Darktoz
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Doing skills...wrong?
🕑 Added 2025-05-04 15:30:03 +0000 UTCI am back in the render treadmill working on Shadow over Blackmore side quest update plus finishing the last day 4 scene... knock knock. But I am still not 100% sure on how to properly implement the skills so that they are useful and fun in the game.
The way I wanted to implement them is that by selecting them you get extra scenes and additional lines in the scenes...and sometimes the skills might safe you from a bad ending. Witchcraft for example could give you the ability to summon demons in certain spots, maybe even as a side quest.
But now I am thinking that it might lead to frustration since the skill points are limited and without having certain skills not being able to get to certain scenes might be the wrong approach.
I think right now the game is very easy to handle. It is easy to find the scenes and progress. But I am already getting a lot of messages that are like "I can't find scene XY" or "I can't beat the spider..." and so on.
Maybe skills complicate it even further when suddenly to unlock a scene you have to "Have skill witchcraft, be out of chastity, have the futameter on at least 62 and then go to vivienne on day four and use the witchcraft skill on the painting frame once she walks into the kitchen!" ... while I think it can be fun to 'hide' scenes to make players search for them, blocking them out of content with skills seems like the wrong idea.
I am thinking a lot of it right now, so maybe you can let me know what you think about that topic and if you have an idea! Would be nice to hear your input!
Other than that, the sun is shining, so don't forget to ask your mistress to take you out on a leash for a while :D
Have a nice start into the new week and
stay kinky!
Comments
Darktoz
thank you :)
Emil
SoB was one of the first nsfw games I downloaded after Mantis. It's those two alone that got me in games. I'm now looking forward to catching up with all the new updates. Agreed, don't over complicate a good thing, try it on a new project... I think you'll find most fans love what you're doing because you do it right. Keep up the good work xxx
Darktoz
yes, agreed...and the easter eggs shouldn't be hard to find, either
Jeff Smith
I agree with you that it will add to frustration and complexity and shouldn't be a prerequisite (maybe for a few scenes here and there like an easter egg).
Darktoz
very good points! i like it, i thought a lot about this as well, the "different set of CGs but doesn't meaningfully affect the narrative of the game outside of the scene" is true since we already have the chastity in/out option affecting the world and narrative and having skills working the same would spiral out of control quickly
Badgerlicious
Really enjoy Blackmore and thought I would belatedly add to the comments on your post. You really want to avoid an "Alpha Protocol" situation where player choices overwhelm the dev team-you. Skills are a great feature to add as they add to a player's sense of progression and agency, but the implementation of choice is tricky and well worth thinking through. The most basic form would be that a skill gives players an option in a scene that gives a different set of CGs but doesn't meaningfully affect the narrative of the game outside of the scene. A little trickier would be to think of skills as option boxes with decisions inside. For example if there are 10 skills you have 5 option boxes with choice A or B inside. When the time comes to learn a skill (this would be say option box 2) you the player is given a binary choice either A or B (this can be a simple decision learn A or B or by siding with one character or another and given the A or B at the end of that scene). Then instead of saying at a future point does the player have x skill you say this is a point where I look in option box 2 and progress the scene based on what in box 2. It may sound like a small destincition but it will likely make workflow easier. Again I would caution any choices that would alter the game dramatically outside of an encounter or the day as a whole because "Alpha Protocol". Anyway hope this is helpful and you manage to implement a system that is rewarding to players while not leading to the wrong sort of insanity on your end. P.S. love Genevieve because dammit if I'm going to be sub it's going to be to a woman who's wiser than me not madder or stronger.
