The yay: there’s going to be another game by this author!!!
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Oh it’s the same author of creme de la creme!Must be interesting looking forward to this game too…I am sure it will be even better since we are a royal now XD.
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Minor feedback: Good as always HPS, however, of all the choices it is the very first choice lacks something imo. There is no calm + cold + subtle style choice. The best I can put it is what is wrong with the other options for what I actually want to say (that does not imply there is anything wrong with the existing options):
“As long as we’re in one piece, I don’t mind.”
- calm, but too lackadaisical
“Make sure you do this properly! I’m warning you!”
- right thoughts, but since its verbalized its too aggressive and not calm enough. If it was just “Make sure you do this properly.” without the exclamation points and second sentence it would be very close to what I am looking for.
“Go faster! This is great fun!”
- the excited option, nice, but the opposite of what I want
“We’ve done this before. I trust you.”
- calm, but too nice.
I don’t answer. My stomach’s already in my throat.
- nice non verbal option, but too nervous
Of all the choices in the demo so far its the only one where I have felt there is no option I actually want to use, and it happens to be the first one.
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That’s really helpful, thank you! It’s especially important to make sure the first choice feels right, so I love to hear feedback like this - I’ll have a look into adding in something suitable!
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This is pretty general, and probably won’t hold true for the full game, so feel free to disregard.
Right now Royal Affairs lacks a lot of the tension that had me hooked by this point in Crème de la Crème. At the starting point of CdlC, the protagonist is very much on the back foot: their parents have massively screwed up, and this is their only chance at keeping their life on the right track and saving their family’s reputation. All the choices from there on out feel important. In Royal Affairs, the entire power structure of Archambault is on our side from the start, and the queen’s expectations don’t seem to be much much higher than “be seen, get decent grades, and don’t embarrass yourself.” There’s just not much pressure on us, and the game feels kind of meandering as a result. It was an absolute nightmare when Blaise’s animosity led us nearly being expelled; Javi’s unpleasant, but they aren’t in a position to really do anything to us. No one is, not even ourselves.
It also kind of takes a toll on the other characters? Gallatin was a pressure cooker, and being stuck in it with the other students and getting to see how society’s expectations were crushing all of us made for really fast, solid emotional connections! Meanwhile, the Archambault students’ issues seem much more individual, which isn’t bad, but it means that (for me, at least) the attachment is slower in coming.
TLDR: Crème de la Crème puts my anxiety through the roof, and I’d like that to happen again please.
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I get what you’re saying, but for me it’s almost been the opposite. I kinda dig the more relaxed and … languid (not sure if that’s the right word) feel to it all, up until this point. Plus, well… it’s is only the first one-and-a-half chapters. I don’t mind a relaxed start to it all given the charming setting and the introductions still occurring.
There’s still a bunch of drama that seems to be being built up towards. I get the impression that meeting the Gallatin students will bring that into sharper relief, but where CdlC’s stakes were intensely personal (your family’s situation and all that), it seems like we’ll be getting more socially-oriented drama as the PC attempts to orient themselves in a changing world where the question of monarchy and monarchs, and their role in society and politics, becomes something of a hot-button issue.
There’s already been some build-up there, like in the scene where you’re questioned about how you feel the Queen and Parliament should be acting, and a bit more indirectly how you feel about the Javi betrothal.
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I’m ridiculously excited for this game. C’mon, Javi, let me love (and, therefore, annoy the shit out of) you! 
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Yeah, a lot of the conflict feels like it is going to be backend.
I hear you! It’s been an exciting challenge to write with a protagonist with a lot of power and influence and keeping tension in there. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. My plan is to bring in wider implications/consequences to what the MC is up to, and the wider plot, more quickly than in Crème so rather than a slower-burn shaped plot the drama will spike up earlier and then escalate a lot throughout the game. And the characters’ pressure-cooker situations will become very tense!
