Looking forward to it 
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I hope to deliver!
Iām always glad for yours and everyone elseās support, hopefully I finish writing this chapter by the end of this month for you guys, but thatās an overly optimistic guess haha
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Iāve played through this a couple times already. I tired being being mean to Caine but I just couldnātā¦,too loyal of a warrior and itās something I can respect. Itās amusing, I didnāt come here for romantic inclinations but I have to say Caine does me good. Her POV got me even more interested.
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Dev update time c:
We are now at ~117k words! Look at that, Iām steadily trucking away even though Iām a procrastinator at times.
Iāve been busy lately too thoughāfire damage is worse than just the fire itself haha. Maybe uncommon knowledge: thereās water damage from firefighters to deal with and other complications sheesh
Anyway! I digress.
Iām feeling like I have a better grasp on Reiās personality, but Iāve not yet started to write what happens if you choose to hang out with them unfortunately.
I am however quite set on the parts where you can see insight into their view on the debrief with the Commander! So if you donāt send them away when you get the chance, you can let them stick around to have a slight variation in your scenes.
I donāt know what my obsession with writing scenes where you can do several things of your choice is about because it then takes me longer to progress in the chapter which I donāt like lol. But hooray for replayability and variation!
This section has so much variables, it was a feat to puzzle out with my small brain. It lends for a nice transition between choices though, which Iām happy with.
Iāve mostly finished writing the choices where you can send the first letter to Illia and read some of the pages of the book you bought from Celen, although Iāve still got a bit to add to parts. It was surprisingly fun to write the stories for them, but lemme confess, theyāre not entirely plotted out. Even so, I think they can be an enjoyable read while not exactly impacting your summoner. (Except for Ark, that one sucks) Also just because you choose to read a book for the time youāre allotted doesnāt mean small events wonāt happen during c:
Anyway, the other 2 books do give slight insight to the world of Therra, even if theyāre not entirely based on it, being a hypothetical fantasy novel. One involves a cipher because why not. I didnāt create it, but if anyone wants spoilers of the name of it bc they canāt ascertain it, just ask lol (but it should be easy if you search the right thing or if you know a lot about ciphers for some reason)
Hereās a tidbit: āWu zrwu zrc pcilq ah hlcczwvm ctwuzcvscu?ā
The only thing that came out of his mouth was gibberish if she was being honest. With a blink and a squint, Robin cautiously nodded her head. āI donāt know what you said. But yes?ā
And hereās a hint: He nodded. āWe āGodsā do. You may call me Iuzpiceu.ā
Robin pressed her lips together. āThatās quite a mouthful. I donāt mean to disrespect you, but might there be a nickname you go by?ā
He laughed, a bright sound. āI suppose in your language, āAstraeusā shall suffice. A nomenclature easy to speak, is it not?ā
There will be a soft save system! I tried two different methods at this, but the tool made by cup_half_empty is amazing, I highly recommend checking it out once you have a decent understanding of Cscript (if youāre writing an IF). Choicescript wikiās also got a lovely guide on implementing one which explains a lot of the mechanics behind it, but it involves more manual labor.
Idk if there are any bugs with it, so once the updateās out, please make sure to check your stats and shout if somethingās off c:
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I think having the reloading system in the stats menu is impossible with the way Cscript works 
I wanted to have it so you were able to go back and forth between any checkpoints whenever you wanted, but I guess thereās a reason no IF has that function lol. It looks like it works, but youāre actually stuck in a pseudo stats menu, even if it gives you the option to āshow statsā. (if only there was a hard save for published works!! Weāre all asking for it, PLEASE just give in COG, being able to reload does actually promote replaying, I swear!)
EDIT: wait apparently thereās an update to Cscript w/ checkpoints? I need to check this out :o
Letās goooooo! Iām glad I could do that because Iāve pretty much never written romance before. So as long as the character is hard to be mean to, thatās a pretty good step (also Iām so happy the POVs are well received so far, I found Caineās difficult to write haha)
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Do check out the new checkpoint system - you can implement reloading to a previous checkpoint, or to a variety of earlier ones, using the stats page or an ingame choice. I tried using it today and it worked a treat.
