Escape From Blackwood Manor Mid week Update: Escape System Revamp (Patreon)

Hey everyone, been a busy week since the v0.1.2 launch, had tonnes of feedback on the new discord page (link here for free members) as well as other places, a lot of it was regarding the escape system so I've been working on that quite a bit this week and overhauled a lot of the mechanics, would have been too time consuming to go over them all in the weekly dev log so making a post about it here

Locked Restraint mechanic Overhaul

One bit of feedback I got from the new Escape Games route was it was removing the wrist restraints, even when other restraints were locked would immediately free the player so I've reworked it, it will now only free you if you remove your locked restraints as well, so even when you free your wrists you'll still have to unlock the rest of your locked restraints before you can fully escape

There's also a new bit of immersion i've added to this system, if a Gag or Blindfold is locked these technically don't need to be removed, since you can obviously walk around just fine IRL with a ball gag on, instead when you escape with one of these locked on it will display a different end frame with the appropriate restraint still on, furthermore when you go back to the main world these restraints will still be on the character and you might need to do additional tasks to remove them

Conditional Restraint Removal

Another thing I've changed which also makes sense, some people playing were just going straight for the wrist restraint since it automatically frees the character and ends the game, and while there is scaling on these which makes this very hard it was still possible to cheese it, therefore I've added in some additional rules which make sense, so for example if your torso and forearm restraints are still active you wont even be able to attempt escape your wrist restraints until one of them has been removed, likewise other restraints like the thigh and knee restraint cant be removed either since you wouldn't be able to reach those parts IRL, there's other conditions I've factored in two but that's the gist of it

Minigames Pause before starting

Another complaint, the harness minigame immediately began whereas the rope and tape minigames paused until they received input so now both the harness and lock escape minigames behave the same way and will not begin until you press a button or use the mouse

The Guard system and Noise Meter

Another mechanic that was half done has now been finished, there is now a secondary timer in certain escapes where a guard will come and check on you, the possibilities for what happens when this occurs are practically endless since I can code in any kind of dialogue but they might take pity on you and reduce your restraint level or make them even tighter or add restraints/lock them, again it means i can do pretty much anything so you'll see maybe in the next escape games update

On top of this, if you struggle too much or make to many mistakes your character makes noise which if you do it too much, gets the guards attention and she comes and checks on you, same as before pretty much anything can happen here, the possibilities are endless!

New Restraint Removal Items

Already talked about this on the last Weekly log but i might as well briefly mention it again, there's 2 new items the Army knife and the Multitool, the Army knife can be used on any restraint to increase progress and the Multi Tool reduces the restraint level

UI overhaul

This one is still currently being worked on but the UI has been overhauled, a lot of it was actually temporary/test images I made just to see if the UI functioned but now it's getting overhauled to be more thematic to a kinky escape game, I've kept it fairly simple and given everything a latex like appearance when it comes to the UI itself since I didn't want it to be too distracting and this seemed like a good idea

Another overhaul was the overcharge system, this now actually tracks while in the minigames at the top of the screen (this was previously where the Arousal meter was but this has been moved) how close you are to upgrading your overcharge, its different for each minigame and I think this system might need some balancing still but it is a good dynamic way of making escaping more fun I think

WHATS NEXT

Well, a lot more UI overhauling, tweaks and just general testing but I might as well tease something someone mentioned on discord earlier, (we have a suggestions section come check it out and suggest your ideas for me to put in the game or small things you think need tweaking/changing)

Anyways i saw this suggestion and it got me brainstorming ideas, it was basically "Escape Simulation mode" where you can pick your own restraint and try them out, but then I got thinking this would actually be a pretty easy to implement game mode and might be a good way to have some backstory and character dynamics between Amy and Cat, so this week i will be doing some basic work on the programming of this game mode (as luck would have it i had a basic UI that could be used in game to test out specific restraint combinations), long story short, new game mode that will tie in with the story mode and escape games mode, I have a lot of ideas and will post more about it when it's more realised

Patron Poll

Regarding discord, we have a supporters section where everyone who supports the development of escape from Blackwood manor can interact with each other and I thought now was as good a time as any to have a patron poll, which will be used to decide what's added to the game next

So, cleave gag is such a staple gag that it will be added to the next update regardless, however I thought 1 gag per update was kinda lax so why not poll the next one, so for patrons which gag would you like to see in the next update, Bit gag, Ring gag or Muzzle gag

I'll leave the voting up until next Thursday and the winner will be added to the next batch of escape games

ONE LAST THING, we also have an exclusive-previous section where i show off early concept stuff, I'll show off some of the new UI there later if anyone is curious to see, peace out