Memoirs of a Battle Brothel News

Hi everyone! This is probably the biggest update since the beginning of Early Access, so I’m pretty excited to get it out in the world. It was also somewhat exhausting to cram all this content into one update, so I'm also relieved it's finished. The combat overhaul in particular was much more work than even I anticipated, especially balancing the new skills and working out the bugs.

I’m also working on a big surprise. Since it’s still at a very early stage, I’ll simply leave you with this teaser image:




[h2]What’s in version 0.21?[/h2]

ACT II

Players can start ACT II at any time as long as they have finished the fourth quest in ANY faction chain. Starting ACT II will not cancel or expire any missions. At the end of ACT II, players can formally ally themselves with either the Traditionalist or Progressive guild factions, or continue to remain neutral.

ACT II can be accessed on Level 1 of the Guild Hall, with a floating quest marker, once the above conditions are met.

Diane, Zafra and Jasen’s romance quests

Romance quests for the final 3 companions. Zafra’s quest in particular is combat heavy and relatively difficult, although the new combat overhaul may make it more manageable. Due to time constraints, the sex scenes will be added next month.

Combat skill tree overhaul

Around 50 new combat skills added! A new subclass/specialization for each class! Two new Momentum skills for each existing subclass!

My gameplay design philosophy has always been to offer players more options. I understand this goes against most modern design philosophies, which prefer to streamline and reduce gameplay to appeal to wider audiences. That’s not something I generally agree with.

The biggest overhaul to the combat system is the increased attention on Momentum skills, which are bonus actions much like features. This will make combat much easier for many players, as it can dramatically increase the number of actions taken per turn. However, due to how powerful mid and late game enemies will be, I consider this possibly a necessary addition.

There are now a whopping 12 subclasses in the game! The skills added in this update are designed to help the subclasses focus more on their specialty. Additionally, each subclass now must be unlocked by spending two class points.

Due to some restrictions from the game engine, the new skill trees will not automatically update. Talking to Golgo will now prompt you to update your skill trees, with the option to skip.

Subclasses and their general roles:

Soldier Subclasses

Frontline Juggernaut - melee tank
Heavy Artillery - ranged AOE
Chem Rager - high mobility melee


Shaper Subclasses

Reality Warper - damage mage
Memory Weaver - debuff mage
Wudajin Disciple - very high mobility melee mage

Support Subclasses

Combat Engineer - well-rounded support
Battle Saint - melee healer
Drone Controller - summoner support

Vigilante Subclasses

Shadow Stalker - high-damage single target melee
Silent Vanguard - high-damage single target ranged
Troubleshooter - silencer/mage killer

Due to the overwhelming amount of new combat options, I haven’t had enough time to thoroughly bugtest as much as I’d like, so expect some bugs.

I have also added a new category of weapons: Less-than-lethal weapons. For now this includes a whip and taser, and they can be found in the Saint Gorfu gunshop. Likewise due to time constraints, additional items will be added at a later date.



Bugfixes:

• Various typos in the Skill Trees have been fixed
  
• Reputation loss from attacking factions in the overworld have been greatly increased
  
• Relationship bugs have been fixed
  
• All summoning skills have been rebuilt and switched to direct control
  
• Summoning errors should now be fixed
  

Hi everyone! Got a relatively big update coming at the end of August which will advance the Guild storyline, introduce some new characters, introduce relationship quests for Diana, Zafra and Jasen, and a big combat overhaul.


Act II

The option to start Act II will be available as soon as the player completes the fourth quest in any faction chain. There is no time limit and starting Act II will not expire any quests or game content.

Act II will move the Guild Civil War plotline forward and introduce two new characters (leaders for the Progressives and Traditionalists) who can be romanced later on in development. Players will also be able to formally declare their support for either faction, or continue to remain neutral.

Diana, Zafra, Jasen relationship quests

The update will also include three short encounters with Diana, Zafra and Jasen. Upon reaching trust level 19 with these characters, you can start to romance them. Diana’s romance quest is the longest, involving a trip to Cellerdown and meeting some of her family, while Zafra’s is probably the hardest, as she challenges you to lengthy sparring session. Unfortunately, I will probably not have time to add new sex scenes until next month.

