Rethinking the rules

The branch I’m currently working on – the condom section – has been slower going than the previous sections. Today, I felt a lot of internal resistance at the prospect of sitting down to work on it.

I’ve come to recognise that feeling as a warning from my subconscious that I’m on the wrong track. I reflected, and realised that I’m struggling with the text because I haven’t done enough work on the rules that drive the text.

The problem
I invented a loose set of SURPS rules to drive this new version of the Sex Engine. They got us to this point but – now I’m into the nitty gritty of condoms and blow jobs – they aren’t providing me with enough structure to write the scene well.

Example
For the condom scene to work, the male character (Max) must have an erection. But the arousal rules are inconsistent – they work slightly differently in different passages – so it’s possible for him to arrive at that scene with an Arousal score too low to have a stiffy.

I solved the problem by just artificially bumping his Arousal score up if he arrived without the right number. That felt like a harmless – even helpful – fudge when I did it.  But on reflection, that’s a deeply flawed move.  What’s the point of having choices and dice rolls if the game just “fixes” inconvenient results?

A heroine who gets to that point should have to work out how to fix the problem.  (She'll certainly encounter men with performance problems in Bangkok!)  

The problem is, without a clear and consistent set of rules as to exactly what the heroine can do to arouse a male NPC, that scene becomes very hard to write.  If she decides to give him a BJ, how does that differ from deciding to give him a titfuck? How does her bra size affect that? What if he is/isn’t a breast man?

The solution
Just as tactical solutions can’t fix strategic problems, I can’t solve a design problem with content. In order to unstick the writing, I need to move back into system design mode.

This afternoon, I’ve started work on a set of written rules that cover the following areas:

• Attraction
• Male character arousal
• Female character arousal
• Male character dick size
• Female character dick size preference
• Favoured positions
• Condoms
• Blow jobs
• Sex
• Masturbation
• Tit fucks
• Rough sex
• Male orgasm
• Female orgasm
• The interaction between all factors

We already have loose rules for all of these things, and we have a working stats/skills/dice roll system (SURPS) in place, so it’s really a question of writing a few paragraphs on each. When it’s done, I’ll publish the rules for feedback/improvement, and get to work applying them to the prototype.  

Addressing this will make writing faster and easier, and the scene more interactive and fun to play.  I’ll continue on this tomorrow, and update you at the end of the day.