May project update (Patreon)

Hello guys,

I've been silent this month, but not because the work wasn't done at all, but pretty much the opposite - I was slowly pushing the project towards the update. Yeah, I've got a burnout at the end, when I realized I couldn't release it in May (this is why this post was delayed this far to the end of the month, sorry for that). But on the bright side, I've found a pace that allows me to work 4-5 full days a week (usually 10h a day) - now I can track the 'burnout' coming and make myself stop in time in order to recover in a few days and return to work.

Below will be a lot of text, so I'll add titles in bold.

The scope of the update changed a bit:

At some point, I was choosing between fixing the last bits of new content and releasing as is, or starting a huge test from the very beginning of the game and fixing all the technical and most of the story debt that I had. I was in doubt for a bit, but chose the second option. My main concern was that doing a whole game test would delay the release, and oh boy, it did!

The game had huge amounts of bugs (issues with character visibility, story inconsistency, and just random bugs). So, below is exactly what was done.

General bugs fixing status:

I've gone through the whole story game up to the end of the Vault competition. I will not be updating (hopefully) the part of events after Vault Competition is done - in general, I never liked the "Special Points" system, and I'm pretty sure this needs to be replaced in the future.

I did not touch Lana's story much (except her new Gym part) - this is because her scene triggers are crazy old and unclear (like calling Jack scene triggers often make no sense). If I have resources, I would change the whole part of Lana & Jack's relations, including Lana meeting Jack and hanging out.

The gym part is tested up to:

Casey: up to Casey gets a threesome at Gym

Lana: up to Lana gets obsession about her ass

Discounts: up to girls get a second discount (25%), though mechanics to get 75% discount is already implemented, but keys are not added to the story.

All the game parts that I've tested were also voiced (those for which I had appropriate sounds. When I didn't - I've put lines on the "to make voicing" list), all actions that have stats requirements were updated to show the player those requirements (either as available or not-available actions)

I've expanded Game Intro:

I've added basic animations of Tommy (mostly masturbating), and I drew a missing canvas for him (more on that in the arts section)

I've added Tommy to the introduction section of the game (mostly him masturbating), so overall, you can now imagine those old Tommy vibes in the game, plus some Casey-Lana dialogs about Tommy should make more sense. I did not add Tommy anywhere else since this was out of scope for the update.

Now, the intro includes Casey's first time meeting Jackie at the grocery store.

Now Dave refuses to hire Casey, and she needs to use Aphrodisiac to cheat and get the job. At this point, the game is more straightforward towards "why Dave hires Casey?" at all, and why she was afraid to lose that job so quickly.

Game mechanics for direct interactions with Vault patrons

Casey can now talk to Arnie / Toby in the game after Vault Shift comics. She can ask Arnie to group her ass for extra tips.

Overall, this was an implementation of mechanics for future update - I plan to add more of that in the next update, including interactions with Rex.

Alternative routes, better in-game description, and mechanics changes:

The idea for this part of the update is to make game as self-explanatory as possible. For example:

The hidden data for most interactions is now visible (in case the only thing missing to activate it is perks or stats). All similar actions are better described in the game (you can see the image). I've also added 'inactive actions', which show you alternative routes of dialogs that can be activated if certain conditions are met (greyed out. You can see those in the image). This update is relevant for all parts that were tested.

Some story elements have now follow-up dialogs that help the player to understand what to do next (the example is when Casey fails to trigger the handjob scene with Dave for the first time, she gets a follow-up dialog with Jackie - the girls discuss ways to improve relations with Dave (since Casey can't have sex with Dave yet, those options are a bit specific)

Previously there was a delay in the game - before Casey could have her first scene with Dave, she needed at least 10 points of relations with Dave. This requirement was never described in the game itself. So now there is clear info added that Casey needs 10+ relations points with Dave to activate handjob.

I've added an alternative route to activate the handjob scene by buying and using Aphrodisiac - you can spend 40$ instead of grinding relations with Dave.

