Changelog: 0.4.1 - Sanctuary in Time

Greetings, one and all!

We've got a BEEFY new update this month, with a whole host of new content & updates. First up, outfits now grant gameplay bonuses (a highly player-requested feature), and along with those new bonuses comes significant retooling of the existing performance bonuses in the game + how they affect weekly duties. We've also got several new side story events that can occur, some short and sweet, while others are more significant with multiple choices & outcomes available. Plus, updates to how damage is applied to followers, minor changes to existing events, a smattering of bugfixes & more.

These updates are coming to patrons first, then two weeks later they’ll be released for other editions and the Itch storefront as well.

So, dive into the full changelog and check it out! And, as always, feel free to reach out and let me know what you think about the new or existing content. I'm always happy to get suggestions & feedback. You guys have some great ideas & several have already made it into the game. So, without further ado...

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)

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Sanctuary in Time is a text-based, adult game with sci-fi & RPG elements! Your father's just been murdered. He was the God of Time. Now, it's your turn! Save damsels from dark corners of history; train them as warriors, courtesans, or workers. Build your forces. Expand & upgrade your citadel. And survive the enemies that seek your death!

Feature update: Outfits now grant bonuses!

Previously, outfits were entirely cosmetic. Choosing which outfits to buy or equip had no impact on gameplay. Now, however, that’s been changed (as suggested by player feedback).

• Most outfits now grant bonuses to the followers wearing them. They can grant one, two, or even three different bonuses, depending on the type and expense of the outfit.
• The types of bonuses available are: increased duty performance (in 3 different tiers), health damage reduction (in various tiers), and devotion damage reduction (also in various tiers).
• The Outfit Shop has been updated to display the new bonuses granted by an outfit, as well as the category of duty assignment deemed suitable for that garment. Some outfits are suitable for ‘training’ activities alone, some for ‘any’ activity, and some for specific skill-based assignments (such as combat, courtship, etc).
• The weekly turn report now mentions whether a follower’s outfit is appropriate to her tasks or not, and details any benefits received from it. Note that outfits deemed ‘poorly suited’ to the current duty assignment will not incur penalties; they will simply not grant the usual performance bonus (though any damage reductions will still be applied).
• Performance bonuses granted by other sources have been adjusted to create balance with the new performance bonuses derived from equipped outfits.

New side story event: Comfort a follower who had a bad dream.

A new repeatable event can now occur in which the player finds a follower in the citadel wide awake in the middle of the night & upset after having a bad dream. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• Player has choices to COMFORT HER (platonic), COMFORT HER (romantic), or CHASTISE HER. Different results can occur depending on your selections. (You can also just walk away & ignore her if you wish.)
• If a follower meets requirements (relationship of ‘girlfriend’ or ‘wife’ + moderate love) an option for sex (laying down together in private quarters) can also become available during this event.
• If the clothing item is owned, follower will automatically wear the sleepwear outfit for this event.

New side story event: Console a follower who misses her loved ones.

A new repeatable event can now occur in which the player finds a follower outdoors in the settlement feeling worried & anxious about loved ones she left behind. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• Player has choices to CONSOLE HER (platonic), CONSOLE HER (romantic), or REPRIMAND HER. Different results can occur depending on your selections. (You can also just walk away & ignore her if you wish.)
• If a follower meets requirements (relationship of ‘girlfriend’ or ‘wife’ + moderate love) an option for sex (pressed together against a wall in the ruins) can also become available during this event.

New side story event: A follower presents a special sum from offworld.

A brief, new repeatable event can now occur in which a follower presents a special offering from a group of offworld people grateful for her deeds. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• Player is gifted a modest amount of silver coins or energy crystals in a pouch, as appreciation for sending a maiden to aid their people. Amounts presented by this event will scale upward as the game progresses.
• Requires a follower assigned to an offworld duty assignment (such as Knight-errant, Courtesan, Holy Paladin, or Temple Priestess).

New side story event: A follower finds resources in settlement.

A brief, new repeatable event can now occur in which a follower finds a small amount of resources while performing activities in the settlement. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• Player is given a modest amount of silver coins or energy crystals in a pouch, after it’s been found concealed in the ruins of the settlement (most likely left behind by those who came before). Amounts presented by this event will scale upward as the game progresses.

New side story event: A follower thanks you for making her more beautiful.

A brief, new repeatable event can now occur in which a follower thanks you for increasing her facial beauty. (As suggested by player feedback.)

• Can only occur once per facial beauty increase.
• Results in moderate devotion increase of follower.
• Only triggers in response to new facial beauty increases (after the update), not those done prior.

New side story event: A follower suffers an injury.

A brief, new repeatable event can now occur in which a follower suffers an injury that damages their health. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• Followers assigned to offworld duties are depicted as arriving via portal to seek treatment for an injury, while those assigned in-settlement are depicted as having an accident on-site instead.
• 3 severity levels are possible for the injuries; minor, moderate, and significant. And random types of injuries will be depicted.
• Summary of event will include details such as damage reduction afforded by equipped outfit (if any), and health status of follower after injury, along with suggestion for assigning them to RESTING or PATIENT duties for recovery, if found necessary.

New side story event: Visit a follower who’s recovering from injuries.

A new repeatable event can now occur which lets you visit a follower who’s assigned as ‘Resting’ or ‘Patient,’ and make choices that can speed up their recovery. (Contains multiple procedural elements for variety.)

