Hello, everyone! We are back again with the final content update for Mistwinter Bay. With this slew of new content, we’re up to a total of 105 short events, 18 long events and 31 “special” short events. Combined with all the other content in the game, that’s around 1.7-1.8 million words. Needless to say, making all of this content and moving into the fifth year of development has left us quite exhausted, especially creatively, which is why this is the final content update. We will talk a bit more about that under a separate headline, but first, let’s look at what’s new!

Added

• CHEATS! (more information under the dedicated headline)
• A new long event that can only occur in Late Spring, moving into Early Summer, allows you to celebrate the holiday of Night Of Lights in various ways with different characters
• Two new long events that don’t have any requirements allow you to (potentially) see two types of fantastical creatures
• There is one new long event that can only occur if the guard presence is High and you have at least one non-spouse, non-Lynx lower class townsperson
• 2 new short main events allow you to celebrate Baking Fest and Soup Day in Early Autumn and Late Summer, respectively. They provide chances to spend time with a specific townsperson, among other things. (As all other short events, they aren’t guaranteed to occur in a playthrough)
• Added 3 new short main events with requirements
  • One requires High guard presence. Another requires a townsfolk couple, not containing some specific characters. There is also one that only requires 2 or more townsfolk in total.
• Added 2 new short main events centered around helping or showing appreciation for Voidists
• Added 2 new “special” short main events that only show up if you have supported Avallerism or Voidism through their related support events (that is, not alliances or marriage)
  • Special short events do not count as regular short events. They are prioritized above regular short events and have a certain percentage chance to occur each month, as long as their requirements have been met.
• If you’re allied to a foreign leader and aren’t married to them, there is a small monthly chance that you get a new “special” short main event where they request your help in accordance with your alliance (you shouldn’t be the only one reaping the benefits, after all)
  • Each foreign leader’s event is unique to them, meaning that there are six events in total
• There is one new “special” short main event each for Mallowan, Robin and Sasee, if they live at the estate. There is also a new “special” short event that has all three of them interacting with each other, if all of them live at the estate at the same time
• A very special new short main event that has very specific requirements and a very small chance to occur might set you up with a successful, profitable marriage before it has even begun and give long lasting benefits to your spouse and relationship
• If you have prisoners, there’s now a chance that you encounter a “special” short main event where a prison escape takes place

Fixed

• The game should no longer crash when attempting to start the second month of the underground ruins event when having a team of 3 or fewer explorers
• Meetups should no longer be able to occur when a long event is supposed to take place
• The imposter-character that is supposed to look like the sovereign now has the correct face details, if any

Adjusted

• Orreg and Se’Vah will now give clear hints that religious conversion is needed to marry them before you have accepted their proposal
  • That information was previously only presented after the proposal was accepted. The clarifications of the demands and the forced conversion itself still only occur after the proposal has been accepted
  • If you’re already supporting the religion they want you to convert to, they won’t mention anything about it

Grammar

• Fixed some minor grammatical mistakes

Cheats

We have previously said (a few times, even) that there aren’t any cheats in the game and that we weren’t going to add any either. That was because we never had a “cheat console” during development and it felt like a waste of time to add one when we could make more content instead. We also knew that a cheat console would bring some game breaking issues, on top of being annoying to program in order to reach complicated game mechanics. Additionally, we assumed that players would expect some sort of “debug overlay” where they could see information about certain important and otherwise hidden game mechanics and statistics if we added a cheat console.

But we might have overestimated player expectations for the cheats (we're not sure about that). At any rate, since this is the last bit of content we’ll add to the game, we figured out a solution that brings a very simple cheat console to the game (one that basically just deals with setting numerical values). This is a very large single player game, after all, so it would be nice to have some way for players (especially those trying to uncover most of what the game has to offer) to make things easier or “more interesting” for themselves after multiple playthroughs. The caveat is that the cheats are very limited, there’s no “debug overlay” and you might encounter bugs if you don’t pay close attention to what you’re doing with it. For that reason, we ask that you disclose if you have used cheats if you leave any sort of bug report in the future. We will not be expanding the cheat console in any way in the future, nor will we fix bugs caused by it or in it (unless under very specific circumstances, like being able to affect everyone’s reputation but one character’s). The cheat console is therefore used at your own risk. However, we’ve done our best to warn you about specific issues that we’re already aware of under the detailed instruction of what each cheat does.

