hpowellsmith posts
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Newsflash: April #2
This fortnight has been quite the ride and has involved a great deal of going through feedback from players and from my editor. There's been a lot to do, which, I'll be honest, combined with not having very much work time available hasn't always the most comfortable way of working.Besides which, it's especially hard being trans in the UK after the last few days and I'd be dishonest if I said it hasn't had an impact on work.Still. I'm continuing to make my queer games and hopefully they'll bring people fun and sat...
Newsflash: April #1
This fortnight has been a lot more pleasant than the previous one: my shoulder recovered after a few days, and I was able to take a couple of days away from home to work intensively on getting The Earth Has Teeth work done.From my writing playlist: Stress Hug by Mushroomerfrom the Pathologic 2 OST. (yes, that album is a large proportion of the playlist)Writing ProgressI finished drafting Chapter 4 and I sent all four chapters off to my editor! Hooray!I also put up Chapters 1 and 2 for everyone to play.It's been absolutely delightful hearing...
The Earth Has Teeth: Chapter 1 and 2
Now up for everyone, Chapters 1 and 2 are ready to play!Welcome to the steppes of Amikya. Good luck surviving the storms.-Try listening to this song from my writing playlist while you play: Plague Awake Here by Mushroomer-| Forum Thread| cogdemos link| itch link| Feedback Form-I would love to hear what you think of it, whether you liked it or didn't (and why), how the setting and MC feel, and how it felt to play!-For those who played the Patreon version that went up in March, there are various updates:many, many instances of tweaks, polish,...
March Q&A Answer Post
Apologies for the lateness of this - I will try to make sure I post the April one in better time, and I hope you enjoy!As someone who polyed with Max and Delacroix but got engaged to Blaise, what does that mean for the 4 of us by the time of Honor Bound?That's something where I’m happy to leave it open for players to headcanon. The specifics on that particular branch were unfortunately too complex to include references to in the Honor Bound scene - there was so much to account for there!The other element is that while I could maybe see Ma...
Non-monogamy in The Earth Has Teeth
Some of the romanceable characters in THE EARTH HAS TEETH can be romanced non-monogamously. This is the most complicated non-monogamy setup I've done so far in a game, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out once I get there!Armellis monogamous and they're happy to romance someone who doesn't want to sleep with them; if they are sleeping together, they want to have an emotional connection.Kiriyakis happy to romance someone who doesn't want to sleep with them; they're also happy to sleep with someone non-romanti...
Newsflash: March #2
This has not been a very forward-moving fortnight thanks to a number of things which culminated in a seized-up shoulder today - so I will be brief as I can't be at the computer too long.From my writing playlist: Twyrine by Mushroomerfrom the Pathologic 2 OST.Writing ProgressI sorted out the revisions for Chapter 1, 2, and 3 that I mentioned from last fortnight and I'm now halfway through writing Chapter 4.Excerpt"Let's get to the town hall," ${nik_they} ${nik_say}. "See how the others are doing."The wind has risen, b...
The Earth Has Teeth RO intro: Val Chernenko
Full name:Valerio/Valeria Chernenko (known by their full name in-game, but for ease I’ll refer to them as Val when talking about them generally)Age:26Gender:selectable between trans man (he/him), trans woman (she/her), and nonbinary transfem (they/them)Background:Val lived in Rizhala with their elderly grandmother who was a cunning witch. Under her tutelage they learned magic but little discretion; after their grandmother died in their early twenties, they became increasingly reckless, selling illegal remedies and charms within the town’s b...
The Earth Has Teeth RO intro: Commander Roschin
Full name:Serhii/Sara/Saba RoschinAge:39Gender:selectable between cis man (he/him), cis woman (she/her), and transmasc (they/them)Background:Roschin has lived in Rizhala all their life, apprenticing to the town guard in the footsteps of their now-older parents. Working their way up the ranks, they gained the attention of Warden Chura and impressed them enough to become one of the commanders of the guard. Nowadays they travel a lot, helping with local problems and recruiting people to join them in Rizhala.Personality:outgoing, loyal, jovial, res...
Newsflash: March #1
A lot of planning, outlining and coding this fortnight for The Earth Has Teeth, with a hefty side order of revising. I drafted Chapter 3 - but it turned out it isn't actually completed, more of that in a minute. I've outlined and coded Chapter 4, and am pretty confident about it: lots of drama and tough choices for the PC in this one.Here's a track from my writing playlist to get you in the mood: The Reckoning by UNSECRET.You'll recognise this if, like me, you've watched How To Get Away With Murder or Killjoys.Writing Progre...
THE EARTH HAS TEETH Chapter 1 and 2!
