Changelog: 0.3.4 - Sanctuary in Time

Greetings, one and all!

Version 0.3.4 is about to go live! We've got tons of updates this month, which include extensive changes to how personalities affect both skills & duty assignments, a whole new "coaching" feature that allows the training of a follower past their natural inhibitions, newly recruitable historical figures, new Gene Lab options, and much more! So, dive in and check it out!

These updates are coming to the Patron Edition first, then 30 days later they'll be released for the Standard Edition as well.

As usual, if you find any bugs or typos, have suggestions to make, or just want to wax poetic about Sanctuary in Time, feel free to comment below, send me a direct message, or email me at max DOT ingram AT novusoperandigames DOT com.

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)

Sanctuary in Time is a text-based, adult game with sci-fi & RPG elements! Your father's just been murdered. He was the God of Time. Now, it's your turn! Save damsels from dark corners of history; train them as warriors, courtesans, or workers. Build your forces. Expand & upgrade your citadel. And survive the enemies that seek your death!

Save files from previous versions of the game should be compatible w/ this version. See installation instructions on the File Download page for details on how to transfer save files.

Special Thanks:

• Thank you to user Dark (from the audiogames.net forum), for providing detailed feedback and suggestions on the game. Those helped inspire many of the personality-based updates in this release, as well as the inclusion of historical figures for recruitment.

Feature Update: Starting skills are now based on personality!

Previously, the skills of newly recruited followers had no connection to their personalities. You might get a follower with no pre-existing skills, a level of ‘beginner’ in one skill, or a level of ‘beginner’ in two skills. But the skills themselves were randomly assigned. Now, however, they’re not. The skills a follower starts with are now assigned based on their personality type. (Only the skills of new recruits will be affected by this change, not those of existing followers.)

• Confident followers are outgoing and versatile, but also somewhat prideful. They find themselves good at many things, but they’re not always willing to do menial tasks. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Combat, Courtship, or Medical.
• Shy followers are introverted and more timid than others. They enjoy the solitude afforded by academic study or the behind-the-scenes anonymity of menial labor. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Medical or Caretaking.
• Seductive followers are sensual and comfortable with their own bodies, as well as the bodies of others. They enjoy both giving and receiving pleasure, and sometimes find themselves drawn to the healing arts as well. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Courtship or Medical.
• Naïve followers are inexperienced and less sure of themselves than others. They prefer the certainty afforded by academic study, or the simplicity of menial labor. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Medical or Caretaking.
• Reserved followers are focused and serious individuals, good at compartmentalizing their emotions. They tend to do well in high-stress professions that require tremendous dedication. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Combat or Medical.
• Nurturing followers are natural empaths and take joy in providing for the needs of others. They may start with a level of ‘beginner’ in Courtship, Medical, or Caretaking.

Feature Update: Personalities now affect job performance!

Depending on a follower’s personality type, they will now be assigned bonuses or penalties that affect their chances for success in their weekly duty assignment.

• The weekly Duty Assignments report will now mention a follower’s personality, as well as how it affects their chances for success in their current role.
• Followers can now be affected by 3 tiers of bonuses (minor, moderate, and significant), as well as 3 matching tiers of penalties depending on their combination of personality and duty assignment, while some combinations may not affect performance at all.
• Followers will now find it easier, harder, or sometimes even impossible to progress unaided in certain roles depending on the personality type they have.
• Although this update is fully compatible w/ previous save files, it also significantly changes how followers respond to their duty assignments, so I recommend starting a new playthrough for best results.

New Feature: Coaching followers to overcome their limitations!

Now that followers generate with skills appropriate to their personalities & those personalities also significantly affect their chances to succeed at certain jobs, you’ll find that some followers are just naturally better at certain assignments while being naturally worse at others. In fact, some personality types will find it nearly impossible to progress in certain duty assignments unaided (e.g. a ‘shy’ follower trying to be a Courtesan). So, that’s where Coaching comes in!

