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Dev Blog #141 - A Secret to Everyone
🕑 Added 2022-11-18 05:00:05 +0000 UTCGreetings everyone!
Today's dev blog comes a little late, but with a fun bit of news to be sure! Today's post won't be particularly long, but let's jump in anyway!
Stats... How Do They Work?
Stats have long been a point of contention and confusion in The Company, so I'm happy to say that Update 5.4 will be the first step in making them both understandable, and meaningful. First and foremost, visual stat feedback has finally been added to the game. This will show which stat (Affection or Corruption) is currently higher, a general idea of where that stat is, and which characters can have their stats adjusted. You've likely seen this in last week's dev digest, but today I wanted to talk more about that.
So let's break this down!
Earning Stats - Both Affection and Corruption now work on a 1-100 scale, and you can gain up to 2 points in both per character, per day. This means maxing out a stat will take, minimum, 48 days of interacting with a character, which is about where we want it to be. That said, it's possible to break the 2 point per day limit with ISS (Interactive Sex Scene) events, which can give a sizeable point bonus.
Seeing Stats - Any characters who can gain Affection and Corruption will have a heart indicator next to their name, as shown above. Only the highest meter will be shown, with Affection displayed as red hearts and Corruption as purple hearts. You can see both stats for characters in the Character menu. The meter will grow by half a heart for every 10 points in that stat, meaning that the image above shows Tasha at somewhere between 50 and 60 Affection. Characters who can gain stats will start at 1 Affection, or a half a red heart, while characters who can't gain stats will not have the meter.
Unlocking Interactions - What good is a revised stat system if it doesn't actually do anything? Every 20 points in either Affection or Corruption will unlock a new interaction with characters. Above, you can see the options to give Tasha a headpat (20 Affection) or give her a hug (40 Affection). Additional options unlock with higher Affection and Corruption, and each allows for a short interaction with some kind of stat payoff at the end! These interactions are available at any point you could initiate a conversation with a character, even if that character couldn't normally hold a conversation due to no longer being able to speak.
That's basically it! The system is easy to understand and the rewards and immediate and obvious. As I mentioned earlier, this will be the first step. There is still more planned moving forward, particularly how the system interacts with other aspects of the game. For example, coins will still be unlocked through raising stats for now, and their acquisition rate should be a little quicker now. Events will no longer be tied to Affection or Corruption, though this will take a little more time to iron out completely. The coin system itself is going to be overhauled in the future, and this system will tie into that as well.
Coming Up
There's been a lot of hubbub over the Art Demo lately, and I'm happy to announce that a new Art Demo will be releasing for Backers next Thursday! That's Thanksgiving for those in the US. Additionally, the previous backer-only Art Demo will be releasing to the public around the same time. Art Demo 4 will feature new artwork for Tasha and Diana, so get excited for that!
Additionally, Update 5.4 is well underway, and set to release to backers before Christmas! This update will be finalizing Tasha's alternate route, focusing on relieving her of her inhibitions and encouraging her to embrace her wild side. I'll have more on that update next month, and backers should expect more dev builds dropping here soon. Lastly, I'm happy to announce that TimothyDG's winning scene submission "Family Bonding with Tasha" will be making it into this update as well!
That's it for this week. As always, thank you all for your continued feedback and support!
