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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

No Stream

There's no stream tonight. Yes, it's Mass Effect 3. This will be the only normal stream time that I'm taking off for it, though.

In the meantime, I've been working on the game off-stream. I've sketched out plans for a more robust health system, so that when you health is low or high, things happen (very low health will keep you in the apartment for at least a day, for example). Also a sick day and vacation day system for jobs, as well as consequences for missing too many days of work (including getting fired).

And finally, I've started drawing up a goal system, so that at the beginning of the game, you get to choose a goal to aim for (be successful, be womanly, be manly, get revenge, be angry, etc), and then every month, in addition to the broad goal, you get specific "objectives" to aim for. The only thing I haven't figured out is the reward/penalty system. Hell, maybe I won't have one, who knows (but I probably will).

So...apologies for not streaming tonight, but I am still working. Just not, you know, tonight.

6 comments:

  1. Hun, I just noticed that one of Maria's lines in the opening isn't highlighted green:

    "It would seem you're not the casanova you believe yourself to be, if you weren't able to get anyone's phone number last night. Oh, well, I guess it just means...well, let's continue on to the next step, shall we?"

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    1. Actually there is at least one other.

      "I would be confused myself if I got fucked silly and woke up in my own bedroom."

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  2. DAM YOU! I still have to wait 6 Hours (at time of post) before i can activate my copy of ME3, oh and looking forward to the updates, you always do awesome stuff

    but still

    DAM YOU!

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  3. If the goals are self imposed then success/failure could effect self esteem. Of course that still leaves it necessary to come up with effects for low or high self esteem.

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  4. >The only thing I haven't figured out is the reward/penalty system
    Reward the player by making them (permanently) more womanly, manly, successful, whatever. That is, permanently changing some aspect of their appearance or behavior. You may not want it to be a "goal," too. Judging by the fixed results of the introduction, it's kind of a given that your character wants to be a man again.

    Instead, why not something more like non-random events that take place on certain days, at certain times, in certain places (obviously you'd have to design them to be in the direct path of a character behaving certain ways; e.g. an event in the spa for a "womanly" path, an event at the strength training at the dojo or the gym for the "manly" path, etc.) and once encountered, they will basically set off a flag for a particular kind of end-of-month transformation down a particular life choice path, such as you have listed.

    Not random encounters, mind you. These would be events that ALWAYS happen under fixed circumstances in a predictable location. You could tip the player off with events leading up to the main event, such as seeing a character in a location at certain times, with one specific time being when the event takes place.

    But yeah, the goals shouldn't be self-imposed; rather, they should be hinted at, perhaps Maria could say something about pivotal life choices or events that can trigger effects all at once, or... I dunno, something. I just think it's better than "Pick goal, complete objectives" which isn't gameplay so much as fetch quests and grinding. It'd give the world some flavor and a reason to explore, revisit areas, etc. which the game could really use.

    Wow, that was more than I meant to say...

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  5. Sick days and vacation...but what about coming in late? I find that most bosses are forgiving if you have a good excuse/don't do it too often. Is this common-sense enough to be on the way, or do I need to put my money where my keyboard is?

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