Home
Artists
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register
Partychan SimpleX Chat ThePornDude
Home Artists Posts Import Register
Join the new SimpleX Chat Group!

December 9 Update (Patreon)

Published:
2018-12-09 23:45:28
Edited:
2018-12-12 02:17:14
Imported:
2021-07

Content

Just uploaded 0.40.2 in the other post. It is definitely not the final balance, but if you were just waiting for a smoother experience, this one should have most of the bugs and typos ironed out.

The Council of Gawnfall updates are done and people generally liked them. This is good, because I'm likely to crash in December. Version 0.41.0 content will be scattered between many different components and require less concentration, so hopefully I will be able to make decent progress on it no matter how rough things get.

There will probably be a midweek post coming soonish. The reason is that I took some steps to make an audiobook version of my novel and I may need some help. =/ I put in my audition application on Audible's site, not certain if I would get anyone, since some other authors have complained of that. To my surprise, I've received quite a few auditions, enough that I'm not sure how to choose between them.

I don't know if anyone is willing to listen to different narrators read the same scenes, but once auditions stop coming in, I will select those that I think are decent quality and put them up for people to vote on. Kind of wish I hadn't gotten that ball rolling at this time, but it's nice that my book wasn't ignored by the narrator community.

Anyway, that will happen. Then maybe the public TLS release on Friday, but it's fine if people want another week to look at the inner workings. I will try to start on the next update's content tomorrow, though I also hope to start writing NGM#2.


EDIT: Anyone who happens to see this, please note that I've uploaded version 0.40.3 to the previous post. For those who are getting into balance or looking into game files, this update will be very relevant.

Comments

Scol

Been fiddling with the new update and with 40.1 balance I was able to get best outcome in all votes in days 4-5 except Tak'kan one where I got the medium one (I've been trying to undermine Ignias to promote Kalant and didn't have sanitation mages) and had exactly 14/14 needed Sarai influence to boost everything needed on the last day. Still unsure how to allocate party members to different problems. Ellani boosting Ardford case doesn't seem to work though (in 40.1 so it might be already fixed). As I said in earlier post I digest books almost exclusively in form of audiobooks, so I'm excited about the news. I'm not a native english speaker though. For me, depending on narrator english audiobooks vary between being almost as enjoyable as ones in my language and being hard to understand without replaying some fragments few times. Because of that, I'd love to help you pick a narrator that will let me enjoy your work. :)

Lamsey

I should have a decent amount of spare time in the coming week, so I'll happily help out with NGM narrators as well as exploring balance in the second half of the Council.

sierralee
>>17873925

On TLS: an optimized game capable of using Sarai influence on everything was something I wanted to avoid. I'm not sure how, but something will definitely need to become more costly. You're right that Elleani was missing. Fixed! On audiobooks, I'll be glad to get the opinions of those to whom it really matters!

Anonymous

I would love, love an audio book version. I don't have as much time to read as I would like, but I have a lot of listening time between travel and chores.

DuckTogo

Judging people from my armchair sounds fun! As long as there are not 20+ people to choose from I'll definitely have a listen.

Grey Wolf

So I finally feel like giving feedback on .40 and I would say overall it was satisfying to get through with most everything I wanted, only token support for Tak'kan probably because of the sanitation mages considering I committed nothing but in this play-through they're doing amazing anyways so it's really nothing concerning. This wasn't on my sub-optimal save which missed the Elleani talk, this save was nearly perfect with the first half of the conference had me integrating succubi into the church totally, Annah olive branch, moderate reform with the full 5 Ivalan acceptance. So I went into the conference with 10 influence and maybe had help on the unpeople vote from the sarai bug. Though I only got acceptance rather than full support for the succubi knights. But this possibly could be chalked up to me going with Kaskia's plan but then obliterating her bid for deputy 1 - 6 which costed a lot of influence, definitely may not have the needed to weaken her bid for advancement to that extent. Overall I don't see a pressing need to make it too much more difficult considering even with Jhenno's support, the unpeople bug, and a totally minmaxed first half and setup I didn't get every optimal outcome throughout. On the subject of the reveal I found it more interesting than some, I don't really see it as offensive as something like when Chrichton threw out "quantum foam" multiple times as a if it would somehow justify time travel but I'm not really a physicist so maybe it's my ignorance limiting my ability to find it unsatisfactory. I would understand Alonon's reaction if he were characterized as a learned mage who understood magic being as esoteric as it is in TLS's world, with there being 3 fundamental categories that are further subdivided in the way visible light breaks down red to violet but itself is only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum where arcane breaks down into frequencies which can be used to heal or at other frequencies burn freeze etc, that the foundation of reality being built upon such a simple duality would be shockingly simple and unsatisfactory. But I never got the impression Alonon really had a solid grounding in sophisticated magical theory. I know he has access to great power that exists in a unified form but so does Simon and he clearly wasn't as disturbed by the revelation though I get the implication that is due to him being not as in touch with the more esoteric facets of the world. I guess the nature of his acquisition of that unified power isn't simply through a shard and it may become evident in a future lore dump exactly why simplicity of the duality broke him?

