Hey everyone! Welcome to this week’s Developer’s Diary!
It’s been a hectic week here in Shanghai, thanks to some unexpected electronic power system maintenance and some other real-life business on my schedule. While I didn’t make much major story progress, I've got some equally awesome updates.
Did you know? The word “awesome” had a deeply religious connotation about 400 years ago. You can even find it in the Holy Bible (e.g., Psalm 68:35, Genesis 28:17, Exodus 15:11). So, let’s dive into some faith-based content!
New Faith TenetsFirst up, a powerful verse from the Bible: Nahum 1:3: “The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.”
The effect of this tenet is about a delayed punishment towards your enemy. The world has many injustices. Sometimes, those who caused such grief may even seem to get away. However, this verse assures the faithful that evil will be punished just at a later time.
Game Mechanic: This tenet introduces a delayed punishment system. If an enemy damages you, they enter a countdown state starting at 7. Each subsequent attack reduces the countdown by 1. When it hits 0, they suffer true damage based on the number of times they’ve harmed you. This mechanic was added on October 12, 2024, just days before the news of Israel eliminating Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the sinful man who caused this entire war. I like that people sometimes talk about how my content can cause reverberation in reality.
Of course, such belief is not limited to Abrahamic Religions. In various Eastern Religions, people also believe those who commit evil deeds will be punished in time, while those who do good deeds will be rewarded in time. It's a tenet was originated from India, and some spread towards the rest of the world, known as Hetu-Phala.
It works similarly to Nahum 1:3 in the game.
Either way, you can now have the power of the "cause and effect."
In many religions, there is always something in common, something that represents the good of humanity. Thus, there have been many movements since long ago, trying to find common ground and achieve great things together for the good of all humanity. That leads to our next new tenet:
Pan-Abrahamism
If you search this term, you can easily find the Baha'i religion movement in your search results. It is a religious movement with an Islamic root. However, its followers believe all famous religious figures throughout history are carrying God's message. Thus, all shall be respected. They also explicitly reject notions of racism, sexism, and nationalism, putting aside people's differences to achieve the unity of humanity. Consequently, they may be one of the most tolerant Islamic religions. However, in this cruel world, it is often those who are most open-minded and the most tolerant who get persecuted. The Iran government has been genocided them for a long time. Only less than 70 of them remain in that nation, imprisoned.
Now, as we have just talked about, those who are kind and tolerant. Let's check the other side of the coin. Just like a kind and tolerant belief can grow in a place lacking freedom, a totalism tenet can also grow in a free nation.
Some people talk about free speech, yet they want to silence whoever is against them. What makes it worse is we are witnessing this phenomenon not just in the world's most despicable nations run by dictators but also in the United States. When many people in the world are still struggling to get more civil freedom, there are people out there who do not only not appreciate the birthright granted them by their forefathers, but they are also actively undermining the very foundation of their nation. Even though it's not my nation that gets screwed up by those people. I feel very sorry for my friends in the US. This tenet contrasts with true Freedom of Speech (in the game, they are mutually exclusive.) and highlights the irony of such behavior in both oppressive regimes and democratic nations.
That concludes the first part of this diary.
Now, the second part is mostly based on feedback I received this week.
Someone complained about how this game developed by a Chinese developer has wheat but not paddy and rice in the game. Oh, well. I guess the answer is that I don't have enough time to cover all the content I want to add. But such feedback is legit. If, after the death of a developer, they will live in the game they have developed in their lifetime, then I certainly want my game to have paddy and rice in the game. So, here we are:
Taking this chance, I am also going to add the cultural importance of paddy and rice here. Because, it's not merely food that makes who we are. Thousands of years of history are all behind us. It's also something beyond the borders of nations, as you can find it common in various Eastern Asia cultures.
As such, we can now plant paddy in the game and have them rest. (For those who are not into this, you can just purchase some from vendors.)
The rice from what you grow in the soil will be more delicious.
You can even use holy water to cook rice and get a blessed version. After all, rice is used in many rituals and ceremonies in East Asia as well.
