Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

A dark sci-fi visual novel: http://winterwolves.com/bionicheart.htm
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jack1974
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Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by jack1974 »

So yesterday had a moment of free time after Loren beta and amongst the other things, I started prototyping an idea I had for Bionic Heart 2, but I'm not sure is worth pursuing it, so I'd like some feedback :mrgreen:

I made a PC/Mac/Linux demo here:
games/BH2.zip

remember is just a prototype. I had some texts written by a good new writer I found, but some were added by me :)
So in practice how it works? The dialogue is RPG-style, with 4 base skills showed on top.
The skill level influence the amount of point you get when you pick a related answer. With each character you talk with, you'll have the possibility to see his "traits" which should suggest which are the right choices, and a "goal" to reach expressed in percentage. The game will go on differently if you reach the goal in each scene or not, but you don't get a "game over" screen (only in the prototype right now).

On bottom on the left there are "basic" choices, not related to any skill. On the right instead there are only skill related choices. The basic choices can have positive/negative effect but usually small changes, while the skill one have bigger changes.

The answers are colored based on the skill they refer to. For example, the first choice: "Tell him you're happy to be alone with him" is related to seduce skill, while "Tell him you're dangerous" to Intimidate skill and so on.

Now I'm not sure if to go on with this, because honestly is MUCH MUCH harder to make than a simple VN like the previous one. I liked the idea, but now that I implemented it, I realized what insane task it is, and after Loren I need something a bit more relaxing :mrgreen:

So unless I get 100 replies saying "this is an awesome idea" I'm thinking to just make the sequel like the first one, or maybe adding some dating/life sim gameplay element.
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by fleetp »

Awesome idea, but I'd probably buy BH2 just for Tanya.
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jack1974
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by jack1974 »

lol yes, I guessed for you was a no-brainer in any case :lol: thanks
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abnaxus
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by abnaxus »

I will give this a try.

As for Tanya, what made her half as cool to me was her voice-over. I really liked her voice. Hopefully she'll have same voice for sequel. :oops:
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jack1974
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by jack1974 »

Heh no, lost contacts with that person. However, while I don't know for sure, I think I could get Chambara's voice actress to voice her (check the battle voices video on my youtube channel to "hear" what I mean :mrgreen:).
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abnaxus
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by abnaxus »

I've tried the demo and I like the new system a lot.

I think, though, that also in the full game you should get a "game over" if you fail, rather than the game continuing (otherwise, I think there is not much point to it if the game just continues). Rather than use this new dialogue system for every conversation, I would save them for certain parts of the story where the character is in danger, imprisoned, trapped, held at gunpoint, etc. like a kind of "boss fight".

The game Deus Ex: Human Revolution actually had "social bossfights" like this, and I liked them a lot in that game as well.
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jack1974
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by jack1974 »

Thanks for the feedback.
Indeed that was the main problem for me. If I allowed the player to go on even if you fail the scene, wasn't making any sense to do the scene at all :mrgreen:
I might follow your suggestion, and make the scene only for the "boss fights". I am thinking also to remove the skills, since it is too easy if you know that a question is associated with a skill :) it should all based on players decisions.
But making the whole game based on this probably was a bad idea since people who liked the 1st game played it with normal choices.
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abnaxus
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by abnaxus »

I think for Tanya it makes sense that she is able to know information about the personality of the person she interacts with (brave - honest, etc.) and gauge how the person will react since she is a hyperadvanced robot.

But if the game has different characters to play with besides Tanya, I think these should not have these 'advantages'.

Maybe to compensate for Tanya having an easier time due to her being a robot, she should perhaps receive bigger penalty when she picks wrong option.
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jack1974
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by jack1974 »

Yes I wanted the game to have multiple PoV: Tanya, Luke, Tom, Tina.
Was hoping to catch more female audience this time by offering the possibility to play as a woman too. Even if this game, like the first one, will have lot of fanservice :oops:
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Aleema
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Re: Bionic Heart 2 - prototype

Post by Aleema »

Heh, well, playing the demo, I certainly didn't feel like straight women were the target audience, if you know what I mean ... Nothing wrong with how it is, but let's just be real about who's getting the most satisfaction from it. :P

I liked the system, but I wonder how often it will come up. If it's every time you talk to someone: too much. But if it's social bosses, that's cool.
Rollback sorta kills it, though. Or at least, the immediate response of whether or not that was a good or bad choice. So it was easy for me to rollback and find all the right answers without thinking at all.

I don't envy whoever is writing this. :)
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