[Poll] 1º semester of 2021 - From where should we start?
Added 2021-01-13 02:02:44 +0000 UTCHello everyone!
Before I go through everything I intend to talk about today, I firstly would want to talk about the current state of the game: We have several small quests written, but they are not voiced or at the engine yet. There's a new one that has been sent to Amy, Luke and Christina to record just this week and they might finish recording before the month's end, hopefully, if everything goes right we might be able to finish the heirloom lost quest this month and at the first half of the next, release the new small quest.
But as much as we released that big patch on the other day fixing several bugs, there are still many smaller or less grave ones that we should pay attention to. Another thing we need to finish is the skill tree system, so the combat feels less button smashing and more strategic and fluid. The Ai is also begging for our attention since NPCs are walking silly and wildlife is almost non-existing, lacking smaller animals in the forest, ability to feed on wolves and deers, sound effects to make the world feel more alive and so on. And we cannot forget about the negotiation system that I mentioned a few posts before.
But from where should we begin?
I will go through every item on this list of tasks, which were turned into a poll. Don't feel that this poll is a choice of what we will add to the game, the main purpose of this post is to expose what we want to work on the first semester of 2021 and also to give you the chance to let us know about what do you want to see done first:
Small Quests that add more depth to NPCs and the world:
Simple quests that will allow us to devote half of the month on them, and the other half on something else. They will add content to the citizens you see walking around town and make their faces known.
Combat mechanics (Like adding more weapons and spells + Skill tree):
We will add some cool spells to not only Kalyskah but also to enemies she can fight. We will work on the skill tree so levelling Kalyskah up will also enable her to learn new tricks!
Improve the "Feel" of the world, by improving the AI and wildlife + Crime System:
We don't want an empty world with no content or that doesn't feel very real. We also want to add consequences if Kalyskah goes around attacking people on towns. We will add rabbits and squirrels to the wilds. Improve the NPC's locomotion and their behaviour while walking around town, making them also more aware of their surroundings and interacting with chairs, talking with each other and things of the sort.
BUGFIXING. Work on nothing other than bug-fixing until the game is completely stable.
This one is self-explanatory, and if this is the highest voted on the poll we will freeze the development for as long as necessary until the game is completely stable. We will need your help to report us bugs that you find by creating tickets in our discord.
Vampire "Feel" (Stealth system, grappling enemies in combat, stalking humans in the city and dealing with consequences like hunters):
Yes, Kalyskah is a vampire. The player can feel that at the dungeon, but once she reaches the surface, there isn't waaay too many vampiric things for her to do. And the designing of the town also doesn't help us to have enough corners that the player can walk in to stalk people and fall on top of their heads to drink their blood. We also don't have a stealth system which can be groundbreaking if we want to make the player feel that Kalyskah is a predator. And well... if you get caught feeding, this should make people afraid, run away and even trigger vampire hunters to come after her!
Puppeteers Mechanics (Sort of a BDSM club Kalyskah will be able to join. This is why we have the item Pet-Collar)
I would need a whole new post to talk about our plans with the puppeteers. But to sum it up: Kalyskah will be able to join some sort of BDSM club and get modular quests where she'll be able to serve or be served in all sorts of erotic ways that I'm sure many players will enjoy!
Of course that joining this club will be optional and although her status with them can influence the story, players who are not interested in this niche won't feel like they are obliged to join them.
Something else that you will let us know in the comments
This that I listed above are the main tasks we have planned for now, but if you feel like we should improve something else, or add more options to this list, please let us know =)
Repeating: We don't have the intention of moving on with the main plot until all the things I listed above are either brought to the game or sketched as placeholders. So every single one of the things listed above will be done eventually, and probably before we start to work on the next pack of big questlines. So the poll is about what we will dedicate most of our time during the first semester of this year and complete as a queue.
Comments
Complicate getting information for customer service. Make 10 instead of 1. Add clients to the brothel. Add peaceful townspeople to the city. Now there are more guards than residents. Add any dialogue for every non-hostile NPC. Add repeated sex scenes when re-entering the city. Let the guard again demand sex from the main character.
Sergey
2021-01-18 17:32:16 +0000 UTCIncrease the number of customers in the tavern.
Sergey
2021-01-18 17:25:47 +0000 UTCProcedural generation is a good idea, but it also gives a lot of work with the programming and we need to design the modules for each part we are attaching to the generated level. It would be a whole different thing and since investigating dungeons is not the main aspect of the game, the effort wouldn't pay off unfortunately =(
Kalyskah Team
2021-01-15 17:51:46 +0000 UTCHave you guys considered looking into procedural generation? Perhaps not for the overworld or towns, but it could make dungeons and caves a lot easier to add. I feel like adding a lot of small quests that aren't overly simplistic or repetitive may be way too much work initially for such a small team, but if quests direct Kalyskah to a moderately new and interesting cave or derelict castle it would add a lot more variety with less work hypothetically.
