Everytime I read the scenes involving people staring at the MC, I find myself emphasising with him "^^_ I'm a goth, so I understand what it's like when people try to sneak pictures xD these scenes in NMF always make me laugh :3
I looove how the story is developing~ n_n keep up all the hard work >_</
Currently, no. Translations are not a priority of ours right now, with so much of the game left to write, but we plan on start developing some eventually.
when it was mentioned how pandora labs sort of began in the late 1800's it immediately made me think of CTR the computing, tabulating, recording company which was a merger of 4 other companies which then later became IBM.
Well you ask for questions so I shall provide! I'm new to the story (my first reading is the 10th build) so I apologise for any repeat questions in advance; feel free to just direct me to the relevant answers. And for anybody reading this who hasn't already read this masterpiece, go read it instead of this because there will likely be spoilers and it's definitely worth it to keep the mystery intact.
Is that a Rook cameo I spy?! So now I'm curious about how and why you pick the people you feature as cameos (I'm pretty sure there's more I just don't recognise)? In particular, whether there's a conversation between yourself and those you insert into the background?
What other types of Abilities are there? As far as I can remember, there's only really been mention of cryomancy and a few other things that could be speculatively connected to Abilities.
Has there been much research into Abilities? Nat was supposedly, an expert about Abilities but she mostly just talks about how the scientific community don't know much other than that Abilities started popping up after the Shift and that they have yet to be able to measure them effectively. Considering they have the technology to interface with yuuman brains, surely they've tried measuring the brain activity of people while they use their Abilities? And what about the capacities of particular Abilities? Such as seeing how cold a cryomancer can make a room, how quickly this occurs, and working out what happens to the heat energy from the room. I guess I'm just generally curious about the details of the experiments that have been performed regarding Abilities.
Also, minor note: when a scientist uses the term "theory" they mean an explanation of a phenomenon that has a lot of solid evidence supporting it which is why you'll never hear a scientist dismiss an idea as "just a theory". A better term to use, for during that water cooler conversation in the lab, might be "hypothesis" which is a meaningful explanation which can make predictions that can be proven false with an experiment. Just a little lesson in scientific literacy, free of charge!
Here's a more speculative question, is that shade an Ability user?! Because we know it can have physical form and even converse with multiple people at once who have the same perceptions of it, such as in the train with Daphne. Those times it appears, such as the protagonist's investigation of Daphne and Apollo's family photo, can be explained with the protagonist not being a perfect narrator since Bradbury can also seemingly appear out of no where as well. The vision distortions it causes could also potentially explained by being some kind of Ability that manipulate people's perceptions which may even carry over to androids if their perception works in a similar enough way to yuumans. And considering the shade has bright red eyes like Daphne, seems to only show up when Daphne is around, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her parents (likely involving trauma), the shade could be someone related to her and watching over her.
What is the distinction between C-Grade and B-Grade AI? The main difference I can find is that B-Grade AI have the ability to initiate conversations. Such as how Arthur, a B-Grade AI, could interrupt the protagonist while they were doing something else, in contrast to the C-Grade AI guarding George's house which only responds when the protagonist engages the intercom (or otherwise attempts to enter the house).
Where did the title of The Owners come from and when was it first used? Most companies refer to the people who own company shares as shareholders, investors, or stakeholders, so I'm curious what triggered the granting of this title? Eccentricity of wealthy people I guess?
I'm also very curious about what the modifications made to Harlan's black box are. Because I feel like any changes to the super secure component that holds a Transferred yuuman's mind/soul would be very important. One modification I can think of that the FBI might want, is to allow them to look into it while it works thus turning it into a grey or white box. This is of course so they can make sure it's still Harlan in there and nothing else that Pandora might of put in there. Another could be to introduce more loyalty or obedience into the personality of the new Harlan. Although, I'm less certain about this modification since I'm pretty sure the old Harlan is an old veteran friend of Bradbury's rather than some kind of useful criminal I initially thought he was.
