@Vendetta - And yet! People still read books, right?! They still enjoy books? Add -game- to -book- and people, go eww…
I’m not saying it’s worth £40 - But I think there’s a big problem with people devaluing text-games as you say.
I really, really, really do hope you manage to market this well. It deserves it, so much.
If I get famous I’ll tweet you and stuff, promise ;D (you never know…)
@CJW It would be a fine thing for these games just to be valued the same as the printed word . . . but that’s not likely to ever happen, either. Kindle and pads in general are probably our best hope in the long term.
Tweets from famous people? Now there’s a thought . . . *rushes off to consult his little black book* 
@Vendetta if I can ask, what are your plans for chapter 3? I don’t need any major storyline spoilers, but I was wondering if there would be any changes to gameplay, new henchmen or businesses etc. 
@redgrave Chapter Three, Opportunity Knocks, is aptly named. It’s heavily focused on acquiring new rackets & business (by fair means or foul), and protecting / expanding existing ones. That chapter also varies more based on the main choice you make at the very end of Chapter Two, with significant differences in the main storyline(s) and including some unique rackets not available on a different route.
Henchmen do play a more prominent role, but still less so than in the final chapters, so Chapter Three is more about setting yourself up with the best crew you can to make things easier later: “The right man (or woman) for the job” will be at the very heart of some important choices later, with serious repercussions if you get it wrong. Those with limited “people skills” and / or poor business acumen will likely have the toughest time in this particular chapter, or at least will miss out on some great opportunities. Being good with a gun only takes you so far . . . 
@idonotlikeusernames There are two possible new female romantic interests and one new male. They are all ‘conditional’ on other factors though, so won’t all be encountered on every playthru. Two of these new ones are . . . not strangers to the underworld.
@Vendetta haha that might pose a problem to my gangster, who just tries to shoot everything first time!
Are romantic options an either/or thing? Such as, if I get the option to start going out with one person does that prevent me from pursuing someone else if I change my mind? I’m always nervous about missing out but I don’t want to cling to the first person I think is alright and then be sorry if someone else is more appealing.
@Redgrave Those with early high Firearms skill (often at the expense of such as Leadership or Business acumen) get an easier ride early in the game, so sooner or later it has to even out!
@Indigolnsane Nope, as in real life, you’re free to change your mind (and partner) at will . . . assuming the other parties involved don’t have any objections, that is. Reactions will range from *shrug* to a total *bunny boiler*, depending who it is you’re dumping, and why (i.e. the actual reason you give).
In many cases it will be possible to just be generally unfaithful and maintain more than one personal relationship, if that’s your thing. Our protagonist is naturally (i.e. by default) secretive and evasive where his comings and goings are concerned–making it relatively easy to be unfaithful–although the longer you remain true to one partner, the more this will be interpreted as being open, honest and trusting in that relationship.
Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work . . . I can see the “relationships” code being tweaked quite a bit during playtest to have the intended effect.
@Vendetta - I played as a college student and I just want to say - I loved the game - but I never at any point felt like it was difficult or challenging. I only played chapter1 but I’m just thinking after what you just said, maybe I should’ve “failed” a bit more? Is the balance off for that class/background?
@CJW It’s definitely the easiest chapter, no doubt about it, but it’s also entirely possible that the recent addition at the start (and all the new skill gains possible from that) have now made it too easy and a little more fine-tuning might be required in some cases.
It’s also entirely possible that you just played skillfully, choosing the best options for your particular character background, and steered your way past any serious obstacles!
More opinions on the ‘difficulty’ (or not) of Chapter One would definitely be appreciated, especially if relatively new to the game and have yet to learn from past mistakes.
@CJW, Try shooting stuff with the college kid, one of the ways to an almost certain death.
@Vendetta, I hope you can be can have an open, honest, trusting and more or less faithful relationship (perhaps minus the few occasions where seduction and one night stands can be used in lieu of violence to further business objectives) throughout the game because, for my college grad at least, it is the only time when he feels he can relax and let his guard down a bit.
Also if the game has high replayability (and all signs for Vendetta so far seem to point in that direction) I tend to just create a separate character for each love interest that appeals to me. So while my college kid will most likely stick with Adamo, a lover with a better stomach for violence might be better suited to my second favourite background, the dirty ex-cop.
@idonotlikeusernames - But that really is common sense, I checked my stats saw 10 out of (100?) and thus never pulled a trigger throughout the entire chapter. If that factors in as ‘difficult’ though, ok… 
@Vendetta Perhaps I’ll play through again with a different background and make some comparisons!
@ CJW, that’s true but it is somewhat of a tutorial chapter, there’s a tricky situation with Fat Eddy in chapter two and I’ve heard tell of a veritable labyrinth of doom scene in chapter three. Most of the time I agree with you that is mostly comes down to common sense.
I named my Character Greg Scarpa, even though that’s anachronistic .
The Playtest doesn’t go to the end of Chapter 2.
