Welcome to the Developer Diary thread for Crème de la Crème! Here you can read about how the project progressed, ask questions, and find extra goodies.
The story so far: I started working on this game on 1st June 2018, after an outline process of a month. It was released on 27th November 2019, and you can download it here!
Climb to the very top of the class at your exclusive private school for socialites! Will you study hard, find a perfect match, or embrace scandal?
Gallatin College is a “finishing school” where young people must learn social graces, surrounded by their high-class peers. When your parents fall into disgrace, the rest of high society rejects them. It’s up to you to enroll at Gallatin, to secure your future and restore the family’s good name.
At Gallatin, you’ll dance with royalty, impress decorated officers, and perfect your etiquette. What will you prioritize: a spotless reputation, a prestigious social network, or a pristine report card–and who will you backstab to achieve it? Your year in this sparkling, brittle world is about to begin. But are you a rake soaked in scandal, or a perfectly proper socialite? Sneaking out of class or polishing your ballroom dancing, either way: the road to high society starts here!
You can play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, pan, asexual, and/or aromantic.
Friendship, Romance, and Engagement Guide (Spoilers)
Romanceable and befriendable characters have varied genders. You can pick their genders as they are introduced, have them be randomised, or choose all of them to be a single gender at the start of the game.
= you can romance this character
= you can get engaged to this character (romantically or platonically)
= you can befriend this character
At Gallatin:
Freddie Crawford an overachiever from a working-class family attending college on scholarship. They are determined to succeed, whatever the cost to their wellbeing. Freddie has short, straight red hair, pale skin, and grey eyes.
Zuri Gonzalez Pursuing their interest in lacrosse is this student’s main drive, but they fear that parental pressure to marry and settle down will dampen their chances for athletic success. Gonzalez has brown skin, long thick black hair, and brown eyes.
Patrice Delacroix Outspoken and intense, this student is set apart from the popular crowd, focusing on uncanny phenomena. Delacroix has pale brown skin, blond hair, and brown eyes.
Maxim/Maxine/Maxime “Max” Van Meyer A notorious troublemaker, Max rules the school’s group of rebels. This student delights in chaos, but like a wildfire, may spiral out of control. Max has short braided black hair, dark skin, and dark brown eyes.
Eugene/Eugenia/Heike Hartmann This student takes their prefect duties extremely seriously, to the detriment of their social life and equilibrium. Hartmann is blond, pale-skinned and has grey eyes.
Blaise Marechal A gossiping student with a mean streak, this student has it out for you and seems determined to make your life miserable. Blaise has brown skin, black hair (bobbed if female, slicked back if male or non binary), and dark eyes.
Emil/Emily/Emile Karson The Gallatin groundskeeper and general dogsbody, Karson is a servant who is quiet, brooding, and intense. They have long dark hair, pale skin, and dark eyes.
At Archambault
Archambault Academy is a rival school to Gallatin which primarily educates titled aristocrats who are expected to ascend to political or military power, or other major social or academic successes.
The Honorable Auguste Renaldt the Head Prefect of Archambault, Auguste is the child of your Headteacher Lady Renaldt, and is known for their dedication to proper behaviour. Will you soften their heart? Auguste has dark skin and eyes, and closely cropped black hair.
The Honorable Florin Kraemer a self-interested aristocrat who is a notorious flirt, Florin aims to have a good time however - and with whoever - they can. Florin has wavy red hair, grey eyes, and pale skin.
Prince/Princess/Heir Rosario of Zaledo a loyal, sweet member of a foreign royal family, Rosario has not had much experience outside the hothouse environment of life as a dignitary. They have brown skin, very curly dark brown hair, and dark eyes.
Multi-Romancing and Polyamory:
- You can form a polyamorous triad with Delacroix and Max.
- Max, Freddie, and Delacroix may mention it if you’re romancing someone else alongside them, but they mostly won’t mind. Exception: Max and Delacroix will not like it if you want to romance Florin alongside one or both of them.
- Hartmann and Karson prefer monogamy.
- To start a romance with Blaise, you can be romancing someone else but you must not have a major romantic commitment. You’ll notice romantic commitment choices by phrases like “I’m interested in you and only you”, or by having a serious triad relationship with Max and Delacroix.
- Because you’re living separately from the Archambault students, an Archambault student won’t notice if you’re romancing someone from Gallatin alongside them.
Engagement Guide
In Chapter 10 you can get engaged to many of the characters, both romantically and platonically. Generally speaking, if you have a high relationship with your beau, especially if you have committed to them (by saying something like “I want to be with you and only you”) your partner is likely to accept a proposal or propose themselves. Some are a bit trickier. Here are some more details:
Gonzalez good Gonzalez relationship
Hartmann high Virtue, good Hartmann relationship. If you’ve consistently encouraged them to be more rebellious or more proper, you may need to nudge them in that direction.
Max platonic: good Max relationship. Romantic: good Max relationship, encouraging Max to be more steady
Delacroix good Delacroix relationship
Max and Delacroix: if you’re in a polyamorous relationship you can get engaged to Max, or to Delacroix, or encourage Max and Delacroix to get engaged. Regardless of who gets engaged to who (if at all) you’ll all remain committed to each other.
