As the lost soul twists beneath corruption’s scourge.
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Hey, all!
Just stopping in to let you know development has been stunted yesterday/today. I had a diabetic crisis (insulin is… not working as effective as it was), and so I am fixing that. I did get about 300 words done yesterday, but not much else. I hope to work today but if not will push to try to make up for it on the weekend.
My goal is to complete Update 1 within no more than 3 months with a minimum of 90k words if possible. So ideally I’d like to get up to 1500-2000+ words a day once I can get the gears whirling. We already have 7.5k words in the opening file of Update 1 on its own.
Take note, I also have systems to code. Update 1 will include the first village which serves as a ‘hub’ area. This means that some profession work will need to occur, I need to get the shop system fully running there, I need to port and tweak some additional transportation system code for tracking the player’s location, and some other bells and whistles/systems/mechanics need to get put together.
What I have noticed is that when it comes to system implementation/coding, I am fast. Writing is my passion, but creatively weaving is the slower part of the process.
Either way, checking in to keep you all posted.
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Uniting the Realm: January 2026 Monthly Update
HEROES!
Welcome back to my monthly Uniting The Realm update series for Estheria: A Realm Divided. We’ll be delving deep once a month on upcoming content, features, and more as I pick out various themes of development to go through.
While I often put teasers and engage through polls, there’s a lot going on behind closed doors. This month, we’re officially introducing Update One, which shares its namesake with the first true piece of your story in Estheria.
So prepare yourselves, for we’re delving into…
Update One
Update One - Section Condensed
Update One: A Dark Omen will kick off your journey into the Realm of Harmony through the lens of a major game story rewrite and overhaul of existing foundations.
In A Dark Omen, for those who’ve played the original Character Creation Demo, you’ll experience a vastly overhauled experience, including:
- A complete rewrite of all content, introducing a higher level fantasy narrative style.
- Properly infused narrative with the Prologue, known as The Soul’s Journey.
- Tone rewrite including a complete replacement of the original prophecy of divide, now formed as the Prophecy of the Lost.
- Complete upgrade and rewrite of the Kingdom Lore section within the Compendium for both the Wards of Harmony, and all of the Eleven Kingdoms of Harmony, each totalling more than 1000 words of new content, text-imagery, styling methods for UI purposes, and more.
- Recognition of whether you have yet walked The Soul’s Journey, locking down the Compendium to limited functions such as Patch Notes, and the Lore Journal for those still in character creation.
However, we’re just getting started. The original character creation demo came in at 12,000 words including code, we are now at 38,000 words excluding code for The Soul’s Journey.
Upon polling, a landslide majority voted for the full release of Update One to come instead. While working on The Soul’s Journey, I worked tirelessly on the design and planning phases for A Dark Omen, and have already despite sickness completed nearly ten thousands words of direct content, excluding code. This has been done within the last five days.
However, there’re plenty that’re curious about what exactly is in A Dark Omen. When you hit the ground running in Estheria, expect:
- The introduction of 40% of the core cast in the game.
- Two romance options, each containing two hangout quests, and one repeatable hangout activity for romance lovers.
- Travel through the southern region of The King’s Corridor, otherwise known as the Lands of the Crown (owned by Maldium, the Kingdom of the Crown). This expansive area will grow over several updates with additional content, but will begin with the exploration of two towns, two exploration zones (more on this in a future update), and one dungeon (more on this in a future update).
- Experience life as a blacksmith by enrolling in the Guild of the Forge, with access to several early recipes, blacksmithing gameplay mechanics, and more. (Mining will come in the Update One Expanded update (more on that later)).
- Purchase and sell to a variety of Shoppes at your disposal as you gain access to the first items and inventory systems.
- Choose your class from one of six options as part of the class design rework, providing build diversity.
- Craft your first taste of equipment, adjusting your stats through your own hard work.
- There’s more where that came from.
As you can see, we’ve got plenty cooking, and plenty more to come!
Rewinding the Clock
Rewinding the Clock - Section Condensed
I’m going to take a proper step back and rewind the clock since A Realm Divided recommenced development.
Since I began truly delving in deep in late November 2025, we’ve:
- Completely tore out the old code structure in place of something much more concrete.
- Ported over multiple components from The Frontier that not only give way to cleaner code, but pave the way for an ironclad foundation in development.
- Updated the writing style throughout the revamping of the Prologue.
- Rebuilt the startup file in entirety with updated variable parameters and better commenting.
- Fully designed Update 1.
- Using the rewrite as a basis as all existing content was tore out, wrote 38,000 words without counting code.
- Began development and implementation of the Realm Master intelligence system.
- Implemented 35% of the Monster Hunting Profession Demo (paused as this may not be included in Update 1 and plans change, but the code will remain in the title for when it is ready.)
