ChoiceScript inadequacies

General
1

Wish I had some semblance of competence on ChoiceScript. Unfortunately, my computer generally disagrees with me, and we aren’t on the best of terms :frowning:

I was so excited to see I could make my own interactive fiction too…

2

well where’s your main problem? I’m pretty green myself but I might be able to help, I haven’t published anything but I coded most of an intro so far.

3

I don’t even understand how to start.

4

@Mydoghasfleas
This should help: Link

That is where I started, the choicescript wiki has a nice guide too.

5

I read this, and my mind equals blown. It turned my brain into an omelet :dizzy_face:

6

well coding isn’t everyone’s best profession/hobby.

7

@Mydoghasfleas
Coding can be scary sometimes, but it is not impossible u.u

You could try following this other guide: A Basic Tutorial

8

Yeah, no kidding. I feel like a child trying to grasp some torturous form of Theoretical Physics.

9

Ok, I will try the basic guide for a bit. Might be more on my level.

10

@ballmot absolutely, coding is a wild beast, but it can be tamed once you know how to talk to it.
@Mydoghasfleas
this could help you, but to be honest, they don’t have choicescript, but my work in their Java courses helped me understand things better in general.

11

@Mydoghasfleas I don’t even use a computer to write! I use my mobile phone. Just dl a simple writing app that shows line numbers. :smile: :ok_hand:

12

I am trying really hard to understand it. Guess I am just technologically challenged :confounded:

I will rest my noggin for a bit, and see if I have better luck tomorrow.

13

If you want to make your own interactive fiction, but are finding choicescript too difficult, and can’t follow the tutorials there’s a few options.

  1. Persevere. Look at other games code. Read the tutorials. It does have an initial difficulty hurdle, but there is a great moment when it all clicks into place.

  2. Try Chronicler. [Tool] Chronicler - ChoiceScript Visual Code Editor and see if that helps. It’s supposed to make writing a choice of game easier.

  3. Give up on choicescript just now and start with a different tool to make interactive fiction. Twine, for instance, is extremely easy.

2 Likes
14

Inklewriter is also a good tool to use.

The basics though, to help you get started with choicescript, to create a branching story:

The first thing you’ll want to do is is find the scenes directory. Open up the startup.txt file, as that is the first file choicescript loads. Then try typing:

The man walked down the path and took

*choice

  #next left.

    the left path.

    *goto path_taken

  #next right.

    the right path.

    *goto path_taken

*label path_taken

He continues walking until he bumps into a stranger.

(The *goto command specifies the label the program goes to. It should allow you to do a very basic branching story without stats or anything, until you learn more. Also, when you indent for #, you can put more choices in before using the *goto command, but you’d need to keep the indenting correct and use the *choice command yet again before using the #.)

Also, I’d recommend using Notepad ++. It’s great for indenting and such. You can use the quick test and randomtest files in the game folder to test things. It’s the index file you want when you want to play through it, located in the web/mygame folder.

Hope this help and as Fairy said, keep at it. It’s honestly not as hard as it first seems. I was very intimidated myself when I started.

Edit: Thanks for the edit, Fairy. Didn’t know I could get the indents working here. So, just to show to nestle choices within choices:

*choice

  #left path.

    the left path. He bumped into a stranger.

    *choice

       #Say sorry.

         "Sorry."

         *goto path_taken

       #Scold the man.

         "Watch where you're going!"

        *goto path_taken
  
  #right path.

    the right path.

    *goto path_taken

(You can, when you learn more, use *if statements later to make text appear if certain things are true as well. But yeah, best to get the basics down first. Main thing is to make sure the indenting is always correct. I.e. If you use two spaces for an indent, always make sure it’s two spaces.)

15

Don’t get yourself down @Mydoghasfleas

Everything is hard before it is easy - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The links ballmot posted has good examples and guides on both websites. I started there too not too long ago. Give yourself time :smile:

16

look, no worries! When I first started, I felt the same too… NOTHING made sense… AT ALL! But I kept looking into it and things reading over and over and what others said about code and stuff…then…FINALLY the lights turned on and it all makes sense now and it quite easy. I do agree that the site doesn’t have very clear instructions on how to do things. Just keep trying!

1 Like
17

I haven’t given up yet. The struggle is real lol.

18

If you need any sort of help you can always ask. If you’re stuck on how to do something in particular, feel free to post and we’ll explain. I know it’s really tough to start with, especially if you’ve absolutely no coding experience at all.

Choicescript is actually designed so people without a background in programming can use it, but there is that initial hurdle.

That’s why I generally suggest starting simply, using just the basic code, getting used to that. Don’t try to be too ambitious. Do something short.

19

Thanks, I will keep that in mind.