HardLife v0.25804 (private beta)
Added 2018-09-17 02:32:52 +0000 UTCFinally, a stable build!
All 4 characters have been converted to the new stat and weight systems.
Save files from earlier versions won't work correctly, specifically your Slaves, Enemies, and other saved NPCs will not function correctly- in the case of the enemy encounter this could block gameplay.
Also, even though older player-character formats will convert, they will not have the correct ability-training-matrix, and thus will not benefit from the engine changes.
You may not see them straight away, but super-stats are now working... you will feel a significant difference as you play each character:
Cindy starts with Super-Physique rank 2
Tammi starts with Super-Endurance rank 2
Sue starts with Super-Strength rank 2
Lisa starts with Super-STR[5]. END[3], PHY[3]
The potential for all 4 girls has been greatly increased over unpowered characters.
Training/raising-stats has not yet been implemented under the new system, that is the next step, so don't panic. Exercising, Fighting, Draining, Surging, Spending-Karma, etc. will not change stats at this time.
Cindy, Tammi, and Sue's base-stats/levels were significantly raised, but they have negative-training-modifiers applied to return their final calculated stats back to their expected levels. Their stats will raise further and faster with this change than they would be able to with only the base-stats. Since level also affects combat, their fighting ability has also improved.
Lisa's base stats were left the same (120), but her negative-training-modifiers bring her calculated values to 60. Again, these modifiers can not only be overcome (once training is updated), but reversed into positive values. Because of her powers, she is effectively lifting weights as though she had STR 360, for reps that reflect PHY 240 - the result of which has her throwing cars 9x as far as she did with the old 120 base stats.
These changes should not only make the game more interesting, but bring out a unique style and feel for each character.
Cindy can pump weights for a fuckton of reps, Tammi can shrug off massive hits, and Sue can knock out people 5 times her size without breaking a sweat.
And Lisa is nigh unstoppable.
The Qi status conditions were expanded and shifted a bit. Instead of being unconscious at 0x(max qi), and dead around -1x, characters will now be:
Dazed at 0x
Unconscious at -1x
Comatose at -10x
Broken at -100x
Dead at -1,000x
Mangled at -10,000x
Torn Apart at -100,000x
Obliterated at -1,000,000x
At that final stage, they are beyond resurrecting, as there is nothing left of them or anything they were carrying.
Sue can Daze most opponents within about 3 hits.
Lisa tends to Break people in 1.
This expansion to the fatal range on what is essentially "energy disruption" type damage is needed for Sue's upcoming content (the school), and is far more appropriate for qi-disruption damage, which recovers very quickly.
Once the wounding system is added, right around the time weapons are, the risk of serious injury will return to fighting. This will also make becoming resistant to those weapons all the sweeter.
v0.26 is finally almost ready!
There will be an item-system refactor done sometime between engine v0.27 and v0.3. This will let us add gadgets like phones/computers, transformative items, and weapons to the game going forward.
We need the phone/computer for the job/income system in v0.3. And we'll need weapons for somewhere around v0.4-0.55 with the combat system upgrades.
