As Sneak Previews turns 18 in the relentless countdown towards unleashing Roger Steel on an unsuspecting world (his, if not ours), I thought it was about time I introduced a few of the companions Ann and Arthur will have to, er, deal with on their great adventure.



Resourceful as they are, our protagonist and his or her friends stand little chance of rescuing their sibling without aid. But whether they want it or not, the help they are about to get is going to make their mission that much more complicated.



The first ally they meet is the eponymous Roger Steel, an Irish agent of imperial hegemony, a pawn of power pursued not only by his own dark nemesis, but the most formidable of the empire's opponents as well.



For example, Svetlana Ruskaya, enigmatic flame-haired, fiery tempered daughter of the great Russian Steppes, whose pursuit of Steel takes her from the burning deserts of central Asia to the vertiginous heights at the roof of the world.



And Yu Mei Ling, lithe dynamo of martial energy seeking peace from a traumatic past and absolution from a proud but fraying empire.



And Hamilton Ruff, stalwart grandson of the American Revolution, mourning the theft of his country's birthright with a vow to realize it's founders' dreams in defiance of the most powerful empire the world has ever known.



With allies like these, who needs hordes of bizarre and terrifying enemies coming between them and their sibling?

Are they romanceable?



FIRST!!!!

Are they romanceable?



FIRST!!!!

Yes. The party characters I'll be introducing in these SPs will be romanceable as Bi (meaning Ann or Arthur can romance), GB, BG, BB, or GG, depending on the individual character. Bi characters will have different reactions depending which protagonist is romancing them (same sex or opposite sex).

How many are romanceable in this game and how many have a friendship end? Oh and probably best to ask the most obvious question how many Party Characters are in this game?

There are 10 party members, including the two brothers (but since they're separated early, is more likely to say there are 9 party members). So the other 8 party members beside the main characters are ALL romanceable, divided into:

2 gay only males

2 lesbian only females

2 straight male/female

2 bisex male/female

at least we got the romance balanced already I am going to post a "romance graph" like I did for the other games but since I don't have any art yet, it will need to wait a bit

Hi,



what are the mores of those times, regarding heteronormativity? Will those who romance within their own gender be subject to discrimination and find themselves compelled to conceal their affections?



-- peregrin

That's a good question but I'll leave Fen to reply to it

This can be an interesting story element fitting to these past times, but I dunno if it will be fitting for the audience nowadays. It could be followed by lots of negative feedback in several countries. I think something like this will be a challenge for the writer but - as said - can be interesting.

Yes is a delicate topic indeed! But if is handled well by the writer, like the slavery theme in Loren, I think should be fine. The important is that the message is clear, the society is against X, but the characters aren't, or they're trying to change the world. Even Loren slowly realize that slavery is wrong but even in the beginning she isn't like a harsh mistress, more a snob princess who doesn't know about how the outside world works.

That's exactly the trick for the writer



The message has to be told in a soft way. If you write it like "here, in your face, accept homosexuals", several people in countries of interest (marketwise) could feel offended So you have to coat this message in enough crumpets for them :D

There are 10 party members, including the two brothers (but since they're separated early, is more likely to say there are 9 party members). So the other 8 party members beside the main characters are ALL romanceable, divided into:

2 gay only males

2 lesbian only females

2 straight male/female

2 bisex male/female

at least we got the romance balanced already I am going to post a "romance graph" like I did for the other games but since I don't have any art yet, it will need to wait a bit

Sounds like the romance part is all sorted

What about the Friendship part? Is there a Friendship ending with each? like the ones who can't be romanced by say Ann can be "friendshiped"? Is there a going to be a CG for the friendship end? (I know that would increase the art ten fold though. Just curious since I think it would add something new since hasn't been done in your games before.

I think Fen has planned the friendship even for non romance character, as for the CG yes that could be done, this time should be able to have a good idea of the amount of art needed before commissioning the artist since the script should be at good point by the time he can work on this (still need to commission lot of art for the SOTW game).

Getting so pumped for this (really loving the steampunk super spy feels this game is going to have) - can't wait to hear more about the companions, with or without art (leaves a bit up to the imagination!).



So, we know most of the companions now:

-Christina Mortimer

-Neville Mortimer

-Roger Steel

-Svetlana Ruskaya

-Yu Mei Ling

-Hamilton Ruff



Could you tell us which character romance routes are available for which protagonist?

edit: I removed the image I posted, showing a romance chart, since even the writer said is outdated. I'll post a more up to date one when he gives me the OK. Bad move on my part

Sorry removed the image since is outdated and don't want to cause confusion

So there is going to be less hetero romance than homo?

So there is Gay Prince, but a straight Princess?, not even Bi. hmm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm sure you and Fen have your reasons in the writing.



Other then that, I like the list, I'm surprised at the number of ones I was able to guess

So there is going to be less hetero romance than homo?

There will be 4 romances for both Anna and Arthur so it's equal actually.

So there is Gay Prince, but a straight Princess?, not even Bi. hmm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm sure you and Fen have your reasons in the writing.

I just happened to see this (and there are a lot of other great comments I want to address in this thread and others but haven't got the time right now) and want to say that the info is quite out of date (it's a very early design doc from when I was trying to create characters and their backgrounds alongside their sexual preferences to make for balanced gameplay - and cater for as many tastes as possible ). This is one reason I left Abhay and Anya out of the list in my post for this thread.



Anyways ... Abhay and Anya are argumentative twins, and both are homosexual. Abhay is a 'feminine' (but tough) guy and Anya is a real tomboy (but not at all what might be called in less elevated circles, a 'bull dyke').



I've thought about this a lot and as has been mentioned earlier in the thread, there's a real risk of people taking the personality of each character and assuming I'm stereotyping an entire nationality or ethnicity. This is certainly not the case; on the other hand, I do want to create memorable characters whom are not rendered thoroughly anodyne by political correctness. I can't stress this enough ... all the characters in Roger Steel represent no one but themselves. They are obviously products of their cultures (as imaginatively, I hope, rendered by yours truly), and carry with them some of the assumptions and biases of their upbringings, but at the end of the day they stand for nothing and no one but themselves.

So there is going to be less hetero romance than homo?

There will be 4 romances for both Anna and Arthur so it's equal actually.

Thats not what I asked, there is 2 hetero option and 3 homo in the chart, so its not really equal

Im not complaining, just wanted to know

Oops maybe shouldn't have posted that image going to take it down I think since could be confusing... I just wanted to give an idea, but sometimes is better wait for the writer to answer directly