Ʒava!
The road to the relaunch is paved with delays and good intentions, eh?
November is coming to an end fast, and while more work has been done, things are still in-progress.
Let's take a look at that progress!
'Suni', formally known as 'Tin'nasi' has appeared across projects. It has since become worth differentiating Tin'nasi from Old World Ʒuni, a language with particular importance in the Occident given the influence the UKT, colloquially referred to as Umikut'a, in the recent history of the region.
The differences are small, but can be most clearly seen with its writing systems.
While it may seem trivial, Ʒuni enables more subtle opportunities for storytelling, as seen in propaganda posters from the Second Fraternal Republic's first and only election. What better way to present yourselves as the rightful inheritors of the nation than to adopt the writing system of your former suzerain?
He's voting for the STK-O, are you?
…Or to portray your opponent as no different than the system you had hoped to replace?
TÖMA
(Ʒuni doesn't contain a D, hence the T being used in its place. Oversight, or intentional quirk? You decide!)
While the text is frequently translated when it appears, it's presented an interesting challenge in terms of creating propaganda. Can you propagandize someone through visuals alone? Can images win a battle typically waged by ballots, or worse, bullets? We'll have to see!
Along that line, work has been going toward finalizing assets for the Modernist route, one where you allow yourself to be seduced by ultra-nationalists drunk on the dream of a nation crafted as a joke by a playwright.
One of the biggest hurdles for creating the Modernists has been finding suitable symbols, without leaning too obviously into real-world historical or contemporary fascist aesthetics. It's easy to lazily copy and paste their color schemes or symbols, as games and stories often do.
These half-assed designs do their job, not because they're good, but because they tap into power that continues to linger within the real-world symbols.
When one thinks of symbols of fascism, Swastikas and Fasces come to mind, because their utilization by 20th-century movements was successful. Symbols of various Falangist movements meanwhile possess comparatively little power in the modern day. Outside of Spain, the yugo y flechas hardly draws attention.
But how might a symbol occupy a space parallel to these historical objects, without being too obvious, or too subtle?
The 'manva', or turning wheel used by Occidental Modernists.
A symbol of peace and progress perverted by Modernists to embody the spirit of speed and rupture. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
It's a symbol that will grow to be uneasy to see, only helped by it feeling like something half-remembered when you first see it.
Aside from the Modernist work, I've also been working on portraits, as well as some extra Occidental Minutiae. This update turned relaunch has been in the works for almost a year now, and I really want it to be worth your time. ^^
Left to right: Premier Haido, Senatrix Kiriţescu, Semper Gazda
Don't worry, the Senatrix is still long dead, but she does appear in an OM story taking place roughly around the time of her chapter in S&M's initial release. You'll hear a lot of conflicting stories about who she was, it's only fair that you should get a chance to see her in the flesh (so to speak).
Last up for this month is one of the pieces I've made for the soundtrack. It's an ambient track intended for a section that I'd rather not give away just yet! ^^ The version in the video has some of the processing used for Resolution tracks. There's a 6 minute version meant to be used in-game during the section that doesn't have the vinyl distortions, as they tend to get irritating after being exposed to them for too long.
While I could drop the update tomorrow to keep the November-ish date I nodded at, I'd honestly rather just ship it when everything leading up to the final act is ready. I've previously mentioned that it'd ideally be somewhere around 65,000 words total, but it's currently MUCH larger than that, so I hope no one is going to be starved for content when it releases.
That's all I've got on my end for the moment!
As always if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to reach out, I can be reached here, via our email, or on Discord @umsi.
'Til next time!
-Lajos