There’s been some supernaturally themed games before, but it being set in an ornithological society is a fresh twist. I adore the bird familiar idea especially. 
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Okay, so… I’ve been revisiting some old-ish interests and now I’m completely enamored by otome/galge games, lol. I wanted to make a game with vibes like that, in the sense that if you imagine the characters, an anime style comes to mind, y’know? Weeb things, anyways, moving on.
I may or not may also have grown very interested in Asian folklore, especially Japanese — in short, I want to make a game about yokais (Japanese spirits), particularly. But, because I’m yet not confident when it comes to what I know, I’ll simply make an original world based off Japan, with original ‘creatures’ based off yokais.
The plot is still very much subject to changes, but I’d roughly describe it like this:
Summary
MC’s twin brother, Deimon, has been missing for some time now (maybe like 7-ish months?), and MC is looking for him. No matter what kind of personality you ultimately choose for your MC, the thing is that they used to be a bit cold/bitchy towards Deimon as kids, out of childish envy, so they kind of feel like crap for it. MC has a dream that ends up guiding them to an small town in which some disappearances have been occuring. Blabla somehow they meet this person at a random place, MC asks if he knows anything about it, blabla. Blablabla because he thinks they may be involved in the disappearances (he’s secretly part of an investigation agency, along with the other ROS), he kidnaps(?) them. Blablabla thingthingthing SO MC discovers they ain’t human, actually being ‘Holics’ (what I am basically calling these washed out yokais), posing as humans because the higher-ups of their agency believe the disappearances involve otherwordly beings like them. After all that, they all start to work together to discover what happened to Deimon, and well, what is going on in general.
Pretty sure it’s going to be a somewhat long game?? No idea. But I’d like it to be, so the romance routes don’t feel forced.
The ROs are (this is also subject to change orz I just like making characters):
Summary
— Anubis Moonheart.
A tall, playful and teasing man whose eyes are perpetually closed for no reason (yes, a typical ‘fox-eyes’ anime character). His yokai species is the Maneki-neko (I, of course, need to rename these as Holics, but…lazy now). He isn’t that lucky, though. Not easy to read, but reads others himself with surprising ease.
— Remilia Woodweiss.
A solitary, awkward person who brings with them sudden rains, ones that depend on their mood. In general, anyone near them will be able to physically feel their sorrow – you eventually grow used to it depending on how much you interact with them. Their species is the Ame-onna.
— Asra Serkiet.
A sweet, friendly and rather refined lady with an otherwise strong punch and stronger willpower. Her species is the Yanagi-onna. She is fond of animal spirits (like Anubis and Lykke), but seems to have a low tolerance for Remilia for some reason, and…it shows.
— Lykke Govida.
While she might appear sweet, with her petite appearance and pleasant words, she’s actually a devilish, coquettish and mischievous soul. Her species is the Kawauso.
— Ratja T’kka.
A botherly type man (’‘oniisan’’). Similarly to Asra, he’s very kind, however he’s more soft-spoken and doormat-y than her at times. He is searching for his fated lover, but doesn’t like being touched by about anyone, being quite aggressive about his boundaries. His species is the Oni.
— Silvana Athanasius.
Easily the most antagonistic Holic out of all of them, Silvana is sharp-tongued and downright mean, stemming from his anxiousness and abandonment issues. Nevertheless, when he cooperates, he does a wonderful work, being very intelligent, pretty much rivaling the leader (Anubis) in that sense. His species is the Jorogumo.
Weesh. That was a lot. Please tell me what you think! Bored to tears? Interested?
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Do we have to feel like crap about being cold to the brother or could we, well for lack of better word be cold about it
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This sounds really interesting! I’d play for sure
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That concept sounds really cool! Especially giving those with conflicting personality’s the ability to conflict in text (and progressively learn to get along should they so choose).
I actually was thinking of making my own CoG game with a similar mechanic so I feel especially strongly that it can and will work!
