Santa Lucia
"Santa Lucia" Build 38 Now Available!
https://www.patreon.com/stormsingerstudios
Happy New Year everyone!
As those of you familiar with our other project know, we managed to push out the biggest update for Homecoming ever this month. Unfortunately I overextended myself in the process, so instead of trying to cram in a lengthy update for Santa Lucia in the same month (alongside assorted holiday shenanigans), I decided to switch gears and do something that’s been on my mind for several months now.
This month I’m introducing a fourth route into Santa Lucia. No, it’s not for any of the stretch goal husbandos, they’ll have their time in the sun very soon believe me! Instead, this fourth route is what I’m calling the “neutral” route where Ben doesn’t get romantically involved with any of the husbandos and focuses his efforts on maintaining his friendships with everyone equally. Functionally, it reads almost like a “greatest hits” compilation from the other three routes sans the romance element. For example, Ben will end up joining the fraternity like in Bryan’s route, working with Carlos and Sierra in their group project for Drawing class like in Carlos’s route, and writing his Journalism article on Nate’s play like in Nate’s route.
The reason I’ve been wanting to do this is because I’ve seen a lot of comments from straight, asexual, and story-focused players who would prefer a more straightforward visual novel experience without the gay romance element. I don’t take any offense to this notion at all! In fact, to me it’s quite reassuring because it means that the story we’re telling has a much wider appeal than just the furry niche. I’m willing to make an accommodation like the neutral route if it helps make Santa Lucia the best product it can be!
It also gives me an avenue to explore slightly different themes and topics that weren’t being covered in the main romance routes. For example, I hope the additional content I wrote for the neutral route helps illustrate a bit better Ben’s whole mentality about not letting his nightmares take over his life. I’ve noticed a lot of players have difficulty putting themselves in Ben’s shoes concerning this topic (not talking to others when there’s a murderer on the loose, doing his best to pretend everything is alright when things are most definitely not alright), so I made an effort to show why he behaves the way he does in the neutral route. Ideally this will help build an understanding between the reader and the character, but that’s something I’ll have to judge for myself depending on the route’s reception.
Anyway, I hope this month’s update isn’t such a disappointment to our Bryan fans who were no doubt anticipating the next part of his route. Rest assured, now that I’ve had a moment to breathe and recharge, Bryan’s route continuation is next in line for February’s build drop!
Here’s to a fantastic 2023!
~Dzahn
Build 38 Notes:
+ Neutral Route introduced!
+ Content complete through Act 2
+ 1 new CG variation added
+ New option in the Preferences menu to turn off romance content
+ (this is mainly meant for our straight, asexual, and story-focused players)
+ (playthroughs with this setting on will default to the Neutral Route after the route split)
If you're interested in checking out next month's build early, please consider supporting us! Every little bit helps!
https://www.patreon.com/stormsingerstudios
If you'd like a more direct line to us, we're usually active on our public Discord server:
We hope you enjoy the build!
~ Dzahn & Dev
Comments
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I really appreciate the addition of the neutral route! It made me realise I am here for the exciting story and excellent characters more than the romance. Every moment of it made me smile.
As an asexual person, I feel very seen. Thank you <3.
A neutral route is pretty cool I like the whole idea, I'd do it if I was in a author's shoes writing a VN as well.
I appreciate the edition of the neutral route, I just wish it had been implemented in a way that you can skip the text you've read on other routes. It'd be nice to skip through and only see portions that are exclusive to the neutral route. I know you can "skip unseen text" but I didn't want to do that either because I wouldn't know which parts were new/tweaked at a glance.
I love how much effort goes into this VN to be interesting, yet something most everyone can enjoy.
The 'neutral route' (I would much rather call this the route-less version), also had a funny effect me. It showed me much more than ever that I was here more for the romance than anything else. It was much harder for me to follow the events in the route-less version, not only because of the fact that I already saw them, but also because there was no romance. But, this feels more like a me thing rather than a sign that the writing is flat without the romance, I just needed to point this out.
The effort is greatly appreciated tho, I love how the route-less version tackles everything. I hope Stormsinger Studios doesn't abandon this because it provides an interesting way of looking at the events of the game, and to a degree, it helped with the characterization of the cast.
Lastly, I noticed a huge mistake in route-less version, I think there needs to be a massive dialogue change there:
Nice catch! Thanks for the report!
Thank you so much from Brazil i see you're a developer with a non-binary mind,if you're feeling adventurous do a route for the Squirrel Girl (forgot her name now it's been a while since i played your game) which can make Ben a bisexual guy and it can appeal for the straight players too like me (i am either that or bisexual nowadays i'm more attracted to girls) too i also want Chris and the other guys route and i see many other people want too,i'm up for anything visual novel games with all options like Under The Bridge and Echo are my favourites!
Echo me deixou traumatizado!!! XD
Yay, gives me something to focus on while waiting (as patiently as possible) for Chris and Russell's routes!
Awesome idea, even for those of us who like gay routes, but aren't too interested in the main choices.
I like Carlos okay, but I honestly squee like a schoolgirl over Chris. Socially awkward computer nerd? I can relate, and love him so much.
My heart goes out to Russell, his story is heartbreaking. I wanna hug that hurt away.
Yee, none of the main choices interest me, Russell on the other hand... like, I have never fallen for a set of pixels as hard as I did for Russell when we were hanging out, it is just so fun to be around him, I love his personality, hes so cool... dammit, Im simping, anyway, I really cant wait for his route. I wonder how will it be applied, will it fit in the story or are Chris' and Russell's routes side/extra content?
I couldn't tell ya, but I've been wondering about that myself. I've wondered ever since I saw it was a possibility on their Patreon.
If I were to guess there are probably earlier choices that might lead to either route, like how Ben SEEMS like he has a choice in regards to talking to Russell about his situation before the bit at the overlook.
Maybe when his route starts developing you could probably ask Russell about Katie over the phone before the overlook happens and since Ben is in a more reasonable state of mind at that point no fight will occur over it
wait theres gonna be another update in the same month?
the description was likely copy pasted from the Patreon when this was uploaded in January
Love this update, I cant wait for Bryans's next!!!