A Better Place
A downloadable story for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
If you're a fan of the game, would like to support the project or just stay up to date, check out the Patreon page. Also, come hang out in the brand new Discord server!
You’re an individual with an exceptional gift for reading people. After experiencing first-hand how much cruelty such a talent can evoke, you took steps to hide your identity and your gift from the eyes of those who would abuse it. Eventually, hiding yourself from the entire world.
However, your resigned contentment with being an outcast is about to be shaken by a very unexpected and slightly concerning invitation...
Welcome to A Better Place – a game, a story, a world where those who feel like outcasts can belong.
Here, you’ll meet various other characters with extraordinary talents and, as luck would have it, they’re all girls! Spend time with them, learn about their past, find out what haunts them, fall in love (or just grow close enough to get physical) and uncover the secret behind your abilities, as well as the heavy price they seem to carry.
Download
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Development log
- Intermission Update (Rewrite) StatusOct 14, 2023
- Save issue fixed!May 02, 2023
- Chapter 4, at long last!!!May 01, 2023
- Chapter 4 available for PatronsApr 18, 2023
- Chapter 3 is now public!Sep 16, 2022
- Chapter 3 is out for Patrons!Sep 05, 2022
- Chapter 2 is now publicMay 08, 2022
- Chapter 2, finally, available for Patrons!Apr 23, 2022
Comments
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I'm stuck to this task what I do?where should I go to trigger this event?
Either you need to be patient until Sparks visits you in the morning or you chose to not have Sparks wake you up in the mornings altogether.
If it's the latter, download this and put it in your \A Better Place\game folder. I made a mistake when doing a quick fix for something else.
I can't test it though, because the entire nighttime visit system is being recoded in the rewrite, but theoretically it should work.
If you're on mobile... I may have to upload a fixed version for you.
Okay... So you are on mobile. That makes things harder.
Here, I uploaded a whole new .apk with the fix. Try that.
Note, this fix also makes it so Sparks won't visit in the mornings unless there's an event, but that doesn't matter for this version (and she wasn't visiting in the first place).
Is this game still in development or is it done?
Far from done. The existing content is in the process of being redone and upgraded. The story itself has only just begun and is planned to go on for a while. Check the Patreon or Discord for news and updates.
How to unlock the Christmas event? because I have already completed all the requirements to unlock the event, I have also released the characters' Christmas clothes, the option to start the event does not appear in the player's room and I also cannot complete Shadow's "standing" event, even though I have already has completed the requirements, I cannot find Shadow resting in the protagonist's room at the time indicated in the event details
There's a part where the option to go to Luxy's room is right above the screen (when the new character appears) but you can still press the button
game on cell phone
For "Standing", make sure you click on Rest at the required time. Also make sure all your trust levels are in order. Not very intuitive, I know. It's handled much differently in the rewrite.
Same thing goes for the Christmas event. You need to choose Rest in the evening in your room to get the choice of starting the event.
Where is this rest to press?
in confidence level I have: Luxe 139, Sparks 206, Shadow 114, big sister 109 and talent level 5
It's in the navigation menu at the very top. You're the second person who's reported having trouble accessing it, but I'm not sure of the reason. Whether it's a resolution issue or maybe you're playing the translation so it's called different.
What the hell kind of version is that?!
This is what the menu should look like on a phone. Whoever made the translation didn't pay attention to the formatting changes and completely butchered it.
From what I can see, it's Portuguese. I only have an unofficial Spanish patch uploaded on my Patreon. While I don't understand the language to know how accurate it is, I know that Yaden respects the original formatting of my menus to a reasonable extent and certainly doesn't try to blatantly insert his brand into the game.
So the best I can offer is either his Spanish or the original English. I can't help with your version. Sorry...
Hey! Great game! Keep the story rich and nasty haha
I might sound stupid, but I need some help on how to update through versions. I played the Chapter 1 and I am back to enjoy it. How do I update the game file? Only transfering the saves file is enough? Because I tried and the game is not running...
Thank you!
Let me start by saying that I'll be releasing a Patron-only beta for the rewrite today and it's going to completely refresh and enrich the entire game to make it easier to move forward in every single direction I want to.
That being said, if you don't want to get on it, you update the game simply by downloading the latest version, unpacking it in it's own folder and play. The saves should be stored in some other folder that's shared between everything installed on your PC and be recognized automatically.
How do I increase talent level? My next event is Putting on a Show but I only have half the required talent points
Shadow will train you
I just got an error when trying to load a chapter 3 save (more relevantly, one from last september). I'm guessing it's the one you mentioned in the development log. Out of curiosity, since I occasionally like messing with renpy stuff, I thought I'd look at the traceback and see if I could figure out the error. To summarize, it looks like you reverted to Ren'Py version 7, but the chapter 3 saves expect version 8.
