Alright, itās done now. Iāll just take one last look at it tomorrow before posting it. On the technical aspects the code works properly now so there are no āregularā errors, but I havenāt manually tested it yet to see that there arenāt any logic-errors in it(meaning the scenes are directed in the proper sequence to the proper nodes, etc).
Iād rather do it when Iām not tired, thus tomorrow. Itās a pretty big update so I want to make sure it works all the way around, and since it has a bunch of paths and so on thatāll take a while(probably not gonna try all the paths, just the more complex parts). Iāll naturally also need to write the first update post in three months, which might take some time as Iād like to explain whatās happened to those who only check the update posts.
This time itās a 100% guarantee that Iāll post the update tomorrow since Iām definitely not going to expand it this time, no matter what.
Contains: Talking at the station. Trip to hotel. (yes, only those two things Although there are several variants of each and theyāre pretty robust. Essentially a choice of one of three, and a conditional choice of one of three(depending on some choices made earlier)).
Current average playthrough:
Total average: 136,000(This update was around 60,000 words all in all, but the average increase was just 6k. Thus, as you can tell, it has a tremendous amount of variety. As mentioned above, you have a bunch of choices for the āmainā scenes, and each scene has a zillion dialogue options and so on. Mileage will vary GREATLY once again. The Mouse scenes are the shortest, I think, on both separate choices(sorry, subplot stuff and so on).)
Okay, after long, long last, weāre back to updates again.
For people who only read my posts when I update, the short version of what happened:
I had corona and some moderately heavy anxiety and I set up some too high expectations for myself and so on, which essentially meant I had a hard time working after the corona.
Fortunately it seems to be fixed at the moment. You never know with these things, but we can hope.
As for the latest delay that happened a few days agoā¦ well, I had corona. Again. Yes, I had corona TWICE during the making of this update.
Kinda makes me feel like it took too long to make.
I couldnāt believe how ridiculous it was and frankly I was embarrassed to say it since it felt like such an excuse.
This newer corona was way, way easier though, so I could just punch this update through despite it. Barely affected my performance after the first day or two of a slightly higher body temperature etc. (though Iāll obviously take it easy just in case now that Iāve posted this)
In any case, I hope people enjoy the latest stuff. Itās always hard to tell if itās good or not from a creators perspective, but Iām sure most of you will enjoy most of the content. (weāll use a poll to see if thatās true, though! Gotta keep some kind of standard for quality or things might devolve)
Also, in case you missed it, we got our first fan art from Cherry_Summer. Take a look, itās pretty fun. (and go give the original post some likes)
Back to the update.
As usual, Iāll be adding and rewriting some stuff on this update later on, partially due to subplot stuff for the Major Update, partially because I cut some stuff out since it didnāt seem to flow well, or I couldnāt get the type of grasp on the scene I wanted. I might also change when certain scenes or conversations happen, and so on.
In particular the bus-rideās both versions(with or without Mouse) will have much more content later on.(depending on how lazy I am, you might visit Mouseās apartment or invite him to your hotel room, weāll see, no promises).
Anyway, itād be nice if you could vote on the poll below. (the Mouse station scene will get the added stuff anyway, so assume youāll get a haxoring scene of typical quality there when you answer)
(if you have multiple playthroughs or you loaded to try all the stuff, tag as many things you like)
Your thoughts on the scenes you landed on
Bailey/Ambrose scene was fine as it is.
Bailey/Ambrose scene needs minor rework.
Bailey/Ambrose scene needs major rework.
Mouse station scene was fine as it is.
Mouse station scene needs minor rework.
Mouse station scene needs major rework.
Carrington station scene was fine as it is.
Carrington station scene needs minor rework.
Carrington station scene needs major rework.
Mouse bus ride scene was fine as it is.
Mouse bus ride scene needs minor rework.
Mouse bus ride scene needs major rework.
Bus ride WITHOUT Mouse was fine as it is.
Bus ride WITHOUT Mouse needs minor rework.
Bus ride WITHOUT Mouse needs major rework.
Car ride with Sheriff was fine as it is.
Car ride with Sheriff needs minor rework.
Car ride with Sheriff needs major rework.
0voters
The next update will be extremely plot based, so donāt expect too much character stuff for it.
Itās also a pretty huge scene by necessity since I canāt really do it in small parts, so it might take a while again(unless I end up cutting it down to a super basic version only, which I might. I have done stuff like that in the past after all).
