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The Great Rewritening: Chapter 4 Update
🕑 Added 2022-03-19 04:59:55 +0000 UTCCurrently writing the family reunion for Chapter 5, but here's Chapter 4's update to play with! (Although 90% of Chapter 4's changes are behind the scenes, so you may want until Chapter 5 to replay.)
Originally, I'd expanded upon John's conversation with Button, but came to the conclusion that the original version worked better after I took out Hope's phone call . . . especially because the majority of the new material with John focused around whether or not Button wanted to talk to Hope😅. (The very first version of this scene had an implied skipped-over phone call with Hope between Chapters 3 and 4, with John then asking Button about the conversation. This changed to asking Button whether they wanted to talk to Hope to set up the call.)
Ultimately, I want Button to naturally feel a little alone and neglected because John is trying to handle Unity's PR machine, deal with Nick's doctors, and keep Hope updated. (It ups the angst of things, ya know?) The longer conversation made it feel like Button was currently John's #1 priority which, realistically, couldn't be the case. I swung too hard at trying to make John into Super Dad that he became a 1960s sitcom caricature.
That being said, a lot (maybe even most?) of John's dialogue now shifts depending on the relationship that you established with him in Chapter 3. It's subtle--most of it is in Button's internal monologue--but I've done a couple playthroughs and his dynamic with a Jtense Button finally feels, well, tense! The lack of physical affection between him and Button is probably the biggest difference.
Things That Are New (Other than Grammar and Typo Fixes):
1) John's dialogue overhaul!
2) Added some more flavor text for Buttons crushing on Sally.
3) Speaking of Sally, she now consistently calls Nick by his birthname because it annoys him.
4) Recoded pathway triggers. You now need to have Nick's relationship over 90 for Gray to drive Button home, and Glitch's offer of a ride requires a higher affinity unless you meet Kenzie in Chapter 1. This should give Sallymancers a bigger chance to trigger Lev's route without rejecting anyone.
5) Some previously closed dialogue options are now available to a greater variety of Buttons.
6) More things are remembered in code, like whether Button visited Nick or not. Certain options also change Button's relationship with the status quo (important for endings).
7) Reese's pink cheeks have been described differently for clarity. Should be useful when interrogated later.
8) Bland hallway description has been replaced by Secret Agent Men(ts) that emphasize how Button always has to be on guard, even during an emotional crisis. (While also providing some implied justification for why they didn't notice Sally's foot.)
9) The chapter now ends earlier. The "I am now Nick Noggin" reveal has been expanded upon, and playing through made me realize that ending the chapter after Nick and Button's shared freak out made the story lose momentum.
A few options were taken out, such as Button's ability to go all bedroom eyes over Kenzie without being set up for their romance route (originally, meeting the dogs in Chapter 1 wasn't intended to be a prerequisite, but Kenzie is overly opinionated on their significant other's behavior towards animals).
. . . Kenzie is also now much less forgiving over threatening the shih tzus. I heard Kenzie's voice in my head urging me to make it a -20 affection point loss, but I fought back and we eventually agreed to them losing only -8 (apologizing softens the blow to only -4). You can still bounce back, but you'll have to play nice.
Mind Blind 2.0 Link: https://dashingdon.com/play/wildelight/mind-blind-20/mygame/
