Chapter 1 Update and Information

Hello everyone, 

This time, I'm dedicating this entire post to Aylia's Story's status and what to expect. I'll start with the current status of the project, and then I want to detail what you can expect. If you want to go into the chapter 1 demo "blind" then simply stop reading when you reach "Chapter 1 Information and Tidbits." I wouldn't say anything is really a spoiler, but I'd understand if you want to be super surprised. 

Chapter 1 status: 

I just want to say, "HOLY SHIT!" My God, do I wish I'd had two days set aside since January. I have gotten SO MUCH done in the last few weeks, that I'm less stressed about the game than I've been in a long, long time. The end is in sight, and once this chapter is out, most of the gameplay/system stuff will be set in stone. Writing quests, drawing art, setting up battle "H" all really excites me, and I look forward to that stuff making up the brunt of my workload. On the the status. 

The prologue is done, 100% done. Battles are in place and working, enemies are balanced how I like them, the symbol encounter script is working, all the menu stuff is done (including the status menu and achievements menu), the dialogue is edited and improved, and the music/sound is normalized and a few custom tracks in place. In short, the prologue is similar to what you played prior, but way freaking better-in my opinion. 

As for chapter 1. The main quests are in place with graphic placeholders, the side quests are outlined and awaiting fleshing out the dialogue. Most of the maps are setup and finalized. 9 of the 11 new enemies are drawn and in place, the other 2 were late additions and will be finished tonight. The leveling script is 95% working and stat/exp growth is done and in place. I have the entire chapter now fully laid out, including all side events, and am literally checking things off every day. The ONLY thing I still need to research is enemy AI improvement scripts. I have two set aside to look through, as I want more control of how the enemy AI works. This is necessary in order to achieve the battle "H" I'm aiming for. 

What needs to be accomplished: 

• 4 Maps still need to be finalized (Damn you Witcher 3--I would have had this done otherwise :-) ). 
• 1 New map needs to be drawn, but it is small and is a late addition. 
• 2 Enemies need to be finalized. 
• All enemy AI needs to be input (sounds harder than it will be). Once I settle on a script, this should be no more than a few hours work. 
• Chapter 1 dialogue needs to be edited (Get your red ink pen ready Pseudolurker), I wouldn't wish that job on anyone. 
• And the BIG one, I need to finish 17 CGs (many of which are already started). 

There is still a good amount to be done, and part of that is because now that I have the system stuff in place, I feel I can truly create the game I wanted to. I ended up deciding not to cut corners in one particular area, which added a number of CGs, but the game will be 100X better for it. AND, since no one is being charged anyways, I really don't feel that guilty :-). I'm not giving any release dates, but things are progressing really well now, and I'll start the checklist count down. 

Chapter 1 Information and Tidbits (Stop reading if you want to be completely surprised): 

Alright, still with me? Great, I promise this is not really that spoilerish, but I wanted to spend a bit of time telling you what to expect--cause I am super excited by how things are turning out. 

First, game decisions, pride, and achievements. In Aylia's Story, I am really trying to make your decisions carry weight. This is done through a variety of mechanisms, most importantly pride and achievements. The decisions you make will be recorded, and Aylia's pride will serve as an general metric for her self-esteem. In general, the lower her pride, the more exploitable she is. Yet, I want it more detailed than that, so, in Aylia's Story, the pride statistic is not the end-all-be-all corruption mechanism. You individual decisions will literally carry forward and influence future events. For example, if you talk to Dirk while wearing your potato sack and he ends up pulling it down which exposes Aylia's breasts, she remembers this. While it does not directly change the "pride" metric, it actually influences an event in chapter 1. These little changes I think will really bring the game to life. 

Beyond that, there is an achievement section in the game. I've carefully set how Aylia's stats will grow through the game, and leveling will only take her so far. Instead, Aylia's stats and skills will be majorly influenced by achievements. Say you end up helping Drake farm many times, well, as one would expect, Aylia would get stronger from working under those conditions. As such, it would ultimately unlock the "Fieldworker" achievement, which permanently boosts Aylia's attack power by "5." In this way, your decision to spend Aylia's time working the farm changes her stat development and ultimately influences her ability to battle. This is how achievements will work in game, and the coolest part is there is a menu which will detail all the achievements you've earned and what they do. To prevent spoiling the fun though, most achievements will remain hidden until you take the first step towards achieving it. 

Next up, leveling. I want leveling to matter in Aylia's Story. As such, I've manually configured experience growth and individual stat growth for every level. Each chapter will have a max level Aylia can reach, and by the end of the game, she can ultimately reach level 30. That may not sound like much, but each level truly matters. When Aylia levels up, you get a brief message detailing how she has changed (giving meaning to the stat growth), and why she has gained skills (if that is the case). Most skills are earned through in-game choices, but as Aylia levels up, she begins to regain some of her ancient powers. All in all, I think this will provide a much more immersive experience than simply hitting level 2 and seeing some numbers go up (which I guess technically is still what is happening). 

Finally, Battle H. Hell yea! This is where I think people will be amazed by what Aylia's Story has to offer. First, screw the commonly used mechanism of creating a template graphic and simply putting new clothing layers on that template. That is BORING! Each outfit in Aylia's Story will have a unique graphic and unique way of exploiting that outfit. Some outfits can even be exploited multiple ways. As I've said before, how the outfit is exploited then affects the current enemy's attack method. There will not be a lot of outfits in the final game, but there will be enough to provide a lot of fun. Additionally, because Aylia's defense is not tied to her outfit, you could technically wear the peasant dress the entire game. 

Beyond that, which is stuff you mostly already knew, battle H will consist of more than just a single attack per enemy. Instead, as Aylia gets exploited, enemies grow more bold. Most enemies have a started attack and a follow-up attack, whereas some have 3-4 unique attacks. AND, if Aylia gets exploited enough, the enemy will "finish" and the battle will end. Meaning, you don't necessarily have to kill every enemy, in many cases, if you ultimately "satisfy" them, they lose their bloodlust and move on. Aylia may not like that, but I'm sure you guys will love it. If give you an example of what I mean, in chapter 1 and enemy can exploit Aylia's dress by pulling the top down. Once in this state, the enemy rushes forward and gropes her tits. Emboldened by its success, the enemy then attacks Aylia and starts to suckle her breast. Finally, its excitement getting the better of the creature, It finishes the battle by shooting a load on her tits. Throughout all this, Aylia is trying to fend off the creature, and player choices in battle can interrupt the sequence, but the key point here is that a sequence of events exists. 

Whew! There is more I could say, but I hope I've got you all even more excited. I said it before, but I am creating the game I always wanted to play. Screw the delays, if it takes awhile to do it, then it takes awhile. I want you guys to ultimately play the game and think, "Wow, that was fucking awesome!" And, I think I am on the way to doing that :-). 

Thanks for your patience, Yummytiger