VN Ren'Py One Lie [v0.11.0] [Wooden Donkeys]

[Quetzzz]

P.S. You are welcome to download it from here and play through it. Use the walkthrough to check all the routes. That was one thing I kind of messed up. Routing is not the easiest to figure out, because I had no idea how to do it right. Or use the Joker's mod to just go for the harem route.

Here are my notes until early chapter 2. I quit when Mike's tongue found its way in Julie's throat. I have zero interest in pursuing Julie romantically, but I also didn't pursue Anh. My Mike reluctantly forgave Julie, and to me, it makes no sense that he's suddenly returning her love.
You have something here, it's a good idea, and as an entirely kinetic story it would've worked fine. But, players are given choices, and the narrative fails to follow-through on them. What's worse, critical character development is obscured early on by a time skip. For instance, Mike's attitude toward Anh becomes warm after a time skip of a few days. This is progression that I would have loved to see and experience. Maybe it would've let me feel what Mike feels for her. The narrative concerning Julie goes from being angry at her to missing her without any real context or self-awareness. But more on that in my notes below.

The below are my thoughts and impressions while I was playing through the game. I get frustrated at points and go on a few rants (Mostly about Julie). The few bugs I've encountered, I'll mark in red.

Spoiler: play-by-play

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[Vollezar]

Good on ya. Now you know the actual story and even covered the majority of issues. But unlike you, I'm only on the best friend's path, which is also all kinds of fucked up and at some point, I need to do like you did and catch up on this. But you only did this to push it in my face that you did replay it. I personally don't have that motivation.

But anyway, at least you know the actual story. Story-wise it's ok, but with a shit ton of inconsistencies that didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Don't congratulate him. He still didn't play the game. Once again skipped through it, pausing occasionally to get snippets of the dialogue.
He never will play it. He already has a biased view on it and it's not going to change. That's fine. I have no idea why he is so insistent on proving to me, each time, that he never played the game in the first place. If he does not like it, that's fine. I never expected anyone at all to like it. But he never even played it, beyond skipping through the whole thing.
Again, I don't care about his opinion on it, as he has not played it.

He believes that Julie telling MC about her crush on him and her lying to Sharon that she and MC are having sex, thus meaning that MC is a cheater, should have the same reaction from MC.
He believes that all stories should be written and catered to him. Only the choices that he wants should be given to him, fuck the story, HE is the one who should be pleased and that's all.
The basic fact that I have far more people telling me that they are happy with the story and can't wait to see more of it means that his, absolutely invalid "review and opinion", has zero meaning to me. I am just having fun at his expense, watching him try so hard to prove to me that he is an utter idiot, who should have given his "opinion" and left it be. Instead, he seems to follow me around the internet trying his best to prove that he never played the game. Not sure why he took not liking my game as such an affront to him. Who the hell cares? I hated Fallout 4, but I am not hunting down the devs because of it. It's a fucking game. I'll just stick to replaying New Vegas or find another game.
Anyway.

Here are a couple of renders from our "Girl of the month" contest. Enjoy.

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

Don't congratulate him. He still didn't play the game. Once again skipped through it, pausing occasionally to get snippets of the dialogue.
He never will play it. He already has a biased view on it and it's not going to change. That's fine. I have no idea why he is so insistent on proving to me, each time, that he never played the game in the first place. If he does not like it, that's fine. I never expected anyone at all to like it. But he never even played it, beyond skipping through the whole thing.
Again, I don't care about his opinion on it, as he has not played it.

