Lazy Bloodlines
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Sandbox?
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 14:06:20 +0000 UTCFirst off, I want to thank you all for your support and feedback on our previous update. AMAZING feedback. The reception was somewhat mixed (more positive than negative, but still. Critiques are just as crucial as praises. If you took your time to write a good critique, you probably care about this project and want to see it improving, and I appreciate that a lot) - while most of you enjoyed it, some valid concerns were raised, and I'd like to address them with you.
About the narrative pacing: I understand why it might feel like it's slowing down. Sometimes this contrast is necessary to make the more intense moments feel earned. This feeling was probably amplified by the delays between updates (a lot more than it should've). But now that we've laid all the groundwork for the upcoming conflicts - both in the criminal underworld and the college power circles - things are about to pick up speed again (and by a lot).
For those concerned about character development: I'm not a fan of the Mary Sue stereotype. Every character has their own flaws, dreams, ambitions, concerns, traumas, strengths, and experiences. It's just a matter of time before we explore them all. (I haven't forgotten you, Ashley :( )
We're getting close to our next update, and I'll be posting some previews soon (I'd like to run another poll before that). As we've discussed, I want to improve the frequency of updates. This means they'll be shorter but released more often. Most importantly, this will help me maintain a quicker narrative pace for now.
Speaking of which, I'm really curious about your views on sandbox elements in the narrative. I know I've asked this before, but it's been quite a while, and I'd love to hear your current thoughts. How do you feel about sandbox elements in a Visual Novel?
Do you see them as just extra clicks and prefer to focus on the story? Do you enjoy sandbox elements? What about a middle ground - where you can use sandbox features for extra content and easier gameplay but can skip them if you're not in the mood?
What are your thoughts?
Comments
RMZ
Actually just thought of maybe one scenario: A mission with multiple ways to handle it
Fired Fox
completely agree
RMZ
A sandbox can be a fitting gameplay element, but it rarely is. if you're using it to free roam at a party and there is actually multiple things to do, they're fine. If you base your entire game around one with a world map and everything, but in the end all you can do is one thing and it's just extra clicks to get there, it's horribly annoying. Even worse if we're talking repeating events to grind love scores etc. I can't really see how it would benefit this game tbh. It seems like a very straight forward story with the occasional "side quest date", but it's also not like they would make any sense out of order.
