Update, Game & Release Changes & Plans for next year (Patreon)

Hey all,

I hope you are doing well. I wanted to take this time to wish you all a Happy Holidays. I've got a bit of a long post coming today, so please take time to read it, and if you have any comments or thoughts, please leave them here or in the discord :)

0.3 Update:

I've been working hard trying to get this build done, and it's looking likely that the build will be released on Monday evening (gmt), though it may make it by Sunday, depending on how testing goes. As mentioned before, it will include the release of the Orc Captain, Shel and the nun, Mary.

Since this is going to be a lengthy post, I will keep this bit short and sweet. I just hope you guys enjoy it!

Game Release Changes:

As most of you are probably aware I work on a second project (I'd probably consider it my "main" project, though that's not to undersell the passion I have for this project!) Currently I'm doing monthly builds for both projects, and I think ultimately this has to change. To keep myself focused on a single project for a whole I believe is a better way to work. I can start making the improvements and advancements to both games that I wanted to.

So what does this mean? It means, starting January next year I will be alternating builds between each project, so The Solarion Project will release build one month, and then Kingdom of Subversion will release a build the following month. 

So far the schedule will look something like this:

• January - The Solarion Project
• Febuary - Kingdom of Subversion
• March - The Solarion Project
• April - Kingdom of Subversion
• May - The Solarion Project

And so on...

Now I want to calm the immediately reaction, THIS WILL NOT LEAD TO LESS CONTENT. The same of amount of content that would have been delivered across 2 months, in 2 builds, will instead be delivered in 1 larger build. This will sort of tie into what I will speak about later concerning game changes as well, but we'll touch on that in a bit.

Although I can empathise it will pain having to wait longer for a build, I hope people can understand the reasoning behind this change. The main reason is so I can organise time better and start working on the mechanics that make the game, while also being able to deliver the requried content. Please don't forget, with the exception of character busts / scenes, this is a 1 man show. Writing, Map design / making, coding, everything else is done by me. So streamlining the working process is always going to be helpful to make sure the quality of these different areas don't fall. 

Which leads me on to...

Game Changes:

So at the moment as many of you are aware, I am not happy with the way the game is going at the moment. Progression for the characters (with the exception of Morati) feels really rushed. I've put some artwork in the pipeline to expand each of the minor character's progression, and will be rewriting the progression of these characters so it doesn't feel so quick.

I want to also make more maps the player can move around (such as the upstairs of the inn) and start adding more interactables around the current maps too.

With that said there are some changes that I want to make people aware of:

Writing:

Going forward I'll only be writing for the Corruption route. I know this may annoy some people who prefer the alternate routes (stealth & domination), but ultimately I think it's better to get the progressions sorted in their default format and either; hire a writer when the project reaches a certain level to write the other routes or go back and write the routes myself when I have time to spare. 

The reason for the corruption path being the selected path is due to a few reason. Firstly I consider it the "default" path, it's the path that is almost like the "canonical" route. Secondly I think it's the route that the majority of players play on. And finally, it's the "safer" route, in terms of patreon having a problem with it and just shutting everything down.

I hope that the reasons I've listed are enough to help you understand why this has been done, although I know some of you will be disappointed. And if you only played the game for a certain route then I really apologise for that, but like I said, the plan will be to go back and fill these routes in later! So eventually they will be back.

Royal Court Progression:

I really want these progressions to be special. I've decided each character will have 3 progression levels (royal court included). However the royal court progressions will be much longer and in depth in comparison to the other minor NPCs. So with that, we'll produce more artwork specifically for these progressions. (Probably 2-3 times the amount the minor NPCs will receive in total) And since we'll switching over to a build every other month, this will allow us to do that and make the Royal Court progressions something special!

Gameplay Overhaul:

So, this is the biggie, and I'm not decided on anything here so please keep this in mind. 

I have enjoyed creating the battle system, it's been a lot of fund to code and figure it all out. I'm quite happy with the way it came out and I think it achieved what it was meant to do. The problem I have is, it feels a lot like something bolted on to the gameplay as oppossed to it supporting the game (if that makes sense?)

Basically I'm trying to say, it doesn't facilitate the point of the game (which is obviously a sex based corruption game). Instead I can see people getting frustrated with it and consider it a thing that has to be grinded to get what you want; the juicy content!

What do I propose instead? Well that's the issue, I'm not 100% sure. I'm imagining something a bit more open world. I want corruption to be the main thing here, since it plays so much into the story. And I kind of want to really bring a day cycle. Maybe the player has to do daily things in order to raise his "magic bar", and once full he can then progress with a character. Or maybe he needs to level up his corruption powers in order to start influencing others. 

I always imagined there being like a progress bar at the top of the screen while in Lumis, that shows Lumis corruption, that slowly fills as you corrupt more characters. And changes happening around the city as it gets more corrupted (changes in scenery and music and the way characters speak / what they speak about.) 

Right now I'm trying to come up with alternate gameplay ideas that facilitate this idea and makes it feel like the player is progressing in the goal of corrupting Lumis overall without being a grindy rpg experience. Because reviewing it that's all I've done, is just created a shorter alternative to the tedious turn based battle system alot of players hate to see.

If you have ideas for this, I'd love to hear them. Right now I'm thinking the player can do daily tasks for nefarious people around the city, people bringing in contraband, starting a brothel (maybe corrupting the Innkeeper into turning her inn into a sort of gentlemen's club or brothel). Things like this.

Happy Holidays!

Anyway, sorry for the big speech here. I just wanted to give peopel a heads up about the upcoming changes and ideas I have been having for the game. I really request if you have your own thoughts or comments about the game in general or what I've said here, please let them be known! ^^ 

I look forward to bringing you the 0.3 version of the game anyhow, and until then Happy Holidays!

 - Nergal