Progress update – April

Hello everyone! I wanted to have the update ready by this date, but I didn't factor in how retarded I was when coding the routes. First, I'll explain the chart and then move on to the problems I'm currently having with the variables.

Mia’s alternate scene

As for Mia's scene, which is the whole point of this update is currently on hold as I have to complete the Memory Reconstructor before anything else, otherwise it would be a pain in the ass to replay the whole thing just to get that outcome. I need a clear picture of how the game works in order to write it properly as hacking Mia's brain has very real effects on her behavior going forward. It doesn't require a lot of assets, probably just a few more animations, a couple of CGs, and a new HUD for the hacking system. I'll pick up on the scene once I'm done with the Memory Reconstructor.

Relive scenes

The gallery is already finished, the only thing missing is the option to cheat in the minigames (something that’s enabled by default inside the gallery and toggleable in the main game menu), but it’ll take some effort and I still need to figure out how it fits into the schedule, there are more urgent things to handle at the moment.

Luna’s route

One of the routes I feel is broken is Luna’s. What I originally planned as a minigame with an organic outcome ended up giving results that not even I fully understand. The purpose of that minigame is to set the type of relationship you’ll have with Ms. Luna in the future, and whether or not she obtained genetic material.
There are 3 (actually 4) major outcomes in that scene, depending on how you react (whether you resist, go along with it, etc…) and that determines how Luna will treat you when her scene comes up after v0.5. There’s the neutral outcome, where she keeps the teacher/student dynamic, a more romantic one where you pursue a more serious illicit relationship with her (romantic/maledom), and finally one where she treats you more like a toy and acts more aggressively towards you to satisfy her urges (femdom).
After reviewing the minigame’s possible outcomes, I realized the last two are very hard to get so I’ll allow the player to define them through the memory reconstructor and fix it properly later. There’s also the option of failing the scene completely and Luna not obtaining any genetic material… which brings us to the next variable I need to address.

Exposure

This is something I always planned to implement but never managed to (and won’t be integrating just yet), which is the exposure level of your humanity. Many scenes have a base level of exposure, and tolerance for it increases as the story progresses, but exposing yourself too much in the beginning can lead to a premature BAD END. I won't include it at the moment, as I would need to build up and expand on earlier scenes to make it more natural (to give the player more options). Some girls are more likely to expose you, and certain scenes will leave you vulnerable. For example: If you do something in public or in the presence of multiple girls, you'll raise your exposure level.

Credits

Credits are also something that was used in the beginning but lost relevance after the first reward. My idea was always that you could unlock scenes with Rea if you earned more money, this is something I need to expand on. Another factor I also need to start tracking is how many credits the MC has used. Every time the nanites kick in, the protagonist's body changes, his personality becomes a bit more calculating and memories of his past life start to fade. You won't see these changes in this update, but for now I'll start tracking these variables in the memory reconstructor so I can use them later, I want them to have an impact on the end of v0.5.

Love points

Something basic that I haven’t used so far are Love Points, or the progress level for each girl. I’ve found it more organic to work with flags while writing, and since I was planning to go back and improve earlier scenes at some point, Love Points weren’t useful as a parameter. I plan to add these variables in this update and will likely use them more in the future for two things: 1) to determine the MC’s favorite girl, and 2) as a factor to decide whether a girl will expose your secret when it finally comes out.
There are other things I plan to tweak, but I don’t want to bore you with technicalities. I’d rather report on them once they’re already in the game.

Ruri extra scene

As I mentioned in the sneak peek, thanks to one of my patrons commissioning an image that fits into the game, I’ll be adding a small scene as one of the possible outcomes in Ruri’s minigame (it happens if you don’t fail in the minigame and Ruri gets angry).
I still need to add a few variations/expressions to the image but it's nearly done, I plan to include it in this update (v0.4.5).

That's it for now. I apologize for not having the update ready for this month. I will continue to work on the Memory Reconstructor and my goal is to have the update ready by mid-May. Bye!