There’s a brewery in Steam Highwayman III that would like to expand. That’s nice, isn’t it? So your friendly ale-drinking hero is going to get involved, of course.
But how involved, exactly? If the Director is keen to offer independent pubs contracts and pay you a generous commission for each signature, would you do his bidding? What side will that put you on, exactly?
This is the question at the heart of my recent chunk of writing. I’ve passed 130 complete passages and have reserved a further 300 reserved: these are early days in the writing process, but so far I’ve sketched and reserved the vast majority of street and hub locations, written a large proportion of the ambushing and random traffic passages, and spent quite a lot of time creating some interesting pub interactions, particularly in Hampstead and Highgate.
There are a couple of complete quests in and a few loose trailing ends, but the cast majority of the story is to come. I’m thinking about a complete range of quests and interactions – tiny, spontaneous stories on the streets, quests that involve travelling across the map, larger ones that involve several decisions and then a couple of big stories you will keep bumping into. Behind the scenes, you see, are the great unwashed crying for Reform or Revolution, just as they really did in the 1830s. Then there’s the rivalry between the Guilds and the powerplay in court and Parliament. Nowhere is closed to our silver-tongued, sharp-bladed adventurer!
What would you like to see in the adventures of the Steam Highwayman? Let me know!
Other recent projects: infusing some rhubarb gin, exploring Shoreditch on various maps.
All sounds good to me Martin! Having a centralised place where you can operate from would be of great help. I tend to play for a week or two intensively, put down for a couple of months then dive back in. Problem is I don’t keep the most comprehensive or legible notes, so end up criss crossing the map hoping to trigger keywords.
By having a few centralised areas to come back to means I can get back on track more easily between breaks. It’s a selfish thing!
I’m hoping to explore the seedier side of the Pork Pie industry and get involved with sabotaging one factory in favour of another, better flavoured one. It’s cutthroat I tell ya!
Keep up the good work!
That sounds pretty reasonable. In SH1 and 2 the pubs were intended to provide this a bit, and in SH3 I’ve just been creating rooms to rent in various inns. Is this the sort of thing you mean, or has it not worked well for you?
As for the pies… Yes, this definitely sounds like a Southwark sort of thing :-D.