Okay, so in the latest update, I made the skip musical scene options cost NP.
But that didnāt really make much sense, so now Iām thinking, what if the NP option makes the characters talk normally instead? Iāll increase the NP cost to like around 5 or 10, but you wonāt need the [Musical Averse] Trait to pick them anymore (which Iāll probably remove).
Iām not sure how the scenes would work exactly without sounding awkward, but I wanna know first if this is something people are interested in before I make any actual edits.
What do you think of Alternate Musical Scenes?
I like it!
I like the musical scenes, but the option would be nice.
The majority seem in favor of the new Alternate Musical Scenes (especially including the Tumblr poll), so Iāll try to include the musical scene edits in the next update.
Iāve also come into a realization with the NP choices, so going forward, I donāt think MC should be able to change any physical characteristics about themself via NP options, and should be an actual limitation of the mechanic itself. The possibility of being able to change your own body just opens a whole can of worms that the story wasnāt meant to explore.
Sidequest Rework?
On another note, Iām also considering on reworking the [Five-Year-Old MCās Wish] Sidequests and change it to some sort of ābucket listā instead, so itās less restrictive to certain playstyles. Instead of specific objectives, you need to complete an X amount of goals (from a list of objectives based on your traits that you can do repeatedly), and you will gain additional EXP and NP for every milestone you achieve.
For example, MCs with the [Sweet Tooth] Trait will have āEat sweets or dessertsā as one of their goals. If you have a very high Manipulative stat, increasing/decreasing your Manipulative stat might also be one of your goals depending on your other traits.
I know itās hard to do with a mostly linear narrative, but Iām trying to add more emergent gameplay/mechanics to the story, so that you always feel like youāre progressing towards something, and so that different playthroughs feel more unique to each other.
Bug Fixes
I also fixed a bunch of other bugs in the meantime:
Fixed certain clubs displaying incorrectly in the About Me section.
Fixed a bug in JM Sr.'s diary entry when a certain secret has been discovered.
Separated relative height choice in the prologue and moved to Chapter 2 to fix a bug with Dwarf/Halfling/Gnome/Goblin MCs being able to pick the [Tall-Blooded] Trait.
Hello! Iām just dropping by to let you know that the follow-up update wonāt be here for a while, but if youāre not following the blog, hereās a couple of other things Iām considering:
Heart/Star Birthmarks?
I just had this idea of giving MC and Twin heart/star-shaped birthmarks, which would be the new basis of their locket shapes (although the respective personality designation still stays).
I just like the idea mainly because itād be a distinguishing feature that all the MCs share besides the lockets, plus it adds another point of conversation later (especially during the climax in IAC).
Youāll be able to choose where the birthmark is, although Iām not sure if that means Iāll have to remove the non-specific āfacial birthmarkā in the distinguishing features list.
Cham Redesign
On a different note, Iām considering giving Chamās character art a bit of a redesign to improve it and give her a clearer identity. Hereās what Iām planning to change:
Minor Spoilers
Improve the color palette
Give her dress a patchwork design/pattern
Make her torn wing much more noticeable
Make the horn much bigger (and maybe wrap around her back?)
Remove the hourglass on her belt, and give it to her pet hellhound so it has an hourglass collar to help Cham keep track of time
Make her wear aviator goggles
I realized that it wasnāt clear in Chamās character page, but she has actually built her own biplane! Cham can still fly in short bursts, but she needs her plane to fly over long distances because of her torn wing.
People can have more than one birth markāhow far apart they are varies, but I donāt believe it to be unheard of.
It could be hidden; placed on their chest over their heart, or anywhere on their torso that wouldnāt normally be exposed, or even on their hip.
It could be out in the open; on the hand/wrist, lower legs/ankles, the cheek on their face, or most dramaticallyādead center on the forehead.
Itās a lot to add in, though. I do like the idea of it, and it being the inspiration for the custom locket shapes, but if it is too abstract to work with in the narrative it might be best to stick with the hidden type that draws less attention (and therefore flavor text references with each new character not used to the sight.), or put it in the ideas box to sit on for a bit.
Of course! I just meant that the heart/star birthmark itself would be less of a ādistinguishingā feature if MC had other ones on the face. It complicates the flavor text a little, but I donāt think itās that bad.
But yes, thereāll be options if you want it to be more obvious or more easily hidden. I donāt think it really messes with the narrative (I think it actually helps with IACās themes), with the small exception of potentially ruining the IAC reveal if itās on the face (although I guess I could easily make the twins lower down their face during the interrogation).
Iāve been meaning to ask, is the pet being cat or dog going to have much effect? Because if it is, Iāll have to try and start to get over my unwillingness to not pick the cat sometimes. (I just canāt resist naming a cat Schrƶdinger. And itās giving me such King of Cats vibes that Iā¦ justā¦ canāt.)