You'll also find a PDF-document with all of this cheat related information for free on our Patreon, along with a PDF containing a list of all of the main events, so that you can track them easily in the cheat console: https://www.patreon.com/swordlakeentertainment

Now, let’s look at how the console generally works and how you can use it!

• It can only be accessed in the throne room at the start of a month. Use Ctrl+Shift+C to open it. No other menu can be open, or the cheat console won’t appear.
• It is only possible to enter one cheat at a time.
• The console allows you to manipulate the following things: good deeds, bad deeds, Avallerism, Voidism, times used magic, times used alchemy, marriage happiness, reputation, kill or execute or move out a townsperson, current resources, monthly resource production, population, which short main event should occur next and which long main event should occur next.
• The console only takes letters, digits and a minus sign as input. Keep in mind that no matter what you try to influence, the input string should always be a series of letters followed by numbers (except in the case of “Kill”, “Execute” and “Move”). The letters must be capitalized with a large letter first, then followed by small letters.
• The numbers are not additive – the number you write is the number the input will be set to, regardless of what it is you’re trying to change. For example, writing “Dawn-10” does not subtract 10 reputation from Dawn, but sets her reputation to -10. You can add a minus sign to represent negative numbers, such as in character reputation, but a plus sign won’t work.
• To confirm or exit out of the console, you need to click the “Confirm”-button, the right mouse button or the “Enter”-key, even if the input field is empty. Half-finished or incorrect inputs are discarded or, in the case of manipulating the next short or long event, will reset the next event to be a completely random one.
• There are no pop-ups or other types of UI indicating that a change has been made (except for when using the “Kill”, “Execute” or “Move” cheats). Of course, you can see the change by opening the relevant menu if there is one (resource bars, townsfolk roster, foreign leader roster).
• The examples we use below have quotation marks, but those are not valid inputs in the cheat console and are only used here for clarification.

Let’s go into detail on how each aspect can be manipulated

Good and bad deeds

Good deeds and bad deeds respectively are used for two of the most powerful events in the game. As the names suggest, they are usually earned by performing good or bad deeds in events. Type “Good” or “Bad” followed by a number to influence the respective deed-counter. For example, “Good5”, “Bad3”, “Good0”. In the cheat console, they’re capped at 10 each, with 0 being the minimum.

Avallerism and Voidism

The game has a counter for how many times you have supported or helped Avallerism and Voidism respectively. The counters are used for some events, primarily one for each religion where you can declare official support for it. Type “Avallerism” or “Voidism” followed by a number to set the respective counter. For example, “Avallerism2”, “Voidism5”, “Avallerism10”. In the cheat console, they’re capped at 10 each, with 0 being the minimum.

Magic and alchemy

Just as with religion, the game has a counter for how many times you have used magic and alchemy, respectively. The counters are used for some events, primarily one for each type where you can declare official support for it. Type “Magic” or “Alchemy” followed by a number to set the respective counter. For example, “Magic15”, “Alchemy2”, “Magic5”. In the cheat console, they’re capped at 20 each, with 0 being the minimum.

Marriage happiness

Marriage happiness, as the in-game tip explains, affects which ending you’ll get with your spouse. The happiness is a score between -10 and 10. -3 and less gives a “bad” ending, -2 to 2 gives a “default” ending, and 3 and above gives a “good” ending. In order to change the marriage happiness in the cheat console, type “Marriage” followed by the number you want to set it to. For example, “Marriage-3”, “Marriage0”, “Marriage4”.

