Santa Lucia
Important Updates, a Preference Poll Announcement, and Some Real Talk
Hey everyone, I’m finally back in America and I’ve got some time to put a bunch of thoughts I’ve had into writing.
After May 16th, Patreon is going to remove the “Goals” feature from creator pages. This was where I was keeping track of progress towards out stretch goals like the bonus routes. I can understand the logic on Patreon’s side since I can say even for us this feature has been a double edged sword. While I’m sad to see it’s leaving, it’ll thankfully give me more space to adjust how I’m developing the game without feeling like I’m obligated to overpromise.
With that said, we’re still going to honor the goals we’ve already reached even if the Patreon feature is removed, those being the stretch goal routes and sprite expression expansion. After these, though, everything else that was on our Goals page is now up to my personal discretion as to whether or not we’ll be able to do them. I know this isn’t ideal for you guys, but it gives me some breathing room and flexibility in terms of planning.
Now, first major thing I want to talk about with you guys. The timing is a bit weird with the Goals feature being removed, but I’ve had to do some soul searching with regards to a particular goal that’s been reached. This is tough for me to admit, but I am at the point where I don’t think I can justify a Chris route anymore. Chris has grown and developed as a character way beyond where I had envisioned him from the project’s outset. Try as I might, there’s no feasible context I can see where route content for him is viable.
On the other hand, I have noticed players have really taken a liking to our side character Kane. He was originally written to act as a foil to Bryan, but he’s managed to take a life all his own and become a surprisingly popular addition to the cast. I’ve potentially laid the necessary groundwork to facilitate a Kane route that branches off of the Neutral route...but that’s where I need to pull you guys in to help me make a decision.
In the coming weeks, I’m likely going to present a poll to our Freshman and above patrons. What I’m interested in finding out is if you guys would be willing to let me swap out the Chris route for a Kane route. It would definitely make my life easier as a creator if I could, but I understand that sometimes development promises need to be kept.
The next major thing I want to talk about with you guys is going to take some explanation. I’ve noticed there’s a huge disconnect between patrons and public players when it comes to being able to discuss Santa Lucia openly. I can tell you guys really want to talk about the game with your friends, but it’s hard to do so when there’s never a time where you’re “playing the same game”, so to speak. Patrons are always one build ahead.
Looking at how other FVN pages are run, they tend to make their builds public around two weeks after their exclusive patron release. I suppose I never really thought about it, but the two weeks where patrons and the public are on the same page truly helps facilitate discussion about these projects. Initially when I planned the Santa Lucia Patreon page, I went in with the goal of streamlining the content delivery pipeline on my side. Since we’re one of the oldest FVNs, I didn’t have many examples to look at so I went with an experimental approach. Nowadays it seems pretty obvious to me that this approach probably stifled Santa Lucia’s reach by discouraging patrons from talking about the game in public.
Here’s what I’m planning to do going forward. In June, I am going to revamp the Patreon page to make things friendlier to the FVN community. What this means is I am going to formally end the Guest tier of patronage. Starting in June, the 15th of every month is when Santa Lucia builds will be made public on itch.io. We want to encourage more discussion about our game while still rewarding the people who want to support us. We believe that reducing the time gap between patron and public releases will allow players a window to discuss the game on equal footing.
In addition, I am considering whether or not I’m going to make the Short Stories section of the gallery public, too. Same idea, I want players to be able to discuss the game’s story on equal footing, and there’s critical content in there (both currently available and in the future pipeline) that players will need to read to have a full picture of what’s going on in Santa Lucia’s story. New stories might stay exclusive for a month or two, but they’ll eventually join the public build as well.
Convenience features like CG replays will still be exclusive to our Junior and Senior patrons, however. Have to keep something to reward our loyal supporters, y’know? X)
Now for some real talk.
I know Santa Lucia isn’t perfect, and I definitely dreamed a little to big for what I was capable of and ended up a bit out of my depth. However, I’ve also definitely learned a lot in the process of developing the game, both in terms of my capabilities as a writer and what the audience likes to see on the screen.
It’s one thing for the writer to know exactly where their story is going, but if they can’t communicate that properly to the readers then they have failed at their job, unfortunately. For the past few years I’ve been very sensitive to discussions about how slow paced and meandering Santa Lucia can be, particularly during the first few in-game days. I’ve tried many times to figure out how I could cut it back and streamline it, but it’s always to no avail. The early days are infused with so much important foreshadowing and character development, making cuts would do a harsh disservice to where everything is going to eventually end up. It’s one thing for me to know where I’m going with the writing, but I have always struggled communicating that to my readers.
And I genuinely don’t know how I can do better at this without spoiling the big reveal.