sierralee
>>17880033

You're not the only one, hence why I'm trying to move forward with the audio book version. Thanks for your interest!

sierralee
>>17881529

I'm at 17 auditions now, so we'll see how high it goes. However, I intend to pare down the list as much as possible before showing people, because while I'm not good at judging narrators, there are some that I feel definitely aren't appropriate for the book. Anyway, thanks!

sierralee
>>17882559

Thanks for your feedback! It's good to know that that some players need to make tricky choices balancing things. For the record, you do get benefits for an overwhelming victory for one candidate. I didn't have plans to detail Alonon's recent history, and it's possible that I didn't imply it strongly enough. Basically, after the war tore apart his continent, Alonon began exploring the Tower, seeking answers about reality. First to fight the Incubus Emperor, then to find some sort of answers to all the suffering he'd seen during the war. He did gain fairly advanced knowledge of magic, but that wasn't the main issue. It's a common human response to tragedy to want to find meaning in that tragedy, which can be a healthy way to cope. But when Alonon went looking for meaning, he found an objective answer about his reality that he knew he could never find satisfying. From his perspective, the world of TLS is cosmic horror.

Hartmanns Youkai

Had a chance to go through the update, and wanted to point out a couple quick errors: After everyone talks about whether or not the succubi should be accepted on the first day, Sarai says "All of you know that succubi are a part of Arclent that it is impossible to remove, not now." There should be at least one extra word in there somewhere, maybe something like "All of you know that succubi are a part of Arclent now, and that it is impossible to remove them." When using a point of influence for Simon to argue for the care of existing Unpeople, his chat window does something funky during his lines of "...I would like to remind the synod that the Church struggles to support..." Where it has to scroll up the chat window text by the end of the line. This also scrolls up Simon's portrait, funny enough. There is another case of the same thing happening with Annah's dialogue of "...but I feel that Herin's compassionate attitude has much to..." when they are resolving either which priestess to promote or which proposal to accept (sorry, I don't remember which one). During the night when Esmera and Kerannii are both watching the dancers, they are also inside their own rooms with the same dialogue from the 2nd night. When you are first splitting up the party between Simon's combat team and Iris' politics team, Sarai has a small typo: "It might have been possible, but I didn't want to do anything to weakn our strong position overall." As for the actual gameplay, I enjoyed it. Thanks as always for the update. To me it seemed like Alonon was worrying WAY too much about something that isn't a problem, but maybe that is just a matter of personalities dealing with these kinds of things differently. Just because you hope to find some universal meaning to life by analyzing the basic building blocks of the world doesn't mean that you'll find one there, just as it doesn't mean that you won't find meaning somewhere else. He seems a bit too quick to drop down into extreme depression while still not knowing a good deal about some of the hidden facets of the world, but he also isn't one for excessive conversation so maybe we're still not hearing the whole story from him.

sierralee
>>17897885

Thanks for all your feedback! The first line is actually what I intended. The last part is shorthand for "It might have been possible to remove them in the past, but not now." The next error you describe occurs when a line is too long for the text box, and if you keep bugtesting, you'll probably run into more. It helps me find these to identify the exact location and the beginning of the line - you can use the arrow keys to scroll up the box and see. I found and fixed the first one you reported but haven't found the second. On Esmera and Kerannii, that's another outcome that isn't handled. Fixed, thanks!

genericname12345

Reading up more on the above, I suppose the fact that Alonon is asexual while the world he inhabits is, at its most fundamental level, completely based off of sexuality, lust, and purity wasn't a particularly pleasant revelation either? Especially given the fact that it's a solid, objective answer to the questions about the nature of the universe, and a wholly dissatisfactory one when applied to things like 'why do bad things happen'?

