Coding a Text Messaging System
Added 2021-01-22 12:44:23 +0000 UTCDespite being set in the present day piece of ubiquitous piece of technology that is only occasionally mentioned, and at times can seem completely ignored: The smart phone. Lab Rats 2 v0.37 will begin to correct that, by introducing your phone as a way to interact with girls at any time of day, follow their online presence (if it exists), and have information delivered to you.
The first step, which I have tackled over the last couple of days, has been adding support for receiving and responding to text message sent to you by girls. Mechanically this is very similar to the way dialogue scripted, with the key difference that the player decides when they want to respond to a text instead of having it forced upon you by the game engine. Eventually I will have a properly themed text window and text history for your phone when texting girls, but for now all of this takes place in the same text box that dialogue uses. I need to spend some time now taking all of the random events that lead in with "[A girl] texts you:" and convert them to the new system.
Of course our phones do more than send text messages, they also provide near constant access to the internet. This update will include the first bits of content related to a girls internet presence. Some girls will post picture to Instapic that you will be able to look up, or share videos of themselves on various sites. These may start out as innocent, but a girl becomes Sluttier what she feels comfortable sharing will change.
Much of the above will still be a rough framework for v0.37, so I'm putting in extra work to make sure Jennifer has some sizeable storyline content too. My most recent work is all related to how her reputation and attitude at her office changes as she becomes Sluttier, especially if you convince her to seduce her boss for a promotion.
Lots of work still to get done, so I better get to it!
Comments
Fixed this and the bug you listed above. Good catches!
Vren
2021-01-31 08:11:31 +0000 UTCGood catch! I ended up writing some functions to compare a girls outfit to existing uniform templates to resolve this. This means all of the events that deal with girls and uniforms now correctly handle situations where they strip off pieces of clothing or add their own accessories. It even handles fringe cases like a girl stripping off a piece of clothing but that stripped down state now matches a different uniform..
Vren
2021-01-31 08:09:23 +0000 UTC