A long overdue update..

Hello all, Sherincall here.. Sorry we've abandoned this blog lately, we're both very busy with building. No matter, here comes a full update to make up for leaving you folk in the dark.

First of all, scripting. Progress is really good, and soon we should have all the basic (and not so basic) systems in place. The only big piece that is really missing is a crafting system. However, my SHC project originally started as a crafting system, and luckily it's very modular, so we can recycle huge portions of that code. All in all, scripting is the least of our problems.

Haks. These things are problematic, as by the time we've collected everything we want, a lot of new content appears. So, best approach is to wait for as long as we can. We have the placeables pretty-much finished, and they are at 55 megabytes 7-zipped. Tilesets are a bit more annoying, as for example, Gothic City was made using old BioWare models before full camera control was unlocked, and is thus missing geometry on the bottom side of the models. These bugs have been fixed by BioWare and CTP, and we need to take all those models, and apply the gothic texture to them. Not really a hard job, just tedious. Then, some textures in the Gothic City are dull and boring.. Or just don't fit, so there's the job of retexturing as well. I think (hope) other tilesets won't need this much work.

And now, here are some screenshots using default tilesets to show our placeables..

And finally a lore tidbit: Here's one of our NPCs.

Alaenna the Witch

Alaenna is a half-elven sage, alchemist and sorceress, living in a tower about 15 miles away from Midport. The church of the Archons despises her, and has given her a bad reputation. She doesn't really care, though, as long as she is left alone. It is said that the church had attempted to remove her by force in the past, but was unsuccessful, however it is uncertain how much of that is true. One thing is certain, should the church, or anyone else invade, she would never leave her tower and valley again, and is willing to fight to her death.

Alaenna is very fond of mirrors. Rumor has it that she has the ability to create fast and slow mirrors, that allow you to look a few seconds into the future / past. Alaenna is not naturally beautiful, however, through alchemy and practice she has managed to change her facial traits to that of a very attractive woman. This is very exhausting though, and when she is alone she will relax her face and revert to her original appearance.

Her only servant, and closest friend is Isrrak, a blind monk, who is one of the last connoisseurs of the forbidden alphabet, symbols that when written in a special manner cause death to any who see them. Isrrak speaks only when it is absolutely necessary, so most who've met him think he is dumb as well. Alaenna sometimes asks him to inscribe the forbidden symbols on her eye-lids, to keep her protected from enemies while she's asleep.
Alaenna spends an hour every day living the life of her mother. She dresses in her clothes, and acts like she would. During this trance, she forgets all the details of her own life and only knows what her mother knew. This is her way of repaying her mother for dying while giving birth to her.

Alaenna values knowledge above anything else, and will always trade an information for an information. Even material objects she is willing to part with for a good tale or some news. Once she gives herself an assignment of understanding something, she will be able to do little else until she is satisfied with her knowledge of that thing - Meaning until she has full understanding of everything about it.