Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.0) A World In Peril

I realize the duration between releases is getting longer and longer, but that's to be expected, after all. The delay this time was the result of a confluence of factors - including a variety of health issues; the advent of spring which accompanies the changing of the clocks, coupled with a few early summer-like days that already have my mind wandering away from the computer and toward the great outdoors; and a domestic battle with ants which has caused me to (at least for the time being) relocate my bedroom and study. It's a flurry of distractions amidst a change of scenery, and I'm trying hard to recover my focus.

On top of all that is the dramatic scene at the start of the fourth act of my game, to which I've had to devote a lot of attention. I want to do justice to the emotional weight of the scene, while still efficiently moving the plot along, and not getting bogged down in melodrama. It's a delicate balance, but if you don't get it right, the narrative suffers. I keep going back and forth in my head, telling myself that I'm not an experienced novelist, and that one of the appeals of the old school VG RPG format is that you can create a good gameplaying experience without a super sophisticated narrative. But on the other hand, I don't want to use that as an excuse, and cop out of trying to tell a good story. After all, some of my favorite moments in my favorite RPGs are character-based story moments.

All I can do is try my best. And not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I was finally able to tie up those loose ends with regards to weather effects I mentioned several updates ago, but we're far enough into the story now that you won't be able to experience them unless you really dig into the game progression - and I'm still maintaining that these releases aren't meant for you to do that. So at this point, they're really just checkpoints to back up my work. Which is fine. It means progress!

I actually didn't get the full act completed for this release, as I was intending to. With everything slowing my progress down this time, I reached a good point where I felt I wanted to hit the proverbial "save" button, before diving into the last portion of the act. If progress continues to be sluggish, I might very well follow up with another release when I get the act completed, before starting on the final act (which itself may ultimately involve more than one release). I know it seems like every step we take is smaller than the last one, but it still gets us closer to the finish line!

Dragonfaith (Pacifism 7.0) - A World In Peril
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