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Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Release 59: Humanization

This is another flavor-focused update, with the main addition being the ability to take the custom bodies you use for sex scenes with Chosen and Forsaken, and use those bodies in battle as a substitute for the usual monstrous Demon Commander forms.  This works by adapting the flavor text that was previously just used for sending Forsaken to fight the Chosen.  On a cheatless playthrough, the option only changes the flavor text, but when the toggle for body traits to affect damage is turned on, the traits of the body you send out will be properly reflected in the bonuses you gain.  Overall, my hope is that this option will ensure that players who dislike some of the fetishes associated with the different Commander upgrades will still be able to take advantage of the gameplay opportunities they provide.

Reworking the Commander Capture code to use an entirely different set of flavor text has been a major overhaul, and the feature is definitely still a bit rough around the edges.  Deployed humanoid bodies are given a "combat style" based on which damage types the body deals, and this normally works out pretty well.  When circumstance damage levels reach the point that Defilers start taking effect, the damage increase text also properly reflects the Defiler (for penetration, orgasming, etc.).  But it didn't make sense to use the same Demon Commander capture dialogue, and most of the Forsaken-Chosen banter also wouldn't make sense for talking to the Demon Lord, so there aren't any spoken Chosen lines associated with humanoid Demon Commanders at the moment.  Total Vulnerability Breaks triggered by humanoid Demon Commanders also don't yet have any unique flavor.  This feature is still very much a work in progress, and the main goal for now is to make sure that it doesn't have any crashes or text bugs.

Alongside the main feature, this release also had an unusually large amount of time spent working on adding custom sex scene actions.  It was originally going to be focused on friendly actions that might give low-Deviancy Chosen more to do with each other, but a couple of rougher activities made their way into it in the end.  As always, there's also the usual small collection of bugfixes and balance tweaks.

Next month will be another gameplay-focused release, with the addition of yet another boss.  But this next boss, Reign, will be unusual for a few reasons, most notably the fact that she'll reappear multiple times throughout campaign mode.

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Allowed players to take on the form of one of their custom sex scene bodies as a Commander in combat.
  • Content: Added hugging, kissing, handholding, and deepthroating as actions to custom sex scenes.
  • Content: Added the Apply Gag action to custom sex scenes which take place in the S&M club.
  • Balance: Performing a large number of simultaneous actions in custom sex scenes isn't as tiring.
  • Balance: The Omelette du Malefice now grants more Evil Energy from actions performed by higher-tier Chosen.
  • Balance: The Velvet Key will no longer be able to change the species of boss Chosen.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when updating an old save file to the current version.
  • Bugfix: It is no longer possible to go into negative Evil Energy by repeating yesterday's Commander.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when customizing bodies while body traits are set to multiply damage.
  • Bugfix: Performing a Chosen's first penetration with a Forsaken in combat will no longer put the Chosen's sexual history into a bugged state.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when merging Forsaken personalities with the Velvet Key.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Release 58: Love

This update adds the fourth boss fight: the leader of the Angel Chosen, Unconditional Redeemer Love.  In campaign mode, she'll begin to appear after Victory has been defeated, meaning that you can face her in Loop 15 at the earliest.  As with the previous bosses, she also has her own single play scenario so that you can face her at an appropriate difficulty level without Forsaken on your side.

In keeping with the theme of the Angel Chosen, Love is quite a weak opponent on her own, especially considering how powerful you're meant to be by the time you face her.  But Love takes the Angels' ally support abilities to an even greater level.  She can not only protect her partners from harm, but also "redeem" their sins and reverse their corruption.  This is even more dangerous than it sounds, because Love's partners will also be undefeatable in the final battle unless they remain at a certain corruption threshold.

