The Allure of Wanton Cove: Matters of Taint

Overall, its looking like things are trending towards a little too slow. I'm planning out a few additional White Goo events, plus some in-character prompts to nudge the player towards such things. It may be a couple of builds before I get around to it, but its looking increasingly like I need to create a bit more opportunity for corruption. ;)

Aftermath Team

Honestly, I haven't played for a few months, but in the last build I played, you hardly get any taint unless you grind for it hard

If I do hide those scores, it will be after the main narrative is complete (So another 3-4 builds. There's some pretty major stuff that will be going on, especially with Taint going into the ending of the game, and keeping those numbers in the open will help with tracking down any potential problems if something starts acting funny.) and I'd likely set them up so you can see the actual number inside of the cheat menu even if you can't from the main page. If you've noticed, I'm the same. Lots of big dicks and rampant sex, but MM content is a bit scarce. My personal preference is MF pairings, regardless of perspective. ;) That said, the rest of it doesn't really bother me, and I have no problem writing it if I feel it is right for the story.

Aftermath Team

Hiding the actual scores isn't a bad idea IMO, though I'd like to be able to view them as an option. It only goes so far though - once you've changed (become more feminine) once or twice after giving in to your desires, the player is probably going to put two and two together. You're probably always going to have tough customers like me who want to see the content but don't particularly like transitioning only halfway ;) (I like big dicks and I'm not a fan of pegging.. it's a tough life, haha)

Ver Greeneyes

I've noticed this as well, and have taken some small steps to rectify this through including a couple of unavoidable scenes late in the game. Granted, the free will to avoid it all together is something that is intentional. There is an ending to the game that relies on your progressing through the game with almost no Taint, though I count on curiosity and people's baser urges to steer them down the path of Taint more often than not. That said, creating some internal monologue to prompt the player might be a good idea. Will make a note of that. I completely understand what you are getting at. And I've actually toyed with the idea of keeping Taint/Mutation/Madness/Depravity all as hidden stats as a way of both increasing immersion AND to add a bit of mystery to things. Maybe I'll poll the idea at some point in the future. So far, only fights trigger mutation, though I have plans to add additional scenes related to the mechanic as additional side stories start to be added to the game. Madness is actually not tied to fights, but is related to the hand full of scenes where something happens that no matter how jaded you are, it simply can not be explained away. Some of the Madness content are scenes that will trigger a point of Madness if encountered, others are affected by outside factors, like having experiences that would cast a different light on a scene or reenforce something you had seen previously but that could be easily be dismissed without the extra context.

Aftermath Team

I've been thinking about it a bit more and I think my main problem with the way Taint works now is that if you're playing the main character as a suspicious PI (echoing Marcus Cope's thoughts) there's no in-story reason to start accumulating it. For example, there are no strong hints that if you want to make a breakthrough in the case, you're going to have to indulge in your desires. IIRC some characters do open up a little once you've slept with them enough times, but I don't think there's any internal monologue suggesting that this is a motivating factor for the main character. Obviously experiencing the sex scenes is a fair bit of motivation for the *player*, but the trade off is that you watch the amount of Taint go up and think to yourself "oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have done that". Sorry if this is getting a bit rambly, I hope you see what I'm getting at. It's the same with the Mutation and Madness scores actually. For instance, perhaps studying the book from the church should increase your Madness each time as you delve into the eldritch mysteries. I'm actually not sure how you gain Mutation or Madness other than by losing fights; that probably shows how little I've experimented with accumulating Taint.

Ver Greeneyes

You are in luck then! The main story endings are on the horizon! Finished writing one of three major scenes that still need to go into the game today. My hope is to include one of those major scenes in each of the next three builds of the game. At minimum, I have two dreams and three key scenes remaining to resolve the main narrative (I'll be fitting some smaller stuff into builds around that though.) With one of those key scenes written, and me working on the next dream right now, things are progressing nicely towards their inevitable climax!

Aftermath Team

It's been a while since I've played it, but when I played, my first play through avoided taint. I tried to play the character as the suspicious PI who thought everyone was lying to him and no one could be fully trusted (and got mildly annoyed at some of the interactions between the detective and the bartender after talking to the one lady that says the bartender can't really be trusted). I've been distracted by other games and kind of told myself I'd play it when at least the main story endings were done. :P

Tzeneth

Thank you very much for this. Your thoughts echo my own intent, which bodes well for things striking a good balance. Azumi you mention, she is a very unique circumstance within the setting. There is more going on with her than is immediately obvious to the reader, which I hope to explore in detail some time after the main narrative has been completed.

Aftermath Team

Yes, there will be both a masculine and a feminine path through the game's end. Yeah, you do probably miss out on a bit of content that way. There's quite a bit of content that dwells on the protagonist's descent both into madness, and being forced to face the loss of his former self, bit bu bit. The goal is to have the average player in the +/-100 range going into the final scene of the game (If people are around 80 now, then things are coming together about right.) which will make the "Female" ending the most common. There will also be paths through that final scene for both transitioning characters and for characters who have managed to maintain their masculinity. There will not be a Herm/Futa ending to the game, Azumi is something of a unique creature in this setting. Thank you for the reply, I appreciate the insights.

Aftermath Team

I would say it's a bout right. As an investigator, I think it natural that he would take a close look at anything unusual, therefore the white goop will be difficult to resist at first. Additionally, as a masculine male with a soft side (or he wouldn't have taken the case) he might easily take advantage of the "opportunities" offered by the various females, especially if he thinks it will gain him more information. I think the sexual encounter with Azumi comes a little late. I am not sure why he is less susceptible to her "charms," although there is a struggle. Overall, I would say things are about right.

DramaCoach69

Maybe it's because I've only been following development for a little while, but I'm never sure whether I should get *any* taint or not. I mean, obviously once I've done everything else I'll grind it out, but even giving in a little bit feels like it might lock me out of a more masculine route. Partially I suppose I'm wondering if there will be a way to get into Her good graces and become hyper-masculine, or a way to become a futa like Azumi. My main problem is that I'm not a big fan of the in between (sissification) steps, so I tend to either abstain completely or rush for the opposite extreme. But I'm probably missing out on a lot of content that way.

Ver Greeneyes