Ariel Schnee
Where Are The Cheats?
#1 by Ariel Schnee - May 17 2015
Where are the cheat codes and how do we use them in this game now?---
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Hanako Games
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News, Walkthroughs, and Chat about Anime Games
#1 by Ariel Schnee - May 17 2015
Where are the cheat codes and how do we use them in this game now?
#2 by hanako - May 17 2015
What cheat codes?
#3 by Ariel Schnee - May 17 2015
Well I was thinking codes to increase "Council Karma" and "School Reputation" so that I could adjust what they are and not have to worry about them hitting zero all time.hanako:
What cheat codes?
What would they even do?
We could probably manufacture some manner of cheat to give bonus skill points to level up, but if you've played the game, there's sort of a big problem with cheating your way through the first few months - if you make your minions always succeed, how would you ever figure out who the traitor is? :)
#4 by hanako - May 17 2015
This is incorrect. If you gave the traitor huge skills, they would not be able to fail.Neko Hibiki:
As for the traitor, they would deliberately mess up no matter how skilled they are... which would make it easy to tell who the traitor is as they would be the only one messing up that much on purpose.
#5 by Ariel Schnee - May 17 2015
Ah. Okay. I'd still like the "Council Karma" and "School Reputation" codes though.hanako:
This is incorrect. If you gave the traitor huge skills, they would not be able to fail.Neko Hibiki:
As for the traitor, they would deliberately mess up no matter how skilled they are... which would make it easy to tell who the traitor is as they would be the only one messing up that much on purpose.
If you gave every character 100s in all stats, you would have just made the game unwinnable, because there would be no way to find the traitor.
#6 by Franka - May 17 2015
But... but... but... the best reputation/karma code is learning to solve the cases...
#7 by hanako - May 17 2015
The loyalty can be seen on the minion cards, although it's pretty easy to overlook. When you click on a small card on the assignments screen, a bigger version of that card appears next to the card tray - where you get item descriptions and so on? For minions, it shows their loyalty and stress numbers.#8 by grommile - May 18 2015
Cheat codes I would want, if I wanted cheat codes:
#9 by zeru57 - May 18 2015
Wow. Just wow.Neko Hibiki:
Where are the cheat codes and how do we use them in this game now?
#10 by Franka - May 18 2015
Bloody, bloody hell! Why have I never noticed this? Just a set loyalty cheat then...hanako:
The loyalty can be seen on the minion cards, although it's pretty easy to overlook. When you click on a small card on the assignments screen, a bigger version of that card appears next to the card tray - where you get item descriptions and so on? For minions, it shows their loyalty and stress numbers.
#11 by hanako - May 18 2015
I'm actually considering adding a third difficulty level which prevents game-overs from running out of karma or rep.Neko Hibiki:
Ah. Okay. I'd still like the "Council Karma" and "School Reputation" codes though.
#12 by Darksilverhawk - May 20 2015
Hmmm. On the one hand, having a game mode where you can fully feel out all the case types without consequences for failure would be AWESOME. I think it's easy in this game to fall into complacent strategies for the various case types based on what worked the first few times; taking risks and approaching things differently to find a better way through a case is often a calculated risk you don't have any real incentive to take. After all, what if I get a bunch of really tough cases and need that karma later?hanako:
I'm actually considering adding a third difficulty level which prevents game-overs from running out of karma or rep.
This would give you a less stressful game mode to practice in, while not (much) falsely inflating how well you're doing. You'd still see that your stats were low and still suffer the consequences of that.
Thoughts?
#13 by hanako - May 20 2015
Yeah, there will probably be a "set the traitor" mode unlockable after winning the game - eventually.
#14 by somestrangecircus - May 21 2015
That would be awesome...I only ever seem to get Althea or Mallory as the traitor; I got Vonne once and as far as I know I've never gotten Thaïs or Rowan.#15 by Ariel Schnee - May 23 2015
Hope to see that version soon now.^_^hanako:
I'm actually considering adding a third difficulty level which prevents game-overs from running out of karma or rep.Neko Hibiki:
Ah. Okay. I'd still like the "Council Karma" and "School Reputation" codes though.