- Completely rebuilt the Kingdom Lore.
And I’m just getting started. I would say that given it’s been less than two months, a lot has happened in development.
That said, my focus is on the highlight of today…
A Special Surprise Section - Section Condensed
Stones Hollow is the first town you’ll set foot in when your journey begins: a quarry town located in the southern region of The King’s Corridor, where stone walls and timber braces do most of the talking. Built by a group of landowners desperate to strike out on their own from the capital city of Iris, they forged the foundations of Stones Hollow around a discovered subregion of mines and quarry-lands, complete with an ancient structure buried deep within.
The town is mapped into four travel quadrants to keep exploration clean and readable in a text-based format, while still feeling like a real place. The eastern side serves as the commercial heart: cramped market lanes, a reliable inn, and the sort of storefronts that won’t hesitate to bark up your tree for a sale. The western side is where those skilled in the art of the craft will reside: the local Guild of the Forge’s hub and commission center, stonemason vendors, a Story (Side-Quest) tailor made to those in the heart of the craft, and the Bellows Scrapyard.
To the south sits Barrowcut: the very quadrant where the town’s namesake derives from. Quarry and mine operations bite into the earth, all built around something ancient that the town has long feared after many attempts to open it wrought hell upon their homes. Lastly, the northern hills lead to the Town Seer’s home.
Secrets of your past will come alive as you delve deep beneath the surface, sparking off a true adventure.
When're we playing?
Development is hard charging ahead, and I am working on Patreon updates to lock everything in for a free tier that will have access to updates that’re regularly posted there for no cost. I will be posting a separate sign-up both on there and in the forums for my Private Development testing branch. However, several have already signed up and I am locking this down to no more than 25 spots of which 16 are already taken.
Publically, I am targeting a hopeful three month development schedule for Update 1, as it will likely include more than 100k words added to the project and a lot of subsystems. This comes down to my health, managing my job, and otherwise. I will continue with regular updates through the forums and on Patreon, on top of my monthly Uniting the Realm.
Cheers!
6 Likes
Happy Monday, Heroes!
Work has resumed following a weekend storm on A Realm Divided. I’m poking around location tech this morning, and by the end of the day the game should fully know where you are at all times and be able to report that data to let you move through differing environments and return to them.
In addition, I am working on the fast travel systems for when you want to return to major locations for farming purposes, getting certain location limited materials, and more. This will operate through a Mirage Access Point (MAP) in any major location. Upon first discovery, you will gain the ability to access that area remotely at almost anytime.
In order to make this work, we need Estheria to understand not only where you are, but where you’ve been. This involves the game remembering your last five locations for any purpose that may involve distance travel. Separately, I’m building failsafes to ensure travel works smoothly. Say you’re far away from where you need to begin a quest, every quest has functions built into their code that when triggered inject updated travel data and initiate a MAP travel sequence before beginning the quest. This allows you to freely move through the realm without restriction and without bugs.
I’ve already used small tests of this concept in the Frontier minus the quest injections, so I’ve got a solid basis for how this will go.
I imagine I’ll spend the day on the travel system as development is approaching Stones Hollow which will allow for open travel to multiple areas. 
Have a great week and be safe!
7 Likes
Man I simply can’t imagine the scale of this game at all you know it’s going to be very cool if it’s like eldrum it’s own separate game
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Hi, mate,
Sorry to hear about that tooth. Glad you are recovering. You’re building the foundations of an IF legend here. Make sure you keep fortified against those evil forces!
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I appreciate it, you have no idea how much!
Huge, huge fan as always of your work, and eager to see the next one when it’s fully released.
If there’s anything I can ever do to help or talk about code, let me know! You’ll be free to dive when Update One releases should you wish to.
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As for today, everyone…
Work on the travel system flowed smoothly yesterday, and we’re rapidly climbing in code count.
Today is all about the Shoppes and getting their tables and dynamic components put together.
Ultimately, the Realm Master will be a complete system made up of several ‘modules’ that each dictate/govern various components of A Realm Divided. These include but are not limited to:
- The Core Module
- The Combat Module
- The Dynamic Quest Module (Procedural/Repeatable Quest Generation for Adventuring)
- The Dynamic Contract Module (Procedural/Repeatable Contract Generation)
- The Economy Module
- The Enemy Intelligence Module
- The Party Intelligence Module
And much more. This has expanded in design phases over the last few weeks as the Realm Master has slowly coalesced into something much more coherent. Each module will contain hundreds of controls and influencing factors.
Today will be all about getting this component started proper:
6 Likes
Greatly appreciated! Efficient coding is not my forte; I muddle through, learn when I need to, but then I revert back to the basics and forget it all.
