Defiant Explorer
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Work progress on 1.8
🕑 Added 2024-09-27 03:35:14 +0000 UTCIt's been a while since I've done a progress post, so it's about time to rectify that. First things first - August was pretty productive. I've made a good head start on the update and have been moving forward quite steadily. I even found time for a big post about lore. By the way, there won't be any such posts in the near future, all my energies are on game development and only on it.
The unpleasant part.
September, however... Well, I had the idea of using euphemisms, but I probably shouldn't do that here. I'll just write it down as it happened. At the very beginning of the month, a boom arrived, closer than any in the last three years. Only ~200 meters from my house (yep, I was watching from my window, well, a few meters from the window, just in case). Luckily it was more of a high-precision thing rather than a heavily packed with explosives. Although, the windows in the nearby houses were blown out anyway. I was “lucky” here too, the neighboring house blocked mine from the blast wave, so my windows were still intact. Yeah, that was that close.
All in all, it is one thing to watch booms from a window that are kilometers away from you, or even somewhere out there on the very horizon, but it is quite another when it is so close. Psychologically it affected me very badly. The first week I couldn't even sleep normally, I kept waking up. I dreamed that something near me was exploding (which was not the real thing, just dreams...). Then it somehow became easier, although a nasty feeling of anxiety is still there. I still wake up sometimes from “explosions” in my sleep, which are not real. Stupid subconscious ... just shut the fuck up already...
As you might have guessed, this had a bad effect on the progress of development in September. At best, I did 50% of what I had planned, and that was when I wasn't too sluggish due to lack of sleep. But still got at least that done.
The normal part.
There were also purely creative difficulties. With one particular scene... No, not even with it, but with one of the lines of dialog that not everyone will even find. Usually, when working on a draft, my internal quality compass tells me that this scene is “good”, so I save it to carry over into the game. And that scene is “crap”, so I rework it, partially or completely, until my internal compass shows “good”. But with this scene (which I've already redone several times), the compass shows... nothing. Neither “good” nor “crap”. I left it like that, continuing to work on the game further. Let this moment settle inside, so to speak, maybe sometime later the compass arrow will move in some direction after all.
Just so you understand, this scene - this damn tiny part of it! - was plaguing me for days. And I can't just pull it out and throw it away, because the question it raises interests many players. I've seen it through a lot of comments. So, this is not a case where you can backpedal.
Other than that, from the finished part, I can tell you that there will be some pretty long “branches” in this episode. What I mean by that is that once you make some decisions, you'll find that the sequence of events after them will drag on for... well, longer than usual. It also shifts the focus of my work a lot to working through the draft. I still have unfinished “tails” in the early part of the episode, though I'm getting somewhere close to the notional midpoint of the update on some of the other “branches”. Of course, no unfinished stuff will be in the game by the time the update is released. An episode should be a seamless piece of a larger story. That's the way it was and that's the way it will be this time too.
The plans.
I originally expected to release 1.8 sometime in late October. But given the much more modest than expected results in September, it's probably better to count on November. I will try to speed things up and catch up in October, but that may be easier said than done. But I'll still try.
So, for now, let it be November, without concrete, sorry. But the sooner the better - that's obvious.
P.S. And no, DamnedFrog, I'm not giving Selene a greatsword. This isn't Skyrim.
P.P.S. The katana thing was also a joke. Well, just to be safe.
P.P.P.S. xD
Comments
Defiant Explorer
Basically, your question is about whether Getaira is real and if so, whether she heard Selene. Sure thing, I don't want to answer that directly. But let's think about it purely logically. What happened after Selene asked the fallen goddess for help? Nothing. The heavens didn't turn black and the Goddess of Magic and Abomination didn't descend from a black vortex and slap silly Selene's booty for summoning her for something as ridiculous as trying to start a bonfire. Right? And the same thing doesn't happen when someone brings up her name in vain or even, erm, her back door by sending annoying folks to go right there. It follows that she may not be real, just a made-up mythical character. Or that she's real, but doesn't hear such things. Or hears but doesn't react, for whatever reason. Supposedly, heh.
Lonely Wolf
Hi there, D.E.!-☝️-! I hope everything is going well for you these days! Nothing of particular today, apart from your recent comment on @F95 which I thought was pretty spot on. You said us: "There are a lot of little things scattered all over the game". This is very true, if we take the trouble to pay attention to the details, and if we try to discover all the hidden scenes. There's one scene in particular I wanted to talk to you about, cuz... Uh... Well, in fact, let's just say it made me truly reflect, and wonder a few times! It's when Selene is stranded on the island of the lake, trying to light a small brazier in her makeshift camp. There's a surprising line of dialogue here: you can ask the fallen Goddess for help in making this famous fire MAGICALLY appear, and even if this attempt ends in bitter failure (xD), I don't think this scene is as "innocent" or "insignificant" as it first appears! Afterwards, perhaps that I'm getting too carried away in saying this, I don't really know, nonetheless, I was still wondering if there might be repercussions (undoubtedly unpleasant?) in the future, as a result of having chosen this rather heretical option (despite the fact that there were no direct witnesses to hear Selene's words at that precise moment)?+? All right, I'm not sure you'll like my question very much, and you'll probably tell me it would be a nasty spoiler to answer this, but never mind; I would have given it a shot anyway!-😙-!
Defiant Explorer
I'm working on an update, pretty much every day, don't worry. There is still a lot of work though, but I will find a day this month to update you guys on the progress. As for Meralion and whether or not he'll be okay... All I can say is that some will love this character. And some will hate him. And some will do both. And some will do both changing their mind multiple times. Unless he dies again in the future. Because he can.
