Hey everyone!
I know what you’re thinking. What the hell kind of title is that?
Well, unless you’ve been following the Discord you probably have no idea why I didn’t update the game around the 15th, or why I haven’t posted my usual ‘middle month post’.
The answer is because I’m dying. No seriously. I feel like I’m dying (not really). x_X
Apparently, when family visited about four/five days ago, they brought with them the unholy mother of stomach virus’. So instead of being able to spend my time working on the game since then, I’ve made the bathroom my new domicile. Mostly though, I’ve been spending my time in bed suffering like a baby. (I’ve gone to the bathroom twice so far while writing this—and I type 85-90wpm).
To be honest, I’m kind-of enjoying this forced break a little more than I should be. I spend so much time working in front of my computer on the game and secluded away like some kind of leper that it’s nice not be super stressed out about it.
In the meantime though while lying in bed, I’ve been writing sex scenes that will appear later in the game, probably with Hannah or Aaleahya, and/or both and probably with a couple of other NPCs coming up depending on how I structure them. I’ve written straight/gay and lesbian scenes in case you’re curious.
I’ve also been contemplating about whether or not to even do a Mid-Month Beta Release for October, simply because all I’ve been really doing is remastering the game’s items as voted on by the last poll. I was making some head-way with it too before I got sick…
1) I’ve fixed up two of the Withered Snag puzzles.
2) I’ve remastered ALL of the Hair-Dye body modification items.
3) I’ve remastered all the Miracle Grow body modification items.
4) I revamped and got the website ready. www.txtams.com <– check it out, it’s badass!
5) I’ve completed gutted and simplified the Relationship System
6) And I’ve fixed some minor bugs here and there.
7) I’ve gotten the streams set up and I’m ready to do episode 1. More on that later though.
I’ll drop the changelog at the end too if you guys are curious to read what I have so far. But yeah, things were moving at a great pace until I got sick. I do feel a lot better today but I’m not 100%. I’m hoping to get started with stuff again tomorrow but the spouse has been yelling at me to “let myself recover.” Hmph. We’ll see.
But anyway, while lying there, I’ve also been trying to figure out what I want to accomplish with the game streams. My idea is to bring them to life with talking, jokes/humor and explaining what I’m doing and why. I also want to help people who are interested in creating games themselves or programming in general, as well as show what goes into development for Apocamorphosis. So every episode might cover a different topic about the game, programming in general or just a live stream of me trying to do something while I work.
I don’t know….maybe it’s interesting? We’ll see. But I’ve been messing around with format and practicing talking since I’ve never streamed anything before with my voice (I hate my voice) which means I’ll likely be a little embarrassed in the first couple of episodes.
Um, let’s see…for the rest of the month, I’m likely going to continue revamping/finishing items in the order that they appear in the game. That means items that currently have no function or scripts (like Liphoria, for example) will hopefully have finished scripts by November. Transformation items are after that and then general items, I believe.
BIG NEWS:
You’ll be happy to hear that …..well, maybe out of some weird twist of fate the three programmers who I tried to hire to help revamp the Save System (all of whom dropped for one reason or another, some without a word) may have saved us both time and money.
Apparently, someone HAS BEEN developing a NEW SAVE for Quest RIGHT UNDER OUR DAMN NOSES. And nobody had ANY IDEA about it until very, very recently. As it turns out, the original programmer that I asked, the one that I REALLY wanted to create the new System but who rejected the project because of severe depression and stress HAS been working on one all that time.
AND THE BEST NEWS IS —- IT’S NEARING COMPLETION AND IS ALMOST READY FOR TESTING.
You can check out the discussion here. http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/quest/topic/r0wxzb7gwkgh4rnv9dcihg/savestatelib
^ So this is incredibly exciting and I’ve already signed Apocamorphosis up to be one of the first testers. Together we can whip that prototype into shape and get the ball rolling.
Of course, I can’t make any promises. This is going to be a completely, brand-spanking new Save System and there may be a lot of bugs. It might not work properly in AMS all I can do is wait and see when he completes the library. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. He likely just needs another couple of weeks to iron out the last bits of it.
Ironically, before I found that out, I found 2 back-up programmers on reddit who are willing to work on the game so I might have them do some smaller little projects while we wait for the save system.
Anyway! I think that’s about it. Here is the changelog of what I finished before getting sick.
Game Expansion
– Event: “Robbery” has been mostly written but is not coded into the game yet.
– I’ve begun writing for another Event called “Cabin”. This event is at the beginning stages of description and therefore isn’t coded into the game yet.
