Estheria: A Realm Divided (WIP) (Character Creator Demo Updated @ 12,667 words!)

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey, Leinco!

Glad to see you here. Thank you so much for the kind words.

Many updates on the horizon, beginning with the implementation of the Shadow Elves pathway. Humans will be on the list as the #2!

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey, Beth!

Thank you so much! I wanted to separate it from merely being a selection of buttons by introducing narrative in the process. A key tenet of Estheria’s original premise was The InterDimensional Rift. As such, I felt it perfect to use the Rift as a formation point for player creation. Sprinkled the Keeper of the RIft on top, and off I went!

[JBento]

Summary

I think this is meant to be “augment or change your starting statistics”. Even if not, it’s certainly meant to be something else, as the sentence as it currently stands makes no sense.

That first option doesn’t make sense as an answer to that question, as they’re currently written. You need to rephrase one or the other (e.g., “Would you kill, if not doing so would see your death in turn?”)

The article for “academic” should be “an”, not “a”. Also, this mythical beast choice doesn’t give me much context for picking. I genuinely don’t know what I’m determining here.

Too early to make an actual determination, but for now I’ll gladly see where this project goes . Best of luck on your work.

[Zaxwlyde]

Thanks for the response!

I’m actually uploading build 0.1 now. While multiple grammatical rechecks and updates were made, I incorporated your point-outs as last minute changes. Context has been provided, grammatical missteps corrected, and it should flow much smoother.

I hope you come to enjoy the project as time unfolds! While an early choice to release the demo, I merely wished to involve the community as early on as I could. My estimates are that it may take upwards of nine months to fully implement all five starting paths as they’re unique in many ways. Possessing their own romance options, familial-ties, storylines, and such. They will eventually intersect in the planned Update 6: A Royal Task.

Thanks a ton for the feedback!

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey everyone!

Update Zero.1 (0.1) is now live and includes the following changes.

• Polished name selection through the separation of first and last name choices.
• Stat page place-holder inserted.
• Added Diplomat Character Background.
• Multiple grammatical fixes and spelling error corrections.
• Revised certain details to add flavor and remove bland assertions.
• Other cleanup & fixes performed.

Thanks for all the feedback!
~Zach

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey everyone!

I’ve pushed a small mini update (not going to shift to 0.2 for it in numbering) that added the following.

• Selecting the Dwarven race now locks your height option to short.

Beyond that, I actually wanted to follow an interest check thread tradition here of launching polls. I’ve begun planning & design proper for the Shadow Elves Update.

While I plan to release polished updates, the frequency of content is in question. I could fragment updates into parts based on their sequences (for example, the Shadow Elves Update will feature five unique sequences, which are basically mini-chapters of sorts).

As such, I’d love to hear community feedback regarding their thoughts on if they’d prefer the update in a whole ‘piece’, or released in parts as sequences become finalized.

I appreciate everyone’s feedback thus far!
~Zach

• I’d prefer the update released in entirety, and am comfortable waiting the extra time for that.
• I think it’d be awesome to see the update released in sequences as content becomes available in a polished state!

[Zaxwlyde]

Lastly, I wanted to post one final update regarding development today.

To opt for maximum transparency in development, I’ve put into motion the following schedule:

• A Realm Divided will receive weekly ‘progress updates’ on Thursday afternoons (EST). Expect to see them posted here, on Patreon, and on Discord.
• Separately, monthly State of the Realm updates will be released on the 1st Wednesday of each month. These updates will be posted here, to Patreon, and to Discord. Expect these updates to include a snapshot at the prior month in development, overall thoughts on the project’s progression, personal notes, and lore snippets/tidbits. Additionally, major character and system reveals will occur through these updates.
• When patches are released, expect my process today to play out. The in-game change-log will be updated, I will post the notes on here, Patreon, and on Discord.
• Lastly. I will be holding a monthly Q&A on Discord. This will take place on the 1st Wednesday of every month at 6:30 PM EST.

Finally, as a sneak preview of my in-progress World Anvil. I’ve finished my custom CSS for it, and have begun implementing rough draft content. Please excuse the italics and random bolding, as they’re markers for later code that’ll allow those words to be highlighted and link to other articles.

Thank you, everyone! Images below!

Images Inside!

[Anna_B]

Something else I would recommend, especially for dark elves and the spirit thing, is a description of what the look like. Everyone knows what a dwarf or human looks like, and elves only have to possibilities: Christmas and Lord of the Rings. But the other two? Can’t say for sure what they’re meant to look like. You can assume the dark elves look similar to ordinary elves, but how similar? And the spirit things, I’d assume they’re humanoid, but other than that? No clue

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey, Anna!

I’m definitely going to add a visual description as part of update 0.2 to the Shadow Elves. If you’ve any feedback provided on the Aetherials, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise, I feel that they’ve got a solid visual description in their choice!

[Zaxwlyde]

Probably will be my last poll for awhile, but I’m still in the midst of creating systems and laying out my content roadmap.

Typically, the tenet of any RPG is the quests that they follow. I’d much prefer the opportunity to explore separate, smaller storylines that hold levels of impact in the wider world while on my grand journey. That said, I’m aware that isn’t the same for everyone.

Currently, I’ve begun turning my eyes towards a Quest System. It would primarily be held through the Stats page, and certain areas would provide the ability to pivot down questing paths with their own unique rewards and choices.