Dietmar Müller
Just wanted to say hello, and thank you for this really awesome and captivating story. I hope you are doing okay, with everything that's going on. I can't wait to see how the story continues, after that ending at the camp. I hope that "he" will be doing okay, cuz... I'd totally ship that :)
avie
Hey, D.E! Just finished 1.7, and it's been fantastic so far. It's not often I get so absorbed into a game, and I can't wait to keep playing. Take care, much love.
Defiant Explorer
That's okay. I should probably make a new post to get rid of the bit of depressing patina of the last one.
Chien_perdu
Ah, I missunderstood, glad you're doing better. Nice, can't wait to play it!
Defiant Explorer
No, no, no! September is over! That's it. I've moped a little bit and that's it. October is time to catch up. Which, by the way, I'm doing right now. I even finished the draft of the first lewd scene in this update. Yay!
Chien_perdu
I cannot imagine how terrifying it must be to witness a bomb hitting so close to home. I wish you all the best that you can recover from that experience. So yeah, it's very understandable that you can't be a productive as usually under that circumstances. Take the time you need!
Defiant Explorer
Nah, well some of the work for September is done, however, I plan to "roll up my sleeves" in October, yes. If one takes too much time, one can easily drown in a swamp of slack and excuses. I'm also somewhat concerned about my seeming inability to not go into some detail with, well, “external factors”. I promise myself not to do that again. Writing to others about it. And then it happens again. Who wants to read about war on the game page? It's obviously the wrong place. Sorry about that. I won't promise not to do it again (what's the sense?), but sill I'll try not to do it again. Huh, again, uh-huh... And sorry for all the weird jokes in the posts above. That, yeah... wasn't a good sign, really. I'm feeling a little better now. And thanks to you and others for your attention. It's weird, but it makes me feel better. It would be much worse to talk to a void.
Lonely Wolf
And also, D.E.: about the famous < line of dialogue > that "haunted" you for several days, perhaps it's not so bad that you left it as it was, right? After all, good or crappy whatever! If you leave it in "neutral" mode, it will probably allow players to imagine ALL sorts of things... Oh my goodness, yes!_/😀\_!
Lonely Wolf
Hiya again, D.E.! Well, I'm back! Ok, by "more serious comment" I meant that I intended to talk about your delay predictions for the version 1.8, and if you didn't put any points in dodge, so much the better cuz you won't need them! By the way, rest assured, I wouldn't even ask you how much your armor class is worth!-😆-! Ahem... I believe that I'd better stop here with my great D&D delirium. So according to your initial plans, you told us that you had planned towards the end of October for the release date, and that because of the "delay" this month it's likely to arrive in November instead? For my part, I've to say that it's not really a big deal. In fact, I think it's already very good that you're continuing to develop the game despite the very difficult conditions in which you're working. Moreover, be aware that I fully agree with the opinion expressed by @DamnedFrog, especially on the subject of "lame excuses". Indeed, it seems to me that people (and the patrons particularly) should realize by themselves that currently you truly are doing your best as a game developer, it's as simple as that... Thus, don't too overload yourself of the work and don't stress yourself unnecessarily please, it could turn out (maybe?) be counter-productive for I.E.; I estimate it would be better if you took the time necessary to offer us quality updates as you've done so well up to now. {👍+😌} Brief, I know this isn't your favorite topic of discussion, so I'll stop getting drunk you with my usual blah-blah-blah. [^-😅-^]
DamnedFrog
Could be a dream. So it could be fucked as you want without having any impact on the story, the evolution of Selene, or the lore.
Defiant Explorer
Okey dokey. The "MORE serious comment" sounds alarming, though. I haven't put a single point into dodge, so hopefully there no heavy things are going to fly at me xD
Lonely Wolf
Hiya, D.E.!-☝️-! I pass quickly, just to say that you two, you make me laugh a lot with your recent funny deliriums!-😂-! So, against this kind of FINAL BOSS {the rabid free-range chicken}, I'd advocate the use of a major artifact to have any chance of plucking it heroically!-😆-! You know guys, something like a two-handed katana, forged from meteoric iron by the most reputable master smith during the ancient imperial times (a bonus of +10 to the touch AND in damages, evidently; the bare minimum recommanded, isn't it?-🤣-?)... Ok, it's alright, enough jokes for now. I'll come back another day to make a MORE serious comment. See you soon, the friends!^-^!
Defiant Explorer
You know, the more I think about the great sword, the more my imagination boils. Imagine! Selene. Darkness. Something evil moving in that darkness. A squawk. A click of the beak. The most dangerous animal in the world! Evil meany mad chicken! And all that separates Selene from this madness with a bloodied beak is an old bronze greatsword. Oh, what will she do?! What-what-what?! xD Oh, that would be such a cool meta-joke. That almost no one would understand. I mean, a great sword? And a chicken? People are like, whaaaaat? I don't know when, and I still have no idea how to justify it in the game, but one day, that scene might actually come up. Oh, yeah. That would be hilarious.
DamnedFrog
I know you don't want to bring the situation in your country to the foreground. But it can't have no impact on you. Don't beat yourself if the war prevents you from keeping your schedule. It's not some lame excuse. Anyone who don't understand that is an asshole. Take care of yourself. P.S. So, I suppose I can cross off a Dwemer machine-gun either? No greatsword? ... so Dawnbreaker is OK, it's a one handed sword. I promise to not install any mod that turns it in a two handed sword. :-)
