Shards of Her - DEVLog April & Patch Notes
Here we go with another DEVLog, probably the last one before the release of the next update. I'm taking my time to set everything up right and make it seamless for the next ones. I know it takes some time, but I'm trying to deliver a flawless story out there and provide a great experience for everyone.
Now, let's delve into this, and let me present a few things to you, starting from the Prologue up to ACT IV, highlighting the changes and the additional stuff.
Some minor changes were made to the dialogue and its visuals. The narrator of the Prologue has been changed, and later in ACT IV we'll find out who it is.
Hemera also received some visual updates, reflecting her status back then. Now, later... well, we all know how the story turns out.
There are some other changes planned for the Prologue, but those aren't meant to be shown just yet, and they'll only be unlocked after a specific point in the story.
Now, some story inconsistencies have been fixed, dialogue has been rewritten in some cases, and spellchecks have been done overall. Plus, there are visual changes in some instances, and a new character is introduced towards the end of the ACT.
A new scene has been introduced before MC heads to Omikami's Hideout. This character will appear again later in the game, but with a catch. So, right now the scene doesn't hold important meaning for the story, but it will later.
The vision scene between Aethra and Dies has been enhanced, and their conversation has been improved as well.
Now, towards the end of ACT I, during the narration of a version of War of Shadow, we're introduced to a new character. The whole scene is tied to ACT IV, so I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
Visually speaking, this ACT wasn't touched much because I already kind of like how it is. However, some changes will be made to it later, especially when MC wakes up and has to choose between calling for Hemera or Omikami, but that's on the TBD list for now.
The vision scene has been visually enhanced for both Aethra and MC.
This ACT ends, and now we're in the next phase where things are finally starting to get serious, story-wise. Everything starts to connect, linking past, present, and future events, and we finally find out the full story behind Echo's actions and how she was time itself for a while...
New characters make their appearance, and some leave the scene... it's all starting to connect. And the consequences of past events will start to feel real...
And now, we'll delve into ACT IV... it's up to you to discover what's happening and where the story is going...
Now, regarding the other changes I mentioned before, starting from ACT IV, whenever you discover new things, meet new characters, find new Shards... or when something major happens, they will be added to the CODEX Menu. Let's go over it.
The Shards menu got a little overdone since the last design. I wanted to fully animate the buttons, but even with only two of them unlocked, it started to lag. I guess it's due to the engine, so I left them as static images, but you'll get an animated version of each once you open its page.
I don't necessarily consider this a spoiler, but right now two Shards can be found. The rest... well, that's up to you to find. One of them has been in plain sight since the start of the game
As you can see, the page will hold all of the Shards. Each one, as already stated in the game, is based on one of the seven sins and has its own story behind it, explained once you open its page.
If you've paid attention to the story, you'll notice how each Shard is somehow tied to its current holder, or whoever found it. And how it affected them, or whether it did at all, depends.
Regarding the Timeline, whenever something major happens or has happened and you've just found some new information about it, it'll get updated. For example, the Shards of Her event on the current timeline will be updated in ACT IV because of the things you find out.
And each ACT has its own page which will hold the major events that happened. If an event is too big, it'll have its own section apart from the ACT's own page. As you can see below, we have the section for ACT I - Awakening fully updated. This page, with all that information, only updates once you've finished ACT I; otherwise, you get the initial description without the details of what happened.
You can scroll or drag through it to see everything that has happened as we continue forward.
As you can see in this image, in the upper right corner, a notification pops up whenever something new is updated or added to the CODEX Menu, so you'll always know. You can check it for more lore information about whatever it is. In the image above, we have the default entry for ACT I - Awakening in the Timeline section of the CODEX Menu.
The same goes for whenever you meet a new character, find another Shard, or discover a new location; each one comes with its own story.
The STEAM page for the game will be updated once the release is complete and live.
Now, here are the patch notes so far...
PROLOGUE - Veil of Illusion
ACT I - Awakening
ACT II - Echoes
ACT III - Reckoning
* For the moment, this will only be available from the end of ACT III onwards.
I'm sure once again I might have forgotten something to add or reveal, but I'm sure you'll find out once you start playing.
Now, let's delve into this, and let me present a few things to you, starting from the Prologue up to ACT IV, highlighting the changes and the additional stuff.
PROLOGUE - Veil of Illusion
Some minor changes were made to the dialogue and its visuals. The narrator of the Prologue has been changed, and later in ACT IV we'll find out who it is.
Hemera also received some visual updates, reflecting her status back then. Now, later... well, we all know how the story turns out.
There are some other changes planned for the Prologue, but those aren't meant to be shown just yet, and they'll only be unlocked after a specific point in the story.
