Sire

Mount and Blade: Warband is an excellent game, especially if you start deep diving into the mods. The main premise is you start off as a a simple individual with various backgrounds, and eventually you'll raise up in rank to a vassal of an existing state, or simply go out and found your own kingdom. As M&B is a sandbox, there is no real "ultimate goal" besides conquering the entire map for yourself or your sworn kingdom. (Some mods will add a "postgame" of sorts by conquering a really hard castle or adding an invasion.) However, I will admit, it has an extremely slow start. The starting portion of M&B typically revolves around grinding in Arena fights and taking small quests that fight against bandits. Later, once you have some companions and a decent army, you can start getting involved with politics and military affairs acting as a mercenary or a vassal for a kingdom. Alternatively (or later on), you can strike out on your own to carve your own kingdom onto the land. Once you get started in actual battles with opposing kingdoms and begin getting lands of your own, the game really opens up as there is plenty to do. Its just the early game grind that really sucks. If the vanilla game is enjoyed but you want more, I believe there was a great vanilla enhancing mod on the TaleWorlds forums. Alternatively, if you want higher difficulty in a unique setting, try out the Prophesy of Pendor mod. PoP is amazing and I highly recommend giving it a whirl. * * * * * As for me, I picked up Earth Defense Force 5 during the Steam Thanksgiving sales. I loved 4.1, but 5 improves on so many aspects gameplay wise, such as pick-ups also affecting the other classes somewhat so it is easier to progress. I'm a bit torn on the Wing Diver changes as some of their weapons require to "charge up" instead of simply firing until recharging them with the plasma battery. Also, I don't think Fencer "Dash Canceling" is a thing anymore, although apparently the default Dash can be upgraded with the right gear. Air Raiders though get the best improvements as their calldowns are so much easier to use. I can actually call in air strikes and know exactly what targets I'm going to hit! Despite the gameplay and slight graphical improvements, 4.1 had the iconic EDF song that got me hooked, and I think the VAs of 4.1 were a bit better. That aside, so far EDF 5 is a great game and I am loving my time with it. - - - - - Also, I've been playing Another Eden. It is basically a mobile JRPG that takes inspiration from Chrono Trigger, has a fair monetization model, and has zero pressure on the player. Play when you want, where you want. I've mostly been going through the sidestories and am trying to upgrade my characters to 5-star status so I can progress easier with the newer content. While grinding the repeatable dungeons sucks (as there is no auto-battle or "sweep/skip" function), the main game itself is excellent.

Guess I'll post this here for more visibility from the forum viewers... * * * * * Currently there are talks about discarding the "Time Crash" idea (or make it into a lesser / background role) and instead place the focus on the "Ban Hammer," a mysterious artifact that grants Moderators their powers. While this won't affect Arc One much, I would still like to reference the main plotline in the starting chapters. Anyone agree or disagree with the notion? I'm indifferent either way, and with how things are currently progressing, the Ban Hammer plotline will be used instead.

Loving the new changes to Dragalia Lost, mainly the Skip Ticket update and the "Auto-Repeat" system. Due to the Skip Tickets, I managed to get my Blade Dojos up to Lvl 31. (Only other 31 Dojo are the Swords). I'm leaning towards working on either Axes or Lances next. Otherwise, I blew my Wrymite on the Gala as I usually do. Managed to get Gala Elly and MUB Siren, but was a little sad Galo Cleo still eludes me (even though she's not on rate-up). Also, I remembered afterwards that I built a 5* Water Lance for classic Elly, so it is a little harder for me to field G!Elly instead. Personally, I'm indifferent about the Mega Man collab, outside of the music remixes.

Reviving this topic, mostly because the posts here are mainly mine and I don't feel like typing them all out again for a new thread... (Also, this game deserves more attention in my opinion) * * * * * I picked up Another Eden again after a hiatus and the game remains as excellent as ever. There's ton of story content to go through and AE has absolutely zero pressure on the player to get things done as nothing is limited. This includes the upcoming collab with Persona 5 Royal (JP News). Even though its a collab event, once implemented it stays implemented forever, and the colllab characters (Joker, Morganna) are free. Other P5 characters will appear in the event as well. -- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4J9TJTlATc - - - - - As for me, I'm casually making my way through all the new stories they added since I last played. Right now I'm rebuilding a mining village to restore it to is former glory, and I'm experiencing the misadventures of a princess in her childhood days. I believe I took a break from Another Eden as at the time, I was mostly just grinding out "Another Dungeon" for progression and there's no real way to automate the grinding process. I also still have no idea how AE endgame works outside of it involving a lot of grinding, and "true endgame" content requires 5-star characters which I only have 1 of. (Suzzette, who is voiced by Skye Bennett, the same VA for Pyra/Mythra in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.) Granted, I do have some 4-stars that I could promote into 5-stars, but getting the materials to do so is a bit difficult... The story stuff I can do with my current party, and the fact its story based instead of just progression helps a lot with my enthusiasm.