One thing I would be careful about is personality and lifestyle. Each new main character (spare the MC) can end up feeling just like the MC if a player is given the choice to dictate all of their moves. To curb this snag, I would suggest writing a base character idea for each additional main character (along with names and individual backstories) and keep with your unreliable narrator idea. Making any choices these characters get tailored to each main characters personality. For instance, say this person, let’s call him Ash, is gruff, icy, and reclusive. The reader is given the choice while in Ash’s POV to interact with their own MC and a few other main characters in the cast.
This choice might consist, at first, of what Ash was coming from doing—like gathering firewood, collecting water, finishing a short patrol, or waking from a nap. From there the choice moves to how they react to something the MC or another main character said. For Ash this would consist of pretending he didn’t hear it, snapping back, starting a fight, grunting their protest, or rolling their eyes. — all reactions that fit his personality while giving the reader the ability to morph their choices.
I might argue on behalf of giving the main customized MC, and only them, the choice to recollect with other main characters and let those interactions change the other main characters demeanor towards the main MC. (For the reason that it would feel less personal if you chose as another main character to forgive your customized MC quickly to avoid tension—tension which could serve as a good way to move the plot especially for a party of travelers forced to roam together, and work together, to gather needed aid in a raging war between their kingdoms.)
With that in mind, I think this is a great idea and that you should give it a go!
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Count me in the “can’t wait to play!” squad. This is a wonderful idea —I haven’t seen too many Yokai inspired stories so I think that’s likely to help your story stand out.
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I have 1 book currently out in WIP form, and 1 in the works. There both in the same world. 1 is about Werewolves, and 1 is about Vampires.
The one that’s out, is called "Freehold. Had to do some alterations, put everything in line_breaks, which didn’t make reading it easy for people, though that’s fixed now.
Basic consept for that, is your a person, get attacked by. Something, you don’t know what, then 4 strangers decide to follow you around. I do mean, follow, at 1 point, and it sort of goes from there.
Other one, working title, the one that’s not out yet is called, “Vailwalker”
Basic consept for that, is your again, a normal person, who goes to sleep one day in bed, and the next thing you know, you wake up on a table. Like, a normal one, not a sergical one or anything. Do to choices made by 1 of the other people in the room, you wind up attacking 1 of them, and when you wake up? You sort of get very, very drained, you have to figure out what’s going on, and how, if at all, you can get home. Or, even if you want to.
Though, that’s just the working summery, and some of that may change. Anyway. Just curious what everyone’s thoughts are. I got some feedback from Freehold, but According to some comments on. Think it was. Blood moon? People seem to want more werewolf stories. So. Feedback/comments/what ever would be aapretiated.
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I am working on a interative game in choicescript and want to make a topic for it in the work in progress category to get feedback but upon reading the about the work in progress topic it says "Are you working on a game in ChoiceScript and looking to get it published by Hosted Games when it’s complete? Post about it in this category!"is it ok to use this category if i have no interset in getting the game published?
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I would PM one of the moderators personally, but I think you’re okay. Many WiP threads get created and eventually die off from lack of activity on the author’s part for one reason or another.
If you don’t feel comfortable with making a WiP thread, then I’d recommend checking out these two threads which might be perfect for you!
https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/beginners-writing-group/90757
@poison_mara’s workshop allows for writers who just want to write but have no interest in getting published. @Autumn19’s thread might be of use to you if you’re new to CSIDE or if you like working with others to set goals for yourself or bounce ideas off of each other.
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The only reason you’re not allowed to post in WIP category is if you don’t have a working demo available (and category abuse such as posting non-WIP in WIP, I suppose). Otherwise, go ham.
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This is the correct answer.
While it is heavily preferred that all WIPs posted onto the forum ultimately have publishing as a goal—this is the Choice of Games forum after all, not merely an IF writer’s forum—there have been numerous instances where certain games wouldn’t have been eligible (fan-games/games set in a universe the author didn’t own) or where the author was simply not interested in getting published for one reason or another, but were still allowed to create their own feedback topic. Had you said that your game was not going to be written in ChoiceScript, then Other Interactive Fiction would be the more appropriate category, but as of right now, the Works In Progress category functions as the repository for all non-CoG (read: contractless) ChoiceScript games that are being developed.
