Hi folks! Another week, another devlog! It's been really nice to write these, actually, and try to organise my thoughts (and schedule!) as I go. So to whomever reads those, thanks!

This week was heavy on the art and programming side of things, and very light on actual writing. Time, as always, is the most precious resource of them all!

The thread, or theme if you will, of the work this week was to bring EK a bit closer to an RPG. Now, it's a visual novel, and it's never going to be as interactive as something like an RPG-Maker game, and even less one big triple A game; still, I think it's interesting when the player can inject a bit of personality into the game. A lot of people have told me that they love replayability, options, different choices and paths, customisation, etc. I like it too! So I'm slowly adding things to the game to further that end.

Last week, we talked about the player being on a sort of morality system, only for their sub/dom leaning. Implementing the system was one thing, but it needed some visual representation! And therefore, a character-sheet was born :

Under the name (ignore the nonsensical nature of it, it's my default max-characters one to make sure things fit!) is the player's current title, which will change through the game to reflect the character's journey. Under that is the meter I was talking about. As the bar goes to one side or the other, the leaning will be indicated as "submissive" or "dominant". I don't want people to feel like one is better than the other (you do you, hon), so I went with fairly neutral colours (that we use on my Discord server as well 😉). The next few counters are pretty self-explanatory, I think. There used to be a tracking for the total spankings in the album, but it was a little hidden in there and didn't track it over the course of a playthrough. Now, it does, and keeping an eye on it can be fun, I think!

The fight and money counters are new things that I've also integrated retrospectively, and are a bit more standard RPG fare. I don't feel like a proper leveling system is something that I want to do right now, but for those who like the combat aspect (rather than losing on purpose, hehehe), I think it's nice to put a number to your hard-won fights! With money comes the idea of, well, spending it. Which might mean a shop ? Maybe a limited inventory system ? 👀 Well, not for now, but I'm planting seeds, you see! Still, with the card-game being implemented, some sort of reward was a nice thing. One thing I thought might be fun would be unlocking bonus gallery images with the coins you win in game. Tell me if that sounds fun!

Also, new early-game costume art, yay! The picture will change depending on what outfit you're wearing at any given time in the game.

On the to-do list for the character sheet are little things like adding food and drink preferences, a bit of backstory choice maybe, favourite or least favourite implements, stuff like that. If you're like me, you've made very detailed character sheets for your OCs or DnD characters in the past, and you know how little details add a lot of flavour even if they don't have a tangible effect in game.

Another step on the road towards the RPG-fication of the game was taking a look at combat itself. While it is not the focus of the game, there is actually quite a lot of it. I know, because I'm in the process of changing how it all works, and the technical debt is painful. Keep in mind that when I started Elven Kingdom, I had never-ever programmed anything. Therefore, a lot of it is very shoddy, and can be cumbersome. But it's getting better now! A lot of work is left to do, but I really wanted to add some depth to the combat. A few tutorials and a lot of trial-and-error later, and I feel like we're on the right track!

Instead of just attacking and taunting, there is now a choice between a light attack (lower damage, will always hit) and a heavy attack (higher damage, but can miss entirely), and a new defence system that will decrease the amount of damage taken from enemies. Here is how it looks:

The life bars are now your standard green and red, and they animate as they come up or down! Wonderful stuff, I know. Makes it feel like a real game 😛. One thing that I would like to add is a magic spell (good ol' fireball) after the Academy bit (with a mana counter under the 'defence' bit, I suppose). More options are fun, I think!

I know that none of this is revolutionary, but block by block, the game is gaining in complexity and, I hope, in quality. Hopefully, that's something that appeals to you!

Before I go, here are the cards for the Pawns in the card game. I've renamed the suits to Roses / Thorns / Sun / Moon, and I think I like the colours like this. Roses and Thorns will all be Human, and Sun and Moon will be Elves. Look forward to more cards next week!

Bye for now! xxx