SOTW DLC “Bad Blood” coming soon

palisade

To paraphrase what Guard Captain Daronas says in the screenshot above: “I have good news. As we speak, the last segments of SOTW DLC code are just being placed” 😀

While of course there can still be bugs, I have tested the game already several times also with the help of the writer, and so far appears to be stable enough 🙂

I am still thinking if to open preorders and beta soon, like next weekend, or try to wait and see if some more art could be ready. The biggest thing missing are the new ending CGs, and is not a small thing. Of course you could still play/read it and save just before the CG… or replay them through the gallery. I got the sketches yesterday and artist said they’d be ready by mid-April, so maybe I could wait a bit.

Anyway, last week I coded the last battle of the whole game, against this funny guy:

giantgnoll

…and I must say that it was really a weird feeling doing it. Like placing the last stone on a house, or something like that. Sniff sniff, SOTW you’ll be sorely missed! 😉

A little burned out…

…or maybe not! Haha I already spoke in the past enough about SOTW and why in the end despite being my biggest/better game, it wasn’t worth it from commercial point of view. However another thing I didn’t consider, are the long term effects like the “burning out” that I’m suffering right now.

Being burned out after a project is absolutely normal. All the indies I spoke with, just take a break from work for 2-3 weeks or more after a game is out (except support, marketing, etc of course). But in my case ? Hmm I really have a hard time coding stuff even now, after months. Like I find a problem and my brain freeze, refuses to cooperate and I get stressed and grumpy.

And I am even taking it easy compared to my usual working schedule! so I think it was still a consequence of all the stress and work accumulated last year. The fatigue just doesn’t go away instantly, but takes time. Luckily apart SOTW DLC, the other games in progress don’t need much coding on my part 🙂

Some random news

I updated the work in progress thread in my forums with progress bars! 🙂 check here: http://www.winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3128
Of course is not like it is 100% accurate but maybe can give you an idea.

I got some preliminary scenes for the CYOA-style game I’m making, and it’s looking good.

I got the full Moirgane romance path for Queen Of Thieves! plus half of the otome one. If artist can keep it up (he finished redoing all the 3 sisters already), might be the next game I’ll be working on, depending how the new card battle framework is going.

Speaking of which, good progress has been made on that front too. There’s a basic framework working with already several mechanics implemented. I admit I borrowed a lot from Hearthstone, but also tried to add some new ideas, also because for story reason it will be different from Blizzard game, with cards that should last more and not be so easily destroyed.

Also, more writing for Nicole, Loren sequels, etc etc. I like when I get updates for all my games in a week 🙂 Stay tuned for a new character introduction for Heirs & Graces next Friday!

5 thoughts on “SOTW DLC “Bad Blood” coming soon

  1. RaiOkami

    Wow, call me increadibly dense (I mean, really…!), but I never realised that this site, WinterWolves.net was much more than a storefront…! *Headdesk*
    And I have gotten several titles from here… NOW I go back, and not only find another game set in Aravorn, wich also somehow made me click the blog and see what was up…!
    I was so glad to see that, actually. Let me tell you a story. When I bought Loren, I did so in a period when I had just gotten into and absolutely adored visual novels. Loren wasn’t just a visual novel, It married with rpg elements, wich I thought was quite interesting. I am a gamer by heart, and just got into visual novels as well in the past two years.
    I was seriously going over If I should buy Loren for weeks after I first saw It. It was made by a small developer, I realised, and I was afraid that the story would be thin and the RPG elements poorly made. In the end, I decided I should at least give It the benefit of the doubt, and bought It. And boy, am I glad I did…! Loren was so much more than I ever expected It to be, than I ever could have expected It to be. I didn’t expect to be very invested in the story or the characters. Especially Loren herself, after the first 10 minutes or so…! But I was surprised in every aspect of the game, I loved the characters and their developments. I truly became invested in the story and the world, and in the end, I’ve played It through three times, so far! And will do another sooner or later! Indeed, Loren has been poking at my mind to play It again for a week now, wich is why I went back in a vain hope to see If there was anything more that came out related to it. There was… Season of the Wolf! And I can not wait…! I have to wait untill I get payed to actually buy It, but I took down the demo right now, and I will buy It as soon as I can. Can’t wait to get back into that world again, can’t wait to get back into a story and world filled with characters you’ve made, you do them so well! (Can’t believe I discovered this not all too long before It’s DLC too, awesome, will be able to get them both in short order!)
    Thank you for your hard work! =3

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Thank you 🙂
      Remember that SOTW is more focused on the RPG part, but if you don’t like that you can play it in Easy mode. The upcoming DLC instead is really focused on story/characters, so more similar to the first Loren game 🙂

      Reply
      1. RaiOkami

        SPOILER ALERT for certain enemy types present in the demo! For anyone reading this that has not played SOTW.
        (Better safe than sorry…!)

        I just played through the demo, can’t wait for the full now!
        And I quite like the combat, It feels better, somwhow, this time around! I emediatly jumped in on hard difficulty, (becasue of course I did!) and proceeded to get my face melted off by the necromancer. After It got melted by the spider… but the spider I bested, the magic users? Not yet, I progressed passed that point without realising I would, I’ll roll back the save and kick their faces in too though. Can’t leave such a thing unresolved…!
        I really like that you do demos, I gotta say. Not many still do. It’s invaluable to people like me with a tight economy. I still want to buy games, I just have to be very choosy!

        Reply
        1. Troyen

          +1 on the demos. I’ve passed over a number of games because I just couldn’t figure out what the game was about or if I would enjoy it without putting down a lot of no-refund money.

          Reply
          1. admin Post author

            Yep, nowadays most devs don’t do them, but I don’t understand why. Is a win-win situation, customer is happy because knows what he’s buying and if the game is good devs can make a good hook to keep players wanting for more 🙂

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