Along with the usual small collection of bugfixes and interface improvements, this update also adds the start of a new Negotiation vignette chain commissioned by Kalloi, this one linked with the new "orgasm denial attitude" added in last month's update.  It affects the Minor Confidence Chosen, and it requires her to be on the Negotiation Distortion path, but both of these are factors that make it much easier to meet the requirement of training her to enjoy orgasm denial before the vignette will occur.  See the vignette checklist included with the game for more details.

The Animalistic, Undead, Devil, and Angel Chosen now all have their boss fights implemented in the game.  But before moving on to the final two species, there is another nonstandard boss fight that needs to be added.  And even before that, I think it's a good idea to spend another update on more sexual content and other general improvements.  Until then, I hope that the new opponent proves entertaining!

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added the Love boss fight to campaign mode after Victory has been defeated.
  • Content: Added the Versus Love scenario to single play mode.
  • Content: Added Love's portraits to the default portrait pack.
  • Content: Added one new vignette.
  • Interface: Added Repeat Last Commander button to quickly rebuild yesterday's Demon Commander.
  • Interface: In campaign mode, current Influence has been added to the Statistics display
  • Bugfix: Boss loops where the third Chosen hasn't yet arrived will no longer be able to try to show a vignette.
  • Bugfix: Eager Partner (Personal Paradise) will now properly grant its damage bonus.
  • Bugfix: Some missing text with Angel Second-in-Commands will now be properly shown.
  • Bugfix: Resolved some potential crashes.
Release 58b
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when starting a loop with unique Chosen.
Release 58c
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen during boss story scenes.

Friday, August 30, 2024

Release 57: Cooperation

This update mainly consists of a few moderately-sized content additions that made sense to package together.  The main one is an addition to custom sex scenes which allows certain actions to "merge" together when performed by different characters on the same target.  This means that it's now possible to see multi-blowjobs, multi-cunnilingus, multi-handjobs, multi-footjobs, and multi-thighsex ("pussy sandwich" style).  This should make group sex a lot more interesting, and the other additions were picked to make the most of this.

Group sex involving Forsaken was already possible, but now there are also a couple of ways to have group sex with the Chosen.  You can now use "Observe" to watch all three of them together.  Furthermore, when all three are valid Negotiation targets, you can Approach and Negotiate with all of them at once (which progresses all three of them along the Distortion path with the same click).  They'll service you together, and naturally, you can still also send your Forsaken Ambassador to be serviced by them in your stead.  The latter option should now be a bit more interesting as well, because custom sex scene NPC logic been updated to let them switch between different sex acts without player input, keeping the scene a bit more fresh instead of getting stuck doing the same action over and over.

If you still prefer to participate in custom sex scenes yourself, there's another added feature: the "Player" folder has been added to the portrait pack, which is used by default to represent the Demon Lord during custom sex scenes.  The included pack has only one expression, but the game supports using a more expressive pack (and will change the displayed portrait so that the Demon Lord reacts to being praised, insulted, etc.) or making more portrait folders for different Demon Lord bodies.

This update also introduces a new character attitude: how much they like or dislike experiencing orgasm denial.  Although this addition was mainly in preparation for an upcoming vignette chain, it also introduces a sort of minigame for custom sex scenes.  Participants who reach high PLEA (>1000) who don't get to cum before the end of the scene will either learn to enjoy it (if they like the other participants) or grow annoyed with it (if they don't).  When they experience ruined orgasms (by passing an orgasm threshold while not experiencing direct genital stimulation), they develop a stronger negative attitude toward orgasm denial, regardless of who's responsible.  But if they then experience a large orgasm after a ruined orgasm, they'll start to become addicted to orgasm denial, again regardless of who's responsible.  Characters who hate orgasm denial will become much more aggressive about seeking their own pleasure in custom sex scenes, while characters who enjoy orgasm denial will be more generous about giving pleasure with no regard for their own orgasm.  Players who enjoy futanari or genderbent Chosen will recognize that this system shares some elements with the "attitude toward own penis" system introduced awhile back, and that system has also been updated with some deeper custom sex scene interaction.  Eventually, I'd like to expand this framework to include more fetishes and other sexual preferences as well.