I had to answer a similar question on the blog, so Iāll just copy my reply:
Hmm, I donāt think there will be any major differences gameplay wise, besides the appropriate flavor text changes here and there (the cat sits on Paddyās keyboard for a bit, for example). There might be something in the future, but after Chapter 7, you wonāt see them for a while.
Their Chapter 7 appearance is gonna be epic though.
Also relevant since I havenāt talked about it here yet: This is just a random idea for now, but I was thinking of giving MCās pet a ādefaultā name (that isnāt a reference to other dog/cat characters) so I donāt refer to them as āMCās Petā all the time. Iām horrible with names though, so I canāt think of any.
Just to be clear, you can still choose the petās name (with a minor NP cost), but since the pet was adopted, I figured you can choose to keep their previous name.
Youāre also missing Cordelia.
I mean, thatās partly because itās my favorite color, but I also have lots of characters so thereās bound to be duplicates at some point. Paddy and Rosie likes lighter green colors though, while Lily prefers darker greens.
so far, i have two silver stars and two golden hearts. i wonder if i should switch it up with my third pair of twins (have a silver heart and a golden star).
Hello again! Just a small update regarding the potential sidequest rework:
I like the general idea, but I think it might get a little too complex and confusing (not to mention itās gonna be a little complicated to code). One of the reasons why I like it, is that I was thinking of changing how you gain Max NP (by completing the mini-goals instead of completing a chapter).
Iām most likely going to simplify the new sidequests, and go with a different idea instead: Gaining EXP will also increase your Max NP. This way, getting EXP actually has a meaningful effect (without having to wait until you level up) and gives you a better sense of progression. This means that some of the traits/trinkets the grant bonus Max NP will now give EXP bonuses instead.
Itās probably going to change later, but Iām thinking of something like getting +1 Max NP for every 2,500 EXP gained.
I still like the ābucket listā idea, so Iāll try to add more bonuses to existing traits that reinforce this idea. For example, the [Leader Twin] and [Supportive] Trait will now grant bonus EXP whenever you increase the Outgoing and Altruist Stats, respectively.
Oh, and I finally have some news about the other two unrevealed crush options! I finally have a concrete idea of what I want their characters to be, so look forward to more information about them after Iām done with the next update!
Iām also going to delay the heart/star birthmark change until a later update, since thereās some thing I still need to consider.
@Sade98 Oh, I would count that as one of each for the purposes of the poll!
But before I talk about them, I just wanna say that after this update, Iāll try to focus more on the story, and less on the gameplay stuff. Iāve actually gotten a bunch of breakthroughs with the story recently, so look forward to the introduction posts of the other two crush options soon!
New Character Development Variables for F6E
Iām thinking of adding a second set of character development variables for F6E! While the primary purpose of the first set of variables is to determine how major story branches will play out, the second set is intended to be less impactful, and only affect flavor text and dialogue.
New Difficulty Settings
Instead of the starting twin relationship traits secretly modifying your NP cost and NP recovery stats, I decided to add new difficulty settings to the last choice in the prologue.
Slice-of-Life Difficulty: +10% Overall EXP, +25 Max NP, +12% NP Recovery, -20% NP Costs when retconning stat checks, Stat Penalties from [HEADACHE!!!] are capped at 25%
Adventure Difficulty: Normal EXP, NP Cost, and NP Recovery modifiers
Superhero Difficulty: -10% Overall EXP, -25 Max NP, -12% NP Recovery, +50% NP Costs when retconning stat checks
Apocalyptic Difficulty: -33% Overall EXP, -50 Max NP, -12% NP Recovery, +100% NP Costs when retconning stat checks, Stat Penalties from [HEADACHE!!!] are 25% Worse
Itās important to note that the difficulty settings DO NOT change the stat check requirements, so this wouldnāt really affect you much if you donāt use NP very often. Your Max NP is now also tied to your Total EXP gained (you gain 1 Max NP for every 2,500 EXP gained instead of gaining Max NP every chapter), so thatās why the settings give EXP Bonuses/Penalties. Of course, these are all subject to changes later.
Trait and EXP Updates
As Iāve said before, Iām reworking the ābucket listā idea to be much simpler. Some traits/passives will now give a small amount of EXP when you pick certain choices.
Iām adding these bonuses to make picking traits more impactful, make gaining EXP more meaningful, and to add a sense of progression/character development for your MC. For example, Troublemaker MCs will now gain a small amount of EXP when picking Sensible/Disciplined choices.
The EXP bonuses are minor enough (most choices will only give around 10-30 EXP), so you wonāt really miss out on much if your Troublemaker MC wants to keep causing chaos anyway. The bonuses do stack however, so weāll see if the numbers need adjusting in the future.
The EXP Notification wonāt appear if you gain EXP this way, so donāt worry about extra clutter! Speaking of, I actually found a bunch of bugs that made certain Traits give more/less EXP all the time while coding, so whoops! Itās not really game-breaking so Iāll just include the fix with the next update.
