There are some questions that left me confused throughout the game, maybe you could explain this somewhere (I know when you have the whole world in your head, you sometimes look over simple hints for someone new to that universe):
Does everyone know the arts? Like all of ash clan can do fire magic?
You said something about stages of magic. What stages is mc using, or what stages are the magic that the teachers use?
And the biggest question: Why does the Sun clan keep mc in the palace? Like, are they special because they know Sun Clan magic, are they special because they know both? But then, how special is it for people to know the sun clan arts or both? And as soon as you can do that magic, you get to live in the palace?
If it is a spoiler why mc is in the palace, than it would be good to make them ask the question themselves and not getting a good answer or something. Right now, it just left me confusing and asking myself if this is an issue that you maybe forgot to mention so far.
Oh, and not so much a question: I chose to not like Ember because he restricted my freedom. But the mc gets older and could change their opinion (I wanted to hate him and first and then grow on him), like you can with the princess. Maybe you could give an option to change you opinion after some years?
I’m hooked and looking forward to the next update.
I am going to quote myself here because someone did ask this on tumblr before: “The way I envisioned it, everyone has a basic level of abilities, though a) for most it’s rather weak, and b) the rest still requires training unless they’re just really talented (and those might struggle with control instead). Which is why we have scenes like kids setting stuff on fire in the prologue.”
In the early concept, there was supposed to be a sort of… progression through stages, each of which corresponded to a new technique, but it got watered down. Therefore, now you can think of these stages as simply mastering more complex techniques or applications of your powers.
Out-of-universe answer: because it was the premise of the story back when I came up with it (heh).
In-universe, it’s not because of the magic, they lay claim to the MC because of their blood. The MC knows Sun arts because of their Sun blood. By their logic, MC therefore belongs to them.
But, sure, when I eventually go back to edit, I can add an option to ask.
You will get the option when you meet the adult version of him
I love the update. The occultist is almost likeable in his crazy way lol. And I love playing detective to the crimes and hopefully we find out soon who’s the killer. I’m looking forward to the next update and I couldn’t find any mistakes, nor did I get error messages.
Partial update 2/4, its wordcount is around 18k words. Total update wordcount so far: ~32k words. The game total is around 130k.
CoGDemos or itch (cogdemos seems to have trouble loading for me, but I hope everything works)
The update is a WiP. Things can be added/changed later on. One path currently has more unique content than the other, it’s intentional.
Tumblr is gone (at least until the update is fully out), but I put all the snippets I’ve written in a single location here. Art and previews were reposted earlier on this thread.
I tested for bugs, but please report if anything is wrong
Next up: update part 3/4. The full update will finish up the Act 1 of the game.
I’ve decided to replace the previous one-line check-in post with a proper devlog. Specifically, I want to talk about things I am experimenting with in this chapter. You might have stumbled upon some of them already; most of those are indicated in the game itself for ease of tracking.
First are the choice-based consequences. Sometimes, there is a right or wrong thing to say or do in a situation; other times, the outcome might depend on your stats. Either way, there are no dead ends, and the game will continue.
…but not always!
Sometimes, you might get a notification like this:
…which means the current scene is the consequence of your past choices or stats.
Also, at the end of chapter 1, you get onto one of two paths depending on your choice. One currently has more flavor to it; it is not an oversight.
There will be consequences.
Finally, there are hidden scenes that might appear throughout the game based on stats or choices. A series of such scenes might form a ‘hidden path’ (NOT golden path) - though this is something I’m still experimenting with.
As I said, I want to get the next part of the update out by the end of month. These are also not the only mechanics that are supposed to appear in this chapter.
A small preview! Once again, there will be no real dead ends in the game, but there might eventually be consequences for epic-failing. I’m still working out the details.
YOUR GAME IS SOOO GOOOOOD!!! OMG!
…
Ahem
Sorry, I just can’t contain my admiration.
To all fantasy lovers - this game is an absolute gem.
Everything is so mysterious, magical and intriguing; Amazing large chapters, captivating text, beautiful descriptions, memorable characters and unique deep lore that makes you want to dig deeper.
Every single chapter of this IF completely blows me away with its beautiful descriptions, well-thought-out dialogue, and both action-packed and emotional scenes. You can vividly picture every single moment. I also love how the players actually play a crucial role in shaping the MC’s personality and choices.
On a personal note, my absolute favorite is Ember. Oh, how I miss him…
Gosh, I adore characters like him! He’s so resilient, quiet, and seemingly cold on the outside, but you can truly feel that he’s incredibly caring and loyal underneath. Every character here is shown from different angles, which makes them feel so alive.
And oh my god, please let me share a little headcanon… I might be wrong, but I truly believe that even though Ember is tough on the outside, he gets deeply attached to those he holds dear (I’m playing as a kind MC who wanted to be friends since childhood). He is literally the type to remember every little detail about you and would practically go to the ends of the world to get you some trinket just because you mentioned it in passing once. He shows his affection through actions rather than words: he remembers, and then just silently, without any extra words, does everything for you. I will cherish this headcanon even if it’s just in my head, haha.
Anyway, dear author, thank you so much for such an incredibly gorgeous story! I’m eagerly looking forward to future updates. There are plenty of fantasy stories, but they are rarely this high-quality and captivating right from the prologue.
Wishing you endless inspiration and lots of free time!
As before, this is a partial update and is a WiP. Because there’s quite a bit of branching, *ifs and variables at play, there might be bugs I failed to catch. Some minor options are still WIP, too. Please do report anything out of place
There are stat checks, but overall I am trying for a more choice-based system. There are different choices in certain situations, and sometimes those succeed or fail based on stats. An example from the last update:
This comes after picking a certain option. So some options lead to success, some to failure, some to just different outcomes; some might succeed or fail depending on stats, etc. Certain choices or stats might lead to different scenes/routes. As of now, MC can more or less work out what is going on by picking certain attitudes.
I suppose it might not be very obvious without looking at the code, though. That’s partly why I started putting those [You are here because…] headers into the game (the other part being the ease of tracking of the variations).
I am still fine-tuning this system, though. Do you think there needs to be more indication of when and where stats are used? Or just more stat checks in general?
I’m not quite sure. I got the sense that a lot of the choices felt more on the social/relationship side rather than a high stakes challenge, but in hindsight, that was probably vibes I got while playing.
I did like some of the choice indicators, though. It was a good hint as to what kind of choice I was up against.
…but not always!
There will be consequences.
A small preview! Once again, there will be no real dead ends in the game, but there might eventually be consequences for epic-failing. I’m still working out the details.
It’s a very nice message and, well, it made me happy lol.
