September has been full of exciting developments for Suzerain and the team at Torpor Games! We attended the PAX Online event and want to send our warmest greetings to all the new citizens who joined our cause after checking out the demo!

As you can see, we've also changed the name of our developer diaries from "Monthly Report" to "Broadcasts" to make them sound a little more newsworthy.

Torpor Games is growing further. We hired Tung, our first intern as a company! With a computer science background and a currently pursued study of game design, he makes the perfect addition to the team. Tung is tackling internal QA and is moving onto supporting important tasks like the final design implementations for release.



We also delivered an internal milestone build and finished the scene setup for the most complex part of the late game. This means that the content setup is locked for eighty percent of the game. For that part only minor changes can be made within scenes, decisions, bills and other narrative support content. The team is full force making progress on the last bits and pieces. Many hours were spent on testing to solve the outlying issues regarding the triggers. Since Suzerain has become such a dynamic game, testing has proven to be an important factor to deliver a functional game. We can’t have any disconnected branches or missing links since these are hard blockers for players.

Moving forward into October we are finalising many facets of game development. Among these are the design and content implementation of endings, filling missing sub-branches of content that would be critical from a narrative standpoint and making the final passes on the codex, news, reports etc. Endings are what make games special and memorable, so we are working through a massive library of choices to make sure every type of player is satisfied with their ending.



Our Election Campaign has begun on social media and Steam! We will take new and old citizens alike on a lore journey, to get you familiar with characters, settings and newspaper biases ahead of launch. Keep an eye out for the upcoming posts and spread the word about the extensive universe of Suzerain that becomes better and better with your feedback.

Next up we are heading to the Steam Autumn Festival! There will be a livestream on Friday the 9 October at 18:00 CET where you can directly ask questions to the developers on Steam. The Suzerain demo will also be available throughout the festival so if you never had a chance to check it out this will be a perfect time to do so!

See you next time in the October broadcast!

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Share this game with your friends and head over to our Steam page to wishlist Suzerain.

Thank you and see you next time citizen, Glory to Sordland!

Ever wanted to become the President and lead a country? Explore the intricate and detailed country of Sordland as Anton Rayne. Meet your cabinet, spend time with your family and make difficult choices that shape the future of your term and the country!

Play the Demo

In 1954, the country of Sordland is emerging as a 20-year old democracy, following a bloody civil war. You play as a charismatic young man, Anton Rayne, who has surprised everyone by rising to the top of the party in power and getting elected as the new President of Sordland.

The people are hungry for democratic reforms after decades under a traditionalist power. The economy is in shambles and the political landscape is shifting. Neighboring superpowers are watching closely, and there are military threats on the horizon.

Can you pull the country out of its recession? Will you meet the demands of your people for reform? The future of Sordland depends on your choices. Good luck, Mr. President.

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Join the Suzerain Discord Channel Here!

Want to know more? Join Ata on a livestream of Suzerain next Friday the 9th of October to ask your questions, live and watch some gameplay with developer commentary!

The Suzerain livestream will be from 6:00pm to 8:00pm Central European Time next Friday!

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Sordland’s most prominent businessman, President Ewald Alphonso has had the unluckiest run possible as leader of our nation.

The third president of Sordland promised to be the boom our economy needed following the slow administration of Tarquin Soll, finally making the push for free-market reforms that we desperately needed. President Alphonso has publicly blamed the economic mess on Soll, “Four years has not been enough time to clean up Soll’s messes. His cabinet and their inability to follow through on promises is the reason we are still suffering through this recession.”

The privatisation efforts from President Alphonso have helped keep our struggling economy afloat. No man in the USP is more versed in economics than the president. He is the only person who is capable of bringing Sordland out of the international economic crisis and restoring the country's reserves.

Keep up with the latest Sordish news:

• Join the Suzerain Discord server
  
• Wishlist us on Steam
  
• Follow us on Twitter
  
• Like us on Facebook
  
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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the end of the Sordish Civil War and the re-establishment of Sordland as a republic!

Colonel Tarquin Soll rose to the challenge, defending our great nation during General Luderin’s military coup, when the disgraced general executed our bright minded youth.

After three years of a bloody civil war, in 1929 Colonel Soll and the 6th Army defeated the traitors General Luderin and General Rikard on the battlefield. Soll was able to put an end to the Sordish Civil War by administering the government, helping institute the new Constitution, and bringing the Grand National Assembly back to work. Colonel Tarquin Soll was elected as President of Sordland unopposed, regarded by all as the saviour of our nation.

Ever wanted to become the President? Discover Suzerain this Friday by joining Ata, our Game Producer on our Steam page, to watch them play through of the early game content! This will be a good opportunity to engage with other fans and the developers in chat.

As President Rayne, lead Sordland into ruin or repair during your first term in this text-based role-playing game. Navigate a political drama driven by conversations with your cabinet members and other significant figures. Beware or embrace corruption; shirk or uphold ideals. How will you lead?

Warning: Content might contain some spoilers



See you in Sordland!