Here's another history question, when and why was the no violence for no reason whatsoever law passed? I'm particularly curious about the kinds of arguments that were made to particularly exclude self defence as an exception to it. Since, as far as I can reason, not allowing self defence unreasonably burdens the targets of attacks and thus emboldens initiators. Consider that anyone being attacked have only three initial options: attempt to flee, which is the only right option according to this law and could fail due to the environment, and the skills of the attacker and target; take the beating without fighting back, which could result in death and is guaranteed to be painful, and then report the attacker, if able, to get some semblance of justice; and defending themselves which doesn't stop the attacker from attacking someone else without also punishing the defender when reporting the fight. Now consider these outcomes from an attacker's perspective, who has the advantage of choosing the location and method of attack, and is already willing to risk becoming a target for law enforcement: if their target flees they either catch them, which allows the attacker to continue with their plan, or they escape which means no fight occurred and thus the attacker is not punished; if their target takes the beating, the attacker's plan can continue as intended; and if their target does fight back, they can disengage without the worry of the target reporting the fight since that would punish them both. So not exempting self defence from a no violence law mostly serves to hide fights rather than deter them.
Anyway, regardless of whether these question that I have posed get answered or even considered, if you couldn't tell, I'm very invested in this great story and I'm glad to have stumbled upon it. Keep up the good work!
just finished chapter 8 I loved it I also have a question i believe jasper said that the media was 1 of the businesses pandora doesn't mostly govern but what are the others?
Words cannot describe the childlike joy I felt upon seeing a Protogen visor in this.
Also here's hoping René doesn't realize that he and you are the same entity, I can't see him tending to the library in the middle of an existential crisis.
I know I should say something on how amazing this update is or the chapter, but all I am gonna say is. You put a Prometheus and Pandora reference and I didn't miss it! I already feel nerdy and invested reading it, don't hit me with a mythos joke so late in the game!
interesting story so far. the protagonist is still torturing me to the very core though. the story has yet to disprove my hypothesis in regards to the FBI agent but it hasn't yet proved it either.
The latest Build 10 was awesome. The writing here is really amazing. It really adds to what happened in the last build. How the atmosphere and scene was presented in the past build. And the further context with this Build. I hope you take your time to make the next build. It was worth the wait; at least i think so.^^
(i don't know if editing ends up as a notification. Sorry if it does. I wanted to make sure to leave a good comment about my thoughts.)
I love this story so far and i always try to think of what new features could be added. like and I how different menu themes depending on where you are in the story thing like that and the story is cash and character are well done. Long story short I will read this story throughout
This is the best story I have read. The way you literally created emotion is absolutely beyond me, you made me feel as if I was right there. Since I've gotten depression, I feel like my emotions have been watered down, so to speak, and this story has made me feel more while reading this than I have in the last couple of years.
Good shit man, I dont see how you could make this any better than it is. Prove me wrong and I'll buy you a beer. I'm actually being serious abt that.
All jokes aside, glad you've been enjoying the game! Sadly I'm a maniac perfectionist, so I foresee tons of "improvements" to the story moving forward... but let's hope I find the time to update it with new content every once in a while as well. -w-
Ah, well, maybe I can buy you a cider or a juice box. ;D
Otherwise, I know what you mean and same goes here as an autistic perfectionist, but I know whatever comes out nexr, no matter how long, is going to be great even in the worst scenario.
Quick question tho, are you going to involve Isaac's close family at some point and is the Senate going to ratify a decision on Synthetics?
Eh, might still be a few weeks before a public update. I had to take a break to focus on my driving studies, so that set the new update a little further back. Hopefully we'll have something new for our supporters on Patreon/Ko-Fi soon, among other things.
The last build I played was build 7.2, and since I didn't had time I have been putting off the game for a while and because of the 'after story part' I wanted to check out that part in build 8 instead of skipping to build 9. But there are no way to download that version?
The devlog posts download button just forward me to the main page instead
We delete each past version of the game when the new one is released. The after-story parts are meant to be a little something extra for players who download and play through every new update, and that's the only way to not miss out on them (though Youtube videos also exist, I suppose).
You're not missing anything by not reading through them though. They're not integral to the main story, they're just a way to reward truly dedicated readers with a smidge of irrelevant content. =V
I remember whin this game was only on pc mac and Android and now on Apple store I gotta say you've come a long way and for that congratulations for that
Unfortunate... there's a few playthroughs on Youtube of the game if you want to follow those along instead, but if you'd rather not I totally understand. I look forward to the day you can try the game out for yourself! ^w^
What i played of this game was truly amazing, when isaac was filled with dread in situations i could feel it too, can't wait for the next build of this!
