Castle of Vice – Development Diary #11 (Changes to ero sequences)
Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a good Sunday.
I wasn’t planning to post another dev diary for Alpha 0.6, but I decided to include a rework of erotic sequences that I was originally planning to work on next month. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish it before the weekend ended, but luckily, everything came together smoothly.
There’s a lot that’s changed in this rework, covering many of the issues with erotic sequences that some of you have shared with me. For the sake of clarity, I’ll divide the changes into two groups: UI changes and mechanic changes.
Let’s start with UI changes.
First, I’ve updated the Heart Icons to a new design that has more visible colors, a clearer shape, and it's bigger so it’s easier to spot. Here’s a screenshot comparing the new icon with the old one:
The Escape Circle, which displays your Escape Points, has been simplified and reduced in size. It has also been moved to the left, above the skill box.
Enemy UI elements have also been adjusted. Enemy bars have been shrunk, and an Arousal Value display has been added to the left of the arousal bar. The enemy’s next action icon has been moved to the right of the energy bar. The hover indicator has been changed to highlight the enemy bars instead, and state icons have been moved further to the left of the bars.
I know this is hard to visualize with text alone, so here’s a screenshot showing most of these changes:
The lotus icon to the right of the new Escape Circle represents a new feature that I’ll explain later.
Overall, with these UI changes, I hope it’s now easier to read and track all the information you need during an erotic sequence.
Let’s move on to the mechanics changes group.
The main point here is that almost all skills have been reworked in some way. Below is a summary of the changes:
Struggle
Energy reduction changed from -35% of the enemy’s current energy to:
-35% of the total required energy.
If used while under Defence Focus, the reduction increases to -70%.
Strong Struggle
Removed the energy reduction. Now, if the enemy is planning to use Grip Readjustment, this skill forces them to change to another action.
If the enemy is Not going to use Grip Readjustment, it applies Dizzy (reduces the target’s energy gain by half) for 6 seconds.Resist Sensations has been removed and replaced with Prayer of Resistance:
Grants 1 Resistance Point.
If you have 0 Resistance Points when using this skill, you gain 2 points instead.
(Costs 1 energy point.)
Resistance Points are now used to halve erotic damage received.
One point is consumed each time erotic damage is halved.
The lotus icon mentioned earlier displays your current number of Resistance Points.
You can hold a maximum of 4 Resistance Points at a time.
Focus on Escaping
Energy cost reduced to 0. All other effects remain unchanged.Focus on Defence
No changes were made to this skill.
And last but not least, the way Annelise's energy works during erotic sequences has changed.
Now, when an erotic sequence begins, Annelise’s energy is set to 1 (or increased to 1 if it was previously 0).
Moreover, she will no longer gain energy from Agility during the sequence. Instead, you’ll gain 1 energy point each time you press an Escape Bubble (the new name for Heart Icons).
Because of this change, I have made adjustments to the spawn rate, visibility duration, and Escape Point rewards of Escape Bubbles.
These tweaks to energy and skills, combined with the changes on the UI, are meant to make erotic sequences more strategic and provide a challenge that doesn’t heavily punish mistakes or distractions.
That’s all for this post.
I’ll be sharing Alpha 0.6 on the Drive in some minutes.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read these dev diaries. Take care!