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Progress reports


JPS

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Alright, I thought I'd start a new thread just to let potential visitors know that we are in fact working hard, even if it doesn't show here in the public forum.

 

I'll add a new post every now and then to let you know how we are faring.

 

I'll try to avoid direct spoilers, but if you see something that you think will spoil some of the fun for you, just let me know and I'll tell you to forget it... :D

 

JPS

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First report – September 30, 2003

 

We've just moved in and started to make ourselves comfortable. Currently Barren Fischa, Bibbi and myself are working on the mod, but there's certainly room for more people (please contact Barren Fischa if you are interested, Dear Reader).

 

At the moment, we are trying to figure out the basics for the romance, deciding what it should generally be about. As of now, there are quite a few things that we have not decided on, but things are looking good. We are gathering information, throwing ideas at each other and generally having a good time (I hope. I know I am :D ).

 

No actual lovetalks have been written yet, apart from the ones that can be found at the Unfinished Business forum (oh, and if Tam, who started that discussion, happens to read this: you're still welcome in the team :D ). When I get time to do some writing, I'll start posting sample lovetalks in the workroom forum, and as soon as one of those lovetalks is deemed safe for the public I'll post it in this forum as well.

 

That's about it for this time. I'll keep you informed, and remember that Haer'Dalis loves you (now that was cheesy...)

 

JPS

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Second report – October 20, 2003

 

Ladies and gentlemen, there has been progress!

 

For the last few weeks, I've suffered from a bad case of Real Life, but things have not been standing still. Important issues have been discussed (by Tam, Bibbi, Barren Fischa and myself), files have been coded (by Barren), the same files have been neglected too long (by me, I'm afraid), and my first outline for the romance has been posted (by me, unsurprisingly) to be evaluated and possibly challenged (by... no, this is just getting ridiculous).

 

I've written some dialogue, which has not been posted yet, but will be soon. For some strange reason, it seems like I work best during long train journeys. This might mean that more work will be done tomorrow, since I'll be on a train again, but it wouldn't surprise me if the magic is gone now that I've talked about it. You can never be too careful when dealing with magic. And rabbits, but that's a different story.

 

I'm desperately trying to think of something that will fit the public forum, but it seems like everything is either not decided yet, or potentially a spoiler. Perhaps I'll have to start writing fanfic...

 

EDIT: Well, I could of course mention some of the things that are currently included in my plans for the romance:

 

* Class-specific dialogues (well, at least one)

 

* Poetry (written by yours truly. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)

 

* Upgrades for Haer'Dalis' swords (for our inner power gamer...)

 

* A haunting past (well, at least it haunts me)

 

* A new encounter (probably for the ToB part, which we're not really working on right now, but in advertising, anything goes, right?)

 

* Dancing rabbits (no, not really. I just made that up)

 

JPS

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Third report – October 25, 2003

 

Well, it seems like we agree on the preliminary plans for the romance, so I'm going to start writing the actual lovetalks now. I've got a busy week ahead of me, though, so it migth take some time before I manage to finish anything.

 

And it's been a while since I last wote poetry, so that might lead to some additional delays. Almost makes me wish the Solaufein mod hadn't already used the easy way out (using real world poetry, that is). Hmm... is "contains only previously unused poetry" a good sales argument?

 

JPS

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Report 4 – December 7, 2003

 

It seems like I've neglected updating this for a while, but I blame it all on society! Err.... or perhaps not.... then I blame it on the badgers. The devious little creatures, with their dancing and their ... their... no, this isn't working...

 

Things were standing still for a while, but then they started moving. At the moment, they're standing still again, but I hope that's just temporary. We have sort of reached an agreement about Haer'Dalis' past (that means that I've said what I think and then said "no" to everybody else's suggestions :D ), so I should be able to write the lovetalks that deal with it any time now. And I've gotten feedback on my early lovetalks (that was long ago, but I haven't done anything about it yet), so there should be revised versions of those as well.

 

The worst of my real life work will soon be over for this time, so I should have more time for this from now on. I'm even considering things like working regularly and keeping to a schedule, but we'll have to see about that... I realize that this would probably take a lot less time if I actually decided to write an hour per day, every day, or something like that.

