Hail to the Champion! - Changelog: 1.4.7

Greetings, one and all!

We've got an exciting update this month with the addition of champions to the offworld event of Arena Victoria; these are highly-skilled, unique opponents your followers can now challenge and defeat for greater glory & prizes. Plus, skin colors can now be altered in the Gene Lab, and we've got balancing updates, bug fixes, and more!

So, dive in, check it out, and let me know what you think of the changes. Feedback is always greatly appreciated. But, remember...

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)

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Feature update: Champions added to the arena!

A new champion now stalks the grounds of Arena Victoria. They dare all comers to test their worth in a deadly, one-on-one confrontation. Will any of your followers answer the call?

• A champion now resides in the arena. If a follower completes enough rounds to reach them, they can challenge the champion in a one-on-one duel for higher rewards.
• After defeating the current champion, a new champion will later take their place, only more powerful and even more difficult to reach.
• Champions are procedurally generated (for infinite variety) and are highly-skilled, special individuals, such as deposed kings, disgraced generals, and even the occasional outcast anvil.
• Followers who defeat these champions will be celebrated themselves as champions, and though they may choose to forgo the fame & fortune of that position to remain at your side, they’ll still be recognized during inspections for their champion status, as well as for the number of championships they win in your name.

Feature update: Skin colors now changeable in Gene Lab + new colors available!

• A follower’s skin color can now be changed under Advanced Genetics options in the Management interface. (However, the options available are still limited by their ethnic type.)
• New skin colors have also been added to the game: ‘freckled,’ ‘sun-kissed,’ and ‘sun-bronzed’ have been added for Caucasian ethnicities, while ‘sun-bronzed’ has also been added for Chinese & Middle-Eastern. Plus, more expensive “unnatural” options have been added to the Gene Lab for all ethnicities of ‘copper-flecked,’ ‘bronze-flecked,’ ‘silver-flecked,’ and ‘gold-flecked.’

Feature update: Blueprints for War College & Temple of Eros are now “discovered” during game!

Previously, the buildings for the War College & Temple of Eros were simply available to be built as soon as the game began, but this arrangement didn’t turn out as satisfying as I would like, so I’ve decided to reveal these buildings to players in a different fashion.

• When the game first begins, the buttons normally used to build these structures will instead be labeled as ‘Collapsed Ruins’ or ‘Broken Rubble.’ If you click on them, you’ll get a brief pop-up message describing these disheveled areas.
• When at least one follower in the settlement has achieved a level of ‘skilled expert’ in combat or courtship, a brief narrative event will launch soon thereafter in which Eva discovers the blueprints for the War College or Temple of Eros, respectively. After the event in question closes, the ‘BUILD’ button for that structure will then appear in the main interface and will function as normal afterwards.
• The facilities section of the weekly turn report has also been updated so that current status for these buildings is only displayed once their blueprints have been discovered.
• If the War College or Temple of Eros have already been constructed (or are currently under construction), they will not be affected by these changes. Only unpurchased buildings will be affected.

Gameplay balancing:

• Updated the stat checks used during the solo, “risky assignment” events in which a follower requests advice on whether or not to undertake a potentially challenging assignment. Previously, these were stat checks on the collective strength / persuasion of the settlement as a whole. Now, these are stat checks on the individual combat / courtship skill of the follower undertaking the assignment. Difficulty levels for these events will be randomly chosen from a list of easy to moderately high challenge levels.
• Slightly increased the number of turns that must pass between occurrences of a follower becoming infatuated w/ the player.

Accessibility updates:

• When selecting the buttons to load the Citadel, War College, or Temple of Eros on screen, the game will now automatically shift interface focus to the room tabs for that newly loaded building, and TTS will audibly report this shift in focus (if TTS is enabled).

Misc. updates:

• Realized that after recent updates to the inspection dialogue, npcs were now willing to engage in hands-on/intimate inspection options prior to being ‘Very Trusting’ in Devotion. This was unintended behavior. I have corrected this so ‘Very Trusting’ Devotion (or ‘Infatuated’ Love) is once again required to access these more intimate choices.
• Realized that arousal increases caused by follower undressing actions could be exploited during inspections, by having the follower redress & then undress repeatedly. Addressed this by placing a limit on these arousal increases, so they can only occur if npc is not yet fully aroused.
• Made adjustments to certain events so their options for intimate acts are only shown when requirements for them are met (rather than showing a disabled option w/ unmet requirements cited). The events updated are: follower is awake at night after a bad dream, follower is feeling homesick out in the settlement, and the voyeuristic activity where a follower can be seen taking a shower.
• Added new variant scene that can occur randomly while examining breasts during a follower inspection. This has a more brusque flavor to it, in which the player examines a follower’s breasts by gently bouncing them.
• Placed new condition on follower inspections so if a follower’s health is below a certain threshold (currently <= ‘Very Unhealthy’), they will be unable to report for an inspection, regardless of their current devotion or love levels. A brief scene will now display under this condition, describing them as being “unable to report for an inspection due to poor health.” (However, the followers can still be observed from a short distance away.)
• Added a couple of new weekly activities that combat trainees can be witnessed performing (in the text of the weekly turn report). These are primarily exercise-themed, with the possibility of seeing a follower running laps, doing pushups, sit ups, etc., with differing results depending on the fitness of their muscles.