Learning skills through books and trainers is a good idea IMO. Gives the central hub another purpose and you can use skill books as rewards/loot in later levels.
And yeah, makes sense about the western hall.
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Might also have certain skills require a certain weapon. Like if you have a gun you can use a gun skill or if you have a sword, you can do like a power slash. Also thinking of when I add lust skills, they could make the enemies arousal go up, which in turn could let the player dominate over the enemy. Idk just some ideas Id thought I would share.
On lust skills, I think that's a great idea. I honestly basically never do lust-based playthroughs of the classic text-based H-games, so my experience with it is limited. I like the idea of lust abilities increasing your own lust like an overheat mechanic, so you have to manage your ability usage to avoid lust KOing yourself. Higher level lust abilities could have much more reduced build-up, and clothing/gear could also help with this. Looking back at that, it seems like a LOT of work compared to the current system. But I do like the idea of your weapon skills translating over to certain lust attacks requiring certain clothing pieces/sets, and even species-unique lust skills.
Sorry for the late reply. I do really like the idea of making it an overheat mechanic in a sense, like you have to manage it. It might add some difficulty but I could add some items or way to get rid of it or increase it, just so the player can manage it a bit easier. My main concern is making it balenced which is something I struggle with doing. I was also planning on adding lust clothing and weapons, I was going to make it cosmetic, but making it actually useful would be better.
Right now the safehouse has the masturbate option to lower lust (or at least I think it lowers lust?), and I assume having sex with NPCs/Mobs also lowers it, or at least the framework for it doing so exists. "In the field" solutions could be stuff like a tablet with porn (using the excuse that the player gets bored with the material after use, to explain why you need to use/find another one), some kind of auto-masturbator that has a single/limited uses, and lust-supression pills of course.
Balancing cosmetic apparel with stats in a game with a paper doll is kind of tricky IMO. Since you want the player to be able to control how their character dresses, but also want them to gain stats. I do think it makes sense for something "sexy" to make the player do more lust-damage, and something like Combat armor to reduce how much damage they take.
One idea that did pop into my head is the player being able to modify certain gear pieces to become "sexier", like turning "Combat Pants" into a "Combat Thong"
The idea of modifying gear is pretty cool! I plan on adding crafting so maybe it could have something to do with that?
Also yeah I just fully implemented the masturbate option, and those ideas are pretty cool. I can do the pills easily and then maybe like a purchasable option that lasts longer, like the auto masturbater you mentioned.