Devlog - Content takes time


So, I reached a point where I can post the first prototype of the game for people to try. I decided to polish it to a working prototype state before continuing production by making a different prototype.

Why?

This took too long to make, and art isn't even in it yet.

I did spend quite a bit of time on writing, but a lot more was spent on covering for all the variations in the story flow, including completely scrapping certain event directions and minimizing choices after big overlaps. And I am not too happy with my writing either.

One of the core ideas I had to follow for the game was to have meaningful choices and a good variety of them. Turns out, if you have a choice that requires a dice roll, that is a choice that has two outcomes that both need to be written, but the player only sees one choice presented to them. So, some in game choices appear to only have 3 choices but I have to write 6 events to cover their outcomes. Some lead to similar results so I can reuse the flow, but a lot of them are completely different, and it takes a lot until the flow returns back (if at all).

This on it's own is not that bad, but the exponential complexity really leads to a lot of work that cannot be anticipated in advance. And I am uncertain if readers will even appreciate the effort put in for all the little nuances and variants. And if you are lucky with your rolls, you will entirely miss most of the meat of the story, which is not the best way to 'reward' players.

Here I only made a single event (technically 3 successive ones) and it took me several weeks to put together, and I do not feel like I made enough content to make it worth the time invested. And the illustrations haven't even been started xD

So, I want to try a different type of prototype once I finish the art for this one. One that is a lot more neutral and 'gamey' in it's presentation of events. Minimize words and focus more on showing than telling.

What shape it will be is yet to be decided.

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

i think a way to resolve the ¨unseen content ¨ problem is to have an after-game 'section' that can only be completed/experienced if you have seen enough of the game. 

it could be a book that fills up with lore/fluff, a HARDCORE playable section that can only be beaten if you really know what you are doing, or simply a box of clues that help you figure out what really was goin on in the story.

this would also require a system that, upon re-plays, helps you avoid  paths that had already been traveled or partially travelled.

Since it is a hentai game, I had planned for making a gallery of sorts, since it's expected xD

I figured you could replay events you completed, along with percentages on how many paths you explored in each one. You could look only at the images too, but I think story is important.

I also considered making a separate unlockable mode where you could set up your own string of events to explore all the options with the set ups you want. Would be more of a puzzle thing where you are working to find the triggers that would make sense for the given events, since the main game run would be randomly arranged.

Even now, in the sample prototype I posted, there is a single 100% path to avoid the conflict entirely, but you would probably need to understand how the events play out in advance.