Spin-offs? [Spoilers]

[Zetsubou]

I've been considering a number of different options with regards to possible additions and continuations of Sable's Grimoire. Nothing that will happen in the short term - or possibly at all - but still food for thought.

If you've finished at least one route, you've probably noticed instances of foreboding that ultimately didn't lead to anything. This is largely intentional. Not all conversations or topics raised by a character need to result in some big, climactic event. Sometimes it's for lore, other times it's to give you a glimpse of that character's thoughts.

Other times, it's because there's something I wanted to explore in greater depth than a single game feasibly should (without going off-track or increasing exponentially in length).

More obvious examples of this include:

-Drakan's route, where Nidhogg mentions that her daughter might just be obsessive enough to perform a bonding ritual. Drakan again makes reference to a bonding ritual in Eth/Rei's route.

-Lisha's route. Lisha's mother is portrayed as a villain who was banished from her village, abandoned her children, killed one, attempted to kill the other, and wants to thoroughly destroy Ein. By the end of the game, she is still at large, and we're given no insight as to what will happen with her going forward.

As you could imagine, these stories extend far beyond the end of this game - inside of my head, at least. The hard part is figurinig out if and how such continuations might be explored.


Would a sequel be feasible? I was considering a continuation which starts at the beginning of Sable's second year at Amadronia, with a couple of the (non-conflicting) routes from the first game having happened one after the other.

A visual novel has to be pretty popular to merit a sequel. They're already a niche, and a game without a large following shouldn't expect much success from a sequel. Then there's the matter of time and cost involved, and whether the sequel would be at least as good as the first game.

It's a fun thing to think about, but probably not practical. If Sable's Grimoire gained a decent following a year after release, then maybe a crowdfunded sequel would be in order. But at this very early stage, it doesn't seem likely.


What about DLC? A full sequel might be a bit much, but what about DLC?

Personally, I'm not a fan of DLC, but I do understand the role it plays in game development. Situations like this, for example, where a game might not have enough of a following to merit a sequel, but there's still a demand for certain aspects to be further developed.


Then there are spin-offs... which I guess could be seen as a slightly different form of DLC; new games in their own right, rather than patches for the first, but ultimately just new content added after the fact. Maybe it's a distinction without a difference?

In any case, these seem a little more likely to me, given the nature of this game. Perhaps a couple of spin-offs for the most popular characters, following one possible future after the end of their route?

I could certainly see a spin-off with Sable and Lisha warding off her mother. Or perhaps the truth behind Bartholomew's legacy will come to light, and these two will strive to become new embassadors for relations between man and elf? Does Lisha know of a method to extend Sable's life after all? Or will he die a typical death, perhaps leaving behind descendants?

How about Drakan's route? Perhaps the duo will discover what a dreadful impact Nidhogg's reign has had on others, and see first-hand what Drakan herself will one day become. Maybe they will perform this so-called "bonding ritual"? If they do, what will that entail, and what effects will it have on the participants?


I know I'm focusing on Drakan and Lisha in the text above. If you've played all of SG's routes, I'm sure you understand why. If any characters were to get spin-offs, it would be the two of them.

Putting that aside for a moment, and keeping in mind that this is all purely hypothetical at this stage, what are your thoughts on possible continuations for Sable's Grimoire?

I won't be promising anything at this stage. Right now I'm looking at additions to the main game, such as additional endings and new character routes, so any continuations would be a long way off.

Be that as it may, I'm sure it's pretty obvious by this point that there are still many things I'd like to explore from this game. Whether that meant a crowdfunded sequel, DLC, spin-offs, or something else entirely.

Is this something you'd like to see? Do you have any preference as to how such a continuation would be handled, or what form it might take? Are you completely ambivalent? Share with me your thoughts on the matter.

[UndyingRevenant]

Well, I guess it depends on a number of factors. First there is the matter of a budget, and I won't act like I know about the mass amount of assets and effort made on the presentation, but I at least would be perfectly fine with reusing existing assets and telling the story you want, even though that would cut some corners and all, might be something to think about if you released expansions in the future, you dont necessarily need the cgs in specific moments if it becomes outside the budget, the writing style is really good to describe what's going on anyway, in my opinion. In terms of the side story, I'd ask generally which story you like the most because it'd be better to still write or explore what you care for than to just solely cater to others, because then nobody wins. but personally i think of the two, drakan has more room. lishas route does have more room for continuation, yet it ends solidly enough, but I feel Drakan's has the most room for things really going down, especially from what youve said

[UndyingRevenant]

Both of those sound like really good ideas, since you didn't mention Jorou or Tix, I suppose you don't have much interest in continuing them? Rei and Eth seems kinda contained enough, imo, but if you had any groundwork done for tix's route, that could also be a easily done early expansion, if you didnt have anything ready though might be a bit harder. i cant speak for everyone who played but i definitely feel like drakan is probably one of the key characters i personally saw in sables grimoire, maybe jorou if she had a redemption arc but drakan, and her family situation making her less demi human more low god definitely sounds really tempting as a spin off or expansion

