sierralee

May 26 Update

Thinking back over these update posts, I feel like I've been more negative than positive. I guess the difficulties are more salient when I'm putting posts together, as I'm usually thinking about what I need to work on, not what's going well or already done.

So as a counterbalance, let me say that I've also spent plenty of time working with a big stupid grin on my face. ^-^ There are tons of momentous pieces in the final battle, from dramatic to silly, that I'm looking forward to everyon...

May 19 Update

(Pre-post, check out the new fanart! This is another one from Annikath and Argo the Ratfolk, showing two of the characters in modern clothing. This one is a lot of fun!)

Alright, I am "back", which actually means putting less time into TLS and more time into things like writing posts and responding to comments. I'm glad people enjoyed the comic and other things while I was busy. ^-^

Also pleased to report that we are over the hump. There's always a big surge of work in the middle ...

May 12 Update

Apologies if I haven't responded to messages or comments lately. I am trying to knuckle down and focus an even larger percentage of my time on the final battle of TLS, otherwise I'm afraid development will extend too long. But meanwhile I have a prepped post for you about fights.

What's the purpose of an RPG Maker battle? Well, it's obviously a core game mechanic, and so while different players have different opinions, I try to make things intrinsically fun to some degree.

But as...

May 5 Update

First up, we have some huge TWC fanart from Argo the Ratfolk! I wish this could coincide with some sort of TWC news, but I'm afraid that's all getting put off by continued TLS work. I really should be doing a big promo of free books some time before the next release, but doing that right now would be too large a distraction.

Regarding the final battle work, I'm pleased to report that another hurdle has been cleared: all mechanical and coding obstacles are dealt with. You might not think...

April 28 Update

I find myself unexpectedly emotional about variables.

It's completely unsurprising to feel some emotion about the scenes I'm putting together. This isn't really saying goodbye to the characters (lots of stuff in the epilogue and postgame), but the final battle will include moments I've been leading up to for a long time. This is standard dramatic arc stuff.

However, as I'm doing some final calculations, I've been more sentimental than expected while working with the variables that...

April 21 Update

First, look at Skater Yarra! This is more unexpected fanart from Annikath's twitter. ^-^ But aside from that, this post is a good news and bad news sort of situation.

Bad news: The TLS update still isn't out, despite how much effort I've been plowing into it.

Good (?) news: I've decided against splitting the final battle into two updates. When TLS 0.74.0 releases, it will be an extra large update resolvin...

April 14 Update

I have a general TLS update, but first let's talk about the April Fools' that wasn't. Please look at the image above and imagine yourself chuckling when you checked the blog or Patreon and saw everything rebranded thus, along with an announcement that all harem members in TLS were being replaced by Orcents.

Nine years ago, close to the dawn of TLS, I actually did an April Fools' Day joke. I claimed I was remaking the beginning of the game: what I'd done was replace all Simon's dialogue ...

TLS Art Preview #42

First off, everyone look at Qum! She will have to carry this art post, because I don't have a lot of time.

Two Hilstara scenes, but that happens sometimes when we go straight down the list. Normally I choose balanced sets, but that just isn't happening with my workload lately. Annikath is about to finish off all the descriptions I wrote up, actually, so I need to write more. T-T

These are not actually in the game yet, but in theory will be for 0.74.x. Normally I say I'll let you k...

April 7 Update

Almost all my time is being spent on TLS, but there are a few things that can't/shouldn't be rescheduled. The notable one is the audiobook of Bondsfungi, freshly narrated by Travis Baldree!

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CZY9L58G?qid=1712365494

While I could technically put this off, he doesn't get paid until the title launches, and it's bad manners to delay for no reason. Plus, if I don't d...

March 31 Update: Game Spotlight

I'm still hard at work on the next TLS update, but I'm in the middle of the long grind; I don't have a new topic and it's boring to say the same "still working" every week, so here's a post I prepared earlier when I had more time. But after this, playtime is over for me: nothing but increasingly intensive work until the next TLS update is done.

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I'm going to take the unusual step of recommending a game: Noblesse Oblige, made by a TLS player who you may recognize from the com...

March 24 Update

Hey look, I have 2500+ followers on Steam. This does not really mean anything (a quarter of the way to five digits I guess?), but the number is bigger than before! Not very large in the scheme of things, but I think okay for a solo dev. Assuming the current paradigm of Steam remains stable, I wonder how high it can go. ^-^

Anyway, if it wasn't clear from last week, I am deep into work on the final battle. I'm putting in good day after good day... and it's only chipping away at the work....

March 17

Look above for some more fanart commissioned by Argo the Ratfolk! This one was apparently inspired by a joke from Rebellions during a TLS stream.

Anyway, now that TLS 0.73.x is finally out (and thankfully without any major issues reported) we need to have another post about the finale updates. I'm happy to report that I'm deep into that work - there's a lot, but we're the equivalent of a week or two in, not just starting now.

That said, I do admit to a certain level of... perhaps ...

TLS 0.73.4 Public Release

This update cycle and the endgame in general are hopefully done! New builds available here:

https://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/2024/03/tls-0734-public-release.html 

Also available on Steam and, unusually, itch.io. Big uploads are less of a pain thanks to my new internet. ^-^ B...

March 10 Update

We're doing a weird, long update cycle this time, but I think it will be for the best overall. Definitely into the thick of final battle stuff on my end. But that's what I've been saying for a little while now, so... let's talk about internet service providers.

Some of you may remember last year when my ISP was down for over a day during a release period, which wasn't great. I haven't talked about it, but I investigated other options and discovered that there's a good fiber optic option...

TLS 0.73.2 Release

EDIT: New build for everyone! Ideally I would have preferred to wait until Friday, but given how this release period has gone, I think it's better to test this with players first.

