Here is what came from our Nov 8th Live Developer Q & A (will add to OP under a spoiler tag)
General:
Anax, what does it mean when you keep saying ‘ideally’?
I’m glad you asked! Throughout the Q&A you might hear me say ‘ideally’ often. Simply put, ‘ideally’ means that - my patronage is enough per month (minimum of $2,500), and that there is enough time in the world to do it. Money and time, my friends, these are the only limiting factors fan or a man with an endless passion!
Game Mechanic/Programming:
What are your plans for balancing the game?
This is a pretty big question, and there's a lot of smaller questions inside it to unpack. I think when people ask this question, they're mostly asking about character vs. character balancing, which is certainly important, but it's only one of a few axes the game needs to be balanced on. For the prototype that's available now, my target was getting things (a) working, and (b) at least reasonable to play, as far as balancing goes - in that order.
The things I've currently got on my list for balancing are:
Character attack power by energy type.
Gem attack vs. powers.
Character resistance vs. power strength vs. combat length
Power cost vs. power strength
Character vs. character
Character attack power by energy type
As things are implemented right now, each character has an attack power associated with gems of each type. (These stats will be visible somewhere, at some point) For instance, CereChieko has an attack power of 20 for technology (blue) gems, and an attack power of 3 for shadow (purple) gems. Meaning that when she makes a 3x match in blue, she deals 60 damage, but making a 3x match in purple only deals 9. In general I feel like that gulf is a bit too wide, and serves to compound the player's problems if they find themselves locked out of the energy types they need (in this case, technology) since they can't deal significant match damage, and they can't get the energy required to use their powers.
Gem attack vs. powers
Speaking of gem attack damage, the damage dealt by gem attacks needs to be balanced against the damage available to be dealt by powers. As things stand right now, I think gem attack is a bit more powerful than it should be, compared to powers. I've won matches against opponents using their powers just by making good matches, which feels like it shouldn't be as easy as it is.
Character resistance vs. power strength vs. combat length
The easy fix to feeling like the powers are too weak in regard to gem attacks is to increase the damage dealt by the powers, but I more or less maxed out what I felt comfortable with as far as that goes in the prototype, at least in relation to the current character resistance. Characters in the demo all have 1000 max resistance, which was just a big, easy, round number to throw up there for something functional. In reality, I would like to see much more varied numbers up there, so resistance can be used as another tool to make the characters feel unique. (Balanced characters vs. slow-moving tanky bruisers vs. glass cannons, etc.) Any changes there will also affect the length of an individual combat, which will need to be considered, as well. Overall, I feel like combat is in the right ballpark, as far as length goes, right now - but it will be important to gauge player feedback to get more opinions on that.
Power cost vs. power strength
This is probably one of the easier balances to manage, at least at the moment. Powers that do more damage cost more. It will (and has already started) to get more complicated as time goes on, and powers get added that have less direct effects. (CereChieko's feedback power is a bargain for 2 technology energy, but only if you let it soak up damage for most of the fight before firing it.) Dionyza's conversion is currently 100% power-based, no timing or anything else involved, so the cost of those powers needs to not only reflect the immediate effects they have, but also the fact that they can lead to an instant-win if they're used enough. This also leads into character vs. character balancing, since obviously one character having powers that are relatively cheaper for their strength than another will tilt combat in their favor.
Character vs. character
Probably the last of the balances that will be addressed, as I think character balancing will rely heavily on the balance of the previously mentioned systems being generally stable before it can really be dialed in. The first pass for this will definitely just be by feel as Anax and I build the game, but I would fully expect to see some kind of release/test/rebalance pattern as feedback comes in from players.
Will enemies have a turn in the finished game? Will they destroy gems too?
Short answer is yes to both. Enemy characters will have a turn (technically they have a turn now, which consists of automatically gaining energy, and using a power if they can afford it.) There's a few directions this can go, depending on what feels best in testing. The current target is to have two classes of enemies, major enemies (champions) and minor enemies (minions). Champions will be playable characters, and will have a full suite of powers, as well as the ability to make moves on the board. Minions will be lesser enemies, with (possibly) abbreviated power sets, and simple per-turn energy gain, as the demo is now. If that doesn't feel right, minions may also be upgraded to making active moves.
Any plans for different modes like hard, normal, easy?