2021-01-15 17:01:05 +0000 UTCYep! The open world needs a lot of work until it feels alive, and not only on quests, but also to make the player feel that the world is changing and that things are happening while Kalyskah is not directly acting on it.
Kalyskah Team
2021-01-14 04:31:07 +0000 UTCI think that improving the world feel and expanding vampire mechanics is a must. I literaly stopped playing when I noticed how empty this stuff is. And I was legit impressed beforehand, including muttering stuff to myself like "wow they really have a video game thing going on here, and a competent one at that". If there's one very weird thing that this game can do (which ain't even my fetish but it's kinda' amazing to be able to) is stalking prey and having nighttime vampire intrusions when you break into a house and suck/sex someone dry. Heck maybe add the option to seduce townspeople and have them invite you over instead. I guess this stuff would make the game stand out a lot more than another sex dungeon (as much as sex dungeons are fun).
Farlun Ceyric
2021-01-13 22:18:39 +0000 UTCHi! I just wanted to say, I believe Corgo is right. I was absolutely amazed when I played this Game for the first time. The Ambition here is insane. But for now, I think it is a very short ride. I think it would be a good idea to expand the Content on all Fronts, Main Story and Side Quests. It would also be great to see how the balance of content will look like in the Future. I am a huge fan of the 2 scripted Sexy Times Scenes that are currently in the Game. I am less of a fan of the "Interactive" Scenes (totally fine for serving Clients in a Brothel Scenario, but for the Quest Progression I would love scripted Scenes). For Alpha State, I think the Combat is fine, improvements are overall "needed", but for building the general Concept of the Game, it is enough in my Eyes. And personally I really hope that the "Submissive" Route gets enough depth throughout the Game :D Thanks for the hard work, please keep going ;)
Johnny
2021-01-13 19:46:13 +0000 UTCI think it's a bit too early to be working on things other than the main quests & perhaps if you get time, some side quests. Everything else you said, especially bug-fixing, is important but in my opinion the game doesn't have enough content to justify putting a ton of effort this early on in the other aspects. Small quests would also be nice so players get an idea of the type of side-quests that will be in the game, but I think the main story & it's branching paths should probably take higher priority. World immersion is also very important for an RPG but I think what you have now is good enough since the playable area isn't massive - I guess this is the one thing you'll have to use your better judgement on as you expand the playable areas. You can always focus on combat & vampire mechanics later on once there are enough enemy types & encounters in the game.
Corgo
2021-01-13 14:48:54 +0000 UTCYep, it's a hard call. All of them are important and all of them will eventually be in the game... Tricky thing is know what to work on first! D=
Corintio
2021-01-13 08:21:59 +0000 UTCI have unfairly voted for 3 although I think *all* of them are important. Since the game is still an alpha, bugfixing/polish can technically lag behind since at this stage it's important to get systems and content in.
Lee Thompson
2021-01-13 07:18:15 +0000 UTCI have made a poll a while ago asking if people would like to see some non-voiced quests and many people did say yes. But moving forward with the development I realised that it wasn't that simple because the way we are working on the game makes voice acting very necessary to the whole workflow we have. And in my opinion, it's also one of the most unique things about Kalyskah. Ambient conversations like the one you can have with Rulfio and other small NPCs at the world are fine. But I can't imagine a scene like the one Kalyskah turns James into a vampire working well without audio because there are so many emotions at play. Even for the smaller ones, like when Kalyskah asks for the Blood Bottles to Jessie, I can't imagine that without a voice because the way Jessie changes from a caring nurse to a greedy woman when Kalyskah talks about payment... That's the sort of thing that I think that adds the special spice to the game. So in the end, I rather work on smaller quests but keep the voiceover then start to move on with the plot without voices. Also... cutscenes are highly dependent on timing, and what gives the timing and the pace to many of the situations we have is the voice acting.
Kalyskah Team
2021-01-13 07:05:26 +0000 UTCI was about to share my thoughts on that but I want to give some time for people to vote and give their own opinion before I give mine. But suming it up, I think all that I listed is important, but when they will happen I'm leaving up to the community because I honestly can't decide. I have arguments to say that each of them is important at the current moment.
Kalyskah Team
2021-01-13 06:58:08 +0000 UTCI feel that bugfixing and improving the feel of the world are most important at present. Mind you, they're not the single most important aspects of the game, content is. However, these two aspects are like glue that holds everything else together. You will constantly observe and enjoy the various elements of the world and NPC behavior, even when not doing quests. By improving the world and fixing bugs now, it will help other game content to work better and be more entertaining later on.
EnigManic
2021-01-13 06:35:14 +0000 UTC
