December 2024's Writer Support Thread

[KP_Everly]

Hello there!

Happy holidays to everyone! I hope the holiday spirit is infectious for you, as it is to me <3. I wish everyone well in the upcoming year of 2025 and hope that everyone meets their goals for writing, And whatever their endeavors are. But that is not what I came here to say. I have been more successful in the last coming months than I have been in the past year with creating my IF “Beneath a Bloodred Dawn: The Awakening Book 1.”

I have successfully created and established my dev blog on Tumblr. So that has been exciting for me. I still do not have any artwork posted for the cover page and for my pfp since Im creating them myselves. I have also 2 possible artists already interested in commissioned work for 2 of my ROs. I have also successfully posted my first RO pov and introduced him. My Tumblr is slowly gaining traction little by little and its nice to see.

I intend to have a demo up I’m hoping by spring of 2025 or summer. I will be unveiling more and more little by little. So to say I’ve been more productive than I have this whole year of 24 is an understatement. I finally have received some answers to some of the personal events going on in my life and I feel like life is finally beginning to look up. I am not sure if posting your dev blog is allowed in this thread so I will hold off until I receive clarification on that.

have a wonderful rest of the week!

K.P. Everly

[HarrisPS]

@JonBlack Welcome! Always nice to see more writers sharing what they’re up to!

@Wannabe_Human Best of luck with the rewriting. It can be hard to be at that stage, but shifting things to improve them which is great progress.

@KP_Everly Congratulations on all that progress, that’s amazing to hear!

@KP_Everly

I am not sure if posting your dev blog is allowed in this thread

Please go ahead if you would like to - it’s just WIP threads that need a demo link.

[Cain_Abel]

Hello folks,

It’s not often I post on the support thread, but since closing my main wip thread, I figured posting here would assure any readers that I am in fact still on the forum and active as promised.

But I actually want to talk about my side project, Digital Dog. I’ve always loved simulation, management, and tycoon games so when I realised there’s a distinct lack of pet games on the forum I knew I had to work on my own.

Originally, having read, Choice of the Cat, I considered making a more street cat like game where you, playing as the cat explore the streets and develop relationships with different animals and animal factions, other street cats, house cats, rats/mice and dogs for example.

But at the time I preferred dogs, I have since grown an immense appreciation for felines though. The idea of a street dog made me sad, so I instead opted to flex my coding skills and create a basically, turn-based simulation/sandbox game. I wanted there to be randomness and unpredictability that one would expect from owning a dog and took inspirations from Nintendogs, the Sims and my own dogs

Rather uniquely on the forum I believe, I absolutely love coding and find this project a wonderful way to test out different things and see what I can achieve. There’s a puzzle feeling to finally succeeding in coding something that brings me joy. Given that ChoiceScript isn’t even created specifically to cater to these sorts of games it adds to my enjoyment when I can add silly little mini-games, mysteries and arcade-like games to what is literally just a dog owner simulation down to its core.

[LiliArch]

@Death_Lord

Whether it’s a duel, a battle of wits, or a desperate struggle for survival, fight scenes bring energy and depth to any story.

You’re giving me a very strong urge to prove this untrue, glrbh.

@Havenstone

Favorite drink.

Oh man, I hate that one. Especially since it tends to mean it’s the only thing the MC ever drinks. I’m perfectly capable of having coffee in the morning and orange juice in the evening, thank you very much.

@Dryinspection

Ive personally opted for the aforementioned “Tank, magic, stealth” path.

Aaaaannnd now I’m picturing a magic stealth tank. Thank you, brain.

My current fight scenes are on the level of “you’re sitting in a submarine (well, spaceship) that’s being attacked” which… may not be the most engaging thing, buuuut…

[Cataphrak]

@LiliArch

Oh man, I hate that one. Especially since it tends to mean it’s the only thing the MC ever drinks.

I feel like that could be a characterisation moment in and of itself.

A character’s favourite drink might be scotch, but that doesn’t mean they can afford to drink it all the time - but maybe they’ve got a bottle saved away for what they consider to be a special occasion.

Of course, that’s something I wouldn’t use multireplace for, because I’d be writing a separate branch for each favourite drink, each with its own flavour profile, bottle type, etc.

