Thoughts, thoughts, so many thoughts!
First, I like the game so if you're reading Dev, any criticisms are truly intended to be constructive.
The models are beautiful. Each character has a personality, not completely fleshed out yet, but there is development.
There isn't much of a plot. Since we're still meeting people and establishing relationships, it's not missed yet, but that could be an issue later.
Pacing seems a bit on the rushed side with some abrupt transitions. For instance, MC leaves Melissa's pool well before dinner time, and the next scene is going into the school the next morning.
I have a couple of bigger reservations though. First, you have gated some content behind perfect scores. Mostly it was dialogue options, but there was Layla's kiss in the park and Elena's train kiss as well and possibly others. This might not be such a big deal except that getting max points with Layla and Elena requires MC to tolerate/accept some shoddy treatment from the girls. For example, in the cafeteria scene when Dylan and MC are sitting at the girls' table, they come on full aggro on the guys which I thought was uncalled for. However, in order to get the points for the girls in that scene, you have to take their side against Dylan who isn't really acting inappropriately. To get a bunch of points with Layla, you basically have to force yourself into her life when she hasn't exactly been very welcoming to you. You do relax the point gateway a bit later on, but max points less two is still a pretty high threshold.
Second, I am concerned about the choice with Erryn in MC's bedroom. MC must either forgive her even though she hasn't apologized because she is completely clueless about how she hurt him in the first place OR carry a grudge ("Two can play this game!") The scene then plays out exactly the same way no matter which choice you select. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm worried that choosing the second choice is going to result in some misguided, hurtful revenge plot. Erryn needs to be told what she did and how it hurt him and given the chance to apologize/make amends. She doesn't need to be hurt tit for tat. In this situation, my inclination is to reserve forgiveness for when it is truly deserved (She at least knows what she did and expresses some regret/remorse about it.) However, I don't think that embarking on a revenge campaign is appropriate either. How about, oh, I don't know, talking about what happened so she knows. I see being embarassed and hurt, but for crying out loud, she is so obviously happy to see him and wants to rekindle their friendship, doesn't she deserve to know why he's reluctant? Perhaps I'm reading too much into this choice, but as you are writing the continuation of this scene, I hope you can keep this in mind (unless that is actually the direction you are intending to take the story of course!)
Lastly, and this isn't really criticism, it's just my reaction to the story so far, I'm disappointed with the direction the Alexis story seems to be taking. Maybe it's an oversight, but I certainly noticed that she hasn't called or texted MC after unceremoniously ejecting him from her home when "someone" came home unexpectedly. If it were just one of her parents, I would have expected her to say so in the moment and barring that send him an apology message, but she pretty pointedly avoids saying anything so much so that MC wonders about it later on. By the end of this update, it's been approaching 48 hours with nothing from her at all.
Good luck! I look forward to seeing how you continue your story!
Don't worry.. I don't see this as criticism at all. Feedback!
I try to answer some stuff without spoiling it..
Pacing about Melissa pool --> next day.. Means nothing worthwhile happened that evening.. MC's probably watching TV/Playing games on his pc/homework,... I don't see the point in spending time making those renders if I can rather spend more time in creating the important ones. But if people really want those fillers, I can add some to tie things together..
I added the max point system for the sole reason if you are interested in 1 specific girl, you get some kind of reward instead of chasing every girl.. Also can be changed to max -2. Depends what others think about it.
The cafetaria scene at school with, I think you meant Zach instead of Dylan.. Mostly in high school, everyone has "their" table, it's like this in movies and actually when I was at school, we did the same.. Always sitting at the same table..
Zach knows that too. Maybe he did that on purpose to get a reaction from the girls.. We don't know the relationship yet between them, only that Zach likes Layla.. Maybe it's just that kind of banter they have..
So I don't think they came on to strong..
The thing about Erynn.. This is a tough one.. The least bit I say about it will spoil it..
Do we actually know what really happened in the past..? You know MC's side of the story.. Maybe it's a missunderstanding, maybe it's more than that..
That scene will be created at some point to show what happened..
Even if you choose the "Two can play that game" option, you will still be able to forgive her later if you chose to do so.. Once you know what happened or if you get to know her again for the person she is..
The forgive option is just a more adult response to it.. Like don't dwell in the past, just move forward..
Lastly Alexis.. Maybe she didn't contact him is because she is embarassed/scared or doesn't want MC to know (yet)..
Or something important came up and she forgot.. MC didn't contact her either to ask..
They aren't dating (yet?) so they don't really owe eachother an explanation..
But I see your point.. I might add something. There will be a "filler update" at some point where I change some scenes, add scenes in between which give more info (There's only so much time in a month if I want to keep releasing each month).
But don't worry.. She has planned something for MC to make up for it.. You have to wait for that..
I hope this helps a bit..
