Post by FranceskaT in By Another Name comments

Viewing post in By Another Name comments

Played this, looks promising, can't wait to see more!

Also, finally find one of these games that can I chose protag gender! So long have I searched...

Are we having a discord server by the way?(Just asking, your choice)

Also, about a few characters, well, any estimated time that we can get to meet April and Autumn(Or will we not?), and maybe get to know Lizzie a little better?

And, it seemed like if we went to help Mariah instead of go do stuff with Aarya, we won't get the scene, so, we can still get chances to interact with her(Don't know how though, looks like she and the protag are in different schools), right?

By the way, will there be major path divergence choices(or something like that) in game? And the soccer(Looks like the school is set in the US and the games uses it anyway so I will go with it) that occurs every week, will there be anyway that we would get to influence whether we win or lose? Or it will all be random? Also, would that play a major path eventually?

MAN, I really talk a lot sometimes

Thornwell Studios1 year ago(+3)

"MAN, I really talk a lot sometimes" you're talking to someone who talks so much I wrote a whole game - you're in good company lol

I'm glad you're enjoying! There's technically a discord server, but it's not in use. I figured I'd wait to see if the game got an audience before really diving into it. So TBD on that!

April and Autumn are going to be Chapter 2 characters, so you'll meet them in Spring of the school year, along with a couple other new characters!

You will absolutely get to know Lizzie better - she becomes more involved in v0.03 :D

You'll totally still interact with Aarya moving forward - her first solo event is also going to be in the upcoming content update, v0.03! Your interactions with her will vary slightly depending on what choice you made at the party, but ultimately, choosing one way or the other doesn't stop you from forming a relationship with Aarya.

There will be path divergences for some characters, specifically within the development of your relationships with them. For example, whether you choose to help Mariah at the party or go home with Aarya impacts your relationships with the people around you - Mariah, Caitlin, Aarya, etc. - but that won't really impact the overarching story. The story itself will be pretty much the same no matter what choices you make, though specific conversation pieces and side events will vary depending on the choices you make (though only the big ones, which don't happen that often, and I think it'll be pretty clear when they matter).

On the topic of soccer, good question, potentially complicated answer. For right now, the wins and losses are pre-determined and happen automatically once you complete a certain set of events (the Hints screen should walk players through how to get further in the game and trigger the next soccer game on Saturday mornings). I have ideas about what the soccer season will look like in Chapter 2, but I haven't made the final decision on whether your choices will impact the outcome of the bigger games later in the story. On the one hand, I think it's fun to give the player agency and reward them with success if they "play well". On the other hand, I don't want people to be 8 hours into playing and realize they didn't get enough points in some random category and now they can't win a big game or something. Because that would frustrate me as a player. It may play a part later in the story, I haven't gotten that far out in planning the details yet. I have a rough outline of the rest of the game, but that decision is still a ways out in development lol. Chapter 1 probably won't even be finished until like March. I'll probably make a decision on that stuff then!

So the TL;DR is "right now soccer games are all pre-determined, but that may change in the future if I can find a way to make it feel both fair and rewarding".

Hope you keep playing and continue to enjoy :D

FranceskaT1 year ago

Thanks! Can't wait for more!

Also, is there an estimation of how many romancable characters will there be in the end(And roughly how long would the game and each chapter be?

(BY the way... is it ok for the protag to wear old contact lenses almost 24/7... or they are not?...You know what I mean?)

Thornwell Studios1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

How many romanceable characters is tough to say exactly - most characters will be romanceable in the future. It just may not make sense for the protag to develop a romantic relationship with them at this moment - for example, you might be able to date the freshman team coach in the future, but dating her now would throw a pretty major wrench in things right now plot-wise. So the player will be introduced to different romance options throughout the game at different times while other romanceable character paths will already be pretty far along. I'm hoping that approach allows for fresh gameplay throughout the life of the game, as you'll always have characters in different stages of your relationships to spend time with.

As for an estimate on length, hard to say. The first chapter will probably finish with v0.05, which is a ways away still. If I had to make a wild guess on how long the gameplay of the first chapter will end up being, I'd estimate between 10-15 hours? It's really hard to say since people read at different speeds, and some people want to avoid using hints and embrace the sandbox nature of the game, so it may take them longer to get through it.

Let's assume the contacts have the ability to regulate moisture in the eye and can keep the wearer's eyes healthy and happy so they can be worn 24/7 lol. I wear contacts IRL and I can't imagine a protag having to put them in every morning, or like...dropping them on the floor and having to clean them :o

Ragged Vagabond1 year ago

["MAN, I really talk a lot sometimes" you're talking to someone who talks so much I wrote a whole game - you're in good company lol]

I'm stealing this, hope you don't mind xD

Thornwell Studios1 year ago

Happy to share lol :D

itch.io

Viewing post in By Another Name comments