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March 29 Update (Patreon)

Published:
2020-03-29 18:15:22
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Momentum! Momentum is precious. I feel so much better on a day-to-day basis when I'm enjoying my work and making significant progress. ^-^ I hope everyone is managing with the world's current difficulties. I'm getting closer to finishing two things, one of which will come sooner and the other later.

Right now I'm writing the third (and likely last) novel in the Street Cultivation series. I have many thoughts about this, but I want to keep this short. Once this is done, I will have completed all the writing I have scheduled for an entire year. If I write anything else, it will be unplanned.

(The audio deal on The Brightest Shadow went through, by the way, with Podium contracting the entire series. Not much else to say about it yet.)

Finally, we are getting very close to the illustrated version of TLS! All of the first chapter will have scenes, over 25 in total. $10 backers can look forward to another scene preview soon, and everyone will get a poll where I ask about how to divide the next set of releases. But for now, I return to work.

Comments

pokemorph

Congratulations! Looking forward to the audio book.

Captain Hair

Sounds like you're on a roll. Just make sure you don't stop to eat it.

Decanter

Many surprises packed into that second paragraph - that you're ending the SC series at 3, that you aren't starting TBS 2 this year, that you have writing targets on a yearly scale, that you'd write for 1/4 of a year and then not the latter 3/4. As ever, I look forward to whatever you put out.

sierralee

Thanks! Not sure when it will be finished, but I'll update you here.

sierralee

More surprises than I intended, actually! This update was a bit rushed because I'm focused on writing, so some clarifications: 1) Though there's theoretical content for SC 4+, I don't know if I'll write it. Soft ending. 2) The main draft of TBS2 is already written. I will do another draft and beta reading throughout this year for an early 2021 release. Just want to do more TLS work first. 3) I have smaller writing targets as well, but yes, I plan many things yearly. 4) It's unlikely that I won't write for the rest of the year, it will just be that all known quantities with intended release dates are mostly done.

DukeLeto7

We've got a novel TLS bug from the wiki forums, someone found another exotic way to break the game in Aka's Route by behaving in an extremely eccentric manner. OK. Basically, to get through the Aka's Route iteration of the Thaumaturgical Order trials, you have to complete three out of four tests in the Trials 2 map and advance to event ID 008 at coordinates (008, 011). When you get there, Robin requests that the group complete all four tests, and self switch A is set on if the player agrees while self switch B is set on if they don't. The only way to turn on self switch B after that is to complete all four tests. OK. Now, you have the option to have Trin complete any of the four tests besides the highly, highly specialized test that only she can complete, but this sets the [0397: Trin Tired] switch on, and she refuses to complete any of the other tests until it has been cleared. The switch can be cleared by completing one of the other 4 major quest objectives, getting the Trin x Altina scene in by sleeping in the bed in the secret tunnels, or by sleeping in the bed after all the other four major quest objectives are complete (Aka Progress >= 4) AND the Trin x Altina scene has been triggered. OK, so here's what our talented player managed to do. He never rescued Altina. He completed all the other four Aka Progress quests before starting the Order Trials. He accepted Robin's request that all four tests be completed. He had Trin complete one of the tests besides the highly highly specialized one. He couldn't get Trin untired by resting because he had no Altina and thus never got the Trin x Altina scene. This is admittedly a pretty niche scenario, but it suggests another potential game breaker: A REALLY impecunious and stupid player who gets to this point in Aka's Route with less than 1150 sx and nothing they can afford (or are willing) to sell, and no enemies left to fight, thus blocking the alchemy test and blocking further progress. I'd suggest two fixes. First, the bed event in Secret Tunnels 2 should have its page 4 conditionals set from Aka Progress >=4 and Self Switch B = On to Aka Progress >=4 and Self Switch A = On. Second, for the aforementioned event blocking you from completing the Trials 2 map, add a sixth page for when Aka Progress >= 4 and Self Switch A = On, with dialogue allowing Aka to reconsider doing all four tests and allowing the player to choose to do change the Self Switch from A to B with a penalty to Order Test Points matching or exceeding the +1 bonus they got for agreeing to complete all four tests.