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Iām eagerly checking it out, but itās too bad I donāt think itās compatible with CSIDE atm? Still a really cool update to the code though, Iām really happy it was in the works and once I figure it out, Iāll have it in the code!
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Heyyyy Iāve been very preoccupied lately but Iām finally posting a dev update! Sadly not a content one, this chapter is taking a muuuuch longer time to churn out than I expected.
I caught covid like two weeks ago but still got my daily words in :,)
But at least Iām p much recovered and finally finished my fall classes so hopefully I write faster/more in the upcoming weeks! Iām now at ~137k words, ~36k of which is chapter 3. And I donāt think Iām anywhere near even halfway through the chapter SEND HELP.
I have the Choicescriptās checkpoint save system figured out and implemented, but itās currently not compatible with dashingdon so you wonāt see it appearing when I finally do update the build. But when dashingdon does become compatible, youāll then be able to talk(?) to a mysterious voice!
Iāve also coded a way for you to be able to skip from, say, chapter 2 to 4 while taking your changed choices into account, but Iām bad at code so thereās probably a better way to do it. At least it works and is hopefully mostly coding error free
Other than that Iām almost finished with the first day youāre awake. Yes, the 36k words is just for that hahahaha Iām going insane
Anyway, that first day are comprised of segments w Caine, commander, willow, and Rei. You get to take Rei on a tour around the camp and learn a little bit more about them! After that? Honestly Iām not sure. My outline is more like a draft 1 so things have changed a lot. I think this chapter may have the First Battleāor maybe not, weāll see.
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Sorry been busy withā¦well life. But thank you for the reply.
Romance itself is in the eye of the beholder, as Romance can be as simple as saving a damsel in distress to Shakespearean as Romeo and Juliet or Taming of The shrew. Then thereās dark and gritty war stories, perhaps like this one, that emotions are high people might die tomorrow so they decided to live it up and you know try love.
But meeting Rei huh? She or he sounds complex or perhaps just cannot see the grey side of things and with clash with Caine depending on the circumstances. Pray they donāt both fall in love with you lol
Beyond that I think the familiar servant master bond thing is interesting. I havenāt seen it used in a IF here so I wish you luck!
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Donāt worry about it! I donāt expect anyone to reply especially if theyāre busyābut I appreciate one all the same C:
You make a lovely point! While I worry over whether Iād be able to write a nuanced and interesting story the whole way through, especially with the dark parts expected of a war setting, Iād definitely like to do so to the best of my abilities. But if it falls flat, you didnāt see this
Youāve read them and their probable plot pretty well already lol
Theyāre kind of difficult for me to write, but once I get over the hurdle of them acting impulsively because itās been years since they could talk to anyone, I think their character will come to me more easily.
Thank you for the luck! I always am astounded to be told the plot is unique, I was expecting the opposite haha (although I certainly am working with a lot of common elements. medievalish setting? magic? war? thousands of that out thereāgood for those of us who like that, I am one of them)
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Hey all, Iām UPDATING THE DEMO! Finally!!
Chapter three is not actually finished, but I think I need feedback on whatās currently there because Iām struggling with writing the next scene lol. Itās now at ~148k words and so far, an avg plathrough would run you at ~38k words. Would likely be longer depending on how you go about things.
I finally got through the tedious part of the chapter that I was working on since I released the initial demo, but Iām only feeling the slightest bit relieved. Now comes the aforementioned part thatās giving me stage fright and writerās block; how I want the next battle scene to go. Itād be so much easier if its thematic purpose was along the lines of fighting the bandits, but as it is not, Iām currently violently struggling with how to execute it. Iāve got to keep it interesting, but in all honesty, a summonerās role is not that involved in the actual fighting. Youāre like a glass battery, after all, itād be illogical for you to be on the frontlinesābut readers like agency, right? Iāve half a mind to give you a choice to act out to your detriment, but Iām still puzzling on the contents of the battle in general. My fear is writing a boring or unsatisfactory high-point, but I suppose the only way Iāll know if it disappoints is if I finish it and get it out.
