Seven Kingdoms [GxB/G] [Fantasy, Politics, Rom] (Greenlit)

[alylt]

One more question: in the first week of the game is it even possible that Jarrod agrees to my invitation? I've tried to host all kind of events but he always refused to visit. And I like him so much

Yes! If he likes you enough, Jarrod will agree to attend

the musicale

I played the demo and I must say, It is a truly awesome game!
And allllll the guys <3
And so much choices <3
Oh but the only thing is: The lettertype. The choices were hard to read with the purple background.

Hi Caty! Thank you so much, I really appreciate you playing the game and stopping by to comment.

As for the font, what version are you playing? I updated the game yesterday to v1.1 which has new fonts and the ability to pick the one that is easiest for you to read! (Hopefully this version isn't too hard to read, too!)

Hollaaa alylt! I loovvee this project of yours, really!
...
The main complaints were the font and that purple background. But anywayy, I agree to people above me about the font, I also like font 2. Oh and another thing, aside from that font matter, I think you put too many words on the textbox, I had a little difficulty to read them 'cause I think it was rather cramped. Or maybe it was just my bad eyesight hehehe
(anyway, excuse my poor English T.T)

Your English was perfect, riri! And thank you so much! Both for playing and commenting. Like I said to Caty above, what version are you playing? New fonts and new purple background are already in version 1.1 (which is what you will get if you click on the demo download link now)

One wall, as promised! I am kind of enthusiastic. You might have noticed.

I might be a little in love with you right now. <3

Princess Anaele. Oh, Ana. I've never felt more gay. I had no idea I had a thing for barbarians, but it's good to know. I love inviting her to my musicales, and I love that she has most of the swoon worthy lines (as far as I'm concerned). I'm a little upset that she can't rescue me from the horrible cliff/horse problem. She seems perfect for the role.

I agree! But the reason she can't is because she is by far the easiest for everyone to get affection with. I was worried if she could, there would be no challenge. But the challenge has killed waaaay more people than I thought it would (I've become a mass murderer T.T) I'm going to add a difficulty option for a story mode, where you can't fail the game ending challenges even if you fail them. So adding her in there will be perfect!

Duke Lyon is one that I forgot to ask you about before. I am guessing that I need only be super intelligent? I find him intriguing, but he's so reserved that I nearly forgot him in my Zarad/Hamin fangirling madness. He has an invite event, right? I think he's the only one I haven't gotten yet. I will have to rectify that shortly.

He has an event, but he doesn't invite you to it. You kind of invite yourself... You need to be at least reasonably intelligent, but

his romance is more geared towards social, political players actually

if you really want to know the secret to him it involves :

picking the right responses the first day, being an ethical/good person and being smartish

Lord Clarmont is tricksy. I am not sure what it going on with him, and he's not my usual type, but he is super charming. He's adorable with a sassy lady pirate (omg the goat story, I laughed so hard that I cried XD). He needs some fun.

You have no idea how true that is. Really. Really true.

I just cant seem to lie to Gisette.

It's possible but veeery difficult. Look into

very high manipulation

Earl Emmet is totally not at all my type... and yet I find him appealing and even a bit charming. He's just so sweet and open. He's like a breath of fresh air amongst the others. He's so kind and charming that I find him almost suspicious...

Poor, poor Emmet! He would be heartbroken to hear it!

Last but not least, Jasper. Is Jasper a thing? Tell me Jasper is a thing. He's way too pretty not to be a thing, right? I love his interactions with my character when I manage to surprise or amuse him, and I love how protective he is. I am so suspicious of him though. I caught that bit in the library and now I've got my eye on him. I feel like (assuming he's a thing) his route may be the most interesting of them all.

No comment. *whistles*

Lord Blain is the best antagonist so far. I hope he remains inept because I really enjoy his ridiculously catty behavior. I did manage to make him like me more, but it didn't seem to do anything in the demo.

The chances of Blain becoming competent....well, he will be disheveled and early in public first!

