"Flight: An Alchemical Adventure" now on itch (NOT a Hosted Game candidate any more)

Off-Topic Other Interactive Fiction
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I’ve been working on “Flight: An Alchemical Adventure” since 2019 and it’s finally finished but the main character is a teensy bit psychotically murderous pre-game so it wasn’t appropriate for Hosted Games. I also intended it for the IF Comp (but accidentally disqualified myself there too, lol) so I deliberately wrote it in a different style to the usual ChoiceScript game.

It’s actually NOT very violent at all… the problem is that the murderin’ happens before the story starts, which means the player doesn’t get to choose NOT to be a murderer.

If you like magic, adventure, steampunk/clockpunk, alternate history, a deliciously arrogant and optionally evil protagonist, and travelling* the known world of the 1700s, you’ll like this.

You can see it all and buy it for $4 here.

Blurbity blurb:

Some call me evil. Like the engineers of Babel; like Hypatia and Galileo; like the Montgolfier brothers. What is life for, if not to fly?

Hello there, Dear Reader. Were you expecting something a little more ordinary? Something that followed the rules of How To Play A ChoiceScript Game? Fah! I despise the ordinary. But if you like adventure, history, and a heaping serve of late-1700s alchemical SCIENCE—with perhaps a whirlwind romance for those who like that sort of thing—then read on.

I should perhaps warn you that the tale begins with my genius self in a dungeon, and my life forfeit. We shall need to either turn over a new leaf and prove ourselves redeemed, or become so powerful that no one will ever dare to speak out against us again.

If you’ve ever wished a game was more like a penny dreadful novel, read on.

FLIGHT is a clockpunk fantasy interactive novel by award-winning author Felicity Banks.

  • Play male, female, genderfluid, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or asexual.
  • Discover new magically activated metals, and use their powers.
  • Travel around 1700s France, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
  • Romance an adventuress—or a man who hates the British as much as you do.
  • Solve the major scientific problems of the age, and choose to share or hide your discoveries.
  • Travel the world, make friends, and maybe kill them.

cover.itch.squareish

*Yes I used British English.

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I’ve been wondering what happened to this one! I have to admit, I’m super curious what’s in it that’s so awful Hosted Games couldn’t publish it, considering what I know they do publish. :joy:

I assume Fine Felines is still coming out on HG eventually, at least? (Or has it been rewritten so that instead of kitteh it is now full of fierce predator murder kitteh? :pouting_cat::scream_cat:)

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Yes, I’m still working on Fine Felines :slight_smile: Adding two more cat breeds and two more love interests so the variations are exploding.

All adorable kittehs are fierce murderer kittehs. Just ask any cat.

But since no one actually gets killed or eaten in the extremely sweet and gentle game, it’ll pass the Hosted Games requirements just fine (as long as the insane number of gratuitously cute pics can be squished enough, which I have checked they definitely can be).

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My fierce wolf bodyguards would have agreed with you. Fortunately, they always kept me safe from scary murder kittehs by making many heckin borks at the first whiff of danger.

I’m very much looking forward to adding the expanded Fine Felines to my permanent collection someday - it has a very special place in my heart. Until then, I’ve been recommending the contest version every chance I get!

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Congratulations, this sounds really fun!

Is it in the same alternate history as some of your other games, or have you gone down a different multiverse branch?

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I seem to remember from her website that it’s part of the collective Felicity Banks steampunk-verse.

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Great to see this out @Felicity_Banks :grinning:

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I get to hate on the Brits? Lezzz gooo/s

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This looks delightful!

I remember liking the game where you get sucked into a book, and i think that was you lol!

I just took a look at your wordpress website and the interactive stories you got there look super interesting…Looks like I found another author to follow!

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The game where you get sucked into a book and have to rescue your uncle (?) was Lost in the Pages, a la Night at the Museum but in a bookshop. She also wrote Attack of the Clockwork Army.

Overall, this was a short and delightful little read, although I wish there were more power-up items.

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There are now 12 stories in my “Steam & Sorcery” universe, and they’re ALL connected. I’ve been writing in this connected universe since 2012.

“Flight: An Alchemical Adventure” focuses on Dr Brunet, who is the person who first discovers magical metals in the 1700s. It’s chronologically the very first story.

Chronologically, the next story is the Tin Man Games “Choices That Matter: And Their Souls Were Eaten” interactive app, in which Dr Brunet is the main antagonist (so in the “canon” version of “Flight: An Alchemical Adventure” they are female, and they stay evil).

The Hosted Game “Attack of the Clockwork Army” is set about 100 years later, mostly in Australia. It overlaps with my trilogy of published novels (Heart of Brass, Silver and Stone, Iron Lights) and various short interactive tales that include that set of characters. There’s a statue of Dr Brunet in the third book.

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The full list with links and details is here.

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Me and a BUNCH of talented people from the forums here.

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Speaking of the Antipodean Queen books, may I DM you here with a question about your website store?

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I’m more of a lurker in the forums, but this thread breaks my silence because hOLY SHIT, NOX, MY BELOVED—

I didn’t expect to see my whole ATSWE phase reignited in the year of 2023, but apparently my fate has been sealed

Sorry for the unhinged comment, choices that matter was like THE game that dragged my poor soul (heh) into davy jones’ locker of the interactive fiction landscape years ago so seeing this just blows my mind

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MUCH SQUEE!

I looooooove Nox. I’m so delighted to hear from readers that love her too!

Thank you so much, BlueHorizon.

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Of course!

A guess about your question…

My online store is based in Australia, so it automatically charges postage (possibly international postage) which can be a lot. But I do sign them.

My publisher, Odyssey Books, is linked to printers in the UK and US, so for those nations it’s much cheaper to order it from the publisher, here (they’ve also published a kids’ fantasy trilogy of mine, and an art-filled cozy murder short story).

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Now if only you would take your prodigious mind-reading powers onto the professional poker circuit, you could afford to ship signed books all over the world for free! :joy:

Do you know how the postage is determined? Is it by weight, or per item, or is there one flat shipping fee for the whole order? If it’s a flat fee, I can probably manage it, but if it’s per item, I probably can’t.

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Ah yes, my mind-reading prowess is internationally famous yes somehow not yet monetized.

My publisher says that the Odyssey Books web site charges a flat rate, but if you’re in the US then you’d probably be better off buying from Amazon or Bookshop.org (links are on the Odyssey website but here’s Heart of Brass on Amazon).

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But then they won’t be signed … :pleading_face: :cry:

Realistically, though … yeah, probably that’s the way to go.

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Oh, right in the author feels.

I’ll PM you.

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