Reputation

Change a character’s reputation by writing their name, followed by the reputation you want to set it to. For example, “Dawn100”, “Ophelia-100”, “Cecil0”, “MG15”. This works for townsfolk who currently live in the town and foreign leaders. If changing Se’Vah’s or Te’Rohga’s reputation, you have to write their name without the apostrophe (e.g. “SeVah15”, “TeRohga-40”). For all other characters, the name must be spelled exactly like their first name is spelled in dialogue (i.e. MG being correct, instead of her full name). Reputation goes between -100 to 100. It is not possible to change the reputation of those who Detest you or are Forever Faithful. It is, however, possible to change the reputation of characters who are uninterested in you, regardless of how they became uninterested.

You are free to type any number you want between -100 and 100, but the game may not work as intended if the numbers are not increments of 5, since that is what the game is based around.

Kill, execute and move out

It is possible to kill, execute or move a townsperson out by typing the respective action followed by the character’s name. For example, “KillDawn”, “ExecuteCecil”, “MoveErewen”. As with the reputation change cheat, the character’s name has to be written the way it’s used in dialogue (i.e. MG is MG), with the exception of Te’Rohga, who has to be written without an apostrophe (e.g. “KillTeRohga”). You can only use these actions on townsfolk who currently live in the town. If you are married to a townsperson, you can use the kill and execute cheat on them, but not move out. No matter which action you use, notable relationships will be effected. It is not possible to use any of these cheats on the last character in town. The successful use of any of the commands will give a default message declaring the character dead or moved out.

Both the “Kill”- and “Execute”-cheat will kill the character, but what is written on the gravestone differs depending on which method is used. The “Execute”-cheat also increases a counter for how many characters have been executed, which is tallied in the stats at the end of the game, and is used for a special short event. Both actions will result in the character getting the “Dead”-ending.

The “Move”-cheat gives the “Moved out”-ending. It’s important to note that some characters’ “Moved out”-ending might appear contextually strange when moving them out with this cheat, since they would only be able to move out under very specific conditions during normal gameplay.

Keep in mind that using any of these three cheats on characters when a long event is active may break the long event or make it illogical (i.e. the character you killed might show up anyway if you chose it for something, for example being an actor, in the first half of the event).

Resources

All five resource types can be changed by entering their name (“Gold”, “Wood”, “Stone”, “Food”, “Coins”), followed by a positive number. For example, “Coins500”, “Wood25”. Resources cannot go below 0 or above their respective highest limits, which are around the hundreds of thousands-mark. The stats at the end of the game may not show the resource statistics accurately if a resource has been changed with cheats.

You are free to type any number you want, but since most resources have a standard increment (5 for Coins, 25 for Gold, etc), things may not look appealing if you don’t use those standard increments. However, this would probably not be game breaking.

Monthly resource production

As with the resources, each resource type’s monthly production can be changed as well. It works the same as with resources – just add “Month” after the resource type. For example, “GoldMonth50”, “StoneMonth5”. Keep in mind that changing things this way will likely break the guard presence, if it’s higher than Low. It will definitely break the info square detailing where the resources are coming and going from (and the text in the info square will be incorrect from then on). The stats at the end of the game will not show the resource production accurately if it has been changed with cheats.

Population

Typing “Population1000”, “Population0”, “Population5000” will set the population accordingly. Population ranges between 0 and 10000. Some events may not work as intended if you set it too low. The stats at the end of the game will most likely not show the highest population accurately if it has been changed with cheats. While you can set the population to any number within the range that you want, keep in mind that the game is based around population increases and decreases in the hundreds. Other numbers may have unintended consequences.

Short events

By typing “Short” followed by a number from 0 to 104, you can decide which short main event will occur next. For example, “Short0”, “Short54”, “Short89”. If you type a negative number or leave a minus sign in the field whilst having a complete “Short”, the entire thing will reset and only random events will occur.

If you have already completed the event you enter into the console during that playthrough, there will be a line of text on the console informing you of that.

Likewise, a line of text will inform you if the short event is currently being tracked – that is, set as the next one to appear, if possible.