To make it easier to interact with the above system, I've also added a new custom sex scene action: caress (and its merged variants).  This one gives a decent chunk of pleasure without actually causing orgasm by itself, so it's well-suited to orgasm denial play.  The Mark of the Succubus (unlocked through the Lilith's Awakening vignette) is also very useful there.

Finally, the update also includes the usual bit of bugfixes and adjustments that come after a new boss fight.  I've also been getting some help with improving the code in general, although hopefully this shouldn't result in any noticeable changes to the way the game performs.  Now that those are taken care of, we'll be moving straight ahead to the next boss fight, featuring Love, leader of the Angel Chosen!

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added cooperative versions of handjobs, thighjobs, footjobs, and oral sex.
  • Content: Added the Caress action (and its cooperative versions) to custom sex scenes.
  • Content: When all three Chosen are on the Negotiation path, they may be Approached together for a foursome.
  • Content: Added the ability to place all three Chosen into a custom sex scene with each other.
  • Content: Added support for custom sex scenes to display variable-expression Demon Lord portraits (in the "Player" portrait folder by default).
  • Content: Added single-expression portraits for male and female Demon Lords to the default portrait pack.
  • Content: Added tracking for character attitudes toward orgasm denial and appropriate reactions during custom sex scenes.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when using Examine on Chosen in battle.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen after winning single play mode.
  • Bugfix: Fixed some cases where the required Evil Energy to trigger Despair would be incorrect.
  • Bugfix: Judgment's "Newfound Pacifism" Forsaken trait will no longer improperly carry over parts of the standard Devil "Connoisseur of Correction" trait.
  • Other: Generating a team of custom Chosen for single play mode will now warn the player that this isn't the easiest method of making Chosen for campaign mode.
  • Other: Custom sex scene NPCs interacting with each other will now change between actions on their own.
  • Other: The feelings of futanari and genderbent Chosen toward their own penises will now be taken into account in their custom sex scene actions and reactions.
  • Other: Added links to the unofficial fan Discord to the Support text and to the resources.txt file.
Release 57b
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that would happen when creating a new body for yourself.
  • Bugfix: Added some missing lines for when Splendor and Judgment first meet after the latter's defeat.
  • Bugfix: The "Humbled Heroine (Diplomatic Incident)" trait from beating Judgment with Despair and no Total Breaks will now be properly shown in her profile.
  • Bugfix: The Despair Distortion plan will now be selectable even when no other Distortion plans are selectable.
Release 57c
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that would affect Forsaken from old saves in custom sex scenes.
  • Bugfix: Judgment will no longer apply some Second-in-Command effects while not in the Second-in-Command position.
  • Bugfix: Newly-generated campaign mode Chosen will no longer appear with much higher T3 move trauma requirements.  Chosen already affected by the bug should also be fixed.

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Release 56: Judgment

Now that the Distortion paths have all been implemented, the next step is to add the next round of boss fights to the game.  The first of this new round of bosses is Judgment, the boss of the Devil Chosen.  Judgment has some unique mechanics and flavor text (especially when interacting with the other boss Chosen), as well as a set of story scenes that will display as her corruption progresses.  She's intended to be fought in campaign mode (where she'll start showing up every 5 loops after Splendor is defeated, so Loop 15 at the earliest), but you can also face her in a new single play scenario which offers a bunch of items to compensate for her difficulty.

In most respects, Judgment's gameplay mechanics are just stronger versions of the regular Devil gameplay mechanics.  She has stronger versions of their T3 Break moves, and her ability to restrict her allies' sinful actions extends to making it harder to make them start using T3 Break moves.  On top of this, she's outright immune to Resolve damage until her corruption has progressed far enough.  Unlike Victory, she continues to fight hard even after you start to break her, which means that her boss fight remains challenging right up to the final battle.  Her portrait design was heavily inspired by the art that Kalloi made for his portrait pack, so if you notice any similarities there, then it's not a coincidence!

