ShoH Update (March #2)

Hi everyone, short update this week!

• I'm back home and my mom is doing well! Thank you everyone for your well wishes! <3
• Due to being out of the state, I wasn't able to get a ton of writing done this week, but I'm settling down to try and write something today/tonight! Hopefully going to get substantial work done on this Halek chapter!
• (I am desperately trying to meet project deadlines early this week so I can take next weekend off to play Animal Crossing. 😂) Speaking of, you will soon see what Blade looks like as an Animal Crossing animal... 👀
• I did re-outline the game this week, which is something I do every few months when I need inspiration (I'm a planner, not a pants-er, haha).
• One or two minor changes that I'm making: Croelle can have a chance to be recruited if you do some very specific and difficult things throughout the game! It's not full-on recruitment like having day-off sequences or anything, but he will be a part of the team before the end of the game... but to say anything more would be massive spoilers!
• I would like to change the symbol of the Shepherds at some point in the game. It will start out as it's always been (the rampant hound) but due to negative criticism about being "dogs" of the Autarchy and being heeled by the government, it will probably be changed in-game for various political reasons. What the new symbol will be, I'm not totally sure yet: I'm very bad at designing things! Maybe I'll let the player choose!
• Do people care about being Commander? I was reading documents about CoG's game design policies and guidelines and it stated that the player should have multiple narrative goals to achieve as they play the game, and a way to measure their progress. (So if you've played The Fog Knows Your Name, there are several stat bars like: "Uncover the mystery of So-and-So's Dad: 5%" "Clear your name with the town: 46%" already present at the beginning of the game.) I kind of realized that MC doesn't really have like goals they're aiming for, at least the way the game is set out: it's kind of just like "survive, do a good job solving cases, romance people" (lol), which I like, but it just made me consider how I would 'outline' the game according to those specific design criteria. MC definitely has goals and motivations, like possibly wanting to know more about their parents, but these get addressed as the story goes on: they're not laid out in terms of completion or progress in the same way. I guess the only "goal" that could be a stat bar would be like progress being made towards being Commander, but even that I've made more as a choice rather than the point of playing the game! You could have an equally valid playthrough having Blade be Commander... I dunno, just some things I was thinking about this week! It could just be that ShoH doesn't fit the 'mold' of a lot of CoGs, haha!
• Commission for Ayla's reference sheet is done! Want to take a look? Check it out above! <3

Thanks everyone for your patience, love, and support: I really feel so connected to everyone here! I really hope all of you are staying safe and healthy, and if you celebrate St. Patrick's Day (or the Ides of March) I hope you have a very good time!

Oh: do any of you listen to music while you're playing choice games, IF, or even ShoH in general? If so, I'd love to hear; shoot me a comment below! Thanks and have a great start to your week!