adamstan

Okay, this is the most 80s thing I've found so far. :3
Edit: This is Malaysian technically, but considering the language is virtually the same, I'm not surprised Spotify mix these in auto-generated playlists. 😆
 

The exploration of Indonesian 80s music (AKA "Indonesian City Pop") has begun! Fun fact, if "love" is ridiculously overused in English song titles, "Cinta" is triply so in ID music, to the point it's kind of ridiculous. Also, Ermy Kullit's greatest hit is called "Kasih"... Which also means "love". I guess there's no reason to over-complicate things... 
 

@adamstan function 0x46328
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gc42hY8MYmZJMtgrzG6PqWT6X0BBou-P2HbWnRD2jbE/

Apologies, I should have been a little more specific. I'm not saying VNs should completely move away from adult content, and there are certainly genres and individual works that benefit from such content. Rather, I'm just advocating that more VNs that focus on stories where adult content isn't necessary would be an overall positive thing. Similar to how outright censorship stifles creativity in the way you detailed, the still prevalent expectation of sexual content in many commercial VNs reinforce the opposite problem. Where romantic and sexual scenes get forced in for the marketing of an 18+ tag promising sexual content, but where it clashes with the overall focus of the story. For example, Steins;Gate, Umineko, Higurashi, etc would be objectively worse works if they had forced sexual content. There is no serious need for it in those stories. Likewise, to go with an example I used in my video, Sayooshi would be an objectively worse work without the sexual content.  
So I'm not fundamentally anti-sexual content. But I think if VNs lost the reputation of "VN = porn game", it would be overall beneficial for the medium and could attract more people (both creatives looking to work with VNs, as well as a broader audience for VNs) if that reputation for adult content weakened. 

+1000 this. All-ages version of Princess Evangile does this, and it worked great, at least for me.
Also, I wish they stopped inserting cringey, mood killing h-scenes in most random moments just to fill the quota.

@adamstan
Latest: https://github.com/0xDC00/agent/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
 


Try this script.
Note: create a new .js file inside the scripts folder and load it instead of ExecutionWatch.
globalThis._FIXED_DCODE_ = '$utf-8,|0|00,|rbx+[rbp+0x38]|4883EC28837D14000F85????????48????48????B0FEFFFF48??????????B0FEFFFF48????204C????????????4C????1848????????????48??????????78FFFFFF48'; // func 0x46328 var previousString = ''; globalThis.filters = function(s) { if (s === previousString) { console.log('>'); return null; } previousString = s; return s.replace(/\n+/g, ' '); } require('_ExecutionWatch.js'); Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14k5TBc2cAed8Fcx2fb5schlPh6Ah24dmW3dJpxvNAbc/edit#gid=0&range=E18

Currently enjoying Kinkoi, but the following dialogue went completely over my head. Does anyone have any idea what it's a reference to?



In any case, it's one of the better VNs I've read lately, although there's a weird (and somewhat creepy) bug that causes face sprites to show up separated from the heads, but it doesn't happen too often. Here's an example:

(I might've added some additional text. *cough*)

I'm not familiar with this game, but usually VNs have more than one ending (except the so-called "kinetic novels"). If you're in doubt, it's best to search for a walkthrough/guide.

Yesterday I finished Konneko. It took me 62 hours, but they got stretched over almost 4 months I played all-ages PS2 version.
As for the premise - you play as Yuu Katase, who lost his parents when being few years old. Currently he lives with Kawahara sisters - his two cousins - Touka, who is about the same age as him, and her older sister Mizuha, who works as a teacher at the school they both attend, and acts as the head of the family, since the sisters are also orphans.

Touka suffers from some misterious condition, which makes her memory "reset" from time to time. This "curse" makes central background for the game, and affects each route in one way or another. The game begins when Touka gets released from the hospital after one of such "resets". Then there's Yuu's classmate, Mana Sakurai - smart but a bit strange girl, who loves to tease Yuu, but somehow they get along, and Nako Yuuki - a bit tsundere-ish girl from neighbor class, who seems to know Yuu even though he doesn't remember her.

And finally there's Nanami - bratty blonde ojousama who moves into neighbor house, and calls Yuu her "oniichan".