You can also put some eggs in the rice and cook some Egge Fried Blessed Rice. It also held a certain cultural importance since about 1500 years ago; It's also something that when I get busy, just like I am this week, I can quickly cook and stay focused on my work.
Paddy's usage is not limited to cooking rice. There are more you can discover in the game. For example, you can use them to make some Sake, or maybe you can use them for alchemy.
To conclude this part, we get one additional faith tenet here to celebrate all people who share this cultural heritage.
As it's a tenet of peace and harmony. It's mutually exclusive to the raider tenet. You are free to choose if you want to be a settler builder or a raider, just like you can in Fallout 4. But you can hardly promote both in your own faith system.
Next, about the ropes.
What can ropes do in a game? Well, in Elona, a game that has just as much freedom as ours (and you can also do quite a lot of messed up things there, just like our game.), you can get some surprises when you use a rope. You will accidentally hang yourself. A dark humor well-known by many back in the old days. The developer of Elona has experienced some tough times in his life. But, recently, he is back! His new game is right here at the Steam Next Festival! I'd recommend everyone to try it. And in his honor, I added the rope joke to my game as well.
OK, that joke aside, we certainly have other usages for those ropes. Let's see...
Make a teru teru bozu from a corpse. Oh, well, things are getting dark quite fast, aren't they? But that's the point; this is a game about supernatural, unspeakable horror beneath the seemly peaceful and normal facade. Thus, this crafting recipe based on Japanese urban legends fits this theme quite well. Many evil enemies can drop the blueprint of this. They may also drop the blueprints that can allow you to fuse all those fragments of curse stones together and make a whole one, which you can then use to unleash the power of calamity on your enemies.
Of course, we also get new procedurally generated quests:
Many alchemists in Qinuyi want test subjects for their potions. If you want, maybe you can find a way to get some quick money. But, just in real life, this is totally not healthy. However, in real life, people in desperation may sometimes volunteer to test questionable medicines. The price varies depending on where you live. Life is simply unfair. People's lives may be worth millions in developed nations, while in China, the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP, even in the most economically advanced city, Shanghai, it's only worth about 150 thousand dollars. I can tell you this because, as a lawyer in China, I have first-hand experience. Can you imagine how much people's life worth in an even worse place?
That's for this week. Thanks for reading. I know this is not a very pleasant diary. But games are sometimes more than just funny and mindless content.
The Completed Update Log of This Week:
20241012
English
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[Faith]New Religion Group: Eastern Religions
[Faith]Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Shinto, Sikhism, Korean Muism, Confucianism, Conork & Menork, and Kong are now categorized as Eastern Religions.
[Wiki]Updated the faith, center of belief page, and added the Religion Group category.
[Faith]New Faith Tenet: Nahum 1:3 (It has the most complex Game Mechanism for a faith tenet so far.)
[Wiki]You can find how exactly the "Nahum 1:3" works on the faith, tenet wiki page.
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It should be very obvious, but now I am making it even more clearer on the Steam store page's content warning sector that the game contains Pro-Ukraine and Pro-Israel content.
简体中文
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【信仰】新宗教组：东方宗教
【信仰】佛教、道教、印度教、神道教、锡克教、韩国巫教、儒教、孔哥和孟哥，以及恐子现被归类为东方宗教。
【维基】更新了宗教的信仰核心页面，加入了宗教组的分类。
【信仰】新信仰信条：那鸿书1:3 （拥有目前为止最复杂的信仰机制）
【维基】你可以在维基的信条页面上找到【那鸿书1:3 】的完整机制。
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虽然应该已经很明显了，但是，我现在在Steam页面的内容警告区域再次明确写明一下，游戏包含支持乌克兰和支持以色列内容。
20241013
English
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[Faith]New Faith Tenet: Pan-Abrahamism
[Faith]New Faith Tenet: Freedom of Speech, Except Whoever Opposes Me. (It's a dark humor tenet. Unfortunately it's a quite real problem in the world we live in right now. Obviously, it's mutually exclusive to the "Freedom of Speech" tenet.)
