- Dec 19, 2018
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Those are some truly great suggestions! Thank you so much for it!
Current stat system, while it is still in the game, is basically non-existent and there is a reason. After we started working on this project, we quite soon discovered that RenPy as an engine hates numbers. It's not as much difficult to work with generic stat system, as it is messy, and the more stat-based interactions you add, the worse it gets. Which is why we decided to completely scrap it, and in the upcoming overhaul update we are planning to swap it to "event-based" trait system. Even-based basically means, that after completing certain story events, you will get a character trait, for example "mental fortitude", which will allow you to play though more mentally taxing routes, like anything related to Reina (former Sombra).
The reason we gone with this approach is not only the problems with engine, but we also wanted to avoid any king of extra grind as much as possible, and your usual stat system heavily implies that you will have to grind. Instead, we split stats like strength, intelligence, charisma into "categories", and wrote a lot of different character traits that could be allocated to those categories, and then instead of making certain activities that with stat system would allow you to grind (like going to the gym), we are writing whole routes for those activities, and every major event you will get a new trait. Instead of just making a grinding mechanic, which might be accompanied with a story, and each bit of said story would be unlocked by more grind, we just made time-gated activities, each one of which will always tell you something new and give more story to enjoy.
It might sound complex, but in reality it plays like: There is a gym, you go to the gym, a scene starts, you meet new characters, something happens, you play through few events, and then you get a new trait, while also unlocking story further. And when you complete the entirety of gym storyline, you will unlock all of the traits associated with it. This approach also allows us to avoid something like "you visited the gym 30 times, now you are the strongest you can possibly be", while in reality character model and behaviour barely changes. Traits also can be literally anything we want, it doesn't have to be "superhuman strength". Sometimes you will simply learn how to handle stressful situations, or how to put someone bitchy in their spot.
Speaking about money, it is a huge problem right now. Funny you mentioned smuggling, because it is one of the planned alternative ways to make cash, though before we add it, first we want to make sure there is enough ways to spend it. For that, we are planning to add a "special" shop that will sell all kinds of sex-related products, like toys, outfits and what not. You will be able to use it with specific characters to unlock extra scenes and small bits of story, but it is just an extra content. Money will also be spent on upgrading the Altar, which we hopefully will add sometime soon, since we've been sitting on basically finished assets for 3 months now, but it was a bitch to code.
When it comes to worldbuilding, we will definitely get a little deeper into that as soon as we rework classes. We will add a short storyline to each of them, as well as more unique interactions with teachers, that will make this whole setting more believable. Though I can't promise that there will be all that many changes to the MC, though some will come for sure, since the whole basis of the new trait system is that he should be incredibly talented at adapting to unusual or stressful environments. This would also explain why is he in there: He is a people's person, everyone believes him from the get-go, and for a reason too. He just always find a way to make people comfortable and relaxed around him, all because he is super flexible when it comes to how he behaves. We will definitely explore this more in the future, as well as talk in depth about reason he got accepted.
Thank you again for such an amazing feedback and so many suggestions! This is something we can definitely work with, and I will make notes about all of the things you listed.
