Damn, now that, I would really have enjoyed, even more than this
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Hello there @eTootsi! Welcome to the community!
Haha ooh, Iâve gotta check out Run with the wind one day!
The mechanics, mostly! Initially, back when I was new to Choicescript coding, I thought it would be easier to grapple with a one-player / two-player game with the coding before trying anything too ambitious.
Now that Iâve got a better grasp of Choicescript, I actually think coding a soccer/football game would not be beyond me⌠As long as I keep some things simple. But yeah, maybe that can be a project for future me 
Yup FIFA/corporate soccer is a mess.
@Sujan_Dhakal haha. Maybe youâll still be around if I do end up writing a soccer/football IF!
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I canât just keep quiet about this, why on earth is the mc getting trashed on by Rayya, I literally surpassed this character in every way, weight lifting more that Rayyan score , coming first in the race all team members participated, winning the devil dozen, getting all the way to fourth only to be stopped by plot amour from taking Deepal spot and winning the two matchup with both Rayyan and Tobin, only to be slapped in the face that it didnât matter, Dammm the mc needs justice because is not right even after Rayyan got injured and was about to miss the ball I still covered for they weakness, so why isnât any character pointing this out, it doesnât make sense for Rayyan to trash talk mc without even mention one error in what the mc have done
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I agree with this, thatâs why I would like an option where our MC mentions Ryan in an âunfriendlyâ way that we donât like the idea of doing doubles with him either.
Although my mc will do it since he respects the coachâs decision.
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You can now get the highest possible score (and the achievement) with intelligence > 27 and having done readings at least once. Cheers!
@Elemental hhahaha I understand the frustration. I think thereâs a long thread above addressing this, so at risk of sounding like a broken record Iâll put my thoughts below
Summary
- Rayyanâs well-aware of MCâs physical prowess (strength/agilityâthatâs just one aspect of tennis though.) As it is, tennis is about the clutch moments, and how one performs under pressure in match situations.
- MC does lose to Deepal in their challenge match. (For those who think this is rail-roady, I stand by this decision because I donât think story-wise, itâs very fun to make every single game winnable, at the expense of the plot. In other video games, there are moments where your character just loses, so that other points in the story can shine (in this case, MCâs growth as a tennis player over time). See: Rocky, or every sports movie in existence as well.
- OK, now that weâve established that MC did lose to Deepal, I think this is actually a pertinent point to Rayyan, because it makes them doubt MCâs experience and consistency as a doubles partner against other No. 1- and 2 seeds of other colleges.
- In other words, MCâs a good player. But Rayyanâs just painfully aware that theyâre not paired with the No. 2, or even. No. 3 seed of the team.
- Rayyan prefers Tobin, because theyâre familiar with them, and also think itâs the âsafestâ and conventional way for a college to pair doubles partners (1-2, 3-4, 5-6).
- Finally, Rayyanâs also hot-headed and ambitious so again, their reaction was spur-of-the-moment. Some things will sink in after they give it some thought. Youâll see that in the next update.
Finally, all that said, I do want to allow MC to respond in a hostile manner, and though I think I did provide some vaguely defensive choices, Iâll see what I can do to make it more ~~antagonistic~
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How much Intelligence for NO readings? 
Safe there, I got 37.
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Heh, no readings and you can only get the second highest score, i believe. And you need >29 intelligence for that.
Gotta do your readings, kids.
Wasnt this cause of some weird bug though⌠
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A couple of thoughts:
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While Iâm mainly romancing Rayyan, I really enjoyed the Tobin double and their offer to be my new partner actively intrigued me because it made Tobin more attractive as a character, friend, and potential romance option (even though, as I said, Iâm here for Rayyan⌠so far).
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I wish MC could accept Tobinâs offer on a Rayyan romance path purely because they donât want to be a burden to Rayyan or simply because they realize that this Rayyan attraction will only unnecessarily complicate matters for both of them in the long run.
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Saying this as a Rayyanmancer: I wish we could be more of an asshole right back at Rayyan. All the MCâs reactions to their behavior make us seem like a bit of a wet blanket, especially if MC is supposed to be cocky. For example, an option that gives MC the opportunity to ask, âIs it really so bad? Being my partner?â but with more vehemence that emphasizes that MC knows their own worth. Or just an option that points out that Rayyan wasnât MCâs own No. 1 partner choice in case they said as much previously?
