First of all: the Kickstarter campaign is live since a few days and so far it’s the fastest funding campaign I’ve ever done! Currently heading to the second stretch goal, adding the elf race. Check it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winterwolves/thieves-of-dingirra
As you know, I decided to make this game a blend of RPG combat and town management. It’s funny because, just last year around this time, I was putting the game on hold, feeling completely burned out by its complexity.
Fast forward a year, and here I am! But, of course, I’ve made progress. The map gameplay is in a great shape now. While there are still some details to tweak, I finally feel confident that it works. That’s a big deal because, at the start of this year, I still wasn’t sure if the map system would work in Ren’Py—whether it would run smoothly, whether I could make it fun, whether… well, there were a lot of “ifs”!
The map gameplay
So, how will the town sim work? I’m aiming for something simple to learn but with enough depth to provide a long-term challenge. For starters, you won’t be able to build new structures in the town. I made this choice to keep things from becoming overly complex. Allowing players to destroy and rebuild buildings would have introduced an extra layer of complexity, both in design and in balancing the gameplay. However, I am planning to let player upgrade merchants and houses to increase the money / influence you get:
This is all due to the balancing of the gameplay. I already had to run several tests using developer cheatcodes, to make sure that once you owned half the city and had 100 guild members stats wouldn’t get completely messed up. Good news, seems it’s working fine (but the beta will tell for sure). You might ask what is the goal of the game then, if you can’t build things like in most city builders.
In practice, your goal will be to rob and acquire all the town structures, one by one, district by district. The town is split in several districts, each one belonging to one of the four families, a neutral zone (where you start).
You’ll have a roster of member in your guild, and you can assign each member to a specific task. There’ll be scouts that can acquire information about potential targets (that’s the first step). Then, each target will require a different approach. Sometimes, you’ll need to rob a wealthy merchant. Other times, you’ll need to assassinate a powerful enemy, and so on. Each different job will require a different specialization, indeed in your guild you’ll have a variety of recruits, each one more suitable to a specific task.
The NPCs will also trigger regularly some random events, based on the traits they have. In the example above, since that NPC has the Greedy trait, will ask for a salary raise more often. On each random event you’ll have different choices available which will result in different outcomes. This should add a good replayability!
The RPG gameplay
So, how will the RPG mechanics fit in? Simply put, you’ll need to personally fight a set number of battles for each district. Think of them as “story missions” that can’t be delegated to your guild members. This approach ensures a fixed number of fights with no grinding required—a feature many players disliked in some of my previous RPG games.
Throughout the missions, you’ll encounter a map that many will identify as a classic roguelike layout, featuring multiple “nodes” that lead to a final boss room, your main objective. Each room offers randomized content and outcomes, determined by your stats or decisions, enhancing replayability significantly!
As for the main character, the Master Thief, you’ll have two base classes to choose from: Shadow Thief and Reaper, each offering a unique set of skills. On top of that, there will be a Talent system, similar to what I implemented in Cursed Lands, but tailored specifically for thieves.
Lastly, I decided to go with a first-person view for combat. This means there won’t be a front/back row mechanic, which simplifies the RPG gameplay and provides a stronger visual impact.
The romances
Naturally, the game includes a storyline with romantic love interests. I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but to recap: the dialogue will vary depending on your attitude toward each character (you can be assertive with one and kind to another), and each character has a relationship value with the others. Your decisions will influence these relationships, unlocking additional unique scenes. Sounds complex? It is, but don’t worry, a “relationships screen” will provide a clear summary of everything.
Conclusions
I hope this post has sparked your interest in what I consider the biggest project I’ve ever taken on—or, more accurately, attempted to make, since it’s not finished yet! I know it sounds ambitious, especially considering how many times in the past I’ve told myself I was done with big games—particularly after tackling massive projects like Planet Stronghold 2.
But this year felt like an all-or-nothing moment. If you read my previous blog posts, you’ll know that earning a living solely from pure visual novels has become increasingly difficult. Saying the market is oversaturated would be putting it lightly! So, I decided to take the plunge.
That said, I do have another simpler game (not a 100% VN though) I’d like to start this year, which I hope will keep things balanced. Once I wrap up Thieves of Dingirra, I’m really looking forward to some well-earned relaxation!
I am super excited! Especially since were getting the elves! I love the design for the female elf in particular she looks so adorable. I do wonder though if there’s a chance that some your older games will be getting an update. In particular, An Elven Marriage as I found quite a few little mistakes after playing through it over a dozen times to get all of the achievements and endings.