Freddie good Freddie relationship
Blaise very high Blaise relationship
Karson will get engaged to you if you ask, no matter what
Auguste good Auguste relationship, high Virtue. Lady Renaldt will approve the match (subject to any actions you take later in the game) if you have a good relationship with her and assisted her in Chapter 7 whether you were successful or not.
Rosario good Rosario relationship, high Virtue and high Popularity. This one is the hardest, stat wise, but rest assured that you can still have a commited relationship with Rosario if you don’t make the Virtue and Popularity scores.
Extras
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73 Stretfield Park, an interactive short story about the worst day of Blaise Marechal’s life.
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A Spotify playlist for the project
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Hearthlight Eve, an interactive short story about Delacroix returning home for the holidays.
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Character Trivia posts: some little snippets about characters: Blaise, Delacroix, Mr Griffith, Hartmann, Rosario, Karson, Max, Auguste
Tumblr asks
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Telling Blaise, Hartmann or Max that the MC finds their anger attractive
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Delacroix: some details that didn’t make it into the game, how long they and Max might last, cats, Delacroix romance guide
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Hartmann: how they and Max met, yearbooks why they act a certain way in Chapter 7, what would life be like with them, Hartmann’s brothers, sexual experience
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Max: looking upset in late game, tattoo, reactions on first meeting, Prefect MC dating Max, parties
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Gonzalez: whether they meant to annoy Freddie, sleeping habits
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Auguste: what they’re like as a prefect, whether they would pet an MC’s head, pets, relationship with their mother postgame
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Blaise: Auguste relationship, “blaise of glory”, weather enjoyment, angst, defending fiance, childhood with the MC, multiromancing, reaction to an MC who’s good at archery, how they might say I love you, why they send the MC a letter - major spoilers, post-Gallatin plans, Blaise fluff, Blaise’s parents’ response to an MC/Blaise romance, perfectionism, Hearthlight feelings, how they wouldreact to someone treating the MC how they treated them at the start, annoying or complimentary MCs
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Karson: if they got married to the MC, deep dive into how Karson feels at the end, staying at Gallatin or Archambault
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Parents: the MC’s relationship with them, parents’ relationship with MC’s love interests, MC helping Hartmann stand up to their parents, names of peers’ parents
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Florin: if someone makes a move on the MC, hair, favourite colour, would they stay with the MC, tattoo response, romantic feelings, commitment, reaction to a love confession from the MC, general trivia, how they feel about the MC, travel plans
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Peer characters: class aptitudes, what animals they like, wearing glasses, how they talk, flexible MCs, being bridal carried, pronouncing hors d’oeuvres, comfort food, telling scary stories, athletic abilities, fears, Enneagram types and D&D alignments plus Gonzalez where they would want to live, how they smell and more scents, who would win in a fight, hobbies, getting ready in the bathroom, appearances, heights, love languages, cooking skills, tattoo reactions, listening to the MC singing, how they feel about energetic puppy like characters, being serenaded, responses to being given gifts, studying at uni, Blaise and MC switching places, birthday parties, seeing MC’s childhood photos,
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Romanceable characters: things they don’t like in a partner, what they find attractive, Karson and Freddie, petnames, spoilery info about how they react to late game events, romantic/sexual experience, big spoon or little spoon, reactions to puppy eyes, traits they admire, kiss/marry/kill, tattooed name reactions, ideal birthday gifts/experiences, reactions to someone flirting with the MC, sharing beds, looking after the MC when they’re ill, when they might say “I love you”, responses to being told “I love you” early, Blaise’s and others’ responses to surprise affection, clingy MCs, reactions to MC’s insomnia, zodiac signs, if MC broke up to be with someone opposite to them, touch-starved MC, developing feelings, favourite kisses
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Archambault characters: family reactions to being with MC, how they feel about each other,
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What if: if the MC became an actor, they hung out afterwards, MC kissed someone else in a play, the MC broke up with their partner due to being blackmailed, the MC died and follow-up, the love interests went back in time, Max and Hartmann got together, an alternate Blaise romance, MC and romance interest breakup, the MC’s parents didn’t get in trouble, if characters played on stilts, if the MC pushed them in a pool, love interests lost a bet and had to kiss the MC, Max/Hartmann, committing crimes, if they’re sick, if ROs were in the MC’s position at the end, costume parties, if the MC hadn’t attended Gallatin, lockdown, trolley problem, daemons
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Teachers: who would win in a fight, getting them into a throuple
Walkthrough Info (Spoilers)
- Getting a tattoo
- Tell Hartmann’s parents to shove it
- Hide with Freddie
- Increasing Blaise’s relationship early on
- Max: increasing steadiness, engagement
- Hartmann: increasing rebelliousness
- Rosario relationship advice
- Florin: Spoilery romance guide here.
- Increasing Intrigue
- Spoilers for lategame plot: getting Lady Renaldt put in jail
- Becoming a teacher
. That said, time to get my social manoeuvring on 
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what’s the female word for ‘Beau’ ?
…that was so dissapointing …