Goal

What are we setting out to do here?

First and foremost: a game that's being developed towards a finite and clear end, rather than milking patrons.

I'm sick and tired of watching good games flounder because of feature bloat and a (natural?) desire for more monies. The subscription-style of patronage certainly influences the latter.

Vision

What is this game? A sex-pionage adventure game where our MC is thrust into the position of being the only option to go undercover and potentially save not just her estranged mother, but also the country. She has none of the requisite skills, none of the training or experience, but the agency has no other options and...well, you'll get there.

Time is of the essence.

The format of the game will be 'sandbox' where there will be mission lines that have gated parameters, so each release will allow the players to reach another checkpoint, each of which has options for what path they want to attempt.

Each path may lock or unlock others, may increase or decrease overall success, may increase or decrease skills and personality traits, and some may be time-gated.

Once the MC has completed the objective, yay! game over win. If she runs out of time or fails, uh-oh! super bad game over loss.

Frequent Responses

I don't want to create delays and fatten the product with bells and whistles that are unnecessary. If you, the patrons, want something strongly enough, we'll work on including it and developing it out. But that's because you think it'll make Blue Swallow better, and are willing to deal with the 'consequences'.

And what about the story? We've finished the Prologue, we're diving into the spy story.

I have a beat sheet of people that Claire could encounter and how they interrelate with the larger story, I have an arc of progression for where she needs to go to succeed. But do I have a full storyboard? No. Will there be multiple ways to achieve victory and loss? Absolutely. Are they perfectly defined? No.

There will be flex and give as you all influence the story, as it naturally evolves, and as collaborators add their touches, flair and guidance.

The development is as much a Choose Your Own Adventure as the game is.