Difficulty levels aren't something I've been explicitly planning on, but like most things, if I see a way that it would make sense to implement, I'm certainly not against it. If it's something that people specifically want, I'll be sure to keep a sharp eye out for opportunities to conditionally alter the gameplay in a way that would be able to provide different difficulty levels. I would much rather something like this be implemented in a deliberate way, like better planning by enemy AI, as opposed to just making all of the enemies bullet-sponges in the name of "difficulty." It's definitely something I'll be keeping in mind, but no guarantees.
Can we have a notification when a finishing move is within range that will defeat or convert your opponent?
Possibly. I think part of the reason this question is showing up is that the communication that powers are ready to fire at all is kind of poor, right now. Reworking the UI down there to make it more obvious that things are ready to go has been on my to-do list for a long time, but it's been prioritized under a lot of other stuff that was more important at the time, since what's there technically works. In general, communication about the state of your powers will be improved, and the interface there should get significantly better.
As far as actually notifying the player that a conversion is ready to go - that's slightly more complicated. I'm definitely not against the idea, but the nature of the conversion requirements may make it difficult to do consistently. For example, Dionyza's conversion would be for-sure ready when the enemy has a seduction level of 2, and the player has enough energy to use Lilith's Love. But, on the other hand, Queen Justine's conversion isn't directly power-based. Any defeat while the opponent has an active parasite will result in conversion for her, so there's no definitive "ready" state to use.
What other options will you add to the (options) menu?
Pretty much anything that feels like it would work well as an option, and doesn't require a ton of work to implement, which is kind of vague, but as development is still kind of in a prototype stage, there's a lot of possibility for shift on what is and isn't a reasonable option.
Things I would certainly expect to show up on the options menu, at some point:
Fullscreen / windowed mode, and resolution options.
Better audio options. Right now it's split into just music and sound, but at the very least I'd like to add a master volume slider as well. When voiceover is added, expect a separate slider for voiceover volume, as well.
Options to enable/disable explicit scenes.
What other operating systems will you release this on?
Obviously, PC will be the flagship platform for the game. While Unity makes it pretty easy to just flip a switch and build for Mac and Linux as well, neither I nor Anax have the equipment necessary to adequately test those builds, so if anything goes wrong with them, it will be a more complicated task to track it down. As we'll be relying on outside help to test those other platforms, expect Mac and Linux releases to be available, but be aware that they will likely be both delayed, and less frequent than PC releases.
With the recent appearance of games like Snow Daze and Spiral Clicker on Steam, I would like to see what can be done to get our game on that platform, as well. I've developed multiple games on Steam in the past, so it's something I would be pretty comfortable doing if it becomes possible from an administrative perspective. Would be fun to have trading cards and achievements.
Android and iOS have been mentioned in the past, and while they are a possibility, moving to these platforms is significantly less push-button than converting to Mac and Linux. UI considerations will need to be made for the altered (and variable) screen dimensions, control changes will need to happen, etc. It would be a big project, and if the game does well enough to warrant it, I'd be happy to get there, but I wouldn't expect to see the game on mobile devices for quite some time, and only if it's specifically announced sometime in the future.
Graphics/Character/Story
Will there be playable male characters?
Yes, there will be almost as many playable male characters as female characters. Each starting faction will have at least one character of each sex, and, of course, by converting the males of other factions into your own ilk, you could then play the game as them as well.
Will there be more than just lesbian monster sex in the adult version?
I have no plans for male on male sex scenes, but I will be doing heterosexual scenes. For the males, they can still be converted, but the scene will be the same as the ‘safe for work’ version. Otherwise, I dare say you may have to see quite a bit of females enjoying each other’s bodies. There are much worse fates! MWA HA HA HA!
Are you going to have male to female transformations?
Ideally, this could be put into the game in some circumstances. However, I reiterate the ‘ideally’ part as it would take me quite a bit of time, and I would need quite a bit of money.
Will there be any ‘good guy’ Factions?
Possibly! Ideally, I would like to have Wyatt’s Warriors and possibly the super hero force (I have the name but have not released it until Giggle Night). The idea being that if one unlocks these factions and plays, they could potentially be used to unlock “normal” or “canonical” versions of characters. So rather than an infectulon Justine, if you play as Howard Wyatt and convert her, she changes back to normal Justine.
How does this game fit into your lore?
