No update today.
Should be ready tomorrow, at least enough that I’ll post the parts that’re ready.
6 Likes
No update today.
So I guess I didn’t post anything today after all, was busier than expected. I’ll try to get something out tomorrow.
7 Likes
No worries man. 
Life happens! Just worry about the busy stuff in your life. Everyone who reads your fantastic story wants you to succeed and I’m sure everyone understands if the unexpected happens!
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Updated with next file.
Includes partial intro to Rutherwood version(City Hall Cooperation) in Press Statement media stance.
Also massive wall of text below with very little in the way of true relevance being said(might also be confusing as I always make these updates close to sleepy-time). 
Current average playthrough:
- Total average: 91,000 (was 91,000. No meaningful change since the width increased, not the length. Overall added words from current update is around 1800. Very little variance for now.)
This is just a tiny update, but better than nothing I guess? 
(essentially it’s just the introduction part of the scene, with barely any player stuff yet, so you might want to wait some more before trying it out, especially since I still haven’t put any skip points to any recent part of the story)
Not sure the angle I chose was a great one, since it’s sort of dependent on what I’m going to include in the press conference itself, which means I’ll have to polish it for the most part before I can really set the dialogue options here in stone. The idea is that your conversation with Rutherwood will influence how she’ll perform in the press conference herself which will have some minor effects on other stuff.
I was supposed to make it more into a personal character-based dialogue scene, but, well, that’s not how it turned out. 
(I’ll probably include more of that sort of stuff tomorrow. Or maybe rewrite the scene a bit so it’s more like that)
Hopefully I’ll be able to finish the Rutherwood version tomorrow, as well as the Mari Badr/Corporate version. I might end up having to put just a bare-bones version of each in the end(for now), for the reasons explained below.
After that I’ll start polishing the “press conference proper” so to say. The main problem with it is that I’ll have to “know” what to include, since it’ll have a big impact on the rest of the game.
At least that’s the idea. The reporter is meant to ask a few questions which, depending on the player’s answer, will shape some of the stuff later on into different versions. The problem is, the things it might affect depend on what I end up implementing. (It’s way easier in the other media routes since the consequences arise dynamically there, rather than through explicit player input)
I’d rather not make wild promises or guesses if possible, since it’ll create expectations that might be left unsatisfied. It’s better to have a fun surprise later on, than a disappointment, right?
I currently have a bunch of potential questions I’ve been playing around with but some of them are way too unrealistic. Some might end up being feasible, but I’d rather wait and see how I’ll actually do the relevant scenes, then add/correct the stuff on the second polishing pass. Maybe I should just add the “obviously going to be implemented” ones and skip the rest for now.
Worst case scenario will be that the press conference will end up half-finished(only the “non-relevant” parts will be included, such as humorous questions and non-choice&consequence(flavor) based ones).
A compromise for sure, but much preferable to being stuck for a relatively poor reason. Essentially I think it’s better to push forward and make some scenes, then see how it turned out and go fix the previous stuff, than to think about what I can do for weeks while in practice going nowhere.
(of course this’ll make it tough for people who rely on saves, since it’ll essentially “corrupt” them unless I specifically allow you to alter some stuff later on(which I might if it’s quick enough). In any case I expect everyone who has a save to replay the entire thing when I’ve polished it up to the finales, since there’ll be a bunch of relevant stuff missing anyway)
If only I could just turn the plans I have into reality with the snap of my fingers. Too bad I have to write that stuff, and in the process sometimes come to the realization that the awesome storyline I’ve been thinking of is impossible to make in practice.
tl;dr: New update. More stuff tomorrow. Might have to leave the press conference half-finished for now in the interest of progress, unless I can hammer out a basic version of the choice&consequence “cascade”.
Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it. I’ll try to be worthy of the expectations laid unto me. 
9 Likes
Good luck mate, I’m really looking forward to how this story goes
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I don’t know why only now it got on my head, but I have question. If/when there will be romance, will Mari Badr be romanceable?
No update today.
Good news is that I managed to write a bunch of good/new stuff for the Rutherwood variant(around 3000 words), but didn’t get it finished yet. Hopefully tomorrow.
If the Mari Badr variant is as wordy, it’ll probably take a few days too.
(it might be less wordy though since there’s less consequences to take into account, but we’ll see)
Thanks!
Probably not, she’s near the bottom of the “whom to romance list”, I’m afraid. A bunch of other characters are going to be prioritized before her, and I can’t imagine I’ll get “deep” enough to include her as well.
Then again, if there’s a sudden interest in romance content for her, maybe I’ll bump her place up in the list at the expense of some other characters. In any case the priority-listing isn’t set on stone for the most part, so I have no idea honestly. 
9 Likes
Well you can count me and Mouse on that.
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Pretty sure just holding Mari’s hand in a romantic context would cost the MC a cool million–at least–as she’s her company’s property. My impressions of her so far is that she has about 90% less personality than Stillwater, or his sister in a 1 vs 1 comparison. So far as I know, that’s intentional. 
4 Likes
Who know, maybe you could teach her love
Out of all the characters she is the worst candidate for romance. The game is much more suited of being a gritty police story set in a dystopian future, instead of being a dating sim where you can bang anybody imo.
6 Likes
I think that romance can be archieved…
But in a far more dark and grim light (looking outside of the main cast); we can see things like forced prostitution (like a type of slavery) or the creation of sex robots for twisted fetishes for powerful people, or even i can think of a booming of human traffiking market of men or women who are forced to modified their bodies with all kind of things for sexual pleasure… hey even with brainwash or more really horrible things can happen in this future. Well the possibilities are truly endless.
But in my opionion romance shouldn’t be on this book… maybe in the next one.
3 Likes
I think it would still work though, it just needs consequences added in
Even though its more of a mystery/relationship based game i feel like, +1 Mari here 
Counter/compliment to the free roam idea: choosing to sleep/going out to eat instead of visiting someone. Could be as simple as a food type choice with a randomized “It was good” or “You’ve had better back home”
Sleep sounds easier though
Especially because it grim dystopian future that we can bang enybody or you know, since it’s grim we could try to add some wholesome moments.
It could be a good idea, like Wayhaven Chronicles, that a new book have a new mysteries.
Wholesome moments aren’t restricted to romance. In fact I’d say that there are ‘wholesome’ moments in the demo already that isn’t about falling in love.
4 Likes
I am good with no romance because I would like to focus on investigation and exploration of a rich cyberpunk noir setting. Really like the atmosphere that everyone has hidden past and ambiguous fealty. Even a designated human may have their own agenda.
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This right here. Romance can be fun as long as it stays gritty, and isn’t the minor focus of the story.