Hi folks,

In the world of choose-your-own-adventure games, graphics are often an afterthought, a nice detail but never the star of the show. Honestly, my life would have been ten times easier if Erannorth Renaissance had no graphics at all and was purely text-based. Then again, it would be a different game.

The core pillar of my design philosophy has always been modding freedom. That meant including graphics not because I believed anyone would be thrilled with the default artwork, but because I wanted to give you the tools to make it your own. If you didn’t like what was there, you could change it, as simple as copying a file.

Now, the initial portrait set, the one currently live, is of course atrocious, to put it mildly. When your budget is somewhere between nonexistent and wishful thinking, your choices are limited to bad and less bad. Never ideal. Never what you really want. But, always open for improvement.

This brings us to our new portrait set and the first graphical overhaul of the game since early access began.

Highwaymen
Some of the PC/NPC portraits
I truly think it's a big step up. It strikes a better balance between classic fantasy and gritty realism, so you can pick your poison. But of course, it's still a choice limited to "okay" and "a little better." It also aligns more naturally with the kinds of portraits you'll generate for your own mods, making the overall experience feel more cohesive and immersive. And it's the kind of portrait I can find more of, helping retain a somewhat more uniform feeling in the world.

Some of the new portraits are still firmly in my mental folder of "first to replace if something better ever comes along." Others I just couldn't have the way I wanted.

You can try out the new portraits in the latest build, now available on the beta branch.

Hopefully, you'll find something that resonates with your taste better, whatever that may be. And if not, you can still easily replace them with your own.

This build will remain in beta for a couple days while I fine-tune some things and resume development on Content Update 8. As always any new beta builds will be landing there too.

Whether you'll get the new portraits sooner or alongside the Lacris update is still uncertain. It depends on the game's status when I begin adding new features and content for the next update.

As for what will actually be in the Lacris update other than more Erannorth, well, we'll be talking about that soon!

Hi folks,

Our 7th major update, Ironvein Hold, is now live for everyone! We've already discussed briefly what to expect in the previous two development journals, so there is no need to repeat everything here, but in case you missed them, the highlights are:

New Crafting System that supports recipes, experimentation, and modding.

Crafting without a recipe

Crafting with a recipe

Region Simulation System that dynamically changes population, law, stability, and more across regions, affecting the local economy among other things.

Added an Explore action that guarantees a Discovery or Event based on the terrain.

Trading is now more dynamic: regional scarcity and abundance impact item prices and shop inventories, along with your haggling bonus.

Added Dwarves as a new playable species.

Added new ingredients, tools, and books with crafting recipes.

Added new Discoveries across all terrain types, including vampire-exclusive ones.

Improved Discovery requirements preview and reward feedback.

Many bug fixes, UI improvements, and quality-of-life updates.

Added new scenes and events at the camp and in various world locations.

And so much more. This is a massive content update, so if you have any questions or encounter any issues, feel free to let me know. You can read more details in the patch notes below.

But before that...

We will be talking more about what is coming next in future development journals.

In the meantime, have fun!


[h4] New Content [/h4]

• Added Dwarf as a playable species.
  
• Added level requirements to various trait perks.
  
• Smoked meat now recovers fatigue. Preserved blood recovers hunger for vampire characters.
  
• Added Crafting, Alchemy & Cooking recipes.
  
• Added new Materials, Ingredients, and Valuables for crafting.
  
• Added Discoveries for Arid, Cave & Town terrains.
  
• Added extra Discoveries across all terrain types.
  
• Added a new event at the Golden Sparrow.
  
• Added a Codex entry on simulation and its effects.
  
• Added ingredients and recipes for crafting alchemy potions.
  
• Alchemists across the world now sell alchemical ingredients.
  
• Added a new alchemist in Doven.
  
• Maira's shop in Valetport is now open and sells various herbs.
  
• Added several Discoveries related to herb gathering.
  
• Added new Discoveries exclusive to vampire & non-vampire characters.
  
• Added the Codex entry for Wounds.
  
• Added two new scenes with Marie at the camp.
  
• Added a new scene with Janus at the camp.
  
• Added a new scene at Llanford's lake.
  
• Added the settlement in Ironvein Hold.
  
• Added a new scene at the Golden Sparrow.
  
• Added new VFX for Poison and Fire.
  
• Added new Books.

