Triple Update Friday >_<
Added 2025-02-21 23:02:42 +0000 UTCSo much is going on! Not everyone will care about all things, but please check out this post for the ones that interest you.
TLS 0.78.2b: I'm taking the unusual step of releasing a small hotfix on Steam alone. Lots of people are playing the game (we actually set a new record!) but not many achievement bugs are being reported. Since it's been a week, I decided to put out a little update that fixes the three I'm aware of: Altina's alternate joining, Yarra's maxing conversation, and Orilise's library count.
TWC9: Yes, the big image above means that Skyvenom is out! I'm at the anxious stage, hoping it will chart like the others. If you've already read it, please leave a review! If you haven't ever tried this series, all the books are on sale this weekend, or free on Kindle Unlimited.
Don't Save the Princess: Finally, the project I just told you about is still moving forward. DStP may or may not be starting a Kickstarter campaign soon, but we have jumped through most of the necessary hoops and you can now follow the project here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sierralee/dont-save-the-princess
All platforms are getting less hospitable: the days when a person could launch a Kickstarter with just an idea are long over, and lately even polished campaigns are failing. Before I take a shot at something bigger, I want to have a finished campaign under my belt, hopefully with lots of happy backers.
If you're interested in this project, great: please follow the page and donate what you want later. If you don't care, feel free to ignore.
However, if you are on the fence, wanting to support me or my general ambitions but not enthusiastic about this step... maybe throw me a buck. The more individual users are supporting the project, the more reputable it will look, both for making this campaign a success and for setting up for future ones. Since all algorithms are sadly winner-take-all these days, I'm trying to do whatever I can to get on top of those waves instead of sinking under.
That aside, you can also preview the campaign if you want. Feel free to offer any feedback, as I want to get everything in order before launch! And as always, you can wishlist the Steam version if you want.
Whew, that isn't even everything! Busy days, busy days...
Comments
We've made a number of small revisions, would you please look at the preview again? In theory we could add more, but those were my ideas.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-24 17:51:55 +0000 UTCPersonnaly I read on Kindle app for phone. Cost way less since it's free (for now), and you can download. But yeah, the no download on PC threw me off too when I started buying novels, especially since I have low, unstable wifi.
guillaume nguyen
2025-02-23 17:50:12 +0000 UTCI didn't choose the fonts, the artists did, but they're always much more careful than I am about choosing an open source font.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-23 14:01:23 +0000 UTCI see that the Kickstarter is a twist on certain platformer. It seems legally distinct enough, but won't the font be a problem?
Don G
2025-02-23 13:44:27 +0000 UTCYeah, I don't generally watch the videos, just click/scroll through pictures and description. Same as on Steam. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I also agree that the information that this isn't a platformer should somehow be more prominent. Not clue how to achieve that, though.
Don G
2025-02-23 13:40:54 +0000 UTCThat's slow? *Laughs in ASOIAF* Frankly, I've given up on the series ever being completed.
Don G
2025-02-23 13:29:25 +0000 UTCYou won't be be able to allow to download your e-books to your PC. There are other videos that explain this (some of them better but they advocated piracy, so I'm not going to link them), but these is a good example (it has a 1 M views at the time that I'm writing this): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK1ZZInYRHY&t=80s That means for the writers that, as SL does for instance, publish theirs books without DRM that Amazon has its own DRM system that cannot removed legally (in the sense that you cannot copy the file to non-Kindle devices). Beautiful. Just beautiful. At this point, buying an e-book from Amazon is just a support gesture. There is no way that I can read an e-book from Mr. Bezos's company without suffering a moral quandary.
lostone2
2025-02-23 09:11:28 +0000 UTCWhat did Amazon do?
Makesin
2025-02-22 22:07:01 +0000 UTCWell, slow... You wrote how many books, games and almost the entire TLS before Winds of Winter got released, so there's no room for complaints.
Makesin
2025-02-22 21:01:03 +0000 UTCSome might feel that way, but I've gotten tons of people demanding to know why the next book is so slow! (It was eight months ago, for the record.) Anyway, thank you for taking a look at my work.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 19:04:32 +0000 UTCI feel like the previous book just released recently... Just how fast can you write? I bought the very first book in physical form a few months ago, really liked it, then never gotten around to buying more sadly, which I'll have to rectify at some point. Still, amazing job!
Makesin
2025-02-22 18:16:16 +0000 UTCThe thing is that not everyone watches the video and not everybody reads the campaign descriptions. It's best to double up on information for both. And yeah, obviously you shouldn't put porn on kickstarter, but you can mention that the game has adult content in text. And Yeah, the demo shouldn't be linked all the way down next to the stretch goals, it should be at the top. Maybe after the story section. Maybe even before. Most successfull kickstarters I see in this day and age have a lot of picture and gifs. Almost more than text. Just to show off the stuff that they already have and to show that backers aren't backing just a bundle of ideas in someone's head.
