Frozen Waters Patch
Hi all, quick patch here where Frozen Waters (the divine mageia) is essentially nerfed! Still a useful spell, but definitely not broken as it was before.
Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code News
Act 3 Story Beats
WARNING – spoilers ahead!! It is recommended you finish the game before reading further!
We are finally in the homestretch for story structure in Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code. This is the last post in this story structure devlogs and we’ll be covering all of Act 3.
But first we have to Break into Three, which is the moment in which the hero realizes what he must do to fix all the problems created in Act 2, and, most importantly, fix himself.
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, this is the battle between Joshwa and Lamech. Joshwa learned that his uncle was the reason for the tragic event at the Battle at Mount Sinai with the use of the infernos and that his uncle is essentially a tool of the tyrannical Kosmokraters. Confronting Lamech, Joshwa has now started to pursue what he needs—he’s critical of the Kosmokraters, he won’t blindly follow them (or anyone, really), and he’s taking matters in his own hands to discover the truth and stop the plot from the Kosmokraters.
After the Break into Three we enter the Finale beat. In this beat we see the hero, having learned the lesson/embraced the theme of the story, is taking action. Bad guys are defeated, mistakes are remedied, lovers are reunited. Not only is the world saved, but it’s a better place than it was before—in the case of a happy ending.
Think of some of your favorite endings in movies and books. It usually involves some form of preparation or rallying your allies. There’s also usually a last-ditch effort from the antagonist, and the hero is forced to dig deep down for a solution.
How does the finale represent itself in Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code? Well, for starters, Joshwa is gathering his allies, both Beyoz and Ruthia. They then together storm Mount Sinai and reach the peak where the transmigrator is located (the device needed to teleport one to the Kingdom of Heaven). You might think the last-ditch effort is when you have to fight Nike twice, but the last-ditch effort is actually from the Kosmokraters when they detonate all those infernos, effectively destroying Mount Sinai and the transmigrator. Lastly, Joshwa does everything he can to save the people he loves and cares for, even if they aren’t a Jehudan like himself. He’s gone beyond just being a soldier for Jehuda, or even a judge, he is a leader and a true hero.
The last beat in any story structure is the Final Image. This should mirror the Opening Image at the beginning of the story and is the first hint at the hero’s transformation. In the Opening Image, we learned that Joshwa is a low-ranked soldier, a blind follower of the Kosmokraters, and we have Mount Sinai as a place shrouded in mystery and tragedy. What we get in the Final Image is pretty much the opposite of that. Joshwa becomes a leader—a king actually! He’s no longer following blindly and begins questioning everything in an effort to find capital “T” Truth, and Mount Sinai has been destroyed, its mysteries unveiled, its tragic past finally laid to rest.
And that’s it! The entire story structure of Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code and my thoughts behind it. Thank you so much for following along with these posts and I hope you enjoyed it.
Special bonus – You might be thinking that Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code ends on a cliffhanger. I would argue that it does not. The “cliffhanger” in question revolved around Beyoz and Ruthia, both who play critical pieces in the story, but are not the heroes/main protagonist of the story. They certainly get their own satisfying arcs and transformations, but The Babel Code is about Joshwa, and Joshwa’s story is complete in that he learns the lesson the story is intended to teach him and he undergoes his transformation.
You could technically apply the same story structure on a macro level, too, for an entire series. In that case, Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code is really just part of Act 1 of the Elohim Eternal universe. So stay tuned for more!
We are finally in the homestretch for story structure in Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code. This is the last post in this story structure devlogs and we’ll be covering all of Act 3.
But first we have to Break into Three, which is the moment in which the hero realizes what he must do to fix all the problems created in Act 2, and, most importantly, fix himself.
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, this is the battle between Joshwa and Lamech. Joshwa learned that his uncle was the reason for the tragic event at the Battle at Mount Sinai with the use of the infernos and that his uncle is essentially a tool of the tyrannical Kosmokraters. Confronting Lamech, Joshwa has now started to pursue what he needs—he’s critical of the Kosmokraters, he won’t blindly follow them (or anyone, really), and he’s taking matters in his own hands to discover the truth and stop the plot from the Kosmokraters.
