Post by mdqp in Caliross, The Shapeshifter's Legacy comments

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I do have a Discord, but so far I kept it for patrons-only (or rather, you must donate at least once to get the invite link). I did it like this to make it easier to moderate, although it might be too restrictive.

There are other ways to contact me, though: I have a blog, I have threads for my game on several forums (like F95 Zone, or TFGames) and you can send me reports to this email: mirko.della@tiscali.it

I get what you mean, but the academy has been dragging for a while, so I am wary of adding new content. Also, I am not sure I have any interesting ideas for a showdown between Charles and Eloise (or the others, for that matter).

Eloise is getting new scenes, so there is that, and I can think of including some events around the academy which are affected by your relationships, that makes sense.

One of the reasons why Baal is so restricted as a character is because otherwise it would warp the story and the world around him (same deal for the "orc timeline girl"). It would be different if the story revolved around time travel (or something similar) at its core, but as it is I'd rather keep him on the fringe.

No need to apologize. :) I am italian!

Yeah, that's the gist of it. Santhora is like a very romantic bimbo who happens to be a goddess, pretty much, so she brings life, love, happiness and chaos wherever she goes.

Infinite174 days ago

Slightly disappointed about the discord because well these sites aren't as convenient or accessible as a social media platform

well you would then have to add something that explains why there is no confrontation at the academy yourself said you like a good story but this seems to be a rather obvious hole i understand you want to finish the game but you made a really good thing at least finish it without any regrets

well that's good Eloise scenes did require refinement

yeah i can understand its a pretty big side plot tho if you make a spin off or a sequel to this game some time travel might be cool (its complicated and messy but if done right it can be pretty good)

well i figured that about Santhora (incompetent/corrupt gods can make a god of war similar story)

My main issue with Elize is that she is random she shows up after you become a noble and unlike other times you have only two options before permanently locking you in her path after that you would think there might be an interaction between her and Kira due to both of them helping the Merchants guild (Kira might not be happy about the manipulation) and the end of her path is an optional ending to what is her main goal (why does she sit in your mansion without any issues when she needs you to have kids)

mdqp173 days ago

Well, everyone has emails, at least, XD

I am not big on social media, in fact I dragged my feet even to get on Discord, so I guess I am a bit harder to reach than your average indie dev.

Originally, the academy wasn't going to be in the game: I had plans to wrap things up a while ago already, but patrons voted to extend the development and things are taking much longer than I originally estimated. The game has been in development for several years, so at this point I'll have to live with some thing not being perfect for the 1.0 release. That doesn't mean I can't update the game at a later date, but I want to get some closure and then move on to my next game.

I kind of want to make a time travel game, but I am not sure if I would set it in Caliross, although it's something to consider, now that you make me think about it. Then again, it's going to be years before I get around to it, most likely (my next game is already decided, and in the early stages of development).

Eliza doesn't deal directly with Kira, but she does have contacts with the League of Merchants, which is why the two never really interact (Kira doesn't really have a reason to be suspicious of her, and her bosses have business with Eliza, so there isn't a good reason to have them meet). While she does have her own "bad end", she is also featured in the ending slides if you completed her path, and she affects a few things here and there, actually (for example, you can't become empress if you are involved with her).

Infinite172 days ago (1 edit)

Emails are becoming an old art tho, not that I mind but social media is faster.

Well seeing as how you wish to complete the game all I can say is that brothel in military outpost needs to be refined so you can hire and get some different scenes on certain conditions and tweak for repeatablity.

Improve and update the walkthrough drastically after completing game divide missions by chapter then, area that's my suggestion also you have made a lot of comments about adding some content so evaluate those and for traits guide link each quest and random event which is effected by a trait (for bimbo have both that and choices that require more then 60 INT) be descriptive the reason I'm stressing this is because the walkthrough is the only way players can fully experience the game so it needs to be top notch

asking to add a Samantha path might be a bit much but I feel like it could be part of the game (I mean if we take the deal in the eye mission after that she practically moons over us)

I still find it strange that the two don't interact at all (Kira doesn't get curious especially with Erica involved??) and the fact we can not do the ending and the the rest of the game instead is a little strange.

Lastly, what's the deal with the spider Lady it hints at dreams and the possibility to return a second time so.. who is she and I'm guessing her content got or is getting cut and I feel Rahib isn't very fleshed out

mdqp170 days ago

I'll take a note to double-check the brothel before 1.0. No guarantees, but I'll at least look into it.

The walkthrough will probably get updated soon-ish, and I'll try to sort the quests by chapter (it should be easy to do). I generally mention whenever there is content tied to traits or stats, but that's usually more relevant for the H-scenes list (which is much further behind). Honestly, I don't personally think the walkthrough is so vital, but I am sure it's convenient for players, enough to justify putting some effort into it.

Samantha likely won't get a path. I prefer it when not all the characters end up in bed with the protagonist, and Samantha is perfect as supporting cast, rather than a love interest.

