Sunday, October 04, 2015

The final quest is starting to take shape

I did all the map building and the related picture hunting. I think I got the right ideas to make things interesting in the first part, which will involve sneaking into the enemy's lair (or go in guns blazing, and having to deal with some extra fights).

I am unsure if I want to have some sort of "heist planning" before the mission, though, as I would like to have the players do some intel gathering, and having to take some decisions on where to focus on, but due to the nature of the plot and the situation (I want to let players free to do whatever they want before they decide to embark on the final quest, so they can take their time and finish all the side quests, if they want to, and they have enough mental resistance to survive the journeys), I am unsure what element would limit the possibility to "scan" the location before you go in (maybe fear of being noticed if you do it too many times?). Having this choice would allow for slightly different starting points, or different scenarios and solutions based on it, which I think would help replayability.


The map is also built around the idea that people will be able to access the "inner sanctum" from 2-3 different points, so that the order in which they'll do things and even some of the obstacles will be different (traits will probably play a role here). Finally, when you get face to face with your nemesis, I'll have an "indoctrination check". I would like 3 possible outcomes: little/moderate/high indoctrination. The last two wouldn't trigger a bad ending, actually, but would put Celeste in a "slave mode" that will involve some extra-effort on her part to escape, if she wants to make it (otherwise, she can enjoy being a little slut, and stay with master). I am even considering NOT having a final fight, if you get past a "slave mode", and only keep the fight for those whose mind was still not very altered by ALICE, so that the paths will be very different. I'd have to make the "slave mode" hard to beat, though, or it would almost be like a punishment for doing too well, so I am not yet 100% sure on how I'll end up doing it.

Well, this is the general idea, at least, I still have a lot to do, some picture hunting for a couple of NPCs, probably some picture hunting for Celeste (although I might have something viable in my archive), all the scripting, adding the ending after the quest (which is probably going to be long, as I would like at least some sort of "slideshow" at the end, Fallout style, to let people see what their choices brought about, and also to prepare them a little for what will happen in chapter 2), and this is just for this quest, of course, it wouldn't be the end of the development quite yet, as there are a number of loose ends to tie (I'll probably need the help of the players and the testers to catch them all, as I am sure I'll screw up and leave something unfinished in the final version).

Not much else to say, really, I am quite happy I have more or less a good grasp on what I want to do, but until I start digging in, I won't know for sure if my ideas work, or if I'll need to toss them away and come up with something else to use instead. Anyway, I hope you had a nice week, and stay tuned for more updates next sunday. ^_^

16 comments:

  1. Very exciting stuff. As a suggestion maybe the moderate path could have both an easier to beat slave mode and an easier final fight. If someone has barely been affected by Alice there's a good chance that they are pretty strong and did everything right so a bit more difficulty wouldn't hurt them as much as someone who was bumbling through without specifically trying to give Alice opportunities.

    Not sure of what reasoning you will use story wise for not having a final fight after slave mode but I imagine it will be something along the lines of a "didn't see her breaking out of it" type deal.

    On high it could be that was such a shock the boss gets defeated without an actual fight in some way whereas on moderate maybe the boss is actually still a bit wary since they knows ALICE didn't get as much done as they'd like but is still caught off guard a little when it happens making the fight easier.

    Hope to find out more soonish :)

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    1. Well, let's just say that in slave mode, you'll get to act like the hot, sexy slut he wants, so you'll be able to get very close to master without raising any alarms, pretty easy to deal with him in such a scenario. Having a different fight for the moderate indoctrination was a thought I had as well, but I want to consider it carefully, and see if a fight would fit or not.

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  2. *Goosebumps*
    (I especially like the idea of seeing how you arrived to where you are by reviewing your choices you've made to get here.)

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    1. Well, I hope the ending will be satisfying enough. A plot point won't be solved, as that is the catalyst for chapter 2, but the aim is to provide closure and a sense of fulfillment, even if we'll get to see in more details what happens when the next game comes out.

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  3. Great job so far!!!
    I am watching this project for a while now and I must say that you have done an amazing work! TOTDC is one of the best games where you can play as a submissive in the terms of the plot, and RAGS mechanic is quite good as well. Also it is a refreshing to see a game, where plaing as sub doesn't spoil a character. I have only 3 wishes for thsi game plotwise... possibility to be dominant (for example, to keep Piper (or any other love interest) as our sub or slut or both while teaching her to choose for herself) or to dominate other girls besides prostitutes (and there is a small complaint: scenes, where Celeste is dominant are pale, comparing to her submissive ones. As when all your dominance is covered in dressing girl as a maid or houswife). A possibility to influence others (or Celeste herself, when we will remove that chip) into being more submissive, dominant or just slutty (without mindcontrol) for Celeste or even for anyone, without the bad ends. And I'd like to see more of the consequences for modeling, porno jobs (for it could have a great impact on Celeste's image as a bounty hunter or just make her famous even for those, who is unaware of her occupation) in events, reaction of people on the streets and important NPC's.

