Devlog + Free Update for LtGBtK!

Hello, everyone!

I hope you’re all safe and healthy. 

First things first--did you play the new update? ;)))) I've released it on Dec 1st, but completely forgot to post about it on Patreon/Ko-fi/Itch, sorry about that! xD 

In this new public build: 

• Finally start Mathias's battle route and try (or not) to ignore the smaller and bigger ways he's already changing.
• Deal with Matt and Val's rivalry--before it ruins your plan.
• Depending on your choices, watch as their relationship implodes.
• Find an old, friendly Knight and a group of Younger Knights that might need way more than your help.
• Start shaping the face of the new Dragon Order, even if your Dragon Commander doesn't know they're doing it.
• Fight the invaders!
• Choose your actions wisely--time is ticking, and you're gearing up to face one of the most well-kept secrets in Five Kingdoms... in December's update, when I'll release the second part of Mathias's battle route!
  

Cool right? ;)) If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it! But for now here's the rest of the devlog... 

This month was a little hard for me. A lot happened at work and in my personal life—some pretty stressful things, some anxiety-inducing things, and others just plain annoying, hahaha. But you all, mainly the amazing members of Ko-fi/Patreon, and everyone on our Discord server really helped me through that. Thank you for being amazing! 

In all, everything’s okay; I managed to focus on the game and in my personal life, but I didn’t have much energy to spend on social interactions, which is why I was a bit quieter this month.

That said, I also realized that I’ll need to add another month of editing to my schedule. Last month, I edited 73k words. This month, I edited 70k and added 10k words to the story, which now has 265k words in total, yay. ;) But that also means I still have 122k words ahead in my edits, and I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all that in December.

Do you remember when I said I could edit 100k of my own words per month? Yep, I can—but only, apparently, for linear stories that don’t have any code—read “novels”—hahaha! I have ~8 years of experience editing stories for myself and others, but interactive fiction is definitely its own beast. I’m spending sooo much time checking/rewriting my code, adding new variables, planning how they’ll impact the story, then reading and re-reading every branch in every scene to make sure the story is flowing well, that the editing itself is suffering a bit. :’)

So yeap, I think for interactive fiction, my editing speed is more like 70k per month, hahaha. 

Btw, one additional month of editing won’t impact my plans that much. I’ll do my best to do all my other tasks (drawing sprites/BGs, bug-fixing, and balancing for the 4th chapter as well as start working on the assets next game) while I work on the editing. In times like this, I miss working with a team. Doing all this solo is quite something, haha.

Finally, here’s everything I’ve worked on this month for the supporters’ build:

• Added more depth to some scenes, including the duel between Mand and DC in the garden. Now the crowd reacts to DC's body after Mand and DC's short conversation in the woods.
• Added an option to let DC choose how they feel about their scars being exposed to a crowd while fighting Mandra in the gardens (which will be referenced in the next game too)
• Fleshed out the conversation between DC and Dr. Filtchen in her quarters on CH03, giving the reader more insight into Filtchen's mind and more general info about the plot.
• In the same scene, I added DC telling Filtchen about what Mand did to Fergus.
• Created and implemented Knight Olivienza's sprite
• fleshed out DC's interactions with their brother in some scenes, particularly in the third variation of the scene in which DC meets the nobles in the southern drawing room (the one Lord Aurélio appears).
• Added a more significant boon to each choice in the scene when DC must choose a focus for the knights during the ceremony.
• Created Knight Jillean’s sprite
• Fleshed out the scene in which DC receives a ring from Mathias to add a little foreshadow of what's to come in the final chapter.
• Added a new choice to the same scene, in which DC can choose between 3 rings (for the romance route) or 3 pendants (for the friendship route) that will give them a buff during the next game (and maybe in CH04 if I have the time to implement it).
• Edited 3/4 of chapter 3 (another 70k words)
• Also, I finished reading/signing/sending/paying aaall the things Valve required of me, which means we're a few steps closer to seeing LtGBtK on Steam, yaaay!

For ko-fi/Patreon, I also wrote a cozy short story filled with fluff that shows Mel and Mathias nursing DC when they’re sick. It’s a very cute scenario written in Mel’s POV that should show you all about Mel’s more secretive side—in there since she was little. ;))

Read it on Patreon or Read it on Ko-Fi

I’ll take a week off from 23 to 26 to spend the Holidays with my family, but I’ll be working the rest of the month, so if you find any typos, bugs, etc, feel free to reach out on Patreon/Ko-Fi/Discord!

If you’re not part of the Many Kingdoms Discord yet, but would like an invite, just send me a DM! ♥ Things are often calm and quiet there, but everyone in the server is amazing, I’m getting ready to do an art stream over the next week, and it’s a nice place to be if you’re looking other people who enjoy LtGBtK. If this is something you might be interested in, let me know. ^^ 

Big, big hugs to you all. See you soon! ;)))

Ligia - Ursa em Percurso