Tale of Two Cranes (Out March 7)

Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are real people who fought about 400 years or so before the Three Kingdoms era, there are just…a lot of similarities between Xiang Yu/Cao Cao and Liu Bang/Liu Bei, like its a case of history repeating itself in a really interesting way.

This conflict establishes the Han Dynasty, while the Romance of the Three Kingdoms kicks off with its end!

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@JMH Happy to hear you’re liking the demo! Progress is going well on the remaining chapters (@SharpOne and I are hoping to have all of it ready for testing beginning to mid December). As for the Liu Bang/Liu Bei and Xiang Yu/Cao Cao likeness… did SharpOne and I not mention that Dynasty Warriors is in fact a guilty pleasure of ours? We’ve always wanted to do something in this kind of setting thanks to those games.

As for supporting Liu Bang versus Xiang Yu, well, each man has their pros and cons. For example, Liu Bang is very mistrustful of Yǒngshì and so keeps you at arms length and treats you more as a dangerous tool while Xiang Yu, ruthless or even cruel he may be on the battlefield, is far more accepting and embraces you as comrade and friend. (Also if you choose Xiang Yu then the dynasty will become known as the Chu Dynasty instead of Han, so, there are a few differences in history.)

@Spire Thanks for the feedback!! As to the secret technique trope I’m pretty sure we don’t have that trope in the game… unless we do but it’s so secret that even I don’t know about it?! :scream:

For Zhang Er, honestly, we just looked at the eighteen kingdoms Xiang Yu created after the fall of the Qin Dynasty and picked someone whose kingdom was somewhat nearby.

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Honestly, i’m still not satisfied with the ROs. I dont know how to say but it’s just awkward. Liu Yuan seems like a good choice since she’s the lord’d daughter but I dont really like her character. :frowning:

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I truly enjoyed the demo so far, especially when you can choose the Mc personality and behavior, plus the story seems satisfactory. Keep up the good work, I would love to play the full game!

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Really good one!
The beginning reminded me a bit of another game from forums called “Yugen” but after finishing the whole demo I can tell that yours gives absolutely different vibe.
After wrecking havoc in the first rebel village (sided with Xiang Yu btw) MC was struck after seeing someone in the crowd of captured people. And I was totally sure that someone is from MC’s village so I prepared myself for the long awaited drama but nope. Oh well there goes my “You’ve just raided your hometown” achievement.

@Hoonie523433 What about the ROs feel awkward to you? Is there anything specific you can point out or do they just rub you the wrong way? @TwoSharp and I want to write engaging characters (especially if they’re romances) and we’d love some feedback on our characters. :grin:

@bbymorphine We’d appreciate some feedback on our gender options. Gender is a complex issue and @TwoSharp and I want to be inclusive by providing multiple options. We included the PC’s physical body type in every option because we needed to track if they could have biological kids with their RO. (We have 3 choices when it comes to children: adopt, biological or none.)

@Daxterix I’m glad you enjoyed the demo! :hugs: We wanted stats that weren’t the usual speed, strength, and intelligence so we went with more behavioral based ones that you can really mix and match. Interestingly enough, I lean toward Egocentric, Vindictive, and Devious but tend to pick the calm and polite personality.

Also, would you mind going into more detail about your feelings on the story? The perfectionist in me needs to know.

@DesuVult Now I’m curious. Ever since the contest was announced I’ve been avoiding other games. They’re too tempting and I need to focus! :triumph:

As for your hometown, there won’t be any visits sadly. We decided that once you get your own land that would be where you’d visit and have your family moves (later in the game). It’s similar to Dragon Age Inquisition’s Skyhold fortress with upgrades and customization, but with an actual payoff in the end.

The Sharps are back.:grinning:

Well about the story, I enjoy the possibility to choose your origins (I personally prefer to come from a horse breeder family than a super rich one), and the freedom to choose your own class (fighter, mage, etc) by the way is it possible to choose your own weapon or is it based on the class you choose? Also would it be possible to fight unarmed or at least use a weapon that depends on your fists, like gauntlets or knuckles?

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So I really enjoyed this so far, especially because Fang Lan is actually a lot like my girlfriend so pleeeeease bring her back to me soon :cry:

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@Beaterxys …Or maybe… we never left! :smiling_imp:

@Daxterix Thanks for getting back to us. :kissing_heart: The weapons are based on class type. Fighting with the unarmed (or any other of the secondary stats) comes into play primarily against highly dangerous opponents where your standard weapon/training/ability won’t cut it. As for gauntlets, while we don’t have them in the game, if they were they would fall under the weaponry category instead. :crossed_swords:

@Lizzy Thanks for checking out our demo! :hugs: Fang Lan will be making a reappearance in every chapter going forward (as will all ROs). She’ll be back in the beginning to middle of chapter 4.

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Spraking of! There was a bit of a disconnect for me in one scene. After dispatching an assassin with my trusty Dao I rushed to defend my Lord’s concubine. Upon arriving I disarmed a hapless attacker and used his weapon after. Wouldn’t that be redundant if I already have a weapon out?

