The Parenting Simulator- Now Available on iOS, Google Play and Amazon!

Constant might be a hard pace, but Occasional Innovation works well enough.

A wild Update appears!

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How long you staying in Daytona?

I have to say, your updates are my absolute favorites. You always go back and flesh out the beginning years, which is something I appreciate as it makes the new playthrough less monotonous clicking. I loved the WeNow section and I liked that, despite losing the contest and getting nasty comments, it never came back to hurt Lucas. Iā€™m really liking how this game is turning out.

I know youā€™ve spoken about not wanting to do this, but I really do think an optional romance option would be a good idea. I have a fondness for seeing characters trying to date while they have a growing child, and even though Lucas is fun to be around, having another adult character besides Marcus to play off of would be fun. Plus, I want to explore/create the PCā€™s relationship history and see why theyā€™re a single parent. I think the current idea you have is phenomenal and will produce a great game, but I think this extra tidbit would be really fun to explore.

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Thanks so much! When I did the poll about updates, I realized with the nature of this game involving random segments, ultimately it had to be bigger updates (which is handy since that won the poll anyhow).

I finished the WeView bit days ago, and could have uploaded just that. The issue comes in with when I finished the favorite thing segment. If I had updated with WeView only, when I then update with Favorite people could play through the story and not necessarily see any new content (because the two are mutually exclusive random events, so even once Favorite was uploaded you still only had a 50% chance of seeing it). From here on out I will likely update one whole chapter at a time, with the exception of mandatory events like the first day of school since youā€™d always see them anyhow.

The issue with your potential mate still primarily comes down to their interaction with your kid. If you bring another person into his/her life, you would have to give up exclusive control over the childā€™s path. Any major decision cannot be made unilaterally, and variations of ā€œWhat does X think about this?ā€ will come up literally every time. And where your friend can make suggestions you can safely ignore, the same is not true of a spouse. To do it right turns this into a balancing act. Never say never (and my followup to this one would likely involve a full family dynamic, with a spouse and multiple kids), but as of right now it still isnā€™t in the cards.

That said, an earlier suggestion was made to at least acknowledge your prior history that led to your current state. I decided not to do that when the friend is first introduced, but I do see it emerging at some point. Certainly an older child would have interest in something like that, or it may be brought up by the friend at a later point.

@TropicRayder About nine days. Which is nice, normally we just go for a week but I have more time off now at work.

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@hustlertwo
In the year 3 scene.

But as you watch your new three-year old

The text describes my child as 3 years old, but the stats screen says he is 2.

I think she will be better off if she plays with something more feminine. Kids can be cruel.

My child is male.

Pronoun errors.

Reuniting her with his ā€œbestest best toyā€ made him so happy it might even have been worth the massive manhunt involved.

Iā€™m going to steer the boy toward something a bit more masculine. Kids can be cruel.

My child is female.

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Obvs this is a parents special ability called futuresight.
other famous superpowers includeā€¦
Super-strength
guilt
love
the amazing ability to instill fear in the toughest of people who chose to date their spawn
reading your mind!
super lame puns

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See, this is what I get for being all cocky after Year Three passed Quicktest on the very first try. I wasnā€™t avoiding making mistakes, just making ones that donā€™t cause system errors. Thanks!

@Drakeye that is true, all abilities any good parent needs.

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Pronoun error in the option:
ā€œNuts to this, weā€™ll just go home and order what we need online.ā€

If Jennifer wanted his animal crackers now instead of two days from now, she shouldnā€™t have embarrassed you like that.

Her

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Bugreporter, youā€™re all right.

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Okay, the reported bugs have been fixed and the new files uploaded.

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Pronoun error in the choice:
ā€œI still feel like this is not a big deal. She will get better on her own.ā€

You soothe Elizabeth and give him

My child is female.

The bolded section should be:
${ahim}

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Will we get to enroll our kid in extracurricular activities (sports, art, music,etc.)? Will your child express interest in certain activities over others?
Also, does the early interest (horses, superheroes,etc.) affect future interests (favorite subject, after-school class,etc.) and personality traits?

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Cildhood intrests vs future intrests always intresting to see the diffrence.