However, this time letās hope itās more in the vein of a few weeks or maybe a month, not three months.
PS If you see any weird stuff, be sure to post it. I tested it all a bunch of times and didnāt see anything like some choice leading to a very out-of-place scene, but some of the stuff is pretty complicated coding-logic wise so itās possible that I made mistakes. If you spot them, would help a lot if you mentioned it. Or obviously unfinished stuff too, of course. Sometimes when I write massive dialogue trees I might accidentally slip in a half-finished consequence or the like.
So glad youāre back! I got covid too a few months ago and I know how you feel. Even if the fever was gone its hard to do basic tasks because you get tired easily and you cant just think straight on tasks like these, like thereās some fog in your brain.
Anyway, back to the game. What Iām doing is Iām playing two characters, one is your typical hero detective tasked with investigating NTPD by the futuristic IA, and the 2nd one is a cop involved in a corruption scandal who was sent by his boss in New Terminus because he hit on his wife.
Anyway Iām mentioning this because whenever I make a new character, I always choose the skills perception and charisma. I cant bring myself to equip my MC with say, paperwork or science skill. My main concern is that most players might ignore those two skills too, making them useless. My suggestion is, maybe make them more enticing maybe? Maybe its just me who find them useless and if thatās the case then you can ignore this. But if not well, I think you need to make them appealing for other players. Like maybe put a skill check on an important part that requires those two, or open up new line of clues which can be accessed if you have those two skills. Because Iāve noticed that charisma and perception always gets the limelight when it comes to skill checks.
Anyway, thatās all I have to say for now. I might be back after I read through the whole playthrough. Maybe even make a third MC who has paperwork and science.
Love it the new update!!! As always
I really like it the car ride with Sheriff, finallyyy we can know her, there was a poll about the possible ROs, I donāt know what I voted but now I definitely vote her as one of the options
Just curious, how do you have a the ride bus scene without Mouse? In all my playthroughs he exits the building with me and we go together to the bus station, I didnāt know going without him was possible.
Another thing, When you go with Carrington to talk to Zoe, you can make her your ally or arrest her, I donāt remember very well if itās real, Maybe I dreamed it (), but itās there a scene when you are talking to her in the hospital because you hurt her badly???
Thanks for the positive response everyone. Always nice to feel appreciated!
(and I forgot to mention this: Huge thanks for the likes throughout the three months. Did wonders to keep my motivation up to see that even the most insignificant post of mine had 5 likes, since it felt like people really cared. While my main motivation is and will always be āto do the best work I possibly canā, having people enjoy the work is a pretty a good secondary motivation )
Yeah, it was like that for the first time I got sick, but this second time I didnāt really have the ābrain fogā, just a general fatigue.
Youāre entirely right in your assessment. The fact is, itās way easier to think of ways to use Investigation and Negotiation compared to Science and Paperwork. Originally when I envisioned things I thought āIām sure itāll be fineā, but it really isnāt.
Iāll definitely take a look at the skills for the Major Update, since Iād like all four to be more or less equally cool and interesting.
Now, Iām not really a fan of symmetrical balance, so what I might end up doing is that the paperwork and science things might be more rare, but theyāll have a much bigger impact on the scenes/plot. That should make them feel relevant, even if theyāre rare.
In any case, I do pretty much agree with all that you said. Iāll also have to āsellā the skills better to the player when you originally choose them, Iād imagine.
Heh. Maybe save it for the fabled Major Update.
Thanks. Good to hear I didnāt write it for nothing. I figured people might enjoy it, but you never know.
Iāll see about the ROs when itās time, Iām sure people will have all kinds of different opinions about them before we get there, since thereās still a bunch of stuff to come.
He always exits the building with you(like Carrington), but hereās how you ride the bus without him:
You need one of two things. Either the Sheriff dislikes you and she offers Mouse the ride instead(after which depending on whether Mouse likes you or not, he might agree instantly, disagree instantly, or ask for your āpermissionā). Or, if the Sheriff doesnāt dislike you, but Mouse dislikes you, heāll still enter the bus but take a seat at the front while youāre at the back, should you refuse the ride from the Sheriff.
Originally the two bus rides were quite different, but I had to combine them a bit since I really couldnāt write the branches the way I liked yet. At present itās pretty much half the same, half different.