This same insecurity has found its way into how I perceive the way I write characters, too. It’s very jarring to me when I see discussions about Santa Lucia’s romance options and people point out that not a single one interests them. Or worse, they’re holding out for our stretch goal characters (I low key believe the stretch goal routes being publicly known goals has done more damage to Santa Lucia’s reputation than it helped, but I digress). The philosophy I went in with writing the romance options was to make characters who present themselves one way but grow into something else the more you get to know them. Theme of “masks” and such. Admittedly, this was probably a bit too “high concept” for me at my skill level, since this seems to be the thing that turns people away from the game quicker than anything else. One of the things I’ve learned by observing how other FVNs handle romance option writing is that if a character is not immediately likable, then they tend to have a bad reputation in their game’s fandom. Unfortunately for Santa Lucia, that ended up being the reality for all three of the options for a part of the player base. As the writer, I had the privilege of knowing exactly where they would end up, but again...I struggle with conveying that to my readers. I apologize for that, and I thank you all so so much for toughing it out up to this point. I promise even the romance options you don’t care for on first impression have a ton of depth to them if you give them a chance.
And therein lies what I feel is Santa Lucia’s biggest issue. I didn’t understand that too much depth can be a bad thing. With so many running plot threads, long form character progression, and vague hints about what’s really going on, Santa Lucia is a very difficult story to follow. In other words, what good is having the depth of an ocean if you can’t see the bottom? I know I certainly wouldn’t jump into a body of water like that, so I don’t know why I expected my readers to be down with it.
Ultimately, the best thing I can do at this point in the game (about 75% finished) is to stay the course and trust in my work. Alas, it can be tough sometimes. Good ol’ self esteem, am I right? X)
Santa Lucia has taught me a lot about what it actually means to write a story of this level, as well as how I can improve for my future projects.
I guess, in the end...I want to ask you all a favor.
If you love the game, then talk about it!
Share it with your friends, Discord servers, etc,. Make fan theories! Try to figure out all the little hints I’ve left throughout the game about where the narrative is going! Rate the game on itch.io! Leave comments! Hell, even join our public Discord server if you want to!
Seeing people talk about Santa Lucia is one of the things that makes me feel I’m not just shouting into the void, hoping that maybe somewhere along the line what I do actually matters to people.
Sorry to be such a downer today, but I really needed to get this off my chest.
Talk to you guys again soon!
~Dzahn
Get Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia
Last Regret
| Status | In development |
| Author | Stormsinger Studios |
| Genre | Visual Novel |
| Tags | Furry, Gay, Horror, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Romance, Superhero, Synthwave, Thriller, urban-fantasy |
| Languages | English |
More posts
- "Santa Lucia" Build 49 Now Available!73 days ago
- "Santa Lucia" Build 48 Now Available!Jan 15, 2024
- "Santa Lucia" Build 47 Now Available!Dec 16, 2023
- Santa Lucia Build 47 Now Live On Patreon!Dec 02, 2023
- "Santa Lucia" Build 46 Now Available!Nov 15, 2023
- Santa Lucia Build 46 Now Live On Patreon!Nov 05, 2023
- "Santa Lucia" Build 45 Now Available!Oct 15, 2023
- itch.io page text revamp!Oct 01, 2023
- "Santa Lucia" Build 44 Now Available!Aug 15, 2023
- "Santa Lucia" Build 43 Now Available!Jul 15, 2023
Comments
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I haven't checked on this VN in so long, I miss it and was really looking forward to the Chris route! TwT
Though I haven't played since build 33, I can understand your decision to remove him as a route, but I still wish and hope you can give us a little bit of Chris romance, anywhere (probably the beginning?) at all! :D
Thank you for making this wonderful VN, I'll shift my focus and look forward to Kane's route next!
I'm glad you're able to get that off your chest, all of it is understandable.
To get serious though, YES TO A KANE ROUTE!!! He's adorable and dererves something good
Could we possibly make it to where we could download the music?
as for my honest opinion about Santa Lucia, and this is really my own personal opinion and I don't let anyone influence me either.
so far I really like the story what she is trying to tell, and also what concerns all the characters but what bothers me a bit is that some characters just because they do not like others somewhere fall by the wayside and get little attention, sure everyone has his favorite as I do too but I think every character deserves that you try him at least to get to know him no matter if you find him romantic or not.
and my favorite is the cute water dragon I think it's a shame that he gets so little attention, I think he's really cute and I really like how he slowly opens up and that you slowly get to know him and that's why I really hope even though it's been said often enough that he will get a route, also as far as the romance is concerned I really hope that this will happen and not because other people don't like him and ignore him completely because I think he doesn't deserve that.
because I don't complain to others just because I don't like one of the other characters, but I don't complain or talk bad to others so that the other characters are completely disregarded and afterwards don't get a chance to get a route or in general.
