An introduction to the new character roles and an outlook on game development (Patreon)
Content
Hello everyone!
As some of you might still remember, Holiday Island has been around since 2017. The game has matured and many things have been improved since its early stages.
The game has reached its next state of development. To move forward, some changes that will benefit the gameplay and also do more justice to the different characters present on the island will be introduced.
This includes more focus on the new locations (like the lab) and also the introduction of additional new areas and girls.
To support these new developments, a new character role will be introduced that will better fit and benefit some of the current girls.
Those are the three future character roles that you will find in the game:
- Resort guests --> This is the new name for the girls invited to the island.
The behavior is still the same as before and there are no changes to their content.
They can be invited to the island and can be sent home by the player.
They can appear in almost any location and can have all types of content.
Jessica is an example of a resort guest. - Specials --> These are the girls on the Island and involved in its story.
Their behavior is largely unchanged and there are no changes to their existing content.
They cannot be invited or sent home. They will appear and change as game and game progress demands it.
Each special has one or more roles in the game and a number of main locations where they interact. They can appear in old or future locations as well, but don't have to.
Miriam is an example of a special. - Staff --> Is a new role and is used for the hired staff on the Island.
Some existing Girls will be converted to staff over time, and for this reason it will be an ongoing process until all planned staff characters are converted.
When a girl is converted to staff, she will keep most of her old guest (or special) content. All her new content will be mainly related to her staff role.
Delizia is an example of future staff.
Why is the new staff role introduced and how does it benefit the game and the characters?
One of the main problems are the huge render costs to make a girl work as a resort guest (formerly known as regular).
This is not so much a problem for the popular girls with a huge or even the ones with a medium amount of content. But it is one for the girls with low content.
Far too much time is spent on things that do not really benefit the character development and are simply a repetition of what’s already there for other characters.
To improve this situation, some of the resort guests (and specials) will be converted to the new role staff.
The first character to be converted will be Delizia. She will become the head nurse.
What are future possible staff roles?:
- Main massage therapist → candidate: Renée
- Head of reception → candidate: Lacey
- responsible for the bar(s) → candidate: Yumiko
- cleaning crew leader → no candidate yet, might happen or not
What does it mean for the game and for the (converted) character?
- Staff will work mainly in their designated location. E.g. the Nurse works at the doctor's office.
- Staff will "always" be present on the island. You cannot send staff home or invite them to the island. They can take a vacation and it's also possible that they won't be on the island from day 1, but will arrive later.
- Their presence in other locations is limited to their free time and they will spend time in their own rooms as well.
- Two staff members will roughly take one slot of allowed girls on the island at a given time. So e.g. with two staff members, there can be 8 resort guests on the island. This maximum number will be increased over time with more "areas/locations" available on the island.
- Staff members will lose the option to be asked to change clothes. They will change clothes on their own (by chance or as game progress requires it).
- This one isn't final, but staff members will probably only have a maximum of two sets of clothes for any given location, meaning one set of clothes will be removed from the game (for some locations and girls), since it involves creating too many repetitions in renders.
- Staff members will win/get additional and unique/special content in their main location or content that is linked to their staff job role.
- Staff members will get quests related to their job
- Staff members will free resort guests from their current job roles (except when the staff member is off duty) and allow the resort guests more time in other areas.
- Staff members will keep all their important renders and scenes, but might lose some of the "duplicate" images that only differ in clothes.
In summary, staff members will be cheaper in render costs and maintenance, will have less repetitions but will gain more visibility and content that fits their personality. They will act more like a special than a resort guest.
I hope you look forward to experiencing the announced changes in the game.
Take care, Darkhound