sierralee
>>17902388

It certainly didn't help. When thinking about a world based on NSFW game rules, one of my early thoughts was that 0.5-1% of the population would find it deeply troubling. From Alonon's perspective, it's like getting a chance to ask God why there's suffering in the world and finding out that all God cares about is professional sports.

onepot

Hm. On balance... My save felt rather optimized before the council (heavily focused on economy though I guess), and I even used the recent ProN returns to last-miute-invest in Lustlord Temples. Still, overall I felt I got rather mediocre results after several playthroughs. For example, I'd love to integrate the succubi into the church, but for that I'd need to burn my influence with Hester, and for some reason I want her to like me so I avoided that. ^^ Tak'kan only got token support, which I can live with. I got Herin chosen for deputy position, but for some reason, they used Kaskia's much more extreme approach as basics for further discussion. No idea why. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for me, it just doesn't feel logical. Possible bug/oversight? On the last day, I had 3 Sarai influence. I don't think I got optimal results there except for the Mother issue, though I must admit that I only did that part once, wasting Wynn's support on Succubus Order proposal that didn't exist (new religion) and Elleani supporting in Ardoheim still being bugged. Overall, for someone not using wiki walkthroughs etc., I feel a bit more guidance would be helpful. Especially Simon's talk options often felt like a guessing game. Having to go back to priestesses' house for Aram priestesses after meeting them in the guest quarters seems counterintuitive. Kerannii's color scheme makes it easy to overlook her in her room, espeially at night. Maybe she could be positioned more towards the center of the room, to make her stand out more visually? I'll replay the section once balancing is final and a guide is posted. Without it, I feel pretty lost there, it's like throwing eggs at the dark corner of a room and hoping tomorrow there will be cake. Don't get me wrong, I like the concept and watching the results is fun, it's just that, only using ingame information, I feel like I don't have a clue what I'm doing and if I'm finished with doing it half of the time.

sierralee
>>17915474

Thanks for your feedback! >I got Herin chosen for deputy position, but for some reason, they used Kaskia's much more extreme approach as basics for further discussion. No idea why. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for me, it just doesn't feel logical. Possible bug/oversight? Uncertain, sorry. The two candidates and the two proposals are separate issues, though. >Overall, for someone not using wiki walkthroughs etc., I feel a bit more guidance would be helpful. Especially Simon's talk options often felt like a guessing game. Since this update is on the far end of the complexity spectrum, it's certainly possible that I need to do more along these lines. However, I'm not certain what would help in this and other cases. What type of guidance would make the section feel better to you?

sierralee

Anyone who happens to see this, please note that I've uploaded version 0.40.3 to the previous post. For those who are getting into balance or looking into game files, this update will be very relevant.

Grey Wolf
>>17938501

Alright I went through again, this time not blind, though I didn't make my own spreadsheet or use a calculator. I did appreciate being able to use Fuliminato's as a point of reference, thanks man, ended up with only 5 votes throughout the conference resolved as less than exceptional: Tak'kan, Estaven, GoM, mercantile, and Eustrin all ended up with good but not great results. Everything else in the whole conference was optimally resolved, a lot better than results for this second half than in my initial blind play through but still not perfect in every way. If during the magical disturbance I had supported either the Goddess or the merchants I might have been able to bring the total sub-optimal results to 4. Seems that for me church support may have been a mistake in retrospect. I didn't get to see Esmera's confession on my first time through, felt validated as I was one of the few who never believed her portrait could be for Annah, I said she looked too "defeated" but I suppose disillusioned would have been more accurate. I appreciate Sarai's hesitance, I always saw her vulgar humor as a way to blow off steam rather than showing her true self. Trin's protest inclusion in the projection was funny, hope she's right about Herin, though Yelarel would be fine too. She deserves it after putting up with the old purity standards.

genericname12345

Hey, Sierra, did 0.40.3 change anything from the first half of the Gaunfall Council? I replayed it - again, from the second state and I was wondering if I missed anything by starting halfway through.