There are some important things to note when manipulating events. First of all, the number of the event you enter is saved in the current savefile. The number will be checked every month when a short event can occur. When the event has taken place, the number will be reset, allowing for completely random events again. If the event can’t occur for whatever reason (other prioritized events occur, it is time for a long event, etc), the number is still saved so that the event will happen on the first month it can happen. Keep in mind that a lot of short events have requirements that prevent them from occurring even if you have their specific number saved. So even if you keep a number for a short event during the entire playthrough, you might never get to see it because you don’t meet the requirements.

This cheat only applies to regular short main events. Special short main events can’t be manipulated, since they have very specific requirements and a certain percentage chance to occur every month. If you’re curious about the main event prioritization during months when short events should take place, it is like this: main story (Ophelia’s halfway checkup, marriage, foreign leaders’ negative reputation events, etc), special short events, meetups (if at least 6 months have passed since the last one) and regular short events (including meetups, independent of the 6-month-timer).

Keep in mind that townsfolk meetups count as regular short main events (but they also have additional, prioritized checks, akin to special short events). Since meetups require both characters and some additional relationship based things, a specific meetup may never occur during a playthrough. Therefore, be wary when trying to summon the following short events, since they are meetups: 12-13, 18-21. 23-24, 29, 52, 74-83, 85-96.

Long events

Type “Long” followed by a number from 0 to 17 to influence which long event will occur next. For example, “Long0”, “Long10”, “Long3”. The process is exactly the same as described for the short events, with the additional caveat that long events start in Late Spring and Late Autumn. The long event number entered into the console will thus be saved until a long event can occur on one of those months. But as with short events, some of the long events have requirements that need to be met before they can show up, even when using this cheat. If you have already completed the event you enter into the console during that playthrough, there will be a line of text on the console informing you of that. Likewise, a line of text will inform you if the long event is currently being tracked – that is, set as the next one to appear, if possible.

We hope that these cheats will be useful to you!

End of development

As we mentioned in the beginning, this is the final content update for Mistwinter Bay. With this, we have added more than we had intended for the game, checking off all the “would like to have”-lists and so on. The only thing we can think of that we’ve “missed” in our own minds would be 2 more long events to bring it up to 20 in total, but considering how much content a single long event can provide, it feels like no disaster to have 18. When we first started planning for the game, we wanted 100 short and 20 long main events to ensure that there were enough events to prevent you from seeing the same ones during two playthroughs. We’ve exceeded that number with the short events, especially if you include the special ones, and we’re close enough with the long ones, too. It was never a disaster if we didn’t reach those numbers since the main events, especially the long ones, have been designed to be experienced multiple times. As experienced players may know, when an event shows up can greatly change how it plays out, as was our intention.

We’re very pleased with and proud of how the game has turned out. To us, it is one of few games where choices really matter, and it seems like a lot of you agree, which means we’ve done our job. But now, that job has come to an end. It’s been five years since the idea for the game was conceived and four years since we started working on it properly. That’s a long time for two people to stare at walls of dialogue, either in text documents or code. Now, we have reached the limit for how much we can handle in terms of motivation, creativity and the content itself. While it would theoretically be possible to add main events and even cosmetics until the end of time, there’s not much of a point to add more when there is so much already.

In all honesty, we never intended to have any content updates at all, since we wanted to have a completely content-finished game upon release. But some unfortunate circumstances beyond our control cut some of the development time shortly before release, meaning that we didn’t have time to add everything we had planned for. So we moved that content past the release. When we were already forced to do those updates, we figured that we might as well add the remaining content that we wanted in a best-case-scenario. And that’s where we are now.

We will of course keep releasing bugfixes, fix grammar and things like that if we get more reports on those things. But in terms of new content, this is where it ends. We will shift our main focus to a brand new, much smaller, unrelated game instead. While that game will have nothing to do with Mistwinter Bay thematically, we might come back to the world of Sefra one day. There’s a lot of lore that’s pretty easy to build on, as was our intention, so you never know what we might come up with in the future!

A sincere thank you to all of you. Knowing that the game we’ve worked so hard on for so long has brought joy to you means that our efforts were worth it.

We hope you enjoy the new content and that you have fun exploring Mistwinter Bay with the new cheats!

The Swordlake Entertainment duo