Back 2 Work - ALPHA #2 Goals (Patreon)

Hello folks,

I hope everyone is doing well :) 

I'd intended to get this "quick" post out to everyone yesterday, but I wanted to do a bit more planning and testing first just to make sure some of the things I wanted to get done were possible the way I had imagined.  

Anyway, before we get started, as you can see from the images attached to this post, I posted to Twitter a long overdue celebration image of Sydney (the character voted for in the twitter poll) for surpassing 2.5K+ followers there. If you happen to use the bird app for degenerate things too, why not give me a follow there if you haven't already? I've decided that once we hit the 3K followers mark, it'll be time to follow this image up with some long overdue punishment for Sydney to celebrate that milestone. Ofc, I've attached the image here (including the clean render without text) for you to download if for some reason you actually like Sydney enough to use her as a wallpaper or something. :P

Now, onto my plans for the v0.10 ALPHA #2 Goals:

^ What a happy couple! ;D

Right, so I've been back at work for a couple of days now and I have a plan in mind. The plan is rather simple. As I stated in the previous blog post, there won't be a new release in March (Not enough time, so instead I'll be doing my best to make sure that a substantial Terminal Quickies update comes out while you wait). But I will be *aiming* for the release of the next ALPHA build (We'll call this ALPHA #2) at the end of April. 

Since the game is now in a playable state, (and I don't suspect I'll break it too badly again) the only real big blocker for releasing a new build for people to try is if there are enough new features to test and enough new scenes to be worth the hassle. 

So while the list I'm about to provide you with has a number of things I would like to get done in time, as long as I have at least 3 new scenes and a handful of these features ready to test, I don't foresee why I would have to delay the build into May. But I've never been right before, so this is me setting expectations just in case. I can't guarantee a specific date or time. I will only do my best to give you as much notice as I can if things change. I have at least gotten myself a proper planned out daily calendar now to better manage time & sleep/work/health balance. Hopefully this is the missing piece of the Jimjim puzzle. But we'll see...

Okay, here are the big ticket issues I am prioritizing for ALPHA #2:

1. Fixing bugs and iterating on feedback received from Alpha #1

This one is pretty obvious and self explanatory. I won't go into an extensive list here, but I'll be fixing all of the bugs that were reported to me via various channels and a number of issues from the known issues list.

A big one for me personally will be to fix than eyesore overlapping item notification spam that can happen when looting multiple RNG items from a container. Also that dumb crash related to "luk" which is the luck stat. If you experienced that crash, we talked about the causes and workarounds a bit on the discord soon after the ALPHA released, but it's an easy fix related to a couple of lines of code and some missing checks.

One thing I do have to say now though, is there has been a big number of reports of a seemingly random crash with no error message happening during Day 3. Particularly when starting one of the scripted combat sequences (Ziana, Zandre, Noah, Zomeo). It doesn't seem to happen to me on the dev build, only on the exported .exe that I uploaded. Since it doesn't throw any error messages and only happens some of the time. I fear it may be hard (and a big time sink) to debug it in time for the 2nd ALPHA but I'll look into it nonetheless. I just can't promise anything at this time. 

^ If you believe you have experienced this particular crash, it would be a great help if you could share any info on where/how it happened to you. Especially if you can manage to replicate the crash. I would love to narrow this down and fix it if I'm able.

As well as bugs, there are of course a lot of great suggestions/feedback I received. Some of these suggestions will be implemented in this next build. Others will take longer. There's been a lot of talk around the boosting of the ATK stat making melee too powerful in the early game. So expect some balancing here and there. Along with some more QoL improvements to make bits of the game hopefully less annoying to experience. It's not too late to submit your feedback, suggestions or bug reports. You can do it here, on the discord, via DMs or whatever you prefer :)

2.   Overhaul Shops to have limited stock

This includes George's gun store, as well as the new stores I plan to add to Dr Milburn/Hitomi and Jebadiah. This one's high on the list because it requires some new plugins to facilitate and might mess with existing save compatibility. There will be some level of re-stocking implemented as time goes on and the town becomes more self sustaining. 

3.  Undress/Dress

Something I started working on previously, and did some renders for, but had to delay from the initial ALPHA. Though I did use those undress renders for the WIP masturbate scene if Tiffany had any of her outfit on during day 1-2. This will be used to separate the repair/damage level of Tiffany's outfit from her state of undress. With it, you'll be able to get her naked without damaging her outfit. Or repair outfit pieces without immediately putting them back on. Due to the nature of the render variations though, you will still need to take them off/put them on in the same order (Belt<> Top<> Bottoms)

This is high up on the list because its changes will affect many parts of the game so it is better to change sooner rather than later and give me time to identify any bugs that arise.

If I have extra time, I'd also like to add a "Self Strip" function to allow Tiffany to destroy her own outfit pieces (for people who would like that option). And also, combat moves "Striptease" & "Destructive Striptease" that can buy Tiffany 2 and 3 (respectively) free turns of combat while her zombie opponents are confused/mistakenly waiting for her to submit. It won't work on humans though. :) But these may get pushed to a future release for time. 