If youāre a writer or just have insight to give as a reader, Iām begging for you to share what youād like to happen lol
Iād advise you to not use old saves because stats and variables are probably broken from what Iāve experienced, testing things. But at least you might see the improved/added bits and pieces here and there!
Whatās new exactly? Everything I mentioned in past posts plus:
- You can at last experience the finished festival path w/ Calla! But if you donāt go along that route, a convo with Zack and Calla crops up later down the line. And my god did it take me so long to write, itās quite the hefty scene in total, even though one playthrough wonāt see everything that went into it.
- You will at last meet Rei, someone whoās totally not suspicious at all. Hang out with them or donāt, thereās only so much time in the day to do things.
- One such thing being sleeping the day away! If you choose to dream about a spirit, itās randomised whether itās with Caine or Rei. Tell me if youād rather that be a choice instead of rng, I wasnāt sure what would be better ^^ Do any of them mean something or are they purely things written in a delusion? Wink?
- & more! But go ahead and discover them yourself. Iād say theyāre just as meaningful despite not mentioning them.
One of the plays, Villain Reversal, is actually something I think Iād love to make into an IF someday if I had the time and resources. The title might just be āTransported into a Terrible Dating Sim!ā and itās exactly what that sounds like (rest assured you can choose the gender of the protagonist and ROs, itāll be quite different from the play for a reason).
Itās not going to be serious (at least not at first maybe?)āIāve been barely holding myself back from making shitty jokes this entire time so that would all go into this IF lol.
Itād be set in the distant future of Therra after the events of The Summoner, with a different protag, but I shouldnāt get ahead of myself. Nothingās set in stone and I donāt want to divert my focus. You can ask about it though, would be a good way for me to procrastinate writing the battle scene :')
What rating did Rei give you? (The āchatā Iām referring to is the one thatās only available if you sent them away during your discussion w/ the commander, btw.)
- Itās definitely bad.
- 3.5
- 4
- 5 (they are intimidated)
- 5 (we shook on it)
- No tour, but I did chat.
- No tour, but I let them roam.
- No tour, no chat, and sent them away. (RIP? More like RIOR [rest in other realm])
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voters
Hopefully it matches your narrative, but if not, lemme know. I am trying to gauge your stats and choices from this (make it easy on me please, and just tell me what your stats are and how you intend to play/what choices you make)
Thatās all for now! Please report any bugs/errors and give me your thoughts on the story. Your feedbacks truly are useful and appreciated, they help me with knowing if something needs changing or if it landed just fine (and feel free to suggest ideas or things youād like to see, I may take inspiration from them)
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Will definitely give my opinion when get chance to playthrough but looking forward to seeing what you have so far in the update.
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Lovely story.
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I donāt have any good feedbacks to give rn but I do want to say that I love the writing, story so far and I absolutely love Caine and Reiā¦ I canāt decide who I want to romance, I love them both so much I canāt wait for the next update 
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Loved the update so much! I have only played through once so far since the update but will play again to see all the different options. I canāt wait to see where this story goes 
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I have the say Rei makes me question the more philosophical parts of this world. But part of them makes me nervous especially when you learn the cost for level 3 spirits. Though that doesnāt say I dislike Rei as a character itās just going be interesting with depending on our choices. I questioned things and didnāt agree with her on everything so a 3.5-4 is probably the best I could get. Being completely agreeable makes me feel too much of a kiss butt if you get what I mean lol
Beyond that the additional words the story are a great addition to the story. I imagine the war is going to be interesting considering the spirit summoner with it seems to be medieval technology at the time spirit vs spirit would be something speedy, fast, and quite a sight depending on the said spirits.