And finally there are two notable side characters - Kazune Tachihara (Yuu's homeroom teacher) and Miki Kirihara - Nako's best friend:

How to sum it up...
It features quite likeable cast of characters, and I found comedic parts (which there are a lot) pretty funny. Routes get a bit more serious, going into light nakige realm - I liked it. Whole VN is based on the variations of childhood friends trope - meaning that each of the five main heroines (Touka, Mana, Nako, Mizuha and Nanami) has some past connection to the MC. That's what caught my attention, since I seem to like this trope. I'd say it's executed pretty well, and there's nice variety between routes, despite all being based on this trope. PS2 version adds two side-routes for Kazune and Miki - they branch off of the Mana's and Nako's routes. While Kazune's route was rather underwhelming (and I often found her character a bit annoying, especially due to her speaking style - she was often speaking veeeeeeryyyyy sloooooowlyyyy and in a childish way), Miki's was really good, and it also featured some nice character development for Nako.
In the console version, Nanami's route is locked until you complete all other routes. I wouldn't say it's True Route, but it explains more about the "curse" I mentioned in the beginning. It's also worth mentioning, that in the PC version Nanami's ending is borderline utsuge, since credits start rolling at a rather sad point in the story, and it clashes completely with the mood of the whole game. Console version fixes that, adding pretty long-winded post-credits epilogue for Nanami.
So, we have good parts covered, now for the drawbacks.
My first gripe is about scenario - all routes except Mizuha's and Nanami's lack epilogues - they end a bit too early for my taste. Yeah, the endings are optimistic, but I'd like to see some timeskip epilogue or sth like that.
The other ones are more about technical side and production values. First - when there's music change, the previous track gets cut abruptly, with no fade out. I found it very jarring, and it made the story feel a bit "disconnected", since the scene transitions weren't as smooth as they should. Next - this VN would definitely benefit from a bit more backgrounds, since too many scenes were played over generic street background (or even black screen). And finally - only the abovementioned characters have sprites and voices. Everyone else is invisible and silent.
Considering all of the above, it's 7.5/10 - lots of good parts and lots of drawbacks, but enjoyable.
*******************************************************
Also, as usual, I skimmed through +18 PC version. And again it was huge letdown. H-scenes felt very tacked-on, and often out of character. Right after love confession in the moonlit classroom, I feel like a kiss (PS2) is much more appropriate than going straight for a blowjob (PC). Really, those scenes were just like flipping through standard hentai catalogue. Meh...
And then there's lack of proper ending for Nanami, which seals the deal.
********************************************************
EDIT: I was wrong about Nanami's true ending in PC version - it just got relegated to the "Omake" menu.
********************************************************
For my next read, I think I'm going to choose another Maruto's work - Parfait.

@adamstan
Hmm, my DCODE (x64) contain some SSE register (xmm*), what is your processor?
Tutorial (without DCODE):
Note: exit CE or CE -> open PPSSPP again to disable CE debugger.

Imho, H-scenes which are there for 'story reasons' are the worst. It essentially means their only purpose is for shock factor to illustrate brutal rape or abuse. Which in the end is just a bad excuse to appeal to fans of hardcore fetish sex. There are much better ways to convey love or drama than H-scenes, which makes them almost by definition optional and just for eye candy.

@adamstan  Sure.
https://youtu.be/ufXbuZBAjes?list=PLTZXVVG9AT6TATy_7ey3jUkE0g35t3xtk
DCODE: (please check the wiki if the code below doesn't work.)
$utf16,2|50|0000,46??????????45??????F3??????????F3??????????41  

Hi, Agent author here.

Agent shipped with two scripts: _MemoryWatch.js & _ExecutionWatch.js
_MemoryWatch.js look like HAT? => It's look like R-Code too, but I think _MemoryWatch work better (just ~90 line of code).
_ExecutionWatch.js, D-COCE look like H-CODE (textractor, VNR)? => _ExecutionWatch support both PC and emulator. (D-CODE wiki).
If you don't like CheatEngine, please try this script.
 
Yeah, the main feature is a text hooker.
The difference:
- Agent is script based, configless.
- Agent have no limitation (for complex game (custom encoding,...DRM?), just write a custom script - developer).

what makes this different from Hook Any Text?

Potentially, there could be a censored version for Steam in the future.
 

Oh god I think I'm gonna become hella spoiled by Yuzusoft
I forgot that they actually put in the effort to change character sprites to go in tandem with what whatever the characters are currently saying. Bless whoever they hired that has enough OCD to take the time to do all of that.
It actually makes me want to listen to the entire dialogue rather than doing my whole min/maxing sweetspot reading because it really does amplify the reading experience significantly.
~~
Anyways I ended up going for Riddle Joker, cuz I need me some high school superpowers
Friggen' Himawari, bless its the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-cough-Aqua-Best-Girl took a whopping the entirety of Episode One+Two for me to finally settle down and really start enjoying the narrative for what it was, but Riddle Joker was instant hook line and sinker for me and I'm enjoying everything right off the bat.
Protagonist is (first) Satoru Arihara, a combat-capable-but-slacking-in-studies realist high school boy and he's part of a secret organization of "Astrals" who seek to use their powers for the greater good, vigilante style.
His latest mission: to infiltrate the nation's first prominent Astral education/research facility.
He has a younger sister, too. Foster sister. Nanami Arihara. And man, every VN I'm reading lately is making me realize I'm simply the siscon type, godhelpme, Nanami is fantastic. She's the well meaning younger-than-protagonist-but-responsible/mature-enough-that-she-essentially-takes-care-of-him-like-an-older-sister-type, but she's very, very shy/introverted around others and will have her vulnerable moments where she'll call "Satoru-kun" the coveted "Onii-chan" instead. She's also Satoru's partner in crime in the secret organization they're in, so they have that dynamic going on for them as well. Jeez, what more can you ask for in a brother/sister relationship?

