How many powers can the villian have?
1 Like
As it stands, you can choose 2 powers, but I did include the option to pursue a 3rd power in the upgrade menu (although it requires more funds than are possible to accumulate yet). Iāll figure out in the next months whether or not to actually allow players to grab a third power. I need to be careful not to make the game too complicated, but I donāt think it would complicate things very much codewise. Plus, it could lead to a pretty cool scene.
6 Likes
Pardon another poll, but these really help me with game design.
What did your MC choose to do on the Putty side mission?
- My MC left, leaving Funds and reputation at the status quo.
- My MC attacked the Circus, giving up Funds to keep MCās reputation stronger.
- My MC robbed the bank with the Circus, prioritizing Funds over reputation.
0 voters
(Also, I anticipate that the āleave optionā will be by far the lowest picked because it provides the least amount of contact. Any suggestions for content I could provide to players deciding to leave? Perhaps a scene where you practice some maneuvers at your base, letting you earn 1 Plot Armor or something like that?)
3 Likes
Iāll be honest, I only fought the circus because I wanted to smash some people into puttyā¦ So to speak. The relationship hit and the lack of any cash was a bummer but the rep increase and The clobbering weāre worth it
3 Likes
Will the story be short or will it be similar to community college hero in content
2 Likes
I donāt know. Itās an issue I probably need to get feedback on now, though.
When I started writing the game, I planned to go long but not wide or deep; I thought maybe a 250k-word game (bigger than CCH2) could do justice to your MC"s long journey. But things have changed. Now with 30 Powers/Skills, 3 different Allies paths, 5 different Origin paths (which I havenāt even mentioned yet), itās clear the game is going wide, too. Combining long with wide really boosts the potential word count, so I need to reconsider my approach.
The 1st Module will end up being about 50k words, meaning that 5 Modules would equal roughly 250k words total, very close to my original estimate. However, with the slow pacing Iāve established, and the promise of covering decades of your adventures, I just donāt see how I can cover your villainās entire story in 5 Modules.
So yes, another poll. I think itās an important one too, as I need to figure this out before jumping into Module 2. Thereās also the matter of CCH3; Iāll need to return to it at some point.
Which approach would you prefer I take for this game?
- I think you should release the game in 250k-word chunks, with IAPs, like Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven. That way it can continue for as long as it needs to.
- I think you should quicken the pacing and do away with some of the planned width (like Origin story arcs) to make a single, 250k-word game more possible.
- I would consider supporting you on Patreon if that enabled you to take your time and release the game as one huge, single game of 500k+ words.
0 voters
11 Likes
I donāt know if I sound annoying but personally I feel like CCH3 would give more revenue and passive income as you work on Last monologue so CCH3 would be a much higher priority.
2 Likes
No, itās not annoying. I donāt mind input about big picture stuff at all, as long as itās given in a thoughtful way.
Itās never clear to me which games will do well and which ones wonāt. The CCH series has done well imo, but the thing with a series is that, yes, you have some built-in audience for each subsequent release, but you also have some folks who have already bowed out and will never jump back in. And you probably suffer more attrition with each release. I guess thatās my way of saying that Monologue could easily outsell CCH3. A lot of folks are willing to give a new series a chance.
Anyway, assuming I get similar poll feedback from my email list, I think my current plan is to push ahead and finish Part 1 of Monologue and submit it to Hosted Games by the end of the year, and then work on CCH3 until itās done.
12 Likes
The update is live.
The Gold Fox mission scene swelled to 11,000 words. Geez. Itās not super long, but very wide, with a ridiculous number of scenes unique to each available power, as well as sword/gun for humans. Hopefully the main decision in the mission is a tough one; itās similar to the decision in the Putty mission.
As always, please point out any bugs!
My plan is to jump into the Sizgollok mission and hopefully finish that by next Friday, but Iām not sure I can do another 11,000-word week. 
We shall see!
And after that is done, Iāll fix any bugs in Module 1 and then move into Module 2.
20 Likes
Gotta say, Gold Fox definitely isnāt my type of sidekick. I tested all routes with her that I could with my regular build (energy tech speedster).
