Sunday, January 3, 2021

2020 (partially) in Review

As I do every year, I made a long post on Patreon, outlining what I consider my successes and failures from the past year. But since this blog has been quiet during my break, I thought you guys deserved an excerpt of the TLS portion:

TLS in 2021


I can tell you how things will go fairly clearly. The next update won't be as far away as you might fear (work is well underway), covering another open world segment and some major character inclusions. After that, a quieter update with sidequests and a major country-based block for those who qualify (similar to Eustrin).


After those two, we'll launch into one of the last major events in the entire game. Don't want to overhype, but by the end of it, a lot more pieces will be off the board, and the true antagonists will finally be clear. My original outline had this penciled in to require two updates, but I'm not sure.


After that comes the final open world, which is more substantial than the others, comparable to how many JRPGs open up new content before the final boss. There will be sidequests, including a personal one for every harem member, but also some optional content that's important to the central plot and ending. This is also the stage where I'm sure some people will say that I'm dragging out the game for money, but all I can say is that I believe everything during this part is important for the game as a whole.


Once that's done, there's the climactic sequence, final optional dungeon, epilogue, and postgame, as I promised in the roadmap. Will this stuff happen in 2021? I wish I could say for sure, but I feel like I'll struggle to polish these final updates to the degree I want. So TLS is not almost over, but it will soon be obvious how close we are to the end.

40 comments:

  1. Sounds like lots of good stuff to come to an already amazing game :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. More side quests?
    More optional content?
    Yes!!! More fooling around when the world is counting down its doom!!!
    I always like to think of what the NPCs and characters would think when you return to the novice village for some quests and drag time just before fighting the final boss XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I've considered the same thing, and hopefully this version of it will seem a bit more logical.

      Delete
  3. Happy New Year Lee! Man if you didn't want to create hype in me you failed, more content is always appreciated. My favorite is always more interactions between members of the harem, so that short moment when you get to control Gin made me very happy, and now you say there's gonna be content for each of them? Of course that may take some time, I never bothered to count but isn't the number of harem members close to 30? Im anxiously yet patiently waiting for it, boy I hope when you said " a lot more pieces will be off the board" I really hope one of them is a certain annoying playboy who has been riding on the coattails for months on false heroism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The character quests will be things like Hilstara's quest with the Redlight Mercenaries (which is her personal quest). Yes, we're nearing thirty harem members, and the upcoming update will officially add a couple more.

      Delete
  4. I'm guessing that either the "country-based block" or the part where "more pieces will be off the board" will involve the conclusion of the Ardan Succession Crisis.

    Probably the sub-plot I'm most excited for. (and that's saying a LOT)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Epilogue better have a broom fetch-quest

    ReplyDelete
  6. Will Qum finish think-think-thinking of her custom item? I can't help but wonder what she'll come up with, I doubt it won't be plot relevant. Speaking of custom equipment, will Simon get a Sovereign Sword (insert sex joke here)? Also, will Shining Sword follow the trend set by the Chosen and go from being a running joke item to actually important plot device? Feel free not to answer if it would spoil something, I'm just curious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most of those are sort of spoilers, but I'll say that you'll definitely be rewarded for collecting Shining Swords. Qum's item isn't anything world-shattering, I just thought it would be cute for her to have to think about it (plus it signals to the player that they'll have to choose between resources).

      Delete
    2. Welp, I guess Yarra will never get that First Slut pin. Also I hope you'll leave some wiggling room when it comes to Shining Swords, like with the Abyssal Gems. Otherwise I going to have to replay from the beginning, which is the oposite of an issue, but still... Anyway, can't wait for the next update!

      Delete
  7. Happy New Year, and I am really excited for the build-up of the end

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you (and anyone else reading) as well!

      Delete
  8. When Mithyn?! Seriously, I will be saddened if we don't get her by end. Looking forward to seeing how the sword collection will pay off now, I always assumed we'd need them for a weapon for Ginasta but that was before the Chosen became the form they are now. Just want to know what kind of tolerance there will be for missed swords? I seriously doubt unless you had a guide that most players have all the swords, so how lenient will the swords list be? Will we have to restart to try and find them all for a best result, or will we be able to miss a few and still get the best result?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After the Gathering involved a lot of major powers, the next couple updates will be close to the ground with normal people, but look forward to goddesses showing up in the next major conflict!

