No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Fixes mostly done, should be ready tomorrow supposing I have time.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Tomorrow. (canāt believe a few simple fixes get the ātomorrowā treatment 
)
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
No excuse, was lazy and did other stuff. Tomorrow for the fixes, again. 
Then back to Stillwater on the weekend.
As long itās not april fool update like other games, dang they got me good. 
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Right, as I said yesterday, tomorrowā¦
Itās always hard to get motivated to fix things. Still, since Iāll be working a lot tomorrow, it should be simple enough to start with the fixes. I hope.
Nah, just some minor fixes/changes to the Mari Badr one night stand. Not a real update by my standards.
Personally Iāve never been a fan of April Foolās in the first place.
No (real) update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Fair progress on Stillwater scene.
Also, implemented some changes/fixes to Mari Badr scene. Mostly very minor ones, so not worth a topic update.
Theyāre detailed in the adult-subforum if youāre interested.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Decent chunk done. Still a bunch left, plus the dreaded polishing.
Not sure Iāll have too much until the next weekend, which is annoying.
Mariās scene is just WOW 
One thing Iām a tiny bit sad about is the different dominant/submissive options donāt affect the scene too much, however since the entire encounter is so long and varied it is still amazing as is.
I really liked seeing a different, more real side of her. Looks like she craves intimacy and meaningful connections with others like anyone else considering her big stack of contracts, so maybe she isnāt as different as she thinks she isā¦ 
Her small acts of rebellion in the console and gum suggest that she wants a bit more freedom in her life, hmm perhaps a romantic relationship could be the next thing she does for herself.
Also, getting her to rip up the contract!? Sheās definitely head over heels in love with the MC, no matter how she tries to hide it. It doesnāt look like painting her dalliances is something she does regularly either.
Iām hoping that weāll get to see more of the real Mari Badr, literally and figuratively of course.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Mostly keeping up with the work flow.
Thanks!
The scene is big enough as is, canāt have everything or Iād still be working on it, you know?
Sounds to me like she has you completely wrapped around her finger.
As for seeing more of the ārealā Mari Badr, as you call it, well, guess youāll have to wait and see how the story unfolds. Youāll probably end up in the branches where sheās more in the focus, so no need to worry about that, Iād guess. 
Sounds to me like she has you completely wrapped around her finger.
What can I say, sheās unique 
As for seeing more of the ārealā Mari Badr, as you call it, well, guess youāll have to wait and see how the story unfolds. Youāll probably end up in the branches where sheās more in the focus, so no need to worry about that, Iād guess.
Perhaps less fake would be a better way of putting it than more real 
Even if the entire night was one big facade orchestrated to manipulate the MC she was probably acting closer to her normal self, and that would make her even more intriguingā¦
Romancing Mari Badr, what could go wrong? 
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely first half of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
More time than expected today, decent amount done.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely before 21st of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Varies. April.
Maybe not within the week, but not much longer after that.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely before 21st of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Mouse and Carrington sometime in May.
Not much done today, busy.
Iāve been reading through the thread to get a feel of the discussions and developments and wanted to give some really belated opinions.
Walls of text: weāre here specifically to read, so I find the desire for less reading to be somewhat strange. The writing is good quality, thereās good reason for the length to exist, and there isnāt any rambling or padding. Perhaps arbitrarily breaking them up into more pages would make them more digestible? I like all the details given throughout, a lot of the time I feel many stories rush through things and Iām left wanting something more and Iām not feeling that here. I especially like the on the spot theorizing/internal monologuing like āI wonder why she acted like that, maybe because of this? Or maybe thatās what she wanted me to thinkā¦ā (an example is eluding me right now).
Branching: I am happy that the story will not be linear like Telltaleās The Walking Dead, otherwise why make interactive fiction in the first place? Text based IF doesnāt have as many constraints on this as a video game would and that should be taken advantage of.
Romance: a lot of demand for it and I understand the concerns about project scope A suggestion I have is that not everything related to romance has to be important; small inconsequential stuff can be appended basically anywhere. It could be as easy as āif in a relationship add this lineā or a whole date added at the end of the day in addition to what would normally be there, basically standalone items that are just there for fun.
PS: sex is a cyberpunk mainstay so adding more for world building purposes is totally justifiable 
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely before 21st of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Mouse and Carrington sometime in May.
Okay amount done. Should get a lot done tomorrow and on Sunday.
Well, people prefer different things even when reading. There are lots of different writing styles, and not everyone likes all of them, which is fine.
The problem with the walls of text is more of a āreadabilityā issue than a content issue. Originally there were huge blocks of text in a single paragraph, and some overly long exposition.
Once I put in a few extra lines here and there, it was way easier to read, since you didnāt have to read it in ārowā, but could read it in chunks, and itās much easier to return to a part to re-read it when itās not in a huge paragraph, but in a segment of a few lines.
(Well, I did rewrite that one massive scene completely so it wasnāt so exhausting, so sometimes walls of text can be a content issue )
Besides, since this is interactive fiction, thereās the possibility to skip certain in-depth segments, or rambling ones, or such, if the reader doesnāt want to read them. On more than one occasion Iāve offered the chance to read a shorter version of something that still contains the main point.
Also, thanks for complimenting my writing.
I too like the internal monologuing/theorizing, which is why I put that kind of stuff in.
