Hi Legends,
1.4 Devlog #2: how hard do you push?
Quick one before we start: four new maps are coming and you get to pick which two arrive first. Have a look at them here, then vote on Discord.
Now, training. Last time I promised it, so here we go.
This isn't a tweak. It's a new system built out of pieces some of you will recognize. The very first version of Clutch Legend had you choose how hard to train, and I always missed that feeling of deciding whether to push or hold back. That's coming back. Coaches are coming back too, in a new form. And the sliders for your stats stay, because deciding exactly where your growth goes is half the fun. On top of all that sits something the game never had: injuries.
Put together, every week asks you three small questions.
How hard?
You pick a load, from Rest to Crunch. The harder you go, the faster you grow, but you pay in fatigue, not money. Rest and Light let you recover. Normal keeps you about where you are. Intense and Crunch pile it on, week after week. A rest day in your week helps more than you'd think.
Fatigue is the thing you're really managing. Past 60 your form starts slipping. At 70 the medical staff comes and has a word with you. Past 80 you're playing with fire.
On what?
You get 100% to split across your five stats. The ones your role needs most are marked, and on the right you can see exactly which smaller skills grow with every choice you make. If you'd rather not think about it, one click and your coaches set it up for you. You can also save up to three plans of your own, say one for a normal week and one for the run-up to a Major.
With whom?
You now hire your coaches: Base, Pro or Elite, paid every week. Better coaches don't just make you grow faster. Your weeks get steadier, and their advice gets smarter. Base gives you the standard plan for your role. Pro looks at your weak spots. Elite also thinks about your whole season and tells you when to push and when to back off. Switching takes a couple of weeks to settle in, and downgrading costs you, so it's a choice you'll want to think about.
And when you push too hard
You get hurt. Wrist tendinitis, a bad back, tired eyes, carpal tunnel, burnout. The kind of things that actually happen to people who play all day. It never comes out of nowhere: the medical staff always warns you first. If it's something small, you choose whether to play through it or take a week off. If it's real, you drop to Team B until you heal, and then you walk straight back into the starting lineup.
Here's a funny story. When I first finished this, I tested it the dumbest way possible: a whole season on Crunch, never resting, fatigue stuck at 100. I expected to be wrecked. I got one injury. It lasted a week. So much for consequences.
I sat down, ran a few thousand simulated seasons and rebuilt it. Now if you do what I did, you'll spend six or seven weeks of the season injured. If you're smart about it and give yourself rest days, you'll barely notice. And if you just train normally, nothing changes for you at all.
Crunch is a sprint now. Use it for a few weeks before the event that matters, then ease off. Oh, and the other players get injured too. You'll see it next to their names, and when a starter goes down, someone from the bench steps in.
Stress, done differently
One more thing I never liked: when stress maxed out, you just lost matches. Gone. Now you get a real choice. Book the Psychologist. Step back to Team B for a while to clear your head, knowing you'll have to earn your spot back. Or grit your teeth and play anyway, and hope burnout doesn't catch up with you.
Next time
The two new maps you're choosing on Discord. Once the vote closes I'll start building them, one wall and one route at a time, and next devlog I'll show you how a painting becomes a map the bots can actually play on.
As always, if any of this sounds off to you, come tell me on Discord. Half of this devlog only exists because one playtest went way too easy.
See you soon,
Federico