Since I had those 2 extra hours, I decided to work on something that is very little, and something that not every player will see. If they do however, it should hopefully make them smile, and think, "Wow, I haven't seen anything like this in a NWN module before". I hope they haven't seen it before:)

So, to anyone who has e-mailed me in the past week or so, fear not, once I am done with this, you will have my total attention.

So, I would really like to get some work done on the train ride into work, but since it will be at 5:00 in the morning, I can't promise anything. The good thing is that I will be leaving early, so I anticipate (there is that nasty word again) that I can finish the last 2 pages by tomorrow. Then, all I have to do is a quick run though (by quick, I mean just make sure there are no plot breaking bugs), and release this damn thing to the testers. Just breathe, Leonard...Just breathe...

That said, I am not going to be able to release the ALPHA, as I had originally wanted to today. I will however bust my ass as much as possible on the train ride to/from work this week to get it together. Ah, the drama of module building...It's almost over...

I finally was able to attempt to play through Cry The Beloved again. Man, I really did underestimate how long the game has been getting, and get this: I haven't even gotten to the new areas I had been working on the past month or so:) I mean, I did speed play to the part that broke on me, but once I got there, I went back to doing everything. Apparently, everything is a lot:)

At about 2:00 am, I decided I needed to stop, so that I could wake up early in the morning to start the process again. I stopped at a nice area in the game, and I can't wait to go through the next sequence.

Also, some of you might have noticed a new link in the left column, where I have other links to sites such as NWVault, and the Bioware Modules forums. The new link, called VGMusic links to a music site that I have been frequenting for at least 2 years. This particular site has thousands and thousands of MIDI's of video game music ranging from the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, to the XBOX. The tracks I listen to the most are the ones for the NES and SNES (no surprise there). It really brings me back to my childhood, when things were so much simpler. The ones I have been listening to lately are for all of the Mega Man series, especially Mega Man II. Ah, good times...

Once I am done going through the 1 page, I will start the game over again, and speed play to the part of the game that was broken. I will then go through it as I had before, doing anything and everything that is available to the player, in order to compile the next 3 or so pages of bug/issues.

As I mentioned before, I have a wedding to go to on Saturday, so that severely limits how much I can do. I might end up working very late tomorrow night to get to the end of the game. Yep, I smell and all niter!

I anticipate I will have about 3-4 pages worth of notes after my 1st play through. It will then take me at least a day to sift through it, and handle all of the issues. I will then run through the game, but much more quickly, basically verifying all the bugs are fixed. Then, it is time to ship it out to the testers, so that they can break it apart, and give me more work:)

Since I have off from work on Monday, it would be cool if I could have the ALPHA ready by Monday night. Not sure about it, because one of my best friend's sister is getting married this weekend, so he will be up with his wife. That of course means I have to entertain them and whatnot. Then, there is the actual wedding on Saturday, which will take a lot of my time and energy away. I pleaded with her to get married after I release Cry The Beloved, but apparently, her little wedding is more important. Bah...

I will admit I wanted to wipe my hands clean of this area by the end of today, but things happen...I mean, I did work on some other things that weren't related to the dungeon, it's just that it isn't that substantial in terms of content (was mostly scripting issues), so it is hard to visualize what I did accomplish...

On the train tomorrow, I need to put the finishing touches on an enhancement of one of the puzzle systems, as the old way wasn't really intuitive. I was killing myself the last hour of development, but I think I figured out a solution. It shouldn't be too hard to implement.

Now I have to go back and make sure everything likes together. This really consists of small things, like making sure all transitions are working correctly, as well as adding the correct VFX everywhere. I also need to put some treasure into the various hidden chests. Once I am done with that, I am going to take a test run through the game. I am actually excited about it, because I haven't done it in a while. Then, I will finally get the long awaited ALPHA out. I also expect that this will be the last version of the ALPHA. From here on out, it will be BETA time!

Unfortunately, at work, I was very busy today. So busy that I never even had a chance to take out my laptop and plug it in...So, on the train ride home, I could only work for like 15 minutes before it shut off on me...It was quite annoying, but it happens.

That said, let's just say that everything came together perfectly. I was able to create a stubbed out cut-scene, with the proper music and camera angles, that runs for the exact amount of time. I even got some VFX in that I thought was going to be tougher than it really was. All that is left is to add the appropriate text, some more VFX, and some minor scripts that will change the state of the game.