– Extensive overhaul of the Relationship System. See below!
– The Chapter 1 Fire Dousing Puzzle and Endtable/Ottoman Puzzle have been updated and fixed.
Bug Fixes/Changes
– The ‘Shadow in the Trees’ event in Chapter 2 has been given a 100% encounter rate for the time being.
– I increased the Font Size of the Relations Tab, the Skills Tab.
– I have completely revamped the Relationship System to make it a bit easier for Player’s and myself to keep track of. The idea behind this is that now the Player only has to keep track of how many Relationship Points they have with any particular NPC, that’s it. If you don’t have enough Relationship Points with that Companion, than you cannot be intimate with them. This means every Companion has their own threshold that must be reached for intimacy.
Relationship Status: “Hostile” has been removed.
Relationship Status: “Friend” has been removed.
Relationship Status: “Friendzone” has been removed.
Dead Status has been added.
Number of Children has been added.
Companion Status has been added to all applicable NPCs.
– Aaleahya’s “Confess to Her” VERB has been Removed.
– Aaleahya requires 99+ Relationship Points to be kissed. Kissing her grants +5 Relationship Points and allows the Player to be Intimate which appears as a new VERB “Be Intimate” (this choice will lead to pregnancy in the future). Trying to kiss her before you’ve reached 99+ Relationship Points will cause a -5 Relationship Points.
– Hannah’s Flirt VERB and Chat VERB has been removed for the time being. The newer version of her at the end of Part 1 will be where you can speak with her about other topics to raise your Relationship levels.
– I have modified the Relations Tab and removed “Acquiantances” as anyone who accompanies you or that is romancable will appear there. The Relations Tab also now displays that Companion’s Relationship Scale.
– All Companions now have a displayed Relationship Scale in place of the old system of Friendship, Lover, Friendzone and Hostile.
– At the beginning of the Withered Snag incident that leads to Chapter 2, Hannah now starts with 100 Relationship Points.
If you deny telling her about Rold the first time, it’ll drop -10 Relationship Points. However, if you deny her the second time her Relationship Points drop to 0.
If you do tell her about Rold the first time you get +20 Relationship Points. If you decide to tell her the second time you get +10.
– Charm Bonus’ have been added to all scenarios/npcs and characters that haven’t had them (ie. Aaleahya and Hannah after the explosion, Rold during the Box Event).
– Like Aaleahya, Hannah after the explosion now carries the Kiss Her VERB and the Be Intimate VERB. Be Intimate can only be accessed after you Kiss Hannah (kiss her a second time if you’ve already kissed her) which means your Relationship will have be at 150 or above.
– Trying to Attack Rold before he knows you will now drop his Relationship Points with you to 0. Otherwise, if you try to betray him it’ll drop you -15 Relationship Points.
– The Help Guide, Relationship System v3.0 has been updated for the Player regarding how the new, more simple Relationship system works.
– I have completely gutted and rewrote the Withered Snag, Living Room, Fireplace Douse VERB/Event. I wanted to make the puzzles based more on overall characteristics that could help you proceed rather than just one variable like Intelligence and then Agility.
Now, several variables affect whether or not you’ll succeed in passing the Stat Check. The base passing rate for discovering the Silver Key in the fireplace is 75%. Hunter or Thief Backgrounds earn you a +10% and an Instructor earns you a +5%. Big Saver Specialities can earn you a +6% and Fashionable Specialities can earn you +3. Player Intelligence 2 to 6 can earn you a +5% and anything from 7 and above can earn you an additional +8%. If you succeed, you discover the Silver Key and it’ll be moved into the Living Room as before. If you fail, you will not notice the Silver Key.
Either way, you are brought to the second check; the Fireplace Douse VERB/Event. The base passing rate for successfully diving through is 75%. If you have a Thief background that will earn you +10%. A Dancer Speciality will also earn a +10%. Agilty 2 to 6 will earn the Player a +3% and 7 or greater will give a +5%. Failure will end the event as the Player’s character doesn’t want to risk jumping through and hesitates for too long. Success will lead to a Yes or No choice (which no longer needs to be typed in. It’s a proper menu). Clicking “No” will end the Event. Clicking “Yes” will cause damage to the Player between 1 and 3 damage but they will succeed in reaching the Master Bedroom on the other side.
– I have fixed the Withered Snag, Master Bedroom, Ottoman/End Table Puzzle Event. Again, I wanted these puzzles to be less tedious and more solveable for Player’s without sacrificing the quality. The screen properly clears with each message too.
