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Hey there! Loving this UI, and appreciate how affordable it was! 

I'm running into a spot of trouble, though; and as I'm still new to using Ren'py and coding, I don't know how to troubleshoot what's wrong. When I run your test game, everything works exactly as it should. 

However, when I tried to use it for my own work in progress, some things have needed tweaking. I was able to move the input box to match up with the gui placement, because it wasn't for things like inputting a player name. But then I ran into the problem of the choice menu background not showing up whenever there's questions being posed. Unlike with your test game, it's entirely transparent, with the text for options and your custom icons next to each choice showing up against the scene image. I tried scouring my game versus yours for differences in coding related to menus, gui, screens, etc- couldn't find any. I wondered if it was because one of my sets of choices had 5 options and that might be too many for your configurations, but it also doesn't show up with the simple yes/no questions. So I transferred my script to your test game to see if the menu options would work there. They don't. And my menu was set up exactly the same as yours, just different words being used. 

So I have no idea why the choice menu background isn't showing up whenever it's needed for any question that isn't your test one. Help finding the solution to this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edit- I've been able to solve this problem on my own, but figured I'd leave the original query up as well as the solution in case you feel any need to take another look at the original code or anyone else runs into this problem. 

To have more than 4 options display in a single column, rather than starting a second column, the option for box_wrap in the custom_config.rpy needs to be set to false.

To fix the background frame not showing up like it does in your test game: the screens.rpy doesn't actually have any configurations for the choice box to be framed and needs one written in. The following code worked for me-

screen choice(items):

    style_prefix "choice"

    frame:

        vbox:

            for i in items:

                textbutton i.caption action i.action

style choice_frame:

        xsize None

        ysize None

        background Frame("gui/frame.png", 10, 10)

        xalign 0.5

        yalign 0.9

Then I altered the custom_config file further, to shrink the size of the box so it wouldn't take up most/all of the screen (that was entirely personal preference). I stress tested that code by doing all sorts of multiple choice options of different sorts, and the box is now showing without fail and adjusting its size appropriately to whatever the current choices are. 

Thanks again for this awesome asset! It matches my project's aesthetics and color palette really well and, especially because I'm on an insanely tight budget, I'm grateful I didn't have to try hiring someone to make me a custom one that could blend in well enough. I will be sure to credit and link to your itch page for others to find your work if my project gets to a point of making a demo/final release public. <3

This game was silly, and stupid, and random- and perfect for the game it was parodying. Thanks for the laughs.

Really short and wish there was more of the winter storm plot available- but Scott's little rant about cashews gave me flashbacks of my belated grandma and her love of cashews, so that nostalgic hit in the feels means I love this and will look forward to an update/full version.

Just got done chapter 6. 

*Takes off tin foil hat and repurposes the metallic sheet into an origami swam that's holding a sign that reads: "Called it!"*

Day 4 is out!!!! The happy squeal I made when the email notification pinged my phone just now could be heard throughout my house. Very few games could make me drop what I'm doing and run to my computer to go download an update. Can't wait to see what happens! thank you for all your hard work, especially with some files getting corrupted and needing to be replaced. <3

This game is so darn cute. I see from responses to others that there's a sequel in the works and that makes me happy. Hoping to find out Kaito's real name and hopeful get him to continue buffing off the rough edges of his attitude, not only indulge Dominic's praise kink more but maybe get to see more of his commanding side that only got teased, and let MC get dressed up in adorkable fantasy gear with Sol. 

Wish I could say something hopeful for Alexandre, really I do because he's in general a great character and it's refreshing to see a LI who is older than teens or mid twenties at most. But with MC being indicated to be in her early 20s (instead of maybe in her late 20s or early 30s so she's in the middle of their collective age ranges), and him referring to her as "kid" and "young lady" so frequently- it honestly felt uncomfortable to play through his route. Kind of the opposite squick feeling of when an otome puts a child like LI for an MC. Just my opinion, but I'm sure there's probably people out there who don't mind that he's old enough to be her dad, and at least they're both legal adults. 

Anyway, thank you for the overall enjoyable holiday themed game this was! Especially with each guy's route being distinct in themes and events from the others, it made replays fun to do. I'll be checking out your other games and looking forward to the sequel.