Child me:
ā€œI love the outdoors baseball and hanging around peopleā€
ā€œsleep? thats boring i dont need itā€
Adult me:
Bright light or hot out Response: hisss
Baseball response: What, why the heck would i care?
*People who bother me once: please pleave me alone
*Second time: ignores
*third: your annoying meā€¦Donā€™t bother me again
*4th: Stops and smiles at them

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That would be fun to see!

Parent: Come on, itā€™s time to go to (activity)! Did you practice?
Child: I donā€™t wanna go! I hate (activity)!
Parent: But you were so enthusiastic when you were five!
Child: Iā€™M THIRTEEN NOW! I HATE IT!
Parent: I PAID FOR (ACTIVITY) ALREADY! NOW GET IN THE CAR!

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@hustlertwo
I am curious how adherence to gender norms (or lack thereof) will progress in the game. Would we encounter a judgmental teacher/parent depending on our choices (especially when we havenā€™t pushed the kid in any direction, instead supporting their interests)?

Also, will there be a respect/rebellion set of opposing stats in later years (12+)?

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@Snowflower
@Drakeye
The early interest almost became a mandatory event, that could shape a lot of what came after. But I wanted to limit how many of those there were; my goal was originally about one every three years on average, in order to preserve the randomness for players and keep the replay value. That might still miss the mark, but by keeping it random I at least avoid front loading with mandatories too much (since there is already one at years 2, 3, and 6).

Plus, my wife reminded me that early interests change a lot. My older daughter used to love playing with knights and castles, but nowadays she only pulls out her big castle set when someone else comes over who likes it. Whereas her love of sharks is relatively new, but powerful enough that this was the theme of her birthday party on Saturday. I still do have some results of that scene set up for a callback later, but since it is optional it will just be a little unique text a few years down the line.

Extracurriculars is a yes. Mandatory event later on, more than likely.

There are two sets of opposing stats not yet revealed. One pops at year six, the other probably around 8 or 9. As of right now I think that will be it; other things may track behind the scenes but I donā€™t want too many visible statistics for players. This story is supposed to be more fluff than crunch, to borrow some D&D terminology.

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You are right about the changing interests thing. As a kid, I used to be really into horses (even taking riding lessons), but now I can take them or leave them. That would be neat to see a random scene where your kidā€™s past interest is brought up and how they react.

Also, on the subject of extracurriculars, could a kid possibly lie to you about what they are staying after school for? As in, they say itā€™s robotics club but itā€™s really theater rehearsal (or vice versa). Can (your) choice of extracurriculars be impacted by the childā€™s gender?

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I love this idea! Iā€™m not a real mother yet, and the experience I have with child is with The sims, Skyrim and, obviously, my younger siblings, Iā€™m the oldest, and Iā€™m 21, so I took care of them since birth, the youngest is only 3yr old, Iā€™m practically his mother as well, and I could relate so much with the situations! I had a lot of fun.
But going on that meeting with other parents, and meeting the other mother who is married got me thinking about my childā€™s dad (or mom for those who play as male), you never explain why weā€™re single parent, is he dead? Donā€™t want to assume? Ex-boyfriend or one-night stand who doesnā€™t even know about the kid? Truly, when I have a child I plan to give him/her a real family, so I would like for them to have a dad. If is not asking too much could you give this option? About choosing between being married, dating, or still being a single parent but have the option to find the real daddy or someone else to be a father to my child? Itā€™s just that I donā€™t want to privy my child the right to have a dad.
Anyway sorry for rambling, Iā€™m really enjoying your book and taking care of my Bran!

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First off, good on you for taking care of your siblings. Sounds to me like you are a mother already, at least in all the ways that matter most. And theyā€™re lucky to have you in their life to care for them that way.

As for the significant other discussion, itā€™s definitely come up before (a lot). The long answer can be found earlier in this thread. The short one is I want to focus on just you and the child with this title (but have a sequel planned to expand the focus to a spouse and multiple kids), and if you are married you lose the ability to make unilateral decisions for your children. But I do intend to address the backstory behind our situation.

In fact, I might do something unique in the story, and make it a selectable event the way Modern Warfare did with those controversial sections of the game. In the early preteen years, you can choose to have a scene discussing things with your child and letting them know what happened. Or if you prefer not to do so, you can opt out of it and continue on with the story. It will drive the words per playthrough down some, but this was always going to be a title on the low end of that anyhow. What do yā€™all think?

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How I met Your Mother CoG style :tv:

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