BigRob

Sadly, progress hasn't shifted much from before, I've had a couple of busy weeks and though I've managed to get some additional meat on the synopses of the quests, I've not made progress to full plotting or writing yet. I shall hopefully rectify that shortly.

Thanks Jastey! I think the thing with banters is they kind of don't have the same kind of plot to force them along as quest or other dialogues have, so getting them to run in an interesting way and conclude satisfactorily is kind of tricky.

I kind of knew I was taking a bit of a risk in using Jude Law as the inspiration for Aklon's portrait that he could easily end up getting mixed up with Jude himself and roles that he might play.

Personally, I think Jude's a good enough actor to be able to not become purely associated with one of his roles, longer term at least. Of course, if that's not true for some players with someone as well loved as Dumbledore, well, having Aklon associated with the sexy version of a wise character kind of works with what I was intending.

Hey Glandire, thanks for coming along for a little visit, I'm still here and actually working, though the last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for various reasons.

I'm done with Yoshimo's banters, which means that banters are now done, and I'm moving on to the quests, so my first task is filling in my concepts a bit more with a complete list of steps and then filling in the appropriate dialogues. Hopefully more news sooner rather than later.

Thanks for hanging around xburcus.

I'm very close to getting the banters done, and some of the following stuff should run fairly quickly, but I still can't promise anything just yet, especially if you're waiting for the ToB release, as I've not done much on that just yet. Still, I think we're closer to the end than to the beginning now.

Hello all you people who still stick their noses in here from time to time, despite my shameless lack of speed and general progress. It's that time of year again, so I thought I'd bust out a little bit of a banter to let you all know how it's going. Though I'm currently working on the last banter for Yoshimo, I thought this snippet of a Viconia banter might be fun. It's shorn of other NPC interjections and story element based variable lines, but it'll give you an idea of some of the truly riveting conversation these two will have... well, some idle chit-chat anyway.

Have a great Christmas/New Year's everyone!

Aklon: Viconia, you have been on the surface some time, I gather.

Viconia: Long enough. The sun no longer blinds me, as once it did.

Aklon: So despite the millennia your race has spent in the deep earth, you can find some comfort in the sun?

Viconia: Comfort? Ha! I wouldn’t say that. I will say it is handy for keeping time. It would be more so if it were more constant.

Aklon: The changing time and position of its heavenly transit marks the seasons.

Viconia: Oh, those. Damned uncomfortable, some of them. Inconvenient, with it.

Aklon: People of the surface have found a way to work around them. Even enjoy them.

Viconia: It beggars all belief that someone would celebrate the coming of snow.

Aklon: Have you been involved in many surface celebrations?

Viconia: It would be foolish for me to try. The last surfacer celebration I was involved in was a drow bonfire. Why do you think I keep to the graveyard in Athkatla? No festival atmosphere there.

Aklon: I can understand that.

Aklon: But surely you’ve come to know more of surface life than murderous mobs? Something else worthwhile?

Viconia: In this light-blasted land?

Viconia: I will admit, the food has excellent variety.

Aklon: New foods are one of the little joys of traveling. A new city, a new inn, can make for a completely different experience.

Viconia: There’s one inn in Baldur’s Gate where I had a fish dish that would have had the cook kidnapped to serve a matron mother.

Aklon: At the Blushing Mermaid?

Viconia: That’s the one.

Aklon: Ah, Tressyl Kries is the cook there. I think I have eaten the same dish, it is an old family recipe, I understand.

Awesome indeed. Thanks to you Glandire, and everyone else for keeping up with Aklon and checking in to see how I'm doing.

In terms of recent progress, I've finished up the third of the Yoshimo banters, which was rather extensive and involves the PC as well, and I'm hoping to finish up the last two in the next few weeks. At that point, I'll have finished the banters and I'll move onto quests.

Thanks for the well wishes, Aion!

I'm sure the apologies for long writing times are themselves getting long in the tooth, but I am still going and I do intend to finally finish Aklon as soon as I can. We are getting closer, but there's still a bit of a ways to go. I'm at least nearly done with the banters now, I'm at Yoshimo and I'll be moving onto quests next, which should go a bit faster thanks to the plots already being down, rather than me working on rather skeletal ideas as in the banters.

Hi Ankhesenpaaten!

Thanks for your continuing patience, I know I've been at this for an embarrassingly long time now. I am still getting on with things though and I'm nearly finished up with Yoshimo's banters, which means I'll soon be moving on to quests, some romance changes.fixes and then onto the friend and slavery paths.

As to whether you love him or leash him, I'm hoping there'll be enough content to happily do things either way, one after the other. Not that leashing will necessarily preclude some loving, but it will just be a little... complicated.

Hi MissBehave!

Oops, it has been a while since I gave any updates hasn't it? to let you all know how it's coming, I'm finishing up with Yoshimo's banters at the moment, which I'm hoping to get wrapped up before the end of June. Once that's done, I'll be into quests, fleshing out the friendship pathway, a few tweaks to the romance talks, the slave path, and then I'm done. Easier to say than do, I know....

Thanks to you and everyone else still hanging around after all this time, I really hope you'll all get to play Aklon sooner rather than later.