[Faith]New Faith Tenet: Hetu-Phala (Basically, the Eastern counterpart to the Nahum 1:3 tenet.)
[Faith]The Zoroastrianism faith is now also considered an Eastern Religion. (Our system is flexible enough to allow a religion to be in multiple religion groups.)
[Item Detail Window]Negative modifier to sub-categories of speech skills now display in red.
[Wiki]Everything mentioned above has been updated to the game's wiki.
简体中文
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【信仰】新信仰信条：泛亚伯拉罕主义
【信仰】新信仰信条：言论自由，反对我的人除外。（这是一个充满黑色幽默的信条。但是，不幸的是，这就是我们现在所处的世界上常见的一种想象。显然，这是一个和【言论自由】互斥的信条）
【信仰】新信仰信条：善恶有报 （基本上，这是东方宗教版本的【那鸿书1:3 】）
【信仰】拜火教现在也被认为是一种东方宗教。（我们的系统足够灵活，可以让一个宗教同时在不同的宗教组当中。）
【物品详情窗口】对于说服技能的四个分支的负面修正现在会用红色显示。
【维基】所有上述内容被同步到游戏的维基。
20241014
English
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[Item]New Item: Paddy
[Alchemy]Paddy can be used for alchemy
[Cooking]Paddy is considered a kind of grain, thus all related recipe applies.
[Shopping]Generic Food Ingredient Vendors now sell Paddy.
[Gardening]New Seed: Paddy Seed.
[Shopping]Generic Gardening Vendors now sell Paddy Seeds.
[The House Near the Paddy Field]You can now find many paddy seeds in this house.
简体中文
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【物品】新物品：稻米
【炼金】稻米可以被用于炼金。
【料理】稻米被视为是谷物，因此相应的料理配方同样适用。
【购物】随机的食材商人现在会贩卖稻米。
【种植】新种子：稻米
【购物】随机的种植商人现在会贩卖稻米种子。
【水田近家】你现在可以在这里找到很多稻米的种子。
20241015
English
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[Queensmouth Fire Department]All fire trucks got their art assets updated to the one from the "RPG Maker MZ - Various cars Characters set." （The old spirit is still in the game files, just not used. For now.）
[Localization]All texts related to procedurally generated food are now in their own file.
[Cook]New Cooking Recipe: Rice (If you use holy water to cook, you can get the blessed version.)
[Cook]New Cooking Recipe: Egg Fried Rice (You can get the blessed version if you use holy water to cook. Based on the egg you are using, the name of this dish will change accordingly. Feel free to have fun with your creativity.)
[Faith]New Faith Tenet: Agrarian Culture (Mutually Exclusive to Sanctioned Raider)
[Wiki]Everything mentioned above has been updated to the game's wiki.
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Fixed the collision issue for the shop stand of generic goods vendors.
简体中文
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【王后镇消防局】所有消防车的外观更新为了从【RPG Maker MZ - Various cars Characters set】获得的新外观。（旧的外观仍然在游戏文件中，只是不再使用。至少目前是这样。）
【本地化】所有和过程生成食物有关的文本被移动到了单独的文件中。
【料理】新料理配方：米饭 （如果你用圣水来做米饭，会获得被祝福的版本。）
【料理】新料理配方：蛋炒饭（如果你用圣水来做米饭，会获得被祝福的版本。会根据你使用的蛋的种类不同自动改变为对应的名称。尽情发挥你的想象力来恶搞吧。）
【信仰】新信仰信条：农耕文化 （和【正当掠夺者】信条互斥）
【维基】所有上述内容被同步到游戏的维基。
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修复了杂货商的货柜的碰撞检测问题。
20241016
English
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[Shopping]The Northern Star Tavern now serves rice.
[Shopping]The House of the 20th now serves rice.
[Item]You can now use strong ropes to hang yourself. (There is a unique game over message. It's an old joke from Elona.)
[Crafting]New 3D Printing Recipe: Teru Teru Bozu
[Item]New Item: Crafting Blueprint of Teru Teru Bozu
[Shopping]Random Witchcraft Vendors and Shady Vendors now sell Crafting Blueprints of Teru Teru Bozu
[Wiki]Everything mentioned above has been updated to the game's wiki.