He believes that Julie telling MC about her crush on him and her lying to Sharon that she and MC are having sex, thus meaning that MC is a cheater, should have the same reaction from MC.
He believes that all stories should be written and catered to him. Only the choices that he wants should be given to him, fuck the story, HE is the one who should be pleased and that's all.
The basic fact that I have far more people telling me that they are happy with the story and can't wait to see more of it means that his, absolutely invalid "review and opinion", has zero meaning to me. I am just having fun at his expense, watching him try so hard to prove to me that he is an utter idiot, who should have given his "opinion" and left it be. Instead, he seems to follow me around the internet trying his best to prove that he never played the game. Not sure why he took not liking my game as such an affront to him. Who the hell cares? I hated Fallout 4, but I am not hunting down the devs because of it. It's a fucking game. I'll just stick to replaying New Vegas or find another game.
Anyway.

Here are a couple of renders from our "Girl of the month" contest. Enjoy.
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View attachment 3408427

Yeah. You're right. I pretty much wrote him off. As he only did it to rub it in my face. I will get back to this game at some point, I just still have some issues with how things played out with Alex and Julie, even though I'm on Julie's solo romance path.

 

[Vollezar]

Yeah. You're right. I pretty much wrote him off. As he only did it to rub it in my face. I will get back to this game at some point, I just still have some issues with how things played out with Alex and Julie, even though I'm on Julie's solo romance path.

I understand people's reaction to it. From my personal view, I don't mind them kissing, or Julie and Anh kissing. But it is a turn-off to many people. More people than I thought there would be.
It is one of the reasons why I put the game on Steam. I am hoping to get enough funding, not just for the new game, but to remake One Lie to how I wanted it to be originally and to fix some of the issues, like this one, that require more than just shoving in a choice here and there. Things would have to be rewritten to accommodate this one, as well as a few other ones.

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

I understand people's reaction to it. From my personal view, I don't mind them kissing, or Julie and Anh kissing. But it is a turn-off to many people. More people than I thought there would be.
It is one of the reasons why I put the game on Steam. I am hoping to get enough funding, not just for the new game, but to remake One Lie to how I wanted it to be originally and to fix some of the issues, like this one, that require more than just shoving in a choice here and there. Things would have to be rewritten to accommodate this one, as well as a few other ones.

Well, almost 1k copies sold is a good start.

 

[Vollezar]

Well, almost 1k copies sold is a good start.

It's... Yeah, not so good. Can't say too much because NDA, but even if there are 5000 copies sold by the end of the month it leaves me nowhere.
I wasn't expecting anything when I put it on sale. Just trying to see if I can raise some money to do things right.

 

[Old Grumpy Wolf]

It's... Yeah, not so good. Can't say too much because NDA, but even if there are 5000 copies sold by the end of the month it leaves me nowhere.
I wasn't expecting anything when I put it on sale. Just trying to see if I can raise some money to do things right.

I get it. Once you start addin up the costs related, plus the 30+% fee per whatever. You're left around +/-20%, then add in electric costs, which have skyrocketed every where. I think you can afford a nice bagel with butter. Forget the cream cheese though.

 

[Quetzzz]

but to remake One Lie to how I wanted it to be originally and to fix some of the issues, like this one, that require more than just shoving in a choice here and there. Things would have to be rewritten to accommodate this one, as well as a few other ones.

While I wasn't happy with the narrative, I'll keep an eye out on the rework, and wish you the best.

The basic fact that I have far more people telling me that they are happy with the story and can't wait to see more of it means that his, absolutely invalid "review and opinion", has zero meaning to me.

That's one way to deal with criticism, I guess. Re-reading his review, there are several points where I agree with him. Julie goes from having Alex steal her first kiss, to a deepthroating nympho after Mike forgives her. There's no real buildup. One day they're not on speaking terms, a few days later they're moving in together. There are a few examples of this where characters change their behavior or mind, without any explanation or exposition for the player of why and how.
And sure, maybe this game just isn't for me. Personally, all I wanted was a Platonic relationship with Julie, rebuild the trust that was lost, and go from there. The game having choices let me believe that I had a say in how things were going to turn out... But that didn't happen.