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During the Rayyan pool scene, I actually preferred the âsplash water at Rayyan playfullyâ moment to the actual romance options because it was more in line with what my prankster MC would have done. Not meaning to imply that the other moments werenât worth it but, I guess, Iâm just not playing the right character whoâd constantly flatter or be demonstrably shy around Rayyan. Any chance for some more opportunities to antagonize Rayyan in a flirty manner? Examples:
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When Rayyan tells MC, âWhatever youâre thinking, itâs not happening.â Maybe Iâm headcanoning too much of a bastard MC here but mine would have implied something flirty just to rile Rayyan up in a professional setting.
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When Rayyan tells MC that they are a âsurprisingly good⌠doubles partnerâ, my MC would have quipped that theyâre glad that Rayyanâs finally got with the program about how great MC is.
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Iâd appreciate the âGo all out. Iâll prove just how much [theyâre] underestimating meâ as a potential option for more spiteful, confident Rayyanmancers.
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I really liked it when MC got to patch Rayyan up and Rayyan acknowledged my MCâs Pre-med major.
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I also loved the locker room confrontation though I wish thereâd been more references to MCâs height/build/stats and how that might impact MC pressing Rayyan into the lockers. Nothing too fancy. Just the acknowledgment or the implication that, maybe, Rayyan lets themself be pushed around here if MC isnât the strongest/tallest person in comparison. (Because they think they deserve it? Because itâs a lilâ bit hot?) However, I realize, considering that several different things could be relevant here (height/build/strength stat), itâs probably not worth implementing.
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By the way, I generally loved Rayyanâs primadonna reaction to the whole thing, messy as it was. And I cannot wait to smooch and/or beat them, whatever happens first. Also, Iâm really hoping Rayyanâs reaction to a Tobin switch will be a little bit different depending on whether MC is actively romancing them (maybe just one small hint of irrational jealousy?), even if theyâd be altogether glad that it was resolved in this manner.
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Help. Iâm really intrigued by Felix and their backstory with Tobin (despite not even romancing them). Knowing my history of terrible RO decisions (Jury), they can only be bad news. Really looking forward to seeing more of them, though.
No idea if the above feedback is helpful or not. If it isnât, please ignore it. The game is great fun as it is and the characters work well with respect to the friendship/romance aspect.
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I am still not able to get that until I sit next to Addie and bet on the score. And in the code there were 2 first-week-class files? Umm⌠which one of them is implemented?
Edit: Oops! Sorry. Found out. You gotta be serious. Guess canât joke around eh?
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Ah! MC can absolutely accept Tobinâs offer on a Rayyan romance path! The Tobin dinner offer is not automatically coded as romantic, itâs meant more as a âget-to-know my new doubles partnerâ hang-out Of course, Rayyan on a Rayyan-mancer route might be a tad jealous of the one-on-one time but thatâs on them. No oneâs stopping them from proposing their own one-on-one thing with MC.
This gets long, so Iâve put it in the drop-down, but tldr; I think there are currently two response options possible for an MC who (a) doesnât give a shit and is just like lol Rayyan, Iâm good, you donât know what youâre missing, and (b) is annoyed/antagonistic and is like âscrew you, Iâm good and I know it.â
So I do think Iâve written in quite a lot of possible hostility.
Current options
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Shrug and lean on one foot. âYouâre missing out if you play with anyone other than me. If you wanna win, Iâm your best bet.â
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Curl my fists, feeling my heart spike with anger and something far more difficult to put into words. âIf you think weâre doomed to failure, you know nothing about what Iâm capable of.â
Iâm personally quite proud of the second option for an angry MC, but I hear you guys in wanting a more hostile option, so maybe you guys can let me know what the second response (above) lacks, so I can add something thatâll hopefully plug the gap.
In addition, during the locker confrontation, MC also gets the chance to:
- Press Rayyan to the lockers and say âYou donât have to pretend to feel anything. Iâm just asking you to give me a fucking chance before you dismiss me.â
That said, based on your feedback, Iâve added three choices to the first part of the Rayyan confrontation:
- if (not (preferred_doubles_partner = âRayyanâ)) #Shake my head at ${team_him}, not bothering to take the sting out of my words. âYou know, I never even wanted to be your partner. So, the feelingâs mutual.â
- if (preferred_doubles_partner = âRayyanâ) #Lift my chin. âYou know, I never even wanted to be your partner. So, the feelingâs mutual.â (Lie)
- if (not (preferred_doubles_partner = âRayyanâ)) #Sigh, crossing my arms. âLook. To be honest, you werenât my first choice either, but Iâm willing to give us a shot. So it would be nice if you could do the same.â
And another three choices to the second part of the confrontation
- Take a step back. âFine. Youâre right. Thereâs no point us being partners if neither of us wants it.â
- Clench my fists. âYouâre right. Thereâs no point us being partners if neither of us wants it. But just so you know? Youâre the one losing out.â
- Lift an eyebrow. âIf we play together and lose, I swear it wonât just be on me.â (modified from original choice).