Lamsey

I'm trying to cover as many paths as possible to look for issues, so this is taking me longer than I'd hoped. I've just finished exploring the new denomination route, so I'll post what I've written up so far. I'll report back later after investigating the alternative routes (new religion / disunity). General feedback: The extra conversations with various High Priestesses at the end are good. I really like Bertricia's thoughtful, open-minded approach, and it's great to see her and Orcent getting to philosophise. Esmera's revelation during the dance is surprising and actually quite touching - it certainly made me see her in a more sympathetic light. Sarai's conversation after a successful purity vote is similarly touching, which is remarkable given that it includes the phrase "cunt-blasting". It'd be interesting to know the denominations of all the High Priestesses. We know that Annah and Kerannii are hard and soft Desecrationists respectively, while Sarai is a Subsecrationist; I'm guessing Esmera is too, given her support for the Inquisition. Hester and Bertricia strike me as Consecrationists, but I can't remember if that's ever confirmed. I'm unsure about Nabith, but she seems pretty concerned with balance and unity, so if I had to guess, I'd say Subsecrationist. Herin's innocent optimism makes me think she's a Consecrationist, and I suspect Kaskia changes her position depending on who she's talking to, ideological slut that she is. And we all know that Yelarel is a Cumsecretionist at heart, of course :-) Alonon's statement about the increase in monster strength is an interesting throwaway. I guess Stenai must be fairly insignificant in Tower terms, since its monsters are still so weak. I've also been thinking more about what Alonon says about the nature of reality. Simon's "fundamental dust" theory is a nice analogy for atomic physics, but we know that physical matter is only part of the equation in the world of TLS; magic is also a significant factor. Perhaps the lust/purity duality is a property analogous to positive/electric atomic charges, where lust is chaotic and purity is stable. This additional property could explain the different forms of magical power in this reality, where sexual and divine magics make more use of their respective charges and arcane is a balance of the two, and it also explains the difference in fallout production from the different forms; the more chaotic lust energy in the mix, the more fallout is produced. This also explains why sexual magic is good at manipulating and altering things, while divine magic is good at strengthening and healing; again, chaos and order respectively. Also, since magic is fundamental to the lifecycle of living beings (we know this from Robin's previous statement about it being difficult to conceive a living being stripped of arcane magic), that also explains the differences between races. Where it gets really interesting is the idea of a unified or raw form of magic that's neither sexual (chaotic), divine (ordered), nor arcane (balanced). Some kind of missing link, like dark matter/energy in our reality? It's going to be interesting finding out. Balance: It feels like the succubus denomination is the best path through overall, so long as you're able to get them fully accepted, but it's riskier. The other scenarios have their own strengths, but seem to involve more tradeoffs. After a lot of experimentation, I've managed to work out a path where I get the succubus denomination accepted and I don't get any bad results in the main votes, and the final-day issues have a range from partial to significant successes. My save is heavily optimised towards succeeding in this section, so I think that's about right; I certainly needed to work hard to get to such a good outcome, and I think it's inconceivable that anyone could get such a near-perfect result on their first attempt(s) without some Alonon-tier foresight. Final influence values after day 5 (i.e. at start of Iris section): Sarai 11 / Bertricia 5 / Nabith 11 / Hester 4 / Esmera 12 / Kerannii 10 / Annah 7 Feedback for other paths pending, as mentioned in my preamble. Typos/suggestions (0.40.3): There doesn't seem to be any difference between Yelarel's light and strong speeches on the Unpeople? has Ardoheim has -&gt; has Ardoheim (Tak'Kan vote): <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/j2ui5beugevr1nl/Screenshot%202018-12-09%2023.03.23.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/j2ui5beugevr1nl/Screenshot%202018-12-09%2023.03.23.png?dl=0</a> 'your way through' could be misinterpreted as referring to Herin specifically here - maybe "the right way through"? <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/95kr4ype7h9suhv/Screenshot%202018-12-09%2023.58.47.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/95kr4ype7h9suhv/Screenshot%202018-12-09%2023.58.47.png?dl=0</a> 'to optimum balance' -&gt; 'the optimum balance'? ('to' works OK, just unusual, so just checking if intentional) <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdp8dc3m5rnjcnk/Screenshot%202018-12-10%2000.09.50.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdp8dc3m5rnjcnk/Screenshot%202018-12-10%2000.09.50.png?dl=0</a> Overflow (Succubus denomination accepted, purity standards vote, 'support softening'): <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/6tyda3yggbwaff3/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2018.31.07.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/6tyda3yggbwaff3/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2018.31.07.png?dl=0</a> Pains me to say this, but I believe 'benefited' is the accepted American spelling? (High Priestess vote) <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/9v7wsm7boe5mas5/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2019.09.27.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/9v7wsm7boe5mas5/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2019.09.27.png?dl=0</a> 'had' -&gt; 'has' and/or 'this council' -&gt; 'during this council'? (High Priestess vote) <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/uy4ksjyxcrcxuqi/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2019.10.50.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/uy4ksjyxcrcxuqi/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2019.10.50.png?dl=0</a> Slight dissonance between these consecutive lines from Nabith, if Simon takes the subtle 'softening' option with succubus denomination, and Qum demos her Healing Hug ability: <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/mhg1x1zyf5lbicf/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.06.41.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/mhg1x1zyf5lbicf/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.06.41.png?dl=0</a> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/dscm7hyeix185zj/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.06.55.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/dscm7hyeix185zj/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.06.55.png?dl=0</a> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/meyib0mp5twivj5/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.07.06.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/meyib0mp5twivj5/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.07.06.png?dl=0</a> Repeat of 'strong position overall' in consecutive lines (before final issues section): <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/vw8mmnn48oqx4xf/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.47.17.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/vw8mmnn48oqx4xf/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.47.17.png?dl=0</a> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2lc4p0h7eexuhs5/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.47.21.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/2lc4p0h7eexuhs5/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2017.47.21.png?dl=0</a> hips hips -&gt; his hips: <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/lep3sktxme4i2ih/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2018.23.50.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/lep3sktxme4i2ih/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2018.23.50.png?dl=0</a>