[h4] New Features, QoL & Misc Changes [/h4]

• After reacting to a discovery, you can now briefly see its requirements.
  
• A rank requirement on a trait perk will now count as a level requirement.
  
• In Shell: Added lua, discovery and done commands.
  
• New Action Effects: Hunger and Fatigue will now affect hunger and fatigue, respectively.
  
• In Bands Editor: You can create clones of a unique actor at runtime using Clone:[ActorId].
  
• New Crafting System
  
  • Crafting allows the combination of items and various ingredients to create new items.
    
  • The crafting system supports experimenting with unknown recipes and includes requirements in the form of skill ranks, companions, items, and more. It also supports crafting through known recipes, as well as learning new recipes.
    
  • Custom recipes can be added as a JSON file in: Mods/My Modname/Recipes/RecipesDB.json
• New Region Simulation System
  
  • Added a background simulation system that tracks and changes many traits for each region over time. These traits include Population, Tax Rate, Stability, Happiness, Security, Culture, Education, Environment, Public Health, and more, reacting to game events, player actions, and simulation logic.
    
  • Added a moddable event system driven by Simulation_EventsDB.json. Events can reflect world activity such as:
    
  • Band activity: Bandit raids, vampires feeding, undead sightings, interactions with adventurers or other bands.
    
  • Completing contracts: criminals being caught, clearing lairs, escorting NPCs, or new areas being explored.
    
  • Simulation Events change regional stats such as:
    
  • Unrest, Stability, Law, Happiness, Infrastructure, Faith, and Public Health.
    
  • Population changes, regional money, and character behavior are now influenced by narrative or simulated activity.
    
  • You'll hear about simulation events as "rumors". Basically, stuff that's already happened and changed things up in a region, either randomly or because of what you did (or didn't do).
• Commerce/Trading Improvements
  
  • Added a system to calculate a Trade Tariff rate for each region.
    
  • This tariff (inflation) rate is determined by the region's current stats compared to maximums.
    
  • Factors Increasing Inflation: Trade Value, Corruption, Chaos, Unrest.
    
  • Factors Decreasing Inflation: Productivity, Infrastructure, Law.
    
  • Each factor has a maximum impact value.
    
  • Trade Tariff changes the base value of all goods (except "Farthings") during trades in that region.
• New passive bonus: Haggling, the difference between player and trader Haggling skill changes item values.
  
• The current weather is now saved.
  
• Extreme weather will affect weariness per turn along with terrain type.
  
• Discovery requirements and simulation event outcomes display when hovering over the reaction button.
  
• Optional urban events involving random NPCs appear as discoveries that you can choose to trigger or ignore.
  
• Introduced dynamic regional pricing: item prices now vary realistically from region to region.
  
• Expect to find goods cheaper near their source (such as ore in the mountains) and more expensive where they are scarce and need to be imported.
  
• Improved general store inventories: merchants now stock items appropriate to their location. Towns known for mining will offer more picks and ore, while shops in deep forests will be better stocked with wood and furs.
  
• For many trade goods and resources, you'll now see the current "Regional Value" next to the "Base Value," along with a helpful indicator (such as "Scarce," "Abundant," or "Normal") showing local availability. (Affects: Junk, Materials, Ingredients & Food.)
  
• Supply contracts prioritize requesting scarcer items.
  
• Merchants remember recent selling prices for buybacks.
  
• Turn will no longer end automatically if actor has 0 AP but still has usable abilities.
  
• ThisEncounterResolve() and ThisEncounterSpoils() grant bonus XP based on hostile band level.
  
• Setting up camp is allowed sooner if tired before 24 hours pass.
  
• After resolving a Discovery, the reaction button updates and displays gained effects or rewards when hovered over.
  
• Added a Respec shell command, which you can use to reset a character back to their initial Origin stats. Any spent PP or SP will be refunded.
  
• Respec:x can also be used as part of a reward string, such as through a LUA call in a conversation or in perks. In this case, x acts as a limit. If the actor has not already respec'd x times, they will be respec'd. There is no built-in confirmation when using this command; any confirmation should be handled within the conversation or event that triggers it.
  
• In Barter UI, added a button to view and barter equipped items.
  
• In the Barter UI, added confirmation dialog when offering items without asking for anything.
  
