The Case of Alys Hope [WIP]

Hosted Games Works In Progress
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The Dark Dreams Saga: The Case of Alys Hope
An Interactive Serial

Story Genres
Fantasy, Horror, Adventure, Mystery, Aspects Of Science Fiction, Some Romance

Demo Link: The Case of Alys Hope

TCA’s Tumblr: Go Here

This Update [03/26/2021]
A little over two weeks later, I have another update!

This time with actual story content!

For this round, there are several things to mention. First, The Case of Alys Hope is no longer set to private. No passwords needed. Just hop in and start a’readin! I have enough of the story up that I finally feel confident enough to have it set to public.

Because of this, a LOT was revamped. More than I anticipated.

The entire beginning of the story has been changed. Like, it’s insane.

I keep wondering if I have a head attached to my shoulders, these days. I’m running around, barely sleeping, and having all kinds of crazy thoughts popping into my mind. Half the time, I question if I should be admitted to a Psych Ward.

Because of the overhaul, the story has gone through some shifts and changes. It will be necessary to start from the beginning. The first part of the story would likely break the game without starting over, so there’s that.

However, as I have reread the same passages leading up to the first set of choices in the game, I decided to be nice – it is possible to skip the beginning and hit the choices. I wouldn’t recommend it, cause there are changes, but for those impatient few…

Well, that’s now an option. It’ll stay until the story’s finished.

Cause, you know, some people hate rereading the same shite over and over again!

There’s a lot of fun to be found in the Character Creation section (it went on a MASSIVE overhaul, and I’m super proud of it. I laughed my ass off more times than I care to count, which is golden for me. I hope everyone else gets a laugh out of it.

Also, I strived to make sections of it different on reruns – so my hope is that different choices don’t feel like copy-n-paste sections cropping up all over the place. Cause that kind of defeats the purpose of Interactive Fiction, yeah?

Anyway, I’m gonna end this ruddy update message and let you all get into the story!

Enjoy, and, like always, let me know what you think!

Update Log

Update : 03/09/21

March 09, 2021

There’s no demo update, as of this moment. I’m about 3k in on the first chapter (it’s gonna be way longer than 5k, which was my goal), and I’m focusing on ensuring there’s plenty of differences and turns based on choices that are made (personally, I hate rereading the same text for every answer – it’s nice to have variation and spice).

One new thing is a link to my tumblr, which is also located above.

Aiming for the next update to be towards the end of the month, but I may add a brief “progress report” beforehand. Just so people can see how things are going. I’ll likely update more on the Tumblr, with screenshots of short scenes I find hilarious.

Might be interesting to look into, no?

Update : 02/23/21

February 23, 2021

First of all, I’d like to send a quick thanks to @Mistyleaf123 for pointing out the error in the Run System Check portion on the reroute. Hadn’t realized I skipped a section. That’s been fixed, so there shouldn’t be an issue there, anymore. If there is, just send me a message.

Also, in this update, I added in something I forgot the last time around: eye colors!

You also get the choice if your character has heterochromia, too. Which, by the way, writing out the code for that is a pain. Making sure each eye is a different color took me forever. I couldn’t figure out how to get it to work right, and took a few days off to cool off.

Got back on – and BAM – and the situation seemed to solve itself.

Note to all writers:

When getting frustrated, step away from the computer. It’s difficult to look at something clearly when you’re angry. And sometimes a day or two away gives us time for our brains to provide more insight and ideas on how to improve things.

I hope everyone’s doing okay. Stay safe!

Update : 02/17/21

February 17, 2021

After two days (longer than I thought it’d take), I have the first section done. I went through it a hundred times checking for bugs, but it did pass the RandomTest and QuickTest. However, I am only human. There may (and likely will) be errors.

This update covers what the last demo I had – it covers Character Creation, but with a story woven into it. A very confusing story, at that, which is intentional. Much of the narrative in the story, at this point, isn’t meant to make sense.

There are many more choices regarding height and hair color.

Enjoy the first part of The Case of Alys Hope!

Update : 02/15/21

February 15, 2021

The demo is currently down and undergoing a shift. Will be up back shortly. There were some errors in the layout that needed to be addressed, and once it’s corrected, it will be available for reader consumption once again.

Story Blurb

Reality is a game of Russian Roulette, and you’ve lost the game.

You don’t remember how you lost the game of life. You don’t even know who you are, or why some Old Man found you alone, naked, and covered in ash and mud sporting what first appeared to be a series of unexplainable injuries.

And if the ghosts and demons haunting your sleep are to be believed, you died violently.

All you know is that whatever happened to you lies in a vague clue in a strange device that looks like a love-child between fantasy and science fiction – a device where nearly every file within it is corrupted or locked away, save for a journal and a single picture of a girl.

A picture with only a name and ominous message inscribed beneath.

Alys Hope
Find Me Before It’s Too Late

And if that isn’t bad enough, there’s a full-fledged war taking place. People against people, people against spirits and demons, spirits and demons against spirits and demons, and horrifyingly new monsters that look like deformed, charred husks of maybe-bodies gone feral with a singular focus, an obsession really, revolving around hunting you down and killing you if no one else is around.

