Castle of Vice – Development Diary #10 (Improving Balance and Player Experience)

Hello everyone.

Over the past month, I’ve read messages from players expressing frustration with the game, particularly regarding difficulty balance and the pacing in its current state. After considering the constructive feedback and how to fit it with my vision for the game, I decided to adjust several features and add a few new ones to reduce these issues as much as possible.

Below is a summary of all the changes and additions coming in Alpha 0.6:

• Initial Max HP increased from 340 to 410, Max HP gained from each new level decreased from 25 to 17. (You can have this change apply to your old game saves by returning to the safe room.)

• Rest Path has been reworked. Healing based on constitution has been removed, and instead, the path applies a buff that increases your current and Max HP by 3 times your constitution. This buff lasts for 2 minutes or until the end of the next combat.

• Erotic damage can be passively reduced with constitution. For every constitution point above 25, damage is reduced by 1 to a Max of 25. This method is applied only when the main method, body zones level, provides less damage reduction.

• Lewd experience gain scaling for sexual knowledge and body zones has been adjusted to grant a similar level-up time for all 4 planned sex knowledge levels. This will make reaching sexual knowledge levels, and thus unlocking access to new attitudes, slightly faster.

• Improved enemy AI erotic action selection during erotic sequences.

• In erotic sequences, when heart icons are disabled due to pausing the game or because an erotic action is being performed, the escape points circle will display 'Hearts Paused'.

• The tutorial for erotic sequences has been expanded; it now shows additional details about the restrained skills, the heart icons, and the erotic damage reduction.

• Dying during an erotic sequence will reduce Annelise’s erotic attitude.

• Annelise applies the state 'Stunned' to all enemies for 3 seconds after escaping an erotic sequence.

• Enemy troop generation has been adjusted for fairer difficulty. If your level is lower than 3 and you enter combat while exploring the first section of the castle, enemy troops will always be limited to 2 units.

• Some enemies' damage resistances have been increased.

• During the tug minigame, each time you succeed in selecting the numbers, the enemy tug strength will drop, slowing his tug bar filling and reducing more of his bar when you succeed. This effect restarts when the tug minigame ends.

• While an enemy parry circle is active, global energy gain is paused.

• While you are choosing the targets for a skill, global energy gain is paused.

• Annelise’s agility scaling has been adjusted.

• Skill Feast of Embers reworked. Now recovers 30 HP for each burn removed from one enemy to a Max of 110.

• Skill Sacred Smite reworked. Damage changed from half your Faith + 60 as non-reducible damage, to 2x your Faith + 45 for each buff the enemy has.

• Knowledge Transmutation upgrade 'Experience Gain' has been removed and substituted with the following upgrades:

  • Starting Levels (2 upgrades): Increases the starting levels for each run.

  • Reroll Points (3 upgrades): Grants reroll points to use on event rewards or new skills.

Next is a list of the changes made to already implemented states(buffs, debuff, etc):

• Delay Healing: Activation wait time increased from 8 seconds to 13.

• Fall Dizziness: Duration decreased from 8 seconds to 7.

• Rage: Strength increase changed from +6 to +25% user base strength.

• Holy Shield: Duration reduced from 15 to 12 seconds. Defence increase changed from +4 to +25% user base faith. 

• Spit Blindness: Perception reduction change from -5 to -25% target base perception.

• Break Defence: Defence reduction changed from -5 to -25% target base defence.

• Exhaustion: Agility reduction changed from -5 to -25% target base agility.

• Divine Sense: Perception increase changed from +4 to +25% user base perception.

• Last Mercy: Duration change from 15 seconds to half your total Willpower in seconds.

• Judgment Mark: Defence and Willpower reduction changed from -4 to -25% user stats' base value. Now is applied to the target without having to do a Willpower check.

• Prayer of Power: Strength and Faith increase changed from +4 to +25% user stats' base value.

• Prayer of Fortitude: Willpower and Constitution increase changed from +4 to +25% user stats' base value.

• Pagan Will: Willpower Increase changed from +5 to +25% user base willpower.

• Cold Muscles: Strength reduction changed from -4 to -25% target base strength.

• Battle fervor skill: Instead of earning +1 agility for every 3 burns consumed from an enemy, gain +0.5% base agility for every 3 burns consumed.

• Chaste Devotion: Arousal required for HJ increased from 6 to 12. Breast levels needed for Paizuri increased from 6 to 10, and arousal requirement decreased from 40 to 25.

• Sexual Awakening: Arousal required for HJ increased from 0 to 7. Breast levels for needed Paizuri increased from 6 to 10, and arousal requirement decreased from 20 to 15.

• Erotic Everyday: Arousal required for HJ increased from 0 to 2. Breast levels for needed Paizuri increased from 6 to 10, and arousal requirement increased from 0 to 5.

Lastly, here is a list of three new equipments that will be added to the game:

• Common item - Ring of Constitution: +10 Constitution.

• Uncommon item - Weak ring of Constitution: +4 Constitution.

• Rare item - Dust of escapism: During erotic sequences, increases the escape hearts time on screen by 2 seconds, the escape points they provide by +10, and increases Stunned duration on enemies after escaping by 2 seconds.

These are all the changes. As you can see, there’s a lot that’s new or different, so Alpha 0.6 will feel quite different from the current version.

Also, there was an issue with cursed equipment reducing HP when loading a save game that already had them in the inventory. This has been fixed in Alpha 0.6 😊

That’s all for now. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Regarding the release date for Alpha 0.6: I’ll be visiting a family member next weekend, so I’m aiming to release the update on this Friday, January 30th. If that’s not possible, it will go up on Saturday or Sunday, but it will be available before the start of next week.

Thanks for reading this long post. Take care!