February 2024's Writer Support Thread

[AletheiaKnights]

@HannahPS

In a random conversation Fay told me I had permission to make something in the Heart of Battle universe if I wanted to, which is making me turn ideas gently around in my head

Oh, pretty please with a cherry on top!

[Nocturnal_Stillness]

I failed my goal for January so I’m passing it on to February.

So my goal is to finish Chapter Two of Daemonglass.

I’ve got an appointment with a consultant on Monday to discuss the result of my scans and the next steps for my heart operation (It’s still a daunting thing to think about when you’re only 40.).

I hope to focus on my writing to help keep my mind off things. I hope to finish Chapter Two early enough so I can at least make a start on Chapter Three by the end of the month.

[Dan_Rasmussen]

Goal for February… I want to have the prologue of Manticore 100% complete and polished. I want to have at least one of the main missions completely done too. Hopefully more than that, honestly.

It’s so exciting to be able to share my stories with others and to see where the stories end up. It gives me purpose, drive, and fulfillment! Best wishes to all other creators out there and I hope you achieve your goals!

[leiatalon]

Goals for Feb:

• Finish drafting chapter 5 of WIP for HC
• Revisions on chapter 3 & 4
• Maybe get started on chapter 6

I’m currently working on a scene where the PC is on the beach, reading a book they just picked up at the marketplace. There are four books to choose from…ah, what the hell? Here’s a snippet with code stripped so it reads easier:

Which book would you get?

#A Guide to Dragon Runes by Magi Jeracoe.
*set book 1

You decide on A Guide to Dragon Runes, which has a thick leather cover dyed dark purple with a title of silver thread, a power rune branded on the front, and runes embroidered in silver around the edges.
*goto bookseller

#A History of Ra’zai by Mark Thrayton.
*set book 2

You decide on A History of Ra’zai, which has a cloth cover painted with the likeness of the island viewed from the sea with the Fire Temple ablaze on the top. The lettering for the titles is bold and bright, standing out against the illustration.
*goto bookseller

#To Court a Kitherin by Nora Devon.
*set book 3

You pick To Court a Kitherin, a romance novel with a cloth cover with a picture of a barechested man with dragon runes covering his arms and a dragon across his back. He’s looking over his shoulder as if daring you, the watcher, to follow him.
*goto bookseller

#Drowning a Morpheus by Tov Revlan.
*set book 4

You decide on Drowning a Morpheus, which has a black leather cover with bold, edgy lettering in blood red.

*label bookseller

The bookseller looks at your feet, then back at your face. “You must be a new initiate.”

You nod. Not much you can do to hide it, tattoos and all.

She takes your coin with a smile and says, @{(book) "You’ll get some use out of that book, then. Enjoy|"You’ll get a good deal of information from that book, I think. Enjoy|“That’s a spicy one.” She winks at you. "Enjoy|“That book made me shiver.” She gives a little shake. “I’d never want to face down a morpheus, but the story is wonderfully written and a thrilling read. Enjoy} it!”

You thank her, and head on your way.

So anyway, now I’m writing excerpts from each of those books for the PC to read on the beach for some downtime. Fun stuff.

Good luck with the writing, all!

[love4tae]

@leiatalon

#To Court a Kitherin by Nora Devon.
*set book 3

You pick To Court a Kitherin, a romance novel with a cloth cover with a picture of a barechested man with dragon runes covering his arms and a dragon across his back. He’s looking over his shoulder as if daring you, the watcher, to follow him.

would choose this one!

[AletheiaKnights]

My self-insert character is definitely going to pick up the history book for a bit of light beach reading, but I know I’ll enjoy reading the exerpts of all four.

[leiatalon]

Yes! I’m really looking forward to writing the excerpt for that one, but first I have to write about the history of Ra’zai, much of which I’ll be making up as I go.

@AletheiaKnights

My self-insert character is definitely going to pick up the history book for a bit of light beach reading

“Light” beach reading.

@AletheiaKnights

use A Guide to Dragon Runes to translate the guy’s tattoos on the cover of To Court a Kitherin, because that’s what my self-insert character would really do.

