5 Years Later... Still No Year 2?

[Metis]

Personally I don't like making cross-college cliques, as they'll be more difficult to keep together during later years. And of course I never "just" go for +attribute clique members, or +attribute classes, as playing every game with the same friends/class load would be rather dull and very limiting (for all the nothing that it matters with Y2 still being a distant dream, but it's moving...slowly...). Also, what do you mean attributes cap at 6? Is that the limit to how much they'll decrease skill steps needed to max skills?

 

I also won't be playing the game again until I can mod in all of my desired changes into DLC 17 directly, as I need the updated mod base for a few changes. Really, I just hope that I can somehow manage to post those changes for others to enjoy (hoping that it doesn't break Y2 import) despite me having to mod the mod base itself, because I'd very much like to see how a few people change tactics from how I intend to rebalance things. Suffice to say that the strategy outlined above would not work nearly as well, if at all, and neither would rushing Cleanse and Remake or low-hanging fruit like Planning 2.

[Schwarzbart]

I agree with Metis going to much cross-college will give you a interesting game play in year 2 as the problems within your group will grow.

Having your attributes at 6 comes from the point that over Attribute x 2 many skills need more step to learn and 11 is the maximum skill level you get locations, actions etc.

Personal I think it might even better to get some core attribute to 10 or 11 at the end of year 1 to be ready for year 2 already.

(That comes from the idea that the Legate told us that the main time we spend in year 2 will be to increase the skill maximum and so the importance of the attribute reduce as result but having to spend 1 instead of 2-3 time slot to level up still is a nice advance)

[Metis]

I just hope that the Team at least thought to code in the mechanics for lessening that cross-college penalty based on the actual students in your Clique, even if they didn't personally make a spreadsheet to check each and every possible combination of students for all 7 colleges the PC can be in. If nothing else I'd like it if Tabin and Magsa don't get into fisticuffs over their colleges, since, you know, triplets and all.

 

As for attributes, I personally prefer to spread them out as much as possible. Shaving turns off of skill training is obviously nice, but I'd rather be in a good position to train many skills slowly than my core skills really quickly, as that way it's harder to get stuck on a roll because I don't have the skill trained or the attributes to effectively train it. Especially if Selective Focus returns in Y2, and getting those skill maximum increases isn't reliant on something like consistently rolling Insight/Research v.30 or something.

[Legate of Mineta]

Quick note on the Clique Abilities: all Students keep their Y1 bonus, they just get an additional Y2 bonus, which is different.

 

For cross-college, the penalty is mitigated by having Cliquemates of that College (the social portion), but not eliminated.

[kayfabe]

They won't get you maxed attributes by Cheimare, I'll fully admit that, but they will get you good stuff at much better odds than RaPCTC's 10% at +1 Fitness.

 

Fitness is a bit of an odd duck anyway. On the one hand, it's crippling to have it too low and the ability to plow extra stress into an otherwise hard activity can be awesome. On the other hand, Silke is capable of making a minimum starting Fitness build viable virtually all by herself thanks to her hefty Maximum Stress boost. So in practice it's so easy to patch it up that I tend to skip training courses and simply let incidental bonuses from adventures and gear buff it up over time.

[Metis]

Alternatively, abuse the bug where you won't get sick if you rest as your last action, since it'll reset stress/vitality before the game notices you've exceeded your limit. Very time consuming, especially early on, but again, when cross-college Cliques aren't considered an option...

 

Hmm...

[ShiningCity]

 

Fitness is a bit of an odd duck anyway. On the one hand, it's crippling to have it too low and the ability to plow extra stress into an otherwise hard activity can be awesome. On the other hand, Silke is capable of making a minimum starting Fitness build viable virtually all by herself thanks to her hefty Maximum Stress boost. So in practice it's so easy to patch it up that I tend to skip training courses and simply let incidental bonuses from adventures and gear buff it up over time.

I mean, it takes probably 3 days/6 actions max to get the 2 points in fitness. You also get one from maxing zoology study which you need as a class to get planning easily. Since you are only spending the first month and a half leveling attributes to 6, less depending on how many classes you skip, it really speeds your game up without many noticeable downsides. Taking the proper background not only boosts clique creating and attribute raising but increases your chances at pretty much all things. Several sections of background are absolutely worthless so its not like there are a lot of choices.

 

Anyways I ran one more game, I'm now on the third day of Priamdi. I've got attributes at:

6

3

5

3

4

5

5

 

Stress/Vitality:

17

15

 

I am trying to decide what my next move should be. I could potentially continue to study at Venalicium and max out my study skills getting me 2 more attribute bonuses for:

+1 Luck

+1 Finesse

 

With my higher insight now the penalties to research skill step gain are much lower. Venalicium trains those beyond just study mastery. I'd like to get access to the last library anyways.