Hi!!! I'm loving this story, and got all the way to the end of build 8 in one day :O I had it installed already, and saw there was an update so I went ahead and updated it, but when I load in to my old loads, it crashes :[. I had saved even before the end thing so I'm not sure what's going on, but I still really enjoyed it!!
Hey! Sorry about that, it just happens sometimes in-between builds. You can always use the Chapter Select feature (available by starting a new game and answering "yes" to the first question) to get back up to where you left off quickly without the need for saves. Hope you enjoy the new build!
Hello!! I just tried that out and it just worked, thank you! Was just a lil confusing because there were two choices for each type of build on start up lol, but I got it :D!!
Multiple new sprites, huge twists and turns in the story, beautiful backgrounds and more?! Build 9 was a ton of fun to experience beginning to end, seriously great work, Sedge!
You mention at the end that you aren't getting any questions to build a discussion after the story. Where are people supposed to submit such questions? It wasn't entirely clear to me, and I'd love to help contribute to the conversation as I'm sure others would too.
At least for me, I think non self inserts are usually more intriguing, or at least informative. Seeing how another person reacts due to a certain way they were brought up, the way others react to them, and their history is far more interesting than picking a couple of options when I don't know their full story. Like you mentioned in the alternative toaster universe, people seem to not like opinionated characters, but I couldn't love them more. Even if I don't always agree with their choices, I enjoy reflecting on why they may have made those choices based on who they are, which in turn tells me more about them as characters.
Man i Really love this VN i lost track of time rereading it last i checked it was 6:12 PM now is 11:29PM. If I didn't have school in the morning I would be up all night but finishing this. I blame you WHY would you make it so good
Pretty much. The only choices you can make are in the prologue, and aside from whether you keep the default name or not, they're not particularly relevant.
(Reporting a bug I think) I was playing it again but i skipped to the Meeting Apollo and When he went to give us an introduction he said Isaac and when we speak it also says Isaac
(I did have my name changed...I think I did anyway)
(This part isn't a bug report its just a question) Will there be different Story changing outcomes from the choices you make? And will we have to at any point talk to are parents/George`s
(also isnt a bug report) Did you get rid of the part where you tell whats his face the FBI dude to fuck off. Just finished that part and i am happy to see that its just a normal part of it now
Hello I have very little to say other than your great you and your team really have a masterpiece here
Ps:I think the way you did the "to be continued "was brilliant and still enticed me almost as much as the actual story due to the mystery behind it. UwU
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Everytime I read the scenes involving people staring at the MC, I find myself emphasising with him "^^_ I'm a goth, so I understand what it's like when people try to sneak pictures xD these scenes in NMF always make me laugh :3
I looove how the story is developing~ n_n keep up all the hard work >_</
How long does it take to make the soundtracks for this? They also really fit the mood every time
cant wait for the next update tomorrow!
yes thank you sedge thank you so much i love this game a lot
AHH SEE ALMOST EVERY MONTH IS A NEW UPDATE!
Also Do we see Nem or are we still in the Big city?
9/10
It will be 10/10 when more content arrives 👍
i really love the toster boy joke
one question... is the game available in other languages? My native language is Spanish.
Currently, no. Translations are not a priority of ours right now, with so much of the game left to write, but we plan on start developing some eventually.
when it was mentioned how pandora labs sort of began in the late 1800's it immediately made me think of CTR the computing, tabulating, recording company which was a merger of 4 other companies which then later became IBM.
Well you ask for questions so I shall provide! I'm new to the story (my first reading is the 10th build) so I apologise for any repeat questions in advance; feel free to just direct me to the relevant answers. And for anybody reading this who hasn't already read this masterpiece, go read it instead of this because there will likely be spoilers and it's definitely worth it to keep the mystery intact.
Is that a Rook cameo I spy?! So now I'm curious about how and why you pick the people you feature as cameos (I'm pretty sure there's more I just don't recognise)? In particular, whether there's a conversation between yourself and those you insert into the background?
