Mind Blind (04/30 Demo Update. A Story Where You Are NOT The Chosen One!)

Hm I actually agree about the bi thing. I think it’s because the characters are flippable that it’s slightly disappointing when you can only get experience them as one set gender. I haven’t played as a straight MC, do all the characters default to one gender if u do?

On the other hand it felt more natural for you not to choose everyone’s genders and I understand why you chose to do it that way, but there are characters who I would’ve been more drawn to had they been a different gender, e.g. id probably only want to be friends w M!Nox but F!Nox would tick all my boxes as a bi person w very different types depending on gender (I’d go into more detail but I just woke up and my thoughts r…not… eloquent at this time).

Its not the biggest issue for me personally tho and it’s up to you in the end! It’s mainly cause there IS the possibility that I bring this up. If you’re unsure, a poll might be a good idea to see how others feel? A lot of ppl are comment shy lol

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I was going to type something answering this but @jigglypuff explained it better than I ever could. So yes, I think it’s not so much that they aren’t working for me as it is that they’re the current and only defaults for a bi mc, thus only allowing the player to see them as one gender?

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I demand Kenna telling the MC that she can drive him back to dogsit if he wants to bail out.

For real, this is too good, I cant imagine how the MC will react knowing he was bamboozled like that, looking forward to more morbidity. “No matter where I go, I can’t outrun my thoughts.”

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I don’t get why MC doesn’t just bring their own music everywhere if it drowns out their thoughts? It’s not hard to hide earbuds if you just pull the cord up through the shirt and hide the rest with your hair. That’s what I did when I was in school and having one in and one out what kept my anxious and slightly paranoid butt calm. I was caught only once or twice. Not to mention the cordless earbuds you can get for like 20-30$ that aren’t airpods.

Like if MC is so worried about people reading their thoughts, you would think they would have something more effective than something they would have to consciously think - at that moment - in order for it to be effective. Just bring music everywhere if they’re so convinced it would saved them some dignity to turn on a stranger’s radio.

The ace / romantic option is kind of awkward to play through currently. I don’t care if our neighbor is in a towel why is this a hyperfixation for someone who doesn’t even experience sexual attraction??? I wanna romance Nox but drooling over them is just so awkward v.v The whole dreaming of a wedding on the first interaction is like fine for people are hard-core romantics and that’s what they want for themselves, but he’s in a towel, not butt-naked. Why is this even important???

I also agree on it being being disappointing we can’t actually choose the gender if ro’s when they’re already gender flippant. I dont really understand the reasoning behind this ;^; Maybe have that be like an option under bi/bi-romantic? Like yes, I would like the option to pick or no I’m not that picky?

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Not to divert the topic at hand too much, but looking ahead to the lunch appointment has me wondering what options we’ll have there. Even if we ultimately failed in the attempt, having the option to try to skip out on it for various reasons may be fun. :grin:

As for issue of gendered characters being flip-able, or not… If they can change based on player preference, then not having a manual, or randomized output of what they could be when the player “doesn’t care” is often faced with a bit of confusion on the part of the player. One thing I accept about picking a preference option like Bi/Pan is that it gives the cast of characters a more diverse overall layout, which is nice to see whenever possible. Of course, having the characters have set genders regardless of player preference removes much of the problem because it wasn’t an option in the players’ hands to begin with like that. Manual selection is a bit clunky, and inelegant code-wise, but not difficult. Randomizers for this sort of thing see wide use, too, though they could be perceived as clunkier.

It doesn’t affect me one way, or the other, so whatever you, the author, decide to do about it should be sufficient. It’s not possible to please everyone, but taking critique into consideration is sometimes helpful for future projects. This being your first project afaik, it’s okay to keep it simple. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I think it’s mostly because it’s kind of an abnormal thing to do. Like if that happened to me, I would be really weirded out and I would be wondering why they would answer the door that way.

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Thanks for the feedback! Three of the characters default to male or female if MC is hetero/homosexual, but Grayson and Sally are genderlocked. (Bi Buttons get 5 potential ROs, whereas other Buttons get 4.) I was concerned perhaps there was something I had overlooked with gender dynamics, but if it boils down to personal preference than I think I’ll leave it as is. Hopefully the extra RO makes up for the lack of customization!

Ooh, I love this line. And may steal it? Ahem, I mean borrow. But also forget to give it back.

It doesn’t completely drown out their thoughts–people can still write, read, and think deeply when listening to music. It’s great for when Button’s on the move and not thinking about much, and only briefly passing by Ments. But them listening to music won’t usually stop a Ment from reading their mind unless they’re really rocking out. If Nick listens to music, it helps some because it’s a distraction from a distraction. Not a distraction from his own thoughts, if that makes sense.

It’s something I plan on going back and coding alternate routes for, since I didn’t want ace/demi MCs to get locked out of the romances. There will be slightly different responses, and the relationships will kick off later by default. I’ve been waiting to see how all the relationships develop before going back and figuring out where they need to be implemented :slightly_smiling_face:

Button: -fake cough- Sorry, Dad. I’m sick and can’t make it.
John: . . . You know that I can read your mind, right?

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Of course! It would be my honor. Keep it, I know you will treat it well.

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Just pointing out that Wayhaven has author set RO genders too, so it’s not like it’s without precedence. But I think the ROs flip gender based on the MC gender too. So the ROs for a bi male detective are two of them male and the other two female, then a bi female detective has the opposite. Maybe something like that could be a compromise?

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My main MC would totally do that while staring straight at them with a deadpan look, not even bothering with acting the part. “What are you gonna do John? Invade my mind and force me to come?”

Otherwise, this update was great. I tried with my three different MCs to test most of the paths and it seemed to work.