(I don't mean the following as accusatory or demeaning.)
If you want to tell an opinionated story, then don't have choices that impact more than the dialog. You could easily get rid of Anh and Alex, and just tell the kinetic story of Mike and Julie, how she hurt him and then fought to regain his trust, eventually living happy ever after. I'd love to play that story, just not the way it's currently packaged or told.
You can even keep Ahn and Alex, and make their inclusion a single informed decision for the player. Does he have feelings for Ahn yes/no. Not the constant flip-flopping and hinting at taking things slow, when she just ends up with Alex anyway.

I'll probably replay this game in a few weeks and go on Anh's path, since (after reading the code) this seems to unlock the "I forgive you, but..." option. My main issue with Anh (as I wrote in my notes), is that the player doesn't really get to know her. She's just there, and suddenly the MC thinks she's cute.
The early game had me hooked, you had me feel what the characters felt, the loss and betrayal. The characterization was spot-on, but (for me) it all went downhill with Bobbie's encounter, and with Mike suddenly having already forgiven Julie in his mind, after he sees her in the restaurant. And, I know I'm repeating myself, but a story that builds up to that is so much more interesting for it. (Again, in my opinion.)

 

[Vollezar]

Julie goes from having Alex steal her first kiss, to a deepthroating nympho after Mike forgives her. There's no real buildup. One day they're not on speaking terms, a few days later they're moving in together.

They have been best friends almost all of their lives. They know almost everything about each other. To add to that, Julie has had a crush on him since childhood and has been lusting after him for a very long time. It is mentioned a number of times, in the game, just how lustful she was for him. Even her aunt mentions that Julie is MIss Hump-a-lot for her frequent masturbation ( to fantasies of MC, presumably). She couldn't wait to have sex with him.

How exactly is her not ever having had a kiss before the scene with Alex a strange thing?

 

[Quetzzz]

How exactly is her not ever having had a kiss before the scene with Alex a strange thing?

That's not the point I'm trying to make. And, I know there's a line in there where Julie mentions training with her dildo as well.

My issue is that she's immediately skilled as if she has years of experience, and that Mike has no 2nd thoughts about being intimate with her right away. (Even more if the player decided to not immediately forgive Julie, indicating there are lingering trust issues.)
I understand that she wants to have sex with him, that she's yearning for it. At the same time, we've often seen Julie as being meek and afraid, yet here she does a 180 and pretty much jumps Mike, almost as if she's manic. There's still a difference between a dildo and an actual dick as well. She'd have no idea/experience of how sensitive a real penis is, and even less of an idea if what she's doing feels good for Mike. Her dildo wouldn't be able to say if she was too rough or doing it wrong, after all. It makes sense for her to be careful, a bit doubtful, and to check in with Mike if what she's doing feels right.

With the later reveal about the abuse Mike suffered, it's even weirder how quickly he got over what Julie did. Julie's skills are in question, not her behavior, but Mike's behavior is in question as well. I find it difficult to unify the different versions of Mike in a single personality. He tends to flip-flop based on whom he talks to. To Anh he'll say he doesn't know what to think, but to himself he'll say he's already forgiven her. And abused-Mike doesn't seem to exist in the early half of the game, at all. Only if Mike is with Anh, he'll tell Julie that he has difficulty trusting her again (he's not refusing Julie because he's with Anh, specifically!), and on Julie's path this rebuilding trust is entirely absent.

My experience of this would've been a lot different if the game had asked me my interpretation when Mike sees Julie again for the first time, and follow-through on that option. (Or the reverse, with Mike being consistent and working through things without player input at all.) When he sees her talking to Jake, the game could've asked how Mike(the player) thinks about Julie being there. At this point he's missing Julie, which is normal (and well written!). He's grieving their lost friendship, but that doesn't mean he can't still be angry with her, or from seeing her following him to college as an intrusion, making him angrier. Or, he could see it as the desperate act that Julie meant it as, and feel compassion, triggering him to forgive her over time. It's extra work, but it would only change dialog, and it would avoid you having to write dialog that could fit any scenario (hence the flip-flopping).