This would give you a less stressful game mode to practice in, while not (much) falsely inflating how well you're doing. You'd still see that your stats were low and still suffer the consequences of that.
Thoughts?
#16 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 25 2015
Probably just the random number gods, but out of my 6+ games so far, it seems to always be Althea or Thais for me. It's to the point where I just stare at them and squint during the first council meeting scene, like "I know it's one of you treacherous sisters!" Who is it THIS time?somestrangecircus:
That would be awesome...I only ever seem to get Althea or Mallory as the traitor; I got Vonne once and as far as I know I've never gotten Thaïs or Rowan.
No mercy now. I'm getting very good with just four council members!#17 by Darksilverhawk - May 26 2015
I've had Mallory as the traitor once. Ever. I don't know what it is, the RNG just does not like her betraying me. Vonne and Althea are my usual suspects.#18 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 26 2015
Yeah, I've never had Mallory as the traitor either. I don't think my Elsa could expel her even if she did turn out to be the traitor.Darksilverhawk:
I've not had Mallory as the traitor once. Ever. I don't know what it is, the RNG just does not like her betraying me. Vonne and Althea are my usual suspects.
Sigh. Why didn't you grow up in an all-girls school Mallory? Making me think all these impure thoughts while we hug.... 
#19 by Benazir - May 27 2015
Yes, do something with it, please. Its really annoying.hanako:
I'm actually considering adding a third difficulty level which prevents game-overs from running out of karma or rep.
#20 by hanako - May 27 2015
Mmm - I considered it, but at this point I think the answer is probably no. At least, not as an official difficulty setting.#21 by Franka - May 27 2015
Good decision. I would have said something to that effect, but I was having trouble articulating myself.hanako:
I don't want to officially encourage people to avoid learning how to play the game. I would much rather hear suggestions for how to help people learn to play better, or suggestions for ways to make an easier difficulty setting that ISN'T just outright "losing doesn't matter".
#22 by Benazir - May 27 2015
Well... I have а big problem with "School Reputation". I can't pass the game, because rep ends too quickly. Game is too hard even on "Loaded Dice". And I guess this game needs Easy level.#23 by hanako - May 27 2015
See, if you're having a problem with reputation, that implies that you're failing cases. Right?#24 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 27 2015
I guess my biggest concern with difficulty is how much your first couple of weeks in the game can dramatically change how difficult the entire rest of the game becomes.hanako:
If there are particular cases you are stuck on, those cases may be too hard or not clued well enough, and letting you cheat your way past them will not solve that problem for others.
So if you're having trouble, please, please post about the problems you're running into and what's going wrong!
I didn't realize I might need to Detain one of the other girls too. It might be a more realistic way to solve the case, but if we are talking realism, Cell Phone Madness would be an impossible case to contain anyway. The Internet is forever. #25 by Myoukochou - May 27 2015
It already limits what you can get in the first week. Perhaps it could limit what you can get in the second, a little more?#26 by grommile - May 27 2015
I found the strategy thread stickied at the top of this forum is pretty good, if you feel like spoiling yourself.Benazir:
Well...
#27 by hanako - May 27 2015
Missing School Supplies is specifically one of the possible types of cases for the first week because week one needs to have only one case and enough targets for you to assign every girl to something on day one (which is critical to helping figure out who the traitor is, which is the most important thing to accomplish in the first weeks). There are only a few case types that will work for week one. Lost Item is another - but it's not necessarily an easy source of training points!LateWhiteRabbit:
I guess my biggest concern with difficulty is how much your first couple of weeks in the game can dramatically change how difficult the entire rest of the game becomes.
Depending on which cases you get randomly thrown, you can either get much needed training points, or get stuck with a time sink of a case that gives you 1 or 2 points for an entire week of work. I think cases like Cell Phone Madness, High Rollers, Missing School Supplies, or the drug cases should not be possible in the first couple of weeks.
Cell Phone Madness is particularly difficult for me, and I have an abysmal solve rate on it. I didn't realize until I read your thoughts on the case on the boards here what I was doing wrong - it wasn't at all clear in the game.The nude photos? That particular sub-case has been altered, though, so your original strategy should work fine now.