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Hello! This is my first time posting in this particular thread, but I had an idea for my first foray into IF, and wanted to see if there was any interest! I’ll probably still make it for fun to get a hang of coding, but here’s a summary:
Amadora’s Dating Agency For The Lonely and Occasionally Desperate [Placeholder title, probably]
Play as a matchmaker in a magical dating agency in a fantasy world full of elves, fae, trolls, orcs, and even the occasional human or two! You’ll have to juggle between a boss that seems to hate you, multiple clients searching for The One, your Grandmother’s disapproval of your choice of career, an annoying rival from another dating agency with a suspicious success rate, and your biggest quest yet: Trying to get a rebellious prince/princess to fall in love by order of the Queen. Failure might mean certain doom. Or worse–getting fired.
There will be 4 ROs. After all, helping others find love tends to put one in the mood for love too!
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Aww, this sounds so interesting, I’d love to read!
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I would play the hell out of that! It sounds great!
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Sounds interesting. I would consider extremely hilarious, if the demo came out in February.
Sounds like a solid concept. Good luck with it I’m looking forward to playing it.
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Thank you for the response! I’ll do my best! 
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So I’ve been messing around with choicescript quite a bit in recent weeks, familiarizing myself with the coding, and I think it might be time to create a proof of concept. I want to keep the scope of this project tight and focussed, so it only covers a small portion of what could “potentially” be a larger story.
The synopsis of this currently un-named project, is that you will be playing as a first year student attending a magical academy. The genre will be slice of life, styled as a teen comedy romance, but presented in a realistic manner, i.e. there’s no great evil waiting in the wings to pounce on the academy or the MC. Rather the focus will be on the journey of the everyman’s magical education, i.e. the story will be bereft of chosen ones.
The game will start with the player having just joined the academy, and getting settled in. The first (and so far only) chapter will cover a small length of time where you’ll get to learn about the various colleges of magic, and join one of them, or spurn expectations and choose a different route. There will be no handy brochure detailing in length what each college is about, rather instead all your information will come from the student body in the form of opinions and hearsay. Some college members might push hard to recruit you into their ranks, while others could care less, and some may even look down there noses at you.
Alternatively, if the above doesn’t sound particularly appealing, there was another slice of life premise I had in mind, which is “A day in the life of Fantasy Councillor” which has the entire story revolve around a single council meeting, and giving the player a considerable deal of agency, with a plethora of shenanigans, as choose how best to fulfill your parties agenda, or go completely off the rails to achieve a personal goal, or traverse darker, sinister paths to more tangible power, or simply just clock in and clock out like you just don’t care.
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They both sound amazing! I’m personally a sucker for an every day in the life at a magical academy style book, because magic. Especially if there’s fun interludes and wacky shenanigans. Best of luck in whatever you choose.
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Hello! I have two ideas that are quite similar and could potentially exist in the same universe and/or I could do both in the future. But I am stuck on which one to start with. The placeholder titles are Star Factory and Hero Factory. Star Factory follows the reader’s hopes and dreams at stardom by joining a contract-based entertainment company that will make or break you. I plan to highlight all the dark sides of the industry and write it from a naturalist POV. Some fun mechanics I’m thinking about coding in CS include having a “social media” page and writing your own songs and albums (not in entirety, but maybe a line or two).
Similarly, Hero Factory follows the same format but with heroes. Instead of the typical academy, the “hero factory” will also follow an entertainment company-style training and recruitment. There will also be a segment of the reader being a professional hero (if they debut) and it will also be written realistically and tackle “powers” like The Boys (search “Speedster A-Train Kills Robin Scene” on YouTube). There will also be a villain track the reader can take instead of being a hero. This story will be more “gamified” and have a turn-based combat system and skill tree mechanic I’m toying with in CS.
I like both ideas and have crippling choice paralysis. I feel like ideas like star factory following the entertainment industry are under-saturated while heroes are oversaturated, but-- sumpur powahurz.
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I think Star Factory sounds really cool! While I normally love super hero games, I have to admit… just a little bit burned out on them. Something new would be fun!
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