What other types of Abilities are there? As far as I can remember, there's only really been mention of cryomancy and a few other things that could be speculatively connected to Abilities.
Has there been much research into Abilities? Nat was supposedly, an expert about Abilities but she mostly just talks about how the scientific community don't know much other than that Abilities started popping up after the Shift and that they have yet to be able to measure them effectively. Considering they have the technology to interface with yuuman brains, surely they've tried measuring the brain activity of people while they use their Abilities? And what about the capacities of particular Abilities? Such as seeing how cold a cryomancer can make a room, how quickly this occurs, and working out what happens to the heat energy from the room. I guess I'm just generally curious about the details of the experiments that have been performed regarding Abilities.
Also, minor note: when a scientist uses the term "theory" they mean an explanation of a phenomenon that has a lot of solid evidence supporting it which is why you'll never hear a scientist dismiss an idea as "just a theory". A better term to use, for during that water cooler conversation in the lab, might be "hypothesis" which is a meaningful explanation which can make predictions that can be proven false with an experiment. Just a little lesson in scientific literacy, free of charge!
Here's a more speculative question, is that shade an Ability user?! Because we know it can have physical form and even converse with multiple people at once who have the same perceptions of it, such as in the train with Daphne. Those times it appears, such as the protagonist's investigation of Daphne and Apollo's family photo, can be explained with the protagonist not being a perfect narrator since Bradbury can also seemingly appear out of no where as well. The vision distortions it causes could also potentially explained by being some kind of Ability that manipulate people's perceptions which may even carry over to androids if their perception works in a similar enough way to yuumans. And considering the shade has bright red eyes like Daphne, seems to only show up when Daphne is around, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her parents (likely involving trauma), the shade could be someone related to her and watching over her.
What is the distinction between C-Grade and B-Grade AI? The main difference I can find is that B-Grade AI have the ability to initiate conversations. Such as how Arthur, a B-Grade AI, could interrupt the protagonist while they were doing something else, in contrast to the C-Grade AI guarding George's house which only responds when the protagonist engages the intercom (or otherwise attempts to enter the house).
Where did the title of The Owners come from and when was it first used? Most companies refer to the people who own company shares as shareholders, investors, or stakeholders, so I'm curious what triggered the granting of this title? Eccentricity of wealthy people I guess?
I'm also very curious about what the modifications made to Harlan's black box are. Because I feel like any changes to the super secure component that holds a Transferred yuuman's mind/soul would be very important. One modification I can think of that the FBI might want, is to allow them to look into it while it works thus turning it into a grey or white box. This is of course so they can make sure it's still Harlan in there and nothing else that Pandora might of put in there. Another could be to introduce more loyalty or obedience into the personality of the new Harlan. Although, I'm less certain about this modification since I'm pretty sure the old Harlan is an old veteran friend of Bradbury's rather than some kind of useful criminal I initially thought he was.
Here's another history question, when and why was the no violence for no reason whatsoever law passed? I'm particularly curious about the kinds of arguments that were made to particularly exclude self defence as an exception to it. Since, as far as I can reason, not allowing self defence unreasonably burdens the targets of attacks and thus emboldens initiators. Consider that anyone being attacked have only three initial options: attempt to flee, which is the only right option according to this law and could fail due to the environment, and the skills of the attacker and target; take the beating without fighting back, which could result in death and is guaranteed to be painful, and then report the attacker, if able, to get some semblance of justice; and defending themselves which doesn't stop the attacker from attacking someone else without also punishing the defender when reporting the fight. Now consider these outcomes from an attacker's perspective, who has the advantage of choosing the location and method of attack, and is already willing to risk becoming a target for law enforcement: if their target flees they either catch them, which allows the attacker to continue with their plan, or they escape which means no fight occurred and thus the attacker is not punished; if their target takes the beating, the attacker's plan can continue as intended; and if their target does fight back, they can disengage without the worry of the target reporting the fight since that would punish them both. So not exempting self defence from a no violence law mostly serves to hide fights rather than deter them.
Anyway, regardless of whether these question that I have posed get answered or even considered, if you couldn't tell, I'm very invested in this great story and I'm glad to have stumbled upon it. Keep up the good work!
I'm letting you know 2 things:
1. build 11 is out in case you didnt know.