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We’ve been hearing rumors the 1953 Sordland presidential election will take place in a few months’ time, and with the low state our great Sordland has fallen to, The Holsord Post is not expecting current President Ewald Alphonso to be voted in again as the leader of the United Sordland Party.

President Ewald Alphonso is responsible for the worst economic recession we’ve ever seen, increasing our national debt by 150 billion Sordish Ren in his 6 years as chairman and 4 years as president. The recession was triggered by a fast-paced privatisation plan that disrupted the economy and caused hyperinflation.

With Alphonso’s popularity rapidly declining, all eyes are turning to Anton Rayne, a young member of the USP whose presence has shown to be unwavering in these uncertain times. We’re yet to see if Anton Rayne will be chosen as the new leader of the United Sordland Party, who have been the governing party for over two decades.

Will the USP be able to continue their majority hold on Sordish politics, or will we finally see the opposition take control?

Visit The Holsord Post to keep up to date on Sordish news in the lead up to the election.

Our publisher, Fellow Traveller is an indie games label publishing innovative story-driven games. Their newest game, Paradise Killer launches today!

Paradise Killer is an open world, murder mystery. Welcome to a whodunit tale where you get to decide who did the deed—you just have to PROVE it.



On the eve of rebirthing a new Paradise Island, the Council of leaders is murdered and Paradise is killed. This is the crime to end all crimes.

You play as Lady Love Dies, an “investigation freak” who is summoned from exile to decide who the murderer is. Search for clues and find the evidence needed to accuse whoever you find guilty. Multiple suspects means multiple possible outcomes based on the evidence you discover and the choices you make.

What are the facts? What are the truths? Are they the same?

Who killed Paradise?

If you love narrative games as much as we do, check out Paradise Killer on Steam!

“Laceriten, Ecciniten, Bretreniten - Liberty, equality, fraternity.”

The month of Emperor Augustus is behind us and it is a good time to take a look at the tasks we accomplished and the road ahead. This report will include a few teasers towards the middle so if you don’t want to know anything about the late game please don’t read further.

A new writer joined us! Rachel has joined the team to help with writing, editing, and finalising the personal storyline. She is a very skilled writer who has already improved a dozen scenes and the overall narrative design of our two exciting story flows.

Our narrative review continues and we are tackling societal elements that were lacking consistency and prevalence throughout the game. The world of Suzerain is different and old, and we needed to make this obvious to the player in order to achieve full immersion. Moreover, some of the gaps between decisions and scenes are being slowly mended to increase the interconnectedness of the story elements in the game.


Guess what these flags represent and respond in our Discord server here: https://discord.com/invite/H2F6xxg

The conclusion of the main political storyline is near thanks to Ilke’s design efforts and we are taking a final look at the late game decrees, the media influence and police actions. Other key choices are also considered before we take a step towards the finalised endings as they are connected with a portion of these actions. We have also finalised the design of the decrees panel and implemented the functionality. You can find an older mockup of it below.

[CONCEPT - Contents Subject to Change]



The Oligarchs storyline ended along with the range economic expression of planned, mixed and market economy doctrines with additional economic choices being near to completion. Ozgun has excelled in executing the final storyline. Key characters like Walter Tusk and Marcel Koronti are as expected playing a big role.

We have added a key choice of either nationalizing, privatising or not changing the big four corporations in the story with a bespoke UI. In the interface the player can further determine the percentage of ownership being bought or sold by the state. There are also a set of choices depending on previous player decisions that are very exciting. Will you eat the rich or feast lavishly with them?

[CONCEPT - Contents Subject to Change]



We attended Gamescom 2020 through the Indie Arena Booth. This cool digital event drove attention towards our game and increased our presence on Steam. Next up is PAX Online from September 12 - 20! We’d love it if you share your experiences with Suzerain on social media to spread awareness and support our election campaign!



Additionally, our Producer and Managing Director Ata has been working on the next business step in the evolution of Torpor Games. We will make a press release on the exciting subject when the time comes!



See you next time in the September report and thank you for your support!

Want to keep a closer eye on the development? Sign-up to our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain.



Share this game with your friends and head over to our Steam page to wishlist Suzerain.

Thank you and see you next time citizen, Glory to Sordland!

Indie Arena Booth is going online this year from August 27 - 30, and Suzerain is a part of the line up!



The event features an in-browser game, where you can walk the digital convention floor and explore digital booths, and play our demo!

You can visit the Suzerain booth here!

You can also check out our publisher, Fellow Traveller's booth!

There's also an Indie Arena Booth sale on Steam, and Fellow Traveller, is having a sale during the event as well!

Below is our events schedule for Indie Arena Booth, as we take you developer playthroughs of Suzerain so you can immerse yourself in Sordland politics.

Get a look at the Suzerain demo by tuning into this no commentary playthrough stream!

Be sure to visit the Suzerain booth at Indie Arena Booth Online, live August 27-30 during Gamescom 2020.

And, Mr. President...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1207650/Suzerain/