[1.19] Random Bar Encounters test report

Hey guys! Yesterday we released a short beta test of a new feature, Random Bar Encounters, to Operators+.

Feedback is positive so far, with several good suggestions and critiques.

What it is
Right now, the heroine (referred to in internal docs as “Kate”)’s work shifts are scripted. I wanted to test whether the player experience is improved by randomising the bar patrons that the she gets in a night.

How it works
A scripted sequence gets Kate to the start of her shift. Then, the beta test randomly picks one of five available customer encounters:

• Some new customers complain she isn’t smiling enough
• Kate notices an Irish expat regular is having a rough day
• An old Thai man comes in to ogle the naked farang girls
• Kate observes a negotiation between Ping and a potential client
• Some American golf buddies come in and take a shine to Kate

What Operators think
Generally it’s been well received so far! Several Operators suggested that encounters should escalate (i.e. completing one encounter can trigger follow up encounters with the same customer). I’m really pleased that people suggested it, it means they can see the potential of Kate gradually building up relationships with various patrons. I’m happy to confirm the system is set up to support this!

• Comawhyte sees an opportunity for the community to contribute characters and encounters, which I think would be awesome!
• Lawhorn and Lost in the Woods suggested some good ideas for tailored encounters based on Kate’s specific features (i.e. encounters that only fire if she’s busty, has certain tattoos, etc). I think this is a good idea and the code can support this.
• Lawhorn also pointed out that one of the encounters missed an opportunity to tailor it to Masochistic heroines. I agree with this 100%
• XG liked the encounters, but would prefer to see dev time spent on adding more player choices and options to scripted scenes. I think this is a very important point, and it’s actually something I think the community could sink their teeth into in order to speed it along. (More on this Soon™)
• joel Chrisman and SolidFocus702 asked if the code is set up to prevent the same encounters from repeating – the answer is “Yes”, a random encounter is removed from the deck after use.

My thots

• When I first sat down to write these encounters, it was really challenging. I only had very vague ideas about what the encounters should be, and I wasn’t sure they’d be interesting enough
• As I worked on it, more and more ideas popped into my head. I’ve now got way more ideas for these than I had time to implement
• I feel like the randomness helps capture one of the things that makes bartending interesting in real life, which is meeting a mix of new people and regulars, and not knowing in advance who they’ll be. I think it might help the player get more into Kate’s (pretty, impractical) shoes
• Something I found surprisingly hot was switching Kate’s attention from one customer to the next. There’s something really hot about Kate flirting with one guy who’s groping her, then moving straight onto another one 🥵 Nobody mentioned this in feedback so maybe it’s just me (or maybe it’s something I need to bring out more)
• Spoiler: introducing all these regulars and building up relationships with them is going to make Kate’s first shift as an actual bargirl so incredibly fucking hot right 🔥🔥🔥

Okay! I’m going to let this beta test percolate around and get more feedback before I work on it any more. I have a family wedding this weekend 🥳 so I need a couple of days off now (but some enforced rest is probably a good thing for the project, nobody wants a frazzled workaholic in charge of something important).

Next work task for me is to start building the scenes from the finished 1.19 Beat Sheet into an actual storyboard. I’m hoping to make fast progress on this and will report how it’s going at the end of the week. See you then, and have a greta weekend everybody!