 

[m0us3r]

I was very much disappointed by the developer's behavior. Disagreements are natural. And you don't need to like criticism, especially expressed from the player's point of view rather than advice on how to improve the game. But throwing imaginary feces at people just because they pointed at your failures is not constructive at all.

In my review I said clearly that I was interested in good story, not in skipping through to lewd scenes. So it's actually the developer who commented without reading what he commented on.

Sapienti sat!

PS. Personal attacks (as offense and slander) are violation of the site rules and will be reported.

 

[Vollezar]

I was very much disappointed by the developer's behavior. Disagreements are natural. And you don't need to like criticism, especially expressed from the player's point of view rather than advice on how to improve the game. But throwing imaginary feces at people just because they pointed at your failures is not constructive at all.

In my review I said clearly that I was interested in good story, not in skipping through to lewd scenes. So it's actually the developer who commented without reading what he commented on.

Sapienti sat!

PS. Personal attacks (as offense and slander) are violation of the site rules and will be reported.

When did I comment on your review?

 

[m0us3r]

When did I comment on your review?

You did not comment on the review, that's the point. Discussing the game and its reviews can be useful, both for the developer and players, to understand better the ideas and how they were implemented and then perceived.
You dismissed the contents of two reviews, saying: "Both of those tossers did not actually play the game. They skipped through everything looking for sex scenes."
Now after editing the post is much less abusive, but still wrong. Actually reading my review could tell you that I did play the game. Moreover, I looked into the script e.g. to see conditions for hooking up with Ahn, etc. That's how I was able to say that both first MC's replies to Ahn should be "Sorry".
I admit that my review was not well balanced. I see good things in the game, and even more potential. Yet I focused more on negative aspects, because I wanted it to be better, to actually manifest that potential. The premise is good. I can imagine such events happening. But then MC is not really that kind and understanding. Breaking with Julie, he was totally self-centered, even though that's understandable considering the emotional hit he got from both girls (the girlfriend and BFF). And yes, people can have blind spots, rather imagining their partners than actually seeing them. In general, I like the idea, it's interesting. But the execution IMHO lacks... I'd say, subtlety and precision.
To your defense, very few AVNs dare to actually explore nuances of human relationships, and even fewer really get them right.

 

[Joshy92]

I like this game.
I bought it on steam and am really happy with it.

 

[Elduriel]

I like this game.
I bought it on steam and am really happy with it.

naturally, it has some really nice butts in it

 

[Vollezar]

naturally, it has some really nice butts in it

with hearts on them too.

 

[BogoHobo]

Hey Vollezar...Enjoying the game thus far. Many thanks for your efforts.
I read back a couple of pages in the thread but didn't see anything so I thought I would just ask. Any hint as to when you may be releasing the the next update? Best guess?

 

[Dessolos]

I just started to play this game today. I like it so far but also a little confused on something. I notice MC is calling / referring to Julie FC sometimes is this a nickname or did I miss something. Cause if I didn't miss something it kinda feels random like it came out of no where.

 

[K.T.L.]

I just started to play this game today. I like it so far but also a little confused on something. I notice MC is calling / referring to Julie FC sometimes is this a nickname or did I miss something. Cause if I didn't miss something it kinda feels random like it came out of no where.

'Tis undoubtedly a bug. At a guess, FC is the variable used to store the name of the female character. Without looking at the script, I'd say it looks as if the dev forgot to enclose the variable name in square brackets in some places so no interpolation took place.

 

[Vollezar]

I just started to play this game today. I like it so far but also a little confused on something. I notice MC is calling / referring to Julie FC sometimes is this a nickname or did I miss something. Cause if I didn't miss something it kinda feels random like it came out of nowhere.

As K.T.L. Said. It's just a bug. Been trying to find all of those instances but it's not the easiest thing as it turns out. We also had to switch that variable to something else, recently, making it even harder. Surprising how hard this sort of thing to catch up to. even in such a small game.