Also damn that's kinda fucked up. Like, really fucked up what happened to MSPAR. I guess this means we'll probably not regain our memories then, and our MSPAR will remain only in Homestuckland by the end.
hurt my hand real bad from overusing it trying to rush volume 6 out by the sahcon 2024 new years showcase (which we've got a trailer in!) -- things might slow down for the main route's development. spent today working on revising effects earlier in the game, since that's way less intense than writing new dialogue lol
with every passing update i grow more hyped for the inevitable conclusion of 6. Also, thank you for getting these out there so fast! istg every time i check there's something new i love it lol
minor vol 6 spoilers:
also i love how marvus popped in at the "go back to the main menu" message, that was silly and enjoyable. 4th wall goober
This is so good! I like how you characterize everyone and how the protag is getting a character arc and being more confident! And the bonus content is really cool! It's nice seeing how things changed in the process of making the game side by side with the memes lol.
Volume 6 spoilers:
I was just replaying volume 6 before moving onto the new stuff, and I just realized that Tyzias says Emespi's name in the call! Nice forshadowing! Also the music in the scuttlebuggy! There are so many neat details in this VN!
After the pic, is that gonna be a different MSPAR, since it has the eyelashes that usually denote a girl, and the Stump from the Land of Stumps and Dismay?
Not that I actually expect an answer, it'd be stupid to expect someone to spoil the story for the sake of one reader.
I loved this! Felt more... satisfying than the OG pesterquest, somehow, if that makes any sense...
PS. Is there any way to befriend someone (dot dot dot) ? in the current version? Looking forward to befriending them in the future if that's not the case!
Updated the build with no new content, but I finally figured out how to build on Ren'Py 8.1.3 -- we are now using the newest version of the game engine :D
omg i never got notified of this reply, yes i am :3 i come back like once a week and im like YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty kino ending, I love that Aradia is also a character that actually does things. I enjoy things happening without needing the player to be the one pushing everything from the back.
Also, I wonder if now there will be a bigger break so you can work on Dammek/Joey/whoever sprites.
mostly a break to avoid burnout :) act 1 took a lot out of us, and volume 5 ended up taking a full month
we hopefully can make do with the sprites from the hiveswap act 2 trial... the more important factor is that we're coming up on the itch.io filesize limits for browser games. we emailed them to raise the limit... if we don't get approval, we're going to have to make a version of the browser build that says "thanks for playing the demo, please download for the rest of the game" before continuing development.
anyway, please look forward to a trailer for PQR at the upcoming SAHCon new years showcase!
oh right! big new features -- revised the History page so that it's actually readable, and added a silly cut content mode that you can activate with a certain familiar keyboard shortcut...
I really liked the bad ending with Roxy, felt a lot less forced than the bad ending from the actual original PQ route (which I also did really like) and It's really cool to see the Hiveswap Roxy/Young Roxy and not done to a level where it feels like fluffy fanservice but actually what you'd expect from the character.
What was the talk about "losing one kid" though? Is this about Joey slipping through the portal or am I missing something? Regardless, love what you've done so far, I'm definitely a decent fan of your work now and will be checking in for updates all the time!
oh so thats why aradia was in my face suddenly last time i played and i hit the end of what currently exists. she is actually going to just Show Up in this route, makes sense
hell yes hell yes hell yes hell yes hell yes, no idea how i found this but as a certified mspa reader fan i approve >:) super looking forward to future updates!!
Is Damara supposed to turn into Adult Rose in the prologue route? Because she's turning into Adult Rose in the prologue arc. You might have some sprites mixed up. (Not the kernel kind.)
I found the transcripts for this on ao3 and then played the whole thing a few days back and wtf this is so good?! I never played the original pesterquest so idk how it compares to that, but the beta kids just bantering with each other is so entertaining to read. The star wars scenes at the end of Jade's route were great.
You CANNOT believe the pure hype I felt when I downloaded this latest version and saw a Joey route. Also, I wanna say how much I liked that phonehuskpalmhusk GOD DAMN PHONE joke.
