Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

[jack_norton]

So yesterday had a moment of free time after Loren beta and amongst the other things, I started prototyping an idea I had for Bionic Heart 2, but I'm not sure is worth pursuing it, so I'd like some feedback

I made a PC/Mac/Linux demo here:
http://www.winterwolves.net/games/BH2.zip

remember is just a prototype. I had some texts written by a good new writer I found, but some were added by me
So in practice how it works? The dialogue is RPG-style, with 4 base skills showed on top.
The skill level influence the amount of point you get when you pick a related answer. With each character you talk with, you'll have the possibility to see his "traits" which should suggest which are the right choices, and a "goal" to reach expressed in percentage. The game will go on differently if you reach the goal in each scene or not, but you don't get a "game over" screen (only in the prototype right now).

On bottom on the left there are "basic" choices, not related to any skill. On the right instead there are only skill related choices. The basic choices can have positive/negative effect but usually small changes, while the skill one have bigger changes.

The answers are colored based on the skill they refer to. For example, the first choice: "Tell him you're happy to be alone with him" is related to seduce skill, while "Tell him you're dangerous" to Intimidate skill and so on.

Now I'm not sure if to go on with this, because honestly is MUCH MUCH harder to make than a simple VN like the previous one. I liked the idea, but now that I implemented it, I realized what insane task it is, and after Loren I need something a bit more relaxing

So unless I get 100 replies saying "this is an awesome idea" I'm thinking to just make the sequel like the first one, or maybe adding some dating/life sim gameplay element.

[applegirl]

Hmm...interesting. It was a clever way to make the visual novel setting much more interactive (and I was reminded a bit of Fallout for some reason, lol).

For me personally, I think I would probably get BH2 regardless of style of gameplay (the new or the old one). I happened to like BH a lot and always wanted to see the sequel. If it is that difficult to implement, I probably have to go against it. Although I enjoyed it, I prefer getting the new version out sooner (and also, the expansion packs for the rpgs you've been torturing your fans about, haha).

EDIT: Kind of a pet peeve of mine is when the perspective of the writing changes. In the prototype, it shifted from 1st person perspective to 2nd (after talking about Julia). Will this be expected for the whole VN? It broke immersion for me when I read it the first time, so I couldn't help but notice it.

[Arcanum]

A system like that is a make it or break it deal for me. Usually, my preference for this kind of system would be obvious, since it makes more interactive, and you can shape the character's personality better… Or so I'd think. When I actually played it was obvious the "sexy" path was the one to follow, and you could hardly be rewarded when not pursuing it. It was no different than just presenting the player with four choices and deciding that if he didn't click on sexy, he wouldn't be rewarded. If there's more to the system than that, though, I'd *heavily* prefeer it, simply because pure VNs aren't such a good deal for me, and I like the interactivity!

[jack_norton]

EDIT: Kind of a pet peeve of mine is when the perspective of the writing changes. In the prototype, it shifted from 1st person perspective to 2nd (after talking about Julia). Will this be expected for the whole VN? It broke immersion for me when I read it the first time, so I couldn't help but notice it.

Ah no, I told the writer to change that already. I agree with you, breaks the immersion. But remember, the game is told from multiple PoVs! But will all use 1st person.

Arcanum: thanks, I wanted it to be a sort of RPG-style dialogue indeed.

However, after some discussion with other people/fans from various places (FB, twitter, emails bla bla) it seems that using that system for every plot branch would be overkill. So I'm thinking to use it only for some "social boss battles"
In those situations will disable rollback, eliminate the skills so players don't have any indications about which choices are obvious, and if you fail the game ends (of course, you can save/restart).

Beside that the other plot decisions would be like the first title, I don't want to make it too much different since might scare people away.

Also I am thinking if is possible to make the game more appealing also to women, though to be honest, ALL my female friends/workmates I know played the first game, so... I don't know, maybe the first didn't sell much simply because was a VN

[netravelr]

The system itself looks interesting, but I can quickly see it turning into a TON of work for you. I'd much rather like conversations with lots of little choices which add up to something, but that's just me. I do like the idea of your stats being figured into how conversations work (Similar to the board game Arkham Horror and was actually something I've been playing around with for the past 4 months or so... still need to make it empowering to the player though.) Look forward to seeing more of it if you do get into it though!

