Quest Failed: Chapter Two - Dev Log #26

Hi there, guys! Apologies for the slight delay in this post--it ended up more elaborate than I realised and I really wanted to take my time on it and make sure it was formatted in a neat manner.

For today's dev log, as per your votes, we'll be taking a more in-depth look into some of Quest Failed: Chapter Two's mechanics. Maybe the lore post regarding the undead can still come at a later date if it interests people? (Though maybe undead aren't too exciting of a topic?)

I was debating on which format I should lay out this dev log, but I decided a play-by-play of each section, broken down with some screenshots to illustrate things might be the best way to go about it, along with giving me the chance to show off some screenshots of how far along Chapter Two has come.

So, we'll be looking at what's known as a 'free day' for our brave adventurer. A free day is essentially a day that isn't connected to any crucial plot elements and allows you to decide how Matt spends the day at your own leisure.

FREE DAY - MORNING

Having had a good night's sleep, Matt's mornings will almost always begin at the inn that he's temporarily staying at while in the capital city.

From here, he'll more often than not have a small conversation with the inn's shrewd owner, Anna. These conversations are unique to each day and will sometimes change depending on Matt's actions in previous days. Whether he's on 'friendly' terms with her or not, or if she's noticed something strange about some of his recent trips out...there'll be a lot of different outcomes!

While she might not look it given her often...'shifty' disposition, Anna is a very hospitable person, always keen to offer breakfast to our brave adventurer-to-be, ensuring that he eats right and takes care of himself. She also ensures he doesn't sleep in if he has important business to attend to on that particular day. (Summoned by the Queen, etc.)

After fully waking up, Matt will then head out, finding himself in Rhan's bustling market district. This is where the free day's choices will open, giving him a wealth of options to choose from.

You can explore most of these options to see what they might offer without being locked into a choice right away. Most will generally come with a confirmation beforehand which will be a cue to show that this is what Matt will spend his day doing. For example, you can go to the church and talk with the ever faithful nun, June, and this won't use up the day. But if you were to then donate to the church...well...the following events that happen as a result would definitely 'occupy' Matt for a while!

If you choose to leave Rhan via the city gates without a quest in mind, this will allow you to visit places you might have previously been to. At the start, this will only be the campsite that Jilly, Tari and Ruby have set up for themselves outside the city wall, but the more quests and encounters that you have with new monster girls, the more places that will open up to allow you to interact with them outside of predetermined goals and build up your relationships with them. So there's quite a lot going on with each in-game day!

For now though, we'll take a look at the Quest Board and see what it might have to offer!

Like other in-game events, side quests themselves are also dynamic in that the availability of certain quests will change on set days. Some quests will become unavailable as time passes by and new ones will take their place--along with some quests only becoming available as other ones are comple--...uh...failed.

Side quests are a large part of the game alongside the main narrative running alongside them, each containing their own smaller stories. You can ignore every single side quest if you wanted, but you would miss out on a lot of unique areas and characters that you'll never see otherwise.

For now, let's pick a quest and see what happens. 'Treasure Hunt' sounds like it should be easy!

And we're off! It's worth noting, too, that some quests will have expenses tied to them depending on what will be required of our adventurer-to-be. For example, this 'Treasure Hunt' quest costs 50 gold to initiate, as Matt refuses to delve into dark ruins without a torch, wishing to be prepared unlike his last excursion into a tomb... Mrrrr...

As mentioned, once you select a quest, you'll be locked into it for the duration, no longer able to explore the city freely for the portion of that day. So make sure you've poked around the shops and other areas to avoid missing out on optional bonus scenes!

Quests aren't entirely linear, though. In some cases, Matt will be given a choice in how he wishes to tackle them, often resulting in different outcomes for better or worse!

In this 'Treasure Hunt' quest's case, however, Matt decides it's best to go solo, not wishing to risk bringing his monsterpals along with him in case archaeologists are on-site. (Totally not just a flimsy excuse to have him on his own for the eventual 'failure', ahuhu)

Ahh, what luck! Treasure! That didn't take long. Perhaps our brave adventurer's luck is finally on the rise? Let's just...pop open this chest and--

O-oh. Never mind. It ended up about as well as expected. Oh well, at least he's still alive! Somehow... There's always tomorrow.

For now, our brave adventurer-to-be carries himself back to Rhan on weary feet, evening having arrived.

FREE DAY - EVENING

And now we've reached the evening segment of a free day where Rhan's market district is in a far more peaceful, sleepy state. Here you're still given options to choose from, though they're a bit more limited than in the day. Shops will be closed and you'll be unable to take quests late at night, but maybe there's still excitement to be found in Rhan's nightlife? For one, the church's windows seem to have lights on... Hmmmmm...

Well, today was a bit of an exhausting day for our poor adventurer-to-be, and he's been through enough so we'll just head back to the inn.

Much like in the morning, each evening at the inn will bring about a different set of events as residents and visitors of Rhan settle down for a drink. You'll see familiar faces come and go and even a few new ones from time to time! Conversations and who you might see visiting will also be determined by things such as what actions you've taken previously, what people you've met before and so on.

(Ren and Cynthia graphics are the old ones still right now but I hope to replace all instances of their old graphics in later alpha builds)

Why, it looks like two high-ranking figures from the Royal Army are off-duty and enjoying a drink. Let's listen in and see what kinds of conversations they might be having!

Ohh... I see they, uh...get along well...!

Moving swiftly along...

After a baffling interaction with a drunken ninja and a stern knight, it's finally time to call it a night. Thus, ending one of his free days. Sleep well, Matt. Maybe tomorrow will bring more success?

----

And that about brings our play-by-play look at one of the in-game days! While I was purposely vague in some areas to avoid spoiling TOO much, I hope this gives a better insight to the possibilities that are open for Matt, showing just one small route possible in one day of many. I think, with the way things are structured, it's going to be impossible to find/do everything in any one given playthrough. But this way you can focus on the girls you like the most without trying to balance too much between things.

This format was a bit different than usual, but I was trying to do a bit more than just one screenshot and a couple of paragraphs of text like my last dev logs to see if it's more engaging for you guys. Let me know what you think of the format, if you prefer the old style!

Until the next time~