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March 14 Update (Patreon)

Published:
2021-03-14 18:39:41
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Most likely, work on OEA won't stop abruptly, it will taper off over a period of time. There are also a number of things I don't want to do, like get screenshots, update the Steam page, and see about a trailer. The plan was to taper the final OEA work out over a longer period while work on TLS 0.56.0 ramped up as my main focus.

That's still the plan, but I'm disappointed it didn't start this past week. The level of feedback has been a lot heavier than I expected, and I'm still anticipating some really long emails. That said, hopefully we're moving away from knotty problems to issues of polish, so I hope the tapering will begin sooner rather than later. This has been a joy to finally finish, but I'm creatively ready to shift gears.

One thing I'm disappointed about was that the game got pirated so early. It had an immediate negative affect on Steam wishlists, and it also meant I got exposed to a lot of tiring opinions. Brought up some past things I'd put behind me. It seems it was a mistake to give this version all the art, but nothing to do except keep moving forward and shrug it off.

Meanwhile, please provide feedback on the maps, if you have any thoughts! I have some of my own for this set:

Overgrown Sample: This one is trying to mix in some ruins to make this Tale more memorable, but I don't think all the tiles actually fit together. Won't mention exactly which ones, but let me know what you think.

Innocent Sample: This one is breaking our previous rules by having all the trees fall into a grid pattern, along with some of the smiling flowers. This is intended to show the creepy uniformity of the Tale, and this deep into the game I hope players will understand, but both I and the mapper were unsure if this was too far or not far enough.

Grimmton Samples: Two this time! Both show the new tiles and dead figures, but they have different styles of shadows. The spiky one is far more work, but I want to do whatever looks best, even if it's something different from either of these.

New Canisan Slum + Frozen Clearing: Both of these are finished maps.

Anyway, I'll just keep my nose to the grindstone and work on everything. I suppose if people want to be extra helpful they could contribute screenshots, but this is something I fully intend to do myself, eventually.

Files

Comments

Runcible Technician

Props to whoever made the grimmton samples, that is some really good gore considering the pixel limitation. I really like the ruins in the overgrown tale. It's an area you have to travel through a lot, so making it look unique and interesting is a great idea. As for the innocent tale, I think that the hard lines and dark colors are a little out of place. If you are going to keep the yellow filter over the tale, thinner lines and a brighter shade of green would give it a more cartoony and less dark heart of the woods feel. You have to wonder how pirates can steal stuff so quickly with those hook hands and peg legs. You'd think the missing eye would make them worse at finding treasure, but noooo...

BleBle

I am a bit divided by the opinions because in some way I know that they are not rational opinions, because there are fans,haters,supporters, casuals etc. So I am gonna ask: As someone who hates FFV systems, it is worth to give a chance right now? Or is better to wait? And I am aware of the "if you want to do something, do it yourself" thingie but because my job and the things happening to the world, I dont have so much free time that I would like. Hope everything is okay, happy week.

WaxerRed

Maps look pretty killer, both figuratively and literarily in the case of Grimtown. The maps show great diversity of settings, which is perfect for the tale hoping aspect of the game. The new overgrown tale and Cheerful tale both look pretty good by my eyes. For Grimtale I really like the shadow effect on the second of the two pictures, with the way it casts over the bodies. And for screenshots is there anything you had in mind? Which elements in particular to focus on and what format them being in?

androidK

maps look good, without looking over the overgrowth with a fine tooth comb it blends well and feels very foresty. I think the symmetry will work well in signaling something is off as long as people don’t spend too much time there. the grimtown looks great and the spikier shadows definitely evoke horror/classic fairytale grasping roots and thorns. keep up the great work!

Decanter

Based on your comments, it's probably better for you personally to wait for the balance to be more final.

sierralee

Thanks for the feedback! I think you make a very good point about the lines and shading for the innocent Tale, we'll take that into account.

sierralee

Yeah, diversity of setting was one of the reasons I commissioned custom tiles and paid for parallax mapping. Hope it's successful. For screenshots, any format in the appropriate resolution is fine. My general aim is to show various new maps, emphasizing the quality of the mapping and the diversity of the settings. Some showing pure maps, some showing dialogue between main characters. Some battle screenshots too, ideally in mid-action. Maybe a screenshot of the "equip skills" menu to show that system exists.

sierralee

Thanks for giving feedback on the maps!