I also have had problems occasionally with the Gambling Ring cases - for instance, one case appeared and told me gambling might be occurring in a classroom. I search it, get a Success and find nothing. So I Stake Out the classroom every single day with Rowan (who had absurdly high Observation and Stealth scores) with a Success each time. But nothing happened, no new leads, no other options, and after a week I get a scandal about gambling in the school! I was really confused about what I could have done to solve the case. It just seemed like a cheap shot that was impossible to avoid.Every single gambling case variant has a clue when you search the room - if you found nothing, it wasn't a success, or you had some extremely obscure logic error bug. Misremembering an ambiguous result as a success is more likely.
#28 by hanako - May 27 2015
Oh hey someone finally found thoseMyoukochou:
It already limits what you can get in the first week. Perhaps it could limit what you can get in the second, a little more?
It's definitely a challenging game, even frustrating at times, but we're absolutely loving it in our Household!
By the way (without spoiling anything, but Hanako will know what I mean) there are a couple of very rare case types you don't normally get… and one potential Non-Standard Game Over that looks like it might be either a sneaky anti-piracy trap (impossible to obtain normally) or otherwise just very, very evil? (Bravo!) The other one can cause bugged saves if it starts spreading, as there are apparently fields added to student classes by it that the unpickler is not equipped to reload. (I can provide details privately if you like.)
#29 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 27 2015
Yeah, upon extensive reloading and testing, it seems Missing Supplies or Lost Item are always thrown now in the first week.Myoukochou:
It already limits what you can get in the first week. Perhaps it could limit what you can get in the second, a little more?
Fair enough. I've just found Lost Item usually really easy - first step is Search the last location it was seen to see if you can snag an instant win, while simultaneously Questioning the girl who lost the item to see who your Harrass target should be.hanako:
Missing School Supplies is specifically one of the possible types of cases for the first week because week one needs to have only one case and enough targets for you to assign every girl to something on day one (which is critical to helping figure out who the traitor is, which is the most important thing to accomplish in the first weeks). There are only a few case types that will work for week one. Lost Item is another - but it's not necessarily an easy source of training points!
I had the Lost Item cases drag on my first few games, until I learned not to fear karma loss and Harass like crazy.hanako:
Almost every case can be easy or can be hard. Cellphone cases could close on the very first day after a single harass action. Lost Item cases could drag on for weeks with increasing loss of reputation as the thief keeps stealing things.
Maybe add a few more softball-type cases, either for an easier difficulty level, or spread out the case difficulty curve for easier training points in the beginning?hanako:
I don't mind pulling back drugs and gambling to a little later in the year (I was already considering blocking those in the first month), but I don't want to get too limiting with early case types.
I could be misremembering, but I don't think so. I had Rowan do the Search, and she had 70+ Observation. But it's only happened once. I don't know how the logic works on that case - is it possible I missed some student activity that first day in the classroom by not Guarding it or Staking it out? It's been multiple games ago - so I might have also gotten an ambiguous result and thought it wouldn't matter if I kept Staking out the room - after all, the perps were bound to show up SOMETIME, right? Or so probably went my logic.hanako:
Every single gambling case variant has a clue when you search the room - if you found nothing, it wasn't a success, or you had some extremely obscure logic error bug. Misremembering an ambiguous result as a success is more likely.
#30 by hanako - May 27 2015
I'm never sure how much I should give away about the details of how each variant works, since a little mystery often makes people's strategies more entertaining, but...LateWhiteRabbit:
I could be misremembering, but I don't think so. I had Rowan do the Search, and she had 70+ Observation. But it's only happened once. I don't know how the logic works on that case - is it possible I missed some student activity that first day in the classroom by not Guarding it or Staking it out? It's been multiple games ago - so I might have also gotten an ambiguous result and thought it wouldn't matter if I kept Staking out the room - after all, the perps were bound to show up SOMETIME, right? Or so probably went my logic.hanako:
Every single gambling case variant has a clue when you search the room - if you found nothing, it wasn't a success, or you had some extremely obscure logic error bug. Misremembering an ambiguous result as a success is more likely.