Damn, how it can be so good. YOU COOKED. I really enjoyed Dave and Jade routes. It had great interactions and great scenes. Dialogue between Dave and Doomed!Dave was so funny. Especially, how they argued about art style. Prospit scene legit made me tear up.
ok its cool and all but. aradia get the fuck out of my face when i hit the end of what currently exists. i preferred the simple wip message that didnt have aradia jumpscare attached to it (this is a joke but also aradia did scare the fuck outta me when i hit the "route unfinished" message and she was just suddenly there)
like this feels like it could have been written as the comic was going on, there's no focus on the overarching context of everything or trying to immediately throw the characters in crazy what if situations while at the same time ignoring that sburb not happening doesn't mean all the things placed in advance weren't there, and the character traits that actually make the characters enjoyable are actually in full view
[SPOILERS FOR PQ AND THIS REWRITE]
like rose's route in PQ just only cares about having rose be really rude or just a major focus on how rose's mother's vices and how she feels about them (basically the entire route might as well be some crumby act 6 character development scene) and then it being a happy ending of friendship, no focus on having rose's personality come out just box ticking for good and bad ending
but here it just feels exactly what i would have imagined a light-hearted sburbless VN to be, you have a fun in-character investigation with either a confrontation that was a long time coming, or just a talk with hopes that with the stakes gone, that the barriers between them might get broken down, and instead of just a sour alternate path where rose acts condescending, it's a very fun exploration of her character by diving into the silly self insert fanfiction and ends up just bringing out a typically unseen joyous side of the character
i was a little disappointed that the text box was not an invitation to name rose "Silly Fendlesnatch" though like a toontown character
I found the transcript for this on ao3 a few days back and couldn't help but be curious and holy fuck checking this out was the best possible thing I could do?? like, I did like Pesterquest a lot but some parts of it always rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. so this whole rewrite project in general makes me go ???? fuck it's so good?? what kinda magic hoo-ha are these people smoking????
MSPAR is just a silly lil creachur here and I can't?? maybe it's just my weird attachment to them but PQR's version of them makes me cry? it's not even just them though, all of these tweenagers make me cry in this rewrite. (is that too sentimental lmao?)either way, I'm absolutely bawling about this project. I want to frame it and eat it whole, thank u <3
but yes, again, this shit is great, i would eat the art, the kids are doing well, my crops are thriving and I'm hella excited for Damara to be free and well like every other bastard that MSPAR's gonna get their befriending hands on.
I AM NOT GOING TO LIE WRITING THE John Egbert Does The Sans Neutral Route Speech AT THE END OF JADEROUTE ALSO MADE ME TEAR UP ASDJKFASKDJGASFKJHDKGHJADFKJ
Okay so this is like... exactly what I wanted out of Pesterquest when I heard about the concept??? Like the retcon shenanigans and various abstractions actually being addressed? Also I feel like the characters actually like MSPAR, and as lunaman22 said, MSPAR is much more likable. Not only that, but MSPAR feels so much more realistic as an audience surrogate here!
Honestly I could go on (and talk about how I love how genuinely compassionate John is in his route--he's such a sweetheart it actually made me emotional--or how the Reader is actually dealing with the consequences of what has happened so far--finding Dave and Jade and themself a place to stay and those newspapers clippings!--or even something as little as MSPAR's depiction on Dave's good ending--because gender-neutral is not Guy-Lite^TM) but I'll leave it here for now. All in all I'm really excited to read more going forward!!
re: the Dave ending -- originally we were tempted to have MSPAR wear a dress like Girlfriend's, but it ended up getting scrapped. Below is the sketch Flare did of that scenario :D
Also. Can I just say. The comments on this project are the NICEST I HAVE EVER RECEIVED ON ANY PROJECT I'VE EVER MADE. 😭😭😭😭😭 IT'S SO GOOD.
