ShoH Update (July #3) (Patreon)

Hi everyone, short update for this week:

I'm visiting my family out of country (in Calgary, Canada, mostly for my grandma, who just turned 93 last week!) so I haven't been able to work on the game at all. In fact, this is the first time I've even been able to get on my computer! 

Despite that, I've been giving a lot of thought to the game (especially since this trip has been giving me time to play lots of new video games with my cousins), as well as to that new female RO I mentioned in last week's update--and my feelings have resolved in definitely taking Mimir out of the recruitment pool, regardless of whoever (if anyone) replaces her. I've been torn on which female RO I'd like to focus on, though, so I'll likely open that up to a poll on here in the future! As you'll come to see, I'm an infinitely indecisive creature, so these development polls are actually very beneficial in me getting your input!

...

I've also been giving heavy thought to a concept that may significantly change the game (even more than taking Mimir out would). I'm hoping I can outline my reasons clearly and efficiently enough for everyone to understand my thought process. 

I'm thinking of having the companions join you in every playthrough, though the circumstances in which they do it and the relationships they form with you would still be drastically different (depending on your choices). 

I have written quite a lot of content in later chapters in which some characters can be absent because they weren't recruited. This has proved extremely difficult, but I've managed to muddle through so far. However, planning and writing conversations that could work around Chase, Lavinet, Ayla not being in them to interject (or being present enough to change the course of them) has caused what I call "The Vagueness": it has resulted in me writing scenes so broadly that any number of characters could be swapped out within them, meaning the characters have become vague and nebulous--not vivid, individual, and specific to themselves. I end up having to write lines that could be said by either Red OR Trouble if Red's not there, and in order to not let the game become a sprawling beast of tiny branches within scenes, it leaves the exchanges interchangeable and feeling the same.

(For example: an all-girls' mission of Tallys, Shery, Ayla, and Lavinet has to be written in such a way that it could work with JUST Tallys and Shery; Tallys, Shery, and Ayla; Tallys, Shery, and Lavinet; AND all four girls. It is extremely difficult to demonstrate these dynamics in such a way that either 1) doesn't require writing 4 completely different permutations of the same scene or 2) leave the recruitable characters largely irrelevant in terms of driving the plot forward or showing off their characters.

I want to write lines and interactions that give you a very strong sense of who the characters are--it's the only way I really know how to write--and the only way I can achieve that is to have the characters not be "replaceable": in other words, not absent in some playthroughs and present in others. In doing so I'll have to write the game so that all characters are recruited by the MC every time. (Though again, the circumstances under which you'd do it would be different according to your choices.)

It's just so much easier to have a tightly-written, nuanced, and meaningful exchange when you don't have to worry about minimizing the work of swapping characters in and out. Not only is the way I'm currently doing it a massive endeavor for little reward--the 'reward' of multiple playthroughs trying to recruit all the characters or different ones--but it also prevents me from writing to the best of my abilities and getting specific and authentic with my scenes. I honestly can't convey how much more meaningful the conversations and interactions get when I'm sure it's Trouble, Chase, and MC joking around instead of trying to juggle a possibility that Chase isn't even there and Trouble is trying to clown a possibly-stiff and unhumorous MC by himself!

This potential move may sound like it cuts down on replayability for the game, but I think it will actually allow me to write actual branching paths that will be more meaningful in even better ways: I can have you choose between following Riel or Lavinet when there's an actual conflict, resulting in split storylines or missions, instead of not having the conflict happen at all because Riel or Lavinet might not even be there. It's the way most Hosted Games and Choice Games do it, from the Wayhaven Chronicles to Heroes Rise,  and it allows me to flesh out and develop the "recruitable" characters beyond the first 4 to an even greater extent, without having to waffle with their absences or recruited status or not.

This move shifts ShoH more towards an interactive novel than a video game like Dragon Age, its original model, where characters like Morrigan or Alistair can leave your party or be missed at any time. However, since I'm a novel writer, I'm happy with this development; I hope it doesn't disappoint too many people! 

Also, importantly: recruiting all characters as a baseline still doesn't prevent them from dying as a result of your decisions. It just cuts down on all of the 'absences' I have to work around to a manageable amount... but your choices will still determine if the characters live or die, as well as love you or hate you, linger or leave!

Next week I'll leave you with a sneak peek of a guide I've drawn up for who goes on what missions if I make this change (this way I'll also be able to make the appearances much more even). Unfortunately this does mean that I'll have to rewrite a significant amount of later sequences of the game, but I'm actually excited about it: it means I can really delve into the characters and storylines that I love instead of worrying about mechanical absences!

Thank you, have a great week, and please leave any thoughts you might have below! ❤

PS: due to my unexpected busyness on this trip, the Author Q&A for this month will be pushed back from the 25th to the 28th! Thank you for your understanding!