By mistakes you mean typos or something else? I do updates of past games when I get the chance (when I have free time haha).
Oh how I wish it was only typos…
1. The blizzard spell used by the mage class of the main character sounds like fire, many attacks and abilities, sounds off or do not have consistent noises. The blizzard spell is notably mentioned because I like playing the mage class and it was driving me a little nuts.
2. Continuity snarl with Captain Daronas. A while back I mentioned this on steam to either directly or whoever’s in charge of answering questions on the platform but him showing up in a flashback with the alchemist tournament completely contradicts since he should be in Ninim since Seasons of the Wolf takes place before An Elven Marriage.
3. Nerja and Noskella are described as sons, but one of them is shown as an image of the feminine presenting person and a cute little dress? Typo or femboy?
4. Naga and reptilians? Are they same?
5. Elenor‘s eyes turn green when she smiles or looks surprised
The entire Jariel scene. Oh boy this is going to be tough… Jariel should’ve been to Dingirra
already if Seasons Of The Wolf happened before An Elven Marriage. Like the example above is the continuity snarl but much bigger than the guard. A huge major point is that Jul has taken over the realm of Deceit which not only happens during SOTW but only when Athea romances Chalassa (which is awesome that’s my favorite romance for her so hearing that Canon is nice. Is Shea’s Canon partner Krimm then because those babies are just ridiculously adorable… Sorry got off track) which means AEM hast to take place after SOTW which is totally fine. The problem is the small cameos that are screwing with the continuity. You could probably replace Daronas with a generic guard and fix that small detail with a tweet in dialogue but the Jariel scene would probably have to be completely rewritten since it is relevant for a decently important side quest. I’m not a computer programmer but I am a writer. I know these likely sound onerous but I don’t think those changes would be too difficult.
7. Karen’s sprite showing up instead of Loren’s in both Saren’s and Elenor‘s endings.
As mentioned, I did actually bring this up back in November: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1629210/discussions/0/3418811628261211688/ but at the time I was still playing through the game so I was on the hunt for any other mistakes after that. Call me super passionate but I really like the game and seeing those kind of took me out of it. It would be really awesome if when you do send an update that those things would be faxed although I’m not sure how easy that would be.
Ahh I see. Yeah I remember now! I was so busy in past months (for both business and personal reasons) that I forgot about those things.
I’ll try to come up with some ideas on how to fix things. I agree Jariel’s scene could be the most complex to do.
Will try to do those changes now so I don’t forget. Thanks again for reminding me!
Regarding your question, Naga and Reptilian are close but aren’t the same. Nagas have lower part as snake, while reptilian can have any part of their body changed (like face of a snake, arm like snakes, etc). They’re more “monstruous” 😛
OK I think I fixed Jariel scene fine, like this:
jar “I told you, I’m on a journey. I’m heading to Icesilia now.”
ell “Icesilia? Weren’t you just in Dingirra recently?”
jar “Oh, hi. I didn’t see you there.”
pc “I’m [pname]. Hi.”
jar “Yes, I was in Dingirra not too long ago. But I have to continue my journey east, Ellisar, like I said.”
ell “Just a moment. Please, tell my friend here what you discovered about ratmen.”
jar “Right. While living underground, they’ve developed a way to grow mushrooms and other… vegetable type foods without sunlight and fertile soil.”
pc “That’s… amazing.”
ell “That’s what we need. If we can do the same here, there’s hope for Meanluna!”
jar “Glad to be of help. Now excuse me, a long trip awaits me.”
ell “You’re going east—where exactly?”
jar “Icesilia.”
ell “Oh. I’ve heard a lot of things about that city. A few good things and a lot of bad ones.”
jar “I’ve heard odd rumors about Howlgrove forest. Talk of witches and strange happenings.”
pc “Witches? That’s intriguing.”
jar “It sure is. Which is why I need to get going now.”
Yeah that should make sense. Love the foreshadowing with Amber’s mother. It made me wonder how many types of elves there are in the world. Also the first game were Lydia was technically introduced as she cures the blight if Amber doesn’t in the good endings.
… It seems like my comment was nonapproved. Was it because of the link? I’m really sorry if I accidentally upset you I wasn’t trying to do that. I really liked your games a lot and I guess I thought my advice would help make them better. I’m sorry if I overstepped.
Haha no, it’s simply an anti-spam automated system, no worries (I have to manually approve some)
Oh that’s a relief and it also makes sense.