Wow! Time really flew by this last month. I'm back with some news from the field and some insight into the development of the game.
Combat Update Progress
So, first things first. I'm hard at work on the combat update. As you can imagine, updating the combat system for the game is no small task. I've been constantly adding new things to the combat system, testing, adjusting, and tasting again. It's been an enriching experience, to say the least.
Right now, I have reworked a large chunk of the combat system. Currently, I've added things like critical hits, hit chance, healing, defending, and a rework to the turn order system. With all of these changes, there has been a lot of balancing needed along with advancements to enemy AI. I've also been working on how enemies spawn (The number of enemies and their levels) and adjusting how they pick their stats according to their class. As of writing this everything is working as expected, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. I still need to add all the special attacks for each class, new traits for combat, animations, and the ability to purchase weapons.
When can you expect the next update? Well, as mentioned before, this combat update will need to be split into two updates due to how much is being added to the game. With that in mind, I do hope to have an update out next month.
Upcoming Development Cycle
With the last of the major systems being added to the game, Simbro ResErection will be starting a new development cycle! This means that how we work on the game and what content will be added will be drastically different from how we first started out. The main focus during this period is to get the game in a playable state while also adding content that will make each update more exciting. This means that in each update I will be working on things in the game like reputation gain, Gloryhole mechanics, security room mechanics, client actions (like leaving without paying), etc. With that said, I will be holding a poll each month for our Subscribers to vote on to determine what content will be added to the game while these things get worked on.
What's coming?
As you're reading this, SkullZombie is currently working on more weapons for the game. After sitting down and looking at what the original game had for weapons I realized that the original didn't have enough variety to make the combat exciting. So, I came up will a small list of weapons for SkullZombie to draw in order to give you more choices when it comes to weaponry.
On the topic of new weapons, I will also be trying out a new system for weapons. The plan is to add damage types to weapons. These types will be Blunt, Slashing, and Piercing damage. What will damage types do you ask? Well, to put it simply, each damage type will have a chance to inflict a status effect or ignore buffs. I can't say too much yet, but you could imagine blunt weapons stunning an enemy, or slashing weapons causing a bleeding effect. I also hope that this will allow for more diversity in combat.
On to Mamacita (Our amazing background artist). Mamacita is working on backgrounds for all of the rooms currently available in the game. These are the Master Bedroom, maid's Room, Security Room, Staff Room, and Dorm Room. Unlike the original, I want to utilize every room in the game for possible events, scenarios, and other things. I look forward to seeing what Mamacita comes up with.
Why haven't you added X to the game yet?
Now, I wanted to take some time to address some questions about why I haven't added certain features to the game. A lot of fans have asked about why certain things haven't been added and when or if we plan to add them. To give you a brief summary, most of these things are due to either the amount of time it takes to implement or technical limitations. I'll go over as many as possible below.
Why haven't you added female-on-female action in the game?
There are two main reasons for this not being implemented yet. The first has to do with how animations are done and the game. The second has to do with the content itself.
Right now, Simbro ResErection relies on Spine animation. Spine is a software that allows users to assign bones to an image so they can manipulate it like you would a 3D model. Essentially you move the bones (which move an image) and record those actions to make an animation. This requires us to have models (or dolls) for each character we have in a scene. Currently, we have 1 male model and 1 female model in the animation file for the game. Each model has a set of skins that we can swap between to allow us to give the character a different look. Things like hairstyle and clothes are all skins we can apply to the model.
A problem arises when it comes to adding a second female model. First, this means that any new changes to one female model needs to be replicated, essentially doubling the workload whenever we add new skins. The second comes when we consider upgrading the models.
As you can see, this would add a lot of extra work when it comes to adjusting the models in any way. This extra work would prolong the release of updates whenever we add a new skin to the female model or adjust how the female model works. At this point in time, I can't afford to prolong the updates or hire a dedicated animator. Which is the main reason why this has been avoided.