4. Craftable Weapon Upgrades

This one might require new plugins to facilitate it. But I also might be able to pull it off without. I'll need a bit more time to tell. Regardless, as I've mentioned for some time now, I want to add crafting options to upgrade Tiffany's Baton into a Stun Baton & Tiffany's Knife to have a Serrated Edge. More upgrades will come at a later time.

This is also where I plan to mix up the combat a bit more with some additional damage types. Stun Baton causes shock damage alongside stun. I'd like to make shock extra effective against Sewer Zombies. Serrated Edge would make the knife cause a bleed effect that would do damage over time (more effective against living enemies than infected). I'm also planning on burn damage over time that is less effective against Sewer Zombies. These are just some loose examples of the system ofc. I'll flesh it out more over time and add other status ailments/damage types later when they come up. I've got a number in mind already. This part shouldn't mess with save files but it's possible some effects could require plugin assistance so I'd like to verify it now before getting any further anyway.

5. Drinking

I've had the idea of adding a drinking/drunk mechanic into the game for a while. It was just never a priority. However, I've reached the point where I have a few more uses for an alcoholic item than just for some under-cooked drunk mechanic. I mentioned burn damage above, that's because I plan on making Molotov Cocktails craftable and usable in combat as grenades ofc. I also plan on a cocktail cooking recipe that will allow Tiffany to reset/respec her stat point allocation.

Aside from those items, I do plan on a light implementation for Tiffany being drunk. Like most of the game's mechanics, it'll be fairly surface level to start with, with the intention being to expand on it over time. One thing I want to experiment with is a different screen effect for when she's drunk (which will require a plugin) and also a Drunken Fist perk or trait. It will have other negative side effects of course. Feel free to suggest some of your own. Main ones I am considering is needing more END to resist, hunger/thirst drains faster, can't pass Skill-Based dialogue checks except ones where being drunk could be beneficial for some reason. Alongside some stat boost positives to balance each drink out. 

6. Achievements

This would mostly just be the simple back-end support for an achievements system. Just so it can't break saves down the line. I will likely add a couple of basic ones for now though. These are just intended for fun, but perhaps at a later date you could get some special images for completing them or something. Just keeping my options open. :) 

7. Give Fertility meds to NPC girls via food/drink

Many players have made it clear that they want to be able to have better control over when the other girls can or can't get pregnant. Issue is, from a "lore" perspective, none of the girls we've met yet would likely accept Tiffany forcing meds onto them. They are supposed to make their own decisions after all... 

While I could go that route in the future, (or once they have been corrupted enough through various actions) I think for now the way it would make the most sense it to have Tiffany trick them into consuming food/drink that she has laced with the med she wants the girls to take. Yes, much more ethical... :')

Really, it does make more logical narrative sense to me though, and ties in nicely with the Cooking Skill. I have plans to make the food/drink items more effective if it happens to be a food/drink they like, or refuse food/drink they hate. But that might be a bit too complex for what I'm aiming for at this point in time. 

8. Give Tiffany the option to take Fertility meds right before a scene if she "Loves to be Bred".

Again, pretty self explanatory. Something that people often raise. That it's annoying to not be prepared for an impregnation scene and then have to reload to reroll the chance. I think "being prepared" is a part of the game. But I don't see the harm in allowing a Tiffany's who "Love to be bred" the option of taking some Abortalite and/or FertiliMax meds right before the action actually starts. And I don't see why her human opponents looking to knock her up would object either. 

9. Missing / Broken Perks & Skill Bonuses

Probably should be higher up on my list. Though that's not to say I will be doing all of these in this specific order. Broken perks/ missing skill bonuses are the most important so they'll definitely get done. But the 3 missing(RED) perks, and other new ones aren't a huge priority for this build.

10. Add Skill Rank checks/options for Day 2 & 3 conversations.

Again, self-explanatory. Like what I've already done for the Day 1 quests, but throughout the rest of the game too to make more skills worth taking. Low in priority since adding these are really just extras and don't need to make it into this build.

11. Make HP & DEF  Stats more useful. 

Namely by affecting Fetus HP / DEF and used when calculating Fetus damage. But I also want to use change it so that Mines/Turrets take DEF into account. And make it possible to survive single mine explosions if Tiffany steps on them. Potentially allowing her to skip some parts of the Casino (and future areas) blocked by mines. I will be adding a way to defuse mines and potentially use them later as well, but that'd be for another build/version.

12. At least 3 more sex scenes.

And last, but not least, the main requirement I'm looking for when deciding to release this by the end of April is whether or not I can get enough scenes together as well. Right now, it's looking like more Debra combat sex scenes and finishing/implementing the Debra vs Jeb & Barney content that's already in there. I wouldn't expect too much more than that but it's hard to say definitely at this time. I still have a lot of non-sex scene things to do (and countless more smaller things I've not mentioned here) before I can go full throttle on the remaining planned sex scenes. But like I said, I'll do my best to try and get both sides of the coin polished at once so we don't enter any more content droughts at least. 

Again, these are just the big ticket items. There are dozens more medium-minor changes/additions I've got on my radar at this time, but I'll refrain from wasting your time any longer with things that may or not make it into ALPHA #2 :)

Thanks for the patience and support. Should be render previews for all, & sneak peeks for the $10 tier once per week again. I've got a couple of game feedback related polls for the $5+ tiers I want to get out soon as well.  :)

~ Jim