2. I hope the mc gets the ability to f*** with gravity cuz why not! :D
just finished chapter 8 I loved it I also have a question i believe jasper said that the media was 1 of the businesses pandora doesn't mostly govern but what are the others?
Words cannot describe the childlike joy I felt upon seeing a Protogen visor in this.
Also here's hoping René doesn't realize that he and you are the same entity, I can't see him tending to the library in the middle of an existential crisis.
Maybe we'll have the option to tell him at the very end of the story
I know I should say something on how amazing this update is or the chapter, but all I am gonna say is. You put a Prometheus and Pandora reference and I didn't miss it! I already feel nerdy and invested reading it, don't hit me with a mythos joke so late in the game!
I still find it interesting that the mary at the beginning thinks the outcome is binomial.
however this is not the case.
1.the transfer could fail and the android could cease to function entirely.
2.the transfer could fail and the android continues as if it succeeded.
3.the transfer could be successful but the android ceases to function.
4.the transfer could be successful and the android has lose of some functionality.
5.the transfer could be successful and the android is entirely functional.
and assuming (5) than there is variants of that outcome
5a.your trapped in a body you don't control.
5b.your in a body that you partly control.
5c.your in a body that you fully control.
5a and 5b are outcomes i'd consider worse than just dying.
and these outcomes of course are only the ones i could think of, i imagine there are some i would not know of.
interesting story so far.
the protagonist is still torturing me to the very core though.
the story has yet to disprove my hypothesis in regards to the FBI agent but it hasn't yet proved it either.
this , certainly is intriguing.
The latest Build 10 was awesome. The writing here is really amazing. It really adds to what happened in the last build. How the atmosphere and scene was presented in the past build. And the further context with this Build. I hope you take your time to make the next build. It was worth the wait; at least i think so.^^
(i don't know if editing ends up as a notification. Sorry if it does. I wanted to make sure to leave a good comment about my thoughts.)
OHHHHH LETS GOOO I DONT CARE HOW LATE IT IS I AM READING THIS
I love this story so far and i always try to think of what new features could be added. like and I how different menu themes depending on where you are in the story thing like that and the story is cash and character are well done. Long story short I will read this story throughout
Ohhhh Its comin soon!
This is the best story I have read. The way you literally created emotion is absolutely beyond me, you made me feel as if I was right there. Since I've gotten depression, I feel like my emotions have been watered down, so to speak, and this story has made me feel more while reading this than I have in the last couple of years.
Good shit man, I dont see how you could make this any better than it is. Prove me wrong and I'll buy you a beer. I'm actually being serious abt that.
See ya in build 10
But I don't like beer... TwT
All jokes aside, glad you've been enjoying the game! Sadly I'm a maniac perfectionist, so I foresee tons of "improvements" to the story moving forward... but let's hope I find the time to update it with new content every once in a while as well. -w-
And finally... soon... >=3
Ah, well, maybe I can buy you a cider or a juice box. ;D
Otherwise, I know what you mean and same goes here as an autistic perfectionist, but I know whatever comes out nexr, no matter how long, is going to be great even in the worst scenario.
Quick question tho, are you going to involve Isaac's close family at some point and is the Senate going to ratify a decision on Synthetics?
We already involved the family in the form of George. Whether we'll see more or not remains to be seen. -w-
It has been a month so an update is probably going to drop soon!!
They work real hard on this like monthly updates is amazing
Eh, might still be a few weeks before a public update. I had to take a break to focus on my driving studies, so that set the new update a little further back. Hopefully we'll have something new for our supporters on Patreon/Ko-Fi soon, among other things.
Jasper kinda fruity tho 😳
The last build I played was build 7.2, and since I didn't had time I have been putting off the game for a while and
because of the 'after story part' I wanted to check out that part in build 8 instead of skipping to build 9. But there are no way to download that version?
The devlog posts download button just forward me to the main page instead
We delete each past version of the game when the new one is released. The after-story parts are meant to be a little something extra for players who download and play through every new update, and that's the only way to not miss out on them (though Youtube videos also exist, I suppose).
