WIP - Tips, Secrets, and Game Design Insights for v0.1

As I work on v0.1, I thought I'd give some tips on some of the most effective ways of making money while I share some new screenshots and systems that I'm working on.

Funny story, I actually forgot that I put in multiple ways of making money. I thought that there was just the convenience store job. But then I was looking through all of the old events and found this crystal ball in your bedroom.

It turns out it's a "computer". Because when I initially made the game, I didn't have a laptop sprite and was too lazy to make one. So instead, I threw this in and made a joke about it totally being a computer. I remembered doing all of that.

What I didn't remember, was that I actually set it up to be able to make money with. It's pretty basic still, but it's all there. It's based on the Haramase Simulator job system, where you work and get job exp, and as you get more job exp you can take more jobs. You can check Work Exp in your key item inventory.

Definitely not the best solution to display this kind of exp but I'm not a programmer. I do everything I can using weird workarounds using the base game engine. I only turn to scripts if I absolutely have to. And besides that, this works. When making a game, sometimes it's best to just do the easy thing. Sure, I could have found a script to display custom stats, but either way, you're going through a menu to find it. This works, took a minimal amount of time to implement, and doesn't really disrupt a player's experience. Which is all that really matters.

Anyway, right now at least, using your computer is by far the best way to make money. It takes some effort to unlock though.

First, you have to know about the computer. In your room, there's a bookshelf you can interact with that gives hints on how to unlock things and make money. It's mentioned there, but isn't mentioned anywhere else. I want the game to be as open as possible and reward people for exploring. Which is why it's only mentioned there.

Once you know about it, you have to save up and buy the laptop from the department store. Of course, you can also just buy it from the department store without really knowing what it does. But that still requires a bit of exploration, since you have to find the department store.

The computer costs $300, which is quite a bit at the start of the game. The easiest way to make the money is to work in the convenience store, which pays $10 "per shift". I thought it would be a pain if it took all of your stamina or you worked and "went home" and teleported back to your room. So instead, each shift costs 50 stamina. Which makes it possible to go and do multiple shifts without having to go home, but also works with the main mechanic of the game.

You increase your stamina by leveling up, which you do by seducing women. Mechanics working together and building on each other is really important for a game. When you have one thing that's completely disconnected from everything else, it starts to feel like a lot of work and more like a grind. Some developers intentionally separate out mechanics in order to increase play time, but I care more about people enjoying the game rather than spending a lot of time with it. I do want there to be a lot to do, but I don't want it to be fluff and grinding. I want it to be actual content.

The counter side to that, is that nothing can be TOO easy. There does need to be some time and effort needed to accomplish something in game. That's the hardest part of game design. Creating something that's challenging enough to feel rewarding, without feeling like waste of time.

In this case, to get the computer you need $300. Just working at the convenience store, that's 30 shifts. Which is quite a few. But the reward is the computer. You also don't have to just work at the convenience store to make the money. You can also hunt down collectables, and in future updates you'll have the lab storyline to make money, as well as other jobs.

Once you get the computer, your hard work pays off. You can now work directly from your bedroom, which means you can use all of your stamina working shifts, and then immediately rest. On top of that, you make more money. For now at least, there's two options.

First is data entry. Each shift costs 100 stamina, but you make $35 per shift. Making it almost double what you make at the convenience store. You also gain work exp here. You gain 15 work exp per shift, which is important to the next part.

The other option is to work freelance, but to work freelance, you need your work exp at 300. So to get to that 1000, you need to do data entry 67 times. Which is a lot for sure, but it's pretty broken once you unlock it. You're also making money each data entry shift. Unlike the previous grind at the convenience store, you get to keep all of the money too. Which is $2,345. More than enough for basically everything in v0.1. For context, the apartment is only $1000. The idea here is also that it's not going to be done all in v0.1.

In later updates, more jobs will be added that also give work exp. The idea is that you can eventually work your way up to freelance, rather than just grinding straight for it. However, people will have that option.

Once you do unlock freelance, it will cost 300 stamina and pay $150. More than triple what the convenience store paid for the same amount of stamina and about 50% more than what data entry pays. Doing this you'll be able to make money extremely fast. You'll also be getting 50 work exp for freelance, which will be helpful for other jobs.

The biggest other job I'm planning on including is the office job. In it, you'll be able to work your way up the ranks until you're CEO. From data entry, to middle management, to upper management, VP of a division, President of a division, and then CEO. Each time unlocking a new floor of the building, and more office ladies to seduce. That's the next job that will be getting implemented. That probably wont be until v0.3 though. Since the next update will be focused more on building out the world and introducing all of the mechanics of the game. Like storylines, pregnancy, and women with multiple scenes.

Working will be the easiest and most consistent way to make money, but it wont be the only way to make money. Like mentioned before, in future updates there will be the lab storyline that will give you a big lump. And there's also going to be the collectables. If someone makes a guide on where all the collectables are, that will be the quickest way to get to the computer for sure, but it'll require knowing where all the collectables are first.

You also have to unlock collectables. They wont just appear in the world by default. You have to talk to this guy in the commercial district first.

One you talk to him, the collectables will appear in the world, and you'll be able to go into the building to see what you've unlocked.

Some collectables will have a sprite (I haven't decided if it'll be a shiny thing or a piece of paper, I'm still implementing them and want to test both first) but others wont have a sprite at all. You'll just have to interact objects randomly to find them. I'll try to place them in places that make sense though. Like on a table or trash can or something. They wont be completely hidden out in the open or anything.

That's all for this post!

There's some insight into what's coming for Waifu Wonderland, how to break the game in v0.1, as well as some insights into game design. I hope everyone looks forward to the release of v0.1!