For End Table 1: I upped the chance of discovering the numbers from 15% of the time to 75% of the time. I also high-lighted each of the numbers so they can’t be missed as easily. Once the numbers have been discovered as well, they are moved into the “Search” again scripts.
For End Table 2: Again, I upped the chance of discovering the clues from 15% to 75% of the time. I also high-lighted the entire clue and moved a reminder into the “Search” again scripts.
Master Ottoman: I’ve added a “Search’ hint in the Ottoman’s description without directly stating it. Fans of classic Text Adventures might appreciate it however. I’ve also removed the direct Intelligence Check and went more broad with the skills that could be utilized to solve the puzzle. It starts with a base of 65% chance of success. Having a Background of Hunter, Explorer or Instructor will given an additional +15%. Having a Speciality of Big Saver or Monkish will earn another +5% and then Player Intelligence is taken into account. 2 to 6 Intelligence will give another +5% and 7 Intelligence or greater will merit +10%. A hidden Failure count will also subtract -20% each time.
Success will grant the Player access to the Master Lockbox. Failure will result in a +1 Failure. Every failure will take -20% of success away (up to 80%/4 failures total).
Master Lockbox: I’ve restructured the spacing of the text within and reduced the size of the code since most of it’s handled in a function anyway. I’ve also replaced one of the typing “yes” parts with a proper menu. I’ve also reduced the Corruption gain of this puzzle by -1. It’s now 5 Corruption to pick, 2 Corruption to fail.
– Removed a couple “Corruption will end the game references.”
– I removed the “Hair Dye” category from the inventory list. Hair Dye will now go into the Body Modification Category.
– Hairdye has received an extensive rework: rewrite/recode.
– All Miracle Grows have received extensive reworks: rewrites/recodes.
Transformations
– All of the Hair-Dyes have been completely rewritten and recoded from the ground up and all of them have been given revamped scripts. Resist now gets drained by consuming ALL hairdye(s). The difference however is that you will receive NO negative effects (whether that particular dye carries them or not). You WILL receive any positive effects however like regainining Health and so on. Also, Hairlength, Bald has received new revamped menu which allows you to toss the particular hairdye if you choose to. You are not required though.
Here are the following changes to each individual dye.
Green: No major stat changes.
Red: No major stat changes.
Black: No major stat changes.
Pink: 50% chance to lose -1 Intelligence.
Dirty Blonde: No major stat changes.
Dark Red: 50% to gain +1 Dominant Mood Sarcasm
Silver: No major stat changes.
White: No major stat changes.
Rainbow: 50% chance to gain +1 Homosexual Sexuality for Males and Females.
Brunette: No major stat changes.
Platinum Blonde: 50% chance to lose -3 Intelligence. 50% chance to gain +3 Lust with another 50% chance to gain a Horny Status. 50% chance to gain +1 Dominant Mood Sexy.
Purple: No major stat changes.
Blue: No major stat changes.
Orange: 50% chances to gain between 1 and 4 Health. (with or without Resist).
Ombre: No major stat changes.
Neon: 50% chance to gain Sick Status.
Pastel: 50% chances to gain Sick Status.
In addition, there are now Intelligence variables in the basic descriptions of many hairdyes which changes the way they are described. There are also Dominant Mood description variants as well for at least 2 or 3 hairdyes.
((If you think of any stat changes I should make to any of these, please feel free to suggest them)).
– All of the Miracle Grows have been completely rewritten and recoded from the ground up and all of them have been given revamped scripts. Resist now gets drained by consuming ALL Miracle Grow(s). Again, the difference is that the Player will receive NO negative effects as long as they have Resist. Like with all “I Can’t Believe It’s Magic!” products, there will always be a detriment to using them. Each Miracle Grow comes with a 50% chance to drain 1-3 Health for normal Miracle Grows and between 3 to 6 Health for Mega Miracle Grows.
Travel
Event 3: The Robbery
Location: MIDDLE FORK (SOUTH)
Summary: As you trudge through the forest, you suddenly hear a call for help. Could this possibly be a trap, or perhaps a person in distress? Depending on several variables you can investigate this scene or ignore it entirely. Will you report it to the guards later on? Or will you leave the person or people to their fate? Be careful because danger lurks around every corner.
Patreon/Patron/SubcscribeStar/Twitter
– Added Fang the Hedgewolf to the Help Guide, Thank You Page! Thank you so much for your patience and donation! I super appreciate it ^_^
– I have completely revamped the txtams.com website and I believe it’s now ready for it’s debut. This will effectively replace the blog over the next coming months and will be the primary launching site for mostly everything I do for the game as it’s customized for it.
Anonynn.