A look back on the week that was...

Current game word count: 30,640 (+ 1058 since last devlog)

My game now contains more words than Animal Farm (Orwell), Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck) and The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway). Now let's just hope that it's half as good as any of those works... :)

This has been another week of improvements for "Meanwhile in Riva". The primary focus is currently at redoing what needs to be redone, in order to prepare for the game's Steam page launch. Lots of added dialogue, refinements, bug fixes, new art, new music, you name it. I truly believe that it's night and day as compared to the demo that is currently available for download.

The most drastic change, as I've hinted at before, is probably the fact that the stats system has been replaced by the traits system. The stats system is a major part of the game and as such this might be a bit disorienting at first, but I do believe the change is for the best. In this devlog I'm going to discuss the systems and make my case as to why I believe the new system, the traits system, is superior.

The stats system

In the current build of the game (which also still has side portraits of the characters even when they're alone, ugh, redundant - that's gone now!) the stats system is still present, and you can see it to the right in this screenshot. The game used to have five major stats in which you'd gain points based primarily on dialogue choices. In addition, some dialogue options are locked depending on how many points you have in each stat.

This is very much rooted in my own preference in gaming, which is role playing. In games like Planescape Torment and Disco Elysium (two of the best games ever, don't @ me) you'll usually find a myriad of choices in any given dialogue; over 10 at a time isn't uncommon. The way you navigate these super intricate dialogue trees forms a gameplay experience that's uniquely your own. I LOVE IT. But... there are a few problems with that.

To begin with, "Meanwhile in Riva" isn't a complex RPG. It's a visual novel. In addition, I am a solo developer, and if I want to finish this game sometime before I enter the age of retirement, I need to realize that the amount of words in the game can't be compared to the seven figure numbers you'll find in the aforementioned games. And while I make games primarily for myself, I'd also like it if people play them... which I, ultimately, think less people will do if I bombard the player with too many choices at a time.

Another issue that reared its head during gameplay testing was how to decide the amount of points that should go toward each unlockable dialogue option. I had a player being locked off from choices because at one point he decided to be nice instead of mean, even though he perceived his character to be evil. This caused great frustration. And if the game demands you to play evil all the time to attain the dialogue choices you want, then why even offer a choice of different dialogue choices? Worst case scenario, you end up with a hybrid character, too low on points in all stats to ever say the things you want to say. 

So to summarize:

Stats system pros:

+ Lots of dialogue choices at any given time
+ A feeling of building your character as you play

Stats system cons:

- Not really a good match for the visual novel medium
- Difficulty in designing how many points should be needed for what
- Player frustration in not being able to unlock choices they thought they should be able to
- You need to commit to a certain stat to unlock the options you want to, so the other choices become redundant
- Simply too much work

The traits system

The traits system is, essentially, a condensed version of the stats system. By sacrificing the "your character's morality is based on your choices" aspect (which, not gonna lie, hurt a bit to do) you end up with a more streamlined and coherent approach to character creation. If the stats system was more steeped in games like Planescape Torment, the traits system is more Baldur's Gate; in that you choose your character's traits and morality when you begin the game, instead of molding your way into those things. Indeed, this is much more prevalent in gaming overall and it's actually pretty easy to see why.

(And yes, I'm aware that pretty much none of my readers know these games that I keep mentioning... so check them out!)

The game's five stats are now nine different traits instead. The original stats are still here, and an additional four have been added. There are three trait slots and in each slot you have to decide between three different traits, meaning that there are some traits that cannot co-exist (both for roleplaying reasons and for development ease).

In the first slot, which acts as your moral compass, you must choose between compassionate, immoral or flippant.
In the second slot, which acts as your general disposition, you must choose between daring, preserving or detached.
In the third slot, which acts as your "special interest", you must choose between musical, pop-cultural or reflective.

This makes for a total of 27 different possible character builds that you can use. Each trait unlocks all of that trait's special dialogue for use throughout the game, and there are also neutral dialogue choices for when you don't want to rely on your traits. The choices you make in the early game are recorded and based on them you'll be given three different traits, about 20-30 minutes into the game. If you don't like these choices you can decide to choose manually instead.

Implementing this new system into the game has been time-consuming, but in the long run it makes development easier, mainly because I don't have to keep thinking about point adjustment and how it all works together. And of course, I think it makes the game easier to pick up and enjoy.

So to summarize:

Traits system pros:

+ A more streamlined experience where you choose your character rather than mold your way into it
+ Easier and more rewarding replayability with 27 different builds
+ The dialogue choices that appear are tailored to your playstyle, making the gameplay more accessible and less confusing/contradictory
+ Easier to code, program and design for me

Traits system cons:

- Less amount of dialogue choices per playthrough
- Less roleplaying overall in that your choices don't mold your persona in the same way

All in all...

Listen, I know that I'm not treading unexplored ground here. The traits system isn't something I invented. My hype for this might seem dumb from an outsider's perspective, I don't know.

But what I do know is that I make games for my own enjoyment primarily, and I'm loving every minute of development. So even though this might not sound revolutionary, it actually feels that way to me. And I hope this devlog managed to tell you at least a little bit of why that is. :)

Have an awesome week, and see you soon again! :)