Decanter

The eyepatch is to make their vision better, not worse; it's not enchanted like Orcent's, but it keeps them from being blinded as they move in or out of the ship's interior. Seriously though, from what I see on the pirate sites, it's an infuriating mix of too quickly and not quickly enough. Too quickly because they leak a version that's not ready for the public, then bitch about all the obvious placeholders and balance issues that are already being smoothed out; not quickly enough because the leaked version is already out of date, so they leave mistaken reviews or go on SL's blog and give useless feedback while rubbing their piracy in her face. (This pattern also holds for TLS leaks.) In SL's place, I would refuse to accept feedback about patron builds on the blog, and delete comments while leaving an explanation of that policy. I assume SL has her reasons for doing otherwise, though, and may have reasons for not discussing her reasoning on here, which she is of course not obligated to.

Decanter

Overgrown ruins - I feel some of the black pixels on the thick wall and the round column don't blend well with the environment around them. More important is the tree leaves; the red/orange/yellow leaf types don't blend well into the other leaves. I really like those flowers, though, and some ruins seem like a good idea to me (I hope there's flavor text/dialogue for them). Cheerful - does everything have a smiley face? Is it supposed to be like that? Creepy. There are perhaps too many shadows, especially along the path and clearing - I would think the atmosphere of this tale lends itself to oversaturation and light bloom if anything, like a twee children's animated movie. Otherwise, I think it's alright the way it is, though maybe not the best map to showcase in screenshots as it stands, because of the regularity. If you want an idea for making the tale feel controlled without looking like a standard RPG Maker grid, perhaps the trees along the sides of the intended path could stand together more closely packed, as though strongly enforcing your path thru the woods? Grim - definitely prefer the spiky shadows. Very classic menacing fairytale woods. If it's a lot of work, maybe it doesn't need to be in every area and having it in significant locations like this for effect is good enough and makes the effect stand out more? Canisan - lines along the waterfalls' sides seem very bright blue and sharp to me. Frozen - looks good.

Darthjake

I'm easy, I like all the maps, lol

sierralee

Overgrown: I agree about the things you felt didn't blend well. The leaf types are actually in the original pixel art, which is seeming like an increasingly bad deal. =/ Cheerful: Yeah, everything is supposed to be smiley. The flowers dance, too! Some sort of increased light is almost certain, and I'll think about potentially lining the paths. Grim: I'm not sure how well it could be done in just sections, but in any case, it's not an impossibility, the map will just be more expensive. Canisan: Hmm, the waterfall is actually animated, so I'm not sure how it will look in game. I'll mention it for now, then we can check later.

sierralee

Hey, even if I'm looking for changes, it's always nice to hear when things are working for people!

Captain Hair

Hey Sierra, I know this is a OEA focus update, but I have a question for you regarding TLS. Which goddess are you most looking forward to us getting to? I figure Ivala is the safe bet, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Who knows, maybe the mysterious Zelica is your favorite. Or maybe you're secretly Orilise and are looking forward to the Mother getting plowed.

Dark Art

Maps look pretty damn sweet. Well done you :) Another thing is battle music in New Canisan and the mines - its waaaaaaaay to bombastic, especially if you take into the account the fact that the player will be bouncing around that mine for a while, trying to figure out the switches. So yeah, if my ears began to bleed after a few fights, I can imagine how a person who did not grew up on Pantera and Sepultura would react. Another thing is constantly respawning mobs in that mine... I get it, it should be a challenging place, but having to fight every single mob again every time you revisit the floor, gets old very fast, So I'd either make those fights un-escapable to make at least some kind of sense out of this constant (and IMHO rather pointless) grind, or limit the respawns quite a bit.