Link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/9dwd5ibn8e9vw1i/TLS+0.73.3.exe/file 

TLS 0.73.3

- Following Megail's quest, investigate near Iris to create a new potential piec...

March 3 Update

TLS 0.73.x looks like it will be progressing strangely, but slow isn't always bad. If this one takes longer, that's just how it goes. As per usual, my focus is on the long term.

Work on TLS has never been strictly linear, but sometimes it's more linear than others. Working wildly out of order often leads to unnecessary revisions later, plus there are benefits to being focused on one section instead of spreading your attention thin. Given how slowly 0.73.x is moving toward the public rel...

TLS 0.73.1 Release

Update time! This is not actually everything, but it has been a week, so I figure players deserve a build that's cleaned up (plus there's additional bonus stuff). More info after the update log.

Link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/r62ryhma9pkh35u/TLS+0.73.1.exe/file 

TLS 0.73.1

- Additional conversations have been added to Vhala's quest.

February 25 Update

New TLS update is out, as quiet as usual for these days. Thanks to everyone who upvoted my promo post comparing the roadmap now to a year ago. It's doing pretty well for that sub, so maybe TLS will get some new eyeballs. That said, rambling over, time to talk about quest design.

As I said in the update notes, Vhala's quest is meant to cap off the...

TLS 0.73.0 Released!

Here we go! This update is jam-packed with almost everything on the list, completely wrapping up the endgame section (at least in theory). Please enjoy. ^-^

Link: https://mega.nz/file/Xw03GASY#JNh2Uu3ZG-VrLsw6_UnZSh_getNgIw8l71Wue1VhPi8 

RTP: ht...

Feburary 18 Update

First, we have a new piece of fanart! Thanks to Saki for drawing it and lostone2 for pointing it out to me from the Discord. I'm glad my work is inspiring people to make things. ^-^

Rather than write a lot for this week's update, I thought I'd just share with you the WIP update notes for TLS 0.73.0. Parenthetical items are incomplete and everything else is complete except for finishing Vhala's quest.

TLS 0.73.0

- Vhala has a "harem" quest, starting in the base hal...

TLS Art Preview #41

Before we get into the images, something important! I am seeking one or two fans of the game interested in providing early feedback on WIP scenes. Anyone can volunteer, but the intent is for people to look over the scenes carefully, noting continuity errors or other potential problems. If you think you can do that, this is your chance to influence the game going forward!

Anyway, as for these scenes... the first one is a new experiment covering Janine's wedding night. Instead of conventi...

February 11 Update

Normally my different projects work together in a virtuous cycle, but I try to always be honest with these updates, so I have to say that this week that didn't work out at all. I can't even say I was having so much fun writing I didn't get as much done on other things, I just got ambushed by junk. -_- Some of that produced stuff for you guys.

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The above image is a promo for a bundle I got invited to:

2024-02-11 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post

February 4 Update

Me am game dev. Arrange pixels, make map. Bash update with rock.

Above you can see the last region of Stineford, the slums. Tents in a city already look impoverished, but hopefully the patches make it stand out from all the other RPG Maker tents. All this stuff is on multiple layers of events, so the city can develop over the course of the game (hopefully more memorably).

I wish I could say the Stineford revamp is done, but that isn't even true. I need to make this all work and I ...

January 28 Update

I have an update with another important question for the next TLS release, but first indulge me in a report about this week.

Reasons why Sierra is exhausted:

• 1) Overly ambitious goals: 20%
• 2) Too many projects at once: 5%
• 3) Community management: 3%
• 4) Realizing she forgot something from the previous post: 3%
• 5) Human beings exist and she has to deal with them: 68%
• 6) Making sure the fake percentages don't come out to any 69s: 1%<...
  2024-01-28 18:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

January 21 Update

No pretty image this time, but today's update involved so much more actual work. It's time to discuss the next TLS update in detail, including a lot of elements where I hope I might be able to lean on the community a little for support.

Update Stuff 

In addition to Vhala's quest, which is a capstone on a lot of variables, I want this update to fully polish the open world section of the game. This involves some additions, some fixes, and more! Excep...

January 14 Update

You all remember that thing about Stineford being redesigned? That wasn't a whim I abandoned, just a project that's far on the backburner. Well, right now I'm tired and making less progress with Vhala than I'd like, so time for some mindless mapping.

The merchant district is done and now you can see the noble district above. I chose this section because it lets you see all the main institutions in their new forms. As I said before, I think this is won't have much impact overall, but I d...

2023 in Review

I'm coming into the new year tired but enthusiastic! I've already begun work on a lot of things, but first let's take a moment to look back over the past year.

The Last Sovereign Reflections

Weird as it seems in my mind, the TLS roadmap was only introduced in early 2023. Since introducing it I have checked off 17 different items! That means harem quests for Altina, Dari, Janine, Lynine, Megail, Nalili, Orilise, Riala, Robin, Sarai, Trin, Varia, Wendis, and Yarra (...

December 31 Update

By chance this year we have two holiday updates. I'm quiet during these times, but I'm typically I'm actually more busy than usual. That's true for this year as well; please look forward to the year in review post next week and lots of fun things in 2024. ^-^

But for now, this is the last day of the year. Look forward to what you might do, but also treat yourselves gently. Once more around the sun.

December 24 Update

As is tradition, this holiday post will be a quiet one. I hope you all have a good day, whether this is Christmas Eve or December 24th, and a good season through whatever life brings you.

December 17 Update

For those who didn't replay, look at the alternate Orcents above! Lamsey deserves credit for starting up the project to get alternate images and Annikath helped out with some of the fancy details like custom eyepatches.

Indie Ink Awards 

I have been nominated for two categories in something I didn't even know about, the Indie Ink Awards. Specifically, The Bri...