 

I also realize that this is more of a "developer diary" than a "progress report" but hey, I blame it on society.... err... badgers... er... the Royal Society of Badgers! It's all their fault.

 

JPS

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Progress report, June 3, 2004

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have Progress!

 

I am currently:

  • Blowing the dust off old topics
  • Integrating the quests with the romance
  • Combining old and new ideas into a Unified Field Theory of Everything
  • Plotting and/or Scheming

During the forced break, I've also had time to think about a couple of things. In fact, some of the things that I know how to do now would have taken me more than six months to figure out in November. Really.

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Progress Report, June 30, 2004.

 

I just wrote "haer" instead of "hear" in a totally unrelated piece of writing. I don't know if this is progress,but I figured I would report it anyway.

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I've posted something to this effect twice already, but I just realized that if someone's interested in the progress of the mod, this is probably where they'll look first...

 

After I got started again in June, there has been slow but constant progress, but I want to finish all of the writing before I let anyone look at it. This is mainly because I'm a difficult and unsociable person; I'm even a bit reluctant to speak about things I'm currently writing. At the moment, my goal is to finish all of the writing before the end of August, and there will probably not be any new progress reports before that.

 

The SoA part of the romance is fully planned and most of it is already written. I just need to put all the pieces together to see if they fit, and rewrite the things that don't. The ToB part is being planned. I want to get both parts finished as soon as possible, so hopefully there will be no long gap between the two releases.

 

I will still take any and all suggestions into consideration, but there will probably not be any great changes.

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The good news: the mod is closer to completion than it has ever been before! :)

 

The bad news: due to some bad planning from my side, and the fact that August didn't have six weeks this year either, I haven't quite been able to finish all the writing yet.

 

I have gotten far enough that I don't mind other people looking at it, though, so I'll start posting the texts in the team forum for review and eventual coding some time next week. There will (or should...) not be any more major changes, so I can keep writing the later material while the earlier stuff is being worked on.

 

There will be furhter updates when things start moving.

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Ah yes, the curse. I admit that being attacked by unspeakable horrors from another dimension every time I try to write is a minor inconvenience, but what's really bothering me is the terrible dance routine. Of Doom!

 

And now for something completely different: an actual progress report in the progress report thread! I bet nobody was expecting that. :cry:

 

At the moment, I'm mostly working on editing the material I already have. That would be the quests, about half of the lovetalks, some player-initiated talks and a couple of minor things (NPC reactions, some additional material for the long and dreary days after the romance has been completed). Most of these things are almost finished, except for some small annoying parts (like interjections from the other NPCs, or more choices for the player, or the beginning, or the end...).

 

After that, I'll move on to the rest, which should be the other half of the lovetalks, some non-romance-specific things that will be availiable to all players, and as many player-initiated interactions as I can write (that includes, but is not limited to, flirts).

 

There should be some preview material up for... umm... previewing... later this week, or as soon as I'm done editing it.

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Just a quick note: I've split this topic again to keep it uncluttered. Feel free to add new comments in the thread "Comments on 'Progress Reports'" :cry:

 

Still working on the preview material...

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The curse strikes again!

 

I would say that I'll post the previews before I go to bed tonight, but then I'd probably fall asleep in front of the computer and never wake up again, so I'll just say that I'm working on it, and will post something soon. :cry:

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In case you were wondering:

 

No, I haven't disappeared, and I haven't been eaten by a bunch of angry vegetarians.

 

Three years of using a laptop computer have finally caught up with me, however, and at the moment I can't type for more than five minutes at a time, which has put me a bit behind schedule. I'll go shopping for a new keyboard tomorrow, and after that I should be back to my normal writing schedule (24/7, as in "24 minutes, seven days a month" :D ).

 

Thank you for your patience. :D

 

(If you weren't so patient, you could... umm... start playing the mod before it's finished, or something... Or start posting bug reports before it's released :cry: )

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A small update: I've ordered a new, ergonomically correct keyboard, but until it arrives (next week, they say. I bet they're only making fun of me for all the times I have said "next week"), all of my work on this mod will be things that I can do by hand, on paper.

 

That means the previews I've been promising for a while now will have to wait, unless you want me to scan a couple of my handwritten planning/layout pages. :blush:

Edited by JPS
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