#ashes and sand

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

Planning for the future of A Crown of Ash and an overall update

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the huge amount of support for the prologue! I honestly never expected to see this many people interested in something I was doing for fun.

I want to start off by saying that I have started to write the first chapter.

I have also decided not to put any full dates for when an update will be released. As I go in and out of being able to predict my availability. I would rather not rush out a product with which I am unhappy or have taken liberties. It's not fair to either side of the party.

I am currently unaware of how long this story will end up being. I have ideas written down on a document, but nothing has a solid order. I work best by letting things flow as they come to my head.

While I have made this clear on the Itch page, I wish to state it here too. This project is going to become more mature in nature as it progresses. There will be blood and gore, profanity, along with mature topics, themes, and the potential of mentioned adult actions. As progress moves along, I will update the intro page with a list of warnings and potential triggers. If things do have their moments of 18+ content, that will be updated too.

Around 48 hours after chapter 1 releases I will reveal the potential love interests, and dig a bit into them as I see fit. I consider it a spoiler for what I'm planning for Chapter 1. So I'd rather wait to post it.

I am still considering adding a fourth romance option, but I am not sure if it will blend in too much with another option that I am 100% sure will be in the game. I will be hosting a poll to gauge interest after the first chapter's release.

I want it to be known that I will always put a story narrative over adding more options for the player to pick. It's not fun when you're just adding something to add it. Some choices are going to be separated to give different bits of lore. I'm building the game this way so that if someone decides to replay it, they can learn different aspects of the story they didn't notice or find before.

The same here goes for that mature content label. Mature topics and themes aren't being added just for the sake of being there. There are other projects like that out there for people who are looking for it. That's not the direction I desire for this story to take.

That being said, I am still learning coding and Twine. I am going to make mistakes, but I am always going to try my best to fix said mistakes that happen. Whether it's a spelling error I missed, something coded incorrectly, or a major bug. Whatever it is, I will try to the best of limited knowledge I currently hold to fix everything that pops up.

Once again thank you all for the support, I will slowly update the blog with progress as I see fit. Monthly updates put too much pressure on me, and I'm going to stray away from that in favor of smaller and more spread out but more content heavy updates.

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Neo Twiny Jam - bite-sized review

The Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) is an interactive fiction game unranked jam where participants could not write more than 500 words per entry.

You can find every submitted piece on the jam's Itch Page.

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The Real Me by Ashes and Sand

Entry - More by Ashes and Sand - @a-crown-of-ash-if CW: Talk of death, transphobia, and burning alive

A touching submission. Through a fantasy setting, a fairy describes his experience of finding and accepting their identity in the face of adversity. It is quite emotional and raw.

[fuckyeahgreatplays]

Top 5 "In-Yer-Face" theatre plays?

Ooh I do love some inyerface.

Cleansed- Sarah Kane: she’s got to be on here, obviously. I think Cleansed is one of her most underrated works.

pool (no water)- Mark Ravenhill

Ashes and Sand- Judy Upton: brutal girl gangs!

Blue/Orange- Joe Penhall

Spinning Into Butter- Rebecca Gilman

[michael--price]

Today's track is a cue from the first feature film I scored, Ashes and Sand, starring Nick Moran and directed by Bob Blagden. It's the main character theme, played on alto flute by Dave Heath. Although the strings were recorded at Abbey Road, the flute was recorded in my spare bedroom. Hope you enjoy.

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

The Prologue for A Crown of Ash is now released!

I have no clue how I got the willpower to finish the prologue for the story after how hectic things have been. But yes it is finally here!

I have decided to preserve the original Neo-Twiny jam version of the game separately. So that people can still view that first build if they desire.

Some things were changed in the transition from the 500 word limit draft to this version, but the ideas and concepts are still the same. I took some time to explain things I saw fit.

You can play the prologue here!

Your support is appreciated, and all criticism is welcome! I heavily went through and spell-checked everything, but don't be afraid to say something if I missed something!

Thank you all, I hope you enjoy it!

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

I forgot to post about this earlier, as I threw this piece together super last minute. College classes have been a lot.

I wrote for Neo Twiny Jam again. This is Obsessive Tendencies, a small title I wrote about the struggles this year has held for me. I wanted to do something again, but I knew it wouldn't be right to act as if everything had been swimmingly for me. Writing about the struggles of obsession is something I want to see more.

I see this topic romanticized a lot. As someone who has been dealing with it since childhood, a lot of media paints it in a light that doesn't actually dig into how hard it is to break down. How it controls, how there's no easy way to find resources.

While this piece is small, this is that piece. This is my small drop into the bucket, what I wish to see more of.

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

Small Update

Hi, I'm sorry for the long wait between updates. Sadly I've been very busy with college, along with the fact this year has not been very kind to me so far. I have been actively struggling mentally and all my personal projects are currently on hold. I'm really sorry that this isn't a good update but working on anything close this caliber in my mental state isn't a good idea.