Rosy is definitely peeking my interest really, though my MC thinks they’re a complete asshole. Glitch is very fun to interact with, and the reveal with K was surprising. Overall very nice.

As with the ROs gender, I’d say do with it what you will. It seemed pretty substantially balanced with Bi MCs. Like Rhaygan said, the Wayhaven Chronicles style could be a good comprise that suits both parties, should you want to use it.

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Oh, your MC is right. Rosy is a complete asshole. This doesn’t mean they’re a bad person. But “kindness” isn’t one of their defining qualities.

I’m glad the choices don’t seem off for different characters! I have 6 testing MCs of varying personalities that I play the demo through as before releasing updates. One is named Xan and responsible for most the “I’m doomed” lines being added :sweat_smile:

Potentially, although since only 3 of the characters are gender variable, it would be a little trickier to balance. I’m going to leave it as is for now, but will give it some more thought.

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Hello!
Just wanted to say I absolutely adored the demo and can’t wait to see more! Your writing style is charming and feels smooth while playing :relaxed: RO choices are wonderful as well! K is def someone I enjoy, it feels like every RO has their own personality too which is dope. Sometimes romances can come off flat and just tacked on.
In regards to ROs being genderlocked, I think it’s fine, the choices given are wonderful already!

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That’s a good idea, although mine wouldn’t like constant music all the time either, so I wonder if those white noise machines that help tinnitus sufferers would work for this purpose too, as it would make the mc’s thought more their own and quieter than they have ever been.
Would be utter bliss if the mc could overpower the broadcasting of their thoughts with white noise and all it would take to make life with Nick and maybe even on his own someday more bearable in the first case and possible in the latter by setting up those white noise generators for tinnitus sufferers in his room or maybe even a future house of his own. :thinking:

I wonder if that could eventually go further by possibly having a white noise generator implanted, broadcasting thoughts is far less problematic if there was a way to overpower them with white noise.

It sure as hell beats having to waste our thoughts on disgusting imagery that also makes my mc miserable too half the time just to have the tiniest sliver of freedom.

Yeah, I’d still want my mc to be able to make up a white lie to tell mc’s father and if he questions it then flat out tell him that it is 99% probable he would have accepted the excuse if it came from a normal, non Ment, person and my mc simply wants the same courtesies and benefits extended to him too, including of the little white lies that make life more bearable for most people.
In the end my mc does simply not want to have that dinner in a public place with his famous father, as all it does is further humiliate him and reinforce his status as an absolute nobody and would for once prefer to get out from under it with a little white lie, like most other people could have done.

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im. having. SO MUCH FUN!!! i like being chaotic!!! stealing nicks fingerprints to stole ase answer lmao it would be easier to use that smart to just study for the test but :man_shrugging: i wanna kick and kiss rosy’s ass huh.
also, since ase is essay, shouldnt it be open ended? so it should have more than 1 correct answer? so i find it weird that mc could download the answer to cheat since it usually just work for multiple choice test? since the test is more about moral choice not math/theory question?

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Wanting to both kick and kiss Rosy is a very understandable response!

ASE is part essay, part multiple-choice. The essay answers don’t actually matter to the test score that much–all that matters is that the essay answers comply with Unity’s prioritization of protecting civilians over apprehending villains. It’s talked about more if you select the option “I realized half the test was a trick question.” Most answer keys also have guidelines/bullet points for how students should respond to essay questions (of course, as a teacher, I can also testify that answer keys are also often unhelpfully vague but Aeon probably has good test writers).

I’m fully aware not every way of acing the ASE makes perfect sense if thought about too deeply. Literally one of the ways is “I get good test scores because I used to get into a lot of fights.” I mean, I tried to make it seem semi-logical. But let’s be real. It’s not. :sweat_smile:

I figured stretchy logic could get a pass in the name of role playing, but I’m definitely open to more realistic suggestions for interpersonal strategists.

Do I obsessively take Meyers Briggs test from the perspective of every character I write? Mayyyyyybe.

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ah, thats the choice i pick so i got the impression that all the questions are essays. maybe adding sentece about theres 2 part of ase? also the “lot of fights” choice seems logical imo!

i want to see ros mbti :eyes:

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Maybe for interpersonal you could have an option where they found one of the test writers/proctors and managed to talk them into accidentally revealing the types of answers that Aeon wanted?

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Hey, long time lurker here, I just wanted to say I find your style of writing incredibly amusing and compelling. I laughed for probably 10 minutes in just the opening scene with the finger guns, the option “I literally want to shoot myself” was hysterical. From that moment on I knew I’d love this game if only for the sense of humor. I’m really excited to continue playing a confident, morbid, resentful, and insightful mc. The reveal with Kenna got me really hyped for the next update, and I’m super motivated to win against Nox and Glitch. I keep wondering whether it will be just a straight stat check(and if I should try and min max insightful), making the correct choices, or maybe sacrificing some of your relationship with sally(putting her through a lot of pain to win against nox) in order to suceed. Or maybe even a combination of the three! Anyways, I just had to gush for a minute. Thanks for the fantastic update!

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Minor nitpick, but not in all chapter 1 paths is Sally introduced as your best friends, which makes it weird should the name pop up out of nowhere. The context is given, when you choose to list the things that make you awesome ‘How you and your best friend, Sally, won…’, but should you not have chosen this option the second time the name could pop up is ‘You and Sally had your own table back then, pushed…’ or when it definitely will ‘You had only your parents, Nick, and Sally.’. I was left confused who this person is. Maybe clarify that Sally is the name of your best friends early on, in a way that is accessible to all paths.

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Hue hue hue hue hue hue, my MC has a huge crush on K and looking forward to their wedding in Bali, but he’s also super resentment that he is a level zero, and that K hides he’s a Ment so well when they first encountered, I can see where will some of the angst comes from. :smiling_imp:

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