Now, I just tried copying version 8 into the game folder (taken from another game since the engine is just copy-pasted when building) to see if that works. It does. However, without knowing why the version was reverted, I'm hesitant about this solution. Is there something about version 8 that wasn't working?
If not, then the solution that players can do requires only 2 steps: 1. copy and replace the "lib" and "renpy" folders from a game using version 8, then 2. copy the other game's executable and rename it to match this game.
That's great! I had a feeling it was some sort of version incompatibility, but I had no idea where it came from, since I don't remember switching to Renpy 8 (specifically because I was worried about breaking the game).
Weird, but thanks for testing that out! I was planning to do it myself, but again - was hesitant about making the problem even worse.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I may have done some debugging for Chapter 3 away from home and that could've been a newer version of Renpy... The dates match up.
Anyone else getting a problem with the APK being invalid after downloading it?
No one's reported that yet, but I'm not sure how many android users tried it. Since there's mention of a 2GB limit (and this does go past that) it might be that some configurations can't recognize an apk of this size.
I'll let you know if anyone reports a similar issue.
Same android issue here. "App not installed as package appears invalid"
This might be a problem then and I'm not sure how I would fix it. The game is over 2GB and it's only gonna get bigger, so if it's because of that, well... I don't know what to do. I'll ask around
Okay, I further compressed the game to a smaller size for the APK (hopefully without noticeable quality loss for smaller screens). It should be able to work now. Let me know if there's still a problem.
Also, if you have saves from a previous chapter, let me know if those are working or not.
Update?
A day or two for Patrons, depending on my work schedule. Mid September for the public release.
Anal sex?
Maybe at some point in the future, but if that's all you're looking for in a game, then you'll be disappointed with the pacing of sex scenes in this one.
next update??
In August for Patrons, then 2 weeks later for the public release.
Great game, but does not support installation via standalone itch client. This is a very important thing for many of us here.
Error message: "This title is hosted on an incompatible third party website"
https://itch.io/t/1125151/incompatible-third-party-website-workaround
That's because the files are bigger than my allotted itch.io bandwith, so I host them somewhere else and simply provide the links.
I know I should contact support to see about getting more, but I think that means I'll also have to pay a monthly fee, which I can't afford right now. The game is barely making money.
I'll look into it if I ever reach the 2nd Patreon goal of $250. Glad you like the game though! :)
Hi. Just finnished the second chapter, can't wait to see more.
I love the new girl Serenity. I feel like she and Luxe will have a few "shared moments" with our guy here, but that's just a little idea I got when Luxe warned Serenity of Big Sis's roleplaying games and Serenity knew exactlly what she meant.
But the story itself is awesome and I hope to see more of it.
PS. My favorites are Shadow and Serenity
@TheLostOne also love it when u make us laugh with scenes like "oh the developer doesnt even care about the staff around here" that was funny as hell.
Hey, thanks! I appreciate the high praise!
There's definitely a possibility of some Luxe + Serenity with a sprinkle of Big Sis action (I do plan to make as many different pairings as I can justify through the story). Right now though, the Patrons voted to have Sparks train her, so that dynamic is gonna be explored a bit more.
The story has barely begun and there's gonna be a lot more than anyone's expecting at the moment. There's also a chance to add more girls that didn't make the initial cut as support goals which can add more depth the plot... And the "plot".
Let's see how things go :) I can promise that even the 4th wall breaks will make sense at the end.
Hi
I saw that there was a flashing lights warning could you describe what they are like and is it something I can skip past? Some flashing lights can cause issues for me as I'm epileptic so its important
Hey! Sadly, you can't skip them.
It's sort of like one quick white flash between certain images where the main character is "seeing" something. After the flash, the image stops and another one won't happen until you click again or until the end of the segment.
Sooo... Nothing extreme like an action sequence in a movie, but I have zero medical knowledge to understand whether this can trigger issues for you or not.
If it's just one quick flash that shouldn't be an issue for me but I'll let you know, thank you. That said I feel like there are better ways to show being in a vision like using greyscale or making it hazy
Ok so while the white flashes aren't an issue to me the red flashes are somewhat worrying and very well could cause an issue . Red flashing has been known to cause seizures in not just epileptic people but many who have never had a seizure in their life . Just something to keep in mind in the future
I never put in actual red flashes though. It might be the result of a specific picture change? Where is the red flash?
I called it a red flash but it's whenever it flashes into or out of the red images. I think the most recent one was the dream sequence involving Luxe but I can't remember exactly. It's easy enough to look away once the red images are there and I need to swap screens, it's more the flash in I worry about. With that said I haven't seized so far so at least that's a plus
P.S I'm a huge fan of Shadow and really want more
There is only one secret i need but no matter how hard i search i cant find it. Its the one abot the star at the christmas party. Can anyone tell me where to find the answer pls?