I am okay, I'm just using the time to let myself heal. I'm sorry that I did not return with better news.

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

I won't start doing full updates again until next year, as I'm already getting busy when it comes down to projects and time. I have to start planning making the people I know Christmas gifts this month, along with a good chunk of other things. I've got my schedule packed. I'll still try and post here once a month so everyone knows that when the time comes I'll be able to work in longer bursts instead of the small bits and pieces of construction I've had going on for awhile.

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

August 2023 Update

Here's this month's project update

This past month was full of some stress, family, and natural disasters. I also have been working on a personal RPG Maker project more recently due to the fact I have had more time to be on my Switch over my PC. Like I mentioned in previous post, I do not have any idea of plans for the new prologue release date.

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August 2023 progress report

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After this past month I plan on picking development up whenever I can.

We are currently standing at 5799 words (including coding).

I'll try and see if I can still implement my 3 day plan.

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Plans moving forward

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I am approaching the time of year where I get extremely busy. Sadly production is going to get slower from here due to that. Along with working on my other project.

Thanks for reading friends, I'll keep updating as progress continues!

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

July 2023 Update

I know I am a few days late, my apologies! I am here with this past month's progress update!

I have spent a bit of time this month learning a bit more about how Twine works from some resources, meaning that writing took a slight backseat. I'm still very new to coding in Twine, and I want to make sure that what I'm doing is my best effort with no compromises.

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July 2023 progress report

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This month was full of me flopping back and forth between writing, reading, and resource hunting. I'm still trying to push for a release for this upcoming month. I also had to do a huge shift from google docs to MS word this month, so I have been adapting to it. Slowly but surely I spend a bit of time each week added to the personal idea log I have stored in my computer.

We are currently standing at 5025 words (including coding).

I'm working more tonight, and I'm going to try to push a more consistent schedule for myself, without letting my sleep suffer. Trying to push for working on the huge draft every three days.

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Plans moving forward

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Right now I am still pushing for the prologue to be a late August release, along with a more consistent schedule. Some night are harder for me to log onto my laptop then others. Still I feel like that August release is achievable.

Thanks for reading friends, I'll keep updating as progress continues!

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

June 2023 Update

Hi everyone! This month passing marks not only the first update, but my first month fully working on A Crown of Ash. I'll be updating on monthly progress through here as I work on the game.

I should probably note here that this is a passion project, I am not, and will not be making any form of money from it. While I plan to eventually work in the game industry I am in no means close to the end of that road. This is not my job, or something I will have the space to do 24/7.

Updates will come out when they are ready, and I will not put pressure on myself to force out a half baked product.

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June 2023 progress report

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This month has some rough moments, and I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I fully started working on the next demo build on the 1st of this month, and updated and added even more to what I already wrote. Along with that I started to get the prologue finished. I added a fresh coat of paint to the look of the game, by adding a free Itch template.

We are currently standing at 3534 words (including coding).

I am around a third done with the prologue at this time. I'm not 100% sure how long it will end up being when it's finished.

What I can tell you is that yes choices do mater, yes they heavily change the story. Some heavily change that section, while others are long term choices.

As this is my first Twine project I have plans to keep that flow of work up. As I learn, I'm hoping that the choices will become easier for me to write and plan.

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Plans moving forward

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At first I wanted to get the prologue out by the end of this month, but as this has been a very difficult month it was not possible. Instead I decided that it would be best to push for the end of August at latest.

Thanks for reading friends, I'll keep updating as progress continues!

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

A small progress update.

Hi peeps!

I have been slowly working on the full prologue for A Crown of Ash for the past two weeks.

In it's current state I would say I am around 1/4th of the way done with it. My goal is to try to have this section of the game almost complete at the end of the month.

I can not guarantee any types of release date for the extended demo at this moment and time.

The good news is that today I reached 3k words, which I am very proud of. This is my first huge project, so for me that's a big step.

While it is a smaller update, I hope everyone looks forward to keeping an eye on the project and seeing where it all goes.

[manonamora-if-reviews]

Neo Twiny Jam - bite-sized review

The Neo Twiny Jam (@neo-twiny-jam) is an interactive fiction game unranked jam where participants could not write more than 500 words per entry.

You can find every submitted piece on the jam's Itch Page.

=============

A Crown of Ash by Ashes and Sand

Entry - More by Ashes and Sand - @a-crown-of-ash-if CW: mention of bullying

Anxiousness and marriage ceremony, name a more iconic duo. As a short prototype, this piece manages to tell just enough to hook the reader, and very little that it leaves you wanting more. From is ominous title to the tense descriptions, the writing manages to leave you with too many questions. It would be interesting to see where the author takes the story... Also Armstead is a great name for a knight!