VN Ren'Py Race of Life [Act 1 v1.02] [Underground Studio]

Jericho85 · Jan 19, 2025

cooldevo said:
You may want to go back and review the first few scenes of the game then. It's where they set up her backstory professionally and romantically.

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

She's very intricate to the battery project. This is just the first few screens after leaving the classroom.

I'm not sure I'd call that very substantial involvement. That's a little something though.

Here's another way to look at it though.. What is Veronica's arc? What is it that make's her matter in the grand scheme of things? There are many inter-related subplots in the story that we mentioned earlier (Lily, Maggie, The Racing, The Battery Project).

Here's where the main girls stand assuming you're not on anyone's path:

Natalya = Directly involved with the Battery Project. May or may not be a corporate spy
Jasmine = Directly involved with the Battery project as MC's assistant, and also involved in the Racing scene.
Allie = Ex Wife. Directly involved with LIly's treatment.
Maggie = The developing situation with her mother and stepfather. Now with Wyatt, there's a link between Maggie's arc and Allison/Lily. Also has a link to the battery project through douchebag stepfather.

Then Veronica: Fuck Buddy. She helped MC with funding the battery project prior to the story, and has been MC's FWB for about 6 months. She's out of the picture entirely by chapter 2 if you don't take her path.

See what I mean? Independent of romance branches, all of the other main girls are directly involved with developing aspects of the main story except for Veronica. Her "story arc" thus far is almost exclusively the "FWB/girlfriend character". Any subsequent involvement with the main story is predicated by whether MC makes the relationship with her official. Even then, she simply gets plugged into events that would have otherwise happened without her.

Fuck, even several side girls have more significance than Veronica.

cooldevo · Jan 19, 2025

Jericho85 said:
I'm not sure I'd call that very substantial involvement. That's a little something though.

Here's another way to look at it though.. What is Veronica's arc? What is it that make's her matter in the grand scheme of things? There are many inter-related subplots in the story that we mentioned earlier (Lily, Maggie, The Racing, The Battery Project).

Here's where the main girls stand assuming you're not on anyone's path:

Natalya = Directly involved with the Battery Project. May or may not be a corporate spy
Jasmine = Directly involved with the Battery project as MC's assistant, and also involved in the Racing scene.
Allie = Ex Wife. Directly involved with LIly's treatment.
Maggie = The developing situation with her mother and stepfather. Now with Wyatt, there's a link between Maggie's arc and Allison/Lily. Also has a link to the battery project through douchebag stepfather.

Then Veronica: Fuck Buddy. She helped MC with funding the battery project prior to the story, and has been MC's FWB for about 6 months. She's out of the picture entirely by chapter 2 if you don't take her path.

See what I mean? Independent of romance branches, all of the other main girls are directly involved with developing aspects of the main story except for Veronica. Her "story arc" thus far is almost exclusively the "FWB/girlfriend character". Any subsequent involvement with the main story is predicated by whether MC makes the relationship with her official. Even then, she simply gets plugged into events that would have otherwise happened without her.

Fuck, even several side girls have more significance than Veronica.

That's just the first few slides post-first classroom. I didn't go further in, but there is a lot more.

I don't think you have done an arc with her in it. Keep her around, then tell me the same thing. She's often in scenes at the office doing paperwork, working on the laptop, 'helping' the MC write presentations/proposals. Exactly what an English professor would excel at. She can also attend the investor party, as well as the Conference where she does a very good job according to the story.

jadepaladin · Jan 19, 2025

cooldevo said:
That's just the first few slides post-first classroom. I didn't go further in, but there is a lot more.

I don't think you have done an arc with her in it. Keep her around, then tell me the same thing. She's often in scenes at the office doing paperwork, working on the laptop, 'helping' the MC write presentations/proposals. Exactly what an English professor would excel at. She can also attend the investor party, as well as the Conference where she does a very good job according to the story.

I really want to agree with this. V is obviously part of the reason the MC gets that initial big grant. She does help with the battery project more if you're on her route and it's in a support role. I don't think the conference should count as a victory for her because it's also a victory for anyone you bring. I was actually hoping that one choice would be better than the other when it came to the conference but it wasn't meant to be. He could have brought Cooper and gotten similar results. The journey is dialogue different depending on LI choice but the results are the same.

Jericho85 · Jan 19, 2025

cooldevo said:
That's just the first few slides post-first classroom. I didn't go further in, but there is a lot more.

I don't think you have done an arc with her in it. Keep her around, then tell me the same thing. She's often in scenes at the office doing paperwork, working on the laptop, 'helping' the MC write presentations/proposals. Exactly what an English professor would excel at. She can also attend the investor party, as well as the Conference where she does a very good job according to the story.