Kira already has her moment with Carla and Erica, so that already makes it less interesting to pursue another "confrontation" involving her for me. Generally speaking, they also don't cross paths often, and Eliza has leverage as someone with business relationships with the League, I think it makes sense to leave it as it is.

The spider lady is just flaunting her status and power over you. She is basically confident you'll come back to her, eventually, as you can't possibly resist her and she has all the time in the world, but her content ends there. I'll give Rahib another look, although no city really compares to Tarkas, as far as content goes.

Infinite170 days ago

Well Samantha does seem romantically attracted as well and we even have a scene with her so a bit late for that

i personally would not have done half the stuff i have without the walkthrough

hmm okay and at this stage reworking would be a hassle

tho exactly whats the lore behind her (the spider lady) well remember that fairy queen scene it supposedly marks you but you can repeat it at night like nothing happened then the dancers and the catiriollon thing is a bit messy (so if you take a lesson with them and then use it you get a scene with the twins then if you use it again at home you get god of arts marriage and then this repeats) and domnique does not have proper repeat and our healer girlfriend path doesn't go anywhere

mdqp168 days ago

Samantha gets swept by the mood quite easily, as you might have noticed, and the scene isn't much when you get down to it. Let's say that Erica doesn't want to take advantage of her. :p

Anything you thought was particularly cryptic but isn't meant to be a secret?

The spider lady comes from a rare species. In the pantheon of Caliross, they occupy a weird spot, since they aren't gods, but are still direct creations of Byr (who created all the other gods). The demons are also direct creations of Byr, but unlike the demons, they have at least been "touched" by Santhora. While their reproductivity is also stilted, they can make up for it with "broodmothers" from other species. They are all females, and have the ability to create their own domain as well as travel through different planes (they rarely appear on Caliross, simply because they go to other planes with different species, generally).
Their powers are kind of a necessity, given how they reproduce, although it's partly a double-edged sword (they get infatuated with whoever they develop a bond with).
This is what I remember I had in mind when writing her. Note that not all of it is ironed out, since I didn't think there was a reasonable way to introduce all of this background info, and it wasn't strictly necessary for the scenes and her character.

The fairy queen scene is likely to be turned into a one shot, but I left it repeatable for now.

The carillon will also be changed in the future (I had left it repeatable just because I hadn't added all the art to it yet, but now I can put an end to it).

I'll see if Dominique needs a repeatable final scene. Tania is basically finished at this point (with the scene I added for her in the last public update), I just need to consider adding her to the ending slides.

Infinite167 days ago

Erica not taking advantage of someone ;-; is debatable considering her personality is heavily influenced by the player (and alot of others does she even have a original thought?)

no i meant certain paths, methods and alot of things that lack of youtube videos and fandom can be made up by a very well written and highly detailed walk through

keep caliross in mind if you ever make a god of war/asura's wrath type of game but long story short they can make pocket dimensions and can interact with other dimensions reminds me of the fediverse cool

well it can be made repeatable with a little effort since in the scene's end we are "marked" and if we go to a private place (e.g. the houses or etc) and call her we could experience it again

any reapeatiblity or effects or just a "fun" thing

well hoped for more with tania but oh well at least we have a healer

yk the walkthrough showed me a path to take with water priestess quest i literally ended up taking the manipulator route and it doesn't even go anywhere ;-; kind of surprised to see someone not make us a slave

mdqp165 days ago(+1)

I think Erica does have enough of a personality. She is halfway between a "voiced protagonist" and a "blank slate", meaning that she does have a few fixed personality traits, while the rest is up to the players.

That's for sure. I am just not a fan of walkthroughs personally, but I understand how useful they can be.

I do have a ton of ideas for future games, so I wonder what I'll end up doing. Well, at least short term it's just Caliross and TOTDC 2.

Well, everything can have a final repeatable scene, of course. I just planned for the fairy queen to be a one shot, but I'll think a bit more about it, in case I change my mind. I think it also makes sense for the carillon content to end there, but as I said I'll think about it.

I mean, overall we have a few dates and 4-5 scenes with Tania. She isn't at the level of the more fleshed out characters, but I think it's good enough for her arc.

Once you reach a critical mass of mind-controllers, I feel it's better to leave some of them without any "grand schemes" of sorts. I am going to double-check Lady Rosa's content before the final release, but there is a good chance I won't do anything major with her.

Infinite163 days ago

what is TOTDC 2?

i see

well thats a bit disappointing

well yeah but i feel like if you end up getting manipulated you cannot find out her truth so she could range from romantic interest to just a person running a place either way having some additional content might flash her out a little even without a major scheme or effect on story

btw there is a scene a i feel should be repeatable that goblin girl scene it has perfect repeatability and that inn in zarnark that needs tweaking for better repeatability

yk this is a bit of a tangent but you could also write a lore book or an in game lore stuff in advanced libraries about species and characters up to you

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