Press Release: Marquess of Notoriety

by **Saint Bomber** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:45 am

A press release for "A Marquess of Notoriety"

The story works around Grettel and a new girl named Cordellia.

The story is simple, but gets complex in familiar ways.
Grettel finds herself tasked with the repair the horrid political state of Wulfhammer. She inherits the title from the former Duchess of Elstwhere after her unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance, some years after the Grey Mountain War.
Cordelia's job is to pass a test, wherein she must successfully run a small marque for a predetermined time, to prove that she is capable of inheriting the most powerful single administrative unit in all of Aeresland, the annex of Ultima Transmundus. Her grandmother, Thracia, Exarchess of Ultima trans-mundus, is a lady of tradition, and will not see her lands passed to untested hands.
Grettel and Cordellia meet early in Cordellia's life, and the game unfolds through their letters to each other.
Throughout the game, the mysteries of Aeresland and the Mysterious cult known as the Devatic Order will reveal themselves, as well as the mysterious fate of the former Duchess of Elstwhere.

Some early questions:

Q: It's not going to have a surprise M. Night Shamalan or however you spell it ending, is it?
A: The story is designed to handle the worries of people who were dissatisfied with Embric's 'Final Ending' as well as compounding on the story as a whole for people who did like it.

Q: Clam bake?!?
A: Not entirely, but mostly.

Q: How long must I wait!?
A: I'm shooting for a nine-month primary development period. A thorough beta will follow. THOROUGH beta.

Q: Awesome Custom Systems!?
A: There should be a few, yes.
At the moment, I am hoping for a custom “Battle” engine, though it will more likely be more of an “Argument Engine.”
Grettel will have a "Nerd Index" representing her bibliophillic side,
Cordelia will have a similar character variable representing an unusual condition she develops coming out of her backstory.

by **Noctiluca** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:18 am

Mmm...creative and imaginative. Looking forward to it!

by **Green45** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:37 pm

Well, I'll look forward to it because it's by the guy who made Wulfhammer.

But I'm pretty disappointed that it won't continue with any of the cast we liked out of Wulfhammer aside from one side character, who, while pretty fun, wasn't exactly in my top five. With the time period cited, the only possible remaining members of the original cast could be Fal, Carmina and the dwarves.

Sounds a bit more "serious" than the previous game, too, or is that just me misreading you?

by **Saint Bomber** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:30 pm

Most of the original cast will make appearances.
Fal Carmina and the Dwarves are all long lived, and invested in the story, so I wouldn't worry about missing them.

by **Green45** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:59 pm

I suppose "appearances" is better than nothing. Oh and I also forgot, I suppose technically Ecinicea will be able to make an appearance, too...

Any option to choose which Duchess/[character] romance we want to be canon in the game? Because, just sayin', that'd be a selling point to me.

by **M1O** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:37 am

>Duchess of Elstwhere after her unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance

Erm, does Duchess die and her body disappears some time after?

by **Bloodsilver** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:29 am

I await the release eagerly.

Thank you very much! *bows deeply*

by **jrdp_18** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:14 am

Bloodsilver wrote:I await the release eagerly.
Thank you very much! *bows deeply*

Yes, yes. Me, too~!
Thank you and good luck!

by **ToshiroY** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:46 am

>Duchess of Elstwhere after her unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance
My heart literally skipped a beat when I read this.

>Fal Carmina and the Dwarves are all long lived, and invested in the story, so I wouldn't worry about missing them.
So Louni and Catherine, both of my favorite characters will be either dead or missing... I'd like to have the latter, the thought of them dead makes me utterly depressed. ;_;

Still, I'm looking forward to the game, if it's made by SB it will most likely be epic like Embric.

by **monkeyman1** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:07 pm

I can't wait for it. I like Grettel alot so i'm glad she's part of the focus and looking forward to the new girl/characters. I hoping the Dutchess gets something good happening to her, she deserves the best possible fate like her and Alice find some live forever place and love each other up constantly or something to that effect

by **Green45** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:26 pm

ToshiroY wrote:>Duchess of Elstwhere after her unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance
My heart literally skipped a beat when I read this.

>Fal Carmina and the Dwarves are all long lived, and invested in the story, so I wouldn't worry about missing them.
So Louni and Catherine, both of my favorite characters will be either dead or missing... I'd like to have the latter, the thought of them dead makes me utterly depressed. ;_;

Still, I'm looking forward to the game, if it's made by SB it will most likely be epic like Embric.

