3/20 Stream over

Time to get started on work.


With Business done (except for one thing I forgot to do), the next logical step is the Skill Cap, which hopefully won't take too long, but we'll see what happens. I would love to get it done tonight.

Well, it took three hours, but I got the Skill Cap system done. You start with 150 skill points, and get 3 more added each day. I still need to add a testing command to add skill points, but that's not really high on the priority list right now. Only two things left to do for the next update!

Some other information about things in the pipeline:

The Maid Side Job


Side jobs are what I'm calling any job that doesn't have a fixed schedule, or otherwise allows you to have a regular job while still doing it. Every side job will have the option of becoming your permanent job if you advance far enough along it, and the Maid job is no exception.

To be a maid, you'll have to buy cleaning supplies. These are available at the mall in one bulk purchase of $150. It's far more than you would ever need to clean your apartment (more on that later), so why not use it to get some extra money? The first thing you have to do is advertise, which means you need to have a computer so you can set up a contact page (off-the-top-of-my-head thought: I might need to include an internet cafe location). Your technical aptitude will determine how effective your website is, with a better website allowing you to start with more job requests.

When you get a request (and the game will check to ensure that it's never during your scheduled work period), it will either be to clean a room, a floor, or the whole location, which takes 1, 2 and 3 time blocks, respectively. You can also choose to just tidy up (reduces time requirement by 1 block, but carries a penalty to pay), clean (normal), or make the room spotless if you're good enough at cleaning (increases time requirement by 1 block, but gives a bonus to pay). You get paid based on the amount of time the job would normally take, regardless of how long it actually takes, at a flat rate of $30 per time block. So the most you can get paid is $90 per job.

On the job, you'll be presented with the occasional "random chance" card, where the client asks for something specific, and you can choose how you react. Your reactions determine how your side job unfolds. Are you a professional, interested in getting the job done well? Or are you more interested in the fetish aspects of the title "Maid", leaning more towards the sexual fantasy side, and indulging your clients' desires?

In addition, there will be a new skill: Cleaning. Unlike other skills, this one will be pretty focused: it's how well you clean (but then, maybe it would be useful if you're trying to hide crime scene evidence). At various levels, you get bonuses when it comes to cleaning. For example, if you have 75+ points in Cleaning, then all cleaning related activities will take one less time block (to a minimum of 1). Conversely, until you get 25 points in cleaning, you can't clean to the point of spotlessness.

And to facilitate the new skill, your apartment will now get dirty. On a scale of 0 to 20, with 20 being "you could eat off that floor" and 0 being "this place should be condemned", your apartment will slowly change, getting dirty if you ignore it. Extreme filth will carry penalties to health, and anyone you invite over won't really want to stick around. However, keeping it clean won't be hard: tidying up doesn't take up a time unit, and while it can only increase the cleanliness rating up to 14, if it's above that, it will maintain it at that level, as long as you do it once a day.

And this will then dovetail into a game tweak, namely, the Slob trait, which will now have a bonus in addition to the -5 Natural Charisma penalty: once you're a slob, having a filthy apartment won't cause you any health problems. In fact, once you have Slob, the highest level of cleanliness ("could eat off that floor") and the two lowest levels of cleanliness will be removed. The Slob trait will not be added by living in squalor: if you are in the three lowest levels of cleanliness (0-6), then you'll get one point added to Slob per day until you're out of that filth pit. Finally, because this will effectively change how you get the Slob trait, I'll be tweaking the game so that, under normal circumstances, you'll get a shower automatically in the morning, and also put on makeup if you've been doing that regularly ("regularly" defined as you feel feminine enough to do it out of habit).

All that, from the Maid side job. Not too shabby.