Decanter

It's possible for the game to just play a music track at lower than full volume, if that'd fix it for you. Personally, I have the whole game at 40% volume, but inconsistent volume level is a problem that approach can't fix.

sierralee

Answering would be a bit of a spoiler, wouldn't it? All I'll say is that Zelica's image has been in the game files from the very first build for a good reason...

Dark Art

Its not the volume of the sound (I play it at 40% as well) but that relentless sharp and heavy chord + the drums that explode every time I have to face a mob. It would be fine for a boss fight, but for every single mob its just too much. So much so that I had to turn off the music completely as it was starting to give me a headache. If no one else is bothered by it I guess its fine, its not something major or game breaking, but personally I find that music quite irritating.

sierralee

Glad you like the maps! As for the music, I do hope to keep the volume level somewhat even overall, but I didn't have a lot of music issues in my playtesting. If others agree, I can lower the individual tracks' volume. As for enemies respawning too much, is that in 0.4.4? I tried to move and reduce the number of them in the mine since 0.4.3... EDIT: Looks like we were posting at the same time. I'll have to review the tracks, but to be honest, my desire to go hunting for more music is pretty much exhausted.

Dark Art

Oh the art you've created for OEA is something special. I honestly didnt expect to see something as pretty (at times borderline beautiful) in a RPGmaker game. So yeah.. well done you :) Yup, its 0.4.4. Another thing that just came to mind - there is an event shortly before the party meets Hood and Fenris. The one where a boulder needs to be pushed into a hole. Sorry, dont have the save handy but I think you know what I am talking about. You even have one of those cartoon-ish pictures illustrating the event. That picture is the problem - it has Hood in the team pushing the boulder, but she is yet to be recruited. Not a big deal on its own, but it did send me on a wild goose chase all over the game's world trying to figure out how did I miss her, only to have the team meet her on the next map. In regads to music - its really not a big deal at this point, its not breaking anything aside from my ear drums :) But I would most definitely change that tune to something else before final release.

Seil

> <i>Answering would be a bit of a spoiler, wouldn't it? All I'll say is that Zelica's image has been in the game files from the very first build for a good reason...</i> Hm... That got me legit curious. Like i know it has been there for a long time, but i just considered it to be a placeholder for now. And there's still too little known about her at the moment.

Decanter

Based on past events, the good reason could be that SL really, really wanted to prank us and played the long game to do it. Alternately, Ivala really is a small rodent. That would certainly make Carina's character develop some kind of way.

DankPotatoes

Well, God Damn Sierra, that single line about Zelica is enough to send me into a theorizing whirlpool until the next update. Amazing

Trisk

Overgrown: The segment of wall in the lower left does look noticeably different from the rest. Nothing else stands out as mismatched to me. Innocent: I think the combination of the trees looking like they were planted in rows and smiling flowers conveys the feel pretty well. Grimmton: The spiky shadows definitely look better. Especially for conveying the creepy forest feel.

sierralee

I know what you mean about the boulder image... this should have been in Grimmton, not the labyrinth! Slipped my mind and put it in the wrong place.

sierralee

Thanks for giving feedback on the maps!

Decanter

I wonder why that battle track was a problem but not the "bleak" or "misc" battle tracks.

sierralee

Thanks! I'll use multiple of those, and you've inspired me to grab a few more of my own. However, I could still use another class of them: screenshots of sex scenes. A nice scene where the text box doesn't cover much, with some decent text. I won't be able to use these on some stores, but they're important for the NSFW Steam side of things.

