Progress 31.01.2025

Hello all!

Now then, tomorrow is a build day. So that means I'll be writing (and uploading) most of the weekend. Today I've mostly been doing codex renders. The biggest hurdle is the loading times of the characters, some can load in seconds, some take minutes, and it all piles up. And as per tradition, no spoilers... I'll start rendering 0.34.0 on Monday.

There are so many things I would love to show you guys and gals, but there is a certain fine line between revealing too much and being safe to show. Some of the ideas (and tests I do) do end up being as hidden renders, albeit somewhat modified to fit the events in the world. This may sound somewhat ironic, but one of the "problems" that creative minds has is the abundance of ideas, and you do spend a lot of time shifting through ideas that fit to what you are creating, or are even good idea in some cases. And frankly there are a lot of abandoned ideas. Some because they didn't fit, some because they were (or are) impossible to create. But there is a silver lining for all of these thoughts and ideas, and that comes from having multiple settings. Several ideas I thought, and rejected for ToaM will fit Sorcerer simply because they are found in mythology as well, just need to expand from the usual Greek, Germanic, Celtic and Nordic mythologies... And some might fit nicely in certain Science Fiction thing. As for this specifically? Fight in a ruined city in the clouds... Could have picked someone else than the Necromancer there but haven't rendered him in a while so why not?

Anyway, have a great weekend you all!

Progress 27.01.2025

Hello all!

Meh! I was supposed to do something on Friday and I forgot. Thus the thing is in this post...

So what's up? Rendering is in an okay state. It will take longer than I anticipated but on positives, I have all the sets I need for this update done. So it is just rendering, and only three scenes left... but the three scenes are about half of the update. Busy week ahead of me.

Writing is where it should be. I'm actually excited to write the things right now. Don't get me wrong here, I do enjoy the writing, but the previous updates negative outcomes weren't exactly the easiest to write and can take a toll. However, choices do need to matter, and if they matter, both the good and the bad needs to be written. But now moved on from that and things are... better.

And before the preview, the bit I forgot on Friday, the hidden image notes.

• 29: Devotion. Imperial family asking for guidance.

• 30: Gods are watching. The gods are watching and playing their games.

• 31: Prisoners. Prisoners under Var Garuhm.

• 32: Traitor. Traitor exposed.

• 33. Secrets of the Desert.

• 34. Queen of Blood. The Vampire queen when she was still alive.

• 35. Find her!

• 36. The Rebel.

• 37: Liches. Liches being... troublesome.
  

• 38: Revival. The Necromancer waking a vampire from it's slumber.

• 39: Hunted.

• 40: Captured.

A few don't have explanation line, partially because they don't necessarily need it and 31, 35, and 36 has context in the VN no later than update 0.33.0. The 9, 26, 28, 32, 33, 39 and 40 are linked and relates to the Nagas, Eshe, and Uche to lesser degree. And then the preview.

Some of you have seen the images of me making this set. It's street in the dwarven city, entry way to the "poor quarters". Now couple of notes of this. The blackness, everything is inside of a cavern, but the light doesn't reach the ceiling thus all you can see is black where you would expect a ceiling to be. It has been a challenge to create something believable overall with limited things. Despite fantasy being generally popular there is fairly little environmental things for anything but humans. But that being said, I'm overall happy what has been done.

Kasha: "Bugger off or I turn you into a fur coat as well!" Yes, I've been writing Kasha and had to remind myself what she is like. Like with the previous render I did with Kasha this also seems entirely plausible scenario. Right back to rendering for a bit and then a short break.

Progress 24.01.2025

Hello all!

One of those days when bed is nice and warm... ah well. So what's up?

Rendering is... in a state. Render count is where it should be, relation to the script? No where near, but then again, there was a largeish scene render count wise at the start. And on top of that, I have three sets to build just for this update. Luckily, two of them are reusable. Interesting times ahead. Still, I knew this and the next few ones would be complicated. Granted, so is everything after the next bits at the tower but in certain ways they are more simpler as for that region I do have more assets. Alright, even 1 asset would be more than I have for dwarfs.

Writing, it's going okay, after the trip to the dwarf city things are going to be hectic at the tower. We return there for threeish updates before we head out again, there are a few things that needs to be wrapped up. And don't worry fans of the blue one... she probably tags along.

And a concerned Master of the Arcane Forge. I wasn't happy when I wrote these updates, but now that I actually see them? I'm happy, there is some editing to be done here and there but it is far more clearer than it was during writing. Anyway, have a great weekend you all!

Progress 20.01.2025 and ToaM 0.32.0 Changelog

Hello all!

Bleh... Monday. One of those days where you just want to throw the alarm clock out of the window and pull the blanket over your head and continue to sleep. But on positives? It is release day. Yay. But before that the usual what's going on stuff.

Rendering of 0.33.0 has started, although for reasons there is no in game preview today, not because of spoilers though. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure how long the next three updates will take. There is a lot of set building and variations to make. I'll try to be as fast as I can, but renders take the time they will take.

