This is high praise for Matt’s work, indeed.
Don’t overinflate his ego too much though 
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Hello, and welcome to the forums! I really should put something in the credits directing people to the forums in my next story, since I like actually being able to talk with readers instead of the one-way communication that is Google Play reviews. It still kinda bums me out that I can’t thank the people who put these wonderful messages out there saying this game would be worth it at $10 or they wish they could give it a billion stars. And apparently I actually have to thank the person that called it cliche since that convinced you to read the whole thing!
You had some pretty eventful kids there with Alexi, Asher and Izzy. It might take some time to do a full guide; I did a partial one just for acting a few posts up and that in and of itself took a good little while. A general rule is that if you want them to excel in one thing you should sacrifice the others. For the activity, if it’s a sport make sure their education is a low priority. For a mental activity, push Edu high but still favor activity practice over a heavy class load. Don’t let them leave camp (or if they get summer school make sure they take a class in it that favors the activity, but then don’t do any additional classes or they might get overloaded), pick the serious coach/league, all that stuff. Don’t let vacations or off days interfere with practice, and even delay the driving test. Makes you unpopular but makes them successful at their activity.
For valedictorian, easiest thing is to put them in the homeschool group. Valedictorian is easiest on that route (but also less meaningful, since there are fewer kids), medium for public and very tough at the academy. No early driving practice, ditch the activity (I would never try for valedictorian the same playthrough as an activity or acting run, the split focus means you would likely miss on both), all that good stuff. Don’t push it too hard on the SAT too; that helps for college but does not impact valedictorian status if memory serves.
For your career, early on do overtime on their birthday instead of a party, hide the turtle away or keep it at home, when work calls later on during your day together when they’re a preteen answer it, don’t stay up late to help with the last minute project, and just make sure you prioritize the job whenever you can. Good for a run where you already want them to have high Independence.
Thanks again for coming here and sharing your story! @Eiwynn has nothing to fear; I have my wife and daughters around to take me down a peg or two whenever it’s needed. And quite often when it isn’t.
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Hey I need help with moonshot achievement can anyone tell me how to get a high enough edu for it to work
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First off, hi, and thanks for reading! To get them to succeed in the fifth grade reading class, you need at least 60 Education. One early way to get it is to focus on reading during the free day in Year 3, and don’t go play outside (since anything that boosts Athletics takes your Edu down). Pathways or educating them yourself in the preschool chapter helps, though at a cost to other things (like money for Pathways or your job standing for doing it yourself). Do a mental activity instead of a sport (violin, piano, game club, etc) and either let them play video games as much as they read or make it so they only play educational games. Don’t pick public school. And just in general favor mental over physical at every avenue. It’s tough to get it that high that fast but in theory it could be even 64 or 65 by that point. If there’s any difficulty getting it after this, please post again and let me know!
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Here’s an update for anyone interested in how TPS has fared: in a word, great!
In more than a word, it’s been fairly warmly received overall, and I’ll give a short breakdown on reviews and sales now that the first full month of activity has been reported.
Sales percentage, Sept 30-Oct 31
Google standalone- 39.81%
Google omnibus- 11.58% (so total Google sales are 51.39%)
iOS (omnibus only)- 40.39%
Website- 7.45%
Amazon- .66%
Amazon omnibus- .11%
This is my first non-Steam game, and clearly the lack of it boosted website sales (which were only 3% on Nuclear Powered Toaster) but surprisingly, did not initially have an impact on Amazon (although the big A dragging their feet on releasing it likely didn’t help, since it was about two full days behind the rest of the class). That being said, it has steadily climbed the ranks over there, and is close to hitting the top 100 for free RPGs (it’s at #125 as of this writing), and I’m hopeful if it can manage to pass that threshold it will increase visibility further and bump Amazon numbers up a bit. If they get above a couple percent I might even have to consider a ceasefire on my mocking of their marketplace. Maybe.
Reviews:
I had hoped the fairly unique subject matter of TPS would appeal to new readers outside the usual CoG/HoG faithful, which would benefit both me specifically and hopefully the company in general if they stuck around and checked out some other stuff after raising their virtual kiddos. This may have been less a wish on a magic lamp and more of one on a monkey’s paw.
Ironically, despite several multiples being more successful than Nuclear Powered Toaster’s lifetime sales total after a single month, it currently has a lower Google score; 4.0 with 331 reviews. It started out at 4.8 and has ticked steadily downward ever after, aside from a brief trip back up to 4.2 that ended as quickly as it began. Some have called it short, boring, or criticized it about not having love interests or allowing you to continue after the child becomes an adult. But far and away the biggest critique is that it costs actual money. While I am heartened that this means a lot of these people are new readers, since otherwise they’d be quite used to the release model for these titles, at the same time it is a bit of a downer when people talk about liking the app but give it two stars anyhow because it isn’t supported by ads or timers. Some are even downright outraged at the prospect of a one-time purchase to unlock content. All I can say is the visual novel folks and that BitLife simulator have trained these people well. Still, it’s at over 10,000 installs on Google alone, and the fact that it’s reached that many people still floors me. Any press is good press, right?