One of the things you do so well is aim to establish the systems before anything else. Mostly, I write, come to a place where I need a bit more active code, and then shove it in. With Green, I planned some systems a bit more, as I think this comes more naturally in sandboxes. BUT, the way you are laying the groundwork is exceptional. This is definitely something I want to do for Ash and Fire 2.
I look forward to sampling your work, mate.
4 Likes
Everyone has a different style, and there’s nothing of fault with it, especially if it works.
One way or another, your work ethic is phenomenal and unlike prettymuch anyone I’ve ever met. It’s an inspiration to me and something I strive towards in my own ways.
I have made a lot of mistakes with disorganization in the past, especially in my first go around with this project. As I’m gearing up for a pretty colossal IF-RPG, I want to ensure nothing comes back to bite me in the ass later.
I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing through different titles, code-diving, and also looking at other-medium software projects for organizational purposes.
I realized that for something like this to really work and be ‘dynamic’ where it’s capable of governing itself (for procedural generation, authentic combat AI that feels like it doesn’t just repeat a single action nonstop, for economy, ect), that I need to have a system that can stand on its own.
When I looked at that, I realized two things:
- I needed something modular, because I want to build this system once and then be able to just easily grab and deploy it and modify variable names for future projects.
- To add to that, I needed a system that is both simultaneously connected and disconnected from itself. A system of moving parts that are dependent on one another to make an entire universe live and breath at once, but that are not dependent on eachother to individually run. This way, if something does break in one system, the others are isolated. I can bug fix a hell of a lot easier and pin things down, and I can develop them independently without one needing another to be further fleshed out first.
This led to the Realm Master, which is a cohesive system of several parts that are all independent. When combat is initialized, the Combat Module spins up to generate UI and scenery sequences, inject text, and deploy turn-based options. When the player finishes their turn, the Combat Module determines the turn order and figures out if a party member goes next, or an enemy goes next.
Say it’s an enemy, the Enemy Intelligence Module is then spun up, assesses the situation using control variables at its disposal and some global variables that each module accesses and updates datawise, spreads out a list of available actions for that specific enemy, of which each enemy has their own intelligence within the module, begins calculating a variety of stacking weights with a little sprinkle of RNG, and then makes an action against the player, which is then displayed via injections to the combat module.
Yes, they are ‘linked’ and to an extent dependent on one another, but each module has its own functionalities and standalone subroutines that run them. They just require bits of data that get updated to decide where they’ll go next.
If data falters in the pipeline and we get a bug, well I can tell by what happened where that bug is.
3 Likes
Haha, all I can say is that it sounds supremely juicy! But also, insanely complex. But, more than that, extremely satisfying once put together.
In my own small way, with Green, I can relate, though nothing on your scale. I did have some parts of Green that used procedural generation, though to a much lesser degree. During raider battles, I had rival raiding parties configured based on geographic area (varying the upper and lower limits of skirmishers, infantry and cavalry), with a selection of appropriate tribal names and chieftain names, as well as casus belli, though orc-style. I did something similar for orcs wandering the Royal Road when looking for odd jobs, with some jobs shared over different locations but presenting different text to fit the new locations.
Though a lot of work, it added greater replayability to parts of the game, those not needing to fit in with any wider narrative.
I’m very excited to see where this goes. Big supporter here!
2 Likes
Heroes!
As the plot grows more cohesive and wrapped around a grander scale by the day, my final plot synopsis has been delivered to the post:
New Plot Synopsis
Harmony finds itself at the brink of oblivion.
For three centuries, a fragile peace has held between two monstrous kingdoms. As a royal’s disappearance ripples throughout the realm, cries of war begin to echo loud. The Crown, a bastion of iron-clad law and ancestral steel, has leveled a final ultimatum against The Arcane, weavers of the land’s lifeblood. What began as a diplomatic fracture has devolved into a march toward total annihilation.
As legions mass on the borders and parties are drawn into a conflict set to crack Estheria in two, a terrifying truth remains veiled. Ancient, dark forces pull the strings of pride and paranoia to ensure blood shall be spilt.
In the final moments of an opening skirmish, a desperate, forbidden ritual was whispered in the shadows. Intended to save a soul of pure intentions, the spell tore through the fabric of reality itself. Its survivor was cast into a void of fractured memories and timeless history.
Now, branded by a searing celestial mark and haunted by the echoes of a dark prophecy, this survivor must return to the threads of life to discover three other wayward souls destined to cross their path. Each holds a role to play in a prophecy long thought lost, all to usher forth the next chapter.
Yet, death always collects his fare.
To save the soul of one hero, a grave cost was paid, giving birth to a corruption unparalleled. As each of the four rise to stem the tide of ancient evil, a realization dawns: the very magicks that empower them are the rot that threatens to consume the realm from within.
