Princess Maker 2
PC Game
By Gainax
For MSDOS
1995

This is the game for those of you who like life sims, rpgs, or are simply a pervert (there are a few minor nude scenes in this game, but not many). The story behind this game is that you are a great hero (sometime in the middle ages). The Gods entrust you with a little 10 year old girl to protect and raise. The game seems very boring and repetitive at first (not to mention difficult), but repeated playings will uncover a web of plot twists and secrets.

I am not going to give away any of the secrets to the game in this node. Those will be located in Princess Maker 2 Secrets. That way you can read this node without spoiling the game. I was originally only going to do a single node for Princess Maker 2, but it started getting really long. It looked like I was going to hit the maximum node size before I was even halfway finished. So this node will be an overview. All subjects will be covered in detail in individual nodes.


Starting a new game

Before I give even the first instructions I must tell you the importance of the F3 button. Holding down this button speeds up the game. You will want to use this during all of the repetitive graphics sequences. Now, on to the game itself. You will first be prompted to enter a family name (this represents your name, you don't get a first name, but your little girl does). Then a name for your daughter. Followed by birthdays for both of you (along with your age). Finally you must select a blood type for your daughter. All of these have an immense importance during the game (not the names so much as the other stuff). Something as small as a 1 day difference in birth date can change the outcome of the entire game. This game has an unbelievable amount of endings. Some of them require certain birthdays, or blood types. I have observed over 50 endings, but I am sure there are many more. (After some research and cheating, I have determined that there are 73 major ending, that each combine with one of 8 minor ending, for a total of 584 different possible outcomes).

The game then goes through a long graphic sequence, where one of the gods comes down and presents you with your little girl. Only then do you get to actually start playing the game.

In this game you control your daughter's entire life. From how much she eats, to who she talks to, to how she fights that pesky monster. You have to schedule all of her activities. You also get to control her directly (when you send her on an adventure).

As your daughter grows older she will meet people, attract rivals and suitors, and start making a name for herself in the kingdom. But this all depends on your guidance.

Every October there is a harvest festival. Your daughter can compete in one of four different competitions, Cooking, Dancing, Fighting, and Painting. Winning one of these competitions will bring a cash reward, increased prestige (and perhaps a special item). The only one that your daughter has any hope of winning the first time around is Cooking (so enter her in that the first time). It is very difficult to train your girl to be good enough to win all of the competitions (but it is possible). It is better to concentrate on getting good at one of them.

Every year your daughter will have a birthday. The image of her will grow a little older in your window (the image actually changes almost monthly, but very slightly). You will be asked if you want to buy a present (always say yes). Sometimes a new birthday will bring visitors, or new job opportunities also. Remember how the game had you put in your birthday? Well if your daughter really likes you, then she will bake you a cake on your birthday (this is infrequent at best).

The game ends on your daughter's 18th birthday. Then you will get to see how she turns out (in one of about a bajillion different endings).She could turn out to be anything from a prostitute, to a Fencing Teacher, to a real Princess. But it all depends on how you did raising her (and little things like her birthday and bloodtype).


Now lets get into some details, shall we?


The Main Screen

"Good morning Master. Your butler Cube is at your service". Is the first thing you will see when the game actually begins (Cube is your butler, he is not exactly human, there seems to be some unexplained backstory that goes along with him, perhaps he is from another game?). You see a view of your daughter inside your house. Along with a large toolbar on the right side of your screen (this also displays some statistics about your daughter). The date is displayed in the upper right hand corner.


The Toolbar

Your toolbar shows all of your vital information. This is where most actions are performed. The buttons are not labeled, but I have given them names for ease of discussion.

The Buttons
  • Ability Scores

    This button shows a large list of statistics (26 of them actually). They are divided into 4 areas which are the equivalent of ability scores, skills, reputations, and combat skills. (I will go into detail on these later).

  • Chat

    This gives you 3 choices. Father-Daughter chat (which goes into a submenu which allows you to see what your daughter has to say). Pocket money (gives her a little money to reduce stress). Finally, Scold (yell at her for being a bad girl).