This game was fun to playthrough; and I appreciate the twist at the end of the game. It was more subtly executed than normally done in many other stories and I enjoyed the reveal. 

This is legitimately one of the best dark/supernatural otomes I've had the pleasure of reading through. Thank you for the experience.

Day 3 dropped with great timing to keep me occupied while home sick. Thanks! Interesting to see all the new little details added, even in earlier chapters. And the little sticky note on the load screen is a nice touch of both cute and creepy, especially once I realized it could move... Yikes. 

Not sure if you've noticed/had it pointed out yet, but there's a spelling error on day 3's dead end route- when you get home, "shrugging" off your jacket is spelled "shurgging".  Also, I deleted the last version's files, at least I thought I got them all, but the old saves still showed up when I loaded up the new game. I liked the little touch of Ren welcoming us back if we used the same name as before, but I'm wondering where the backup saves might be getting created?

Anyways, this new update was fun to see play out in its different iterations. Makes me a little sad to realize each update comes every 6 months or so, and how long the last day might be in coming at that rate, but I know VNs are a lot of work, especially for one person. This one is legitimately good and I'm curious to see how this waiting trainwreck of a situation unfolds. Keep up the great work, please and thank you! And have a great 2024.

Ha! Fair enough all around. There's always going to be a thousand "what if this could happen" scenarios someone might think up to circumvent or delay drama, but a story does need to unfold and conflict keeps things spicy. The trying to cheat on the test thing was just something to strike me as a thing at least one or two might attempt to whatever degree of success or failure because most people are unwilling but fell back on the "you'll just have to trust me that it's not me" response. 

And always happy for some Raze screen time, and it seems like he needs an actual friend. Could be good for him, so fingers crossed maybe he might participate in some real chat with protag, not just his blustering to hide his insecurities, if the right options get picked.

Speed ran more playthroughs with the skip button, including an evil/defiant run and trying the other attack option during the trial. If the conspiracy theory is not true, I know who the three current demonhearts are because they are the only ones, outside the protag herself that we obviously know is a demonheart, who don't potentially die and stay dead during one of the fights. The questions become which one of the other two killed someone to become a demonheart themselves and why, and which was already a demonheart from the start.

Also, it'd be nice if there was an option to offer to take the blood test and be crafty about deceiving the others by continually renewing the injury to make it seem like there was normal healing time needed. Or to bring up that someone else could do so, thereby making it pointless unless everyone stays in each other's presence 24/7 to watch for subversion; which also means no one gets anything done and we're all stuck tolerating each other without relent. Anything to throw some doubt on the process, if that's the route a player wanted to go down, besides flat out refusal to play along. But that's probably too much variation to try accounting for in game path layout. 

Anyway, this has been interesting to explore. Still have lots of questions as to why the event was orchestrated by the "master" to begin with (outside the fact he's an evil sadist with a penchant for toying with people), what Raze's promised "reward" is for helping the master/why he's playing along with any level of faith he won't get backstabbed later on, and what the various companions' motivations are to act like they have been because they're still ultimately strangers to the protag and we can't discern much as it is. Hopeful for chapter 4 to start giving some clues to puzzle this out further.

There's definitely a messy intersection of motivations/agendas happening during the trial. Even doing a second playthrough of chapter 3, I'm confused on why certain things happen. As for Leona, it's entirely possible she's behaving the way she is towards protag and not the self confessor out of the very simple human motivation of jealousy and self preservation. She's very self-righteous and most everyone doesn't trust and/or respect her. Depending on how you play protag, others don't have many issues with them. And Ran, who she clearly views as *her*ally and maybe she wants more, obviously has a thing. Might be jealousy of the simple peasant girl is clouding her judgment; but then self confessor did the confessing after she's already been brutal, so she realizes she can't keep doing the vicious zealot things without someone having enough of her behavior and kills her while she sleeps, so she opts for the less tyrant option with them in hopes to stave off assassination attempts.

BTW- You should check out what happens if you choose to attack the stubborn duo who are so friendly with the self confessor. The end result drastically narrows down possible scenarios happening and bolsters a few potential theories.

Edit- just realized you mentioning how poorly a fight can go indicates you've tried that option. So yeah. One of the duo might be a "demon strumpet" and the other was taken in by their act, or it's a red herring to throw off suspicion from the real third demonheart.