In the chaos that unfolds, you take to a habit that’s strangely familiar; you ensure the events happening are all recorded and stored within the device you carry. Left with only the choice to move on, or to die another horrible death (can you even trust the words of a spirit, let alone a demon?) by the hands of those wishing you dead.

Or by your own hands. Whichever’s preferable.

Story Aspects

  1. Story Told In A Journal-Esque Fashion
  2. Choose Your Gender
  3. A Non-Locked Sexuality
  4. Spirits, Dreams, and Demons
    4A: Nightmares Consisting of Nice Spirits and Not-So-Nice Demons
    4B: Nightmares ALSO Consisting of HOSTILE Spirits and NICE Demons
    4C: Hey, They’re Like People – Some Good, Some Bad, & Generally Confusing
  5. Magic, Faith, and Science In A Fantasy World
  6. More To Be Announced Later On
107 Likes
2

The premise is great. But the demo is set to private :sweat_smile:

6 Likes
3

Unfortunately the demo is private currently, otherwise it looks good

1 Like
5

I’m glad you like the premise, and I’ve switched it to public. Should work now!

6

I’m glad you like what I was able to offer before realizing it was on private. My bad. I switched it to public, so it should work. Let me know if it doesn’t!

7

So, I don’t really know about coding, but could this be the issue on the startup?

points

3 Likes
8

I just looked into that, and YOU ARE A GENIUS!!!

I cut that out, and it worked. Gonna double back to dashingdon and make those adjustments to see if it works there, too. Didn’t realize that would happen. O_O Now I feel like a moron, to a degree. Well, learning something every day!

And it worked. Now that’s an odd little thing to keep in mind. Was it the *comment or was it the stacked …'s? Not sure, but something I’ll write down on the side so I don’t have that little issue throwing me into a rage.

Thank you, again, Rozane!

4 Likes
9

You’re quite welcome! I’m glad the issue was solved :smiley:

No need to feel silly. It happens quite often that we get too involved in something and develop a blind spot, but then someone who sees it the first time notices things right away!

3 Likes
10

I like the character selection. That where it ends for me. Maybe I’m stupid :thinking: anyway I like the idea of the game already :+1::relieved:

2 Likes
11

It was the stacked ellipses. startup.txt is the first scene in any game, and like other scenes, any non-command text will display as part of the story.

Since your startup.txt had three ellipses, ChoiceScript displayed a scene with three ellipses.

Also, as the previous poster mentioned, the demo currently ends after character creation. Is that intentional?

1 Like
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That is intentional, at the moment. I’m almost done with the prologue. The main thing now is making sure the character creation runs smoothly and seeing what else I can add to it

1 Like
13

Nope, it ends at the character creation. That’s what I’ve been working on the last few days before turning my attention to the prologue. I am happy you liked it, so far

14

I liked the premise so far and look forward to seeing more! I love that you’re focusing more on choices/narrative rather than stats. I always enjoy ones like that a lot more since I’m not constantly worried about failing stat checks.

I noticed it says this is the first serial in the saga. I’m curious how many you expect there will be?

Also, for the character creation, is there a reason why you put the caps on the heights at 5’3" at the low end and 6’3" at the high end? I’m wondering if you might want to allow a few more inches on either side, especially the lower end since 5’3" seems like a kind of high minimum height.

3 Likes
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I do plan on adding more variation in the heights. I out the smaller heights at the top of the list and the taller ones at the bottom cause it makes sense to me. And the exact height comes in play incase the reader chooses a height that’s equal to one of the romance options.

As for how many? I have three different cases in mind, so far. I watch a lot of supernatural and paranormal shows, and I find it all fascinating.

I haven’t decided where to cap off the lower end of the heights, as of yet. Something I’ve been playing around with, and input on that is lovely

And, yeah, I hate stat checks. I intend for it to read like a book. Those are the ones I like reading, therefore that’s what I’ll write

And stats confuse me, to be honest

1 Like
16

I really like the character creation it’s really cool can’t wait to read what’s to come lol😁

1 Like
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So if we happen to be shorter or taller than an ro will that mean our height will play a role like they lean down to kiss us and such?

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18

Hard for a shorter RO to lean down and kiss a taller main character. It’s fun to play with heights, to see how various reactions can come into play just based off how much taller or shorter a person can be

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19

I know but didn’t seem right to say lean up and was too lazy to write additional words. Anyways height reactions are always great to read for me and am looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us.

3 Likes
21

Journe is an alternate spelling for Journey, yes, and the spelling is intentional. It plays into the story, which is also why there’s an option to change the name entirely.

Similar to how my name, Brittany, has a dozen different spellings. What I may not like, someone else may.

Might make a choice to change the spelling of Journe, tho. Something to consider, without a doubt. Thanks for the brain food!

1 Like
22

Lean up and kiss. That’s a funny sentence.

They’re also my favorite, too :slight_smile:

1 Like