Important SDA Announcement for 2024!

Hi everyone, long wall of text incoming but this is pretty important, particularly regarding SDA's future and Kerstyn's hiatus. I skimmed on the details cuz we gotta make that YT video hype for viewer engagement!

Kerstyn's voice acting hiatus (as I first announced in the 4.1 preview video) is year long, including all work for SDA. The next major SDA update (the 4.2 Vigilant one) won't be released until next year, when Kerstyn starts work again. Kerstyn is doing alright, and took this break for her mental health. 

In the meantime, I will be devoting much of my time towards my upcoming Ashe custom follower, which is my most ambitious project yet! Not only will she be a super follower, like SDA Serana, but it'll also have a DLC-sized questline to boot! Additionally, the writing is gonna be very complex, with me applying lessons I've learned while developing SDA! Ashe has a new voice actress (more details here!), and is hence not affected by Kerstyn's hiatus.

In terms of SDA content, it will not be totally dry. For one, this long hiatus can give us more time to cook the Vigilant Update (which we all know is gonna be very big!). If production goes well, it should be written, implemented, and just ready for voice acting when Kerstyn comes back. That'll mean a fast turnaround to early access, and then the public release!

4.2 (since Vigilant is a PC-only thing), will also get the highly-anticipated Children Interactions, College of Winterhold NPC Banter, more radiant dialogue, Daegon Banter (FINALLY!), and even more Custom Content. People can technically request their names and convos during the hiatus, however it won't be tackled by me and Kerstyn until after she is back. You only need to be subbed to the appropriate tier for one month to get your custom content. I suggest you stick around though, even at a downgraded tier, as all support is really appreciated! Modding is my lifeline, so y'all will really be helping me out personally hahaha. 

The Halloween and Christmas Special Audio Dramas will be repurposed and hearable in-game, as they were initially envisioned as Drinking Buddies, or past island story conversations! This would be included in 4.1.1.

In terms of new 4.1.1 content, it would mainly have some custom name/convo requests plus the new convo stuff, as that's all Kerstyn was able to record really quick before entering her hiatus. I also did not (other than Daegon Banter) have much written up for her at the time (as I was cooking Ashe). Kerstyn was also able to record a little Blood Gang Easter egg, which I have yet to implement!

I know this kinda sucks for a lot of people, but let this put things into perspective - last year, SDA only received one public update (4.0), then this year, 4.1 was released in early January. Technically it was fully completed in October and just needed to be tested for the closed beta/early access, but it wasn't released to the public. Point is, SDA updates became much more infrequent because of the sheer size of them (over 1k lines for both 4.0 and 4.1). 

In terms of Lucien Banter (which I know a lot of you have been asking for), you all are probably aware that Joseph stepped away from modding for personal reasons last year. I remain open to doing it with him, however it remains an impossibility to implement during the SDA Hiatus and his modding break. That does not rule it out though! If he comes back, then banter is a lot more likely! Meanwhile, SDA has banter with a lot of other NPCs and followers like Auri, Inigo, and Sofia! 

In terms of other mod projects, Trueblood is also being improved (yet again, she's actually even prettier now!) with Harkon and Valerica replacers on the way! Trueblood V2 is currently on early access, here on this Patreon!

I hope that clears some things up about the duration of the hiatus - in the meantime, stay tuned for the release of Ashe and other exciting things to come!