 

I'm trying to remember if there are any more abilities at low levels of skills that buff attributes. Counting my unfinished study masteries I'm short:

1 Insight

2 Finesse

3 Strength

2 Intelligence

1 Charm

 

That's 9 attributes. I suppose I could get Brisbane or just use research to boost Finesse. Same for the others really. But I'd prefer to find a way that doesn't cost 10+ actions.

[Metis]

For (cross-?)reference:

 

All the abilities I found giving attribute boosts (at least I hope those are all boosts? In the wiki most of them say 'Increase' which term wise would be a temporary thing, not permanent)

Understand Strategy (War 2) - Expand Insight
Goose Bumps (Ambush - Danger Sense 3) - Increase Insight

Learn From Mistakes (Compete - Planning 2) - Increase Insight, Increase Intelligence
Mind for Numbers (Arithmetic - Theory of Arithmetic 10) - Increase Intelligence
Mild (Befriend - Temperance - 11) - Increase Charm
Trap Cunning (Ambush - Traps 10) - Increase Finesse
Athletic (Sleight-of-Hand - Acrobatics 3) - Increase Fitness
Well Toned (Athletics 8) - Increase Strength, Increase Fitness

BTW, I have no idea why Temperance 11 hands out an ability that expands an attribute as opposed to just expanding that attribute directly. As far as I know nothing in the game checks for the presence/absence of the Mild Ability.

[ShiningCity]

The main issue with most of those is they aren't practical. Well Toned is nice but Mild, Trap Cunning, and Mind For Numbers are too high.

 

I did go ahead and grab Understand Strategy cause it only took me 1 action. I wish I had gotten that one before. Might have saved me a couple actions, but then again maybe not, probably just got a few more skill ups in Research.

 

Edit: Also grabbed Athletic since one of the class sessions today was useless so i used my 1 class and rest actions for studying acrobatics.

 

Depending on the order I got Acrobatics in this may save me the need for spending 3 actions to get lucky with running potentially crippling courses.

 

Well Toned requiring a parent skill to 8 is not feasible though the bonus is nice.

 

Most of the more difficult to gain abilities will probably come naturally when I move to the maxing out of skills phase rather than being in the attribute maxing phase.

[Metis]

You could try for some low-hanging Emotions, some increase attributes and are easy to keep if you manage to keep your stress low.

[ShiningCity]

Eh, it seems more efficient to ignore emotions due to having a high stress cap. Generally emotions don't affect your day to day actions at all, just options in random events and adventures.

[Metis]

I personally always save-scum my way out of any situation in which I gain "unnecessary" stress, so once I've got a Clique together (need Stress Bonus for that...) I generally have 0 stress from then to Kaliri 28. So emotions like Bon Vivant, Golden and...Calm, I think? For me they're pretty much permanent attribute boosts.

 

And very necessary, since without cross-college Cliques...my options are limited.

[ShiningCity]

Cross-college cliques are not going to be an issue. Everyone is really overselling that.

 

I see that some of the emotions are quite strong but apparently at the trade off of stress capping at 2. Doesn't seem super worth it. And I try to minimize save scumming because its tedious. Getting +1 or +2 in 2 or 3 attributes doesn't seem worth it at the cost of having to have 2 or less stress.

[Metis]

Most likely not, unless you've got something crazy like a seven cross-college clique, but I still prefer to not set myself up for extra difficulty even if it is manageable. Besides, otherwise every student I'd play would have the exact same clique, and that'd just be boring.

 

It's just what I do. Personally I scum random events and at times even AI decisions to make sure I never gain stress past a certain (early) point, or otherwise prepare some manner of stress-reducing action (since resting would break Sparkling Fields and likely some other stuff). Conversely I never scum RaPCTC if I could possibly avoid it because I just find it so tedious to do. That every student of mine would end up doing it basically in the first week of the game doesn't help.

[ShiningCity]

Well, taking some of the abilities into account you won't need to do running stuff more than once. Potentially its not necessary to ever do it with certain abilities and emotions actually.

 

As far as cliques go I don't see the value in any students aside from the 5 attribute givers. What possible need would you have for +1 or +2 in a couple subskills that justifies the time it takes even with save scumming? I've never noticed a non attribute clique member I consider useful.

[Metis]

It's entirely true that some Clique abilities are utterly pathetic (Raoul Leconte) or mechanically useless (Tacito Viadana), but even Zorzi Galea Zoe Melis you don't consider useful?

[ShiningCity]

It's entirely true that some Clique abilities are utterly pathetic (Raoul Leconte) or mechanically useless (Tacito Viadana), but even Zorzi Galea Zoe Melis you don't consider useful?

Her ability only works once a week. You need to burn a clique slot on her and potentially one or more actions using befriend. Most of my study levels get maxed out pretty quick using venalicium library. she is essentially an extra action once a week. It takes 60 actions to max out study levels. It takes 2-4 actions to get get in your clique counting the penalties for too many clique members. If I maxed out 4 study levels in the first month, she's saving me maybe 4 action slots compared to the ones it takes to Clique her being potentially 4 depending on how much you save scum. I mean its a very marginal bonus. Its possible it could be worth more with a slightly slower study level path but probably not a big deal.