Just finished this and I am in love with it. I especially love what you've done with Jade. I literally met her and started to realize "oh she's really fucked up actually." I'm so excited to see what comes next(and the little WIP easter egg with Aradia and Roxy was gold)
We update it literally every day!!! If you want to know when new updates come out, I recommend joining the Nepetaquest discord, I post all new writing I do (including PQR stuff) in the #front-gate channel over there.
Made a whole ass itch.io account to comment on this.
I really like it. Really, REALLY like it. From what's out right now, it explores a lot more of the powers of Retcon, and has some smarter uses of it, like the whole mom and laboratory thing. There's also the fact that MSPAR seems more...likeable now? The fact that he finished reading the entire comic and instantly realised he needs to help people as best as he can, starting with Damara, was great. I also like that we've met up some characters that PQ should not have missed, like Spades. And the Dirk thing. Wonder how that's going to be resolved?
I'm even more excited for meeting the Hiveswap/Hauntswitch characters. These references to smaller stuff, or stuff that was ignored by the original PQ are very nice, this whole game feels like a reward for sticking with HS for all these years and consuming almost all of the content.
THIS COMMENT IS SO NICE?!??!?!??!?!??! HI ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? I LOVE THIS
THIS IS SO REWARDING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING FOR WITH THIS!!!! AHGUGH
PQ SHOULD SIMPLY BE A REWARD FOR STICKING AROUND THIS LONG AND I WANT IT TO FEEL GOOD TO PLAY!!! I WANT MSPAR TO BE A GOOBER! A LITTLE GUY
i wanted to give john agency!!! to not make MSPAR into a lying manipulator!!! to give rose's traumas time to breathe (WITHOUT mentioning alcohol once)!!!!!!!!
Glad to know what you're aiming for, and to see that you've been hitting the mark so far.
I actually like you not mentioning Roxy's alcoholism, it feels like it's just one part of a way bigger problem for their relationship. I only wish that the ending where MSPAR and Rose do their laundry was a valid ending.
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joey route done :3
The new Damara part is awesome! Bugflower413 did an amazing job on the sprites! It's really cool to see how far this project has come :-)
Volume 6 spoilers again
Also, I just realized that if Emespi's name wasn't taken, the current protag could be named Emespi Quehar (portmanteau of MSPAR and PQR)
hehehehehehee!!!! bugflower413 absolutely KILLED it with those sprites yeah :DDDDDDD
re that last thing u said:
we usually call pqrreader pqrreader..... i love "emespi quehar" as a name so much its adorable
DAMARA BACKGROUND IS IN HOLY SHIT
also been sloowwwwly wrapping up vol 6. hopefully it'll be done by sahcon but noooo guarantees :pray:
AMONG US MARVUS???
Also damn that's kinda fucked up. Like, really fucked up what happened to MSPAR. I guess this means we'll probably not regain our memories then, and our MSPAR will remain only in Homestuckland by the end.
hurt my hand real bad from overusing it trying to rush volume 6 out by the sahcon 2024 new years showcase (which we've got a trailer in!) -- things might slow down for the main route's development. spent today working on revising effects earlier in the game, since that's way less intense than writing new dialogue lol
once new main route content happens, i'll post about it in my channel on the sburb.exe/nepetaquest discord.
with every passing update i grow more hyped for the inevitable conclusion of 6. Also, thank you for getting these out there so fast! istg every time i check there's something new i love it lol
minor vol 6 spoilers:
also i love how marvus popped in at the "go back to the main menu" message, that was silly and enjoyable. 4th wall goober
This is so good! I like how you characterize everyone and how the protag is getting a character arc and being more confident! And the bonus content is really cool! It's nice seeing how things changed in the process of making the game side by side with the memes lol.
Volume 6 spoilers:
I was just replaying volume 6 before moving onto the new stuff, and I just realized that Tyzias says Emespi's name in the call! Nice forshadowing! Also the music in the scuttlebuggy! There are so many neat details in this VN!
YOU HAVE MADE MY CHRISTMAS AND IM JEWISH
le spoiler warning
After the pic, is that gonna be a different MSPAR, since it has the eyelashes that usually denote a girl, and the Stump from the Land of Stumps and Dismay?
