User blog comment:StoryGirl83/Walkthrough Guide Discussion/@comment-37915141-20190621170822

Ugh, FINALLY I had the time to read through this and write a comment. I know I kind of asked for this so I'm sorry that I only deigned to respond now but thanks for this post, really!

asterisks: I think this asterisk/bullet-point format is the most sophisticated way / easiest on the eye, I don't see a better alternative.

"diamond choices" verses "premium choices": I prefer "Diamond Choice". PB also calls it exclusive or special sometimes but it's unlikely that the currency will chance so "diamond" will probably always be accurate.

Emojis: The element icons were also added in the TE walkthroughs which was a nice touch IMHO. It's a lot easier to distinguish the options and you happen to follow the guide as you play and a wild timed choice comes up you can select an option faster if you see the element icons. I think the guides should use the icons in the game (of course specifying the LI if it's a romance point if it wasn't in the game). It might sound overkill at first but it's actually easy to acquire those via an Android simulator and some people already uploaded them (along with sprites, backgrounds, and item images, etc). Here are 2 links:

https://ladynonsense.tumblr.com/post/184228898069/game-files-transparents-masterlist

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1t9hL5mtRdnXVREW5ka-5qX88qU4ZUg1C

The Legend icon can also be found in the second link in TCTF/Book 3/Icons. The heart icon is in almost every book's Icon directory which has a +Romance effect (something like icon_romance_soulmates.png). Although the icons are transparent now it's easy to just color them and then that image can be uploaded like the TE ones and used in the guide. Of course not everyone will add these immediately but if someone oversees the format or just edits the same guide and happens to know the image link they can swap it, this whole thing is a team effort anyway. So I don't think it's too much. The list of these icons might even be included in the walkthrough editing guide once it's done so it's easy to find them. But if linking images is too much of a hassle I think we should at least use the heart emoji everywhere.

Timed choices: I wasn't concerned about it really. I use "This is a timed choice." when I add one myself because I don't like to shout (lol I mean the exclamation point). I find the all caps TIMED word a bit distracting. I think the clock icon would be a nice touch but I'd add it right before the or (preferably) after "This is a timed choice." text. If it's after Choice X I think it might get very confusing when the choices also has a condition like (Path A) or (If you didn't buy the knife). Or it might just get lost in the middle and if you put the icon before the "Choice" word then it would break the consistency in formatting (like 💎 is before the number and stuff) and the page could seem "wobbly" because the text itself starts later (hope the wording makes sense). (I would also like to note here briefly that people almost always forget to add the possibility of the timer running out which has been a correct option in many cases or had an effect which I think should be noted at all times. #TimeoutOptionAwarenessMonth #IJustNeedSleepDontJudge)

Spaces between emojis: At first it seemed to me that in the game there isn't a space but if there is it's all the more reason to have it in the guides too. The icon constitutes a word and you would put a space there if it were in a "word format".

Numbering: I think every choice should have its own distinct number (diamond choices being separated of course). This way they have an "ID" and can very easily be referred to and found in the guide, unlike when it's "8, 9, or 10"... Like if I'm trying to discuss something about that choice I will say "8, 9, or 10" but then there's another similar choice with long-ass name and it can be mistaken. Although I'm usually all about accuracy, I think this depending on path approach is completely unnecessary and confusing. Especially if also has a condition, it makes the line even longer for no reason. You say the total number of the choices can be known with the first approach, so I don't know now that if there are paths (like diamond choices with LIs) you mean to continue the number since only that way we would know the total number. I think the numbering should resume for the beginning of the next path and continue from the highest number next time.

Diamond Choice 6 (Jake)

Diamond Choice 7 (Jake)

Diamond Choice 6 (Quinn) // resumes

Diamond Choice 7 (Quinn)

Diamond Choice 8 (Quinn) // this is the highest

Diamond Choice 6 (Estela) // resumes

…

Diamond Choice 9 // continues from highest

Unless you go through all paths. And these paths should follow the order of the options

Choice 2 // just a random example for maybe searching rooms
 * Office
 * Bathroom
 * Bedroom

Choice 3 (Office)

Choice 4 (Office)

Choice 5 (Bathroom) // continues

Choice 6 (Bedroom) // continues

I also think that if the option's "name" is short we should add Path A/B/C, and definitely not add if it's an LI/Character's name. It's short, to the point and I don't think it's confusing at all.

I have noted down some things as I was editing some of the walkthroughs. I think there are at least 10 different "issues", meaning different formats for the same stuff so I would like to discuss those sometime. How do you want to go about presenting these other ideas? Can I comment them here now or should I wait until the currently open discussions are closed?