How is your relationship with the judiciary? Surprisingly, I think it’s a topic that hasn’t been taken up in political games.
1 Like
An excellent point to bring up!
So far for the Judiciary, I have a few things planned:
-
This one I’m writing currently, but one of your first decisions as President on day one is picking out your cabinet – notably here is your pick for Attorney General
-
I also have planned a Supreme Court vacancy in which, if you have enough influence in Congress, you can either appoint a conservative, liberal, or moderate justice to alter the balance of the court. While this portion is still in the planning phase, I have two main ideas for how the balance of the court will be important
- The first one being your legislative agenda, if you’re playing as a Democrat and were unable to nominate a liberal court justice, or vice versa, some of your legislative victories could be struck down by the Courts.
- The second, which would be a rarer event, is that if you’re re-elected but by a small margin, your victory could go to the Supreme Court (sort of like the 2000 Presidential election). Your chances are almost guaranteed if you appoint a complete loyalist over a more qualified justice, but will increase your corruption stat and decrease approval.
Basically, the judicial system as of right now is mostly focused on your “corruption” score. How high or low it is can determine if articles of impeachment are brought up against you and if you will be further prosecuted if and when you’re out of office.
A lot of this is still in the planning stages, so please let me know if you have any ideas on how to make the judicial branch more involved in the story!
5 Likes
A list of what I just came up with
-
Judgment of conformity of state law to the federal constitution
Many US Supreme Court precedents have been involved in this matter, and the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision has had a major impact on federal and 50-state policies.
So I think this should be implemented in the game in some way. -
Disputes between the state and federal governments
This issue has also been brought to the Supreme Court in many cases in history. -
Criminal case
Players may abuse the criminal justice system to send political opponents to prison.
Or it may simply handle a case related to a federal crime that is gaining public attention.
Appointment of a federal prosecutor may also be important -
Judgment on execution and amnesty
It ultimately determines the lives of prisoners on death row and other types of prisoners.
Community security and public opinion about crime may also be influenced. -
System for lower courts
I also want a system for this, but I can’t think of a good concrete idea.
These are just ideas that I’ve come up with at the moment, so there may be better or further ideas (I may come up with them, you or someone else may come up with them)
1 Like
Sounds pretty interesting (and the premise as well)! Love local mythology.
Hello, first time poster here. I’m interested in writing with ChoiceScript; I’ve been able to use it to make some neat game systems in a very short time. I just need to settle on a real project, and I have a specific concept I wanted to check.
A couple years ago I released a visual novel in the style of Ace Attorney. It didn’t get much attention, so I set it aside after the first case. No big deal; my artwork is pretty bad for a visual novel, and this is just how these things go.
The story remains, however. Now that I’m experimenting with ChoiceScript, I’m wondering whether an Ace Attorney styled game would be welcome.
“What is an Ace Attorney styled game?”
Ace Attorney is a visual novel with a logic puzzle element. During “courtroom” segments, the player must identify lies or inconsistencies in a witness’ statements based on available evidence. It has little to do with actual law and is mostly about yelling dramatically, which would also be true of my own story.
I did a quick check to see if anything similar was on the platform already, but couldn’t find anything. “Choice of the Deathless” has you playing as a lawyer, but you spend the game doing legitimate legal work, which is not my aim. I want to know if the logic puzzle gameplay would be welcome. There’s almost no replay value in Ace Attorney games, after all.
The simplest thing for me to do would be to re-do my game in ChoiceScript in order to tell the complete story. The original has a pre-set character and a linear plot, but if I’m working with ChoiceScript I’m willing to adopt expected features like a customizable self-insert main character and a greater variety of routes.
Thoughts, opinions? Is anyone up for some reading comprehension-based logic puzzles? If this core gameplay style is too distasteful, I can always do a regular ChoiceScript game instead (I’m working on one now), but I would love to make my yelling courtroom game if I can.
10 Likes
How are you on character creation? Could my mc be that mythical Democrat or Indepedent from Alaska?
As I’d enjoy trying a fictional run as an economically progressive but more rural/small state aligned Democrat or (economically) progressive independent. Of course the electoral landscape to elect any sort of progressive from Alaska would have to be quite different from the current one. Lastly, if your game allows it, I’d also like for my mc to have come from either local government, governor of Alaska or, heck, even major of Anchorage (I mean it almost worked for major Pete) or alternatively to have come from the House, but not the Senate.
1 Like
Anyone interested in a story about MC owning a talking phone? (Comedy)
Yes, I have weird story ideas lol
5 Likes
Well, it’s not that weird. Most smartphones these days can talk.
1 Like
Great question! Right now character creation is still being fleshed out.