Um… tries to figure out how to do that
Slight fuctionality issue: your character would then have to carry all four books back up the mountain to the top. Which they technically •could* do because they have strength and endurance rune tattoos…

[AletheiaKnights]

Too bad there’s not an option to buy all four books, then use A Guide to Dragon Runes to translate the guy’s tattoos on the cover of To Court a Kitherin, because that’s what my self-insert character would really do.

[AletheiaKnights]

@leiatalon

Um… tries to figure out how to do that

If you actually put that in the game, I will love you forever.

[Anna_B]

The romance, of course!

[Samuel_H_Young]

@HannahPS

I had an infinitely better day today which involved me doing a 28 mile bike ride and musing to myself a bit about games while I did it

Hell yeah

[LiliArch]

Ha. It seems my today’s biggest accomplishment is spending a ridiculous amount of time playing with an AI image generator. Then again, I also hit my dominant hand and need to rest it for a few days, so it’s not like I could do much anything actually useful.

(It’s… reasonably fun, although my sewist brain is screaming and man do I feel like the AI is trolling me. But I did manage to get some decent results to fuel my own creative processes.)

[Samuel_H_Young]

@LiliArch

(It’s… reasonably fun, although my sewist brain is screaming and man do I feel like the AI is trolling me. But I did manage to get some decent results to fuel my own creative processes.)

The novelty of AI art wore off after a while for me but I will admit it can be really good for inspiration since you can generate so many iterations until you find something to work off of

[RockmanX]

@HannahPS

to make something in the Heart of Battle universe if I wanted to, which is making me turn ideas gently around in my head, a very positive feeling - I can tell I’ve got more energy when I start thinking about ideas, whether or not they go anywhere.

Crossover confirmed?

[Niki_Christopherson]

@LiliArch

@izzily

I need to amp up the words-on-a-page

Not too much please, too long pages are horrible to read

My general rule is 4-5 paragraphs on a page, and no more.

[Lance_Heyen]

I’ve been toying with doing some Choicescript writing and I’m curious what games people think did character creation best? I feel like front loading everything all at once with just a heap of options for hair colour, gender etc feels far too artificial and I’d love examples to read that weave the character creation into the narrative.

[Dvalor53]

@Dvalor53

This months goals:

1. Finish writing the combat in Chapter 24
2. Add more endings
3. Start writing the RO sub plots back into the story.

1. Finished
2. Added
3. Finished three of them!

This month I plan to continue writing the romance subplots but I also have a scene I forgot to write in chapter 24 that I wish to go over. I have hired an editor so the plan is to eventually talk to her sometime this month if our schedules ever align and start implementing suggestions.

Stretch goal would be to start writing a new chapter that I feel could help with a few of the NPC character arcs.

@LiliArch

I’m also replaying Telltale’s Batman and having a strong urge to emulate that relationship-tracking somehow, but I have no idea how exactly.

Oh man I love this series and really hope they pick it back up now that the company has been resurrected! Upon replaying this game the opening inspired to write the new version of Chapter 2 in my WIP.

As for implimenting a system like this, I can always bounce ideas with you if you wish (through PM). I have something like this in my WIP now that I’m redoing romance subplots.

[LiliArch]

@Samuel_H_Young

The novelty of AI art wore off after a while for me but I will admit it can be really good for inspiration

I even managed to figure out new ways to wear a cape! That was actually useful, and not just entertaining. I’m amazed. Now I just need to get my drawing arm back in action.

@Dvalor53

As for implimenting a system like this, I can always bounce ideas with you if you wish (through PM).

I’ll keep that in mind.

[love4tae]

I think lots of people like the character creation in, Sherlock Holmes an affair of the heart.

[Niki_Christopherson]

@Lance_Heyen

I’ve been toying with doing some Choicescript writing and I’m curious what games people think did character creation best? I feel like front loading everything all at once with just a heap of options for hair colour, gender etc feels far too artificial and I’d love examples to read that weave the character creation into the narrative.

I’m interested in the answer to this too, but honestly I think it might be deserving of it’s own thread, instead.

---

Planning on filming two more episodes/coding for at least 2 hours today. That’s gonna be fun. It’s a rainy winter day outside that feels like a lazy rainy autumn day, and headache be damned, I’m gonna make the most of it. ^.^