I have to say, this is another one of those cut-scene I have been dreaming about creating for a couple of years. To actually do it, in one night no less, was a dream come true. Every time I visualize things ahead of time (which is 99.9% of the time), when I actually implement it, it usually comes out a bit different. This cut-scene was no exception, however, it is for the better. My only gripe is that not everyone who plays the game will see it:( Oh well, for those that do, they are in for a treat!

There's something else I wanted to talk about. I have been reading the NWN2 forums everyday, mainly skimming through, and between all of the "I want this Obsidian, and if you don't give it to me, I will not buy your freaking game!" posts, I sometimes come across posts about the music, and who the composer will be. 99.9% of the replies state that it is common for the music to be added to the game last.

This of course is inconceivable for me. Putting in music last?! Hell, I need the music at the time of design to figure out how every scene will play out. I guess it is just one of the differences of how I approach game design. To some, music is an afterthought. To me, it is most important. I actually don't think I will like the NWN2 soundtrack too much (I didn't like NWN1 either), but we will see. I think it is the style that most annoys me. Most tracks are only 1:30 long, and after they play, there is silence for like another 2 minutes. I know this can be changed by the builder (I do this very thing), but sometimes I cannot help but wonder why...

Again, since all people are different, there really isn't any point to figuring out. I need to realizing that it is how a lot of people feel. I just have to learn how to deal with it, and work around it. Just another reason why I don't think the PC community as a whole may be my target audience. Then again, don't mind me, I am just rambling...It is 12:30 am here, and I have to be up for the train soon...Damn, I should have gone to sleep earlier. Just couldn't stop implementing the new boss fight...Yes people, I am addicted!

Till tomorrow... 

I created some of the scripts for the sequence, as well as an opening cut-scene. I didn't get a chance to test the cut-scene, but I am sure it will work fine. I will also have to add in the code to make it skip able.

Tomorrow, I expect to either finish the boss fight, or be very close. Once that is done, I can finish up the last puzzle, do a couple of run throughs of the game, and ship out the next ALPHA. Busy, busy, busy...

I got right back into development, as if nothing had changed. Boy, it was nice to not have to wait 30 seconds for an area to load, or 4 minutes for the module to load. These may not seem like long times, but once you get fast speeds on a machine, you can't go back to slower speeds. I can't, at least:)

I more or less finished the design and implementation of another enemy, although I didn't add any special effects when it used special abilities. I will most likely start working on the last puzzle tomorrow morning.

Sorry if these past updates have been so short, but I have lost a lot of sleep as the week has gone on, so I need to get to sleep early.

Unfortunately, by the time I got back, it was getting very late, so I only got to develop for an hour or so. I truly can't wait to be able to work on the train again. I could only watch Advent Children so many times!

When I got home, after eating dinner, I jumped right back into things. I added 2 more newly scripted features, as well as the final AI for the particular creature I have been making scripts for. I still need to integrate it into the bigger scheme of things, but for now, I am happy with what I have.

When I get off the train tomorrow night, I am going straight to my Mother's house to pick up her laptop. It's been so painful to be inspired, and ready to work on the trains, when I cannot. I can also smell my 2 week vacation coming up...

On the design front, David Timmons took a writing assignment for a few NPC's, which have to do with a particular NPC from The Coming that was, let's say, a prick...Even better, I just received some new dialogue from Phil Carter, so I am eager to read that as well.

Finally, I finished Advent Children on the train this morning. I was so much into the main story, but it was a great way to reminisce about Final Fantasy 7. In fact, one of the special features actually plays for about 10 minutes, and shows all of the highlights of the story. I have to admit, there were parts that I even forgot about. I never actually played it as much as I played Final Fantasy 4 & 6, most likely because it was my senior year in high school, and I was more concerned with partying and whatnot:) Also, the fight scenes were probably the best I have ever seen in any type of movie. Now, I just need them to remake Final Fantasy 6...

So, today I continued my work on the dungeon. I totally finished off another room, and the other one that I started working on yesterday is almost done as well. I just need to come up with a clever little puzzle for it. Most likely will do that while I brainstorm before going to sleep, or on the train tomorrow morning. I also fixed a lot of minor issues here and there that aren't worth mentioning.

Besides being on the phone with Dell, I hope to finish off the next 2 rooms tomorrow, and get a lot of work done for the last one. As I mentioned a few days ago, it would cool to have this done by Wednesday of next week. Tomorrow night would be even better:)

At work however, things were really calm, compared to yesterday, and I made it another day without quitting:)

On the game design front, I finally put the final finishing touches on this particular puzzle system. I can now test out the room again a couple of times, add some placeables here and there, and move on to the next room. I already created the custom monster that will go into this next room, so all that needs to be done is some puzzle adding, basic layout, and a lot of testing. As I will be home all day tomorrow, besides getting a haircut, I should be able to knock it out...

