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Thank you very much for your feedback! I'm happy to receive any comments you have either on this forum or privately. I'd only encourage you to read the other comments on this thread first and my replies as some of your concerns may already have been addressed. Thank you!

This is currently a limitation of the coding software I use in Twine. Short of re-coding with a different software (which is still an option), I have to find a technical workaround. Believe me – it's on my to do list. Thanks for your input. 

Thank you!

Thank you so much!!

Thank you for your feedback!

Thank you for your review! I think this was the one that came in on Tumblr in pieces, so thanks for sending it in full! I love hearing that you like the setting and that the scouting missions feel dangerous. 

In terms of the interactive part – I'm repeating myself from Tumblr a bit – but I hear you on the lack of interactive choice in some scenes. Particularly the Gage scene I think can be improved with another branch or making it clearer that his room is a romantic option. In terms of forgiving Sabine, I appreciate this commentary as I think it points out a weakness in my writing in terms of displaying why exactly the MC is such a forgiving personality (at least, in the beginning). The MC needs the social relationships in their life to be free of long-term conflict because they need them to survive. Making an "enemy" of Sabine or treating her openly badly is going to have some very serious consequences in this world, as opposed to a modern one. MC is forgiving (to Sabine and Oliver and Ezra/Elle) because they are required to be by their circumstances. At least...that is where we begin the story. 

I'm attempting to strike a balance between being very open about the MC's motivations and personality arc and narrative and letting it unfold more naturally. I can completely understand how this can feel like railroading and not enough choice for the player. That's another balance I'm attempting to strike and hopefully improving on as I write and get more helpful reviews like yours!

I would love to answer your questions, but all of them have some if not all answers coming in the next few chapters so I will have to restrain myself for now. Thank you very much, again, for your comments and I haven't interpreted them as rude at all! Scout is a one woman project so I'm hoping for any and all feedback. 

Thank you so much! Definitely attempting to manage branching at this point, but once the "route choice" happens...who knows. 

Thank you for your offer! I think I may use SugarCube for my next game if I can maintain reasonable frustration with the saves for this game (no promises). Not sure about recoding this one but I've definitely considered it. 

Amazing!!! I would love to see your drawing at some point!

Wow, this is so lovely. Thank you SO much and I hope you'll continue to enjoy!!

Thank you for playing!!!

Thank you SO much! Hope you're also staying safe and healthy!

Thank you so much! Would love to check out your story! Hoping (as with my experience) your coding gets easier as you go. 

You can tell, I think, why my branching isn't crazy complex. 

Yes, definite angst incoming!! Thank you SO much for your support, it means the absolute world 💚

Thank you!!! I'm planning on 2-3 weeks, really aiming for that 2 week mark. 

Thank you SO much!!! I'm so so glad you liked it, and Ollie's scene 💚

Thank YOU so much for your support and lovely comment! So grateful you like the game and are keeping up with it!!!

Ahahaha so glad you liked Gage's introduction! Thank you so much for playing!!

You will be locked into a route next chapter! I wanted to give some time for everyone to get to know the characters and shape the narrative before making you choose. 

Thank you so much! Chapter 3 should be out by the end of July!

Thank you so much!! Aloners is also one of my favorites so I take even a slight comparison as a huge compliment. 

Thank you for playing, and I am keeping up enough with my writing that Chapter 3 should be out by the end of July!

Oh, this post has given me so much to think about. I think my preferences for coding are maybe...simpler is better for most things, but trickier is okay for things like saves/menus? Which Harlowe provides, for the most part. Thank you for your thoughts, this is fascinating. 

I may genuinely take you up on that offer, if you don't mind! I don't see myself switching to SugarCube for this game since it's in Harlowe/I'm familiar with Harlowe and on a deadline already but...maybe for next time? Thank you so much, again. 

Ugh I definitely should have just learned SugarCube from the start. Ah well, lessons for next game!

Thank you!! I know I've said it before but your feedback has been really helpful!

Thanks for the feedback! The scout profile personality is based on general individualist vs. collectivist choices. As this is your first choice in the game, it's going to shift that personality trait even before you've necessarily talked to others in the Community yet. 

The Scout profile changes on a dime, particularly in your first few choices, but it's based on general personality traits as opposed to specific actions. 

Thank you so much for your comment and question! 

On the saves – this is something I'm in the process of working on. The Twine/Harlowe save mechanisms are...abysmal at best. The cache saving style of saves is definitely not my ideal setup. I'm considering a few workarounds for this that probably won't be implemented as soon as Chapter 3, but I'm hoping will be implemented by Chapter 4.  This has been on my list for some time, but this comment is helpful in prioritizing next steps for improving the saves!

I'm so thrilled you like the story so far, and thank you again for playing!!