I got a perfect introduction! But I'm afraid it might have bugged. I figured that I had to pass all the speech checks, but I failed the relevant fact one. Is that one just less important? I also got a perfect musicale! Take that, Jarrod! You will listen to music and you will like it! (I really enjoy antagonizing him lol.)

Wow you are super good at this game! That isn't a bug. You don't have to pass all the checks to get perfect, it's impossible for characters to have that many skills. You just have to rack up enough challenge 'points'.

You had my attention from the moment you waved "inspired by Dragon Age" around, but I have to say that I am seriously impressed that you pulled it off so well. It really did remind me of the Landsmeet (or rather what I wish the Landsmeet had been). And you made it so FUN. I've gotten more hours of amusement out of your demo than I've gotten out of many finished games. I love that I had to think and plan and that it felt like a real game rather than just a story. The replay value is through the roof.

Thank you so much~ this really, really made me happy!

Okay, I think maybe I've babbled enough! Unless I haven't. In which case don't be surprised if I edit this with additional squee or just start babbling at you on tumblr (I'm punchysporkk there btw). Congrats and well done!

I recognize your name and avatar! It always made me laugh! PLEASE DO BABBLE AT ME. I'm so new to tumblr and I am really loving talking to people there.

[ColaCat]

Ah! Much better. Helps that I'm using my newer laptop ><

I love this game so much. It must have taken you ages to get all the different plots etc. for each path. I still haven't unlocked any yet though, grr.

I am secretly hating this game though, because I can't decide who I love more! So many choices! I love Hamin! An Lyon! And Jarrod! Even though he doesn't love me ><. And Ana (something that I think is compulsory) And Lisle! I love all of them actually... darn you for making so many great characters!

[bellice]

Just wanted to say, the new font is a hundred times better than the first one.

[Roseus Mirabili]

First let me say that the moment I read the words "Dragon Age", you had me. I'm a huge fan of the series and have all the games so far. Because of that and how unique you made the backgrounds and such, I had no issue at all with trying the demo, which I will confess that I cannot stop playing.

What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
I got the ambitious widow, the daughter of a notorious pirate, a minor noble with a scholarly bent, and a court lady skilled at politics. Personally, I loved the idea of being the daughter of someone infamous, so I went with the pirate.

Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?
Oh yes! Almost every time I played it, I got invitations from 'Prince' Harmin and Lord Clarmont. Besides them, I've gotten invites from Prince Lisle, Prince Jarrod, Prince Zarad, and Princess Ana.

What characters are you liking?
Definitely Harmin, I loved how he's all adventure. I can tell Jarrod is dangerous, but that kind of attracts and intrigues me. I also really like Lyon and wish to get him know him better. Penelope is adorable and Lisle makes me want to know what he's really hiding underneath his perfect shell.

How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?
I love the challenges. They're not too hard, but they certainly make you work for it. The backgrounds reminds me of the origins you get to experience in Dragon Age, so I felt a lot of nostalgia. I also agree that I was reminded a lot of the Landsmeet because of the conflicts in what certain people wanted and how those interests clashed with others.

I've gotten a few successes, but not as many perfect ones (however it makes me want to work harder to get them so that's a good thing).

Thankfully I got all the people I invited to my first hosting event.



All in all, I really enjoyed your demo and I will definitely look forward to enjoying the full game. I wish you the best of luck and I will be keeping my eye on it.

[alylt]

Hey ColaCat and bellice! So glad it's working better for you now. Take credit for the change! It's totally because of you guys~

ColaCat when you say you haven't unlocked any do you mean different backgrounds? If you need hints, just ask!

Hi Roseus Mirabili, Thank you so much for the comment and for playing! I'm so glad you think it lived up the comparison, the Dragon Age series is SERIOUSLY MY FAVORITE, if I'm even a little bit as good, that makes me super happy!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to give me feedback, it really helps! And when you answer the questions I get a better feel for what it's like for people playing blind which helps me to balance and learn.