11/23/2019 Update Where's a time machine when you need one, or at least the power to manipulate time? Every time I try to block out my schedule to work on ToS, something else comes up instead. I really wanted to work on the level design this week, but at least I finally managed to get Manaketes working and did some backend work for Master Seals and Second Seals. While I would love to say I want to get at least Arc One done before the end of the year (6 playable chapters), that begins to set expectations and from a developer's point of view, setting expectations is a terrible idea. From a dev standpoint, "when it's ready" is the best result, although that doesn't help marketing or to build hype from the playerbase. Anyways, it is what it is... Also, as a note, there will be no report next week (11/29/2019), as I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with the family. To those that celebrate the holiday, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and to those who don't, have happy day anyways! Don't spend too much money on "deals" unless they are actually worth it. * * * * * Project Progression - Manaketes (Balancing will take more time) - Master Seals & Second Seals (Did backend work so they function properly.) Priority Tasks - Character Applications - Skill: Unstoppable (Proper Implementation) - Level Design: Chapters 1 & 2

Flayn and Seteth in Crimson Flower. I wanted to spare them due to the hints from the dialogue beforehand, but I think Flayn started moving and I had to use Petra to finish her off. // Killing Flayn and seeing Seteth's reaction was something else. Otherwise killing Ferdinand when Dorothea is in the party (during Azure Moon or Verdant Wind routes). I love Dorothea post-timeskip as she seems to be the most in tune with the "horrors of war" aspect of Three Houses Lastly, Edelgard in the Blue Lions route. I went Crimson Flower first and seeing the history of Edelgard and Dimitri made me want a happy ending. Alas, it was not to be, and Edelgard's death in BL impacted me a little bit. // Also, I find her death in BL to be more impactful than the Church route or the Golden Deer route (although Silver Snow should've had more of an emotional connection, but that is for a different topic).

@Fenreir Wow man, these look awesome! Can I get the images in PNG format (with one of just the logo that's transparent)? I would like to use the icon for the Discord server so it's not boring letters. As for the Main Menu prototype, it looks beautiful! However, I'm not sure if I can implement that myself into SRPG Studio as I haven't delved into its UI Design. To get something that actually looks like that, I'll likely need someone else to work on it or spend more time learning the engine to see if it works.

11/16/2019 Update Did a livestream of development progress this week, lasting 4 hours and covering the "creation of maps 1 & 2." The VOD should be up for another 10 days, although I do have a locally recorded file that I still need to edit and publish somewhere for archival purposes. (The first livestream which was the map design of CH 9 has been lost.) -- https://www.twitch.tv/sirmarcuscalibur Other than the livestream and some minor work on the character sheets, no other progress has been made. Hopefully I'll be able to make substantial progress next week if/when I have time to actually sit down and work on Tears of Serenia as I doubt I'll get anything done during the week of Thanksgiving (week after next). For fun, we now have 23 playable characters, which is definitely a better number than the 14 we had back in October 31st. No one has claimed the "Knight" class yet (although my character is in a special variant of it), and our roster leans more towards the magical side of things. Either way, I look forward to how things will progress from here. * * * * * Project Progression - Map Design: Chapters 1 & 2, Finished Priority Tasks - Character Applications - Manaketes - Skill: Unstoppable (Proper Implementation) - Level Design: Chapters 1 & 2

Haven't posted here in a while... Langrisser Mobile - I got sucked back into Langrisser Mobile, mostly because I was wondering if the game improved any since the last time I played. One of the major improvements is the "daily sweep" function as it allows the player to autocomplete some daily quests. This addressed one of my major concerns as going through all the dailies in LM could take over an hour, and that is just getting the daily stuff done. Doing things such as Guild Wars (another massive timesink) and actually trying to play the game took up more time. However, it still has plenty of issues, with the main one being poor EN Localization. While I can't nitpick the translations as I don't know the original lines, the lines we do have in English are all over the place. Some of the "character mission" dialogues can be in broken English with grammar mistakes galore. To think LM still has such issues after being released for so long is mind boggling to me. In the end, I decided to uninstall the game. I can't overlook the problems it has and rather support devs who seem to care more about their players. * * * * * Fire Emblem Three Houses - I finally finished my Silver Snow run. I loved the extra dialogue from the Black Eagle students and the fluff from Seteth and Flayn, but otherwise this route is forgettable. Granted, I went in believing it would be the weakest route (and it is), but still. Some spoiler discussion below. Now I'm doing a Crimson Flower NG+ Maddening run so I can mess around one of the new characters, and because CF remains my favorite route. I'm still debating if I want to do an "all recruit" run now or save that for when the last DLC hits. Either way, I'm at least recruiting Lysithea.

