Moving into the 5.0 Content Initiative (Patreon)

Chapter 2 is finally released, and the expected bug infestation has been more or less eradicated. Now it's time to start making good on all those other features I've been ignoring up to this point. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with how the game feels and plays, but there's always been a lot of weak points that are, for the most part, remnants from when my vision for this game was quite different. Without diving too much into it, here are the four biggest things I have on my plate as far as development is concerned:

• Stat System
• Gender Transformation System
• Character Interaction
• Meaningful Use of Time

Player Stats:

Stats were built into the game back when it was going to be more of a life sim than a story driven game. The idea was that your stats would have impacts on what interactions you could have with different characters, and while that's a fine idea on its own I don't feel like it fits into the framework I've built very sensibly. Even thought it's acceptable when it comes to video games, the idea that my ability to make a "decision" was contingent on how high or low a stat is, especially in a game about making decisions, never really felt right with me.

So, after thinking about it for a few weeks, I've finally decided on how I'm going to move forward. Starting in Alpha 5.1.0, all player and character stats including Intelligence, Willpower, Corruption, Arousal, Femininity, Masculinity and Relationship will all be removed from the game completely.

Sounds drastic, right? The fact is, all those stats are doing is causing confusion, and at a functional level they're literally doing nothing, so why have them? Additionally, how does the removal of these stats affect the other three aforementioned initiatives?

I'm not going to go too much into detail until after 5.1 is released, but here's the short of it:

• Gender modifications no longer happen immediately. Instead, you'll reflect on events that occurred during the day when you go to sleep, and any meaningful transformations will be documented when you wake up. This will be supplemented with the addition of a new wardrobe system.
• Spending time with people will no longer build Relationship stats. Instead, "Talk to X" events will be replaced with random events that allow you to respond to the situation, as well as interactive events where you can bring up specific topics. These events will be tracked on the back-end, and will impact or even unlock additional content based on your choices. While using serums on someone may unlock additional options going forward, conversation events will not hinder your ability to use serums on that person in the future.
• Finally, rooms and locations will be getting a similar treatment as conversations, and will become much more interactive. Instead of passing time talking to your sister in the living-room, you may rather use that time to snoop around her bedroom.

This should give you an idea of the direction I'm moving in and, frankly, the way I should have handled things from the start. I want to have these overhauls in place before work on Chapter 3 begins, so that they can be properly integrated into the story.