Stage 1 was a *joy* to play through. I don't know exactly what you fixed but I *NEVER* ran into those awkward "double ticks" at the end of animations (which was the primary cause of my past run failures). So there was a *lot* of control over the situation felt during Stage 1. I'll come back to the addition of the Checkpoint. I actually got caught during my replay as I wasn't high enough a level (nor at a low enough sleep depth) to successfully accomplish a TitJob (I think I was level 31~32). But that failure aside, all actions felt like I was free to use them as I pleased once I was in the 30s, and I didn't have to worry *too much* about the awareness bar.
Stage 2 was SOOOO much better to play. It wasn't a grind anymore and it was actually relatively easy to reach level 15, and I was changing my actions as I went instead of just sticking to one to "get past it all" like in the prior balance state. BUT, CLIT RUB seemed to "reintroduce" that 'double tick' issue, exclusively because the animation was seemless and fluid (which I did enjoy). It likely was just an issue between 15~20 because past that it felt relatively balanced and the "double tick" was never a make or break (but it was my main loss juncture). I may have just been imagining it, but did PUS SPREAD provide a bonus to all PUS actions? It kinda seemed like it. And wrapping up my commentary on Stage 2, both "final unlocks" never reached the point where I could use them freely. Even at level 40, for the Second to Last Unlock, I could only perform *3* animation loops before the awareness bar (almost) maxed, and that was a Sleep Depth 4. So the final 2 unlocks were never really viable for fun use because they just affected the awareness too much. Granted, given their actions, realistically they *should* have that high of an awareness penalty, but now we run into the conundrum of "what's more important, avoiding suspension of disbelief, or ensuring fun game-feel?" As a Player I lean towards the latter, but as a designer/developer, the call is ultimately up to you. I also noticed that there was no point bonus (or an imperceptible one) between Sleep Depth 4 (ZZZZ) and Sleep Depth 2, meaning only Sleep Depth 1 gave any sort of bonus. While originally I was apprehensive to this kind of change, it was beneficial to the gameplay loop, as it meant that there was no "optimal" time to act versus wait. At all times you could, and should, be attempting to gain EXP, with only Sleep Depth 1 being a minor boost but also much more dangerous. I was *much* more engaged, and was using the "lower scoring" actions a lot more frequently, and actually watching the animations instead of the Awareness bar. And as an aside, as I believe this scoring change was tied to a difficulty change, it *was* more difficult to level up, but never *punishingly so* so all in all the scoring change was well implemented (atleast for the early levels).
So now to a bug I ran into that oddly changed the way I perceived the game... In Stage 2, I found that moving my mouse (hand) upwards for PUS RUB *didn't grant me any points*. So the only actual way to use that option was: Click, Drag down, Release, Reposition, Repeat. And while it broke from the formula previously established (Click and Hold, Move, Release if in Danger), it actually *felt more like the action I was performing*. That extended into, what was purely imagined but, the feeling that the *second half of the Double Tit animation granted more points than the first half*. So I felt incentivized to complete the animation instead of nearly max the awareness bar and then release my mouse click. And it got me thinking, "Maybe this could be tied into the scoring mechanism, and narrative?" Ie. The lower on her pussy you rub the more she likes it, and thus the more points you get. Or the more you use "just the tip" the more she likes that over "going in deep". I have no idea what such a change would cause to the existing code base, so I'm mostly bringing it up as the bug introduced something that "felt" right by breaking the established gameplay structure.
NOW, on to checkpoints. The existing checkpoint for Stage 1 is great. I believe that the 'double tick fix' really saved this section of the game, and being able to jump right back into "the fun bits" after a Stage 1 failure was well warranted. Once I reached Stage 2 though, the lack of checkpoints was sorely missed. XD Having failed Stage 2 at levels 15, 19, and 28, being sent back to 1 was *painful*. So here's a proposal for a Checkpoint system that shouldn't overburden the code structure, but also won't trivialize the game: "Spend the amount of EXP that *would* grant you a level, to create a Checkpoint at your current level." If the player never makes use of the functionality, the game plays as it currently does. If the player spends their next level up on a checkpoint the cost rises alongside their progress, and actually becomes a cost/benefit decision for the player. Once the checkpoint has been "consumed" the player must *once again* purchase another checkpoint, otherwise they will be sent back to the start. This gives a *little* leighway to the player for accidents (or trying that new action only to find out it has a huge awareness penalty and 'oops you've lost') while not holding their hand. If they don't make use of it, it's their fault. If they forget to re-up their checkpoint, it's their fault. If they CONSTANTLY spend their level up points on checkpoints (thus doubling their game time) that's their fault.
Lastly, can some sort of "debug" cheats be added in so that further tests of builds (like this) can go faster? The game is shaping up to be a gem of quality with everything you've done to it, and ironing out those smaller bumps (ie. identifying difficulty spikes such as Stage 2 L15~20) would be much quicker if I could skip the "grind" to get back to where the surprise difficulty spike occurred. If you want to tie this to having beaten a stage. or a secret action (ie CTRL+<something>), or something else is up to you. And something that I was surprised wasn't there... a Free Mode isn't implemented yet. Maybe just *that* can handle the Debug command request or maybe you have something else in mind, I just wanted to bring it up.
In closing, good work Hayabusa. I look forward to the next update. (-_^)b