Day 25: Custom Mode Concepts
In recent times, I am very reluctant to consider planning anything for the game that isn't absolutely necessary, especially if it's ambitious, complex, and would take a lot of time to add - but there is one "unnecessary" feature that I'm so enthusiastic about, there is a chance that I may actually take the time to add it to the game, since it would add a tremendous amount of value - both replay value and production value - to Yandere Simulator.
That feature is "Custom Mode" - an interface that lets you design a 10-week story mode. You would be able to choose the appearance and routine of every student in school, as well as the 10 rivals that would be appearing. Text (for the students' profiles and also the rivals' dialogue with Senpai) would come from a text file that the player would drop into the StreamingAssets folder.
Adding this feature to the game would also come with the benefit of another feature being trivially easy to add - "Random Mode", a mode where the game randomly generates a bunch of students and rivals. Potentially, after this is done, all of the work would be done do implement an "Endless Mode", where the game just keeps generating new students and rivals to replace any dead ones, resulting in a mode that lasts forever.
This would essentially allow the player to design an infinite number of their own yandere stories, instead of waiting for me to implement 9 specific rival girls for the game to be complete. Also, being able to design your own yandere experience would make the game more of a true "Simulator", which its name implied, but its gameplay never really represented.
A fan created the above concept art for what Custom Mode's interface would be like. These designs are not 100% equivalent to exactly how I imagined Custom Mode, but are close enough in nature that viewing these designs will give you a general idea of what it would be like to design students in the Custom Mode interface.
Also, it's worth mentioning that I don't imagine the player using a top-down map to design student routines; I imagine letting the player walk around the school environment and actually place students around the map.
Actually implementing Custom Mode wouldn't really take that long - I estimate 2 weeks of work - but I anticipate that after players begin using it, several months of bug fixes, new features, and quality-of-life improvements would follow, exactly what happened with 1980s Mode, but on a smaller scale.
What do you think? Would Custom Mode be the most meaningful addition that the game could possibly receive, or would it just be an unnecessary time-sink that would needlessly delay the game's development? I'm very interested in what you'd say about it...
Comments (10)
maybe you should rename the main game and custom mode can be called yandere simulator
Mixed feelings. On one hand...if I was going to create a game called "Yandere Simulator" , maybe it should have been a game where you design your own custom school and then run a simulation and watch the characters interact. On the other hand... I really want to finish the game and move on to other projects, so I do not want to plan any major changes that would significantly extend the length of time that the game must be in development for.
It would be a fun idea
Yeah it would be a great feature but for sure bug fixes and improvements after implementation is a big commitment. I would say it is better as a stretch goal i just don't think the people that would appreciate it would be the most financially reaping for you. The core game is more important such as upgrading 3d character models.
I really love the idea of a custom, random and endless mode. I could imagine myself playing such modes for hours, I understand if you would rather not add it now but I hope that it gets into the game one day.
I actually love this idea!! But I agree that it might add a lot of time with all the bug fixes and you don’t want to delay the crowdfunding campaign any longer so it would be better if you added it after the campaign.
If this actually makes it in then in the final release of the game imagine Online features makes it in the game and we could share our 10 week storys with the Community and people can download it in the game
Custom, Random, and Endless indeed would add SO much value to the game and I REALLY want to have them. They are absolutely essential additions to me. However, even if they don't take as much work as 80s mode, I strongly believe that they should be added after the campaign. You have given away for free too much, this value needs to come after in my opinion.
I am personally really stoked about the idea of a custom mode. It would add a lot of replay value in my opinion, especially if people can share their custom stories for others to play. Being able to design a student body would be very fun, too! The idea in general brings to mind a lot of the mods I see floating around for Yandere Simulator. (Though I also do understand if something like this will have to wait until later to be added)
Custom mode is definitely a cool idea, and the game would benefit a lot from having it, however, I think it's unnecessary to add it at this point. Yandere Simulator already offers hours and hours of content, Custom mode sounds like something that could potentially be added after the crowdfunding campaign.