Chapter Seven 2.0 is UP!
Added 2022-05-25 23:49:29 +0000 UTCConsidering that this chapter primarily focused on walking up a flight of stairs, it went through a lot a changes. . . and is now almost a third longer, due to all the variations with Nick’s dialogue. This chapter ended up being an even 100 pages on Microsoft Word, which meant I kept losing my spot and thus spent half my time playing Where’s Waldo instead of editing.
As to what’s new, Nick now has more bite towards Buttons with relationship scores below 80, while other the changes are more subtle. Example: Nick’s dialogue tag when joking about Button’s crush on Kenzie will be “tease” for a Button he’s close to, but “mock” for one with whom he has a tense relationship.
The most significant change for this chapter is that option for Button to walk alone with Nick instead of talking to Kenzie or Rosy has been taken out. Instead, Nick and Button’s dialogue is integrated throughout the text and thus unavoidable (although it’s fully possible that Nick gives Button the cold shoulder and thus nothing gets said).
Kenzie-crushing Buttons will also now walk with Kenzie automatically. This fills Button in on the death of Kenzie’s mother, in case you didn’t choose cyberstalking in Chapter 4, which will make for a smoother romance flow going forward. Rosy’s scene is fun, but not as plot-relevant. (In general, it’s gonna be tricky to romance Rosy if you’re interested in anyone else.)
In addition to the structural and coding overhaul, there were additional changes:
1) New differentiation with Nick’s dialogue depending on relationship.
2) Additional reactivity to Sally’s romance, including if you rejected her.
3) Increased awareness of Button pining after multiple characters.
4) Kenzie now says less words, making them sound more Kenzie.
5) You can now both make Rosy laugh and get them to catch you on the stairwell.
6) Tweaks for ace romance routes.
7) Scenery has been described in greater detail.
8) The NPO Program is now referred to as the NPO Initiative because Initiative sounds fancier.
9) Lots and lots of little additions and alterations too extensive to track, including parental flavor text and new stat bump opportunities.
I also fixed the statscreen so that all of Button’s romantic entanglements should now update with the appropriate descriptions (except for Rosy, as I’m still musing over which puns to use).
Please let me know if you encounter any issues! You can either post bugs/typos here or on the Sanctum of Spoilers blips-and-bloops channel.
Link: https://dashingdon.com/play/wildelight/mind-blind-20/mygame/
Comments
The following includes some pedantry. I’m only listing it in case you’re actually looking for this type of feedback and have the time / will / mental capacity to consider (= not necessarily implement) it. If that isn’t the case, please let me know, and I will do my best to be more helpful in the future. - It seems strange to me that Nick doesn’t comment on “Even if I were buried miles underground, I doubt I’ll ever feel safe from Ments” if his relationship with Button is high. (The Button in this playthrough generally has a high Accepting stat and is cordial with his parents. If either stat explains Nick’s lack of interjection here, then that works for me.) - I don’t understand the Clarence or [Button name] option in order to identify the Vengeance plant if Button’s reaction to them doesn’t differ from their reaction to the other name options. I mean, I understand them in the sense that this is an entirely cosmetic choice and they add flavor, but those two options simply don’t work for me as well in context as the others. Sure, it makes sense for Button to question their own thoughts right after, but why simply gloss over a name that otherwise has strong associations for both Button and the player? Personal expectation before choosing the options (not intended to be a suggestion, just to illustrate my line of thinking): - An increase in Morbidity for choosing [Button name]. - An increase in Humor for choosing Clarence. - The acknowledgment that it would be fitting for another person intent on ruining Button’s life, to be named Clarence. Fake identity or not. - The acknowledgment that Vengeance is more than unsubtle/uncreative if they name their agents’ fake identities after their actual targets. Note: If those options actually influence something behind the scenes that I’m unaware of, that works for me.
saarebasra
2022-05-30 22:05:35 +0000 UTCI got some of my brain juice back and decided on giving some feedback. Since I have never done this before and I'm not entirely sure if okay to give thoughts on chapters you have already rewritten, please let me know in case this is all (or mostly) useless and I won't bother you again. - Touching the box in Rosy's office: For an aloof Button (= reacting entertained/intrigued upon meeting Rosy for the first time, applauding Rosy for trying to gauge Button's reaction or going for the "You consider yourself to be [...] intelligent" line during the interrogation scene), especially as a Button who suspects the whole situation to be a setup *and* with both high Confidence/Insightful stats, the four reaction options to Rosy's "Don't handle my belongings" just don't feel entirely satisfactory to me: 1) The praise for Rosy's talents. My favorite reaction if it were not for the "in equal parts embarrassed and surprised" wording. My Button thought he was being watched. Even though he is genuinely impressed by Rosy's handiwork, he wouldn't be embarrassed or surprised upon learning that Rosy was watching him and that they disapprove of students handling their belongings. The fact that the box is hand-made would maybe surprise my Button but definitely not embarrass him. 2) “You were spying on me?” My Button wouldn't blame Rosy for watching him because he already expected it. 3) "I'm sorry [...] I didn't realize that you were watching!" My Button *was* expecting it. Even more, he'd probably consider this reaction to be immature because, to him, ignorance is never an excuse. (This Button checks several of the more pretentious smart-ass options in the classroom scene with Glitch and Valero.) Rather, he'd simply choose to apologize without reservation. 