Dark Art

Not sure which tune would be "bleak" or "misc", but I did think a bit more on this. At first it looked kinda odd, since I am a big fan of heavy stuff, but I think I get it now. See, the tune itself is not all that bad. Its far from great since its pretty monotonous - there isnt much variety in it, just heavy guitar and drums blasting away at approximately same level till it goes to repeat itself, but its not al that bad either. I think the problem is twofold - the mines with its grind issue is quite annoying by itself and I think the tune got associated with useless grind, plus the fact that there is a very convenient farming spot with harmless mobs in from of the town. So in the mines the tune is just another aspect of something already annoying and in front of the town it feels quite out of place to have such heavy and energetic tune blast away as you squash some pathetic mobs - it just doesnt fit aesthetically. Just to put things in perspective - in Wilhelm's Tale battle tune is quite heavy and energetic as well, but it fits better the environments as there is real danger and the tune itself has more variety in it, so it just sounds better overall. Anyway, like I said, its really not that big of a deal if no one else is bothered by it.

colin r (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-25 01:00 The danger with the Innocent sample on the grid pattern is that it could look like the dev was lazy/cheap rather than deliberately creepy. The pixel art style will automatically remind people of the days when everything always landed on a grid, because it *was* a grid. (Or at least, it will remind anyone old enough to have played games when pixel art was impressive rather than retro…) I imagine this is a thing where in-game context will make all the difference which way it comes off.
2021-03-15 23:49

sierralee

Valid, but I hope this will be fully ameliorated by the context. It won't be used for screenshots, so players will only encounter it after playing the game for many hours and seeing other types of maps.

WaxerRed

Here you go! I tried to give the same diversity in settings as I had the maps. Some of them included several pictures from the same scene as showing off that each picture will have several variations, as opposed to 1 still image, might be a bigger draw. https://imgur.com/a/SsZaCZF

sierralee

Thanks, I appreciate it! The idea of showing variants is fine in theory, but I worry on the Steam page people will just see them as duplicates. Anyway, I've updated the Steam page with all these! I hope to add more screenshots later, and eventually I need to put together a trailer, but this is a step forward.

WaxerRed

Glad to help!

Lamsey

/late: Frozen Clearing: looks good to me. New Canisan: in addition to the blue lines on the waterfalls that Decanter mentioned, there are some bright straight lines on the east bank of the river in the far north, stretching from the bridge to the edge of the map. Looks good otherwise. Now that I've reached New Canisan in my playthrough, I can see this one's been rearranged a fair bit - is that Estha's shop in the northwest now? Not sure where the other locations (e.g. party base, smuggler) are, but I guess it'll make sense ingame. Grim Wasteland: the sharper shadows look more creepy, but it's a bit odd that the shadows aren't uniformly sharp, since the trees have no canopy to cast the blanket shadows in the west/east areas. Still, I'd definitely go with that option if it's feasible to get a consistent look across the whole map without wearing out the mapper's mouse, keyboard, and goodwill. Cheerful Forest: I see what you're going for, but I think it would look better with a little bit of subtle variation, such as mirroring some of the trees or subtly varying their placement without breaking the general grid pattern. I'd lean into elements like the evenly-placed flowers along the borders to emphasise the unnatural orderliness of the Tale, while still allowing the forest itself to look a little organic. Overgrown: the open patches of grass could maybe look longer and more unruly, like knee- or waist-length undergrowth rather than a trimmed lawn. Like Decanter and others, I think the blocky wall in the southwest doesn't match the others and looks lower quality, so I'd get rid of it and keep the others, which look good to me (maybe also remove the round columns if you want to be consistent with the lighter square ones). Unlike Decanter, I think I'm OK with the odd-coloured leaves since they give the trees a wilder and more distinct feel compared to those in other Tales with similar canopies.

Lamsey

Doh - forgot to say, if you're concerned about people not realising that the Cheerful Tale's grid pattern is deliberate, you could always hang a lampshade on it by having one of the party members question it during the first visit, with a suitably withering answer from Hood.

sierralee

Appreciate your thoughts! Yes, New Canisan and the other default maps are being entirely redesigned. Having the grim trees not cast shadows within the forests should be viewed as some sort of unnatural shadow.

Decanter

The odd-colored leaves being odd-colored is fine - they just don't blend. They literally don't look like part of the tree to me. Hopefully that came across before.

Lamsey

Ah, I hadn't picked that up. Yeah, I can see what you mean - I think it's the yellow outlines on the redder ones, since the ones with yellow/green odd leaves seem to blend better.