Friday, April 26, 2019

TLS 0.42.0 Released!

New update for supporters on Patreon or SubscribeStarVersion history updated, you know what to do, etc.

TLS 0.42.0
 - Plot advances with a trip back to Stenai.
 - Upon return from Stenai, multiple events and a dungeon prepping for the next section.
 - The optional challenge dungeon in New Givini is now available.
 - Two new scenes.
 - New investment cycle. Includes a new investment on Succubus Acceptance paths that involves a new scene.
 - A new slate of research options is unlocked, and you have a new research project available.
 - Depending on your research choices, Robin may have a new scene.
 - Four new pieces of customized equipment can be created.
 - Simon now has bust images (both green and black outfits) thanks to Lamsey.
 - A conversation between Altina and Riala about the events in the first chapter has been added retroactively (it isn't accessible in current content).

This is a combination of the next major step in the plot, plus some assorted things I worked on while I was trying to rewrite the chapter. So the slate is completely clear of old content like customized equipment and side content like the optional dungeon - what's left is the large plot section that will finish the fourth chapter of the game.

I still have an upcoming book release, but it got put off because I was eager to finish this update. You can look forward to the public release in a week unless something unusual happens. Meanwhile, I hope people enjoy the update. ^-^

35 comments:

  1. Finally the waiting was over and thank you Sierra hope to see more updates from you soon

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  2. Thanks for giving Altina more limelight, she deserve it.

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  3. Where is that Altina/Riala scene available at in the timeline? I'm curious if I might have a save old enough to view it still, since I tend to cycle through all the slots. Would it just be at the beginning of Chapter 4?

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    1. Beginning of Chapter 4, yes. However, some patrons have pushed back on it needing to be restricted to the past, so this will probably change by the public version.

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    2. What does it mean ? where and how will it hapen?

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    3. This is already in the game. If you meet the right conditions with Altina, she will be standing by Riala and they will have a conversation about their history together. This can happen any time in the fourth chapter.

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  4. Yay, Simon got a bust !!! He deserve it after all.

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  5. I have maybe misunderstant but you say the next big update will be the last of the chapter 4? if it the case the game will be sooner end that i think and can even be end in late 2019 or early 2020!

    By the way i have idea that that comme to mind:
    first i realy hope you will do a realy hard (even a easter one ) game end where the choice of simon was so bad that people think : be under the fuck lordwould have be better and you can even make a choice one kill simon because he end up alone and become a weak drunkark that the choice one can kill (after that yoou play as the choice one that become a hero and can visit all place to seen how bad the world is

    the second think is a advice i think if after this game you planned to do another big game with a lot of update and free/patreon you should give the prologue beford end TLS for one reason after the end of TLS a lot of patreon will probaly resign your patreon annd less will do so if you already show the next game (by the way be ready for that don't start heavy costly action just beford the end of the game )
    of course it just what i think maybe i am wrong ;)

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    1. The next plot section will end Chapter 4, but that plot section will probably take two updates. But yes, we're getting closer! Chapter 5 is pretty long, but I'll be advancing forward with it steadily.

      Regarding the ending: there will be some potential negative ends if you don't meet certain minimum standards. Exploring the world will probably be limited to saves where you did at least reasonably well, though. I plan to put a ton of effort into making the endgame worthwhile to explore, so I can only do that for a limited number of branches.

      I'm concerned about taking too much time away from core work on TLS, but I've definitely thought about what will happen after the game is finished. Though I think I have enough different projects on my plate now, once we get into Chapter 5, patrons and other people will start hearing about potential next projects...

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    2. Good to heart that they stil have two update and that the chapter 5 is big.

      I have great hope now you say that to played a least 6 month of TLS But i think it likely that it end beford 2021.
      I may be optimist but i think you do a even beter game with all the stuff you learn from this one.

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    3. There's no way it will end in 2019, since the last chapter includes more plot, personal sidequests for all characters, and the endgame where you see the final world you created. How far it extends beyond that will depend on how much detail I go into on some of those.

      I certainly intend to take everything I've learned on this game into my new projects!