Writing... I'll start 0.37.0 tomorrow. I've been saying that I'm not entirely happy with the whole segment... there is nothing wrong with it as is, but there was plan and it just went to completely different places... Some of the sets are going to be interesting to make. But anyway, plans are plans, and execution of those plans usually are completely different than the plan. Goes for both planning the writing and what happens in game. One thing I'm kind of happy. I think I managed to capture the chaotic situation relatively decently. You are expected to do X but then Y happens... Well rendering time is the time when it all comes together.

So a "motivational" render today. Internally this was titled "unusual messengers", ToaM is the first game where I've gotten the real opportunity to explore the animal figures in more larger perspective. Sure, Sorcerer had the Faerie Dragon, but at the time because of the limited resources she didn't get much screen time. However, going forward things... can be different. I do have resources to include larger variety of the animal companions. Not always, but more often. Going to be interesting to see how it goes. If for nothing else doing something in the background. Like Nisha and Cyre (Ayaka's dragonling) sleeping next to each other in the background... Anyway, the important stuff...

Changelog: ToaM 0.32.0

• 205 renders

• Implemented the next part of the story

• 1 hidden image

• Grammar, spelling, and other fixes (Thanks to Adry, Shaddy, BryonSmothers3DX, Bread, Oaiki, Draco, Horny Frog, DocWhoJ, OBE. boomario)

Note: A larger codex update is planned for 0.34.0. By then I should have all the required files for it done as I do them between renders and things. Also note, a bit longer today, there have been reports of issues with GoFile. So I'm downloading a couple of files and see if I will get the issue to trigger. But soon... And there are a couple of fixes in the pipeline for 0.31.0 as well, nothing that affects the game though.

Release schedule:

•     $15 Tier: As soon as the post has had its final touches and links been verified.

•     $10 Tier: 22nd of January

•     $5 Tier: 23rd of January

•     $3 Tier: 24th of January

•     Public: 3rd of February

Checksums SHA256:

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Public Release: Tribulations of a Mage 0.31.0

 Tested and played through it a few times, and all the saves worked. But that doesn't mean things didn't slip by. So, as always, if there are any issues, please report them on Discord if possible. That way, I notice them quicker.

https://discord.gg/GJK5kfKypg

Somewhat optional patch. Grammar fixes and fixes a one missing jump statement if preferring to sleep alone. Just a cosmetic thing in the end.
https://mega.nz/file/nv51VSJS#SFMFHKGS_mdQ6_dwZFgbDFQUvEgPw0yPBPsTUjOOkMM
https://gofile.io/d/AZAEhl

just extract it to the /game folder and let it overwrite the scripts.rpa


PC
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https://gofile.io/d/gc7IOK

PC Compressed
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MAC
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MAC Compressed
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Android
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Android WT
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https://gofile.io/d/6LScjV

Progress 17.01.2025

Hello all!

So what's up? Builds are being done tomorrow, would have done them today but unfortunately had one of those real life things that needs to be taken care of taking way too much time today, but bureaucracy nothing you can do about it. But Saturday or Sunday is the usual build day anyway so nothing new in that regard.

And that means it's writing time for the weekend. I don't have much left and I'm in better mood for writing since the more negative outcomes... sans one but that I only need to write not show so that's something I guess, still can change that bit as it is one of those things, granted it is easy enough to deal with if I leave it as is. And then as tradition... no spoilers. Not that there is much to spoil in this one...

This... this is interesting on a couple of levels. It isn't an in game render, but all the elements in it can and probably will appear sooner or later. And frankly, partial reason why this is the shattered sword, needed to test how it works.

This isn't the image I originally wanted to post, but it will do... Travelling in style. I'll be honest, this wasn't what I originally thought I would be doing. Right until the introduction of Maryn I was looking for alternatives, but the reality is, if you want to move a lot of people around relatively quickly, there aren't that many options. Herd of pegasi would have worked until you realise that you need 24 figures on the screen (give or take) if you want to accommodate the whole main cast. And that wouldn't solve the "problem" with Nisha. In the end, Maryn was the right choice.

Anyway, I'll get back to writing things. Have a great weekend you all.

Progress 13.01.2025

Hello all!

I'm tired, the full moon messing with my sleep again. Right, so what's up?

Rendering is in a good state, one and half scenes to render, about. So overall I'm happy with it, the render count isn't going to be huge in this one. But some of the up coming updates most likely are larger.

Writing. It's okay state. I still feel it is rushed but at the same time trying to prolong it feels artificial. Eh one of those things, it's going to be more clearer once I render as I said, more fleshed out than just the text and few sentences to guide the scenes.

And here it is... The Master of the Arcane Forge. I've been kind of dreading making these updates. Simply because there aren't really assets for it. But, I'll make do. And yes the image is a bit darker at the moment. But it will be somewhat more brighter at the release time. Anyway, a bit more rendering than a break... although I might end up doing today's quota before that. Eh lucky me, can write then. See you all on Friday... hopefully with additional pictures that I can show in public posts.

