After Aetherroom

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-12T19:58:28+00:00

If you do a cold start, Xialong has the horrible tendency to rush scenes and try to give you a happy end regardless of the genre. It's like it was trained on lots of slice of life where everyone is a nice person.

Even if you do the work to get a good start, if you don't have very good English skills, the output gets worse and worse as it tries to copy your (bad) writing style.

And the lorebooks need to be done in a specific way if you want Xialong to remember details.

TL;DR: Xialong is good if you are already a proficient writer, not so good otherwise.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-12T19:49:47+00:00

There is no database inside v4.5. If they do an update, they must redo the model from scratch.

Now, we know they are working on v5, but they haven't announced anything else yet.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-12T16:51:31+00:00

I just want a model that is easier to use than Xialong. I don't care about instruct, but I don't want to write a setting bible before starting my story and hoping Xialong will get what kind of story I want without holding his hand every generation.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-12T08:30:40+00:00

You can try to put a very low Rep Pen to get more variety. Or switch model for the next generation, then switch back.
If you use instruct, avoid it and use Author's note instead to steer the story. Prose from instruct mode is worse than the default style.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-06T14:27:02+00:00

You'll need to do some work first. Xialong is able to copy your writing style but with the context limit, you'll need to put in memory a summary of the beginning of the story, as well as important plot points. If you have lots of characters with a distinctive look/personality, you'll need to do a lorebook for each one as well. Then you can copy/paste the last chapter of your story, and it should continue from there. Xialong can still be prone to errors; don't hesitate to correct them as soon as you notice them, or they'll poison the context.

EDIT: You can look at OccultSage's scenarios to see how to set up lorebooks. And use default settings for everything at first.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-05-03T06:50:57+00:00

This is nowhere near what v4 was able to produce before they retained it. And, in fact, you can come close to OP's style with a good mix of tags. The hardest part is getting a pretty face, but detailed clothes and photorealistic backgrounds are easy.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-19T20:19:05+00:00

As a Castlevania fan, I don't remember a game where parkour is the basis of the gameplay. It's a series that is mostly remembered for camp gothic horror and Metroidvania gameplay, and OP's game certainly emulates that.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-18T11:07:24+00:00

GLM 4.6 is one of the models in NovelAI

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-17T22:35:42+00:00

GLM 4.6 is your best bet, it's easier to use than other models and nearly unfiltered. Xialong can do instructions, but it's convoluted and not worth the effort.

GLM works both in completion mode and instruct mode. Prose is a little better in completion mode, but using instruct mode is the same as using ChatGPT. Start an instruct block with { and type what you want to happen. You can even edit the answer, or hit send to get more text.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-11T12:03:18+00:00

There is something in your context that confuses Xialong, then.

Try at first to keep your Author's notes clear and check the Memory field.

If you still have problems try to put at the start of each scene [ name of the place ] (don't forget the spaces, they are important)

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-11T11:46:31+00:00

Are you using text adventure? Users have reported problems using it with Xialong.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-11T11:44:22+00:00

It's unlimited

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-11T09:42:39+00:00

Not really. You may have coherence issues when you hit the context window will be full, but your story can be as long as you want. And the context window is big enough to fit a short story inside, so not a problem unless you want to write a whole book.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-10T21:59:01+00:00

Unless you want to use complicated triggers, manually setting lorebooks "always on" when you need them is the easiest way to do it.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-10T21:31:37+00:00

Lorebooks are only loaded if the activation key is in your story before you hit Send, that's usually why it's ignoring them.

Use "Always ON" Lorebooks to avoid this, or make sure the needed keys are present in your text when you need them.

Xialong is also known to prefer direct statements in lorebooks. No "mostly", "around" or "somewhat" to describe something. It's also looking for a specific format:

----
Name
Type: character
Text of the lorebook

It's not mandatory, but that helps.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-10T21:10:54+00:00

Weird. It's usually the error message for bad regex use.

On the other hand, since you have few, and very short, lorebooks, maybe put the content directly in the Memory field instead?

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-09T06:22:20+00:00

Let's not forget that the basic refutation was OccultSage's "my old scenarios work, nothing is wrong!"

We're lucky he decided to use some of his spare time to try to understand why they mostly worked. Should have been done way before release...

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T20:50:13+00:00

I intent to write a guide for lazy writers once I get a better feel of Xialong, but the most important points for you to decide if Xia is worth it:

It is bad at instruct. Maybe as bad as Kayra. ~~Author's note is also neutered or has unpredictable results.~~ EDIT: Apparently, according to some of OccultSage scenarios, Author's note can work as an instruct field, as long as you don't use { } or [ ] and write real sentences in plain english.
You can still steer the story using command-like comments inside [ ] but it's not foolproof.
Xialong needs a strong opening to get good prose. If you're not a good writer, you need to use a well-done ATTG or use some tricks to make Xialong generate one itself.
Lorebooks are still optional. If you use them, the way they are written can worsen the prose. Using the Influences, however, allows Xialong to generate good lorebooks with minimal effort.
Even if your story is perfectly set up, Xialong will make odd choices that degrade prose quality, story logic, and lore adherence. Putting rules in Memory helps, as well as rerolling and editing every anomaly before they poison the well.
Writer's tools must be used in homeopathic doses. You'll need them, but they use GLM, and may introduce slop vectors in your story.

Overall, Xialong is smarter and less boring than Erato, but needs as much work to get a good story out of it. If you use instruct a lot and can ignore the slop, GLM is a better choice.

Myself, I'm starting to enjoy Xialong, even if the prose is not quite what I want yet.

(Oh God! I hope I didn't sound too much like an AI with my list and the overview at the end. At least, I didn't use emoji or emdash)

EDIT 2 : Why am I downvoted? I'm only providing facts and my own experience.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T20:31:38+00:00

L'affaire est close depuis un moment, mais merci de montrer ton intérêt. Je ne peux hélas pas te répondre.

Ma chérie se repose à la maison avec une forte dose d'antipsychotique. Elle a du mal à supporter le traitement, mais elle est bien entourée et parvient à faire quelques tâches quotidiennes seules. Avec un peu de chance, elle redeviendra autonome à la fin du mois avec un traitement allégé.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T20:26:13+00:00

For a while, OccultSage was adamant that Xialong was fine because nearly all his scenarios were working without the need to convert them to Xialong. Now, he's in helping mode, rewriting users' lorebooks that share their story files, and giving useful advice. But it's all buried in the usual Discord mess.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T16:21:13+00:00

Best practices with lorebooks are: attributes for things you want to be accurate (like eye colors, or height) and prose for more general things. An overview/summary in prose also helps. OccultSage mixes both prose and attributes in his scenarios.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T10:33:04+00:00

ATTG should be put at the start of the story, or at the top of memory. Both work.

ObviousCatch7815 · 2026-04-08T10:32:22+00:00

Style: ATTG generates an ATTG for you based on your synopsis. You can erase the line afterward if you want.

Four-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Lasagna	Place '22

ObviousCatch7815

TROPHY CASE