Ren'Py Abandoned Defective Sexbot Chop Shop [v0.4.1] [Radnor]

[The Grifter]

Yes, creating a "Missing" part is a good idea, but the hard part in the code would involve, when a bot is found in the dump, to replace some of its parts with that "Missing" part, with a probability of this happening increasing with the rank of the part. So for a E-D rank, it would be rare for it to be missing (not many people would waste their time to get those), and for higher rank, like A rank and especially S rank, it would often be missing.

You're right about it being a code issue should that mechanic become part of the base game. I thought for a moment that it would be easy to be part of a mod, with the Missing parts being customized parts of that very mod. So the Bot you found in the dump would have missing parts by design... trouble is that would make no sense if you ever encounter that bot from another source like the flea market.

 

[Hellraisers3]

Is it possible to add a next part and previous part when we are tinkering the bots?

 

[HNH1985]

There are some part like eyes and voice with grades and unknown functions. Is it for future update?

 

[Godogma]

Guys this whole idea of only one part of a bot at the dump being destroyed overpowered? That's entirely RNG based; I've been playing through the various mods with different installs and on one of the restarts this morning I got three or four bots in a row with a single part that could be repaired left on the bot (Normal difficulty) the rest were all cracked (thus worth only a few dollars) or completely irrepairable and thus useless.

 

[Daedalron]

Guys this whole idea of only one part of a bot at the dump being destroyed overpowered? That's entirely RNG based.

Yes, but the RNG doesn't look at the rank of the parts, and often, there's only one part that cannot be repaired (not always, just often, even on hard). I just said it would be quite logical for high-end parts to have been already scavenged by some other people.

Also, it would give a real challenge to the players who found a high-rank bot, where they would have to take a while to rebuild the bot, upgrading it bit by bit, instead of just "switching powercore, and it's done, I have an S-rank bot with almost full S-rank parts".

 

[Godogma]

That would be modded only; there are no S rank parts or bots in the base game. Of course the game isn't balanced around mods that vastly increase what's available in the system. The highest tier bot in the base game is a B and the highest tier part is an A.

As for someone else already scavenging all the high end parts? Who precisely? Frankly the parts on offer at the Flea Market tend toward the crappy and damaged end of the spectrum (I never bother trying to find parts there anymore - waste of time and AP). It's already enough of a challenge to scavenge enough useful parts to get a working bot at all to start with, or has been the last few times I've started over to test some things.

RNG is key to finding things in the dump and I don't see an issue with the current system; you added both S rank bots and parts to the loot table, thus they're ON the loot table. I've just run through a dozen bots and only got two that only had one broken part that needed replacing; one that had only one green part on the chassis and a bunch of broken stuff and the others were all in between ranging from needs minor repairs to a complete overhaul.

Out of multiple days scavenging I only managed to find a couple of CPU units of any kind, neither of them a Neurotech V7 or the S rank chip added by the mod (which I'm also using on this test game). I had to work a couple of days on top of the scavenging before I had even a Nova power core to get the first of those six bots up and running and repair a whole bunch of parts.

What I find much more vexing is the fact I can't opt out of picking up various parts that I wouldn't even bring back to my workshop at all; Plastic Arms and Legs, Plastan Arms and Legs with cracks that can't be repaired etc.

 

[Radnor]

(EDIT) My video files arent optimized for the game, still unsure how they work. They way they are formatted into the game doesnt make sense to me.

Quickly checked mod archive, my guess problem with video is due to missing _preview images. Without movie previews RenPy builds page layout first and only then try to actually load movies and show them at supposed position. As movie sizes where unknown during layout build process, RenPy use (0,0) as size. Having preview images provide RenPy with real sizes from very start.

 

[Radnor]

Radnor I don't know if it would involve a lot of work in the code or not, but if it's not too much work, perhaps you could make it so that when you get a bot in the dump, the higher rank the part is, the higher chance it would be not working. Because right now, there's very often only one defective part. For a lower tier bot, it's not an issue, as the parts aren't that great. But with the introduction of higher tier bots, who could be full of A or S-rank parts, it could become an issue, I think.

