Shuffle Me v0.4.1 - Small Update - Gender Events

Hey, it's Sifa :D

And as promised, I'm back with the weekly updates. It wasn't that simple though, because the 40 degrees heat is back... But it's better already, don't worry :D

(download links are at the bottom of the page)

Big Events

If you played v0.4.0, it should be clear for you that experience system needs adjustments. There was almost no ability to control XP. Though, it was quite expected. So we added more events to the Floors campaign.

At first, we expanded the Item Drop event. Now you're able to see what gender of items you're going to get and even change the reward using XP points. Sure, it's also tied to some additional RNG (random). Still, it should be a good way to roll the items you want.

And yeah, added a small "reward box" animation, so it's a bit more immersive. Will keep adding such small animations here and there when I see the opportunity.

Another complex event is related to Healing. After some playtesting, I noticed that in half of my runs I get to max TF quite fast. So without any healing it's hard to keep going. While healing in battle is possible, it's way harder to win this way.

So I built an event where you can spend your XP points to heal. Obviously, you can heal your body (what reverts the TF changes). As additional options, you can also adjust your Action Cards Deck without restrictions (for example, it's possible to replace Feminine card with the Masculine card), and also corrupt yourself in order to reduce Female XP (mostly added that option for roleplay and for myself xD)

So, with these events and some other adjustments, it's easier to control your XP levels.

Character Details

We also started to improve Character's window. You see, under our Avatar lies a very complex Transformation system. There are many body parts, each body part has maximal and minimal transformation levels, and also the current transformation level (basicaly HP of a body part). You can improve max HP of a part by unlocking body Perks. You can lower minimal TF level (masculinization), or you can raise maximal TF level (feminization). What improves you max HP. At the same time, some perks raise minimal TF levels, what reduces max HP. It represents "permanent changes" to your body. Because there is no way in the game to revert the perks.

So we tried to show this information to player. And it wasn't a simple task. In the end, we decided to show your current % of feminization for each body part. And just double-progress bars.

And for nerds, there is a detailed stats mode. Though I don't want to keep explaining it. Learn it yourself xD

Just know that Character Details window is also getting improved. Later we'll add more stuff there. Ah, and you can open it by clicking Examine Self. You can also see your character naked, wearing underwear or clothes.

Plans and Next Steps

Rebalance

We adjusted the system that generates default stats for the cards a little. We tried to keep the old stats, but it seems like in some cases card's stats have changed a little. So a big rebalance is comming next week. Will also try to rebalance items. I don't like that some items are too powerful.

Also might add another 4 card slots to the player's deck. Feels like the time has come.

Events

Still need to make more events. I wanted to improve Card Upgrade events, but I realized that I need some more technical changes and modules to make it reasonable. So that's what I also want to do next.

Unique Jester NPC

I'm still not sure I can do that by the next friday. But I'll try. So at least you can fight her.

Sound

And while the game looks quite stable and fresh atm, I think it's the best time for me to finally start adding sound. I want to do it before I add a lot of cutscenes, animations and unique actors. Because the longer I wait - the worse it becomes. So when I'm tired of balancing and building events - I'll be spending my time doing sound. Good thing that it can be done in pararell.

Shuffle Me v0.4.1 Changelog:

• complex choice-based Item Reward event

• complex draft of a choice-based Healing event

• body transformation statistics in Examine Self window (aka Character Details)

• added one more layer of player equipment - underwear without legwear

• fixed a bug during the short intro when you choose masculine clothes

• micro-cutscene "reward box" in different colors to highlight the gender of the reward

• Gender XP values now can be seen on the Top Bar.

• some other quality of life adjustments and bug fixes

• updated the way default action card stats being generated, though it's mostly a technical update

If the game doesn't work on windows - try deleting or renaming the old save file located here

%APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Shuffle Me\global_state.tres