June 13 Update
Added 2021-06-13 19:05:21 +0000 UTCFirst up, we have a nice little piece of OEA fanart thanks to Runcible Technician. ^-^ If too much of this appears, it might need its own folder in the art pack, which is not a bad problem to have.
Second, let me quick talk about the new OEA maps for those giving feedback:
- Many of these are the Tower of Order dungeon, which you've mostly already seen. Hopefully the top floors are suitably climactic.
- Next we're working on finishing the Frozen Tale. Not terribly remarkable, but we have day/night variants for the cutscenes!
- The Expanse maps are intentionally sparse due to their looping nature.
Finally, the heart of this post:
My original TLS outline for the upcoming section just says "2-3 updates" because this one is a bit tricky. Right now I'm thinking two updates, though I'm not far enough along to say that for sure.
In the upcoming war, many events are set. There are payoffs and twists that I've been working toward the entire game, so there's nothing really to think about there except executing them as best I can. However, for a truly complex event, the actual game can be more up in the air than you'd think.
Certain elements, like characters' motivations and the players on the table, are set in stone. But how do all of those actually fit together? How much branching can the event support and how much will each past element/decision contribute to the invisible variables? Other elements of the story are essentially arbitrarily set by me, so making an update is about shifting these non-numerical variables so that everything else comes together in a satisfying way.
This event is supposed to be one of the most intense in the game. Don't expect a really long war, but do expect major changes. Right now I'm trying to go further than I have before in terms of story branching and payoff, because I hope that will make the event feel more rewarding. As I've said before, we are entering the payoff section of the story.
Comments
Thanks for the feedback! >I guess the 5F fountain will continue to have only one entrance. Oh well. I did add another one, and I believe it's in the newest build, but the mapper wasn't working from there, so it didn't get added to this version. Thanks for bringing it up.
Sierra Lee
2021-06-15 12:42:10 +0000 UTCThe frozen expanse copse of trees no longer looks as much like a place a player is as likely to try entering, at least to me. More of an opaque middle with an entrance more suggestive of a doorway might be better. If I infiltrated the Tower of Order I'd be pretty wary of all those suits of armor coming to life. Also amused to see that even a sexy sorceress seductress enjoys a good bagel. I like how it takes me just a moment to recognize the severed ogre fists on 7F. I guess the 5F fountain will continue to have only one entrance. Oh well.
Decanter
2021-06-15 03:08:21 +0000 UTCThanks for the feedback! Correct, the seam shouldn't be visible in game, and we definitely plan to pan over the map.
Sierra Lee
2021-06-14 20:09:49 +0000 UTCThe improvements to Tower Of Order B1 and 1F look good. Two of the carpets are missing their corner trim decorations on 4F (the ones where there's a wall intruding into their rectangular shape). The chest in the treasure room on 6F looks like a default asset. I don't see any other issues, and the top floors do indeed look climactic. The zoomed-out version of the top of the tower has a noticeable seam in the background parallax. I assume this won't be visible ingame. A slow pan up as the player enters that map would be a good idea. The Frozen Forest looks fine to me. The light/dark versions of the Frozen Grove also look good, although the light on the trees in the dark version could maybe be a bit redder and the shadows a bit sharper. It looks like the Frozen Expanse and Endless Expanse maps are still using the default treasure chests, which look pretty out of place. It might also be an idea to add some footprint tracks or a used campfire in the tree grove on both maps, to make it clear that's where the player needs to go. Some of the rock tiles in the Endless Expanse have square or missing shadows: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0ypanaiz46n2f8/endless-expanse-wip.png?dl=0
Lamsey
2021-06-14 17:22:31 +0000 UTCIt wasn't meant to be particularly cryptic, I was just talking about my work without spoiling things. This one is definitely a lot of story threads.
Sierra Lee
2021-06-14 00:00:42 +0000 UTCIt's fine not to have much feedback, I mainly want to get other eyes on the maps because I easily miss some details and I'm too close to the creation process. Glad to hear your wife is still enjoying it!
Sierra Lee
2021-06-14 00:00:12 +0000 UTCThis update is not an open world one. You've asked this question a lot, so here: when the next update is going to include the succession crisis, I will tell you.
Sierra Lee
2021-06-13 23:59:13 +0000 UTCHMMMM well that's cryptic post. I'm sure the events are nothing that Simon and Friends can't handle. Right?... Right? It sounds like you have a lot of story threads to weave together. I wish you luck, but I have full confidence that you will put together something compelling.
AF
2021-06-13 22:17:47 +0000 UTCOEA fan art is cute (and welcome)! I continue to not have a lot of feedback on the OEA maps. I did look through them all and I think they look good. I'm sure you'll get more detailed feedback from some of the others. Nothing jumped out at me though. My TLS update hype is real! My wife just finished the Ardan Succession Crisis section and continues to enjoy her playthrough. We both love to hate Antarion together >=). The projection for him stating his chances are "No" was particularly enjoyed. We're creeping closer to her catching up so she can join me on the hype!
Grim8P
2021-06-13 21:06:14 +0000 UTCAm real excited to see this payoff, among other things. But one thing I want to know. Is part two of Tyna's succession crisis part of this war? I assume it's not an open world update yes.
JJS
2021-06-13 20:08:26 +0000 UTC