Still, thereāll be a lot of different stuff with the Major Update there, since at that point I will be able to write them(mostly due to subplot/etc stuff, since I was unsure whether to introduce/reinforce certain characters I wanted to at the bus scenes, etc. Youāll see what I mean much later).
You didnāt dream it up.
All of what you described are things that can happen. In fact, for that branch of the slums, youāll pretty much always end up in one of those three variants(with minor changes for some of them depending on a few things). Well, thereās one other option I believe, and it might be relevant for the next update, but I kinda doubt anyone even got that variant.
The hospital scene only happens if you really hurt Zoe during the arrest and DONāT heal her with a first aid kit or your cybernetics or such. Essentially a minor injury isnāt enough, you have to seriously injure her and then be unable to help her. Itās pretty unlikely, though.
Yeah, didnāt think that was possible either. I thought there was a three month immunity period, but apparently thatās old news. Plus, it does depend on whether I had the same variant the first time than I have now
The funny part is that Iām pretty rigorous with the anti-corona stuff(I always wear a mask when I leave the house, I avoid large groups, etc), but in the end itās just a question of statistics. If even one microbe infiltrates through your defences it can be enough to infect you. Like winning the reverse lottery.
I suppose it was something about your relationship with him, I donāt know if the characters like my MC bit with this, seems that the relationship with MC and Mouse is not bad
Iām gladly that the Sheriff likes my MC, It would have been very sad to read that :')
If the minor updates are good, I canāt imagine what are you going give us in the major update
I knew it! I will try this weekend to unlock that scene, Some time ago I tried to hurt her to see that scene, but it always ended in minor injures and interrogating her, maybe I take with me the medical kit, idk Do I have to make her angry since the beginning so she reacts more aggressive?
Alright, Iāll probably continue working tomorrow, so set in for a bunch of āno update todayā's again!
The main thing in it are the three sub-plots thatāre a really important part of the game and the story. Essentially each is an exclusive branch depending on where your investigation is going, and each will include itās own unique set of characters(both suspects/witnesses, but also cops), as well as finales.
Itās not called the āmajor updateā for nothing.
I donāt recall whether her attitude matters on getting the outcome you want. The scene has a zillion things that are taken into account, so itās a bit tough to check for me. I canāt just search for the ākeywordā that leads to the outcome, since you might get into that ākeywordā from a bunch of different choices, etc.
Anyway, just choose the type of things thatāll likely result in injury and youāll be fine.
Science is pretty integral to both of my mcās however. My older one is a bit more rough around the edges and has seen and maybe done some serious bad shit during the warsā¦remember that off hand comment to Still about having seen worse.
My young mc is also a science build but based more on Barry Allen from the series and a more eager and charismatic presence, being a science and charisma build. Also still a technological optimist while my old mc has become a staunch tech pessimist over the years.
Hmmmm, as a skill paperwork can be useful reading documents and obtaining crucial information without being hindered by jargon. Someone who is perceptive would still find a hard time sorting through mountains of documents with hard to understand jargon. Best example of a character who is great at paperwork would be Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Anyway paperwork can be a crucial skill reading documents especially financial ones, which ties to the murder victim.
Science? Maybe that MC is techie like Mouse, and has some decent understanding on the products of both companies, particularly Symbifriends which I see is an important part of the storyline.
Also, some thoughts unrelated to this. Idk if its just me but the game is getting railroady. Maybe at the end where I can drive around the city without Stillwater the MC has now some freedom to chase some downtime activities (e.g. my MC snooping aorund NTPD to find some dirt for the IA).
The setting up of the concert worries me. I hope that that scene is integral to the plot to make it less railroady, or again we get some downtime in which we can choose what things to do in Neo-Terminus.
So far the science mc seems to be a techie, but distinct from Mouse, sure they are no slouch with computers but, like mr. Allen, their main skills seem to be forensics and bioscience. Iām fine with that, let Mouse stay the hacker except for maybe some minor stuff.
Why not make Science help you handle Cyborgs and Tech stuff better? Say a non Science character would have a harder time figuring out what they can do against a cyborg opponents, hacking, and investigating terminals and things like that while Science characters are the opposite and have a much easier time doing everything i just said
Paperwork is much harder to find a usage though because i feel like Charisma is a better version but instead you would just be bluffing your way out of egregious demons known as Burecrats and Corp Executives.