[Svinik]

Her ability only works once a week. You need to burn a clique slot on her and potentially one or more actions using befriend. Most of my study levels get maxed out pretty quick using venalicium library. she is essentially an extra action once a week. It takes 60 actions to max out study levels. It takes 2-4 actions to get get in your clique counting the penalties for too many clique members. If I maxed out 4 study levels in the first month, she's saving me maybe 4 action slots compared to the ones it takes to Clique her being potentially 4 depending on how much you save scum. I mean its a very marginal bonus. Its possible it could be worth more with a slightly slower study level path but probably not a big deal.

 

I don't use the Venalicium, Zoe maxes out all my study in half the time the Venalicium would take, and gives a host of skill boosts as well - she is far more useful for me and saves me over 20 actions, it is all how you play I guess.

[Metis]

My Hedi student will be doing the same. Especially after (if ever) I mod out the six classes who's study masteries give out an attribute point and maxing them out isn't as immediate a priority. And this is coming from the same person who'll likely also mod the Venalicium to give a chosen +1 Research as opposed to a random one, because there's a noticeable difference is power between getting early Library Knowledge/Filing as opposed to Cryptology/Decipher Handwriting and manipulating the steps I need is not conductive to actually playing the game.

[kayfabe]

 

I don't use the Venalicium, Zoe maxes out all my study in half the time the Venalicium would take, and gives a host of skill boosts as well - she is far more useful for me and saves me over 20 actions, it is all how you play I guess.

This. I hit up Community Service to unlock Teaching Barnyard Animals then blow some of my stress buffer on unlocking the Library of Longshades and skip the Venalicium entirely.A study rank and 1 skill step isn't terribly competitive with my other options, particularly since newer adventures routinely hand out 3 steps or more per action taken. Adventures have seen considerable power creep compared to the original friendship quests.

[EllestarRus]

Ellestar;

 

For Y1, we sadly weren't able to import any filtering. That will come in Y2, however.

 

Well, i still didn't finish a single game of Academagia. And i actually enjoyed reading game wiki (and trying to min-max there ) more than actually playing Academagia because of that interface (i don't have enough patience to micromanage through that hell). Well, text descriptions were interesting read too (but not interesting enough to navigate through 100+ length lists in endgame). So i think you need to do some playtesting or something - get some roleplayers and min/maxers, and improve your interface according to their needs. Just go through each screen one at a time, think what a player is likely to want to do on that screen, and give the player options to do what he wants in an easy way.

[Metis]

Rest assured that half a decade or so ago, when Academagia first came out, the interface was significantly less dated than it is now and the playtesters probably said as much. The fact that bigger monitors that don't like the game's non-scaling UI weren't as prevalent back then, as well as the fact that all the added content made the lack of filtering options that much more noticeable, probably doesn't help.

[EllestarRus]

I'm pretty sure that there's an entire genre of games like Academagia, but it's the kind that never was exported out of Japan so there's not even an English word for it. Also, checking Steam for the most popular tags Visual Novel is #65, two places below "Walking Simulator". "Casual" is also on #7, contrast "Difficult" on #32.

 

Basically I don't think Academagia is going to have a fun time...

 

Legend of Wulin Heroes is probably the most similiar, and it looks interesting, but it has one problem - it was never translated from Chinese. Well, at least it's interesting to read that LP...

 

Other than that, there are Long Live the Queen, Magical Diary, Princess Maker, Cute Knight, Spirited Heart - but they're too girlish for my tastes... Besides, they're not "open world"ly enough, they're kinda limited in what you can do. Especially Long Live the Queen with a fixed or maybe almost fixed events...

 

I heard about Wonder Project J, but it's on a different platform.

 

Of a somewhat different theme, there is also King of Dragon Pass.

Things like Kudos 2 or Jones in the Fast Lane are also close, i guess.

,

In any case, all of them are much simpler than Academagia.

 

 

P.S. By the way, there is also a sports game with a similiar idea - MLB Power Pros 2008 in "Success Mode".

[Schwarzbart]

I don't use the Venalicium, Zoe maxes out all my study in half the time the Venalicium would take, and gives a host of skill boosts as well - she is far more useful for me and saves me over 20 actions, it is all how you play I guess.

For me Venalicium is important as it gives Research that we are told will become very important in year 2 and it also unlocks all the Library in year 1.

About clique I also have mostly 2 or 3 different college in my clique with focus on the college I'm in and avoiding any rival college.

But I no longer focus on attributes from my clique member instead I find it even more important what skills they learn or if they thematic fit in my clique moto.

[Metis]

Zoe's notes give out +2 SS to a skill of choice along with +2 study level, so you can have her teach you Research as well. She completely replaces the Venalicium, if you get her early enough, although working around the fact that she doesn't teach two skill steps separately will take some planning if you don't want to waste any step.