@CJW It’s fair to say that the only real “mistake” you can make in Chapter One is to not pay attention to your character attributes, although there are exceptions. For example, being simply unwilling to go for your gun on the Mangano truck job will only get you killed . . . so clearly you never took that particular route with your College Grad! Overall though, the aim of the demo is to ease you into the role, not deliberately seek to trip you up just to make a point–although there are certainly some situations intended to impart a valuable lesson before you get too far into the game (the truck job being a case in point, as you really have to consider the situation in which you find yourself regardless of stats). That said, I do need to look more closely at precisely how much easier the new stat gains make things over the first two chapters.
@idonotlikeusernames It’s a good point, and I suspect most would naturally tend to play the same way. I guess the challenge will be to see if we can make things tempting enough for you to give serious consideration to changing your mind along the way. In a game, where you can simply “replay” (unlike life!) it’s generally easy to avoid temptation to stray from the path you have already chosen, so that will indeed be quite a challenge for me.
@Zed Now tell me something I don’t know! Like, what you actually thought of the new stuff included in the playtest version as it stands, perhaps?
I’m back in the thread after a-playing the current demo. Here’s a look at the Demo Summary…
–Leadership
Initial: 20 – Current: 30 – Gain: +10
–Intimidation
Initial: 40 – Current: 68 – Gain: +28
–Persuasion
Initial: 35 – Current: 41 – Gain: +6
–Awareness
Initial: 30 – Current: 36 – Gain: +6
–Coglioni
Initial: 55 – Current: 70 – Gain: +15
–Business
Initial: 10 – Current: 10 – Gain: +0
–Streetwise
Initial: 25 – Current: 34 – Gain: +9
–Contacts
Initial: 15 – Current: 15 – Gain: +0
–Firearms
Initial: 45 – Current: 49 – Gain: +4
Overall Attributes Improvement: +83 (+31%)
Now, the ease of getting Leadership in the first chapter, even if you start off without any to speak of, might be a mild problem. As you can see, I started this one as a Black Hander, and ten points of Leadership is enough to turn a Black Hander into an effective enough leader to run Dino’s gang when they meet in Chapter 2. Is that intentional?
Here are the two characters attributes for my last two playthroughs
***
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES (Anthony Luciano - Politcal Bagman
–Leadership
Initial: 20 – Current: 25 – Gain: +5
–Intimidation
Initial: 10 – Current: 5 – Gain: ±5
–Persuasion
Initial: 45 – Current: 54 – Gain: +9
–Awareness
Initial: 30 – Current: 43 – Gain: +13
–Coglioni
Initial: 40 – Current: 51 – Gain: +11
–Business
Initial: 15 – Current: 18 – Gain: +3
–Streetwise
Initial: 35 – Current: 41 – Gain: +6
–Contacts
Initial: 50 – Current: 54 – Gain: +4
–Firearms
Initial: 25 – Current: 25 – Gain: +0
Overall Attributes Improvement: +46 (+17%)
***
***
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES (Michael Caponi - Street Gang Leader)
–Leadership
Initial: 40 – Current: 54 – Gain: +14
–Intimidation
Initial: 45 – Current: 65 – Gain: +20
–Persuasion
Initial: 20 – Current: 40 – Gain: +20
–Awareness
Initial: 30 – Current: 36 – Gain: +6
–Coglioni
Initial: 35 – Current: 54 – Gain: +19
–Business
Initial: 25 – Current: 29 – Gain: +4
–Streetwise
Initial: 50 – Current: 55 – Gain: +5
–Contacts
Initial: 10 – Current: 10 – Gain: +0
–Firearms
Initial: 15 – Current: 15 – Gain: +0
Overall Attributes Improvement: +88 (+33%)
***
The stats for the college kid as I intend to play him, if this were the final version and I had just bought it.
Personally, I don’t think the stat gains are problematic, considering this is basically the chapter where you flesh out your character and define who and what he is and was. I assume that in the later chapters the stat gains will be rather slower and you’ll be forced to rely more on using the weekly options to make major changes.
DEMO SUMMARY #1 - Character Statistics
Name: Salvatore Luciano
Background: College Graduate
Money Clip: $764
Weekly Take: $166
Net Worth: $3799
Primary Weapon: Twin 7-shot Colt M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistols
Your Appearance: Highly fashionable–and dressed to kill!
Henchmen: 1
Businesses: 1
Rackets: 0
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES
–Leadership
Initial: 50 – Current: 64 – Gain: +14
–Intimidation
Initial: 20 – Current: 15 – Gain: ±5
–Persuasion
Initial: 40 – Current: 63 – Gain: +23
–Awareness
Initial: 30 – Current: 38 – Gain: +8
–Coglioni
Initial: 25 – Current: 30 – Gain: +5
–Business
Initial: 45 – Current: 49 – Gain: +4
–Streetwise
Initial: 15 – Current: 26 – Gain: +11
–Contacts
Initial: 35 – Current: 39 – Gain: +4
–Firearms
Initial: 10 – Current: 10 – Gain: +0
Overall Attributes Improvement: +64 (+24%)