Happy Sunday, y'all!

It's been a good week for the development of the game. With another ~1300 words added to the script, we are past the 30% mark! That said, writing wasn't really the focus this week, but rather planning, programming, and the integration of systems. As I discussed last week, I've added a dom/sub alignment system to some of the choices that player makes, to offer a bit more replayability with alternate scenes if a certain threshold is reached on either side of the scale. After getting feedback, I'll also be adding a few scenes for people who manage to stay right in the middle! It's going to take a lot of testing to see if that is really doable in practice, but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

I've started to reflect these mini-branching paths in the scenes that I am currently writing, but am also thinking of going back and adding little touches here and there. One side-quest in particular should be a really cool integration of the alignment system, thanks to Jake, the idea boy. Thanks Jake!

However, I felt that some choices didn't really fit with that dom/sub binary, so I've also added a "Brattiness" scale. I felt like sometimes, merely being a sub and actively being a brat on purpose were two different things. Not exactly sure how that's going to affect choices, but I feel like it adds a bit of personality! Also, getting an achievement for being as bratty as possible sounds fun!

In terms of story, this chapter will be the most diverse in its locations, as we will travel from Stonehold to the Dwarven Kingdoms, and back to the titular Elven one as well. Can't keep Maera away from her responsibilities too long! As such, I've put a number of hours into the backgrounds to reflect that diversity. I also found a number of music tracks that should go nicely with the developing adventure. Lots of little things, but they add up! The little things are always what takes the longest.

The big project this week has been developing and adding a new mini-game. I've always liked having little things to break up the story, and I always try to come up with different things. This time, I decided to take inspiration from games like The Witcher and add a little card-battle game that the player can find in taverns and whatnot. It's not Gwent, of course, and it doesn't try to be, but it's rather fun in my opinion. If you don't like that kind of stuff, no worries, you won't be forced to play. But who knows, if you manage to defeat enough opponents, cool things might happen! 

I don't have a name for it yet but here is a WIP of how it'll look like:

The card art is yet to come, of course! As always with these things, it's as much about learning to code as it is adding fun stuff. Who knows, that might be the basis for a standalone game in the far future (also, maybe a physical deck one day?? 👀). The cards themselves are divided into 4 suits (as is tradition): Heart, Thorn, Sun, and Moon. Each suit has four cards, in ascending order of cost and power: Pawn / Knight / Rogue / Mage / Queen (now that I'm typing this, I feel like Rogue and Knight should be the other way around in terms of power...). I'm trying really hard to limit the scope of things, or it'll never get done, but I felt like 20 cards was a good balance between the time it would take and the diversity required for a fun set. I'm planning on having each suit be a different colour, but beyond that the design if fairly straightforward. Here is one card that's a bit further along, the Queen of Hearts:

The game is simple: each card has an attack and a defence value; you can play as many cards as your mana allows (currently, 6). Once you have chosen your cards, the difference between your attacks and the opponent's defence is the damage you inflict, and vice-versa for the damage inflicted to you. Simple! But since you don't know which cards the opponent will choose, you need to be the slightest bit strategic, and a bit lucky too! I'm still tweaking the values at the moment, but I think it's about where I want it to be. In game, of course, there will be consequences for winning or losing (I'll let you guess what they are :p). Like I said, the idea of a sort of league running through the game appeals to me, so I'm hoping to have at least 3-4 different opponents here and there in the game.

Feel free to suggest a name for the card-game itself!

All right, that does it for this week! As always, your feedback is valued and appreciated. There are so many things in the game that I wouldn't have thought of if it weren't for your collective help, and I'm forever grateful for your continued support :)

Before I go, let me leave you with another character that you will meet early on in the chapter:

Bye!