Thank you everyone for testing the beta, I spent this week playtesting and testing out different gameplay elements.
After some long hours of playing, I found the gameplay design and the feel of the game was very disjointed and didn't flow well with the overall story / theme I was trying to achieve. In conclusion, the gameplay actually gets in the way of enjoying the story (not to mention the amount of bugs with increasing number of features).
The game was having a bit of existential crisis, so I was trying to distill what made the first games great, and what the "essential" experience I wanted the user to have.
"The ultimate goal of the game designer is to deliver an experience. When you have a clear picture of your ideal experience, and its essential elements, your design has something to aspire to. Without that goal you are just wandering in the dark." - The Art of Game Design
For this game, I wanted the essential user experience to be
Feeling of an oppressive and authoritarian state
Struggle for survival
Difficult decisions, and choosing a side
Depth of characters and each person's dillema
After considering these points, I decided to redesign the game, strip out most of the gameplay features, and focus on the story and the characters. There will still be some new gameplay elements to fit this new format, but only what will be essential to tell a good story.
There will be some extensive rewrites as well especially for the introduction and the character intros, to add more depth to the overall plot.
I will be waiting it!!!!, I love it!!!