A Bard's Tale [WIP]

I played the demo and I love it! The lore, the characters, the world building… Will definitely be looking forward to more of this. :two_hearts:

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I enjoyed the playthrough! The characters are already starting to take shape through your masterful writing, great job!

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I’m gonna voice an opinion in opposition to some of the earlier ones; I like that you have the option to dance the horizontal tango so early on. Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to take it, and I like that it acknowledges that characters can move at different speeds—particularly since slow-burns do tend to be more common in CoGs.

On another note, the personality of the MC; I think it tends to veer toward genuine/friendly/accepting by default. Most of the choices seem to impact magic, or are otherwise ways to learn information, so it could be nice to have some choices in there that have more of an impact on the MC’s inner monologue. I went in wanting to play a character that was, say, more of a well-intentioned-but-also-feral dumpster fire, but couldn’t quite hit that!

Granted, my fault for wanting to play a well-intentioned/feral dumpster fire, but the heart wants what it wants—especially with such a promising story! I look forward to the rest of our journey. :slight_smile:

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Thank you for the input! I’m not extremely attached to the title, the only thing that’s really binding me to it is that I got the URL for it on Tumblr, but even that’s not a huge issue. For the forseeable future, at least until I get the thing done and published officially, I’ll keep the title as A Bard’s Tale since that’s what people have been following and looking for up to this point.

The stat that has the most impact on the MC’s inner monologue is Faith. There are certain special dialogues that unlock with a high/low Faith stat, although the Bard is still trapped in the strings of fate whether or not they’re happy about it. A low faith stat will eventually put you at odds with your quest, cause you to question the nature of divinity, and possibly turn you bitter towards the gods.

That being said, I can fully see how the MC might lean towards friendly and I might have to work on that in future updates. I’m a known goody two-shoes among my friends. :disappointed:

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Fair, hahaha. I think what I was trying to get at is that it would help the player’s immersion into the story and connection to the ROs if a bit more time was spent getting to know them as characters. Right now, most of the player’s interaction with them is listening to their monologue about geography or magic and a short conversation at the bar. Playing through a couple of times, it looks like the player actually misses dialogue with the ROs to learn more about them if they choose the [Flirt] route. Use your romance scenes as you like of course, but I don’t think that personality and character development should be sacrificed for the sake of a sexy hook, hahaha. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Based on surveys I’ve seen, most players would be unlikely to replay to try the alternative, so do you think you might change the scenes up a bit to let players get both dialogue and a lay?

Will there be a non-romance route as well? I would probably be interested in that, for the sake of diving more into the RPG elements than the ROs.

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Interesting so far. I like all the different ROs. Will definitely want to replay to play through the different RO paths, especially as they develop more.

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Wow this was great! The characterization was really strong and I’m already in love with both Tempest and Aspen, I don’t know which one to pick :weary:. I wish there was a way to customize your character’s appearance, what with the various races and backgrounds and all, but hopefully that’ll be something that’s implemented later. Either way, I’m super excited for this! I’ll keep following it to see where it goes!

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Hey, congrats on your game. I’m playing it right in this instant and it’s really good. I actually found it after updating my own game on Dashingdon.
About what I read, so far, so good.

One sugestion though - insert the save plugin that Dashingdon provides. For a project this lenghty, it really comes in handy.

Keep up the good work!!

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Hey the link to the demo currently appears to not be working. I was looking forward to trying it out now that I’m finally in bed, but no luck I guess :joy:

Okay, I was TRYING to figure out how people were putting save files in their games on DashingDon and I have figured it out now, so thank you!! You can now save your game :+1:

There will be! Although I’ll be honest, the romance angle is one that I’m relying heavily on in terms of marketing, there will be an option to experience the game without any romance routes. (: The routes you’ll be able to choose from are Aspen, Tempest, poly, or none/friendship.

I’ve discussed this on the blog quite a bit, but I specifically am avoiding an in-game description of the Bard. Especially elementi, fairfolk, and sori have such a wide range of biodiversity that I don’t really want to pigeonhole the reader into a mix-and-match kind of customization.

That being said, this is a question that I’ve gotten a lot - to the point that I might rethink my stance. My reasoning behind this is that I’ve already seen some Bard designs that I wouldn’t even have fathomed if I’d made a multiple choice section for “creating” your character. Because I’ve already seen such creativity from the community, I’m really hesitant to put a cap on that by creating standards in the game. Much to think about (:

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I tried to add the save file mechanic but I think I broke it instead :upside_down_face: Give me a minute to try and fix it haha…

EDIT: It should be fixed now, and with fancy new save files!

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insert his piece of code after all your create comands: *sm_init (nameofsavefile) | 5
The number is the ammount of slots you want.

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Really awesome start and excited to see where this is going and really like the characters and story so far.

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If you do rethink it, then I’ve seen some games/WIPs where there’s options to do a mix and match customisation as well as an option to choose not to detail it (for someone who prefers to leave it to head canon or doesn’t find it important).

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Oh wow. This was amazing, and I’m absolutely in love with Tempest. She might just be a casual thing for now, but I’ll win her over, that you better believe :joy:

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Whoa, I’m in love with the world that you that created. The lore, the mysteries of what happened to the gods.

Hokua, the Star-Gazer, why is he the only remaining god on the plane! His siblings the only one we’ve seen so far being the goddess of sea and storms, what is the other realm she spoke of, So much lore in this forgotten world.

I can feel that Aspen is going to be hard to romance with him being the Last Lover of the Champion and overcoming his first love, I feel that his main route will be complicated as the story progresses, and that there will be so many questions that will need answered in his story, like Was he and the previous champions Han lovers In a romantic relationship! so many questions that will be answered in due time.

That king :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :heart_eyes: My love :heart_eyes: even if your not RO don’t worry for I have already fallen in love with you and I will always chose you over anything else that destiny throws at me. I liked our conversation My Lord, about The philosophical aspects of fate/destiny and with are we truly in control over our lives or are we merely puppets in the strings of gods to do their bidding. Though my love for you my king is limitless beyond the realm of physical, I shall have to disagree with you about the gods demise and slumber being blamed on mortals belief in them, For if such powerful beings are believed to have created mortal lives than why do they need belief of humans to continue existing? If the gods existed before humanity than I think it’s unjust for such an accusation. Edin my love I feel that there’s much that your not telling the mc perhaps a powerful entity that targeted that realms gods continuously or simultaneously not the humans forgotten belief in their beloved gods , Perhaps perhaps such memories have been completely erased from the minds of humans that were born after the demise of gods.

simply do not exist,.’ I find it heartbreaking in Monsoon how can an entire lineage forget The goddess that they have served since time immortal if there wasn’t a third party messing with the memories.

It’s a great story, I’m religiously following it.

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I completely agree. This game has the potential to do so much, the expansive lore, great characters, musical powers which are hardly ever used in mainstream superhero games… this game could be amazing!

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Yes, the King is sweet as honey but I’m hot for Hokua :kissing_closed_eyes: :star_struck:

Honestly the demo was so enjoyable for me, put me under a spell from the start and left me oh so dazed.

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Hey you. Yes you. Thank you. Now I have another fanart to make. Also… How did you make me fall for Aspen so badly? How did you do that? :flushed:

This is amazing and absolutely worth to be waiting for. I can’t wait for this piece of art. :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

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What can I say? We’re all suckers for a caring man with a heaping side of sadness.

There’s been quite a bit of Aspen art already! Check it out on the official blog -

https://abardstale.tumblr.com/tagged/aspen-wishbourne