FAQ

Last updated: May 10, 2023

TROUBLESHOOTING & TECHNICAL QUESTIONS

RECOMMENDED: How to Save to Disk/Load from Disk!
I get so many questions about this functionality that I decided to put a quick explanation here about how Twine’s save system works. It’s a built in feature that I don’t have the knowledge to change, but I would recommend it over using the in-game menu in every situation. The in-game menu get erased as soon as your browser cookies are cleared, so it’s far from ideal to use beyond a single session.

Save to/Load from disk, on the other hand, downloads your saves directly to and from your files. It’s the preferred method to retain your saves while you wait for a new chapter to drop, or even in between playing sessions. You can find the options at the bottom of the in-game save menu.

Also note, saving to disk means saving a SPECIFIC point in your playthrough, it DOES NOT save all of the saves you’ve made. Keep this in mind - if you have multiple characters, you will need to save multiple times for each one or for whichever point you want to save at!

Once you have downloaded your saves, you can rename them in your own files for your own reference, and load them in with Load from Disk without problems in the future.

When I try to play the game, I get an “Error: no valid storage adapters found”/the game won’t launch. How do I fix this?
Most commonly you will get this warning if your web-browser has been set to disable cookies. Make sure you have browser cookies enabled before trying to run the game! Note that adblockers can also interfere with this, so if you get this error try disabling your adblocker and running the game again.

Also note that deleting browser cookies will also delete any saves of the in-game menu – you can download your saves into your files with “Save To Disk” to make sure they don’t get erased (use desktop mode on mobile to enable Save To Disk if you don’t see it, may or may not work depending on which browser you use). VPNs may also slow down the game launch or prevent the game from starting up, so try disabling those as well before running the game!

Renaming my saves doesn’t seem to work/I get an “Error: prompt()”/the game won’t let me save on my device, what do I do?
Depending on your phone type, iPhone or Android, you may need to use a different browser to get the game to work (personally, Firefox and Opera always work best for me). If you’re having trouble on PC, try using a different browser. I do know that the game’s save function doesn’t like the itch.io app being used, so keep that in mind and stick to browser as much as possible.

Do I have to replay the game each time you release a new chapter?
So long as you remember to save your game, your save file will be there for you to use once you download a new chapter (Load from Disk option, if you have it saved in your files).

Is there a way to open up additional save slots?
Itch.io gets a little buggy with additional save slots added to the game, for some reason. However, the game has the option to “Save to Disk”, so you can create a folder for your characters in your own documents, or wherever else you’d like, and have as many save files there as you want. See the tutorial at the top of the page.

Will the game be made downloadable at any point?
Once the entire game has been finished I will be making it available for download!

STORY CONTENT & GAME MECHANICS

What’s the age rating of the game, will there be sexually explicit content?
The game is safe for those 16 years and older. There will be sexually suggestive content, but nothing described explicitly! Mostly implied or in dialogue.

Can I send in nsfw asks?
Not on this blog. I do have a nsfw blog, which you can access via the AToC Discord Server. I do want to emphasize that this blog is ONLY for those 18 and older, so if I catch any minors following or interacting with posts, I won’t hesitate to password protect it.

What’s with the different names for the love interests?
Depending on who you choose your Crown to be attracted to, the gender of the love interests will change accordingly to match that. So for example, if you have a Crown that’s attracted to women, X will be female and her name will be Xelara. But if you have a Crown that’s attracted to men, X will be male and his name will be Xelef. If you have a Crown that’s bi, the genders of the LIs will be randomly split into 2 men and 2 women.

The differences between the male and female versions are mostly cosmetic appearance/body details, as their personalities remain the exact same. Gender roles don’t exist in Arsur’s culture, so both male and female versions of the LIs act identically to each other.

Also note that both genders for the love interests are equally canon, there is no “default” or “true canon gender” for any of them. Please keep this in mind when interacting with other fans, and try to refer to them in gender-neutral terms as much as possible to avoid excluding others 💖

Do the love interests have a set sexuality?
All 4 of them are bi (both bisexual and biromantic) regardless of what their gender is set as. Please respect this and don’t make any headcanons stating otherwise.

Could you make it so that I can choose the gender instead of having them randomized?
No.

What about the MCs gender and/or sexuality?
You are free to headcanon whatever you like! There won’t be any choices specifying the Crown’s gender or sexuality because I want that to be open to player interpretation! The most you can customize is your Crown’s general attraction and their pronouns, but that doesn’t necessarily box them into a specific sexuality/gender label.

