Hello! Howâs everyone liking the update and the new NP mechanic so far?
If you havenât yet, please consider answering the new survey, even if you donât have a playthrough code! Itâll help me a lot in figuring out where I should take the NP mechanic in the future.
Anyway, Iâm planning another smaller update after Iâve recovered:
Extra ancestry flavor text
New NP option to ask Julie/Robert to pick you up even if your MC isnât short
An entirely new discoverable secret for Tito Nestor that can help you with your sidequest
[T-Rex Tooth Replica] Souvenir will now give extra Max NP on successful Intimidation checks
A super special surprise!
Iâm also gonna make an updated post about all the new ancestry/heritage/souvenir effects, so you can pick much easier if you want to choose your traits according to the bonuses instead.
Itâs kind of making me balk because it reminds me of all those free-to-play story games where you need to pay money to get a good ending, so Iâm stubbornly avoiding using NP as much as I can, but otherwise, no complaints. Retconning reality is a weird feeling, which is the other reason I keep avoiding to use it.
On the plus side, I finally figured out how to make a werewolf superhero.
Ha! I do poke a bit of fun with that in the âChoose Your Own Canonâ game in MCâs phone. Of course the difference is you can totally regain your NP, so itâs much more like âmana/magic pointsâ in other games.
But yes, Iâm not intending to block actual important/branching options with NP. If anything, Iâm giving you extra options (such as making you succeed when you fail a stat check, or making you pick an option thatâs restricted by one of your traits). Iâm also using it to acknowledge things that MC could âpotentially doâ in a certain situation, but wouldnât fit the story. Oh, and Iâm also planning some of the more expensive NP choices to be pickable in a NewGame+ playthrough!
I do worry I put a bit too much NP choices this early, especially since this mechanic wasnât originally planned until Volume 2 at the earliest. I guess I was just worrying the update wasnât big enough for having to wait this long. But itâs always been in the background even before, as you can tell from the prologue choices and saving Rosie from the bus scene. It also probably isnât a big surprise if youâve already read IAC.
But yes, NOT using NP is a totally valid playstyle and why it is will be evident later in Chapter 7 and 8.
Haha, yes! There will definitely be special interactions with Squad 626 as a werewolf superhero.
The NP outfit choices are mostly cosmetic for the most part, but Iâm also planning to make new character art for those choices in the future (which is why I donât wanna overdo it).
Also, some choices like making Wayne wear a skirt and making JM wear semiformal attire have special dialogue and will unlock a new secret in Wayneâs case.
Oh, I would consider MCs with the [Extra-Galactic Adaptability] Trait aliens!
The trait implies that the stat bonuses MC gets is from their âalien physiologyâ. Itâs a bit weird to call your own ancestry âalienâ when itâs your own. Plus I just didnât want to call the trait âAlien Ancestryâ to make it sound a bit fancier.
By the way, I forgot to say that I wasnât even thinking about special interactions⌠my MC in IAC was a werewolf superhero (with a lightsaber), and the thought was just so plain awesome
I mean, I went with aspins/puspins for a reason. But even if that wasnât the case, Iâm gonna have to make artwork for MCâs pet in the future, and letting you pick a breed just isnât worth it.
It also didnât make sense at the time for MC to be able to choose what kind of breed/color the pet would be since the pet was a surprise from Julie/Robert, but now that the NP options are available, you make a good point.
I think being able to change their color would be a good compromise, but I think Iâll remove the NP choice to change Mayariâs color. Thereâs a reason Iâm making her black, and that wasnât really planned anyway.
Ohh no you got me confused now too. I described her as grayish-black, but to me sheâs more black than gray. But I guess gray is still technically correct.
Ahhh, I probably glazed over âblackâ and stopped at âgrayishâ, thinking âthat does sound like Moonâ. (My brain does not always want to pick up the details.)
Ugh. Ate Sam is pretty lucky he doesnât have to deal with the⌠you know, girl thing. As if she doesnât already tease me about being moody all the time.
The wrong pronoun was used where it says he instead of she.
Thank you for the report! I fixed it along with another bug in JM Sr.'s diary entry.
Iâm not sure if you mean this in a positive or negative way? Either way, I feel like I have to re-emphasize that the story is primarily a slice-of-life, so the overall pacing of the story will mostly stay the same in Vol. 2 after we get to Wayneâs Story World.
Volume 1 through 6 only spans about one to two weeks actually, but of course the end of each volume will have a big climactic set piece.
Thank you! If I may ask, which are your favorite scenes and choices in the latest update?
