I’m excited because the update will include the first testing choices!
For now, I have decided to input more informational text than I usually do. I think this will help playtesters better spot bugs and understand their success/failure towards certain goals.
For example, you may see something like (You made no progress toward End-Game Goal: Lead Zenith Army) or (Plus 1 to End Game Goal: Lead Zenith Army) after failing a certain stat check.
Whether or not I take those out when I’m done, who knows.
I didn’t like not being able to do the mission where you get your scanner/armor/powers.
It is really the case of “show, don’t tell”. After all the hype building in the second game, it felt flat not actually doing it in game.
I get what you’re saying, trust me I do, but it just wasn’t doable, and I’m sticking with the structure I have. I The reasons I structured the story the way I have are discussed (at length) above, but essentially I wrote myself into a corner (destroying all the MC’s gear at the end of Part 2, thus really f*cking up the primary stats).
I hope folks can still enjoy the story as I’m moving it forward. By not spending all that time on a solo journey, I can devote more time to interactions with other students, romances and social scenes, school scenes, and all that stuff that folks seem to like the most anyway. And I’ll likely toss in some flashbacks about your journey through the story.
I actually like story’s where the hero doesn’t have his armour or weapons. As it forces the person to rely on their brain and think more creatively. Please keep up the awesome writing. Also really looking forward to the endgame of this trilogy.
Okay, I am home all day today and plan to go absolutely nowhere. Let’s see how many words I can get done today. I’ll update this post throughout the day.
Start time: 10:24 AM EST
As of 1:07 PM, I’m up 465 total words for the day. I spent some time tweaking/editing, so that slowed me down, as did lunch with the fam.
As of 3:44 PM, I’m just to 971 total words for the day. But I have an adult beverage in my hand now, so it’s all good.
Slow progress thanks to lots of kid time today, which is not a bad thing. As of 9:30PM, I’m just to 1,268 words for the day. But the kids are getting ready for bed, so I have one more spurt of writing energy.
The spurt was short. It’s 11:10PM, and when I looked at my word count, I realized I was right at 1,500 words for the day. So I’ll take it.
And I know I keep talking about game balance above all else, so this why!
I pantsed pretty all of CCH1 (which resulted in significant balance issues, like all stats not being tested equally, a lack of long-distance stat checks, DG getting more social scenes than anyone, etc) and now I’m trying to be the ultimate planner/plotter…
So, with the stats being boosted so much, i guess the ‘Stats Check’ will also higher.
I keep complaining, i know. I’m just looking for something to kill time which is annoying other people :)) so i probably won’t care when i play it. Hope you can finish it soon!
Yep, I’m using many of the techniques I used in Zip!
The first testing choices will be simple, with fairly low checks.This is designed to let the player adapt to the learning curve, introduce all of the potential Mid-Game and End-Game goals, and mirror the lower stakes at the start of the story.
Then as the game continues, testing choices become tougher, with higher stat checks, pulling the player in different directions, presenting different potential goals to pursue, sometimes in the same choice. Also I’ll introduce tiered results, meaning that results may be more nuanced than pass/fail. There may be middle results indicating partial success. This is all meant to mirror the higher stakes and provide more tension.
So, is there a way adding a “Stats Check” which appears whenever it does? Like when you fight, it’ll say how many Pow to successfully hurt the opponent or Thud to take a hit. It’ll ruin the suprises and spoil the story a little, probably too complicated as well but it’ll be more clear on what do you need.
For establishing choices, I’m fine with notifications. The same goes for increases/decreases to Ouch, Yay, and Relationships, since you can see those on the stats sheet anyway.
But overtly notifying the player of the necessary stat for a stat check is a different matter entirely; as you said, it ruins the element of surprise. I think I can, through the narrative, hint to a player if a particular choice option is harder or more demanding than they might think, but to flat out include the stat number needed seems too far for me to go.
The story is up to 20.3k total words (not counting character creation) (Average playthrough length is 10.1k words, but that includes character creation).
This update is the flight from New York to San Francisco. I’ve tested it thoroughly; it should be clean other than maybe some typos.
BUT if you find a bug please report it.
I’ve also made some tweaks based on forum feedback (I tweaked the mention of Savior’s loyalty imprint/helmet stuff, I took away an Ouch modifier during Black Bullet, as I felt one was enough, and I added a stat boost that is archetype-dependent as a concession to folks who felt their old background should be more of a factor in their new build)
I’m already diving into the next update as I practice social distancing (other than work). Stay safe and I hope you enjoy the new content!