These quests would primarily be those of side-quest and content nature. The main storyline quests would be known as Adventures, while the side-quests would be known as Stories. My development pathways are solid in nature, so I wouldn’t merely make dozens of side-quests while neglecting the main plotline. Rather, each major update would come included with a few side-quests of varying length in addition to the main questline expansion.

To preface, I already fully expect this title to take several years of development at minimum. The plan is to far exceed 1 million words when completed, and so adding in these questlines wouldn’t burden me, but rather provide the opportunity to tell additional unique stories within the world.

I’d like to poll those following this thread on the matter, and see how they feel regarding a Quest System!

So without further ado…

POLL BELOW!

• I think a Quest System would be a solid addition to the game, and provide substantial depth!
• I’d much rather priorities/focuses be aligned elsewhere, and feel it’s unnecessary.

[Asterya1]

I like where this is going already !

Btw, just curious but are the two kingdoms about to go to war are of a different species ? Like human vs elf or something else. Or are those kingdoms so diverse that it doesn’t matter. I’m so used to fantasy where kingdoms are mainly composed of or uniquely of one species that I found it weird that it wasn’t mentioned lol

Feedbacks :
Could you make the personalized first name not lead to personalized last name automatically ? I like setting my first name but never have any ideas for last names XD

I suppose our background will affect our stats heavily, same as our build. So I think maybe having an options to turn stats gain on or off could be helpful in more then one way for player that can’t stop being minmaxer. (A bit like me)

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey, Asterya!

Maldium and Veltar are (somewhat) of different species. While the Kingdom of Maldium (known as the Crown) is 99.9% humans (in terms of their civilians/citizens), Veltar (known as the Arcane) is a close 50/50 split between humans and elves. The elves have their own Kingdom in the realm (known as Geldamar) but are otherwise ostracized intermittently by humankind.

Regarding your feedback:

• I will ensure that is updated as a quality-of-life change in update 0.2. I agree with you on that point and hadn’t delved into QoL to begin planning, but that should be relatively simple to implement.
• So, the background is less directly impactful on Stats than you might think. While it will have some level of change on the base starting stats - it will instead open up unique pathways and dialogue options throughout the game depending on key situations. This choice was made to prevent any form of ‘meta’ for playstyles to emerge. I’d much rather like my players to be as close to equal footing as possible when they begin, and have their builds and such pivot/change based upon their choices throughout the adventure.
  
  

Fantastic feedback, thanks a ton!
~Zach

[Phenrex]

I’m giving this a gander, I quite like the introduction! The sheer amount of options can be a bit intimidating though. I think dividing names by feminine/androgynous/masculine would be good. Additionally, having hair styles divided into two choices, one for texture and the second for style, would help narrow choices so it’s a bit more tangible instead of looking at a list of 20 some options. [You can use temp variables to do this, if you don’t want to keep a permanent separate variable for texture, length, and style].

I do think you could realistically cut back on some of the options for colours in terms of eyes/hair/skin, and allow instead for readers to input if they have a specific option in mind. Choice is great, in games, but there also can be a paralysing feeling when too many are presented. Plus, if you ever want to give a custom description for the colours of those things, you will kick yourself for offering so many options . Assuming those choices don’t really matter, and you don’t plan for custom description to be written, than having so many is moot anyway because they will serve no real function.

I do hope that this is not something you’ve already heard this before from another. I am just worried if you ever wanted to give a reader a small paragraph about how their character appears to others [out of perspective impression or otherwise] you’d end up writing an absurd amount of words if you didn’t just use ${variable} instead of writing custom description.

[Zaxwlyde]

Hey, Phenrex!

Appreciate the feedback. I’ve been gathering some stellar info to put together into update 0.2.

Your feedback is certainly tracking on the map with some of my plans. The name division I dragged myself kicking and screaming on not getting done, but I know it needs to be done in an appropriate manner.

As for hair style division by style and texture, it’s something I plan on making the change to with update 0.2 I’ve heard some great feedback on this thus far, and plan on adding it.

For cutting back the options, I think I may slightly trim them down somewhat. They’re mainly to showcase appearance in the stats page (barring certain options such as height, etc.), but I also don’t want to overwhelm people.

I’ve contemplated custom descriptions in text, though I think that’ll be more towards outfit and equipment than anything else!

[Phenrex]

I’ve contemplated custom descriptions in text, though I think that’ll be more towards outfit and equipment than anything else!

I was merely stating that if you ever intend the main character be described in terms other than directly, such as “hair a deep shade reminding you of freshly prepared ink,” than “black hair” than it would require exponentially more work the more options you provide to the reader. It can be stifling from a writing perspective as much as it can be from a reader’s perspective.

[Zaxwlyde]

That’s completely fair!

I’ll keep that in mind as I trudge ahead on it. Though I’m definitely thinking a small cut-back on options will be the case regardless. Which to pick… that’s the true question.

[Phenrex]

I’d pick a theme for the colour conventions maybe? Like, you used a lot of gems for describing eye colour, what if you just used gemstone colours purely for that? Maybe wood tones for skin, and playful food colours for hair. Just an idea , but it would give all of the choices a connection between them, and it could be fun!

Just make sure to avoid using any food colours for skin tones, it’s commonly accepted as being kind of dehumanizing.

[Zaxwlyde]

That’s a really solid idea, thank you!

I’ll look into splitting them into types such as that, similar to the gemstone colors.

[Yournytemare14]

Do you intend to add playable orcs?

[Paawan]

Great start to the demo. Looking forward to the updates. Just a quick question, are you planning on adding facial hair? I’d love for my dwarf to have a thick beard. Good luck!