# I need some help to get started

**URL:** <https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843>\
**Category:** ChoiceScript Help\
**Created:** [February 4, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843 "2016-02-04T11:35:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Faeryia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/faeryia/32/199119_2.png) [@Faeryia](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Faeryia)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/1 "2016-02-04T11:35:40Z")

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Hey everyone, I’m not new to writing multiple choice games/stories, but I am new to using anything other than HTML or CSS.

I’ve figured out how to open and edit the file provided on the Introduction page. I have my story and the structure of the game already because I want to convert one of my old multiple choice stories to ChoiceScript. But I need help with how to make the player’s choices stick and carry through the game.

For example, I want the player to be able to chose a first name for the PC, gender and a class, as well as being able to decide if she/he has an already established relationship with one of the other characters. How do I write this in ChoiceScript?

Any help, or finger pointing me in the right direction is most welcome.

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**Author:** ![Moreau](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/moreau/32/585_2.png) [@Moreau](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Moreau)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/2 "2016-02-04T11:52:38Z")

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Most people start with this:

> **[ChoiceScript Wiki](https://choicescriptdev.fandom.com/wiki/ChoiceScript_Wiki)**
>
> Welcome to the ChoiceScript Wiki The wiki about ChoiceScript, a simple scripting language developed by Adam Strong-Morse and Dan Fabulich of Choice of Games LLC for writing text-based, multiple-choice games. This Wiki is a ChoiceScript Game...

It should give you everything you need to know about the basics at least.

Also, regarding your first question, you will need to establish the character’s name as a variable, then reference that variable throughout the text.

So when you try to make a choice for the character to choose their name, there is an option to open a text box and type your preferred name in. For example:

\*choice  
#My Name is Jack  
\*set name “Jack”  
#My Name is John  
\*set name “John”  
#I’ll choose my own.  
\*input\_text name

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**Author:** ![Faeryia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/faeryia/32/199119_2.png) [@Faeryia](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Faeryia)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/3 "2016-02-04T11:55:32Z")

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Thank you so much. I appreciate it. 😄

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**Author:** ![Moreau](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/moreau/32/585_2.png) [@Moreau](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Moreau)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/4 "2016-02-04T12:08:25Z")

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You know what, the wiki can tell it better, this is the specific article on naming characters:

> **[Concatenation](https://choicescriptdev.fandom.com/wiki/Concatenation)**
>
> This article is aimed at beginners to ChoiceScript. However, if you have not already done so then the best place to start would be with the very first article in this Introduction To ChoiceScript series of linked articles: A Basic Tutorial. To...

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**Author:** ![Faeryia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/faeryia/32/199119_2.png) [@Faeryia](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Faeryia)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/5 "2016-02-04T14:37:54Z")

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This is perfect. Thank you so much for your kind help, Moreau.

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**Author:** ![mrwolf2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@mrwolf2](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/mrwolf2)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/6 "2016-02-04T16:33:23Z")

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Although the wiki is fine, I learned to code by using the explanation on the choice of games site. (it might be what you meant by introduction page, but there are multiple pages, include one that explain how to edit names etc.) You might not need it, but it can’t hurt to look.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/original/2X/7/72a6f530cc585a2161fbe34e3ab8edf26236bb80.png)

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/original/2X/1/15fd350c5902d89a902acb3edc902ac3043da24d.png)

On the page customizing-the-choicescript-stats-screen you can find some coding from a few games, which really helped me to find out how to keep stat hidden etc.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/original/2X/c/c5a21850a9f2858013f654b2f32d6b96d8f52f5a.png)

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**Author:** ![DavidGil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@DavidGil](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/DavidGil)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/7 "2016-02-04T17:54:10Z")

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I’m sure you’ll see it in the links provided, but a quick note:

Any permanent variables/switches need to be created in the startup.txt file before any text the player sees.

So . . .

\*create name “”

\*create money 0

\*create engineer false

\*temp switches/variables, for just the current scene, are okay to be created in the relevant scene.

Edit: Oh . . . on the relationship thing.

```
Are you in a relationship?

*choice

  #Yes.

    *set in_relationship true
    *goto relationship

  #No.

    *set in_relationship false
    *goto relationship

*label relationship

*if in_relationship = true
  I'm in a relationship.
*if in_relationship = false
  I'm not in a relationship
*ending

```

I only separated the \*if statements from the choices, putting them into their own label, just to illustrate more simply how you can adjust the text on the fly based on previous choices.

Should be enough to get you going. Hope it helps.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Faeryia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/choiceofgames/user_avatar/forum.choiceofgames.com/faeryia/32/199119_2.png) [@Faeryia](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/Faeryia)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/8 "2016-02-04T18:57:24Z")

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You guys are angels. Now I feel a lot more confident about being able to pull this project off. Thank you so much! 😄 Okay, time to start coding…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DavidGil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@DavidGil](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/u/DavidGil)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/i-need-some-help-to-get-started/14843/9 "2016-02-04T19:32:26Z")

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You’re welcome. Feel free to ask anything else.
