This topic's already taking over a few other threads, so I felt it deserved one of its own.
In short: Lust Combat in TiTs is underdeveloped.
Why do I say this? Well, let's look at the system as it stands.
- Of the 50ish player-usable weapons in the game, there are three lust-based weapons, two of which were added fairly recently. (Goovolver, Single-Tailed Bio-Whip, Slut Ray.)
- Of the 20ish player-usable armor pieces in the game, only three affect Lust resistances. (Atma Armor Mk 1, Ancient Space Suit, Suit of Gray Goo Armor.)
- There's exactly one class ability that interacts directly with lust combat, compared to 20+ for physical combat. (Gas Grenade, one of the Smuggler's level 5 perk options.)
- In other words, there are three Physical Combat focused classes and zero Lust Combat focused classes.
- Almost every enemy in the game has the same maximum Lust pool, despite the existence of the Inhuman Desire perk for the PC.
"But what about the Tease subsystem?"
The Tease subsystem is terrible.
1: There are no gear tradeoffs, because only the Sexiness stat affects teasing. In many cases, the decision to use or not use something with +Sexiness is a foregone conclusion: for example, the Honeypot Bra is the straight-up best Top Undergarment that currently exists in the game, stat-wise.
2: Tease uses a proficiency subsystem which exists nowhere else in the game. It's awkward and nonintuitive.
3: Tease tactics basically boil down to 'Sense, then spam the appropriate Tease.' I don't have a problem with this for 'deal with X random monster', but when you're facing down Taivra or a similar 'boss monster', it feels lackluster. (Okay, you can combine Teases with defensive buff abilities like Shield Regen, but that's basically it.)
"What about the perks you can get, like Red Venom and Vanae Milk?"
All of them are tied to specific character transformations, and I don't want 'best at teasing' to be gated behind the player taking the Treatment, getting bimbofied, looking like a squid, looking like an ant, etc. If something like that existed in the regular combat system, it would be nerfed. (See the Concussive Shot issue.)
Counter-argument:
It's a porn game, therefore the Tease route should be kept simple so that casual players can spam their way through the game.
Counter-Counter-Argument:
Pretty much all random encounters are trivial in this game, and 'losing' is usually a slap on the wrist. (In fact, many scenes are only available as loss scenes.)
Furthermore, difficult boss fights already exist in TiTs. (Dr Lash, Queen Taivra, Queen of the Deeps, Dane.)
The devs circumvent this problem with bosses by either making them optional (Queen of the Deeps, Dr Lash), providing ways to circumvent them, (Diplomacy with Taivra), or making it so that you simply gain a nice bonus for winning, but can still proceed if you lose. (Dane.) There's no reason for them to stop doing this.
In summary:
1: Lust combat doesn't have enough options.
2: As a result, lust combat is either overpowered or useless in any given fight.
3: Therefore, boss fights where you shoot people are more fun than boss fights where you seduce people.
4: IMO, a smut game should make it at least as fun to seduce your enemies as to shoot them with guns.
5: Therefore, lust combat needs more options.
This is a thread to 1: discuss the current state of the lust combat system, and 2: propose ways that it could be improved or more fully integrated with the rest of the game.
In short: Lust Combat in TiTs is underdeveloped.
Why do I say this? Well, let's look at the system as it stands.
- Of the 50ish player-usable weapons in the game, there are three lust-based weapons, two of which were added fairly recently. (Goovolver, Single-Tailed Bio-Whip, Slut Ray.)
- Of the 20ish player-usable armor pieces in the game, only three affect Lust resistances. (Atma Armor Mk 1, Ancient Space Suit, Suit of Gray Goo Armor.)
- There's exactly one class ability that interacts directly with lust combat, compared to 20+ for physical combat. (Gas Grenade, one of the Smuggler's level 5 perk options.)
- In other words, there are three Physical Combat focused classes and zero Lust Combat focused classes.
- Almost every enemy in the game has the same maximum Lust pool, despite the existence of the Inhuman Desire perk for the PC.
"But what about the Tease subsystem?"
The Tease subsystem is terrible.
1: There are no gear tradeoffs, because only the Sexiness stat affects teasing. In many cases, the decision to use or not use something with +Sexiness is a foregone conclusion: for example, the Honeypot Bra is the straight-up best Top Undergarment that currently exists in the game, stat-wise.
2: Tease uses a proficiency subsystem which exists nowhere else in the game. It's awkward and nonintuitive.
3: Tease tactics basically boil down to 'Sense, then spam the appropriate Tease.' I don't have a problem with this for 'deal with X random monster', but when you're facing down Taivra or a similar 'boss monster', it feels lackluster. (Okay, you can combine Teases with defensive buff abilities like Shield Regen, but that's basically it.)
"What about the perks you can get, like Red Venom and Vanae Milk?"
All of them are tied to specific character transformations, and I don't want 'best at teasing' to be gated behind the player taking the Treatment, getting bimbofied, looking like a squid, looking like an ant, etc. If something like that existed in the regular combat system, it would be nerfed. (See the Concussive Shot issue.)
Counter-argument:
It's a porn game, therefore the Tease route should be kept simple so that casual players can spam their way through the game.
Counter-Counter-Argument:
Pretty much all random encounters are trivial in this game, and 'losing' is usually a slap on the wrist. (In fact, many scenes are only available as loss scenes.)
Furthermore, difficult boss fights already exist in TiTs. (Dr Lash, Queen Taivra, Queen of the Deeps, Dane.)
The devs circumvent this problem with bosses by either making them optional (Queen of the Deeps, Dr Lash), providing ways to circumvent them, (Diplomacy with Taivra), or making it so that you simply gain a nice bonus for winning, but can still proceed if you lose. (Dane.) There's no reason for them to stop doing this.
In summary:
1: Lust combat doesn't have enough options.
2: As a result, lust combat is either overpowered or useless in any given fight.
3: Therefore, boss fights where you shoot people are more fun than boss fights where you seduce people.
4: IMO, a smut game should make it at least as fun to seduce your enemies as to shoot them with guns.
5: Therefore, lust combat needs more options.
This is a thread to 1: discuss the current state of the lust combat system, and 2: propose ways that it could be improved or more fully integrated with the rest of the game.