Status Update

It's been kinda quiet around here, thanks to some non-writing, non-modding stuff I've been busy with. I'm just popping in to say "things are still happening." For each project, here's what's happened since last time:

The Charlatan and the Elf:
Chapter 2 is almost fully written, but I wouldn't call it a full first draft when I get the last few hundred words down... there's a lot of exposition going on, and while it's kind of off to the side and thus shouldn't be too infodump-y I still need to make sure it all fits what I've said about the setting so far and where I plan to go while still giving the sense of verisimilitude. I'm also getting the feeling this story may turn into a novel/novella in length (something I didn't want to set in stone right away), as there's no way I'll get the pair of main characters into a room to talk about the Big Problems they have until chapter 3. I guess that's what I get when I try to portray an evasive, fast-talking conwoman slowly buttering up someone before spilling the secret that, "by the way, I'm a fraud and need you to keep shut or else!"

Helarine for BGEE
I only need to write two more conversations before the main content is complete for the Baldur's Gate segment of Helarine and I can move on to revising the other 7 conversations and planning out Shadows of Amn content. Honestly, I'm actually starting to regret listing "PC romance reactivity" on Helarine's planned features list. Aside from Dorn not having a real romance in BGEE (his romance can't be "broken" and his romance variable is attached to his creature file rather than global like EVERYONE ELSE), it's hard to come up with a way for Helarine to react to the PC spending a lot of time with Dorn and Rasaad. I may actually just repurpose Neera's romance reaction conversation for Shadows of Amn (which will mean a re-write, but a potent one, I think... a bit of Hel's backstory is hidden in that conversation) and have the whole set of core BG2 and BG2EE romances all get reactions within Shadows of Amn.

On the coding front, I recently learned how to trick the NPC/NPC banter system into doing my will, which means that players may actually *see* the 40+ banters I've written for Helarine soon. So far I've only got a few NPCs working with this (it requires modifying their scripts, and some NPCs don't start the game with their scripts attached), but the banters will happen a LOT more often after I finish the scripts.

Adventure Building Challenge
Just over a week left, and still nothing to show for it... The thing about the ABC is, I specifically joined to force myself to finish little modules to help build my confindence. Now the second month is almost over, and I've ditched all my ideas from month #1 for being too small compared to the stuff I playtested for the February challenge. (Snow Hunt and Siege of the Heavens really set the bar high, and even A Rare Vintage, which was unfinished when I tested it, was more interesting than what I had planned.) At this rate, I feel like I could only submit something if I slapped it together in an afternoon and tried to ignore the glaring flaws as long as it was playable, and I'd be too embarassed to submit such a module when there are people that actually spent the whole month with their modules...

-----

Anyway, that's it for this update. I hope to have chapter 2 of the Charlatan and the Elf up soon™, but I can't be sure that'll happen. It'll be up eventually.

Thanks for reading!