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@Spire Thanks for catching that! It’s been fixed so you use your dao now.

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I would like to try the private beta test for chapters four and seven

For nonbinary genders, I’d recommend saving that question for when it comes up. I get what you’re going for, but it feels too close to “but what are you really?” for comfort, and tbh kind of turned me off from playing further in the demo. Knowing your motivations helps, and I appreciate you being thoughtful about it, but it’s very easy to misconstrue intentions. I got to that option and considered the likelihood that your biological sex is included so as to misgender the MC appropriately, and opted not to risk it, and I doubt I’d be the only nonbinary player to make that assumption about why the choice is there.

If you just left it at “I’m not a boy or a girl” and then later on, when talking about having children, asked about whether it could be biological, I’d be a lot more comfortable.

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This story is so amazing and creative! Well done, I’m excited to read more😊

@HylaireDessalines1 Thank you for your interest! @TwoSharp and I plan on holding a private beta for chapters 4 and 5 first (and hopefully soon :grin:) and will let you know when that starts.

@HomingPidgeon Thank you for the awesome feedback! :+1: Now that you’ve pointed it out, the problem seems so obvious! :sweat_smile: I’ve looked through chapters 1-3 and gender’s only used for identifiers so I only have a few edits to make to and (the nearly finished) 4 and 5 and avoid mentioning gender entirely. As you mentioned it should only come up when you actually have biological kids.

I have to admit that neither myself or @TwoSharp seeing the problem makes me a little worried for a few of our characters. I want to do them and their identities justice without making it obvious or insulting. With that said, I encourage everyone to be honest in their critiques/feedback as you are. :hugs:

I plan to have the link updated by tonight. I can’t do it now because I’m at work (shush don’t tell my boss :sushing_face:).

@Hope_Kibo Thank you for the compliment! :blush: I hope we continue to be just as amazing and creative in the remaining chapters.

Also, here’s a general update.
I’m nearly done editing chapters 4 and 5, which means we’re creeping closer to our first beta test. @TwoSharp is finishing chapter 7 and will start the editing for 6 and 7 soon. We both have plans to go back to add in a few scenes as well (at least one in chapter 2 and a few in chapter 4) if time allows. That deadline seems to be coming up faster and faster.

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I had the time so I updated the link so it now has 5 gender options.

As I was changing the stat screen (under personal information) I also noticed that for the genders @TwoSharp and I made it so it says “Male in mind, heart, and body” and such. For genderless it was “Genderless in mind and heart and female in body”. I changed it so it just says “Genderless in mind and heart”. Any thoughts on this or a better way of saying it would be greatly appreciated! :smile:

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Interesting story so far, although I have a few questions.

If the MC has a lover of the same-sex can they still enter the arranged marriage with a powerful political family to have children? I could see the MC coming to understanding with their spouse, that they can have lovers of there own, but they just can’t have children by said lovers and they the lay together often enough to insure children. In this way I could see the MC forming a partnership and possibility building strong friendship with their spouse down the road, after all most marriages back then were arranged marriages

Can the MC accidentally become the ruler of China? Because they mastered the courts and a strong understanding of the other parts of governance that their allies and others at court decide to make them emperor/empress of China or push the current emperor/empress to make the MC their heir. Even if MC has no wish to become the ruler of China, like they leave for a month or so to deal with a problem or crisis and come back to find out they be made the next ruler of China.

Given that right now in the story, we are helping the leading men and women of China in putting one of two men on the throne, it would an ironic twist of fate that down the road the MC has the same thing happen to them. Although I don’t now how the MC can be on the throne given that Yǒngshì cannot be rulers or heirs although they can own land and have estates. Once a tradition has been broken or an exception has been made, there is no going back to way things were before.

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@Shadowdragon Thanks for playing the demo and for the feedback! :heart_eyes:

As to your first question, you cannot have a romance and the political marriage. Having someone on the side would be a major insult to this powerful family and they wouldn’t tolerate it (let alone how any of the romances would feel about it.) The political marriage isn’t locked to a male/female pairing; the family has a son and a daughter to choose from and if you can’t have/don’t want biological children the family has others in the family you can name as an heir/adopt.

The requirements/sacrifices you will need to make to become the ruler of China will be discussed in chapter 5 so everything is clear before you commit. There is no way that the MC can accidentally become the ruler of China; early on in chapter 5 you have to decide who you’d support should there be a power shift and from then on any activity you do is in their (or your) name.

Can I ask where you saw that Yǒngshì cannot be rulers or heirs? I don’t recall ever having that anywhere in the game and it shouldn’t be. While it has been rare, there have been a handful of Yǒngshì rulers. It’s been in recent years (leading up to the start of the game) that the common people and some people in government have been more fearful and superstitious leading to more regulations and power for the Guánlíyuán (the watchdogs of Yǒngshì).