update on 10th

Added:

* 1 new Sharla portrait

* 2 new Thurin portraits

* The emotive portraits for the cast into part 1 of the prologue, including bad ends

* If quickstarting, affection/trust increases/decreases are now added from the moral choice

* Small addition to Magwyn's profile

Corrected/Changed:

* References to incorrect race

* Errors with speech bubbles coming up with the wrong names

* Contradicting information about the tunnel system and Thurin's role in the upcoming training.

* Typos

* Some of Tanan's dialogue

* Deleted redundant text that repeated information

* Gog being referred to as Thurin early in the prologue

* Spacing issues with skill level selection

* Separated "stand back" options from the standard attack options so it's easier to find and avoid using critical HP characters.

fixed:

* Broken notifications

* Weapon not appearing in inventory at end of prologue

* Some of aslaug's texts which didn't display properly

* Error after choosing alias, the non-binary text didn't show up and it cut off the beginning of the scene. (however, I actually don't remember if the game was released with this, or if I broke the code when I was fixing an incorrect racial conditional text. Either way, it's all good now!)

* Affection/trust changes for prologue's moral choice (not all values saved)

update on 14th

Added:

* 1 Magwyn portrait

* 1 Kelka portrait

* Partially rewritten Tananthia POV story

* Change line height in settings (lifted from manonamora's Sugarcube Settings Template - also credited in game)

Changed/corrected:

* Contradictory text in prologue's final bad end (survive variation)

* More typos

* spacing issues in the witch exclusive bad end.

* All spirit dialogue, barghests, Aslaug, and whatever else is now all red, including the names in the dialogue boxes.

* Adjusted protagonist profile to reveal all information, (ie. that the protag is okay with physical contact, rather than just displaying if not okay with it)

For it all to display correctly, there is the possibility that you'll need a new game, but you can wait until the next chapter so you can skip the prologue completely with the updated quickstart rather than do it now.

Fixed:

* Another race specific line that wasn't working.

* Disposition towards needles not being recorded

* A reference to your physical sex, being called male when female.

update on 21st:

Added:

* 2 fonts (In settings you can now select from Serif, Sans-serif, Monospace and Open Dyslexic; link to Open Dyslexic website is in the credits)

* The choice to accept or reject Kelka's gift. (You were warned against it, and you should have the choice to follow that advice or not. You may know a little about Kelka's darker side from the game page and her ally page, but Sharla has a more subtle dark side. Who would you rather trust?)

* updated battle lines (still incomplete)

* 1 Kelka portrait

* 1 Frodi portrait (actually it was made these portraits for the update on the 14th, but I forgot to add them in T_T )

Completed:

* Tananthia POV story

* Vaine POV story

* Codex page: Favoured souls of Esca (the Shigani)

Corrected/changed:

* Spacing issues.

* Typos

* Slightly improved writing quality of the prologue's final bad end variations

* Some more of Tananthia's dialogue during the "training".

* Slight layout change for the allies page to make better use of the space.

Note:

While I was testing the fonts, I discovered that, while the game passages changed, the pop up dialog boxes remain in a serif font. I will try to fix this as soon as I figure it out with my tinkering, or find a tutorial to explain it, whichever comes first. If looking for a fix takes too long, I am amenable to the idea of converting all the dialog boxes into actual passages instead, which WILL make it work. I am aware that the villainous theme of this game is divisive and I would not want to exclude any of the few people who enjoy it from the extras in the codex just because of this issue, so I am prepared to put in the extra bit of work if requested. If I hear nothing about this, I will assume that all is well for now and leave it until I find a fix (if there is one). If someone knows how to fix this issue, omg I'd be so grateful if you'd share your knowledge!

If there are other fonts designed to make reading more accessible, I can also add these to the font options. Unless notified otherwise, I think having four fonts (Serif, Sans-serif, Monospace and Open Dyslexic) is enough.

Development wise, I chose to cut the training scenes with the Thorns for the skill selection to save time and currently have no intention to expand on it. However, if someone asks about adding them in order to get more time with the Thorns and make a better informed decision on who to pick as your companion in chapter 1, then I'll consider doing so. Obviously, Vaine would train arcana, Magwyn would train combat, Kelka would train stealth and Frodi would focus on charisma.

That aside, I hope you all like the characters so far. They're all fairly mild right now (yes, even Tananthia, if you can believe it) and will degenerate deeper into their character theme with each update if you choose to continue spending time with that character. I'm not going to force the worst aspects of them on the unwilling beyond what is needed for the overall plot.

With these updates, the prologue is finally 100% complete (unless someone points out errors, plot holes, or inconsistencies)! Woo~! It will take some time to release chapter 1, and I'm debating whether I should release it in installments or as a whole. It shouldn't be much longer than the prologue (I think) but there will be more options that come with free roaming the castle and, later, the city itself for the investigation (and even then I need to make red herrings to lead you astray from the actual clues). I will also need to do extensive tests for the amount of potential battles to include. How many is too many, what isn't enough? I know that due to the randomness of the rolls each round, the results of a single fight can range wildly and that the combat stat is the only means to control it to some degree. You will not be expected to fight all the battles (you'd die for sure), but you'll also have more resources at your disposal to plan ambushes and make them easier or avoid battles entirely. Chapter 1 will contain a mandatory companion as you complete your first mission, and after chapter 1 you can select whether you want to work alone or with one of the other Thorns.

Beyond that, I don't actually know how long it will take. As I've mentioned, I am a single person making the game between work, social and general commitments/responsibilities, and I have things I want to do/games to play/books to read/shows to watch that I'd put aside to finish the prologue and these updates in a timely manner.

And so, ta-ta for now,

Glou