Hey everyone!
Just a quick progress update on the upcoming SDA 4.3 / Ashe 1.2 releases. Work on the Ashe and Serana banter is moving along smoothly in the writing phase, and I wanted to share a little preview of how things are shaping up. Here’s a WIP script sheet showing progress so far. [Script Spreadsheet Linked Here!]
Current Progress
Dawnguard banter: Most of these lines and conversations are fully drafted.
Ashe’s questline banter: Still in the earlier stages, but since much of it has already been brainstormed, my co-writer and I expect to pick up the pace quickly in the coming days.
Radiant conversations (travel banter): Roughly 75% complete.
Joint combat banter: Implementation has just started. This has been especially fun to design - Ashe and Serana now cover each other in combat, taunt enemies together, or even tease each other mid-battle. I first tested this reactive system during Ashe’s boss fight with Rolen, and I’m excited to expand it here. To my knowledge, no other Skyrim followers have banter that actively responds to combat like this!
What Makes This Special
What I’m most proud of in this update is the scale and depth of the banter. Ashe has full awareness of Dawnguard, and Serana has full awareness of Ashe’s quest. They’re not just throwing out random lines -- they’re actively invested and involved in each other’s stories. Of course, there are plenty of radiant, travel-based conversations too (and we’ve got a lot of those written!), but the highlight here is how tightly their narratives connect.
On top of that, I’m also exploring faction quest banter. Depending on my bandwidth with Serana’s final updates, the plan is to add unique exchanges for both characters during certain faction questlines. If I don’t have the time to do full Serana-Ashe coverage, Ashe will at least react to Serana’s presence during quests she gains awareness of.
Other Content
The focus of this preview is just on the banter, which is the main highlight of these updates. Other SDA and Ashe content is also in the works, but I don’t have previews ready to share just yet - more on that soon.
Banter Request Updates
Ashe name requests are still open until August 31. After that, I’ll compile everything and close submissions until the next Ashe update.
Serana name requests closed with version 4.2 (and wow, there were a lot - that’s why that update was so big!).
Thanks as always for your support - your excitement keeps these projects moving forward. More previews coming soon!
Stay awesome,– Marty