Good on the next part I look forward to it!
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I loved it so much, especially the characters are amazingly written. I love Cain and Rei, I give them all the affection they need. Itās okay to be affectionate to both, right? or will they be jealous in the future?
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Not a fan of how the Rei interactions were written. Iāve had my Summoner be fairly quiet and stoic/taciturn when in the military camp or aroundā¦pretty much everyone. While she warmed up a little to Cain during the festival (as heās someone else who doesnāt get to make his own choices very often,) the interactions with Rei completely ignored ALL OF THAT. There was no choice other than to just set him loose and not engage at all that didnāt have the PC being just as overly chatty as the irritatingly happy-go-lucky Willow and Cara.
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Hey ho, I just wanted to say Iāve been checking the demo and yupāI did not catch all the errors before releasing the update lol
Itās nothing game breaking, but thereās a slight part in the tour w/ Rei where I tested for status quo =100 instead of status quo !=100. So the flavor text is wrong, but oh well, just a small thing that I decided to change the numbers for as well.
Also checked stats for some scene variations and the affectionate scene w/ Caine should logically trigger if you have >=80 aff w/ them even if your like stat with them is <=7, so I changed that.
Also some typos. And a lot of sloppy prose.
None of this is in the current demo, but it will be when I update, sorry for the hold-up! The bug fix will either come when I finish writing chapter 3 or earlier if dashingdon updates with Cscriptās new checkpoint saving system.
But in happy news, Iāve regained some confidence and think I know how to take the next scene! At least structurally.
To be honest, I had the impression that everything I wrote for this update was lackluster and that there couldnāt be anything to like about it lolābut maybe with your guysā feedback and me being able to reread everything I wrote after stepping away for a bit, Iāve realized I actually like a lot of it. Woohoo! Itās salvageable, I didnāt write myself into a corner and I like to think itās not as boring as I thought
SO yeah, just wanted to say thanks for all your support! I reply to every single comment in my head, youāre all great C:
I just took delightful inspiration from what you had to sayāI feel doomed romance can be enjoyable to read at times and I think whatever Iāve got cooking could be something great if I execute it well. That, or Iāll just scare people off of Rei bc they accidentally got this ending, who knows. I swear they can be semi-normal at endgameā¦ depending on what your summoner believes and does. Actually, I canāt swear anything at all, because my plans might change.
You can be affectionate to both! I donāt think theyāre the type to be jealous, although Jackal probably would be if you get a high like stat with them.
Once in a relationship, I donāt think Iāll give you affectionately romantic scenes beyond friendship with ros you didnāt confess to lol. But if you get anyoneās like stat high and you confess to someone else, they might get upset. Tread lightlyāyet theyāll get over it either way in the end.
Hmm, yeah I didnāt really take into account that sort of stuff outside of dialogue choices where youāre not saying much. I guess I was leaning too much into the MC feeling more comfortable in their environment lol. Itās funny cause when I play IFs, I like having the MC be pretty withdrawn as well, but here I am accidentally writing the opposite over time!
I did at one point during writing ch3 almost implement a social vs not stat, but even if I had, I donāt know if it would have accounted for quieter MCs since it was more about avoiding socialising rather than talking less. Mind telling me all of your stats including the hidden ones? And the sort of character your MC is past, present, and future +anything else you think is pertinent towards writing this sort of character properly.
I think I may eventually implement either a hidden or visible stat so you can play a quieter MC. The MC would still have to deliver essential lore though, so I donāt have to account for crazy branching ;;
I canāt promise to get exactly what youāre looking for since Iād still like to include world building, but Iāll certainly try something!
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gud stuf u got here
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Is the MC guaranteed a premature death or something close to it in this? Based on everything thatās been said I canāt imagine MC somehow getting to live a full life after everything and Iād rather know now than spend my time on something I wonāt enjoy.
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