Oh, and almost forgot, but I really want an option to Harass or Detain the jealous friend in that variant of Trouble in Paradise rather than Harassing the new friend. If I'm being a "mean girl" with an Iron Fist, that would be my preferred way of settling things, like "Stop being stupid! Go make a new friend yourself! Friendships don't last forever! Get over it or I will push YOU down a flight of steps!"You can, actually!
You just need enough evidence to suspect that she's more than just a little bit jealous before you can throw her in detention, which requires taking an action that it's probably never occurred to you to try. Harassing the jealous girl's roommate will let you know whether she's just jealous, or jealous and mean, in which case you can detain her to close the case.#31 by LateWhiteRabbit - May 27 2015
Ah-ha! That just means I need to continue to hone my 'Be Mean to Everyone' strategy!hanako:
Oh, and almost forgot, but I really want an option to Harass or Detain the jealous friend in that variant of Trouble in Paradise rather than Harassing the new friend. If I'm being a "mean girl" with an Iron Fist, that would be my preferred way of settling things, like "Stop being stupid! Go make a new friend yourself! Friendships don't last forever! Get over it or I will push YOU down a flight of steps!"You can, actually!
#32 by Benazir - May 27 2015
I'm not falling ALL cases. But, sometimes there are too many the cases on a week, sometimes not all of the minions are available ... You could add a little more rep, for successfully completed cases (on Easy level).hanako:
So - why are you failing cases? Are there specific kinds of cases that you're having trouble with? Are your minions always failing at the tasks you set them to? Are you using all of the available actions?
#33 by Myoukochou - May 27 2015
Purely via poking around. (I'm a curious reverser!) Didn't actually see the bit with his post and the console! I see there are three special cases… and that one of the flags - not the one Spiky posted - looks like a gloriously creative copy-protection trap—bravo! :) Love the Strawberry Panic reference, too.hanako:
(Were you following Spiky's instructions for unlocking the 'special' content, or poking around in the source? I've nudged him to look at the pickling problem.)
#34 by Ariel Schnee - May 30 2015
If you're not going to put in an easy mode or cheats, then I am not going to buy it, games too hard.#35 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 1 2015
Actually, related question. Is there any kind of check in the game to ensure that, if you're already at <6 rep, the game won't give you one of the case variants where expulsion is the only answer? I don't think I've ever hit that situation, I'm just curious if you could get into an unwinnable situation.#36 by hanako - Jun 1 2015
As I said, we are still actively doing difficulty balancing. The last few patches have already made several changes, but they're still in beta for now while the art gets finished. Handing out cheats at this point would be an absolutely terrible thing to do because it would cover up problems rather than actually fixing them. There will, however, be cheats for Karma and Reputation eventually because even if I don't give them away someone's going to figure it out, it's not that hard to do. Just not now.Neko Hibiki:
If you're not going to put in an easy mode or cheats, then I am not going to buy it, games too hard.
Determining unwinnability mathematically is trickier than that. Say you have one of those expulsion cases, but instead of expelling the culprit you suspend them, and when they come back to school, immediately suspend them again? You can keep juggling someone for quite a while and stop the case from resolving, during which time you MIGHT manage to regain some reputation.Darksilverhawk:
. Is there any kind of check in the game to ensure that, if you're already at <6 rep, the game won't give you one of the case variants where expulsion is the only answer? I don't think I've ever hit that situation, I'm just curious if you could get into an unwinnable situation.
#37 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 1 2015
That makes sense; I didn't think about the fact that you'd need to factor in effects of other cases that might not have even generated yet on reputation. I can still see a definite line between "you screwed up" and "the game screwed you" (darn bookies and their apparent ability to run gambling rings while suspended) but I suppose it can be argued that if you're at 5 reputation you've already screwed up pretty badly, and a clever or lucky player might still be able to weasel their way out of it. You can always reload a save from before the case generates, so ultimately I don't think it's a problem that really needs to be addressed.hanako:
Determining unwinnability mathematically is trickier than that. Say you have one of those expulsion cases, but instead of expelling the culprit you suspend them, and when they come back to school, immediately suspend them again? You can keep juggling someone for quite a while and stop the case from resolving, during which time you MIGHT manage to regain some reputation.