By making the higher rank parts of those bots more often not-repairable (if the bot is found in the dump), you would prevent a player from getting a full S-rank bot with S-rank parts (and only one part not functional), and it would then become a real quest to repair an S-bot rank bot you found, first switching the many not functional parts with crappy D-C rank parts, and then slowly upgrading them back to A-S rank when you get lucky and find one of those parts.

As a in-universe explanation, you could imagine that many people scavenge as well, and the A or S-rank parts that are still working would often have been scavenged by others before you, leaving more often than not only the not-repairable parts.

Balancing locations/drops is surely in plans. Regarding breaking found parts, not sure it will be tied to tier/rate directly. Maybe will add support to change changes from mods/content. Not sure yet.

Some sort of "part missing" pseudo-part may be added too.

Plus as mentioned above, winning lottery is nice feeling

 

[Radnor]

Is it possible to add a next part and previous part when we are tinkering the bots?

Umm, not sure i understand what you mean. Can you explain it bit more?

There are some part like eyes and voice with grades and unknown functions. Is it for future update?

Yes, both eyes and voice will affect future Beauty/Attractiveness stat. Which in turn may affect prices/effects.
Can promise any ETA for this, but it surely in plans.

 

[Radnor]

What I find much more vexing is the fact I can't opt out of picking up various parts that I wouldn't even bring back to my workshop at all; Plastic Arms and Legs, Plastan Arms and Legs with cracks that can't be repaired etc.

Hmm... Probably should add something way to "not take this part" during scavenging.

 

[Daedalron]

Hmm... Probably should add something way to "not take this part" during scavenging.

I'm not sure it's a real issue. It is at the moment, but you said before you may implant a way to mass-sell a type of part. For example, selling all Plastan legs at once. If you implant that mass-sell option, I think getting many crappy parts won't be a real issue, since we can always just sell them all in a few clicks, instead of having to sell them all one at a time.

 

[Hellraisers3]

Umm, not sure i understand what you mean. Can you explain it bit more?



Yes, both eyes and voice will affect future Beauty/Attractiveness stat. Which in turn may affect prices/effects.
Can promise any ETA for this, but it surely in plans.

It'd look like this(but better being done by a more intelligent person) but It would just take us to the next part or previous part.

 

[Radnor]

It'd look like this(but better being done by a more intelligent person) but It would just take us to the next part or previous part.

Oh, got you, sounds useful, added to todo.

 

[Godogma]

Hmm... Probably should add something way to "not take this part" during scavenging.

I'd definitely appreciate it; no matter how easy it would be to clear out 'all parts of this type' it's still a waste of AP and I wouldn't bring back parts that were damaged beyond repair / couldn't be repaired.

 

[Mr_Shaky]

I'd definitely appreciate it; no matter how easy it would be to clear out 'all parts of this type' it's still a waste of AP and I wouldn't bring back parts that were damaged beyond repair / couldn't be repaired.

Finding the stuff should use AP whether or not you take it.
Having to confirm or deny if you want each thing you find would just add to the grind where as a sell all X type would not.
Radnor could add the option to "sell last find" after searching or something maybe but it would still be pretty grindy even if it's not another menu level to go through comparatively to a "sell all X".
I do however so a use for the option to sell the last thing you found if you find bots you don't want and you're not in need of parts as getting to the flea market and selling it can be very grindy if you're rolling a lot of bots you don't want in the dump. It's especially so when I've tested the mods that add more parts and bots.

Conclusion: A "sell all type X" would be better for parts as there's no inventory limit whereas a "sell last scavanged item" button would be better with bots where you have an inventory limit as long as it's incorporated into existing menus to avoid grindy extra menus.
I don't really consider it cheaty to have a "sell last" either since you can already sell bots without extra AP cost at the fleamarket when you're at the dump. It's just better the less menus you have to go through.