(not everyone likes it though, Iāve heard a few comments where people thought they were pointless and a waste of time. Still, Iāll never remove them since theyāre important for me as the creator to include)
Reserve your final judgement until the product is complete. Thereās still many different ways I could fumble it by not taking anything into account in the final moments, thus making everything leading up to it meaningless. Just because it seems good now doesnāt mean itāll stay that way until the end. I hope it will, and Iāll certainly put a huge effort in making it so, but you never know. Perhaps itās 10 times more effort than I think, for instance.
And I definitely agree with you on that. IF is a wonderful medium exactly because thereās no ābudgetā so to speak, and you can change the location where everything takes place without it costing anything except a few dozen words. Quite different from having to make an entire digital set for something.
Yeah, Iāll be peppering romantic/flirty dialogue options here and there once I re-write the earlier segments of the game. No adding new scenes, but yes to adding context and different ways older scenes unfold. Same goes for line variance based on that stuff.
Iām not fond of limiting character interactions to romances, usually. If I add a romantic date at the end of a day, I feel compelled to add a non-romantic version of it too thatās mutually exclusive(or a completely different scene to compensate that youāll never see if you have a romance with the character), etc.
As for adding more sex, well, everything added is more effort I have to put in, and that may take away time from something else. Since my own priorities are completely elsewhere, Iād like to keep that to a minimum. I should hope that the one night stands are enough(for the most part), especially since the reception to them is so great(well, the single one done at present I suppose). Especially something that in-depth. Perhaps more abstract or vague allusions here and there, but definitely not full blown scenes, thatās for sure.
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely before 21st of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Mouse and Carrington sometime in May.
Fine progress today. Non-explicit stuff more or less done, so just that part left.
Well, people prefer different things even when reading. There are lots of different writing styles, and not everyone likes all of them, which is fine.
Agree! I donāt mean to imply otherwise, more like I donāt really get whatās wrong (because I was reading without context).
The problem with the walls of text is more of a āreadabilityā issue than a content issue. Originally there were huge blocks of text in a single paragraph, and some overly long exposition.
Ah I wasnāt sure how relevant that discussion was or how much things changed, but I wanted to include it just in case. Looks like I ended up misinterpreting it due to lack of context 
. Glad to hear that it seems to not be an issue anymore.
Reserve your final judgement until the product is complete. Thereās still many different ways I could fumble it by not taking anything into account in the final moments, thus making everything leading up to it meaningless. Just because it seems good now doesnāt mean itāll stay that way until the end. I hope it will, and Iāll certainly put a huge effort in making it so, but you never know. Perhaps itās 10 times more effort than I think, for instance.
That doesnāt sound likely but just knowing that there will be as much variance as is feasible has me happy
As for adding more sex, well, everything added is more effort I have to put in, and that may take away time from something else. Since my own priorities are completely elsewhere, Iād like to keep that to a minimum. I should hope that the one night stands are enough(for the most part), especially since the reception to them is so great(well, the single one done at present I suppose). Especially something that in-depth. Perhaps more abstract or vague allusions here and there, but definitely not full blown scenes, thatās for sure.
Weāre too thirsty for our own good, nothing is enough 
Well, I at least hope the blocks of text are much better now. No oneās mentioned them in a while, but that doesnāt mean that people might not think theyāre a problem while reading.
I like Mari Badr, particularly after the one night stand. It would be awesome to have more opportunities to have honest discussions with her about stuff, as well as possible helping her grow beyond what she is now.
Also, I apologize if I missed it somehow, but I didnāt notice a real description of her? I just kinda figured she looked like Hatsune Miku.
As for the rest of the story, itās great too! Iām just a little fixated on Mari right now 
No update today.
Deadline for current update: Complete Stillwater one night stand likely before 21st of April(explicit stuff included)
Deadline for the rest in this segment: Mouse and Carrington sometime in May.
Plenty of done today. Not sure how much I can do in the week. Next weekend is partially booked, but Iāll still try for the 21st.
A honest discussion with Mari Badr? Is that even possible?
Thereāll be more scenes with her eventually, have no fear. Still, they wonāt be written for quite a while since thereās much to do before we get to that point.
Hmm, having checked the files, the description I have written of her is strangely short. Almost as if Iāve already written a longer one somewhere. I havenāt, that Iām aware of. Thereās a short one at the start in the commercial, and one where you meet her in person. Aside from those, I didnāt find any other descriptions, which is quite strange.
Hatsune Miku isnāt quite the look Iām going for. See the fanart linked to in the opening post for a more accurate image. (honestly, itās miraculous that that particular picture is a fair representation of her, given how short and scattered the description is )
Below is what Iāve written in the game that I could find. (although I should definitely revise it since itās weirdly short. Unless Iāve peppered her description here and there in some of the scenes. Which is possible, just couldnāt find too much more than this anywhere on a quick glance)
(from the train)
āSheās wearing a green-and-purple latex dress with the AmriBrad GS logo plastered on her skirt.ā
(from the physical meeting at the headquarters)
'Her hair is mostly black, and chin length. It is also completely straight and cut with extreme precision. On the right side of her face there is a strip of hair colored green rather than black, and on the left side purple. Both are the width of two fingers.
Peeking from under her hair, on her left temple, is a small device of some sort. Connected to it is an orange piece of glass thatās currently covering her left eye.ā
And thanks for complimenting the story. Plenty of people are fixated on her, so itās normal.