Mid-July already? Where did the time go?

I lost about a week of productivity to a record-breaking heat wave and recovering from my second Covid vaccine dose, but we still have some nice updates to share with you all!

The Writing/Coding Department

This month I edited the Sherwood common route. It now has ambient sound and I removed text that was no longer needed because it contained information given in the prologue. I added a short scene in which the Sherwood Rebels declare their dedication to King Richard's return, as well. 

As is common in modern Robin Hood re-tellings, war hero King Richard the Lionheart's current status is missing, presumed dead. His younger brother John is now Prince Regent, but isn't very popular and hasn't managed to be declared king quite yet. Robin, who has met and idolizes King Richard, still believes that his beloved monarch is out there.

I was also able to finish prologue programming with the completion of the prologue sprites and their facial expressions.

I'm currently finishing up the script for the rest of the Sherwood common route, and have also been writing scenes from Robin's route. I'll be writing Robin's route full-time in the coming month.

The Art Department

Our prologue sprites are finished! This means I can introduce you all to Alvin, Marion's sword instructor and former lover. His father may be a wealthy merchant, but his family are still commoners, which means he can't fulfil his lifelong dream of being a knight. Marion has to make some tough decisions regarding Alvin in the prologue. Will they come back to haunt her later?

We can also show off our first backer-design character, Theo!  You've met him if you've played our demo (though quite briefly on the Sherwood side). Thanks to backer ShadowEgg for his design concept - I love it!  Here you see him in "guard" mode, but he has another outfit when he's more at-ease. Theo is a complicated secondary character who plays an important role on both the Sherwood and Nottingham sides.

Finally, lead artist Anna is busy completing Marion's new sprite design. It's a big job because Marion has a lot of outfits, hairstyles, and expressions, but here are some previews of the sprite in progress (NOT FINAL).

The Sound Department

I'm continuing my work in adding ambient tracks to the game. The first scene in the Sherwood common route is really enhanced with the sounds of Marion's horse and carriage and muffled hints of combat happening outside while she's becoming acquainted with Will.

Thanks to a hookup from our cut-in artist Lawrichai, I've been able to hire a medieval instrument specialist to record backing tracks for Alanna's bardic tunes. Greensleeves is going to sound much better backed by a lute than by a free karaoke track I found on the internet! I'll also be recording the vocals at an actual studio instead of on my desk mic. These lovely extras are all thanks to the above-and-beyond support you gave to our Kickstarter!

See you next month!