Results from time planning / outline of plan

Hey guys,

As most of you know I've been trying to get my head down with TSP planning and knowing precisely where I'm going with this project, which is why releases have been a little light (although still very juicy!) on content. 

To that end I think I have formalised a plan of action, and truth be told there is still some ways to go before we reach the finish line. I realised I'd rather get to the finish line carrying everything I want than rushing along and dropping things along the way.

I've broken the points down into their section just to make this longer post a bit easier to read. So stick with me as I explain the current plan:

COMBAT:

The main issue with the combat systems I thought of / half implemented, was that none of them felt very “exciting” and it was just lesser versions of things other games have already done. I was also trying to strike a balance between quick and satisfying that just isn't working. I’ve dabbled between X-Com style combat, turn based and some “first person” concepts (more like duck hunt rather than first person though). Additionally, I wanted to add some kind of sex or at least sexyness to the combat system to make it relevant to the genre. And it’s something I’ve been really struggling with to get something down.

However recently inspiration has hit me with another game! That game is Goddess of Victory: Nikke. I think most of you will likely be aware of that game and it’s fascinating… plot. (But no, seriously it seems like a fun game from what I have played so far).

But my plan is to create a turn based version with a similar layout to that of Nikke. Right now I’m thinking missions will involve you splitting the crew into 2 teams of 3. 2 fighters (Kittenna, Lilith, Malaena or Catherine) and 1 support (Shelly or Mia), each having their own unique abilities, advantages and disadvantages. Some missions will have you commanding just one of these teams, other missions will allow you to switch between the teams in “real time”.

I’m also thinking, there will be a commander “deck” where a certain amount of “order” cards are drawn each round, that affect the ladies on the battlefield. And as you progress through their relationships in game new cards get added to the “deck” which grant a big boon to the character in question.

However lets also talk about the SEXY stuff. I mentioned that I wanted to incorporate something sexy into the battle system, to keep it relevant to the game and I think Nikke has the perfect concept. Costumes and jiggly physics goodness seems like the perfect way forward in terms of that as it ties in well with the costumes that already exist in the game. Also some special ability cutscenes that really show off our crew? I think so! And the end goal would also be to include voice acting for each character too of course. (I already have some battle lines for Kittenna that was done by BakuSatsuHo a while back)

That said, in order to incorporate this we may have to slow down on new art for a little while as we focus on the animations for this idea, but I’m not going to make any changes to the current structure until I have some kind of prototype up and running. (And this new system is going to need new artwork regardless)

I think I’ve finally found an idea I like that I feel fits the game here (rather than jamming something in that doesn’t entirely work). Of course all the mechanics need to be properly worked out and some ideas clarified, but I think this is the right path to take. Let me know your thoughts on this!

CHARACTERS:

I mentioned previously about changing / rewriting some of the characters and I have a little more detail on what I have in mind. My main issue comes from the 3 “dominant” female crew members and making sure they stand apart from each other.

Lillith:

• Lillith will be rewritten to be more along the lines of seductive / dommy mommy type
• She will retain her badassery and toughness and ability to fight however
• The main changes will be getting rid of her “bwahaha”’s for “*Chuckles*”
• And also remove instances of her saying MC is easy to fuck with, that’s kind of Kittenna’s thing. Instead she will just tease him more (comment on his red cheeks or something like that)
• She will still be having fun at the MC’s expense, and will only be serious about her flirting later on down the line and she will still keep her “casual” kind of attitude to sex
• Quite happy to drop an innuendo, but not over the top, inspired somewhat by a specific VA

Kittenna:

• She will remain mostly unchanged, but it’s mainly around her initial dialogues
• Basically just removing any (initial) flirtyness, she really is just trying to make the Captain feel uncomfortable and be a bit of a dick, it is only later on that it changes to being genuine flirting etc (like with the gun training)
• It’s pretty much reinforcing the idea that she doesn’t see the Captain that way until a specific point, when things switch up

Mia:

• A bit more on the tsundery side, quick to anger, has a very soft centre, but hard to get through to
• Not much dialogue change here, but just a couple bits that could be reworked (though not removed)
• Mainly around the kiss on the cheek, and initial sex scene in the first progression and a couple points in the second progression just to reinforce the “hard exterior, soft interior” thing I want to get across

PROGRESSION CHANGES:

I believe I mentioned this before, but the threesomes / foursomes scenes appear far too early in the progression system and once we get deeper into the character progressions this will be changed on when they appear. I want to also change / solidify when costumes become available for characters to put on / wear around the ship (and in the battle system).