Finally, here is the latest art from Olaia, in wallpaper form. I could go on and on about this, but you all know how I feel at this point.

In general, the dream with Rose Of Eternity was to have so many memorable characters, everyone who played would be able to identify with them. Because of the amount of characters that will be in the game, I thought what better than to have a page where people could read about them. I know that when I started playing RPG's, I used to always get strategy guides, and read every little detail about all of the characters. 

As far as game development, I made A LOT of progress with some scripting today. I know some of you are thinking that I waste too much time on scripting, but trust me, getting the foundation of this system now will save me headaches weeks from now. I am almost done writing this particular puzzle system, and when I am done, plugging in new puzzles will be easy. Those of you who used to read my updates from back in October may remember me talking about the standard puzzle system I am using in this dungeon. Well, I decided to extend it, hence the bit of work I have been doing these past days. Once I do get it working (definitely by tomorrow, unless my desktop blows up), I will be able to finish up the 1st room, and move on to the next. Every subsequent room should be easier to do, as I don't have to spend time writing the code for the puzzles.

Once I am done with this floor, I will focus entirely on getting a playable version of the ALPHA ready. In the past few days, I have actually been getting some e-mails from the testers asking about it. One of them, who most know as Hagaar from NWVault actually started playing The Coming again, to get back in the right state of mind. It was interesting to have some e-mail exchanges with him about it. Brought back memories:) Todd and his son Cameron also expressed interest, and since Cameron will be getting out of school soon, the timing will be perfect. I even heard from Phil tonight (though I didn't have time to write him), telling me that some dialog he was working on will be done by the weekend. Of all people, I know how things can get when people are busy, so I totally understand. Finally, Olaia will most likely start working on a secret project, which I obvious can't divulge the details of just yet. So, everyone is very busy it seems:)

RANT TIME

Anyone ever read the comic, Dilbert. It isn't just a comic...It is the truth. So, for the past few months, my company has had a deal with ESPN to port our games to their new set of phones. However, there are other priorities that the project managers don't seem to know about, even they are project that are being handles by their close colleagues. I don't want to get into too many details, because some of it is confidential, but let's just say I had an interesting conversation with a project manager today. Essentially, I told them we are short staffed, and that some things just can't humanly be done. What was their response? "Leonard, you just have to bring it home". I would reiterate my previous statement, and in turn, they would reiterate theirs. I just walked away, feeling like Dilbert. And they wonder why people are quitting left and right...

As I did with the Aramus artwork, I simply stared at this, when I had the time. Whenever I get a new piece of art, I never really notice all of the details. It usually takes a while before I really start to pick all of those little details that make it so special. I mean damn, look at the designs on her dress. Look at her hair... Look at her emotion on her face. She looks like she has been imprisoned in the Garden Of Roses for 4000 years!

This was just the thing I needed to see today, because today was, well, one of those days. It started out promising...I wasn't feeling to hot this morning, and since I had to do some work from home, not being able to get into the office until 11:00 ish, I decided to stay home. I knew I had some tasks to finish, but they didn't seem to be too difficult. Boy, was I wrong...

It wasn't that what I was doing was terribly difficult, it was just that I had never did it before, and the process wasn't as documented as it should have been. So, an hour long task ended up not getting done until 5:00pm. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say I really thought I would get a chance to get a lot of development in. Oh well...

That said, I still got more development done than if I went to work today. Even starting at 5:00pm was 3 hours earlier than I normally would have started at. 

So, I got right back into the implementation of the 3rd floor of the dungeon. I was feeling very confident, as I had more or less finished off the new enemy, and even put some little annoying traps in there to trip up the player (not DnD traps, custom stuff, just couldn't think of a better word...).