简体中文
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【购物】北极星旅店现在有米饭出售。
【购物】第20号房现在有米饭出售。
【物品】现在你可以用结实的绳上吊。（会有独特的游戏结束信息。这是来自那个古老的Elona的黑色幽默）
【制造】新3D打印配方：晴天娃娃
【物品】新物品：晴天娃娃3D打印图纸
【购物】随机的巫术商人和可疑的商人现在会贩卖晴天娃娃的3D打印图纸。
【维基】所有上述内容被同步到游戏的维基。
20241017
English
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[Sexual Activity]If you have the "Horny" effect, it will now be removed after you participate in any sexual activities.
[Quest]New Procedurally Generated Quest: Potion Test (You cannot drink the potion if you are not a "healthy" test subject.)
[Qinuyi Administration Office]You can now find Potion Test Quests on the Mission Terminal.
[Samujier Supermarket]The food ingredient vendor now sells paddy at a lower price than other locations. (Because the town is near that paddy field.)
[Brewing]You can now use brewing machines to make Sake from water/paddy/yeast.
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[QoL]When you use a mouse or gamepad to change the number in various situations, such as during trading, you can now press your mouse or gamepad button to change numbers without the need to release the button and click again. It also has an acceleration mechanism.
简体中文
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【性行为】如果你有【性冲动】的状态效果，参与任何性行为将会移除这个效果。
【任务】新的过程生成任务：药剂测试 （你无法在一种不够【健康】的状态下完成这个任务）
【奇努伊行政办公室】你现在可以在这里的任务终端上找到【药剂测试】任务
【萨姆吉尔超市】这里的食材商人会以低于其它地方的市场价的价格出售稻米。（因为旁边就是一个水田。）
【酿酒】你现在可以用酿酒机从稻米、水、酵母制造清酒。
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【生活质量提高】当你使用鼠标或手柄在各种场合改变数字的时候，你现在可以直接按下对应的按键而无需放开按键再重复按下按键。同时，还加入了一个加速机制。
20241018
English
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[Crafting]New 3D Printing Recipe: Curse Stone. (Basically, you can now piece those Fragments of Curse Stone together)
[Loot]The Possessed may now drop the blueprints of Curse Stone. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
[Loot]The Possessed may now drop the blueprints of Teru Teru Bozu. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
[Loot]The Possessed may now drop Fragments of Curse Stone
[Loot]The Corrupted Yetis now drop the blueprints of Curse Stone. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
[Loot]The Corrupted Yetis now drop the blueprints of Teru Teru Bozu. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
[Loot]The Killer Monk Boss now uses his own item drop list instead of sharing an item drop list with ordinary monks.
[Loot]The Killer Monk may now drop Curse Stones.
[Loot]The Killer Monk now drops the blueprints of Curse Stone. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
[Loot]The Killer Monk now drops the blueprints of Teru Teru Bozu. (The game system will prioritize the blueprints you don't have learned to drop first.)
简体中文
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【制造】新的3D打印配方：诅咒石。（基本上，你可以把诅咒石碎片组装成完整的诅咒石。）
【掉落物】被附体之人现在可能掉落诅咒石的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
【掉落物】被附体之人现在可能掉落晴天娃娃的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
【掉落物】被附体之人现在可能掉落诅咒石碎片
【掉落物】被腐化的雪人现在可能掉落诅咒石的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
【掉落物】被腐化的雪人现在可能掉落晴天娃娃的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
【掉落物】杀人僧现在有了自己的物品掉落列表而非使用普通的和尚的掉落列表。
【掉落物】杀人僧现在可能掉落诅咒石
【掉落物】杀人僧现在可能掉落诅咒石的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
【掉落物】杀人僧现在可能掉落晴天娃娃的图纸。（系统会首先掉落你还没掌握的图纸。）
Latest news from Ukraine:
https://controlc.com/528ad363
https://pastelink.net/l2rzjn7i