Bound By Night
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Walkthrough Updated and Notes for Next Build
🕑 Added 2022-08-30 18:25:08 +0000 UTC
(This post is a duplicate of one that just went up on Itch.Io.)
Hey everyone. I hope you're enjoying the latest build and getting into some fun there at the end! 😘 This post is an effort to address some of the questions I've been getting about greyed-out menu options in the latest build. There are some minor spoilers ahead and it assumes you've played through the game, but I've tried to keep the major spoilers restricted to the new Walkthrough document (link).
But, here's the short version: In response to some questions I'm getting about how to unlock certain choices, I've updated the Walkthrough document available on Itch. (NOTE FOR PATRONS: You can also download the Walkthrough via Mega.)
If you've got questions, check it out! Now, the longer version.
Changes to the Code
One of the things I changed in this build is that instead of hiding unavailable options, I decided to let them appear for you but be greyed out. I did this because I realized folks were missing some content they didn't even know existed. (The new image gallery on PC and Mac is also an effort to highlight content you may not have found yet, as you'll only see images there if you've seen them in the game.) But, as a consequence, I'm getting a lot of questions about how to unlock certain things.
The Updated Walkthrough
Instead of trying to keep answering those one-by-one, I instead updated the walkthrough documentation. Because a lot of BBN is based on relationship scores, it's hard to give a precise "step-by-step" instruction as I've intentionally tried to design it so that you can make some decisions that can upset another character but not ruin the relationship. Hopefully you will find there is enough detail to guide you in the right direction.
There is one scene that is generating a lot of questions, and that's the big menu at the end of chapter 12 in which you can decide how to react to your "surprise" in Mayhew's tower, specifically the first two options on that menu. This is discussed in the new Walkthrough, and you can find additional detail in a recent Twitter post (link) (spoilers!). In short, options 1 and 2 depend on whether you expressed interest in explicit content with shifted werewolves earlier in the game. Option 1 is the human-option, and option 2 (a/k/a "submit") is the shifted werewolf-option.
At present these options are available in an either/or scenario. You either get one or the other, you can never have both, and the availability depends on whether you opted out of the werewolf content. For reasons discussed below, that was dumb of me and I'm going to change it, but that's what is going on. There are two chances to opt out of the werewolf content, and the updated walkthrough tells you exactly where they are (in chapters 8 and 10).
Design Notes and Next Steps
As background, this wound up happening because the first scene I wrote was for the shifted werewolf content. Having written that, I decided I wanted to include some content for folks who weren't into monster-kinks, and so I wrote the code for that menu as "If player is into werewolves, then option x; if not into werewolves, then option y."
In retrospect, I should have made Option 1 (the human-option) should be available to everyone, and I'm going to change that in Build 0.10 to unlock it for everyone. I'm also going to update some dialogue in Chapter 10 to clarify the significance of the opt-out choice in that scene, as well as offer a third choice that basically says, "I don't want the character to look right now, but I'm still interested in other situations."
Alright, I hope that helps clarify a lot of the questions I'm getting. If not, please let me know and I'll try to answer as best I can.
Comments
Terra
Thank you for the info! I recognize it can be a lot to ask for insight into your vison for some of the game's characters, so I appreciate what you were able to give me. And as always, I love the project and am grateful for all the hard work you pour into it! :]
Bound By Night
Great question. Santino definitely has a relationship score, but he's not currently planned as a central character. Having said that, having a good relationship with him opens some dialogue, and certain choices unlock other choices later that help you navigate Mayhew's conversations. Not huge in terms of mechanics but some extra flavor. I haven't quite decided yet how extensive his role is going to be later. Connor is a patron-sponsored character. He's popular enough I'm going to weave him into the story fairly extensively, but I'm writing him without a relationship score for now. So, certain choices are remembered but it's less complicated with him.
Terra
I had a question not quite related to this topic, but that came up in lieu of the updated walkthrough. I was wondering if it was worth investing in characters like Santino or Connor that don't seem to have the same relationship score mechanics as people like Nick or Ronan. Connor's actually been my favorite character so far, but if there's no real "route" for him, or if the route he does have isn't as relevant as the other main characters, then I would probably want to prioritize other plot paths before him. Thank you! And thanks for the updated walkthrough and clarification in this post as well!
