Hi everyone! Today, we’ll talk about [i]Status Effects[/i]. While interacting with the world and other characters in Rue Valley, you’ll be making many choices. Some, that are less important - some more. But every once in a while you’ll make a choice (or a series of choices) that will grant you one of many [i]Status Effects[/i]. Their purpose is to change your personality, your mood or your state of mind in order to make the game more unpredictable and challenging. Let’s take a look at a few examples: [h1]Total Lack of Motivation[/h1] [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/d8ec362ee1444332efe0c5f715df4a6fa030baee.png]][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/d8ec362ee1444332efe0c5f715df4a6fa030baee.png[/img][/url] [i]If you don’t have a reason to talk to someone, Total Lack of Motivation status effect will not allow you to start a conversation.[/i] Right at the start of the game, your character suffers from a Total Lack of Motivation. It is the first thing your therapist notices and very soon you encounter a dialogue option that is grayed out and blocked by that status effect. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/7e5dd42fc4911ba5910e4c68506b52e732c16463.png[/img] [i]Total Lack of Motivation Status Effect[/i] While this specific status effect does not change your personality in any way it most certainly affects your progress as your character is just not motivated enough to perform certain actions (as indicated by the all caps orange letters that say “LIMITED INTEARACTIONS”). So until you manage to find something that motivates you, you are stuck fulfilling only your basic needs which are usually just quenching your thirst or finding a bed comfortable enough to take a nap. [h1]Anxious Apprehension[/h1] Unlike Total Lack of Motivation, Anxious Apprehension actually modifies your personality. It occurs when your character becomes anxious when certain events happen. You become more sensitive and more careful when making decisions. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/801210c6e5bf2f9b1f23dac69b9bc10a348dbd95.png[/img] [i]Anxious Apprehension Status Effect[/i] And if you remember Personality Checks that we mentioned in the last blog you’ll notice that the status effect can drastically impact their outcome. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/d46aff9f2fe3e22af611b5ca3a7f7bbbbe1c6b78.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/d46aff9f2fe3e22af611b5ca3a7f7bbbbe1c6b78.png[/img][/url] [i]And if you remember Personality Checks that we mentioned in the last blog you’ll notice that the status effect can drastically impact their outcome.[/i] Sometimes, just when you feel you got everything under control, a few wrong decisions and an unexpected status effect, followed by a personality check will send you down a rabbit hole of psychological chaos and emotional nightmare. [h1]Tipsy[/h1] But not all status effects are that drastic. Some may provide fun results and give you additional options, but even those can alter your personality just enough so that you have to deal with them before continuing with the story. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/fd19e133d9fa2e13fadd4dd1d5e051ca629ff4ba.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/fd19e133d9fa2e13fadd4dd1d5e051ca629ff4ba.png[/img][/url] [i]Multiple status effects stacked together making you a completely different person. Also Tipsy status effect gives you an extra answer to the therapist’s question.[/i] You see, even though the status effects are purely a mechanical part of Rue Valley’s personality system, they are often used to tell a story and sometimes even work as a task. And what’s more interesting is that people intuitively understand them without even knowing what’s going on under the hood, as we all relate to those changes of personality, mood or state of mind, every now and then. These are just some of the status effects that exist in the game, many more will occur throughout the game. But we did tease some of them in September 2022 at the Reboot Develop Conference in Dubrovnik as a promotional material in form of small keychains. We were pleasantly surprised by the reception as each person managed to find the one they relate to the most before even playing Rue Valley demo. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42922833/2bc98da8c475763b4fd34bcc491f150fa5e6f4f7.jpg[/img] [i]Photo taken by the Dan Pearson. Link to original tweet: [url=https://twitter.com/Danbojones/status/1575973617111732225?s=20&t=mI-hmS7gp1vI2ueqGEx4IA]LINK[/url][/i] I hope this blog shows what kind of challenges await you while you’re figuring out to escape the time-loop. They are nasty and unpredictable, but also fun and often greatly contribute to the story. Stay tuned for more stuff in the next blog! Marko.