Monday transparency report

Hey guys!  This week, (among other taskings) our illustrator lovely Victoria has been working on the updated tattoo options for the heroine.

The tattoos in the current version look nice, but we always felt there was something a bit too generic about them.  Tattoos normally have a kind of schema or meaning that we were lacking. 🤔

The addition of the Lifepath gave us the opportunity to match tattoo options to player decisions.  So we went through the draft lifepath and picked out a few key moments to memorialise in ink.  Here’s the design spec we went with (new tats can be added in future):

They're basically achievements, but displayed on the avatar. Inkchievements!  Certain tattoos will trigger unique dialogue later, and it’s just a cool way to individualise your personal heroine.

Malaysia isn’t cancelled
On Discord, several players asked if the addition of a tanning bed to mission prep in Scotland meant that Malaysia was being cut?

The answer is 🇳 🇴, although a few things are being changed about the Malaysia mini-mission before it’s re-released.  I think the main one is the introduction of a new mechanic, where male NPCs no longer just automatically hit on the heroine because it’s in the script: she now needs to pass an Allure check to get hit on by Max.  (She can still choose to encourage him or brush him off if he makes a move.)

The roll can be buffed by various player choices (some going right back to character creation, and some made in the scene, like what she wears and how she behaves when Max is checking her out).  The point of this is basically to make ‘romances’ feel a bit less scripted, and also to try to simulate a more female model of seduction, where the heroine is (consciously or inadvertently) presenting and tempting and male NPCs will decide whether or not to pursue her.

I also added a couple of new beats to Malaysia which I think are big improvements.  I think my writing is better now, I’m doing a lot more with symbolism and subtext than I was before.  I don’t know if people care about stuff like that, but I think it makes the story a lot better so I’m doing it anyway, I can only try to make the game I want to make.  

I’m no artist, I’m just trying to make entertainment, but this thing van Gogh said is just ringing in my ears all the time at the moment.

“I feel such a creative force in me: I am convinced that there will be a time when, let us say, I will make something good every day, on a regular basis....I am doing my very best to make every effort because I am longing so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things mean painstaking work, disappointment, and perseverance.” -VvG

Not that I’m trying to make something as beautiful or important as Starry Fucking Night or whatever.  But I do yearn so much to make Female Agent kind of…if not a thing of beauty then at least better, more polished I guess.  I mean it’s still a tiny text-based indie project, don’t expect Skyrim 2 or anything.  But I think you guys will see that it’s getting better, when the next fucking release finally comes out.

I’m working on the changes to the Malaysia mini-mission right now, and we might be able to roll it straight into the quick start version that will drop either before or after the Lifepath.  I’ll be able to give you a release date estimate for that after I’ve finished tweaking Malaysia (which I’m aiming to do this week) and done some pre-production planning of stuff that will still be outstanding (like fixing art glitches etc).

Okay that’s it for this report!  Release date info for whichever’s coming first should be in the next 1-2 reports.  🤞🏻🦀🤞🏻