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Course of Temptation Dev Diary #53
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 19:41:17 +0000 UTC
Hello friends! Happy Friday... the thirteenth!
As of today we're on version 0.5.3e, with a couple of bugfix patches out this week. Be sure to thank Drakon for many of the fixes you've seen! And, of course, we also have to thank the players who diligently report the issues they find. None of the issues have been major and reports have slowed down, so this version may be the one until the next content update.
It's been a couple of weeks since a proper dev diary. I always hesitate to post two days in a row because I don't want to feel like I'm spamming y'all. Would you prefer dev diaries on release weeks even if it means posting two days in a row, or if they're short? This month they're far enough apart from release day that I'll have them anyway.
Anyway, let's talk about... encounters!
I did a lot of work with encounters in the September update, basically adding some context to them and making them aware of available space and furniture, and adding some new positions to take advantage of that.
As I mentioned in the release notes, I want to extend this to sex furniture and gloryholes and better implement bondage scenarios — currently, these things are all a bit of a hack, but they can be done more elegantly within the new system. This would allow for things like... well, I'm not sure how much sex furniture we can logically fit into the dorm, but maybe the player can get free access to the library basement or something. Basically, a better implementation will give the player access to these things outside of the very specific events they're currently found in.
All of this goes to show that there are a lot of places the encounter system can still go. There are also a lot of places where it's still missing pieces or needs polish — group scenes, scenes where the focus is anybody but the PC, exactly what happens when what the NPC wants to do collides with what the player wants to do. These are areas I'll continue to work on, at least some of it in the next update.
The encounter system is by far the single most complex system in the game. If there's something that seems weird and undesirable happening with it, you can help me out by making sure I know about it!
The best way to report bugs is in the Discord, but you can also DM me here. Note however that, given the complexity of the system, it's often super hard to reproduce a specific encounter bug given the sheer amount of variables involved — so if you can export a save to disk at the moment a problem occurs and get it to me, then I can immediately identify and start debugging the issue, which is an enormous help.
River Rat Expansion Progress
Aside from addressing some bug reports, this week has been all event writing all the time. I've planned and outlined the remaining events I definitely want to be part of the River Rat server job, and now I'm going down the list and writing them all.
Many of these are branching events — one I wrote on Wednesday has twelve different possible passages — so they're a lot of work! But we're getting through it. They're really the meat of the River Rat server "adventure" so getting them done is pretty gratifying. I can probably pretty much wrap up the server stuff this month. I have even more events in mind, but they aren't strictly necessary and will probably wait for the polish phase.
I had one idea for expressing the PC's dominant side in server events. When you're asked to do something to improve your tip that you don't really want to do yourself, maybe you can sub in (get it?) another server to handle it for you. Your success would depend on how the other server feels about you, their submissiveness, and your dominance. It'd also contribute to making your coworkers feel more present, which is always good.
After the server job will be the bartender and manager phases of the job. The manager portion will probably use the bartender events as its backbone, just with added options and responsibility and more interaction with the owner. As a bartender, there's a vibe of having more authority than you had as a server... which, in my mind, just means opportunities to play with power dynamics! But we'll talk about that later.
All of this is to say we're seeing good progress this week. The end is in sight for server events, and that checks off a huge portion of what I scoped out for this update.
Besides that, please accept this preview of an event I wrote this week that fires if the River Rat becomes a topless bar while you're still a server:
That's about all I have to talk about for this week. It's just a lot of writing! I'll probably put in some weekend hours too, because I really want to finish up these server events and be ready to work on bartending events before I shift focus to the October content update.
I will be back next week with another progress report! I hope you enjoy your weekend and, as always, I'm incredibly grateful for your support!
Comments
Nigel Darkling
I have a pretty dumb but simple (I think?) request. Can you add regular length pride socks to the game? If they're already there and I'm just blind, please inform me!
Foxy Abi
I wish other creators were as involved as you, the frequent updates do a lot to keep my interest up! Too many games just kinda fade away so this is super refreshing to see~
BLADErayW
topless bar sounds great, plus it has a normalization factor to it as well as exhibitionism
Malcolm Albie
Honestly, spam away. It's not like the updates don't mean anything, and they're a pleasure to read.
