Kedemara - The Orphan's Ballad News

[p]Hello Everyone!![/p][p][/p][p]It's so hard to believe we made it to this point! After 6 years of writing, revising, troubleshooting, testing, and polishing...to finally make it here almost doesn't seem real to me! Yet just like Deirdre's story was known to me from the beginning, there have been numerous detours, surprises, and alterations to get us to the day I knew would come eventually. Much thanks and love to those who have patiently waited while I get my act AND life together, culminating in what I hope is the bookend to a story that has been enjoyed by all who've experienced it.[/p][p][/p][p]The full Chapter 6 build is live right now, which has undergone as much testing as my (only) Playtester and myself can bear. I'll be keeping an eye on the discussion posts starting tonight and tomorrow, so if anyone comes across bugs I'll try to jump on them as soon as I'm available to. Just be sure to include spoiler warnings if applicable to any posts you make![/p][p][/p][p]95% of questions will be answered in this final chapter, but some lore and story elements concerning auxiliary groups or characters may not be explained until Kedemara II...so if you've got unanswered questions, please hold on as it may be a huge story beat for Kedemara II! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who's played and supported me while creating this game. I hope the conclusion to this story is to your liking, my Playtester really enjoyed it a lot...I hope everyone else feels the same way about it! [/p][p]I don't like "Goodbyes", so instead we'll just say "Until next time"...which will be here before we know it =)[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for playing! See you all soon![/p][p]Andrew (Creator) [/p]

[p][/p][h2]As melancholy as the past few updates have been, we actually have some GOOD news this time around!! Have things gotten easier and life become smoother? Not at all!...but I have a (planned) release date for the final Chapter of Kedemara: The Orphan's Ballad! And that date is October 31st 2025!! =)[/h2][p][/p][h3]It would have been nice to release it on Oct 30th (since Chapter 1 released Oct 30th, 2019), but I wanted the weekend to fix any bugs that may come up after release. While folks may be busy dressing up and partying on the 31st of October, maybe they'll have some time on Saturday to play while recovering from partying ;-)[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The hard status on Ch 6 progress right now is that all the major story eventing and arrangement has been done and connected. There are some living history segments that still need testing/refining, combat still needs config and adjustment, and of course there's the polishing of side activities or story to enhance the experience. What was supposed to be a 4-5 hour Chapter has likely ballooned into something far larger....but it IS the last one![/h3][p][/p][h3]Plenty of second-guessing and anxiety persists in how the ending will be received, and while none of the Playtesters has viewed it yet, I certainly hope they will find Deirdre's story to be enjoyable and uplifting. Many people have expressed how much they enjoyed Chapter 5 and I certainly hope Chapter 6 delivers in the same way. It may take a lot of continued sweat and tears to make the Oct 31st deadline, but I certainly hope the motivation to complete this helps me push through.[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]In keeping with the tone of Chapter 5, there will continue to be a careful balance of joy and sorrow, as we all face during life as we age. I certainly hope I can maintain the same pace and quality as before, despite the rather trying setbacks I've run across the past year. [/h3][h3][/h3][h3]Some of the living history segments have been condensed, where the 2nd chapter of their story would have been too short, I've combined a few with their later ones to make their length more consistent. Here is the final count on what you'll be able to expect from the living history segments in Chapter 6...[/h3]

• [p]King Robert MacLeod has three total Chapters[/p]
• [p]Prince Edgar has three total (two from someone else's perspective)[/p]
• [p]King Phillip has three total[/p]
• [p]Queen Cora has two total (last one is sort of a "secret")[/p]
• [p]Lady Anora has six chapters[/p]
• [p]Prophetess Tovah has three chapters in total[/p]

[p][/p][h3]The bulk of these will not be accessible until you reach the LAST city, where all of them (except Lady Anora's) will be accessible on-demand, including all previous living history segments you've encountered (in case you missed any!!). The purpose of these is to give context and backstory to the world around Deirdre, it may even help prepare her for trials she'll overcome during this chapter of her journey![/h3][h3][/h3][h3]The first few cities are small (relatively speaking), but the last one is massive. Part of the reason this is taking so long is creating dialogue and other fine details (merchants, encounters, amenities, etc.) for that particular city. I had planned on adding a few others in, but the amount of content swelled so much that no more was necessary to help the story progress onward. [/h3][h3][/h3][h3]Things like minigames and activities become far more prevalent in the second half of the Chapter, so hang in there if you enjoy them! You'll have plenty as you get closer to the end of the Chapter! Combat and bosses may seem a bit light in this Chapter, but the focus here is preparing for the big final battle, so just hang in there if you're waiting on an epic boss battle!!![/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Being absolutely frank with everyone, I might need a year or two off before I start really digging into Kedemara 2: Savage Tides with any real fervor. I have some baseline content ironed out, but I'll be starting off far more organized and careful than I did with Kedemara: The Orphan's Ballad. Thus far I have over 2400+ hours logged working on Kedemara, so needless to say I'd like to take a break and relax for a while.[/h3][h3][/h3][h3]Knowing myself, I'll probably jump right back in full-force after a couple of months or so, but I'm looking forward to some other creative outlets for a change. I've made it well-known that I absolutely love D&D, so I'm looking forward to having time to spend on that with my friends when Kedemara is done. As I write and DM campaigns, I store up ideas for my games now, so it could be the art of working on it without working on it ;-)[/h3][h3][/h3][h3][/h3][h3]I'll keep everyone in the loop as best as I can. I'd love to get another (better) trailer put together, but that'll have to come AFTER I'm sure Chapter 6 is good to go. I hope everyone is looking forward to the conclusion of this story Deirdre is telling us, but be assured there is definitely more stories to tell in the future! Who knows where they'll end up in another 5, 10, or 20 years ;-)[/h3][p][/p][h3][/h3][h3]Thank you all for playing! Hope to see you back here soon![/h3]

• [p]Andrew (Creator)[/p]

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