Voltaic | See Post #311

I mean… Subverting a trope that leads to something happening so that instead nothing happens isn’t exactly what I’d call “more interesting.” :stuck_out_tongue:

On the contrary, I think it would add another depth to the complicated relationship between the two former friends.

But I don’t really want to argue about this :sweat_smile:

Whatever Trevers decides. I don’t want him to feel forced to write a romance he doesn’t want.

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I mean, I guess it would be interesting if there were actually consequences to the flirting that weren’t romance. Though adding the option to flirt seems like it’d change their initial relationships as well. After all, what kinda person constantly flirts with someone they actually dislike who actually dislikes them, who they used to be close friends with… before a breakup… Like gender roles being a thing and all, it would look really creepy with a male MC.

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That sums up how I feel about it. I don’t want to give people the impression that Madison is an RO. She’s not, and she never will be. Her purpose is to be the antagonist, and I completely understand that people love to romance antagonists, but this simply isn’t relevant to the story I’m writing.

I totally agree that more dialogue and background helps and will definitely do that, but at some point I also need people to understand that this isn’t an otome. :stuck_out_tongue:


This is the point I’m ultimately trying to make. This is not a romance game in any shape or form. You can romance Sabrina and Carlton, but that’s because I knew people would ask for a romance and wanted to give people options. At the end of the day, though, I am not writing a game that is suitable for romance. This is a psychological thriller and a group drama game. I can’t write every single character into an RO because that would severely affect multiple aspects of the plot and would cause people to miss character arcs that I’ve designed for each person. I especially can’t write the main antagonist into an RO because her role is to cause tensions in the group that the MC either fixes or exacerbates. Romancing Madison would significantly change the course of the game because her behavior is dependent on her pre-established relationship with the MC.

If you don’t like the ROs I’ve provided, all I can say is not to romance them. Just be friends. I am working to write interesting dynamics even when the characters are just friends. Romance is not integral to every. single. character. There are other aspects of them that I’m going to explore. So please, just be patient and let me write. :stuck_out_tongue:

Going forward, I won’t be addressing anymore questions or comments about adding the other characters as ROs. This is just to preserve my own sanity. Please continue to give character and plot feedback, however!

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woah, this is so cool! i can’t wait to see more : D

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Hi all, sorry to bump this thread without an update to the story itself. I just wanted to keep everyone informed of where I stand right now.

Currently, I am stage managing a show until Feb. 10, and then I will be stage managing another show starting on Feb. 19 until Mar. 22nd. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing another show after that yet, but if I am, that will lock me down until late April. That means updates are going to be non-existent for a while. That doesn’t mean I’m abandoning this story, however! Progress on Ch. 2 is small at the moment, but I will still continue to write once I have free time.

That said, please feel free to give feedback on what is available. I know it’s not much, but any amount of refinement is welcome (minus RO requests).

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Are you a stage manager?!!? I am an actor! I am actually doing a show through the end of March :heart: its called PUFFS (a harry potter satire, from the Hugglepuff pov) in DC! :heart::heart::heart:

Sorry. Not trying to derail your thread, I am just a fan of your writing and am stoked to find another theatrical friend up in here!!! Makes sense…IFs and scripts/theatre are pretty similar imo :heart: maybe because being the mc is like reading my role in the script…anyway YAY!!!

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I apologize for the amount of hearts in the last post. I am a grown ass woman. I just got excited. ;p

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Hello everyone! In the interest of keeping my thread open, and also to actually encourage me to stop touching up Chapter 1 and finish Chapter 2 (yes, it is in the works, and it’s going well!), I’ve uploaded an updated version of Chapter 1. I’ve incorporated a lot of your feedback. Here are the major changes:

  • Adrian is now an RO. I’ve added a few extra choices and small dialogue snippets to set this up. After some careful consideration, I realized that I could reasonably write Adrian as a male-only RO without messing up my planned storyline for him. Enough people liked the idea of having him as an RO that I felt it was justified. Also, I like Adrian as a character and I think he’d be a great boyfriend IRL, so yeah. No, I will not be adding further ROs, do not ask.
  • I’ve added some more background for the three main group members (Adrian, Madison, and Olivia). I will add background for Carlton, Jordan, and Sabrina in the next chapter to even this out.
  • Saving should be added now. If it is not, let me know!
  • There are now options to say that you are not attracted to girls and/or guys. Note that these only appear once (technically twice for liking guys if you say you’re into Adrian but w/e), so if you want the game to exclude flirting options for a specific gender or both, this is the time to choose.

There are also lots of smaller adjustments, namely with character reactions to choices and wording of choices to contain clearer viewpoints. Please let me know what you think of these new changes - I look forward to your feedback!

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error: 9 line 748: Non-existent variable ‘disable_likes_boys’

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Try refreshing your cache. I noticed a few last minute errors and tried to submit the corrected version without anyone noticing lol

refreshing my cache? like reloading the page ? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

edit: reloaded the page…well that sent me back to the beginning . and where the slot for save and load? there is an error there that say this: error: Bad Slot - has smPlugin been included?

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The save system is not working, it`s something about the order of *sm_save and *sm_init
IMG_20190312_020904

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The same problem :disappointed:

Can’t get past this

And just a suggestion, maybe remove the portrait and description for the MC all together. I know a lot of people like to image their MCs a certain way, so not adding a portrait might increase the immersion for some people (especially if you have to pass by it every time you want to get to your stats).

Other than that I really like the way your writing style and think this entire concept is cool.

I get an error when i try to enter a name

UGH! I thought I fixed both of those issues! :persevere: I’ll reupload the files and test a bit harder.

Okay, I have fixed all the issues except the saving, which I’ve removed for now as I need to figure out how to actually do it lol. But everything else should be functional. Apparently, QuickTest fails at some point due to the fact that the choice to choose your gender early is optional, so that’s fun. /sarcasm But everything is still functional, including the Sabrina gender choice and all instances of me using “disable_like_boys” instead of “disable_likes_boys.”

If I did that, I’d feel compelled to remove portraits for the other characters to make it consistent, which I don’t want to do. But I appreciate the feedback! You can avoid looking at the potrait by going to the quick stat view, which is available about 3/4ths the way through. :slight_smile:

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A lot of sexulaity and gender narratives are still bugged.
I’m playing the game as bi male, and the meeting carlton scene plays out as if I’m gay female.
The Adrian friend description page is still unfixed, and shows “us girls”.

Also, the first choices on “opinion on friends” don’t lock you out of romance, do they?

I think I know how to solve that specific Carlton issue, that was probably something I overlooked in the multireplaces there. The stats screen wasn’t updated yet and probably won’t be until Chapter 2 is finished, but that bug will definitely be fixed.

I’m not sure what you mean by the second question. Could you elaborate?