feedback coming later)
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 13, 2016 20:18:35 GMT -8
Ava: 997 Asaga: 1011 (+5) Chigara: 992 Cosette: 997 Icari: 1010 (-3) Claude: 999 (-1) Kryska: 994 Sola: 999 (-1)
/wavelikecrazyman at bigfoot
hiiii, college sucks D =
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 12, 2016 20:21:33 GMT -8
Ava Crescentia: 1002 Asaga Oakrun: 1005 (+5) Chigara Ashada: 996 Cosette Cosmos: 996 Icari Isidolde: 1003 (-2) Claude Triello: 1001 (-2) Kriska Stares: 994 Sola: 1003 (-1)
How is Asaga not getting any love?! She had the best (Return?) route out of any of them.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 12, 2016 20:17:32 GMT -8
A middle finger for making me click through that.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 11, 2016 13:40:19 GMT -8
Ava Crescentia: 1002 (-3) Asaga Oakrun: 1005 (+5) Chigara Ashada: 1000 Cosette Cosmos: 998 (-1) Icari Isidolde: 998 Claude Triello: 1000 Kriska Stares: 997 (-1) Sola: 1000
(I hope I did that right)
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 11, 2016 13:34:21 GMT -8
A picture of myself to fit the frame of your mirror.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 10, 2016 11:27:05 GMT -8
They've been swayed by the weeb.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 9, 2016 21:35:40 GMT -8
I chose Julie cause she seems appealing at the moment, don't know much about them yet though, so we'll see how her story plays out xD.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 9, 2016 16:03:36 GMT -8
This might be a temporary solution at the moment, but would it be possible to put screenshots in their own folder instead of in the main folder? It's purely an organizational gripe, but it helps keep it clean for people who aren't overly familiar with computers (and those of us that don't like messy folders xD). I believe this is a consistency thing as there will always a '\ShiningSongStarnova' for screenshots to be saved to however issues may arise for example if a user wanted to define a network path location but their local permissions may lead to issues with saving content. Maybe we could do something like a menu option that shortcuts to the local game folder containing the screenshots? That way you could re order them at ease and less tech savy users would have a quick method of accessing them. We shall see. Yeah, I just meant a folder within the directory like "\ShiningSongStarnova\Screenshots". I don't think anything more than that would be necessary.
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Post by harmtouch on Dec 9, 2016 15:30:34 GMT -8
Hullo~ I just finished getting through the beta and I enjoyed it a lot = ). There are a few things I'll note in the list below, but overall I think the hard work payed off~ Note: I'm playing on Windows 10. Minor Things: - There were some misspellings in the beta, but it's nothing too big. One example is when Julie is walking back with Producer (after being caught with the businessman): She says "Aren't you're the one in hot water here?"
- To go off of that, there are a few minor grammatical hiccups (apart from the overuse of complex dependent clauses, which most of the time end up as comma splices). An example is the use of punctuation inside of parentheticals; I'll see if I can find the exact spot after I post this (sorry I can't remember exactly where it was). But, punctuation is typically put outside of the parenthetical statement because the sentence should still read grammatically correct if you cut it out.
- This might be a temporary solution at the moment, but would it be possible to put screenshots in their own folder instead of in the main folder? It's purely an organizational gripe, but it helps keep it clean for people who aren't overly familiar with computers (and those of us that don't like messy folders xD). I'm perfectly fine doing this myself, but it's probably easier to do it through Python.
- I assume that some of these sound effects will be moved around or changed, and I'm not sure at what pace other people read through visual novels, but some of them seemed lined up too close to each other (since a lot of them are the same sound clip). For example, when Mariya is gagging off-stage (before their live performance), her sound effect is used around 4 times or so in the space of about 8-10 lines. And, since I don't use the automatic progression option, I got all of them in the span of something like 5-7 seconds. It's not that big of a problem for most people, but I only noted it since it was the same exact sound repeated in a short time frame.
Slightly Less Minor Things (a.k.a story/content stuff): - I'm slightly confused as to what specific point of view you want to put across to players/readers. Maybe it's just me that had questions about this, but when we enter the story, the perspective is structured by Sasami (ignoring that we actually enter with Mariya's p.o.v), but we quickly shift to Mr. Producer's head-space with tinges of ownership by Sasami (what I mean by this is we have the "first" person perspective of Mr. Producer as the center point, but there were a few times where we got blank Narrator narration that seemed to come from no one's voice and Sasami's voice). At first, it seems like you're trying to frame this story as Sasami's (since she is the only character giving us a perspective of this as something that already happened), but my main guess as to why this is, is that you're trying to "make" the story "ours" (the players/readers) and you're using Sasami as our "guide", but it felt slightly awkward to me.
- I'm not sure what time space the introduction is supposed to exist in either (in response to a point I made above). It was clear that Mariya and Sasami didn't know each other at that point, but in the "present" of that scene, Sasami drew us back (out of the illusion of being inside the story's world) and introduced us to the actual "story." I'm not sure if this was just a temporary beta frame for the rest of the novel, but that just left me wondering the whole time what context that scene was supposed to play. And maybe it's just something that's going to be explored later, but I'm still not sure how their lack of relationship at that point lines up with them not recognizing each other or making a comment about it in the actual story.
- I'm hoping I'm not the only one on this, but I was extremely confused by Nemu's fake yandere scene after she wouldn't answer her phone (I think it was a couple days before the live performance). I was all for it, and then we get this sudden pull back of like "as if!" I think it all happened in the Producer's head (like a gag or joke or something), but no one even mentions it afterwards. The Producer doesn't end it like a joke story he was telling, and none of the other members seem to even know about it. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a small development for Nemu and kind of expand her character a bit, but it seems to come out of no where and then disappear like it never even existed in the first place.
Sorry if this all sounded super critical~ I did really enjoy it, but I figured you'd want actual feedback and not just blind praise~ I'll add more stuff as I think about it, good luck!
- Harmtouch
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