August 2021's Writer Support Thread

No it is not but I don’t want be in a semanthic discussion here as it is not the place if you want to enter in discussion we can in pm.

I will agree however that American meaning for the Usa census is the one you describe. But that wasn’t the original. So I suppose if you describe something in English you would be safe ussing hispanic as spain language.

Still, for me is weird as I was taugh in the meaning coming from latin as Hispania or Hispanic as proper of the whole peninsula.

Looking more into the English terms I found the less used Iberian that is what I used as hispanic before.

It includes Andorra Portugal Spain and all latino ccountries.
https://www.segib.org/en/who-we-are/

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I’m not speaking from a US-centered viewpoint, I’m speaking as a Portuguese living in this peninsula, and in my 25 years of life I’ve never heard it referred to as the Hispanic Peninsula. Not by any Portuguese, not by any Spanish or any book and map.

And looking at this Organization you linked (it’s the first time I’ve ever heard of it), it’s right on the front page “Ibero-American”. As in, from the Iberian Peninsula - Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. Not once do they use the word Hispanic.

“Hispanic Peninsula” just doesn’t exist. So, again, that graph is very much correct and should be used as a reference.

But you’re right, this isn’t the place for this discussion. I just found it very odd.

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This conversation is not the place of it. And that is I as Spaniard older than you received a different education and different terminology for similar terms. But This is not the place to discuss terminology

Trying to resume working on my game. Uploaded a new version of chapter 4.

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Hi everyone.

From this point forward, if you want to have a discussion about things outside the scope of these threads, please either take it private, or open your own discussion thread.

These support threads help a lot of people, and I would like them to continue to do so.

Thank you!

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There has been a release by ME Smith (@LacetheDisgrace) : Blood for Poppies

Congrats on publishing one of the earliest WiPs I remember reading @LacetheDisgrace!

Perseverance paid off!

:two_hearts:

I will update the original post to reflect this!

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Reached my goal of releasing an update, and only two weeks later than my self-imposed deadline! Doing the extra chapters was important, however, I feel. Invite Only now stands at 81,000 words, two thirds complete.

I reckon next update finishes the game. It’ll be weird, however. The last section features a pretty big change of pace.

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Haven’t got much writing done in a while… we’re being kicked out of the country where I work for the rest of the year (long story but the short version is that COVID delays have run us out of valid visa days) and helping Afghan friends get visa referrals has turned into a full time job this month.

But today, my wife took the kids out, and I wrote 3000 words. Feeling pretty good about that.

Once our deportation is complete, I’ll try to get into a habit of regular writing again.

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Wow. Do y’all have a place to go once you leave?

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Back to England for now. We’ve been offered a place to stay that should see us through to Jan, when we can come back to wrap things up here in Nepal.

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I’ve been playing some really good stuff here recently. And ergh, getting really discouraged about my own stuff. The more I look at it, the more my entire second chapter looks like a chapter-long, fetch quest-like sequence (not really a fetch quest, but you do have some equally meh objective that you can pass or fail) used as an excuse to meet NPCs.

Kinda lost on what I should do.

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What would be a fun way to meet these NPCs instead?

Honestly, I don’t know. It’s not something where I can jump to action straight away. This the player character’s first day of what is a completely new experience to him, and you have to get a favour from at least one of those first few characters to not be completely hostile to you (though still at a price). These “first day” scenes are pulled almost straight out of someone’s memoir, and I can’t really think of any other way it could play out when the player character is even more of an obvious a misfit than the writer of that memoir, who was simply misguided.

You could come up with multiple different mini “side quests” for an MC to choose from, after 2 or 3 of which they would have met every NPC but been able to express their own personality and preferences as well by way of picking the activity they partake in. You yourself will know best what and how to write this, though - it really depends on your story.

Perhaps you can earn a favour from someone in multiple ways, for example. You could appeal to person A by being either charismatic or offering them something in return, you could appeal to B by appearing in one of three locations, or you could appeal to C by begging and pleading. The option for an MC to act unique and as themselves is still present, as is a chance to speak to multiple NPCs, and the objective is more likely to be fulfilled because the MC doesn’t feel limited.

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It’s really just one thing you’re doing for the entire chapter - figure out how to make yourself and your stuff presentable so the Captain doesn’t punish you tomorrow (it’s apparently quite convoluted, and they get very pedantic about getting everything very correct, according to the memoir).

Adding personality to it sounds like a great idea! I’ll see if I can tweak it, because so far those stats haven’t played a major role yet (not planning to use these to lock out content but it may change flavour text). I’ve so far already made it so each character has a different criteria for their cooperation (one character would always refuse if you’re German, for example). Though who you approach will affect how you are seen by the other characters in the room, too. Associating with a Frenchman will make the Francophiles (as a whole) think better about you, but the Northern Europeans (as a whole) will think less of you, for example.

Though I’m still not absolutely certain what I’ll use that stat for going forward, other than helping to influence the relationship stat of individual NPCs later on (like an “oh, you get along with the rest of us, you can’t be all bad” kind of thing if your relationship stat with the NPC is low-ish but not so low that you’ve made an enemy of them, or for a stat adjustment for a newly-introduced NPC).