[apple]

This does remind me of a small but good piece of commentary that I got from a friend of mine that seems like very good practice for ChoiceScript authors: never force your player to drink/use any sort of mind-altering substance. It’s a small thing to just give the option to say no, but for a certain subset of players it can mean a lot.

(Obviously this isn’t universally applicable, there’s a time and place where removing the choice is appropriate, but its a nice thing to keep in mind. Falls into the company’s spirit of inclusivity imo)

[chloegalanis]

A mid-December update! Good thing is I finished a bit of Act 1, and when I came back to the prologue, I find it easier to write. The bad(ish?) thing is A LOT of changes were made.

Looking back at the different versions I wrote is kinda terrifying, ngl

Screenshot

Now I just need to continue with Act 1. Once that’s done, I can put up a Demo here : )

[KZV]

I think the favorite drink thing is a compromise, really.

It’s one of those things where it can be nice to pick a drink for your character, but picking a drink every single time you drink something? That would just end up being irritating. So you pick a drink once and then you just drink a lot of that one thing. It’s not perfect, but I feel like it’s better than the alternatives of “you like tea, deal with it” or “I have picked five drinks so far, this is dumb”.

[Hazel]

@Cataphrak

Of course, that’s something I wouldn’t use multireplace for, because I’d be writing a separate branch for each favourite drink, each with its own flavour profile, bottle type, etc.

Favorite flower might be a more apt example.

Towards the end of the battle, your energy fades. You pass out from blood loss and wake up in a pristinely white hospital room. The only splash of color is the bouquet of @{favflower roses|violets|tulips|sunflowers} sitting on the bedside table. A thoughtful get-well-soon gift from your comrades in arms.

[Kade_Foster]

I see these as flavor choices. They don’t have to come back more than once, in which case they’re just a bit of color. You probably shouldn’t have too many of them, but nobody’ll be hurt in the making of.

If they do appear multiple times, or you’re writing a drinking simulator, something more custom is probably advisable. If that’s not worth it, maybe having the choice wasn’t either.

[Dryinspection]

More of this yes, Of the two characters i tend to play in any IF. One does not drink alcohol at all. Not for religious reasons, but just because she abhors the taste and side effects. So whenever I’m not given an option for a nonalcoholic drink. It tends to leave a bad taste. Especially if said drinking causes a negative thing later on. I.E captured or plot moving weak point.

[leiatalon]

@KZV

It’s not perfect, but I feel like it’s better than the alternatives of “you like tea, deal with it” or “I have picked five drinks so far, this is dumb”.

This. While I try to offer lots of options for food and drink (and always a non-intoxicating option if those are on offer), it can hard to find a compromise between just enough flavor choices and too many, especially if it doesn’t feel like a good place to add yet another food/drink option and you’d rather get on with the plot.

@Hazel

The only splash of color is the bouquet of @{favflower roses|violets|tulips|sunflowers} sitting on the bedside table. A thoughtful get-well-soon gift from your comrades in arms.

This is lovely.

In other news, my WIP has surpassed 40,000 words. I think I have enough together for a demo now, just have to wrap it up nice with a bow and get some logistics taken care of before sharing it with the world. So that’s exciting.

[Omeg]

Meanwhile, my epilogue chapter is at… 21212 words. A palindrome. Nice. Here’s to hoping I’ll overcome the challenges my spaghetti code presents and finish the game this year.

[MoonlightBomber]

I’ve just written a short optional scene in Lily Adventuresses! Episode 2. This foreshadows what one of the MCs (Sheila) will face at the end of the game.

When Sheila visits her parents in her hometown, Namayan

Sheila:
I’m home.

Kimberly Detholator, Sheila’s Mom:
Welcome back, our sweetie!

Kishan Detholator, Sheila’s Dad:
Thank the Goddess you’re safe and sound!

Halina:
She’s very much in safe hands with me around.

Kishan Detholator, Sheila’s Dad:
Yes, yes. You come from a distinguished military family, and thus you treat her kindly like we do, as we are major contributors to the Church of the Goddess.

Halina:
Yes. I recall you help the Church with feeding hungry adventurers and other passersby with hot meals every day of Tagurkad.

Brionna:
And it doesn’t stop there.
Sheila, you’ve also told us once that your family helps the Church with free medical consultations, feeding programs, and charitable services for anyone regardless of race, political stance, or religion.

Jopay:
And without accepting donations from non-members, too.

Kristalina:
Hey, don’t discount me, either!