Actual answer - I'm not sure if there are checks for that or not. But it's not quite as straightforward as it seems.
#38 by Ren - Jun 1 2015
Related to the difficulty of the game: I think that having a training mode available at the beginning is going to help a lot, particularly if you were to suggest somewhere that one might want to try that before going into the game as there's a few things to keep in mind.
#39 by FantasyFan - Jun 1 2015
I wouldn't want to PREVENT game overs, but I WOULD like a level where you get one new case a week instead of two. I keep failing over and over again because I'm just plain overwhelmed with cases.#40 by Ren - Jun 1 2015
Compared to other people in this thread I have much less experience, so I don't know how useful my feedback can be (I've been kinda busy with work, you see!): if you don't want to limit the case types too much, couldn't you program in some sort of "rubber band" mechanic to the cases choices? What I mean is: say that you decide that - out of 10 possible cases- 3, 4 and 5 are hardcore, and 1 and 2 are just moderately challenging. Assume that you know that if you're with less than X points of karma or reputation after your first month you're in for a nightmare: couldn't you have the cases be all possible to be thrown at you, but if you fail too many 3, 4 and 5 are the first ones to not be attainable in the first two weeks and if you're really doing horridly 1 and 2 go as well?hanako:
I don't mind pulling back drugs and gambling to a little later in the year (I was already considering blocking those in the first month), but I don't want to get too limiting with early case types.
#41 by hanako - Jun 2 2015
Can you elaborate on that?Darksilverhawk:
(darn bookies and their apparent ability to run gambling rings while suspended)
#42 by grommile - Jun 2 2015
Many cases have a highly action-efficient strategy available. Some of them even have an efficient strategy that doesn't rely entirely on RowanFantasyFan:
I wouldn't want to PREVENT game overs, but I WOULD like a level where you get one new case a week instead of two. I keep failing over and over again because I'm just plain overwhelmed with cases.
#43 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 2 2015
I haven't encountered it recently (because I don't suspend on that case anymore because of it), but I definitely have, in the past, had the bookie variant (the one taking bets on horse races) fail on me while the girl taking the bets was suspended. I don't remember much beyond "this happened" unfortunately. There's a possibility it could have failed on the day she came back, I suppose. But I remember it was one of the things that scared me away from suspensions early on.hanako:
Can you elaborate on that?
The bookie case should not be able to fail while the bookie is suspended. It's not written to, and I've just tested and kept the bookie suspended for a month with no problem. I'm trying to figure out if you mean a different case, or if you suspended the wrong girl, or if you had the case fail after she was unsuspended because it was so near failure to begin with, or something else.
#44 by hanako - Jun 2 2015
I don't know either, unless it was an alpha bug that got fixed. It shouldn't happen. Sometimes they're broken, and sometimes my logic is wonky!#45 by Darksilverhawk - Jun 5 2015
Weird case logic (posting here, but if you'd rather have it somewhere else let me know): In the Delicate Blossom variant where her friend is throwing her a party, why can't we persuade (instead of harass) the girl to not throw the party? That one took me forever to figure out. Since she wasn't explicitly doing anything that seemed wrong, I figured the party was helping! After all, you are told to make sure she's up to the task, and having support from friends seems like a positive thing.#46 by Ren - Jun 5 2015
Oh, we're supposed to harass, there?Darksilverhawk:
Weird case logic (posting here, but if you'd rather have it somewhere else let me know): In the Delicate Blossom variant where her friend is throwing her a party, why can't we persuade (instead of harass) the girl to not throw the party? That one took me forever to figure out. Since she wasn't explicitly doing anything that seemed wrong, I figured the party was helping! After all, you are told to make sure she's up to the task, and having support from friends seems like a positive thing.
Also, I just feel awful after I have to harass her to stop. Why can't we just gently suggest she allow her friend to study the night before and throw a party afterward?
#47 by hanako - Jun 5 2015
Sure, that makes sense.