Issues and Solutions.

[mild flax]

Feedback for the Shadows of Doubt Developers:

After 36 hours of gameplay, I reached some conclusions, organized in order of importance and relevance. I understand that many of the points I'll mention here might be more suitable for mods. Some parts may contain spoilers.

Problem: **The Government Database is too overpowered. **
Viewpoint: It's a necessary mechanic since, in some cases, it's the only way to solve certain missions.
Solutions:

• Make the Government Database available for use only after reaching a certain level of social credit, perhaps half of the total social credit level.
• Require spending social credit to gain access or use the Database, either for a limited time or a specific number of uses.
• Place the Government Database in a Restricted Access room or a hidden location.
• Implement a daily limit on the number of searches in the Database.

Problem: Lack of punishment and social credit system.
Viewpoint: The current social credit system is too simplistic, and punishment only involves losing money, which becomes irrelevant later in the game.
Solutions:

• Introduce the possibility of losing social credit by engaging in Illegal missions, committing crimes, or framing the wrong person for a crime.
• Allow players to have negative social credit: High negative points attract police interference, while extremely positive points draw attention from arms dealers and other criminals.
• Use social credit as a determinant for accessing items, information, and locations.
• After being caught, give the player a "shame hat" temporary debuff, reducing cooperation from NPCs and limiting access to items or locations.

Problem: Crime scenes or missions are too basic and lack evidence.
Viewpoint: Some crime scenes or missions are too easy or even impossible, and certain resources remain underutilized.
Solutions:

• Enable the possibility of criminals leaving blood at the crime scene, providing a chance to discover their blood type through analysis.
• Criminals may leave behind a strand of hair or an item like glasses, which could be used to identify them.
• Offer the option to buy illegal evidence or spend social credit to acquire an extra random clue.
• Create intriguing criminals like the "Crumpled Paper Killer". Killer who leaves behind clues like voice recordings.

Problem: Long names hidden behind objects or distorted names.
Viewpoint: Playing in Pt-BR, some names are too long, and text on walls can appear distorted.
Solutions:

• Implement a feature to read text on walls with a click, making it easier to read even when deformed or embedded within walls.
• Allow players to customize certain building, bar, and other names in the settings.

Problem: The game becomes too easy over time.
Viewpoint: Cameras, civilians, guards, nothing can stop me. I feel like a Speedrunner, fearlessly exploring and collecting everything. "I understand that some players are only casual players." It's inevitable that everything becomes predictable and takes away the thrill. It's ridiculously easy to access certain areas, simply knocking on a door is usually enough, and passwords are rarely required.
Solutions:

• Introduce guard dogs inside apartments protecting houses.
• Make it more challenging to infiltrate companies by having employees working overtime.
• Include janitors cleaning up companies after closing hours, making infiltration harder.

Problem: Limited mission diversity.
Viewpoint: After a considerable number of hours played, missions become repetitive.
Solutions:

• Add kidnapping crimes.
• Incorporate attempted murder cases, where the victim is in the hospital with limited memory of the culprit.
• Introduce counterfeit-related missions.
• Include missions involving prank calls to emergency services from different numbers, requiring players to find the prankster.
• Offer missions related to infidelity, where players investigate potential cheating partners.
• Include missions where the player has to prove someone's innocence.
• Introduce missions with hidden bombs, putting a time constraint on the player.

Problem: Unable to archive solved cases.
Viewpoint: I dream of being able to archive and keep solved cases as decorations in my in-game house.

Problem: Feeling like a ghost, untouchable.
Viewpoint: I can collect some information about myself, but only to a certain extent. This gives me a feeling of being a ghost. To increase immersion, consider setting the player's password as the first one they input during the game.

SPOILER ALERT!
||Problem: Lack of relationships or roommates.
Important: I understand that the game is about investigation, and adding dating simulator mechanics might be more suitable for mods.
Viewpoint: Towards the end of the game, players have to pass their possessions to a citizen. I feel like a stalker, randomly choosing someone without apparent reasons, passing possessions to a random citizen feels strange and lacks reasoning. Having a roommate or romantic partner could add more complexity and possibilities, as mentioned earlier, like criminals trying to harm you or your loved ones. It's valid to consider the option of forming relationships since the main game poses an extremely difficult and intimate question of who to trust with your precious belongings!||

[pliant garnet]

I think the government database is fine. It's one of those things where, some players (myself incldued) like it as is, while others think it takes the challenge out of the game. Personally, I'm for expanding the scope of the government database; when I get a case with just a fingerprint, a salary and a shoe size, the case is basically unsolvable, while being able to feed the fingerprint into the database and then get a result would fix that.

I do agree that the social credit system right now feels kind of like a nothingburger; although I know that filling it up is the goal to get to "retirement", there seems to be nothing there except that, and I think expanding on its functionality would be useful. Agreed that maybe restrict the Government Database behind social credit, maybe additional functionality (like search by fingerprint previously suggested) behind higher social credit.