Changelog: 0.3.3 - Sanctuary in Time

Greetings, one and all!

New Years is a time of change. It's also a time to appreciate what's come before & set our sights on new adventures yet to come. So, I'd like to thank everyone who's played Sanctuary in Time since its launch several months ago. You've all given me so much wonderful feedback & encouragement, and I truly appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

And now, get ready for version 0.3.3, because we've got a bunch of cool changes coming to Sanctuary in Time! Without further ado, I'll detail those below. 

As usual, if you've got any feedback, typos, or bugs to report, feel free to reach out in the comments below, via direct message, or at max DOT ingram AT novusoperandigames DOT com.

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)

Sanctuary in Time is a text-based, adult game with sci-fi & RPG elements! Your father's just been murdered. He was the God of Time. Now, it's your turn! Save damsels from dark corners of history; train them as warriors, courtesans, or workers. Build your forces. Expand & upgrade your citadel. And survive the enemies that seek your death!

Save files from previous versions of the game should be compatible w/ this version. See installation instructions on the File Download page for details on how to transfer save files.

Feature Update: Multiple side story events can now launch in a row!

There is now a chance for an additional side story event to launch following the EXIT of a previous event. Only short side story events (which launch at the end of the weekly turn report) include this chance, but now, each time you close one of these, there is a chance that another event will open directly afterward featuring a different follower.

New Side Story Events: Follower wishes to call you by special title!

A new type of side story event can now occur in which a follower makes an “unusual request” to call the player by a new title. These events are reserved for followers w/ a Devotion of ‘Deeply Trusting’ or higher. Accepting the title means the follower in question will call you by that name going forward, while declining the title means the follower will never make the same request again (though other followers may still do so).

• Special title “Father”: A follower reveals the very special & intimate relationship she had with a father-figure who raised her, then asks if she can call the player by that same title. Only followers w/ personalities of shy, naïve, or seductive are eligible.
• Special title “Big Brother”: A follower reveals the very special & intimate relationship she had with an older brother who raised her, then asks if she can call the player by that same title. Only followers w/ personalities of shy, naïve, or seductive are eligible.
• Special title “Little Brother”: A follower reveals the very intimate & unusual relationship she had with a younger brother who was often placed in charge of her, then asks if she can call the player by that same title. Only followers w/ personalities of confident or reserved are eligible.
• Special title “Young Lord”: (A non-incestuous variant of the ‘Little Brother’ scenario.) A follower reveals the very intimate & unusual relationship she had with the younger son of a former master, then asks if she can call the player by that same title. Only followers w/ personalities of confident or reserved are eligible.

Feature Update: Surveillance of followers is now a purchasable upgrade!

In version 3.2, I introduced idle activities for followers, which are brief narrative events that allow the player to view a follower’s private day-to-day activities, such as sleeping, showering, using the restroom, etc. Previously, this kind of intimate view of a follower’s activities was automatically available. But I’ve since realized it might be more satisfying if the player has to consciously choose to activate such surveillance, as well as spend in-game resources to do so.

• A new button is present on follower filecards titled ‘Activate Surveillance’, instead of the button that would normally display their current idle activity. If pressed, a dialogue will appear prompting the player to activate surveillance for that follower.
• Activating surveillance of a follower comes with a one-time cost of 25 units of energy, and only applies to that follower. No other followers are affected. If the purchase is made, the ‘Activate Surveillance’ button will be replaced with the normal idle activity display that was previously available.

New Idle Activity: Working out with handweights!

There’s now a new idle activity available for followers in the settlement. If a follower’s exercise regimen is set for ‘building’ muscles, or it’s set for ‘maintaining’ muscles and they already have muscles that are ‘well-defined’ or stronger, they can now be seen working out with handweights. Only followers with a health level of ‘normal’ or higher qualify for this activity.

• A new voyeuristic opportunity for the player. If you see a follower is “...currently working out with handweights”, click the appropriate button and you can view them doing so from the Control Room cameras.
• Includes multiple randomized elements for variety, recognizes whether the follower is trying to ‘build’ or just ‘maintain’ the strength of their muscles, and even features a chance at nudity if the follower’s personality isn’t ‘shy’.
• If a follower owns ‘workout clothes’, they will automatically wear them when performing this activity. Otherwise they’ll default to whatever outfit is currently assigned to them.

Feature Update: New bonuses & penalties affecting diet / exercise progress.

Previously, the weekly results for a follower’s diet and exercise progress were calculated independent of each other. It was a fairly simple system, based mostly on random chance, in which their progress was either poor, good, or excellent, and neither diet nor exercise influenced the other. But over time, I’ve realized that’s not terribly realistic or satisfying, so I’ve gone back to the drawing board and redesigned how this part of the game works.

Now, a follower’s diet and exercise regimens ae closely tied and significantly affect each another.

• Attempting to ‘build’ muscle now places a significant penalty on followers trying to ‘gain’ weight (i.e. body fat) at the same time, but grants a bonus for followers trying to ‘lose’ weight, due to the higher amount of calories being burned.
• Attempting to ‘lose’ muscle now places a significant penalty on followers trying to ‘lose’ weight (i.e. body fat) at the same time, but grants a bonus for followers trying to ‘gain’ weight, due to the lower amount of calories being burned.
• Attempting to ‘gain’ weight now places a significant penalty on followers trying to ‘lose’ muscles at the same time, but grants a bonus for followers trying to ‘build’ muscles, due to the higher amount of calories being consumed.
• Attempting to ‘lose’ weight now places a significant penalty on followers trying to ‘build’ muscles at the same time, but grants a bonus for followers trying to ‘lose’ muscles, due to the lower amount of calories being consumed.