Man, no comment on Alice? ; _ ;

Still, you know if the Duchess disappeared after her death, it's because Alice spirited her body away somewhere to get her revived, or carried her off to Mount Olympus on her own. Y'know, an Epic Good End.

by **Illidan** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:39 pm

Waiting for it, good job.

by **Frozenpredator** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:06 am

I had a quiet hunch that Grettel would've been important in the sequel in some way... everything about her character just screamed 'potential future protagonist'

looking forward to this

by **Dalriander** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 8:08 am

Quite an interesting setting. I did appreciate the cleverness of the Final Ending, but like most of the people I had hoped for a light-hearted comedy kind of ending with the Duchess and her lover of choice. So I'm relieved to meet some known characters and their usual antics again.

As some have asked before, does "unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance" refer to the Duchess having died near eyewitnesses and being spirited away by someone as powerful as Carmina? Or has she been declared dead after gone missing in action like Embric in some of the Wulfhammer endings?

Another question is: Which ending is canon for this upcoming game? The Carmina in Elsthwhere ending, any other ending or a mix of different endings? And is there any connection to the 'real' Final Ending?

At the moment, I am hoping for a custom “Battle” engine, though it will more likely be more of an “Argument Engine.”

Is it something like the fencing in Monkey Island, where you see some 'battle animations' interrupted by dialogue options, that decide who wins the fight, or are there no 'real' battles at all, but instead battles of wits?

Well, I wish you the best for developing the game and am anxious to play it as soon as possible

by **Slyfox00** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:02 am

YAY! *squeal* I look forward to it ^_^

by **wererat42** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 2:42 am

(Looks at title image)
Will this have original art for the portraits or will it be mostly facemaker?

by **Saint Bomber** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:40 pm

I would like to have original face art, or better yet, Cut-ins for talkies.

Since Embric actually made a few bucks through donations, I'm looking at actually being able to pay artists for this game.
Personally, I like games with a lot of original art in them, and I would like to be able to MAKE one of those games.

by **zogster** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:12 pm

Mentioning the Exarchess, as I recall she made a cameo in the party scene during Fal's route. So would Cordelia be one of the youngsters in attendance at that party?

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:32 pm

Cordelia is just a twinkle in her father's eye at that point.

by **zogster** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:50 pm

On a second annoying question, is the Grey Mountain War mentioned one of the conflicts from the various endings, or an entirely new war?

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:11 pm

That's a bit more complicated.

Spoiler (Later Endings and Marquess):

by **Aik** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:28 pm

Focusing on Grettel? I could not be happier.
How old is she at the start of this?

by **Saint Bomber** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:06 am

The timeline is going to be in flux for a while, I think. There are many adjustments to make, and time passage is the most complicated of all.
Overall, the Aeresland calendar is so convoluted, I expect most people aren't able to tell what age they are.
For our purposes though, Grettel will be an "Adult," and Cordelia will be younger than her, while falling into the adult category. The Elves and dwarves might as well have not aged.

by **Dalriander** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:25 am

The timeline is going to be in flux for a while, I think. There are many adjustments to make, and time passage is the most complicated of all.

Somehow that reminds me of Terry Pratchett complaining about his Disc World becoming a too definite place, because he hasn't such a huge freedom of invention left anymore, as he had when writing his first Disc World novels.

By the way, when does the mass production of Embric t-shirts, cups and adult cuddle toys begin :?:

by **Smug_Bastard** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:51 pm

Sup.
As always i cant be more excited for your games. They have just the exact proportion of charm, spectacular writing and a perfect unexplainable state of mind that makes me feel like I know this game by heart by just looking on the title screen. I can proudly say that you are one of the best writers and game designers to ever be created in a science lab because lets be honest the way you go in my head and provoke all this feelings is not human. All shits and giggles aside your last game was so damn good i actually wrote a fucking essay about it so if you have learned any thing since EoWC i can safely say this game will be the best game ever made. I mean it. IT WELL BE GLORIOUS. I cant wait for the beta testing run cus of course i will test it because we are friends right?..... right? (hopeless). Well i know i dont post a lot and Im not some big fan work making guy and to be honest its only because your game was so damn successful. I wish it would become a sleeper hit that only 2 people in the whole world know about it and only one of them played it but well lots of people gathered around this game and started a religion called Saint boomerisim (i wish) and i hate people and i really hate h-a-t-e when something is popular (more or less fear it) but hey sometimes stuff is popular for a reason and this time I have to suck it up and grow some ballz cus these games are AMAZING.

