Thatâs good, also hope however picks yes gets broken up with from Maria or whoever theyâre dating lol
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Gonna be worse if Spillane proposed earlier 
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Look, my man, Maria worked with nazis. NAZIS. Actual literal nazis. Clearly, âmoralsâ is not something sheâs minimally concerned about.
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She may not care about morals, but that doesnât mean cheating on her after you propose isnât something sheâs gonna forgive or forget. Especially after all that stuff Spillane said to her in Book 2 to even romance her in the first place. This also goes for all the ROs, I doubt Cleoâs gonna forgive the MC either.
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Gonna be honest, I got no dog in this race, because the thought of dating Maria makes me gag. Iâm just waiting for R1âs save to be implemented so I can make one âdating Cleoâ save and one âsingle, so I can date the Amazonian in R2 which I havenât been able to play because I missed the demo periodâ save.
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not me out here being a little meow meow but u know what. Iâll probably play through this particular route ATLEAST ONCE for maximum impact. I love to see choices with future consequences in action, but also, I love to play with a whole lot of drama, as a treat ;3c
(obv irl-wise FUCK cheating, will b manifesting and directing the person to the nearest trashcan; but well⌠fictional choices, fictional lives, fictional consequences of my actions and I have 0 brain cells to expand my thoughts further. Thatâs just me though.)
ALSO worm! understandable for u, MarĂa isnât everyoneâs type after all! All I can say is that Iâm personally gonna juggle all the routes when everythingâs out which is going to be a trial and a half bc THE BRANCHING is literally insane. Iconic kind of insane though 
ANYWAYS canât wait to properly see whatâs in store for us in the coming chapter as always-- and the interlude too! am living in anticipation and FEAR⢠and once again I am just out here simping for ALL the girls <3
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One thing that I would like to know is what purpose is this scene?
In the previous 2 games the player were unable to cheat in their RO, but now it seems it b will become an option. Either it will lead to a break up with three playerâs RO or nothing will come out it.
If the first, it will only lead to either grief or the player just restarting to not suffer the consequences. And the only way for the actual RO to know about the cheating is if Esme (and maybe Abdul) tells the RO, leading to them becoming more disliked (they are already the least popular RO in steam with 3-4% of popularity) and it seems she was the initiator in the flirting act. Neither of those outcomes seems desirables.
If the player isnât punished, then the games feels like there is no consequences to the players choices. The game already kinda suffer from it, with the exception of who you romance and who lives or dies, the others choices donât seem to impact the game.
Did you win the competition? Nothing changed.
Did you let the British study the island? Nothing changed.
Overall, there is no difference between any Spillane, with the exception of who you romance. But to be fair, the Selfish Spillane helps with this problem.
So if thereâs nothing comes out of the cheating, it will add more of this problem.
So that is why Iâm asking it, because this scene seems to lead to griefing and not enhancing the game.
Sorry if I came out as offensive, it wasnât my objective.
Thanks for your comment! I do take issue with some of it, but letâs start with the question.
You ask whatâs the purpose of offering a choice to be unfaithful. The purpose is the same as any other possibility in these games: entertainment. Some players like drama, and the driving force of drama is conflict, and one possible source of conflict in a relationship is infidelity. The games will potentially (if the player chooses) tell the story of a very long-running relationship, even (again if the player chooses) resulting in marriage. In real life, the temptation to be unfaithful is always going to be present in any long-running relationship, and if someone gives into it then thatâs likely to have consequences. Players who enjoy angst or drama, or who are curious to see how their RO will react if this happens, or who are RPing as a Spillane who might do this sort of thing, may decide to choose the option to do it. Players who donât match this description donât have to. Itâs all player choice. But this should all be good from your perspective, no? You complain elsewhere that there isnât enough choice and consequence in these games, and yet here you have a choice which, if chosen, may well have consequences. Sure, those consequences might end up being negative, but that has to be allowed, surely? You canât say that you want choice and consequence and then in the next sentence demand that every choice has only positive outcomes for the player. Thatâs a cop-out. What you call âpunishing the playerâ, I call âthe consequences of player choiceâ - something which you say you donât think thereâs enough of in this game!
As for what you see as a lack of choice or consequence in these games, I have to say that I do just think that youâre wrong. In the first place, as you point out, the romance and the life and death of major characters depends on player actions. This is a huge thing. I can promise you that writing a book where, in every chapter but the first, the most important major character(s) might be dead in some playthroughs is a huge amount of work, and leads to much variation. Very few other HG / COG games have as much possible major character death as these ones, presumably because the authors know how much work that would involve and donât want to do it! So please donât underestimate how much difference that makes. But also, by this point, you could be playing a Spillane whoâs a massively successful and respected archaeologist, or a Spillane whoâs been kicked out of their job and is widely seen as a crazy, bug-eyed ancient aliens conspiracy theorist. A Spillane whoâs driven by consideration for helping the politically oppressed, or a Spillane whoâs only interested in bagging fortune and glory for themself. A Spillane whoâs impoverished, or a Spillane who owns a fortune and a massive English country house. Sure, each individual adventure will send you to the same place to track down the same Archive / Relic, but there has to be some continuation of story across different playthroughs. In these games itâs pretty normal for the main storyline to be âsetâ, in the sense of the location and basic story beats are the same while other things change around them. Iâm struggling to see what more change and variablility you want for your character, especially considering that you seem to see negative consequences for the player as âpunishmentâ which should be avoided.