I'm just saving my Wrymite for the next Gala, unless something amazing comes along. However, I do occasionally spend it on stamina refills if I'm out of Honey, which usually happens when I have a bunch of Skip Tickets to burn through... Speaking of Skip Tickets, I'm capped at 200. I used to use them sometimes for Elemental Ruins, but since all my Elemental Altars are capped, the only thing I can really use them are are Avenue to Fortune. If I could use them for Imperial Onslaught (Master) or Dragon Trials (Master), I probably would burn them there too. -- Main reason I don't use Skip Tickets is that I find "x2 Speed Auto" works just fine for clearing out dailies. * * * * * Sometimes I forget to post here because of the SF Dragalia Lost discord...

Can you reupload this in a .PNG format? I'm wondering if the JPEG file ruined the image, or if the image just looks like that. * * * * * In other news.. - Dragon Axe has been claimed. It was supposed to be a Hero item, but I guess having a Dragon Weapon for the Antagonists work too. (If anything, blame the Protagonists for not claiming it sooner!) - The "Position" section has been reworked to reflect available positions instead of positions that have been closed off. * * * * * For those interested in joining, we have the following positions available. These will remain open until we reach the "character limit" of 30. -- 7 Playable Applications remain. Lord/Great Lord (1 slot available) <-- This class is not yet represented in ToS! // Also, this is just a class in ToS and is not reflective of "main character" status. Myrmidon/Swordmaster (2 slots available) Soldier (1 slot available) Thief/Assassin (2 slots available) Archer/Sniper/Ranger (2 slots available) Knight/General (3 slots available) <-- This class is not yet represented in ToS! Cavalier/Paladin (2 slots available) Griffon Rider/Dragon Rider (2 slots available) Bishop/Inquisitor (1 slot available)

Currently, I'm still not sure. I am leaning towards "no permadeath," though, or at least "deaths have some penalty" for the character. If I keep permadeath, I'll likely have to use a narrator for most of the story. It can work, but then it takes away from the "Serenes Emblem" a bit.

11/8/2019 Update No progress was made last week, mostly due to illness. While I rested in an attempt to get better, I got sucked back into playing Langrisser Mobile. I have no idea how long I will play it, as the core gameplay and art is good, but other aspects of it are just repulsive and it is still a time vortex. The problem is that the game is addicting to play... I plan on revising the first chapter as what I have now doesn't really work for a tutorial level. I may end up redesigning the map as well, I don't know yet. Edit: Also, for those who joined the Discord but haven't signed up properly, you have been kicked from it. Feel free to rejoin if/when everything is in order. * * * * * Project Progression - None! Priority Tasks - Character Applications - Manakete Inclusion - Revise Chapter 1

@Freohr Datia Lords don't have animations for Bows, so you will likely just be an Archer, Sniper, or Ranger (Mounted Archer). At the moment the Lord position is vacant, but I'm starting to think that ToS doesn't need a "Lord" and simply follows the adventure of the party instead of a central character.

@thecrimsonflash, @Ice Dragon, @EdelgardHresvelgTargaryen All right, I think I have your stats down. They are in the table below. Character Class Growth Type HP ATK SKL SPD LCK DEF RES Crimson Manakete Standard 100 70 30 20 30 35 45 [MANAKETE] High STR // Moderate RES Corra Manakete Standard 100 60 30 20 30 50 45 [MANAKETE] High STR, DEF, RES Emiri Manakete Important 100 45 30 20 30 65 65 [MANAKETE] High DEF, RES "Baseline" Manakete "Class" 80 45 30 20 25 35 35 More importantly, I need to know if your character will be either a Bard or a Dancer. This determines the human model your character will be using in Tears of Serenia. -- As a note, remember that, at present, Manaketes/Bards/Dancers are combined for this game. They can perform when human, and are powerful units when transformed. However, this may change and Manaketes may just be "pure Manaketes," only using the Bard/Dancer models for their human forms.

That works, but if you want, I can try shrinking it on my end. Just give me the original file and I'll see what I can do.

Your portrait doesn't show up on my end. Can you reupload it somewhere else?