Combat overhaul

I will be adding additional weapons, armor, and items to the game, as well as revising some of the skills on the current skill tree, and adding new ones. The biggest changes will probably be a new subclass for each class, as per the original crowdfunding stretch goals, and more skills that rely on Momentum. Currently all momentum skills are essentially game-winners that cost full (100) momentum to use, but I will be adding new ones that cost less (and are less powerful as well).

And of course, bug fixes and some changes due to your suggestions. I’ll see you at the end of August!

Hi everyone, version 0.20.1 is now live!

As usual, the update ended up being bigger than I expected. In addition to new quests, new music and some bugfixes, the star of this update will be the new relationship mechanic.

At least, it started out as a relationship mechanic, but I eventually rebuilt companion dialogue altogether. The new framework, while a bit complex, is robust and introduces new features, such as being able to gauge companion trust, how many times you’ve had sex with that companion, and the new relationship options. Additionally, lots of new greeting dialogue have been added depending on whether you’re in a relationship or not.

I intend on adding much more to the dialogue system to make it more realistic and immersive. I think by the game’s full launch, it will probably be one of the most detailed dialogue systems in gaming, at least for something that is not AI-driven.

The relationship system itself is also fairly easy to understand. All companions will be available for a relationship once the player has sex with them at least once, and reaches a certain trust level (different depending on the companion). This excludes Diana, Zafra and Jasen for now as their romance paths will be added to the game next month.

Just like real life, if your relationship ends up in flames, expect that companion to act differently towards you.

More on relationships in the full log below.


[h2]Full changelog:[/h2]


Bug fixes:

• Hatsuo dialogue bug
  
• Jasen trust level 6 dialogue bug
  
• Cellerdown NPC dialogue typos
  
• Dockside NPC dialogue typos
  
• Gregarion dialogue typo
  
• Optimized some maps for better performance
  

New music

Added several new synth tracks to the game, increasing the total number of background exploration music to 29 tracks, and battle music to 34!


The Bloody Hawk 4th quest

Shrike has gathered some additional clues, including a fresh lead on the Hawk. Meet new characters and (depending on your choices) an old one as well.

Iron and Velvet 4th quest

Iron Gregarion has another task for you: stealing the Seafoam Throne from another syndicate.

Amy Seagrave 2nd quest

You are cordially invited to Seagrave's posh penthouse, and as expected, she has a favor to ask.


Relationships

A true relationship mechanic is something I've been working on for some time now and I'm sure that many people will be happy that it's finally coming to the game. For now, the mechanic only deals with your 9 companions. After successfully romancing a companion (usually indicated by having sex with them) and reaching a certain trust level, there'll be a dialogue option to choose what type of relationship you want to enter with them. There will be three options, and not all companions will have access to all three: Closed/Exclusive, Open, and Harem.

Closed relationships:
Standard, monogamous relationship. Some companions (Zafra, Diana, Jasen) will only agree to this type of relationship. If you have sex with another character, and your current partner finds out about it, they'll likely break up with you the next time you talk to them. A warning will be triggered beforehand. Closed relationships are available to all companions.

Open relationships:
In an open relationship, the player is able to pursue other characters, and so is your partner. Some characters, such as Thassia, will prefer this as they as still very much active as a courtesan. Having sex with other characters will not be considered cheating and you can have more than one open relationship.

Harem:
The harem option is a one-sided open relationship. The player can pursue other characters, but your partners will not.

Breaking up: You can leave your partner at any time, although breaking up will incur a large trust penalty.

Cheating: Having sex with other characters while in a closed relationship may lead to a break up and also a very large trust penalty.

Changing relationship type: With some companions, you will have the option to change the type of relationship you have, such as going from open to closed.

[This is now outdated and will be revised]

Hi everyone! As we reached the end of the last roadmap I figured it’s the right time to put another up.

Like always, some things might get moved around depending on time and this is by no means set in stone. Here’s what I’m planning on for the next few months in development!


[h2]August: Act 2, combat overhaul, romances for Diana, Zafra, Jasen[/h2]

This is a big one. August will see a number of content updates, the biggest being more story content, a big combat overhaul and finally romances for the last three companions.

The story content will introduce Act 2, which is fairly… explosive. Expect a larger Guild (not faction) quest that will involve all of your companions and introduce new Guild characters. And maybe finally give the player a sense of what is really going on.

