I'm really excited to announce a huge possible update that would change the save/load system.

As most of you are already aware we are currently on the second version of Bloodsucker (0.1.5) which was a huge evolution from the very first version with an incredible amount of new features and additions.

But what If I told you that was all just a baby step? (•̀ᴗ•́)و

Right now Bloodsucker plays out as a kinetic visual novel although the end goal is to have it be a story-focused game with 3 branching pathways that contain multiple endings.

Although it is 100% possible to do this with the current core game (by core I mean everything unrelated to the story)

Let's just say I wanna have fun with it. 

A lot of you are familiar with playing VN games where you press "New Game"  to start the story and you can later save exactly where you are in the story to one of many save slots that can later be loaded when you play again, kinda like the image below.

Bloodsucker has adopted a similar style in the most recent version but I feel like I can make something better for the eerie mystery/thriller look I'm going for.

I've created a short little demonstration of what I have in mind.

(It goes without saying that the finished result will look completely different.)

(Damn that's hella jittery. I had to compress it like 20 times over to be able to upload it *sobs*)

Here's a still image.

Allow me to explain what this will change for those that are confused.

The Save/Load menu will instead be relpaced with what I'd like to call the Timeline Murder Board (TMB)

All the images highlighted in white represent playable scenes that you can hover over and select in order to start off from that point.

Upon completing scene you will unlock the continuation scene and if you made a particular choice you will also unlock a alternative scenes.

Example: Let's say you are a new player. Every scene except "Intro" will  have it's image blacked out and unselectable until you unlock it through a previous scene. 

Intro > Timid. Sweet. Sinister.

Timid. Sweet. Sinister. > Relentless Hatred (and Seraphine's Rejection if you deny her offer, we know how that goes fufu)

Every scene you unlock is replayable so you can always go back and make a different choice if you  notice you didn't unlock a certain scene. (Choices that change little story elements won't show up as unlockable scenes.)

(When you complete a scene you will jump straight onto the next so that immersion isn't broken)

Lastly we have what I wanna call  Pins.

These are fun little pieces of information you learn through playing. Naturally to avoid spoilers they won't be visible until the scene in which you discover them are completed.

Let's talk about the pros and cons of the timeline murder board before we wrap up.

Pros:

• Saves are automatic when you complete a scene.
• Fun exploration (zoom, pan, animated pins, maybe even minigames)
• The story will be easier to keep up with when it becomes non-linear.
• You can see how much unseen content you have without needing to replay the game.
• You can see exactly where each scene leads up to without being spoiled.
• I can map out and mark scenes for future updates so you know roughly how much content is planned.
• There's potential for cheat codes to unlock hidden scenes.
• Pins will give cool insight on characters and events.
• It's easier to ask or advise other players about scenes and timelines since they now have names.
• You no longer have to manage your saves.

Cons:

• You can't save in the middle of a scene.
• Next update may take a little longer and have less story continuation than planned.
• Bye bye pretty save/load menu.

I'd argue this is 100% worth it, although I am biased ofcourse.

Fun fact: Originally I had intended for something of a much smaller scale which would let you choose how to progress after certain scenes 

I had named it "The Chalkboard".

Although if we put it side by side with the timeline murder board, this gets OBLITERATED!

For those of you wondering how long this would take, I'm pretty trigger happy to make this so I'd argue no later than early April. 

(I would say late March but I wanna release with a minimum of 30+ minutes of new gameplay.)

Anyway that's about all I wanted to share.

I understand this is a big leap from the usual practice done in VNs and don't wanna slap too many players with something unfamiliar unless I have their approval so let me know what you think.

Please cast a vote on the public poll I've created: https://www.patreon.com/posts/major-update-79793189 (CLOSED)

Also feel free to ask questions and/or share your thoughts in the comments.

Otherwise here's a peek of v0.2.0 and I'll see you later.