Feature Update: Weekly activities now better reflect a follower’s muscle progress!

Combat assigned followers will sometimes be depicted as performing feats of strength during the weekly turn report, as part of their assigned duty (e.g. dragging defeated outlaws to justice, wrestling them to the ground, etc.). But previously, these depictions were universal, and didn’t take into account a follower’s actual level of muscular strength. Now, however, they do! (Inspired by suggestions made by user Dark on the audiogames.net forum.)

• Depending on a follower’s physical strength, different versions of weekly activities will be displayed that give a better reflection of their current muscular development. Followers with ‘soft’ muscles will struggle to complete such feats, while those with ‘fit’ muscles will accomplish them more easily, albeit still with great effort, and those with ‘well-defined’ or higher muscles will accomplish these feats with ease.
• As a combat-assigned follower gets stronger, their ability to perform the tasks associated with their job will be seen to improve.

Feature Update: Changes in personality!

Several changes have been made that affect two of the existing personality types in the game, as well as a main story character. And a whole new personality type has been added to the game as well.

• A new personality type has been added to the game: Nurturing! The inspiration for this personality type is “an elegant, forward-thinking MILF, who enjoys taking care of others and thinks of sex as a gift one gives.”
• Descriptive text associated with the ‘confident’ personality type has been significantly rewritten. The inspiration for this personality type is now “a nudist yoga instructor, who is completely comfortable in her own skin and feels a quiet sense of pride in her body.” These new changes should more accurately reflect that inspiration (and be sexier!).
• Descriptive text associated with the ‘reserved’ personality type has been significantly rewritten. The inspiration for this personality type is “a no-nonsense female soldier, who is more comfortable with weapons than wooing and feels embarrassed by emotions.” These new changes should more accurately reflect that inspiration (and be sexier!).
• The main story character Brianna Morgyn has had her personality type switched from ‘confident’ to ‘reserved’, as that better reflects my original vision for her.

Accessibility Updates:

• Placed additional punctuation in the energy section of the weekly turn report to make it more text-to-speech friendly. Previously, some of the lines were running together when read aloud due to lack of punctuation.
• Updated text-to-speech functionality in weekly turn report. (As suggested by player david_solomon1.) Previously, navigating the weekly turn report with the up and down arrow keys would cause the report to be read in its entirety, starting from the point navigated to. But now the report will only be read aloud in discrete sections, starting from the point navigated to, and ending before the start of the next section. Afterwards, a brief message will play indicating the navigation options available at that time, such as ‘Press down to scroll’ (if text is only available below the current section), ‘Press up or down to scroll’ (if more text is available above and below the current section), and ‘Press up to scroll or Return to continue’ if the end of the report has been reached.
• Updated text-to-speech functionality for follower filecards. Now, when scrolling through filecards, a follower’s name and duty assignment are read aloud first, then their ethnicity and age, and finally the amount of strength / persuasion they add to the settlement. This should make quickly browsing through filecards an easier task.

Gameplay Balancing Tweaks:

• Adjusted balance of first follower’s (Brianna’s) starting skill levels, as well as her starting Health & Devotion. The introductory training period for her first job should now last a little bit longer and feel more satisfying.
• Increased energy generated per-turn for every upgrade tier by 5%. Energy generation was feeling a bit choked before, so this may help alleviate that.

Misc Updates:

• Recruitment events for new followers will no longer be displayed if the player cannot afford the transaction. Instead, a regular side story event will launch in its place.
• In the side story events in which a follower expresses anxiety about her progress in dieting or exercise, rather than criticizing and then dismissing her with a curt wave of the hand (if the player expresses disapproval), the player will now criticize and then spin her around to give her a curt clap on the bottom. Depending on the follower’s personality, she’ll respond to this affront in different ways. Other minor edits were made to these scenes as well.
• Updated the undressing descriptions associated w/ every outfit in the game. These should be more detailed & sexier than previous versions.
• Updated the standard description used for a follower’s nudity after they’ve undressed. Previous version was a bit too clinical & lacked detail. New version should be more detailed & sexier than previous.
• Updated the intro description for the game on the application launcher screen.
• Fixed typos found in the first Main Story event.
• Fixed issue in which inconsistent scrolling might result if the Up or Down arrowkeys were pressed before the text of the weekly turn report was finished loading.
• Made adjustments to the types of recruitment events that will occur for the various ethnicities. In particular, African and Middle-Eastern ethnicities will no longer show up in the Inquisition or Witch Trial scenarios, as they felt like poor cultural matches.
• Made adjustment to ‘send backup’ type sidestory events (for Combat & Courtship followers), so that at least 2 followers must be available to send as backup before the event will occur. Previously, only 1 follower needed to be available to send as backup, and this could result in scenes describing multiple followers sent as backup when only 1 was actually sent.
• During the voyeuristic idle activity ‘showering’, the devotion required to join a follower after watching her wash has been raised from ‘very trusting’ to ‘deeply trusting’.