Versus 4.142 and CATC changes

Download here.

Another Versus patch to address some bugs and tweaks according to feedback.

Changelog:

• During Finisher grabs, when attacker climaxes, climax damage dealt to the target increased to x4 from x3 to compensate for previous lower climax damage change
• Increased Finisher grab target climax damage and decreased self lust damage
• Added a fix that cause some units to be missing their bodies 
• Added a fix that cause p**** customization to not be saved
• Climax bar reduction on grab end decreased to 33% from 50%
• Reverted the change that makes AI releases the target when it has AFTERGLOW status (aka post climax)
• AI will try joining threesomes slightly faster than before after backing off

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That's the end for Versus mode stuff. I want to talk about some of the changes coming to CATC next.

1) New stat: Resistance

This is the replacement for the now deprecated DisableResist stat. DisableResist is a stat, that comes in low charges, like 1 or 2, that protects characters against grabs and disable status effects. Every time DisableResist protects the character, its charge depletes by 1.

The idea behind DisableResist is fine, however it can sometimes led to feels bad moments. For example, when the player only have 1 stun status card, but the target have 1 charge of DisableResist, that 1 stun status card is not very useful.

This is where the stat Resistance comes in. This stat have similar functionality to DisableResist - in that it protects versus grabs, disable status effects, and bondage/restraints; but instead of it being a stat with low charges, it has much higher value, like 10 or 20(+) Resistance. Also unlike DisableResist, the amount of Resistance depleted per protection is based on the new Effect-Strength (details below) parameter rather than always by 1. In addition, inflicting direct damage and/or lust damage also deplete Resistance by an amount equal to the damage dealt. So going back to the above example, that 1 stun status card is no longer a dead card because you can reduce the target Resistance first via direct and/or lust damage and then land the stun status effect.

An example of the Effect-Strength parameter (in this case 6). This means that this card works against target with 6 or less Resistance, or deplete Resistance by 6 if it's higher. (Ignore the Range 6 part, still testing out the new mechanics)

I am also removing the Knockdown-due-to-damage mechanic. This is the mechanic that cause units to "randomly" (Its triggered via cumulative damage) get knocked down/stunned when they are attacked. 

This is because a) this mechanic is rather hidden and not obvious how it works, and b) with the conditional effect system and Resistance, I can introduce this effect in a much more direct and controlled manner:

(In retrospect, definitely should have gotten the conditional effects working much earlier.)

2) Scaling

I added stat scaling for grabs, status effects and restraint/insert-attach effects.

For grabs, this manifests in increased grab strength as the character becomes more proficient in grab-attacks. Grab strength makes the grab stronger in 2 ways: 1) increasing likelihood of defeating the target Resistance, 2) Increases the duration, and therefore the expected damage of grabs.

This grab-strength mechanic is especially noticeable in Reversals. Unlike before, where Reversals had 100% success chance, now Reversal have a strength too (that is scaled based on character stats.) Reversals now increases the grab escape progress by its strength value, and then if the grab escape progress exceeds the threshold, reversal occurs.

(If you are wondering why its called Boob Grab and not Grab, its because there is a new optional GrabFilter system that controls which grabs are available to each card)

This means that characters not spec into grabbing no longer gets a free gets-out-of-jail card just because they have a Grab card in their deck. This should help make player Grabs versus normal minions much more effective. However, this also means that enemies spec into grabbing can be very dangerous if grabbed, as their grabs can potentially have a long grab duration/escape meter and may takes several turns to break out of.

Status Effects now also scales. As the character grows, the duration caused by the Status cards now increases. For example, the same card at different stat levels:

Disable-causing cards, such as stun gets an additional Effect-Strength parameter scaling. This Effect-Strength parameters increases the likelihood of beating target Resistance.

Similarly, attachment/restraints gets a similar treatment. They have a strength parameter that scales that checks versus target Resistance, and also increases the durability of the attachment/restraint applied. Meaning that depending on the strength of the attachment/restraint, it could take several tries to break out of, instead of a guarantee escape on first breakout attempt.

This feels like a good stopping point for this post. Now I will make a general comment regarding the development direction of CATC.

So originally, I envisioned CATC to be more like a puzzle game in the likes of games like Into The Breach and Gloomhaven. On each round, the player is presented with a certain board state with several threats, and its up to the player to find "as good as possible" solution to the problems, meaning trying to  take the fewest damage, use the least amount of resources, and maximize the damage dealt to the enemies, etc.

However, the problem is that it doesn't align well with the fact that CATC is a H-game. Player often play to "have fun" rather than "optimize win chances." This is a completely reasonable approach, given the nature of the game. So I have given up on trying to make CATC a puzzle game, and decide to instead focus on the status effects, restraints, grabs, and all other sorts of craziness. Lets make the game "fun" rather than "balanced."