Joker
2025-02-22 18:11:51 +0000 UTCThanks for the detailed feedback! I definitely welcome criticism and seek to make the best KS campaign I can. Just to check, did you see the video? My goal was for that to introduce the princess and show basic gameplay, including traps hitting Runman. It may be that you're saying we should double-up with GIFs as well, which may be a good idea, I don't know. I'd have to decide where to put them on the page. The adult elements are still in, albeit soft-peddled. I felt like that was implicit in the animation references, though that may be reliant on certain language/conventions. In any case, I hope many players will be coming to this page from a full NSFW animation, so they will know this for sure, whereas KS is touchy about these things. Linking the demo is intended (you'll see a placeholder for the final link). Maybe you're saying it should be emphasized more? I do intend to add the world map once it's finalized. I hadn't considered adding the conversations, thinking of them as average VN stuff, but a screenshot would be at least possible.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 17:52:47 +0000 UTCThe kickstarter campaign looks pretty sparse. Given the low funding goal and your established audience, I don't think it's much of an issue, I think you'll hit your funding regardless. But if you want to attract a much larger group than the ones that already know you, it might not hurt to fill it out quite a bit more. It says that the project is very close to it's completion, but if I didn't know you, I don't know if I would believe it, given how little information there is on that campaign. The less a campaign shows about their product, the more sceptical people are going to be. And you can never go wrong with a few more pictures and examples. Some examples: Explain the story a bit more. The fact that you are playing the princess. Why she doesn't want to get rescued. Etc. The adult elements don't seem to be mentioned at all in the kickstarter campaign. Are they still in or were they scrapped. I don't mind either way but if they are in the game, that should be mentioned in the kickstarter. You can also link the demo and show a lot more. Show the fancy world map for the first world. I remember back in the day that the story was told in these charming little sketches between levels. Talk about that and show some examples of them. Explain the game mechanics a bit more. Maybe some gifs of the various traps being used wouldn't hurt.
Joker
2025-02-22 17:30:25 +0000 UTCThe internet is a much less friendly place, but thanks to all of you, I've been able to build a career for myself against the tide! I just need to be extra careful while moving forward, one step at a time, hence I'm diversifying my projects and starting with a modest Kickstarter.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 13:21:08 +0000 UTCAmazon didn't allow to download books.... As Sierra has said: "All platforms are less hospitable" and "The platforms are not your friend". I'm sorry for the rant too, but Amazon's latest move has filled me with rage. Despite all of this, congratulations! Write & publish a 9 series of books it's frankly impressive and worthy of every kind of praise under the sun.
lostone2
2025-02-22 10:57:39 +0000 UTCNo wonder good campaigns fail now, too many ran away with the money or are still swamped with development delay years after the end of the campaign. The time of innocence have passed, and it shows on other platforms too. Look at Youtube for exemple : 20 years ago, one of the best thrending video was a random guy dancing on numa numa. Now ? Toxic kids playing Fortnite, investigations on how TikTok ruined peoples lives, and breaking news about a school headmaster bringing kids to his room at night. I miss being young. Cough, cough, anyways, sorry for the random rant, congrats on the release and happy campaign !!!
guillaume nguyen
2025-02-22 09:39:33 +0000 UTCYes, in time. There are just a lot of hoops to jump through around release.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 04:11:48 +0000 UTCIs the new book going to be offered in a print edition like the previous ones?
Coyote
2025-02-22 03:28:36 +0000 UTCThe achievement is not broken, but not everyone finds the choices intuitive. This is actually something I've worked on that isn't in the hotfix (adding clear Corruption points to all viable options) but until later here's a hint: there are four choices you need to make.
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 01:45:33 +0000 UTCActually one of the achievements I have been wondering about is, "nice Try" by choosing all corrupting options. Have played the prolouge again recently, and only find one diolouge that gives a corruption point and that being the one with the Liama. Wondering if just missing something and if so what it is
Edward Culham
2025-02-22 01:23:27 +0000 UTCA book, hrmm .. intriguing. ๐ค
Ernest Curl
2025-02-22 00:01:14 +0000 UTCOh, neat! Always a surprise where the game manages to show up. ^-^
Sierra Lee
2025-02-22 00:00:18 +0000 UTCInteresting tidbit, TLS got a mention with resounding applause in a thread under r/TwoBestFriendsPlay early today/yesterday. Anyways, thanks for the update, off to go read the new book
Treeman4
2025-02-21 23:43:28 +0000 UTC