I've added a passive increase of relations with Dave every time Casey gets a high salary: +1 (max 10) for 40$+ and +2 (max 20) for 80$+.

"Taking advantage of Toby" does not need Lana to wait for him to be left alone - she can now talk to the table with both Arnie and Toby to make Arnie leave.

Most of the sex scenes in Vault (those that happen before the end of the Vault Competition event) do not end the workday now. Thought most scenes add +1 tired effect and also make the male participant tired, preventing triggering any new scenes with the same character on the same day again.

Attraction stat was renamed into Sluttiness stat (yeah, Attraction was not representing enough)

Attraction stat was renamed into Sluttiness stat (yeah, Attraction was not representing enough)

I've played through most of the game so far (except Lana's content), adding voicing where possible, fixing some lines, and adding 'extra info' for some dialog options - to make the game clear what Casey / Lana needs to trigger this or that option.

Time for switching between girls was increased from 8 AM to 8-12 AM.

Casey's NPC going to the gym is moved from 9 AM to 10 AM - allowing the player to use the morning for Lana to go to the gym.

Balance features:

Casey's starting fitness is now 10 points (was 20). The aim is to have it reduced to 5 later on.

Reduced requirements for "Good Shape" perk to 10 fitness, reduced requirements for "Fitness Cutie" to 25 fitness.

Every 20 productivity reduces Tired effect by 1 to a minimum of 1

I can see an issue with a lack of money for the gym. I'll be fixing this with more tips in the next update + maybe other ways of making money later.

I've added the first 2 discounts at the gym (10% and 25%): the first needs Casey being groped and any 2 sex scenes at the gym, the second needs Lana's & Arnie's secret and any 5 scenes at the gym. Both are activated talking to Arnie.

In addition, there is a way for Casey to get 50% discount for Gym trading it for -5 relations with Arnie.

Balance issues and thoughts:

There’s definitely an issue with earning money in the early game. In the next update, I will be adding more ways of earning extra tips in Vault, but definitely some other ways of earning cash would help.

HUGE Problem: there's a lack of content outside of the main story lines. This changes a lot in my future planning - I will be filling the gaps in the future where possible instead of adding more stories.

I plan to remove all sorts of lines related to Girl's Night Out later story. This will be removed in general - the event happens too late in the game.

I plan to change the way Lana meets Jack / have relations with Jack (to make this story part clearer and more regular).

Something that wasn't implemented in this update, but pretty much will be in the next one:

I decided to skip adding the Inventory interface for now - since using Aphrodisiac capsule through inventory (instead of from dialog as it is now) should affect multiple characters in different ways, and writing the code for this will take time (as well as writing code for the interface itself). Though I'm really into it, I think that player should be able to manipulate the girl's stats by using drinks, coffee, or similar stuff in the game without the need to return home and use the fridge.

I've added the skip 2 hours button, but later I removed this button - it messed with story mechanics pretty badly, sometimes cutting off parts of the story and adding bugs. I need to find a better way for this button.

Sluttiness stat should influence the amount of extra tips earned (probably based on total level or something), though I have no idea for proper mathematical implementation yet.

My own drawings and arts in general

I did very few drawings this month:

I've added canvas for Tommy (on the image) - might sound stupid, but I'm proud of it (and it was such a relief that I can draw something myself instead of asking artists and waiting for hell knows how long);

I've updated Casey's ass for Rex & Girl's next threesome scene (you can see it among the images);

I've added a variant of Casey's face for Vault ass grab comics.

New arts for Vault comics were done - pretty much they represent higher Vault popularity and higher Casey sluttiness stat required for those. I will be posting them separately.

Animations

I did a few little animations, like ass grab for Vault comics, and Tommy quick animations to be able to show Tommy in the Intro

Our team animator has almost finished the ongoing Rex & Girls threesome scene (I will be posting it separately)