ACT I - Awakening
Now, some story inconsistencies have been fixed, dialogue has been rewritten in some cases, and spellchecks have been done overall. Plus, there are visual changes in some instances, and a new character is introduced towards the end of the ACT.
A new scene has been introduced before MC heads to Omikami's Hideout. This character will appear again later in the game, but with a catch. So, right now the scene doesn't hold important meaning for the story, but it will later.
The vision scene between Aethra and Dies has been enhanced, and their conversation has been improved as well.
Now, towards the end of ACT I, during the narration of a version of War of Shadow, we're introduced to a new character. The whole scene is tied to ACT IV, so I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
ACT II - Echoes
Visually speaking, this ACT wasn't touched much because I already kind of like how it is. However, some changes will be made to it later, especially when MC wakes up and has to choose between calling for Hemera or Omikami, but that's on the TBD list for now.
The vision scene has been visually enhanced for both Aethra and MC.
ACT III - Reckoning
This ACT ends, and now we're in the next phase where things are finally starting to get serious, story-wise. Everything starts to connect, linking past, present, and future events, and we finally find out the full story behind Echo's actions and how she was time itself for a while...
New characters make their appearance, and some leave the scene... it's all starting to connect. And the consequences of past events will start to feel real...
And now, we'll delve into ACT IV... it's up to you to discover what's happening and where the story is going...
Now, regarding the other changes I mentioned before, starting from ACT IV, whenever you discover new things, meet new characters, find new Shards... or when something major happens, they will be added to the CODEX Menu. Let's go over it.
The Shards menu got a little overdone since the last design. I wanted to fully animate the buttons, but even with only two of them unlocked, it started to lag. I guess it's due to the engine, so I left them as static images, but you'll get an animated version of each once you open its page.
I don't necessarily consider this a spoiler, but right now two Shards can be found. The rest... well, that's up to you to find. One of them has been in plain sight since the start of the game
As you can see, the page will hold all of the Shards. Each one, as already stated in the game, is based on one of the seven sins and has its own story behind it, explained once you open its page.
If you've paid attention to the story, you'll notice how each Shard is somehow tied to its current holder, or whoever found it. And how it affected them, or whether it did at all, depends.
Regarding the Timeline, whenever something major happens or has happened and you've just found some new information about it, it'll get updated. For example, the Shards of Her event on the current timeline will be updated in ACT IV because of the things you find out.
And each ACT has its own page which will hold the major events that happened. If an event is too big, it'll have its own section apart from the ACT's own page. As you can see below, we have the section for ACT I - Awakening fully updated. This page, with all that information, only updates once you've finished ACT I; otherwise, you get the initial description without the details of what happened.
You can scroll or drag through it to see everything that has happened as we continue forward.
As you can see in this image, in the upper right corner, a notification pops up whenever something new is updated or added to the CODEX Menu, so you'll always know. You can check it for more lore information about whatever it is. In the image above, we have the default entry for ACT I - Awakening in the Timeline section of the CODEX Menu.
"They survived one Dawn, hoping for peace... They should have prayed the dawn never came again."
The same goes for whenever you meet a new character, find another Shard, or discover a new location; each one comes with its own story.
The STEAM page for the game will be updated once the release is complete and live.
Now, here are the patch notes so far...
- ACT IV Story Content
- Voice Overs for Narration (On-Going)
- Script/Dialogue/Visual Fixes (Overall)
- Story Fixes (Story Inconsistencies)
- New Animations
- New Achievements
- New Intro Screens for ACTs
- Game Conditions Updated
- Notifications for Codex Entries Added (Overall)
- *Persistent Data Values for Characters/Shards/Timeline & Realms
PROLOGUE - Veil of Illusion
- Visual Enhancements
- Small Dialogue and Narration Changes
ACT I - Awakening
- Visual Enhancements
- Dialogue Fixes & Spellchecking
- New Scenes Added
- Small UI Changes
- NEW Character Introduced
ACT II - Echoes
- Smoothed Transitions
- Dialogue Fixes & Small Changes
- Visual Enhancements & Fixes
- Small Story Inconsistencies Fixes
- New Small Scene Added (Nakata & MC Scene)
ACT III - Reckoning
- Dialogue Fixes & Small Changes
- Small Story Inconsistencies Fixes
- Smoothed Transitions
* For the moment, this will only be available from the end of ACT III onwards.
I'm sure once again I might have forgotten something to add or reveal, but I'm sure you'll find out once you start playing.
"When the Tempest's fragments sing, and the Reaper begins its harvest... what hope remains? May the gods of creation have mercy, for their world teeters on oblivion."
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