Kimberly Detholator, Sheila’s Mom:
Tee-hee.
Why would we ignore the contributions of Arcreatures like you?

Kishan Detholator, Sheila’s Dad:
So then.
What brings you here, our precious?

Sheila:
Just visiting.

Kishan Detholator, Sheila’s Dad:
At least you’ve never gotten in trouble with those pesky mimics, do you?

Sheila:
Come on! How many times have you brought that up?!

Kimberly Detholator, Sheila’s Mom:
Even if you’re a full-fledged adventuress and Arcritter, there’s still a part of us that worry about you.
You joined up with Halina in the first place because you want to forget someone else, right?

Sheila:
…
…
…

Kristalina:
As much as I want to castigate you for indirectly bringing up something more unpleasant than mimics, it’s inevitable that she must face it someday.

Kishan Detholator, Sheila’s Dad:
Sorry about that, everyone.

Sheila:
That’s OK.
Kristalina’s right.
It’s not a matter of if, but when.
With your guidance and the help of my friends, I’ll confront it with all my heart and soul.

Kimberly Detholator, Sheila’s Mom:
That’s our sweetie, alright.
Well then… safe journeys, everyone!

Sheila:
We’ll definitely see you again, Mama and Papa.

[Estrafalalia]

My goal is to gain enough confidence to post in this forum without thinking about it for weeks. I guess it’s more personal than something focused on my IF project, but God knows I struggle to find the courage to post a simple comment.

By the way, after reading some old threads, I have some doubts about how good an idea it is to send players to complete their avatar/MC before throwing them into the story. But the MC’s background is important because choosing one gives you a cheat type advantage in stats and story.

I have to ask someone or I’ll go crazy.

Would it be too cumbersome to go through all the customization from the beginning?
Or is it better to just give the background choice at the beginning, start the prologue, and let the rest of the MC customization happen in more natural choices during the story?

[LiliArch]

Some games on this forum, in fact, do just that.

[Jaybirdy]

I don’t think there’s any consensus answer about this. I had a more organic approach at first with my story, but then it felt in some places like the customization choices were interfering with the flow, or I was wording them awkwardly, or things like that, so I ended up going with a beginning-of-the-game character creation that walked the player through the PC’s backstory and let them decide some parts of it, as well as handling the physical customization like hair and eye color and all that jazz.

No one seems to hate it, and a few people said they quite enjoyed it. So my advice would be to do whatever you feel comfortable with/suits your story, but if you go for an all-at-once approach, try to give it some purpose beyond just setting a bunch of variables, like establishing backstory (as you seem to be doing anyway), or letting players get started thinking about their character’s personality or something (by giving them some flavorful opportunities to react to that background, for example).

[Cataphrak]

@Estrafalalia

and let the rest of the MC customization happen in more natural choices during the story?

This is the approach I personally prefer, to let the player fill in the blanks organically where they seem the most likely to first be relevant. I feel like it’s a more elegant solution, and it avoids the risk of potentially overwhelming people with too many options which might become consequential all at once.

Of course, I am very minimalist when it comes to physical details. In my opinion, if it isn’t going to serve a consequential mechanical purpose one way or the other, or serve as a major way to define a character (like gender identity), then there’s not much point in making your systems more mechanically complicated to do something your players will headcanon anyway.

[leiatalon]

@Cataphrak

This is the approach I personally prefer, to let the player fill in the blanks organically where they seem the most likely to first be relevant. I feel like it’s a more elegant solution, and it avoids the risk of potentially overwhelming people with too many options which might become consequential all at once.

Of course, I am very minimalist when it comes to physical details.

This is how I approach it as well. I tend to go light on physical customization and try to make it blend in with the rest of the game, peppered throughout the first chapter (or included later if that’s where it fits). I like a game that engages me right away, rather than having a bunch of settings to get through at the beginning, but I do think there’s more than one right approach to this.

@Jaybirdy

do whatever you feel comfortable with/suits your story

Agreed.

[Cataphrak]

@leiatalon

This is how I approach it as well. I tend to go light on physical customization and try to make it blend in with the rest of the game, peppered throughout the first chapter (or included later if that’s where it fits).

How well does that work with writing in-depth romance and physical relationships? Does leaving things physically vague prove to be a problem when you have to write spicy content which inevitably involves the MC’s body parts having interesting interactions with another character’s body parts?