SailingShellsGames
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Extended Writing Update
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 01:48:12 +0000 UTCSo far, so good on the release! :D No bugs have been reported, and I'm hopeful that there won't be many typos found since the game qualified to get a copyeditor ~ I'm so grateful to the folks who've left good reviews, it really warms my heart to see the culmination of the past 3 years of work be received well.
I mostly focused on that this week (and between that and an unexpected hospital visit, well, that was enough to focus on!). But tomorrow's back to working on book 2! I feel like I have a whole new motivation with all the kind, wonderful feedback I've been getting on book 1, so thank you all for that <3
What I'm planning for the coming week is to do a general pass on chapter 1. It needs editing, and I also want to sort of tweak the outline for the early chapters as I go. I feel like I've got a solid grasp on what I want happening in chapters 1 and 2, but I'm kind of torn on how fast I want to move us towards the game's catalyst event, so to speak. Something's going to happen either in chapter 2 or 3 that sets us on the path of the game's main plot.
~~ Future chapter spoilers beyond this point, there be dragons at the edge of the map, etc. etc. ~~
Sounds pretty straightforward, sure, but the thing I'm unsure of is how much of Leas I want us to see before we head off. Because we are heading off somewhere else! It's funny, a lot of Leas: City of the Sun takes place in the forest of Annan'vesan. We see a good amount of the desert wilds when we go to Virano's base, but so much happens to the north. And in Leas: Fae Moon Rising it's going to be flipped. We're packing up to visit another city, but we're going to see a lot more of the wilds around Leas... including a scene I originally planned for the first game.
Ideally I want players to feel like they have a good grasp of Leas as a city - the culture there, the way daily life works, and how it's changed with the introduction of the new magic. I didn't get to dive into it as much in game 1 as I wanted to. I don't regret that. I mean, we can't pack everything into one game or it'd just become a textbook 😂 But I think the early chapters of book 2 are a good opportunity to show a little more of it all. How much to show and for how long is another matter though. One thing I am pretty sure of is that we're going to be visiting our Leas-based parent and Lono in chapter 2.
Every time I write a scene with them I think about how much I want to take us to Enala (where MC's other parent is based). It's so cool there, geez, I need to just open up my mind and show you guys 😂 Think... caravan and festival vibes mixed with the impressionist art movement. Idk that's the best shorthand I have to describe it.
Here's this week's preview ~
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"No, Aela, it's me," he says, with more patience than I might've expected from someone who's not a healer. "Can you try what we practiced? Try to remember my name."
Comments
SailingShellsGames
Omg I missed this comment! Thank you so much, I'm so happy it was so much fun for you and I hope you're having as much fun with book 2's demo! <3 :D :D
Moriarty
HEYYY!! I JUST FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK AND I'M SO BLOWN AWAY. I have to tell you directly ToT it's the best book/game I've ever read. I can't thank you enough for making it. It's so so so cool >0< your writing is so amazing!!
