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The Thorns of War - Leopold

Leopold’s route is now available for download! Visit us here for more information: https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/ttow

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Well, it has been a while, but I am happy to say that with Bastien, Sofia, and Guillaume's routes published, and Leopold's route in beta, The Thorns of War is now halfway to being finished!

Many thanks to everyone who has been supporting the game, and please join us on itch for more updates. https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/

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The Thorns of War - Early Access Launch

The Thorns of War has now launched in early access (with Bastien's route completed), and is available for purchase at a 20% launch discount.

Many thanks for everyone's support over the last year and please check out our itch page here: https://blackcrosstaylor.itch.io/ttow

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The Thorns of War - Kickstarter

It's over! Though it might be a bit early here for me start on the champagne, I could not be more happy with the result of the campaign. ^_^

Thank you so, so much to everyone who pledged, shared the campaign on social media or who commented on any of the sites where we post.

The campaign has now finished and we've raised a wonderful £7947!

I know, though, that there is a chance not all money pledged will actually be collected, so I'll keep people posted on a final total over the coming fortnight. ^_^

Many thanks again for your support

[blackcross-taylor]

Thorns of War Kickstarter - Last 24 Hours

We're at an amazing 144% funded and we've hit the second stretch goal!  If you haven't pledged and still would like to, the campaign page is here. 

I'll be surprised if we make the third stretch goal at this late stage of things, but whatever happens I'm very grateful to have got this far and I'm looking forward to the game we will be making.

Sincere thanks to everyone who pledged, shared and commented on our posts and to everyone who supported us on this journey.

I'll see you all at the finish line! ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

Well, we're nearly at the end of our Kickstarter journey.

With 3 days left to go, funding has reached 137% and we're £114 from our second stretch goal. 

Many thanks to everyone their continuing support.

In other news, I've actually been working on a short, simple (and free!) text-adventure game in renpy. 

Called 'A Commoner's Tale', is still in the process of being written, but will allow players to pick their appearance, pronouns, name, and occupation in order to play a day in the life of a palace servant, embassy clerk, or city guard.

There will be a different story to play through for each, with NPCs and even some cameos from the TTOW characters, and will allow players to see what Segunda is like outside the ranks of the nobility.

I hope anyone who plays it will find it interesting/entertaining. At the moment, the route for the clerk is being worked on, with the servant and guard routes already planned in detail.

I'd like to be able to release an Alpha build on Tuesday, but we will see. In the meantime, let me know which (if any) route you would be most interested in playing. ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/5db407a1a5b61b00140e4decIt's the final weekend of our campaign! We've 4 days left to go, funding has reached an amazing 135% and we are only £209 from our second stretch goal.

Since it's the weekend, I thought we could have another fun (silly?) quiz. Do you think you have the makings of a Segundi Princess?

Why not take our quiz here and find out. And be sure to let us know your result, too ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

We've 5 days left on our kickstarter, funding has reached 133% and we're £331 from our second stretch goal.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the campaign so far. ^_^

This will be our last post about the game’s backgrounds and our focus this time is on the embassy rooms. 

The embassy, though sporting a popular Segundi architectural style ('Second-Age Revival' if anyone is interested in the in-game name ^_^), still bears the motifs of the Alvardian diplomats who reside there. 

This is most notable in the stag heraldry of their royal family and the Alvardian braid shown in the friezes and column plinths - an important design in their culture which signifies harmony. 

The ballroom itself (lower left) is based on the ballroom of the Old Kurhaus in Aachen, Germany, while the layout of the main hallway (top), with the archways allowing bands of light across the room, is based on Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France.

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The Thorns of War Kickstarter

Well, we've 8 days left on the kickstarter, funding is hovering at 131% and we're £401 from our second stretch goal. ^_^

Many thanks, as always, for all your support.

And speaking of the campaign, one of the more popular rewards has been a chance to help develop a scene involving the main character and a love interest to be set between the two games.

Of course, there are a limited number of rewards of this kind (otherwise, if enough people backed it, I could end up having to make a whole extra game ^_^).

For those who have backed the tier already, I am curious to see what they come up with.

Maybe Frederique and the MC preparing for their escape to Albadriech? Sofia and the MC's calm home-life in Florentia? Perhaps Guillaume and the MC's wedding day?

There are so many scenes to imagine - if you had the choice, what scene would you create?

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

There are 10 days left now, and funding has reached 131%.

Many thanks for your on-going support and anyone interested in the campaign can find out more here.

For today's post, I thought I'd try something a little different and put together a short quiz titled ‘Which Thorns of War character are you?’ You can play it here!

I hope you find it fun and please feel free to let us know who you're (apparently) most like and whether you agree. ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

We’ve 11 days left to go on the campaign now, funding has reached 130% and we’re just over halfway towards our second stretch goal. Many thanks for all your support ^_^

We’ve also got the last of the character profiles, the former House Knight and now mercenary captain, Sir Mathys Aurele.

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The Thorns of War Kickstarter

It's another Friday and it's time for karaoke! 

Vesela and Sofia definitely strike me as girls who love to sing - whether they are in tune or not. ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

It's day 17 of the campaign, funding is at 129% and we're steadily creeping towards our second stretch goal. ^_^

As usual, many thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. 

Our featured character today is one of the two new romance interests being introduced in the game, the Alvardian ambassador, Vesela Brovik.

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

Day 15 and, after an amazing day of funding yesterday, we're at 127% and have reached our first stretch goal! 

Many, many thanks for all pledges, comments, and shares. ^_^

Today's character is the always reliable Bastien.

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

It's day 14 of the campaign and we've reached 113% funding and are over two-thirds of the way to reaching our first stretch goal. You can check out our progress here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ttow/the-thorns-of-war

Today I thought we could have another post about the game backgrounds and this time we’re looking at sitting rooms. I wanted the sitting rooms of the different houses to reflect the family they belonged to and I feel our artist did a great job of that.

For the Parisi household (the yellow room), style is definitely prioritised over comfort, while the large windows (all that glass!) and the high ceiling make a show of wealth.

Contrasting that is the Venitti household (the red room), where the family’s common status is shown in the lower ceiling and smaller window. But despite that, the room has a more comfortable, cosy look.

And lastly we have the De Souza household (the green room). As nobility, they have the same trappings of wealth as the Parisi with the large windows, pillars and frieze, but the many portraits show their focus on family.

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

We're on day 12 (nearly halfway!) of our kickstarter campaign and funding is at an amazing 110%. Many thanks, as always, for all pledges, shares and feedback.

Today's character is the adorable Charlotte ^_^

[blackcross-taylor]

The Thorns of War Kickstarter

We've made it! Day 11 and we're 104% funded!

Many, many thanks to everyone who pledged, shared and commented - I couldn't have done this without you. You can check out the result for yourself here

To celebrate, here's a fun by our artist sketch of Leo and Guillaume as rival Hogwarts Houses - any guesses as to which ones? ^_^