• The Barter UI's "Profit/Loss" section now shows a breakdown of:
  
  • Haggling Bonus/Malus (skill difference)
    
  • Trade Tariff (regional inflation)
    
  • Sale Profit/Loss (estimated selling effect)
    
  • Purchase Profit/Loss (estimated buying effect)
    
  • Arbitrage (overall estimated profit/loss)
• Reaching rank 30 in a profession grants a corresponding tag.
  
• In Quest Editor, added coordinate field for objectives.
  
• Objectives with coordinates appear as pins on the World Map.
  
• Discoveries can now be exclusive to or hidden by tags.
  
• Sating hunger or recovering fatigue through Discoveries refreshes UI.
  
• Receiving lingering wounds is now displayed in the combat log at the start of combat.
  
• Added Explore action outside of combat guaranteeing Discovery/Event based on terrain.
  
• Loot:Random now considers regional availability.
  
• Current wounds now display next to Weariness.
  
• Resting at camp restores half of wounds.
  
• After the scene following Taymoor Ruins, Manage Party window opens automatically.
  
• Discoveries can be marked as Unique.
  
• Improved enemy summon logic. They no longer unsummon existing allies to summon new ones.
  
• Increased the length of the combat log before it resets.
  
• Added a Recipes section in the Inventory.
  
• Learned recipes are recorded for faster access.
  
• Recipes can also be learned through rewards or LUA call.
  
• Added a "Crafting" filter icon to the inventory.
  
• Gifting and overpaying influence gains now use final item values after haggling and regional effects.
  
• Reward pane now appears above character sheet so you can open the sheet before choosing a reward recipient.
  
• Improved passages and corrected a few typos.
  
• Tweaked the supply chest contents in Ennathil's camp.
  
• Tweaked Discoveries to offer more interesting rewards.
  
• Added coordinate support to objectives to avoid story confusion.
  
• Certain items like rope and torches are now consumed after use in Discoveries.
  
• Added a note to various weapon-like tools that they cannot be equipped or used in combat.
  
• Improved the scene following Taymoor Ruins to include companions or arrival of reserves.
  
• After the Taymoor Ruins scene, Manage Party opens automatically.
  
• Loot:Random takes regional availability into account.
  
• Updated the Vulnerable description for better clarity: "Apply Vulnerable: Reduces armor for y rounds. Targets take +x physical damage."
  
• Vulnerable Status tooltip and its Codex entry also updated for more clarity: "Vulnerable reduces a target's Armor, making them take additional Physical damage for the duration of the effect. This only applies to attacks that are affected by Armor. Damage types or abilities that ignore Armor will not benefit from Vulnerable." e.g. Lupine Claws can't benefit from Vulnerable, as they ignore Armor.

• Fixed an issue where F10 did not toggle the shell on/off.
  
• Fixed an issue where radial attacks with zero range did not allow the player to select themselves.
  
• Fixed a few typos in Doven.
  
• Fixed a few typos in the Marsh Event pack.
  
• Fixed an issue with Party rolls in Discoveries not working correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue where loot rewards would not drop more than one item if quantity was fixed.
  
• Fixed an issue where old recipe requirements were not cleared after selecting a new recipe with no requirements.
  
• Fixed an issue where dying characters disappeared after entering main menu and returning to combat.
  
• In armored warrior event, corrected third option to roll Coercion instead of Primal.
  
• Fixed typos in Unyielding Authority, Intimidating Stance, Iron Grip, and Oracle's Gaze perks.
  
• Corrected Elemental Damage effect text when element is Physical to: "Deal x Physical damage to target, ignoring Armor." e.g. Lupine Claws
  
• Fixed an issue with external Ink bindings causing assertion errors (Chance, HasActivityOccurred, PCHasItem).
  
• Fixed an issue where dismissed party members reappeared after save/load in camping scene.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Discoveries button disappeared after specific discoveries.
  
• Fixed command shell scrolling issue.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Heal reward could exceed Max HP.
  
• Fixed an issue where the inn at Dancing Crone charged wrong price.
  
• Fixed typo in Guardian's Vigil.
  
• Fixed an event choice that used the wrong skill.
  
• Fixed an issue in Barter UI where item abilities overlapped the description panel on 16:10 resolutions.
  
• Fixed active Discoveries not hiding properly after loading or starting a new game.
  
• Fixed an issue where open reward popups stayed open after loading or starting a new game.
  
• Clicking a filter icon in the inventory now properly clears any dropdown filter.