friendsim2

[friendsim2]

so we known old alternian is an actual thing, but it is only a lore thing or kinda a meta gag of the fact HS and HSwap have different alternian alphabets? (also would it be kinda like old english or more complex?)

It's partly a meta-gag about the old reversed Daedric font that was used for Homestuck's "Alternian" font.

Lore-wise, I'd say it's just the precursor of the modern Alternian language - slightly different script and the language itself is different. So not unlike Old English.

[friendsim2]

Do you have and hints for finding evidence in Vol. 12? I feel like I've clicked everything but I'm still stuck

There's basically three phases to it:

Finding the church - this requires that you check the bus and grab the flyer from it, and check the sky/top of the tent in the circus tent and solve the puzzle that's there. You need to pay attention to how the constellations are arranged in the real world version and then match that in the dreamscape version. Once you do both these things, you should see the church on your locations and you need to go there and talk to Akhnai.

Finding the mansion - you need to solve a puzzle in Marvus' caravan (check the mirror - it's a basic light sequence puzzle) and then play "Garten of Tubecat" in the dreamscape midway. Once you beat the high score, go back to the real-world field and you'll see a card on the ground that wasn't there before. When you pick that up and solve the mirror puzzle, you'll automatically go to the mansion.

Escaping the mansion - first talk to Chahut in the library and exhaust her dialogue. She'll tell you she's missing seven books. You then need to talk to everyone about the missing books (Karako in the real-world bedroom, the Soleils in the dreamscape bedroom, and Marvus in the real-world library) and find the four books that're in the environment (hallway and bedroom - both real-world and dreamscape). Once you find all seven books, go back and tell Chahut and you'll proceed with the route.

#friendsim 2 #spoiler #helpful hints

[friendsim2]

finally finished all of vol 12 today and i loved every last bit of it ^u^ i cant help but notice the intense foreshadowing of events to come, the place that exists since before TIME, the youngest daughter of Gl'bgolyb, if breaking the circle or keep it going. noticed at least 2 or 3 things like that alluding to 2 very specific trolls and im absolutely looking forward to it ^u^ this has become officially one of my favorite games ever ^u^ (also it was such a lovely surprise to come across Aradia and getting to talk to her ^u^) (also she looks positively huggable) (also also does Aradia knows cat Aradia exists? does she have any thoughts about that)?) also Reader FINALLY remembering Remele after her being "present" since vol 1 also i have been meaning to ask, is Karako mute or is she partially mute?

Glad you're enjoying it! And yeah, there's some intense foreshadowing going on for the next couple volumes. Also, huge props to the Barzum/Baizli voice actor for nailing the possessed version of the voices.

Aradia is not only aware of Aradia (cat), she named Aradia (cat). That joke actually goes back to the original source for those sprites, which was a game that's no longer being produced by our studio (its in new hands, but the old assets are being scrapped in favor of a different direction). She had four cats, all of whom she named after other trolls she knows. So we kept the cat names the same.

Karako is mute with the ability to verbalize the honks, which is the same as in canon. We briefly toyed with the idea of making a sound for the honks but tbh there wasn't really a way to make it sound natural and not cartoonish, which wasn't really the idea. When she's speaking with italics, that's just indicating that she's using a combination of pointing at words and signs that MSPAR can understand.

We also had plans for a slightly more involved use of ASL where MSPAR would be able to learn phrases and start to directly understand Karako better, but that got scrapped just in terms of how easy it was to write for and implement.

[friendsim2]

since we saw aradia in TH are we gonna get to see any of the other homestuck/pesterquest characters at any point?

There's always a possibility!

[friendsim2]

Revolution isnt enough i need to see mspar rip out trizza's blood pusher as they prove the indomable human spirit

(Nah they can barley kick a soccer ball)

I dunno - we've seen the ripples of MSPAR's actions influence the timeline in some pretty dramatic ways from Friendsim, to Pesterquest, to Friendsim 2.

I wonder how that applies to Trizza Tethis and the eternal question of nature versus nurture...

"...another set of universal variables that produce a wholly different reality."