 

[Godogma]

Finding the stuff should use AP whether or not you take it.
Having to confirm or deny if you want each thing you find would just add to the grind where as a sell all X type would not.

A setting toggle to not pick up Cracked or Plastic parts would solve the whole issue; glance at it, cracked or plastic? Don't waste time, move on. Much like any other junkyard; I can tell whether I'm interested in a part or not by glancing over it.

I don't need to make a full examination to know whether a part is something that meets my criteria.

Since I know I can see cracked parts much smaller than an arm or leg for vehicular parts for 10 feet or so away with a visual inspection, no idea why an Engineer that designed said parts for a living couldn't do the same bloody thing for bot parts.

 

[The Grifter]

Finding the stuff should use AP whether or not you take it.
Having to confirm or deny if you want each thing you find would just add to the grind where as a sell all X type would not.
Radnor could add the option to "sell last find" after searching or something maybe but it would still be pretty grindy even if it's not another menu level to go through comparatively to a "sell all X".
I do however so a use for the option to sell the last thing you found if you find bots you don't want and you're not in need of parts as getting to the flea market and selling it can be very grindy if you're rolling a lot of bots you don't want in the dump. It's especially so when I've tested the mods that add more parts and bots.

Conclusion: A "sell all type X" would be better for parts as there's no inventory limit whereas a "sell last scavanged item" button would be better with bots where you have an inventory limit as long as it's incorporated into existing menus to avoid grindy extra menus.
I don't really consider it cheaty to have a "sell last" either since you can already sell bots without extra AP cost at the fleamarket when you're at the dump. It's just better the less menus you have to go through.

Or add a 'Mark to be sold' button that sets a flag to the item, right after finding it and/or while checking your inventory at home. The clerk bots then can sell those flagged items while the MC performs the 'Work' action; the price and number of sold items could be influenced by your bots' social skill. That way you could even tinker with the items to improve their quality before they get sold.

 

[Godogma]

Or if you find the toggle needs balancing after playtesting? Put it behind a certain level of skill (but not an inordinate one - I'm a journeyman mechanic and I'm going off personal experience here) so C or B rank in Mechanics or Electronics should probably be sufficient.

 

[Daedalron]

A setting toggle to not pick up Cracked or Plastic parts would solve the whole issue; glance at it, cracked or plastic? Don't waste time, move on. Much like any other junkyard; I can tell whether I'm interested in a part or not by glancing over it.

I don't need to make a full examination to know whether a part is something that meets my criteria.

It should still take the AP. The AP is not used to pick the item itself, it's used to search for something. You spend the time, and all you found is a plastic leg. Even if you don't take it, the time is already spent.

What you're asking for is similar to the save-load cheat, where you would only spend the AP if you roll something you like. It's called a cheat for a reason

 

[Godogma]

It should still take the AP. The AP is not used to pick the item itself, it's used to search for something. You spend the time, and all you found is a plastic leg. Even if you don't take it, the time is already spent.

What you're asking for is similar to the save-load cheat, where you would only spend the AP if you roll something you like. It's called a cheat for a reason

You say cheating I say realism; frankly each of the 5AP represents a certain number of hours; it doesn't take hours to search a junkyard and say 'No I don't want that part'.

Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night - there's 5 AP and a 6 hour time span in each one (24/4 = 6); each AP is therefor worth 1.2 hours. It damn sure doesn't take me 1.2 HOURS to determine I don't want a part in a junkyard.

EDIT - It also doesn't take me 1.2 hours to leave the house and go get a buggy full of groceries; within an hour I'm home having gathered everything I wanted if I didn't have to wait in line to checkout. Generally to get it to take more than an hour requires multiple stores and multiple people ahead of me in line.

My conclusion is basically not to break the AP down into time, because when I think about it the stuff kinda annoys me; which is why I've suggested multiple ways to add more AP through buying upgrades already.