It doesn’t! While it is predicated on my expansive lore, it, itself, is non-canonical. This particular universe is one in which all the worse outcomes happened to the heroes. I’ll dub it the Bad End Dimension! So, while the game is absolutely based on the Anaxverse lore, it is not going to have any effect on the actual lore itself… until maybe 30 years from now when I run out of ideas like comic writers and start mixing the Bad End Dimension into canon! (Kidding! I have standards!)
Are the current conversion scenes the way they will be in the full game?
No, the demo has them set up as a storyboard of sorts and is rather short. Ideally, I would like to have voice acting, sexy sound effects, and conversion music. My idea for conversion music will be to have a cool, sexy, but dark musical arrangement. It would be the same ‘song’ for all conversion scenes, but I fancy having the instruments changed based on faction. So, for me and my Shadowed, it would have an 80’s synth, piano combo, for the Giggle Gang, it might be a calliope and slide whistles, for the Infectulons it would have that… uh, you know the AHH and BOOM noises from Slugs and Bugs and such. Anyway, the short answer is that the scenes will definitely be more organic and alive with polish and zazz!
I am not into monster girls/mind control/corruption fetish, are you putting more fetishes in?
Mind control and corruption are my specialties (and my own kinks) and therefore, will be the main ones in my video games- like my interactive novels. That said, while this game will have sexy things like those mentioned in the question, it is not precisely created as ‘fap material’. That is, I look at the video games as something focusing more on fun gameplay mechanics with the naughty bits thrown in for spice as opposed to my other interactive products which are mostly naughty bits with a bit of mechanics added for spice. If these fetishes are not your own, fret not! There will be a ‘safe for work’ version that will simply be a match three game for everyone to enjoy without any naughty bits at all!
How many Factions are planned for the final game?
This is unanswerable at the moment. The reason is that I do not know if I will reach my goal on patreon where I can afford to do all the factions with all the characters I envision, or if I will fall short. Ideally, I could see about 15 factions. Otherwise, there shall be, ultimately, nine. To elaborate, if every faction has 2 main characters, plus 10 minions, that is a minimum of a dozen characters to purchase, tweak, and render. Now, multiply that by 9, and you see my dilemma. I believe I will have enough assets for 9. However, if you want more factions- so do I- so please invest in me!
How many Factions can we play when you start releasing the full game?
The current idea is that it will be 2. Once we have at least two playable factions, then someone could sit down and go through all the levels of the other faction and then do the same with the faction the just beat. After that, I think releasing a new version to the public as a new faction is finished would be ideal. If I am able to pay Blank, I would also like there to be a tutorial (should only be two or three levels long) where the player faces off with Dagan Erebus with him teaching the player the game mechanics. After that, you would be tossed into the world. So, tutorial and two playable full factions would be the best ‘let’s start releasing the full game publically’. May patrons however, will enjoy sporadic updates and beta tests.
What dark pacts must I sign in order to look like Demon Chieko?
I CAN make this happen, friend? Simply lower the protection circle you summoned me inside of, and I’ll turn you into anything you want. The only payment is your soul, but free will is truly overrated and often squandered anyway! MWA HA HA HA!
In regards to the gem types and attack vs the lore, do you consider human to corrupted transformations more intriguinh than corrupted to corrupted?
Yes, I think that, for me, having something change from its natural state into something more corrupt and dark is very thrilling, probably more so than something already dark into something dark. That said, I think the conversions in this game are what make it fun. So, having something go from infectulon to robotic, or from demonic into a clown are intriguing and fun in their own rights. Getting to see these different versions of well known characters (and making them!) is, simply put, fun!
Would you consider transformation scenes that have the losing character revert to human before being corrupted?
I understand what you mean, that you have them go from say a cereborg, then human, THEN show them changing into the winning faction, and putting the extra step in there would take a large amount of time, and one must remember too that not all my characters were human at all. Things like the Over-Master, Aka Manah, and Ophion were never human at all, so they could not revert into it. I think, though, if humans specifically turning into something else are your thing, then I would say that my novels definitely have the human versions of my characters transforming into other forms, and might be a better fit than the match three game.
Do you have any plans on making like an overarching storyline that encompasses all the stories?
Honestly, all my stories are one gigantic arch. Starting with Phantom and finishing with Slugs and Bugs- and that is just the first part of a trilogy. So, believe it or not, when those interactive novels are done, they will tally more than one million words of content, and then I will write, likely, a million more for the middle, and finally, a million for the finale. All of that will be one gigantic interconnected story the likes of which I am unsure exists in any other author’s work.