Also i know that elfs live a hell of a long time but i beg you dont make me suffer with Fal anymore.

by **Illidan** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:13 pm

Errrr...
Being popular isn't the problem, the problem is when being popular mean you can do a shitty work and yet profit with it.
We luv you Saint Bomber, ah, btw:
Where is the essay *_*?

by **Saint Bomber** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:53 am

Popularity sounds nice!

I appreciate the love, it means a lot to me.
And naturally, I'll need loads of beta testers, as Marquess is looking to be quite a bit more complex than Embric by a long-shot.
In terms of sleeper status, having any presence in video games with an RPGmaker Project is an almost ludicrous idea, but I'm a big fan of the 'three impossible things before breakfast idea, and if only two people in the world know about it, let's make sure they tell two more people, and so on down the line.

Then maybe I can do this for a living some day.
the games will come a lot faster then. ^^;

by **Green45** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:01 am

Well, you never know, Minecraft is about as simple as it gets, programming-wise, and that's raked in several million dollars without even getting out of beta, hell, I think it broke the first million while still in ALPHA.

So really, if you set up a blog and kept the public regularly informed of Marquess of Notoriety progress, threw up a donation link and maybe said that... "Hey, anyone who donates ten bucks gets to be a beta tester!" I think you could get a decent bit of attention and press and maybe even a bit of money to fund art commissions and etc. for the game.

Also, while RPGmaker might not make you a PROGRAMMING celebrity, solid writing can still attract attention. I mean, let's be honest, as silly as the romances and characters in Wulfhammer were, the actual characters and the chemistry between them felt far more believable than anything in any recent Bioware game. And they're supposedly "good" writers.

by **Saint Bomber** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:21 am

I don't suppose you were around for the Beta of Embric, but I suspect that beta-testing it was a little less of a privlige and more of a chore.
On the other hand, seeing it three months early... Eh, who knows?

As to the blog and Donation link: http://www.wulfhammer.org feel free to support the cause!

As to keeping updates, I'm just about ready to drop some tasty alpha character designs, I think. Keep an eye out!

by **Merch** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:33 pm

Saint Bomber wrote:I don't suppose you were around for the Beta of Embric, but I suspect that beta-testing it was a little less of a privilege and more of a chore.

by **Saint Bomber** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:16 pm

It isn't QUITE that bad, but on the other hand, I don't provide the nutrient rich sludge, either.

Yeah, at least when you're working for peanuts, you get peanuts now and then.

by **Green45** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:10 am

Well, personally I enjoy beta testing stuff. You might find my reports to be of less than five-page length, though.

Once MoN gets far enough that you start posting some stuff from it here, you bet that I'll be dropping another donation, by the way. Wulfhammer might've been free, but I would have been disappointed if it had cost be thirty dollars or more.

by **Saint Bomber** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:04 pm

I was considering charging about 5$ for Embric of Wulfhammer's castle, up until about 3/4ths of the way through it.
In the end, I figured that I might have paid about 5 bucks for it as a novelty, but games of similar programming quality are going for about a buck on iTunes.
I figured, might as well advertise later games with this.
I like free stuff, I assume most people do too.

by **Porrima** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:03 am

Considering that since the

Spoiler:

really happens, we don't strictly speaking

Spoiler:

As such, this opens up a lot of room in writing the sequel, but Gretel nevertheless IS there, and the Grey Mountains war mentioned

Spoiler:

mean that some things from her

Spoiler:

must have been real events that happen in the future.

This will, in my opinion, make it hard for you to write the catching up timeline so that it's not convoluted or feel contrived - after all, the

Spoiler:

So you have a lot of work cut out for you. I wish you the best.

(It would be awesome, if we could somehow canonicize one ending of the

Spoiler:

P.P.S: Dear gods, I just realized that due to what I just said, we don't even know if the

Spoiler:

Hmm.. don't know what you CAN comment on about this, but perhaps something, at least.

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:54 am

Quite the ladder of spoilers you've got there.

Suffice to say, I'm shooting for anti-contrived, and I've rather figured out a creative way to get around EoWC's unique circumstances, without leaving them in obscurity.

by **Green45** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:22 am

Also, now to pile more work on you, but is the "deluxe" version of Embric of Wulfhammer still coming? With the promised proper Alice romance, etc.?

