I thought this was a great read, congratulations on getting the demo out! Intrigued to find out more of the world.
I really appreciated the Captain as a character - in a funny sense, I thought the demo felt like a tightly structured character study of them - from the introduction to them via the lens of a lieutenant given their chance at promotion, to learning about their patronage of youths seeking the Sea Change, juxtaposed against their hastiness and recklessness, all with the looming backdrop of their creditors, culminating in the same lieutenant now passing judgement on them having seen so many facets to them in so short a time…
Thank you so much for saying that. I’m really glad you enjoyed it and thought about it. It means a lot. And yeah, that’s kind of how I feel about
the first two chapters, too (and the start of the third, if you choose to have them court martialled or turned over to their creditors). I think it’s also a chance to think about the kind of captain you will be before you end up semi-officially taking command at the end of the chapter, in the context of the kind of captain Malik is.
it’s mostly terms related to the ship, like i didn’t know what a frigate was lol. I’d also like a brief intro of the world/background in the stats page if possible, because when I was playing it was kinda hard to figure out our position in the world and what “should” we think about the other factions, etc. It felt a bit unfamiliar and hard to navigate through
Ah, of course! Yeah, there really is no reason someone who isn’t fanatically obsessed with Age of Sail novels would know what a frigate is! In that case, I’ll probably just go through and add every nautical/ship specific term. Gunwale, taffrail, backstay etc. I think I will also add in the fictional places in my story, and any made up equipment, such as a thaumometer. It is just such a shame you will have to navigate away from the game to find the glossary, but there doesn’t seem to be a way around it.
Also really helpful to know, thank you. I can absolutely add a guide to the world of the game off the stats page.
Rye whas a very popular grain to grow, because it doesn’t require alot of nutrients to grow. I’m from the Netherlands and rye was the most used and ‘popular’ grain during the middle ages and early modern times. Especially in the middle part of the country. Where the sandy pleistocene soils got depleted after centuries of intensive farming. Only rye, oat and buckwheat, managed to provide reliable harvest on these soils. So a large part of the population ate a lot of rye bread or porridge. Funny thing is that old dutch texts make rye sound a lot less popular. They discribe that rye was really only good for the working class. The rich were better of eating wheat.
Btw. I wouldn’t call rye beard a staple in many dutch homes, but it’s certainly available and eaten. Especially during winter when our dutch pea soup (erwtensoep or snert) is often served with rye bread with a piece of pork (a bit like bacon, but its not the same).
It is certainly a hardy thing! I find the history of farming fascinating, which maaaaay be why I jumped at the name of the newsletter.
Anyway I didn’t intend to imply nobody else makes rye bread, it’s just that Finns who live in other countries always say they can’t get good rye bread there and so they get it (and salmiakki) from Finland when they visit, it’s kind of become a joke. (I personally think it’s getting increasingly difficult to find good rye bread in Finland– there’s a lot of it available, but good ones are rare.)
Rather hilariously I was reading this thread with interest wondering what rye bread would taste like, then it dawned on me, it’s the bread I’ve been buying from the local bakery for years! It’s the only type they do, so I would just ask for ‘bread’!
i just read up on your first newsletter and ??! so many of little incoherent intangible thoughts i have about research and place + setting + time + history it feels like you’ve just nailed down why they feel so important. damn. the past month and a half or so, i’ve been doing a ton of research into what manhattan (and brooklyn, but mostly manhattan) really look and feel like, because i realized after some recent feedback that i really don’t know! and like you said in the newsletter, even though writing is a lot of “making it up,” it’s important to know the details and how the world feels because "the way it all informs the characters’ mindsets will be present beneath every line.” (brilliant. and true!) this has immediately become one of those little quotes i put on a sticky note and keep on my writing desk. gotta catch up on the rest of the newsletters—and read your actual current demo, which looks so fun!!—but i wanted to drop in anyways and say how invigorating reading that newsletter was. thank you!!
You are so kind, thank you so much!! I actually read out what you said to my partner because I was so pleased! My newsletter (and my artistic interests generally) are pretty niche, so it is always so exciting when it reaches someone who likes it! I have never been on a post it note before!
I too would have forgotten this.
I mean, so I hear!
I’m a Finn, we love rye!