This proves my point.

cooldevo · Jan 19, 2025

jadepaladin said:
I really want to agree with this. V is obviously part of the reason the MC gets that initial big grant. She does help with the battery project more if you're on her route and it's in a support role. I don't think the conference should count as a victory for her because it's also a victory for anyone you bring. I was actually hoping that one choice would be better than the other when it came to the conference but it wasn't meant to be. He could have brought Cooper and gotten similar results. The journey is dialogue different depending on LI choice but the results are the same.

Oh you are right. Just showing how the 'story' shows it as a success if she goes. But it really seems to be meaningless.

It's the same at the investor party. Allie, it says, would be fantastic at navigating the people there as it's right up her alley. But other than the conversation changes, does the investment interest actually change if you take Allie, V, or any of the others? I think it just gets you relationship points with whomever you take.

jadepaladin · Jan 19, 2025

cooldevo said:
Oh you are right. Just showing how the 'story' shows it as a success if she goes. But it really seems to be meaningless.

It's the same at the investor party. Allie, it says, would be fantastic at navigating the people there as it's right up her alley. But other than the conversation changes, does the investment interest actually change if you take Allie, V, or any of the others? I think it just gets you relationship points with whomever you take.

Yep it's just points (and that Veronica cheating flag if on her route). Another minor disappointment for me. Was hoping Allie would get to flex and have a better outcome. Jasmine feels like objectively the worst choice to bring to the ball but she also does well so it's all moot. Not even gonna talk about Nat.

cooldevo · Jan 19, 2025

Jericho85 said:
This proves my point.

That she is actively involved in the battery project? Absolute it proves that she's a core component. Without the grant and thesis, you think the project would exist? MC doesn't like the paperwork and doesn't do well at it, and even tells V that at the beginning.

It's no different if you reject any of the 'optional' battery project LIs. If you shoot down Natalya, she becomes meaningless to the battery project as she won't be around and may not go to the conference. So that puts her at the same level as V then. Maggie even less so, as she's not involved at all in the project. Best she's done is take care of the dog and a massage.

Jericho85 · Jan 19, 2025

cooldevo said:
That she is actively involved in the battery project? Absolute it proves that she's a core component. Without the grant and thesis, you think the project would exist? MC doesn't like the paperwork and doesn't do well at it, and even tells V that at the beginning.

It's no different if you reject any of the 'optional' battery project LIs. If you shoot down Natalya, she becomes meaningless to the battery project as she won't be around and may not go to the conference. So that puts her at the same level as V then. Maggie even less so, as she's not involved at all in the project. Best she's done is take care of the dog and a massage.

Sorry buddy, but no. This isn't accurate. Seriously, try playing a virgin playthrough. Reject all of the sexual advances from all of the girls and try to play neutral and you'll see what I mean. You'll find that all of the girls still have developing unique story independent of their romantic paths and stay involved in the story except for Veronica.

It's true that some of the other four main LIs have less involvement than others at this stage in the story but it's more likely that they will become more significant in later chapters. For example, even if you initially refuse to help Maggie with her mom, MC still helps her anyway which leads to the confrontation with Wyatt. Natalya is still - for reasons yet unknown - trying to stay close to MC for some reason despite her very forward advances getting rejected. This implies that both characters are integral to the story in some way later on that doesn't involve their romantic paths. And Allison and Jasmine are undeniably the two most involved LIs in the story thus far.

Veronica is the only one out of the five who is out of the picture entirely unless you're romancing her. That may change at some point in the future IF she comes back from Canada and has some kind of impact the broader story apart from being the "ex-fling". But for now she has no bearing on the story outside of her romance path except for being a co-worker FWB and for helping with that grant (which happened prior to the story even starting).

Krepax · Jan 19, 2025

Veronica's redeeming moment comes in the "jealous fuck" route, where she admits she may be OK with the MC flirting with the other girls (and more than just flirting...) because when he comes back to her, she feels somehow "better" than the rest of them.

In other words, she's desperate for attention... I agree that V has become a secondary character in the current story arc, one that the MC can bring along for the occasional hot scene in between his new conquests.

Steuan · Jan 19, 2025

Maviarab said:
Jas is only really relevant to the racing story. V is actually more relevant to the battery plot than any of them.

It's not true, mister. I think you should play the game again.

The game has one main plot and two subplots connected to main plot:

The Daughter (Main plot)

The Battery (Subplot)
The Racing (Subplot)

All main girls except Maggie are relevant to the main plot and the subplots.

However, just one of them is relevant to all these subplots: Jasmine

I'll explain it further.

Jasmine

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

The Racing
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

Veronica

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Allison

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Natalya

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Maggie

The Battery
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

As you can see, V is as useless as the other main girls except Jasmine when it comes to the main plot a.k.a. the daughter plot. Perhaps, the things will change in Act II but I... really don't think so.

multihacker · Jan 20, 2025

great game. but I'm in the middle of 3rd episode and I need to ask: Is Nataliya a Russian spy?