[UndyingRevenant]

i would also really love a sequel in the second year, but again i can understand the budget issues. i really love the game and story but if it cuts on living expenses, what can you do? i dunno if youve seen other people do it but one business model that has been done in the past is to create routes, then sell the routes as dlc. that way you can have "small" packs of content, so if person a wanted drakan, you could easily get that, or if someone wanted your other dlc route they could get that, and it would keep the price point low enough that people would buy it faster than say, a large expansion or sequel

[UndyingRevenant]

im also unsure how much effort it would take to get the resources for it together, but have you ever considered like a deluxe pack? something like say, character designs, the ost, maybe some wallpapers in a small dlc? could be another way for people to support the game, if its too much work or if theres not really a way to make it happen what can you do, but it could be something neat

[Zetsubou]

Jorou and Tix weren't explicitly named since they're two of the characters I'll likely address in future updates to the current game, rather than separate expansions. I'll be making an announcement about such updates at the end of the month.

Any continuation would re-use assets from the main game (it's the only way it would be financially feasible). If an expansion took place complete on-campus, it could probably be done without cost becoming a big problem. That being said, many of the ideas I have involve leaving Amadronia, which makes it harder.

[UndyingRevenant]

Originally posted by Zetsubou:

Jorou and Tix weren't explicitly named since they're two of the characters I'll likely address in future updates to the current game, rather than separate expansions. I'll be making an announcement about such updates at the end of the month.

Any continuation would re-use assets from the main game (it's the only way it would be financially feasible). If an expansion took place complete on-campus, it could probably be done without cost becoming a big problem. That being said, many of the ideas I have involve leaving Amadronia, which makes it harder.

im only one person, and i dont have a trump budget,or else by god i'd fund it myself. if the interest is there from you though, worst case scenario, have you ever considered making some of the after stories as pdf dlcs? or similar to how when you did the jump cuts or bad ends, the dialogue relied less on cg, more of the writing, could be better cost wise. i dunno though. i can understand that would be less than optimal but it could still tell the story you want to tell, while making revenue

[Zetsubou]

A text-only continuation is possible, and certainly a cheap way to go, but that's a last resort. Ideally I'd like any additions to receive the same treatment that existing routes have gotten.

It's still early days. Given another year it might be possible to do some nice additions. For now it's just fantasizing about what might happen.

[UndyingRevenant]

Originally posted by Zetsubou:

A text-only continuation is possible, and certainly a cheap way to go, but that's a last resort. Ideally I'd like any additions to receive the same treatment that existing routes have gotten.

It's still early days. Given another year it might be possible to do some nice additions. For now it's just fantasizing about what might happen.

Well, either way, I really enjoyed it and hope to continue enjoying it in the future. It's by no means enough from only one person, but I'll definitely buy any new releases that come from it myself. Steam and the market in general is really rough on novels and getting at least a chance in the spotlight, but you never know, hopefully something will cause your works to get more recognition, a real shame because they definitely have more substance and stories with different viewpoints than most of the softcore fetish fuel games that achieved stardom from memes, mostly. Best of luck.

[addrenicedrake]

I would really like to see some continuation of the game stories, especially the Drakan's one, as she is my favourite character by far. Talking about text-only variants, perhaps something like using Choice of Games scripting language can be considered?

[thewardenofMuskova]

i would appreciate at least some closure for some of the routes because there are so many cliffhangers, im mainly intrested in this bonding ritual.

[Tericc]

I love all the routes. Been a long time since i was captivated by the lore & story of a vn (also being choice heavy). Any further creations will be an instant buy for me exspecialy if its in the same world. I can tell after 32hrs of playing this vn there was a lot of love in its creation.

[BobDDstryr]

Just finished up the last ending, and I loved it. In terms of continuing the story - a sequel seems like it would be hard - needing to decide which stories were canon and which aren't, and so on. But a spin-off could be interesting, especially if the story that you have to tell is large enough to encompass a new game - I'm sure it would be challenging, but if the spin-offs could be made stand-alone - so those who have enjoyed the original story may get a bit more out of it, but anyone could pick it up and enjoy it, that might work? Additional dlc would also be fun; basically any way that I can spend more time with any of these characters. :-P This is also the first of your games that I've played - but I'm now definitely going to check out the rest! Thanks for the great game!

[BobDDstryr]

Also, I'd be interested in getting the soundtrack, and would pay to download that if it were available.

[Northwind]

You made a wonderful piece of art. Thank you for it. As an owner of a small business myself, I understand how hard it is to get from a great product to a self-perpetuating financial model. So, whatever the market ends up saying in dollars and cents, please feel validated as an artist, and please have the courage to continue creating and sharing your vision.

[Killertje]

Perhaps in a year or 2 you could make a sequel and give part 1 (this game) for free with the purchase of that sequel. That way people who didnt buy this game right away will feel like they are getting 2 games instead of 1, making it an easier sell. Not sure how that is handled on Steam, but it might be an option.