After the Break into Three we enter the Finale beat. In this beat we see the hero, having learned the lesson/embraced the theme of the story, is taking action. Bad guys are defeated, mistakes are remedied, lovers are reunited. Not only is the world saved, but it’s a better place than it was before—in the case of a happy ending.
Think of some of your favorite endings in movies and books. It usually involves some form of preparation or rallying your allies. There’s also usually a last-ditch effort from the antagonist, and the hero is forced to dig deep down for a solution.
How does the finale represent itself in Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code? Well, for starters, Joshwa is gathering his allies, both Beyoz and Ruthia. They then together storm Mount Sinai and reach the peak where the transmigrator is located (the device needed to teleport one to the Kingdom of Heaven). You might think the last-ditch effort is when you have to fight Nike twice, but the last-ditch effort is actually from the Kosmokraters when they detonate all those infernos, effectively destroying Mount Sinai and the transmigrator. Lastly, Joshwa does everything he can to save the people he loves and cares for, even if they aren’t a Jehudan like himself. He’s gone beyond just being a soldier for Jehuda, or even a judge, he is a leader and a true hero.
The last beat in any story structure is the Final Image. This should mirror the Opening Image at the beginning of the story and is the first hint at the hero’s transformation. In the Opening Image, we learned that Joshwa is a low-ranked soldier, a blind follower of the Kosmokraters, and we have Mount Sinai as a place shrouded in mystery and tragedy. What we get in the Final Image is pretty much the opposite of that. Joshwa becomes a leader—a king actually! He’s no longer following blindly and begins questioning everything in an effort to find capital “T” Truth, and Mount Sinai has been destroyed, its mysteries unveiled, its tragic past finally laid to rest.
And that’s it! The entire story structure of Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code and my thoughts behind it. Thank you so much for following along with these posts and I hope you enjoyed it.
Special bonus – You might be thinking that Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code ends on a cliffhanger. I would argue that it does not. The “cliffhanger” in question revolved around Beyoz and Ruthia, both who play critical pieces in the story, but are not the heroes/main protagonist of the story. They certainly get their own satisfying arcs and transformations, but The Babel Code is about Joshwa, and Joshwa’s story is complete in that he learns the lesson the story is intended to teach him and he undergoes his transformation.
You could technically apply the same story structure on a macro level, too, for an entire series. In that case, Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code is really just part of Act 1 of the Elohim Eternal universe. So stay tuned for more!
Wishlist Elohim Eternal: Exodus!!
I've just announced the Steam page for the next game in the Elohim Eternal series!
Please check it out and wishlist! The game (about 4-5 hours in length) will be FREE and available in January 2025!
Please check it out and wishlist! The game (about 4-5 hours in length) will be FREE and available in January 2025!
Two Storey Beats: All is Lost and Dark Night of the Soul
WARNING – spoilers ahead!! It is recommended you finish the game before reading further!
Today I’m going to talk about the last two story beats of Act 2. They are among my favorite beats to write for and really help to keep the player glued to the story.
The first beat we’ll talk about is called the All Is Lost beat. It follows the Bad Guys Close In beat and is kind of like the Catalyst beat in that it’s usually something that happens to the hero. It’s called the All Is Lost beat because whatever happens to the hero it seems like it’s the worst it could ever get. It’s bleak, depressing, and feels like a total defeat. It’s usually the part of the story where the mentor character dies (think Obi Wan). Almost always there’s a whiff of death. It’s dark stuff, and it's supposed to leave you with a sense of…well, how is the hero going to get out of this one?
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, the All is Lost beat is featured when Joshwa, Beyoz, and Ruthia finally return to Jericho with the Babel code in hand. They are greeted to a scene where a Jehudan soldier kills an Attikan soldier. And if that wasn’t already bad, we see that this Jehudan uprising is Lamech’s doing and he has both Gemara and Alkandros tied up and has already killed Beyoz’s father, Kaisar. Worse yet, he kills both Gemara and Alkandros. We don’t just have a whiff of death, we have an ending like Hamlet.