Not that I actually expect an answer, it'd be stupid to expect someone to spoil the story for the sake of one reader.
update just came out that answers some of your immediate questions i think :3
I loved this! Felt more... satisfying than the OG pesterquest, somehow, if that makes any sense...
PS. Is there any way to befriend someone (dot dot dot) ? in the current version?
Looking forward to befriending them in the future if that's not the case!
nooott yet! joey's achievement will come at the end of volume 6 (spoiler lol)
I love it when characters in a story start realising that they might be in a story.
liking this game a lot. made me feel like I was playing the offical pesterquest for the first time all over again
hope you enjoyed todays update lol
Updated the build with no new content, but I finally figured out how to build on Ren'Py 8.1.3 -- we are now using the newest version of the game engine :D
<3
<3!!
hope you've been enjoying the new content
omg i never got notified of this reply, yes i am :3 i come back like once a week and im like YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[VOL 6 SPOILER]
it's got stelsa, it's a masterpiece.
how can u even get better than that. its not possible. might have to add like bart simpsons or something idk
snowbound blood APPARENTLY already has u covered????? wild
I love this game, i cried whit almost all the ends (im not sure if are end or what lol), hope this get more updates !! (^w^~)
Pretty kino ending, I love that Aradia is also a character that actually does things. I enjoy things happening without needing the player to be the one pushing everything from the back.
Also, I wonder if now there will be a bigger break so you can work on Dammek/Joey/whoever sprites.
mostly a break to avoid burnout :) act 1 took a lot out of us, and volume 5 ended up taking a full month
we hopefully can make do with the sprites from the hiveswap act 2 trial... the more important factor is that we're coming up on the itch.io filesize limits for browser games. we emailed them to raise the limit... if we don't get approval, we're going to have to make a version of the browser build that says "thanks for playing the demo, please download for the rest of the game" before continuing development.
anyway, please look forward to a trailer for PQR at the upcoming SAHCon new years showcase!
augh you asshole why does the volume 6 button be there if there isnt any route in it yet
because i like buttons! also i didn't want it to seem like we were done after volume 5. volume 6 will come, just after a break!
I love how Roxy is written.
roxy was the character that drew me to homestuck in the first place -- glad i did her justice :)
oh right! big new features -- revised the History page so that it's actually readable, and added a silly cut content mode that you can activate with a certain familiar keyboard shortcut...
[VOL 5 SPOILER]
I really liked the bad ending with Roxy, felt a lot less forced than the bad ending from the actual original PQ route (which I also did really like) and It's really cool to see the Hiveswap Roxy/Young Roxy and not done to a level where it feels like fluffy fanservice but actually what you'd expect from the character.
What was the talk about "losing one kid" though? Is this about Joey slipping through the portal or am I missing something? Regardless, love what you've done so far, I'm definitely a decent fan of your work now and will be checking in for updates all the time!
it's about joey slipping thru the portal! she blames herself hardcore for not being there
Is the Claire Mansion(I don't remember what it's called)'s background something specifically drawn up for this game, or was it in hiveswap?
The Half-Harley Mansion is all made from extracted sprites from Hiveswap Act 1 :)
💖💖💖
lordy lordy, I'm over forty. Thank you for this blessing, please make more. Chef's kiss.
after two weeks im back. update out now
:0 revealz revealz
hype
oh so thats why aradia was in my face suddenly last time i played and i hit the end of what currently exists. she is actually going to just Show Up in this route, makes sense
hell yes hell yes hell yes hell yes hell yes, no idea how i found this but as a certified mspa reader fan i approve >:) super looking forward to future updates!!
new update dropping 0.5 seconds ago
PLAYING IMMEDIATELY
Is Damara supposed to turn into Adult Rose in the prologue route? Because she's turning into Adult Rose in the prologue arc. You might have some sprites mixed up. (Not the kernel kind.)
yeah its because our damara sprites arent in yet lmao. wip is wip :pray:
I found the transcripts for this on ao3 and then played the whole thing a few days back and wtf this is so good?! I never played the original pesterquest so idk how it compares to that, but the beta kids just bantering with each other is so entertaining to read. The star wars scenes at the end of Jade's route were great.
yesssssss it spreadsssssssss
You CANNOT believe the pure hype I felt when I downloaded this latest version and saw a Joey route. Also, I wanna say how much I liked that phonehuskpalmhusk GOD DAMN PHONE joke.