4) My Button is a bit conceited but simply not enough of a troll to lie to Rosy's face. But, yeah, I do love and respect that option for all its cojones. - I played both the non-ace and the ace Rosy route and found them to be great fun. Props for accurately wording the option to be ace (instead of: "I never want to have sex in this life ever!", not feeling sexual attraction =/= not ever having sex) even if you decide to close off hypothetical sex scenes to ace!Buttons in the future. Two things: 1) Not really a criticism because I recognize the difficulty of coding an entire separate ace path, but I was a little sad to see that ace!Buttons are unable to lock in their attraction to Rosy from the get-go with the "I don't know whether to be scared, appalled, or intrigued" option (which, to be fair, doesn't outright scream romantic interest but I hoped it would act as an equivalent attraction lock anyway) and therefore miss some romance flavor text concerning the assignment. Specifically talking about the lack of the "obnoxiously attractive tyrant" line, the possibility to share your Rosy squee with Sally or to express interest during the office scene afterward. My Button might not instantly check out their ass, but he is a man of taste and damn well attracted to Rosy's boss attitude as well as that nice pair of cheekbones. 2) Even with the lack of an early attraction lock for ace!Buttons, please consider giving them an equivalent to the "[Rosy's] body could take me to heaven any day" option so that we are able to choose the descriptor "Kim" without needing to simultaneously declare that calling Rosy by their first name is being disrespectful. While my Button actually *does* think that it's disrespectful behavior, it's not his main motivation for choosing "Kim" over all the other options and I would prefer not be forced into it out of necessity. Just seems like a strange combination for a relatively logical Button to shamelessly crush on their instructor (even if you're just headcanoning it at this point), then suddenly get hung up on a first name. Plus, my Button would at least acknowledge to himself that it's probably similarly disrespectful to have the hots for your teacher from day 1. He simply calls Rosy "Kim" because he prefers it while they are not really close. - Options that I hope will have some consequence(s) later in the game: 1) "Would you be more willing to let someone inside your head, if you could explore theirs as well?" I'm really curious if this choice/line of thought will come up later during a romance route because my Button always chooses "No. My thoughts should be private". 2) The bookish option with Rosy on the stairs. I love that this option exists and I will always use it with my Rosymancer Button. I was hoping it might influence the training session with either Rosy or Gray a little (if it already does, oop, don't mind me). I'm also really glad that it doesn't seem to influence the attraction. Yeah, I checked because I'm generally anxious about these types of things. - K was listed as my Nemesis in the stats, even though my Button wasn't "deceived" by them or reacted in a particularly negative manner to their Ment status. It seems to be tied to several different choices while meeting them at the hospital (thanking K for coming / K is attractive / Glitch is attractive / thanking Glitch; for the other two it would appropriate) and I don't understand the connection here. If it matters: This happened in an exclusively Rosy-mancing non-ace playthrough. Another thing: If Button doesn't check on the dogs right at the beginning, do they even know K lives next door (a detail mentioned in the Nemesis description)? - Not being entirely serious about this, but I figured since I'm already soapboxing anyway: I feel the option to flirt with Rosy after they confiscate Button's mobile should result in a -1% loss. I mean, I would never seriously consider the option unless I want to go for a complete troll Rosymancer playthrough (which I might). And I laughed out loud when I saw what happens. But, yeah, I absolutely wouldn't hold a Go To Horny Jail punishment like that against Rosy in this particular situation. - Because I'm, as we have already established, soapboxing: Even as an avid tea drinker myself, I'm a little disappointed that we have three tea options but none for a hot cholocate when out with Glitch. Also, since I am an avid tea drinker myself, I would love a second Chai tea option that reads something like "Which is technically “tea tea” since chai already means tea in Hindi, and I say so. While pointing that out seems pedantic, I don’t mind coming across as pedantic". I just cannot in good conscience choose the chai option already available when I *know* that my Button is pedantic as hell and he takes great delight in it. (I mean, he texts Sally about her punctuation.) - I *really* like the interrogation and all those little Rosy stat increases for facing them head-on and being all-around observant. It's so much fun. I know this isn't extremely helpful feedback but I guess it's one factor why I'm still writing this obnoxiously long comment. - Those lines comparing Button's face to Rosy's were *chef's kiss*. I feel almost compelled to say, "Thank you foor my food." I think this is everything for now. Hoping you have a nice rest weekend!
saarebasra
2022-05-29 00:48:37 +0000 UTCAnd I was just about to go to bed, oh no...XD
Sharp
2022-05-27 06:22:03 +0000 UTCThe phrase "baumkuchen violence" has officially made my week.
Jo O'Connor
2022-05-26 20:29:55 +0000 UTCAudibly gasped at #5
S
2022-05-26 20:27:08 +0000 UTCWhen you and your MC are such a useless, cliché, pun-loving asexuals that the "crypt" option and Rosy's reaction still feel like the best kind of foreplay even after the hundredth time of reading it. I am blessed. 💖 I really wish I could be more helpful with regard to feedback, but the last few weeks have cost me a lot of brain juice. The only thing I currently have an opinion on is that Nick really shouldn't bake baumkuchen for any self-respecting, alleged German person missing their home country. Speaking as a German who has eaten a lot of sawdust-tasting baumkuchen, even in a specialized café, and who would probably flee in a huff if somebody ever chose to traumatize me with it at work. Apologies to all baumkuchen lovers out there reading this. When I woke up today, I didn't think I'd choose baumkuchen violence. 🎂🔪⚰️
saarebasra
2022-05-26 09:07:53 +0000 UTCAbout 5- THANK YOU I LOVE BOTH OF THOSE SCENES SO MUCH AND I COULD NEVER CHOOSE LMAOOO
justapotato
2022-05-26 02:15:23 +0000 UTC
