Consequences Update Postmortem (Devlog #3) (Patreon)

(This post contains depictions of sexual content.)

First things first: welcome new patrons! Thank you for your support. If you haven't heard, I do twice monthly devlogs (which is what this is; I use that term loosely, apparently) and monthly game updates.  The next update (v0.3.0) will probably come at the beginning of next month, but I'll be mentioning that and talking about it a lot over the next couple weeks. For now, I want to talk about the update we just had, the consequences update.

Succubus Stories is both a sandbox game and a narrative game. As I mentioned in a previous devlog entry, when I say sandbox I don't necessarily mean a huge open-ended, open-environment style of game, but simply a game that has a lot of mechanics and has a hands-off approach to what the player should do at any one time. Consequences are important to both the sandbox elements and the narrative elements of the game. Ultimately, the game's narrative will begin to diverge based on decisions made, both based on which tactics you use to overcome obstacles, and also on which characters you choose to help and spend time with.  Those are consequences, sure. But the consequences this update was based around were a little more immediate.

In this devlog entry, I want to go over some of the decisions I made in the consequences update, tell you what my goals were, and generally reflect on the whole thing. I'm not sure whether I'll do postmortem posts like this consistently or not for each update, we'll see how it goes. If I ever write a post you guys find particularly interesting or uninteresting, feel free to let me know in the comments so I can tailor this devlog to focus on those things more or less, as appropriate.

Consequences as Gameplay 

Or, why have guards that arrest the player anyway? Why have a dungeon and stocks and such? Why consequences in the first place?

The first reason is that I see consequences as an opportunity to introduce a change in the game's flow. Limitations on the sandbox elements of the game force the player to slow down a bit and interact with a more limited set of options. For this reason, among others, actual trips to the dungeon or stocks are intended to be fairly rare, but they are meant to feel significant when they happen. 

This honestly isn't so different from story sequences or requests. Games are loops, but you have to break up those loops with changes in scale and kind, and I think the consequences, particularly the notoriety consequences, are a vehicle to help do that.

Consequences, big and small, also maintain verisimilitude, and a feeling that your actions in the world have real effects on it, both in terms of how characters see you and in terms of cause and effect. They help me push the illusion of a dynamic world. Even small things, like characters commenting on the player's reputation or status, can help enhance that illusion. 

This illusion, that there is a causal relationship between what you do and how people treat you, is especially critical to the eroticism of Succubus Stories, and any game that attempts to capture some of the thrill of exhibitionism. For that to even work, characters must at least react to you, and if there can be potentially stronger consequences, so much the better. 

So if I had to break it down: consequences matter because they present changes to the gameplay, create a sense of realism, and help enhance the eroticism.

Consequences as Opportunity

As I've said, I view consequences as an opportunity to introduce a new kind of gameplay, not as a way to limit it.

At present, there are no ways to actually lose the game. A future version of the game will probably introduce an "ending" for players who let their debt get completely out of control, but that will probably be the only actual way the game can end because of some sort of player failure or mismanagement. So the consequences introduced in this version are intended to provide new events, opportunities, and places to explore rather than be a straight-up punishment. 

Generally, I want players to not mind going to the dungeon (or stocks) here and there, but I also want them to try to avoid being arrested when they're in the middle of a request or trying to move the story along. I want there to be some stakes, in other words, but I don't want the punishment to actually feel like some major annoyance or setback. Ideally, players should never feel that they have to reload a save to avoid getting arrested, but I also hope it introduces some tension, and causes them to think twice about where they hang out and what activities they engage in. 

Just a note: all punishments in the game lasts between 1 and 6 time periods. Each time period represents eight hours, so the maximum possible punishment is only two in-game days. The amount of time you are punished is random right now. In a future version it will be based on current notoriety with a small random component. 

This will be an ongoing balance. You, the players, especially patrons, will have to tell me if you think you're getting hassled and arrested too much, or if you feel like you're getting away with murder. 

Potion Magic 

Consequences were the namesake of the update and were probably where most of the elbow grease went last month, but they weren't all v0.2.0 brought with it. Potion magic allows the player character to use the effects of some potions on other characters, without needing to find a way to trick that character into drinking the potion. It is introduced through an optional request, so it is possible to miss it in this version. In a later version of the game there will be an alternate way to unlock potion magic, but later on in the game, so it will not be permanently missable or anything. 

Potion magic introduces several new ways to interact with many different characters, both male and female, and I hope you have fun with it!  Most characters have rather generic reactions to potion magic, but when you have an opportunity to use it on named characters or in story/request events, there will be unique effects and opportunities.

Priscilla 

The other big addition to the game is Priscilla. Priscilla is a critical character regarding parts of the game's later story. I don't want to reveal too much for now, though.

She's a succubus, like the player character, and a bit of a foil to the player as well. As a lesbian, life as a succubus hasn't been easy for her, but she's hanging in there, and with your help, she may even begin to thrive. Unlike the player, Priscilla is skilled with magic, and can help the player with her enchantment power, which can significantly fortify one of the player's social skills. You can stop by to see Priscilla to change the enchanted skill at any time. 

I hope she's as fun to interact with as she is to write. Regardless, you'll be seeing more of her in the future, but v0.3.0 will have a bit more of a focus on Gray.

Uptown Events 

The new events in uptown have a focus on rounding out the kinds of available content. I also introduced more lesbian content overall. 

In my first devlog I mentioned how female on male sex was the cornerstone of the game. I still stand by that, but I had some ideas for lesbian content that I thought were really hot. And then I kept having more of those ideas, so that's what happened there.

In general, I think that uptown has some pretty interesting and unique events. I hope the events of each area give those places their own distinct sense of culture, but there is something especially fun about depicting depraved nobles in a fantasy setting. Expect more uptown events in v0.3.0, because I still have ideas left over.

Titjob and Handjob Actions

I added titjob and handjob actions to blowjob scenes. Yeah, technically these could be thought of as distinct sex acts, but I think they make more sense this way, given how the encounter system works. I am under no real obligation to keep the encounter types "even" but I would like to come up with some new actions for vaginal and anal sex too. I'm not sure what, though. I'm open to suggestions. The only thing I can think of is intercrural sex (e.g., thigh job, ass job), but I don't know if there's really enough going on in those actions to develop five satisfying scenes for them.

If you have ideas, let me know.

Wrapping Up

I'll be posting more about v0.3.0 as it takes shape. Keep an eye on the issue tracker if you want to oversee that process. I don't post everything I do over there, but I do use it to organize my thoughts and plans and to form reasonably detailed to-do lists. Feel free to comment there, too, if the mood strikes you.

The theme of the next update will be commerce. You will, at some point during the update, have to graduate from (or lewd your way through) a maid academy, so look forward to that, I guess.

I'll have the next devlog later this month. I'll probably talk about the technology behind the game a bit. It is Twine but people always seem to say it like "Twine(?)" which is fair because it is heavily customized. Could at least be an interesting chat about why and how I customized Twine and such.