Course of Temptation Dev Diary #45

Hello friends! With Friday comes dev diary time, and so here we are. How are you? What's new?

This week has been occupied by piling some more stuff into the July update before it goes public this weekend.

Out of this, the headline feature is probably the new Findr app, which will help players to find NPCs with particular traits. It's essentially a vehicle for scheduling dates and booty calls with specific types of NPCs you might otherwise have a difficult time running into, and I suspect it'll become a large piece of certain playstyles. You can test it out right now in the current early access build, and it'll get some further refinement ahead of public release.

Another type of group hangout has been added for dominant player characters where they can hang out with all their subs. This is pretty similar to the polycule hangout where the context is mostly just about socializing and relaxing. I have some ideas percolating for further fleshing out D/s content and the library basement location, but I will probably not get to them before Sunday.

I also spent some time writing this week, and the storyline with the roommate and their partner is now one major event longer, integrating them with the relationship system and unlocking free interaction with these characters. This is not the final word for them, and down the line I'll be wanting to create specific content for them and the two paths you can take with them.

I'll be spending today working on miscellaneous items on the todo list and some outlining of my D/s and library ideas. We're coming up on the public release deadline, so I'll probably focus on checking off as many smaller items as I can until that time comes. Public release will happen on Sunday with an updated changelog.

The next major roadmap update

As you know if you've been here a while, we do a parallel dev cycle — part of the month is spent cooking up updates that will come out the following month (which has ended up always being on the 7th) and part of the month is spent on a major update that will check off a roadmap item, which is developed on a longer timescale.

So, basically, it's time to pick which roadmap item will be tackled next and get started on it this month.

As I've said before, I'd like this update to be relatively tightly scoped and stick to one career or location. Giving more options for making money and other areas you can spend time focusing on is a good idea at this stage, I think. I'd also like for it to have its own unique mechanics and a sense of progression, so that, at least to some degree, it's something you upgrade over time. Also, of course, each one will come with a bunch of erotic scenes. And it should be fun!

So, looking at the roadmap, that immediately suggests some possibilities:

• Working at the River Rat: This would be my pick, as I've had ideas bouncing around about this since before release! Start as a server, either be a pleaser (compliant) or accept no nonsense from anybody (assertive). Work your way up to making management decisions and upgrading the bar. D/s skillraises, lots of sexy scenes, and a mini management sim.

• Strip club: A new hangout, content for leisure time, as well as a new job possibility. Start small, catch attention, and work your way up to being a headliner on the pole. Private shows, lapdances, even leaving the premises to entertain at parties. Not hard to imagine how we'll make this sexy, probably!

• Delivery boy/girl: A gig app has you delivering food around town, maybe campus too, working for tips. How far will you go for a good tip? If you get a reputation, you might find yourself on call for services besides food delivery. A possibility this will come with a vehicle system as an upgrade path.

• Student tutor: Good grades don't come easily to everyone. Become a tutor for hire, meeting up with students to help improve their grades. The question is, what will you have to do to motivate some of these students? You know what this place is like.

These are my ideas! There are also things like Greek houses or the campus lake location that wouldn't represent a new career opportunity but do fit the bill when it comes to focusing on a single location. Or do you have ideas of your own? I'll let this simmer a couple days and see what discussion comes of it, and then I'll put up a poll to finalize the decision.

But for now, that's all for me! Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, and as always, an enormous thanks for your support!