Saturnine [WIP] [537K words] (Updated 31/10/2024)

Finished the crystal encounter in calypso and she left, next chapter starts and it’s at the end of a completely different playthrough of that same section

I was so confused why me sitting on the ship segued into me running out of town to get into the ship

I thought I had missed something

Well, she died pretty quickly once I began hacking away at her with my scythe, and I’m not even a martial class. That’s less of a “girlboss” behavior and more of a “wheat bundle” behavior if you ask me.

Well, one of several virtual hells, if you want to be exact. The mechanics of afterlife in this world are like most of my lore—quite convoluted, pointlessly horrific and something I skim over in my actual stories.

That would happen if the game was to miss the “gosub scene” command that separates the endings, but that should be straight-up impossible with how the code is formatted. I’ll look for a bug like this next time I random-test the game, I guess.

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Space hell sounds like maintenance nightmare (or hell, i guess) I mean, just the effort to keep it from freezing over, being in close to absolute zero environment and all. /s

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That’s a misconception, one I actually pointed out in my game. Outer space is not cold in any meaningful sense, because there are almost no particles to which heat can spread. Just because an odd atom doesn’t vibrate much doesn’t mean you’ll actually feel any cold there. There’s a reason why radiators are such a staple of hard sci-fi design; Getting rid of heat is a far more realistic problem for spaceships and space stations to deal with.

Also, Sun is canonically filled with demons, so you can always go there if you don’t believe space can provide you with a satisfying “eternal fire” experience.

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Sauce my beloved :pray: This is such a unique WIP! Everything feels really detailed and fully realised? The world feels whole even if we’re bopping about on a few select moons and a space station and I love the cast! Personally usually struggle when there’s so many characters and especially so many ROs but was actually able to keep track of everyone here because they feel so distinct from each other.

Impact of the war on MC is very cool too, they really do feel like a veteran without it going into edgy/needlessly traumatic territory - having the option of which side (if any,) you took is really good too!

Definitely did not expect to get propositioned by a metal spider that would kill my friends but 10/10 would do again.

I’ve only played it through twice so far and I cannot wait to do more! Feel like there’s definitely a lot of routes I missed going by what I’ve read. And I do think that I’m increasingly team dragon with each go around. Sorry as I feel like ultimately this probably isn’t actionable feedback but just wanted to say I love this IF!

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Nah, I appreciate it. It’s nice to hear some praise, especially now that I’m a bit under the weather.

As in, I’m under a bunch of clouds that can’t seem to stop raining. My town is getting flooded. The military is evacuating nearby villages and setting up base in our city hall. The Polish PM is currently inside our fire station, trying to coordinate relief efforts with our incompetent local government. All I hear is rain, wind, police sirens and more rain. So it’s good that my day has at least one upside.

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Does picking up the paper plane in calypso cause any different interactions with crystal?

No. Meeting the kid in the first place adds some text, but whether you inspected the plane or not makes no difference.

Random Update. I was hoping to upload another chapter this month, but that update was delayed by the giant freaking flood I had to deal with. I made a smaller update instead, one that adds some small scenes to the Calypso Chapter, Chapter Nine and the second interlude. It’s not much, but I wanted to break the radio silence somehow.

Also, since I’m coming close to completing the story and could probably request a birthday present or two from my family… Do you guys know where I could commission some cover art? It doesn’t have to be anything amazing, just a spaceship over some space-y background, but I’m not an artist and most people “desperate” for commissions will only draw cute OCs. I’ve never done that kind of thing before, so I’m kinda lost in space here.

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You could maybe commission “cute android with a spaceship over space in the background” and then crop the android out?

(sorry, a poor joke. afraid don’t really know anyone specific, i guess you could try the ArtStation marketplace and see if you any authors of illustrations you like are up for custom work, or licensing what they already have…? Since they’re business-oriented in the first place it’s probably better shot than completely random artists)

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I believe Zaldath usually commissions art for his games and has published at least one sci-fi game. Try asking him for advice?

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Did you just make that art? Because it’s pretty damn nice. If it had the proper dimensions for a CoG cover, I’d probably look into purchasing it.

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I made it as a joke. :sweat_smile: I don’t think it fits the more mature theme you want?

But if you weren’t joking and seriously want that, I made it using free public domain resources online. I can easily make the full set of art assets, if that’s your thing.

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Personal opinion but i thought the contrast with the story (and vaguely retro style) is what made it work as potential cover. Plus, you can be pretty dang silly in the game, too :v

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But if you weren’t joking and seriously want that, I made it using free public domain resources online. I can easily make the full set of art assets, if that’s your thing.

I’m not joking. Until now, I intended to just steal a Saturn photo from NASA and add a title, but that art of yours would look far better on a cover. I’d love to use it.

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This art is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. Please review the source images and their respective license terms.

Space Background (Pixabay)

Spaceship (PublicDomainPictures.net)

If you decide to use the art, please credit both websites. Do not credit me as I did not draw the pictures, only put them together.

PROMOART 408x272

PROMOART 480x320

STEAM 462x174

Edit: Is this the best way to do this? I suppose I could use dashingdon.

Edit2: Anyway, this took about 10 minutes.

Edit3: There is some quality loss. If you are ok with the pictures, I will email the original files to HG myself and inform them that these are for you.

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Splendid. This might have taken you five minutes, but you’ve saved me hours of hopeless tinkering with NASA images at the very least. Space helmets off to you.

As for sending images, I would like to have the maximum resolution available, but I don’t think sending them to HG from a separate email account (especially before actual game submission) would earn me any favors. If that’s alright with you, I’ll send a DM with my email address so that you can pass the files there at your convenience.

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Ok, sent. Let me know if everything is in order. :rofl:

:thinking: :thinking: Somehow… that makes sense, even if I can’t wrap my head around it completely.

EDIT:

Did a look up, the font in the pictures does not allow commercial use. Anyway, I’ll keep the original post up, since posting pictures on a forum isn’t commercial use, but @Omeg I’m sending updated files with a public domain font. (Copyright issues are always a nightmare to work with)

Do not submit the old files to HG. Granted, the foundry which made the old fonts is now defunct, but gotta be safe.

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Halloween Update. All truths are revealed, all plots conclude, the fate of Saturn Nine and its inhabitants has already been decided. Only one final decision remains; What will the Veteran do, now that their hunt is over and their freedom is assured? Who do they view as a friend and who as the enemy? Will they agree to fight one more time, risking death after centuries of life… or simply leave everything behind them and let others fight the final battle?

Okay, we’re almost there. Unless another flood happens and/or my computer breaks again, I should be able to release another update a month from now and complete the game somewhere around New Year. Wish me luck.

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I just love how misanthropic MC can stump Da-xia and psychologically terrify the Calypsoans by wanting to protect the humans from the dusk bomb, so that the humans can just go back to their miserable lives and continue to suffer for longer, instead of getting the sweet release of death. I also can’t wait to use the same excuse against dusk themselves.

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