To make matters worse, Joshwa is seemingly in league with Lamech, giving Lamech the Babel code and allowing his friends, both Ruthia and Beyoz, to be imprisoned (and when they go to Jericho’s jail cells what do they find? A massacre of the Cainite prisoners—even more death!).
Clearly this is the lowest our heroes have ever been in the story. It almost seems like their entire journey was for nothing and they’ve just relinquished the Babel code to a murdering, religious fanatic.
This leads us into the next story beat – the Dark Night of the Soul.
If the All Is Lost beat is like a Catalyst beat, then the Dark Night of the Soul is like the Debate beat. Here, we have the hero absorbing the loss of the All is Lost beat and coming to grips with what he needs (remember, the need is that internal goal/life lesson for the hero, totally separate from the external goal/want of the hero). It’s at this moment that the hero humbles himself, admits that he is only human, and yields control over his want. It’s here that he gets a glimpse of that life lesson he needs to learn to succeed in the story. It’s a moment of surrender. It’s like needing to hit rock bottom to discover what it is you really need. That’s the Dark Night of the Soul (and we have all had our own—perhaps several!).
For Joshwa, this is when he returns home to his mother’s villa. He mopes around, he questions himself, he questions all he’s believed in, including his uncle. His mother realizes what he’s going through, and she gives him the journals his father had left them, and in one of the journal entries, Joshwa discovers something shocking: it was Lamech who placed the infernos in Mount Sinai, and it was Lamech who detonated him. This was all Lamech’s doing.
With that realization in mind, with Joshwa starting to piece together all the questions he’s been facing, Joshwa decides to set out and confront his uncle Lamech.
This leads us into the start of Act 3.
Today I’m going to talk about the last two story beats of Act 2. They are among my favorite beats to write for and really help to keep the player glued to the story.
The first beat we’ll talk about is called the All Is Lost beat. It follows the Bad Guys Close In beat and is kind of like the Catalyst beat in that it’s usually something that happens to the hero. It’s called the All Is Lost beat because whatever happens to the hero it seems like it’s the worst it could ever get. It’s bleak, depressing, and feels like a total defeat. It’s usually the part of the story where the mentor character dies (think Obi Wan). Almost always there’s a whiff of death. It’s dark stuff, and it's supposed to leave you with a sense of…well, how is the hero going to get out of this one?
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, the All is Lost beat is featured when Joshwa, Beyoz, and Ruthia finally return to Jericho with the Babel code in hand. They are greeted to a scene where a Jehudan soldier kills an Attikan soldier. And if that wasn’t already bad, we see that this Jehudan uprising is Lamech’s doing and he has both Gemara and Alkandros tied up and has already killed Beyoz’s father, Kaisar. Worse yet, he kills both Gemara and Alkandros. We don’t just have a whiff of death, we have an ending like Hamlet.
To make matters worse, Joshwa is seemingly in league with Lamech, giving Lamech the Babel code and allowing his friends, both Ruthia and Beyoz, to be imprisoned (and when they go to Jericho’s jail cells what do they find? A massacre of the Cainite prisoners—even more death!).
Clearly this is the lowest our heroes have ever been in the story. It almost seems like their entire journey was for nothing and they’ve just relinquished the Babel code to a murdering, religious fanatic.
This leads us into the next story beat – the Dark Night of the Soul.
If the All Is Lost beat is like a Catalyst beat, then the Dark Night of the Soul is like the Debate beat. Here, we have the hero absorbing the loss of the All is Lost beat and coming to grips with what he needs (remember, the need is that internal goal/life lesson for the hero, totally separate from the external goal/want of the hero). It’s at this moment that the hero humbles himself, admits that he is only human, and yields control over his want. It’s here that he gets a glimpse of that life lesson he needs to learn to succeed in the story. It’s a moment of surrender. It’s like needing to hit rock bottom to discover what it is you really need. That’s the Dark Night of the Soul (and we have all had our own—perhaps several!).