• 3 types of actions can be taken (but only 1 per visit): HELP HER EAT (increase health), ENCOURAGE HER (increase devotion), or CONSOLE HER (increase love + one random stat). (You can also just walk away & ignore her if you wish.)
• Requires a follower assigned as ‘Resting’ or ‘Patient,’ whose health > ‘Near Death,’ but less than ‘Healthy.’

Cosmetic updates:

• Added 11 new eye color variations to the game. These include some special, in-between eye color types like ‘grayish-blue,’ ‘bluish-green,’ and ‘golden-brown,’ but also simpler variations on existing eye colors as well.

Gameplay balancing updates:

• Updated how damage is applied to followers in game. Previously, injuries (to health & devotion) were applied as random percentages on a very broad scale. Example: a ‘significant’ injury (with a potential for 85% damage to current stat value) might be applied as a randomly chosen percentage from 10% to 85%. That’s why language was used like ‘They received minor to significant injuries.’ But the result was highly unpredictable & often resulted in injuries too minor to even notice. So, I’ve retooled the system to work within more narrow ranges, while still maintaining an element of randomness. Now, a ‘minor’ injury inflicts from 10% to 35% damage, a ‘moderate’ injury is from 35% to 60%, and a ‘significant’ injury is from 60% to 85%. Language used in these events has also been updated to better communicate these new levels of specific damage.
• Due to the damage changes above, strength & persuasion check failures will now be accompanied by more impactful and predictable consequences, which should also make the roles of Medics more necessary and the damage mitigation afforded by outfits more valuable.
• Updated how weekly performance in duties is calculated for followers. Previously, all levels of performance outcome were possible (from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’), even with no bonuses in place (from personality type, health & devotion, skill, equipped outfit, etc). Their chances for ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ outcomes were just lower than their chances for ‘poor’ or ‘average’ outcomes, and bonuses helped to increase those chances. Now, however, it’s impossible for a follower to roll anything higher than an ‘average’ performance outcome unless they have bonuses in place. So, instead of bonuses simply increasing the chances for ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ outcomes, they now actually make them possible. The intent is to make these various bonuses feel more worthwhile & rewarding when acquired.
• Performance bonus for ‘shy’ followers in Caretaking roles has been increased from ‘moderate’ to ‘significant,’ to better reflect how well-suited they are for behind-the-scenes work.
• Performance modifier for ‘shy’ followers in Medical roles has been increased from ‘neutral / no effect’ to a ‘moderate’ bonus, to better reflect their preference for academic pursuits.
• Performance modifier for ‘naïve’ followers in Medical roles has been increased from ‘neutral / no effect’ to a ‘significant’ bonus, to better reflect how well-suited they are for academic pursuits.
• Slightly increased chance for side story events to occur following weekly turn report, while slightly decreased chances for recruitment events or no events.

Interface updates:

• Updated the event in which a follower becomes infatuated w/ the player. Now, the automatic physical description of the follower in the scene has been replaced w/ an optional LOOK CLOSER choice.
• Updated showering idle activity so that the option to JOIN HER is always visible. If requirements for this choice are not yet met, it simply displays a message communicating that fact.
• Updated weekly turn report so that followers assigned to offworld duties will now be mentioned as being “offworld” for their assignment.
• Updated coaching selection menu to include a mention of the minimum devotion + health states required for followers to be coached. Also increased height & width of this window so it displays better at the lowest app window size.
• Updated inspection dialogues so that options asking the follower to UNDRESS or engage in HANDS-ON INSPECTION are only enabled when their health is at ‘Normal’ or above. If below that threshold, a message about their health being too low to participate will be displayed instead.
• Also added requirements to side story events that follower must be at or above certain minimums of health & devotion to participate in those events that involve undressing or participating in sex.
• Updated Tutorials menu with a general guide to follower personality types. This new entry can be found under GAMEPLAY TUTORIALS>FOLLOWERS>PERSONALITIES. (As suggested by users GoranSSJ2 & Dark on the audiogames.net forum.)

Misc. updates:

• Fixed issue in ‘working out with handweights’ idle activity that could cause follower to be depicted as wearing workout clothes (if owned) during the scene text but a different outfit when the LOOK CLOSER choice was selected.
• Fixed issue that was preventing cheat-enabled npcs with Unconditional love (but who are not yet girlfriends or wives) from having the option to undress during inspections.
• Corrected minor typos found in idle activity scenes (‘matress’ to ‘mattress’).
• Updated ‘eating’ idle activity so followers are depicted as wearing the sleepwear outfit during the event if it’s already been purchased for them.
• Updated the descriptions for the sleepwear outfit to make it a bit sexier.
• Updated the sexual activity of showering together, so that selecting the LET HER WASH YOU choice can no longer display the same scene text twice in a row on repeated selections.
• Updated recruitment event in which a potential follower is found “...barely conscious and ... prostrate before an idol which honors the God of Time.” It now features different manners of escape from their captors based on the personality types of the followers, so that violent escapes are only performed by Confident or Reserved followers, while other manners of escape are employed by those with differing personalities. (As suggested by user Dark on the Audiogames.net forum.) Also updated other minor elements of this event.
• Updated code which assigns starting muscle values to recruits. Now, followers who are Confident or Reserved will always start with a measure of muscle tone, from the lower end of ‘firm’ to the upper end of ‘well-defined,’ so that their physical state seems appropriate to their more aggressive & combative recruitment scenarios.