Thank YOU for playing!!! Really hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Thank you so much for playing!! Next chapter should be out within the last two weeks of July!

Wow – thank you so much for this beautiful compliment. I am beyond grateful for your feedback and really, really struck by your words of support. Don't apologize for your wordiness, I love it!

It's really helpful for me to have these perspectives, and I know it's not always comfortable/easy to leave direct comments on someone's work, so know it is appreciated. Hope you will continue to enjoy Ezra/Elle and Oliver's routes in future chapters! Thank you again 💚💚💚

Thanks for playing!! And thank you for feedback :)

Hi! Could you be more specific? Are you getting an error message or it's just not loading? 

Hi - thank you so much for your thorough comment!! It definitely does not come off as harsh – this is a one woman project, so I find feedback like this really valuable.

Not going to address everything in here, but for one, yes typos will definitely be fixed! I'm really chewing over your comment on the speed of relationships, as my original intention was to make it clear that MC and Oliver have known each other for some time, and so the assumption is that they've had little moments similar to this in the past and it's just now ramping up. It's helpful to me to know that that's either not coming across, or it isn't laid out well enough. 

Your point on spoon-fed healing/trauma processing is well-taken. It's definitely more explicit than I would probably portray in something like a visual medium, but it's more of a background theme than I would say a "goal" of the writing. The healing from trauma is intended to provide justification for some of the actions that the characters take and to further color their personalities, but I'm not sure they'll be explored much beyond that in terms of "healing." I hope this doesn't make the game less interesting for you! I just don't feel particularly strong about attempting to really heal them from that trauma in the bounds of this story (or if it would even be possible). 

I also hope this doesn't sound like a harsh reply - it's given me so much to think about moving forward, and I'm so grateful for the time you spent to think through and write up this response. 💚💚💚

Thank you so much for reading!!! Your comment on Ezra made me laugh out loud. Definitely continuing to update – Chapter 3 is coming at the end of July. 

AHHH THANK YOU! I'm so thrilled you liked it and cannot WAIT for you to read more!!!

Thank you SO SO much for playing! I'm so happy that you're finding something fun in each of the RO routes. I typically go for the silent type in text games and so figured I would be better at writing those routes - but I've been seeing a lot of love for Ezra, which is so lovely. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued support!!

Thank you so much for playing!! Gage needs his ass kicked at least a little. 

Ahh, so cool you're interested in making visual novels! I am solely a text based person because I can't draw for shit, but I'm sure I would adore anything you put out. Thank you again for reading and commenting, it is SO appreciated!

I am FLOORED by this comment – thank  you endlessly for your thoughtful notes. That you paid so much attention to the game is making my heart happy 💚💚💚💚  I'm so glad you love Oliver. Emotionally constipated is often my go to choice in these games, so I try to do him justice. 

I use Harlowe for Twine because SugarCube stressed me out. But at this point, I've started doing so many workarounds for Harlowe I might as well have just started out using SugarCube in the first place...ah, well. So glad you like the menus and colors! It's hard to figure out what is too much for the eye after a while working on the same game, so I'm happy it's not too intrusive.

The multiple saves will actually be the death of me. I spent so long trying to make it work and save as current date/time and eventually I just had to accept defeat. The multiple saved slots seemed like an okay compromise, but I'll still be pissed off about the saves when I'm a retired old woman.

THANK YOU for catching the Elle/Ezra bugs. They should be fixed now! 

Thrilled you felt the more "apocalyptic" vs. modern-type elements were balanced well. This isn't supposed to be too far in the future, so it's not supposed to feel so divorced from reality that it's a completely different world. At least, that's what I'm attempting to go for.

The Council may or may not be...catching hands...a few chapters down the line.

THANK YOU AGAIN for playing from the bottom of my heart! 💚

I am so thrilled that you liked Chapter 2!! Always incredibly grateful for your support 💚💚💚 You won't have to choose between ROs until much later - maybe you'll have a favorite by Chapter 5 😉

Thank you so much for reading - I'm so glad you're enjoying it!! 

I am working on this by myself - it's a one woman project :) 

Ahhhhh thank you so much!! I'm so, so happy you liked it! This is the first time I've released a game on itch.io so I really appreciate you commenting and coming back for more! I'm trying to keep to about a 2 week release schedule, so look out for an update in about 9-10 days. 

Thank you so much!!!! I'm so happy you liked the writing, and Ezra :) Currently in the process of writing a hella soft scene with him for next chapter. Things like the Profile/Report page are somewhat complicated to code - so I'm thrilled you noticed and considered it a well-executed feature of the game! 

I'm so glad you liked it - thank you so much for playing!! I find the childhood romance actually somewhat difficult to write, so I'm really glad you're enjoying it. On the additional/side stories: I'm not sure yet! I'm definitely considering it. Thank you again for your support!