End of Week Update - 13th November 2020

Hey there! I think it's high time for another development update. In the past week I've been sketching ideas for interesting content and I've been trying to update the code of the progression system I've written back in May-June. 

Regarding actual content, this is what I've been doing:

• Finished writing the first quest centered around bestiality content. With this one done and the first actual quest of v0.1.3 also fully written (albeit not reviewed), we'll only need one more quest for this month's update before I move on to implementing my ideas to make the world more alive. 
• And regarding those ideas, here it is. For more reaction content, she'll be able to join Alberto at Dawn on his workout. The gym itself will be found in the Ship's Storage Room which has more space than it needs anyway. After she joins Alberto, they'll both start their own exercising routines. For starters, she'll be able to use a treadmill or do weighted squats. Because of the gym outfit, some accidents or unexpected/expected displays might happen and they have their own written reaction scenes combined with planned drawings. Beyond the fluff content aspect of the gym, exercising will help her get in a better shape and serve as an alternative to restore your character's Health & Energy stats (and possibly Lust too depending on the choices during the reaction scenes). I won't spoil the content I've got planned for it (shown vaguely in the diagram from below), but if you're a Patron you can help me by voting on your favorite gym outfit from the previous post's poll 😋 

• And even more reaction content. In the Entertainment Room during the Evening, she can hang out with Ted and Alberto. There will be a set of minigames in this encounter, one of them is a Strip Blackjack Game. With every match she loses (Blackjack matches are quick), she'll have to drop a piece of her clothing (which works very well in a Create-Your-Own-Avatar game). Of course, this applies to her crewmates too. The loser (the first one that ends up without clothes) will be dared to do something. So far, I've sketched situations in which she's the one who loses and once I've coded in a fun blackjack game (an actual blackjack game, not a button you press and on every round a random player loses a piece of clothing), I think you'll like a lot what I've got planned for its outcomes.  Diagram below.

And now, regarding the progression system's code here's what I've been trying to do.

• First of all, one of the progression systems designed in Malevolent Planet is given by the ability to make your own individual character that is shaped by choices you pick and events that affect her personality. But, this is the subtle progression system.
• Now, for the more obvious plot-related progression system, the ability to upgrade your ship's facilities. The code I've written long ago was written with less experience and I'm refactoring it these days to make it flexible for what's to come. I don't think it's necessary to explain the code in detail, but I'll write two more bulletpoints to showcase examples of upgrades and how they affect the game.
• The Ship's Entertainment Room. One of the quests written for this month's release allows the possibility of upgrading your ship's entertainment room. Upgrading it will unlock one of the quests I've planned for this month's release, the Party Quest. A party needs party equipment and the state of the Entertainment Room right now is definitely not what I would call fit for a party. 
• The Ship's Engine Room. After the Festival Quest, she'll finally be able to upgrade the Engine Room to the next level, allowing travel to the city that acts as the main trading hub for the planet. I won't elaborate this one too much, because the festival quest isn't going to happen this month as it needs a lot of time to get it right.
• With the previous examples, as you can see, the idea is that as you progress through content, completing quests, getting rewards (such as Krona, the currency of the game), you end up actually progressing the part of the game it is building up to, Space Exploration. A ship that crashed down on an alien planet isn't fit for space travel or travel at all, so I'm trying to build up the story and plot devices that naturally flow during gameplay, leading up to an actual game.

I felt the need to say those last few points because there was one feedback that stuck with me. I won't elaborate it, but the idea behind it was that to that player there wasn't an obvious sense of progression in the game and that going through content doesn't appear to lead anywhere. I know it's not really obvious right now, but I'm trying my best to implement the ship upgrade system and develop it with content so that you'll actually play a character that following a crash, was left stranded on an alien planet and she gets her ship back into shape, while exploring alien environments and, most importantly, she explores herself.