So, I would really like to have all 4 sections of this floor done by next week. Hell, Sunday would be better, but I won't push things. Once that is done, there is a TON of smaller things I have to do, mostly related to, that's right, you guessed...DEMATOL...I am still waiting on the dialogue from 2 of the writers, but once I get those, there isn't that much left to do. I think I will also be ready for another round of testing. I have been putting it off for too long. I just hope there are still people out there willing to go through the game...Things have been pretty quiet over at the forums for a while, but I believe things will begin to heat up again when I release the next ALPHA. Well, of to bed now:)

On the website front, I moved some of the cast info from the Cry The Beloved Status Page to the main Cast page. Nothing really major, but something I wanted to do for a while, nonetheless. I will continue to make changes here and there on the train rides, until my laptop situation is fixed. Speaking of with, something good happened. Sort of. I was watching some live feeds on the Nintendo keynote speech at E3, and about 10 minutes into it, my computer started to slow down to a crawl. What this means is that the issue definitely isn't just with Neverwinter Nights. It seems that whenever my laptop is stressed, it gets really bad. I think it is almost time for that phone call to Dell:)

Now, don't anybody get scared now. Just because I don't have my laptop doesn't mean the release date will get pushed back even further. Quite the contrary. I actually get more work done on my desktop, where I don't have an internet connection. For example, tonight, I literally worked from about 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm, uninterrupted. Yeah, I watched the newest episode of 24, but I worked while I did. What does this mean? Well, even though I had access to my laptop on the train, I would often fall asleep. At home, I would find myself scouring the Vault, to see what the newest and coolest modules are. I am very bad at getting distracted, and I think this situation will get me focused, and put things into perspective. I have work to do, and I need to get it done as soon as possible. I am by no means rushing things, but I know what is at stake. Even better, I actually have about 15 days or so of personal time that I will be taking soon, so best believe, I will get as much done as possible during that time.

So, all of that said, today was a very good day for development. As mentioned before, since my desktop is a bit slower than my laptop, I decided to take a break from the current sequences, and go back to something I started back in October 2005. That's right people, my beloved dungeon. Long story short, I really wanted to work a dungeon into The Coming, so when I had a chance to do it for Cry The Beloved, I jumped at the chance. I actually implemented a lot of so long ago, but I always knew that I wanted to come back and do another floor. Actually, it looked like this floor would be cut out of the final game, but once I got word that the release date was pushed back, I figured I could squeeze in an extra week of development. This floor of the dungeon will not be mandatory, but for those that want to explore everything, fight every monster, get every item, and learn every skill, this is for them. 

In fact, I am very big on that in Cry The Beloved. The Coming was very linear in that there wasn't too much extra to do. In Cry The Beloved, I give people lots of different places to explore, that don't really affect the main plot line. I think it will be well received, especially a certain cinematic sequence that will play at the end of it:) Can't wait to script that baby up!

So, I actually knew about this article a few months ago, but I didn't post about it because I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. The author contacted me requesting some screenshots, and I never heard from him again. I wasn't even sure they were going to go through with it. I guess I was wrong!

While we are on the topic of PC Gamer, PC Gamer UK contacted me last week to ask for my permission to pre-package Rose Of Eternity - Chapter 1 - The Coming on their monthly demo disk. I obviously gave them my blessings, and hope I can find out which issue it comes out in, so I can pick one up myself. Might have to order through mail however...

So, with all of the good news out the way, let's get to the bad stuff. NWN is still acting up on my laptop. Not sure why it took a full 10 days to happen, but it did, nonetheless. I am not sure what I am going to do, however, I may be leaning to get a new machine if I can't get it fixed. I did just win $2500 at the IGF, so what better way to spend it than to invest it in a machine that will hopefully help me win some more money at next year's IGF! 

For any of you technically minded people out there, essentially, my machine slows to a halt whenever I run NWN. And only NWN...Not sure why, to be totally honest with you. I am going to run some benchmarking tools tomorrow morning at work, and also re-install it. For the time being, I cannot develop on my laptop. It is just too damn slow. I did get it installed on my desktop, but since it is 5 years old, it's still a pain in the ass to work with. So, I have to make some changes on what I was going to develop next.

Essentially, the areas I will be developing are very processor intensive, and I just can't test it on an old machine. So, I will focus on things like scripting, and other small things that need to get done eventually. I am going to try to stay positive during all of this, so bear with me...

One thing that has been getting annoying is the load/save times for my module in the toolset. As the module file has been getting bigger and bigger, things have been getting worse and worse. It's something I will have to learn to deal with, but for the time being, to put it plainly, it sucks:(

This morning, I was a working machine! The only reason I had to stop was because I ran out of power on my laptop. It is quite frustrating actually, and I think I may pick up an extra battery, for times when I am really inspired to do some great work.

Anyway, I definitely came to the decision that this new area will have to be split up into 2 or more areas. I simply cannot release something with this much lag. It's not going to make a difference to the end user. In fact, it will only affect me, as I knew what I originally wanted to do. I'm getting used to making sacrifices, so it isn't a big deal...

