The Booty Hunter feature from Bonanza, which puts a piratin' lass into the Slave Market who takes requests for custom-order slaves. Prepare your coin purse, for life on the high seas is not cheap!

Download (beta, with features scaling by being a frequent customer and some bugfixes):
Mediafire for BK v0.3
Mediafire for BK v0.2

Download (old versions, with bugs but all options available from the start):
Mediafire for BK v0.3
Mediafire for BK v0.2

Features:
You get to customise most of the things the girl pack system allows:

• Get a girl from a specific girl pack
  
• Originality - the rare 'gold trait' girls
  
• Personality type
  
• Freedom (slave, or does the HH just find someone on the streets you then have to get yourself)
  
• Rank (which is the biggest cheat due to how cheap these girls are in vanilla BK )
  
• Starting stat ranges
  
• Traits - this is sort of the main feature and includes negative traits (note that you don't get multiple or more than 3 positive traits unless you also use Trait King - this just puts all the selections into a pool from which the game randomly selects what you actually get; supports custom traits like the ones in TK)
  
• Sexual experience/fixations/farm weakness
  

You then pay depending on how much you customised her, and wait a time period also depending on how expensive/customised she is. When the time comes, the HH comes to you and offers to either sell her outright, or put her into the Slave Market for just a "finder's fee" (free girls are still free and just cost you the fee).

Since some months ago, many options have a sort of autocomplete: type in the beginning of a personality name, trait name, etc - and the mod will look it up in the game databases and give you the first match. E.g. "lOnG lEG' will produce 'Long legs'.

So, since 0.4 and Goldo's version of the headhunter are still nowhere in sight, the HH mod gets its own thread back.

Would like to hear about the balance, since I recall there were some concerns when the old boards were still up.

I gather buying too high ranks off the bat might be one. There was also an idea about gradually unlocking all the different features, depending on how much business you do with the HH. Neither of these was really a problem in Bonanza, due to how much a single girl could cost you, both to buy and to keep. But we're not in Bonanzaland anymore.

Here's a beta version of the 'must buy girls to unlock new options' version of HH.

Download: moved to OP

Check it out and try to break it!



Edit: Annnd fixed a little error in the versioning that blocked the game from starting. Redownload or just remove the 'beta' from 'version = 0.31beta'. Should really start testing stuff before posting.

Ren'py doesn't the word beta in version inside Headhunter.rpy

I thought I fixed this an hour ago?

Downloaded before the new version and was more focused on Chris's Mod to split my brain.   

Fixed a couple of mistakes in the beta version. Link is the same.

New: Fixed even more problems. And made an 0.2 version with scaling, too. Links in the OP.

I would appreciate if someone came up with some better barks for HH option upgrades. Current ones are these:
        if hh_scale >= 25:
            headhunter "Y'er arrs v'ry best cust'mer now! That calls fer a toast! And a deal!"
        elif hh_scale >= 20:
            headhunter "Yer one of arrs best cust'mers! We's cut yer the best deals fr'm nows on!"
        elif hh_scale >= 15:
            headhunter "[MC.name], yer a real reg'lr now! Only the b'st for ye, arrr!"
        elif hh_scale >= 10:
            headhunter "Arrh, [MC.name], ye again! We's cut ye am even better deal th's time!"
        elif hh_scale >= 6:
            headhunter "Yer a regular cust'mer now! We's cut ye a deal!"
        elif hh_scale >= 3:
            headhunter "Got a taste fer them rare uns, eh? We's cut ye a deal if ye do more bus'ness weth us!"
        elif hh_scale >= 1:
            headhunter "I thunk I's seen ye befarr! Keep makin' them pirchases and we's cut ye a deal!"




But this whole "deal" thing doesn't really reflect what's going on (the HH will let you give her more and more detailed hunting contracts), and I'm struggling to find a good fake-piratey way to say this.

"New ordering choice" also doesn't sound very thematic, but I don't have anything better here, either.

Here are some suggestions from the robot hivemind. A bit wordy and repetitive here and there, but it might give you some ideas.

hh_scale >= 25:

    "Let's raise a glass an' strike a bargain - what special order can ol' Headhunter fulfill fer ye today?"
    "Ye've earned yerself a place in me crew, [MC.name]! Now, what rare wares be ye needin' this fine day?"
    "Ye've become a true scourge o' the seas, [MC.name]! Now, what particular bounty can I hunt down fer ye, eh?"
    "Ahoy, me trusted first mate! What custom order be on yer mind? Speak an' it shall be so!"
 
hh_scale >= 20:

    "From now on, ye get the pick o' me plunder - jest tell me what yer heart desires an' I'll find it fer ye!"
    "Ye be one o' me most valued customers, [MC.name]! What can I hunt down an' procure fer ye today?"
    "Aye, [MC.name], me friend! What specific goods can I provide ye with today? Jest say the word an' I'll get it done."
    "Welcome back, me hearty! What be the special bounty ye seek? Ye know I'll stop at nothin' to fulfill yer orders."

hh_scale >= 15:

    "Ahoy, [MC.name]! Ye be a regular now, ain't ye? What can ol' Headhunter do fer ye today - jest tell me yer requirements an' I'll make it happen."
    "[MC.name], me friend! Ye be one o' me best customers. What particular wares can I find fer ye this time?"
    "Arr, if it ain't me favorite customer! What rare treasures be ye after this time, [MC.name]?"
    "Avast, [MC.name]! Ye be a true scourge o' the seas. What special request can I fulfill fer ye this day?"

hh_scale >= 10:

    "Ahoy, [MC.name]! What can ol' Headhunter do fer ye today? Jest let me know yer needs an' I'll see what I can do."
    "Welcome back, [MC.name]! What particular goods can I hunt down an' procure fer ye this time?"
    "Well, if it ain't me trusted ally, [MC.name]! What can I find an' deliver fer ye this fine day?"
    "Arr, [MC.name], me loyal customer! What be the particular wares ye be needin' today?"

