So there won’t be a payoff or a benefit for choosing the zenith path that kind of sucks tbh
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Oh you’ll still have some flexibility/options for using your ability, so there’s that, but honestly the main “benefit” is that after 8 Issues of being normal, you won’t be normal anymore. That’s one of the main themes in the whole story, after all.
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Maybe the powers could be similar to like Deathstroke or Deadpool or Captain America a super soldier type of zenith so the regular stats will still be useful
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I’d like to be able to fight oneof the other two super hero colleges.
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That would be great.
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I realize I am going to disappoint a lot of people because I won’t be able to go in every cool/interesting direction that I would like to! There are sooooo many directions I can take… 
But sort of the whole point is to get input from you folks. And honestly, I have Issue 9 pretty mapped out, and then the MC will return to school, but after that, I could take the story lots of different ways. Finally some sweet sweet freedom (for you and me!). The MC can be awesome! The MC can die! So can their friends! No one has plot immunity! Booksmart takes over the wor…wait wait wait that is spoilerish.
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No, we already knew that woman would have eventually anyway.
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Is there even a point in trying to stop her or should we all just surrender now
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Is there a demo link for this work in progress at all? I can’t find one
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Is the Zenith power going to be somewhat based off of the dream the MC had in issue 1?
Really looking forward to what you have in store for us. CCH and Lost Heir are my favorite hosted games, and I can’t wait to see where you take the story next
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I cant remember if downfall died but for zenith powers it would be cool to have a rematch and have a chance in beating her
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Honestly, as mostly playing as the detective/tactician route I just want the chance to outsmart the smartest zenith in the world.
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You have always done a good job at both staying true to your original vision and being as flexible as you could within the execution of the story.
With that said, I chose “Other” in your survey.
Personally, I am a zenith power addict but I respect the other paths as well. As a result, I am happy you have lots of progress on this path.
When it comes to testing and feedback, I am of the opinion that you test when you reach a point that testing is needed to move forward. From what you shared, issue 9 is mapped out and you are executing the writing quite well.
The question then is: Do you need feedback to move forward on the Stench and Tactician routes? If your answer is no, then I’d continue writing the draft as you have been. The demo will be released when it is ready, everyone understands that.
If you do need feedback to continue the stench and tactician routes, I would suggest disabling the Zenith path for now and releasing the material for the other two routes. This way, your feedback will be focused on the areas you need it to move forward.
o.k. Back to my own projects.
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Thanks for all the input!
@greatnes_personified, well you can try to stop her! (but seriously yes, there will be a lot of endings. I’m finally at the “fingers” part of the arm/hand analogy for interactive games)
@DragonAge, nope, no link yet.
@Kamer, I thought about it a while back, but no that would just be too difficult to code/write. I had to narrow it down to one, which I think works well with the narrative.
@AsrielsBlade, nope Downfall is definitely still alive and kicking! A rematch, huh?
@EditorAvila, I definitely understand the desire to do that! I sort of made Booksmart OP, so the challenge will be finding ways for her to lose (same goes with Mega Cat, tbh, and the Dozen).
@Eiwynn, yeah you really sorta drill down to the main point there. Looking at what I have, yes I think I can finish Issue 9, or at least finish Issue 9 up to the point where the MC is “powered up.” There is still a lot of transitional stuff to do after that to get into the main story. Hmmm…
I think based on the comments thus far, and the very close vote (50/46 percent at present), I’ll wait until the three path upgrades are all coded and written. That would be a good time for feedback, because my main concern is that they will read a bit “linearly” mostly because your character sorta HAS to succeed in getting the “power up” (both for coding reasons - I don’t want to have to account for a “nerfed” MC for the rest of the story, and for narrative reasons - many readers would be angry if after reading the story for about 9 hours up to this point, they fail and feel the need to start over). Neither of those is an option for me, so the challenge is making the journey in Issue 9 as interesting as possible even though you’re going to get what you want (unless you die).