  • Diet

    This allows you to choose from regular diet, robust diet, slim down diet, and weight loss diet. These all affect your daughter in various ways (weight loss diet will usually make her sick fast).

  • Daughter

    Yet another page of statistics. Blood type, height, weight, measurements, popularity, health, and similar things are displayed here.

  • Town

    In town you have a choice of several shops in which to purchase equipment (along with a Church and a hospital).

  • Castle

    This is where you send your daughter off to meet people and make connections. There are about a dozen different people to talk to, most of them will not talk to your daughter at first (she is not well mannered enough at the beginning).

  • Equipment

    Here is where you can change equipment and clothing. As you go further in the game you will have the opportunity to buy all sorts of outfits. Along with the standard RPG style weapons and armor.

  • Save

    Save your game, or load a saved game.

  • Schedule

    This is where you select what your daughter will be doing for the upcoming month. This is the most important screen in the game. Each month is divided into 3 segments. For each segment you have to select work, school, time off, or adventure. Younger girls require at least one period of time off each month (or they get sick or run away, or simply do a bad job). Older girls can manage with one period every 2 months.


The Joy of Statistics

Princess Maker 2 employs a huge amount of statistics. Many of which are not even visible until the end of the game (the closing screen will list how you scored on several stats that were previously unmentioned). Some statistics are more important than others, and it is impossible to achieve great scores in all of them without cheating. All scores have a theoretical limit of 999. But the combat, and skill scores are hard to improve past 103. Here is the list of different statistics. I will be elaborating on these in the Princess Maker 2 Statistics node.

Ability Scores
Combat Skills
  • Combat Skill
  • Combat Attack
  • Combat Defense
  • Magical Skill
  • Magical Attack
  • Magical Defense

Reputations
  • Fighter Reputation
  • Magical Reputation
  • Social Reputaion
  • Housework Reputation

Skills
Work, Work, and more Work

There are a variety of jobs that you can have your daughter do in this game. All of them have positive and negative side effects. I will be fully explaining all of them in the Princess Maker 2 Jobs node. For now here is a quick list (along with the daily salary in gold). Many of these jobs open up new subplots all on their own.


But Daddy, I don't wanna go to school!

There are a variety of different training course that you can send your daughter to. Most of them are completely positive. But a couple of them will reduce some of your other skills as a side effect (Science, and Strategy, both reduce other scores). These schools are not free. They can get to be quite expensive as your daughter gains in ability. So be sure and have enough money before you enter a class. (All schools will be fully detailed in the Princess Maker 2 Schools node).

An adventure awaits

There are four locations that you can send your child to go adventuring in. The Eastern Forest, The Western Desert, The Southern Lake, and the Northern Glacier. These areas are small, but they are chock full of secrets. They will be detailed fully in the Princess Maker 2 Adventures node.


A little time off

It is important to let your daughter have time off of work from time to time. When you select this option you can either just send her off to town (with or without money), or go on a vacation with her to either the Mountains or the Sea. These help to reduce your daughters stress level and keep her healthy (the vacations will also affect weight and sensitivity sometimes).


Trivia

This game was never actually released in English. But the Beta version of the English translation has been floating around the net since 1996. It is easy to find with a search. You may or may not be able to hear sound in this game (depending on your sound card, Soundblaster Live for example doesn't work, but the onboard sound on my old Thinkpad does).

This game was never fully completed, the game is missing some of the texts required for some of the endings, along with a few graphics that rarely show up. But, I have almost figured out the file formats. I am working on finishing the game myself.


This node is merely a lenghty overview of the game. For more excruitating detail please read the following nodes (these have not all been written yet). There is also some discussion of this game in the Princess Maker node (but it should be here).
Princess Maker 2 Secrets (not done yet, but Zaratustra has added cheat info)
Princess Maker 2 Statistics (not done yet)
Princess Maker 2 Jobs (This one is done)
Princess Maker 2 Schools (This one is done)
Princess Maker 2 Adventures (not done yet)
Princess Maker 2 People (This one is finally done, I bet you thought I had given up on this series)
Princess Maker 2 Endings (This one is finished also)

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