The implementation of the boss fight consumed most of this month's development time, but there's also a significant new sexual content addition in the conclusion of the Significant-Morality Negotiation vignette chain commissioned by Kalloi.  This vignette is notable in that it has some minor branching depending on how you use the "streaming studio" custom sex scene location unlocked by last month's vignette.  If you unmask the Chosen while streaming a sex scene together, her feelings toward the player will be different than if you allow her identity to remain hidden.  (There's also a third variant if you've made her experience extremely large amounts of pleasure while streaming - look for green text to display once it's been triggered.)  These variants only change a few minor details, but they should serve as proof of concept for more long-term acknowledgements of things that happen during custom sex scenes.

And on that note, the planned focus for next month is more custom sex scene content.  Currently, even though the game allows for any number of Forsaken to participate in a custom sex scene, and also allows for custom sex scenes between Chosen, it doesn't allow for mixes of multiple Chosen meeting with Demon-affiliated characters at once.  This is something I've wanted to change for a long time, mainly because it makes sense (and will save a bunch of clicks) for multiple Negotiation-path Chosen to be able to accept a truce and offer themselves to you together.  This should also involve some new custom sex scene actions and some improvements to existing ones - the code was originally written to allow actions by different characters to take each other into account (to allow for "double blowjobs" and such), but in the update that added code support for threesomes, there wasn't actually any time to write that extra flavor.  The next update should make much better use of that system.

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added the Judgment boss fight to campaign mode after Splendor has been defeated.
  • Content: Added the Versus Judgment scenario to single play mode.
  • Content: Added Judgment's portraits to the default portrait pack.
  • Content: Added one new vignette.
  • Balance: The Psychographic Laboratory objective now grants 2 days' worth of your best Evil Energy generation (up from 1).
  • Balance: Victory is only immune to Resolve damage when she has no Breaks at all.
  • Balance: Boss Forsaken now have "Personal" compatibility with all Boss Chosen.
  • Balance: The trauma threshold for Chosen to be guaranteed to use the most-sinful-possible downtime action is reduced to 1 trillion.
  • Bugfix: Splendor will no longer use different logic for using Glorious Fatal Curse in campaign mode than in single play mode.
  • Bugfix: Chosen already on Distortion paths can no longer be indirectly set to the Despair Distortion plan.
  • Bugfix: Undead Chosen will now properly grant Evil Energy for T3 Core Breaks that happen in loops without relationship scenes.
  • Bugfix: Splendor will no longer spoil her allies' First Seal by using a weak Second Seal which immediately expires.
  • Bugfix: The conditions for unlocking the Devil Chosen warp route will now properly be calculated on the same day that the trauma is inflicted.
  • Bugfix: The Forsaken summary for the Unfocused combat style will no longer be blank.
  • Bugfix: Chosen who should start to Rampage with only 1 turn left in their Surround will no longer skip the Rampage and just act normally.
  • Bugfix: The Dimensional Kaleidoscope preview will now properly show all Distortion traits.
Release 56b
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen when attempting to deploy Rampant Forsaken.
Release 56c
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen from Splendor's using Indelible Glory in the final battle.
  • Bugfix: Angel Chosen's Forgiveness duration will no longer carry over between battles.
  • Bugfix: Splendor will no longer skip her breaking scenes and become fully broken after any fellow Boss Chosen has been defeated.
Release 56d
  • Bugfix: Tempted Chosen will no longer be able to repeatedly undergo the same T3 Innocence Break.
  • Bugfix: Distortion Chosen will no longer have their reluctance to use incompatible T3 Break moves mistakenly attributed to Judgment's leadership.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Release 55: Despair

This update adds the sixth and final Distortion path: Despair.  As the Morality/Innocence Distortion, it involves convincing the Chosen and their supporters that they're doing more harm than good by fighting the Demons.  Unlike the previous five Distortion paths, this one targets the entire city, and if you're able to activate it, then you can defeat even Chosen who haven't been corrupted at all.  The overwhelming power of the Demons simply causes them to give up.