The combat overhaul will add new weapons, armor, items, and most importantly, a much-needed overhaul to the current skill system and skill tree. There’s a fair amount of redundant, over/underpowered and sometimes buggy skills that make combat not as fun as it can be.

My new design philosophy is to give a greater emphasis to weapons/items for skills that take full actions, while introducing more features (skills that take no action).

Also rounding out the companion romances with options for Zafra, Diana and Jasen. Expect to put a bit more extra work in to get there, as well as higher trust requirements than other characters.


[h2]September: Story content, faction reputation, pursuers[/h2]

In September we’ll be getting back to The Abyss and The Coming Storm questlines, as well as implementing faction rep and pursuers on the overworld map.

In The Abyss, we’ll finally venture into the dreaded Valley of Pillars, that is, if the player can get past the Gate Guardian.

For the Coming Storm, Dejah Mars will be tasking the player to take out some vital infrastructure in MoonFall.

A more detailed faction reputation mechanic will also be implemented. I originally intended to introduce this mechanic much earlier, but had a hard time figuring how to make it fun and not frustrating.

Having too high of a reputation with one faction will net you a warning from their rivals. Go even beyond that, and their rivals may consider you an enemy. But these factions are large organizations. Some individuals will still want to work with you, but others may want you dead and put out a contract on you.

Faction rivalry:

Guild Progressives ->Stormbreakers ->The Old Watch ->Three Moons ->The Board ->Traveler’s Mandate ->
That leads to the Pursuers. As their name suggests, Pursuers will actively try to hunt the player down on the overworld map if there is a contract on their head.

Pursuers are difficult enemies and one of the few that will be scaled to the player’s Esteem (not level). They are also very fast… but a canny player will have several options to deal with them besides just combat. You can even pay them off to report you dead… but that will only fool their faction for so long.



[h2]October: Story content, sexy orgy stuff, Guild Hall upgrades[/h2]

October will see more story content, new guild hall upgrades, new sex scenes, and perhaps most anticipated: sex scenes that involve more than one partner.

For the Iron and Velvet questline, Iron Gregarion will be moving against his enemies both in and outside of the cartel.

In the Bloody Hawk, Shrike sends you on a fact-finding mission to learn more about the famous shaper that has resurfaced.

Finally, new sex scenes, of both the pixel and line art variety! Got some useful feedback about the new lineart scenes, so I will be making some changes (especially to the faces). I will also be adding multi-character scenes for those players who want to indulge in open and harem relationships.

Hi everyone!

Here's a sneak peek for the update scheduled for the end of July. As usual, full changelog will be posted with the update.




The Bloody Hawk 4th quest

Shrike has gathered some additional clues, including a fresh lead on the Hawk. Meet new characters and (depending on your choices) an old one as well.

Iron and Velvet 4th quest

Iron Gregarion has another task for you: stealing the Seafoam Throne from another syndicate.

Amy Seagrave 2nd quest

You are cordially invited to Seagrave's posh penthouse, and as expected, she has a favor to ask.


Relationships

A true relationship mechanic is something I've been working on for some time now and I'm sure that many people will be happy that it's finally coming to the game. For now, the mechanic only deals with your 9 companions. After successfully romancing a companion (usually indicated by having sex with them), there'll be a dialogue option to choose what type of relationship you want to enter with them. There will be three options, and not all companions will have access to all three: Closed/Exclusive, Open, and Harem.

Closed relationships:
Standard, monogamous relationship. Some companions (Zafra, Diana, Jasen) will only agree to this type of relationship. If you have sex with another character, and your current partner finds out about it, they'll likely break up with you the next time you talk to them. Closed relationships are available to all companions.

Open relationships:
In an open relationship, the player is able to pursue other characters, and so is your partner. Some characters, such as Thassia, will prefer this as they as still very much active as a courtesan. Having sex with other characters will not be considered cheating and you can have more than one open relationship.

Harem:
The harem option is a one-sided open relationship. The player can pursue other characters, but your partners will not. Players also need a relatively high trust value to unlock this. Otherwise, it's the same as open relationships.

Breaking up: You can leave your partner at any time, although breaking up will incur a large trust penalty.

Cheating: Having sex with other characters while in a closed relationship may lead to a break up and also a very large trust penalty.

Changing relationship type: With some companions, you will have the option to change the type of relationship you have, such as going from open to closed.


New music
I will be adding some new looping tracks to the game, including more synth tracks by Isidor.