Newsflash: Nov 5

So much. Many things. This fortnight I finished drafting Chapter 3 of The New Thing, did my revisions for Chapter 6 of Royal Affairs, and planned Royal Affairs Chapter 7.

Royal Affairs wordcount: 150,490 words
Royal Affairs average playthrough: 41,926 words
Total Royal Affairs wordcount progress: 2708 words

The New Thing wordcount: 36,532 words
The New Thing average playthrough: 14,876 words
Total New Thing wordcount progress: 13,038 words

I've been scribbling copious notes about what's going to happen in Royal Affairs Chapter 7, and am partway through coding that chapter. Mostly, I've been racing away at Chapter 3 of The New Thing.

For folks who aren't on the Sneak Preview tier - and just for anyone who's interested! - here's the concept pitch I wrote for The New Thing! There were three that I sent off, and CoG decided on this one. This was what I put together before solidifying any of the outline or more detailed thoughts about the game. In general it's pretty accurate, though I developed a lot more specificity as I started my outlining.

Etiquette and Intrigue, by the way, is my shorthand for the Things Set In The Creme De La Creme Universe. I guess it's the series name now, unless I come up with something else down the line!

Noblesse Oblige: An Etiquette and Intrigue Adventure

Having left school in Westerlin with neither a rich spouse nor money for university, you have found employment as a live-in conversation partner for a lonely aristocrat living with their elderly cousin in an aging mansion in Jezhan.

Will you start digging up secrets? Why is their relative keeping your conversation partner sequestered so far from... well, anything? Does the housekeeper know something you don’t? Will you succumb to the charms of a flirtatious visitor who promises a way out of tiresome employment - if you feed them information?

Life in the foreign mansion can be exciting - or claustrophobic. As relationships grow in strength and intensity, will you take your first steps into dangerous games of power and influence? Who can you trust, and can you find love far from home?

Keywords: clandestine romance, memories, gilded cages, webs of influence, crumbling majesty

Sneak peek
When the Festival of the Birds comes around, there's a little scene where you see the Creme de la Creme MC doing something if they're a teacher. I wanted to have a little acknowledgement if they're in a romance, and this is one of them (where they're romancing someone who isn't on campus with them, ie Hartmann or Karson). I've had a lot of questions about how major a part the CdlC MC plays, and the answer is always "not massive", because I want Royal Affairs to be its own thing - but I like including these little flavour moments!

Cutting room floor
An almost-kiss with Asher. It didn't work for the scene to have Asher there in the end, so it got trimmed.

Next:
I'll be finishing up coding Royal Affairs Chapter 7, and then code Chapter 4 of Noblesse Oblige. Once I've figured out how large each is going to be and how long they'll take, I'll make a decision about which to write first. My instinct is that I'll go for Noblesse Oblige, as the chapters are more streamlined and the next deadline for that one is earlier, but we'll see!