• A new area has been added to the interface, labeled ‘Your Activities’. This encompasses the new ‘Coaching’ button which allows you to start and stop a coaching regimen for a follower, as well as the ‘Generate NPC’ button if the appropriate cheat option is enabled.
• A new keyboard shortcut has been added to quickly shift focus to the ‘Your Activities’ section of the interface. Pressing Alt+’y’ will now shift focus to that area. A new entry has also been added to the Tutorials Menu under ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’ which communicates that information.
• Coaching is a new weekly activity you can engage in, which allows you to try overcoming the limitations of a follower’s personality. Different personalities have different limitations in respect to the four major duty categories (combat, courtship, medical, and caretaking), and coaching allows you to work toward overcoming any of them.
• The outcome of successful coaching is the reduction and eventual removal of those penalties that prevent certain personality types from succeeding at certain jobs. So, in effect, you can coach a ‘shy’ follower to be a successful Courtesan, despite the reluctance she would normally have for that role, or a ‘confident’ follower to be a successful Caretaker, despite her disdain for menial labor.
• One follower can be coached at a time, and the results of your coaching efforts will be displayed in the weekly turn report, under the new section titled ‘Your Activities’. Different outcomes are possible for your weekly coaching efforts, with a follower’s current health and devotion affecting their chances for being successfully coached. To be eligible for coaching, a follower’s current health must be ‘normal’ or higher, and their devotion must be ‘accepting’ or higher.
• You can start a new coaching regimen or stop an in-progress regimen at any time by clicking the ‘Coaching’ button from the main interface.

Feature Update: Famous figures from history can now be recruited!

In addition to the usual randomly-generated followers, you can now also recruit hand-crafted historical figures as part of special events. These events will be prefaced by the text ‘*SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL EVENT’ to help differentiate them from standard recruitment scenarios. Two are being added as part of this update, with the possibility of more being included in future releases.

• Significant historical figures cost more to recruit than standard followers. But they also enter your settlement with two skills at levels high enough to go directly to work w/ no training required. This is due to the extraordinary lives they led before entering your service. (Note, however, that health & devotion may still need to be increased before putting them to work.)
• Jeanne d’Arc (Maid of Orléans). Also known as Joan of Arc, this young French fighter led her people to numerous victories against occupying English forces, before she was captured, put on trial for heresy, and ultimately burned at the stake. However, you now have the power to do something about that. So, will you?
• Margaretha Zelle (Mata Hari). Better known by her stage persona of a Javanese princess named Mata Hari, Margaretha was a Dutch-born exotic dancer recruited by French military intelligence to be a spy. However, she was later suspected (some say falsely) of being a double agent, put on trial for treason, and ultimately executed by firing squad. But thanks to Celestial technology, you can now step in and change her fate. The question is, will you?

Feature Update: Unquestioning followers now give immediate access to intimacy options.

Previously, even ‘Unquestioning’ followers needed to be ‘warmed up’ (i.e. brought to full arousal) before offering options for ‘Intimate Inspection’ or ‘Take to Private Quarters’ while being inspected. Now, however, the inspection dialogue has been reworked so that ‘Unquestioning’ followers grant immediate access to these options, due to their higher level of devotion to you. (As suggested by user To&Fro and others.)

Feature Update: New Gene Lab options!

• Added new selectors for adjusting a follower’s height & body type under the Gene Lab options that unlock at ‘Very Trusting’ devotion.
• Two new height values have also been added of ‘dwarf-like’ and ‘amazonian’, which are only available via the Gene Lab.
• Added new selector for adjusting a follower’s facial features type under the Gene Lab options that unlock at ‘Unquestioning’ devotion.
• Updated the Gene Lab interface to include a window of descriptive text, which describes the follower in question lying nakedly on an examination room table before you. It also makes a brief mention of how the cosmetic changes will be accomplished (via injections of Celestial nanites) and that the process is safe and painless, requiring no recovery time.

