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Not going to lie, having a rough time of things lately. I'll keep this post short and focus on one important item of business, then an update on TLS development.

Some of you may be aware that Patreon updated its policies on adult games and is temporarily taking down many pages based on unclear criteria. Though I have not gotten hit yet, it's not a great environment for work and I've had to spend time keeping up with the news and trying to comply with the new rules. If I am taken down, expect more information at my blog or the wiki:

http://the-last-sovereign.blogspot.com/
http://thelastsovereign.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Sovereign_Wiki

This is probably not the best place to comment on the changes, especially since many things are still ambiguous. Just rest assured that I'll be monitoring the news and taking any steps I can to avoid problems.

Anyway! That aside, let me talk about something I'm working on. For the last two chapters of the game, you'll have access to a home base that you can improve and customize. After gathering information from backers, I've divided the base choices you can make into three categories:

1) Expansions - Rooms or wings will start out empty and you have the option to build something, usually inspired by a harem member.

2) Plot Trophies - As you advance in the story, elements of the base will change. Expect these to be character notes or plot related, so you won't see much about them for now.

3) Design Choices - Purely cosmetic alterations to the base.

Since you will see only some of the first and none of the second in the coming update, I want to focus on the third for this post. You'll also get a chance to try out all the options in the release as a special preview.

Here is a view from the engine map editor. Each of the little squares represents a customization option of some kind:

That map is the control room of the base, where you can modify many things. Want sexy succubus statues instead of knights? Go interact with them in the left block. Want a particular color of banner? Have 19 choices to the right. The top squares you can't see are different thrones (they'll be visible in gameplay mode). Notably, in the lower right, you can choose your walls/floors/carpets.

All of this is really time-consuming. >.< I'd hire somebody to help with the tedious parts, but unfortunately I'm making so many design decisions in the process that it wouldn't really be feasible. I hope the end result adds some more depth to the game and is enjoyed by everyone, though!

Comments

Anonymous

There's something satisfyingly meta about making a map editor in a map editor. Xzibit would be proud.

Anonymous

I like this. Hopefully you won't get into any issues, keep us updated if you can and I'm sure many of us would be willing to try and help how we could. I support you because you do quality work, that's something that should be defended.

sierralee

You dawgs better like maps in your maps, because RPG Maker is NOT meant for this. XP

sierralee

Glad you like it! I hope there won't be any issues, the worst part right now is the uncertainty.

Frosty1979

I am pretty sure your game is safe. From what I saw only developers who openly, more or less advertised, that you could rape and have incest, were taken down. You shouldn't have any problems yourself, since you don't advertise with that, and well also play someone in your game who does none of these things, Robin is not blood related. everyone is of adult age and Simon is a caring, non raping main char. :) Concerning the customisable base it sounds great. Like you said it sounds like a lot of work for just one person though.

Anonymous

Meanwhile other devs are censoring comments with certain content-related keywords in them because they believe Patreon might be using bots to scan for them.

Badger66

Yep, based on what I have read, they are going after the "big 5" (loli/underage, bestiality, rape, necro, &amp; incest), and that is page advertisement not in game content. Either way, you should have nothing to worry about since your games include none of those fetishes.

Frosty1979

Also concerning the base. I loved the Suikoden games. One reason I liked it so much was the base you got which was inhabitated by all the allies you got. Even side characters had their place in their. Would be cool to have special rooms not just for main party members, but also allies like potentially the Iron Cudgel, your orcs, human military forces, succubi forces etc.

Anonymous

There is just one guy how might do that stuff and most of us are willing to pay to fight him (but his dead got to be epic). And if paying for game where you want to kill the bad guy becomes illegal, the games have a problem.

sierralee

There are several pieces of this that are Suikoden-reminiscent, and you can expect to see some side characters right away. Some of them were even introduced long ago for this stage of the game, and there will be a little quest for them!

Anonymous

Can you post what artist had their games/pages banned? I am a little concerned about that... Ah, there is something about the game that I wanted to ask (a month ago -.-)... I will do it now before I forget again: Do I gain anything by keepin Political Capital? Because I REALLY don't care about Maranite Artifacts...

Anonymous

There's pretty decent ongoing coverage of the incident <a href="https://www.lewdgamer.com/2017/10/20/patreon-community-guidelines-suspensions/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a>, including answers to your question. And no, you gain nothing by keeping reserve forces, social capital, or political capital. Use it all.