In terms of what I did today, I essentially played this important battle many times over. At this point, I think I need to start designing 1-2 new types of custom enemies. They will of course have some custom ability (i.e. Last Resort) to go with them.

Tomorrow, I hope to get to work on the new custom enemies, as well as possibly trying to find out why this particular piece of music won't convert to BMU format. I will also lay the foundation for the next area. It will be a Saturday, so if I keep the History Channel off all day, I might be able to do it:)

Unfortunately, motivation couldn't keep me awake this morning:) You see, I got to the train station very late today, so I literally had to do the 100 yard dash! Let's not forget that I am getting older, and don't have the stamina I had back in the day when I was on the school football team. What does that mean? Even though I got lots of sleep, running 100 yards very fast totally knocked me out. Hell, I couldn't breathe straight for like 5 minutes! I guess I should start working out again...Yeah, right...After Cry The Beloved...Perhaps...

On the way home, I continued my work on the new sequence. Things are going pretty well right now, and I think I finally have the finalized concept of this 1st area. However, I have been running into little things here and there, which influence how I design the area.

The main one is lag. Point blank, it frustrates the hell out of me that I cannot have huge areas, with lots of stuff going on. I know it is a limitation of the engine, but it is still annoying. And, the way I design, every level has to look beautiful. So, in order to keep up that level of detail, the areas cannot be as big as I would want them to be. I have been consciously doing this all along through development, but it wasn't until today when I realized how bad it could get if I didn't pay attention.

Oh yeah...I really wish I had full control of party members right now. Their AI has been doing some annoying things during this particular sequence. I have found work arounds, but man oh man, how I wish I could have it now:)

Last but not least, I finally got a copy of last week's newspaper, when the article on me was written. I have to say that even though I didn't meet this guy in person, it was very well done. I am too lazy to type it up now, so I will try to get that done some time tomorrow...Perhaps on the train ride into work...

So, this morning, I did not get as much work done as I wanted to, mainly because I feel asleep. The main problem is that I did so much work last night, that I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, having to wake up 6 hours later. I will definitely try to go to sleep at 11:00pm, which for whatever reason, makes me able to stay up on the train. What a miracle an extra hour of sleep can be!

On the train ride home, I did something different. You see, there is a new dialog that I want Phil to work on, but I can't just send him the thing to change up. I have to give him the full scope of the situation, since he hasn't played the ALPHA. And as usual, I am just so damn busy with everything else, it is often hard for me to find time in my day to write long, detailed e-mails (what else is new...). So, I just bit the bullet, and wrote it. After about 20 minute or so, I was happy with it.

One thing that has been really pissing me off is the fact that this very integral piece of music that I am trying to convert to BMU format isn't working. I am using the MP3toBMU tool that you can download from the Vault, and it just won't work. I know nothing is wrong with the tool, as I have been using it for the past 2 years. In fact, just to make sure, I converted some other pieces, and they worked fine. However, when I convert this new piece, and try to listen to it in the game, I get nothing. It is quite frustrating, but I am sure I will get to the bottom of things...

So, since I cannot listen to the piece in game, I had it playing through iTunes, and I just turned off the regular NWN music. It's hard for me to test a new area without having the music accompany it at the time. Speaking of which, the design is coming along quite well. Every so often, I get to a new section of the game, when I really have to make some decisions on how it will look, and I get stuck. You see, I always have the general idea of what is supposed to happen throughout the entire game. When it comes down to implementing it however, sometimes I just have to sit back, throw on the music that will play in the area, and brainstorm.

Going back to the encounter, I believe that people will have lots of fun with them. At this point in the game, the player is at a higher level, has many party members, all with many different custom abilities. Though, the way the game is designed, not all people will have the same abilities at this point. It all depends on the choices the player can make before this point. All of that said, I personally had a lot of fun testing the combat of the 1st encounter. I am positive it will change a bit, but for right now, I am on the right path.

I should also mention that I spent some time this morning at work reading the Neverwinter Nights 2 forums. I have to say, I am getting more and more excited everyday. I think the game looks damn good. I mean, of course it could look better, but graphics aren't everything. I even began to work out my strategy for what to do when it is released. For instance, when I 1st bought Neverwinter Nights 1 back in 2002, I returned it within 2 days after I learned about the party system, or lack thereof. When I picked it up again to start working on Rose Of Eternity, I skipped playing the OC, Shadows Of Urentide, & Hordes Of The Underdark. This time, however, I think I will end up playing the OC of Neverwinter Nights 2. Although I don't know much about it, I am sure that there are many cool things the devs will do in it. I also might see some things done that I would have never thought possible. Since I won't have any huge time constraints when I start making games for it, spending a week or 2 checking out the OC will most likely be very beneficial.

