What's up next? (ToA v0.1.16) (Patreon)

Hey guys, got a lot done in the last few days, so here's the lowdown on what's coming up in the next version. (Also, streaming right now what's being worked on for at least a few hours: https://picarto.tv/majaliswrite)

The big things coming up (and in!) in the next version are

1) per the Feature Request Survey #3, battles can now end for a number of reasons other than one participant getting knocked out. This will typically result in a different scene than either knocking out the opponent or being knocked out yourself, and several existing encounters have gotten a new "satisfied" ending where, once satisfied, the enemy leaves you to your devices. The werewolf knotting ending has been retro-fitted into this, and losing to her through KO is no longer a game over.

2) Per the Encounter Survey #3, the girl who likes big toys initial encounter is being created - her basic character art is already done, as well as the outline of her encounter. We'll be showcasing the new feature listed above in her battle. We're excited about her, as she's the first dongless human character you can encounter in battle. :D Also, as evidenced by the puns, she may be a bit of a claustrophile, in that she likes tight spaces.

3) the first major forays into having your character gain (erotic) perks based on actions taken (or, more precisely - things taken, like, up the butt). Similar to the already-present virginity check in the Centaur encounter, this will mean that there are also checks at various times, including in battle, that will cause different things to happen if you DO have Rank 2 of "Anal Lover" vs. if you don't (yet). If you're hoping for options that let you top, or simply to progress further, you typically want to avoid these. One thing that we're considering is optionizing checks like these - letting your character volunteer, even when their perks wouldn't otherwise force it.

4) the introduction of a few new battle systems, particularly around agility. To name a few, there's the overhaul of how stability works and is presented to the player, the introduction of "advantage" tokens, and, feeding into the previous two, the introduction of conditional qualities of techniques. As an example, a technique might simply be a low attack in most circumstances, but, when an enemy is in a low balance state, it will also function as a trip. Another example is that an attack might be a prod to penetrate the opponent, but by using two advantage tokens, it will score a direct hit and Up It Goes. Advantage tokens will, for the most part, replace what in other games would be "critical hits". Techniques that were blockable might become unblockable, techniques might do tremendous additional damage if the opponent is on the ground or is leaving their defense open, or they might disable or disarm or subdue the opponent or ignore their armor.

The other elements that are being implemented along those lines are somewhat alluded to above - parries, blocks, evades, trips, disarms, and bleeding, and probably the visualizations for armor destruction.

So it's a lot this month, but with the groundwork we've laid we're hoping we can fit it all in (there's a joke there, but I can't quite make it fit into such a small space...) - and the battle system will start to really take shape. There'll still be large elements missing, like Endurance and Perception's major effects, but hopefully it'll start to paint a clearer picture of the vision we have for it, and help us keep pushing the UI to a place where everything is understandable and intuitive.

Peace!