Gameplay analysis and some suggestions

[Kichiku]

I binged through a lot of the game but not the whole, I just want to share some of my thoughts on what felt great and what felt not so great.

# Mechanics:
1. Time progression: This is basically a must have since the game is about wheight gain progression. Without time it wouldn't feel like a game but more like an image galery. I like how it is simplified to general times of the day and the game doesn't use a clock model like a lot of online games. This makes considering the options of what to do and when to do it a lot easier for the player. However just compare going to work with school. It is explicitly stated that we as the MC online really go to this one class. Having Daisy eat something or talk a bit or have a contest can't possible have the same impact on your daily time as working or going to the gym. Same goes for shopping a bit or reading a book.

Suggestion: Would it maybe be an idea that *smaller* events only progress the daytime half a cycle. So working or visiting someone would take you from afternoon to evening, while reading a book could take you from early afternoon to late afternoon or whatever. This wouldn't complicate the time management system while making it feel more natural to spend time on things.

2. The gallery: Quite the essential feature again as it allows you to track the progress of the characters and also compare their current state with other points in time. The ability to relive core memories is also pretty nice indeed. However, since the wardrobe of the characters changes sometimes and since they aren't perfectly centered this takes away from the experience somewhat.

Suggestion: Make the 3D model interactive in the sense that you can turn them around 360 degrees, This would allow the user to see the models in different angles. Just a lot of positives without negatives.

3. Having shown options when there is only one (specifically in bunny bites how you prepare the food): On the upside this allows you to see that there is another option one can unlock. On the other hand this disrupts the flow of the playthrough since your mind will wonder of the current story and you will reflect on where you could have missed something.

Suggestion: If there is only one option available currently for a decision just autotake it and let it look like it is the normal story. Maybe in the future add guides so players who just want to 100% certain characters can do that effectively without having to follow an external guide.

4. Having Daisy lecture you on topics in school: Really a great feature. Mind boggling that most other games streamline the classroom and won't let you choose what you are interested in. That said, since most players already know most of what she is going to tell you on the specific topics it takes away from the tension.

Suggestion: Having visual aids for what she is lecturing would make it indefinitely more interesting to follow through. She has a chalk board behind her, why not use it? This can include small sketches like a table for the difference between a bbw, ssbbw and ussbbw. So it doesn't have to be a lot, but just something so you don't want to just skip everything once you've read over the key words.

5. the eating contests in class: Again very very cool. These events however lack any interactivity which makes them loose appeal when their novelty fades.

Suggestion: Have you thought of including mini games? For the eating contests for example we could turn them into quick time events or whatever. The better you perform, the more Daisy eats and gains subsequentially. Same goes for food preperation in bunny bites. It would make these parts of the game so much less repetitive if there was some interactivity that let's you influence the gain of the characters.

6. Choosing what foods to give to characters. The characters already like very different kinds of foods. Why not allow the player to either give them those or stuff they don't like. Have them tell the player what they enjoy and measuring how you do would be really cool.

Suggestion: Instead of the universal charisma point system give each charachter an individual trust point system towards you. Let events, wheter you show up and if you actually keep track of their desired foods influence how close you get to them. In the long term fleshing this feature out will probably be important anyway but for now, just implement like 3 options of food in the bakey and in bunny bites you can buy and have characters desire different foods between feeding sessions. Especially in the class with daisys stuffings it feels so unsatisfying to just open the same menu every time and basically randomly choosing some food without getting any reaction out of her.

7. Reading books: I feel like instead of having to spend several time slots on a book to unlock one feature of the game this could be implemented better.

Suggestion: Like with Daisys lectures it would feel so natural to have the character read out like one or to pragraphs about the books topic and reflect on it each time you read it. This would give the things you unlock much more context instead of just having the books title being loosely connected to the feature.

Conclusion: Great game with loads of potential. I tried to keep my suggestions broad and not to hard to implement. If I go through the demo again I'll add more suggestions especially regarding the great characters.

[bladerune9]

Thank you for the in-depth feedback on the game. Feedback like this is invaluable and greatly helps me make decisions on how to develop the game further.
On that note I want to talk a bit about the points you made.

1. Time Progressions: A smaller event that would only occupy half a timeslot is a good idea, but I think it might be better to work on this issue from another end. There are a few activities in the game currently that feel like either a waste of time or they repeat too often. The university classroom sequence is probably the biggest issue in this regard. I am working on a few solutions for this currently.

First off, the university classroom sequence is getting a large overhaul where there are more choices in what you would want to do during this time. In this current version you have the option to hangout with Hari, but in future updates there will be two additional characters with whom you'll be able to spend time.

Daisy's lessons will also be more more engaging, with some new events, quizzes and some guests who will teach you a thing or two.

2. The Gallery(The stats menu): Your suggestion would be the ideal solution, but having an intractable 3D model is not something that is easily done in the visual novel game engine I use to make the game(it might not even be possible at all).

Thus I decided to add two options to the portrait, an option to undress the character and an option to turn the character around. The undress option will be locked until you have progressed through the character's story enough.

Another thing that I'll add in a later update will be the option to see the stats from a previous stage, so that you can also compare the numbers.

3. Having shown options when there is only one: This is an interesting point you make here. I'll honestly have to poll what others think about this. I could see people wanting to know where there might be unlock-able options. But like you said it might be better not to show it because people might feel like they are missing out on something. I have yet to decide on this.

A Guide would probably a good idea when the game is finished.

4. Daisy's lectures: I touched on this point before, there will be some visuals and guests to make this part a bit more interesting. drawings on the board is a cool idea though, I'll have to see if that would work with what I had planned.

5. Minigames: I am not sure if people want to have to do minigames in a game like this. But more interactivity is definitely a thing I would like to achieve, I think it can be done without minigames though.

6. Different foods: While this options is very cool, it is certainly something I would love to have in the game. I would have to make all the food the characters eat line up visually with what you give them. I'm not sure if that is worth all the extra time spend on making all those extra visuals.

This might be something I'll eventually get to if the game is finished and I feel like adding more to it.

Daisy's stuffings are going to be changed in design, where you'll no longer choose a specific food for her to eat. They also only happen on Fridays. You'll have three options, 1. Give her nothing 2. Give her a small offering 3. Give her a large offering
These offerings will be taken away from the amount of food you are holding with you.
Even if you offer her nothing, the rest of the class still has brought her something.
Daisy will choose herself what she'll be eating, and the more you offer the more she eats and the more stuffed she gets.

7. Reading books: Books are kinda wack in the in this current iteration. Having the character reflect on the part they read with a bit of dialogue is a really good idea, I'll certainly add that. Besides that though, I think there needs to be something else changed about the book system, and I haven't yet decided on how to make the system better.

I'm glad you enjoyed the game so far, feel free to give more feedback whenever you feel like it.
Thank You,
Bladerune9