      Shining Swords will give bonus stuff, nothing really important for optimization.

      Delete
  9. You're doing an amazing job. I'm sad that I can't back you up (yet) but really thanks for all your work making one of the best games I ever played storywise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate everyone who is playing along! TLS will always remain free, so I hope you continue to enjoy it. If your circumstances ever do change, I'll still be here, making the best games I can. ^-^

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You're considering the possibility of finishing the game within the year?! Please, take three, four, however many more years you need. I would think the recent debacle with Cyberpunk makes for a perfect example for how game development should be given time. Especially for projects where the creator has proven capable of making quality content like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't intend to rush the game, certainly not at the expense of quality. But I also love TLS and don't want to spend too much time on side projects, so we're really take steps toward the ending. Probably more than a year, regardless.

      Delete
  12. I jumped the bandwagon when you had three full chapters out, Ive had some hiccups with the repetitive plain idilic dialog "we just want the world to be a better place" and "we just want everyone to get along" but as a whole it is incredible and it is still. My favourite characters are the Orcs Orcent Impaler and "Defeat Human King" :D, but I got to say, whatever made you come up with Tertia was inspired she is completely inspired, I lover her pls do more with her she is hilarious.

    I have to say faceless douche hasn't been that interesting, I expect that confrontation is coming up soon, but the way you are talking and the way he has felt in the game is like Madara in the last episodes of Shippuden. Just one big bad guy that will reveal the real bad guy was "Hester" all along. Why her? Everything she has said and the "final manipulation" in Gawnfall with her response if the succubi are accepted into the church, all point to somehow who understands the influence Simon has (terrible warmth), and doesn't care about the current state of the world. She talks about her time being almost up, masterfully hiding her power and influence behind old age she gets to talk down the world and prepare her plans for its end. Why? I suspect she is like Sarai but with more ambition and less hope.

    The Anak....I don't know what to think par of me wants to believe his change in attitude is due to faceless douche, but we also don't know anything about the guy this could really be him seizing his opportunity, or perhaps "Hester" can act more subtlety and is the one responsible. I am not sure Simon should collect all the shards, right now I don't care if the Anak keeps living or dies but I definitely want a not tragic ending for Mestan, he can keep his shard.

    Anyway thank you this game is so much fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad people enjoyed Tertia. ^-^

      I've been leading up toward the conclusion for a long time, so all I can really say is that I hope people find it satisfying. It's not going to shake the foundations of narrative design, but I also put some thought into avoiding a few common patterns.

      Delete
    2. That is reassuring, I cant wait for the end. All in all though Chapter 5 has been insane, I will remain mildly disappointed about Tyna and Elleani not joining the harem, but I am intrigued by how you will end their stories. (Elleani builds a harem of her own with orcs succibi and humans and rules from behind a history book while her lovers do all the other stuff) Thats my guess.

      Delete
    3. You'll be happy with something that will happen in two updates.

      Delete
  13. i have a feeling i know who the real ename is

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll find out if you were right this year. ^-^

      Delete
  14. The anticipation is killing me, but I'm not very worried about this taking too long. The entirety of this story has been incredibly polished up to this point, and considering how fleshed out every town has been so far I would say that the progress you make with these updates often feels unreal.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Minor bug report: During the Second Gathering, it looks like Ginasta's reactions to Esthera's event are swapped, she gives more praise for only limiting the use of zirantian slaves than for preventing the use of any slaves at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm. I'd swear I already fixed a bug about this exact issue... I'll have to look into it.

      Delete
  16. akia also has a few miss spellings in her event in the captial summit meeting before the emperor quest line in the basement with the refugess

    ReplyDelete
  17. and more miss spellings in the 1st set of wendis events

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate attention to detail, but I do ask that typos come with a screenshot. The game has a large number of text boxes, plus that lets me check immediately.

      Delete
  18. crap looks like ill have to find a save from then hope i have one

    ReplyDelete
  19. My only complaint about Last Sovereign is that it effectively "flowers for algernon'ed" my expectations when it comes to H-games. Everything is basic in comparision. Wait, no, I have another: that I can't play it again for the first time. Anyway, can't wait for the update for us plebs!

    ReplyDelete
  20. will this game have replayablity as in a new game +

    ReplyDelete