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Make a list of the things you want your player to know and have each NPC be the gatekeeper to that knowledge. Then force the player to seek them out and gain their favour if they want to know the answer.

Given the medium it’s being written in, defaulting to “give the player agency in how they approach it” is almost always the best bet.

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That’s very useful, I’ve never thought about it that way.

Having different characters gatekeep different pieces of information isn’t something that would work in my current scenario, though. You can approach any NPC and complete your goal as long as they’re open to even talk to you in the first place, by saying or doing something right beforehand. Most dialogue so far is still expositionary, but each of those NPCs do say something slightly different (but not wrong) based on their own point of view when you ask them the same question. Maybe an unlockabke alternate dialogue if you finish what you’re supposed to be doing early, now that it’s no longer on your mind?

I don’t know if it was a mistake to write this as a CYOA, or that I’m just very bad at writing anything that isn’t a piece of scenery. Everything that happens is quite linear, and the player character is starting to look like an afterthought among the many NPCs who already interact with each other and have their own planned extensive stories outside of your involvement.

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A way to disguise what might otherwise seem pretty linear is by allowing the MC to experience it from different points of view - and I mean literally, from a watch tower or from the ground or hiding behind a telephone pole as the action goes down. Not only does the player feel like they have some agency over their character, they might be rewarded for doing a certain set of actions by unlocking extra dialogue in the sense that they hear other characters’ alternate thoughts on what’s going on, and so forth.

It would obviously be ideal if the MC still had some agency over the storyline, so if possible maybe you can make allowance for them to persuade another character to drop or pick up a new goal instead. In my opinion the greatest mistake one can make with an interactive novel is to forget the MC is a character and not an overly complicated narrative device. The MC should be able to have a goal too, even if all they can do is choose which NPC to romance or follow around and assist. Better COGs will allow totally independent goals and NPC-related ones.

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In Invite Only the main character already has a personality and a key relationship with another character. A lot of people bounced off that, however – they’d rather the MC be a blank slate. I reckon there’s a particular ratio of blank slate to preset that would work the best.

However, I think the absolute worst thing you could possibly do is write according to what you think other people might want out of the game. Do what makes you excited to keep writing.

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I’ve finally finished writing the diary entries! And it only took like a week me or so.

It ended up at about 9,000 words with code, which is a little surprising. I had a very hard time writing the MC’s mother and the MC’s Twin (because there are so many customization variables), but I’m pretty happy with the result. I also ended up writing a bit of on the spot backstory, and that’s always fun.

Also, I finally have a Tumblr now! (Link in my profile/thread if you’re interested) I always wanted to have a blog since I started writing like 6 years ago, so that’s nice.

I’m really not trying to expect too much this time, but the latest update I did was honestly pretty disappointing. I spent several months in what might as well be a hiatus, and another couple or so months writing a fairly large update… and I get, what? Only bug reports. All those sidequests, backstories, and secrets about the characters I spent time working on? Zero comments. At this point I just want an excuse to talk about my characters and plot and it feels like I’m talking to an empty void.

I’ll say it: I want actual feedback, not likes. (At least I hope the Tumblr would help with that.)

Sorry for the venting again.


I'll try to keep this short but it looks like I failed anyway

I’m in the same boat.

The MC in my WIP is actually just a replacement of the original protagonists of my story. I took the protagonists out, repurposed them as major characters, and gave their role and backstory to the player. The other major characters have been friends for a long time, and have all their backstory and character arcs planned out. So yes, I totally understand the feeling of having all these characters talking, and the MC just feels like an observer, and especially so because I love writing dialogue.

My story is pretty linear as well, but what I like to do is to give the MC a lot of customization options, which translates to a lot of flavor text later. I feel like this is important for the reader so that they feel their choices have an effect, even if it is linear. My goal is to have things read differently, even if the same things are happening.

Make small branches on the way, even if it leads to the same destination. If the MC is going to a building, have them choose how to enter it. I had this problem recently, where you can choose not to go snooping on a character (which obviously has a lot of information), and to me it felt punishing (for lack of a better word) to not do that and go to the next scene, so I had the MC have a brief encounter with another character instead.

(If the MC selects a drink for example, have another character offer the same drink later. If the MC gives some advice, have that character apply it again in an unrelated moment. It’s still linear, but there’s more variations of the same scene tied to your earlier choices.)

If it feels too exposition-y and info-dumpy, don’t just have the MC ask question after question immediately (which I’ve seen many WIPs do). Try to establish the character first, so the interactions won’t feel forced.

Also, try to play off the existing characters. Use the time when the MC is just listening to give them a choice about what they’re thinking about the situation or the characters, until you find the opportunity for them to join the conversation/interactions. How your characters interact with each other should hopefully give you ideas for options on how the MC can react – not limit them.

I hope this wasn’t too much – I just want to share my opinions and how I dealt with the problem. (Obviously everyone approaches things differently.) Hopefully it gives you some ideas! Good luck with your project!

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