For Joshwa, this is when he returns home to his mother’s villa. He mopes around, he questions himself, he questions all he’s believed in, including his uncle. His mother realizes what he’s going through, and she gives him the journals his father had left them, and in one of the journal entries, Joshwa discovers something shocking: it was Lamech who placed the infernos in Mount Sinai, and it was Lamech who detonated him. This was all Lamech’s doing.
With that realization in mind, with Joshwa starting to piece together all the questions he’s been facing, Joshwa decides to set out and confront his uncle Lamech.
This leads us into the start of Act 3.
Bad Guys Close In
With the Midpoint beat completed, the player has experienced about half of the game’s story. Now starts the second half of the story and where we switch from the protagonist’s want (or external goal) to their need (or internal goal).
The beat is called Bad Guys Close In because things start to ramp up for the protagonist. The Bad Guys are both external and internal (psychological). External Bad Guys can be literal bad guys, whereas the internal Bad Guys are all the anxieties and fears and inner critiques we all face on a day-to-day basis, but on a much grander scale. The internal Bad Guys is the protagonist wrestling with what he needs and soon coming to the realization that he does really need it.
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, Joshwa’s external Bad Guys are Goliath and the other anakim, the giant azars that come crashing down from the planet Kenoma, and eventually Ham and the judges, the civil unrest between Jehudan and Attikan coming to fruition, and the Kosmokraters coming after Joshwa at the Dead Sea. Even the Dead Sea itself is a Bad Guy as it’s a dungeon full of poisonous traps. That’s a lot of Bad Guys coming after Joshwa and company, trying to stop them from returning to Jericho to deliver the Babel code.
The internal Bad Guys also ramp up. Joshwa is losing his rapidly losing his faith in the Kosmokraters, and isn’t sure what the Jehudans, led by his uncle Lamech, are doing. He starts to question a lot about his life. If we go back to the theme of Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, which I’ve summarized in a previous post as “Who is the bad guy?”, then we see that Joshwa is faced with more and more doubts in the Bad Guys Close In. He doesn’t know what’s right or wrong anymore.
And that’s the Bad Guys Close In. Generally speaking, the author typically throws rocks at the protagonist that they must avoid and overcome. In the Bad Guys Close In beat, those rocks become boulders.
The beat is called Bad Guys Close In because things start to ramp up for the protagonist. The Bad Guys are both external and internal (psychological). External Bad Guys can be literal bad guys, whereas the internal Bad Guys are all the anxieties and fears and inner critiques we all face on a day-to-day basis, but on a much grander scale. The internal Bad Guys is the protagonist wrestling with what he needs and soon coming to the realization that he does really need it.
In Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, Joshwa’s external Bad Guys are Goliath and the other anakim, the giant azars that come crashing down from the planet Kenoma, and eventually Ham and the judges, the civil unrest between Jehudan and Attikan coming to fruition, and the Kosmokraters coming after Joshwa at the Dead Sea. Even the Dead Sea itself is a Bad Guy as it’s a dungeon full of poisonous traps. That’s a lot of Bad Guys coming after Joshwa and company, trying to stop them from returning to Jericho to deliver the Babel code.
The internal Bad Guys also ramp up. Joshwa is losing his rapidly losing his faith in the Kosmokraters, and isn’t sure what the Jehudans, led by his uncle Lamech, are doing. He starts to question a lot about his life. If we go back to the theme of Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code, which I’ve summarized in a previous post as “Who is the bad guy?”, then we see that Joshwa is faced with more and more doubts in the Bad Guys Close In. He doesn’t know what’s right or wrong anymore.
And that’s the Bad Guys Close In. Generally speaking, the author typically throws rocks at the protagonist that they must avoid and overcome. In the Bad Guys Close In beat, those rocks become boulders.