Lamsey
>>17958672

Feedback from New Religion path: If the succubus denomination fails, Bertricia and Esmera always say they'll support division, even after you persuade them to change to support the new religion: <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/4sv97dxyno5g4u0/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2020.03.34.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/4sv97dxyno5g4u0/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2020.03.34.png?dl=0</a> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/oe9701jflhjk8pd/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2020.02.51.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/oe9701jflhjk8pd/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2020.02.51.png?dl=0</a> Overflow (purity vote, new religion, church competitiveness): <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfmw2mimo2onefn/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2022.59.54.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfmw2mimo2onefn/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2022.59.54.png?dl=0</a> I'm not sure what Orilise means by "Originals": <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/c42mewnlxue4551/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2023.45.23.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/c42mewnlxue4551/Screenshot%202018-12-11%2023.45.23.png?dl=0</a> Yelarel says this even if the dance isn't happening, (i.e. there's no-one outside). Change 'outside' to 'at the bar' or similar? <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/n50nt4jitecozo2/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2021.37.30.png?dl=0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/n50nt4jitecozo2/Screenshot%202018-12-12%2021.37.30.png?dl=0</a> New Religion scores: I didn't do as well in the Fucklord and Tak'Kan votes, but I could probably fix that by burning a bit more Sarai influence and sacrificing a little from the final votes. Otherwise, pretty similar to my optimised run on the new denomination.

Quiet Stranger

It's a testament to what you've accomplished as a writer that there are so many eager to voice act for you. One of my friends, who does this for a living, has complained of how loathsome it is to read for a book that he finds boring. I'm glad that I was able to renew my patronage in time to listen. Depending on the quality of the narration, I may choose the audiobook for my first experience.

sierralee
>>17989117

Hello, great to see you back! ^-^ I've actually set things up for the narrator post already, but I'm focused on TLS first.

Trevor

0.40.4 Thoughts (not sure where you want them) <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/10dD1rnZiZ2xYGE97ORaAE9STsT-UpX4e4jPqCk3yKtE/edit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/10dD1rnZiZ2xYGE97ORaAE9STsT-UpX4e4jPqCk3yKtE/edit</a>

WaxerRed
>>18009672

I liked what you wrote and have to agree with you on curiosity on the absence of any chosen discussions and the disappearance of the two high priestesses on the last day. Well I mean I can guess where Hester went, I wouldn't be surprised if she knew about the demon disturbance in Ardford but Nabith? Where did she head off too? I even checked the outhouse for her.

Lamsey

I'm still checking different paths on 0.40.4, but in case you're preparing to upload a final version, the only thing I've noticed so far is that the Sierraface warning at the very start of the summit (the one about bugs and balance) is still present.

sierralee
>>18014414

Thanks for checking! I'll replace that warning with a simpler one - I still can't be sure this is the final balance.

Rachnera

This may have been already answered in the myriad of (well-earned) comments, but is it on purpose that Carina's men show up on day one to say that they probably won't have any influence on political issues, but might still be of help later, then never interfere at all for the rest of the summit, including on military issues (Fucklord for example)? Note that I may simply have overlooked their testimony (a lot of people are there after all). Or I guess this could be foreshadowing for the soon-to-be war with Estaven.

sierralee
>>18015775

The intention was that they show up for flavor but not have any influence at all on the summit.