You all are amazing, I hope you all are having great holidays (or just a great week!)

[DinosuarGoesRawr]

This looks so fantastic. I can't wait till it gets released! The art looks amazing and very detailed. However, I'm a bit worried about seeing how to diferate everyone from everyone. Unlike most people, for me, I can't remember loads of people at a time D:

[alylt]

Hi Dinasuar!

Yes we were super lucky with our artist, she is so amazingly talented, right?

As for the people, I was worried about this, so there is 2 potential things to help, if you are playing with internet access and windowed, you can just keep the character page on the website open in case you get confused.

Inside the game, as long as you observe them in the beginning of the welcome feast, there will be an entry for every person in your journal to remind you who is who.

Hope that helps~

[ColaCat]

Yeah, I can't seem to unlock any. Just a question, are you going to be making a walkthrough for the demo? This game is so complex, the help would be appreciated. I keep running in circles! XD

[Lyyli]

The demo was so much fun! I love all the choices and the characters. It will surely be hours of fun with the full game. I love how your background changes things, and all those mysterious letters make me so excited to uncover who is behind them.
Is it always supposed to fail, or can you succeed on the manipulation check with Grand Duke Woodly the first time you talk to him?


What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
A minor lady with a scholary bent, a court lady skilled at politics and the daughter of a notorious pirate.
I picked the court lady on my first play. After that I went with the widow because it sounded so interesting.

Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?
Yep.

What characters are you liking?
Emmett is so adorable! <3

How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?
I have never recieved a perfect success, but they never disliked my hostings.

[alylt]

To everyone who celebrates it Merry Christmas! And to everyone, I hope you are having an awesome day~

Hi Lyyli, thanks so much for playing and for the comments! I really appreciate it

Is it always supposed to fail, or can you succeed on the manipulation check with Grand Duke Woodly the first time you talk to him?

You can pass, but it isn't easy~

Hi again Colacat!

I didn't want to release a walkthrough right away, because if it were me, I know I would totally spoil myself on a lot of the game trying to have a 'perfect' playthrough, when a lot of the fun is exploring, also because it's fun for gamers to figure things out and help each other. But I'm going to open up a hint/tip/open help thread on my blog in the next couple of days, so everyone has a place to ask questions and help each other. There will eventually be a walkthrough though!

As for the backgrounds here are some tips for how to unlock each one, in order of difficulty:

Pirate- Automatically unlocked no matter what choices you make

Ambitious Widow-

The hint is right in the name, an ambitious widow needs to be ambitious

Court Lady -

No lady would survive in court without some political knowledge

Jiyel Scholar -

It's hard to be a scholar if you aren't very intelligent

Tomboy Countess -

A tomboy countess is much more interested in things like learning to protect herself and warfare than messing with boring etiquette or being well behaved

A Sheltered Princess-

A well raised princess would never think of sneaking out, or learning to defend herself, or behaving in anything but the most proper manner at all times

Let me know if the hints aren't enough

[akemicchi]

I roleplayed a character of mine and played this before reading the questions.

What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
I could only unlock the pirate background, lol. My second playthrough, I got the Corval court lady and pirate options, I think.

Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?
Princess Anaele, Earl Emmett, Prince Lisle, Lord Clarmont, 'Prince' Hamin, Prince Zarad, Prince Jarrod, and Duke Lyon (idk if it's an invite though, lol).

What characters are you liking?
My favorite is Crown Prince Jarrod, 'Prince' Hamin, Duke Lyon, and Princess Penelope. Jarrod's abrasiveness was incredibly cute to me (yes, cute, hahaha), Hamin is a super cutie pie I just want to hang out with him, I want to be Lyon's only best friend, and Penelope is so adorable, I love her so much. I also liked Prince Lisle, Lady Avalie, and Lord Blain (I DON'T CARE THAT HE HATES ME). It'd be easier to mention the people I didn't like, though, since I really liked pretty much everyone! In fact, the only character I didn't like was Princess Anaele, and the only character I was neutral towards was Lord Clarmont. I liked everyone else a lot... I want to be friends with everyone, even if it's impossible.