It was all okay. Blowing up an Aston Martin is kinda anticlimactic, even when compared to the other sidekicks. I know Fox is older, and theyāre all about sending messages, but it was just too small scale for me, even taking in consideration that weāre a new villain. I really donāt know any character that would put up with her modus operandi unless they were instantly crazy for Fox or are similar in character. Otherwise, it kinda falls flat for anyone else, like my character.
No biggie, she fits her archetype, and thatās the point of having three different sidekicks to choose from, but I suppose, in my opinion, itās still a little disappointing from the other perspectives, too. Maybe someone playing her style of villain would get way more outta the mission, but not for me. Being able to just slip inside the car and drive away to sell it and abandon Fox outta nowhere was pretty hilarious, but beating up some powered Joker wannabes was way more fun than this.
Canāt wait to see the demonās route!
2 Likes
@Lucha_Markre I hope that way (way, way) down the line, some uber powerful characters are reminiscing about the simpler times when they were attacking city councils, freeing zoo animals, and blowing up cars.
Can I get feedback on two things?
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Can anyone suggest any awesome demon names? I sorta hate the demon name I picked (from a demon name generator) and I want to change it. The only real requirement is that it be non-gendered. And if it sounded super evil that would be great. Okay, thatā the easy one. Onto the harder one.
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I guess this could be troubling for some, so Iāll put it in spoiler tags, but basically itās my idea for the side mission scene for the demon side mission. Itās basically your introduction to them. So the āmissionā ends up being the demon recruited you to help the demon kill their present host. The demon calls this āshedding,ā like a snake sheds its skin. They want you to use your powers/abilities to kill the host body in the most glorious/gruesome/possibly public way possible, and then the demon will inhabit a new body. Since youāll be violently slaughtering an innocent person (in some detail), I didnāt know if this was going too dark. The Demon says youāll get some cred and even offers you some $. But this is probably a lot more āevilā than robbing a bank (Putty) or blowing up a car (Gold Fox) so I figured Iād solicit some feedback. Is it too much? Just like with the other side missions, youāll be given the choice to leave and train at your base, but helping the demon will be the only to gain Funds/Legend Points on this path.
7 Likes
In answer to #2, I donāt think thatās too much. I realize your games frequently go with a lighter tone, and this is certainly lighter than many villain MC gamesā¦ but youāre still a villain. Itāsā¦ not something my MC would want to do, but thatās just my MC, not everyone.
15 Likes
Iād just pick a nickname, honestly. āDemons never reveal their true nameā is an old staple at this point, so having a demon going by something like āShadeā or āFrostā or āxxWeedLord420xxā or whatever alias they prefer always works, and it avoids the trouble of trying to pick a name that sounds inhuman without sounding ridiculous.
As for the second, maybe just give a warning when you pick them like āAre you sure about this? Demons are capital-E Evil and they may want you to kill innocents, kick puppies, and burn down orphanages. If youāre not cool with that you should pick one of the others. [Iām fine with that, I hate puppies/On second thoughtā¦]ā.
12 Likes
I agree with others in saying people should know what theyāre getting into when they decide to cooperate with a Demon of all things. Itās like when people complained about the violence the MC wrought in Demon: Recollect. Shock-horror! Think of the children!
If you still wish to keep things a bit more PG, you could instead make the mission involve the player kidnapping the new host for the Demonic āsheddingā ritual to take place instead of having the MC actively participate in any un-aliving.
As for a demon name, I am an absolute sucker for Balthazar. However, that might be a tad too male-y. If you donāt mind some borrowing from the ancients then Baal sounds NB enough for todayās sensibilities.
4 Likes
- Engoria
- Russkilik
- Warinzi
- Fatalisk
- Aik
- Kilskreeonk
- Yorynthnir
- Geksoliss
- Igorib
- Zerrynthortsk
- Fonkul
- Woarintyrst
- Hekskotyl
- Quaxok
- Vaneyul
- Qwar
- Ulyx
- Hobgot
- Wasolp
- Pixitar
2 Likes
hey great story canāt wait to see more keep up the great work.
