LyLaD July Update (Patreon)

No pictures since virtually all of this is sheer menuing or placeholder text. Nothing salacious to show right now.

What's been reimplemented or expanded upon since the previous update:

  Curses - Unique states that must be appraised to discover their effect and dispelled to cure them. Compared to the old version, the new curses are expanded with multiple 'strains' per type. Different strains of a curse typically start out the same, but will progress differently when tampered with, ie through botched dispelling or other means. For example one form of the Weakening Curse may drain Lilya's strength more severely as it progresses, while another will drain less strength but begin to change Lilya's other stats as well, or one strain may have the potential to 'hexify' and become permanent. You will not be able to identify a curse's strain, only its broad 'type'. This makes it so there's an added risk to attempting to dispel a curse, in that the player won't be sure what form it might take if it fails.

  Food and Fullness - The basic set of food items for the game have been added, split into a few categories which Lilya can grow addicted to, in the form of 'affinity'. Lilya gains FP from eating, determining how full she is relative to her max FP, essentially her stomach capacity.

  Denial and Temptation - Lilya will deny being prompted to eat a food item unless she has due reason to want to eat it (restoring HP, restoring MP, gaining a beneficial status, etc.), though this can be overpowered based on her affinity for the food's type. While eating, Lilya can slip into a state of temptation based on her Greed and her affinity for the food being eaten, causing her to instinctively pick out another item to eat. This can loop until Lilya is satisfied, or breaks free of the temptation, or runs out of food to eat. The way in which temptation ends can affect her status, if it leaves her unsatisfied.

  Potions - Potions have their own mechanics and affinities, used in the same system of denial and temptation as food items. Potions generally have more volatile affinities compared to food, as they will be increased more easily and more greatly but will also decay faster. Drinking multiple of a potion type within a short period of time will also drastically increase the chance of temptation triggering. Potions will also have severe side effects, for which the chances of being triggered are likewise increased by drinking too many of one type.

  Bloat - Sometimes, certain food items and potions may trigger bloating, leading to stomach noises and unprompted burping, things of that nature. In the previous version bloat was added instantaneously. This was changed into a more gradual system where bloat to be gained from any source is pooled together and slowly 'activates' as time passes, simulating a delay between eating and indigestion or other such effects.

  Weight, Weight Reactions, and Mirrors and Scales - The system for tracking Lilya's weight has finally been reimplemented. Lilya gains calories from eating food or drinking potions. Calories are cashed in after resting, instantly turning into fat upon waking up (for the sake of brevity, it can be attributed to strange nature of the Land of Dreams). Naturally her weight can also be altered by external influences. Whether weight gain is natural or unnatural, significant or insignificant, Lilya will react accordingly. Mirrors and scales may be used to more accurately gauge the changes to Lilya's body. Writing used to describe Lilya's body in the game's text will accurately reflect her current weight with keywords defined by what weight tier she falls into. The number of weight tiers is also going to be expanded from the previous version, from 8 up to 10 (primarily to create a smoother weight curve early on, rather than go higher than already planned).

  Shame - Various events that can occur in-game will be embarrassing or humiliating for Lilya. The system that tracks and adds shame (or shame points) has been reimplemented and conjoined with the above systems. For examples: Becoming full or bloated, gaining weight, analyzing her weight gain at a mirror or scale, being tempted into eating or drinking excessively, all of these flag for shame to be triggered based on the severity. Lilya's Pride determines her susceptibility to these shame triggers, where if the her Pride is greater than the trigger's magnitude, shame points will be gained based on the difference.

  Success - The opposite of shame, there are various triggers for Lilya achieving some kind of success. Typically passing a check, being victorious in battle, levelling up, etc. Things like that. These events reduce shame points, restore defiance points (expended in battle against enemies that restrain, hypnotize, and/or forcefeed Lilya), and build up composure (affects Lilya's ability to bluff checks that she would otherwise fail, among other things).

Minor to-dos remaining for the above:

  A few curses have some special mechanics that need to be added in, or need placeholder scenes added for when they are applied and/or cured.
  Similarly, most potions need their unique effects and side effects implemented.

What comes next:

  The above, in conjunction with the previous update and the rest from this year so far, constitute the major foundation of the game. The next big hurdle will be reimplementing combat, and in turn making sure all of these systems act accordingly when in combat. This will be the foremost goal of next month, and I think it will be easily completed within that time.
  Past that there are still systems for perks, NPCs, dialogue/combat sprite expressions, and some other secret stuff before the demo can begin to be constructed in earnest. But I am growing more confident that it will be possible to get it out by the end of the year. Thank you for your support thus far.