Money Cheat Final Vote + Disability Survey Summary (Patreon)

Hey there,

Hope you're doing well and that you had a nice week!


Disability Survey Summary by Anna  (For Patrons only. Please don't share)

Image source: People vector created by stories - www.freepik.com


Back in September, we shared a survey asking the community about how they would like disabilities and neurodiversity to be represented in the game. As always, we got thousands of pretty detailed answers, so thank you to everyone who filled or shared it!

Generally speaking, these answers helped a lot to strengthen our vision, which is to provide the player with tools for representation and storytelling, without bringing the real life painful elements and society limitations. A second point of vision that was in agreement with most answers was the spectrum element: there isn’t one single way of using a wheelchair for example, so there shouldn’t be a single “wheelchair user” checkbox in the customization options. It’s pretty much the same for every kind of condition ; having a diagnosis is not a label that should describe one’s whole behaviour or personality even if it’s an important part of identity, this is also why we needed input from a wide range of people!

One last general consensus was that players do want the representation options but also want to escape from their reality whenever they want to. A life simulation game should be a sandbox where you can choose what you want after all ; accommodation for different playstyles is also one of our priorities. With that said, here are some of the ideas we got from the survey answers that we’ll be looking into!

First of all, a lot of “standalone” items, animations and interaction options were suggested, ranging from weighted blankets, foam rollers, different ways of stimming to customizable service dog vests. In agreement with our vision, the use of most of these items shouldn’t be assigned to a particular type of Para automatically, but rather should be left to the discretion of the player. . Respondents openly shared their own stressors and ways to regain energy when they feel low, which are very personal things that would be nice to choose one by one instead of compiling them in a single premade trait or behaviour. This level of customization options is one of our main challenges, as it could quickly become overwhelming.

Wheelchairs and other mobility aids were a popular request in the survey and I would like to thank everyone who was patient enough to describe what items are usually used for transfers and general accessibility with a wheelchair. It was really educational on a human level but also for their possible inclusion in the game, as it is another big programming and design challenge!

Communication is something that is at the heart of everyone’s culture, relationships and day to day life. We’ll be thinking about adding different communication options, while keeping in mind that Parafolks should always find a way of communicating with each other ; a Para using Sign Language wouldn’t realistically be able to use it with a non-initiated Para and being directly understood, but they could still write things to each other or use speech recognition devices, for example. No useful communication interaction or item should be limited to one communication option only.

Health gameplay was brought up a lot, as it’s a big part of everyday life for a lot of people who answered the survey. Although we don’t want to portray any specific diagnosis, having a light medical gameplay related to seasonal light diseases and possibility of doing a checkup at any time could help storytelling and modding possibilities for those who’d like to add their specific illness into the game. Diversity in the medical jobs specialty was also a popular request.

We don’t want to gamify any serious mental illness (like depression) either, but we do want to add some light ways of coping, such as going to therapy, journaling or support groups. As suggested in the survey answers, these examples would not be a last resort way to magically fix every negative moods your Para may have, but would make them able to come to terms with some of their emotions. We’re no psychiatrists and won’t attend to implement explicit therapies, but taking care of one’s mental health should be something to normalize, along with schools or job accommodations, such as taking mental days off and asking for a flexible schedule.

Last but not least, a good suggestion that emerged from a lot of different people was about having a good or a bad day, that in real life improves or worsens their syndromes considerably, whether they’re physical or mental, for no particular reasons. I feel like it is something that applies to everyone at different levels and could be nice to have in game as a randomized event.

Our first batch of diversity surveys series has now come to an end, but it doesn’t mean that we’re never looking back on these topics! Feel free to share in here, on our Discord or our other official platforms your ideas on the matter. We feel like it was important to compile these long PowerPoints of ideas and references for ourselves even if we’re still early in development. During our next brainstorming sessions, we will now easily be able to have these in mind and this should facilitate the development of such features further down the line. This survey was mostly about gameplay ideas, but of course, we're also aware that some gamers require various accessibility settings to play the game comfortably. We'll make sure to keep that in mind as the development progresses. When we’ll enter production phases, we’ll make sure to further research and ask for precise feedback.

Again, thank you for the educational resources and helpful point of views you brought to us!  <3

Postcards!

We signed 500 postcards and are about to send them to Patrons on the Hero and Legend tiers! Can't wait for you to see the illustration that Léa made for the postcard! You should get it in 1-8 weeks depending on how everything goes with the mailing service from Canada to you :)

Money Cheat Final Vote  (For Patrons only. Please don't share)

Thanks so much to everyone here on Patreon and on our other platforms who suggested names for the cheat command that gives money in Paralives! We made a selection among those who were suggested quite often so here they are. Please pick your favorite money cheat name and the winner will be announced next Friday.

Also, there were two money cheat ideas that did not fit this poll but we liked them so much that we decided to include them in the game! PayDay will give you the exact amount of money that the selected Para gains in a single work day. It's great for when you are willing to cheat but just a bit! Then, the Lottery cheat command will grant you a random amount of money. It could be a nice challenge to start a game with what the Lottery cheat gives you and do your best with that amount! Thanks to the few people who suggested these two cheats!


Have a good weekend,

Alex