I really like how every single character has their own depth to what the character is trying to tell to get to know them and in general and I think every character deserves that.
and the other thing is even if this sounds quite harsh what I am saying now, if others don't understand the story you are trying to tell or what Santa Lucia is trying to tell, sometimes it is because people don't want to deal with it at all and are just looking for a reason to bitch about it.
and the author who tries to write the story is then influenced too much by the others, it's nice to get feedback but when it starts with people complaining about every little thing and that changes the story or has a big influence on what others want it no longer tells the own personal story the author is trying to tell and that can't be the point of the thing.
and so far what you have done on this visual novel and all the others who have worked on it is great, many that I have seen trying to write a good VPN have mostly failed because hardly anyone was interested in it and got too little attention or because people constantly had something to complain about it and the project was canceled afterwards which made me sad myself afterwards because it makes me as a reader sad that then the story does not continue because you have taken the characters to the heart and I find that very sad.
so I can only give you my personal opinion, as for Santa Lucia stay as you are and don't be too influenced by what others would like to have, write your story as you think it is right and if someone doesn't like it then that's just the way it is, you can't please everyone.
because as I said before if too many people influence it, it doesn't tell its own story afterwards but the story that others want and that it is shaped the way others want it and so it definitely shouldn't be feedback is always good as I said before but it shouldn't go so far that it influences too much on the story or on all the characters that deserve to be seen.
because that's how you start to feel bad as the author or the others who worked on it that you don't think you did a good job but that's not the point if others can't relate to this story or these characters then these people aren't right for this story to fully experience it because that's when it starts to feel bad you didn't do it right or you could have done better which is definitely not the case it's a great story and as I said before with wonderful characters with unique personalities.
so I'm looking forward to the future with all the characters and how the story develops and I'm really looking forward to it :3
Please make the Short Stories section available to the public. I’ve never read a single short story, but if they’re different from the main story then Yes, I need more of that.
Come on everyone, let’s make our voices heard and gain access to more Santa Lucia content (since I doubt most of you are that high up the Patreon donation list to have access to all of them).
P.S. Nah, this game isn’t suffering from too much depth, it’s that people are used to characters who make you cum after no more that 30 minutes into the game or have a sex scene with a CG as soon as possible as if that’s all that matters. So don’t worry, your symbolism isn’t too vague right now, it’s all up to the ending to see if that’s the case, if the foreshadowing was too unhelpful or not, too pompous or not.
While I'm a bit sad I might not get to date Chris, I would gladly give his route up in exchange for a Kane route. Despite the little I've interacted with Kane (I haven't played the new portion of the route for Byran yet), I like him because he is shy, hesitant, a sweetheart, and adorable and I would love to be able to romance him.
To be honest chris don't interest me that mutch (romanticaly i mean) i think kane is a good secondary choice and could be good story telling mater, i did all route for now and i absolutly love the game i forced myself a bit to try and understand the characters and i find all of them really nice and touching in their own way.
(Ps: my favorite is Carlos and you have a fan in France continue your great work for santalucia and monaretsu revisited)
I literally feel the about everything you stated.
Also, l’m another “Carlos is my favourite” fan over here!
good to know the grumpy tiger got fans ^^
theres been comments about not a single one being interesting to them?? woah...i feel like thats not majority of the players. Also the pace is fine to me, the mystery is literally one of the reasons why im so invested into the game + the drama.
Especially at the cabin that was really good
Yes, kane plz, tho i belive chris route can really add to russell's own route (that one's still happenin' right?) But i think you should do what you belive is best! ^^
I like Chris. I think he's cute, but I have to admit, the most recent update that got released really had me liking Kane a lot more too. Regardless of which way things go, I'd be happy, because I enjoy reading stuff from both of them. I also have to admit that I absolutely love Zach. Personally, I think he's adorable.
The whole gap between Patron and non-patron isn't something I personally worried about, because I just enjoyed the story whenever the updates came regardless.
As for the story itself, the only thing that I'm puzzled by is that cloaked figure in red that randomly shows up terrifying Ben. I'm still trying to figure that out.
Same, like from what I’ve seen, Red cloak man is a monster that exists because of/from/relies on Ben’s mind, as he started to complain more and more about his mind, and combined with his ability to appear in both dreams and the real world just like that, I really feel like he is a byproduct that exists based on Ben’s mind.