Thank you for the feedback! If it still feels a bit languid once there’s more of it, I may add some extra spice - will see how it goes!
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I don’t know if this is needed but I noticed in the demo that there’s not a lot of shy options or options an MC can be shy but still a kind person. Since from the shy options the demo has, shy MCs tend to be more passive… I hope in the future demo there would be options while MC is a shy character there are moments of proactiveness while still retaining the MCs shyness.
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That’s really useful, thank you!
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Another positive about Royal Affairs is that the wider world beyond the school just seems richer and more present. I loved CDLC’s world building but it was largely a self contained story within the grounds of Gallatin. The issue around representation and voting rights and the potential interplay of class, privilege and politics is also really interesting.
I personally don’t the mind slower tone as the stakes are probably going to ramp up significantly in the future.
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I agree that I think the tone of Royal Affairs is working well for me as a slow boil, introducing lots of potential issues and sources of conflict.
CDLC started out with very high stakes early on with Blaise and the risk of expulsion, then slowed down and became pretty languid for most of the game, before picking up again at the end with the reveal of the mystery. I think it makes sense for this game to feature more of a slow continuous build.
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My plan is definitely to go a bit less languid in the middle section - things will hot up quicker than in Crème.
I totally understand where @medusatree came from though - there is less immediate personal pressure on the MC at the start than there is in Crème which may be less grabbing, or grab in a different way. I have some ideas of ways of piling on pressure early on if it feels right! At the moment I’ll see how the pace feels once I’ve got more down.
By the way, since I’m posting - hello everyone! Things have been very slow due to pandemic and personal/family things going on (injuries, health, lockdown etc etc) but Abby has been very supportive and understanding as ever. But I have been getting back onto the horse and have nearly finished drafting Chapter 3.
Readers may be interested to hear that yesterday I started writing the first time that you can start a polyamorous romance!
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Don’t force yourself too much, you’re doing wonderfully with the project.
I really love the characters you have cooked up and I hope to know them better in the game, especially the 2 Gallatin ROs 
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On the topic of ROs apparently Javi is tall?? It took me out for a while because I have always imagined Javi as a midget just like their older sibling 
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But, oh well, I mean that tiny detail doesn’t make me love them any less
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Welcome news! Your own health and wellbeing should take precedence, of course!
I’m still very much looking forward to what’s to come, and I’m kinda smugly satisfied about some of my predictions about where things are going apparently looking pretty good.
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Boy, do I hear that. This year has been brutal on my writing productivity. I’m sending you some camaraderie power.
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Sorry if this has already been asked before, but how much time has passed between CDLC and the start of Royal Affairs? Are there any ending conditions from CDLC that will give us the most opportunity to meet CDLC characters in RA more directly rather then mentioned? For example, If the CDLC MC marries Rosario, they’re immediately referenced, but I wonder if Rosario may show up later directly to confront Javi for reasons, and we may be able to interact with the CDLC character? If we meet the Gallatin students, will the CLDC MC be referenced as particularly famous at the school for changing things up? Also there is the realization that Gallatin might have been closed down at the end of CLDC, I wonder if that means we won’t be able to meet the Gallatin students if so? If these must be answered with spoilers then oh well haha, but I will certainly hope for some hints if you can give any? Loved the demo btw!
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I think four to five years has passed between CdlC and Royal Affairs. When the MC encounters Beaumont for the first time, if you select the right choices. Beaumont will tell you about the Gallatin mine scandal. But she will tell that she wasn’t aware of everything since she was a younger student at Archambault.
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Spoilers for the end of Crème under the tag! If Karson stays working at Archambault they will be the groundskeeper and have a bit of screen time. If Hartmann or the Crème MC end up teaching there, they will appear though not with a ton of screen time. As you mention, Rosario has the most appearances and if the MC romanced them, they are mentioned more. If Gallatin is closed down there are some different things that happen around it! If you play the demo you’ll find that out in Chapter 2 
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