I see no one's replying. Maybe asking in the Discord could've helped?
Anyway, you have to click on the star on the tree during the point and click section of the party and then answer the question.
Stan's the man! theres ur hint. One of my favorite games too.
any news on the update? did not play the game yet but been planning to try it at later updates.
Can you make it downloadable on the itch.io app? So not only on the website.
I have no idea. I think I need to get more bandwidth because the file size is over 1GB, so I'm using an external link to allow you the download. I don't know how much it costs or whether I can afford it at this stage.
I'm also not entirely sure how the app works.
Ah, okay. Thanks for trying than.
hi, does any one knows how to get the secrets:
If missed the first show why not try again?
Keep your eyes peeled when you're outside the mansion
Sometimes you have to keep asking, though you may not like the answer
thanks
Hey, would love to help you out, but since I'm the dev, it would kind of defeat the purpose ;)
If no one responds here, maybe you can try asking in the Discord and we actually get a discussion going.
For that last one though (i.e. the first secret), I can tell you that it was a choice near the beginning, but it's also something you might not like anyway.
hi.
not sure if that was intendent or not, but when I replay the mission " The Orphaned Orphan " and made " her cry " it said that I've unlocked the secret, however if I go the the "secret" tab, it's not really unlocked,
Right, replays don't count for unlocking anything or gaining any stats and there's no way to change that.
I should probably alter that bit of text for replay mode, but otherwise changing every single stat/unlock to be different between a replay and in-game events would be a nightmare.
Thanks for pointing it out. I'll think of a way to make it obvious.
On the plus side, now you know how you missed that one :)
Hey bro, great Game
Any update coming soon?
Yea, I had a month long trip during which I couldn't work. I'm back now, finished the writing, gave it a ton of polish and now I'm working on all the art. Hoping to release an early version on Patreon at the end of the month.
Thats great bro!
Thanks for ur hard work
Hey, it's been about 2 weeks now. I have a post regarding updates on Patreon. For now, this is only a hobby I do in my free time and I do want to release proper story progress with each chapter, so the next update would probably be in September at some point.
is there going to be a Mac version?
Hey, there is a Mac version on my Patreon page. It's also free to the public. Follow the link at the top of the page.
I will definitely be watching this game.
Thanks, glad you like it!
Nice game. Personally, I find it difficult to read names in italic style. It’s not a bad idea of DDLC-style game moments, and good sounds in these moments. Often there was breaking of 4 walls and sometimes game was funny. I went through the main storyline before and after meeting BS. I couldn’t guess the name of the game (hopefully it’s not that scary). The game has a very poor interface. In the player’s room, only the locations of the house are available for me to move. I can’t see the other character profiles and their trust points in any way. It is advisable to make a system for counting days here, and not just time. The interface also needs elaboration. You need to make a normal map, not these locations in the form of answer options. In addition to the map, you need character profiles, perhaps some kind of list of quests with tips on what to do. Also, before starting the game, you need to add a warning that there are sharp flickering colors in the game. And I also have a question for the personality of the hero. He is like a gamer, but in the course of story he didn’t show his abilities in any way. To do this, you need to at least add a computer to his room, so that the player can somehow interact with it or use it to complete tasks. I also think it might be a harem game. If I’m right, then add this tag on this site.
Uh oh... There should be a complete "Characters" menu with their trust points, events linked to the characters AND hints on how to unlock each. Have you checked the game menu after Trust Points are explained? If you're not seeing a new "Characters" menu appear at that point, then something went wrong and I need to look into it.
Okay, possible bug report out of the way - thanks for all the feedback :)
- The trivia thing isn't hinted throughout the game at all. It's like actual trivia, you either know it or not (or just google the phrase ;) ).
- Other locations will open up as the story progresses. This is just the prologue and you only get rooms where things happen. An actual map might be added at a later date, but I need to hire an artist to design it, plus hire them again each time a new location is added, which is outside my current budget. At the moment, this is simpler.
- Thanks for the note on the flicker warning! Completely slipped my mind! :(
- I'm not gonna comment too much on the MC at this point... There's a reason why he is the way he is right now. That's the thing about releasing a story in segments, I can't explain everything right away. :)
- Sure, I'll add the harem tag. I wasn't too sure, because nothing of that nature is gonna happen yet, but I guess it makes sense. Thanks for the tip!
Oh, thanks. I’ve seen Characters menu after your words. I didn’t expect to find this in that place. In other games there was Characters page at the up of the game screen, where I couldn’t see it when I played.
Phew! Glad that works :) Yea, I did a few things differently. I'll add a note saying where to look for it.