A Thousand Miles of Sky (WIP)(demo updated March 10th, 2019)

Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me! And I’m so glad you’re enjoying the game so far! I grew up on a steady diet of British humor, it pretty much infuses everything I touch these days, haha :sweat_smile:

I do worry that I’m not always including enough choices, I’m trying to strike a balance between good narrative flow and choices that integrate well and bring something to the story. The captain is a lot more set in their characterization and less flexible than some other MCs, but I’m hoping most folks can find something in them that’s relatable, or at least fun to play.

Again, thank you so much! It’s heartening to be surrounded by such patient and kind folks, who hopefully don’t mind being drip-fed content over these long months. I like to think I write like a river polishes stones; it might take forever, but the end result is smooth and feels nice in my hand.

19 Likes

Hey there space truckers, it’s past time I updated this thread. My new job is kind of kicking my ass right now, so progress has been and will continue to be slower for the near future while I sort things out. As an apology, please accept these picrews of the cast (I’ll let you guess who’s who!):

Current word count: 116,000

Snippet

You pick the parcel up and turn it over in your hands. It’s small, no larger than the length of your hand, and wrapped in a cheap courier’s envelope. You hear something inside shift and rattle. Quite mysterious.

Do you open it?

  • Yes.
  • Hell yes.
  • On second thought, I don’t want to know.
33 Likes

Yes please, I’m here for those picrews. I’m guessing, from left to right, Alice/Alex/Alonzo, Rani, Isaac, Samara, and I’m not sure. Obviously it’s been too long since I played this WIP.

4 Likes

You are correct! And depending on how chapter 3 went, you might not have met the fifth person just yet, so you’re probably remembering things just fine!

4 Likes

I absolutely love how you incorporated the characterization parts (name, etc) as part of the game when the gene scanner “malfunctions.”

Very clever!

1 Like

Thank you so much! It’s a little bulky, but I thought it might be a fun, in-universe reason to do some character creation, and it worked well with my little gag there at the beginning. Hopefully it’s not as agonizing as going through real customs!

5 Likes

Just played through the demo, and boy I’m interested. I’ll keep an eye out on this, because RP’ing a spacer has always been an interesting experience to me :3

2 Likes

I’m so glad you like it so far! I am a huge sci fi nerd, I always want to RP a spacer :smiley:

2 Likes

Happy spring space buds! This sure is a wild time to be alive, I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. It kind of feels like we’re all trapped in our own little spaceships right now, or at least it does for me. Work progresses and Chapter 4 continues to balloon in size, just when I think it’s wrapping up I remember something else I wanted to include.

Current word count: 120,000

Snippet

Your nav charts’ digital projection over the main screen grows redder and redder as you approach the point of no return and you feel its silent judgement as you skip along the boundary like a stone on a still pond. A stunt like this is never a great idea, but if you only concerned yourself with ideas that were “good” you would have never chosen a life in the void.

25 Likes

So far so nice. I like the pacing and overall flow of the story, and the small “free time” segments.
I wish we could have seen Al in the chapters we can access so far, instead of sticking to messages and calls, but oh well - I guess I’ll have to wait.

I didn’t really spot mistakes or errors, but I do have two small suggestions I guess?

  • I reaaally need stat descriptions for this game, be it in game or in the original post. I’m SO confused about what the different stats do exactly. Well, at least the abilities and skills.
  • If you go and see Rani in his cabin after escaping the station (when you wake up and have to select Rani or your other passenger). Rani is wearing Al’s old shirt, and you have either the option of chastising him or flirting. I think it would be nice to have an intermediary option, like laughing and saying he looks weird or funny in it, or simply not minding.

Aside from that, I’d love to ask some things too.

  • You’re talking about “enabling extra romance content” when starting the game, and from the positive answer option - “Romantic content set to a reasonable level. Turn up to 11?” - am I to assume the game will actually have a NSFW option? If yes, how NSFW exactly? :laughing:
  • Still about romance, I’m curious. Does Al’s personnality change depending on the gender you select for them? The fitting tunes are sooo different depending on the gender, I’m left wondering about that.
  • Are you planning on uploading more chapters to the WIP, or will we have to wait for the full game?

Anyway, great job so far!

3 Likes

Thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying the game so far! And we’re about to see more of everyone’s favorite ex-business partner, I’m eternally gratified to see how much interest folks already have in them.

  • I could see putting some stat descriptions maybe on the stat screen or something. I’m working on a big update for Chapter 4, I’ll see about including something.
  • I’ll also see about including that conversation option in Chapter 3.
  • I see now how one might think that the “enabling extra romance content” would be about NSFW scenes, I should probably rethink how to word that. I actually meant that for extra soft and squishy content, sappy stuff that not everyone is here for and might slow down the narrative as characters stop to gaze lovingly into each others eyes. There’s a lot of stuff I cut for time and pacing, but there’s been enough interest in that kind of thing that I’m trying to come up with a way to still include it, kind of like DLC or something. As for how NSFW the game will get, the answer is not very. Allusions and fade-to-blacks will be utilized, but I’m not really up for describing that sort of thing in intimate detail.
  • Al does not really change depending on their gender aside from the odd cosmetic choice, the ringtone choices would suit any of the Als, they all love moody hyper noir and brassy jingles. I was trying to find a way to make that choice more interesting than just choosing their pronouns and repeating the same line three times, but given that this is not the first time someone has asked that, I probably need to rework that choice a bit more.
  • I am planning to upload the whole game to the forum as I write it, the more eyes that help me catch errors and give me feedback the better!

Thanks again, I appreciate the feedback!

11 Likes

I think this is the FIRST time ever I see the option to enable or disable the fluff and sweetness instead of the risquey things! I like fluff and cuteness though, so that works for me! But yeah, as it is, the option is a bit confusing.

Well, I don’t necessarily mind the choice as it is. I understood what was the choice about. But I thought maybe there was something more to it instead of only the gender.

Regardless of all that, I love Al so much, even before they appear “on screen”.

And nice to know the game will get further playable updates!

4 Likes

I think it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like that as well :sweat_smile:. I was worried about the narrative flow, but enough of us appreciated the fluff that I hope this will be a good compromise. And I will work on rewording that option.

It could be clearer that it’s just a gender choice. I have an idea of something fun I can do instead :thinking:

And won’t make any promises on the timeline because I am notoriously slow and bad about doing anything on time, but I’ve got 29,000 words for Chapter 4 so far, so things are moving along.

5 Likes

Oh, we love the sappy stuff! I’m here for it!

I just discovered this WIP, and even though I’m not usually a space-adventure type reader, I thought this was very fun!

In response to your question on the original post, I do actually really like getting all the info on the ROs’ preferences and gender identity upfront. I think what you’ve done in Rani’s case flowed quite naturally! Great work!

6 Likes

I’m really glad! It’s fun to write, haha. :smiley: And I’m so glad you’re enjoying the game so far!

I think with the next game update it’s time to update all the RO profiles in the first post. It would be fun to make fake social media pages for them all, Rani and Al would have amazing Spinstagrams, haha. We’ll see if I can manage it before the next update. I need to stop giving myself more projects :sweat_smile:

6 Likes

I mean, who doesn’t love sappy romance?

3 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. If you want to reopen your WiP, contact the @moderators.