Gameplay Balancing Tweaks:

• Reduced min number of turns placed between occurrences of all main story events by 5 turns each (20 turns less, total). Making avg length of main story now 75 - 95 turns instead of 95 - 115.
• Silver earned by followers on all performance levels has been increased by 5%.
• Energy generated at all upgrade tiers has been increased by 5%.

Accessibility Updates:

• Upon closing a narrative event, the weekly turn report, or the management interface for individual followers, interface focus will now shift to the new ‘Your Activities’ section & provide audible feedback signaling that change (if text-to-speech is enabled). This is to help visually-impaired players have a better sense of situational awareness when significant interface changes take place.
• The ‘Resources’ section of the interface which displays stats related to energy and silver has now been relabeled as ‘Energy & Silver’, and a new keyboard shortcut has been added of Alt+’e’, which shifts focus to that area. Pressing Tab & Shift+Tab afterward will cycle through the various readouts available, such as weekly energy generation / usage, total energy stored, and total silver stored.
• Updated text-to-speech functionality for Outfit Shop interface. The reading of the currently selected outfit’s description will now be prefaced by the word ‘Description’. And the displays for Silver Stored and Silver Cost to Purchase will now properly be read aloud when focus shifts to that area.
• Updated text-to-speech functionality in Gene Lab interface. The displays for Energy Stored and Energy Cost to Purchase will now properly be read aloud when focus shifts to that area.

Misc. Updates

• Ulfabrosa Svarta, a recruitable main story character, has had her personality type changed from ‘shy’ to ‘reserved’, as this better fits her status as a warrior and her introductory skillset (Combat & Medical).
• Zemira Qasim, a recruitable main story character, has had her personality type changed from ‘seductive’ to ‘confident’, as this better fits her status as a warrior and her introductory skillset (Combat, Courtship, & Medical).
• Updated personality assignments for recruitable endgame bosses. They will now only generate with confident or reserved personalities, as those fit their narrative depictions and starting skillsets (as warriors) best. (This change will only affect endgame bosses recruited going forward, not those already living in the settlement.)
• Updated skill assignments for recruitable endgame bosses. They will now always be assigned two skills at ‘student’ level based on their personality type, plus a level of ‘specialist’ in combat. This was done to ensure their depiction as skilled warriors in endgame events continues to make sense, while also bringing their skills in line with personality-based assignments. Depending on their personality type, this may result in them generating with either 2 or 3 skills. (This change will only affect endgame bosses recruited going forward, not those already living in the settlement.)
• Fixed issue in which newly recruited endgame bosses might initially generate with the wrong gender descriptions for their age (e.g. ‘girl’ instead of ‘woman’).
• Updated code that generates new follower recruits. Now only those personality types naturally inclined toward combat professions will have the possibility of starting with muscles already ‘well-defined’. All other personality types will start with either ‘soft’ or ‘fit’ muscles. Though any follower can still have their muscles built up after being recruited.
• Added notation to Cheat Options Menu of ‘(Available to Patrons)’, as the disabled state of this menu in the Standard Build was causing confusion for some players.
• Added more procedural variety for the weekly activities of Combat & Courtship Trainees as reported in the weekly turn report.
• Added more procedural variety for the weekly activities of Caretakers as reported in the weekly turn report.
• Added more procedural variety to the recruitment events for escaped Roman slaves & Ming Dynasty indentured servants. Rather than always being “unarmed, exhausted and on the verge of collapse” with “fists clenched”, they can now exhibit multiple types of injuries, multiple types of exhausted states, and may be unarmed or armed and fending their pursuers off with multiple types of improvised weapons.
• Added condition to diet & exercise routines that will prevent followers from continuing if their health falls below a certain threshold. (Similar to the condition already in place that prevents them from continuing to work if their health falls too low.)
• Fixed issue in which a follower who was permanently dismissed from the settlement, and had been holding a duty assignment of ‘Medic’, ‘Matron of War’, or ‘Temple Matron,’ would prevent another follower from occupying that same assignment afterward. This fix should not only prevent this bug from happening in the future, it should also correct any existing save files that contain this error.