Not that I really need to have that game eat up another couple of days of my life...

by **Porrima** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:39 pm

Saint Bomber wrote:Quite the ladder of spoilers you've got there.

Suffice to say, I'm shooting for anti-contrived, and I've rather figured out a creative way to get around EoWC's unique circumstances, without leaving them in obscurity.

My apologies. Figured to be safe rather than sorry with the spoilers.

by **LornMarkus** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 8:46 pm

Saint Bomber wrote:Suffice to say, I'm shooting for anti-contrived, and I've rather figured out a creative way to get around EoWC's unique circumstances, without leaving them in obscurity.

Actually, a pretty simple answer comes to my mind: prophetic dreaming. Things still wouldn't go quite the same, but if nothing else it nicely explains her dreaming of people she'd never met but who did in fact exist.

Also, yo, loved the game and finally decided to bother making an account for the forums. I'll try not to burn anything down.

by **Saint Bomber** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:07 pm

Worry not! Fire extinguishers are at the ready!

My apologies. Figured to be safe rather than sorry with the spoilers.

Last I checked, MLA hasn't released a guideline on the structure of spoilers. I am merely amused.

Embric Deluxe is still in the works, regrettably, I've had the flu since January, and productivity has been low.
I still maintain that Alice has more romantic scenes that anyone else in the game, however.

by **Green45** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:56 pm

More romantic scenes and probably the best chemistry with the Duchess, yes.

But at the same time also the worst cockblock(wait, they're lesbians. Cuntblock?) in the entire game. "Oh no, I have to, um, carry some boxes! LATER, SUCKER!"

by **Saint Bomber** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:57 pm

That may be more of a dodge, really.
I think someone wrote fanfiction of that very scene, actually.

by **Duncan Idaho** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:36 pm

M1O wrote:>Duchess of Elstwhere after her unfortunate passing, and subsequent disappearance

Erm, does Duchess die and her body disappears some time after?

Spoiler:

by **Crasical** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:45 am

I'm quite pleased with this announcement. I just finally installed Embric of Wulfhammer's Castle to after having it sit on my hard-drive for who knows how long (I saw it being announced on /tg/ and grabbed the file because why not), and upon playing and becoming ABSOLUTELY ENCHANTED with the game, I go to the website and find a sequel's being made? Happy day.

I think I've bugged the game, sadly. Updating to the new version and starting doesn't bother me, though.

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:52 am

Somewhat tragically, Embric of Wulfhammer's Castle is what I would call-

"Buggy as fuck?"

Let's say 'possessed of it's share of systemic difficulties.'

But the good news is, there's a lot that can change playthrough to playthrough, so enjoy!

Spoiler (SOMEONE. WILL. DIE.):

by **Green45** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:00 pm

While not being entirely sure of what you've got planned for MoN... It'd be neat if there was an option rather like at the start of Knights of the Old Republic 2, where you got to basically tell what "your" Duchess was like, who she fell in love with, etc. and then have it pop up later as more or less plot relevant.

(In KOTOR 2 someone brings up the character you play in KOTOR 1, calling them basically OH MAN THE WORST SPACE-SATAN EVER and if you played a good guy and want that to be canon, you can correct them on it. So it'd basically be someone going: "So about that Duchess, eh? I heard she boned like twenty dark elves." And you could reply with: "Oh no, I heard she boned her maid." or "No no no, she was knee-deep in some rogue chick.")

Of course, considering how differently all of the endings play out, it might not be an option to pick between them. Though perhaps if we ignore some of the details we could still get to decide who the Duchess' "canonical" romance is? Just a thought.

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:56 pm

That's a pretty amusing idea, actually.

by **Crasical** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:01 pm

It was substantially more amusing when you had to correct the NPC as to the GENDER of your player character.

by **Saint Bomber** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:05 pm

"Oh yeah, that Duke of Elstwhere character"

by **Crasical** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:17 pm

I'm sad that the story of my lesbian, xenophile Jedi sniper and her glorious victory over the sith lord Malak via gigantic pile of land-mines was lost to history.

Edit:
On the topic of the Marquess of Notoriety, will Grettel be keeping her loquaciousness and cute pigtails, or will she be aged up and redesigned for the new game?

by **Saint Bomber** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 2:03 pm

Her sesquepedalishious dialog will likely evolve somewhat to reflect more real-life experience.
As to the pigtails, maybe for a special occasion, but she'll nominally be wearing her hair in a more adult fashion.

Who is online