To save myself time, I split where you can be from into regions; South, Northeast, Midwest, or West Coast, as I wanted to focus more on building and writing out the story as opposed to coding possibilities for all 50 states.
As the story is written, your character served as a Congressman/woman and then as a Senator before winning their party’s nomination to serve as President.
I’ve decided, at least for now, to only allow Democrats or Republicans for a few reasons:
-
The main reason is realism, there hasn’t been an independent President since Washington and with polarization on the rise in America, it just doesn’t seem feasible that we’ll have another Independent anytime soon.
-
Additionally, Independents would be very difficult to code and to write from a pragmatic perspective. I’d need to come up with some system for the game to determine how liberal or conservative of a moderate you are to determine relations with Congress (a big part of the game)
I am considering the possibility of allowing your character to run as an independent for re-election, but that would be much farther down the line as I’ve only written the prologue and first chapter or two so far. With that being said, you will be able to determine how partisan, how progressive, or how conservative you’d like to be. So while you may not be able to start as an Independent, you could absolutely start as a more maverick politician; a conservative democrat, liberal republican, etc.
To your last point about the background of your character, your biggest decision regarding your background pre-Presidency was your first job out of school (right now that includes as a field organizer for your party, a political journalist, or as a businessperson.) I did this, mainly, because the game is almost entirely focused on the Presidency, and decisions wouldn’t really be impacted by whether you were a Mayor, Governor, or so on.
With all of that being said, the game is very much still a WIP! I’ll be sending out a more detailed forum post today or tomorrow with a progress update, and am hoping to release my first demo in a week or two and I’m sure that I’ll flesh out the character creation process even more as time goes on!
6 Likes
Aww…I had hoped to avoid a Senatorship for a potential mc. If I may make a suggestion at least look at a governor to president path as an option. It would allow the mc to be a bit more of a Washington outsider, even if you don’t want to allow the smaller states, like Alaska then at least the big three, California, New York or Texas could be options?
Hmm…there could be a possibility to do what Bernie did and only run as a recent “convert” to the Democratic/Republican party. Particularly on the governor path the mc could have been elected governor as an independent, as that does occasionally happen.
A liberal Republican in particular would cause serious convulsions to the current setup of US politics, conservative Democrat less so as there are plenty of those around from Ossoff to Manchin.
It is not totally unthinkable however as the Republican Party is the more vulnerable of the two to capture by outsiders, presumably even if they are McCain types as a lot of the GOP critters have no principles and will cling to the coattails of whoever can to get or keep them in power. With a lot of money, or at least the ability to raise a lot of it, and outsized charisma and thus a lot of media attention it wouldn’t exactly be impossible.
Functionally McCain was the last of the more liberal “maverick” Republicans so it would take quite some doing to win on evoking the legacy of McCain in the current party of Trump. But if it did succeed I’m sure the folks over at the Bulwark would be ecstatic. 
2 Likes
Just a note that it can often be a headache swapping out characters in a scene. I only had one scene in Kiss from Death where you could choose different characters and programming it was a fever dream. I’m still in that hotel room hallucinating lines of code vividly.
3 Likes
I have quickly become well aware of how annoying it can be! Variables have helped but there are a lot of moving pieces and dialogue that change just in the first few choices based on your political party, Vice President, Cabinet, etc.
Certainly a headache but hopefully it’ll pay off in the end.
Me again, finally decided that I wanna write that fic I talked about a few weeks ago, If I Had a Heart, spent some time working on r/os and a plot, think I’m good with what I’ve got planned for rn.
SUMMARY
You were shot in the heart by an arrow, but thanks to that necklace you can’t seem to get off, you lived. Now your head is the prison of a god who was thought to have disappeared and they’re killing you, taking over and rewriting your mind until you’re gone and they’re all that’s left. You’ve only got one chance to live; find the Norn and change your fate.
SETTING(S)
Prologue, chapters one, two and a bit of three all take place in Norway, 8th century. Not gonna state a specific year because I’ll probably end up forgetting lol. Majority of the fic takes place in England, no specific kingdom. Planned side stories take you to Ireland and Vinland. You get to choose where you live the rest of your days in the good endings. Fic takes place over the span of three years.
ROMANCE OPTIONS
Odd Sokolfsson, the seer. M, 26, bisexual
Lives up to his name, that’s for sure. He said he was gifted with seidr at birth by Loki, which allowed him to see the future. Whether or not he can, there’s definitely something magical about him. 5’6”, dusty blonde hair, ice green eyes, freckled skin.
