Gameplay System, Mechanics, and Overall Information

Hello everyone! :) This poll is to inform you all about the planned Gameplay for the next update, and to receive your feedback and comments if you have anything you'd like to mention. This might be quite long, so please bear with me. I'll also share this information on Discord.

As you know, I have mentioned a lot of times that after prologue I intend on implementing a gameplay system so that this project would be dynamic instead of being kinetic. I do not plan on turning this project into a senseless and depth-lacking sandbox, I am still passionate about delivering an overarching story with many sub-plots. I want the characters I have introduced and will introduce to be dynamic and have psychological depth and feel alive. I want them to feel unique and different from each other. 

I am not trying to paint an exaggerated and overambitious picture for the project. I want all my patrons to know that I'm maintaining a realistic perspective not to get ahead of myself due to the passion I have for this game. :) I tested most of these mechanics by writing some basic codes for trial & error, and the current results  were promising. I initially had a lot of factoring mechanics for gameplay but realised that I could mix and merge most of them together so that is also a plus for the future of updates as it will be much easier to check variables for scenes and content. (The information I will share right now will not mention mechanics or features that might be considered spoilers.) 

I also found some ways to reduce file size as it got out of hand pretty quickly for the first three versions of the game. I will be implementing those to optimize convenience for the future updates.

Let's begin! :)

-There are a few core mechanics that will be in the update v0.1.3, and some additional  features that I have in plan for the future of the project. I will mention all that I have planned so far, and will indicate which ones are more probable to be in the v0.1.3. (Also keep in mind that these gameplay mechanics might require updates/balancing/ or complete rework in time. These will be the current implementations for now.) 

• Main HUD for the player: A Head-up Display will be implemented for you to navigate your way through important menus and screens. The HUD will consist of a Health display, a Currency display, a Reputation display, and an Action Point(Move/Motivation/Energy etc. point) display on the top left; a Sylphone(a smartphone icon) on the top right.
  
  Health: Health is a mechanic that will be important for the player to successfully complete certain actions. It is a Femdom game, and the protagonist is the one to be subjected to various actions after all. Default Health will be 100. In time with future updates various mechanics such as Health will be permanently upgradeable. Resting and certain actions will restore health. I believe it will be more immersive to have health as a factor in scenes with elements of torture and extreme content.
  Currency: Will keep track of your in-game earnings.
  Reputation: Will keep track of your reputation points. Reputation works similarly to Currency, but has a different purpose.
  Action: The amount of actions you can do per day. Default will be 3. Resting will pass the day and restore Action Points. Action will also be upgradeable.
  
• General Status Screen: This is a screen that is accessible by clicking on Health. This screen will display particular factors and features that will affect your gameplay and scenes.
  
  Affinity Status: Matched/Dedicated/Owned. If you have advanced to a certain degree in an affinity path with a character, it will be displayed here and will indicate the type of path you took. This will slightly influence some dialogues and content.
  Virginity: Immaculate/Impure/Lost. (Cannot elaborate on some details due to spoilers) Immaculate is the status indicating that the protagonist has never had an orgasm, ever; has never had any sexual interaction, ever; has never been involved romantically or erotically with anyone, ever. Impure indicates that the protagonist only has not had an intimate sexual interaction. Lost is pretty self-explanatory. This mechanic will influence dialogues and content, as well as determine your interactions with certain characters.
  Genitalia: Normal/Shrunk. This will allow the Small Penis Humiliation content to be optional. Based on your interactions and decisions, this status will be affected.
  Body: Intact/Mutilated. Again, your choice in content and routes will be influential in this status. This is especially important as a mechanic for me to check so that the Protagonist remains as consistent as possible between scenes.
  
  There is in fact a button on this screen that stands for a very important mechanic but I cannot explain it due to spoilers. I can just say that those who make extreme choices and meet irrevocable consequences will be able to restore their progress with a catch. ;)
  
• Sylphone: Your phone will show you the Day, your contacts (not for v.0.1.3), the map, and personal information on the Protagonist.  There might be additional features added in the future, such as a texting interaction that can provide fun and enjoyable dialogues.
  
