Hello friends! It is dev diary time, as we prepare for the November content update. First of all, thanks to everybody participating in the poll, I really appreciate it! It's guiding how I prioritize this monthly update and likely the next one as well.
It's been a bit of a moving target (the top three options are all pretty close), but I began with implementing starting personality traits, which are basically just a subset of inclinations that you can choose when generating a character.
Part of this has been adding some new mechanics to existing inclinations. For example, if your character is shy, picking an option that involves being really forward may cause some discomfort! Having a forward personality may, on the other hand, enable your character to take some options normally gated by Disinhibition.
I've added some new inclinations as well:
These inclinations will subtly alter how the game plays. As we all know, it's sometimes more fun to fail a Willpower skillcheck, but your Willpower will inevitably increase as you play — the Easily Pressured inclination will somewhat counteract this, and your chances of passing a Willpower skillcheck will universally be lower than otherwise.
While I was at it, I also made the favorite positions into proper inclinations, instead of the NPC-only sort-of-inclinations they were before. For those who like to customize NPCs in detail, this will allow you to add and remove their favorite positions, and the PC can now acquire them as well.
Next, while giving the poll some time to percolate, I fulfilled a frequent request by adding colored contacts.
Both natural and more fantastical colors are available. Additionally, each eye is a separate slot, so those who want heterochromatic eyes are now able to make that happen for their characters.
Next, I decided to tackle the aftercare system — which has since fallen slightly into third place, but like I said, it's a bit of a moving target! The structure of the aftercare system is similar to the "making out" passages that precede many encounters, with the obvious difference that the aftercare passages happen post-encounter.
This example is with a more submissive NPC, and options and responses here will vary somewhat depending on the dynamic. If, for example, you gained Pain and Humiliation during an encounter with your dominant, they can take this time to reassure and praise you, alleviating the negative effects of those. I hope this will give a fuller picture of D/s relationships, and for everyone else, ease those sometimes abrupt transitions between sex and resuming the story.
As you may have spotted, the aftercare system has also proven to be a good way to implement another common request — round two! Choosing this option will place you back into the encounter more or less where you left off.
This is sort of a first pass implementation and it's likely aftercare will be expanded over time. In particular, when I implement NPCs evaluating how much they liked the encounter, which is also an option in this poll, the aftercare passage is a pretty natural place to put their feedback.
That's all for now! I'll post this and then get back to work on the update, implementing what I can before the end of the month deadline. Early access for supporters will come next week, and the public release will happen the week after.
So, until then! Thank you as always for your support, I really appreciate it, and I hope you have a good weekend!