And a Happy New Year to you too Glandire!

The Christmas sneak peeks are a tradition, but it's kind of worrying I've been writing so slowly that it's been able to become one. *coughs uncomfortably* Hopefully I can get my backside in gear and have 2016's be the last time it's needed.

Hi MissBehave, welcome back. Sadly I won't have Aklon for you as a Christmas gift, but we're getting there, I'm wrapping up Viconia's banters now and I'll be going on Yoshimo soon, then it's on to quests, cleanup and coding, things that should go quicker than the banter writing.

Well, I had a bit of a burst of writing during a recent holiday, but I need to get the notes and writing off paper and into computer form, which I'll try and do in the next few days. I'm actually just about finished up with banters, which leaves quests, interjections, the friendship path, the slave path and cleanup to go. After that, coding and other things still need to be completed. Still a few things, but I'm hoping most of the rest will go fairly quickly as they're more directed and less meandering than the banters are.

Sorry about the quiet lately (well as much as usual really) I'll get a proper progress report up soon, I've been a bit distracted getting some miniatures painted up for a Warhammer 40K tournament.

Hi MissBehave, I see you there.

I have actually come a ways on since the last little update. Nalia is all done, and I have Valygar's banters all done bar the last one, which I'm working on now. I'm hoping to get him finished up in the next couple of weeks, and then move on to Viconia and Yoshimo, which will complete banters. After that, I have to move on to Quests and Interjections, though hopefully I'll take care of those a bit faster than the banters, since they're sharper and more to the point.

I'm getting there, if slowly.

Sorry MissBehave, not much new to report, Nalia's writing continues, though a heavy couple of weeks at work has slowed me down somewhat. And admittedly mucking around a lot on Darkest Dungeon.

I am on her last banter now though, so I'll try to finish that up in the next few days and then on to Valygar!

Thanks for hanging on so long xburcus! A Happy Holidays to you too!

When I commence with the coding, I will try to make sure that Aklon works for both the original and Enhanced Editons. Hopefully that might involve just one installer, but maybe not, I've not looked too deeply into how the Enhanced Edition alters the ability to mod, or how modding is conducted.

At least I won't have to unlearn any bad habits.

Thanks MissBehave, I'm glad there are still a few people out there waiting on Aklon (and who care enough to retrieve passwords, I've refrained from commenting on things for less ). Of course, I'm also slightly embarrassed that I'm taking so long to get there, but I'm still going at it!

Ha! Yes, I am the unchanging point of balance for the community, Aklon is still in development.

Champagne time is probably when I start coding to be honest, I'll probably find that those quests and interjects won't be as fast to write as I thought.

Yes, oh yes, there is progress to be had and only 7 months on. I'm now done with Minsc and I'm starting on Nalia's banters. Now that butts have been kicked, it's time to consider the less fortunate...

Thanks for stopping by Freyka, and for waiting for so very long. I'm getting there, but far less quickly than I would like. As it happens I've just finished off Minsc's banters and I've now moved on to Nalia's, so there is progress. Just 4 NPCs now and then I'll move onto friendship, quests and interjections (but I think that last one I'll be doing piecemeal as I do the coding). Hopefully it won't be too much longer now. I know I've been saying that for some years, of course, but I'll keep pushing.

And again, another small update to let you all know I'm still working, Mazzy's banters are all done and I'm not considering what to do with my ideas for Minsc. Butts may be kicked in the process.

Thanks for keeping an eye on the project Miss Behave, I'm rather hoping for this year as well, and I'll try to keep the progress rolling forward at some kind of decent pace. Still mashing around a few ideas for Mazzy's talks, but I'm hoping to have her finished and get going on Minsc in February sometime. Then it's Valygar, Viconia and Yoshimo and on into slave talks, quests, finishing touches, coding and SoA should be basically done.

Hard on the heels of the last update (well, for Aklon anyway), we have another small progress update. Korgan's banters are now complete and we are now moving on to Mazzy. Sadly, not quite the end of year timing I had in mind for Korgan, but the pace is keeping better than it has been.

Oh look, it's another progress post in the same year as the last one! Will wonders never cease?

Again, not a massive update, but just a line to let people know that Keldorn is done with his banters and that Korgan's have commenced. I'm hoping to get him done before year's end and try to keep up some of the pace in future.

Damn.. guess it'll have to heal the old fashioned way. Who gave him permission to talk to anyone but the PC anyways?

I do apologise for the lack of availability of his medical skills (and hope the healing is rapid). As to speaking to other people, he's got this terrible habit of just assuming he can do things without the PC's permission. You'll have to take that up with him, if you keep that collar on.

 

Without a wormhole, TARDIS or some other mechanism for traversing time, I'd say sadly on the low side. Chances are pretty good that he'll be talking with Keldorn though, since I've finished up my second banter with him now.

TARDIS....Dr Who owns, nice reference.

 

Wish there was a Dr Who Rpg game

 

I grew up on Who, I did.

There is a Doctor Who RPG, of the Pen and Paper variety, as it happens. and I think the BBC put out some games on the Doctor Who website. But you gotta be a Brit to gain access to them, so I can't vouch for those.