Hello Wolfram99!
Once again, thank you for your detailed and insightful analysis! As a long-time follower of the project, I take every one of your suggestions seriously.
Regarding the logical contradiction in the save/load, your criticism hits right at the heart of the issue. This was originally an ambitious design—I wanted to deeply embed the save/load functionality into the game, creating a kind of Metagame feeling where each time players use save/load, it could be understood as MC's own actions. However, it's clear now that this design has almost zero integration depth with the storyline and is completely unconvincing. As you pointed out, if he doesn't use this function, why would he fear losing it? This is indeed a fatal design flaw. I'm currently thinking about how to make MC actively use this mechanism during gameplay (such as embedding it into linear storylines), rather than the current illogical approach. I'm currently working on the script for the next section, and I think I'll focus heavily on addressing this point in the new content.
Your "Want to try again? " option suggestion is extremely practical. While I don't plan to modify any already-released content, adding a retry design that returns to the choice before failure nodes is excellent—this is actually a forgotten design of mine that I used similar mechanics in the prologue. In any case, I'll add prompts for several Pass/Die option locations (such as adding screen filters to inform players this is a dangerous decision) and provide retry options afterward.
Regarding MC being too passive, this is an issue many players have reported to me. Currently, MC has no character arc; he's just driven to complete tasks while "pretending" to be indifferent. It's fine for him to take hits, but he must immediately be given opportunities to strike back, rather than constantly delaying his revenge. I believe this is an urgent problem that needs solving.
As for the the post-apocalyptic setting, more decisive and ruthless decisions might occur with some supporting characters. Some characters will be specifically designed to embody the contradictions of the wasteland—such as the declining, chaotic, rule-breaking vitality of the wasteland, and the contradiction between the non-utilitarian nature of humanistic care and the pure utilitarianism of survival. I believe that following your suggestions, I'll focus more on designing these characters.
I apologize for my delayed response. Things always seem to get more complicated just when you think they're becoming easier, much like my development work. Sometimes there's so much work to complete that it takes away from my time to check and respond to player feedback. I think I'll try my best to regularly check the forum for player opinions.
Thank you again for your patience and constructive feedback. It's thoughtful players like you who help this project continuously improve!
Bigh4nd
BigH4nd Actually, I have long thought that it would be cool if a visual novel used save/load as a character's superpower, and I even came up with a mechanic for it: it's similar to a gallery where certain scenes that the character "visited" are recorded, even if the player later loads a save from before that scene, or entering the names of characters, which can be changed during the game, since they are not saved in the local save file but in a separate one, with the same variables that the game uses. That is, besides the usual save files, there exists a "global" save file where all player actions are recorded; the game simply needs to take variables from it as well. For example, there are three paths: 1 is linear and moves the game forward, 2 leads to death, 3 leads to certain information. If the player immediately takes the first path, the protagonist will not know the information from path 3 (recorded in the global save), but if they first take path 3, then loading the last branching point and going through path 1 afterward will lead to different outcomes (for example, now they have an H-scene because on path 3 they eavesdropped on a conversation).
Moreover, information from side paths may not have an immediate impact, but only after several branches, and vice versa, a side branch located somewhere ahead may be relevant to a situation that occurred somewhere behind. In this case, the player does not need to replay everything from the beginning (though of course they can, if they want, to see how things develop now), but they can also simply load the last save and see how events unfolded with all their previous actions, except for the one they have now changed. For example: a character from the love interest (LI) is killed; much later, the protagonist finds out who the killer is, recalls that he met the killer before the murder, loads into that dialogue, and now there is an option "take down the bastard tower" which was not there before. He do it, and as a result, the LI is saved. The player can either replay from that point (perhaps there will be new H-scenes) or load the last save where the killer is long dead and the LI is alive (and the H-scenes are added to the gallery).
You can even change relationships/dialogues depending on the options the player chooses while viewing the H-scenes gallery, if that data is also recorded in the global save file. Or even turn LI into a nymphomaniac if scenes from the replay gallery with her were played several times with all the choice options in them. This could even be a legal cheat for boosting stats (domination, submissiveness, love, tenderness, romance, etc.) in case they're lacking for a certain response option: save, open the gallery, make the correct choices, load, and voilà...
Also, in the case of this mechanic, there is nothing stopping you from adding to the main character an activatable super ability "Instinct" (built-in WTmod) with 2 levels: deactivation, the player is completely blind in their choices and must find logical chains on their own; level 1 is for those who don't like walkthroughs but expect hints in the dialogues and reflections of the main character about which path to take first, at which stage to reload later, etc.; level 2 is the almost familiar WTmod for everyone (with detailed descriptions on each choice button about what it can lead to, which path is better to take first, where to reload later, etc.), in addition to extra lines providing hints for progression.
You could even introduce a mechanic that uses values from the settings: for example, if the music volume is low, then the main character, encountering an orchestra or bard, would ask them to play softer, and if it's at maximum, then on the contrary — louder; the same applies to the volume of character voices, when the main character would ask to make it quieter, for example, if an NPC is shouting, or louder (like if they didn’t hear something) when an NPC is whispering; or during H-scenes, the main character would tell the LI to moan softer/louder in gentle variants, as well as to shut up/shout so that everyone can hear and know, or even cover the LI’s mouth with their hand, gags, objects, or a ring that keeps the mouth open; or go through a part of the story either stealthily or like Rambo, all depending on the volume settings. Even the character's personality and their lines (with the same choices) can be tied to volume: 0-30% - submissive, 40-70% - normal, 80-100% - dominant. You can even use a "Mute All" checkbox in various scene variations (which will ultimately lead to the same outcome), for example: The main character tries to sneak around unnoticed but knocks over a pile of dishes, which fall and break, and at the moment they fall, the game checks this checkbox, and if it is activated at that moment, no one will hear the dishes falling; or the main character jumps off a roof, twisting a leg, grabs it, and starts cursing loudly (based on volume level), the game again checks the checkbox, and if it is active, the main character's swearing does not attract attention. Moreover, the general volume setting should affect only and exclusively the sound and nothing else, meaning the player can set the music volume to 80%, the voice volume to 100%, and the overall volume to 20%, but the game will still only consider the values of 80% and 100% for gameplay.
And you can come up with literally countless variations, while still maintaining the linearity of the plot.
P.S. I wouldn't be surprised if, after this, various developers start using this mechanic widely, just like with 'phone' games. Then they should at least add my nickname to the game
And to post the full version of the game on F95 without any cut content in two weeks after its release