The war is only our beginning, for we stand a realm divided.
Old Plot Synopsis
Harmony finds itself at the brink of war.
When two of the most powerful kingdoms in the realm lock horns over a royal’s sudden disappearance, Estheria is ushered into a new era of darkness.
Accused by the Crown Kingdom of treasonous kidnapping, the Kingdom of the Arcane finds themselves at an impasse as tensions between the regions escalate to a level unseen in over three hundred years.
Unknowingly, an ancient ritual cast in distress saves the life of the Crown Princess’s most trusted confidant, sending them through reincarnation in the InterDimensional Rift. Emerging in Crown lands with a blazing mark and words of a dark prophecy thundering through their mind, they’ll find themselves set upon an adventure of a lifetime amongst three other wayward souls.
Little do they know…
Ancient evils have awoken to threaten a realm divided.
Which do we prefer, Heroes?
- The New One!
- The Old One!
0
voters
Edit: I am also open to feedback as a note!
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This weekend, I’ll be delving deep on filling out the item databases so I can begin revving the economy to life.
With many categories and hundreds of items planned in the long-term, this will take a bit of time. That said, I’ve got a minimum of 8 hours of development blocked out between Saturday and Sunday if not more for the purpose of making some solid headway!
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Man , when will the actual demo come out , I have been following you for a past year and half and apart from constant updates on stuff , plus u saying u gonna simultaneously try making another game together. Instead of killing the hype through this oversharing , just release the demo
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I’m sorry you feel that way.
However, I’ve polled members of these forums on both my posting frequency/update frequency, and on whether to move to a much larger update than simply relaunching the overhauled Character Creator.
As was known and openly talked about, A Realm Divided went on hiatus, and this thread went on hiatus. The project formally resumed development proper in December and I have since been very transparent about that.
A landslide majority voted for me to proceed with a 100k+ word update in Update 1 to relaunch the demo, so I’m going to do exactly that. I haven’t moved the goalposts, but instead allowed people to chime in and give their voice.
Edit: Upon review, I wanted to go back and ensure I didn’t miss your voice/vote when I polled about a delay to Update 1, or whether the Community wanted me to release Update 0.5 first which would’ve been likely uploaded sometime this week had I not reprioritized development resources on Update 1.
I went through the last five polls I’ve had, including that one, and noticed you had not voted on any of them.
The Update 1 release poll included 40 votes within this forums, as well as votes in outside communities I am apart of. The votes for this forum had 80% (32 votes) for delay and release Update 1 as a whole, and 20% (8 votes) for Update 0.5, so I moved forward on the community’s wishes.
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It’s a great Saturday for game development!
As work continues on the Realm Master’s Economy Module, I’m delving deeper into how I’ll need to structure this for shoppes to have individualized, dynamic and moving inventories.
I’ve attempted to look at a variety of structures that would provide persistence without flooding the variable count, and ultimately due to ChoiceScript limitations I’m not able to get around this.
I had one of two options:
- Abandon the dynamic economy system.
- Proceed but heavily monitor startup.txt performance.
I have opted for Option 2. Ultimately, we are likely looking at tens of thousands of variables over the course of the game’s development to manage shoppe inventories and dynamic stock/economic factors for pricing.
This requires three things, one of which is more ‘global’ and simplified:
- Every item needs a string named variable. (This is global, I only need to do this once.)
- Every item in every shoppe needs a stock variable to append the stock counts and do refreshes.
- Every item in every shoppe needs a price variable to append pricing and refresh dynamically.
2 and 3 are where the hefty variable counts are going to come into play. I’ve looked at dynamic simulation counts, but ultimately that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms in which players could simply leave a shop and return to it to dynamically ‘update’ stock counts. As the array system within ChoiceScript largely appears to be simply to create multiple of one variable, this also doesn’t work easily as they’re non-traditional for usual array functionality.
Either way, we’ve got a path forward but I will need to closely monitor how startup.txt runs, as when this game is done we’ll likely exceed 50k variables in startup.txt simply due to the scale.
One way or another, modern devices continue to improve and this is text based. so my hope is that this should be a negligible performance concern. My main focus is on ensuring mobile runs.
5 Likes
Happy February!
Work, continues on the Economy Module and Shoppe inventories.
As I build out our database of items, I am looking at the many situations in which you should have the ‘basics’ prepped and at your disposal. These are not only purchasable (assuming stock exists) at General Shoppes, but will be craftable as gathering/crafting systems come online.
Small example!
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And how about the situations where we maybe we don’t have the basics what are you planning for that
Have you thought of dividing this game into parts, splitting the game for multiple people to work on? Ex: someone on quests/story, someone for creating the RPG elements, etc.. I feel like it would drastically speed up progress on this game and just make it easier on you in general.