Information about Update 0.5! (July update) and a poll.
Added 2023-06-28 06:16:56 +0000 UTCSo my plans for the update next month will be a major overhaul of the system. Most of you know that the slapdash hub system the game has now just flat out isn't very fun.
I plan on reorganising the game a bit, introducing a new resource for the player to collect, working title is "shards" but they will probably be called something else in the finished product. The goal is to make exploration and skills more integral to the overall game, with the various game systems adding to each other rather than being separate and unrelated.
I'm planning to build towards a specific gameplay loop, where each day the player chooses an action, exploration, training a skill, or possibly other things that will be implemented later.
Exploration will be improved by skills, giving the player more "shards" for having higher skills. Additionally, the player might unlock more effective means of increasing skills at home while exploring. So the two systems will work together to add to each other.
But what are these "shards" used for? There will be a kind of "shop" available in the game. This is where the player can unlock various bonus storylines, instead of them popping up at random, or through a menu, unrelated to the rest of the game.
These storylines are all of the fantastical weight gain scenarios, and I will be reorganising them somewhat, so the player can more easily access them, and access different endings to them. The shop system will also enable information about a storyline before the player tries it, so they can pick and choose which ones they want to experience, making more of an informed choice.
This is all "additional" content though. The main "storyline" of each character will be far more ordinary, and more like a traditional dating sim. The player goes on dates, grows closer with a character and eventually, they are officially a couple.
There is an additional step here though, once dating a girl, the player can then "confess" their weight gain fetish to their girlfriend. This will lead to a later stage of the relationship.
Though I don't have a specific "ending" planned for the game right now, this 3 tiered dating system should provide engaging enough gameplay to keep things interesting. And if the core gameplay isn't to your taste, the bonus storylines should provide enough entertainment. One minor issue I am currently having is the bonus content not really adding to the main story at all. I will be looking into methods of getting it to add back a little more.
And of course, an addendum. This is long term planning after all, as the short term "month by month" struggling to get something, anything out has obviously not been working. It results in sub-par, rushed work that just isn't much fun for me to work on, and isn't much fun for you to experience. So by focusing on a longer term goal and a development roadmap it should help both you and me with the game's overall development.
And this brings me to the poll. I would like to start working on this redesign ASAP. However, if people want some kind of update for this month, another small, rushed story, I will try to get that together within the next week. It's up to you whether you want something like that, or are happy to wait another month for (and give me a little extra time to work on) a more major overhaul of the game's system.
During this month I will discuss ideas more readily on the discord, what is and isn't working, and generally just keep people in touch with development of the game. Feel free to ping me if I haven't posted anything there after a day.