I’ll close the thread again for a while, but I’ll be back! Have a Specktacular summer!
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Okay, seeking some feedback. I have really studied CoG’s game structure since NarraScope, and I’ve looked at some code (which I honestly hadn’t done before) and I’m realizing that I’m VERY unhappy with what I’ve written of Part 3 thus far, and that I need to consider restructuring the whole thing.
How can you help?
Here are some potential what I will call “secondary goals” that your MC could have by Part 3. I want to adopt CoG’s approach by letting your character move toward one or more of these secondary goals, which will then intersect with your character’s "big goal(s) to create a fairly extensive array of possible endings.
I’m really trying to figure out which secondary goals might be most desired by players, thereby giving me the most for my writing buck, so please pick your character’s top three “secondary goals” (these are basically every goal OTHER than “Who wins at the end?” (that will be a primary goal)
What are your CCH character’s secondary goals? (pick between 1-3 of them)
- Rescue Origami from the Zone
- Help Hedonist recover (if he is alive)
- Keep/gain leadership of the Specktacular Seven
- Find out Dean Tolly’s true motivations
- (if Stench) Find your Dad’s killer
- (if Zenith) Help Stoic regain her powers
- (if Tactician) Set up the Manipulator to be killed by the Dozen
- Kill the Manipulator
- Befriend the Manipulator
- End up with / potentially marry your RO
- Train your favorite two Afterthoughts sufficiently for them to be accepted as members of the Specktacular Seven
- Discover Mega Cat’s identity
0 voters
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And to clarify the above, I will almost certainly add more, or maybe delete a few, these are just examples of what I’m thinking of.
I’ll have to use existing variables, and add quite a few new ones, to let me track which of these goals you’ll be able to pursue. I’d imagine that I’d make it possible to successfully achieve like 3 of them in a single playthrough, and yeah that is kind of an arbitrary number.
I’ll do a separate poll to get people’s feedback on their desired end states, which will be combinations of climaxes involving the main conflict between Speck, Savior, Prestige, the Dozen, and how that turns out (and whether or not MC survives the end) But I just want to focus on the smaller goals for now.
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Wow! Even for a top 3 it’s hard to choice. Consider me impressed.
EDIT: ok, I post my vote because I’ve a few ties and a few honorable mentions
1 End up with my RO: Romance is secondary but if I’ve a chance to get an happy ending I’m going to take it.
2 Train two Afterthoughts: maybe is my tactician mind or my loyalty soul, but I’m very intrigue
3 Befriend the Manipulator (I already know I’m in the minority): I think lt’s my antihero/antivillain soul, but I’m eager to see how it will play out. However It’s a tie because I don’t forgive betrayal, if she tries to stab me I will enjoy kill her with my bare hands (or trick the Dozen to kill her, I will have to flip a coin)
Honorable mentions
Find out Tolly true intentions: she’s hiding something and she’s clearly smarter then she appears.
Find out Mega Cat identity: why have I the feeling that Prestige’s intentions are not yet discovered?
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Thank you. My main mistake before was thinking that I needed to wrap up all sub plots or answer all questions!
Now I realize that is NOT my job here. It’s the player’s decision to determine which of these issues they want to see resolved, which necessarily means that the others are left unanswered or unresolved.
So you might be able to help Stoic get her powers back, marry your RO, and find out what Dean Tolly’s angle is, BUT that necessarily means that Origami stays dead, you might end up with Quickie on the Specktacular Seven (yikes!), and the Manipulator never pays for her evil deeds! So perhaps a bittersweet ending!
The player will get some of what they want, but probably not all of what they want. And I hope that is the recipe for replayability.
(Actually I think I will make sure that if you don’t pursue the goal of training our favorite Afterthoughts, then Quickie automatically makes the cut! Or probably a better option, whoever you have the lowest relationships with make the cut)
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