Also lmaoing at garlic press of zillyhoo
Hooly kino.
updated it again just for you :)
Nice, thank you.
Oh man, is Aradia really just gonna show up in the middle, or is this an extended "go to the menu sequence". Can't wait.
she is genuinely a main character of this route LOL
BASED
A
S
E
D
Damn, how it can be so good. YOU COOKED. I really enjoyed Dave and Jade routes. It had great interactions and great scenes. Dialogue between Dave and Doomed!Dave was so funny. Especially, how they argued about art style. Prospit scene legit made me tear up.
ok its cool and all but. aradia get the fuck out of my face when i hit the end of what currently exists. i preferred the simple wip message that didnt have aradia jumpscare attached to it (this is a joke but also aradia did scare the fuck outta me when i hit the "route unfinished" message and she was just suddenly there)
LMAO IM SO SORRY
if youre serious i will go back to the simple message. i just like aradia AFKDGSSKDGJ
the aradia version is fine
i just wasnt expecting her
(side note: asidfhawud tried to reply from my phone only to realise after hitting post i have a seperate account on my phone)
wait but this is really good actually
like this feels like it could have been written as the comic was going on, there's no focus on the overarching context of everything or trying to immediately throw the characters in crazy what if situations while at the same time ignoring that sburb not happening doesn't mean all the things placed in advance weren't there, and the character traits that actually make the characters enjoyable are actually in full view
[SPOILERS FOR PQ AND THIS REWRITE]
like rose's route in PQ just only cares about having rose be really rude or just a major focus on how rose's mother's vices and how she feels about them (basically the entire route might as well be some crumby act 6 character development scene) and then it being a happy ending of friendship, no focus on having rose's personality come out just box ticking for good and bad ending
but here it just feels exactly what i would have imagined a light-hearted sburbless VN to be, you have a fun in-character investigation with either a confrontation that was a long time coming, or just a talk with hopes that with the stakes gone, that the barriers between them might get broken down, and instead of just a sour alternate path where rose acts condescending, it's a very fun exploration of her character by diving into the silly self insert fanfiction and ends up just bringing out a typically unseen joyous side of the character
i was a little disappointed that the text box was not an invitation to name rose "Silly Fendlesnatch" though like a toontown character
am heavily considering letting you permanently name mspar whatever the fuck you want in a future route
ALSO WHY ARE THESE COMMENTS ALL SO FUCKING NICE????????????? WADDA HELL. WHAT THE FUCK MAN. GOD
someone needs to be able to be named silly fendlesnatch
i beg of you
anything
even a bug that gets squashed with a particularly dedicated thumb press within a single scene but it has to be someone
I found the transcript for this on ao3 a few days back and couldn't help but be curious and holy fuck checking this out was the best possible thing I could do?? like, I did like Pesterquest a lot but some parts of it always rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. so this whole rewrite project in general makes me go ???? fuck it's so good?? what kinda magic hoo-ha are these people smoking????
MSPAR is just a silly lil creachur here and I can't?? maybe it's just my weird attachment to them but PQR's version of them makes me cry? it's not even just them though, all of these tweenagers make me cry in this rewrite.
(is that too sentimental lmao?)either way, I'm absolutely bawling about this project. I want to frame it and eat it whole, thank u <3but yes, again, this shit is great, i would eat the art, the kids are doing well, my crops are thriving and I'm hella excited for Damara to be free and well like every other bastard that MSPAR's gonna get their befriending hands on.
