screwthename
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No BETA yet, so here's a (actually huge) dev blog
🕑 Added 2023-11-19 23:55:46 +0000 UTCHey there !
Well, first of all, sorry for the delay. I expected to be able to finish the BETA this week, and why I've done really good progress, there's still work to do on it. Things got much more complex than I imagined, and I thought it would be interesting to talk a bit about it. Because I really like what I'm doing, and the direction the game is taking. Just a small warning, this one might be a bit more technical than usual, so don't force yourself to read everything if you're not interested in it ^^
So, what is done, and what remains to be done ?
I've spent a good amount of time this week writing small dialogues and interactions with a ton of random NPC you can find in both camps. There's more than 40 of them, but I decided to give each a small line of dialogue, because I like wandering and talk with all NPC in a town, it bring a lot of flavour. There's a also a few lewds events that can happen (it's still a nsfw game damnit !) : reusing the groping attacks a bit (since not everyone might see them in fight, it would be a shame to not use them too much), and also, there's a few 1 pic scenes you can find here and there (3 for the BETA, probably twice as much for the full release). But overall, I'm really happy with the result, and it should flesh out the game much more.
I've also implemented most of the new quests, mainly the 5 small challenges that Elleria will give you. While it's nothing big in term of gameplay, it add some cool little objectives to give yourself (and also, there's a nice scene as a reward ^^). But while pretty simple, they weren't specially that easy to implement, specially one.
This one require you to have bought at least 25 pics from the gnome (those you already had before the quest counts, of course). So the basic idea, in term of code is : when you buy one, it raise a hidden variable by 1, and if it's over 25, congrats, you're done ! But that's where things get complex : because people use old saves, and I didn't planned things from the beginning, I didn't had a way to know how many you had already bought.
I was able to find a workaround thankfully : when you buy one pic, you get a hidden item (it doesn't show in any inventory slot) corresponding to that pic, so I can check if you have this item already, meaning you bought the pic, and I can avoid you from buying it another time. So basically, I had to make a short script that check one by one every pic item you have, counting your total. And it was quite a pain, to make sure I didn't forgot one, cause there's currently 55 pictures to sell in total, which is quite a lot !
But hey, that's one good thing done ! 4 out of 5 quest are completed (the fifth one is tied to the main story, which I'm still working on, but it's easy to implement). And from that, I'll have to do the scene of Illonia enjoying Elleria's finest dildos ! But that should be pretty quick, since it's just short 1 pic scene (and an anim for the final). Those scenes will be repeatable btw, accessed through Elleria's closet in the Elf's house !
So, what remains is also the main reason for the delay : the dialogues and interactions with the new characters duo. But this has gotten so massive that it deserve a section on its own, so let's go into it !
The main story content, and interactions with the new characters :
Careful, here's the part where I talk about game design. I have no special skill in that and improvising on the go, but I think I'm not too bad with that part. Anyway, I thought it could be interesting to explain my trails of thoughts on how I've tried to make everything work together !
So, the overall idea for this update was : add dildos to justify new animated scenes for masturbation skill, expand the map, add faction allegiance (the winner of the 500$ milestone poll), meet new characters (and add new winning scene in combat matching Illonia's new body, but it's not having an impact on the story). So, how do I put that together ?
Simple : make news maps, add camps for the main groups you've met until now (goblins and bandit) and that will have more content later on anyway, add a main character in that camp, like their chief, and they'll give you a quest, with a dildo as a reward, easy.
Yes, but how I "force" the player to go there, so that they know there's content up here and that they don't have to stumble on it by exploring (because a lot of people might think the main game is over, close it, and wait for an update). It's better that there's always an element of a main quest that drives you towards more content (I've also added a few dialogues and quest objective between the ogre fight and Illonia's transformation to guide player to the event, so you always have a quest objective to follow).
So, I need to make this part of the main quest. Okay, that could fit my plans for it anyway (plans I will not reveal, of course :P). Also, I have made three dildos, and have only two characters (or duos, but still). So why not use Ursula ? I already used showed her with some big toys, she would be perfectly fitting for that role. And of course, I need to find a reason to motivate Illonia to want a dildo, and go see Ursula to help with that. I've found a good reason, that's going nicely into my plans (not spoiling everything, you'll see when you play, even if it's nothing really surprising). Now you have a reason to see Ursula, and start the dildo hunt !