[friendsim2]

Specifically finding the info, ive talked to everyone and checked everything i could but i never got the pieces of evidence in the evidence pile. I followed the steam guide too but it never got me anywhere:(

If you're well and truly stuck and just want to get through that sequence, you can put the game in Story Only difficulty and type "escape" into the console and it should automatically bypass the hacking sequence entirely. You can set the difficulty back afterwards.

[friendsim2]

Idk if its just my janky old laptop but i cant get past volume 10 especially the hacking specifically freeing folykl. I cant find all the info like the controller.info, please help T-T

Are you having issues with the game no responding to inputs, etc. or are you just having trouble finding where stuff is?

[friendsim2]

would you consider adding romance routes to TH? it is my dream to kiss cirava on the mouth

(i understand this is a lot of work though so no pressure! just curious if it's on the table at all)

Funny thing is, there was actually even more planned, including completely separate affinity quests for Cirava, Elwurd, Aradia, and Skylla in the expanded mode of TechniColor Heart!

We probably won't be expanding on it in the future, unfortunately, but maybe some day!

[friendsim2]

Yay!! You can romance Vikare!! He’s very cute in your sprites and in the original friendsim he’s very sweet

Yeah ngl this one was directly an answer to the Vikare superfans we've got - his role in the story might be one of the supporting characters, but in the Dream he gets to be a star!

(also if you want to see all the scenes written for the Top Gun musical, simply go to the theater on Friday the 16th anytime from late afternoon to mid-nighttime without having anything else scheduled for that location!)

[friendsim2]

I’ve got to ask, why did you choose those specific characters for the dating sim??? I mean, a lot of the team have said they don’t like Vikare, Chixie is already in a relationship in FS2, and there’s not much bloodcaste diversity. Mallek and Lanque are obvious choices but why everyone else???

HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!

A few comments on that (this is Jonaya speaking, who wrote the entirety of TechniColor Heart):

None of the stuff in TechniColor Heart is directly related to the actual canon of Friendsim 2 (beyond the Dream taking inspiration from MSPAR's subconscious in certain areas) - like, these are explicitly different people (they're presented as humans, with human backstories). There's a ton of non-canonical lore introduced that while it sometimes kinda touches on FS2 canon (Lynera's crush on Bronya, Mallek does computer stuff, Cirava is a streamer) it also often doesn't (Chixie being Jewish, Cirava being from Tennessee, Lanque's relationship to his parents, Marsti being a former soldier, etc.) Also, because of the fact that they're being read as human, the blood color stuff is basically not a thing here - it has to do with their personalities as people and role in the story. The only meaningful bit of color stuff (outside of being used for aesthetics) here is Maria's being purple because of her connection to Gl'bgolyb.

While a few of the team have said they don't like Vikare as a character (or at least said he's kind of a nothing character in the original - which, like, he gets one of the shortest routes and never shows up again), I think that got turned into "y'all hate Vikare!" which is... not exactly accurate (if that were true, he wouldn't be in the game). He's got a role in the story the same as anyone else, and while he doesn't get much direct focus in the main Friendsim 2 canon, he's got more dialogue in the game than, say, Folykl or Kuprum!

Chixie can be in a relationship in the FS2 canon, but that's not set in stone! That's actually reactive to a series of choices involving her and Elwurd.

That being said, here's the reasoning behind them all! Most of them have some connection to how the Dream basis itself off what MSPAR wants, with a couple wildcards that exist because of para-narrative reasons (i.e. "I wanted to put them in" reasons).

Mallek: Given the role of the Dream, it makes sense that he's a romance option, since there's some level of an implied flushed crush between him and MSPAR (in Friendsim 2 especially).

Lanque: He was someone that MSPAR could canonically have a relationship with in the first game, again playing into the Dream picking up on subconscious desires or previous canon/semi-canon events.

Vikare: There have been a couple very vocal fans of Vikare - and while his role in the main story is the way it is for narrative reasons, I wanted to acknowledge that there's a segment of our fandom that really likes him. Specifically, wanted to give his TH version the same level of depth and development as anyone else. Think of it as a the Dream referencing metanarrative events.

