Kedemara - The Orphan's Ballad News

Hello everyone!


It sure would be easier if I had a video of little Tessa telling everyone this in a cheeky manner...or I'd even settle for Kaleb stumbling through it! Although much like Kaleb, seems like I've been setting flags recently on a lot of things. I had some expected changes and unexpected ones surfacing as of late...hence why there's no cute video announcement for this. Don't worry, I'm still working on Chapter 6 and making (some) progress, so this is not an "I'm quitting" announcement or anything.


So it is confirmed that I am not only switching to a different job (again), but also moving for the 3rd time since Chapter 5 was released. I saw this change coming, and the positive end of it is that my commute to work is going from 1 hr 15 mins to a literal 10 mins or less. It's going to be a real pain to move in the summer, but the payoff will be very nice when getting to work is that quick. I'll get the chance to work from home a little bit and will have WAY more time off than at my current job.

What was not planned or expected, was one of my dearest friends and alpha testers actually suffered a stroke a few weeks ago. Fortunately it was not severe and they should make a full recovery, but amidst trying to retrain their coordination skills and mobility, things like reading a lot of text are difficult when focusing eyesight isn't as easy now as it used to be for them. They have a lot of very important life skills to try and relearn, so I can't burden them with playtesting Chapter 6 for this release. Regardless, I am SO thankful they are ok and will be able to fully recover in the months to come. As important as Kedemara is to me, it obviously doesn't supersede the well-being of my friends. I am very grateful to still have them in my life =)


With all of that said...I am still aiming for Winter 2025 as the release time for Chapter 6. I have a vast amount of the "Main Questline" already done and arranged, but there is a lot that needs to be done for the living history segments (of which there are many) and some of the auxiliary content, like side NPC conversations, minigames/puzzles, and exploration content. "Finish strong" is the goal here, I want to cross the finish line but hopefully without crawling on the ground!



Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding with these delays. It seemed like I was going to roll right into Kedemara II after Chapter 6 releases, but I'm not so certain about that right now. Things could change though...wouldn't be the first time that's happened! XD



Thank you all for playing and hope to see you back soon!
- Andrew (Creator)

Hello, Folks!


Yes, I AM still alive and still working on Chapter 6! Given recent events though, I don't know who's worse about setting flags...me or Kaleb! I intended to make a progress video with announcements and such for Chapter 6, but with how much has been going on, I don't exactly have the flex time to give that particular task its due effort. I've been chugging along, but the process has been rather disjointed. Since the release of Chapter 5, I've moved residences (twice...sort of?) and very well may be changing jobs in the next couple of months. To say the past year has been beyond hectic would be laughably understated...Chapter 6 is still being worked on and I'll be doing my best to finish out strong!

But enough of the heavy stuff! Where are we at right now??

I finished the vast majority of the mapping months ago, but eventing is always the most time-consuming part. Even with story outlines, making sure everything is tightly coded takes a lot of seat time without my usual Alpha Testers available. This was largely the case for Chapter 5 as well, so I know it can still be completed even with those resources not available to me. Right now, I'm in the second-to-last city working out the main storyline and coding. The final city will be rather dense, as nearly all "re-living history" stories should be accessible again from there (in case you missed something). New entries will include:

- King Robert's final entry
- Prince Edgar's final entry
- Queen Cora's 2nd and Final entries

- Prophetess Tovah's 2nd and Final entries
- Prophet Malakai's final entry
- The Mystery Prophet's two entries


I am very excited to reveal these, as the final entries are typically longest in the series, the wrapups are quite poignant for these as well. All of these lessons of history will serve to enrich the lore of Kedemara and bring context to Deirdre's destiny. I certainly hope you'll view them all when you arrive at the final city!

It's too soon to estimate how much content (in terms of time) will be present, but I will try to keep the main questline succinctly paced. There will still be plenty, but I imagine years of waiting may have some folks eager to see Deirdre's journey in full, perhaps before returning to experience all that Chapter 6 has to offer. Keep in mind though, there may be special rewards in store for full participation! (you know, besides Steam achievements)


Well, I am going to set my tentative completion date to Autumn of this year. Hopefully my dayjob will slow down and the new one will not be so arduous for me in the meantime. I won't go into details, but many things have taken a dire turn at my current job and it may not even exist before long. Kedemara continues to be a sort of refuge for me, when I have time to "go there". I want to thank you all for your patience and time you've spent with Deirdre thus far. I hope the conclusion of her story will indeed be an inspiring and uplifting one for all of you.



Thank you for playing!
- Andrew (Creator)

Here are the fix notes for this Chapter 5 patch:

- Fixed an issue where Booker in "Societa Lotta" would not allow you to fight a second time with monsters
- Added a prompt to choose your party members after saving, but before fighting monsters in "Societa Lotta"
- Adjusted an issue with screen tinting at the start of Sahaiah's vision
- Tweaked some minor text issues in NPC dialogue

A tileset collision setting was in place that prevented certain map tiles from being accessed (first cited for the Armory in Blanchielle). Settings for this tile have been set correctly now and the map should now be traversable without issue.

Hello all!


Making deadlines for the release date are always a pain, but these past two weeks has been RIDICULOUS! Folks, between having a "very infamous" virus that is going around again since last week, an ant infestation in part of my residence, numerous issues at my day job, and even losing a loved one...Chapter 5 is still released on-time. I'm very happy to say it was, too...


A few moments ago I switched to the new build of the game on here, the update patch should be minimal since there was a bulk content one sent out a while back, this new one is about 37MB more than the previous live build. Should be an easy update to pull if you're already updated to the newer build. The total install size for the game is now 2.9GB (WHEW!). I was up past midnight last night, tweaking and playtesting to make up for time lost when I was ill. While the past couple of months have been very trying for me on a professional, artistic, and personal level...it's very satisfying to be at the plateau for this particular goal.


Everyone experiences the game at different speeds and aren't always interested in going through all the content in the chapter, but this one actually came out to roughly 9-10 hours of content total. A kept hearing my playtesters that this chapter is a huge improvement over Chapter 4 in many, many ways. So I'm glad that everyone has something truly quality to look forward to. That having been said...


I'm mostly over my illness, but I'll say candidly that I did NOT finish this chapter at a leisurely pace. Not by a long shot. I do work a day job, so my availability is limited to assist or address, but please remember the following:


If you do encounter bugs or issues you need help with, please be sure to make a post in the discussion section, detailing as much about the issue as you can. I will try to keep an eye out this weekend and address things as soon as possible.


For those who have not read previous posts about the changes...
[h3]*Chapter 5 is no longer the final Chapter of Kedemara* [/h3]
What was going to be the final Chapter was split, so Chapter 6 will be the final chapter now.



With all that in mind, I can't wait for everyone to experience this new chapter in Deirdre's story. Thank you ALL for playing and supporting all this time! I look forward to sharing this with you all =)



Thank you!
- Andrew (Creator)