One path would be a UI overhaul. I honestly hate swing. It irritates me that there are so many leaky abstractions (oh wait it ignores this property when using this layout manager? well shit). It's probably me being horrible at swing rather than swing being a bad toolkit, but something just doesn't click with it and my mental model. I was thinking of moving to javafx if we're still in javaland.
Other path to go would be to support more custom json stuff again. I know we broke some custom json stuff with the latest changes, and I'd like to make sure new NPCs have mostly the same options. It'd be nice to go and finish the new skill system again, but trying to do the rehaul last time took so long that it made me lose interest... eh we'll see.
I also wanted to do a damage rebalance again. I want to make the damage system a bit clearer and flexible. There should be one public api on character that is like:
Code:
public void receiveDamage(DamagePacket packet);
Then the damage packet could have tags like {"pleasure", "gadget", "physical", "contact"}. It would make things a lot more flexible, and make custom skills and traits more feasible in the future.
You can set up traits like:
Code:
Toymaster:
if outgoing damage.hasTag("gadget"):
write("Your technological prowess makes this all the more effective")
damage.amplify(50)
or
Code:
Volatile Slime:
if incoming damage.hasTag("contact"):
write("{other:subject-action:splash|splashes} slime all over {other:reflective}")
other.addStatus("{'type': 'Slimed', 'magnitude': 1.0}")
or
Code:
Jiggling Tits:
if incoming damage.hasTag("targetBreasts", "physical"):
write("{self:possessive} large tits jiggles wildly, making for a rather arousing display.")
other.receiveDamage(new DamagePacket().withDamage(5).withTags(["temptation", "mental", "usingBreasts"]))
The last thing would be like always, adding more content. I plan on doing that anyways, but if I was focusing on this instead of QoL or custom json stuff, I'd probably like to do these things eventually:
1. start adding character specific endings
- With this, I'm a bit afraid that I'll conflict with the bard's storyline. But then again I'm thinking that the mod has diverged enough that maybe it wont be a huge issue anyways? I could always retcon later...
- What I was thinking for the endings is like this
- You fight a final boss at level 60 or something, perhaps with the highest affection competitor helping you out as a pet-like ally
- OR if you have very high affection with a high level competitor (50+?), and beat them something like 5-10 times in a row, they'll try something drastic and lose control (corrupted Angel? robot army Mara? super villain Jewel? etc), forcing you to fight a long battle with them with specific mechanics and raised stats.
- If you win, good end. Continue playing in the games if you want
- If you lose, bad end. Game ends with you as her toy or something like that.
2. Remove the body shop and move all the transformation options to stuff that you either scavenge on campus or from NPCs that you have high affection with
- One thing I'm worried about with this is that it's not really immediately obvious to new players, and locking transformation options after rank 10 + high affection seems kind of boring.
- The body shop was really only meant to be a temporary thing to test out the new body system. That's why it has no scenes at all, and seems really barebones.
3. Look at out of combat options a bit more
- I think with the trap and stealth rebalance last patch, it'll be a bit more interesting than before.
- However, compared to the base game, there's not nearly as much benefit from doing pre-combat preparations due to the nature of the willpower stat.
- Consumables and being in a disadvantaged position doesn't hurt you nearly as much when combat lasts a lot longer
- I'm not really sure how to fix this, other than to just buff prematch stuff (longer flatfooted upon ambush? multiple layers of bindings to struggle out of?). I'm open to suggestions though.
4. Use the femininity system a bit more
- Right now there is no way to raise your beauty or change your femininity really (other than getting bigger breasts I guess...)
- Femininity also does pretty much nothing right now, because NPCs pretty much disregard it. Would that mean that NPCs now should get a range of sexual preferences?
- I'm a bit wary of this though, because it tends to open a huge can of worms with people arguing about sexuality, tumblr style.
- I do want to add hip thickness and ass size as stats though... Not really sure how they'll affect the game mechanically but it should be there for flavor.
5. Finish up another NPC!
- I feel bad for Legion back when he was here. He wrote up a pretty much completed shemale NPC, but I dropped the ball on implementing it before I took an extended break. I kind of wish he was still here so I could ask him on plans for it, but maybe she can be introduced again...
- I want to actually finish up Rosea. I think it was a cool concept, and what's available now doesn't really make her very interesting (being half full of placeholders).
- Finally, I have some cool skills thought up for Yui, but at the same time I don't really want to step on the bard's toes if he ever decides to implement her. Maybe I'll make a temporary NPC that's Yui's arch-nemesis or something that uses ninjutsu?
6. Add image icons
- I eventually want to change status effects to display as icons (MMO style). You should still be able to read the description/effects by mouse-overing them, but it would make stuff a lot more recognizable. I know I skim through the status effect descriptions a lot...
- Add image icons to each piece of clothing. I'm a pretty visual person, and I want to be able to see right away what each piece of clothing is at a glance on the closet UI.
7. Add more money sinks
- Right now there's pretty much 0 use for money after you get your upgrades. Nothing in this game is really very expensive.
- I'm not sure where to go with this actually. Maybe upgrades you can buy for the arena? Buying Samantha for a day to have her tutor you in techniques? PAYING OFF YOUR STUDENT LOANS? (so sexy!)
- I'm up for ideas here as well.