Chixie: Another character MSPAR has a more-or-less canonical relationship with (as a moirail). She's presented as demi and is the only character you can't actually have sex with, hinting at the connection between her role as MSPAR's moirail in the canon world.

Skylla: Another character MSPAR can get very close to in the first game, physically (sharing the slime bath in her original Friendsim route) and the first character MSPAR meets in Friendsim 2 who expresses concern for them (urging them to get out before they get killed).

Lynera: One of the real wild-cards here, since her relationship to MSPAR isn't especially closer than a lot of other characters. The real secret here is para-textual: Lynera is probably Jonaya's favorite character, so you get to date her!

Xefros (stand-alone only): This is less about the role of the Dream (since it's in the stand-alone mode) and more about wanting to give Xefros some more screen time.

Marsti (stand-alone only): Also outside of the Dream, Marsti is part of the whole fucked-up Absent Place storyline, and her romance plotline is kinda fucked up and dysfunctional. Gotta include at least one absolutely messy storyline in the game, after all.

As far as the reasoning behind the non-dateable characters who have questlines:

Cirava: One of MSPAR's close friends and an important confidant in the main storyline. Picked partly to have them bounce off of Mallek in their storyline, partly because they fit well into the "streamer who spends most of their time inside" archetype and I wanted there to be a consistent touchstone in the form of MSPAR's roommate.

Elwurd: She had "lesbian BFF" energy - someone who MSPAR is cool hanging out with, but she tends to push people away in the FS2 canon in particular. This gets developed if you do her questline.

Aradia: One of the characters we see with metanarrative awareness at times, so she made sense to help guide MSPAR out of the Dream. Also, she was one of the sprites made for another game that could be re-used.

Maria (depends on whether you're in stand-alone mode): In the Dream, Maria (whose sprites are from another game that our Studio stopped development one) represents Gl'bgolyb, hence her vastly different appearance. In the stand-alone mode, she's got her own character and plotline that ties into the Absent Place storyline.

Tyzias (stand-alone only): Given her role in canon, it made sense to have her and Stelsa as FBI agents investigating the murder of Cridea Jeevik. A fair amount of Twin Peaks references with her too.

Ardata (stand-alone only): Needed someone kinda fucked up - originally was gonna be more-or-less a Twin Peaks reference as well, but ended up developing into her own thing. Also her role in the history behind the Absent Place plot ties into her FS2 canon role in the Alternian military.

[friendsim2]

We think the cat is sufficiently out the bag on the fact we actually included a full 70K word visual novel INSIDE OF our existing visual novel - so let's dig into that a little and answer a couple FAQs!

Q: What is this? A: A college dating sim set in a non-canonical alternate reality where everyone is supposed to be a human. If you haven't played volume 12 yet, don't worry about it! Or do - I'm statistically unlikely to be your mom

Q: Can I play this by itself? A: Yep! Just go to the options menu, scroll all the way down to the bottom, and click "unlock bonus game" - it will then be available at any time from the main menu. It will also appear on the main menu once you beat Volume 12.

Q: Do I have to play Friendsim 2 to play this? A: No! Although we recommend encountering it naturally as you play the game (IYKYK and if not you'll see!), but if you want you can unlock it from the main menu as soon as you install Friendsim 2!

Q: Does playing from the main menu change stuff? A: Oooh yeah! If you play via the main menu you're accessing a special version of TechniColor Heart designed to act as a stand-alone experience. It changes some of the framing and adds a LOT of new content!

Q: You can date people? A: Yep! In the base version there's 6 romance options, and the stand-alone version adds 2 more! You can also do non-romance relationship plotlines with a few people!

Q: Is this because of the April Fool's Day bit? A: No, it's because of the "we'll add sex to the game" bit. The April Fool's trailer was just basically a trailer for this with "April Fools!" slapped on it.

Q: But... is there sex? A: Actually, yes... it's not explicit (it fades to black), but you've got the option of doin' the ol' freaky-deaky with most of the romanceable characters. There's also a non-sexual romance outcome for each character, if you wanna take things slow.