On the omnibus, things are a good bit rosier, given its higher bar for allowing readers to rate a game. TPS is at 4.7 with 1171 reviews, and it’s been in the top 10 bestselling HG stories ever since release (although it’s down to 8th now, so that streak is likely to end in the next week or so). It is the 11th most-rated game on there as well (and 8th most rated of the paid titles), bolstered by being one of the first releases since the omnibus spread to three different platforms.
That’s about it for the state of things at present, and I’ll probably share more next month (though I’ll still respond to posts in this thread when/if they occur). If you’re interested in more frequent updates on my scattershot thinking, follow me on Twitter @nptoaster or join my Discord channel https://discord.gg/FEgj6fa
And as always, thanks for reading!
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TPS deserves all the good praise it gets.
I remember before iOS got the omnibus app, you couldn’t go two reviews without seeing someone complain it cost money. People are just accustomed to being able to play things with ads now-a-days, and don’t want to have to spend money, so all of those reviews don’t surprise me.
But, I’m glad TPS is getting the praise it deserves. Still in my top 5 for favorite cog/hg list
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Finally joined the discord!
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Time for an update if anyone is interested, as a fair amount has happened. Firstly, we have hit over 5,000 copies sold after two full months (and a day)! Very cool. The standalone Google release is destroying all other platforms; it was literally 75% of all sales in November, and is close to half of all sales thus far (and well over it if we include the Google omnibus sales as well). I chalk that up to the title and cover art drawing in lots of casuals, but who knows?
In other news, got some really nice reviews on Amazon, where I guess people tend to put a lot of thought into that kind of thing since they’re used to writing long, drawn-out epics regarding their feeling for toaster ovens and weighted blankets. Google has had some stuff, went down to 3.7 for a bit, bounced back to 4.0 and currently is at 3.9 with 416 reviews. 1341 reviews on the omnibus, tends to get at least a couple every day.
Did manage to get a mention in the running for the Wildcard award on Pocket Tactics, a mobile gaming site. Link is here: https://www.pockettactics.com/articles/pocket-tactics-mobile-game-of-the-year-2019/
Was informed by the HG Twitter account that a classroom will be using TPS in their curriculum this semester, which I love as I had hoped it could be useful to people in that sort of capacity.
That’s about it right now; some other stuff is cooking, but that can wait until a little closer to time.
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Well done, Matt! What does the wife think of all this success?
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We had already decided to start saving up for a lengthier Disney trip in three years after taking the girls down there for a couple days this year, so suffice to say a fair portion of that money has been marked. Easy come, easy go. Still, those prices may be beyond exorbitant, but it is an experience that’s hard to top.
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That’s so awesome that TPS is being used as a teaching method in school! I’m super jealous of those students. Wish my old high school would have been that cool.
Congrats on all your success @hustlertwo. TPS deserves all the praise it’s been receiving.
Hope your family has fun at Disney!
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I really appreciate your continual positivity here, Dill. Means a lot.
I do have something to say, though: I’m going through testing some things, and I just realized that two unrelated scenes in this game have the same name. There’s a New Kid in Town (yes, it’s an Eagles reference, because they’re excellent; I put my three-year old to bed with a modified version of Lyin’ Eyes each night) is both the first niece/nephew scene and the scene where the best friend transfers to your kid’s school. How did no one mention this before? I feel like I’ve been walking around with my fly open for the last three and a half months. Does anyone have a suggestion for a replacement title for the introduction of your MCs sister or for the friend switching schools?
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How about for the introduction of the cousin, title it “I’m Baaaack!” in honor of Kyle’s cousin in South Park?
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That’s tempting (and topical; just fought him for the second time in my playthrough of Fractured But Whole), but that would seem more apropos for the cousin’s return. And that is already tied in to one of my favorite scene titles, Niece to See You Again. Because I am terrible like that.
Of course, I could do Niece to See You as the original title and then make it like the Again has it as more of a sequel.
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You can always rename the switching schools scene: “Saved by the Bell” …
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How about “New Friend In Town”.
I like this idea. To have “Niece To See You” when first meeting the Niece, and then have “Niece To See You Again” when meeting the Niece again.
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- Family Values
- Thicker Than Water
- Miss Ya, Sista
- Bygones
- Comeback Kid
- Changing of the Guard
- The Big Transition
- A Friend in Need
- Bestiiiiiieeeeessss!
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@hustlertwo That’s really funny because I just finished my second playthrough of FBW yesterday. FBW is the reason I even thought of that
@trevers17 Ooh, I really like “Changing of the Guard”
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Thanks, guys. You remind me why I miss having a WIP (but soon, hopefully…), getting all these good suggestions. Ultimately I think I will keep the school one as is, do the Niece to See You/Niece to See You…Again twofer for female MCs on the sister scene, and Thicker Than Water will be the male version for the first one. I am changing the male version for the second one to Sometimes They Come Back…For More to retain the vaguely ominous feel, but only for MCs whose kid was adopted. For non-adopting male parents it is now going to be There Will Be Blood (Relatives). It’s a bit ridiculous to have three alternate titles, but while I like the blood one it would be inaccurate and maybe even jarring to make that reference literally a chapter after determining that the child is not a blood relation of your sister or niece/nephew.
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Congrats @hustlertwo on:
Parenting Simulator : Re-release May 7th. into Steam.
I think this will do better than some thought it would, but either way I am glad Steam customers will have a chance to own this in their library too.
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