sierralee

September 1 Update

First, check out the art commissioned by Argo the Ratfolk! I think the exact scene is clear enough from context. It's nice to see such a comfy, personal scene illustrated. ^-^

I've gotten over a hurdle for the release: updating dialogue all around the world. This always takes me a bit, even when the changes aren't major. In retrospect I wish that I had somehow balanced things differently so that the chapter ended now and the player didn't get to explore again until the last chapter, but...

August 25 Update

Check out the above CG! Progress continues on those, and I'm actually ready to show another preview of several to some backers, though that will come when I have a bit more time. Some of them I really like, such as this one. You don't see many scenes like this in adult games and I think they enhance the main project of TLS. 

Unfortunately, this post isn't all good news. The major thing is that I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to finish the TLS update (can't make promises e...

August 18 - Book release!

Okay... it looks like all the unpleasant promotional work paid off, because my new book is off to a good start! The new cover above has been well-received, but I'm more enthusiastic about a much smaller image:

Given that you're competing with every book that's ever been written, including Harry Potter, Stephen King, Nora Roberts, etc... breaking into the top 1000 is nothing to sneeze at! I don'...

August 11 Update

My week was productive but bad. I know I've said this before, but I really do not like the marketing aspects of my job. This week I've done a number of things regarding algorithms, covers, and so on that are probably more important to success than actual craft, but they're just not enjoyable for me.

Their actual drain on my time isn't so high, but their effect is outsized. Certain activities just drain the creative energy out of me (and before someone advises delegation, I...

August 4 Update

This was a really scattered week. I'll just give each item its own paragraph, I suppose.

Artwork for TLS moves forward, and I just gave $10 backers a look at the first three finished scenes. CGs will keep coming out until the first chapter is ready, then we'll have an art update, but I'll be showing all patrons previews until then. Starting with the Aka scene above, which should be immediately recognizable. ^-^

I find myself wondering about setting up a Discord again simply becaus...

Finished Scene Art Set #1

Art progress has continued behind the scenes. Please take a look at three of the game's early scenes, all of which should be easily identifiable. The plan is to continue with first chapter art, then do an update devoted to the new development whenever it fits into the schedule.

The sketches weren't ready in time for this post, but I am really positive about the WIP art for Hilstara's first scene. We've been focusing on a lot of little details and in my opinion in this case the ...

July 28 Update

The public release has gone mostly smoothly, though there are a few details that will need to be corrected. I don't intend to let a long time lapse before the final update of this chapter, but I haven't done as much on it as planned. If you're looking just for game updates, check back next week.

Those of you who have been patrons for a while know that three years ago, an extremely important person in my life died in an accident. Some losses never really leave your mind, and this one is ...

TLS 0.44.5 Public Release

EDIT:  Links are updated to 0.44.6 to fix the heal bug and add some minor improvements. I also just put up a new art post for some patron tiers showing several of the finished scenes.

Check out the blog for the links:

https://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/2019/07/tls-0445-public-release.html 

I'll save everything else for this week's update on Sund...

TLS 0.44.4 - QA Release

In an ideal world, this link would be the public release on Friday, but this is a complex section and I've made many improvements/fixes. I don't intend to make any more substantial changes, so those of you waiting on spreadsheets can begin working from this. I hope to only make fixes and small adjustments so that the public release goes smoothly.

Link: https://mega.nz/#!...

July 21 Update

The big release has gone well. It seems I didn't make it clear enough to some, so to state it again: this release is larger than average and will take two weeks in beta before the public release. It seems to be going smoothly so far, though.

Meanwhile, please look at the image of Qum - hopefully you can all tell exactly which early scene it is. We've been working slowly and trying to get many aspects right, but hopefully in the near future Annikath can begin devoting a more significant ...

TLS 0.44.0 Released!

UPDATE 2: Version 0.44.3 is now live. This one is nonessential for most players, but for those who look under the hood, I've done my best to fix all placeholders, respond to all balance suggestions, and generally get things ready for further suggestions. Everyone else, expect an update post on Sunday.

UPDATE: Check the new links for version 0.44.2. I hope this one is a polished foundation for those who look deeper and discuss balance. If you were waiting to play or wanted to see the pre...

July 7 Update

The update is coming and it's substantial. It's difficult to estimate exactly how much time it will take players or how big it will feel, but in terms of the amount of work on my end, I think it at least rivals any other update I've ever put out. New screenshot from near the end.

This one is definitely going to take two weeks in beta. I want to emphasize that I really do my best to polish each update as I can. This time I counted while I was taking the content from "playable" to "first ...

June 30 Update

I had another above average week. You know what this means... my expectations for average will just get raised to this pace. This is good progress, but the update is rather large.

Though I feel I bit off too much, I've already chewed it, so I think it makes the most sense to finish chewing. Probably better not to pursue that metaphor too far. In any case, you can expect that the next update will cover the entire rest of the war.

Screenshot isn't anything particularly special, just...

June 23 Update

I've had an above-average week. I completed roughly X% of the update, reducing the expected time to completion by Y days, unless a future below average week increases it by Z days. Work continues.

Less generically, this update is proving to be very long. Long enough that I think I could justify breaking it into two full-sized updates, but right now I'm thinking of doing something different. The next update will be extra large in order to include all of the war calculations. That way tho...

June 16 Update

Tangential thoughts alert. Concise update in the last paragraph.

One dark lining to the silver cloud of working as a creator is that you demystify your own process. Back when I was juggling a job and creative work, I had a somewhat clear idea of how much I could get done, but there was some ambiguity. Because various factors got in the way, I didn't see my work rate so much as just progress.

But the more you work, the better you know yourself. I control my schedule and so I know e...