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  6. Sierra! I've been following your game for years and I think it's one of the best ever for this genre. I liked it so much that I tried searching for games like this and there aren't many, if any at all. In your previous update post, you talked about the considerations of pacing and how to structure your latest update.
    Thinking about these things, I was wondering if you would consider writing a journal/guide about your thought processes on the creation of you game. Writing down some of your goals for each update some of the creative choices you made and your reasoning behind them. If there were tough choices, what made you choose one route over another and such. While I wouldn't dare ask you to reveal all your tricks, I think it would provide valuable insight to others who want to make a game just like this one and would still be a very useful resource even to others who don't. I imagine it would be spoiler heavy so it would be a good read for after someone finishes the game if they want to go through some TLS nostalgia :D

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    1. Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you've enjoyed TLS so much. ^-^

      Though I think it would take up too much of my time while game development is still underway, at times I've considered whether people would be interested in a sort of "director's commentary" of the game. I'd do my first full playthrough in years, making notes along the way. I worry it would come off as self-absorbed, though, and as I said I wouldn't consider investing time into that until the core of TLS is complete.

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    2. Np, I really like TLS! I think you're entitled to be a little self-absorbed after putting a creation like this out which has filled many of your fans' hours with great fun though if someone ever accuses you of it, feel free to quote my post showing the project to be a fan request 8)

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  7. I have recently started playing your game on steam and I am really impressed with the story line. I would like to report a bug and I don't know how or where else to put it. In Act 2 when you are running around Yihilan and trying to invade the Jade house, if you are at you max copies by trin and go to get the old guy at the shop in the rose district, the one getting the painting, and leave the shop without recruiting him later when you go back he gets stuck by the entrance and won't move blocking the only exit out. and you can't leave through the side entrance. After being stuck there for an hour I exited and tried two more times thinking i missed something but kept getting stuck. thought you might want to look into having the old man at least move away from the door

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    1. Hello! I'm glad you're enjoying the game and thank you for reporting bugs.

      However, I have to be honest: it's going to be really hard for me to look into this while I'm fully immersed in work on the newest update. Can you report this on the wiki? They will look into it there and keep me from forgetting.

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  9. Hey Sierra, I noticed that whoever does the wiki hasn't been updating it. The last update to it was for the Gawnfall Council, and I can't find anything past that. If I'm missing it, where can I find it?

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    1. Sorry, but the wiki is run by fans, so I don't have any special knowledge about it.

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    2. Well, the wiki covers up to the gawnfall council right now, as that's the latest section requiring a section. Last update was mostly still to do with the council and it's effect on the world, so no update to the walkthrough. This update will likely only be added a bit after the public release (so maybe in about a week).

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    3. That makes sense. Since there hasn't been plot advancement since the Counci, it makes sense that the wiki hasn't been updated. Hadn't thought of that. Well if anyone here is part of the wiki crew, I've got the optional dungeon in New Givini mostly figured out if you want my notes on it.

      Thank you for the answers.

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    4. Stuff from patreon releases doesn't get on the wiki before the public release, since it's usually subject to changes, and I guess it could spoil stuff for non-patrons.

      The wiki is open to edition, you could put stuff you want there yourself. If you don't want to, send it to me and I'll do it for you, no prob.

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    5. That also makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't know how to add it myself, and even if I did, the notes are incomplete. But I can send you what I have and you can take it from there if you want.

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    6. Okay then, just send it to me at noelmittuns at gmail.com if you don't mind.

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    7. Will do at some point tonight once I'm off work. And I'll try to add some more detail into what I already have to make it less work for ya.

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    8. Sent the email, let me know if you got it Noel.