[jack_norton]

Thanks for the feedback. Indeed, I'm thinking about what to do, since I don't want to start something too much complex, need to relax a bit my mind

[applegirl]

Ah, that's good. I actually like reading from multiple PoVs when it is written well (like Juniper's Knot, where it was consistently 1st person, but smoothly transitioned over between each character). So if the style is more consistent, I'm definitely more interested.

[jack_norton]

Yes no worries! Will be all 1st person, with the exception of the endings that will be narrated in 3rd person (like in the first game) since I think makes sense.

About the gameplay an user in my forums gave me a very good suggestion. I copy paste his idea and my reply here because... I'm lazy/busy:

How about this for a thought. What if normal conversation options and choices throughout the game carried hidden skill values that added up over time? Presenting players with let's say three options. For example if Luke is wanting Helen to leave the apartment you could have a [confrontational/aggressive] choice, a [diplomatic/reasoning] choice, and a [seductive/manipulative] choice. Choosing one would add 5 points to that skill, major path changing choices might carry higher values. When the player arrives at a boss fight they would have effectively created the character skill set via story choice (like creating Saren/Elenor). A player that has consistently chosen one flavor of response has effectively announced their normal personality( or programming) and in a confrontation it would be fluid and natural (high skill) and other options that have been ignored will be less effective (low skill). In a face off there would be the interaction between the skill level of the response flavor the player chooses to use and the resistance the boss has to that line plus some randomized amount thrown in. If the player fails on the first try they could try a second time with that same skill (with a penalty) or try another skill.

Well, I'm thinking I'm going to follow your advice. There's just one major point: for this to work, I think during the "boss fight" the player must preselect what attitude he wants to use, or the game preselects it based on previous choices. This because is really hard to mix for example manipulative/seductive scenes with intimidating ones. For example:
Tanya: "you shouldn't underestimate me, Robert. I could easily kill you."
Robert: "..." (skill check successful)
Robert: "Ha! you don't scare me!" (skill check unsuccessful)
then in the same gameplay, player picks a seductive line:
Tanya: "I'm really happy to be here with you..."
Robert: "What!? You threatened me just a 5 minutes ago? What Jack was thinking when he coded this game?" /ragequit

So, I think your system might work but only if you define the type of approach you want to play the boss battle. If it's auto-selected by the game based on choices might be cool because adds lots of replayability to the game. Anyway thanks it was a very good suggestion! I'm back to prototyping now

[HerrWeltkrieg]

Bionic Heart was really good game I enjoyed uncovering every ending
If you are going to make a sequel I support your efforts and the new skill system
should provide more depth to character as well. However, I would like to ask if you are sure that the "Escape to Mars"
ending should be canon. Or was the demo just for show of the new system ??
Keep up the good work

[jack_norton]

I've decided to use that skill system only in the "social boss battles", but the rest of the game will be more similar to a standard VN like the first one
And yes that is the canon ending, I've already the plot outline planned, but still need to write (with the help of a native English speaker this time) the full story.
Some previews of the new artwork, Luke and Helen:

[HerrWeltkrieg]

I like the new Helen although I have pictured Luke to be dark haired and more complex due to age .... don't know why
I like the idea of social Boss battles it would be faaaaaaar tooo exhausting for you to do it for every dialog and faaaaaar tooo exhausting for player to keep track about every decision...... ( just to be sure Luke is in love with Tanya and vice versa right ) btw I like the new Helen but please keep her blue eyes

[jack_norton]

Yes the final image will have blue eyes, the artist fixed that already

[HerrWeltkrieg]

Great cause for some reason blue eyes are my Achilles Heel when it comes to women
spoiler: and even though she felt threatened by Tanya and acted stupid her eyes were worth it

[Obscura]

OMG, I adore the artwork for the game! Gorgeous! I'm typically not interested in m/f type games but I may have to get this for the art alone.

[jack_norton]

The sequel is not BxG only, you play as Tanya and Tina as well. It's still probably more male-oriented because of sci-fi and setting though