Okay so!! Before I go into details, I have a question: what actually triggers Zorana to look into the science behind her father's disappearance?
I just today started a new run trying to keep that scene at bay by keeping science low until after I'd done Muistis' scene (though when I did that, I never got the option to suggest that he might not be dead; is that based on science? Or spirituality maybe? I literally rushed Mau so my skills were bare minimum), but uhh... it never happened. After going to Mau I immediately went to nab Lorkas as a Science minister so I should have had plenty [i.e. 60]? And then when it was taking a long time to show up I levelled science up to 30... But now I just got to turn 27 which is obviously important. And it never happened. :/
Either way, this run has been interesting: I've focused on different skills than usual, going for an engineering, spaceships, and gunnery-focused Zorana. I managed to impress Yakau easy, but unfortunately that was exactly one turn before the military was needed at Heru prime... and we were one planet away....... Maybe I should go back and try to meet with Yakau earlier to deploy him? I noticed that when I first went to talk to him it said that he was on his way to Heru Prime, but after I won his approval it changed to following the palace; I manually told him to go to Heru Prime so hopefully that's okay?
I also got to know Fire this time! I really love how much actual text all the marriage candidates get :D And it was really cool to see that perspective on the last Royal Wedding; these sorts of details really make the world feel alive! (Sadly though I... doubt this Zorana will be able to win the election, hah. No Fire Epilogue, most likely...)
Before all this, though, when the full game first released, I decided to do just a standard Win Run focusing on interaction and emotions. I hit an unexpected snag when I got an assassination attempt on Zorana's birthday jubilee; I'd chosen to switch it because I thought it'd be safer, as there'd be less time for her to gain major enemies, and it ended up being a little tricky because I hadn't put anything into Reflexes at all! (Luckily, Zorana's arts skills helped her notice the risk at least!) (Edit: also forgot to mention, but the hater was Milan?! Meanwhile in my new game I'm on turn 27 and Zorana *still* hasn't had anyone hate her that badly... maybe it really is a thing that electors get less angry at [seemingly?] less competent Zoranas, lol.) I decided to propose to Siniparrt; he's certainly a rather suspicious marriage choice, but this Zorana is pretty ruthlessly manipulative, so they might just make a good power couple...? :'D
I made that new run decision because I thought I'd have to re-earn all my achivements, but I'm really pleased that my old saves still work!! So I loaded a couple and reached a couple of endings I'd gotten before, just to log them. I'd honestly like to try and activate on Steam all the checklist items I've achieved (and, y'know, also make them show up in the checklist again), which... actually probably wouldn't be too difficult given the sheer ungodly number of saves I make in each playthrough. :') So I'll do that, too!!
NGL, I did get to a point where I kinda felt like I wasn't sure what to try next in terms of the lore stuff. I could've sworn there was a time I did the Muistis quest before I followed up on the science, but I read on the forum that that miiiight lead to something? Or just, focusing on getting a different result for that sequence altogether? If I can get it to activate, anyway... :'D But, well: I did finally cave and read some tips. So let's see!!
V'z fgvyy abg fher vs gurer'f n jnl gb npghnyyl gbhpu gur pelfgny bhgfvqr bs gur rcvybthrf, gubhtu... Nf fbba nf Mbenan frrf vg fur frrzf gb whfg tvir hc 😔 Qba'g lbh xabj gung V qba'g trg gb cynl qverpgyl lbhe yvsr bapr gur ryrpgvba'f bire, Mbenan?! N yvggyr vzcngvrapr jbhyqa'g tb gb jnfgr, urer!!