• The Map/Navigation: I have shared info on map before, but by clicking on the icons on the map you will be able to visit various locations to interact with various characters. More locations and characters will be available through updates.

• Day, Tasks, Events, Objectives: Day mechanic is necessary to keep track of events and tasks. Also to introduce story related content at certain times. Tasks will offer a means to earn currency, reputation, and advance slightly in stats. Objectives are more demanding assignments with deadlines, they will offer more but failure will be more detrimental as well. Mostly the objectives will be related to the overarching storyline. Events are reoccurring day-specific instances which will have certain pre-requisites. and can play out in different ways depending on your choices and stats.
  
• Randomized Actions for Characters: For the characters to feel alive and have a will of their own, specific random actions or dialogues will be assigned to them through updates. Think of it this way, a dominant character should subvert the player's expectations, right? (not for v0.1.3)
  
• Extra dialogue window for out-of-scene interactions: A way to converse with characters to learn more about them, their own personal details, their likes and dislikes.
  
• Block/Unblock Content: Option to change settings for blocked/unblocked extreme content at will outside scenes.
  
• Minigames and Interactions: Similar to the ones at the last update of the sampling route, there will be various mechanics and extra gameplay interactions for content and scenes, and for some tasks. Rest assured that these will not be too distracting or frustrating. The aim is only to render the content more immersive.
  

                                                    CRUCIAL AND CORE MECHANICS

I will now continue with the stats I have mentioned that will heavily dictate your gameplay.
I initially began with 8 different stats, but finding it too redundant and tiresome for both myself and the player, I was able to merge them down to 4 essential stats. 

The Protagonist and the other characters (or "The Antagonists" ;) ) have 4 stats each that will significantly affect gameplay and content.

The Stats for the Protagonist will assure a meaningful and impactful descent into the void of deviance. 

The Stats for the other characters of interest, the Affinity system will govern their approach towards the Protagonist, and the way their content is handled.

                                                        The Stats and What They Represent

The Stats for the Protagonist:

These four stats will heavily affect your gameplay and success in scenes, as well as the content you will be able to view. Each stat has stages up to 7, starting at 0. The first stage indicates your ability for very simple femdom elements, and the final stage obviously stands for the content most extreme. Some content and instances will require a certain amount of progression in more than one stat, so plausible combination of stats will be necessary to commence particular content.

• Bacchus: (combination of two initial stats "Gastric Tolerance, Respiratory Endurance") Covers the kinks and fetishes related to smell and taste.
  
• Dolor: (combination of two initial stats "Pain Tolerance, Sacrifice") Covers the kinks and fetishes related to pain and suffering.
  
• Servitium: (combination of two initial stats "Worship, Sexual Performance") Covers the kinks and fetishes related to worship and service, as well as improving dialogue options.
  
• Mutatio: (combination of two initial stats "Transformation, Psychological Tolerance") Covers the kinks and fetishes related to transformation of body and will.
  
  All four and their respective 7 stages make sure to cover every femdom kink/fetish. :) From vanilla, to the most extreme. ;)
  

The Affinity System for the Characters:

These four gauges will keep progress of your affinity with a character. These stats will not affect the content per se, but the way the content is handled by that character.
I believe provided image explains it pretty well, only for the "Condemnation" stat I should say that this is a stat you will encounter after many failures and negative interactions with a character. They will basically hate the protagonist. Content for this affinity will be treated so, and will have no regard to emotions as the only emotion dominant will be hatred. ;)

Well.. I guess that's about it for now. If you made it through here, thank you so much! There are a lot of other concepts and features that I have not mentioned (either due to spoilers or due to the fact that I have not tested them yet) but I took notes so I will implement those in time as well, hopefully :)

The Question for the Poll: Do you like this plan for the gameplay?

Make sure to share your opinion with me if you can, your feedback is really important to me. :) <3 I hope you will continue to enjoy this project and with your support I can keep providing an evolving, improving game.
I immensely thank all my patrons for their continuous support, as always, I hope to deliver satisfactory content. <3

See you in the next update! Have a nice weekend and please take care! :)