What backgrounds did you unlock on your first playthrough? Which did you pick?
- Daughter of a Notorious Pirate
- Court Lady
- Minor Lady with Scholarly Bent
- Sheltered Princess
I'm a teensy upset I didn't unlock any "more than you appear" options
Did you have any success getting invitations your first try?
- Lyon
- Hamin
- Emmet
- Lisle
- Penelope
- Cordelia
- Jarrod
- Clairmont
- *JasperI Just tried it, ya know? And it's absolutely adorable that he "froze up" at the invite
What characters are you liking?
*WARNING* : LONG
I freakin love everyone. I was surprised that I loved Anaele more than I should. Usually warrior princess types tend to be rude or tsundere, so at first I wasnt too interested. But she was just a giant ball of energy that I want to turn her into a plush toy I can carry around everywhere. Penelope is so friggin cute, omfgfjdshfhsk if there's an option to romance her, I would definitely jump on that. I tried getting Gisette (cos she's so icy hawt man, i love her character design) in one of the paths I made, but I don't think I could. I turned around and wondered if I can lie to her if my "Manipulation" is high enough, or if my base stats are on the cunning side. No success. Any thoughts?
Romantically, I found it funny that there was an option somewhere saying "I'm ready to build a harem!" because that almost feels like what I want to do. I seriously love Emmet, Lisle and Lyon. These three are my top guys. Emmet is the type I'd probably go for in RL, as I love ditzy unassuming thoughtful guys. I think they're really rare. Lisle is so intriguing and I love the MC's banter with him, how she's all "sarcastic swoon" over the prince. I find the dialogue really good. Just enough for my shipping goggles but realistic enough that it's not like "OMFG, MC, I think I'm in love with you" (which is pretty much Hamin's game, but for some reason, I totally adore that too).
Now Lyon... Lyon, Lyon, Lyon. You sweet innocent thing. Don't stand so close, will you, I might just suddenly pop you a kiss while you contemplate the complexities of my eyebrows. Serves you right for being such an adorkable giant.
I am intrigued by Jarrod, and I did have a bit feel a bit of "Romance" there, but to be honest, I'd like to tackle him more on the conquest side. I think hard people are the easiest to manipulate when you get through their exterior (in game terms i mean). I feel like he's just looking for somebody to see who he really is, which is every abusive boyfriends' marketing pitch.. But this is different. He's a hot bishie sprite, so I'm all for it. Show me the goods, baby.
Now, I wonder if there's an option to juggle a number of romantic relationships at once, and if there are going to be dire repercussions. The way this game is structured, it can't be far off, especially if there are "Manipulation" and "Cunning" stats. Can I play a Cleopatra/Madam du Barry role in this whole thing? ...I might probably start a war if I do that though (but hey, the powerful women used their charm to stop wars right?)
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 was an "excellent" hostess, I think. I forgot what the wording was exactly. The hosting events weren't too complicated. I was more intimidated about building my skills cos I had to go around in circles to keep my stats up. I didn't really mind the hosting events too much. I'm having too much fun talking to the characters.
Additional Comments:
This game is written really well, and I think its strength is how immersive the world is and the bright colorful characters you can talk to. The structure of the game is alright, but sometimes I get the feeling like I'm bombarded with too many "stats" to keep an eye on. With only 5-11 blocks of activity a day, I'm not really sure how to structure the training. There are "cumulative" stats apart from the individual stats, too. Phew! Sometimes I feel like it's getting in the way of actually interacting with the characters and building my stats off that.
Also, (and this is a big thing for me), consider hiring a UI/graphic designer. I think the game would benefit GREATLY. I mean, the backgrounds are fine. I don't really mind photoshoped images. I barely noticed them, since I am more interested in the characters anyway. But with a game that requires you to check your stats for progress, the UI is definitely a big deal. I can offer you my services since I'm a graphic designer by trade (can't work for free though but I'm willing to do deals) and I don't usually go around threads hawking my trade (I'm apologize if this is in bad form :<) but I just really love this game and I think it has a big potential to be great. Right now, I find this the biggest obstacle.
If you don't have enough budget to hire anyone, I can give you a few tips:
- Consider having the Profile button and the Back button on the right sight of the screen so people can shuffle through the screens easier
- The stat bars should be equal in size and shape so you can see the progress in one glance. (I might even suggest recalibrating the stats so that there's fewer to mind, but the game might become different, so maybe just consider layouting it better so people don't have to scroll down)
- In the Skills page, don't put the "Back" button at the bottom of the page since sometimes it's a hassle to scroll down when you only wanted to check one stat.
- Make the scroll bars bigger.
- It is so much better to keep things clean and simple than fancy. Try lessening the effects on the buttons in "Ask for advice", "Study Skill" And "explore castle". A simple color overlay will be enough, I think.
- I know you went through a cycle of fonts through the demo, but I still think the current font, though readable, is a bit too decorative. The leading of the fonts make the block of texts more or less tedious. Consider using a clean standard font. For long texts, serif fonts are easier to read, so try using Georgia or Palatino Linotype.
- Generally, keeping things clean and readable should have more priority than making them pretty. I found some embellishments unnecessary.
That said, I am definitely in awe of your world and character building in this game. I'm trying to plan out a somewhat similar game myself, but I really have no clue how to get started. Playing this game just gave me shivers of delight. Look at all of em shiny possibilities!! So yeah. You're great. Best of luck in this project!