How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?
I did a musicale and got a skilled hostess. Just one person didn't attend the party-- it was Lord Blain lol. Why can't we be friendsssss. Is there any way we can be friends with him? ;_;

As for the matchmaker, I didn't even care that much when she failed me. I got the impression that I was expected to fail abysmally when Jasper mentioned how tough she was to impress. First playthrough, I failed miserably as expected, but did I manage to impress her in like two or three skills in my second playthrough (at the cost of ignoring everyone for more free time, lmao).

I also had to get rescued by 'Prince' Hamin since all my skills are pretty low on account of having less blocks of time to pass any of the other previous checks, haha. Second playthrough, I died because I didn't pass any of the checks (I was spamming matchmaker stats) and I wasn't friends with Prince Hamin.

~*~

I gotta say, I REALLY like your game so far! *V* It was fun, I loved the character creation, I liked almost all of the characters, and I really liked the situations. I can't wait for the full version to come out; I'm really excited for it.

I've got a few gripes though:

• It was REALLY hard memorizing who was who the first time. I had to load my save with the introductions when trying to figure out who to invite for the hosting events.
• The backgrounds and fonts, but you're already aware of that. I'm really glad the font has been fixed! I almost gave up on playing this game because as soon as I saw the first screen, the text gave me a headache.
• I didn't even know that you had a Your Page even though the game kept mentioning it. It was only when I got my brother to play the game that I finally noticed the button in the top left corner. All the textures makes it hard to see. Maybe you could make it more noticeable? Like brighter?
• I skimmed through most of the history bits. I got bored after the fourth instance of backstory popped up. If there are blocks of text with more than three lines for three screens, I can't help but just skip through it. It would be better if you could make it more engaging-- like, having something happening on screen while it's going on. But I also feel like this can be solved just by having good font, so I'll let you know how the history bits feel when I play it again with the updated font. :)
• More than three lines on a screen in general, especially when a character is speaking. Some lines could get broken up into smaller lines, so it's not overwhelming. Like I said, I like to skip through screens that are more than three lines long, so smaller ones are better.
• The textbox fades at the top, but the font is right at the fading transition. I think you should lower the text a little, so it's on the black/opaque part and not in-between. It's really hard to read.
• I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it bluntly: the title screen and all the other screens are a mess to look at. There's too many textures, uses multiple fonts so nothing looks consistent, and everything doesn't look uniform. It's a hodgepodge of colors, there's no theme and even the font doesn't have the same amount of spacing (bonus screen, for example). I looked around at everything before I played the game, and I have to say my expectations for this game got lowered when I saw it, which is a shame because it's genuinely awesome when you get to playing it.

Annnnnnd.... That's pretty much it. I liked everything else. :) You have no idea how excited I am for this game-- I could play something like this for hours. I can't wait for it to be finished. Good luck!! I'm really rooting for you!

[alylt]

Hi akemicchi!

Thank you so much for playing and for your feedback, I really appreciate it

First a few hints: there isn't actually a way to impress the matchmaker the first time around, so no need to stress failing her checks! (You aren't the first person who has though, I think I need to think of a way to make it more clear that's the case, there is a journal entry about it, but that's clearly not enough!) Also as long as your event is successful you actually get *more* stats for socializing than you do studying, although you don't get to pick which ones are raised.

Re: GUI/Backgrounds/Screens/etc.

Except for the amazing character art, everything in the game has been done by me for 0 dollars. I'm actually a pretty horrible programmer and clearly am nowhere near a professional graphic designer and have pretty much negative art skills. Honestly, the fact that this game manages to work at all is something of a small miracle haha. Since I don't currently have the budget to spend any more money on the game, I basically have three options. 1) release as is with the small requested changes I actually am capable of doing myself without breaking the game (like, I can make a new your page button and probably should!) - this option is the one that is 100% possible 2) raise more funds to hire skilled awesome people to do the things I can't, through something like a kickstarter- this option depends 100% on having enough people interested and option 3) somehow magically find super talented people willing to work for free. (Honestly, this option makes me feel icky. As (primarily) a writer, I think people's work has value and *should* be valued, especially in the arts are in areas that aren't visible that are super difficult, like programming) So while I hear what you are saying, you can see my conundrum!

