Writer's Blog: John, Still A Himbo But Now Complex

Chapter 3 will be out this weekend! Overhauling John’s relationship means simultaneously recoding his scenes in Chapters 4 and 5, in order to make sure that the relationship variables I’m tracking work throughout all of John’s main conversations. And I must say, I’m really pleased by how it’s turned out! I’ve talked a little in past posts about the new overhaul for how Button’s relationship with their parents is tracked, but I haven’t gone much into what having variables instead of a stat bar actually means and what this looks like in-game.

To summarize the new relationship system, instead of Hope and John having a stat bar like other characters, Button’s feelings towards them is now tracked via series of descriptors. These variables are set to either true or false depending on your choices.

John, for example, currently has nine variables (one up from yesterday’s count of eight, and the potential to bump higher once I finish up his Chapter 5 scenes). 

These variables are:

Jclose – Button and John’s current relationship is close, meeting up at least once a week for lunch.

Jtense – Button and John’s current relationship is tense, with Button actively avoiding most meetings.

Jpast – Button and John were close before The Incident (regardless of their current relationship).

Jblame – Button blames John for not protecting them from Hope.

Jresent – Button is upset that John left with Hope instead of staying.

Junfair – Button feels that John treated Nick unfairly by making him Button’s guardian.

Jfavoritism – Button feels like John has always favored Nick.

Jbusybody – Button is upset that John tried to stop them from joining Aeon.

Jmiss – Button misses John.

None of these variables, with the exception of Jclose and Jtense, are exclusive. This means that your choices will end up creating a customized dynamic. Perhaps your Button and John used to be joined at the hip but now can now barely get through a lunch together, yet Button still really misses him while also being upset that Nick had to take on so much responsibility (Jpast, Jtense, Jmiss, and Junfair). Or maybe your Button and John are closer now than ever, but Button secretly believes that John would always pick Nick and Hope over them if push came to shove (Jclose, Jfavoritism, and Jresent). There’s a bunch of combinations that can be created (too many for me to count!), and all of these feelings are now be reflected in conversations with John (more so in Chapters 4 and 5, since Chapter 3 mostly involves setting these variables via Button’s initial options towards John).

In Chapters 4 and 5, Button’s default dialogue changes based on which variables they have active. The selectable options also change! Junfair Buttons, for example, get a chance to snark that since Nick’s presence in their head means that they’re no longer a Zero, John shouldn’t have any more issue with them being an MIV. I’ve shown what this new system looks like coding-wise in the Demo channel in the Sanctum (as well as the nonsensical pitfalls that come with it), but it ultimately means that the family dynamic for each MC you create should feel uniquely theirs.