Against a regular team of Chosen, the Distortion is activated by going into the final battle with at least 1000 Evil Energy.  This represents the fact that the Chosen have been committing evil acts and being more of a menace to the city than the Demons themselves.  The requirement goes up with Morality and Innocence Breaks against the Chosen: they each get two "free" Morality or Innocence Breaks, and after that, every additional Break increases the energy requirement, as the Chosen become less restrained by their conscience and less connected to reality, making them care less about their own sins.  On top of this, Chosen of advanced species increase the requirement further.  On the other hand, the campaign mode achievement for beating Chosen with Despair will sharply decrease the required Evil Energy, potentially even allowing you to automatically win against weaker teams once you have enough momentum.

In campaign mode, most Chosen defeated by Despair will completely lose their powers, joining you as civilians who provide small passive buffs just like Spared Forsaken (although Chosen defeated by Despair have an extra x2 multiplier to the bonuses they provide).  The bonus provided depends on their highest corruption parameter, so even in a loop where you can activate Despair at zero Evil Energy, it's still worthwhile to selectively break their Vulnerabilities before pulling the trigger.  (When Despair is set as the Distortion plan, the Forsaken Preview function will show you which bonus they're currently predicted to provide.)  Boss Chosen also have some unique interactions with Despair.  If Splendor is defeated by Despair, she won't be able to do her usual sabotage.  And Victory actually has two separate Despair traits she can get - one if you beat her normally while using Despair, and another if you manage to activate Despair without ever actually breaking any of her Vulnerabilities.

Chosen who are under a Distortion, or who have experienced Total Morality Break or Total Innocence Break, cannot be defeated using Despair.  However, you can still activate Despair in order to use it against their allies, and Chosen who have had their Distortion cancelled by a "forbidden" Vulnerability Break will once again become valid targets for Despair.  So, even when aiming for Despair, the other Distortion paths can still be used as well.

This was a major gameplay addition, and much of the month was largely spent on playtesting.  As such, there's also a big batch of bugfixes in this release.  On the sexual content side, this release also includes another vignette in the Significant Morality Negotiation chain commissioned by Kalloi, which is special in that it unlocks the "streaming studio" location which allows you to livestream your custom sex scene to the city's populace.  The livestream action has some special mechanics where the partner wears a mask to conceal her identity.  Presently, unmasking her to the public doesn't do much beyond causing her to stop worrying about concealing her identity in future livestreams.  But once the next vignette in the chain is added, there will be a bit more to it.  Of note is the fact that Forsaken can access the location and action by default.

Now that all the Distortions have been added to the game, the next step is to add the rest of the bosses and species.  I'm eager to get started on putting together the endgame!

