TLS 0.75.0 Released!

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

TLS 0.75.0

 - The dialogue system of TLS has been massively overhauled to show character busts during conversations. Thanks to Rachnera and others for helping this happen.

 - Substantial balance changes, including many new skills (see next section).

 - Remade and polished prologue section.

 - New custom title screen menu.

 - New maps for all Stineford interiors.

 - Further polishing, to the final battle and across the game (see lowest section).

 - New windowskin thanks to Lamsey.

 - New illustrated scene: Shard Sipping.

Balance Changes

 - 33 new skills spread across the harem.

 - 6 new skills dedicated to swapping active party members, a newly coded capability.

 - 8 new synergy skills: Poison Storm, Piercing Assault, Weakening Assault, Agile Guard, Pure Thrust, Inspire, Anti-Tyrant Essence, Arcane Shieldwall.

 - Uyae's stance skills no longer require a turn to switch.

 - Thanks to Lord Forte for scripting help, the LUK statistic now has more complex effects on the game, including status effects, hit rate, and evasion.

 - The LUK of both enemies and characters has been adjusted to compensate for these effects.

 - Six new offhand items unique to Vhala have been added, spread throughout the game depending on decisions.

 - Multiple synergy skills have been tweaked, and Earth Lance no longer requires synergy.

 - The cost of Dominate/Corrupt was reduced.

 - The damage formula for Quake was improved.

Past Changes and Additions

 - Final ending requirements modified.

 - The final push section now shows your variables more accurately.

 - Lustlord's Shadow boss weakened.

 - The Crystal of Harmony is now purchasable if you missed it.

 - Eustrin now has two new tracks, thanks to Lamsey.

 - Lamsey also contributed a significant number of modified sprites, such as succubus sex, prologue Simon, and a new Doom King statues.

This isn't the final optional dungeon update I wanted, but look at all the stuff in the above list: I felt it would be wrong to keep that all from everyone while I finished the next section. Plus, it will be good to get input on the balance of all the combat changes before I do the final combat challenge. I don't know if this will take a week or longer before going public, but that will have no impact on how quickly I finish the next update.

Official Statement on Collaborations

Over the years, I've received various offers of collaboration. Some have gone very well (such as Annikath), others have been basically selling services, and a few have been utterly bizarre. I have a fairly busy schedule, and it has occurred to me that perhaps some professionals might have been aware of this and not approached me for that reason.

So, as we get closer to the conclusion of TLS, I'd just like to publicly state that I am open to the right collaboration. Maybe nothing will come of this, but better to be clear than to leave things in ambiguity. If anyone has been waiting for me to finish my decade-long work, I'm approaching a clearer period in my long term plans.

If you fall into that category, feel free to contact me at:
sierra.lee.author@gmail.com

Now, not to be too delicate about this, I am not looking for random people to email me with ideas. The unfortunate truth is that ideas are cheap and the games industry in general doesn't value writing. But if someone with other skills values mine, then feel free to get in touch. ^-^

There are still months of intensive TLS work, of course, but after that I will transition to a new period in my career. While I do a lot of polishing and revision to TLS, I intend to turn the majority of my attention to completing several shorter games. I've already taken some steps on other side projects, which you'll hear about over time, but my schedule is far from full.

One day I hope to return to another very long game, a spiritual successor to TLS, but that will be after I've gotten TLS into finalized shape and hopefully refreshed my energy with other projects. More on that later! 

TLS 0.74.7 Public Release

New update is public!

Download*: https://mega.nz/file/O8cjGD6I#i-Vv4RqhdRZAbpjkwsdRrXxwS5ptP33IS9pmfbBpKY4
Mirror*: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ve6kh8xo9kgufn7/TLS+0.74.7.exe/file
RTP: https://mega.nz/file/KxsGyJCJ#BHyW6vDwU6Fl8oArrNFITRBnUipGWv-tgnKQLScNE6M

*Requires RPG Maker VX Ace RTP to be installed. If you don't know what that means, use the RTP link.

Whew, here we finally are. I've been living and breathing this content for the past month, and tons of players have given it a shot, but this is a lot of fresh story anyone playing for the first time! During the development I have added more content, refined balance significantly, and tweaked all manner of things. Hopefully it will be a fun conclusion for everyone. ^-^

As I've said elsewhere, this update fulfills many of the promises I've made over the course of TLS. The remaining plot threads will be wrapped up in the optional dungeon, epilogue, and postgame. This isn't the end, not by any means, but we've definitely reached one of the last big milestones.

If you have enjoyed TLS over the years, please consider throwing something my way. I assume at this point people have used Patron or SubscribeStar if they wanted, but a review on Steam would also be helpful! Or honestly, I'd be happy just to get a comment. I've worked hard on this, both the game and the final battle, and I hope you enjoy it!

EDIT: I've updated the game on itch.io as well, in particular adding an unpacked version in response to player request. I cannot offer true support for mobile, but I hope this helps those who attempt it.

The Final Battle 0.74.6

Updated build for supporters on Patreon or SubscribeStar. If you want more context, see the original post for this release.

TLS 0.74.6

- Final polish and fixing bugs caused by the .5 version's new additions.

- Added another opportunity to heal and save point mid-event.

- Slight nerf to the strongest scaled versions of the final boss.

Well, I really hoped this would be the public release, but I put it out early just in case patrons would find anything else. Most of the reports were minor stuff, issues that 99% of players wouldn't even encounter, much less notice... but there was one bug that could result in a worse time. =/ Hence this is yet another interim update, just hopefully the one that finally gets the content polished.

Everything seems to be in order! Nothing short of internet calamity should be able to prevent the public release of the final battle. ^-^

The Final Battle 0.74.5

Updated build for supporters on Patreon or SubscribeStar. If you want more context, see the original post for this release.

TLS 0.74.5

- Some story additions. Too minor to be worth replaying for their own sake, but I think they make the final battle stronger overall.

- There are significant new additions to the battle for highly optimized saves (both mechanical and plot-based). These will only occur if you start the battle from the beginning.

- One notable example is that, for optimized saves, healing in the Harem Prison is now finite.

- The massive Chosen boss is buffed for optimized saves.

- Several additional opportunities to use stamina have been added throughout the battle.

- There is a final place to use Simon's stamina near the end, with new bonuses.

This update is the reason I have been taking longer: as you can see in the notes, the additions this time include qualitative additions and improvements as well as fixes. Unless there's a serious omission or someone makes a very compelling point, I intend for this to be the last form of the final battle.

The original build was basically stable and had the heart of the final battle, but this one is more balanced in ways that aren't immediately obvious, has some great new additions, and does a better job of matching the player so everyone has a reasonably challenging experience. Plus twice the illustrated scenes and the other new content I've worked on!

I said no promises when I started the final battle, but now I can say this: the update should go public next weekend unless something goes wrong.