Hope that helps!
Ah yes, this is part of an ongoing struggle to see how to revamp the (heart) labels, because I do feel like itâs not necessary for Rayyan-romancers to pick the (heart) choices all the time (since it only is meant to give a small bump to romance) and you can definitely still romance Rayyan while picking cheeky/funny/friendly/hostile options when it feels right/in-character.
I donât really want to write a story where MC has to pick flirty options all the time, but Iâm not sure how to communicate that to readers.
Ooh, am I missing something here? You can definitely pick the option as a spiteful, confident Rayyan-mancer.
Will definitely work on this/yep, part of the plan 
Hahaha. Cool! Very good to know that Felix has intrigued you!
Finally, just wanted to thank you again for the suggestions and thoughts, they were helpful to know for sure, and Iâm asking / replying in such detail because I really do appreciate you guyâs feedback, and want to understand moreâof course sometimes Iâll still stand by how Iâve written some parts, hence the explanation above, but Iâll always try to see where youâre coming from/how I can improve the story!
@HaydenJK Ah yes, sorry for not mentioning that youâve got to be serious about the test! 
Oh edit! @feurio, I like the idea of adding in differences in the locker push scene depending on MCâs build as wellâit was mostly just the amount of extra writing that would be required that stopped me the first time, but when I do have time, itâs on my âaspirationalâ to-do list as well!
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In that option, I personally feel that our MC, by saying âIâm just asking you to give me a fucking chance before you dismiss me,â is somehow acknowledging R as a better player (And yes, it is, at least for now).
Thatâs why, in my opinion, an option to push them and say something hurtful or to act arrogant might be better for a more aggressive reaction.
Speaking of pushing R, is that option available even if our character is short in stature?
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In my humble opinion there should also be an option that shows just pure indifference and some confrontational indifference to Rayyanâs tantrum. Suggestions would be that mc could potentially respond like âI couldnât care less about this pathetic scene that your makingâ and then just leave by either shoving them if they want to be a bit confrontational or âyou can do what
whatever you want, I will stand by the decisions of the coach so throw this tantrum in front of the coach and not me.â Sorry for the bad english(not mu first language) and I dont mean to be rude to you or anyone.
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Nope, Iâm smart all on my own, fair and square.
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SamâŚI need more Sam 
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Seems to me like the digital likeness part of the current actors strike would also be very relevant to student athletes, particularly ones aiming to turn pro. As the last thing youâd want as a pro is to be haunted by your digital, younger self in perpetuity.
Heh, in the changing legal climate perhaps student-athletes in the US need their own union too in order to make a fist against EA and the hedge funds that run US elite educational institutions.
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Quick question
If Tobin and Depal are so good together, why would the coach break them up for my mc that lost to Jacks and Tobin???
P.s i donât know if someone has asked or this has been addressed before. So apologies in advance if thatâs the case
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Well, your char is a freshman, so would be expected to have a steeper learning curve. Thatâs all I can think of. Of course, my char lost when teamed with Rayyan, so that pairing isnât perfect either.
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I first commented on this WIP back in April 22, really surprised I was so into a game about tennis (which I knew nothing and cared little about). Anyway, since then I have gotten (unrelatedly) very into tennis â having read this actually made understanding the game and terminology a lot easier to grasp! A friend - and former div 1 tennis player - convinced me to watch the AO and Iâve been following the tour pretty closely since, even going to a couple tournaments. All that is to say, I caught up on the latest update of this and I loved it even more in the light of my new love of tennis and the number of stories about the college tennis experience Iâve been regaled with by my friend. The match play stays super fun and engaging even in the later matches, and the college life stuff spreads that out super nicely.
