Thanks a bunch for all your comments!
I think the first case should definitely be skippable, then! I’ve thinking recently about how to judge “efficiency” - % inventory completed and % total HP left would probably be the easiest metrics to use. I said before that I would also consider the time taken to finish the case, but that might be unfair since that different people have different reading speeds (plus I can’t assign a “max” time to judge people against). Maybe a third metric could be # of clicks in the hidden object portion or # times hints used, but again, both of these are unbounded (unless I set a limit or tie them to HP?).Definitely make the tutorial case skippable on subsequent playthroughs. Offering incentives for finishing cases more efficiently works as well.
I totally agree with this. I think this would be one of the major challenges in implementing multiple case scenarios, because you wouldn’t want the triggering of different scenarios to seem arbitrary. AKA your choices should logically determine which events can occur. I was thinking things along the lines of, if you were around Character A on Day X, they’d lose the opportunity to enact Murder Plan B and would have to use Plan C instead (similarly, if you took Item D on Day X, they would have to use Item E to commit the crime instead). Or if you were with Victim A on Day X, the murderer would have to go after Victim B instead.Having different scenarios for different protagonist choices immediately makes me go "no no no no no no no" while huddled up in a corner - I hate it when the universe magically rearranges itself around choices that don't actually impact it. Completely ruins suspension of disbelief and the sense that it's a real world you're inhabiting that will go on churning even without you.
I agree that minority underrepresentation in media is a major issue and would like to see more diversity as well. Right now, though, the most I think I can do for Sylvia is a “quasi-route” that will be relatively hard to access. That’s partly due to the story events and characters themselves (I can’t see Christie aggressively pursuing Sylvia throughout the game or vice versa), and partly because I think a full extra route might kill me, haha. As long as something small like this for Sylvia is better than nothing all, that is (just hope it doesn’t come across as a half-hearted copout).About Sylvia, I would say definitely include a route for her even if not many people profess interest. I think it's really important for video games as a medium to embrace diversity and not shy away from representation of fringe groups - we're way behind on books, films, and other media when it comes to tackling LGBT issues in a mature way. I personally would like to see more games cater to underrepresented minority interests.