Loki Laufeyson, the prisoner in your mind. GF, 100+, pansexual
They were thought to have disappeared years ago, but instead they were imprisoned in your necklace. The moment you got shot with that arrow, they were released, saving your life - only for them to be imprisoned within your mind. 6’0”, ginger, green eyes, pale skin. (They switch between male and female, but you can choose whether they stick as one or let them keep switching. They’ll use he/she pronouns exclusively depending on what you chose.)
Frida Katladottir, the warmaiden. F, 29, heterosexual
A fierce woman, through and through. Odd told her her future which saved her life, so now she serves him as a guard of sorts. She is loyal, protective and a spitfire. 6’4”, ashy blonde hair, stormy gray eyes, rosy skin.
Ymir Styrdottir, the jarl’s daughter. F, 22, homosexual
A soft spoken girl who longs for adventure, but can’t even go past her village’s gates, thanks to her father. 5’4”, mousy brown hair, light blue eyes, olive skin.
Aedwulf/Alkelda/Aud, the saxon poet. M/F/NB, 27, pansexual
An angelo-saxon with a sharp tongue, a bow on one shoulder and a lute on the other. There’s nothing they love more than teasing you on your vikingness (or lack of it). 5’8”, Black hair, muddy brown eyes, almond skin.
Ubba Ragnarrson, the war chief. M, 31, homosexual
A gentle giant with a bloody and violent facade. He leads the Great Heathen Army, alongside his elder brothers Halfdan and Ivarr. 6”6’, inky black hair, green eyes, tanned skin.
Ivarr Ragnarrson, the king killer. M, 36, bisexual
A loud, firey and crazed man with a dream: to be the best viking to ever live. He’ll do whatever it takes to be remembered, even if it means leaving a trail of bodies behind him. 6’1”, salt and pepper hair, blue eyes, tanned skin.
Tufi/Thyri, the reincarnation. M/F, 30, heterosexual
The reincarnation of the god Freyja/Freyr, nearly a hundred years after Ragnorok. They’re sweet and gentle, though Loki senses something greater to them. 5’8”, auburn hair, brown eyes, chestnut skin.
Heidi O’Woulfe, the Irish flower. F, 25, bisexual
The steward of a king you meet in Ireland. She is feisty, hard-headed and has a special connection to nature. 5’2”, fiery red hair, amber eyes, rosy skin. (only available if you go to Ireland during one of the side stories)
POLY ROUTES
- Odd x Frida
- Frida x Aedwulf
- Frida x Tufi
- Ymir x Alkelda
- Ymir x Heidi
- Ubba x Odd
OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERS
- Sven (m, unknown) - the nomad who raised you
- TBA
FEATURES
- detailed character creation (hair, eyes, skin markings, scars, body shape, facial features, body features, war paint style + color)
- customize a pet, choosing between a dog, cat, bird and a fox, each having their own special abilities
- have serious heart-to-hearts with the voice (god) in your head
- let that same god take over your body for a few nights, despite the risks
- have one-off flings with unique characters (including a haughty norse poet and one of Ubba’s ex lovers)
- fight Fenrir, with or without Loki
- save the world, or focus on saving yourself
- die a hero, remove your connection with Loki and live, or let them take over your body
have lots written, mostly the prologue, and introduction scenes for the r/os, as well as other scenes for them. ngl it’ll probbaly take some time for a demo to come out, i’m a slow writer lol. gotta set up the tumblr too. anywhoozies, that’s it for now
34 Likes
The beginning of a great story.
I have to say, I just love Norse mythology. I am looking forward to seeing your story. I know this is a work of fiction, but I truly hope you will stay, at least somewhat, true to ecisting Norse mythology. I don’t have a problem with some story telling liberties being taken, but the Norse mythos is sich a rich and diverse source, I juzt want to see justice done to it. Good luck with with your saga, Skald.
Quick progress update for my WIP Presidential Sim Game!
After seeing the below comment by Valixon, I did a bit of digging and found another Presidential Simulation game titled “The Oval Office” by @Spyder.
That game can be found here if anyone’s interested in checking out their work:
Incidentally, we both quoted President Lyndon B. Johnson in our prologues!
Obviously, these two names “In The Oval” and “The Oval Office”, at least in my opinion, are far too similar. So, because of that, I’ve decided to take up the new working title: “The People’s House”!
I wanted to provide a quick update and thank everyone who has shown support and sent warm wishes and suggestions! (Especially @11110 who has given a lot of incredible suggestions on how to improve the involvement of the Judicial Branch later in the game).
Progress has been coming along really well, and I’m now at just over 10,000 words (!), only being at about 1,500 a few days ago. I’ve been able to go back and flesh out the opening prologue to the story much more so it feels less like a Q & A and more like a real introduction to the character you create.