I AM NOT GOING TO LIE WRITING THE John Egbert Does The Sans Neutral Route Speech AT THE END OF JADEROUTE ALSO MADE ME TEAR UP ASDJKFASKDJGASFKJHDKGHJADFKJ
Okay so this is like... exactly what I wanted out of Pesterquest when I heard about the concept??? Like the retcon shenanigans and various abstractions actually being addressed? Also I feel like the characters actually like MSPAR, and as lunaman22 said, MSPAR is much more likable. Not only that, but MSPAR feels so much more realistic as an audience surrogate here!
Honestly I could go on (and talk about how I love how genuinely compassionate John is in his route--he's such a sweetheart it actually made me emotional--or how the Reader is actually dealing with the consequences of what has happened so far--finding Dave and Jade and themself a place to stay and those newspapers clippings!--or even something as little as MSPAR's depiction on Dave's good ending--because gender-neutral is not Guy-Lite^TM) but I'll leave it here for now. All in all I'm really excited to read more going forward!!
re: the Dave ending -- originally we were tempted to have MSPAR wear a dress like Girlfriend's, but it ended up getting scrapped. Below is the sketch Flare did of that scenario :D
Also. Can I just say. The comments on this project are the NICEST I HAVE EVER RECEIVED ON ANY PROJECT I'VE EVER MADE. 😭😭😭😭😭 IT'S SO GOOD.
Pretty funny easter egg. I wonder if it will mean anything later on...
it truly was just brain ghost aradia and brain ghost roxy having a goof and a gaff
after spending so long using aradia as the writer avatar its unsurprising that shed have things to say about game development
Just finished this and I am in love with it. I especially love what you've done with Jade. I literally met her and started to realize "oh she's really fucked up actually." I'm so excited to see what comes next(and the little WIP easter egg with Aradia and Roxy was gold)
woag awesome . really cool. jade is plural (its krill btw (or not krill technically) (really cool game))
this is amazing
I just played through the Demo and IM IN LOVE WITH IT SO FAR! I cant wait to see more!
We update it literally every day!!! If you want to know when new updates come out, I recommend joining the Nepetaquest discord, I post all new writing I do (including PQR stuff) in the #front-gate channel over there.
OOh will definitely check this out!
Made a whole ass itch.io account to comment on this.
I really like it. Really, REALLY like it. From what's out right now, it explores a lot more of the powers of Retcon, and has some smarter uses of it, like the whole mom and laboratory thing. There's also the fact that MSPAR seems more...likeable now? The fact that he finished reading the entire comic and instantly realised he needs to help people as best as he can, starting with Damara, was great. I also like that we've met up some characters that PQ should not have missed, like Spades. And the Dirk thing. Wonder how that's going to be resolved?
I'm even more excited for meeting the Hiveswap/Hauntswitch characters. These references to smaller stuff, or stuff that was ignored by the original PQ are very nice, this whole game feels like a reward for sticking with HS for all these years and consuming almost all of the content.
THIS COMMENT IS SO NICE?!??!?!??!?!??! HI ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? I LOVE THIS
THIS IS SO REWARDING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 THATS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING FOR WITH THIS!!!! AHGUGH
PQ SHOULD SIMPLY BE A REWARD FOR STICKING AROUND THIS LONG AND I WANT IT TO FEEL GOOD TO PLAY!!! I WANT MSPAR TO BE A GOOBER! A LITTLE GUY
i wanted to give john agency!!! to not make MSPAR into a lying manipulator!!! to give rose's traumas time to breathe (WITHOUT mentioning alcohol once)!!!!!!!!
just
yeah :,) this cements that im doing it right
Glad to know what you're aiming for, and to see that you've been hitting the mark so far.
I actually like you not mentioning Roxy's alcoholism, it feels like it's just one part of a way bigger problem for their relationship. I only wish that the ending where MSPAR and Rose do their laundry was a valid ending.
I do too, I just... the consequences of that route are just too much to deal with in the main story. Having Rose know is just... a lot, y'know?
(Shh... am I allowed to spoil that playing it is going to be required for progression?)
It is my favorite route so far, though. I like it more than the wizardfic ending, but I wanted that one to be canon for simplicity's sake.