A Choice of Ants (WIP) - 80k words

Off-Topic Other Interactive Fiction
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Long ago an unnamed fungus spread across the land. Corrupting pheromones, causing chaos in the order built up over millennia. This fungus crept into molt chambers and infected broods. And all would know it as a part of them.

The offspring of those infected began to mutate and evolve in ways unimaginable. In most cases reaching higher states of awareness, this led to a new age of discovery. With many among Antkind seeking self-determination for the first time and resettling across what would become known as Antera.

But it didn’t last. As the changes accelerated, far too many became grotesque, deformed or went mad in the process. There was a schism forming between those cursed and the enlightened; leading to a massive civil war now known as The First Bloom.

Upon Big Hill is a choice-based RPG exploring each faction in a tale about time and antkinds’ role in a world split between old and new. An anthology of short stories that link distinct lives shaped by an endless war.

Author's Note

This project is based in the world of Antera which is the backdrop for an upcoming action sandbox game called Iron Swarm. Even after extensive debugging there are some remaining issues that need to be ironed out. So I am finally sharing the work and posting it here for feedback. No prior knowledge of the project is needed. And keep in mind that the body stats aren’t full implemented, with the game still using an older less transparent reputation system.

I have been a member of this board since 2011 and attribute Choicescript to renewing my interest in programming back then after a stint in journalism. I am deeply grateful to @jasonstevanhill for helping retrieve this account so that I can share something I have spent some of that time working on. I hope my choice of wording is not against any rules. I don’t want to sound old but I’m not familiar with some of the newer board slang/terminology so please excuse and advise.

A link to the project can be found below. It is in a BETA state:

There is also a narrated plot summary on Youtube with visuals, for those interested in the Iron Swarm side of things. This is the very first edition with some known issues I plan to share publicly. I may also open source the script in the future. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.

For all ants! :ant:

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2

Errors

Summary

When it says:

Enter the name of your Spinedrone mentor (or press enter for “Threadkeeper Pel”):

if I enter, the game won’t advance. So I just copied and pasted the name.

“I don’t know how to describe it. But there is something I am missing that is already here. All around us.”, you say.

This should be: […] All around us," you say.

Small Questions

Summary
  • When the options are different colors, do they correspond to different stats?
  • Is there anyway to make our death scene feel less abrupt or is this intentional?

Things I Liked

Summary
  • Am very excited that this is one of the rare few non-CS games that has a UI I can read without difficulty! The font was only a little troublesome at some points, largely punctuation. The color scheme is a cool-themed, sci-fi with nice orange accents.
  • Wait a minute—did you revamp the ChoiceScript UI? Or modeled it after ChoiceScript? If so, that’s impressive.
  • The worldbuilding is delightful.
  • The level of interactivity felt very fun.
  • I literally only chose Pheromancer because it sounds so cool. Oh. Oh, dear.

The only concern I have is that the choices feel too divergent at times? Extreme? Some options are like:

  • Be utterly loyal and faithful to the Queen.
  • Violence is bad.
  • Subterfuge.

I’m not necessarily emotionally attached to the world or its characters before I make these intense choices, so I feel overwhelmed. I also think that the choices inadvertently “spoil” what’s really going on too quickly. The Queen is introduced and then the next choice is Trust The Queen or The Queen Is Evil, for example.

But, I like slower starts, so this is just my opinion.

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