Yesterday I left some thoughts on Discord, and today I'm going to bring the suggestions to this forum
Taking into account the feedback from the entire community so far — in addition, of course, to my own — what the game
NEEDS is to free itself from the constraints of linearity so that the player has the feeling that they really are playing something, and not just pressing the enter key and seeing images on the screen.
I'm not going to lie: this new format makes it very difficult, it's going to be a long and hard journey, but one of the alternatives I managed to find is the creation of an interactive map for the character, Saria, to move around the world. I'll send an image from a VN to illustrate a little of what I'm saying.
(Remembering that this is just an example, it doesn’t have to be 100% like this. I just want to inspire you).
Of course it would be on a much smaller scope, involving several map scenarios (unfortunately hand-drawn or something, because this is the path you chose yourself). This way, you would bring the exploration that the masses crave without having to get your hands dirty with pixel art.
Going deeper into this issue of interactive maps, try to imagine that first section of the old version, where there was an abandoned house, a cave with those insects and Oskar's tent you would draw a map representing this scenario, and in the image you would have the entrance to the cave, which could be accessed by clicking on the button that would take you inside and consequently to another map; there would be an abandoned house, which could also be accessed; and finally there would be the hut, which, when clicking on the button to interact with it, would activate the boss event.
Further on, after defeating Oskar, there would be a new map, representing that second part of the desert, which has the bonfire, the tied-up NPC, another caves (of the Troglodytes this time)...
Remembering that this is just an example. You might want to change the geographies too, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, the important thing is that the public has the feeling that they are exploring, that they are progressing.
We cannot forget the enemies. In this logic of interactive maps, you could insert them at fixed points in the scenario and through RNG when interacting with something on the map, such as entering an abandoned house or something similar.
This randomness, again, is important to put an end to the linear direction. It would be really cool if you thought of other random events that might surprise the player that weren't necessarily combat.
Finally, perhaps most important, the erotic part.
Removing the sexual combat was a big loss, because it made the sexual scenes dynamic, as they were actually within the game and, once again, were not linear. To compensate for this, the game will need to significantly alter all existing scenes, especially those of defeat, adding variations to them, whether by changing the text or Sariaa's face. Hell... If Saria loses multiple times to the same group of thugs, at some point more than masturbation should happen! (and come to think of it, that wouldn't be much work to do, since you already have a lot of drawings ready from the old version)
Yes, this is very related to Corruption. Corruption in the H-works is all about the world and the characters around it reacting to how the MC is losing himself to sex, and since the old numbers and statistics no longer exist, those reactions need to be in full force here, whether in the form of variations in scenes as I said before, or having unique ways of avoiding certain battles or going through certain events.
There's a lot of room to work here. In this new Arc 1, a lot is said about Saria having a group, so, well, you can actually create a group that accompanies Saria on many adventures, and of course, the characters in the group would react to the actions and events that surround Saria.
(You can even involve them in the card system if you want to go deeper into it! Think about the existence of special cards that sometimes appear in combat: these would be your companions helping you in the fight).
Imagine the possibilities... A malicious warrior who always hits on Saria and waits for the opportunity to take her to bed... A healer or something, shy and small, who secretly has feelings for Saria and watches and commenting on everything that happens to her... Seriously, a lot can be done here. I'm talking about recurring characters, reacting to Saria's corruption.
I know it's a lot, but that's it. There are other suggestions that came to mind, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. Let's do it by steps.
I really want the game to return to its former glory and for players to get excited about it again.