Decanter

Rather than a patch for this particular Trin Tired issue, I would suggest removing the mechanic where Trin gets Tired in the first place. It doesn't seem to serve any purpose except to mystify the player (and make Trin look like a little shit, but we already knew that about her). Based on what wiki commenters ask for help with most often, am generally starting to think that early section of Chapter 2 could stand some eventual redesigning; it's got the tendency of players to get blindsided by it ending, and the odd opaque measure of route efficiency, and I'm not sure allowing players to miss Altina was actually a good idea, considering how many seem to learn it was even possible to save her only later while looking at a guide (most often a guide for Aka's route wondering how they're supposed to do it with just two party members).

snusnumrik

I'm honestly surprised you guys still remember what happened in chapter 2.

androidK

If you write only 3 in the sc series would you still consider writing stories in that universe?

sierralee

The idea with Trin was to emphasize that she's less cooperative without Simon around, as another mechanic to make the split routes feel distinct. I might be willing to part with it for the sake of a smoother player experience, but I'll grumble about it.  In any case, at the moment I don't really have the bandwidth to make retroactive changes without a high risk of added errors.

sierralee

If I return to the SC universe, it would be a continuation of the stories of Rick/Melissa/etc.

DukeLeto7

We understand. Given how long it took for someone to get themselves into this particular pickle jar without an older save, it's hardly a high priority for 0.50, but I'd hope it can get looked at in 0.51. FWIW, I think the adjustments I suggested will make the originally broached issue go away, but, as noted, I'm not the world's greatest RPG Maker event code expert. As long as we're complaining about problems in old content, I'd suggest adding a faceless dialogue box after the prologue but early in Ch1 explaining the use of the save feature and suggesting that the player keep multiple saves. We see a lot of cases where people paint themselves into an undesired outcome because they're used to modern autosaving features and thus don't save until they hit a game over early on or don't use more than one save slot. This compounds the "early ch2 blindsiding issue" Decanter describes above. The missing Altina issue could be mitigated by an extra page on the event for Feroholm on the Feroholm regional map triggered by the V9 Retread switch that has Simon say something like "I'd like to try and rescue Altina before we return to Feroholm, she should be in the Withered Mountain castle to the west." if she hasn't been rescued and then setting a Self Switch A on that prevents the message from being seen again. It's on their own heads from there if they ignore this.

DankPotatoes

Real talk though: Does it sound likely that any player will ever naturally end up in this scenario with a tired Trin, missing Altina, all other objectives completed AND a completely empty Sx purse and sellable inventory? If fixing an issue that no one ever is like to encounter runs the risk of creating more issues that could potentionally get in the way of more people, is it really a good idea to bother?

DankPotatoes

Hey Sierra. What's the best measurement for the success of an artist in this day and age? Trick question: It's when your fans start creating godawful vine parodies about the characters you write. Hope you'll get some fun out of it, and feel free to link it in next week's update, if you enjoy it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMkLG7gjNuo&feature=youtu.be M̶a̶n̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶s̶p̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶s̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶o̶n̶a̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶

sierralee

Haha, glad to see you're having fun. I always felt that the true measure of success was when people start writing fanfiction that crosses over with Naruto or Harry Potter. Stay safe with all that time on your hands!

DukeLeto7

Remember to wash your hands thoroughly to remove all time from them. Covid can persist for an indefinite number of hours on an hour of time.

DukeLeto7

Clarification: There are two potential ways to get stuck. You can get locked out of the ability to have Trin take a test that you must complete to advance, and it is theoretically possible to get stuck without enough Sx to complete the alchemy test. The first one has been observed in nature. The second is a hypothetical. Even I have to admit that anyone who has no cash for the alchemy test because they splurged on fire charms probably deserves to be stuck. Admittedly, the last time I brought SL a bug in Aka's Route, the solution caused cascading issues, but that was because we were messing with the exit in a high traffic map. Messing with the event code in the trials and the secret tunnels is less likely to have cascading side effects.

WaxerRed

ONe of the best things I've ever been able to witness. All the ones with Annah were golden!

DankPotatoes

Thanks. Tossing content into a vacuum, where you can't see people's reaction to it is always a bit intimidating. I'm glad to hear from those who enjoyed it.