I did notice that they said in the OC, the total people allowed in the party at one time will be 4. I am not sure if this is just for the OC, or if it is a hard limit for the engine, period. I hope not, but as always, I will find ways to work around it...Just the fact that I will be able to actually control every party member is good enough for me at the moment. I am going to have lots of fun creating strategic battles:) And don't get me started on how my Timed Unison Ability System will evolve as well...*Drools*

Also (yeah, I still have more to talk about!), I learned that I was featured in yet another newspaper in my area. I totally forgot to tell anyone (even my close personal friends), but a few weeks ago, I had a phone interview with a journalist. I had not heard from him since, and did not even know I was featured until today, even though the issue came out a few days ago. Oh well:) I personally haven't seen it yet, but once I do, I will post the transcript here in the new Interviews section.

Finally, I hope everyone likes the latest piece of art from Olaia Ferrando. This is her continuing work on a very special character in the Rose Of Eternity universe. I shouldn't even have to say who the portrait depicts, and you know what, I won't:)

Till tomorrow...

I also put some final touches on the dialog I have been writing over the past few days. I am now ready to send it over to Phil. Hopefully, he isn't too busy to take a crack at it. He hasn't before, so I don't think he will start now:)

Now that I have finished up the little cut-scene, I can now move on to bigger things. This particular sequence of scenes that I have been alluding to for the past few weeks or so is definitely going to test all of my scripting skills, as well as my ability to tolerate stress:) The first thing I have to do is get the music converted to BMU format. Unfortunately, when I re-formatted my hard drive, I lost all of the tools I use, including my compression tool and Audacity (tool to edit tracks). So, I will have to download them again...Not a big deal, but I am so lazy when it comes to little things...

So, I am not going to beat around the bush. I anticipate that this entire sequence of events will take me about a month of development. If I break it down further, it will probably take a week to do each event (4 total). I am sure this number will get skewed as time goes on, but I am sticking by this quote as of now:) I am sure it will be fun to come back one day to read this, and compare how long it really took, compared to what I thought.

Finally, here is some new concept art done by Olaia Ferrando. She made this, intending it to be for a particular character, but after seeing it, it reminded me of a new character that the player would be eventually. Actually, I most likely won't get to that part of the story that involves this character, but I may still ask her to do another portrait if she has a chance...We'll see...

Tomorrow, I will finish implementing some of the new dialogs Phil made for me, and get back to work on this new sequence. I had issues converting a track from MP3 -> BMU, but I hope the problem is easily fixable.

Well, let's start off with what I did today...This morning, on the way to work, I wrote up a bunch of placeholder dialog, which I believe Phil Carter will be getting to smooth over. I haven't notified him as of yet, but he is still willing to take on some assignments, so I will oblige. This particular dialog only takes place between 4 different NPC's, without the PC getting in a word at all. Normally, if this were a year ago, I would have made this a cut-scene. A year later however, I know better. In general, I don't have numbers, but I am positive that there is more than 2 times as much dialog than in The Coming. 

Speaking more generally, it looks as if Cry The Beloved is becoming the quintessential sequel. Let's take a look at some facts. It takes me about 4 hours to play though The Coming. So far, it is already taking me close to 8 hours to play through to the current end of Cry The Beloved. And that is with more content coming along the way!

In The Coming, there were 2 Unison Abilities. In Cry The Beloved, there are about 5, with more to come. In Cry The Beloved, there are about 2 times as many people that will join your party, as opposed to The Coming. In The Coming, there were 25 custom tracks, and in Cry The Beloved so far, there are 54 so far.

Another thing that I have kept in the back of my mind lately has been the size of the game itself. As some of you may or may not know, the music for The Coming was very large (i.e.25 tracks over 30+ MB; I don't have the actual sizes right now). Currently, with new ways to compress the music, I have 29 tracks that are under 25 MB. Then there are the normal hakpaks, which are about 20 MB right now. I mean, I guess I shouldn't worry too much...If everyone who played and liked The Coming plays Cry The Beloved, that will be good enough.

Although, I have to admit, I am pretty much positive my rating will be much lower, even though this game is far superior than The Coming. Now, I know I have talked about this before, but this isn't my normal paranoia coming out. It's just facts. The day I found out I was a finalist in