*if (oldswan = false)
*if (((((((((((((((icehouse = true) and (lostmine = true)) and (highwayman = true)) and (cursedbear = true)) and (rattlesnake = true)) and (blackberryfarm = true)) and (evilhorse = true)) and (mourningriver = true)) and (nomianwarrior = true)) and (foxglovepatch = true)) and (ghostlyapparition = true)) and (lostgravesite = true)) and (capitalmerchant = true)) and (haughtypriestess= true)) and (wanderingwiseman = true))
Look at this, then multiply it by 17. I kept on getting the āWHY IS THIS AND HERE??? ā bug ā it seems I put too many parentheses in certain spots, and not enough in others. I counted so many parenthesesā¦ so manyā¦
Goal: Update today/tomorrow ā I think Iāll break up the work Iāve been doing into small updates so I can refine it more, but this section will be part of the first update no matter what for all the trouble it caused!
Notepad++, not regular Notepad. Iām sure you meant the former (because the latter doesnāt do syntax highlighting), but Iād rather not make a hypothetical someone who doesnāt know the difference use wrong software by accident.
That doesnāt help with āthis looks like something a five-year old would have madeā, sadly. Especially when you can actually compare to something you made when you were five.
I had a brief moment of panic today because I knew that I had brainstormed a solution to a certain problem (I could remember discussing it with my mother), but I couldnāt remember what the solution was. This is where using a searchable online journaling service really starts to pay off: all I had to do was run one or two strategic keyword searches through my archive, and I quickly discovered the entry where I outlined the solution.
And Iām glad I did, because it makes the character motivations so much crunchier and more fun.
Earlier this week I playtested Chapters 6-8 of Honor Bound and was pleased to realise that it flows well! I really enjoy editing as I play, and although it took a long time and was fiddly to make a lot of chapter-skipping subroutines, Iām feeling good about how the game is shaping up.
Iām now coding Chapter 9, which Iām doing from the end of the chapter to the beginning, scene by scene, because thereās a lot of relationship stuff in it that ends with a big plot thing happening - and I donāt want to end up rushing the big plot thing pacing-wise.
Chapter One of Daemonglass is currently just under 20,000 words where as Chapter Two has just passed 35,000 words and isnāt finished.
I have a question for you all; when it comes to chapter lengths do you prefer they are similar lengths or do you just make them as long as they need to be?
In my experience so far, I want to make them similar lengths but have found out that more story-focused chapters tend to be shorter and chapters that rely on choices and variations end up being longer.
I need to start working out the playthrough word count of each chapter to give a more accurate look as I donāt think comparing the two types of chapters by sheer word count.
I think a chapter should be as long as it needs to be. That said, itās jarring if thereās too much variation in chapter lengths. Iād say aim generally for chapters roughly the same length, but donāt hold yourself to it.
I agree. I think each chapter should be a bit of a self contained section where you start and finish at a logical point before moving on to the next. In saying that, some chapters could be munched together if theyāre particularly short. (I find it a bit jarring when some chapters are a few pages while others are really long.) I actually moved some of my chapters around in a game the other day because I extended out a scene a bit too much for it to feel ok to leave the next scene where it was in the same chapter.
I donāt think wordcount is always the best measure either unless the game is pretty linear. Some of my chapters are longer than others if they have significant branching in them. Itās just a pain to get playthrough counts without having to make redirects for each chapter on the testers so I often just wing it a bit.
If you generate some RandomTest seeds into the output file without choosing to show full text, you can get a sense of an average number of choices per chapter which can be helpful to see whether one chapter feels a lot shorter than another on a playthrough. Iāve found it quite useful.
I do want to try and remove page-breaks in general and have a choice as I can sometimes have 3-4 of them in a row during story heavy scenes and I want to increase player interaction.
TIL that the third Horseman of the Apocalypse isnāt Famine, but Overcharging (technically, none of the Horsemen are ever named, except the Fourth, who is Death*, but still).
*and the Fifth, who left before they became famous, who is Ronnie Soak, dairyman
ā bug ā it seems I put too many parentheses in certain spots, and not enough in others. I counted so many parenthesesā¦ so manyā¦