Q: Okay, but who can I date? A: Chixie, Lynera, Skylla, Mallek, Lanque, Vikare Stand-alone mode adds Xefros and Marsti Keep in mind everyone responds differently to how you act towards them - there's no one-size-fits-all formula!

Q: Is there non-romance stuff to do? A: Yeah! A few of your friends could use some help navigating life, and if you play on stand-alone mode there's a whole plot involving a murder and the sins of the past!

Q: Is there other stuff to do? A: YEAH! There's, like, eight different mini-games including a One Finger Death Punch style beat-em-up, a Flappy Bird clone, a surprisingly accurate version of Game Boy Tetris, and a custom Game Boy game called Fire Fling! (and more!)

Q: Tell me more about this wonderous experience! A: It's got a day/night cycle! Dialogue trees! A scheduling system! You can buy gifts online to give to people! There's a dating app! Intrigue! Romance! Scandal! Murder most foul! You can pet cats!

Q: I hate Friendsim 2 but actually love TechniColor Heart - can you forgive me? A: Yeah, we're cool.

#friendsim #friendsim 2 #homestuck #hiveswap #hiveswap friendsim #fan game #friendsim2 #fansim #fan project #technicolor heart #faq #faq post

[friendsim2]

so what's the fastest way to get through technicolor heart in the volume 12 version of it?

Absolute quickest, "lemme out of here!" path: After you talk to Marvus on the first day, go back to your dorm and sleep through every single day without leaving your room even once - this bit is important because if you leave the dorm room once you go to sleep on the first day, you'll break the loop of this path and need to do things in a more standard way (finishing the friend quest for Aradia, Cirava or Elwurd).

You'll get some unique interactions with Cirava about why you haven't left the room, and after the afternoon of the last day (Saturday the 17th) you'll get interrupted by Gl'bgolyb and have the option to return to the real world. (you can hold CTRL to skip the transitions and dialogue and choose "NO!" when given the option if you really just wanna blast through it)

You'll actually get a unique achievement for doing it this way ("Sleepytime")!

Slightly slower, "I want to see this as intended but don't want to spend forever here" path: This path might be a good one if you want to see the unique friend-quest you can't see in the TechniColor Heart stand-alone mode.

Befriend Aradia (she likes the horror novels a lot and if you do her mini-game and get to level 5 or 10 on a given day you'll build affinity with her) until you get the option to ask her if she feels like the world isn't real. From there, spend time with her and always offer to help her clean up and generally go along with what she wants to do (take a walk with her, allow Rannel to come along).

Eventually, after the second time you hang out, Aradia will text you and ask you to come to the garage. Doing this and choosing to stay and hear what she has to say will finish her questline (giving you the achievement "The Ram"). Sometime shortly thereafter (usually the next day), you'll get a cryptic text from Maria at the garage telling you to meet her in the woods. If you do that, you'll have a brief conversation with her and be able to leave the dream.

#friendsim 2 #spoilers #game guide

[friendsim2]

In chapter 11 mspar says one of their best friends is a rainbow drinker, but I never saw or at least remember anything like that being said in chapter 5 or 6

Does it depend on certain choices or am I just not good at paying attention and need to go back? 😭

No, it doesn't come up in Volume 5 or 6 - it's just an offhand reference to Kanaya - although she hasn't technically been revealed as a rainbow drinker in the PQ timeline, MSPAR still knows about it from reading Homestuck

[friendsim2]

I really love your Head cannon about Demi Chixie.I’ve hc Vikare as ace as besides the pun of him being an ace pilot, he just seemed very upset about feeling like the reader was pitch flirting with him.

Yeah, demi Chixie started being a thing when I wrote the Delightful Abattoir novel and it just kinda kept being a thing, lol

That is a very good head canon and top-tier pun!

[friendsim2]

What’s the past between Chixie and Vikare in the parody dating sim?

The year prior, Vikare was hanging out with a group of friends who were generally nasty towards Chixie (the specifics aren't really delved into) and decided to side with those friends instead of standing up to what was happening.

