Sugarplum Updates: Gossip, Teasets, Cameos

Alright, going over some other changes that have been made since the summer hiatus!

Gossip

In this post I had introduced a hints system where customers would share Gossip with you that would help you figure out flavor pairings and tea party flavors.

At the time I didn't want players to have to keep clicking through dialogue, so I had made a separate menu where you would exchange hint points to buy new Gossip. But I've since decided to go for immersion and have Gossip as actual dialogue from your customers. There is always the option to skip dialogue, and you can still go back and review all the Gossip you've collected.

Now, after you serve a customer they have a chance of giving you a Gossip dialogue in return. Some Gossip can only be given by certain characters, but you can find out who has this Gossip by offering any character a free dessert on the house (can't be the dessert they ordered and has to be the flavor they like). Once you learn which characters have Gossip, you'll need to put desserts in the Display Case to attract them to the cafe. They can still arrive without desserts on display, but you can increase their chances of showing up.

(Btw, I realize some of these popups are hard to see with the detailed background. I'm playing around with a faded background when these popups appear, which you can see in the dialogue screenshot. So this will be adjusted eventually)

Displaying Teasets

Once you've discovered teasets, you can add them to your display case as well! Unlike desserts, you can't display multiple of the same teaset.

This won't affect single customers, but it does affect tea parties. In the previous design, you could choose to set out either a new teaset by inviting two ladies, or an existing teaset in order to summon two random guests who like that teaset. In the current design, you either invite two ladies to try and discover new teasets, or you choose to invite no one and host a random tea party instead.

The tea party will pick one of your existing teasets at random. I think it would be equivalent to customers coming in and then deciding which tea party they'd like to try, which feels more realistic to me than having us choose what teaset to set out! But you can influence their decision by placing teasets on display, which will increase the chances of that theme being chosen. So if you're looking for certain teaset Ladies, you put that teaset in the Display Case.

Cameos

You may have noticed a new addition in the top left corner. Cameos track how many different characters you've served. Every time you serve a Lady or Madeline for the first time, you'll earn a Cameo of them - and as my friend Void said, this one won't cost $50 like IRL Cameos ;D

Initially, earning Cameos will be how you meet the first few Ladies. But as the game progresses and other Ladies need more than just Cameos to show up, the Cameos will be a way to unlock more story.

Previously, I was using a Day system where you earn XP by serving customers, and reaching a certain amount of XP would launch the next Day, and then this is what would unlock the first Ladies/plot stuff. However, I've added some tutorials to go through the different mechanics and it was very easy to still be working on one tutorial and then have the next Lady appear...it doesn't exactly softlock, but it does reduce the number of orders you can fulfill and it gets pretty annoying.

Another idea I explored was putting desserts on Display and then characters would show up afterwards, like Neko Atsume. I feel like that would make the most sense realistically. But I found that I would keep forgetting to buy new ingredients and then I'd wonder why I wasn't progressing...

Since my goal from the start for this game was to be a character collector, I figure it makes sense to use Cameos as a benchmark for game advancement. Worldbuilding-wise, I think you could say the Ladies are showing up once they hear their friends have already shown up, or maybe Cameos are a sign of clout, hahaha

You can also click each Cameo to learn more about its corresponding character, and while this space is sparse atm I plan to flesh this out with some more stuff in the future!