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    1. I think this has to do with my personal preferences as a sub, so I tend to write content that is better suited to my taste and skills, but I must admit that the problem was also giving at least some urgency to the whole "being turned into a slave", and have Celeste act very dominant would undermine that a little, or at least that's how I felt. Chapter 2 will have Celeste unfettered by ALICE, so I'll explore more possibilities in the "sex adventures" department, the plot will allow me more freedom, and she will probably get a wider range of sub-dom events.

      The porn and model jobs will eventually become more widely known, and they will affect your reputation in chapter 2. Mainly this is to avoid getting swamped by too many possible scenarios in chapter 1, as it could become too hard to code everything in a coherent manner.

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    2. Have you thought of writing the scene from your own point of view, with Celeste Star as *your* domme, then going through and switching all the "you" and "your" to "he," "him" and "his" and then all the "she" and "her" to "you" and "your" to create dominant scenes for Celeste Star with Sumdood?

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    3. Eh, I am not sure switching the characters around, but keeping the same point of view would work, it's not as simple as swapping you/he around, I think.

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  4. Ciao MDQP,

    I swear you have invented a new term for slow working process. Your work must be like:

    And then Celeste put on a slave outfit... *Gasp*

    Must. Stop. Working. Too much. I cannot. Process. Too much...

    Okay, that's for today, in two days I'll complete the rest of the sentence :D

    You know I'll wait till the end of days if needed be for your game, but please don't work at glaciar speed XDDD

    Hugs and Kisses Alectra

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    1. I would try to deny it, but I would be lying if I did... :p

      Sometimes I feel really guilty about this, and I also consider how long this has gone, I could have made much more if only I had been more productive... :(

      Oh, well, it's too late to worry about that.

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    2. its ok fam, this is by far the best rags game ive ever played, take your time because its well worth the wait

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    3. Best RAGS game of 2037!!! ;p

      But thank you for the kind words, they are much appreciated. :)

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  5. I do not envy you with some of the design choices you have to do. The line about "punishment for those doing well" is really everything I ever think about when I read about some designers of these games, when the content most people want is more available if you fail or of course choose to do the "wrong" decision. It is really weird if you think about it. I would have no idea how I would design any mission with that in mind.

    Hey if you really want to make it hard to escape the "slave path" you should just include some math puzzle. Everybody loves a good math puzzle.........seriously if math comes up in the final quest I will go crazy.

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    1. Leaked design documents confirm no less than 10 math puzzles in the slave path... :p

      On a serious note, balancing the game is not as bad as you might think, because people want both to finish the game, and see all the kinky content (and even if they don't care too much about finishing the game, they still want to progress to unlock new kinky content down the line), I would argue that this kind of "punishment" makes games slightly harder to finish, but at the same time works as a motivator despite the apparent struggle. As for the specific case, I also think that fights in my game aren't actually all that hard, if you understand the underlying rules, so while I called it "punishing" (because I know most people don't really love the combat), it's not really that much of a game stopper, I think. Also, you can always stockpile before the final fight, the game has enough items to make it easier for players to brute force the harder encounters, I believe.

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  6. Good idea on using fear of being discovered as a limiting factor. It could be a lot of extra work depending on how you have planned things and the nature of the approach options you have designed, but I would imagine heist planning as a kind of mini-game: there's a limited number of actions you can take, each of them has a specific effect as well as raising a general threat awareness level of the target area. It could also cost resources: stealing blueprints, pulling financial records, buying information or bribing people for access - all cost money and influence. Lastly, even for players with max MR there should be some sense of urgency, some idea that even though she seems fine, Celeste is in danger of losing her struggle all the time, and all it takes is a few slips or poor judgements. Perhaps have a couple of random events decreasing MR as Alice redoubles her efforts? That would add a natural timer.

    Love the idea of a slideshow at the end, looking forward to a good epilogue.

    I don't think we have enough information to make any intelligent comments on how to deal with the final boss. In general I wouldn't say this is the kin dof game from which I'd expect an exra-lengthy final boss fight (with three forms at least!), so I would find combat entirely optional depending on how the encounter plays out. I only have two things to add: first of all, I'm really excited to see the climax of this epic chapter; and secondly, if the boss turns out to be the starchild giving you a choice of three colours, I'm gonna be so mad :p

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    1. That's the general idea, even if I would aim for something simpler, so I am still deciding how I want to do this. The idea for the scans is pretty much easy to do (before you try to break in, Darenzia suggests you can run a few active scans, but I'd say no more than 2, and each time you attract more enemies in the starting area), and I might add some extra info in exchange for money (like the blueprints you mentioned), as I believe the final location would support that, but I wouldn't want to go further than that, to avoid it becoming too complicated.

      I think the slideshow the best way to go with this, there are a lot of events here and there that people will probably be interested in, this way I can give some screen time to everything.

      But! What am I to do with the 5 forms I had already planned for the final boss??! :p

      Joking aside, it will be tough, but it won't be insane. I am considering adding something special to the fight, but I am still not sure, I might just opt for familiarity.

      No three colours, and if I see the starchild I'll punch him in the face! XD

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