It's the "Post play test" update...

So the good news is....Chapter Four is good. Very in places. 

But.... it's also, in some circumstances, wonky in the middle and could land with a wet thump. The problem hinges around the two missions and the free roam.

If a player does a mission and the free roam then it seems nicely balanced. The problem stems from if a player decides to do neither or both missions. If they do both (and it is possible to have both missions available) then it breaks the story in a way that just doesn't make sense. The MC isn't doing their primary mission (repairing the station) and, worse, misses out on the chance to get information they need. Instead of getting involved story wise or doing what they are there to do they're roaming around the planet twice like they're running a bus service and then go straight to the evening section.

But where it really falls down on if they decide to do neither mission (or indeed haven't unlocked them) for there isn't really much to do free roam wise this time around. This was deliberate by design. You'd have noticed that it's impossible to do everything in free roam in C2 and C3 on a single playthrough. Well, this is why. So that the content stack not touched would carry over to those chapters that are lighter free roam wise so that players would always have something to do. (bear in mind that there is a lot going on this chapter module wise and story wise so this was a way to manage the workload). So, what's the problem? It works, right?

The problem is that existing players would have used multiple saves to see everything. They'll be an expectation that the content in free roam will be pretty extensive based on experience and....it isn't. Hence the wet thump. I suspect it doesn't matter how much I stamp my feet at my tester and go on about how all rooms are built as complete and this is the design etc. They're right when they say it'll look like I've rowed back content wise. Which ofc is ironic given it's the biggest chapter yet. I knew I'd lost this argument when I said "But they're not meant to play that way..." The player, ofc, can play any damn way they like - it's my job to entertain them regardless not expect them to play in a certain manner.

After a lot of Jaffa Cakes and multiple smokes I think I have the answer. The solution is twofold.

Firstly to build a mission stack mechanism. By that I mean, the player can keep unlocking missions as they play and providing they haven't closed due to event timing they'll always be available to do. So the player has a list of missions they can pick and choose from which roll over each chapter. With the stack in place the player can then only do one mission per chapter. This should mean the main storyline remains in place, yet the player always has a choice of missions external to the station.

On the "unbearable lightness of the free roam" I think the simple solution is to bring forward some of the content from Chapter Five and expand some of the smaller scenes. Not a terribly clever solution but it would at least stop the middle section being all "been there, done that" for you.

There were a few other things ofc. The PDA clue system could do with being made smarter (so it only shows relevant clues as opposed to every one even if now outdated) but that can wait until Five I think. The baddie was a bit too tough and there were a few instances of clipping on some animation frames - but those are easy to solve.

It's frustrating of course, as much for me as for you, but this is why we have the testing. To catch things like this so you don't get a poor experience.

But, with luck none of this should take me too long once I've worked out the best way to do it. The fact we have a playable build, even if a bit wonky, means we're close.

I'll be as quick as I can.

Notty