hh_scale >= 6:

    "Ahoy, [MC.name]! Ye be a regular these days, ain't ye? What can ol' Headhunter do fer ye?"
    "Well, if it ain't me friend [MC.name]! What rare treasures can I hunt down an' procure fer ye this time?"
    "Aye, [MC.name], good to see ye! What special request can I fulfill fer ye on this fine day?"
    "Ahoy, [MC.name]! What can I provide ye with today? I'll make sure ye get the best deal around, savvy?"

hh_scale >= 3:

    "Arr, ye've got a taste fer the rare an' valuable, don't ye [MC.name]? Well, I can certainly cut ye a deal on me finest wares if ye keep makin' purchases."
    "Hmm, I thunk I've seen yer face 'round these parts before, [MC.name]. Keep doin' business with me an' I'll make sure ye get the best prices, savvy?"
    "Ahoy, [MC.name]! Ye be lookin' to add to yer collection, I see. Well, I can certainly hook ye up with some rare finds if ye keep comin' back."
    "Arr, [MC.name], welcome! Ye seem the type who appreciates quality goods. Keep doin' business with me an' I'll cut ye the best deals around."

hh_scale >= 1:

    "Hmm, I thunk I've seen yer face 'round these parts before, [MC.name]! Come back an' do more business with me an' we'll work out a special deal, savvy?"
    "Well, well, if it ain't a new face! [MC.name], is it? Ye seem the type who knows quality when ye see it. Keep makin' them purchases an' I'll make sure ye get the best prices."
    "Arr, welcome to me shop, [MC.name]! Ye look like the kind who'd appreciate some rare an' valuable goods. Come back again an' we'll work somethin' out."
    "Avast, [MC.name]! Ye've caught me eye as a discernin' customer. Keep makin' purchases an' I'll make sure ye get the deals of a lifetime."


Updated the downloads with new piratey dialogue according to what our robot overlords said.

Changed "New ordering choice" to "New choice o'booty"


Not entirely happy with it, but a significant improvement. Others besides our machine masters are also welcome to pitch in.



Also made her strip when higher-level options are unlocked, made her less tiny, and put the 'debug discount' behind a variable ('game.headhunter_debug_enabled').





Edit: Also, I vaguely recall something about... how fast the orders are filled (?) ... from the old forums. Does anyone remember what else was proposed in the old thread?



Edit2: I recall neronero pitching the 'girl loot crates' idea, but I never got even a vague idea of the details, notr why it'd be an appealing thing to do as a player.

Quote from: Jman on Jul 23, 2024, 04:44 PMEdit2: I recall neronero pitching the 'girl loot crates' idea, but I never got even a vague idea of the details, not why it'd be an appealing thing to do as a player.

The idea is vague enough to be moulded into any shape you'd like, so that's largely up to whoever adopts it.
But basically it'd be a subscription service offered by an NPC like the headhunter. The player would pay a fixed amount at a fixed interval (or maybe even a lump sum in advance for X gifts?) and in return he'd get gift-wrapped slaves on the brothel's doorstep at that interval.

The value of what you're getting compared to the cost of the service should start out somewhat even and become more and more favorable towards the player as he stays subscribed for longer. Over time the player should be able to use it as a viable income stream by becoming a slave trading middleman. There would be plenty of downsides to using that strategy too: Maybe gifts could be unpredictable: Sometimes it might be resources or items, a stack of Jewel Bags might've fallen off the wagon one month, or you might sometimes need to make room in your brothel for two or three girls at once who are supposedly siblings, etc.

I notice that when I'm playing now, I'm extremely picky about which slaves I take into my brothel. Eg: They must have a nice gold trait and their negative trait shouldn't be this or that, and sometimes it's even "I don't like that girl's portrait". Because of that mindset, a lot of girls that the game presents to me in the city and slavemarket are basically useless lepers that I don't interact with. A feature like this would help drag me out of my comfort zone and allow for more surprises in my playthroughs. And maybe I'd still consider some of the lootbox girls as useless lepers, but at least instead of completely ignoring them I'd start wringing cash out of those sexy lepers like a true Brothel King should.

Hmm, the generic loot crates idea sounds more like something Renza or Farah would do.


I have used the farm as a place to store gold in the form of slaves, and sorta growing that gold by training and occasionally rotating them to do a month or two of on-the-job learning and ranking up. I'm not sure it's been an actual investment in the sense of making more money than I put in, but since gold is kinda capped due to thieves (or at least Bonanza thieves) and the resource market is also about not losing too much as opposed to actually making money, it seemed okay. Farm pictures are a bonus.


I'm also very picky about long-term slaves (that's where the Headhunter idea came from), but I'm far less so about the 'farm investment' girls. I even had long stretches where I'd poach original free girls, stuff the farm with them, and train them as above, and sell them once I'm ready to change chapters.

So, I'm not sure it'd help me - because I'd be somewhat targeting my 'farmables' anyways. But girls getting foisted on the player so that he'd have to wrangle them to make money on that sounds workable.


All in all, this sounds more like an idea for the 'the Good, the Bad and the Ugly' thread, though.

A tiny compatibility update to the 0.3 version.

Edit: And a bigger update to make sure .ini-specified 'unique' girls don't allow you to jump into the now-gated original specification. Hope someone tries to break it, did only very basic testing.

Updated again in my continuing quest to disallow searching for original girls when the option isn't unlocked yet. Not sure I didn't break anything. Downloads for 0.3t and 0.2 both still in the OP.

Please ignore, going from v0.312 to v0.314 fixed my issue.