You're not missing anything by not reading through them though. They're not integral to the main story, they're just a way to reward truly dedicated readers with a smidge of irrelevant content. =V
Good god Its already Been 11 days it feels like it came out 2 days ago
I will try this VN...See later
I remember whin this game was only on pc mac and Android and now on Apple store I gotta say you've come a long way and for that congratulations for that
I wish can play this game but I have a trash phone
Unfortunate... there's a few playthroughs on Youtube of the game if you want to follow those along instead, but if you'd rather not I totally understand. I look forward to the day you can try the game out for yourself! ^w^
Mkay :)
What i played of this game was truly amazing, when isaac was filled with dread in situations i could feel it too, can't wait for the next build of this!
Hi!!! I'm loving this story, and got all the way to the end of build 8 in one day :O I had it installed already, and saw there was an update so I went ahead and updated it, but when I load in to my old loads, it crashes :[. I had saved even before the end thing so I'm not sure what's going on, but I still really enjoyed it!!
Hey! Sorry about that, it just happens sometimes in-between builds. You can always use the Chapter Select feature (available by starting a new game and answering "yes" to the first question) to get back up to where you left off quickly without the need for saves. Hope you enjoy the new build!
Hello!! I just tried that out and it just worked, thank you! Was just a lil confusing because there were two choices for each type of build on start up lol, but I got it :D!!
It doesn't give me the chapter select feature, and I have the weird save glitch..
What do you mean? What happens when you start a new game?
It just says "I see. A new face.." This might be something other than what you are thinking of so here is some of it
Also sorry for the late response
Multiple new sprites, huge twists and turns in the story, beautiful backgrounds and more?! Build 9 was a ton of fun to experience beginning to end, seriously great work, Sedge!
You mention at the end that you aren't getting any questions to build a discussion after the story. Where are people supposed to submit such questions? It wasn't entirely clear to me, and I'd love to help contribute to the conversation as I'm sure others would too.
Only Outstanding Readers get to ask questions now, and you become one by subscribing to either our Patreon or Ko-Fi for a certain amount.
Oh okay gotcha, thanks for the info! Might become an outstanding reader sometime soon, but for now I'll settle for "Meh Reader"
Newest story build was cool to read.^^
The background art was great, i think it did well with the tone of story at that section.
Love how you update it almost every 20 days
...Last update was in February. =T
Glad I found this VN. This is now one of my top favorites! Can't wait to see where this story goes.
love the way the story is going and can't wait for more!
UHM
Was the Yes less Past the break thing
Yes Less Past is an april fools FVN (guess you can clearly relate it to No More Future)
At least for me, I think non self inserts are usually more intriguing, or at least informative. Seeing how another person reacts due to a certain way they were brought up, the way others react to them, and their history is far more interesting than picking a couple of options when I don't know their full story. Like you mentioned in the alternative toaster universe, people seem to not like opinionated characters, but I couldn't love them more. Even if I don't always agree with their choices, I enjoy reflecting on why they may have made those choices based on who they are, which in turn tells me more about them as characters.
Man i Really love this VN i lost track of time rereading it last i checked it was 6:12 PM now is 11:29PM. If I didn't have school in the morning I would be up all night but finishing this. I blame you WHY would you make it so good
LOL, me to. I ended up pulling an all-nighter because of how good this is.
You really cut down ALOT of the choices we could make
It is a linear vn- most of the choices are just for flavor.
Pretty much. The only choices you can make are in the prologue, and aside from whether you keep the default name or not, they're not particularly relevant.
(Reporting a bug I think) I was playing it again but i skipped to the Meeting Apollo and When he went to give us an introduction he said Isaac and when we speak it also says Isaac
(I did have my name changed...I think I did anyway)
(This part isn't a bug report its just a question) Will there be different Story changing outcomes from the choices you make? And will we have to at any point talk to are parents/George`s
(also isnt a bug report) Did you get rid of the part where you tell whats his face the FBI dude to fuck off. Just finished that part and i am happy to see that its just a normal part of it now
We are aware of that bug and have fixed it. Should be good to go starting from the next Patreon build.
Also, no, there won't be any choices in this novel past the prologue and the story will be fully linear. -w-
Hello I have very little to say other than your great you and your team really have a masterpiece here
Ps:I think the way you did the "to be continued "was brilliant and still enticed me almost as much as the actual story due to the mystery behind it. UwU