(Although I did the fading text box on purpose. I thought a traditional text box would be more likely to break the illusion of being in 'first person' view)

((I hope that didn't sound defensive! I really do appreciate your feedback! I'm just aware of my own limitations haha and things like coding text placement, or making any screen look uniform ever is totally beyond them))

But it really has been super interesting, when you have seen something so many times and for so long and know everything about it to the point you don't even see it anymore and then seeing the reactions of people who have never seen any of it and are seeing it all with fresh eyes and no knowledge you really learn so much! It's totally an eye-opening and cool experience, so thank you to everyone for their feedback and responses! If I ever manage to finish this monster of a game and start a new one, I will have learned so much to do differently already!

edited to add:
And I missed your question about Blain.

You can basically only make him hate you less (at least so far)

[bellice]

Finally got around to finishing the demo!

What backgrounds did you unlock your first playthrough? Which did you pick?

...uhm, good question. The pirate background and the tomboy countess, I think. Picked the tomboy, because yes.

Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?

Yup. Got all of them, I think. (Or so the achievement tells me.)


What characters are you liking?

Ana, obviously. I'm a sucker for strong warrior women. She can sweep me off my feet anytime. I also like Penelope a lot, as well as her brother (mostly because his affection for his sister is cute). Out of the guys, I probably like Lyon the most, though. He has that 'socially inept genius' thing going on that I love so much. I'm interested to see how Cordelia might develop. She's so proper, I can't really tell anything about her, but I'd like to believe she has a hidden, wilder side.

Who I don't like at all is Jarrod. He's...pretty creepy, to be honest. The way he keeps pulling and pushing at the main character, not to mention his behaviour towards Penelope at the party and his temper issues...he just screams 'abusive' to me. Like, my impression of him was so bad I was seriously baffled that he did not hit me after I kept refusing to back down. He doesn't strike me as just a bad boy, but as seriously violent and threatening (and not in the sexy way either).
But, you know, fantasy will be fantasy. I don't much care that others like that sort of thing. Let your imaginations fly free, I say.


How are the Challenges and the hosting events? Are you having any luck getting great success/perfect success? Or is it too hard? Has anyone been able to get a perfect success hosting a tea the first week?


Honestly, I didn't try. I keep failing at everything and now I'm afraid I may have some performance anxiety. I feel so inadequate. (The matchmaker broke me, I swear.)


Question: At the start of week 2 I got an invite from Penelope, but the demo ends before then. Is that on purpose or maybe a bug? (Really, I'm hoping it's a bug, cause I really wanted to meet her, goddammit. )

[alylt]

Hi Bellice! Thanks for stopping by again I'm glad you finished it! (and congrats on all the invites! That's super hard to do, and on a first playthrough? awesome!) Sorry about the matchmaker, I swear she hates everyone differently, but equally. ITS NOT YOU, ITS....YOU BEING THE MC

The demo ends before Penelope's event, so no, not a bug. But I'm working on some new features and programming in the rest of the art for demo v. 2 which will take you halfway through week three, so that should be out in the next couple of weeks (hopefully!)

(As for something else you said check your PMs!)


Edited for an update
I have made new your page buttons! These will be much harder to miss and will go in the next demo update (whenever that is)

[ColaCat]

Ah! Thanks! It turned out I had managed to get the Jiyel scholar, I just thought that was an automatic option ><

Yeah, I agree that putting up a walkthrough too soon would ruin the game, as it's very fun playing it over and over! A hints and tips page is a good idea though, I might be retorting to it quite a bit!