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Tried that first, the problem persists

Any cutscene doesn't load, just leaves me in the blurred screen state the entire time

Images for the idols on the audition screen, new single fame addition screen, and any cutscene also won't load. They're fine on the portraits in the idol screen but that's it. This has been the case for me from version 13 onwards.

Game has become unplayable for me since the update last month, freezes every time I run an audition

Some suggestions from a resident game designer/artist!

Quality of life improvements:

1. Let me go back and forth between the single info and lineup screens. If I see I made a mistake and want to quickly change the song's dance or genre I have to remake the whole thing.

2. Let me toggle a girl for training. Say you wanna train 5 girls for vocal specifically, let me toggle them and the auto train will alternate between those 5.

3. You have to show the girls' relationships somewhere if you want to make working together a variable. I have no idea who works better with who, there's just some pop ups every once in a while that so and so likes or dislikes so and so now. Also make that visible in the lineup selection page so we can quickly make a lineup that matches well.

4. It would be nice to have an image for photoshoots that's not a bikini one for magazines that aren't fap material, that really creeped me out a lot. Having a bit of variety in those flavour images will really work towards staving off fatigue in general.

5. Too much dependency on the mouse, I want to be able to toggle through answers with arrow keys and press enter or space to select. Would also be nice if we could decide a lineup by clicking instead of dragging. First girl you click on gets center, next two are the row after, etc. Would streamline the whole process.

6. An option to play without the intro with the shadow girl or the whole policy spiel would be nice! When you replay all that stuff just becomes a little bothersome to click through.

7. A special tab for cancelled programming like you have one for graduated idols so the cancelled shows don't clog up the screen. Also being able to re-launch cancelled programming and change the host or the girls in the relaunching process, but with the greyed out cast options I think that's already in the works?

8. The elections are really great! Maybe it'd be possible to mandate a follow-up single with the Election lineup like how AKB does it?  (I think that's how they do it). Also being able to see a history of election results and their change for long-term play! Things like that really motivate people to play for the long haul.

9. Super duper into enabling/disabling mature content! I'm sure I'm not the only one who plays this as a fun idol management sim only.

Balancing:

1. Star gainging seems off to me, I got to 8 stars while my single highest idol was still at 1 star, I got to 10 stars and my highest idol was at 3 stars. 

2. Policies don't really have an effect right now, which I assume is just lack of content that's still being made. I've done one game where I'm as amoral and draconian as can be and one where I'm super liberal and I don't feel an effect at all. No social media oopses, no additional dating scandals, nothing. I assume more of this is coming?

Other:

1. I would like more info on the girls! Humanize them more, you can add a profile page when you lick on their little stats squares for example and add some randomized text. Even just a birthday, a stock likes/dislikes/trivia thing would work just to make them less samey. I know you have one trait but it really seems more of a game trait than a humanizing trait to me and the human aspect of a sim like this is the most interesting bit! How do you work with these actual people. You could also give them types of schedules or types of songs that they like and when they do that they lose a little less stamina or it ups mental stamina or something like that! Or maybe just introduce a happiness/contentness mechanic to make it less like you're just using a girl (the stamina things really make it sound like you're using an item that has this many uses) and more like you're managing a human being with feelings.

The better way to do this would obviously be with a full skill system but I recognize that that would take a lot of implementing so the above is a more shallow way to get some more investment into the girls from the player.

2. Building on Sanzena, who I totally agree with: Maybe a subunit mechanic? It could be as simple as toggling between 'main group' and 'sub unit> select so and so' and then in the idol menu have a tab for creating sub-units. Sometimes less girls is more, especially when there is a big star with them. You could simply make it that that way the singles sell a little less because some fans with strict oshimen won't but them but the girls who are in those groups gain fame much faster because they're in undivided spotlight. Members vs. Starpower in sales vs. star gain. That could also help with how hard it is to get a specific girl to gain stars.

3. Also saying ditto on Epixie's suggestion of a makeover! The amount of different girls is already rather low right now, as soon as you get to bigger groups you get a lot of girls who either have the same body or are entirely the same, it'd be nice if you could at least change their hairstyle between the presets you've already made. The body types are so different that switching between that wouldn't make too much sense but the hairstyles should at least be possible. Taking the same body and adding different clothes shouldn't be very taxing on the artist either for some more variety that doesn't require a whole new base. International girls is also a great way to add some more diversity in the girls ( and so I don't have 3 girls named Mitsuki or 4 of the yellow shirted cuties like last time).