Lose everything. Piece it back together, if you can.Welcome to the steppes of Amikya. Good luck surviving the storms.-Play the demo on cogdemosor itch! The content of both is the same, and you can save anytime with both, but on cogdemos you can view the code, and on itch you can close your browser tab/window and it will autosave where you are. I'd recommend playing on itch and looking up the code on cogdemos if you want, but of course do whichever method feels best!If you look at the code of the stats page, you'll see major spoilers in ...
March Q&A Post
Here's this month's question form!Feel free to ask questions on the form or in comments here. I'll post up the answers at the end of the month!I will probably not answer questions about:graphic NSFW stuff about the Creme de la Creme or Royal Affairs characters. But depending on the question, I may answer such things about Blood Money, Noblesse Oblige, Honor Bound, or The Earth Has Teeth characters.I won't answer questions about: pregnancy, self-harm/suicide, very graphic or sexual violence, teacher/student relationships, incest,...
Patreon Plans: March
Here's what's coming up on Patreon for March!1st March (sneak preview):Q&A questions5th March (sneak preview):The Earth Has Teeth Chapter 1-2 up7th March (all paid tiers):Newsflash with detailed progress report and wordcounts11th March (bonus supplement):Rys story12th March (sneak preview):Fourth The Earth Has Teeth RO reveal19th March (sneak preview):Fifth The Earth Has Teeth RO reveal21st March (all paid tiers):Newsflash with detailed progress report and wordcounts25th March (bonus supplement):Denario/MC/Savarel story31st March (sneak...
Bonus Supplement public master post
Here's the list of the stories currently accessible from the Bonus Supplement tier! If you're subscribed to this tier, go here for the links and passwords.Interactive storiesGrey Jacket(Javi del Quiros: readying to leave Zaledo)Shiny Shoes(Hartmann, MC POV: stress at Gessner, friendship or romance)Silk Handkerchief(Asher Garnett POV: a terrible afternoon tea)Tizari Square(Auguste Renaldt, MC POV: a visit to Jezhan, friendship or romance)Background POV storiesTomi Danelak, 1755: meeting Pascha for the first timeFiore Roldan, 1752: a holi...
The Earth Has Teeth RO intro: Nikita Leu
Full name:Nikita LeuAge:25Gender:selectable between cis man (he/him), cis woman (she/her), and transfem (they/them)Background:Nikita is a courier like you, fetching and carrying items, messages, and sometimes people from settlement to settlement. They’re a survivalist, having a great deal of experience handling life on the plains even in emergencies, and are fiercely independent. Nikita doesn’t talk much about themself or their past: hard to tell whether that’s because they have a withdrawn personality (which they do) or because there’s...
The Earth Has Teeth Newsflash: Feb #2
I've been busily working on Chapter 3 of The Earth Has Teeth this fortnight! And I did do my Chapter 2 revisions, including streamlining some stats. I feel like every time I make a new game, I end up removing some stats early on - I always realise that there's more complexity than I need. In the case of The Earth Has Teeth, I've cut at least four of the things, and there are still a very decent number remaining.Here's a track from my writing playlist to get you in a mood for The Earth Has Teeth: Last Heat, Last Exertions XXV.by ...
The Earth Has Teeth Romanceable Character Intro: Dr. Kiriyak
Full name:Elisei/Elena/Elis KiriyakAge:32Gender:selectable between trans man (he/him), trans woman (she/her), and genderqueer (they/them)Background:Dr. Kiriyak has been a herbalist for most of their life. They’re very strongly attached to their work, seeing it as an integral part of their community’s health (correctly) and the most important aspect of the town (perhaps incorrectly). Their life’s work is a seed bank preserving herbs and documenting them for future generations. They were married for some time to the mayor of their town, whi...
The Earth Has Teeth romanceable character intro: Armell Bassar
Full name:Armell BassarAge:23Gender:selectable between cis man (he/him), cis woman (she/her), and agender (they/them)Background:as the only child of the head of their town who is also a religious leader, Armell is conscious of having big shoes to fill. They’re intensely curious about what makes the storms tick and the use of magic to protect people from them: both because of their drive to help their community, and because they want to prove themself to their mother, who believes that only traditional methods are appropriate.Personality:passi...
Project Amble Newsflash
This fortnight, I've mostly been working on Chapter 3! I finished drafting Chapter 2 on the first Monday of the fortnight, and this week I had the editorial notes back for it.Here's a track from my writing playlist to get you in a The Earth Has Teeth mood: No Rest For These Bones by Inon Zurfrom the Fallout New Vegas OST.Not that, er, I've done very much revising yet because a) I need to have a bit more of a think about some stats (I need to streamline them a bit) and b) I've been really busy planning Chapter 3. It's the big...