1 Like
Well Iāve experimented a bit here.
There should be a mechanic, Iām thinking costing money, to heal our sidekick.
If I can afford to enhance my sidekick, I ought to be able to afford medical care too.
Not all stats are equal, Iāve found.
A mystic can have time travel and ice powers and get plenty of options, ditto a mad scientist with robots and mind control.
But other options are rather redundant- flight and speed? Raging and growth? Regeneration and protective force field? Just not as versatile.
And if we double specialize to avoid that, then we fail a lot.
Like my alien regenerating speedster- Only a 40% chance of succeeding on a speed test. With superspeed. While not the end of the world with plot armor points, thatās not great, being both superhumanly fast and largely incompetent at the same time in the same area, at the same time.
6 Likes
found a bug, first option, no brackets chances text
1 Like
@Gapaot Iāll have to figure out that bug. It probably has something to do with me recently renaming Skill to Precision.
@Zain_Asghar Iām glad youāre enjoying it!
@stsword I agree that fewer folks will probably double dip into the Speed powers for roleplay or synergy reasons but that ā40%ā issue you cite wonāt last any time at all. Hell, you could possibly upgrade Speed at the end of Module 1, which , as it stands now, would already pump you up to 60% (this is all subject to change, as I need to make sure MCs arenāt OPed by the end of Part 1; itās possible those stat upgrades may need to be downgraded to 10% bumps). Based on the poll results, I really need to look at a big picture of the game going on for quite a while. Progress needs to slow but steady. I may have to reevaulate stats, checks, upgrades when Part 1 is done, but for now Iām trying to balance it the best I can.
@Lucha_Markre Damn that is a lot of names. Thanks!
@TheZod I am actually okay with pushing the line a bit. I mean, certain things are just OUT, no matter what (sexual assault, hate crimes, anything involving kids) as I wouldnāt write them anyway, and the platforms (and Hosted Game) wouldnāt allow them even if someone wrote them. So where is āthe lineā then in this context? Iām not sure. I suspect a long torture scene might be the line? But yes I think Iāll add a warning to players before they pick the demon route indicating that if they arenāt up for some really questionable shit, theyāll end up training a lot at home on this route.
@KZV Yep, I think the warning is the way to go. And thanks for the tip about demon names. Yeah, I guess I could even make the āreal nameā thing a mystery that the MC never figures out, itās just out there. Something like Shade might work for sure. I will think on it.
@geldar Yeah Iām not sure my MC would go that route, either, but I want to offer up different flavors for the routes. I envision the Putty route to be more of a Spider Man vibe, lots of colorful characters but not as intense. I envision Gold Fox to be more of Batman vibe, with a darker criminal underworld, and I envision the demon route to be, well, fāed up with some supernatural stuff and lots of boundary-pushing (MC should worry that the demon will eventually move to possess the MC).
3 Likes
These polls have been ridiculously helpful, so Iāll keep using them to shape the game.
The basic structure of the game will be a series of Modules, with each Module being set up to include 4 testing choices, each will offer some combination of rewards including Funds, Legend Points, Plot Armor, etc.
But how many of you would choose to temporarily DEVIATE from the āgrindā of the Testing Choices to pursue more social interactions, if given a chance?
Letās say your MC was given the chance to skip two testing choices in Module 2 in exchange for more social time with other villains, heroes, your sidekick, your robots/peons, and even civilians? Your MC would be sacrificing the chance to earn some Funds and Legend Points, but would the chance for fun and interactions be worth it? You could maybe use some Funds to buy a gift or do a favor, or use your Legend Points to score the best table at an underground restaurant catering to more nefarious types? You might strike up a romance or make a new valuable contact, who knows?
- Nope. My MC is focusing on becoming as powerful as possible and GRINDING it out for every single Fund and Legend Point.
- Maybe? My MC would grind most of the time, but might explore social scenes once in a while.
- Definitely! I can see my MC socializing as much as possible even if it slows my MCās progress. Bring on the networking and romance!
0 voters
3 Likes