Maccabbee · Jan 20, 2025

Steuan said:
... I think you should play the game again.

...

A lot of good stuff in there, but you had me at that line. I agree. I should play the game again!

Maccabbee · Jan 20, 2025

multihacker said:
great game. but I'm in the middle of 3rd episode and I need to ask: Is Nataliya a Russian spy?

I don't know for sure Russian, as she's also German, but my thought was definitely similar to yours. Could also be corporate espionage. There's a reason why she can't be a main girl, right? Otherwise, to me she's perfect; smart, sexy, educated, and willing for funtime.

MiltonPowers · Jan 20, 2025

Steuan said:
It's not true, mister. I think you should play the game again.

The game has one main plot and two subplots connected to main plot:

The Daughter (Main plot)

The Battery (Subplot)

The Racing (Subplot)

All main girls except Maggie are relevant to the main plot and the subplots.

However, just one of them is relevant to all these subplots: Jasmine

I'll explain it further.

Jasmine

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

The Racing
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

Veronica

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Allison

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Natalya

The Battery
On her path? YES
Not on her path? YES

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

Maggie

The Battery
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

The Racing
On her path? NO
Not on her path? NO

As you can see, V is as useless as the other main girls except Jasmine when it comes to the main plot a.k.a. the daughter plot. Perhaps, the things will change in Act II but I... really don't think so.

Oh what a surprise. The redhead involved in everything and constantly around. That's so unusual.

multihacker · Jan 20, 2025

Maccabbee said:
I don't know for sure Russian, as she's also German, but my thought was definitely similar to yours. Could also be corporate espionage. There's a reason why she can't be a main girl, right? Otherwise, to me she's perfect; smart, sexy, educated, and willing for funtime.

Eastern Germans have plenty of Russian spies back from the GDR times... look for Mrs. Merkel for example)

Maccabbee · Jan 20, 2025

multihacker said:
Eastern Germans have plenty of Russian spies back from the GDR times... look for Mrs. Merkel for example)

Very true, and she discusses that the former East Germany is where her home is. Her father being a diplomat is also a HUGE red flag.

cowardleech · Jan 20, 2025

Steuan said:
The game has one main plot and two subplots

There is a rescue Maggi's mother subplot (which is connected to Wyatt who is connect to the main daughter plot) which you take regardless of whether you're on or off Maggi's path. This subplot exists but it hasn't started in full swing yet.

Jericho85 · Jan 20, 2025

cowardleech said:
There is a rescue Maggi's mother subplot (which is connected to Wyatt who is connect to the main daughter plot) which you take regardless of whether you're on or off Maggi's path. This subplot exists but it hasn't started in full swing yet.

I think Maggie's story is where all of the others start to converge, mostly because her story has the closest involvement with the antagonists. There's Ian, who is also related to the Battery Project... There's Wyatt, who's related to the Allison/Lily plot line... And Wyatt also has a car, so he's probably going to be showing up in the racing scene at some point soon.

And then there's the mysterious Big Familiar Henchman Dude that put a gun to Jake's head... whom we don't know much about but Jake vaguely recognized his accent. So it's someone he's likely met before. I have a slim suspicion that BFHD might have been someone at the racing meetups. Jasmine mentions a "Rosie" who is the most threatening of "Honest" Toby's debt collectors, though it'd be weird for Jake to recognize an accent of a character that hasn't been introduced yet. I just can't really think of anyone else it might be. Toby might be a suspect himself?

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

Ian is clearly a man with powerful connections, influence on a corrupt local PD, and a number of dangerous men under his employ. So I don't think it's a stretch to assume there might be a link between Ian and "Honest" Toby... which is exactly what the FBI is trying to uncover by sending someone inside Toby's ring

Yellowie The Goldie · Jan 20, 2025

It could just be me but, I really really love the music/ost during the racing part of the games. Especially the second and third races you participate in, on 'Honest' Toby's turf. Second one really adds that vibe that you're like, outclassed and you know it...There's a dude there with a literal Lamborghini! Like dang.

It will probably be a long while but, I can't wait for the fourth race and see what the dev has in store, especially in the music department. It gets nailed time and time again.

Krepax · Jan 20, 2025

One thing I don't particularly like is certain hot scenes like the Maggie/Table and the Jasmine/Maid roleplay.

For me, this is a sort of "jumping the shark moment" that makes the LI less interesting afterwards. In the case of the Maggie scene, it seems it's also not possible to skip it and continue flirting with her. Meh, at least the author keeps introducing new girls to keep the MC occupied with...

VN Ren'Py Race of Life [Act 1 v1.02] [Underground Studio]

Engaged Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Engaged Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Engaged Member

Member

Super Straight

Newbie

Active Member

Active Member

Twins Basil! Twins!

Newbie

Active Member

Member

Engaged Member

Active Member

Member

zproxy.org