June 9 Update

After putting out the public update, I took a break. Other than fixing remaining issues and replying to people, I didn't do a lot of work for a day. Feels weird to type that, but I needed it. You guys recommended me games last year and I took some time to play more of them.

The plan is to get back to work now, though. During the bugfixing period I finished editing the other two standalone novels, so those won't be taking much of my time. The only issue is how to put them out in a way th...

TLS 0.43.2 Public Release

It's out, check the blog:

https://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/2019/06/tls-0432-public-release.html 

Not much new in this one, just polishing. Nothing much to say now, but I'll do a weekly post on Sunday.

TLS Character References #1

UPDATE

Hey, everybody! Now that I have some new images, I decided to send a notification for this post so that I could show everyone. The following link contains both updated references for the same characters as before as well as a new comparison image.

Link: https://mega.nz/#!yhECjYDQ!Ki3h45fbKHo32Y4syud2kqqljcstZqEx-crTSD1qyAQ 

For the characters, we've made...

TLS 0.43.0 Released!

EDIT: I've put out a new version, check the release notes below. Also consider this your weekly update. Recently I've been doubling up on release weekend posts, but this time I don't really have a lot to say. The release went well and I'll keep working on improving it up to the public release.

Release time! This one should be fun for advancing the story and I hope it's bug-free, but it's likely to have some rough edges. It's also virtually certain to get balance changes later...

May 26 Update

Short update because I am currently on fire. This was the week where all the maps, dialogue, and other pieces I'd finished in the past started coming together into a lot of tested content. It's always a satisfying part of the process and I'm hopeful that people will like this event.

The question right now is not "Can I get enough work done?" but "What's the best point to break the war into updates?" One way or another, you'll get an answer relatively soon.

Now I return to work. 2019-05-26 22:24:18 +0000 UTC View Post

May 19 Update

Sometimes hiring out work helps things move faster, sometimes it makes work weird when I'm waiting to receive something. That hasn't stopped progress, but it meant I needed to start doing future dialogue, enemies, and other elements that aren't dependent on the missing element. Work continues, but this makes estimating my progress difficult.

This update is going to include a scene with a whole set of new animations/events that took a fair amount of time to get right. Sometimes this does...

May 12 Update

This was an okay week. I got a decent amount of mapping done: some general maps of Erosian locations, plus a couple more elaborate maps that I think are pretty solid. I also moved my outlines from "bullet points and end goals" to "detailed order of events and written dialogue" which is always key.

One thing that was quite satisfying was writing content for a particular character. I wrote some scenes for the upcoming update, ended up rolling into scenes for the next update, then got carr...

New Game Minus Idea Graveyard

Title seems kind of negative, but wasn't intended to be. Since I'm not likely to write more NGM unless I feel especially inspired, I wanted to share some of the things that would have happened if there had been books #4-7. Some ideas will reincarnate into other projects, but these are specific to Bloodwriath and company. If you like them, hopefully some parts of this post will entertain you - think of this as an epilogue for the characters.

Incidentally, I'm also probably not going to w...

Writing Update

This is going to be an update on the writing side of things. Partially generic updates, partially some abstract conclusions I've reached after spending some time with New Game Minus and Street Cultivation.

Reflections

One conclusion is that I'm done chasing readers. I know that I can get a large number of readers and sales by doing certain things, but it's not worth it. Thanks to the support of all of you and my success with various projects, I don't ha...

May 5 Update

Doing a game release and a novel release in the same weekend is a bit rough, but the alternatives would lead to my schedule being weirdly stretched out and I want to keep working on stuff because I enjoy that creative work.

Being a bit tired, though, I'll delay a couple of more in-depth posts. At some point I'll make $10 posts about ideas for the New Game Minus characters that are on the cutting room floor, plus a post updating people on my current long term thoughts.

Even though ...

TLS 0.42.2 Public Release

New version for the public release. Links and more info at the blog:

https://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/2019/05/tls-0422-public-release.html 

FYI, I also released the third book in my LitRPG trilogy, which you can find here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RB8KWFG&nb...

April 28 Update + Art Poll

There's too much going on right now to lay it all out in a post: I'm staying focused on the TLS update I just released and the ongoing question of art. Today's post will be about the latter.

Annikath created six images presenting different potential shading styles for the game. I showed them to $5 patrons with some other bonus images, but there was little consensus about which options were preferable. Accordingly, I'm going to make a poll and open it up to all patrons.

Click here ...

TLS 0.42.0 Release

Time for the new TLS update!

EDIT: New version, 0.42.1:

Link:  https://mega.nz/#!rp8SHYiK!rPh7y5HsIJu42crdrtti_ufAkTGd5EebCnIMplhTAEY 

RTP: https://mega.nz/#!Tp80zQIa!lQN5tJ12L2S-JhF351edGi_VxEwVTM7Y4YPOQWo5ZVk 

TL...

TLS Art Style Decisions

I haven't been talking about it a lot, but I've been quietly working with Annikath on a variety of foundational issues regarding how to go about art for TLS. This post is for potentially one of the biggest decisions, an attempt to experiment with style and make a final decision.

You can see a preview of the six styles above, but to really compare them I think you'd want larger files. So click here to download all six versions at decent resolution:

2019-04-24 22:51:50 +0000 UTC View Post

April 21 Update

I'm not just making progress on TLS, I'm making great progress! As always, once I get back into the swing of things, it's quite energizing. ^-^

The next update is going to advance the plot in several different ways. Expect a visit to Stenai, some exploration with Wendis, and a conversation that involves a lot of calculations under the hood. None of these are massive components, but hopefully overall you'll see how this update is ramping things up.

Even though I wasn't foc...