Ideally, my next update will be with a demo released. I can’t say for sure exactly how long it will take as I don’t want to rush my writing and compromise quality to release a demo faster. In any event, thank you all again! Hopefully, there’ll be a functioning demo released in a week’s time.
12 Likes
I don’t know if anyone would like the idea, but I decided to write anyway. More news and future demo can be found here.
My Idea
Cut the Cord (working title, WIP)
Cut the Cord is a work-in-progress interactive science fantasy novel by Sparrow Agnello. Based on this idea.
Blurb:
On my eighteenth birthday I ran away from home. Why? Because my magic had awakened, and I had to register as a bearer of magic. But this is only the first reason. The second reason is that the people who I thought were my parents all my life turned out to be my uncle and aunt. I went to the capital to find out the truth, but who knew that in doing so I would become involved in political games.
3 Likes
What do you think about a book not telling you stats until the ending? Like, there’s secret variables that change with your choice but you have no idea other than “Hmm, this option sounds like x”. In the epilogue, it’s explained why you got the ending.
1 Like
Genre(s): Dark Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Antique Fantasy
Summary:
Every child accepted into patrician family struggles with burden of expectations. You might carry your father’s name and his blood flows through you veins…
Or does it? Perhaps your bloodline has been blessed - you wield a strange godlike power. And as far as anyone can see - it’s out of control.
On a recommendation from an enigmatic guest you’ve been quickly confined to a life in a temple of Janus Quirinus, on Ilva, where the attendants of the temple and augurs dedicate their lives to the scholarly pursuits and upkeep.
As you grow and learn, a student and a test subject you uncover the secrets of your bloodline and make your first terrible mistake. You will soon be forced to travel to reach the capital once again while your father’s ambitious nature causes trouble.
- Learn alchemy and discover the secrets of your bloodline.
- Converse with creatures beyond your understanding. Anger creatures beyond your understanding.
- Seek answers.
- Customize your MC’s name, personality, gender, appearance, skills
and their fatal flaw. - Form friendships, rivalries and more.
RO's
Larkspur | (gender-selectable) | Blessed by Flora |
A quiet person, with eyes full of secret mischief. They pulled you in trouble as a child and perhaps they’ll pull you in trouble as an adult. They’ve been with you since the beginning, raised in the same temple as you and assisted you in many trials - it’s up to you to decide what kind of relationship you have with them.
Caelia Tertia | F | Domina Incognito
Mysterious, knowledgeable and yet awkward about things such as titles, decorum or what’s considered a proper taste. For starters, she prefers raw meat to figs. She wears her hair down. She sometimes wields a longsword. She introduced herself as a Domina , and with the air of authority she carries and her perfect latin it seems to be true but who is she, really?
Rubens | M | The Freedman Bodyguard
Caelia’s only servant and bodyguard. Rubens will be the first to tell you he’s here because he wants to be - even though he can barely look at his employer without open hatred. He doesn’t seem to care for anything but his goal - but what is his goal?
??? | (gender-selectable)
Perhaps a friend? Perhaps a foe. They are eager to tell you that they need you. Can you trust them?
Shiny (nameable) | M | Crow Companion
He was once a young soldier revelling in trickery and slaughter. Now he’s cursed to be a crow. He wryly remarks that the one who cursed him made sure his punishment was appropriately ironic.
Have to say the research side of this is kicking my ass 
The setting is fantasy but very close to Imperial Rome - I’m not eager to call it ‘low fantasy’ just yet. I will include a codex, as well as a journal in stat menu, don’t worry I’m not just going to drown you guys in setting specific terms and leave you googling 
35 Likes
It’s got a Tumblr now 
Now about my progress: I have enough material for 4 chapters, it’s all in rough drafts. I’ll manage to get Prologue + Chapter 1 this month I think. Coding the journal and influence system will probably be the biggest challenge, it’s going to be very lean on stat checks for now but I want to establish a system.
The influence system will be a way for companions to change their behaviour, learn different lessons (within reason ofc, we ain’t Bioware but we also kinda taking the inspiration) independent of having a high relationship with someone. That might also extend to non-companion characters, though it’ll be way more shallow.
Journal will serve to keep track of what your characters learns and it will store hints. You might need those hints later, but I won’t lock any dialogue options - the only ones locked will be locked behind a stat check. I’ll have to include cheats in the final I think I’d have RNG but choicescript doesn’t seem to be able to do random + 10 for example. Unless I’d do rand + a stat check and an if but that sounds too experimental for my blood.
Alright, that’s about it - I hope I’m not spamming this thread See you guys later!
4 Likes