Thanks for all the feedback, itās very precious to me. The more stuff you write, the better I can gauge whether what Iāve made has worked the way I intended it to or not. The worst thing you can do is stay silent if you feel something in Cyberpolice is awkward or bad.
To facilitate anonymous and easy feedback, Iām using the polls, so even if you canāt(or donāt want to) put what you think to words, please vote accordingly with how you feel.
Same goes for if you feel something is amazing, I want to know it so I can be sure things worked the way I wanted them to.(or even if something I haphazardly slapped across ends up being awesome. Sometimes a good surprise can lead to consistent good work. If I understand why something is good, I can reproduce it in the future.)
It certainly would be nice if I could cater to a wider variety of interpretations for the different skill-backgrounds, like what kind of a science character you are, and so on. Stuff like that is great to making the experience feel unique and memorable.
Thatās what I thought, but itās surprisingly hard to think of concrete actual examples in the story that make sense, at least for me. Abstract stuff is way easier, but if I want to make it āfeelā important it needs to be specific instead of abstract. āLike you spot detail XYZā and such, and that takes a lot of thinking since I need to have an even deeper understanding of the plot details than I normally do. Which, I guess, is good in a way, but itās also a lot of work.
Thatās one of the things Iāve been focusing on, but theyāre relevant only later on once you actually start seeing the stuff(next update should include some examples).
Interesting. What do you specifically mean by railroading? Is it more of the a) Plot is forced to a single specific direction without player input, or b) Plot is forced to some direction without player input.
What I mean by the difference is that does it feel like nothing you choose matters, or that some things you choose donāt matter? Itās a bit hard to put to words for me, I guess, but the distinction is important.
The fact is that I hate stories that go nowhere. As such, the story will advance to a specific direction without the playerās input(the other characters do police work as well, after all, even if itās sometimes off-screen).
Not to mention that if I didnāt railroad it to some degree, thereād be a massive amount of bloating going on. I prefer a somewhat railroaded story thatās always good, to a not-at-all-railroaded story where you might end up with a boring and pointless story if you make the wrong choices.
But if it feels forced in a particularly negative way, then itās certainly a problem. Itād help a lot if you could explain in more detail what you mean by railroading.
I do agree that certain aspects are railroaded, by necessity as mention above and by the simple fact that this is just the main/default/basic path of the story at the moment(the subplots in particular make it way less railroady, Iād think).
Still, itās a very important concern for sure, so Iād love to hear more.
If you mean it in the player-agency kind of way(where you decide where you go, rather than just tagging along with the NPCs), then that does/will happen at times, but admittedly is not a very common occurrence.
As for the concert, whether itāll end up being important or not depends on your branches and so on. Without spoiling too much I can say that it CAN be important, or that it might NOT be important, depending on a bunch of stuff. (of course anything I say now about theoretical future content isnāt set in stone, so who knows, but the idea is that itās not integral to the main plot anyway).
Itās possible Iāve drawn too much attention to the concert recently, I guess. (Partially because itās easy to write stuff for it since itās simple compared to the other stuff, so I tend to write concert-related descriptions way more easily than other things. If you could only see the stuff Iāve decided not to include yet about other sub-plot stuffā¦ (comparatively speaking the concert is a relatively minor thing for most paths, and you might not even come across it in any way))
From what I understood, the point of what you wrote is pretty much āmore down time pleaseā and āmore player driven locations and actionsā, correct? If Iām wrong, please do explain what you meant.
The distiction is indeed that. Mouse is the hacking/computer expert, while the player is more of a sciency-science expert(biology, chemistry, etc).
The problem with including cybernetics and the like in Science is that itād infringe too much on Mouseās expertise, and thus make him redundant as a character. And it might lead to awkward situations where Mouse explains something that the playerās characters knows already, etc.
Still, those are good suggestions for times when Mouse isnāt around for some reason, Iāll make a note of them. Not to mention for times when Mouse might be around, but is at the other end of a phonecall while tha player is physically present in a scene, etc.
In any case, if I feel like I canāt do all the skills justice by the time Iāve made the Major Update, Iāll probably remove/replace/combine the skills. I kinda hate it when some skills are ābetterā than others, so Iād like to have balance in them. It doesnāt need to be symmetrical balance, as long as each skill makes the gameplay/story feel unique and worthwhile.