So far I’ve come up with this plan:

Threesomes:

• Unlock after Level 3 Complete for each member involved

Foursomes:

• Unlock after Level 4 complete for each member involved

Orgy:

• End game only - unlocks only if all foursomes unlocked

Costumes:

• Bunny
  • Scene @ level 2
  • Wear @ level 3
  • Unlocked by: Creep Casino Event
• Lingerie
  • Scene @ level 2
  • Wear @ level 4 (all characters must be level 4)
  • Unlocked by: ???
• Waitress
  • Scene & Wear @ level 2
  • Unlocked by: Unlocked by Intro Creep Event
• Swimsuit
  • Scene @ level 2
  • Wear @ level 4
  • Unlocked by: ???
• Underwear
  • No specific scene scene
  • Wear @ level 3
  • Unlocked by: Unlocked by Cooling broken event
• Nude
  • No specific scene
  • Wear @ level 4 (all characters must be level 4)
  • Unlocked by: Unlocked at start
• Cosplay
  • Scene @ level 2
  • Wear @ level 3
  • Unlocked by: ???

The costume events will also contain battle missions, where the characters will wear the costumes in battle for the first time.

MAIN QUEST / SIDE QUESTS / FLOATING CREW MEMBERS

Witchking is currently working on the sprites for characters who will majorly be involved with the main story line or important side quests. I’m still working on the main story progression, including vital choices players will have to make, but I do want to say I will extremely limit how many choices result in missing out on content. Any choices that do restrict content will be flagged during the options select so players will be very aware if a choice they make will make them miss out on anything.

That said I still want choice to be impactful and will be altering many of the characters questlines to incorporate meaningful choices. Some have already appeared, though their repercussions are not yet known (like in Malaena’s storyline with choosing to kill or spare Varten). I can’t say these choices will have major impacts in terms of how the overall story ends, but they will crop up in the character’s progressions too.

One thing I have been debating about recently is adding a “character background select”, which will allow players to have little unique bits of dialogue based on their selection at the start of the game. Think Mass Effect 1 in that regard, but I was thinking of having it based around the Main Character’s sexual history & education, which could influence the way he talks at certain key points. Though this is just an idea at this point and may not be feasible.

Floating crew members: Shuma’s questline will very soon be coming to a close. Shuma will be the first floating crew member and that remains unchanged. However after she departs the ship in the completion of her progression (don’t worry you will still be able to visit her) the player’s will be able to choose which person they want next on the ship. Each will only be there temporarily based on their progression and will not become involved with combat.

So far the following NPCs are selected to be floating crew members:

• Princess Shuma (the default starting floating crew member)
• Nix’Tori Vash
• Naetu
• The Red Queen

I’m not sure if I will add anymore to the roster, though I’d very much like to. It depends as it’s the kind of thing that could be worked on “infinitely” and at some point it has to come to an end. Perhaps some “DLC” down the line adding new options or something would be fun.

ART / ANIMATION CHANGES:

One thing that is definitely on the cards is a rework of the main crew’s character sprites (the one that appears when they talk) to give them a more unique appearance, like a lot of the newer character sprites. These sprites were originally made in 2016 and now feel a little outdated with the rest of the style of the game.

So the current plan is to make new ones with different and unique poses that really represent the character as they are now. Of course there is a lot of work involved with this since each character needs to have a set of expressions as well as any additional costumes.

That said I have a choice to make in regards to these and I’m not sure which way I lean on it. We can either have a unique pose per expression or have a single pose (regardless of expression), but animate it. Right now I’m leaning more towards animating them, to help alleviate some of the work from Witchking. But I’m not 100% sure. What are your thoughts on this?

I would like to continue to get sex scenes animated too of course, but this is going to be a costly endeavour since the scenes weren’t made with being prepped for animation in mind.

EXTRA STUFF

MORE RANDOM EVENTS! I’ve been saying this for a while, but I definitely want to add in more story based, one off events that crop if certain conditions are met. Think of the underwear scene where the cooling unit has broken on the ship. A small scene will play out showing interaction between the characters, either something sexy or something silly, but mainly something to just give more life to the ship and have the crew interact more (which I think is something really missing from the game right now)

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Right now, I think this planning time has been extremely helpful, both with getting me goals in mind and giving me inspiration for how I want things to be. It’s as though things are back on track, and although it sounds like there is a lot of work ahead (and there is) the renewed vigour for the project will create something really awesome rather than something that feels a little mediocre.

I would very much LOVE to hear all your thoughts on anything and everything I have discussed here. Or if you have questions about anything in particular, please ask away! I will respond here or on discord, however you prefer to talk!

- Charon