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added the Despair Distortion path.
  • Content: Added one new vignette.
  • Content: Added the Streaming Studio location and Stream action for custom sex scenes (unlockable for Chosen through the above vignette).
  • Other: When selecting a boss fight loop in campaign mode, the choices will now provide a brief summary of what each boss does.
  • Bugfix: Some previously-missing portraits in custom sex scenes will now display correctly.
  • Bugfix: The Forsaken Tempt action in the final battle will no longer carry over some improper functionality that should only apply before the final battle.
  • Bugfix: The portrait window will no longer misplace itself when swapping between Chosen and Forsaken views.
  • Bugfix: Penalties to Motivation restoration from Forsaken species will now behave consistently regardless of lost Motivation on the same day.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a case of vignettes being filed under the wrong name in the archive.
  • Bugfix: Small Forsaken Punisher bonuses will no longer sometimes drop a decimal place when being displayed.
  • Bugfix: The Undead Forsaken deployment discount will no longer cause the Dutiful Harvester bonus to provide less Evil Energy than it should.
  • Bugfix: The Wooden Stake bonus will no longer make it more difficult to activate the Angel warp route in campaign mode.
  • Bugfix: The Angel Chosen 'Invitation to Heaven' move will no longer prevent different Chosen from being Surrounded on the same turn.
  • Bugfix: The 'Invitation to Heaven' effect will no longer carry over between battles.
  • Bugfix: Angel Chosen in the middle of a Rampage will no longer be able to use 'Invitation to Heaven'.
  • Bugfix: Undead Forsaken with 'Eager Partner (Vitality Addict)' will no longer fail to restore Motivation when their Stamina is already full.
  • Bugfix: The Forsaken summary screen will now take Forsaken species into account when calculating expected Motivation changes.
  • Bugfix: Angel Chosen in campaign mode will no longer be generated without the associated angelic choir flavor in their personal profile.
Release 55b
  • Bugfix: The game will no longer crash when a battle ends with both of Splendor's allies having been met before Splendor herself.

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Release 54: Advancement

The focus of this release is the addition of a new class of "heavyweight" items to campaign mode (along with one non-heavyweight item related to last release's Megalomania Distortion).  In theory, the accumulation of Influence throughout campaign mode was meant to grant players a steady boost in power the deeper they go.  In practice, there weren't enough high-Influence-cost items to spend all the Influence gained, and so players would be weaker than intended because all that unspent Influence wasn't doing anything for them.  Now, once the player has 50 or more unspent Influence, these heavyweight items will be very likely to appear.

Because heavyweight items are so powerful and run-defining, I've made it possible for players to affect to some degree which ones appear.  Every heavyweight item has a prerequisite item which must be owned before it will appear.  By only picking the items whose heavyweight equivalents you want, you can make sure that unwanted heavyweight items won't end up eating all your Influence.  Items without heavyweight equivalents can be picked without diluting the current pool of possible heavyweight items.  The items with heavyweight equivalents are as follow: the eight starting items, the ten "Pantsu" items, the five items which grant Distortion-related bonuses, the Silver Collar, and Soul Liquefaction.  If you want to know the options ahead of time, you can make the new items immediately show up in the Archive by using the "All Items" cheat in any of your save files.

Some heavyweight items just offer straight numerical bonuses, while others allow for entirely new gameplay strategies.  They don't offer much in the way of new sexual content, but this update does have a couple of side features to make up for that.  Kalloi has commissioned a sequel to the Sleep Molester vignette as the start of a new vignette chain, this time targeting the Significant Morality Chosen.  See the vignette checklist for details.  The commission also included a new Blindfold action for custom sex scenes, which can currently only be used in the S&M Club location (another location where it can be used will be coming soon).

The update also includes quite a few bugfixes, as I had expected when adding a new Distortion.  But now that that's taken care of, we can move directly onward to the sixth and final Distortion: Despair.  As a Distortion that affects the entire city, this one will break a couple more patterns from the previous Distortions and require some new code, but once it's done, everything will be ready to start on the endgame of campaign mode.