The very end is why I need to play again and fiddle around with different choices. I was playing this round as Tactful Good. Not overly flirty/blushing with anyone because death game in progress is not really the time for hookups; and all around nice to all, even those I think are sus so as not to prematurely tip them off. It *seemed* like it was going well. So the last sequence of events went by in a flash of curveballs blindsiding me and now I'm not as sure what to think on who the original third demonheart was. 

As for the self confessor- the first game taught me never trust their type because they may be a conniving hunter waiting to pounce. So... if my conspiracy is wrong (and the theory admittedly is a stretch, but I don't want to admit that character is dead in such an abrupt off screen fashion), it's possible the confessor is the killer, and potentially working with an accomplice or two for mutual gain. But that expectation of "don't trust this obvious parallel to a character from the original game" can always be subverted and it's possible they've been the third all along. I'll have more theories when I've played through a few more times to absorb the general plot completely and see the variations on events.

I have lots of thoughts and need a second playthrough to help sort them, but I wanted to say well done on that chapter, Lamb.

Also, I'm putting on a tin foil hat and starting a conspiracy theory that (first person dead) is not actually dead. They used their own knife to damage their clothes, then used a pile of ash from the various campfires that have been in use to fake their deaths, which is why there's no blood or burn damage on the clothes. Takes the heat off them (pun wasn't meant, but I'll leave it) so potential hunters aren't targeting them; and Raze's subsequent vague and promised "unhelpful" comments about the numbers not changing and all three being present is because (supposed first dead) was skulking in the shadows to see how things would unfold. They'll pop up some time in the future, much to the surprise of all; or they're going to potentially walk out after the seven days are up and it's safe to come out of hiding.

Lastly, Leona needs to learn the concept of consent and safewords because nearly severing someone's spine and then chaining them to a cold wall is not a good example to be setting. Shame on the knights for not teaching her the ethics of kink but letting her walk around with weapons and permission to restrain people. She's getting reported if she doesn't end up dead by the end of this.

I just wanted to chime in with agreement on these points. 

Also, it's Raze, not just any demonspawn. He had his very important romance arc with Bright if you chose him as a LI; or he was betrayed by her when he was trying to find some sort of redemption/understanding through her after all the trauma he went through in his childhood. This game takes place a century after the original events, if I'm understanding the timeline properly from things said so far. If Bright was romanced and managed to live a long life thanks to her demon heart keeping her in better health than most humans, and given she was 18-19 during her games, she's likely only been dead from old age a couple of decades. For some, that might be enough time to grieve- but for someone as emotional and attached as Raze was, who couldn't imagine a life after her and didn't want to think on it, he'd likely still be in a bad headspace during this installment. Which might contribute to his current actions (though I'd hope after the BS with big brother Thayne and his lies- and real!Raze going apocalyptic in rhetoric, he's learned his lesson about other demonspawn with grand designs). If he was unromanced and betrayed by Bright, well then he's likely to be very bitter towards humans. Neither option spells romance potential for him, especially when there's no mental health services to try helping him; and he really needs to be shown working out his mental shit first. There's a wide world of demonspawn running about to ask for romancing potential with, it's indicated in Hunters that Raze and Thayne's father was particularly prolific in spawning and they have several other brothers, but I don't think Raze himself is a great option at this time. 

I hope Lamb sticks to what feels right when writing this story. Would a demonspawn be nice to romance? Yes. The potential new stories that could unfold are always intriguing. But I'd rather have a well written story with a great deal of choice within the options for romance offered than something shoehorned in for fan service. Trying to force fanservice moments that go against the creator's intended narrative is what deteriorates a series in quality, it can undermine the overall world built. There's always potential for a next installment to have demonspawn romance shenanigans, while this one does its own thing and expands the world/lore of Demonheart in hopefully satisfying ways. 

But a (hopefully helpful) suggestion for Lamb- as a demonspawn, especially Raze, is not among the featured LIs, maybe contract a cover art picture that features the protagonist and/or her actual love interests. Having Raze front and center as the face of the game, pleasing as he may be to look at, may lead folks to have false expectations about just how much they'll get from him in romance potential and lead to disappointment/negative feedback. I know artwork, especially quality artwork, is an expense not lightly overlooked in the development process (particularly for smaller developers), but if it helps avoid confusion and downvoting on the game, it might be worth it.