| Latest News on the D.M. Games & Simulator [message #675] |
Thu, 27 November 2025 11:41 |
PCFX
Messages: 17
Registered: August 2025
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Junior Member |
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We hope you are all doing well as the holiday season approaches. We are writing to share an update on recent developments and to outline what you may expect in the near future for the Discipline Master series:
Discipline Master Universe
Discipline Master Universe released just two months ago on September 30th. Reception has been largely positive, and sales have been within our projections. However, interest in the scenario editor, which we intended as the centerpiece of the game, has proven far lower than anticipated. It is what it is. Sometimes a feature does not resonate as planned, and that has been the case here. Accordingly, any future updates to Universe will focus primarily on bug fixes and minor tweaks.
The Core Challenge of Adventure Game Development
Single-player adventure titles face an inherent limitation: they are often experienced only once. Even with branching paths and multiple endings, the fundamental storyline remains the same, which restricts long term replay value.
Across eight D.M. games, players have consistently expressed deep affection for the Discipline Master universe, its characters and its unique atmosphere. At the same time, many of you have made it clear that you want more, different stories, new situation and variations: endless ways to inhabit the game world we have built.
“SmackEm” captured this desire perfectly on the forums a little over a month ago. He wrote:
“[Subject: AI Characters] With all the AI hype out there I wanted to ask if such a thing is possible? Could we have NPCs in the game who do not follow a set script? And instead react to what the player does? I have no idea if this is remotely possible or how hard it would be. But if it could be done I think it would be awesome! I love the game world the developers created here. Random play throughs at CHI could really be something.”
That final sentence reflects what so many of you truly want: the ability to launch a Discipline Master session and simply tell the game what kind of experience you desire that evening: whether you wish to play as a new student at CHI, as a teacher in a traditional English public school or the title role: a Discipline Master facing a long morning queue of offenders.
What once sounded like Star Trek is now within reach.
Our Earlier Attempts
During development of Universe, we tested locally hosted A.I. that would run on the player’s own computer to enable interactive NPC dialogue. Unfortunately, the offline models demanded high end hardware (a modern GPU with at least 8 GB VRAM) while producing dismal results. They could not reliably maintain character or adhere to established game lore.
Discipline Master: Simulator
Server based A.I. removes those limitations entirely. Powered by clusters many orders of magnitude more capable than any home computer, a true A.I. Game Master becomes possible. We have had a skunkworks development ongoing for some time now, and the results have exceeded our expectations.
This vision now defines the future of the series. We are transforming the in development School Simulator into Discipline Master: Simulator. The core school-building and management gameplay remains intact, with AI-driven characters providing lifelike interaction. No more limited to a maximum of up six pre-determined choices - you type in exactly what you want to say. Additionally, players may request focused, smaller scope scenarios on demand: simply describe the experience you want, or ask the system to surprise you, and the AI will generate it. The A.I. will be aware of the game's available resources: such as maps, character sprites, and other assets, and will incorporate them appropriately when generating scenarios.
Equally important, the A.I. Game Master can venture beyond the exact scope of the universe we created for our titles. For example, you may request an experience set in a British public school circa 1950; you can supply specific historical details if you wish: or allow the AI to research period slang, punishments, and etiquette on its own: or combine both approaches. The result aims for an authentic, era accurate scenario tailored to your instructions, yet still powered by the same responsive game engine you already know.
Timeline
We are targeting a near feature-complete beta release in Q1 2026, but we will launch only when the experience can truly do what we just wrote above. At present, Discipline Master: Simulator is our sole development priority.
Until then, we wish you a Happy Holiday Season and a great coming New Year!
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