Anyway, thatās all I got for now. Let me know what you think of the new changes!
I made a poll on the blog about game mechanics, and I wasnāt expecting to have so many people interested in the gameplay stuff, so hereās another update about the changes Iām doing to the NP system!
Overall, Iām happy with how the NP choices turned out, but I wasnāt really satisfied with how you gained NP/Max NP per chapter. I wanted it to be a precious resource, but even without the āthreatā of potential consequences later, it seemed too restrictive considering the limited amount you get.
But with the new difficulty settings, I figured out a new system that Iām more happy with.
Here are the major changes:
You will now recover 1 NP* whenever you make a choice that has a notification
You now gain +1 Max NP for every 2,500 EXP** gained (this makes getting EXP actually meaningful)
Beginning with the school bus scene: If you donāt have enough NP for a choice, you can take a āloanā of up to 99 NP
When you are below 0 NP, you will gain the [Headache!!!] Status Effect (this means MC will always be below 0 NP after the school bus scene to serve as a tutorial)
You canāt take any more NP loans while you have a headache, and the penalties are equal to the amount of NP youāre missing (-50 NP means -50% All Stats and EXP)
You will no longer gain Max NP when completing a chapter
You still gain NP for completing a chapter, but the amount you gain is now based on your Max NP (this means the amount will be more consistent since it will no longer be based on the difference between your current NP and Max NP)
All quests now reward Max NP
Easier difficulty will now give less EXP, and Harder difficulty will give more EXP (since it didnāt make sense the other way around)
*This amount is based on the difficulty you selected.
** This amount is also based on the difficulty, but even with Easy Difficulty giving less EXP, you should still gain more Max NP overall (and vice versa)
Being able to slowly recover NP during the chapter means you can now feel less guilty when picking choices with a lower NP cost, although Iāll have to adjust some of the NP costs so you still need to think about what to spend it on.
The new loan feature will hopefully make higher-cost NP choices more accessible, while also giving it more of a risk vs. reward mechanic. Is a short-term advantage or changing the story branch worth an EXP and All Stats Penalty for the rest of the chapter? This also makes it less frustrating if you are a few NP short of a choice you wanted to make.
My only problem with this, is that itāll now be awkward and clunky to check for your current NP amount since you have to check the stats screen every timeā¦ but I canāt really do anything about that. I could add it to the notifications, but theyāre cluttered enough already. Just another reason to make me more excited to develop the VN, I guess. Hehe.
Anyway, Iām just about done coding the new changes, so Iām almost back to writing actual scenes again!
Having you consider an option for MC to know how to sew? It can come im handy in fixing up stuff animals (cupcake plushie anyone?) or stitching up some clothes. And to be a Fashion Designer, youāll need to know how to sew.
Its been a while since i`ve been here but those new difficulty settings are better than before without affecting my twin relationship. Those headaches are gonna feel like nukes lol on master mode. Poor Mc
Hello everyone! If you havenāt been following the blog, Iām still chugging along!
I just didnāt want to bump the thread until the next update is ready. I could make a summary of all the developments since then, but Iāve lost track of what I havenāt shared here yet, and Iād rather devote that energy to actually making progress, and I barely get any response/interaction to my updates here anyway.
I have at some point. I add traits or variables depending on how often I can see myself using them in the future, but I donāt think itāll be relevant often enough, and I donāt wanna set expectations by adding it. There might be a choice or dialogue about that in the future, but I canāt realistically add every possible skill MC can have and make them important, especially when I have too many already.
I do vaguely remember being taught how to sew at school, so maybe MC knows the basics, or at least the tools and materials. That said, if you chose the Fashion Designer class or chose to make the cupcake plushie with Uncle Robert, you can certainly headcanon that MC is good at it!
@Christopher_Bull Hehe. Iām still adjusting the difficulty variables, but Iām currently working on additional changes Iām making to the NP system (which should hopefully make them more interesting and engaging)!
(I just canāt resist naming a cat Schrƶdinger. And itās giving me such King of Cats vibes that Iā¦ justā¦ canāt.)
Slice-of-Life Difficulty: +10% Overall EXP, +25 Max NP, +12% NP Recovery, -20% NP Costs when retconning stat checks, Stat Penalties from 
[HEADACHE!!!] are capped at 25%
Adventure Difficulty: Normal EXP, NP Cost, and NP Recovery modifiers
Superhero Difficulty: -10% Overall EXP, -25 Max NP, -12% NP Recovery, +50% NP Costs when retconning stat checks
Apocalyptic Difficulty: -33% Overall EXP, -50 Max NP, -12% NP Recovery, +100% NP Costs when retconning stat checks, Stat Penalties from 
Itās not really game-breaking so Iāll just include the fix with the next update.