Things on the punch-list for potential changes/additions at a later date:
Perhaps re-work the structure of the very first scene
Update to your uniform (but will probably be included later in Issue 9, after returning from SF mission)
Recap of CCH1-2: Something I’ll add to a menu at the start of the game
When you fight Blackbullet, you’re supposed to gain 10% Ouch but instead have your Ouch set to 10. Later when you use the medpack, you’re supposed to lose 10% Ouch, which is taken by the system to mean only losing 1 point of Ouch, setting you at a total of 9 Ouch.
I also tested what would happen when you use your power on the flight. Ouch is set to %+10, which somehow takes you from 10 Ouch to 19 Ouch. Using the medkit in this case will set you at 18 Ouch.
I feel like either the Ouch additions or the medkit are not working as intended.
Other than the potential bug, looking good on the update. I’m really happy to have the archetype bonus added, as it better lets me roleplay my “main” soldier-turned-tactician in all his toughness. I’m also happy seeing more of Rain, as she’s my favorite of the Afterthoughts.
As a side note, it’s perhaps counter-productive for Downfall to hurt her own trooper right before sending them into a potentially lethal situation. It might be better to have her threaten the MC with more brutal training upon return to Prestige (assuming both actually make it back there). By doing that, we can still have a higher Ouch as punishment without it being on the way to a crucial mission.
First, to your second point. You make a good…uh…point. You could probably tell I wanted to introduce a slight punishment to the player in exchange for them using their power/insta-pass option, but yeah the timing of Downfall’s slapping you around doesn’t seem wise, even for her. I think I might make that Ouch punishment a delayed scene as you suggested.
Now to your first point (‘potential bug’), that’s how Fairmath works. So the code is working exactly as it should, but me being in my writer’s bubble tend to forget that like 99% of people don’t know what fairmath is. So when I post the (plus 10% to xyz), they rightfully assume it means “normal 10% bump” instead of “fairmath 10% bump”. So I might need to just delete the notification in parenthesis.
You point out that using the med kit really doesn’t move the needle, and you’re right. I need to make that at least a 30% fairmath ouch decrease, meaning that someone with 10% ouch would have their ouch reduced to 7%. That’s still not much, but it’s more than what I have now.
Small question. If you reveal your identity to just one classmate in Book 2, will the final version of Book 3 count that as telling everyone in class your identity, or is there going to be a variable surrounding that? It’s a nagging thing from the demo that’s bothering me, and actually something I’ve been wondering about for a while.
Alright, questions time, will the stats be as high as the demo or are you just boosted it for a better experience? No way you’re only writing that much and upload it while you write, I’ll probably learn something from reading all the comments above but oh well, lazy me :)) so how your progress on the game?
I see i have choices to talk to my friends (Stunner or DG) or train to better a stat, will there be something different while I’m playing if i talk to them instead? Or is it just to boost relationship like it said?
Will i be able to spend MONEY on anything other than meds like the other two? (I read that you’re already planned for a different costume for the character, not many talk about it, yes, CUZ PEOPLE SO DISTRACTED BY THE POSSIBILITIES AND THE NEXT GAME! The story is too darn good alright!)
Again, I’ll say, there will not be a heart warming reunion with Origami (sorry if i say her name wrong), i can see you’re making us think she is still alive somehow and I’m not liking my thoughts about how many ways she could come back, i know if she just show up like “Hey! I’m alive!” The “happy reunion” just will be lame and frustrating (to me atleast), so IF she’s on the other side, may you have a good come up story for it
Remember to provide actionable feedback. Opinions are o.k., as long as they are actionable for the author … stating opinions as thinly veiled threats is not o.k.
Anyway, sorry if my last comment did spoil something, it’s just one of my many thoughts, if it’s sounded bullshit then it’s bullshit, don’t hurt your head over it.
The update is touche. But I think the last choice should be made purely as a stats development choice and let the relationship choices be made differently.
Honestly my plan is to try to pull the MC in as many directions as possible. If an MC/player thinks, “I don’t want to choose between these,” then that’s what I’m going for.
I’ll likely space out 5 more similar choices in the first half of the story, each with conflicting choices for relationships, ouch (or maybe money), and primary stat bumps. Then once I’ve presented possible stat bumps for each of the 6 stats, I will raise the difficulty for testing choices.
You could probably tell I wanted to introduce a slight punishment to the player in exchange for them using their power/insta-pass option, but yeah the timing of Downfall’s slapping you around doesn’t seem wise, even for her. I think I might make that Ouch punishment a delayed scene as you suggested.