Anonymous

Hmm... that editor is a surprisingly neat solution. I was afraid we would have to go through the base and change every carpet manually. xD I'm mostly looking forward to plot trophies but you seem to have thought the whole base building idea through very well. As for the whole Patreon issue, I can understand you being anxious about it, considering your livelihood depends on it. I'm cautiously optimistic that it won't be that bad, considering how fast they've reinstated the suspended accounts after their "clean up" instead of permanently banning them. Still, it's a pain for you. Hope it goes well. :)

Anonymous

It is of utmost importance that the base be located near hot springs! Really though, looking forward to building the pool Yarra talked about in the dark crypt.

sierralee

Haha, changing every object manually would be a huge pain for everyone. Just doing everything this way already required a stupidly large number of switches. I'm cautiously optimistic as well, but I'll be more relaxed once we get more concrete information.

sierralee

Yarra considers this one non-negotiable, so expect to see it! (I couldn't figure out a way to build a pool like I wanted using a reasonable number of events and this map already risks slowing some systems, but I prefer to write it as Yarra being really proactive. =P)

Stijn Van Hove

Silly Patreon. The internet is for porn!

Phil

So there will be no trophies for achievements in earlier acts (for example, having the Yhiilin Coup in the Third War just abort because we have so much support, or reaching certain values in the religion/economy/etc trackers)? Pity.

sierralee

Not trophies exactly, but do expect to unlock some customization options based on past results!

Anonymous

If patreon purges your site, then you may want to try hatreon <a href="https://hatreon.net/." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://hatreon.net/.</a> No policies against anything except clear illegal activity.

Anonymous

It's good that Patreon has competition, but I do question the sense in branding such a platform as a combination of "Patreon" and "hat". And that's assuming it's "hat" and not "hate", which given the phonemes in the word it's playing off... Regardless, so long as it's legit, I suppose there's no solid reason a creator can't use both, diversifying as a precautionary measure. Just makes tracking milestone progress more complicated.

Anonymous

@ Avera It seems you know more than me. What is true is, that because of it's liberal framework many creators who you or others may find controversive have changed to hatreon.

Desertopa

I only just joined Patreon entirely for the purpose of supporting your work (and participating in the discussions of it,) so if you're booted from the site, I would be pretty pissed.

sierralee

I hope I'll be fine, as I don't violate any of the rules that have been made known. The problem is the uncertainty that comes with the rules being applied inconsistently and ambiguously. In any case, glad to have you here, thanks for your support!

DukeLeto7

One idea worth considering if Patreon does try to become an onerous "morality cop" is that the US has the First Amendment, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the ACLU. It may be possible to convince the latter to organize a pro bono class action lawsuit on behalf of the censored artists even though Patreon is a private firm IF Patreon also has a de facto monopoly on the market for "artistic crowdfunding". Dunno if non-US citizens could participate, but presuming the remedy of relaxing content strictures is cheaper for Patreon than a cash settlement or protracted litigation, it might not matter. Hatreon doesn't look like an organization I would care to do business with, but their customer artists might want to consider that course of action in preference to setting up their own site with blackjack and hookers, because it might be that Patreon has a weak Natural Monopoly on the market precisely because recreating its network is a functional barrier to entry. It's probably not as strong a case of network costs as FB has in the social media space, but if FB can effectively lock Google out of the social media market with network adoption costs despite being (in most respects) a raging dumpster fire of incompetence and mismanagement, then a couple hate speech loving yahoos with no capital backing probably has no chance against Patreon.

Anonymous

Other than their partnership with Discord, I'm not sure Patreon has that much in the way of networking effects. As for barriers to entry, the only one I'm aware of is regulatory - you need a significant wad of cash before you're allowed to make a service like this, unless that's changed while I wasn't paying attention.

FigelNarage

In the hypothetical situation this channel/profile gets banned or suspended where will you retreat? Hreinn's Games if thats hasnt gone under as well i suppose?

sierralee

It depends on when and how. To my knowledge, in this wave of suspensions not a single creator has been permanently banned. Though I am taking steps in case Patreon stops being a viable platform, I personally don't think that's imminent based on their behavior so far. So again, it depends. But the longer things persist, the firmer the foundation beneath me and the more options I'll have.