Let's talk about the content itself. I've heard plenty of people state that the whole reason anybody plays the game is for the female-on-female actions. This isn't something I can dispute, but it also is not something that I can't blindly agree with. I understand that plenty of people enjoy this content. I also understand that even if the majority agrees, we can't alienate the minority. For this reason, I've always planned to make female-on-female action a togglable option. We need to consider that things we might enjoy might not bring the same enjoyment to others.
So when do I plan to add female-on-female action?
Now that we've talked about the reasoning behind not adding female-on-female content I'd like to acknowledge that there will come a time when we need to add this feature regardless of workload. Currently, the folks over at Game Maker are working on implementing a new version of Spine compatibility. This new compatibility will allow the models to utilize the physics engine. This means that things like hair animation (among other things) will be removed from the workflow once we upgrade the models. My plan is to wait for that integration before making female-on-female content available as an option in upcoming polls.
When will you add X skin colour/ Will we be able to change hairstyle colour?
Another question that is asked a lot is about changing the colour of assets in-game. So let's dive into how assets are made and what's involved when it comes to changing the colour of assets.
So, to start, each asset (Hair, Skin, Clothes, etc.) is typically made with a colour in mind. When we create a new asset in the game, we use references from the original Simbro to try and keep the aesthetic of the original game as close as possible. This has led to what we have today (Assets with a single colour).
When changing the colour of an asset we have two options. The first is to make a separate asset that is a different colour. The second is to use the game engine to "colourize" (Add a colour on top to change its appearance) the assets. The current skin tone options are a good example of "colourizing" assets. Each body part has a colour added to darken the skin tone to give it a new appearance.
Each solution has its own difficulties. First, adding another asset to the game for each possible colour variant creates a ton more texture pages. This isn't ideal due to Texture Page Swapping. I won't go into too much detail, but essential, the more texture pages we add, the slower the game gets. We want to avoid this because it can the game more demanding to run and may even prevent lower-spec systems from running the game.
The second solution (colorization), also has its flaws. When we add a colour on top of an existing asset, we "tint" the entire image. This means that we can really only make the image darker and we also need to "tint" the highlights of the image which isn't ideal. A half solution is to create all the assets in a sort of greyscale. This would allow us to "tint" the image to almost any colour but also means that things like highlights would be almost non-existent.
Honestly, I'm still working on how to best approach this. However, I believe that adding assets for each colour isn't a viable option. I also don't like the idea of sacrificing art quality just to add more options to the game. Ideally, I would like to separate the highlights from each asset and draw them on top, but the amount of work required to do so is astronomical.
When do you plan to add colour options for these assets?
I can't give a time frame for when this is added. It is something that I want to add in the future but is at the bottom of the priority list. I do plan to have skin tone options out for the male characters as a first step toward this goal, but again, can't give a date.
Will we have an option to change body types for Male and Female characters?
Another popular question. The short answer is yes. We do plan to add some sort of option to change body types. However, it's a ton of work and not viable for a while.
Let's talk about what is involved in making a new body type. First, we need to make a new base model for the body type. This is probably the easiest as SkullZombie has a ton of experience with both drawing and Spine. The second is creating a new model in Spine. Again, this isn't too complicated. Our go-to animator Thelawfulsock is an expert in this field. The problems arise when it comes to animations and customization options. Each new body type means we need to make every animation in the game over again. Anything from combat animations to idle animations needs to be replicated for the new body type. We also need to add all available customization options as well. This means redrawing all clothes and sometimes hairstyles and facial features too.
With all that work comes expenses. Right now I'm (TheGentleViking) the only full-time worker on this project. All of our other team members are freelancers who need to make a living doing paid work. So right now, we don't have the resources needed to put this out in a timely manner without postponing other content releases.
When do you plan to include new body types?
Again, I can't give any sort of time frame or date. What I can say is that it is being worked on when we have resources available.