As long as you understand that the MC wouldn’t use any sexuality labels or modern gender labels to describe themselves in-universe, because those words don’t exist, haha.

Are there any polyamorous routes?
Not as of right now! However, I do plan to add polyam routes once the single LI routes and the main game is finished. The polyam routes I eventually plan to add are A/R, A/X and X/D. Other combinations with the LIs would not work, keeping in mind their canon chemistry.

Is it possible to play the game without romancing anyone, or could you add a non-romance route in the future?
No. Romance is inextricable to the story I want to tell. If this doesn’t suit you, feel free to play something else.

How do the choices work?
There are three different sets of variables that determine: 1. the personality of your MC (Character Traits), 2. the behavior of your MC in a romance (Romantic Inclination), and 3. your relationship with the LIs (Relationships).

Choices that affect Character Traits and Romantic Inclination feature in the first four chapters, which makes up the common route of the story. After the common route, once you’ve picked an LI, these stats are permanent and you will no longer get choices that allow you to change them, so make sure you’re satisfied with your MC’s personality before you start an LIs route!

Choices that affect Relationships, however, are always in play. The ones in the common route determine which LIs you’ll be able to choose from at the end of Chapter Four, where you make a choice on whose route to follow. So, for example, if you have points with R, X and A but you don’t have any points for D, at the end of Chapter Four, D will not show up as an option for you to pursue. Once you’ve picked someone’s route, the choices will affect your relationship with your chosen LI.

There are also political choices affecting your relationships with certain factions in the game or otherwise affecting Arsur as a whole, which will play a huge role in which ending you’ll be able to get.

Are there different endings, and if so, how do I get them?
There will be three different endings tied solely to the main plot regardless of which route you pick: a bad ending, a mixed ending and a good ending. In other words, you can get the bad ending even if you have maxed out your relationship with your LI if you make choices that will negatively impact Arsur.

Now, on top of these two main endings, there are two different variations depending on whether you have enough points with your chosen LI: a strong relationship and a weak relationship. So, if you have a maxed out relationship but get the bad ending, that will look quite different from a bad ending where you have insufficient relationship points with your LI. So, keeping in mind the relationship variations, there will be 6 endings in total!

How do I get a specific LIs route for CH5 and onwards?
See this walkthrough!

Can I get my romance with my LI back up to steady/high after I’ve gotten it unsteady/low?
Yes, you can! There will be multiple checks for how many romance points you have with your LI throughout the game. So, even if you get unsteady/low during one of the checks, if you make the right choices and accumulate enough points before the next check, you’ll be able to get your relationship back up to steady/high!

How do I get a high relationship variant/how do I get better plot outcomes/how do I unlock [insert political choice here]?
I’m not going to provide the answers for that, so you can stop asking.

Ideally, I’d like players to explore the story and let it play out naturally, even if you get bad outcomes–they’re just as much part of the story as the good outcomes are.

Secondly, the game is a work in progress so I won’t be providing walkthroughs for mechanics that are still in play, at least not until we hit a major climax in the story. In the meantime, you can ask other players for advice and discuss which choices seem to work.

How do I pronounce [insert name/word here]?
See this post!

OTHER

How often will you update?
My aim was to take 1 month for each chapter, but as I’ve realized, with my current schedule as a university student that deadline was too optimistic.

Since I’m releasing it per chapter as well, it also takes additional time for it to be proof-read and edited. As it stands, the current update schedule will be a chapter release every 3-4 months.

Will you write a sequel?
No, the Crown’s story begins and ends in this game. I may write another story set in the same universe, but it would feature a different time period with a whole new cast of characters.

Do I have to pay for the game?
Nope, it’ll be completely free from start to finish. Donations through itch.io or through my ko-fi, however, are very much appreciated! If you would like additional bonus content, you can also pledge to my Patreon.

How many chapters will it have?
I’m unsure of the exact chapter count as I’m not very strict on planning out every detail, but (excluding the common route) the story will have 3 acts, 4-6 chapters each act… so my biggest estimate would be around 25 chapters, maybe.

Is it okay if I code dive?
I would rather you not do that while the game is still a work in progress. Once it’s finished, have at it!

For any more questions relating to problems or bugs with the game, or about the story and the game mechanics, check out #troubleshooting, #walkthrough and #faq on the blog!