He deeply regrets not saying something, and isn't hanging out with those same people anymore. If you play through either Chixie or Vikare's dating quest, they'll eventually start to mend things between them.

[friendsim2]

Yooo what’s the beef between Chixie and Vikare in the dating sim and is there a way to just download the dating sim?

You can play just the dating sim by going to the options menu and choosing "unlock bonus game" - it'll then be available from the main menu as an option! (you can switch back and forth between TechniColor Heart and Friendsim 2 at any time)

As to what the beef was between them - that's touched on a little in both Vikare and Chixie's storylines, but basically Vikare was hanging out with some guys that were being generally nasty towards Chixie the year prior.

If you go through either of their dates, Vikare eventually apologizes and they start to mend things between them.

[friendsim2]

just finished around 2/3 of volume 12, i love so much the entire dreamscape / real world mechanic and lore-wise, love the way purplebloods and their history is represented and currently romancing Lynera. i'm in love with this volume so far thank you all so much (and whoever had the idea of making TechniColor Heart an actual thing, i'd hug u)

That was me (game's director/lead writer here) - TechniColor Heart was actually in production for a few months. The April Fool's joke trailer was just a fake-out using footage from the actual game (within a game) - it's original inception goes back to the "we'll put sex in the game" meme we did on Twitter.

So I basically spent 3 months writing, coding, and doing UI design to put that in there. The assets are a combination of Friendsim 2 assets and backgrounds I did and sprites that Riotbreaker did for another game (it was cancelled in its original form and another studio may or may not be continuing it at some point, but without the original assets). I'm a big fan of committing to the bit - to the point where every one of the "hahaha wouldn't it be funny if we put this in the game?" jokes has not, in fact, been a joke.

Originally there was gonna be a shorter and less interesting dream sequence in that bit there that had a Tyzias/Tagora trial sequence (we actually had that sequence completely done with recorded dialogue) as well as some small walk-around segments using existing assets.

There were also a couple cut mini-games from Volume 12 - a sliding tile puzzle and a "light up the lights" type puzzle, neither of which was very fun - so those got replaced with Tetris and Fire Fling, respectively. (if you talk to Mallek about his GameDude console in the TechniColor Heart segment, you can actually play Gameboy versions of those games to practice them)

Overall, Volume 12 has probably been our most involved volume. One of the things I wanted to get right going into this game was how the purple bloods are portrayed, because there's a lot of baggage associated with how they're shown in canon, and I wanted to approach the whole thing thoughtfully and make it an impactful experience.

I cannot stress enough how important the contribution of the route's primary writer, Miranda Holliday, was to the experience of that route. They laid down the framework (and wrote most of the first half of the route) for a lot of the themes and how they tie into real-world issues of ethnicity, race, and culture. I picked up what they put down and then they went back over what I'd written in the second half to tighten up some of the language and provide feedback on the way the themes were developed.

Also, the route's sprite designer, Cole, was instrumental in fleshing out the character designs and giving them a unique character. Riotbreaker ended up doing the finished sprite sets off the original designs, and she did an awesome job of following Cole's reference designs.

Also, unique among the routes, we had the stark contrast between the dreamscape backgrounds (done by Dave Fowler) and the real-world backgrounds (done by Herk Lapaduza, who's done work on a couple other volumes both released and unreleased!). The dreamscape in particular was very much an exercise in "have fun with it!" to the artist, and the result was a delightfully surreal experience to contrast with the much more grounded style of the other backgrounds.

Lastly, our VAs for this route really helped sell their characters' unique personalities. Valentine was my choice to play Marvus from before we even started this game (there's an interesting story there - before FS2 was a thing I was going to do a fan dub of my Delightful Abattoir Hiveswap novel, so some of the voice cast comes from that!), and Miranda, Jason and Vyn did an amazing job with Akhnai, Barzum/Baizli, and Chahut.

#friendsim #friendsim 2 #homestuck #hiveswap #hiveswap friendsim #fan game #friendsim2 #fan project #fansim