12/21 Status Update

The new Netoria 2 update is out and it seems pretty stable. I've uploaded a version onto Itch as well. So that means at the moment the test build and the live version are basically the same. That will change in the near future as work changes to be focused on the first level of Vashti POV act 2. The first level will be a lot more work than later levels as it means getting everything that is necessary for a level to function all done. So new skills, new mechanics, etc.

The main new mechanic is Vashti's naughty/nice meter. Use naughty skills, it moves one notch to the right. Use a nice skill,. it moves one notch to the left. Nice skills are buffs and things that effect allies and naughty skills are debuffs and things that effect enemies. Finish the level over to one side and that counts as that side winning the level. If you don't Kamaal wins the level. It's intentionally similar to how the gropes work in act 1 just tracking a different thing, skill usage instead of gropes. There's one more wrinkle, when you're right in the middle of the dial at 0, Vashti can access her Djinn form that was teased in act 1. When in Djinn form, the dial is locked at 0. But Vashti will take damage every turn and can only leave by using a powerful finale skill that shoots the dial all the way to the extreme end you're not on the route for. So if you're on the naughty route, you can use Radiant Finale that will heal every ally on the map, but set the dial all the way to max niceness.

You can ration Vashti's skills and only do things that take you in the direction you want, use a mix of both but try and lean heavier in one direction, use her Djinn form and try to heal her, there's plenty of ways to play it. Or maybe you just want to intentionally mess it up and have Kamaal win. Every POV will have a unique mechanic like this that's designed to have the same route outcome through gameplay decisions effect as the grope system. This was one of the things I really wanted to change up from the first game because in that one what you did in battles didn't really matter towards the end of the game. Gropes will still matter in act 2, but for most characters it's no longer as central a focus.

For Naked Ambition, I think I need to change my focus a little bit. I've been doing a good job laying stuff down, but it's all kind of clumping together. I'm going to try focus on just one sequence of events and route and write it straight through. Because right now since I'm writing for every outcome possible at the same time it's getting pretty messy. Once I have that through-line I can edit it work for each variation and route.

Obviously, the idea of releasing it this year hasn't panned out. I knew that was a long shot from the beginning. I haven't been able to devote as much time as I'd like to the game, with Netoria 2 still taking up the majority of development time. It's hard to justify doing anything else since Netoria 2 has been such a success. But that's not an excuse, I just need to find ways to get more Naked Ambition writing time.

That's all for this week. As always, thank you for your continued support.