Somehow everything feels balanced while still maintaining that âI just started uni and there are 12 million things happening and I want to do them all!!!â chaos that really sets the scene. Having the new and separate groups of friends, the options with Sam, to call or not call home etc etc
The only thing that took me a little bit aback was how much Rayyan didnât want to be paired with me in doubles after we won our match!! Feel like I was given the options to have my MC feel similarly put out by that though, and so I appreciated that. Iâm sure the pressure Rayyanâs putting on themselves is just affecting their judgement, bc my MC is That Girl x
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing you work. I canât wait to continue the story!
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Regarding MCâs responses to Rayyanâs outburst:
First off, thank you for your detailed and constructive suggestions @Daku and @Shreevatsa_Kulkarni!
I just wanted to say that I definitely see where you guys are coming from (detailed responses below). Iâll see what I can do to tweak the text in the choices, but just a disclaimer that I might not be able to give all the possible emotional variants to this situation because I donât want to end up with a brick wall of 10 or so possible choices. Some responses might still have to be grouped together in a single basket.)
Response to @Daku
Haha, yeah, I see what you mean. It was indeed written from the perspective of an MC that does see Rayyan as the better player, but is angry that theyâre not given a chance to prove that theyâre every bit as good.
I think this is a fair way of characterizing MC at this point. They are an underdog/unproven talent. Even if they believe theyâre as good as Rayyan, they do know that unlike Rayyan, their skill has not yet been âestablishedâ; Their various successes thus far have not yet been in a real, formal match against an opponentâtheyâve all been against their own teammates thus far). I think even an arrogant MC would be able to acknowledge that.
But I take your point that thereâs a power dynamic difference between asking Rayyan to give MC a chance vs. simply saying âIâll show youâ, and proud MCs may lean towards the latter. Iâll see how I can tweak the text.
Response to @Shreevatsa_Kulkarni
Hahaha well, my thought was that this response was âpure indifferenceâ:
But I do like the idea behind this:
So weâll see what I can do!
Other replies
Yup, it is!
@JBento Well, okay, thatâs a little scary high, good job, I guess? (whispers: nerd!)
@Knoez HAHA soon, I promise!
@Happyteddypig Fixed finally, thank you!
@idonotlikeusernames Oh interesting! Huh, amazing how the actorsâ strike has such far-reaching impact (thatâs great to hear!)
Absolutely! I actually wanted to add a âmoneyâ-related mechanic into the game to deal with exactly this (struggling to make ends meet / pressure to retain oneâs scholarship, juggling grades with tennis etc.) but I figured it might be a little too much to bite off at the moment. Interesting stuff though, thanks for always keeping me apprised of the latest NCAA/student-athlete related news haha.
Oh my goodness, this is so cool to hear! I love that you ended up interested in tennis, and enjoyed the game even more with your newfound interest! Sounds like an awesome cycle haha.
Thank you so much for the praise, I definitely wanted the IF to feel a little hectic (but spread out over a couple of different dimensions), to capture that âoh my god there are 10,000 things my MC needs to doâ feeling that encapsulates freshman year of college.
Haha exactly. Iâm looking forward to having Rayyan and MC talk through the reaction Rayyan had a bit more, especially in a calmer way once Rayyan has had the chance to simmer down and think about it a bit.
Ah hmm, just to confirm, in your case:
- MC lost the doubles friendly to Jacks and Tobin when partnered with Rayyan,
- MC got partnered with Tobin, and Rayyan got partnered with Deepal?
- Iâm assuming MC maybe lost to Jacks in the challenge match?
The reason for this should have be addressed in-game, but Iâll go check and improve how Iâve explained it, cause I want it to be at least sufficiently elaborated on within the IF itself
Tldr
- For an MC whoâs ranked no. 5 (see point 3 above, you can correct me if Iâm wrong), the No. 1 + No. 5 combination might just be a tad too weak (worse than a No. 1 + No. 4 combo, which is already pushing it).
- Hence, going with a No. 1 + No. 3 (Rayyan-Deepal), No. 2 + No. 5 (Tobin-MC), No. 4 + No. 6 (Jacks-Emerson) pairing would be preferable as Rayyan-Deepal would be stronger than Rayyan-MC, sacrificing the familiarity of the Tobin-Deepal pairing is an acceptable trade-off because Tobin is the kind of player who can pretty much gel with anyone, given enough practice (and they have a whole season to sort it out).
By the way, Iâve also compiled two previous replies/threads on doubles partners for reference (but theyâre mostly explanations for partnering MC with Rayyan, rather than this situation, where I assume MCâs been partnered with Tobin)!
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