But I can't just have Ursula give a random quest so you get your reward and you're done, I want the players to meet the new characters and see all the work I've done in those areas. So let's make it so that her quest requires you to meet and interact the new characters ! Okay, I can do that, and it'll be fitting the general story I had in mind too.
It's at this point that I really started to pause and think were the overall story was going, and what I wanted to do with it. I had general ideas overall, and some cool narratives arc concepts, but nothing really clear, or definitive. It was now the time to dive in, make decisions of what I really wanted for the overall story, and what would be the next narratives arcs. Because that's how I envision the game overall, not a main big plot (sorry, there's no big demon king that you need to kill), but various intertwined narratives arcs, with a few things tying the whole thing together.
Anyway, back to our quest : we now have our reason to go explore the new areas and meet the new characters, so let's go for that ! Well, they can give you a quest to get your dildo and that'll do, but can't I make things more interesting ? And also, I need to add the faction allegiance mechanic (I've already done the consequences of it being high or low, but how do you get to those ?). Why not make both camp hate each other, so you can have options to choose a side, or stay completly neutral ? Good, let's make it so that the quest the new characters give you is about attacking the other camp, and getting something from there (so you have to visit all the places to get at least one dildo).
But hey, what about giving you more options ? What if you don't want to do the quest for that character ? Well, why not attack them, and if you win, you'll get your reward ? Making new boss fights would be a bit tiring, and I'd rather keep them for later, but hey, it's the opportunity to try a fight against multiple mobs at once. There won't be scene with it though, too much work. But maybe later, who knows ? Also, note that deciding to fight them won't completly block you : if you win, they'll give you the dildo, and will still be up to talk with you, and if you loose they'll just give you the quest you tried to avoid.
So looks like we have everything in place : you're forced to explore everything to progress on the main quest, you can help the new characters, or fight them for your reward. And all that will influence the reputation you have for each camp (when you do something that please one side, the other doesn't like it, and vice-versa). Great ! So let's make it even more complicated !!!
Because now is time to plan ahead. And to bring more choices during the interactions. I want people to be able to choose if they want to keep all the girl to themselves, to let just everyone fuck with everyone, or even maybe get NTR'd in the back. So during their dialogues, you'll have options to choose, and it'll influence a secret stat that's your relation (or more specially Illonia's relation) with them. For now, appart some dialogues changes and a few small events, it won't change a lot, but it'll have a role later on.
And that's why things are taking much more time than I thought. Not only there's much more dialogues and variation to take into account, I also have to plan ahead, and think of how all of your choices will have consequences.
So yeah, all of that to say... It's a lot more complex than I first imagined. But I like it. I think it'll make the game much more interesting, and you'll really start to have some choices impacting the story (but without necessarily drastically changing the game, like saving Elleria or not). And now I have a better idea of where I'm going next !
Another things I planne,d and I want to talked quickly about : for Ursula's quest, you'll need an item from each new character. And of course, they won't give it to you like that. Unless you have a high enough allegiance with their faction, then they'll be okay to let you have it. But of course, you can't have high allegiance with both group. So you'll have the other, and much obvious options: FUCK ! Well, Illonia at least, because neither Skadis nor Doggob have interest in Lothar (maybe Bambi, but she doesn't have a word in that, for the moment). I haven't done the scenes though, I'll keep that for the next update. And since you can't get both items at the moment, you only need one to complete Ursula's quest. But if you bring her the second one later, she'll have a special reward too ! (another scene to add next update !)
Anyway, I think I'll wrap up here. I hope it wasn't too confused, and that you liked that post. I've never really went into details like that, so tell me if you'd like to have more dev blog like those, or just stay back to more general infos. I also didn't expected this blog to be so long, so thanks for reading all of this ! ^^'
The BETA shouldn't be too far off, probably this week anyway, but I don't really want to give of more promises ^^' But it's close ! And thanks for your patience and support !!!
See you soon !
Comments
nobody333
Thank you for the inside look to your creation process. It made for a good read. Take your time to ponder over the overall story development. I think the game will be so much better for it.
