IMPORTANT: Just something to say before the release...

I'm about to finish the game. I'm done with training system redesign, and I only need to run the game from A to Z to check for unexpected bugs.  Perhaps I'll add an extra spanking position variation for Mommy and another for Ms. Schumann, but that would be the only details I'll add. 

Now, what I want to say is this. This game has become something MONSTROUS in all ways. The amount of work and effort has been too much. I haven't received any pressure from any of you to release it soon, and I really appreciate it because of the couple of months you didn't get new content. However, I feel all this waiting time has risen expectations maybe too high. I'm very happy with the result. My satisfaction level is above 90%, and something I'm totally sure about it, is that this game is perhaps the best thing I've ever done, pairing with a symphony I wrote 4 years ago. Maybe what pleases me the most is that it's the best I could do with all the resources I have. 

However, it's far, far from perfect as there are aspects of the game that could be dramatically improved.... but that's something I simply can't do. For example, I would love the wrestling games to be like an old Nintendo version of Street Fighter, or the card game to be something close to Magic the Gathering. But that's a ceiling completely out of my reach and my resources, because it would require a full team of professionals working full time for months and maybe years. In Magic the Gathering, you draw several cards at once (like it happens in most card games) so that you can design a strategy and some combos. Aiming for something like that would require such huge amount of work I don't even want to imagine. Why? Because it would need a complex programming where the computer creates a winning strategy according to the cards it gets and then react according to the possible moves the player makes. However, the main strategy in Magic is how you build your deck, and then the other part is almost pure luck. Spankgika, our card game, will consist 100% of luck with ZERO strategy. The wrestling game won't rely that much on luck, but something like 60% luck, 40% decision. This, of course, considering that Marco and his opponent have the same skill numbers. If his skills are lower than the opponent, then chances reduce considerably just as they boost if he has higher numbers. Anyway, both games have spanking scenes included that might compensate all loses.

Now, LUCK is perhaps my biggest concern about the reception the game will have. Losing in Spankgika, Wrestling, Rock-Scissor-Paper, because of bad luck may become frustrating, and I know some may not handle this well. I remembered a patron who wrote me annoyed that he deleted Supergirl's game because of the frustration of losing too many dice rolls, or another who wrote me complaining hard because he couldn't cum over Mrs. Rachel's knees after an hour of playing. With Supergirl's game it was part my fault, because I made tie rolls as losing. But with Mrs. Rachel, well, that patron was just extremely unlucky, and that's something completely out of my control. I programmed the computer with the same odds for wining and losing. For example, if Marco's upbeat, he has 80-90% of success chances, depending on the scene. The process is like this: the computer sets a random number from 1-10, without knowing what's the purpose of it. Even though computers are just machines, sometimes you may feel they are alive entities who love to make your life difficult... LOL. In this case, 1 and 2 are losing, 3-10 are wining. If the computer sets two consecutive times 1 or 2, then you will lose two times in a row even though Marco has the upbeat mood where he's supposed to always win. However, it may also happen when Marco's depressed and has 10-20% chances. Those are the annoying risks, or as I see it, the THRILLING BEAUTY OF LUCK. Now, why is LUCK the core of my games? Because of the complexity it would require to change to another system that I explained in the upper paragraph. 

The third issue that worries me is DIFFICULTY. I will address this with questions.

Will this game take some time to learn how to optimize your playing? YES. You will need to explore all interacting options with all chars in all locations to know what to expect and where to find what you need.

Will this game be complex? YES. Some interactions have from 2 to 5 possible outcomes, so this will make it somewhat unpredictable, and the learning curve more pronounced. 

How tough will it be? DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW. If tough means for you something that is not fast and slow to complete, then YES, it's tough and perhaps very tough. As it depends heavily on luck, extreme bad luck can make you lose progress points and take you back to the starting point in each level, just as good luck might speed up your progress. Now, if TOUGH means developing certain skill, like for example FIFA, Mario Bros, Shooters, etc.. where you must be quick enough to make an accurate decision and instantly press the required button, or chess, where you need an extremely high intelligence plus major analytic skills, then NO, this game is a piece of cake. As this is a game where nobody can lose, the worst thing that may happen if you're extremely unlucky, is that it will take perhaps too much time to complete. 

Will the OTK's, the best spanking scenes, be difficult to get? Depends....  On level 1, there will be very few OTK with Ms. Schumann and Mommy, the main spankers. From level 2, the biggest OTK scenes will be unlocked. On level 3, the spankings will become more intense. As I said before, things will happen randomly during the day. There might be in-game days with nothing special where you only trained, played RSP, solved another riddle at the library, and you didn't go over any lap. Then there will be days where you will be going from lap to lap to lap and poor Marco will have his bottom truly sore before going to bed.

To ease things, I will make two guides. The first will be a little push up with general tips and descriptions for patrons who want to discover the rest by themselves. The second will be a detailed guide step by step of what happens in the game, for patrons eager to finish the game ASAP. 

My last concern is THE STORY. This is what I love the most about it. Finishing the first big chapter of the Spankingverse, with all past games joining into a single thing, is something that makes me proud when I look backwards. However, there might be some of you that simply won't like it, and that's ok. This is another case where I can't and won't do anything about it. I have my aim placed over an epic ending that's in my mind and nothing will stop me to get there. This story is an essential part of me that I can't change even if I tried. Why? Because Melvin is like the naughty boy inside of me, who only lives in a hidden part of my tricky mind. Physically, he's like a mini me. LOL. Marco is the good, naive, dreamy clumsy nerd I was when I was a college boy. Both, of course, completely exaggerated and taken to the highest peak with some dark humor added. Just as some people hate Melvin, and some potential patrons stayed away from the project because of him, it might happen with Marco as well.

Something important to consider is that this release is the first part of Marco's story. The second will be a lot, lot faster to complete, as I will only add more content and take the story to the chapter's end. For example, instead of 3 sub-scenes in detention, there will be 5. If you finish in last place in the weekly wrestling tournament, there will be 2 possible spankings instead of 1, and so on. I will make a poll where you can suggest new content and things to change. I'm open to make changes and add stuff for the second part, as long as they don't interfere with the story or go against the chars personalities.

Finally, in case someone just hates the game, for any reason, maybe because of only wanting to get over female's laps without any previous process involved, I will resume making sims on next month. I need, for my mental sanity, at least a month break before making Marco's part 2. I plan to first make Princess Spankwalker for Master Jedis and Siths, and another small sim for everyone with a topic decided through a poll. These two sims will be simple, and I plan to make PC and Android versions as I bought a Xiaomi tablet. I will make a post about it after Marco's release.

Thanks to everyone for your support, because without you, this game would have never been possible!

THE BRAVE KNIGHT AND HIS DREAM LADY is just around the corner!