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added 26 new items to the game.
  • Content: Added one new vignette.
  • Content: Added the Blindfold action to custom sex scenes.
  • Balance: Adjusted the Influence cost of some items.
  • Balance: Tempted Forsaken no longer generally have decreased Motivation cost, but instead gain bonus damage based on Motivation.
  • Balance: Splendor will now be smarter about offering better Bargains.
  • Balance: Inevitability can now be activated for the final battle (but this does not apply the x10 bonus to Resolve damage).
  • Balance: Undead Chosen will be more willing to use Enervate very late in the loop.
  • Balance: When all valid items have already been seen in a campaign, the game will allow rejected items to appear again.
  • Bugfix: Single play scenarios will no longer sometimes fail to respect the gender settings on a new save.
  • Bugfix: Megalomaniac Forsaken can now properly be set to not follow a training plan.
  • Bugfix: Animalistic Chosen will no longer rudely use Frenzy against Forsaken who have already been knocked out by Mutual Damnation.
  • Bugfix: Splendor will no longer consider impossible Bargains and sometimes crash the game as a result.
  • Bugfix: Buying upgrades other than Imago Quickening with your Second-in-Command selected for deployment will no longer grant an Evil Energy refund.
  • Bugfix: The code for handling trauma overflow will now properly consider T4 downtimes to be more attractive than Temptation and Rampancy downtimes.
  • Bugfix: The display of how quickly Chosen with Angel allies are escaping is now more accurate.
  • Bugfix: The Ego Murder effect will no longer carry over between battles.
  • Other: The details of the Megalomania Distortion have been added to the Forsaken guide.
  • Other: The cheat option to set Forsaken on a Distortion path now also includes Megalomania.
  • Other: The in-game tips for T1 Breaks are now more specific about which types of damage should approach 10k.
  • Other: Any combination of spared and non-spared Forsaken may now be added to a custom sex scene.
  • Other: Added a visual indicator for when boss Chosen are using their signature abilities.
Release 54b
  • Interface: The remaining Captures for a Demon Commander will now be displayed on the button itself instead of just the tooltip.
  • Bugfix: The Forsaken Preview in campaign mode will now print properly.
  • Bugfix: Forsaken whose Punisher bonuses have been changed by a Velvet Key merge between two other Forsaken will now correctly use the changed Punisher for determining their own Velvet Key merge.

Monday, April 29, 2024

Release 53: Megalomania

It's been a very long time since the first four Distortions were added, but with this update, we're finally getting around to implementing the others.  The Confidence/Dignity Distortion, Megalomania, diverges from the pattern of the previous Distortion paths in several ways.

Any Chosen may be put on this path as long as they haven't suffered Total Confidence Break or Total Dignity Break, but the Distortion is limited to only one Chosen per city.  By making her feel like she's much stronger than her partners, you can cause her to develop delusions of grandeur and eventually offer her a position as your Second-in-Command.  Instructions for achieving this Distortion have been added to the guide.txt file packaged with the game, and you can also view the next step in-game by selecting the proper Distortion plan in the target Chosen's profile.

Megalomaniac Chosen are required to have suffered Morality Break and Innocence Break at a more extreme level than the Breaks required for the previous Distortions.  They're already quite twisted, and they become even moreso when the Distortion takes root.  I look forward to expanding on their corruption in future releases as they gradually get their own vignettes and other unique content to match the ones that have been written for the other Distortions.  And Megalomania also has another unique feature: the boss Chosen Splendor is vulnerable to it.  If Splendor is defeated using Megalomania in Loop 10, then the special effect associated with it can be used to flip an extra one of her negative traits to a positive one after Loop 15.  This should make her significantly less annoying for players who enjoy pushing deep into campaign mode.

The game has come a long way since the first four Distortions were added, and a bunch more Distortion-dependent flavor text and gameplay options needed to be accounted for this time.  As such, this update is pretty light on side content.  There's the usual small collection of bugfixes, but beyond that, I hope that just playing with the new Distortion is enough to keep everyone entertained for this month.  The plan for next month is to add a whole bunch of new high-value items (which should make both campaign mode and cheat runs of single play mode more interesting).  The month after that will be focused on adding the sixth and final Distortion.  And after that, I'll be adding the next round of unique boss Chosen.

Click here to download.  Mirror.

  • Content: Added the Megalomania Distortion path.
  • Content: Added and modified some boss and ending story scenes to account for the Megalomania path.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen in cities with multiple Angel Chosen.
  • Bugfix: Resolved a crash that could happen for Devil and Animalistic Chosen born during campaign mode.
  • Bugfix: The "Unleashed Angel" Forsaken Distortion bonus will now be applied properly.
  • Other: Added a link to the wiki in the resources.txt file.