Project Amble Announcement and Title Reveal!
I'm thrilled to announce more details about my new project! As you may already know, it's a fantasy game in a new setting and I've been working on it since December.Here's one of the songs from my writing playlistif you want to get in the mood while you read about it!A century ago, the tiger god Vastan fought a risen demon over the steppes and mountains that are your home, battling for mastery over the earth below. Their war poisoned the land, causing magical storms that twist the mind and the elements alike.At the moment of Vas...
Patreon Plans: February
Here's what's coming up on Patreon for February!5th Feb (all paid tiers):Project Amble title and concept announcement7th Feb (all paid tiers): Newsflash with detailed progress report and wordcounts11th Feb (bonus supplement): Beaumont story12th Feb (sneak preview): First Project Amble RO reveal19th Feb (sneak preview):Second Project Amble RO reveal21st Feb (all paid tiers):Newsflash with detailed progress report and wordcounts25th Feb (bonus supplement):Fiore/Savarel story26th Feb (sneak preview):Third Project Amble RO revealI'm ver...
Project Amble Newsflash
Well, it's been brilliant getting back to work after the holidays. I wrote Chapter 1 of Project Amble, sent it off to my editor, and got it back in record time, giving me the chance to dig into revisions. I've also been coding Chapter 2, which is much larger and branchier than Chapter 1, and involved various bits of research around travel and geography (which I think is going to be an ongoing theme for this project!)It is such a challenge writing in a new setting! I hadn't realised just how much it would be - I'm so familiar wit...
Writing trans characters in Honor Bound and future projects
Back in November, I wrote a post about writing trans characters that became much larger than I anticipated. On my blog, I've expanded and formalised it.So, a week before putting it out publicly, here's how I went about writing trans NPCs and PCs in Honor Bound, and some notes about what's felt good (and less good) when playing. Enjoy!
Bonus Supplement announcement
I'm formally reinstating the Bonus Supplement tier!Currently by subscribing to this tier, you can access the archive of twelve Twine, ink, and linear stories.From January 14th 2025 onwards, I will be writing a short story every two weeks based on randomly* chosen prompts and characters.The first story, coming up on January 14th, is:✨ Hartmann & Cooking✨I'll post a second one on 28th January, and so on!*if a character or prompt comes up more than once before I've gone through all of them, I'll roll again; I'm also plannin...
Seasons Greetings
Well! What a year it's been. I hope you're all doing OK at a time which can have a lot of intensity, not to mention SAD for those living in grey places (each year I get surprised by it, which is annoying).I have a couple of posts to share: Honor Bound development journal Part 1and Part 2which go over the process of figuring out the story I was going to write, and writing the first half of the game.There's also a post about Project Amble(my codename for my new project) and figuring out names.A quick book recommendation: From the Bell...
Honor Bound is out!
I can't believe today's the day!From warmth and coziness to anxiety and peril, from bashful glances to high-heat hookups, from steadfast duty to wild rebelliousness or even burning down your career... there's just so much in this game for everyone to explore and I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks!Thank you so much for your support throughout it all. (You will see a special thank-you in the author's note, but I'm not going to miss out on saying thank you more times, haha!) I'm so pleased for more people to enco...
Blog Post: Writing Varenn Korzha
In the lead-up to the release of Honor Bound I'm sharing posts about some of the characters, my thoughts when I was starting to create them, and the writing process.Here's the one for Varenn Korzha- I hope you enjoy!
Blog Post: Writing Savarel Lopes
In the lead-up to the release of Honor Bound I'm sharing posts about some of the characters, my thoughts when I was starting to create them, and the writing process.Here's the one for Savarel Lopes- a bit late this time, apologies! I hope you enjoy!
Blog Post: Writing Raffi Claudian
In the lead-up to the release of Honor Bound I'm sharing posts about some of the characters, my thoughts when I was starting to create them, and the writing process.Here's the one for Raffi Claudian a week before it goes public. I hope you enjoy!
Blog Post: Writing Matia Frasada
In the lead-up to the release of Honor Bound I'm sharing posts about some of the characters, my thoughts when I was starting to create them, and the writing process.Here's the one for Matia Frasada a week before it goes public. I hope you enjoy!
Project Amble Devlog #1: from general vibes to more specific vibes
Here is a post about what how I was starting to put together my new outline last week. It’s not technically a new game announcement - it doesn’t go into detail about what the outline actually is and what the story/setting is about, and I'll be sharing more about that here once the game is greenlit - but I enjoyed recording it, as this kind of thing tends to get lost in the shuffle when it comes to formal retrospectives.https://hpowellsmith.com/project-amble-devlog-from-vibes-to-story-1/