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  11. Hey Sierra, just finished the Council of Gawnfall ( Capital G looks like a backwards D :P) and I have to say it is some of the most interesting politicking you have done. I wish it had more aspects tied to specific companions like at the very last day, but it was very fun to play around with the High Priestesses, I know Simon inst the fuck all skirts type but can we plz have Anna in the Harem?
    That stuff with the King just killed me, I was sort off waiting for a 4rth wall brake from Anolon being like " You hear that Sierra its a joke!!!" :D very well done, A+.
    I however do have one hang up and it isn't about the story itself. I have resigned myself to enjoy a tale of impossibly understanding, and capable horny women surrounding an equally impossibly capable and well mannered jesus-kun, and that is just how this story should be I think if it wasn't it would be Game of Thrones. My hangup is how you introduce plot point convenient skill changes that only affect the plot and not the game cohesively. Besides the first non sexual sex magic bolt from simon to the Incubus Emperor, you have Qum imitate Simon's Ascendant sexual magic because "Savant" at a convenient time in the story because it is convenient and without warning. I can understand the surprise element of story telling but the difference is that you did it very well whit Robin's secret sexual link during the Incubus king fight, but I think you ran out of space and time to implement it so you threw it there as a "by the way guess what". I understand all that I say comes with a secondhand opinion tag due to the fact I am regrettably not a Patreon, but if you don't mind that my solution to this is simple: Make all sync skills old and new be part of a skill tree that exist due to the Sex-Links to Simon, make them a permanent unlock with a hint of the research system (one of the best things about this game I love it a lot). This way you can explain away why Simon doesn't use magic but the Doom King casts Arane Nukes at people without retraining as a mage. I think this could also open up the possibility of a mission specific Simon+DKing tag teaming against a Incubus king in front of others, or just a special fight event with the doom king alone against Simon so he can be the Doomed King again with Simon sort off redeemed...maybe.
    And this is a selfish fetish of mine, but if you could add a Redhead with a Katana into the Party I, and I am guessing a majority of the peps that play this game would insta-nerdgasm all over Arcklent.

    I get this is all my selfish takes on your project, and I don't think you'll read this far but this is how much I love your game, and I do understand how hard it is to make even a game like this, I don't make them....I gave up early.
    I cannot wait to play what you have in store for the Fucklord, Godspeed.

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    1. Glad you liked the politicking! It's a major part of TLS, and I wanted the Council of Gawnfall to be focused on that.

      I hear what you're saying regarding skills, but adding a new skill tree would require a lot of rebalancing. At this stage, I like to stay focused mostly forward.

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    2. I do not really mean it as a new skill tree, but as an organization tool mostly for the saucy synergy skills to go forward. My example was for Qum and the unpeople when she discovered she could do sexual magic that affected them it would have made sense if she realized it naturally as an extension of the purity/sex magic research regardless of the Council, then we would be thinking about it and bam it makes a difference during the Council of Gawnfall.

      I suggest that such an organization tool would make writing story elements around these skill interactions, much easier to plan and implement. Although please trust me, my input and suggestions are just south of inconsequential compared to wanting to play Erosia. Again I am sorry for my selfishness but pls: Redhead-Samurai chick party/harem member.

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  13. New player here, with a bit of feedback. It would be a kindness, for at least some of us, if there were some option that would let us turn the save counter off. I can't possibly be the only person who has this issue.

    My issue: This game is excellent. The characters are delightful, the themes resonate with me strongly, and the whole thing is very well-made.
    If it weren't, I could just put it down and walk away. I'm perfectionist enough that I both want to get a high-quality path, and I shy away from saving purely because of the save counter. I've gotten to the Reunion now with 13 saves. My main save shows 14 hours played. Steam shows 65. A big part of that is that I keep playing long stretches, trying to get optimal, and then I fail in some small way, or forget something, or don't take a major fight quite seriously enough (perhaps because I've won it two or three times already) and then I have to go back to whichever save it was that I put in last. It's bad, and I cannot possibly be the only person out there experiencing this. One time, I abandoned a chunk of progress just because I'd clicked twice by mistake, and thus incremented the save counter twice, rather than once. Just being able to turn off the save counter so that I could save as necessary without obsessing about it would be really very welcome. People should not be trying to fight through every spider in the spider house on one save. It's not healthy.

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    1. Save 100 is an auto save, so that can usually help you with any misclick options or death in dungeons. But you can always just go into the game folder cut all the saves, then put them in there own folder. Saving them in case you need them and freeing up your game slots. Each of my play-through have at least 500 saves each. Cutting and pasting saves is also the only way to save progress when going from game version to version.

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    2. Save counter is purely informational, there's no actual limite. My save counter is something like 1,350 on my main playthrough. What's limited is the number of save slots (different saves that can coexist with one another), not the save counter.

      If you didn't thought the save counter to be limiting and you're purely trying to bet the game with the smallest save counter possible because... reasons, then "the problem is not the problem, the problem is your attitude about the problem". Just have a big save counter, it's ok, really.

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    3. I do feel your pain, truly. I don't think I have a way of making the save counter optional, but I can promise you that I would never hide anything behind a low number of saves - that would just be cruel. Please consider it simply additional information and save freely.

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