Dev Diary #4: Students' Majoring System

After a thorough explanation about our academy and how it works for our students, it’s finally time to talk about the students themselves. As we have mentioned in our previous diary, students will have proficiencies depending on which major they’re assigned to. Thus, in this diary we’re going to point out all the different majors and their advantages.

To start, we want to remind you that in HSS2, we will be calling classes as majors. Essentially, they’re the same. However, like in any other academy, there are classrooms, so we decided to avoid the headache and differentiate the two. So, Knights, Mages, and others, are considered as majors in HSS2.

There will be 4 proficiencies in HSS2, each of those proficiencies belong to 4 different Base Majors. Base Majors are the ones students have with them when they first enroll the academy. They come with 1 proficiency that can break 1 of the enemy’s shield. with the same proficiency.

The Base Majors are:

1. Knight with Physical proficiency.

2. Magi with Magic proficiency.

3. Cleric with Divine proficiency.

4. Arcsmith with Arc proficiency.

Image of base major student in Blender

As your students progress, more majors will become available, such as the Mixed and Advanced Majors. Currently there are 6 Mixed Majors and 4 Advanced Majors available. Mixed Majors have 2 proficiencies and are able to break 1 shield per hit.

The Mixed Majors are:

1. Ksatria with Physical / Magic proficiencies.

2. Scholarsage with Magic / Divine proficiencies.

3. Bogatyr with Physical / Divine proficiencies.

4. Arc Draconus with Physical / Arc proficiencies.

5. Arc Magica with Physical / Magic proficiencies.

6. Arc Divina with Physical / Divine proficiencies.

Image of mix major student, testing in Unreal Engine

Mixed Majors have 2 different proficiencies. Meanwhile, Advanced Majors have 2 of the same proficiency and are able to break 2 shields per hit.

The Advanced Majors are:

1. Paladin with 2 Physical proficiencies.

2. Summoner with 2 Magic proficiencies.

3. Medica with 2 Divine proficiencies.

4. Architech with 2 Arc proficiencies.

Image of advance major student, testing in Blender

Players can decide which major the students will change to. Changing majors is possible after the selected student have taken the necessary courses connected to the major’s requirements. For example, if the player wants their student to change into a Paladin, the student has to clear the course “Physical Training III.” After passing the course, the student will have the ability to change into their new major on these designated times:

1. During exams which occurs once every 6 months.

2. Player directed, outside of exams. (limited)

Image of promoting student (not final product)

We hope the major changing system provides more dynamic gameplay and a chance to experiment with different majors. It should also give players more flexibility, as even newly enrolled students with lower stats can be of help to senior students simply because they have the right proficiencies. A good principal pay attention to all their students abilities and improve their skills accordingly.

However, like any other update and improvements we brought to the game, we are uncertain whether this system would bring the experience we intended. We also have concerns whether allowing to change majors will drive players to change majors repeatedly instead of maximizing their students true potential.

Still, that’s for us to fuss about, you guys just sit back, relax, and enjoy the game! That’s all for today’s dev diary, thanks for sticking around until the end. Hope to see you in the next one, Principals!