I'd go straight back to sleep all day errday, just so I could get awakened again and again and again by such a kawaii sister lel.
 
But step aside Nanami, first impression best girl hands down goes to:

Ayase Mitsukasa.

Anyone who knows me, knows pink is an automatic win, no questions asked. Pink, responsible role model, student council president...all this is about as common and standard as it gets but I shall never tire of it heh.
Now, I would've been fine with Ayase as is because I'm ez, but hoh boy this oughta be fun(SLIGHT SPOILERS):
 

I was suspecting it to be a cover but Yura is credited as the author for both melody and lyrics, so it's maybe just subtle(?) influences. Indonesian popculture in general seem pretty heavily influenced by Japanese stuff/going in similar direction over the years. Like, when I asked Ayunda Risu on a stream a few days ago if she has any music recommendation she said there's tons of Indonesian city pop-style music from the 80's. I only started digging into it, but there are even playlists on Spotify explicitly called that and the sounds are indeed pretty close.
BTW, @littleshogun, do you have any ID music recs for us?

Wow, those Indonesian songs were actually pretty nice But the melody of the second one sounded strangely familiar. Isn't it by chance cover of Japanese song?
Like, listening to Japanese pop from cassette?

Today I've been listening to Akina Nakamori again Recently I alternate between her, Ayumi Nakamura and Halina Frąckowiak

It's pretty hipster to listen to obscure Japanese pop in Poland... But is it hipster enough? Maybe we can go even deeper? Like... Indonesian pop?
 

Himawari really is a VN that can only be appreciated as a whole, not by the sum of its parts. For some reason it really took me some time (Had to finish both Ep 1 + 2; a week) to get into the "honeymoon" VN reading phase where I spend my days itching to get home so I can read some more.
Episode One was (enjoyment factor) a 5/10, a SoL sloggy grind with one of the most meh poster heroines ever via FUKO ISOGAIII Aries, with Ginga's discount S;G Okabe personality running the show not really helping either. Episode Two was a 6/10, intriguing, liked the setting/narrative change, but overall experience ruined by LOLOL YOU THOUGHT AQUA WOULD BE 100% GRISAIA YUUJI COOLIO??!! NAWWOPE!!! Watch her flail around like a headless chicken and get trolololol'd by one sided upside-down-spade shenanigans. Exaggerating, but yeah. Don't fall for the get overhype :)!!!! -> get disappoint :(!!! trap.
These two episodes combined however finally set the stage for Aqua's route, and at the end of the day I now appreciate Episode Two because it was what sowed the seeds that ultimately culminated into the rather heartfelt (and delicious!) romance between Youichi and Aqua. 9/10 enjoyment factor. 



I enjoyed Aqua x Youichi so much, I actually don't want to read the next heroine route (it's an enforced play order). Considering everything that happens in Himawari up to this point, these two MUST be the canonical pairing, right...? The story HAS to be made for them. So why wasn't Aqua's route meant to be played last...? Guess I'll find out.

+1 for Akio and Sanae being one of the ultimate best VN parents
I think I'll finally give Clannad anime a go - rereading whole VN would take up too much time, but it might be nice way to re-live the story in a different way.

Sometimes this method of blurring and resharpening gives quite nice results - it's amazing, how much those algorithms can guess. Just look how nicely that moon in the upper-right corner turned out - original 16 color:

And edited 256 one:

Also, while working on the images, I added flame to the bonfire in the evening school festival background:

Sometimes this method of blurring and resharpening gives quite nice results - it's amazing, how much those algorithms can guess. Just look how nicely that moon in the upper-right corner turned out - original 16 color:

And edited 256 one:

Also, while working on the images, I added flame to the bonfire in the evening school festival background:

Well, ok But could I perhaps ask you in the future to include at least some summary/abstract when you post your videos as thread starters? Some of the topics are interesting, but I really find it a chore to sit through video - unless it contains something that couldn't be written.
So I guess I'm the exact oposite of that:
I prefer to read lots of paragraphs than to have to watch someone tell me the same thing on the video