Hugo Trainor
If a Dominant PC can "sub in" a substitute for a task they find demeaning, it would be great if a sub PC could be assigned a troublesome or demanding table, "Because you have great rapport with the customers". Or "Because I said so, that's why!"
Touiten
I'm team "spam us if you want to, it's always nice to hear from you" 😁
Emmzzz
It would definitely be fun to have wet dreams of whoever the PC’s crush is at the time. Lots of other possibilities with that idea
Steve
Something that could be developed at some future date is wet dreams if our arousal and/or release need get to low. Just a thought.
Steve
This. Thank you.
Avendros
With the Dev Diaries honestly just post them whenever you have something interesting to share. Tying them to a schedule might not really be suited for when you're giving insights in your work, if you have enough to say to make one two days in a row i'd say go for it. They have been an interesting read so far and i prefer them authentic over scheduled.
feelingoofy
Loving the updates, super looking forward to further implementation of bondage themes!
Steve
Excellent work as usual. the only ask i would have is for hair pulling to be set up like squeeze neck where you maintain it over time.
Vayes
I hope there are h scenes with the River Rat owner.
jonathan hutchinson
I adore the game and all the effort put into it
Ludociel
❤️
Dunan Rayne
Also... there are times when the PC is on a date with an NPC in town or on campus, and his/her lover happens to be in the same location. Wouldn't it be more interesting if there were additional interactions in these scenes? For example, if the PC realizes his/her lover is nearby but hasn’t been noticed yet, the PC could urgently suggest to PC's date that they go somewhere else, or take actions to avoid being seen (like hiding behind the NPC or turning his/her face away). On the other hand, if the PC's lover spots them first, shouldn’t his/her lover approach? Initially, PC's lover might casually approach to say hello, thinking they’ve just run into the PC by chance, but would soon start feeling uneasy or suspicious upon noticing the PC is with another NPC. Eventually, his/her lover would start asking why the two are together, and at that point, the PC would need to be very good at coming up with an excuse. (Wouldn't it be funnier if NPCs would grope or make inappropriate comments to a PC who is desperately lying to his/her lover?) Furthermore, it could also be interesting to have scenarios where, while the PC is on a date with his/her lover, the PC's hatefuck or fuck-buddy sees them and approaches with the intent to cause trouble. Naturally, such NPCs would likely have traits like sadist or bully and be the type of jerks who enjoy making the PC uncomfortable. I understand that some people strongly dislike NTR (cheating) themes, but I personally think it would be interesting to have special NPCs or new traits that make them more possessive or obsessive when the PC has a partner. For those who aren’t fond of NTR, there could also be rejecting these jerks or even kick them ass.
Dunan Rayne
It seems the River-Rat content is coming soon! I'm really looking forward to it. Speaking of River-Rat... In that pub, strangers or acquaintances often approach the PC for dates or casual sex, don't they? In such situations, it would be great if the PC could politely/coldly refuse by saying, "I have a boyfriend/girlfriend" if PC is in a relationship(or just bluffing). Additionally, when NPCs ask the PC out on a date or demand a casual sex, they often assume that the PC is single. While this might make sense if they are meeting for the first time, it seems a bit unrealistic if the NPC is a friend, acquaintance, rival, or fellow student on campus, doesn't it? I think it would be much better if NPCs could recognize and remember when the PC has a boyfriend/girlfriend. For example, when an NPC tries to flirt with the PC on campus, it would be nice if the PC could politely/coldly decline by saying something like, "Nice try, but you know I have a boyfriend, right?" Of course, depending on the NPC's personality or their relationship with the PC, they might respond with something like, "Don't worry, he won't find out," or "As long as no one knows, it's fine," or even "I don't fucking care(that's your problem not mine)—just shut up and let's fuck." It would be especially interesting if NPCs mentioned the PC's boyfriend or girlfriend in sex scenes. The PC might feel guilty and ask the NPC not to bring up her boyfriend, but I think it would also be intriguing if, depending on the NPC's personality (such as if they're a sadist, bully, or dominant), they ignored the PC's plea.