Firstly, while I always thought Chris was cute and dorky, I also like Kane a lot because he has that shy hesitant side to him I find adorable, practically everyone else in the game besides Zach is pretty outspoken, even Carlos who doesn't say much has his feelings come across clearly. I will say I would take Kane over Chris but a Chris route would be pretty feasible early on I think if the Journalism class had a more online angle to it. Maybe Professor Dubois has a challenging online assignment, and Ben needs Chris' geeky computer nerd help to navigate the school's online site and get accustomed to turning in homework, so he meets him at the café to ask for help, and then Chris invites him over to his dorm after his shift? Then they start meeting up regularly and such until maybe one day Chris leaves his porn tabs open while he's in the shower as Ben waits for him on the couch, haha. "Hot cat sex" or something. I admit I got into this game thinking Bryan would be my main love interest but I ended up having Nate as my favorite even though at first he was a bit much, I don't think the main 3 are bad, but people probably only see the surface level of their personality and assume they will only just act like that the entire game.
As for discussion on the game itself, I think the fact that the majority of the overarching plot still being left up to speculation (who's the killer, Weishaupt Hall's significance in the story, etc.) it seems a bit too early to make non-crackpot sounding theories. I mean some people don't even know the killer's gender, they think it could be Karina for all they know. I personally don't mind the story pacing or depth, although I'm sure the people that do usually play VNs for lighthearted enjoyment of fantasies and don't want darker worldbuilding offered by VNs like this one or Echo. Anyway, thanks for your hard work on this VN and being one of the most consistent updaters! Really nice to read these updates every month. :)
Since it's college, how about a single nsfw scene with him experimenting? ;)
Swapping a potential Chris route for a Kane one would be nice
You know I can understand Chris not being a route I noticed that from people think that Katarina should be a route which I guess would make sense College and all but I had something I wanted to say I know z a c k might never be a route but I feel like Ben's and his relationship is amazing and I would love to see it happen but I understand if it will never happen but for now my favorite route is a tie between Bryan and Carlos
Zach's route is already confirmed to happen after the main three
I honestly never even considered Chris as a route, given that he technically already is "taken" as he is, or atleast was dating one of the female characters last time i played through the thing.
Although i did kinda wish for some kinda NSFW thing to happen with him at some point.thing.
And don't worry too much about the gap between Patreon and Public releases, sometimes that gap is what it takes to have the funds to pay off artwork commissions, dev team members/coworkers and such, assuming you're not drawing everything yourself.
I have mentioned trading Chris for Kane would be wonderful. As an Aussie, i like Chris, but, damn he can be annoying, kind of glad no route is being discussed. Sorry if my opinion does not fit with others.
that brings about my second thought. Being a game with romance options, sometimes you will hear from players who do not vibe with any of the characters. that is not a fault of yours mate, but just part of being a creative artist. Not everyone will accept what you create. sometimes for valid reasons that you can control. but you cannot create a romance that will fit everyone, and that is not a weight you should carry. IMHO, what you have so far is really good. Very fun characters that are not carbon copies of each other. Different tastes, hobbies, dreams, enough differences to make different routes worthwhile.
Ooh did i mention, that I am team Kane :p
I feel it's for the best a Chris route doesn't happen if only because he's the only possible route who'd have power imbalance issues. Kane is a sweetheart and I feel he'd work very well, I just hope he wouldn't have so much less time in the game since you only see him after the second act begins iirc
As for people going on about how certain things don't make sense I would suggest waiting for the next build that will release because while I'm not able to say anything it explains a good deal of stuff that's going on and has some good scenes in it that might satisfy you. Not every mystery is something easily explained but I do promise you it's rather simple to see where certain things will go if you reread the text and don't skip anything like some people here seemed to have lol
I feel like Santa Lucia is less like a traditional FVN in the way it handles a lot of its plot elements and feels more like an actual visual novel you'd see outside of the niche and while that might hurt how people perceive it at times I hope you guys keep to what you do best!
Completely agree, Chris, while is a bit cute , and annoying at times, just doesn't feel like a good romance option, but, Kane, oh yes. I would love to trade Chris foe Kane.
As for missing some potential romantic options early on, that is om with me, when i first met Kane, instantly fell for his vibe, and it does not feel like i wasted any time. Sometime you meet a potential through a friend or common situation.
I can definitely see a Chris route being difficult at this point; I was starting to wonder how that would play out when him and Shay are a thing before route selection so we would either have to kick her out somehow or be a poly route that wasn't originally advertised as such. As someone who was kinda waiting for that Chris route (gotta rep the fellow aussies, y'know?), I'd happily have that changed to Kane at this point. The guy deserves the best, and I'd like to see that come from a Ben who isn't in a weird headspace due to Brian shenanigans.
POP OFF KINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have zero clue what any foreshadowing meant so I just ended up confused and just tried to enjoy the slice of life part. And I feel I read the game for days on end. Just felt like too long without figuring anything out. Like wtf are those nightmares, the killer, his headache. Etc