Now I noticed in the Cult of Corruption, in the character unlocks, you mentioned a person named Fuuka Blackwood. Can you tell us more about her?
A fan that goes by the moniker, ‘HypnoSin’ had reached out to me a year ago saying that they loved my story and work with cam girls. One in particular is a woman named Fuuka, and they asked if I would be interested in doing a novel with her as the main character. I almost declined, because I would definitely not have the time to do such a project on top of all my other plans, but Hypno said they would write a lot of it and allow me to edit and tweak the story as needed, so, I said, “why not”? It has been more than a year and the story is not even finished, but if/when it is done it takes place on Ghost Nook Island on the Halloween a year before Evelyn Addams shows up. Now, will Fuuka remain a part of my lore? Maybe in some way the character might, though I may rename her and such in my finished ebook novels, but this little side project might still be a source of fun, and I look forward to seeing how it pans out.
What is your favorite corruption scene from each series?
Good question! I like many of the bad ends I write in my novels, but I suppose, as hard as it is to pick “favorites” I’ll go with:
Slugs and Bugs: Slime Girl that Bad End was written, what, four years ago now, and I had Howard Wyatt (from Cereborgs) and Absinthe (from Desideratum) both appear in it with Absinthe’s blood suit becoming a bio slime suit. I think me knowing these characters so personally really makes that scene hot for me- on top of the mind control and squick!
Call of the Cursed One: I think the very first Bad End path that we can take where Evelyn makes her dark pact with me, really was my favorite on that title, though, as I said, it’s hard to choose because I found some others really hot, too.
Cult of Corruption: I think Addy’s scene where Bo forces himself upon her, taking her virginity, but then she yells and gets angry when he stops, forcing herself back on him to get as much corruption as possible. I love that, the further the fall, the hotter I find it.
Cereborg: Inception: I know this sounds crazy coming from my robotic/tech novel, but the oni Bad End- that was so hot to me. Even making the models, which I tried to stick with what I generally see in Japanese hentai artwork, it was hot, seeing this woman forsake everything, release an ancient evil that hates her family, AND having her happily birth his offspring. Loved it!
Phantom: Revenge: frankly this whole, short title of mine is one giant bad end for Amelia, and so one can almost pick any scene and I find it hot.
Are you sticking to the current gems' sprites and symbols? Will they change as the game is further developed?
The gems themselves will likely not change any further. Here is a look at the evolution of them over the course of alpha before the demo released:
As you can see they started sharp and bright, then over a few days I redesigned them, but they turned out too dark in gameplay and one could scarcely see the icons. The final version has them not overly bright and the symbols are crystal clear. Now, as far as the polish on a gem being destroyed or such, THAT will be polished and upgraded. But the gems are unlikely to change any more.
Will some characters' CGs (especially the lesser, de-individualized 'goon' characters) contain multiple individuals? As in being mechanically the same as other named characters, but have many units in CGs/sprites?
Ideally, yes. So, an example might be cereborgs. The Basic Function Units have four different models representing them, so I will likely be able to have Blank throw them into a pot. “If the enemy is a BFC Unit, then pull randomly from these 4 possible sprites”.
Are the minions as strong as the champions (or are they perhaps as powerful as any named characters, lore-wise?)
Lore wise, no, and even game mechanic wise, no. The playable characters/champions will have more and stronger powers and higher resistances.
How linear will each 'main storyline' be? Will you be able to choose who you fight to some extend? Or will it be randomized? OR will each character have a fixed order of opponents they have to fight, complete with their own 'mini-story'? (Sort of like a campaign, similar to DC's fighting game "Injustice") Or will there perhaps be different game modes for more than one of the above?
The idea is that one can choose from 8 opposing factions to face, and then will go to that faction’s base. So, if someone chooses to fight the cereborgs, they will now be shown a map. Technically, the path will be mostly linear as they move from place to place. Since each faction has two champions, they will face off against one as a miniboss halfway through a map, and then fight the other as a main boss holding that crystal of control.
Will there be some form of 'world map' that shows your character's progress through the story? (whether it is linear or not.)
Yes, definitely there will be unique maps for every faction.
One final thing; the current gameplay matches tend to be short. Will matches become longer as you develop and re-balance the game?
This is likely. Right now, even though these are “champions” on the demo, the computer opponent is programmed as the minions will be in the full game. The full game will have different challenges and the opponents will likely have a varied amount of resistance and power.
