Conviction Chronicles blog post #23 - New Game Settings + Escape Room 1

 I decided to upgrade the game settings and other things before doing the pre-cafe dialogue system. I'm also updating the public demos as well, since it has been a little bit since I have done that. It should all be updated and live once this post goes up. (the update happened a bit ago, but doesn't have escape room 1)

A big reason why I'm revamping the intro of the game is to make it better for playtime pacing, and to keep people invested for longer. Mainly since the first 2 hours are very important, and ironing every aspect of those first two hours is really needed.

Randomize settings

Settings can be randomized instead of loading the defaults. Keeps things fresh if someone wants to do something random. 

Save/load

The player has access to save slots, which ended up being a little annoying to implement with it functioning correctly. But they can save/load setting presets and name them whatever they want. This was 100% required to make it easier for people to get into new runs and to keep things the most fresh it can possibly be.

There are 10 setting save slots, and these slots are purely for the game settings before starting it. They are empty at the start and empty ones cannot be used. The player can save and they are forced to name the save file, which causes it to be active. 

Active contestants

This is exactly how Gnosia is, where the player can select a number of characters that can exist in a run from 5 to 15. 15 is the default. But there is no control over who is in the run outside whoever the player selects. Allows much more control, but also removes enough so players can't force certain situations to happen. If it was too much in the player's favor for control, the game would be too much in the favor of the player which would sour the more dynamic gameplay being setup for each run a little too much.

The selection is random, it takes the difference between the max and current contestant levels and uses that for a loop, where it only removes parts of the check if it doesn't land on the player or someone who was already selected to be removed. It can take a little while based on how small the player makes it, but it also makes it much more random/chaotic/fresh instead of using presets. 

This does change the intros to have the unactive contestants killed off before the game begins. I do have to actually go through and edit some of the text based on who is alive/dead even more to make it smoother.

Updated Steam page

I updated some of the text on the steam page.

Escape Room 1

So with the intros when being introduced to your selected MC and the 4 other characters in the group, I've decided that instead of only having dialogue that there would be as an intro, that there is going to be an escape room element.

The main idea with each one was to:

>Make them simple enough for a beginner

>Have dialogue that is changed enough depending on what character you selected

>Support for having multiple characters being alive/dead

>Have a reason to return to them.

The first escape room is simple

1. Do a sliding puzzle ( can be skipped, but has consequences that the player won't realize if they skip)

2. Go to the TV to get a code

3. Enter the code into a computer

4. Get a ticket to unlock the elevator from the bed

5. Open the elevator.

(Optional) Secretly vote using the crates.

The twist is that the code for the computer is much shorter than what it supports, along with the sliding puzzle not being needed for completion as the player can choose to skip it. Mainly I'll go back to this later, but I plan on adding a "secret route to completion" for this escape room for people to find. But I won't go back to add it until later as it's connected to another idea I have.

The crates exist as they can be used for voting. What for I'll go into after the escape rooms are done. But it's something to alter to make the pacing for the first trial more fun. Also I'm going to eventually change the first time in the court room to become the first trial which will be really good to showcase to get people more hooked.

It takes a minute to do once knowing where everything is, but takes a little longer on the first time. I think it adds a good amount of engagement in a place in the intro where it's a transitional thing.

I've also made all of the escape room themes already for the three groups and this one is the most energetic. 

I've also planned out ways to make each one replayable to a degree, the sliding puzzle starts off randomized, support for secrets to be found, etc.

Anything else?

I think the game settings are good for now. I do have to review the dialogue for the intro to make sure it all flows well and fits. I'll have to do the other two escape room variants are well which shouldn't take too long.

I'll add mores escape rooms later on than these first three, mainly as something that's harder to find, and they will be harder too. It's more these have to be made to be easier/quick due to their placement.