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That is what I was afraid, Iâm not really complaining I was just curious. Sorry if it looked like a complaint I didnât express myself well if it looks like that. I donât have complete grasp of English to express complicated thoughts.
Itâs more like thereâs little variation outside the characters, the path doesnât change to any Spillane.
For example, at the end of chapter 1 it doesnât your choices, Heidi will take the journal and later will be defeated in Rattlesnake Gulch. If there was a state where she could actually win, I wouldnât feel like it is punishing the player, but a divergent path. Several chapters in the trilogy do it.
There are no alternative paths, the story feels like itâs in a railroad (it doesnât mean it is bad).
And again, Iâm really sorry for what I wrote before. I see it caused an issue with you, with wasnât my intention.
Edit: thanks for the explanation of the choice, that was exactly what I wanted to know.
No thatâs OK, you donât need to apologize! I just disagreed with a couple of your points, I wasnât offended or anything like that!
The trouble with, e.g., letting Heidi win is that then the Nazis will have an Archive. And then theyâll be able to activate the carxite and win WW2, and thatâll just end the game with calamity for the world! You pretty much have to get the Archive each time, or itâs game over. If I could think of a way to let the Nazis âwinâ a chapter without that happening, Iâd do it, but it feels like the stakes are a little too high.
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Here, here. You canât please everyone, so donât think much about it. You canât have the best of both worlds. @Schliemannsghost But just a suggestion to those who wants the Nazis to win maybe add a scene where the Nazi have a pyrrhic victory then like stealing it back at the nick of time via a daring raid? Either one is fine with me, of course. Itâs just a compromise after all. Imagine the faces they make as the MC stroll in swagger mode like a boss/champ and take it back in a fashionable style. That would be so epic a âso close yet so farâ moment. All hope is lost yet the Hero miraculously survive to what they thought is dead for sure by unexplainable reasons like dumb luck. Bolldozing their way in, slaughtering every Nazi and saving the day while the rest of the world is oblivious to what just happen going about doing their thing. All in a typical dayâs work for Dr. Spillane!
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UPDATE: I just finished the draft of Chapter 2! A few days of proofreading and playtesting, and then Iâll need to write Interlude 2 before I update the demo. But it shouldnât be long until the next update.
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Iâm aiming to update some time tomorrow, probably around early afternoon Irish time. Weâre going full Indy this time, with a big Nazi-punchinâ Egyptian adventure, followed by an Interlude which could be described as dramaticâŚ
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Time for another named character to die.
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Well the choice certainly create angst and drama if the player is willing,
But I personally not going choose it,
Frankly , cleo and Maria are two of my favourite characters in Cog and Hg and Amazonian is also a badass ,
But never could romance Esme , even if tried many times, felt like a third wheel or a tag along in Esme and Abdulâs relationship, she clearly cares more about Abdul than Spillane and will always choose him before him, which is only fair cuz they are together for a long time , Her being a prominent character also complicate things , if she was only a fling then sure( if Dr is not already committed ) , but both her and Abdul being friends makes it awkward,
But it only enhances the story as the characters are their own persons not some midless architype.
Anyway happy with Maria , cleo and Amazonian ,
Esme is a badass friend to have on your corner , but
doesnât seem like a relationship material to me,
But may be I will choose yes for once , if only
to see Maria finally shoots Spillane or cleo kicks
his ass.
All the best.
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Update: Chapter 2 and Interlude 2
Just updated with the next chapter! Weâre currently at almost 140k words.
Chapter 2 involves going to Egypt, killing lots of Nazis, solving ancient puzzles, having a big old bar brawl, potentially having anâŚinterestingâŚexperience with an old friend, and taking a wild ride on a German desert convoy!
Interlude 2 is Long-Running Sub Plot Resolution Time!
As always, feedback of all types is needed and encouraged. Enjoy!
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Finally get to do your âRaidersâ moment huh chief. Canât wait to give this one a shot.
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Thank you!
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Book 2 hasnt been out yet and thereâs now book 3?!?! Are you the Brandon Sanderson or Stephen King of Hosted Games?!?!
Anyways, congratulations and I cant wait to read the 2nd and third installment. I purposefully didnât read the 2nd WIP so that my experience wouldnât be ruined that much when the game is actually out. Congrats again!
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