(WIP) The Iron King's Heir (royalty, medieval fantasy, optionally romantic, 40k+) updates Thursdays

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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Fixed a little problem with me over-complicating the code, thanks for catching that!

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I had to delete all my polls in order to edit the original post so I’m just going to start doing polls in replies for funsies (also it’s genuinely helpful to get a sense what you all like), starting with some of the original polls.

Who are you playing as?

  • Prince
  • Princess
  • I’d like to try both!
0 voters

What kind of ruler will you be?

  • A tyrant
  • A rebel sympathiser
  • A diplomat
  • An abdicator
  • Something else?
0 voters

Who are you romancing?

  • Nora
  • Connor
  • Mirabel
  • Garrett
  • Evangeline
  • Justin (coming soon to public demo)
  • Nobody
  • Waiting for now
0 voters
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Big update now out for the public demo! I’ve also recently started a Tumblr which is foreign territory for me but it seems like a hub for IF content so I’ve started posting quick updates there and will probably slow down a bit here.

My current plan is to post a new update every Thursday until all of Chapter 2 is publicly available, and to update the Patreon with a heavily revised version at roughly the same pace.

Happy reading!

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Woot!

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Threw me off the loop lol anyways this was the only bug i saw

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Whoops lol thanks for catching that I’m sure it’s an easy fix!

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Great so far only thing I was curious about is when you decide to keep your sword with you for the celebration it hurts your relationship with your guard but you can then send him to do something so wouldn’t it make sense if you get that -1 back if you send him on the reconnaissance?

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Shame that I can’t play as a gay prince but oh well, guess I’m going to go through with a loveless political marriage while pining after my royal guard - you know, for the stability of the country and all that. I’ve noticed a few pronoun errors for what should be the princess and not prince, and a typo.

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I may consider changing this down the road, but right now the recon options are meant to be a strategic choice and shouldn’t directly impact your relationship with Garrett or Mirabel. The sword shouldn’t damage your relationship with Garrett so much that you can’t have a good relationship with him with other choices.

Although that does remind me I don’t think there are any relationship boosts with him or Mirabel this whole chapter :thinking: I should change that!

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A loveless political marriage? Sounds like you’re getting the true royal experience!

Thanks so much for catching those. I fixed them for the next Patreon update which means they will show publicly within a month.

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Happy Thursday, aka update day! Play the free demo to:

  • Find out what happened to Connor and Nora at the docks

  • Learn about what might happen if your future sibling-in-law just happens to perish

  • Dance with one of six partners (not all options available for dutiful princes and princesses)

Play the Patreon demo for a heavily revised intro to Chapter 2 and minor Chapter 1 changes including:

  • More sensory details, better flow, fixed logistical issues, and an overall more immersive experience

  • An added opportunity to bond with Garrett and Mirabel, perhaps romantically

  • More (and better) character customisation options

  • An added option to spit on the rabble in Chapter 1

Some more polls for you when you’re done:

Who did you mingle with before the banquet?

  • Kirill & Osdric
  • Evangeline & the stranger
  • Marcurios
  • Willem
  • Anaxis
  • Justin
0 voters

Who did you dance with?

  • Nora
  • Connor
  • Evangeline
  • Justin
  • Mirabel
  • Garrett
  • No one
0 voters
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Wow no love for Justin and Willem. Fret not, the Patreon version already makes it easier to meet Justin before the banquet, and I’m working on giving Willem more of a point in the mingle scene.

Smaller update today, but next week the full rough draft of Chapter 2 should be available for everyone :slight_smile:

Play the public demo to:

  • decide the fate of a foolishly bold nobleman
  • hear directly from the rebels for the first time
  • smash things dramatically! (or be boring and don’t, whatever you want ig)

Play the Patreon demo for:

  • expanded and improved character introductions for Evangeline, Kirill, Raedin, Anaxis, Willem, and Marcurios
  • partially revised and improved conversations with aforementioned characters

Those at the Keeper of Secrets tier also get:

  • spoilerish character profiles and backstories for Osdric, Willem, Mirabel, Marcurios, and more

Happy reading!

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Is it possible to dance with Mirabel?

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As it stands, it should be possible but only for especially self-serving heirs, as dancing with a servant at a major event would be such a serious social faux pas it wouldn’t even cross most royals’ minds. Down the road I may add something like a traditional/progressive stat that could come into play too.

That said, I do intend to include optional private dance scenes for both Garrett and Mirabel later on that will be available to anyone romancing them.

(It’s also fully possible that the stats aren’t well balanced this draft and you can’t actually reach the level of self-serving to dance with her or Garrett, which I’ll be looking into as well).

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Hey, I really love what you have so far. This is pretty much exactly what I enjoy in a Choice Game. I have a couple of little things that I wanted to bring up.

  1. When introducing Garret, you use the word “fraught” by itself as an adjective, and I, as a language nerd, feel compelled to point out that its proper usage requires “with” as in “fraught with peril” or “fraught with uncertainty” etc.
  2. This is more of a potential content suggestion, so feel free to disregard, I was just thinking of what I would say in this scenario. When speaking to the High Marshall about strategy, I think an option to suggest an alternative strategy would be cool. The archetype of ruler I am going for is the Benevolent Ruler with an Iron Fist kind of style, so my suggestion would be to start rewarding loyalists and even some more neutral households to the point where it would be more lucrative to serve the Crown, thereby cutting off support for the rebels by simple greed from the peasantry or by baiting the rebels into targeting the perceived “traitiors,” potentially turning the populace against them as blood-crazed zealots attacking their own people, if that makes sense.

Anyway, that’s all I have so far, I believe! Keep up the great work!

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You can actually use fraught on its own but it’s not super normal nor do I think it’s the best word for the situation now that you mentioned it. And thanks for the suggestion and the kind words! I’m adding this to my notes but you probably won’t see this or similar options in Chapter 2 for the time being at least. It feels a little too tactical for banquet talk, but I do intend to give more options for what to do about the rebels as the game progresses.

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Full rough draft of Chapter 2 now on the public demo, +4.5k words

For the chapter finale, give your first speech!

  • bolster allies, make enemies
  • establish what kind of leader you will be
  • or maybe just get drunk and say weird stuff idk up to you

Moving forward, updates will refine and add to Chapter 2 until I’m happy enough with it to move on to Chapter 3.

For the Patreon demo I have:

  • heavily revised Marcurios’ conversation at the mingle scene
  • partially revised Evangeline’s
  • done a whole lot of background work that I talk about in the newsletter

I also started a chill little Discord if anyone wants to join us there.

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