Dawn of the Villains! Version 0.2.9 is here

Ryan M.M. July 25, 2015

     Straight to VHS is more visually arresting (not saying much) and more nefarious (that's a good thing?) than ever, thanks to the brand new 0.2.9 update! 

The improved "Bad Guys" section and the fledgling Villains section are the headliners, but there is indeed a bit more. Let's roll back the curtain and see what's on offer!

Changelog, ho!

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• The place has been spruced-up a bit with some temporary art.
  
• Justified text runs rampant! You like?
  
• Visually distinguished Tropes from Perks
  
• Gave a bit more guidance on frequency of montages, and clarified the purpose of "days" as a game concept.
  
• Added wording to suggest that Director retribution for the "Anything" script change ought to scale with the audacity of the script change.
  
• The look of the item lists has been vastly improved.
  
• Quite a few example items have been added.
  
• Clearer intructions for the weapon workshop have been added.
  
• Language around the "reload" mechanic has been tweaked, clarifying that the reload is needed after the triggering attack roll.
  
• Added an AP cost to a cinematic action on "Batteries Included".
  
• The "Dual Wielding" trope got a tweaked cinematic action and a completely new one.
  
• The "Troubled Athlete" trope no longer can give you "the yips", because that was brutal. Now it's just a matter of having "the touch" or not. Consequentially, the stat bonuses have been toned down.
  
• Added some clarification regarding epics and bloopers granted by Perks.
  
• The Aspiring Script Writer perk gained an asterisk.
  
• The Glancing Blows perk gained some underlined text.
  
• Added a link to the random plot generator, because fun.
  
• Added the concept of "Threat" to help Directors compare enemy strength and to create enemy encounters with a suitable amount of challenge.
  
• Revamped the presentation of the "Bad Guys" section
  
• Added some new bad guys.
  
• Added the "Villains" section, which showcases uber-baddies who each get a full-page of information and a stat block. There are currently only three. Yeah, three... I know. Let's think of this as the pilot program for the villain section. This will see considerable expansion in the next couple updates.
  
  

     Straight to VHS is turning into a pretty full-featured game, and it won't be much longer until it'll be time to really share it with the world (seriously, I've done almost nothing to promote it outside of a couple subreddits). So, what's coming down the pipeline before Straight to VHS emerges from the shadows? Here's my to-do list:

1. As always, playtesting. This has been hard to come by for me in the last couple months, so I'd be thrilled to hear any feedback from you fine folks out in the wild world. In any case, I'll be able to playtest more from here on out.
   
2. Nail down the "threat" system. Right now, I know that it's functional but I fully expect adjustments will be needed.
   
3. Expand the new "Villains" section (more regular baddies would be good too)
   
4. Make some example/pre-made character sheets. Why haven't I done this yet?
   
5. More perks. Tropes would be nice too, but I think perks are more needed.
   
6. Get a proper website/URL.
   
   

     So far I haven't been great at predicting the future, but that's the path I see as of right now. Expect fairly quick and small updates for a little while (with even less snappy names like 0.2.91), but take heart from the thundering hooves of 0.3, closing the distance.