Progress 10.01.2025

Hello all!

Friday, yay. So what's up?

Rendering, it's going... honestly, I'm not entirely certain how it is going. Script wise, I'm where I should be, give or take. But set building and trying slightly different workflow is putting me a bit off. But it will get done in time.

Writing? It's in a good spot, not really happy about it, but that's because I'm currently writing the "negative" outcomes, which hopefully no one will see. I don't enjoy writing about the negative outcomes, but they need to be there so that the choices do actually matter. Anyway, it's all good.

So we are doing a slight detour, as it was said in 0.31.0. He and a couple of others are just minor characters. They are there just to provide some needed information, well him not so much for reasons. Other than the information, there is another reason for the detour and it relates to the big blue... but that's something to be discovered.

Anyway, that's it for this Friday. I'll see you all on Monday, and you all have a great weekend.

Progress 06.01.2025 and Changelog for ToaM 0.31.0

Hello all!

Annoying. This should have been out a few hours ago already. Stupid RL interruptions. And from the title you can guess that it is a release day as well. But before that. What's up?

Rendering of 0.32.0 has started, shock there I know. There are a couple of variants of things so I'm not entirely sure how it will go at this stage as they are in an environments that I haven't built yet so that remains to be seen.

Writing? It's in... as state. I'll start the 0.36.0 tomorrow or Wednesday the latest, depends a bit when my brain sorts few issues out. I'm not entirely happy about the flow if it at the moment. I know it isn't rushed and it looks different when I get the renders in, but not happy with it regardless. Eh it will sort itself out one I get to render it, I always edit things then.

Departure time... Finally, I suppose. The main story has been "stalled" for a bit, but that is due to realism reason. While getting information is quick, it isn't instant, and neither is planning.

And then just a motivational render. I did this actually yesterday. I wish I had this environment months ago, would have made things so much easier with a few scenes. But alas, it wasn't. Although, the good thing about doing three different style VN's is that there is some overlap between them and I can use certain assets cross genre.

Changelog: ToaM 0.31.0

• 312 renders

• Implemented the next part of the story

• 1 hidden image

• Grammar, spelling, and other fixes (Thanks to Adry, Shaddy, BryonSmothers3DX, Bread, Oaiki, Draco, Horny Frog, DocWhoJ)

Note: Codex hasn't been updated. There will be a larger update again soon to it, so kind of want it all done at the same time once I get the portraits and things rendered.

Release schedule:

•     $15 Tier: As soon as the post has had its final touches and links been verified.

•     $10 Tier: 8th of January

•     $5 Tier: 9th of January

•     $3 Tier: 10th of January

•     Public: 20th of January

Checksums SHA256:

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  com.talothral.toam-release.apk (WT)

Public Release: Tribulations of a Mage 0.30.0

Tested and played through it a few times, and all the saves worked. But that doesn't mean things didn't slip by. So, as always, if there are any issues, please report them on Discord if possible. That way, I notice them quicker.

https://discord.gg/GJK5kfKypg

Somewhat optional patch. Can be used or can be ignored, if used one less question at the start of update 31.
8AFACFE05474D9448CFEE37201311E8E7ED90E270BA742A4A3804129D1D3247F
https://gofile.io/d/vK6ovZ
https://mega.nz/file/y2ZQjAAD#0SMjGlDhHP9-edBJKKTJx_T6cPxWPV-hO-aWJxTYvQY
just extract it to the /game folder and let it overwrite the scripts.rpa

PC
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PC Compressed
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MAC
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MAC Compressed
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Android
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Android WT
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https://gofile.io/d/6HnJBG

Progress 03.01.2025

Hello all!

Wow... I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting to have the update done by now. But I handed it to testing and things last night and managed to get some extra sleep. So yay?

So obviously, outside of the few tasks when I do the builds after the final testing I'll write what remains of the update 34 over weekend. I'm not as far in as I would have hoped, but at the same time it isn't as bad as I make it seem. And as almost always during the last progress post of the update no spoiler so some other stuff...

One of the reasons why most mages are hmm... what's the word?Jealous? That will work. Jealous of Nisha is that she can be actively aid in more tasks than the usual familiars. Satya has a rat, while good for spying fairly useless in combat, same with Riya's butterfly or Uche's bird. Eirlys' spirit dog is one other that is useful in similar ways. Ayaka's dragonling can be useful, but she can't really body block, which can be useful at times. Yeah, my mind go into strange places at times. Especially considering I did this render to test the environment out...

And then this... someone got this stuck in me head... Still it was interesting to make. Not really feasible as is, well not with those clothes and that particular body shape, but if I get different set of nurse clothing I might have some use for her in some other game in the future >.>

Anyway, writing for me. Have a great weekend you all!