This a great game so far! I love the aspect of living the life of an ordinary noble knight who gets caught in great events and actions. The world lore is also creative and unconventional. And there is a good degree of customization. Keep up the good work!
Quick question: Will there be ROs and other " fling" opportunities in the future?
Yes Ludov has already been confirmed as a ro and I have a feeling that Adrianna will be another
More romance options? Yes.
Ludov is one, Adrianna is another. The Prince and the Princess will probably be ROs too.
Iām contemplating the possibility of introducing more traditional courtships later on. Not necessarily romances as we would typically define them, but an option for the MC to find a wife or husband for political benefit. These relationships wonāt be as fleshed out as the āmainā ROs though.
Iām also thinking about expanding Fabiusās role in the story and making him an RO.
More fling options? Probably, though I donāt want to overdo that. The MCās romance/sexuality isnāt intended to be a major part of the story. Itāll be present for players who want to explore that but it wonāt be front and center.
Add save slots to better the gameplay!
Exactly
Quick progress update:
-Chapter 3 is mostly complete, I want to say about 70%.
-The joust is probably going to be the largest of the three tournaments events.
-Thereās going to be a two year time-jump between the end of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4.
-I intend for Chapter 3 to lead to three different branching paths. This means there will likely be three different versions of Chapter 4. The paths will likely reconnect in either Chapter 5 or Chapter 6.
-I will be adding a save system at some point, but not right now. Possibly around when I release Chapter 4, because thatās where major story branching will begin to occur.
-Iām thinking about setting up a patreon, probably after I finish Chapter 4.
The tournament will mostly be participated in around chapter 3 and 4? Or just the third chapter?
The tournament will be the entire third chapter.
How involved will the melee be in comparison to the joust?
The melee will be shorter than the joust, but there will probably be more meaningful choices during the melee.
The joust will largely be decided by your combat skill as well as whatever preparations you made. Other skills will come into play at the end but you still need good combat to make it there. This is because the joust is ultimately just two people charging at each other on the field, and is the most closely watched/regulated of the three events.
The main reason it is as long as it is, is because there are seven rounds. The player is only going to play through two of these (the first and the last) while for the rest the MCās performance will only be summarized based on combat - with your ability to reach the last round at all being determined entirely by combat and prep checks.
I just donāt want to write seven rounds of jousts with no meaningful choices beyond: āhow do you feel about that?ā or ādo you try to win or deliberately lose?ā That wonāt be a fun experience for the player and Iām worried thereās a bit too much of that as things currently stand.
In contrast, the melee is going to be resolved in the span of a few minutes, because itās just two hundred people beating the shit out of each other in a field, with far looser rules and restrictions. The difference there, is that if your MC sought allies beforehand, youāre going to be leading your own coalition of a dozen or so fighters. This means that youāll be able to make tactical decisions and have to react to the actions of other fighters/groups.
And if you go in alone, or with just Adrianna, youāll have to deal with the fact that youāre taking on nearly two hundred other trained fighters with no back-up. That will obviously be more difficult, but it adds its own share of interesting choices to the mix - namely do you fixate on taking down as many people as you can or are you more concerned with staying on your feet and biding your time?
The archery contest is probably the least involved of all the three events but itāll become apparent why when you actually play it.
I feel my high intellect mc will get half of the fighters behind him given his intellect and charisma lol Iām not saying this seriously btw
Hmm will you be able make it to the last joust round with 50 combat even if you canāt win it? Iām trying to get a feel for the skill numbers
No. This is a pretty big tournament so there are a lot of experienced knights participating. Given that itās the MCās first time youāre going to need higher. 50 combat will let you do reasonably well but itās not going to get you to the final 2 out of an original pool of 128.
High combat is mandatory for the joust. Iām trying to balance this in such a way so that the player-character isnāt likely to win more than one of the three events in a single playthrough.
I guess third question and last question (for nowš) though Iām not planning to with my main (planning on going with either Ludov or Adrianna with him) would romancing the princess (If she does get made into a ro) required winning or at least reaching the last joust round or will that just help it?
It will not be a requirement.
Iām hyped for the update, and Iām glad itās all gonna take one chapter. Also, interesting to see that thereās a time skip, looking forward to finding out what youāve got in store for us.
Btw, does that mean chapter 4 will be 3 separate chapters? As in, is each path the size of one whole chapter?
very nice game! havenāt played this traditional cog games/hg in a while
the nostalgia still hits. great work!!
That is the intention, though I donāt necessarily know how big each chapter will be or if they will even be equal in size.
I donāt really have a rigid outline, I just decide where chapters begin or end based off of vibes.
I just played through the work once, but Iām impressed with the level of cohesion and narrative depth thatās already within it. Itās entertaining and well written, and manages to have a quite developed world already.
Iāll reserve any more feedback for when Iāve explored more of the game and itās characters: I donāt think Iāve met any of the current RO candidates in my first playthrough. However, one thing I think this game is doing well is managing to appropriately balance allowing multiple play-styles to be successful at some narrative objectives while preventing every choice from becoming āhow do you want to succeed.ā
If youāre a character who did not focus on martial skills and whose highest stats have been intellect and perception, then perhaps becoming a renowned warrior is not your aim, and the narrative choices you will make will focus on understanding the world and history of the setting. Or if you are focusing on guile and charisma, you may be interested in a political focus of leading your kingdom to a certain aim.
This is to say that this game seems to allow for different paths that align different with narrative and stat choices. If you try a challenge contrary to your skills, like a warrior-type knight at a political discussion or a scholar at a tourney, you may fail and find that that particular objective required you to make different choices.
Iām looking forward to the third chapter and seeing how this story develops, with its interesting background lore. Iām a sucker for lost civilizations and āincomprehensible relics of the ancientsā lore to a universe.
High intellect and charisma would come in handy if you turn into a military officer/general of sorts tasked with leading men to battle as well.